Ash narrowly evaded a bolt of lightning shot at him by a rampaging Zeraora. The action took up much of his remaining usable Aura, causing him to stumble forward as his vision momentarily became blurry. With wide eyes, he looked up in horror to see the Legend drenching itself with lightning before shooting at him like a bullet.

"Electivire, intercept!" Cried Paul.

Without hesitation, his trusty Electivire nodded and used Agility, scarcely managing to grab Zeraora's wrist inches away from Ash's face. Ash offered a shaky nod to it as thanks before backing away. "Get off of me, fool!" Hissed Zeraora. It unleashed a powerful Discharge to blast the offending Pokemon off of him, but to his surprise Electivire showed no reaction to it. In fact, it was smirking at him. "What?! Impossible!"

"Electivire has the Motor Drive ability," Explained Paul, "Which allows it not only to take no damage from Electric-Type attacks, but also increase its speed from them." Zeraora's eyes went wide at that, and he attempted to pull his wrist away from Electivire to no avail. Paul snapped his fingers, ushering in Torterra and Gastrodon to stand on either side of the Legend. "Now, use Mud Bomb and Stone Edge while it can't move."

To avoid this, Zeraora quickly attempted to throw a Power-Up Punch at Electivire, but with its increasing speed, it easily caught the attack. "Attack!" Ordered Paul, earning a fearful gasp from the Legend.

"Looks like your strategies are as brutal as ever," Commented Ash. He turned toward the poachers, calling his Pokemon to his side with his Aura. "But right now, I guess we don't have much of a choice."

Paul chuckled. "Back in Sinnoh, I'd have expected you to tell me not to fight it like this."

Ash returned the gesture, smirking. "Anyways," He said to the poachers as he and his team approached, "You people have been causing a lot of trouble, you know."

The leader of the so-called 'Terror Titans' erupted with laughter. "I should hope! If me and my boys are gettin' our word out there so much that Ash Ketchum himself is here to take our heads, I guess we're doing our job right." Much to the displeasure of his crew, the poacher leader brazenly began walking toward Ash, tossing a Dusk Ball up into the air and catching it repeatedly. "But we both know you ain't as strong as you were back then. Otherwise, the world wouldn't be the mess that it is right now."

Ash had his doubts that Aura's presence would have done to avert the world's state of disarray if how Aura thought of itself was any indication. "Well, I admit, I'm far from that level." He and his team suddenly stopped in their tracks. In response, the poacher leader did the same, awaiting Ash's next move with an eager grin. "But," Continued Ash, "We are more than enough to take you down and put you permanently behind bars."

Catching the Dusk Ball once more, the poacher leader leaned forward intently and held it beside his neck. "Figures the guy that killed Necrozma would have guts. As much as I'd like to spill 'em, you'll have a higher price tag while alive. Go, Salamence!" Tossing the ball ahead of him, the bald man unveiled a Salamence that was far larger than it should have been. The dragon was over twice the size it should have been. It growled at Ash ferociously, glaring at him with a blind hatred in its eyes.

Aside from its size, the first thing Ash noticed about it was that parts of its body were bulging in ways they shouldn't. Scowling, Ash asked, "You gave this Salamence some kind of performance-enhancing drugs didn't you? Arceus, it looks like it's the only thing you feed it. Is there nothing you people won't stoop to?"

"'Course not!" Chirped the poacher proudly. "If we turned down any boost we could get, how else would we get in Team Rocket's good graces?"

Ash and his team scowled at the disgusting excuse for a man. "You should be more worried about getting in Officer Jenny's good graces." He was about to issue a silent order to attack, but the moment he activated his Aura to do so, he sensed something disturbingly familiar about the man's Salamence. "Hold on…"

From the titanic beast, he sensed something that gave him the most odd sense of deja-vu. The way it leered down at him with a brutal coldness. "This is…" Then it hit him. He could not believe it at first, but his Aura could not lie. And what it told him was that he had met this Salamence many times before.

"No way!" He exclaimed. "This is Pokemon Hunter J's Salamence!"'

The poacher leader appeared to be impressed with Ash for his realization. "Oh, you figured it out, did ya? I guess you're a guy with good taste."

"How did you get it?!" Demanded Ash. "Pokemon Hunter J disappeared in Lake Valor a long time ago!"

Nodding, the man responded, "That she did. But what was left of her ship didn't. Me and my crew wanted to search the place for years, but the place was way too public." He grinned darkly. "But thanks to Necrozma and Team Rocket, that wasn't an issue anymore. After you idiots got yourselves killed in that fight, we went down and gathered every last piece of that ship."

"There wasn't much left of it," He continued. "The ship, I mean. But J was pretty particular when it came to the safety of her tools and commerce. Her tech was busted, but her Pokemon were ripe for the taking." Proudly, he held his arm up toward the Salamence as if it were a trophy. "And now, her Pokemon are mine! I'll take J's legacy and use it to elevate the Terror Titans to a level way beyond what her or the Hell Hunters ever could!"

He then pointed a meaty finger past Ash to where Paul was bombarding Zeraora. "And after you, I'll start my career as the most legendary poacher of all time by capturing that Legendary Pokemo-"

His speech was abruptly cut short when a large net suddenly ensnared Zeraora and Paul's Electivire and dragged the two of them into the woods. The ground began to tremble beneath their feet, throwing most of the poachers onto their behinds. Only Ash, Paul and the poacher leader managed to stay on their feet and see the titanic mechanical marvel rising from the trees where the two Pokemon disappeared into.

Two tan metal pointed ears pierced the skies, followed swiftly by the head of a robotic Meowth. On its chest was what appeared to be yet another Meowth head but with absurdly pointed sunglasses adorning it; each visor with a glistening red 'R.' The robot appeared to be heavily armored in comparison to the last one, with blocky blue sheets of metal plating practically covering every inch of it. Ash briefly caught a glimpse of the two Electric Pokemon pounding away at a sheet of glass in its chest before being obscured by metal.

"Prepare for trouble with no interruptions this time!" Chimed the all-too familiar voice of Jessie.

"And make it double, serving revenge on a dime!" Followed James.

Ash scowled. "Team Rocket. I forgot you guys were even here for a second."

The giant robot stumbled forward, then began to angrily stomp its feet as Jessie ranted. "Would you stop interrupting our motto, twerp?" The loud sounds of her stomping repeatedly could be heard even from the ground. "Don't you know how long it takes to set these things up every time?! The least you could do is keep your trap shut and let us do our thi-"

She let out a shrill scream as a giant mass of vines suddenly rose up from beneath the robot's feet and grabbed hold of its leg, tilting it over. This was the work of Paul and his Torterra's Frenzy Plant. "Enough of that," He hissed. "Who do you people think you are anyways? Hand over the Pokemon unless you want this to get ugly."

With a growl from Jessie, the robot jerked its leg back and tore the vines apart. "As if, twerple! We are Team Rocket, and as such, it is our Boss-given duty to steal any and all Pokemon!"

Paul raised an eyebrow. "Twerple?"

At the mention of their name, the poacher leader's head perked up. "Hold on, are you guys really Team Rocket?!"

"Why, yes!" Chirped the trio in unison. "But who wants to know?"

The bald man blinked, surprised. "You don't know?" He motioned to his men, who were in the midst of picking themselves off the ground. "We're the Terror Titans! The greatest poachers in the world and the ones who will take the place of the Hell Hunters!"

"...Never heard of you."

"Wh-what?!" Cried the poacher leader. "How?! It was literally last week that you contracted us for this!"

An array of laughter erupted from the Rocket Trio at that. "From some low-class nobody grunts, maybe," Chirped Jessie, "But we are elites among elites in the Team Rocket ranks!"

"In fact, the Boss has allowed us free reign on all actions performed on Team Rocket's behalf!" Said James. "He doesn't even call us anymore! Truly, he is so confident in us that he sees it fit not to observe our actions!"

Serena snickered. "You sure he hasn't just forgotten about you three?"

She quickly came to regret that remark when James's voice roared back at her with enough force to make the ground tremble, as well as every bone in her body. "He did not forget about us!" He claimed. "He's just...letting us act on our own accord! Yes, that's it! The boss trusts us so much that he doesn't even think it's necessary to oversee us anymore!"

