"…and since then, I've mostly been tending to the gym with my sisters. Though I do travel from time to time, obviously."

Ash grinned, swallowing his bite of food. "Sounds like you've had some adventures since we last talked."

Misty smirked back at him. "Not half as interesting as the adventures you've been on, I bet. Trouble follows you around like a lost Lillipup."

All five of them were eating dinner at a restaurant on the shore, enjoying some fresh seafood as Misty recounted what she had been doing over the past few years. Brock was mostly familiar with the stories, as he had kept in touch, but Ash listened with rapt attention, knowing almost nothing about Misty's travels. Serena and Iris listened carefully as well, curious about this girl's apparent personality change. She had been harsh and unrelenting with Ash through the day's training, but now she was all smiles, her voice and her face gentle as she talked, her eyes bright. Ash and Brock didn't seem mystified by it at all; this must have been a normal thing.

"So what brings you to Kalos, Misty?" Iris asked. "I'm guessing you didn't come here just for Ash."

Misty shook her head. "No, I was already here. I'm participating in the Water Festival here in Shalour City. Siebold invites me every year." It was impossible for her to hide the pride in her voice as she said this.

"Really? What do you do there?" Ash asked, impressed.

"A bunch of things," she answered. "Lots of battling, lots of meeting other Water-type trainers… the biggest event is on the first day, where a lot of the invited trainers have a big group performance. That's tomorrow afternoon."

He grinned back. "Well, we'll definitely have to stay and see that."

"You had better," she replied with a smirk. "It's the least you can do, after today."

"It's pretty fortunate that we were here when we were," Serena added. "If we had been here a couple days earlier, we'd have missed you completely. That's quite a coincidence, huh?"

Brock smirked, swallowing a bite of his meal. "Oh, yeah. Complete and total coincidence, there."

Ash blinked at this, taking a second to parse his response before grinning. "Wait… you planned this out, didn't you? You made sure we would be here now when we were planning our journey! You sly dog!"

Brock chuckled in response. "I was going to bring everyone to the festival tomorrow. Seeing Misty there was supposed to be a surprise, but, well. You know."

"Yeah…" Ash rubbed the back of his head, a bit embarrassed. "Sorry that your surprise got ruined, Misty."

"Don't worry about it, Ash. It was worth it to see the look on Siebold's face when he lost." She stood up, grabbing her empty plate. "I'm going to grab some more food, hold on."

As they watched her turn and walk away toward the buffet, Serena suddenly stood up, quickly grabbing her own plate as well. "I will too, actually. I'll be just a minute." She quickly walked off after Misty, hoping that the others at the table couldn't see how full her plate was. Unfortunately for her, all three of them noticed.

Ash turned in his seat, watching her walk off. "She's not actually getting more food, is she?"

"I doubt it," Iris answered. "She wants to talk to Misty about something, I'm guessing."

"Yeah, but about what?"

"Probably you," Brock suggested.

"Definitely you," Iris reaffirmed, reaching out and grabbing another piece of fried calamari from a basket on the table. Ash kept watching Serena as she caught up to Misty, not sure he liked the sound of that.

Over at the buffet table, Misty reached out for a pair of tongs, ready to fill her plate up again. She turned her head as she noticed someone taking a position right next to her, seeing Serena halfheartedly scanning the selection.

She smirked a bit, glancing down at Serena's mostly full plate. "Going for more, huh?"

"Ah… yeah, just a little." Serena quickly grabbed the first thing she saw in front of her, a bit embarrassed that her cover story seemed to have fooled nobody. "I was kind of wondering, actually…"

"Hm?"

"Well… earlier today, while you were training with Ash, you were so…" Serena took a moment to find the right word. "Different, from now. You were…"

Misty grinned, knowing what she was getting at and how much trouble she was having getting there. "I was tearing him apart?"

Serena sighed in relief. "Yes, that. And now you're being as friendly and kind as anyone. Was all that just an act, or…"

Misty shook her head. "No, that's not an act." She reached out and grabbed some more food, placing it on her plate. "That's just me when I'm upset at someone. I don't like to mince words. And I was pretty peeved at him for blowing his Gym Battle like I was told he did."

