Warming Hearts

A/N: Okay, here we go, with the famous castle battle scene, with a Pokémon twist to it. Hope y'all enjoy! Now, let's roll it!

Chapter 22

Defend the Castle

Ash was struggling to try and break through the thick glass of the containment unit. But all he was getting was a sore shoulder and most likely getting some bruises. Pikachu was trying his very best as well, trying from Quick Attack to Iron Tail to try and make the glass crack, but to no avail. Talonflame knew that he couldn't use any of his Fire attacks unless he wanted to risk broiling the others alive. So he just kept on tackling the thick glass, trying to make it break. But there was not even a scratch.

Delia was watching with concern and curiosity as her son got back onto his feet after failing for the thirtieth time, clutching his left shoulder, gritting his teeth from the pain. "I have to get back there," He kept telling himself. "And warn Dawn!"

"Warn her?" Delia asked with confusion, stopping him from another charge. "How did you get away from her?"

Ash came over to his mother, taking her hand in his. "She let me go, Mom." He said. "She sent me back to save you."

Delia's eyes were wide. That beast actually released her son out of her free will? So that he could come to her rescue? "I... I don't understand." She said.

Ash could sense that his mother was still reluctant to accept that Dawn had changed for the better, so he decided to show her something. He reached into his tunic pocket and pulled out the letter that his father had written for him. He then handed it carefully to her.

Delia took the letter and saw that Ash's name was written faintly on the front flap. She looked up at him and her son nodded his head, saying that it was okay for her to read it. She then unfolded the letter and began to read. As she did so, tears began welling up in her eyes. When she was done, she sniffed and wiped away a few stray tears before they could fall on the fragile paper.

"Where... where did you get this?" She asked.

"She took me there." Ash said. "She showed me Pallet Town. Our home." Delia bit back the lump in her throat as he said the next words. "I know what happened to Dad."

"Then you know why he had to leave." Delia said. "We had to protect you. We always tried to protect our little boy." Ash smiled at her lovingly as only a son would to his mother. "Maybe a little too much. I never told you much about him, and yet, you are like him in so many ways."

"I know." Ash said. "He gave you a second chance, just like how I gave one to Dawn."

"But that's not the only reason why you're special." Delia continued. "You never give up on anyone or anything."

"Some people might think of that as stubbornness." Ash said.

"I call it tenacity." Delia said, placing her hand on his cheek. "And you won't give up until you have done the right thing. Only you can have the power to change minds and hearts, by changing perspective. That is what makes you you, and why you are so special in the eyes of so many people."

Ash smiled as he leaned into his mother's touch. "Thanks, Mom. Now, will you help me?"

"It's gonna be dangerous." Delia said.

Her son's smirk turned a little cheeky. "Have you met me? I practically live for danger."

Normally, Delia would get worried when she recalled the many situations that Ash had found himself in. But seeing that he wasn't going to back down, she smiled. "All right." She said, standing up.

"I think if we focus some attacks on one spot, we can get the glass to break." Ash said. Then, he started to give out his orders.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt, full power!" The Electric Mouse began charging up electricity and then released a bolt of lightning at the glass.

"Talonflame, use Overheat!" Ash commanded. The Kalos native Fire and Flying type began forming a red-hot orb of power in his beak. And then he released it down at the same spot where Pikachu was attacking with his Thunderbolt.

"Mr. Mime, use Psychic!" Delia ordered. The Psychic and Fairy type's eyes began glowing a bright cyan blue. He then focused the psychic energy on the two attacks, making them more powerful.

The three attacks all channeled in on that one spot on the glass and finally made the thick glass break into thousands of tiny pieces with a big blast of light. Everyone shielded themselves from the blast of light and bits of glass until it faded, and then there was a sharp cool breeze blowing into the containment unit.

"Yes!" Ash exclaimed, pumping his fist up in the air. His Pokémon friends all cheered as well as everyone jumped out of the unit and back out into the snow. Delia smiled at her son as he turned to face her.

"Now go and do your thing. Save her." She said with determination.

Ash nodded with a determined grin on his face. He threw off his cape and his hat, which his mother caught in the air, and he raced over to Talonflame with Pikachu jumping on his shoulder. Then all of them took off like a shot into the sky.

Delia smiled as her son vanished into the night. "That's my boy." She said, holding the note from her late husband close to her heart. "OUR boy."

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Back at the castle, Kenny found Dawn standing on the balcony, staring out towards the dark horizon. "Uh, mistress?" He said. "It seems we have-"

"He's not coming back, is he?" Dawn interrupted him.

Kenny went silent for a few moments and then answered, "No. But we have some intruders coming this way."

Dawn slumped further. "Just let them come." She said. "They'll put me out of my misery. I now have nothing left to live for."

Kenny's eyes widened, but he then left the room to help the other servants with their plan. Dawn was obviously too enveloped in grief to even think straight. That kid must really have had an effect on her.

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Miette and Team Rocket landed in the front courtyard and got out of their balloon. The three silly villains shuddered at the sight of the gloomy castle. "Fitting décor for such a monstrosity to hide in." Jessie said.

"Quiet!" Miette hissed. "Who knows what else besides that beast could be lurking in there?"

The four of them entered the castle, which was dark and eerily silent. There was not a sound besides the echoing of their footsteps. But then, someone broke the silence.

