Ash's POV:

I was overly exhausted due to the fumes around me, the battling, and of course, the kick to my temple. But the cherry on top of the cake was the sound bomb that was placed a hundred metres away from me and Serena.

The second it exploded, I blacked out, the last sound I heard being the yelp of Serena.

Time Skip

I don't remember when I woke up, but all I could muster was that Serena was staring into my eyes, owing to the fact that her bright blue eyes were perfectly visible even when my vision was foggy.

"How long was I out?", I asked her YET again, and I feared that it was becoming habitual.

"Just for an hour. Fatigue. That's what happened. Take rest", she told me adjusting my pillow.

"What about her? Did the explosion kill anyone?", I drawled and she rolled her eyes with a small shake of her head.

"All in good time, Ashy", she whispered pressing her lips to my temple, and left the room, leaving me in solitude.

"Good morning, sleepyhead", a well known voice greeted me telepathically, and Greninja came out folding his arms.

"Come on, we've got work to do", he told me in his partially electronic voice.

"Tile! Tile!", Sceptile agreed nodding his head, and pointed his chin towards the window.

"Sceptile wants you to see outside", he told me, and I nodded my head. I really didn't need Greninja to translate Sceptile. I've been around him long enough to understand his body language like my own.

Somehow, the grunts had managed to double their forces, and were armed to the teeth, glaring around remorselessly.

"Let me make ONE thing clear. Those who catch hold of the person who had killer my wife and had incarcerated my son, would be given one wish. As long as it's in my power, I PROMISE to grant it to you", Red yelled from outside glaring dangerously at my window.

"But I need proof of the murder, ladies and gentlemen. Let me remind you, that if anyone of you try to pull a fast one on me, well, you'll see that death is not the final end", he threatened and the grunts grew pale in fear.

"I'm BACK!", Serena yelled opening the door, and her glare intensified when she saw me standing up. She stomped towards me and pushed me down onto the bed grabbing me by my shoulders.

"Didn't I tell you not to get up? You are still weak, Ash!", she scolded me forcing me to roll my eyes in annoyance. But I figured out that she was lying.

"Are you gonna tell me the truth?", I asked her and her eyes widened and she gulped confirming my suspicions.

"Wh...Wha..What truth? I...I ha..have not lied, Ash", she told me nervously.

"If you had told me this without stammering or without dropping your sheet, I might have believed you. Come on, tell me!", I pressed and she took a seat next to me.

"Look, Ash. The guards have been given a shoot on sight order. I just...I don't want anything to happen to you", she told me hugging my arm.

"I'm not going alone. I have my Pokemon with me. Where are they by the way?", I asked her and she took me to them. Most of my Pokemon were playing around in the battle area, but I couldn't spot Infernape and Feraligatr.

"TAR TAR TAR TAR TAR TAR TAR!!!", a familiar voice yelled running and dancing towards a door, and crashed through it followed by Infernape who was charging at him with Flame Wheel.

"What has he done?", I asked Serena but she was too busy laughing to answer me. Suddenly, her eyes widened when she saw the placard outside the room. I followed suit and turned around to see the placard, and I wish I hadn't done so.

DANGER EXPLOSIVE AND INFLAMMABLE ITEMS INSIDE

"INFERNAPE, NO!!", I yelled but it was too late, as the whole room exploded into flames, and Infernape came out harmlessly scratching his head, while Feraligatr was dancing like there was no tomorrow.

"WAAAAAAUGHHH!!!", was the sound which dragged my attention away from my hyperactive Pokemon. A man, a woman, and a small Pokemon were sent up in the air, and crashed smack in the centre of the arena, leaving up a trail of smoke.

"Well...it was the smallest blast off, right?", the woman drawled and I felt like I had seen the three of them before. The smoke cleared, and my suspicions were confirmed.

A man with purple hair, a woman with magenta hair and a talking Meowth - the three of them were rather familiar.

"TEAM ROCKET! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?", Serena yelled at the three of them, and they began to cower in fear looking at her expression, her Cerulean blue eyes were now more or less like the aftermath of a massive storm.

"HEY, it's the Twoipette. Geddap ya runts!", the Meowth yelled kicking the two of them who got up in a flash.

"Prepare for trouble", the lady started.

"And make it double", the guy continued.

"To protect the world from devastation..."

"PANGORO, Parting Shot followed by Vital Throw!!", Serena yelled abruptly, preventing the trio from continuing their poem, which seemed very familiar, almost like a motto.

"Hey, twerpette! Let us finish our motto!", the guy yelled running away from Pangoro who walked towards them cracking his knuckles.

Pangoro smashed the trio almost into the future, and I almost felt sorry for the grunts looking at the swirls in their eyes.