"I see…" Serena nodded. "Ash didn't seem very hurt by it when I talked to him. Or surprised."

"Oh, Ash knows exactly who I am." Misty moved along the buffet line, and Serena followed. "He knows I know how to get through to him. He just needs some tough love sometimes."

Serena nodded, her mind bringing her back to her first journey through Kalos, where she had pelted Ash with snowballs to try and get him out of his funk after a bad loss. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

"Do you?" Misty turned back toward her, eyebrows raised, intrigued by this comment. "How long have you been traveling with him?"

"Oh, well…" Serena looked down, flushing a little, realizing she'd given herself away. "Right now, it's only been a few weeks, but years ago we were traveling together for a while… we were each doing different things, but…"

Misty watched Serena's face as she recounted her original adventures with Ash, seeing her sheepish expression, and the light blush that appeared in her cheeks. Her eyes widened as she managed to put the pieces together. "Wait… are you two…"

Serena's blush deepened, but a smile started spreading across her face as well. "We… might be? We haven't really talked about it yet…"

"Oh wow…" Misty muttered, practically stunned, her mind having trouble with the idea of Ash being with anyone, let alone the attractive girl she was talking to now. "Ash is really punching above his weight, huh?"

Serena's eyebrows shot upward at this comment. "Wha… no, he's not!" She quickly turned back toward Misty, shocked to hear her say something like this about Ash.

Misty's expression quickly turned to surprise, then guilt, as she realized that she had accidentally spoken her inner thoughts out loud. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that…"

"I thought you two were friends?"

"We are, really!" Misty held up her hands reflexively. "He's one of my best friends, honest. It's just…" She sighed, lowering her hands and looking down, turning away a bit, clearly chastened. "Ash was a different person when I knew him, I guess. He was kind of immature… lazy… he didn't think things through very often. It's hard for me not to think of him that way."

Serena calmed herself a bit, still defensive, but a little more understanding. "Well, he's changed a lot since then, clearly."

"I'm sure he has," Misty responded. "But still, whenever I think about him, I can't help but think of that hopeless dork from Pallet Town who destroyed my bike."

Serena blinked. "Wait, he did what?"

"It's a long story." Misty looked back upward. "But he's also selfless… brave… always does the right thing… he has the biggest heart of anyone I've ever met." She turned back toward Serena, smiling now. "If he treats you half as well as he treats his Pokémon, I think you'll be really happy."

Serena smiled back warmly, no longer upset, glad to hear such kind words and feeling like she understood their relationship a bit better. "I hope so."

The two of them continued talking, starting to share stories about Ash, as they made their way back to the table, where he was waiting nervously.

The following morning, Ash, Serena, Iris and Brock found themselves sitting in the middle of a large audience, with Pikachu and Axew seated on their respective trainers' laps, all of them waiting for the Water Festival to begin. All of them were indoors, in a large open venue with a giant pool in the center, clearly designed for water-based performances; an enormous bay window gave a clear view of the harbor outside. Six raised platforms were lining either side of the pool, each one about twenty feet in the air at their tallest; from the looks of them, they had been built recently and were not normally part of the building.

The crowd mumbled to itself, waiting for the festivities to begin, when the sound of orchestral music suddenly rent the air, causing half the crowd to fall silent and the other half to cheer. As a brash and energetic piece began to play, the sound of churning machinery could be heard from the raised platforms. Seconds later, a trainer slowly began to emerge from each one, rising up from a hole in the bottom. Soon, six trainers were standing tall above the crowd, all of them male, and all of them dressed to swim.

Ash grinned wide as he looked from one trainer to the next, wondering if there were any that he knew. He quickly recognized the masked and heavyset Crasher Wake, who was the leader of the Pastoria City Gym in Sinnoh. Seconds later, he also spotted the former Hoenn League champion, Wallace, standing tall above many of the others trainers; judging from the cheers and delighted shrieks from the audience, Ash was not the only one to recognize him. After a bit of prolonged applause, the audience collectively turned its attention back toward ground level, where Siebold was standing on the opposite end of the pool, holding a microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for coming to the opening festivities of the third annual Shalour City Water Festival!" he announced, more excited and energetic than Ash had heard him yet. "This is always my favorite event of the year, and what better way to kick it off than with a stunning group performance from the most talented Water-type trainers?"