The trio threw their heads back with laughter, amusing no one. Tentatively, the poacher boss coughed and spoke up. "So, uh...we're still allied, right? We can deliver that Legendary Pokemon for you."

"As if!" Shrieked Jessie. "Can you imagine what it would look like if we just handed over such a valuable Pokemon to some random group of criminals?!"

The poacher leader's eyes went wide. "What?! That wasn't part of the deal!"

Much to his infuriation, the trio responded by making their robot stick its metal tongue, which existed for some reason, at him and his crew. "Too bad for you, chump," Said Meowth. "If you wanted to help Team Rocket, you should have enlisted!"

A vein bulged from the bald man's forehead. Enraged, he bared his yellowing teeth and glared murderously up at the robot. "You...backstabbing pieces of SHI-"

"Hey!" Protested Meowth. "There are kids reading this!"

"Have you no shame?!" Added James.

The poacher was not amused. "Forget it! Forget all of it! We don't need Team Rocket! We don't need anybody!" He glanced down at the Dusk Ball in his hands, narrowly keeping himself from crushing it in his rage. "From now on, the Terror Titans are on their own! We'll make our own organization and crush Team Rocket like the backstabbers they are!" He pointed up at the robot's chest panel. "And we'll start by taking back that Legendary Pokemon!"

"Not gonna happen!" Insisted Ash. "Neither of you will be abusing Pokemon for your own gain ever again."

Scoffing at the boy, the poacher leader hopped onto the Salamence's back. "You keep talking big, kid, but you're going to be in the same boat. But for now…" He turned his glare back upon Team Rocket. "The backstabbers come first. All men, attack!" Followed by the roars of his underlings, the poacher leader went on the attack. "Salamence, Fire Blast!"

The savage beast of a dragon opened its maw upon its new trainer's command and let loose a fiery tangle of flames. Team Rocket either could not evade in time or simply made no move to. The flames impacted them head on, letting loose an eruption of heat and smoke. A large grin crept up the bald man's face upon seeing the attack hit, but it soon faded away.

From the disappearing smoke, the laughter of the Rocket trio rang through the air. They swung the robot's arm and cleaved through the smoke, revealing that they were completely unharmed. "You dunderheads won't be leaving so much as a mark on this bad boy!" Claimed Meowth. "For you see…" The massive robot crossed its arms and puffed out its chest, proudly showing the red R at its center.

"TEAM ROCKET'S GOALS AND AMBITIONS ARE ETCHED INTO ITS BODY!" Said Jessie

"TRANSFORMING ALL LIGHT INTO DARKNESS!" James followed.

"UNMATCHED IN ALL THE WORLD…" Chirped Meowth, and together, the trio pumped the robot's fist into the air and cried, "ONE MACHINE, EQUAL TO A LEGENDARY POKEMON! SUPER GALAXY...ULTIM-"

"Frenzy Plant on its chest," Ordered Paul, interrupting their new motto.

An array of massive vines tore up from the ground around Paul's Torterra and grabbed hold of its chest plating where the net had been taken into, slowly prying them apart. Upon the first glimpse at an opening, an array of fierce lightning erupted from it and obliterated the vines. Hastily, the robot pushed the plates back together.

An enraged Jessie pointed the mech's finger down at paul. "Hey!" She fumed. "Stop doing that, purp-twerp! This thing wasn't easy to put together, you know!"

"Quit it with the nicknames and I'll think about it," Paul shot back. "And hand over the Pokemon while you're at it. Otherwise, I'll pry that thing apart and do it myself."

Jessie laughed confidently. "As if you could! This model may not be as strong as the original since we didn't have the budget for it-" James and Meowth's eyes went wide upon the revealing of that secret. "-But it's more than enough to wipe the floor with you twerps!"

"Why did you tell them that?!" Screamed James, fearfully pulling at the edges of his hair. "We were banking on them thinking it was stronger so they'd be too scared to attack us!"

An agreeing Meowth added, "You moron! Didn't you notice they had that strong trainer with them?!" He pointed down at Tobias, who looked back up at him questioningly. "Now that they know our secret, we're done for!"

'They don't know?' Paul thought to himself. The loss of Tobias's Legends wasn't exactly a secret to the world. He had built himself up over the years as the most powerful trainer in Sinnoh, and many believed he was the strongest trainer in the world. So when he disappeared from the face of the world after the battle, most who knew him feared the worst. Why, then, did these three not know?

Still...he could use this to his advantage. "Erm, that's right!" He spoke up, stepping toward the giant robot and taking out an empty Pokeball. "You three seem to remember who I am, so why don't you save yourself the effort and just give up?"

"Yeah right, chump!" Meowth replied, shooting down Tobias's bluff. "We get blasted off almost every Saturday at 7AM! We're used to it by now, so Team Rocket's not going down without a fight!"

Tobias's face scrunched up, realizing that his bluff backfired. He looked to Ash, silently asking if he had a plan with his gaze. Luckily, Ash nodded to him, then to Greninja. "Paul, I know you want to rescue your Electivire, but-"

"You have a plan, or is that too much to expect?"

Ash smirked at him. "Have a little faith. I'm not that dumb."

Returning the gesture with a chuckle, Paul replied, "I'll believe it when I see it. So what's the plan?"

Ash pointed to the grounded poachers who were looking up at their boss as he fired Fire Blast after Fire Blast at the robot to no effect. It may be weaker, but it wouldn't be easy to topple. "I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to run if their boss is defeated. You take Serena and cut them off before they can." He took off his Secretary Bot and tossed it over to Tobias, "Call Officer Jenny and tell them what's going on."

Nodding, Tobias put the machine onto his wrist and took off down the hill. With his safety ensured, Ash turned to Gary. "Can you try to knock over that robot from the ground? I'll do it from the air."

Gary flashed him a thumbs up. "You got it, Ash."

With their game plan made, Ash leapt into action. Literally. Hopping into the air, he called to Pikachu, Greninja and Charizard with his Aura and flew toward the gigantic machine on his trusty dragon's back. He looked down from above, watching the poacher leader dodge and return fire from its lumbering arm swings with a surprising efficiency. The thought of letting the two fight it out on their own briefly crossed his mind, but allowing either to escape, at least before Zeraora and Elecitivire were freed, was out of the question.

Nodding to his partner, he pointed down at the poacher leader. "Give those two a Thunderbolt, Pikachu."

Pikachu returned the nod, then leapt off Charizard to carry out his orders. "Piikaaa…." The bald man noticed a small shadow briefly flying over his head and looked up in interest. His eyes went wide when he saw the approaching mouse and attempted to issue an order to his Salamence to dodge, but was too slow. "CHUUUUU!"

A stream of lightning poured from the rodent's body, striking the Salamence's back and electrocuting both it and its rider. The two wailed in pain as the electricity coursed through their bodies. "Now, Iron Tail!" The second the lightning ceased, the poacher leader glared up at Pikachu with an order to attack at the back of his throat. But for a second time, Pikachu was faster.

It would have certainly been easier to simply smack the man off of his ride and let him fall, but that wasn't how Ash rolled. Given how long the two had been together, Pikachu knew that even without his trainer's Aura. So, his attack instead slammed down into the large dragon's back, right beneath the man's feet. It jolted from the impact, making the poacher fall onto its backside.

"You little…!" The poacher went to kick Pikachu, only for it to hop out of the way. He quickly ordered, "Fire Blast, now!" At his command, the giant Salamence craned its head backward and spat a glob of searing flames at the offending mouse, who instinctively bolted into the air to avoid it.

"AGAIN!"

Mirroring its trainer's anger, the Salamence let loose a savage, near-deafest roar and fired off another blast after Pikachu. Seeing this, Greninja bolted down from Charizard's back and sliced through the attack with Water Shurikan before it could hit his yellow companion. Both landing upon the dragon's back once more, they nodded to one another and faced the poacher together.