Then, the three of them looked at me, and I was afraid that their eyes might bulge out of their sockets.

"IT'S THAT TWOIP WHO SMASHED US FROM KANTO TO HOENN WITH DAT CHARIZARD OF HIS! RUN!!!", the Meowth yelled scurrying away from me, while the man and woman followed suit. But out of the blue, Sceptile caught the humans by their collars, and wrapped Meowth with his tail, giving Pangoro a small smirk which the Dark Type returned along with a thumbs up.

"Do I know the three of you?", I asked them and they scoffed.

"We stole your Pikachu way back in Kanto, when you were around 10, and we tried to escape. But you used that Charizard of yours and sent us on a free trip from Kanto to Hoenn. We were also behind bars for illegal entry because of you, twerp!", the woman accused and I shrugged my shoulders.

"If that's the case, then I'm not gonna apologize", I told them nonchalantly, and they turned to leave.

"Actually...there is something in which we need your expertise", Serena told them slyly and motioned me to follow her.

"Do we hafta dig a hole?", Meowth asked her and she nodded her head.

"Almost right. You help us take down the remaining grunts, and I'll appoint one of the best lawyers in Kalos to get rid of your accusations, and I'll help you get jobs as spies for the police. I've seen the three of you do wierd stuff for money, and being a spy...it's good pay. What do you say?", she asked the three of them, who pondered deeply, huddling together smack in the same spot.

"As long as we don't hafta blast away again, we got a deal, twoipette", Meowth told her and she just giggled nodding her head.

"So, what do we have to do, twerpette?", the woman asked Serena who looked a time expectantly.

"Well, you have to lure the grunts away from me. Think you can do that?", I asked them and they nodded their heads vigorously.

"Twoip, we are SPECIALISTS in tricking people. All we hafta to is ta dress like you, and we are set. James would run away on the west side, while Jessie would run away from the east side. Meanwhile, I will hit da grunts with my trap gun from the Meowth balloon", he told me and I nodded my head.

"Well, get to work", Serena told them pointing her chin towards the door, and they bolted out, the very next second.

Around two minutes later, the three of them arrived. Meowth had armed himself with more weapons than the entire Kantonian army, while Jessie and James were a splitting image of me. It would have taken someone a solid minute to figure out that they're actually dupes.

"I guess we have dressed well. Goodbye, we're off", they told us and bolted off once again, but this time, accidentally outside the hole right near the door.

"We're good!", James drawled and I decided to leave the place to avoid being spotted by heat seeking cameras, which were settled upon drones.

"I'll stay here, okay? Just in case if anyone comes here in search of you", Serena told me and I nodded my head.

"Where are the others, by the way?", I asked her and she gulped...loudly.

"They're with your sister", she whispered looking down at the floor and passed on a note.

Same place, same time. Mostly, the same result, maybe more permanent.

- Your loving sister
A.K.

"That arena is FAR worse, Ash. It's broken, with sharp debris still lying around. If an attack doesn't go by your plans, it may...it may not just HURT your Pokemon. It can do stuff far worse things, Ash", she told me grappling me by my wrist.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine", I assured her with a smile, and she returned it with a nod of her head. Internally, I was freaking out. I had NEVER been this nervous before a battle. It was better off to lie to her confidently, than to leave her having looked at me in a totally Torchiced state.

After that, I left the room, plodding towards the arena. The trio were doing their job perfectly, as the entire set of grunts were in complete disarray, and lack of coordination, almost like kids lost in an amusement park.

I used the commotion to mask my presence, and slowly made my way to the arena. She was right of course, the arena was nowhere NEAR a state to have a full blown battle.

"ASHY!!", I heard May yell, but she was trapped inside that same electric dome which had earlier trapped my Pokemon. I went close to tell her the method of breaking out of that dome, but she cut me off.

"CAN YOU HEAR ME? BECAUSE I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!", she yelled, and I didn't have a choice. Suddenly, I felt a shiver run down my spine, and I heard someone whistle.

I turned around to face her. She hadn't changed a bit. The commotion hadn't breached her mind at all, the same condescending look, the sneer and the nonchalant body language.

"Are you ready to die, little brother?", she asked me with a grin on her face.

The six Pokeballs in my belt roared in rage, and I couldn't contain them. Without my permission, they came out of their Pokeballs - the same set of 6 Pokemon who had faced the wrath of her. Their anger and determination had suddenly overtaken my fear. The same feeling rushed through my veins along with the feeling of the rush of adrenaline.

"This is going to be an interesting battle, isn't it Ashy?", she motioned.

But she was almost right! This wasn't going to be a battle, it would be a carnage.

To be continued...