The crowd cheered once again, excited, as the six featured trainers reached for Poké Balls attached to their belts and brought out two Water-type Pokémon each, of all different shapes and sizes. Seconds later, all six trainers dove into the water, their Pokémon following behind them.

"Now that you've seen our dashing men, let's bring out our lovely ladies as well!" Siebold announced, as the machinery in the platforms began to whir once again. As six more swimsuit-clad trainers emerged, Ash and his friends quickly spotted Misty on the farthest platform on the left, and began to cheer raucously for her; they could see her smiling wide as the cheers hit her ears, but she kept her gaze forward in a professional manner. Looking around quickly, Ash was also able to spot Cissy, a Gym Leader from the Orange Islands, as well as Maya, the Sea Priestess from the Johto region.

Just like their male counterparts, each of the trainers retrieved two Poké Balls attached to their suits and brought out two Pokémon each. Misty had summoned Staryu and Starmie, two of her most elegant Pokémon, and she grinned and watched them as they flew around her in circles for a moment. After a moment, all six of them dove gracefully into the pool with their Pokémon, forming a circle with the men when they emerged.

The orchestral music swelled as the performance began, with the trainers swimming gracefully through the water, as their Pokémon either swam with them, flew through the air, or caused the water around them to churn, rise and dance. As all twelve dancers posed around an impromptu yet intricate fountain that the Pokémon had created, the crowd burst into applause once again. Ash quickly glanced over at his friends, wanting to make sure they were enjoying themselves. All of them seemed enraptured, amazed by the performance happening in front of them; Serena looked both delighted and contemplative, wondering if there was some way to incorporate anything like this into her own routines.

Moments later, the music changed to something a bit more subdued and legato, as the trainers and all their Pokémon disappeared under the water, preparing for the next part of the performance. As they swam, the audience watched as a thick, enormous pane of glass slowly slid out from the ground, eventually covering the entire pool from corner to corner. They started to murmur, curious, wondering how in the world this glass pane factored into the show.

Looking deeper into the pool, Ash watched as the trainers started to swim upward once again, one at a time, with Wallace leading the charge. As he reached the surface, a loud crack rang out through the venue as his head bashed painfully into the glass; this was quickly followed by three more cracks, as the next three trainers also slammed their heads into the glass pane. The audience gasped at this, murmuring more loudly, starting to realize that this was not part of the performance.

As Siebold ran back out toward the pool, yelling in confusion, Misty and the other trainers started pounding their fists against the glass, trying somehow to move or dislodge it. They had their heads tilted at unnatural angles, as they tried to breathe in the very thin layer of air between the glass and the surface of the water. They looked out toward the ceiling, or the audience, or Siebold, hoping that someone knew what was going on, or how to fix whatever had happened. None of them noticed the long, wide, snake-like tubes that were emerging from the sides of the pool, winding their way toward their Pokémon, who were also starting to beat against the glass.

As Siebold tried to petition the audience to not panic, the strange tubes started making a muffled but high-pitched whirring sound, not unlike the sound of a vacuum cleaner. They began sucking up the Pokémon in the water, swallowing them up one by one, each Pokémon fighting fruitlessly against the suction before disappearing into the tubes. The trainers all yelped as the tubes worked, some of them fighting to keep their Pokémon from being sucked in, while others had to struggle to not be caught up in the tubes themselves, or to keep their swimsuits on.

Less than ten seconds later, all of the Pokémon in the pool had been consumed by the tubes, which retracted back into the walls. The audience was on its feet now, clearly panicked, some of them running closer to the pool, while others made for the exit. Ash sprinted down to the edge of the water as fast as he safely could, followed quickly by Serena, Iris and Brock.

"We need to get them out of there!" he exclaimed, racking his brain as he kneeled down at the edge of the pool. "Should we just smash through the glass?" Pikachu hopped off his shoulder and stood at the pool's edge as well, worried and not sure what to do.

