Troublemaker Chapter 1:The Roughneck and the New Girl, a pokémon fanfic

Chapter One: The Roughneck and the New Girl!

Vermilion City, Kanto. Saturday, August 5th.

The Berlitz family's private plane approached Vermilion Interregional Airport, nearing the end of a nearly fifteen hour flight from Sinnoh. It had left Jubilife City's airport around nine o'clock the previous night, though that was local time. The wealthy and influential family had recently decided to depart Sinnoh for sunny and warm Vermilion City, Kanto.

There was a large time difference between the two regions- it was about ten in the morning when they sat down in Kanto. And as such, they were significantly tired. Or, two of the three were, anyway. Going from chilly Jubilife City to a warm, beachfront city like Vermilion would be an adjustment (especially considering that the house they were moving into was formerly just their summer home), but they were confident in their decision.

Malcolm Berlitz was an influential businessman and Pokemon researcher, whilst his wife Johanna was a famous former Contest star- needless to say, both were rather famous in their home region. The near constant harassment from the paparazzi and the media led to the decision to move to Kanto (where they were much less well-known). This was in part to escape their own fame, and also so that their daughter Dawn could go on a Pokemon journey in relative obscurity.

Said daughter was practically glued to the plane window as they sat down. "So this is Vermilion City?" she asked, excitedly. Her Piplup sat in her lap, seeming equally excited. "Yes," Johanna replied. "The last time we were here, you would have been five years old. It's not surprising that you don't remember it."

"So…where are we going to live?" Dawn asked, barely stopping to breathe. Johanna sighed, much too tired to deal with her daughter's usual peppiness at the moment. She started to answer the question, but Malcolm beat her to it. "We have a summer house here," he said. "We haven't really used it in a while, but I recently had it renovated so that we could move into it."

Dawn quickly nodded, going right back to staring out the window as the plane touched down on the runway, signaling that their long journey from Sinnoh was coming to an end at last. As soon as they touched down, their loyal butler Sebastian approached them. "We've landed," he said. "And preparations for departure are being made as we speak."

"Thank you, Sebastian," Malcolm replied. "I want us all to get moved in and settled down as soon as possible." Sebastian nodded. "Yes sir," he said. "I'll get right on that." Malcolm nodded with a smile as Sebastian departed.

The Berlitzes soon made it to their new residence- a large, fancy home that was roughly equivalent in size to the one they'd left behind in Jubilife. Malcolm had a lot of money, and he did not mind spending it- not one bit. Hence the absolutely massive mansion that he was about to move his family into. "This place looks almost as big as our old house," Dawn said, observing it.

"It's bigger, actually," Malcolm said, placing a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "Really?" she asked, sounding surprised. "Believe it or not, it's about twice the size of our old house in Jubilife," Malcolm replied. Dawn's eyes seemed to widen in surprise at that declaration. "Can we go inside now?" she asked, excitedly. Her father nodded. "Sure," he said, producing a key from the pocket of his suit jacket.

The girl smiled widely as the family moved onto the inside of the house, where they were greeted by Sebastian, who'd taken the liberty of having everything moved in and set up whilst Malcolm was getting his family ready and setting up the regular service tune up for the family jet. "Ah, Master Malcolm," he said, briefly tilting his head downwards. "Sebastian," Malcolm replied. "Can you take Dawn to her new bedroom? She's excited to learn about the new house."

Sebastian nodded, turning to Dawn. "Lady Dawn, if you'd follow me," he said, sweeping his arm out in a 'right-this-way' gesture. "Come on, Piplup! Let's go see our new room!" Dawn said, excitedly moving to follow Sebastian. The loyal family butler soon left, leading the hyperactive girl to her new room. As soon as they had departed, both parents breathed a sigh of relief. "That girl is a handful sometimes," Johanna said. "Especially when we haven't slept much in over ten hours."

Malcolm nodded, agreeing with his wife. "Yes. I don't understand her energy sometimes," he said. "Though I'm more worried about how she'll do going to a real school." Johanna's face contorted into a look of surprise. "I forgot about that!" she said, seemingly scared for her daughter's wellbeing. "She's mostly had private tutors…"

"She's gone to school before," Malcolm replied. "She'll be just fine, Johanna. It's natural to be nervous, though."

"Yes, Malcolm, but that was nearly six years ago!" Johanna replied. "And you want to allow her to go on a Pokemon journey once school lets out for the summer!"

"You can't shelter her forever," Malcolm replied. "She needs to interact with the outside world if she's ever going to develop into her own person." Johanna sighed, begrudgingly conceding to her husband's point. "I suppose that's true," she said. "But that doesn't mean that I have to like it!" Malcolm smiled. "That's the spirit!" he said. "Now, I will agree with you on one thing: no boyfriends."

"Most definitely," Johanna said. "She's not ready for something like that. And I don't want her getting into trouble because of some boy!" Malcolm nodded, though he didn't say anything that particular time. He merely smiled, thinking about how much he'd like to scare off any potential suitors. His daughter dating was not something that he particularly liked thinking about- while he'd accepted it as an eventuality that would one day come to pass, he would do his best to make sure that she found a good guy to date. But that didn't mean that he couldn't have a bit of fun messing with the boys that would try to date her in high school, though. She wasn't an adult yet, after all.

Monday, August 7th, 7 AM.

Dawn woke up bright and early, putting on her new school uniform. She was due to attend West Vermilion High School, which was going to be a fairly different environment than what she was used to- her wealthy parents had mostly had her homeschooled through private tutors. She had not attended an actual school since she was in the fifth grade, and here she was, a high school senior.

Her Piplup watched her curiously as she stepped out of her bedroom's adjoined bathroom, having just finished combing and brushing her hair. "Morning, Piplup!" she said. "It's my first day at a regular school!"

The Penguin Pokemon looked at her with a confused look on his face, not really knowing what he was supposed to do with that information. "Whoops. I forget that you're a Pokemon, and you don't have to deal with school," she said. "I've got to go. I'll be back later." Piplup nodded, moving back to the pool that Dawn's father had set up for him. Dawn smiled at him before grabbing her backpack and heading downstairs to meet with her mom. Johanna noticed her as soon as she entered the living room. "Are you ready?" she asked. "We need to get you to school before you're late."

Dawn nodded. "No breakfast?" she asked, surprised. "No time," Johanna replied. "You need to be there by eight, and it's going to take us almost forty five minutes to drive there. I didn't get up early enough to make any."

Dawn nodded. "Okay. Then we can leave now," she said. Johanna nodded in response. "Come on, then," she said, producing her car keys. "Let's go." Dawn nodded again, following her mom out to the car, which was parked in the drive. "Did dad have the cars shipped all the way here from Sinnoh?" she asked, upon catching sight of her mother's expensive sports car. "Yes," Johanna said. "He decided that it would be better to move ours here than to buy new ones. You know how he is about his car collection."

Dawn smiled and nodded. "Yeah," she said. "He really, really likes them. So why can't I learn to drive yet?" Johanna sighed, not wanting to have this particular argument again. "We've talked about this," she said, shifting her car into reverse. "Why?" Dawn asked, as her mother began backing out of their driveway.

"Because you aren't ready," Johanna replied. "And you're going to go on a Pokemon journey as soon as the summer starts." Dawn rolled her eyes, not really sure how that was a proper justification. Johanna caught that, but decided to let it go- she didn't want to argue over that too. "You're not ready," she said, "and that's final."

Dawn sighed and turned towards the window, electing not to speak to her mother for the rest of the ride to the school.

In different part of Vermilion City…

Ash Ketchum awoke, sighing as he did so. He was chafing under his current surroundings, even though he had moved here with his dad two years ago. Sighing, he threw his bedsheets off and rolled out of it. He spared a brief glance at the scratched up Poke Ball laying on his dresser. "We'll get some exercise later, Greninja," he thought. He let out a deep breath and then rounded on his heel, throwing on some clothes for school.

While his school technically had a uniform, it was not mandatory, and was more a relic of a previous era. Not that Ash and his friends much cared about that- he wasn't sure if it was possible for him to care any less about that.

He slipped his shoes on and headed downstairs, looking for his dad. All he found, however, was his equally rebellious girlfriend, Serena. She was, again, not wearing her proper school uniform, though Ash couldn't find it in himself to care. "Where's my dad?" he asked, grabbing a bowl so that he could have some cereal. "He left already," Serena said. "He said that we're just gonna have to walk to school."

Ash rolled his eyes, not bothering to hide his annoyance. "Why does he always do this?" he muttered. "I don't know," Serena replied. "But he has been particularly annoyed ever since we came to Vermilion, and that was two years ago." Ash rolled his eyes again. "Because we should still be in Viridian," he replied. "You know that there's a very good reason we aren't in Viridian City any more," Serena said. Ash nodded, finally filling his bowl with cereal.

"Don't remind me," he said, reaching for the milk. Serena nodded, watching him. "I'm going upstairs to change," she said. "Hurry up and finish that. We have to be at school in about twenty minutes."

Ash nodded, though he still didn't really care. The unspoken thought that going to school was the only thing that they could do right now rubbed him entirely the wrong way, given that it was a reminder of his past screwups, but he decided to ignore it. Serena returned a short while later, wearing a pair of torn jeans, a black tank top, and a denim vest. The flame tattoos on her arms were clearly visible. "You know, the school isn't gonna like you being dressed like that," he said. "Your tattoos are showing."

Serena laughed at that. "I don't care," she said. "They're probably not gonna like me having these red highlights, either." Ash chuckled in return as both gathered their supplies together and made their way towards their school. Ash and Serena soon stood outside West Vermilion High School, where they were due to start their senior year. So…are we ready to go in?" Serena asked, as the two approached the building. "Not really," Ash said, "but we've got to anyway."

The blonde-haired girl nodded. "Right. Your dad would kill us if we skipped the first day at school," she said. Ash nodded, thinking about what her mom would think of her doing that, but quickly discarded that thought. "What are you smirking about?" Serena asked. "Just thinking about what your mom would say about you suggesting that," Ash replied. Serena laughed. "Ash, my mom literally disowned me," she said. "Who cares what she thinks."