The bald man glowered at them and reached behind his back for another Dusk Ball. Seeing this, Ash patted the side of Charizard's head to get his attention, then directed it down at the robot, which was currently trying its best to stay on its feet as Gary's Nidoking and Nidoqueen assaulted it with Earth Power.

"Give 'em a beatdown for me," Requested Ash, to which Charizard eagerly nodded. Ash jumped from Charizard's back to leave him to his work. It was mere seconds that the poacher boss's next Dusk Ball left his hands before Ash caught it as he landed, effectively preventing its release.

Quickly stuffing it into his jacket with a small touch of his Aura to soothe some of the raging emotions of the Pokemon inside, Ash said, "Not happening. I'm not letting you abuse any more Pokemon if I can help it."

"You-!" Seethed the poacher. In spite of that anger, he managed a chuckle between his gritted teeth. The accompanying bulging vein in his forehead made the sight unnerving. "Y'know, I expected the goody-two-shoes "chosen one" to play a bit more fairly."

An unamused Ash merely scoffed in return. "Before Necrozma, I probably would have done something as stupid as fighting fair against poachers." Pikachu and Greninja, mirroring their friend's irritation, walked forward to stand at his sides. "But now? Now I realize you don't deserve that. You don't 'play fair.' You don't even treat Pokemon as living beings."

Though he knew he needed to conserve as much of his Aura as possible, in his anger, he couldn't help but to let some of it out in a silvery, glowing sheen. "Most of the world gave their lives to ensure our own, and what do people like you do? You abuse their sacrifice and their memories! What will you do when there are no more Pokemon left to sell?!"

He pointed a finger toward the man. Eagerly, the two Pokemon at his side awaited the command to attack. "Don't answer that. That's not a future I'll let happen. I'll restore the world one day. That, I swear. But the only thing you'll know of that world is a jail cell."

The Team Rocket Trio meanwhile were mashing buttons in a frantic attempt to keep themselves on their feet. Gary's team was either assaulting the robot's feet with Earth Power or occasionally ramming themselves into their destabilized legs. Gary, atop his Pidgeot, circled around its head to dizzy them. "You said this robot wasn't as good as the first, but I didn't think it was this bad!" He taunted. "You sure your boss didn't forget about you? You'd think he'd give you guys something better than an oversized, Meowth-shaped dishwasher."

Infuriated, a seething Jessie smashed her hands on the keyboard. "You twerp…! How dare you accuse the great and glorious boss of forgetting us, his most trusted-wh-whaaaaa!" Her unintentional assault on the keyboard caused the robot to stir, forcefully stomping its foot on the ground with enough force to knock almost everyone on the ground off their feet. Gary's other Pokemon in particular were actually flung into the air by this.

Gary gasped with worry, unintentionally giving Team Rocket an opening. Though, the trio, mostly Jessie, were just as surprised as he was. "Er-I did that?" Shaking her head, she smirked up at Gary confidently. "I mean- Yes! I did do that! That's what a twerp like you gets for insulting Team Rocket!"

Following this, Meowth took control of the arms and raised one up toward the distracted trainer. "And now, we'll be clipping your wings, pun-" He and his cohorts let out cries of shock as something impacted the side of the robot's head. Gary's attention snapped back to the robot, finding a familiar Pokemon with a Mega Punch embedded into the mechanical giant's cranium.

"Charizard!" He was unable to suppress his signature smirk and chuckle, something that Ash's Charizard mimicked with a small spat of flame from his nostrils. "Gotta give credit for that rescue. Thanks a lot!" Turning back to his Pokemon, he said, "Let's get these chumps this time!" His team pumped their arms up and bellowed back in response.

Team Rocket swatted at Charizard, who nimbly dodged the slap and caused the robot to unintentionally slap itself in the head. The metal interior shook like an Igglybuff in an Earthquake, and with it, the unfortunate trio. Deciding to add insult to injury, the fiery dragon reared back around and descended upon the robot with another Mega Punch to the back of its head, throwing the trio inside straight into the glass visor with smooshed faces.

As usual, Jessie was the first to recuperate. "Why you…!" The second Ultimeowth plucked off its own hand and stored it in a compartment on its back. It then pulled out what appeared to be a large drill and stuck it where its hand once was. "Now, take this!" On her command, the new appendage began to spin rapidly, resulting in a near-deafening whirring noise. On top of that, it kicked up a heavy gust of wind that momentarily stopped it in its tracks and allowed Jessie the perfect opening. "Giga Drill Rocket!"

The robot thrust its drill-clad arm at the wide-eyed dragon. From below, a Hyper Beam and Boomburst struck the underside of the giant mechanical arm, averting the blow before it could hit Charizard. "Oh, what now?!" Cried the trio. Hydreigon and Noivern smirked up at them proudly, baring their draconic fangs. A green blur rushed between them and leapt into the air.

Sceptile landed right in front of the new Ultimeowth's visor, leering into the glass at the trio. It pulled back its arms, threatening to slice through it with Leaf Blade. But James was faster. "Nice try, but I get assaulted by Grass-Type Pokemon on the daily! You don't scare me!" He swiftly raised the robot's arm, aiming to slap Sceptile. Just before it hit, the lizard leapt out of the way, letting the hand fly straight into the robot's face. A loud clang of metal sent the trio flying into the wall behind them.

As the three slowly slid to the floor, James managed to groan, "We've really got to stop doing their jobs for them…" His response from his cohorts were irritated moans.

Sceptile unleashed a Solarbeam on the robot from above, which was countered by it swinging its massive arm through the air. The resulting gust of wind blew the beam away and threatened to strike Sceptile next. Charizard flew down to rescue it, but the quicker Noivern swooped up from below and caught them itself. It flashed a grin to Charizard; a signal to do what it needed to. Returning the grin, Charizard soared down to the robot's chest and set itself aflame.

"I don't like what the twerp's Charizard is up to," Said James with worry.

Meowth chuckled. "Then let's do somethin' about it!" He slammed his paw down upon the keyboard, making the robot reach out with its hand and grab the dragon right out of the air.

"Charizard!" Cried Gary. "Quick, Blastoise! Use Hydro Pump on its hand!" Gary's starter Pokemon nodded, unleashing a torrent of water from its twin cannons into the robot, but did not appear to make much of a dent.

From atop his Salamence's back, the poacher leader watched the sight and laughed. "Well, kid? Going to go save your precious Pokemon?" Though, when he turned back to Ash, he expected to find the boy either pale with fear for his Charizard or already on his way to abandon their fight to try and save it. So naturally, he was befuddled when his adversary was merely smirking at him.

"We fight those three all the time," He told the bald man. "Frankly, I'd be surprised if they could hold Pikachu here for more than thirty minutes, let alone Charizard."

The Team Rocket Trio laughed at Gary's attempts to free Charizard. "I'm sorry, but is that a slight breeze I feel?" Mocked Jessie. Again, she laughed confidently until she and her cohorts were thrown from their chairs by an Earth Power. But no matter how much Gary managed to rock the machine, it never fell. Nor did it release the dragon in its grasp.

Gary scowled in annoyance. "This thing's easy to shake, but it never actually falls!"

A sudden burst of fire burned away Gary's doubts in an instant. The metal of the new Ultimeowth's hand creaked and groaned, caving into itself and blackening as more and more spouts of fire escaped. A thunderous, booming roar sounded out, accompanied by a light that forced Gary and his Pokemon to shield their eyes.

The robotic hand exploded forcefully, taking with it much of the arm as well. In place of its hand now stood a dome of blazing fire that raged against the robot's chest plates. Charizard had used Overheat and was pridefully making as grand of a display out of it as he could. Under the pressure of Charizard's flames, the robot's plating slowly began to cave inward, inch by inch.

"Hey, Hydreigon!" Called Ash, catching the hydra's attention. Salamence tried to shoot a Dragon Pulse at him, believing he was distracted, but Pikachu intercepted it with a Thunderbolt that caused it to explode and coat both the dragon and its master in smoke. Ash, meanwhile, directed Hydreigon's attention back to the new Ultimeowth. "Can you help Charizard out and use Hyper Beam on its back?"