"We can't do that!" Serena answered. "We would just fill the pool with broken glass! They'd be cut to ribbons!"

"Guys, stand back!" Iris stepped forward, reaching for one of her Poké Balls, as the others backed away quickly. She tossed it in front of her, and everyone watched as Excadrill emerged, a little confused as to his surroundings.

"Excadrill, use your head to carve out a hole in the glass! Be careful, don't break it!" Excadrill nodded, kneeling at the edge of the pool and touching the metal tip of the blade on his forehead to the glass, starting to carve out a semicircle. The four friends watched as he worked carefully; with as thick as the glass was, it would take several minutes for him to carve out an escape route.

"Why is this happening?" Serena wondered aloud, worried, watching the trainers swim around under the glass, trying to find some way out. "Who could have possibly rigged the venue like this?"

"Do you even need to ask?" Brock responded, anger evident in his voice. "Who would go to this much trouble to steal Pokémon?"

Ash began to answer, but he stopped when the already-loud audience let out a collective gasp, as they looked out the enormous bay window. He looked outside, eyes going wide as he saw a large, metallic airship emerging from the bay, a number of propellers and jets pushing it upward. As it turned itself toward the open ocean, they could all see a transparent tank on the back, filled with both water and the Pokémon they had just stolen from the trainers. Soon after, their eyes were drawn to a large red R painted on the side.

"Argh! Team Rocket, again!" Ash gritted his teeth. "I don't believe this! Why can't they just leave us all alone?!"

"They're going to fly away with all the Pokémon!" Brock stepped closer to the edge of the pool, as if he might be able to reach out and grab the airship if he were one foot closer. "We have to get up to that airship, somehow!"

"I have Dragonite and Altaria with me!" Iris glanced down at the Poké Balls on her hip. "Two of us could get up there, but I don't think all four of us can…"

"You two go!" Serena replied, glancing toward Ash and Iris. "You have the strongest Pokémon among us. Brock and I will stay here with Excadrill and the others."

"Got it. Thanks, Serena." Ash nodded at her before turning toward the exit, Pikachu quickly climbing up his side; Iris followed him after handing Axew over to Brock for safekeeping. Running outside as quickly as they could, it took them a couple of minutes to get on the other side of the building. By that time, the airship had fully emerged from the water and was starting to fly away, albeit at a slow pace.

"Dragonite, Altaria, let's go!" Iris called out, tossing out their Poké Balls and summoning both Pokémon. "Get us onto that airship!" She leaped up onto Dragonite's back, arms wrapped lightly around his neck, as Ash and Pikachu climbed carefully onto Altaria. The two Pokémon quickly took off, flying the pair closer to the airship as it retreated.

Ash and Iris watched the vehicle carefully as they approached, worried that some sort of defense system might be in place. Sure enough, after a few seconds, four snake-like, metallic arms emerged from the ship's hull, each one brandishing an air bazooka like they had seen before. The trainers gripped their Pokémon carefully, ready to evade at a moment's notice, but all four of the arms started firing air blasts forward instead. Leaning in a bit, Ash was able to see a handful of Ace Patrol members near the front of the ship, dodging the air blasts and trying to use their Pokémon to disable the ship's propellers, to no avail. Seeing their opportunity to get on board, Ash and Iris flew right up against the main body of the airship, finding a large door right on the side.

"Altaria, freeze the door!" Iris called out, yelling as loud as she could in order to be heard over the din of the propellers. "Dragonite, bust it open with Dragon Pulse!"

Altaria cawed in response, inhaling a deep breath before expelling an icy mist from its mouth directly at the door, freezing its hinges. Dragonite followed up by firing off a Dragon Pulse, which slammed into the door and shattered the hinges, blasting it off the side of the ship entirely; Dragonite and Altaria had to quickly move out of the way to avoid it. Once the way was clear, the two trainers flew closer, carefully boarding the airship one at a time.

"Altaria, stay outside and stay close, in case we need to make a quick exit," Iris commanded, bringing Dragonite back to his Poké Ball. Altaria cawed affirmatively, as the two teenagers ran further inside.

