Serena's POV:

"I'll come", Ms. Ketchum told him and went with him, not before pulling Ash out of the room, and forcing him to sit in the common room, which obviously wasn't well received by him. The next second, she kissed his temple and left with Red, much to Ash's dissatisfaction.

"How is he still alive?", I asked Ash and he rolled his eyes mumbling something.

"Mom let him live. When you guys left, I did fight Red, but he was way too powerful, and he asked Lysandre to finish me off. If possible, Lysandre was even more hard, but he was impulsive, and he fell off the 6th floor or 7th. Red came back, and we were about to resume our fight, but Mom interrupted us and began to attack him. It was quite long, but eventually, Red defeated her, holding her at knifepoint, but he said that he still loves her and couldn't kill her. Mom fell for it the very next second, but I don't trust him", he told me with a strong glare. I moved to the seat right next to him and hugged his arm.

"Maybe he has changed, Ash", I told him and he scoffed.

"You too? I mean WHY is everybody sympathizing with that guy?", he asked me with a huff and I shrugged my shoulders unable to give him a proper answer.

"I can't give you that answer, Ash. But I do know this. People change. Mostly for the good or sometimes for the worse, and I'm sure that it's the former case here", I told him hoping to get a positive response but all I received was a sigh. I gently kissed his cheek and he gave me a small smirk and wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me closer in his embrace.

But something was not right. Even I was able to feel the same, and I felt like a hypocrite when I asked him to calm down. But this was the time I had to stand up for him. I let the chilled feeling slide hoping that my intuition fails me once more.

Suddenly, his PokeTab buzzed and I saw that it was a message from Gary, but it was an attached file, and Ash began to read it. A second later, he got up suddenly, forcing me to fall down on the couch due to the sudden loss of balance and I was about to yell at him, before I saw his expression.

"My gut has never been wrong, and I guess it still wouldn't be. I'm going. Something is horribly wrong, Serena", he told me and walked out of the door stuffing his Pokeballs onto his belt.

Even though I wanted to disagree with him, I let him go with a nod of my head and looked out of the window. From the corner of my eye, I saw a shaded figure walk through the deep forest, with some sort of switch in his hand.

Delia's POV:

Red and I walked in complete silence until we came across an abandoned lake which seemed extremely familiar - the place I had first met him, the place where the first time in my life, my knees weakened.

"Delia, I know I have hurt you beyond words, but the Red who had hurt you, was not me at all", he sighed and I gave him a glare - the usual excuse ANYONE would give.

"I was under the influence of a drug they had manufactured, Delia. Please listen to me for Arceus' sake!", he yelled at me shaking me by my shoulders and I slapped him.

"Don't you dare touch me, you piece of filth!", I scolded him. Even though a dormant part of me loved him, my tough exterior was still wary of him. He always had a way with words with that silver tongue of his.

"The day I came back home after meeting you, YES, from here, I felt a sharp pain on the nape of my neck, but I shoved it away as a sting of a Weedle", he told me and I motioned him to continue.

"J NEVER loved me. She was a woman who would do ANYTHING as long as she gets paid. The next day, I wasn't able to control my own self. It was as if I was being controlled by my mind", he told me and I couldn't find any signs of lies from his tone or his expression.

"You remember that we didn't see each other for a couple of weeks after our first meeting, right?", he asked me and almost everything fell into place.

"You were a thorn in their side, and they used the only strategy they could to take you out..by your heart. You left the army for Ash, I grabbed Ashlyn away from you, then Calem was born, and for nearly two decades, I was their puppet", he sighed, tears of shame brimming from his eyes.

"Were you..I..h..how long?", I stuttered in partial gibberish although I already knew the answer.

"It's just like a roller coaster, Delia. If you're interested, you open your eyes and enjoy the ride. Otherwise, you close your eyes and pray for it to end as early as possible. Obviously, my prayers weren't heard", he told me with a small smirk and wiped the tears from his eyes. This time, my instincts took over and I threw my arms around his neck, while he buried his face in the crook of my neck and sighed.

"When.. and how did you come out of it?", I whispered in his ear and he leaned back to look into my eyes.

"The day Ashlyn was killed. At that point, I was able to feel myself, my old self, the one you fell for. But it was just a dormant part that had just woken up. The inhuman part of me was still active and dangerous. That was the time when I fought with Ash, and when I fought with you. But the one who didn't have the heart to kill you, and the one who kissed you...he was the real Red, Delia. I can promise you that", he told me cupping my cheek and I placed my forehead on his.