Ever one to prove its loyalty, Hydreigon hurriedly nodded and took to the skies. The powerful Dragon-Type Pokemon took aim behind the robot's back, craned back all three of its necks, then unleashed a massive orange beam from each mouth. The combined force of each laser forced the robot forward suddenly, pushing it further into Charizard's Overheat.

"D-do something, Meowth!" Urged a frightened Jessie as the three furiously mashed on every button possible in a fruitless attempt to escape from the two attacks pinning them in place.

Meowth in particular was already in the midst of repeatedly pressing the arm control buttons, but they were unresponsive. "I'm trying!" He cried fearfully. "The robot is sustaining too much damage to move properly!"

"Wait!" Shouted James, pointing down at Charizard. "Look at that! Is it just me or is it getting smaller?"

True to his word, the fiery orb was slowly depleting in size. The drawback of using Overheat was that it could never last long, and once it was over, it left the user without much steam left. Seeing this, Gary took charge. "Ya did good, Charizard," He said as he and his Pidgeot blazed past the diminished orb, "So just hang out and leave it to the pros from here." Nodding, Charizard allowed the rest of his fire to fade and retreated to watch the fight from afar.

Hydreigon eventually succumbed to the nature of his own attack as well, coughing and sputtering out puffs of smoke from his burnt throat. His eyes went wide when he saw the robot's remaining arm swinging toward him. Hydreigon braced for impact, but, luckily, he was snatched out of harm's way by the talons of Gary's Pidgeot.

"Careful there," He said kindly. "You almost took one heck of a swing." Chuckling, he added, "Thanks, though. You were a big help with that attack. It should be a cinch to take this thing down now."

The bashful Dragon-Type couldn't help but blush at the praise.

Jessie seethed as she watched her target flying further into the distance, digging her fingers into the keyboard. "Those little…!"

"Maybe we should just call it quits and run," Suggested James. "We already have the Legendary Pokemon, so why don't we just cut our losses? This wasn't an official order from the boss, so just returning with what we have should earn his praise regardless."

Jessie's brow furrowed. She stared down at the Pokemon that assaulted their creation's legs, thinking deeply on the prospect of retreat. Though they had yet to reveal it, their secondary goal was to capture Ash as well. The last time they ever spoke to their beloved boss, he revealed to them that he never had any faith in them to begin with, stinging their pride immensely. Yes, a Legendary Pokemon alone would do them well to earn his favor, but adding the chosen one onto that list as well would make them invaluable forever even without the threat of Necrozma.

Before she could answer, Meowth quickly stepped atop the keyboard and, standing tall and proud for his comrades to see, shouted, "Absolutely not! The boss might be happy with a Legendary Pokemon, sure, but there's no way that it could compare to the Chosen Twerp!"

"Chosen Twerp?" Asked Gary, his brow raised. "Is that supposed to mean Ash?"

Meowth's demeanor faltered upon the realization that he had stepped onto the microphone button, revealing their ulterior motive to everyone.

A deadpanned Ash remarked, "Again? Seriously? Between 'Ultimeowth' and this, I'm starting to think you three are running out of ideas."

The robot stomped its foot indignantly. Jessie said, "Well it's your fault for suddenly becoming so valuable!"

"Yeah, you think you can just outgrow us, twerp?!" Demanded James.

"I never said that."

Meowth huffed. "Well, you can't get rid of us that easily! Especially not when you'd be so useful to the boss!"

Ash pinched his brow. "Because I'm the chosen one? Look, I can't just summon Aura itself if that's what you're thinking. And I'd really not like to get Arceus involved again."

The poacher leader visibly flinched at the name of the God of all Pokemon. He stepped away from Ash, now wary of the chosen one. "W-wait, can you actually summon him?!"

Ignoring him for the moment, Ash decided now was as good of a time as ever to ask something that had been bugging him ever since the three showed up today. "Why are you guys even still doing this? I know you aren't actually bad guys at heart. Don't you realize what happened since Necrozma appeared?"

The trio looked at each other innocently. "Uh, no?" Answered Jessie. "We were blasted off into the ocean and got dragged off somehow."

"When we came to, we ended up on an island near Cianwood," Followed James.

Grumbling, Meowth added, "We had to paddle all the way back to Olivine city."

'Figures,' Thought Ash. "Look, you-"

He was interrupted when Meowth spoke up. "Hey, wait a sec! You're trying to distract us, aren't you?! Well it won't work on us!"

Bright as ever, James decided to add, "Yeah, we may be idiots, but we're not stupid!"

Meowth grinned from ear to ear as he hovered over the virtual projection button. "And to prove our brilliance, bear witness to our flawless plan!"

"Does this feel familiar to anyone?" Asked Gary as the latest of Team Rocket's fantasies flickered to light, receiving no answer.

Of course, the first thing the trio showed was their robot, which looked vastly more sleek and grand than the bucket of bolts they were currently piloting, grabbing Ash and running off as the others failed to catch up to them. "First, we nab the Chosen Twerp," Explained Meowth. "And then…"

In the trio's unrealistic fantasy world, they approached Giovanni who was laying about on a pool chair and tanning atop Team Rocket HQ. Hearing them approach, he lifted his sunglasses to look at them and grinned from ear to ear in a manner so disturbing that not even the poachers could find words to describe it.

"Oh boy!" He, or rather Meowth's terrible impression of him, exclaimed. "It's my three favorite employees, Jessie, James and that wonderful, irreplaceable Meowth!" Giovanni glared down at his Persian, causing it to walk away in shame. He then walked toward the edge of his roof to greet the trio.

When the boss of Team Rocket spotted Ash, his eyes began to sparkle. "Could it be?!" He exclaimed. "The Chosen One?!"

"Aye, aye, sir!"

Jessie and James leapt from the vehicle, landing before Giovanni and bowing with all the grace of a Gardevoir. Following them was Meowth, who landed between the two and posed dramatically. Giovanni squealed happily at the sight. "Indeed," Started Meowth, showing off their capture with pride. "Through a valiant battle and countless struggles, we managed to capture the Chosen Twerp himself so that we could give him to you!"

"How wonderful!" Praised Giovanni in a most ridiculous manner. "I always had such faith in you three! Not once have I ever doubted you! You've always been my most useful and irreplaceable employees—no, allies—that I've ever had!" He fell to his knees, grasping their hands in his own and asked, "Will you stand by my side as we spread Team Rocket's reign through the world?"

Rising back to their feet, the trio happily chirped, "Of course, boss!"

The sound of groaning metal caught their attention, finding Ash wrenching himself out of the robot's grasp with what the real Ash believed to be their imitation of his Aura. A stupifying light that was difficult to look at burst from him before he landed onto the roof with the others. At first, the Team Rocket trio took a defensive stance to guard Giovanni, but Ash held up his hand non-aggressively. To the real Ash's disgust, his portrayal bowed to the Rocket Boss.

"Don't be afraid, Giovanni," Spoke Ash with James's voice, "For I have seen the error of my ways and wish to join your noble cause. With my help, Team Rocket will rule the world!"

Every fiber of Ash's being felt repulsed by that sentence.

Giovanni laughed eagerly, planting a hand on Ash's shoulder. "Excellent! Then together, let us conquer everything!" He turned back to the trio. "Of course, I'll need my personal advisors and top-ranked agents by my side as well."

Gleefully, the trio took their place by Giovanni's side and cried, "Of course, Boss! Team Rocket forever!"

The scene changed all of a sudden, now showing Ash atop some kind of massive black tower that stretched into the skies. A comically large R adorned its front. Ash stood atop the tower and raised his hand over his head. Behind him, the trio and Giovanni hid behind the stairway that led to the roof and watched intently.

"Come forth, Aura," Chanted Ash, summoning a veil of white energy around himself, "And come to my aid! I have realized the true purpose of life! All living things: people, Pokemon, and even you, were all created to serve one thing: The glory and splendor of Team Rocket!"

Upon his call, a swirling mass of what appeared to be white flames fell from the stars above and met with Ash's body. The real Ash had to at least give Team Rocket credit for the accurate portrayal. It was miles better than what they believed Necrozma to look like. In Team Rocket's nonsensical vision, when the flames ceased and only Ash remained, he looked back to his "companions" with a smirk.

