Ash's POV:

"Ash, please calm down", Serena told me rubbing circles on my chest with a concerned expression, but I was nowhere NEAR calming down knowing that I had an evil female alter ego who was behind me.

"Look, maybe it was just a hallucination", May suggested nervously.

"Look! I remember seeing one face...my OWN! But it was in front of me, as a FEMALE", I told her and she shrugged her shoulders.

"Have you talked to your mom, Serena?", I asked her and she nodded her head.

"I did. Things are even worse on her side of Vaniville Town. She has forced her Ryhorn into the house while Fletchinder isn't allowed to go out. Grunts are just capturing every Pokemon they see, WHETHER they have a trainer or not", she told me.

"I...I'm gonna talk to my mom. I have to ask her about Ashlyn", I told them and they nodded their heads, leaving me to my own business. I reached for my PokeTab and called Mom. In a second, she took the call.

"What is it honey? Any problems?", she asked me desperately.

"In a way. Do you know ANYTHING about a woman who looks EXACTLY like me? And that too of my age?", I asked her and she nervously shook her head.

"You're lying, Mom! Dilated pupils, sudden agitation.....you are lying", I told her and she looked down.

"Well, honey, when I came to know that Red actually HAD a wife, I was MAD at him. I bore twins...you and a girl. At the time of your birth, we came to a deal that we'll each keep one child...and I chose you. I thought...I thought that he'd dump her in a garbage bin somewhere or that you'd never meet her again. I'm....I'm so sorry, honey", Mom told me sobbing and I walked away in disbelief.

"Please don't go, Ash. I didn't want you to be around him. If I told you about her, you would have tried to see her, and I was afraid he'd brainwash you too. Please forgive me, son. Please", she sobbed and I couldn't see my mother cry.

"Mom! Don't cry, PLEASE! I'm not angry at you. How can I get angry at the one woman who raised me single handedly? ", I pleaded and she began to wipe her tears giving me a weak smile.

"Then who in the world are we?", Aunt Johanna and Aunt Caroline asked me pouting and I simply chuckled causing them to do the same hugging Mom.

"You guys knew about...her?", I asked them and they nodded their heads.

"Do May and Dawn...", I trailed and before I could complete, they shook their heads.

"It was risky to let them know about her, Ash. They might spill it", Aunt Caroline told me.

"I understand. Thank you for letting me know about her. Love you guys,  bye!", I told them and cut the call abruptly when I heard Dawn and May shriek.

"ASH! COME, LOOK HERE!", Serena yelled grabbing me by my wrist and dragging me towards the PokeVision pointing a trembling finger towards it.

"I am standing here in what is supposed to be the PUBLIC execution of our dear leader Charles Goodshow. All the 7 Regions have been brought down to their knees, and Alola......We don't even KNOW what has happened there. Team Skull has barred ALL forms of communication in Alola which is why we do not know WHAT has traversed in the Region of Joy", the reporter spoke solemnly and even the cameraman was shaking.

Charles Goodshow was brought out with a black mask covering his whole face, with two Flare grunts dragging him towards the guillotine.

"They are executing him like the public executions of the 18th century Kalosian Revolution. Merde", Serena told me shaking and she grabbed onto my arm for support. Dawn and May were hugging each other breathing as fast as they could, while Drew and Gary had covered their lower jaws with their hands staring at the screen HOPING for a miracle.

"I am INNOCENT! WHY? WHY are you doing this?", Goodshow asked Red who was standing near the guillotine.

"For them. You may think that you have done this world a deed...establishing communications, trade and much others, but you have WEAKENED us COMPLETELY in terms of strength. Only the test of fire, makes strong steel. That's why you have been condemned to be BEHEADED in front of the crowd, and your corpse will hang out there...for them to see. Am I right, my friends?", he spoke with his silver tongue effectively making the common man see from his point of view.

"KILL! KILL! KILL!", all the people yelled and Goodshow looked....betrayed. He seemed like he was awaiting death, and when his mask was removed, he walked to the guillotine without any sort of resistance.

"We cannot stop this sickness taking over. Neither can we stop them from taking control, or from dragging us into nowhere. It's all over. They'll finish off Scott next, and then the Champions, Battle Frontiers and GONE. To make things WORSE, we are stuck in this s**thole with nothing to do. It's...all...over", I lamented sitting down on the nearby couch, suddenly finding a deep interest staring into the wooden floor.

Suddenly, I heard a chomp coming from the PokeVision, and a scream from Serena which signified that Charles Goodshow was no more. Serena then moved on to my lap burying her face in my neck, and sobbed softly.