Ash nodded. "That's what the smirk was for," he said. "Because we don't have to see her ever again." Serena nodded, gently taking his hand in hers. Ash smiled at her, and they finally headed inside the school. Neither particularly wanted to go inside, but did so anyway. As soon as they'd stepped inside, they noticed a blue-haired girl standing just inside, looking around as if she was lost. "I don't remember her from last year," Ash said, noting her neatly ironed school uniform. "She must be new," Serena replied. "She's wearing the uniform. Almost no one bothers with it."

Ash nodded. "Yeah. She has to be new," he said. Serena nodded as they watched the girl, who was fruitlessly trying to get someone's attention as everyone walked by, funneling themselves to their classes. She soon noticed them, however, and headed over. "Hi!" she said. "I'm new around here."

Ash nodded in acknowledgement, though he was a bit annoyed by the girl's cheerfulness. Nonetheless, he forced himself to be polite. At least some of what his mother had taught him had stuck. "That's right," he said, trying to imitate his brother as much as he could. "My name is Dawn," the girl said. "What's yours?" she asked, holding out her hand. "The name's Ash," he replied, holding back his sharp tongue. "And this is my girlfriend Serena."

Dawn nodded, looking them both over. "What grade are you guys in?" she asked. "We're both seniors," Serena said, hoping to get out of this conversation as soon as possible. "Do you know your teacher's name?" Dawn asked. "Blackthorne," Ash replied, thinking back to the schedule he and Serena had been given.

"Oh! Then we'll have the same homeroom!" Dawn said. "Since you guys seem to know where you're going, could you show me how to get there?" she asked. Ash and Serena shared an eye roll, but Dawn did not seem to notice. "Can this girl possibly get any more annoying?" Serena whispered. Her boyfriend sighed, a noise somewhere between exasperation and mystification, with a dash of annoyance thrown in. "I don't know," he whispered back, after a few moments. "Let's hope she can at least be useful."

Serena nodded, before turning to Dawn. "We'll lead you to Mr. Blackthorne's room," she said. "Come on. Before we're late." Dawn nodded gratefully, a smile forming on her face. "Thanks," she said. Ash smiled back, forcing himself to remain polite. "You're welcome," he said. Dawn nodded cheerfully, and stepped back to let them lead the way. They stepped inside Mr. Blackthorn's classroom soon afterwards, and immediately locked eyes with him. Blackthorne sighed with a 'not you again' look on his face. Ash and Serena ignored him in favor of talking to Dawn again.

"So, this is our homeroom," Ash said. "We'll come here at the beginning and end of each day." Dawn nodded, eagerly absorbing that information. "Alright," she said. "Do we just sit anywhere?" Ash nodded, though he said nothing- he immediately moved to scan the room for potential threats- an old habit of his. It wasn't until he felt Serena's hand on his shoulder that he remembered where he was. Dawn had a concerned look on her face. "Are you okay?" she asked. Ash nodded. "Yeah," he said. "I just spaced out a bit."

Dawn seemed to buy the lie, hiding his real intentions. He didn't want to have to explain his and Serena's past to a total stranger. "You don't want to tell her that you're a hardened criminal…." Ash thought. He quickly banished said thought, though, and moved towards an empty desk. Serena moved to follow him, though they soon found themselves interrupted by Dawn again. "So…do you guys have any friends?" she asked.

Ash nodded. "Yeah," he said. "Most of them have a different homeroom, though." Dawn nodded, accepting the answer as she moved to sit down next to them. They failed to notice the brown-haired boy watching them from a couple rows behind them. "Could they be…?" he thought. "Nah. That's too obvious…."

Soon enough, though, the rest of the class funneled in, and the teacher took his place at the front of the classroom. "Hello, class!" the man said. "As most of you know, I am Mr. Blackthorne," he said, "though you can call me Reggie."

Ash briefly made eye contact with the man, who immediately recognized him- and a 'not you again' look crossed his face. Ash smirked, though he didn't have much time to savor his teacher's annoyance, as the man's annoyed look faded as quickly as it had appeared. He briefly spared a glance to Serena, who was making an effort to pay attention. He'd sworn to protect her above all else- she was the most important thing in his life.

"We've got some new students this year!" Mr. Blackthorne continued, catching the class' attention. Ash's eyes narrowed- he'd only met one new student. He was quite curious about the others. "Will Dawn Berlitz, Nate Black, and Rosa White please come to the front of the class?" Mr. Blackthorne asked. The indicated students nodded, making their way up to the front of the room, where Mr. Blackthorne awaited them. "Go ahead and introduce yourselves," he said. "We'd all like to know a bit about you guys." All three teens nodded, glancing out at the rest of the class. Twenty students sat watching, wondering what their new classmates would say.

Dawn chose to go first, speaking up. "Hi!" she said. "My name is Dawn Berlitz, and I've just moved to Vermilion City. I'm ready to experience it!" "Thank you for that, Miss Berlitz," Mr. Blackthorne said. Dawn nodded with a smile as he moved on to the next two students (also wearing the uniform). Ash sighed to himself, wondering just who they were. In contrast, Serena seemed to be focusing intently on the two new students standing next to Dawn, as if she was trying to identify them. Ash wasn't sure what she was trying to do, but resolved not to interrupt her.

He resumed paying attention himself as the second of the new students, Nate Black, began to speak. "Hi, there guys," he said. "My name is Nate Black, and I've also just moved to Vermilion alongside my friend here." The class seemed to give a collective nod of acknowledgement as he gestured to Rosa while saying that. Rosa herself remained silent, politely waiting for her friend to finish speaking. As soon as he had, she introduced herself. "My name's Rosa White," she said. "And I came to Vermilion with my friend Nate. We're looking forward to being here."

Again, the class seemed to give them a collective nod as Mr. Blackthorne stepped up beside them. "Thank you for that," he said. "You may return to your seats now." The trio nodded, moving to do so as Blackthorne moved to the center of the white board, preparing to speak once again. Ash noticed Nate spare a glance his way as he headed back to his seat- and his eyes narrowed.

"Why's he looking at me and Serena like that?" he thought, hoping that this would not lead to a fight. Fortunately for the both of them, Nate soon stopped looking their way and moved back to his seat, soon followed by Rosa. Serena soon nudged Ash's arm to catch his attention. "Something about Nate and Rosa is bugging me…" she whispered.

Ash nodded. "Me too. They seem oddly familiar…." he whispered back. "But I can't place them from anywhere in particular…" Serena nodded, but refrained from speaking again. Ash took the hint and returned to paying attention- no sense getting in trouble with Mr. Blackthorne on the first day of school. They'd definitely gotten in enough trouble over the two years that they'd gone to school here. In the back row, Nate leaned towards Rosa. "Those two sitting next to Dawn…" he whispered, "just might be the two we're looking for…"

"Pssh…that'd be entirely too obvious," Rosa whispered in reply. "Why would they be here, of all places?" Nate sighed, acquiescing. "I'll accept that theory, for now," he whispered. "But we're gonna investigate this later…."

Rosa nodded, but didn't reply in favor of resuming paying attention to their homeroom teacher, who had just begun to speak once again. "So," Blackthorne began, "there won't be a whole lot of work to do since this is the first day." The class collectively nodded. "But we will be taking a Trainer Aptitude Test," he continued. "I have been informed that if you do well on this test, then you could go a long way towards earning your Pokemon Trainer's License."

The class seemed thoroughly intrigued by that possibility, particularly Ash and Serena. "Serena, that means…" Ash whispered. "I know," she whispered back. "It's our ticket to becoming Trainers again!"

Ash nodded, redirecting his attention to Mr. Blackthorne's presentation. A couple of rows behind them, Nate eyed them with suspicion. "They couldn't be….could they?" he thought, still trying to perform a bit of mental math regarding them. Mr. Blackthorne soon handed out the tests, giving one to each student in the room. When he had finished that, he returned to the front of the classroom to explain. "How this works is simple," he said. "You'll fill out that form, and based on your results, will have a shot at earning your Trainer's License."

His students nodded and got to work filling out their tests, each of them intending to fill out their form and earn the right to become a Pokemon Trainer, the goal of many youths in Kanto, and indeed, the world.

Homeroom ended not long after everyone had finished their aptitude tests, and each student made their way to their first period class. Ash found himself sharing that class, art, with Dawn- again. Serena ended up having another first period class, and was not with him. So, not only had he ended up in the same class as the annoying girl he'd met earlier, he didn't have the one person he actually cared about.

To say he was in a bad mood was an understatement, but Ash managed to contain it, deciding to be civil with Dawn, who had just entered the room. The only silver lining was that some of his friends were in the class with him.

Though that was a poor substitute for him having Serena with him, his friends being in the same class as him made it slightly less annoying. He was sitting in the back of the room with his friends Shauna and Gladion, watching Dawn. "Is that one of the new kids you were telling us about?" Gladion asked, noticing her. Ash nodded. "Yeah," he said. "But I don't feel like dealing with her again."

"Why's that?" Shauna asked, now intrigued. "I...uh, just don't, okay," Ash said. "She's annoyingly energetic."

Shauna laughed, but didn't really buy Ash's poor attempt at deflection. "Is Serena going to be jealous?" Gladion asked, poking at him further. Ash shot his friend a death glare as Shauna spoke up again. "She seems lost. Let's take her in for the day," she said. "And we won't tell Serena."

Ash glared at her for that, but begrudgingly gave in. "Fine…but just so you know, Serena thinks she's annoying too," he said. Shauna chuckled. "She thinks every girl that so much as looks at you for a few seconds is annoying," she replied. Ash chuckled slightly, but did not say a word, merely shrugging. Shauna ignored him in favor of waving Dawn over to them. "Hey! Are you looking for a place to sit?" she asked. Dawn quickly whirled around to see who was talking to her, soon noticing Ash and his friends.

"Hi, Ash," she said as she approached. Ash, for his part, sighed- though, again, Dawn seemed to not notice his annoyance. "Hi, Dawn…" he said, sounding slightly irritated. "Are these two your friends?" she asked, noticing the dark haired girl and the blonde haired boy sitting to the left and right of Ash, respectively. Ash nodded. "Yeah," he said. "Meet Shauna and Gladion."

Dawn nodded, offering a small wave. "Nice to meet you guys!" she said. "Nice to meet you, Dawn," Shauna said, returning the wave. Gladion replied with a non-committal grunt, barely forming a salute. Dawn nodded and took the empty desk next to Shauna, eager to learn more about Ash's friends. She hoped that she could join their group, eager to have some friends that were her own age.