Giovanni dared to approach, asking, "What happens now?"

Ash and Aura knelt to Giovanni once again. He replied, "Team Rocket's supremacy."

What happened next seemed like a war. Or the start of one at least. Hordes of Team Rocket Grunts decorated the land as far as the eye could see. The marched to the edge of a cliffside where the Legends waited. Beyond them was a mass of Pokemon just as large as Team Rocket's forces. The two sides glared at one another fiercely.

"FOOLISH HUMANS!" Bellowed Arceus. "YOUR ARROGANCE WILL BE YOUR UNDOING! TEAM ROCKET IS NOTHING BUT A BUNCH OF FOUL BULLIES! NOW, BEHOLD! I WILL USE MY DIVINE MIGHT TO SMITE THEE!"

He rose onto his hind legs and gathered golden light above him with which to carry out his threat. However, he stopped with wide eyes when he saw something—or rather someone—brazenly approaching him from above. In Team Rocket's signature Meowth balloon, the trio and Giovanni appeared. Seeing them, the legion of Grunts immediately took the knee and bowed their heads.

"WH-WHO ARE YOU?!" Cried Arceus. "HOW CAN A MERE HUMAN BE SO POWERFUL?! I CAN SENSE YOUR UNMATCHABLE STRENGTH, BUT...HOW DID YOU ACHIEVE IT?!"

Jessie took the opportunity to laugh smugly. "Our boss is something that can't be described as just human!"

"He's truly something else!" Followed James. "A star fallen from the sky onto Earth for our sake!"

Meowth said, "So you better sit tight and listen to what he says, bub, cuz now it's his time to be callin' the shots!"

Raising his hand to the sky, Giovanni called to the heavens above. His voice was like a ray of light, piercing the clouds and what lay beyond. "Oh, Aura! With your might and my intellect, it is our time to rule this world! Lend me your power!"

Arceus's eyes went wide at the name. "A-AURA?!"

To the Alpha Pokemon's further horror, a beam of light fell from the sky and obliterated the clouds in its wake. Aura landed beside Giovanni and stared Arceus down before saying, "Stand down, Arceus! I have seen the majesty of Lord Giovanni firsthand and deem him not only the most suitable leader for the world, but also a more suitable deity than I. You would do well to obey him…"

Aura suddenly grabbed Giovanni's hands.

"Because now, I relinquish my powers to him! Long live Team Rocket!"

The two were enveloped in a massive surge of light, blinding all who beheld it. When that light faded, Arceus could not believe what he saw. Giovanni's form now carried with it the same white glow of Aura. With the sacrifice of the former god of the universe, he had risen to take its place and became something whose glory could not be properly put into words. Namely because the observers of the presentation were resisting the urge to vomit.

"Now," Spoke Giovanni as he rose into the air to meet Arceus eye to eye, "What do you say, Arceus? Team Rocket truly is the most suitable to rule the world, is it not?"

A frightened Arceus, trembling in the awesome presence of the new god, immediately bowed his head. Soon after, the Legends and Pokemon behind them followed the example of their once-leader. "M-most true, your gloriousness!" He agreed. "My eyes have been opened! Team Rocket was meant to rule us all from the start!"

The next scene showed Giovanni, still glowing white, sitting down on a throne atop the tower from before. At his sides were Jessie and James in similar thrones while Meowth sat on the boss's lap. The once-warzone below was now a sea of rewards for the victors. En masse, the Rocket Grunts led the Pokemon to cages, to which they willingly walked in and allowed themselves to be captured. Even the Legends themselves followed their kin.

"Thanks to Jessie and James, I now rule the world!" Cried the boss valiantly. "At last, Team Rocket's lifelong goal has finally been fulfilled!" However, it wasn't long before Giovanni's splendor faltered, and with it, his smile. "But now...Team Rocket has no goal. What's next for us now that we've gotten the whole world?"

James suggested, "How about we extend our reach to the stars above?"

"It's in the motto after all," Followed Jessie.

The two were immediately pulled together and hugged by their gleeful boss. "That's genius!" He commended. "I knew I could always count on you guys!" Standing up from his throne, he pointed his finger toward the heavens above and unleashed a pillar of light, gathering the attention of every living thing on the planet.

"Team Rocket's conquest has not ended just yet! Now, we will spread the glory of Team Rocket to the corners of the universe itself! Fwahahaha-"

A stream of lightning pierced through their vision, both figuratively and literally, from between the robot's chest plating. "And where…" The loud groan of metal rang throughout the ranch-made-battlefield. Paul and Serena, who had been lucky enough to avoid the scarring from seeing Team Rocket's deluded plans, turned away from the poachers they'd already downed to see where it was coming from. "Does that…"

Two yellow paws pried open the robot's plating with a fearsome growl, then disappeared back into the darkness as if it had been pulled back. A veritable storm of lightning raced out from the opening and onto the battlefield, followed shortly by the body of Electivire. "Electivire!" Cried Paul, abandoning the poachers to run to his Pokemon. Following shortly was Zeraora, who's cyan eyes pierced daggers toward everyone on the field.

"...Leave me, exactly?"

Paul narrowly caught his Pokemon with the beam of his Pokeball and returned it. Though, he didn't even have time to sigh before his next problem arose. Again, he heard the groaning of metal, and upon looking back to the robot, he found Zeraora pulling at the two large slabs of metal that once entrapped him until they had been torn off entirely.

Kicking off of the robot with its plates still in hand, Zeraora crashed into the ground, whirled around and threw the plates back at it. The first tore its head clean off its body, sending it and the Rocket trio inside tumbling down into the trees. The other bisected it from the waist down before getting stuck halfway.

Zeraora, intent on continuing its assault, leapt into the air and stomped down on the plate. The robot's torso was immediately severed from the rest of it and flung high into the air. "Piece of human filth!" Cursed Zeraora as he summoned massive amounts of electricity to its hand. The sheer amount of it burned the air itself, instantly causing the entire area to smell of smoke.

"DIE!"

In an instant, the onlookers were blinded and nearly deafened by the thunderclap and sound of the robot's body being scoured across the sky. When Ash was able to see once more, he was met with the sight of tiny pieces of burnt shrapnel, so small they could be mistaken for blackened pebbles, raining down.

Zeraora then swung its arm sideways, instantly obliterating the robot's bottom half with a colossal bolt of sidewinding lightning that turned everything it touched, metal and wood alike, to ash in an instant.

"Now then…"

He turned his deathly sights upon the others, making their blood run cold, and said, "Look at all of you. Liars, kidnappers, poachers…" He turned toward the poacher leader with a scowl. "I wouldn't put it past any of you filthy humans being murderers either."

The poacher looked down at it in awe, dumbstruck. "...Wasn't that robot supposed to be immune to electricity?"

"Hold on!" Protested Ash. He quickly decided that Zeraora was a bigger priority than the poachers and leapt from the Salamence's back, Pikachu atop his shoulder and Greninja following after him. Charizard and Noivern quickly caught them and returned them to the ground. "We're not like these guys! You sensed my Aura! We're trying to help-"

"Save it!" Roared Zeraora. "You have already deceived me once. I will not fall for it again!"

The Legend drenched itself in lightning, preparing to grasp Ash by the throat and fry him alive. "Torterra!" Quickly called Paul, throwing and releasing his partner just in time to shield Ash.

"Th-thanks," Said a wide-eyed Ash. He'd have probably been a black stain on the ground.

Zeraora scowled. "And now you use them as shields too?"

"Oh shove it," Retorted Paul. "I'm getting real tired of your accusations, especially when we were sent here to save you. Besides, you didn't leave me much of a choice?"

Some kind of red energy swirled to Zeraora's hands. "Save me?" An uppercut sent Torterra soaring into the air. Following this, that same energy flowed from the Legend's fist to the rest of its body, and Ash could sense its strength increasing. It must have used Power-Up Punch. "I think you should be more concerned about saving yourselves. Not that it will matter."

Paul quickly returned his starter Pokemon with a scowl and asked Ash, "Are you sure saving this one is worth it? We'll be decimated before long!"