"How....how long do you think we have until they start killing us, Ash?", she asked me reaching back to look at my face but I avoided her look.

"I don't know", I told her shaking my head, and she wrapped her slender legs around my waist sobbing harder and I can't say that the other occupants of my room were faring any better either. I pressed my lips to Serena's collarbone and shoulder, and stroked her back which seemed to calm her down a bit.

"Do you think we can do anything?", she asked me and I didn't know how to answer that. I didn't want to give her any false hope, but at the same time, I myself was curious about it. Suddenly, the door crashed open, and we saw a person whose face was hidden by the backlight of the sun.

"There is one way. You find a way to get me inside, and I MIGHT be able to get the others out", LANCE told us and the others were overjoyed to see the last free Champion walk up to us.

"Good to know that you can keep your word, Ketchum", Lance told me with a small grin and Serena understood that I didn't tell her about my meeting with Lance.

"I got the news from Ash, and did some scouting myself. All the Champions have been deported to the underground floor of KIP's main building. There is only one way by which we can save ourselves, and ALL those who depend on us", Lance told us and we looked at him expectantly.

"I have to turn myself in", he told us and this raised a HUGE alarm amongst the rest of us. But I understood the hidden plan.

"Look! If the grunts are occupied in celebrating their victory, they'll surely let their guard down, and we can snoop around, to free the others. With the other Champions free, we wouldn't have anything to worry about. Each one of them is a destruction unit, so I don't think Red would stand a chance if all of them bring their guns out", I told them and Lance seemed impressed.

"Not bad at all, Ash. But once they capture me, there's no turning back, and it's all down to the six of you to take care of what has to be done", he told us and aster sharing a determined look, we nodded our heads.

"Good! We'll meet up tomorrow, at the break of dawn. It's the only time that the grunts have their security weakened", he told us, and looked at me.

"Hmm....Diantha did tell me that the Kalos Queen had a secret crush on you, Ash. I believe I've seen the proof", Lance told me teasingly when he saw Serena in an extremely comprising position, and in a jiffy, she got up twiddling her thumbs and blushing like my Meganium each time I pet or praise her. After that, he left while Serena buried her face in her hands cursing herself in native Kalosian.

Next Day

Lance came into our room with the same hunchback beggar costume, but we were prepared to get rid of them.

"Do you guys remember the plan?", Gary asked us and we nodded our heads while Dawn snorted.

"WE remember the plan, babe. It's YOU who must do so", she countered causing Gary to frown and the rest of us to break into smiles, which was very much required in this tense phase. I had told Lance of our plan early in the morning when I was training with my Pokemon, and he decided not to hang around for too much time, so he left to beg again.

We approached the building by the poolside entrance, and just like Lance had assumed, it was not heavily guarded, just one or two lazy bumpkins who were busy dozing like there was no tomorrow....that came out wrong, busy dozing like they hadn't slept for a week.

"Careful! This is the place where the guards are highly concentrated", Lance whispered when we went through the ground floor, but to our surprise there was not a single soul to be found. There was debris scattered everywhere, but not a single living person was to be found.

"Something doesn't feel right, does it? I mean, nobody is here", I told my friends but they shrugged it off.

"You heard Lance didn't you, cuz? Maybe they don't expect us to be here", May whispered and I nodded my head hoping she was right.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang, and within the blink of an eye, we were surrounded by Flare and Plasma grunts, headed by Ashlyn.

"Nice to meet you, little brother", she motioned.

"I wish I could've said the same, big sister", I motioned and she seemed impressed.

"Impressive! It's good to know that you've caught up with my language even though I've paired myself with you only for a minute. Not bad, not bad at all", she motioned and someone tapped my shoulder. When I turned around, I saw the back end of a pistol being smashed into my temple, and the whole world went black.

Time Skip

I woke up groaning and expected myself and all of my friends to be tied and gagged, but to my surprise, we weren't. We were seated on a waiting bench which was normally used during team battles in official leagues.

"Where are we?", Serena asked rubbing her eyes and the rest of us shrugged unable to give a proper answer. But where was Lance?

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!! Welcome to the Bloodbath of KIP! Presenting......our CHALLENGERS!!", the MC roared and spotlights fell on all 6 of us, and we were greeted by jeers and boos. All of us were too shocked to wave or do ANYTHING.

"Presenting.......the DEFENDERS!!", the MC roared and the spotlight fell on a group of  6 people I never expected to see in that place - Aria, Virgil, Tobias, Tyson, Monsieur Pierre and Palermo.

To be continued....