"Where's May?" Ash whispered to Gladion as Dawn and Shauna started talking. "Don't know," Gladion replied. "She is supposed to be in this class with us," he said. Ash chuckled. "She's always late," he replied. Gladion nodded, but said nothing. Soon enough, though, May ran in just as the bell rang. She quickly spotted her friends and dropped into the seat next to Gladion. "Hi guys," she said. "Sorry I'm late."

Ash chuckled. "You're always late," he said. "I was talking to Serena and Drew," May replied. I got carried away."

"You know better than that," he said. "Yeah, but I haven't seen my friends all summer!" May replied. "There were things that we needed to catch up on!" "May, you know that most of us are going to have the same lunch period, right?" Gladion said, weighing in on the conversation. "Yeah…" May said, realizing that she could've waited until then to talk with her other friends. "Whoops…"

Gladion nodded, finding her embarrassment a little funny. Ash was enjoying this little conversation until Nate and Rosa entered the room, heading for the row right ahead of them. Ash felt his mood immediately sour as the other boy spoke to him. "I don't like you," Nate said. "You seem like trouble."

His eyes narrowed, mentally preparing himself for a fight. "Well, I don't like you either," Ash said bluntly. He didn't particularly care how he'd come across, nor did he care about how Nate might react. "Tch. I figured you'd react like that," Nate replied. "You're nothing but an annoying jerk. And, if that comment is anything to go by, you're also an idiot." "Shut. Up." Ash growled, his voice low and dangerous. "You're starting to get on my nerves!"

Nate openly laughed at that. "We may not have talked about it earlier, Ash, but Dawn is my friend. Don't you drag her into your mess," he replied, brushing Ash's hostility off. Ash glared right at Nate, ready to abandon his seat to fistfight him. "Don't assume you know anything about me," he snarled. "I'm not someone you want to mess with."

Nate's eyes narrowed as Rosa seemed to take offense at Ash's tone. Dawn and Shauna's conversation stopped, and both began staring right at the two of them. Gladion, who was previously apathetically listening to May ramble, snapped to attention, ready to fight Nate on Ash's behalf. May froze, realizing that something was going on, also beginning to stare right at them.

"Are you trying to start a fight, huh?" Nate asked, his hands balling into fists. Ash noticed that, and briefly snorted a laugh. His contempt for the other boy was quite obvious- and he clearly did not take kindly to Nate's blunt accusations. The new boy squinted so hard that his eyes were practically closed as Ash finally responded. "With you? Nah," Ash said. "I just want to let you know that I didn't appreciate that comment."

"Can we not fight?" May said, attempting to break the tension. "Let's try to be friends instead, huh?" Ash chuckled, not entirely buying into that. "Sure," he said, taking on a polite tone. "I guess we can be friends." Nate glared right at them, not having any sort of idea as to how he was going to respond. "You can all shove it," Rosa said, beating him to the punch. "You're nothing but a punk who thinks he's cool."

Ash refused to take that lying down. His voice became a low, dangerous growl- and his fists quickly curled into existence. "Are you trying to set me off?" he questioned, his voice conveying intense malice. Both Shauna and Gladion looked at him, both trying to determine if their friend was going to do something stupid or not. "I wish Serena was here…" Shauna muttered, noting that she was the one person that Ash would defer to. "But she's not," Gladion whispered, sighing. Ash pretended he didn't hear them, focusing his attention on Nate and Rosa. "I hate both of you already," he said. "So don't give me a reason to fight you." "With what?" Nate asked. "You don't look like a Trainer."

Ash's anger spiked, finally reaching its breaking point. He immediately stood up, getting right into Nate's face. "Don't. You. Dare. Go. There." Ash snarled, so thoroughly enraged that he could no longer manage a full sentence. "Now you've done it," Gladion sighed. "That's one of his biggest sore spots." Nate briefly spared the blonde boy a glance, realizing that he seemed to have messed up. "Well, shit…" he muttered. "'Well, shit' indeed," Gladion snarked. "And his girlfriend, quite possibly the one person that could calm him down, isn't here. What are you ever going to do?" he asked, putting the pressure onto Nate.

The brown-haired boy and his friend immediately gulped nervously, unsure of how to respond. By now, the whole class was invested in watching the display, staring at the argument unfold. They seemed to be anticipating it to escalate into a full blown fistfight. Ash's reputation as a roughneck and a troublemaker preceded him. Whatever may have happened was unseen, as Mina, the school's resident art teacher, stepped into the room shortly thereafter. Her eyes immediately darted to the confrontation, and she marched over to them.

Even though she was normally one of the most laid back teachers in the entire school (as evidenced by her typical attire consisting of a loose, paint-stained t-shirt and a pair of jeans), Mina could be quite intimidating when angered. "Mr. Ketchum!" she snapped, gaining the attention of every student in the room. Those who had been watching immediately averted their eyes to avoid any potential consequences, while those involved merely looked to her with mild surprise. "Miss Mina," Ash said, calming down slightly. "It's actually not my fault. This time."

"I don't care whose fault it was," Mina replied. "I will send you to the principal's office on the first day of school if you test me again." Ash did not flinch, though he did not argue further. Nate was caught off-guard by that turn of events: Mina was skinny, maybe a hundred and twenty pounds by his estimate, and looked as if she was maybe five-foot-two at the tallest. Ash Ketchum was easily six foot one, and appeared surprisingly muscular for a high schooler. Nate had no idea why he was so built, as if he had intentionally worked out to achieve such a physique.

Yet he willingly backed down, acquiescing to Mina's demands. Nate breathed a sigh of relief, only for the woman to turn her gaze his way. "And you, new kid! I expected better from you!" she said. "Do not antagonize Ash Ketchum!"

Nate was surprised. Mina was…defending Ash? He couldn't believe that, so he had to ask. "Why…why is that, ma'am?" he asked. Mina sighed. "I suppose you don't know, being new here," she said. "This," she continued, gesturing Ash's way, "is one of the biggest troublemakers in the whole school. Do not antagonize him. I do not want to send two of my students to Principal Surge's office on the first day."

"Wait…did you say Surge?" Nate asked. "As in the Vermilion City Gym Leader?" Mina nodded. "Yes. Lt. Surge is also our school's principal," she said. "The Pokemon League does not quite provide him with enough income, though some of that is his own fault."

"Why's that?" Nate asked, now curious. "That's because he tends to be rough on his challengers," Mina answered. "The League doesn't like that very much." Nate nodded, readying another question, only to find himself immediately cut off by Mina. "We've wasted enough class time," she said. "Please take your seats, and we'll begin."

Ash, Rosa, and Nate nodded, sitting down immediately- the new students taking a pair of desks adjacent to Ash and his friends, whilst Ash returned to his own. Ash smirked to himself, smugly reminding himself that he'd won the argument. Or at least, as much as he could've, given that it took Mina's intervention to break it up. "Was that really necessary?" Shauna whispered to Ash as Mina walked away. "Yeah," Ash whispered back. "He crossed a line."

Shauna sighed, but decided against arguing further. They had a class to pay attention to, after all. At the front of the room, Mina started the class. "I'm Miss Matsurika," she said, "and I'm going to be your instructor for this class." Everyone in the room nodded, giving her their full attention. Except for Nate, that is- he was hyper focused on Ash, who was subtly side eyeing him in return. "You're him, aren't you?" Nate thought. "Ash 'Rocket' Ketchum?"

He quickly shook off those thoughts, though, and resumed paying attention to their art teacher, who was beginning to give out their first assignment. "So, as you all know, this is art," Mina began. "Today, we're going to start small. Each of you will make a sketch of something of your choice."

The class nodded as she walked amongst them, passing out blank sheets of paper to each. "You will create your sketches on these," she said. "If you aren't a good artist, don't fret- this is just to gauge your abilities." The class nodded again as she made her way back to the front of the classroom. "You'll have twenty minutes to form your sketch. I'll be at my desk if you have any questions."

Nate continued to stare at Ash as the other boy pulled out a set of colored pencils and got to work on his sketch. "You're suspicious, Ketchum…." he thought. "And so is your little girlfriend. I bet she's really Serena 'Thruster' Gabena."

Ash, for his part, ignored him. He noticed him subtly watching him- the other boy was not good at hiding it. A suspicion began creeping into Ash's mind- one that he could not shake. "He's Nate Black, isn't he?" Ash thought. "Better known by his International Police codename: Lack-Two." "It couldn't be, could it?" Ash mused. "Nah. There's no way that guy is still a high schooler. He seemed a lot older than that…"

The class's sketch time was soon up, and Mina stepped up to the front of the class again. "Alright," she said. "Now that we're done, each of you will display your drawings."

The students nodded, each of them preparing their work to display. For his part, Ash merely smirked- he knew that he already had this one in the bag. He'd always had substantial artistic talent- his mother had said that he had gotten it from her- though his relationship with her was rather sour. She didn't approve of his relationship with Serena- and he had not taken that well. The last time they'd spoken was…just before his parents' divorce, eight years ago. Ash muttered something under his breath and focused on the here and now.

Mina soon continued what she was saying, and Ash focused on that- his unpleasant memories buried for now. "So," she said, "the front row will go first, and we'll work our way to the back. Once everyone has shown off their drawings, then we'll judge them." Ash again took on a confident smirk, which Dawn noticed. "Why's he smiling?" she whispered, catching Shauna's attention. "You'll see," the dark skinned girl replied. "Ash is a really good artist."

"Really?" Dawn asked, surprised. She'd always considered herself a good artist, though she'd never met anyone that could push her to get better at it. "Yeah," Shauna replied. "He's really, really good. He taught me." Dawn was entirely shocked after hearing that, and went right back to watching the other students' presentations. All of them had ranged from terrible to mediocre to actually pretty good, so she was unsure of what to expect. She looked down at her own piece: a drawing of her Piplup. It was fairly good, but she was not sure of how it would stack up to whatever Ash had drawn, and she wanted to see just how good he was.

Mina soon turned her attention their way, as soon as Nate and Rosa had displayed their drawings, which Dawn had been fairly unimpressed with. "It's now time for the back row," she said. "Miss Berlitz, you're up first."