Ash's team quickly placed themselves at his side, already knowing his answer. "Something had to have happened to Zeraora to make it hate humans. If we let it run loose, then people will start to fear it." He stared Zeraora down, refusing to break eye contact with it. "This is exactly what the Nova Branch wants. We can't let Zeraora keep hating humans, even if we have to defeat it to make it understand."

"He's right!" Chirped Serena. Zeraora turned its head to find the girl and her team standing behind it defiantly. "We can't let anything like what happened five months ago happen again. Even if it means hurting you, I won't back down!"

Soon after, Gary neared, jumping down from his Pidgeot. "You really should have listened, pal," He said with a smirk. "As a rising Pokemon Professor, I don't take any pride in hurting Pokemon. 'Course, I don't have any problems stopping a war. If you're not going to listen, then it's just like Ashy-boy said: We'll force you to understand."

The poacher leader looked down on them eagerly, holding an empty Dusk Ball in his hand that would become the home of his newest prize. Whipping around, he called, "Hey boys, let's-" He stopped when, upon laying eyes on the rest of his men, found them motionless and entangled in a mass of giant vines.

"...Useless idiots," He spat with a scowl. There was no way in the Reverse World that he would go in alone. But if he waited until they exhausted or killed each other… "Take us up," He ordered Salamence, slapping it in the neck. It hissed at him angrily, baring its massive maw, but followed the order.

"Water Shuriken!"

Greninja took to the air, throwing down a hail of watery stars at Zeraora. The Legend raised its finger and, in an instant, sent a streak of lightning traveling from star to star before reaching Greninja. His eyes widened with horror, though not for his own sake. The world seemed to slow to a crawl as he looked down to Ash.

His beloved trainer and friend was already in the midst of summoning Aura to form a barrier around Greninja. That, he realized, would be deadly. With their shared bond and the use of his diminished Aura, the pain he felt would be vastly greater than that of Greninja. So, the frog made a decision and cut off their bond, reverting to his normal state and shocking Ash into stopping the barrier.

A thunderclap lit up the sky for a brief second before Greninja's body fell from the ensuing smoke. Ash snapped out of his minor trance upon seeing this and ran to catch him. Even though their bonded form had been severed, preventing him from feeling the pain Greninja did, he felt a wave of nausea coming over him.

"GRENINJA!"

Zeraora went to intercept. "Don't pretend like you actually care!" He roared. Though, his path was quickly blocked by a jet of flames from Serena's Braixen.

"Not so fast!" She said. "Don't you touch him, and don't you dare accuse him of not caring about his Pokemon!"

The Legend snarled at her angrily. "Why you-"

Again, he was interrupted by an attack. This time, it was a Mud Shot to the back from Paul's Gastrodon. "She's right about that,"Admitted Paul. "You'd be hard pressed to find a more bleeding heart than him." He tilted his head toward Ash. When Zeraora looked to him, he was taken aback at the sight of Ash attempting to heal his Pokémon's wound with his Aura with Pikachu looking at him with genuine worry.

There were no forced actions or emotions. His other Pokemon were even standing over him as he did so, forming a wall with their bodies as if to guard him with their lives. Zeraora could feel Ash's Aura. Just as before, it told the Legend he only had kindness in his heart for his Pokemon. And just before his eyes, he saw the strain the boy was going through as he gave his depleting Aura to the Pokemon that took an attack meant for both of them.

"I…"

The stray Legend's fists subconsciously tightened. Lightning pumped to them, but it did not attack. Its face wrinkled, at an impasse as to what to do. "...No." It knew what humans did. It saw that firsthand just the day prior. A human clad in black armor, faster than he had any right to be and with a cruelness only surpassed by Necrozma. "You think me for a fool? I will not-"

It let out a sudden gasp and leapt backwards to avoid a Fire Blast crashing into the ground. The others were not as lucky, being knocked to the ground by the attack, save for Ash. "GUYS!" He cried with worry. He heard the laughter of the poacher leader, enraging him to no end.

The massive Salamence brazenly landed in the middle of them, dispelling the smoke with its wings. The poacher jumped off of its back. He looked around at the surrounding trainers and Pokemon as they slowly picked themselves back up, then to Zeraora, matching his fearsome glare with an arrogant, infuriating smirk.

"Looked like the party ended too soon, so how about I turn up the heat?" He snapped his fingers, causing Salamence to bolt into the air. It blew a Flamethrower in a circle around its trainer to prevent Ash's friends from getting closer, then a larger one to keep Zeraora trapped within. With its job complete, it landed back at the poacher's side.

Zeraora bared its fangs at the man. "What is your aim? Do you think you can contain me?"

Chuckling, the poacher showed off the Dusk Ball meant for it. "Yeah, I'd say that's exactly what I think. Salamence, finish it with Hyper Beam."

The fearsome dragon growled in response. Its body rumbled, causing the ground itself to shake slightly. Jets of escaping orange heat seeped from its closed maw before it finally let loose the beam. A horizontal pillar of pure orange light that rivaled the splendor of the setting sun emerged from its mouth, tearing through the ground in a tremendous display of power.

Until its jaw was suddenly snapped shut.

Zeraora's sparking paw pressed up against the underside of Salamence's chin. The dragon appeared just as shocked about this as its master, whose smirk had immediately fallen. Salamence recoiled, attempting to distance itself to fire again, which proved to be a massive mistake. Zeraora lurched forward and slammed its open paw into Salamence's chest.

"You will receive mercy," Said Zeraora. "The one who binds you will not. Sleep, friend. For when you next awaken, there will be no master to harm you."

Then, a stream of lightning even larger than the dragon itself consumed its body. It didn't even know what hit it before consciousness visibly left its eyes. Zeraora quickly retracted its arm and cut the flow of electricity so it did no more harm than necessary. It placed a paw gently on its head, looking down at it with regret plastered on its face.

That regret soon turned to hatred when it turned its glare on the poacher. Fearfully, the man threw the empty Dusk Ball at it and hastily tried to find one with another Pokemon inside to defend himself. But when the ball came near, a bolt from the Legend's body shattered it. Zeraora moved toward the man in a flash and held his arm still.

"That is enough," It hissed. "No more Pokemon will suffer because of you!" The Legend tore his belt of Dusk Balls from his body and threw it aside, then elicited a pained scream from the man as he increased the grip on his wrist. The man dropped the last ball, preventing anything else from being hurt when Zeraora finished him off.

Sparks raced across its fur as it prepared to drench the disgusting excuse of a man in lighting until there were no traces of his body left to taint it. The poacher leader desperately struggled against the Legend's grip to no avail. Zeraora took that as a signal to finish it. Lightning channeled toward its arm to end his life once and for all, but it stopped when it heard Ash's voice.

"Don't do it!"

The lids of Zeraora's eyes lowered in annoyance. "Why shouldn't I? Is this supposed to be your attempt to save one of your kind in spite of everything he's done? Weren't you preaching about saving me from him earlier or are you simply abandoning your facade and admitting that you're all the same?"

Ash shook his head. "Absolutely not. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve to be punished," He scowled at the man, "But not like this. Too many people and Pokemon have died already. Adding more to the pile won't help the world."

"Being rid of humans like you would help the world greatly," Hissed Zeraora.

Ash pinched the bridge of his nose, unable to take it any longer. "Enough!" He cried. "Humans this, Pokemon that, it doesn't matter! We told you what we're doing, regardless of if you believe it or not; we're trying to stop another war! Our world can't take another war!" To Zeraora's surprise, he saw the Greninja he'd downed not even ten minutes ago stand up and splash water on the flames. Ash and his team brazenly stepped through the smoke toward him.

"Pokemon, human, so what?" Asked Ash. "We're all living beings. We all fought to save our world, our lives and the lives of the ones we care about! What good does it do either of us...any of us if the ones that survived Necrozma just...kill each other?"

Zeraora sent a small wave of electricity through the poacher leader's body to keep him still and threw him to the ground behind it. "You make a convincing argument. But I don't buy it for a second. I've seen firsthand what you humans are capable of. The world will heal, but not with your kind inhabiting it."