In the cockpit of the airship, two adult trainers were watching with amusement as the Ace Patrol tried and failed to stop their escape. They all had their own Flying-type Pokémon out, and were attempting over and over to perform some high-damage moves, but the air cannons were keeping all of them on their toes, never giving them enough time to do what they needed to do.

"And to think I was worried about these guys." One of the trainers, a tall, green-haired man clad in black, watched as one of the Ace Patrol members was blasted away for the fifth time. "They're just flying around helplessly like a bunch of idiots."

"They should have known better than to tangle with us," spoke the other, a slightly shorter woman with golden hair, which was tied back into two long pigtails. "We're twice as clever as the other idiots that have been sent to Kalos."

"You think we should do something about those two kids who got on board?"

"Don't worry about that," the woman responded. "I've locked all the doors except for the ones that lead to us. They'll be coming this way any second now. Then we'll get to show them what's what." Less than thirty seconds later, the two heard a pair of footsteps approaching from behind, and the woman smirked. "Right on cue…"

Moments later, Ash and Iris finally made their way into the cockpit. Their eyes quickly homed in on the two figures standing at the controls, and Ash began to speak almost reflexively, in a commanding voice.

"Alright, you two…" He cut himself off as his brain properly processed the pair of trainers he was looking at, realizing that they weren't who he was expecting. His eyes widened as the two turned around, both of them grinning as they saw the confusion on his face.

"What, were you expecting someone else?" the woman asked.

"It's… you two?!" he exclaimed, recognizing them after a second. "Cassidy and Hutch?!"

The man growled, instantly becoming irritated. "It's Butch, you little brat! You've had enough practice saying it by now!"

"Ash, who are these guys?" Iris asked, her eyes darting back and forth between Ash and the foes in front of her. "Are they with Team Rocket, too?"

"Yeah, they are, but what are they doing here?" Ash stepped forward. "What about Jessie and James? Are they part of this whole heist, too?"

Cassidy laughed, more than eager to break the news that Ash clearly hadn't heard. "You'd rather be dealing with those losers, huh? Well, too bad. They haven't been a part of Team Rocket in years!"

"What?!" Ash and Iris exclaimed in unison, eyes wide. "But…"

Butch chuckled. "They finally got the boot after screwing things up for the thousandth time. The boss decided he'd rather send someone competent to Kalos, so here we are."

Ash gritted his teeth, reaching for one of the Poké Balls at his side. "Well, I don't care who he sends out! Nobody's getting away with these Pokémon!" Iris did the same, pressing the button on the front of her ball to enlarge it.

"You can try to stop us if you want," Cassidy replied, reaching down and grabbing two Poké Balls from her belt. "But don't expect a fair fight!" She tossed both balls in front of her, releasing a growling, canine Houndoom and a tall, orange Charizard. Butch did the same, bringing out the wolf-like Mightyena and an enormous, armored Aggron, which nearly tilted the airship off course as its massive frame began to weigh on it.

Both Ash and Iris took a reflexive step back, not having expected so many powerful Pokémon. After taking a second to steel themselves, Ash threw his own Poké Ball into the cockpit, summoning Snivy into the arena. Iris tossed out two of her own, bringing out her Dragonite, as well as the tall, black-and-red Garchomp.

Butch laughed. "That's the best you've got, huh? This won't take long." He stepped forward, pointing dramatically at the teenagers' Pokémon. "Aggron, Mightyena, attack!"

All four trainers took several steps back, as the cockpit became the scene of an all-out brawl. The seven Pokémon all dashed into each other at once, hitting with as much force as they could, their trainers trying to end the battle as quickly and decisively as possible. Despite the strength and skill of Ash and Iris's Pokémon, however, they didn't stand much of a chance when outnumbered by equally powerful foes.

Mightyena was the first to go down, felled by Snivy and Garchomp working together, but a powerful Flamethrower attack from Charizard took Snivy out almost immediately afterward. Soon after that, Dragonite went all in on a Hyper Beam attack that knocked out Charizard, and nearly took out the cockpit's control panel as well. The blast left him too drained to continue defending himself, however, and Aggron made quick work of Dragonite with a flurry of physical attacks. Iris's Garchomp stood no chance against the combined might of Houndoom and Aggron, and it wasn't long before he was knocked out as well.