Dawn nodded, picking up her page and heading to the front of the class, where Mina had set up a pin board to display the drawings. She quickly tacked her drawing to it, stepping aside to allow everyone to see it. The class was impressed with her drawing, with scattered calls of 'wow, this girl is good!', 'she might be as good as Ketchum!' and the like. Mina, for her part, soon joined in with this. "Miss Berlitz has impressive skill," she said. Dawn smiled, accepting her teacher's praise. "Thank you," she said. Mina nodded. "You're welcome," she replied. "Miss Garcia, will you please come up next?"

Shauna nodded, grabbing her drawing and heading for the front of the room. She gave a slight nod of acknowledgement to Dawn as the blue-haired girl headed back to her seat. "Good luck," Dawn whispered as they passed. "Thanks," Shauna whispered back, heading on up. "Please place your drawing on the board," Mina said. Shauna nodded, pinning her drawing up beside Dawn's. She soon revealed it as an illustration of a Pidgey taking flight from a tree branch. "Quite impressive," Mina said. "Well done, Miss Garcia."

Shauna smiled. "Thank you, Miss Matsurika," she replied. Mina nodded, returning the smile. "You did quite well," she said. "Clearly, Mr. Ketchum taught you a lot over the summer." Shauna nodded, though she shuddered when she recalled her skill at this last year…that was better left as a relic of the past. "You may return to your seat," Mina said, and Shauna nodded again. "Mr. Ketchum, you're up."

Ash nodded, grabbing his own drawing, heading right on up. He passed Shauna with an approving nod, stepping up to the board. He pinned his drawing right below Dawn's, soon revealing it. He blew everyone away, including Mina, with his perfectly drawn Pikachu. He fully colored it in, even. Dawn seemed absolutely floored by it, apparently having not expected him to be that good at this.

Ash made a mental note to show her some of his other drawings if she thought that one was impressive. His friends, on the other hand, weren't quite as impressed, having seen his work before. But for Dawn, she was absolutely stunned, to the point that she couldn't even speak to comment on it. Mina eventually spoke, having managed to find her words. "Impressive as always, Mr. Ketchum," she said. "I daresay you've improved since last year."

Ash smiled, though he didn't speak. Mina did not praise her students lightly- she was quite in demand herself as an artist- or was. Her passion was teaching, and she did not do much commission work anymore. She soon dismissed Ash for Gladion, who sighed and headed up. Ash smiled smugly at Nate as he returned to his seat- the other boy seemed annoyed at being outdone. While Nate's Dewott drawing wasn't bad, per se, Ash felt that it was somewhat…raw.

Not that he'd actually give Nate that advice, mind you. The Unovan transfer student had wronged him, and Ash would not forgive him anytime soon, if ever. He sat down at his desk, directing his attention to the front of the classroom. Gladion was just presenting his own drawing, a crescent moon. "It's…passable," Mina said. "I'd work on your polish some more, Mr. Kane."

Gladion muttered something under his breath, though he said nothing. "You may head back to your desk now," Mina said. Gladion nodded, moving towards the back of the room. Ash made a mental note to work with his friend some more, chuckling a bit at Mina's assessment of his work. He agreed with her- Gladion's work could use some polish.

Only to immediately recoil when he remembered that May was up next. She had no artistic talent whatsoever, and Ash wondered how she ended up in this class two years in a row. She'd barely passed last year, with Ash's help. He sighed as Mina called her up. "Last but not least, Miss Maple," she said. May smiled, hopping up from her chair. Her drawing in hand, the cheerful girl headed right up to the front of the room.

She put her drawing up on the board next to Ash's, which just served to illustrate the massive difference between their respective artistic skill levels. She stepped to the side of the board to reveal a crudely drawn Torchic, which was all done with a red colored pencil. So not only was it bad, it was monochrome. Ash had to stifle a laugh as May seemed to pale. "So…Miss Maple…" Mina began, attempting to spare the girl's feelings, "since you placed your drawing next to that of Mr. Ketchum, I assumed you had improved…"

May flinched in anticipation of the denouement, which was certain to crash down on her hopes like a massive hammer. "Your skill is, sadly, nonexistent," Mina sighed, having put it the nicest way she possibly could. May cringed, as did the rest of the class. Apparently, they had all been thinking the same thing as Mina-May did not, in a million years, need to be an art student. One got the feeling that her parents made her take this class.

May sighed in disappointment. "I'll just go back to my seat now," she said, moving to leave the embarrassment behind. Mina nodded, watching as she left. "That girl has shown no improvement in a whole year… perhaps she truly has zero artistic skill…" she thought. She was not one to declare a student a lost cause, but she was beginning to consider that May just might be one.

She didn't like that kind of thought, but she wasn't even sure that she, the accomplished artist, could help May improve her skill. The girl seemed to be entirely unartistic- no skill at all.

Elsewhere…

Serena sat in her first period math class, grumbling to herself about being separated from Ash. And on top of it, she had already been reprimanded for both her clothes and her partially dyed hair. There had been a comment about her exposed tattoos as well, though she had ignored that one for the most part. So she was in quite the sour mood, fairly annoyed. And she would have stayed that way, had it not been for a pair of her friends arriving.

"Are you alright, Serena?" Drew asked, taking a seat next to her. "Yeah. Are you alright?" Trevor asked, taking the seat on her other side. "I'm fine, guys," she said. "You don't seem fine," Drew said. "Do you need to talk?" "No," Serena replied. "Let's just focus on class, okay?"

Drew sighed, noting that when she started doing this, she wasn't going to talk to them at all. "Don't stonewall us," he said. "We're your friends, after all." Serena sighed. "Fine," she replied. "We can talk." "Great," Trevor said. "What's bothering you?" he asked. "Ash isn't here, for one," she replied. "And they've already annoyed me with their constant 'you can't wear this' and 'you can't have your hair colored like that' nonsense."

Drew sighed again, and Trevor nearly facepalmed. "You are technically in violation of the rules," the red-haired boy said. Serena looked at him, as if she was daring him to continue. And continue he did, entirely unintimidated. "It might be annoying, Serena, but they're technically right," he said. "Not that I necessarily agree with them or condone the constant admonishment."

Serena stared at him for several minutes, trying to think of something to rebuff him with, but came up empty. She sighed in defeat, conceding to her group's resident smart guy. "You have to help me with my homework for that," she said. Trevor nodded, accepting his fate. Serena wasn't as good with numbers as he was, and he got the feeling that she really, really, didn't like math. He smiled, a bit smugly, now that he was triumphant. "Alright," he said. "I'll give you some pointers."

Serena nodded, redirecting her attention to the front of the classroom, where their teacher had just started the class off. Drew stared in disbelief for a few moments, unable to believe what had just happened. Trevor had won the argument with Serena with minimal fuss. He'd previously only seen Ash do that, so he was wondering what exactly Trevor had done.

He had no time to ponder that, though, as class was starting. He redirected his attention to the front of the classroom as well. "I wonder how Ash is doing?" Serena thought, wondering if her boyfriend was doing any better than she was right now. He had his art class as his first period, so she figured that he was probably enjoying himself. In contrast to herself- she hated math with a passion. It was, by far, her least favorite subject to deal with. At least she was taking care of it early this year.

The class went by fairly quickly, given that there wasn't a whole lot of work to be done on the first day of the school year. Serena was excited about that- her second period class was one that she enjoyed much more- Pokemon Studies. "Hey, guys, have you met a guy named Nate today?" she asked. "Uh…a little bit this morning. Why?" Drew asked, wondering what relevance that this had to math class. "One of those new kids?" Trevor asked, joining the conversation. Serena nodded. "Yeah, him," she said. "Not that I can say," he replied. "Why? Do you not like him or something?"

"I don't know," Serena replied, biting her bottom lip. "Did he insult you or something?" Drew snarked. "I know your ego is fragile." Serena rolled her eyes at that comment. "I missed your biting wit, Drew," she said sarcastically. Drew chuckled to himself. "I see that your sarcasm hasn't skipped town," he replied. Serena laughed a bit, finding that genuinely funny. "Thanks, Drew," she said. "But neither of you have guessed why I'm not sure of that Nate guy."

"Why is that?" Trevor asked. "Enlighten us." Serena nodded again, taking a deep breath. "I don't like Nate because he and his friend Rosa were really suspicious this morning," she said. Both Drew and Trevor seemed surprised at this revelation. "Why?" Drew asked. "Don't know," Serena said, shrugging her shoulders. "They seemed incredibly suspicious of me and Ash this morning. It rubbed me the wrong way."

"Why would they be suspicious of you?" Trevor asked. "They haven't been here long enough to know about you and Ash's…let's say…less than glamorous… reputation." "I don't know," Serena said. Her friends nodded, apparently buying the (partial) lie- there was more reasoning that she had, and she didn't want to tell them. Or discuss it in the open like this- not when it involved her and Ash's past. She retreated into her thoughts. "He has to know who we are…or at least, suspects it…" she mused. "But that's impossible…unless he's Nate 'Lack-Two' Black, agent of the International Police!"

That thought genuinely unnerved her, which was not something that happened often. "And, given that they came here at the same time…Rosa must be his partner, Whi-Two…." she thought, finding another unnerving possibility. So she buried it and the previous one down as fast as she could, making a mental note to talk to Ash about it later. If her suspicions were correct, then he needed to know. The International Police could very well be on to them now. Even though they had cut ties with Team Rocket nearly three years ago by now. It could be just a coincidence, but it unnerved Serena enough that she wanted to speak to Ash about this.

Soon enough, three more class periods had passed, and it was lunch time. Ash was glad that he and Serena had the same lunch period- they did not end up having a single class together until seventh period, the last of the day. The two sat next to each other, eager to have some time together, given the previous separation. Ash wasn't sure if he could handle that all year, but he was just going to have to deal with it.

They sat with their friends: Shauna, Gladion, May, Trevor, Drew, and Trevor's friend Tierno. "So…what's going on with this Nate guy?" May asked, recalling art class. "You didn't seem to like him very much." Ash sighed, not really knowing how he was going to answer that question. "We…kind of got off on the wrong foot," he said, after a few minutes of silence. "He said some things that I didn't take too kindly to."

"What happened?" Serena asked, her interest now piqued. "I had an argument with Nate," Ash said. "It was no big deal." "That's not how I remember it," Shauna said. "You caused Miss Mina to raise her voice, and she's never angry- not like that." Serena turned her gaze to Ash, awaiting his explanation. "Are you getting into trouble without me?" she asked. "Nah," Ash replied. "Nate started it. Said we were suspicious right to my face. And then he said some other stuff that I don't want to talk about."