"Come with me. We...we can do something to fix you up", I protested and he shook his head.

"What if I go rogue once again and kill you while you were sleeping? It's a miracle I'm still alive even after I've lost my daughter, Delia. I'll have to stay away from you", he whispered and I couldn't argue further.

"He is right, you know", an eerie and a well known voice spoke from behind me and I turned around to see the scarred face of Giovanni.

"Love has no age limit, does it?", he mocked clapping his hands slowly and Red began to walk backwards, maintaining a certain distance from me.

"Wondering how I found you? Don't bother answering that, I'm gonna reveal it anyway. My dear friend Red here, has been inserted with a tracking chip on the top of his spine. The switch I have here in my hand, controls him with a small pulse sent to his brain", he explained and Red's eyes widened and he waved his hand towards me, motioning me to run away from the place.

The second I turned back, I heard a buzz and I saw Giovanni's finger on the switch. A cold shiver went through my spine, and I slowly turned back to look at the mocking glare of Red who was walking towards me as slow as possible, cracking his knuckles, or taking his hand tantalizingly close to the ten or so battle knives hung on his waist.

"Did little missy miss me? RUN, Delia!! Oh, no, no. Don't listen to him, sweetheart. Come with me. JUST F*****G RUN!!", he yelled partially in his alter ego and partially in his true self.

"Why are you here all alone? Don't you have a dozen or so grunts to back you up?", I asked Giovanni while trying to dodge Red's blind attacks, and the former snorted in return.

"It's all because of your SON! Almost ALL of my grunts have been killed or incarcerated, BECAUSE of that fool. But what is the need for protection when I have one of the strongest Pokemon battlers on my side?", he smirked and pressed the button harder, making Red yell out in rage and draw two knives.

But to my surprise, a Hawlucha appeared from a bush, and threw a bag full of feathers into the air, which suddenly began to glow.

A few moments later, the ground began to rumble, and I heard the roars of a herd of Pokemon - to be exact, a herd of Tauros, and I knew the owner of the here very well.

Out of the blue, I heard Giovanni roar in pain, and I saw the upper part of his head in Garchomp's mouth, while Feraligatr was shouting at Garchomp, presumably for taking the first bite.

While the two Pokemon were busy fighting over his head, I had completely forgotten about Red, who was still in his alter ego phase.

"Infernape, Flame Wheel! Blastoise, use Hydro Pump! Venusaur, Vine Whip!!", Ash yelled and the three Pokemon hit Red with the entirety of their might, sending him stumbling back, but not hurt fatally, as he had transported at the earliest with that device he had previously used in front of me.

At that moment, I remembered about the switch, and rushed towards whatever remained of Giovanni, and shattered the switch, revealing a type of a tooth and I heard a voice.

"MOM! Stick it into his neck!!", Ash yelled from Charizard's back, hovering in the air.

"DO IT!! Are you sure about that, sweetheart? STOP THINKING, DELIA!! Pwetty pwease?", he continued and I charged at him with the tooth, and he sidestepped the move easily and smacked me away, paving way for yet another fist fight between the two of us.

A few minutes into our fight, I felt a sharp sting on my right shoulder and I felt blood.

I slowly turned back to see Giovanni who was miraculously alive, but to my surprise, unharmed. I turned to the side and the same partially bitten head of Giovanni was still there, lying as still as a Snorlax.

"Surprised, Delia?", he asked me and ANOTHER Giovanni came from behind.

"Is she?", yet another copy asked me, and a dozen or so copies of Giovanni arrived laughing at me heartily, but I forgot one MAJOR detail - Red was still raging like a madman. But I was too late to realise it, and I felt a warm breath hit the side of my neck.

"So long, baby", he whispered and I braced for the pain, but all I heard was a groan. I turned back to see Red clutching the nape of his neck, and pulled out a bloody and sparking tooth, while Ash stood behind him brandishing a small knife, breathing heavily. My heart was in my mouth for a split second before Red began to laugh in a shallow manner.

"The Canine of Zekrom. Should have seen that coming", he laughed and tossed it away, and suddenly turned around to see Ash.

"Ash, words cannot express the regret I have for hurting you and your mother, and I don't have ANY right to ask more from the two of you. Yet, I do. Please stand by me for once. JUST this time", he asked Ash offering his hand, giving me a glance and I nodded immediately, and his eyes shifted back to Ash.

"Maybe you aren't THAT big of an A-hole", Ash replied with a small smile and grasped Red's hand with his own, and the very next moment, I heard the rather loud gulps of 40 or so men.

To be continued...