Butch and Cassidy grinned wide, highly pleased with themselves, as Ash and Iris returned all of their Pokémon to their Poké Balls. Aggron and Houndoom were both somewhat winded, but still capable of battling, and certainly capable of inflicting some punishment on the two trainers standing before them.

"You thought you two and your puny assault would be enough to take us down, hm?" Cassidy taunted. "You should have stayed back down on the ground. You're not going to like what happens next."

She stepped a bit closer, trying to be menacing and wanting to get a glimpse of the fear on their faces. She paused, eyebrows raising, when she saw the expressions that they were wearing. Neither of them looked very surprised by their loss; it almost seemed as if they were pleased by what had just happened.

"What… what are you two being so smug about?" There was both confusion and concern in her voice as she spoke.

Ash smirked at her as he put his Poké Ball away. "It's because we're not the assault."

"Huh?" Butch took a few paces forward, equally confused.

Iris grinned wide, pleased to see the tables being turned. "We're the distraction."

Cassidy's eyes shot open wide, trying to figure out what these two could have been distracting them from. It was then that she noticed for the first time that something was missing, as she looked over the two trainers, Ash in particular.

"Wait… where's your Pikachu?!"

Moments later, as if to answer her question, a loud explosion rang out from elsewhere in the ship, close to one of the propellers. The entire airship began to tilt to one side, pitching forward slightly, aiming itself toward the bay.

"Gah! What's going on?! What did you do?!" Butch demanded, before turning back toward the control console. As he tried desperately to correct the ship's course, the sound of crunching metal could be heard above them, just as the ceiling of the cockpit collapsed. Everyone jumped backward to avoid the falling debris, watching as pieces of the ceiling fell down and hit the floor, followed by an oil-stained Pikachu, who landed painfully on his back.

"You little…!" Cassidy clenched her fists, turning toward her Houndoom. "Get that miserable little rat! Fire Fang, now!"

"Pikachu! Use Thunder Bolt!" Ash shot back. Pikachu quickly turned around and got to his feet, letting out a loud cry as his electricity shocked both Aggron and Houndoom, as well as Butch and Cassidy, knocking them all off their feet.

"Happy landings, guys!" Iris taunted, as she started to run away, back toward the door where they had broken in. Ash quickly scooped up Pikachu and followed her, running past an air vent that the two of them had pried open to get Pikachu further inside the airship. Cassidy started to run after them, but another explosion tilted the airship once again, knocking her off balance and slamming her into a wall. Groaning, she stood back up and ran back to the console, working with Butch in a futile effort to get the vessel back on course.

It wasn't long before Ash and Iris were back at the door they had forced open, and Iris stuck her head outside, putting two fingers in her mouth and whistling for Altaria to return. The bird Pokémon approached seconds later, flying close to the door and holding herself in place. Iris quickly jumped out the door and onto Altaria's back, before turning toward Ash and motioning for him to do the same.

Pikachu leaped out first, grabbing onto the fluffy white feathers that surrounded Altaria's body before scrambling into a better position. Ash grabbed onto the doorframe, taking note of the space left on Iris's Pokémon and getting ready to jump. Just before he leaped, however, the airship lurched once again, and he ended up tumbling out of the doorway instead.

"No! Ash!" Iris cried out, reaching out and firmly grabbing one of his hands with both of hers, stopping his fall; Altaria squawked and flapped wildly, trying to right herself as Ash threatened to pull her down. Iris strained to pull Ash up, trying to grab at his wrist, but his hand was now covered in some of the oil that was on Pikachu's fur, and it was hard to keep a tight grip. He quickly slipped out of her grasp, and he began to plummet toward the water hundreds of feet below.