Serena remained silent for several minutes afterward, processing what Ash had just told her. "I…heard about him saying that kind of stuff," she said at last. "Drew apparently ran into him earlier." "Really?" Ash asked, directing his attention to the green-haired boy. "Yeah," Drew said. "I ran into him earlier this morning- before you two came in. Apparently, he somehow knew you guys went to school here." "That's weird," May said. "Why would he already know that?" "I don't know," Ash said. "But I don't like it. Not one bit."

May nodded, stopping to take another bit of her sandwich as Gladion deigned to join the discussion. "Why does he not like you so much?" he asked. "I mean, that fight in art class this morning seemed personal." Ash sighed, trying to think of a way to explain it without revealing his criminal past (which not even his closest friends knew about), eventually settling on a somewhat plausible cover story. "I met him a while back. We didn't like each other then."

The others didn't seem to buy it, so Serena stepped in. "Yeah. We met him and Rosa a while back," she said. "And we didn't get along from the beginning." Their friends seemed to begrudgingly accept that explanation, though they seemed rightfully suspicious of the cover story. Poor Tierno seemed mystified, not having the slightest idea of what was going on. Trevor vowed to fill him in on the context later, explaining that the rest of his friends were complicated on their best days. That did little to alleviate his confusion, but he accepted it nonetheless.

Ash started to change the subject when a familiar and cheery voice interrupted him. "Hi! Can I sit with you guys?" Dawn asked. Ash nodded, glancing up at her. The blue-haired girl's cheeriness really grated on his nerves, but Ash could not find it in himself to be rude to her. She had not wronged him in any significant way, so he begrudgingly accepted her.

"Sure," he said, not wanting to be rude. "Thanks!" Dawn replied, dropping into an empty seat at their table. "So…these are the rest of your friends?" she asked, glancing around the table. Ash nodded. "Yeah," he said. "You've already met Shauna, May, and Gladion." Dawn nodded as each of the named parties waved (or in Gladion's case, grunted) to her, and she waved back. "So," Ash continued, "the others are Trevor, Drew, and Trevor's new friend Tierno."

Dawn nodded again, taking all of that information again, returning the remaining three's greetings. "So, guys, this is Dawn. She's new here," Ash said at last. "I think she'll fit in with us okay." "I think so too," May said. "She'll work out just fine." Ash nodded, though he didn't say a word this time. Dawn smiled, preparing to integrate herself into the group. "I forgot to tell you guys this earlier," she said. "Nate and Rosa are old friends of mine."

Ash sighed, and the others seemed to crane their heads with intrigue as the aforementioned pair appeared behind her. "Dawn…you did not sit with them, of all people," Nate grumbled, noting Ash and Serena's presences. "What?" Dawn asked, confused. Ash rolled his eyes as the two sat down next to Dawn. "Why are you so insistent on being friends with these guys?" Rosa asked. "Because they seem interesting," Dawn replied. "Besides, they can't be that bad."

Nate seemed as if he was about to burst, but held his frustrations inside. "Those two are bad news," he said, gesturing to Ash and Serena. "And I'm not sure that I trust anyone that would willingly hang out with them, either." Dawn pointedly ignored her friend's comment, directing her attention to Ash and Serena. "So…she's your girlfriend?" she asked, eager to learn more about her new classmates. Ash nodded, swallowing a bite of his sandwich. "Yeah," he said. "We've been together for a while."

Dawn nodded, noticing the way that their fingers were intertwined. "I can see that," she said. Ash nodded. "I get a bit irritable when we're not together," he replied. "I'll second that," May said. "I remember art class." Ash chuckled. "Yeah," he said. "I was a bit annoyed earlier." Nate shot him a glare at that, but Ash ignored him. "That's right, isn't it, Serena?" he asked. Serena nodded. "That's right," she said. "I get a bit annoyed without you as well."

Ash smiled at her whilst Nate seemed to be barely holding his frustration in. Ash nodded, but didn't say anything- he was busy probing Nate's expression- trying to figure out what he was thinking. He flashed a brief smirk in the other boy's direction, catching him off-guard. He chuckled slightly, but otherwise said nothing as he attempted to crack Nate's relatively unreadable expression. The stare down continued until Ash broke it off in favor of listening to the continuing conversation. "So…how long have you guys been friends?" Dawn asked, attempting to ignore Nate's antics. "Most of us have known each other since we were little," May replied. "Me and Drew in particular."

Dawn nodded, eagerly absorbing everything they told her. Simultaneously, Ash and Nate continued subtly exchanging glares, though Ash wasn't necessarily trying to fight the other boy. Or even provoke him, really, but he couldn't help but note that Nate seemed thoroughly annoyed with him, even though he hadn't done anything to warrant such hostility. None of the others seemed to notice it, and Ash elected to not press any further, passively listening to the conversation.

The lunch period passed quickly- and the group dispersed for their next few classes- there were four periods left, after all. Those four periods blew by, and soon enough, Ash and Serena were preparing to leave when Dawn approached them. "Are you guys going home now?" she asked, stepping up beside them. Ash nodded. "Yeah," he said. "We need to get going."

"Oh," she said. "I was wondering if you guys wanted to come and hang out with me and my friends this afternoon." "We'll pass," Serena said, "Maybe next time." "Yeah," Ash said. "Your friends are Nate and Rosa, and I get the feeling that they don't like us very much." Dawn nodded, though she seemed to deflate slightly. "Yeah," she said. "I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow, then."

Ash nodded. "Sure," he said. "We really do need to get going, though." Dawn nodded again. "Alright. I'm going to go and meet up with Nate and Rosa," she said. "See you guys later." Ash nodded and waved goodbye, watching her leave. As soon as she was out of earshot, Ash breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally," he said. "She's gone."

Serena nodded, sharing that sentiment. "She's exhausting," she said. "You can say that again," Ash replied. Serena laughed. "She's a real handful," she said. Ash nodded again, and he and Serena immediately departed, walking away from the school as fast as they could. "Is it just me, or did you not like that Nate kid?" Serena asked. "I don't," Ash said. "He's a pain in my ass. And he's rude."

"I think he might be someone we need to avoid," Serena said. "He's…" "An International Police agent?" Ash asked, seeing where she had been going with that. "Yeah," Serena said. "That." "Let me bounce something off of you," Ash replied. "Alright," Serena said. "Shoot."

"I think he's that elite operative we fought back in Viridian," Ash replied. "Lack-Two, or whatever they called him." Serena briefly froze, shuddering. Ash had come to the same conclusion that she had: Nate was a plant, trying to arrest the two of them. "So…in other words, we need to tread carefully," she said, after a few nodded. "Yeah. I think that he's 'Lack-Two', and his little friend Rosa is 'Whi-Two'," he said. "His partner."

"Well, shit," Serena swore. "This isn't great." "No, it's not," Ash said. "The whole reason we got sent here was to expand Team Rocket's reach across Vermilion. We can't do that if an International Police agent is breathing down our necks."

"We need to tell your dad about this as soon as we can," Serena said. "I agree," Ash replied. "We need to move. Let's go back home." Serena nodded, and the two took off. Hopefully, Ash's dad would be there, and they could tell him about their suspicions. Ash and Serena found the house empty when they arrived.

"Damn…he's not here," Ash grumbled, glancing around the living room. "Unfortunately," Serena said, wandering over to the couch. "Wait…" Ash said, walking over. "What?" Serena asked. "On the coffee table," Ash said, pointing to a note lying on top of said table. She looked down, taking notice of it. "Oh," she said, as Ash began looking it over.

I'll be out for most of today.

Get to the battle club under the corner of Fifth Street and Tenth Avenue. Pierce said that he has an assignment for you.

I don't know what it is, but it seemed important. It's probably not a good idea to make him wait- he's not exactly patient.

Giovanni called me back to headquarters, so I probably won't be back until sometime tonight. See you then.

-Dad.

"So…dad's not gonna be back for a while…" Ash said. "So…we should go check out whatever this assignment is." Serena nodded. "Right. And since we're heading for the battle club, we should take our Poke Balls." Ash nodded. "Yeah," he said. "This seems like a job for someone of our skill level. Even if Pierce didn't tell dad what it is."

Serena nodded. "Yeah. It sounds important," she said. "Though we need to keep our Poke Balls out of sight. If we get caught with Poke Balls and no Trainer's Licenses, then we'll get in a lot of trouble." Ash nodded in return. "I know that," he said. "We're both the proud owners of extensive criminal records. We couldn't get a Trainer's License if we wanted to."

"Not unless the idiots at school are stupid enough to not run background checks on us," Serena said. Ash nodded. "Yeah. I imagine both of us aced that aptitude test," he said. "It's a shame that neither of us will get anything out of it."

Serena nodded again. "Yeah. It's a big shame. We should get going, though," she said. "Yeah," Ash replied. "But it's not like any of this matters. If we get caught in an illegal underground battle club, we're getting arrested anyway." Serena laughed. "Yeah, I guess you're right," she said. "I don't care about that, though." Ash nodded again, this time with a smile crossing his face. "Let's go get our teams. Then we can go."

Serena nodded, smiling equally as widely. "Why didn't you say that earlier?" she asked. Ash merely laughed in response, moving towards the stairs.

Ash and Serena stepped into the dim battle club merely ten minutes later. It was situated in an abandoned subway station not far from their house. Vermilion had a large abandoned subway network under the city, and the various unscrupulous types had converted much of it into the Vermilion Underground, where everyone who wanted to battle in secret could do so, regardless of their personal reasoning.

Now, all of this was massively illegal- and could carry harsh penalties if you were found out- though, as most of the patrons already had criminal records, not many cared about this. The battles were savage affairs with few rules. So long as you didn't kill an opponent's Pokemon outright, you could be as brutal or savage as you wanted in the ring. Merciless thugs frequented the battle rings, though not everyone liked them.

Underground clubs in other cities outright banned such tactics, though Vermilion did not particularly is why Serena liked to unleash her particularly sadistic Magmortar down here, and not in other clubs who might object to the brutality that he could unleash. Ash and Greninja were more restrained, but even they were not above pummeling anyone who wronged them.

Many patrons recognized them as they entered, giving various nods of respect, waves, and the like. Except for one particular person, Cross. The nasty Alolan strolled right up to Ash and Serena, his lips twisted into a snarl. "You've got a lot of nerve, showing your face here, Ketchum. This club is mine!" he growled. Ash laughed in his face.