While the electric Legend and Ash battled ideologies, Team Rocket was slowly making their way out of Ultimeowth's head.

"Heave ho!"

A sonorous clang rang from inside the heap of metal as the trio barged their shoulders against the glass.

"Heave...ho!"

However, it turned out that repeatedly ramming into reinforced glass was just as painful as doing it to metal.

"Heave…" The trio took in a deep breath of air before charging again. "...Ho!" ...and ending up as successful as the last several dozen attempts.

Panting for air, the trio of idiots slowly backed up, bracing themselves and their aching shoulders for another go at it. "Heave…" They winced, looking to one another for courage, yet finding none. Swallowing the lumps in their throats, they charged again. Unaware, Meowth accidentally stepped on one of the buttons, causing the glass visor to pop out of its socket. This, of course, resulted in Jessie, James and Meowth tripping over themselves and falling onto the ground.

"It had a release button all this time?" Whined James, earning groans from his two partners.

The three pulled themselves off the ground to see Ash and Zeraora's debate dead ahead of them. "...Say," Said Jessie with a devilish grin, "Do we still have the backup net launcher?"

Meowth looked behind him to the interior of Ultimeowth's head. A wide grin crept up the faces of the three when they spotted the large device strung up on the wall of the back.

Together, they chirped, "Looks like Team Rocket's back in business!"

"You can word it however prettily as you want," Hissed Zeraora. A surge of lightning encased him, scorching the dirt beneath his feet. "But you're not exactly convincing while talking behind your shield of slaves."

An annoyed Ash scowled. It felt like he was talking to a brick wall. Still, it would serve no one to be forced to stoop to a battle like this, and he did not feel confident in his victory even if all of their Pokemon ganged up on the Legend at once. "Look, I-"

His eyes widened when he saw a net coming their way. "Look out!" He dove for Zeraora, who nearly turned him into a pile of ashes to fit his namesake until he realized Ash was moving past them, not at them. Ash called upon his Aura and fired an Aura Sphere into the net, destroying it in a mass of billowing smoke. He considered himself lucky not to have used much of his depleted stock recently, else he may have collapsed then and there.

He quickly turned around, expecting to see Zeraora lunging for his neck, but the Legend was no longer there. A savage roar from behind followed by an explosion made him turn around again. He briefly witnessed Team Rocket being launched into the stratosphere before disappearing in a small twinkle of light. The usual. He sighed with relief. Those three weren't completely evil, he knew, so he was glad Zeraora didn't hurt them.

But still...

"Hey…" Ash dared a step toward Zeraora, hastily stopping when the Legend coated itself in lightning once more.

Zeraora turned to Ash with a glare. But this time, Ash could sense the same conflict in it from when he showed his Aura initially. "...We're done here," It growled under its breath. Then it disappeared in the blink of an eye, as quickly as a bolt of lightning.

In spite of all the fighting the day had carried, when the small group of Officer Jenny's that Tobias had called finally arrived, the sun had hardly passed over the sky's center. But there were only five of them, making actually arresting the poachers difficult. As Paul, Gary and their Pokemon aided four of the Jennys in loading the unconscious poachers into their vehicles, Ash and Serena helped in gathering their stolen Pokemon. Apparently, the Terror Titans had a small shack nearby where they'd stored their "prizes."

As for the poor farmers who had been caught up in all of this, they had long since passed out on the floor of their house. Ash quickly checked on them and was relieved to find they weren't harmed beyond that. But unfortunately, he couldn't help them beyond that. He just had to hope that their farm could be repaired, but as he looked back out to the scorched battlefield that had become of it, that hope remained low. Maybe Mr. Star could do something about it later, but for now, they had stolen Pokemon to attend to.

"These Pokemon probably all belonged to former trainers who settled down after Necrozma," Explained a Jenny as she looked through the Pokeballs. Letting out a sigh, she stood back up and turned to Ash with an appreciative smile. "Thank you for your help, Chosen One. I'm glad to see that even after getting rid of that monster, you're still doing your best to save us."

Ash chuckled dryly. "Just Ash is fine, please. "Chosen One" is honestly a bit hard to stomach sometimes." He looked down to the Pokeballs, leering down at the six Dusk Balls once falsely owned by the poacher leader. "But anyways," He said, picking up the one containing J's Salamence, "I'd like to keep this one."

Officer Jenny raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Why's that? I'm sure its owner has been worried sick over it." She hummed in thought, pinching her chin. "Still...you said you're going around trying to combat Team Rocket and other criminals. If you really think taking it can help with that…" She bit her lip, mentally debating the decision she was about to make. Luckily for her, Ash was quick to dispel her train of thought.

"Relax," He said with a chuckle. "It doesn't actually belong to anyone anymore." He glared at the poacher leader who was still paralyzed on the ground. The bald man eagerly returned it. "According to him, this Salamence once belonged to Pokemon Hunter J. I figure it'd be hard to control, and there's no one to return it to, so I should handle it and finally give the thing a good life."

Jenny was taken aback at that. With wide eyes, she stared down at the Dusk Ball in Ash's hand with disbelief. "Pokemon Hunter J?! Didn't she disappear at-"

"Lake Valor, yes," Interjected Ash. He didn't really want to repeat the entirety of the poacher's story. "Basically, these guys found Salamence's Pokeball intact in J's wrecked ship at the lake bottom. Then, they started injecting it with all sorts of stuff to make it bigger, stronger...and more ferocious as well."

She nodded, now understanding the situation. "I see. Yes, a Salamence as strong as what the rumors of J suggested would probably be too much for the police to handle right now." She looked to her sisters, a look of sorrow on her face. "...I lost many sisters and other officers all over the world. As of now, we're barely keeping order."

Again, Ash cursed himself for his ignorance of what was happening in the world during the five months he'd decided to take as a vacation. "I'm really sorry about that," He said remorsefully. "Most people in Pallet Town didn't pay attention to what was happening everywhere else after the war. If I knew what was happening, then…"

The officer was quick to stop him. "After saving all of our lives?" She laughed. "You deserved that break. It should have fallen to us to stop this from happening, but we were too disorganized."

"You fought in that war too," Argued Ash. "It's understandable that you couldn't do much. After all, it's not like these selfish people came to help. And besides; the past is in the past. What matters now is saving the future, and you can leave the heavy lifting on that one to us."

Hopping atop his partner's shoulder, Pikachu chirped in agreement.

After a moment mulling that over, she eventually sighed and nodded. "...I suppose you're right. Thank you, Ch- Ash." Officer Jenny chuckled at her own mishap, then said, "Anyways, you can leave the rest of the cleanup to us. The sooner Team Rocket's gone, the sooner all this madness can finally end."

Ash nodded with a smile. "Agreed. But it's still early in the day. You sure you don't need any help?"

"If you want to help, just focus on fighting where it matters," Replied the officer, "And you've already done that here." She smiled down at the boy, lightly shooing him away. "Go on now. There are others that need your help more than us, so you can trust us to help with the aftermath of your battles. You just focus on fighting them...but…"

Her smile slowly faded when she saw that Ash wore six Pokeballs on his belt. "...Have you sorted something out with a Professor that would let you carry more than six Pokemon?"

Before Ash could answer, Tobias approached the two and spoke up. "Actually," He said, "If you would allow me, I would like to lighten your load regarding Salamence."

Officer Jenny opened her mouth to tell him off for suggesting such a thing, but found whatever she was about to say caught in her throat when she recognized the disheveled man before her. "Y-you're that trainer from the war! You had Legendary Pokemon and fought Necrozma by yourself!"

Tobias cringed at the mention of his Pokemon. "R-right...so you recognize me." He cleared his throat to keep his wavering voice at bay. "Well, I don't exactly...have them anymore, but…anyways… I think I could help you with that Salamence."

Though Ash certainly trusted him, he couldn't help but to be somewhat disbelieving of him given his...less than stable condition. "You sure? It's not exactly docile and you don't have much to defend yourself."