Ash looked upward as Iris and Altaria as he fell, able to hear her shriek as she lost her grip on him. She quickly tried to steer downward, hoping in vain that she could catch him a second time, but there was no way Altaria could catch up in the short amount of time before he painfully hit the water. As his mind ran through the zero options he had to save himself, he felt the wind being knocked out of him as he landed on something large and scaly, rolling down its long body until he came to rest in a U-shaped bend. He quickly wrapped his arms around its body, not caring what it was, before looking up and finding himself on the back of a Gyarados. He looked around for a moment before glancing back down toward the ground, where he could see Misty running along the shore, looking relieved as her gaze met his. He grinned wide and waved to her, calling out a "thank you" that he knew she couldn't hear, as Serena and Brock started catching up to her.

With Ash safe and sound on Gyarados's back, everyone turned their attention toward the airship, which was now doomed to crash into the bay. Another explosion, close to the rear of the ship, finally managed to crack the large water tank on the rear, and water and Pokémon started to spill out of it, falling toward the bay at an alarming speed. Despite all of them being Water-types, they were certain to have a painful landing as they hit the surface of the water.

"Gyarados, use Waterfall!" Ash heard Misty shouting at the top of her lungs. Her Pokémon roared and surged forward, eyes glowing as Ash clung on for dear life, and a pillar of water shot out of the ocean, directly underneath the formerly captive Pokémon. Each one landed in the rising water, swimming down through the pillar and safely into the ocean waters below, as Ash breathed a sigh of relief.

As everyone watched the last Pokémon make its way out of the tank and down to safety, a large projectile suddenly shot forward out of the front of the airship. It hit the surface of the water and sped along the top of it for a few seconds, just long enough for Ash to recognize it as some sort of submarine, before it disappeared underwater and out of sight. He frowned, realizing that it must have been Butch and Cassidy making their escape; he was hoping he wouldn't have to deal with them again, but he was certain now that he would, knowing his rotten luck.

With its captains gone, the airship finally crashed into the water, sending a fairly tall wave out in all directions, which slammed into the shores of Shalour City and splashed the hundreds of people who had come to watch the action unfold. The flying members of the Ace Patrol hovered around the vessel as it began to sink into the water, no longer appearing to pose any sort of danger, but definitely posing a large mess that the city was going to have to clean up eventually.

With the danger finally passed, Misty's Gyarados flew back down toward the shore, alongside a very relieved Iris and her Altaria. The Pokémon hovered a few feet off the ground, letting Ash slide off and onto his feet again. As soon as he landed, he was assaulted by a pair of arms and a shock of honey-blonde hair, nearly knocking him off his feet again.

"Don't you scare me like that!" Serena scolded, holding him as tightly as she could, her angry tone cut by the clear relief in her voice. "I thought you were done for!"

"Sorry, sorry…" he replied, holding her gently but awkwardly, trying not to touch her and get oil on her dress. "I'm fine, Serena, I promise."

"Of course you are," Misty followed up, both relieved and exasperated as she returned Gyarados to his Poké Ball. "The only thing stranger than how you keep getting into trouble is how you keep getting away without a scratch." She sighed, smiling as her Staryu and Starmie flew over to her, and she reached out and held both of them to her happily. "Still, thank you for saving all those Pokémon. You too, Iris."

"Of course," Iris responded, accepting her Axew back from Brock and holding him tightly to her, Pikachu resting on her shoulder and waiting for his opportunity to rejoin Ash. "We've never let those jerks ruin our journey before, and we're not going to start now."

"You'd think they would learn to leave us alone by now," Brock grumbled. "I guess they wouldn't be Jessie and James if they were able to learn from their failures."

"That's just it, though!" Ash exclaimed, as Serena finally let him go and stepped back. "It wasn't Jessie and James this time! It was Butch and Cassidy!"

"What?! Are you kidding?!" Misty exclaimed. "They're here, too? We have to deal with two Team Rockets now?"

"Wait, what?" Serena responded, confused, looking back and forth between Ash and Misty. "Who are they? What's going on?"

Ash sighed and began to explain what had happened in the airship, Pikachu climbing up into his arms, as all of them started walking back indoors. As they walked, a number of police boats zoomed out toward the slowly sinking airship, the officers wondering how in the world they were going to get this giant hunk of metal out of the bay.