"It's not, but you can keep on lying to yourself," he said, not particularly caring if that set Cross off or not. "You….you insufferable brat!" Cross snarled, raising his fist. Ash laughed. "That's rich, coming from you," he said. "We're gonna fight," Cross said. "Right now." Ash sighed, but decided to accept the challenge. "Fine," he said. "Let's go to the field, then."

Cross nodded, moving towards the field. Serena rolled her eyes and followed they arrived, she leaned over to Ash. "Kick his ass for me," she whispered. "I'm gonna go see if Pierce is here yet." Ash nodded. "Alright," he said. "I'll find you when I'm done." Serena nodded and walked away, heading off to find their contact. "What's the matter, Ketchum? Don't want your girl to see you lose?" Cross taunted, readying his first Poke Ball. Ash laughed. "Nah," he said. "She's got things to take care of. And you're a moron."

Cross grit his teeth together, cursing Ash under his breath. Ash smirked, finding it funny. "I'm ready when you are," he said. Cross nodded, quickly drawing his Poke Ball. "Get out here, Incineroar!" he snarled, sending his beast of a Fire type onto the chuckled. "You're so predictable it hurts," he said, drawing his own Poke Ball. "Greninja, get ready!"

Ash's Pokemon soon hit the field, sizing up Incineroar. A smirk crossed his amphibian face as he spotted his rival, preparing to now, a crowd had gathered around the ring, watching the events unfold. "We're on a winning streak!" Cross bragged. "No one here has stood a chance!" "That's your problem," Ash replied. "Bullying all of the newbies and weaklings. No wonder you can't beat someone that's actually good!"

That comment seemed to have struck a nerve, and Cross' eye twitched. "Shut your mouth and fight!" he snarled. Ash nodded- if he wanted to fight, then fight they would. Ash was going to remind Cross why he was ranked number five in the entire underground circuit. The battle soon began, and Ash wasted no time. "Water Shuriken!" he ordered. "Force him back!"

Greninja nodded, forming the compressed water weapons. "Thunder Punch!" Cross snarled. "Then follow that up with your Flare Blitz!" Incineroar unleashed a throaty growl and sprang into action. Only for Greninja to slam his attack home before he could do anything. Both of Greninja's shuriken struck the burly Fire type's chest, sending him staggering backwards.

"Now! Agility into Double Team into Brick Break!" Ash ordered, preparing to demonstrate his speed advantage. Greninja nodded, vanishing into what was one of his signature techniques. Using the burst of speed from Agility, Greninja launched forward faster than Incineroar could see him. A group of afterimages from Double Team soon surrounded him, obscuring the real Greninja's location.

Cross swore something under his breath, realizing that Ash had set a trap, and he'd walked right into it. "Find that stupid frog and pulverize it!" Cross snarled. "Overheat! Burn the field!" Incineroar nodded, unleashing the powerful column of flame, bathing the field and vaporizing Greninja's after images. Cross smirked, thinking that he'd gotten his opponent with the attack. Only for said smirk to promptly fade when Greninja leapt down from the rafters, forming a Water Pulse.

"Do it, Greninja!" Ash called. "Then follow it up with your Brick Break!" The Water type nodded, unleashing his attack. The unprepared Incineroar took the attack head on, and went stumbling backwards. He attempted to blink the water from his eyes, but failed to do so as Greninja slammed his Brick Break into his stomach.

The agile Water type flipped back and unleashed his Double Team and Agility combination once again as Incineroar finally cleared up his vision. "Get him again!" Cross snarled angrily. "Overheat into Flare Blitz!" But Incineroar never got the chance- Greninja smacked him in the side with another Water Pulse, dropping him to one knee. "Now!" Ash called, prompting Greninja to unleash a Hydro Pump. Incineroar was blasted back by the sudden influx of water, leaving him soaked. His flaming belt was extinguished, and he was seemingly beaten. "Is it over already?" Ash asked mockingly. "That was almost too easy."

Cross shouted something unintelligible as Incineroar leapt back to his feet, his belt igniting once again. An angry roar soon echoed out as the Heel Pokemon expressed his displeasure at being soaked. His fur was still damp as he unleashed a Flamethrower. Greninja easily countered that with a Hydro Pump, covering the field in a veil of steam. "Vanish!" Ash called, and Greninja unleashed a Smokescreen, further obscuring the field. Incineroar roared from somewhere within the haze, unleashing another Overheat, spreading the flames across the area. The cloud of steam and smoke faded to reveal an empty field. "Greninja's in the rafters again! Aim your Flamethrower up there!" Cross shouted. "Do not let up!"

Incineroar nodded, but failed to carry out that order as Greninja promptly blasted the field with Hydro Pump to cool it down, creating another haze of steam. Incineroar was forced to bite off his Flamethrower now that his aim was obscured- and Greninja stealthily dropped into the steam cloud, unleashing his Double Team again. Ash smirked, knowing that Incineroar was not going to be able to stop their next combination. "Liquidation: Blade Form!" he shouted. "What?! Blade form?!" Cross shouted, confused. Greninja closed in as the steam started to fade, forming a blade of compressed water. He reached his opponent just as the steam vanished entirely.

He slashed Incineroar across the chest, causing him to cry out in pain. Greninja leapt back, obscuring the field with Smokescreen. "Dirty…freakin'... cheaters…" Cross muttered angrily. "Now! Confuse them further with Agility and Double Team!" Ash called.

Greninja nodded, leaping into action with that combination. This combination was familiar to anyone who'd regularly followed the underground circuit- Ash Ketchum was known for his confusion and misdirection tactics. That's why his title was 'Shadow', after all. Greninja renewed the Smokescreen as he launched into his Double Team/Agility combination. He used those three moves to great effect in his climbing of the ranks.

And he unleashed powerful, punishing attacks while the opponent was confused by said tactics. "Now! End this!" Ash called, prompting Greninja to begin forming their preferred finishing move: Hydro Cannon. The Water type nodded, gathering up the water for the massively compressed sphere. "Interrupt them! Giga Impact!" Cross called, hoping to interfere. Incineroar nodded, charging blindly into the smoke.

As it faded, it became increasingly clear that Incineroar had struck one of Greninja's Double Team copies. Ash and Greninja were eager to punish them for that misstep. The Water type appeared from the rafters of the old train station, the hyper compressed sphere of water for the Hydro Cannon between his hands.

"Now, Greninja! Hydro Cannon!" Ash shouted. Greninja nodded, flinging the orb towards Incineroar with a malicious gleam in his eyes. The Fire type scrambled to recover, but was too exhausted from the effort of Giga Impact to avoid the attack. So it hit him head on, sending him flying out of the ring with a single hit. Cross cursed and hollered as the unconscious Fire type slumped against the wall, utterly defeated. "Shut your mouth!" Cross snarled, preempting Ash's taunt.

"We'll beat you next time," he said, recalling his Pokemon. Ash smirked as he stomped away, annoyed at his defeat. Greninja returned to his Trainer's side, victorious, and the crowd cheered. "Ketchum's still got it!" one of them called. "Yeah! Cross got thrashed!" another said. "Cross is an idiot!" a third said. Discussion of the battle continued for several more minutes, and Ash smirked.

Hearing the crowd praise him and disparage Cross would never, ever get old. He laughed to himself as they began to disperse. Cross was somewhere among them, annoyed as all hell from his loss. That was a pleasing thought, and Ash decided that he'd hold onto it for a while. Serena soon approached him, seeming a little bit bored. "Pierce isn't here yet," she said. "I think I'll go find someone to battle."

Ash nodded. "You could always battle us," he said. Greninja made a noise of affirmation, letting his agreement be known. "Nah," Serena replied. "You guys are not an opponent that we'd do well against."

"Suit yourself," Ash said, sticking his hands into his pockets. Serena chuckled before turning to look around for someone to battle. And she immediately found someone: her rival, Miette. The blue-haired girl walked right over to Serena, a malicious gleam in her eye. "You owe me another battle," she said. "Especially after what happened last time."

"Oh?" Serena asked, feigning ignorance. "And why is that?" "You know exactly why," Miette snapped, not in the mood for games. Serena sighed, a little disappointed. "Fine," she said. "If you're going to be no fun about it."

Serena's rival rolled her eyes again, still annoyed by the other girl's seeming nonchalance about all of this. Ash watched the interaction with amusement, wondering just how all of this would unfold, exactly- when Miette drew her Poke Ball. "To the field! Now!" she demanded. Serena nodded. "If you want to lose that badly," she said, "then let's get on with it."

Miette's eyes narrowed as she leveled her glare at Serena. Serena stared right back until Miette rounded on her heels and stomped over towards the battlefield. Serena smirked. "Wish me luck, Ash," she said, heading for the opposite end. "You don't need it," Ash called after her. Serena smiled back at him before taking her place at the end of the field. Ash smirked, and then wandered off to gather a crowd together.

A few minutes later, a large group of people had gathered at the field, most of them spectators of Ash's previous battle with Cross. Ash himself appeared at the head of the crowd, near the announcer's booth. Said announcer, Gladion, was sitting there with a bored look on his face. "Why'd you drag me all the way over here?" he asked. "Because you weren't here when I handed Cross his beating," Ash replied. "You should record the match between Serena and Miette."

"Why? So everyone on the UnderNet can see another floor-wiping?" Gladion asked sarcastically. Ash rolled his eyes. "Yes," he replied. "So everyone can see it." Gladion sighed, pressing a few buttons on the control console. "Fine. I'll fire up my equipment," he said. "But only because you asked me to." Ash nodded, quickly returning his attention to the battlefield, where Serena and Miette were readying themselves for battle.

Serena pulled out Magmortar's ball, feeling that he needed some exercise. "Are you ready to lose, Miette?" she asked, noticing the cameras surrounding the field flare to life. "Yeah," Miette replied. "But the only one who's gonna lose is you!" Serena smirked, sort of impressed by Miette's gall. Nonetheless, she decided that she was going to end this fight as fast and as brutally as she could. On the other end of the field, Miette was stewing with rage.