"Now!" A female voice shouted.

Suddenly, the lights came on and there were hordes of Pokémon all over. On the furniture, on the floor, and even on the balconies, ready to attack to attack them. There were four different groups, each of them led by a different, but strange-looking, Pokémon. One of them was an odd-looking female Swinub, who led three other Swinub; two of them male and one of them female, a male Piplup, and a female Buneary.

Another group was led by a dark-eyed male Prinplup, whose group consisted of a female Pachirisu, a male Buizel, a male Alakazam, a male Breloom, a male Floatzel, and a male Mamoswine. A third group was led by a red-eyed female Glameow and it led a female Mismagius, a female Western Form Gastrodon, a floating female Lumineon, a male Gallade, and a male Leafeon.

Finally, the last group was led by a blue-eyed female Lopunny. Beside it was a female Bellossom and they were in front of a female Cyndaquil, a male Chimchar, and a male Turtwig.

The Piplup and Buneary both fired two powerful Ice Beams, causing all of them to jump out of the way from the cold beams. Team Rocket then called out Inkay and Gourgeist to fight against them.

"Dark Pulse!" Jessie ordered.

"Psybeam!" James shouted.

Both of the Pokémon fired their respective attacks at the castle Pokémon, but they all dodged them. The Pachirisu from the dark-eyed Prinplup's group then released a powerful blue Discharge attack, shocking all of them except for Miette, who had managed to sneak away from the battle around the back and towards the stairs.

All of Team Rocket's hair was frizzed up to a point, due to the Discharge. Jessie was now officially furious. "You paid to get my hair done?!" She shrieked. "Gourgeist, use Seed Bomb!"

The Ghost and Grass type fired lots of energized seeds at the Pokémon, who either dodged them or used Protect to shield them and others.

******************************************

Up on the higher floors of the castle, Miette was searching every room to see if she could find the beast. But each and every single one was empty. But she wasn't giving up.

If that beast even thought that she stood a chance with Ash, she had to be every bit as crazy as she was ugly. Ash Ketchum belonged to her and her alone and no one was going to stand in her way!

******************************

Back on the main floor, the battle was still going. "Inkay, Psybeam once more!" James commanded.

The Kalos native Psychic and Dark type fired another rainbow-colored beam of power at the castle Pokémon. Then, all of the Water types that were present unleashed powerful streams of bubbles or strong torrents of water at the intruders. The result was Team Rocket being soaked to the bone.

Then, the giant Mamoswine lumbered up to the three of them. He then formed giant shards of ice between his tusks and fired an Ice Shard attack at them, encasing them in blocks of ice.

Next, the giant Ice and Ground type charged at them, his body glowing white. With a mighty push, he launched the frozen Team Rocket back outside from his Take Down attack.

When they landed outside, they managed to break free from the ice, shivering visibly. "That does it!" Jessie shouted. "Let's get them all!"

"Quite right!" James added.

"Ready to open fire!" Meowth exclaimed, getting out a bazooka and preparing to fire at the Pokémon.

"Not so fast!" A familiar voice called out to them. The three Pokémon thieves looked up and saw that Ash had arrived just in time, with Pikachu on his shoulder, and on the back of Talonflame.

"Ash!" The servants exclaimed happily. Team Rocket turned to them with wide eyes.

"Those Pokémon just talked!" Jessie exclaimed. But then, a smirk came on her face. "They'll bring in a really good price."

"Not a chance!" Ash shouted, landing in between his archenemies and the servants. "You want them, you're gonna have to get through me first!"

He got off of Talonflame and both of his Pokémon took battle positions beside all of the others. Team Rocket felt a sense of déjà vu.

"I ain't liking this." Meowth said.

"Get 'em, guys!" Ash shouted.

All at once, all of the Pokémon gathered in the front courtyard began charging up attacks. Then, they all unleashed them at the gang of thieves. They all screamed at the sight of electricity, water, ice, fire, and other beams of energy aimed at them.

Then, upon contact, there was a loud explosion, and a charred and bruised Team Rocket took off into the night sky with their signature cry of, "We're blasting off again!"

"We did it!" Ash cheered, and everyone else cheered as well at their victory. But then, the smile on Ash's face vanished when he realized that someone was missing.

"Wait. Where's Miette?" He asked the servants.

"We thought that she was with them." Leona said, gesturing with her head to where Team Rocket had blown off to.

Ash thought about it for a few seconds. If Miette didn't go with Team Rocket, then where could she have gone? But then, a chill ran up his spine when he came to the horrible realization. Without saying a word, he ran inside the castle to the higher levels.

"Where's he running off to in such a hurry?" Kenny asked, waving a flipper towards the castle.

"Maybe he'll finally proclaim his love for the mistress!" Paris exclaimed happily, with a swoon.

"The mistress!" Zoey came to the same realization as Ash did, her tail threatening to uncoil and straighten up in the air. "She's in danger!"

Everyone gasped as they all came to the same thought. That must've been where Miette stole off to. Hopefully, Ash could get to her in time. But rather than wait, the servants, along with Pikachu, hurried after the young Trainer.

A/N: Honestly, what is Team Rocket without that catchphrase? But the battle's not over yet. So hang on tight until Chapter 23.

Until then, I'll see y'all! Please leave a comment about what you think.

Got to fly! ;)