Later that afternoon, the whole group was standing at the edge of town, with everyone but Misty set to depart. The city was still abuzz with the events of the day, with hundreds of residents and tourists sitting and watching as Team Rocket's ship was slowly towed back toward land.

"I'd love to keep traveling with you guys, but I'm still needed here for the Water Festival," Misty explained. "The opening ceremonies are cancelled, but everything else is still on. Plus, I'll have to get back to my gym before too long."

Brock nodded. "Makes sense. Still, it was great to see you again. I'll have to stop by the next time I'm back in Kanto."

"You had better," she replied, grinning at him. "So where are you guys going next?"

"Our next stop is in Brackish Town," Serena answered. "There's going to be a showcase there."

"Brackish Town… that means you'll have to travel through the Reflection Cave, right?" Misty responded. "Be careful in there. I hear the Reflection Cave is in a 'bad mood' these days, whatever that means."

"Huh." Ash raised an eyebrow curiously. "Well, we'll be careful, I promise. I'm not going to let some dumb cave stop me before I can enter the Kalos League."

"I hope not." Misty smiled and stepped forward, shaking Serena's hand, then Iris's. "It was great to meet you both. Take care of the boys for me, okay?"

Iris grinned. "We'll try."

Misty smirked before turning toward Brock, standing on her toes and embracing him tightly, as he hugged her back. "Let me know the next time you're in town, Brock."

"I will, don't worry."

She smiled as she let him go, turning toward Ash, yelping a bit as Pikachu leaped into her arms. She laughed as he sat up and licked the tip of her nose affectionately, holding him close. "I'll miss you too, Pikachu. Keep taking care of Ash."

Pikachu nodded affirmatively, turning and climbing back onto his trainer's shoulder, as Misty turned her attention toward Ash. "You better not screw up any more Gym Battles, Ash. I can only bail you out so many times."

"You won't have to do it again, Misty. Those remaining badges are as good as mine." He grinned at her, thankful for all her help. "Are you going to be at the Kalos League?"

She smirked back. "Am I going to have someone there to cheer for?"

"Of course you will!" he answered confidently. "Nothing's going to stop me from winning it all this time."

"Well then, I'll see you there." She smiled wide, stepping forward and hugging him tightly, just as she had Brock. He smiled back, holding her as well, glad to know that the two of them were still as close as they had always been. Just as he started to relax a bit, however, he heard her voice in his ear, quiet but menacing.

"Mess things up with Serena, and I'll come back and kick your butt twice as hard, got it?"

He blinked in surprise, the smile disappearing from his face as she stepped away, smiling warmly at him, as if she hadn't said anything at all.

"Bye, guys!" she exclaimed, waving at them. "Have a great journey!"

Ash took a second to regain his composure, but he was soon smiling back at her. "Bye, Misty! Thanks again!" Everyone else said their goodbyes as well, before turning and starting their walk along Route 11.

"I was skeptical about her at first, but she turned out to be really great," Serena spoke, smiling toward Ash. "I can see why you're such good friends."

"She's a great traveling companion to have," Brock responded. "When we were journeying through Kanto, she helped keep us on track and out of trouble, more than I'd like to admit."

"Really?" Iris spoke up, curious. "What was she like? What sort of stuff did you all do?"

"Hm." Ash rubbed his chin, thinking to himself. "I mean, we did a lot of stuff… there's a lot to talk about."

Serena smirked deviously. "Maybe you can tell us about how you destroyed her bike."

Ash froze, caught completely off guard. "Wh… what? How did you…"

"Wait, what?" Iris grinned wide, her eyes lighting up, hearing the potential for a very entertaining and embarrassing story. "This I have to hear about!"

"It's… it was…" Ash stumbled over his words, his face turning red. "Look, ask Brock. He can tell you about it."

Brock grinned, not about to let Ash off the hook. "I don't know about that. I only heard about it after the fact. You would tell the story way better than I could."

"Well, Ash?" Serena grinned wide, leaning in closer as she walked next to him. "Go ahead. We're waiting."

"No! You can't make me!" he cried out, starting to run ahead of them, as if he could somehow escape his embarrassing past.

Serena laughed. "Ash, get back here!" All of his friends started chasing after him, as they made their way down the road together.