Serena's smug expression was annoying her, and she quickly snatched her Poke Ball from her bag. "Electivire, get out here!" she shouted, sending her hulking Electric type onto the field. Electivire appeared in a flash of light, showering the field with sparks. Serena smirked, deploying her own fighter. Her Magmortar soon appeared, bellowing a gout of flame upon seeing his rival. The flames on his shoulders flared to life, and he prepared to do battle.

Meanwhile, Gladion started his commentary- though it sounded a bit half-hearted. "Here we are, users of the UnderNet…" he said. "We've got a battle between 7th ranked Serena, and 9th ranked Miette!" The last declaration seemed slightly more energetic than the first, but was obviously not really something that Gladion wanted to be doing. He was nominally in charge of the Vermilion Club, as the third ranked Trainer in the whole underground circuit, but he was mostly apathetic to most of what went down inside it.

Ash, on the other hand, was practically glued to the fight, anticipating a momentous battle. The crowd seemed eager as well, and both combatants prepared themselves for battle. "No mercy, Magmortar!" Serena called. "Make 'em beg!" Magmortar nodded, preparing his arm cannon. A Flamethrower began forming as his lips twisted into a wicked smile. He was going to enjoy this. "Thunderbolt!" Miette called. "Stop them!"

Electivire nodded, and his tails began crackling with electricity. He grunted a challenge to Magmortar as he let the massive bolt loose, preparing to rock his opponent. Magmortar relished the combat as he unleashed his attack. Both moves collided mid-field, obscuring it with smoke. Neither Pokemon made a move until it had cleared- revealing them both as unharmed. And then all hell broke loose between them- Magmortar unleashed an Overheat, aiming directly at Electivire's face.

The Thunderbolt Pokemon responded with a massive Thunder, again covering the field in smoke. "Get up close, Magmortar! Make 'em feel the burn!" Serena ordered. The Blast Pokemon nodded, eager to pummel his hated rival up close. The Fire type reached deep, drawing up his limited psychic potential, vanishing in a Teleport. As the smoke cleared, he reappeared mere inches from Electivire's face. His opponent had no time to react as he unleashed a Flamethrower, inflicting the first damage of the match.

But that street went both ways- and Electivire soon smashed Magmortar back with a mighty Thunder Punch. The Blast Pokemon stumbled as Electivire unleashed a Thunderbolt, inflicting further damage. Red hot flames poured from Magmortar's cannons as he retaliated with a pair of Overheat attacks, forcing Electivire onto the back foot. "Now, Magmortar!" Serena called. "Burn them up!" The sadistic Fire type grinned madly, drawing up as much power as he could muster, preparing a Fire Blast.

"Do it, Electivire! Electric Terrain into Thunder!" Miette called. The Thunderbolt Pokemon nodded, quickly bathing the field in a deluge of electrical energy. It would only last a short time, but that was all they needed. Magmortar unleashed his Fire Blast just as Electivire loosed a massive Thunder, boosted by the Electric Terrain. Electivire's attack cut through Magmortar's Fire Blast like it was nothing, barreling forward and slamming the Fire type hard. Miette seemed assured of her victory following that, ordering Electivire into their preferred finisher. "Wild Impact!" she called.

Electivire nodded, crackling with electricity as began preparing that last attack- a combination of Wild Charge and Giga Impact. They'd developed it specifically to counter their rivals- and had crushed many a lesser Trainer with it.

But to their surprise (and horror), Magmortar sat up. His body was singed and dusty, but he was otherwise unharmed. "Did you really think that would work? That you'd beat us that easily?" Serena asked tauntingly. Miette did not respond, mentally cursing the outcome. Serena was all too eager to capitalize on her rival's indecision- and promptly ordered another assault. "Magmortar, Teleport into Overheat! Don't let up!" she ordered.

Magmortar nodded, warping away just in time to avoid a retaliatory Thunderbolt. He reappeared soon after, bathing Electivire with a point-blank Overheat. The snarling Fire type unleashed another Flamethrower, knocking his opponent back. Electivire attempted another attack, but Magmortar teleported away again, promptly unleashing a Lava Plume. The boiling magma did severe damage to Electivire, who fell to one knee from the sheer heat.

Serena smirked- their strategy of setting up oppressive heat- akin to battling atop a volcano- was working. And, if she remembered her science lessons well enough, then the corona of heat should make Electric attacks fizzle out.

"Quick! Paralyze them with Thunder Wave!" Miette called, unwilling to lose now. Electivire nodded, raising his hand, which crackled with electrical energy. But his attempt at casting it forward fizzled out- both because of the extreme heat and because Thunder Wave was an extremely short-range technique. Magmortar was all too eager to capitalize on it, teleporting in close.

Electivire winced in anticipation as the Blast Pokemon raised both cannons, a sign of his own devastating finisher. His mouth opened wide as well, and Magmortar unleashed a triple Overheat. From maybe three to four inches away. Electivire was blown back, slamming into the wall so hard that he cracked it. And then promptly fell to the ground in a blackened heap. His body was covered in burn marks, and his fur was patchy- some of it had been burned away.

Magmortar celebrated by unleashing a stream of flame into the air, and Serena smiled smugly. Miette muttered something under her breath- before recalling her Pokemon and stomping away from the field. "You did good," Serena said, recalling her Magmortar. The Fire type smiled and nodded as he vanished back into his ball. Ash and Greninja approached her, impressed. "That was an intense match," Ash nodded. "It was. But we were never in danger of losing," she said. "Yeah," Ash replied. "The crowd seemed to love it."

Serena nodded, noting that the crowd seemed excited, and most were talking to themselves about it. "Matches involving any of the top ten Trainers are awesome to watch," she said. Ash nodded, noting that he was number five himself. "Sure, the crowd enjoyed it. But did you have to wreck my field?" Gladion asked, approaching his friends. "Sorry about that," Serena said. "We underestimated how much damage that Lava Plume would do."

Gladion sighed, glancing to the crater of lava in the center of the field. Holes were still melted in other parts of it. "We'll take care of it," Ash said. "Greninja, cool that field down with Hydro Pump!"

Greninja complied, unleashing the attack. The field and much of the area was soon bathed with steam as the Water-type move connected. When the steam cleared, the lava was gone, and much of the field was blackened and melted. Other parts were covered in electrical burns from missed attacks on Electivire's part. The place where Electivire had first appeared bore scars from the sparks he'd debuted with. Gladion sighed at the condition of the field, wandering back to his booth, muttering something about needing to put in a work order. Ash and Serena shared a laugh as they watched him go. "So…what now?" Serena asked. "Well," Ash said. "We need to find Pierce."

Serena nodded, but her reply was cut off by the man himself appearing from nowhere. "I heard that you're looking for me," he said. Both rounded to face him, surprised. "I hate it when you do that," Ash said. Pierce chuckled. "I know," he said. "And you're supposed to be the master of stealth here." Ash sighed. "I am," he said. "Which is why I hate your mysterious appearances and disappearances."

"How long have you been here?" Serena asked, interrupting. "The whole time," Pierce asked. "And, don't you forget, Ash, I'm the one who taught you your stealth techniques."

"But not how you just… vanish…like that," Ash replied. Pierce chuckled again. "I never said that I taught you everything that I know," he said. Ash sighed, annoyed at his mentor's non-answer. "If you've been here the whole time, then what were you doing here?" he asked, changing the subject. "I was observing the two of you," Pierce said."And I think that I'd like to test your skills myself, Ash."

"You mean in battle?" Ash asked. Pierce nodded. "That is correct," he said. "So let's make our way to the field. Bisharp could use the exercise." "You up for it, Greninja?" Ash asked of his partner. The Ninja Pokemon nodded, eagerly accepting the challenge. "You're on," Ash said. "Very well," Pierce said. "Let us get underway." An even larger crowd gathered as the two squared off against each other, and Gladion perked up immediately, preparing a broadcast of his own volition."Here we are, UnderNet!" he said, now much more excited. "We've got a real battle for you today!"

"I'm Gladion, 3rd ranked Trainer in the entire Underground League!" he said, introducing himself for the camera. "And I've got a really great battle for you guys today! A match between two of my fellow Royal Five members!"

"Those members," he continued, "are Ash 'Shadow' Ketchum, and his mentor, Pierce 'Blade' Winston!" The crowd roared in delight, and Gladion decided to milk that for the camera as well. "We've got a lot of people here to watch this thing in person as well, so it's sure to be a great one!" he said. "And we're getting ready to start!" The cameras repositioned themselves to film the field as Gladion continued. "Ash is ranked 5th," he said."And Pierce is ranked 4th, so this will be a really, really great battle!"

Greninja soon leapt onto the field as Pierce readied his Poke Ball. "Bisharp, you're up!" he called, sending his partner into battle. Both Pokemon sized each other up, offering nods of respect. "Alright!" Ash said. "Let's start off with a Water Shuriken!"

Greninja nodded, easily forming the attack with his mastery of water crafting. "Night Slash!" Pierce ordered. Bisharp nodded, extending the blades on his arms. Said blades glowed with Dark- type energy as he prepared his attack. The Sword Blade Pokemon leapt forward as Greninja unleashed his Water Shuriken. Bisharp swung his arms up, effortlessly cleaving the Ninja Pokemon's projectiles apart. The water lost its shape and splashed harmlessly to the ground, and both Pokemon ceased their movement and squared up for round two.

"That was just a warmup, yes?" Pierce asked, expecting more from his student. Ash nodded. "Yeah," he said. "Me and Greninja are just playing around." Pierce nodded. "You were testing our defenses, no doubt," he said. "Bisharp, Flash Cannon!" Ash's eyes narrowed as he thought up his next move. "Greninja, Agility and Double Team! Mix in a Smokescreen!"

Greninja nodded, preparing the multipronged command- Agility to boost his speed, Double Team to confuse his opponent, and Smokescreen to obscure his true location. "Misdirection, hmm?" Pierce observed. "You took our lessons to heart." Ash nodded with a grin. "We did. And you're not going to beat us!" he said. "Greninja, Water Shuriken!" he ordered. Bisharp immediately prepared his Night Slash as the attack closed in- slicing the first two down.

But Greninja was prepared, soon appearing behind Bisharp and unleashing two more. The Steel type stumbled forward as Greninja sped away, reappearing in front of Bisharp to connect two more. Pierce's eyes narrowed as he began analyzing Greninja's movements for an opening- his own had taught Ash's, after all. Soon, Bisharp unleashed a potent Flash Cannon, managing to tag Greninja before he could move.