To that, Tobias walked towards a tree and plucked off a leaf. "Untrue," He said, flashing Ash a grin. "A little spell of Oracion should keep it docile." Pocketing it, he added, "Anyways, you've already got a lot on your plate. I figured I'd kill two Pidgeys with one Rock Throw and take it off your hands. I was able to command Legends once, so a Salamence shouldn't be too hard, right?"

That earned a chuckle out of Ash. "Alright. You win." He handed the Dusk Ball over to Tobias.

Tobias looked down at the ball as if staring at the dragon inside, then pocketed it inside his coat. "Thank you, Ash. I swear I'll do my best to help it. If I'm lucky...no. I will save it. For its sake and my own, so that I can actually help you save the world."

Ash flashed him a thumbs up. "I'll hold you to that. But if you ever need help, don't be afraid to ask."

"Will do, Ash," Tobias replied with a smile. "Oh! By the way…" He took off the Secretary Bot Ash had given him and held it out to him. "Here you go. I almost forgot I still had this!"

Hours Later

Ash was alerted by a ringing noise. It came from his Secretary Bot; a call from Mr. Star. Answering it, he brought the projector screen up to his eyes and asked, "What's up, Mr. Star? Oh, by the way, we completed the mission."

He was put off by the way Mr. Star looked. He appeared pale, and his eyes were baggy. "That's great Ash," He said cheerfully in spite of whatever was plaguing him. "You're truly a wonderful help! Oh, and tell that to your friends too!"

"What's wrong?" Asked Ash, wanting to get directly to the point out of worry for the old man. "You look, no offense, pretty terrible."

Mr. Star hung his head, letting out a raspy, tired sigh from his weary lungs. "I'm...afraid something terrible has happened in Unova. I don't know the specifics of it yet, but the Village of Dragons is up in flames!" He showed only a blurry image of the event, but it was enough to make Ash's stomach turn. "Our scouts say it was at the hands of savage Pokemon, but…"

Ash's eyes narrowed upon realizing his train of thought. "Team Rocket's Nova Branch."

"Precisely."

Ash, anxious as ever, asked, "So is this our next mission?"

To his surprise and disappointment, the old man shook his head. "No," He said. "We still don't know enough about the situation yet. I've sent my own men this time. For now, I have something a bit more concrete."

The next image shown was of Celadon City, a place Ash had few fond memories of. What was worse was that he showed the Game Corner. Ash balled his hands into trembling fists when he saw it. "No…" A figure cloaked in black, but the red 'R' on their suit was unmistakable. "Why did it have to be there?" Team Rocket was actually using that place of nightmares as a base. The place where Zero was born to kill and die.

And he would not let them get away with tarnishing her memory.

Author's Note

Pokextinction fact of the day: Before the war, the executives of the Hell Hunters were neighbors who grew up together. Tony lost his wife in the war, driving him mad. She did not actually die and was merely rendered comatose, but with the likelihood of her recovery minimal, he decided her dead. He'd been a fairly good trainer when he was younger, which gave him the knowledge of how to pursue and catch Pokemon. As he continued the life of a poacher, he lost his humanity more and more to the point he no longer recognized his own son as something valuable if he did not pull his weight.

Brutus himself actually did fight in the war alongside his wife and son, but lost them and one eye. He then swore to stay by Tony's side forever. Salomon, much like Tony, was already a good trainer. Perhaps even better than his boss in that aspect. He once lived with his older brother and together, when they weren't hanging around Tony, they spent most of their time in forests training their instincts to live and fight like a Pokemon might.

Salomon himself cowered out upon Tony's urging to do so when Necrozma appeared, but his brother did not. He did not return from the war. Like Brutus, he realized Tony was right to have not gone and thus swore allegiance to him to do anything to survive the emptier world.

Nevio was a rather successful man before Necrozma's appearance. He was quite the scholar at his young age, being the second youngest after Salomon. With his famed intelligence, he was well on his way to becoming a Frontier Brain in time. Necrozma made sure that did not come to pass. With his career in shambles and nowhere left to turn, he followed Tony and left his life and family behind, disappearing without a trace. On the Hell Hunters' escapades, he forced himself to ignore the suffering he was causing. Conveniently, he pushed the cries of pained and terrified Pokemon out of his mind for his own sake. After every payment, he sent half his earnings back to his jobless family in an anonymous letter. He was the only member of the crew that was not either wholly selfish or evil, though Brutus may share this trait.

Raphael was always a somewhat disturbed individual, picking on any person or Pokemon weaker than him at a young age. Nevio and Brutus were always able to reign him in, though. As a budding mechanic, he invented things he could use to catch Pokemon for his own amusement. When the war struck, he was allowed to roam free. His efforts were no longer scolded by his peers, but rather, endorsed. This allowed him to further indulge in his own unhinged nature. It wasn't long before he came up with instruments and methods to keep their assets in line. He was a major driving force in the corruption of his friends, second only to Necrozma himself.

There wasn't an occasion to say this anywhere else.

The Terror Titans on the other hand were just jackasses. They were poachers for years, but never successful. Currently, they're the best after the Hell Hunters, only because of J's Salamence.

Creator: What's poppin, boys. Finally finished with the semester and am now free. God, my math was a pain. But it's all over now. From now on, this story is going into overdrive mode to get to a certain key plot point before Summer's end. That means skipping or compressing some plot points and fights. It's just the way our lives have to be due to financial issues and Covid, so we're aiming to blitz through Arc 2.

But enough about depressing bullshit. Let's talk about the chapter. We have a glimpse at Zeraora's motivation now, but we'll only learn more in time. I also wanted to give Tobias a new Pokemon while his Poipole grows. And Team Rocket...their return was a long time coming. I love James the most. He's always been the funniest to me, so I tried to reflect that in his quotes. I don't think I can top "My Pokemon doesn't even have hands!"

Hydra: Hi guys and gals were finally free from our terrible math class hooray! Lol but on a serious note it's nice to have a break because this school semester was certainly the worst I've had. Anyways this chapter was an absolute banger Zeraora is completely conflicted with his outlook on humanity and Tobias now owns Hunter J's Salamence, things just keep getting crazier.

Creator: Time to address the reviews

DarkPugLord: "Oh man, poor Genesect #5, the last of her kind. Here's hoping she'll get her revenge on Ryder and avenge Red Genesect. Fair to say, I loved this chapter! Especially Red Genesect's sacrifice; gave me a real "if I'm going down, I'll go out on my own terms" vibe and I heavily respect that. Keep up the good work, my guys!"

Creator: The young one's time will come, my friend, and with it...vengeance. Thank you, and we will.

Hydra: I wanted the red Genesect to go out like one of those sensei's or masters that you see in movies where they die protecting their students so they can escape and live on.

Amourshipper35: "Those poor Pokemon losing their home like that so sad."

Creator: Personally, I'm more inclined to feel sorry about their lives but to each their own

Hydra: Though it still is certainly sad to see the homes of all the forest Pokémon get burned to the ground.

Guest: "I kinda miss those moments with Ash and Serena doing Gym Battles, finding Ash's old acquaintances like Giselle or the Samurai with the Metapod. Now I only see Legendaries xs."

Creator: I feel ya, but that's just the way the story has matured over time. They'll still be traveling together, and the next Ash chapter will focus heavily on Ash and Serena fighting together, but against Team Rocket. We'll also see some old acquaintances show up as well. A certain pair. You'll know them. But Legendaries are such an integral part of the story as a whole that they need to be involved. Just like a person, as a story matures, they must move on to bigger things. I do certainly feel nostalgic about the old chapters though.

Hydra: Yeah I agree with the creator 110%. Though it was really fun seeing Ash and Serena take on the league together it just would not make sense anymore after a massive disaster took place and destroyed world balance. And as for the legendaries they are absolutely needed in order to tell a story of the magnitude we're aiming for I'm afraid.

Creator: That's all for now. See you next time, where we finally see what happened between Mew and Shaun. Did she simply leave him outside? Did she send him with other humans? Or did she give him a similar treatment as his father? Find out in the next week or so.

Hydra: Well hopefully you all enjoy this one guys, expect to see the Team Rocket trio more often now because they are back in black baby! I hope you all have a good summer break and we'll be seeing you soon with some interesting surprises hehe.