"Now! X-Scissor!" Pierce ordered. "Follow it up with Poison Jab!"

Bisharp nodded, preparing to carry out his commands- only for Greninja to vanish once again. Agility to boost, Double Team to confuse. "Now! Hydro Pump!" Ash ordered, intending to knock Bisharp back. Pierce raised an eyebrow- Ash had incorporated some power into their moveset. Which was not something that Pierce had taught them- Pierce and his Greninja had taught Ash and his then-Frogadier speed, misdirection, and subterfuge.

So he was actually impressed to see Ash's ingenuity- he figured out that speed wasn't everything all on his own. Greninja soon reappeared and blasted Bisharp with his Hydro Pump, knocking him back. Greninja kept up his Double Team shenanigans, vanishing from sight yet again as Bisharp got back to his feet, readying himself for continued battle. "Alright, then Bisharp! Unleash your Flash Cannon in as many directions as you can!" Pierce called.

The Steel type nodded, having sparred with his Trainer's Greninja more than enough to have counters to nearly anything Ash's Greninja could try. The Flash Cannon trick he was about to pull was one of his favorites. He fired off multiple blasts of Flash Cannon, as if he was firing some sort of burst weapon. This continued until all but two of Greninja's duplicates were gone. "Alright, Greninja! Go on the offensive!" Ash ordered.

Greninja nodded, closing in quickly. His arm glowed white- a sign of Brick Break. "Is that what I think it is?" Pierce asked, noting the move. Ash nodded in response, but said nothing as Greninja slammed his arm down on Bisharp's shoulder. The Sword Blade Pokemon staggered back, enabling Greninja to unleash another Hydro Pump. Bisharp dropped to one knee as Greninja vanished in another Agility/Double Team combo.

"Do it!" Ash called. The Ninja Pokemon soon reappeared, slamming a Brick Break into Bisharp's gut, sending him crumpling to the ground. "And, to answer your question, that was Brick Break," Ash said. "We originally learned it to counter other Dark types." Pierce nodded. "And, since Bisharp is Dark and Steel type, you decided that it would be especially effective. Good job," he said. "That's right," Ash said. "But I don't think that did you in." "No," Pierce said. "Bisharp, Brick Break!"

The Steel type nodded, flinging his own Brick Break up. He struck Greninja in the chest, leaving him staggering. "Now, Poison Jab!" Pierce called, not letting up even a little bit. But Greninja recovered, vanishing in another Double Team. The Poison Jab struck a duplicate, which faded away. Bisharp began preparing Flash Cannon again as Greninja unleashed a Dark Pulse at his feet, disrupting his concentration. The Water type soon unleashed his misdirection tactics in full force, taking advantage of Bisharp's confusion.

"Prepare yourself!" Ash shouted, alerting Pierce to the fact that he was about to try something. That something soon revealed itself as a Hydro Pump. Bisharp countered it with a Flash Cannon, soaking the field with a burst of water. "Now, Bisharp!" Pierce called. "Intercept them with Brick Break!"

Greninja reappeared soon after, flinging a Water Shuriken towards Bisharp. The Sword Blade Pokemon responded by forming a Night Slash with his free arm, bringing it up to cleave the watery weapons apart once more. Ash smiled in anticipation, ordering Greninja into action. "Counter it with Water Pulse!" he ordered. Greninja quickly formed the orb of water, flinging it at Bisharp in a last ditch effort to foil his attack.

But the Steel type proved more agile than expected as he leapt over the Water Pulse. Ash winced as Bisharp connected his Brick Break, staggering Greninja and leaving him open to attack. "Now, Bisharp! X-Scissor!" Pierce ordered. Bisharp nodded, crossing his arms, which began glowing light green. The 'X' shaped burst of energy slammed into Greninja, who winced from the super effective hit, falling to his knees. "Now! Flash Cannon!" Pierce shouted.

Greninja got to his feet just in time to evade the intended finisher. He shared a look with Ash before he vanished into another Double Team. "Water Shuriken from everywhere!" Ash ordered. "Back it up with Agility and Double Team!" Greninja nodded, combining misdirection and offense into one deadly package, pelting Bisharp with the watery projectiles faster than he could destroy them with Night Slash. His defenses were slowly chipped away, and Bisharp dropped to his left knee as Greninja set up his own finisher.

"Now, Greninja!" Ash shouted. "Use Hydro Cannon!"

Pierce's eyes widened- he was not expecting that. "Dark Pulse!" he called, preparing one final effort to stop the attack. But Greninja proved faster, leaping down from the rafters to unleash his attack point blank. When the dust cleared, Greninja looked significantly worse for wear, but Bisharp was lying defeated. "AND ASH HAS DONE IT!" Gladion shouted as the crowd went crazy. Serena smiled from the sidelines, impressed at Ash's skill.

Pierce gave him a nod of respect, recalling his Bisharp wordlessly. Ash recalled Greninja before he could collapse from exhaustion, and moved to take Pierce's offered handshake. "You've still got it," he said. "I think you've gotten better since the last time we fought." Ash nodded. "I think so too," he said. "You guys crushed us the last time. Though that was a long time ago."

Pierce nodded. "Yeah," he said. "I think you're ready to challenge me to an official match. I'll have to set it up sometime." Ash nodded again- he couldn't wait for that. "Get ready. Because I'm gunning for your rank," he said. "And then, I'm gonna beat Gladion." Pierce chuckled, and Ash's friend smirked- he'd take that challenge. He and Lycanroc hadn't had a good fight in a while. "Now, I bet you're wondering what I needed you and Serena for," he whispered, leaning over to Ash's ear.

Ash nodded. "I am wondering about that, yes," he whispered back. "What do you need us to do?" "We won't talk about that here," Pierce responded, his voice still low. Too many eyes and ears around here. "We'll talk in the manager's office."

Ash nodded, accepting those terms, and walked over towards Gladion, who was wrapping up his UnderNet broadcast. "What's up?" he asked, as he and Pierce approached. "We need to borrow your office," Pierce said. Gladion nodded, knowing where this was going. "Alright," he said. "It's unlocked." Pierce nodded in return. "Thank you," he said. "You're welcome," Gladion responded. "Ash, you and Serena go talk to Pierce. I'll handle everything here."

Ash nodded, taking Serena's hand. "Right. See you later," he said. Gladion nodded back at him, and the two followed Pierce.

Vermilion UnderClub, Manager's Office…

Ash, Serena, and Pierce stood inside Gladion's office, which was on the level just below the old train station that held the battlefield. "What did you need us for?" Ash asked. "Giovanni wants you two reactivated," Pierce replied. "He wants us back in Team Rocket?" Serena asked, seeking clarification. "That is correct," Pierce replied.

"For what?" Ash asked, still not sure of rejoining the shady underworld organization. Team Rocket was the reason that he and Serena could only battle down here, after all. "The boss wants to steal a shipment of rare Pokemon bound for Johto's Safari Zone," Pierce replied. "He needs your skill." Ash and Serena shared a glance, considering the offer. "You don't have to participate," Pierce said. "He'll settle with you just rejoining us."

"I…I don't know," Ash said. "He kicked us out of Viridian over one slip-up. Why should we trust him?" "You probably shouldn't," Pierce admitted. "But I think you two could benefit from this." "Benefit from this? How?" Serena asked, still unsure. "If you do it," Pierce replied, "the boss said that he'll let each of you take one Pokemon from the haul, and he'll give you a cut of the profits from selling the rest."

Ash and Serena remained silent for several minutes- Pokemon smuggling and Pokemon theft were serious crimes. They'd done both before, but that was when they were active agents of Team Rocket. They weren't entirely sure if they wanted to get mixed up in that again. Doing a job with Team Rocket meant that you were in, and it was very hard to get back out. "Will he guarantee that he won't punish us if we screw up?" Serena asked. "He promised Ash's dad that much," Pierce said. "And he said that he'll let you off the hook, permanently, if you succeed, should you so choose."

Ash and Serena shared another glance upon hearing that. "Fine," Ash said. "We'll do it." "I'm glad that you made the right choice," Pierce replied. "The shipment is due to arrive in Vermilion Harbor around midnight next Saturday." Ash nodded. "And we're gonna be lying in wait?" he asked. "That's right," Pierce replied. "We'll have Captain Gozu and the Matori Matrix with us."

"What are they going to be doing?" Serena asked. "They'll be extracting the shipment of Pokemon," Pierce replied. "Stealing them, loading them into cages, trucks, etc." Serena nodded, taking a deep breath. "And what will we be doing?" she asked. "You two will be with me," Pierce said. "We'll prepare the way- take out the guards, cameras, anything like that. Once we're in, we'll patrol the area while the others steal every Pokemon on that ship." Ash and Serena nodded, mentally preparing themselves for the job. Pierce smiled at them and vanished- disappearing without a trace. "I still hate it when he does that," Ash snarked. Serena laughed. "It's creepy, isn't it?" she asked. Ash nodded. "It damn sure is," he said. "Now, let's go back and relax for a bit before we go home."

Serena nodded, and the two made their way back to the battle club's main area.

Elsewhere, Pierce pulled out his handheld communicator. A hologram of the Rocket Boss appeared on it. "Have you met with Operatives Rocket and Thruster?" Giovanni asked. Pierce nodded. "Yes sir," he said. "And?" Giovanni asked, beckoning for Pierce to continue. "They accepted," Pierce replied. "They will be joining us."

"Good," Giovanni replied. "This operation is important. Sink the ship if you can." Pierce nodded. "Yes sir," he said. "We'll take care of it." "See that you do," Giovanni said. "The S.S. Libra must not leave Vermilion Harbor. The secrecy of Project Genetic depends on it."

Pierce nodded, knowing exactly what his boss was referring to: Team Rocket's secret operation to clone Mew. And as far as anyone knew for sure, they had failed. But there was a rumor amongst the Executives that they had actually succeeded. Pierce shuddered at the thought that Giovanni may have some obscenely powerful Pokemon stashed away somewhere. "Is there something wrong?" the Rocket Boss asked, after a few minutes of silence.

"No," Pierce said. "I will return to base as soon as I can." "Good," Giovanni replied. "Headquarters out." Pierce put his communicator away, gulping nervously. He still had no idea how he should feel about Project Genetic. Everything to do with it unnerved him tremendously, and he really, really, really hated that. With a burning passion.