Let's see just how strong is the World Champion,' he thought.
Present time
"After he passed it, I recruited him to the squad," Lance concluded, taking a sip from his tea.
"I started focusing more on my training then ever before. I explained everything to Professor Oak back then. He was a bit shocked too, but allowed me to do so. I worked and trained restlessly alongside my pokemon. I succeeded in unlocking the potentials each one of them had inside. I took part in many important missions as well. From that day on, my new life started," said Ash, closing his eyes.
It was a moment silence before Brock spoke.
"That still doesn't explain why you didn't contact any of us," he said.
"He was afraid," replied Sabrina as she decided to jumped in between their conversation.
"Afraid?" asked Anabel.
Sabrina sighed. "Not too long after, he found out some things that he wasn't expecting at all," she said glancing at Ash.
"What do you mean?" asked Gary.
"Remember the time when many small criminal groups were starting to spread across Kanto and Johto?" asked Ash.
"Of course I do. It was a big turmoil back then until you guys put an end to it," Gary replied with a nod.
"Right. During that time we found out that they were keeping tracks and records on almost every single individuals in these regions. Gym leaders, Champions, formers, the frontier brains, doctors, professors and even some well known civilians," said Ash.
"Which ironically, also included some of the people we know as well," added Sabrina, glancing at the residants of Kanto.
"It.....as Sabrina said, scared me of the fact that we were being targeted all these time without even realising. So, it became one of our top priority to stop these criminals once and for all in their tracks," said Ash with a frown.
"It eventually led us to the formation of the Kanto Defence Association, in order to spread our forces from region to region and recruit more reinforcements as well," finished Lance.
"Contacting any of Ash's close people would have just made it worse at that time, so he decided to cut himself from everyone thinking for the best," said Sabrina, finally answering the question they've been wanting to hear.
"Sorry, but I just did this for your safety guys, I hope you understand," apologised Ash.
"It's okay Ash," said Gary immediately with a smile.
Dawn stood up.
"Sorry Ash," she said, much to the boy's confusion.
"Huh?"
The others followed suit as they stood up as well.
"For not being there when you needed us the most," Serena said with a little bow.
"And for not trying to contact beforehand," said May.
"We are equally as guilty as you," concluded Anabel.
Ash smiled in relief hearing those words. He looked at Brock who still didn't look convinced. Ash approached him carefully and stood before him.
"I know you are upset, I would be too if I were you," started Ash as Brock listened. "But my top priority is the safety of my friends. And for that, I am willing to risk anything."
Brock was showing toughness outside, but inside he was melting with gratification. The once naive boy who came to challenge his gym with just a Pikachu, with no experience at all, but full of curiosity and energy, was now standing in front of him as a matured and experienced teenager. The breeder wanted to hug him and cry his heart out, but saved it for some time later. Brock just smiled and extended his hand.
"From now on, I got your back," said Brock, now with a smile on his face.
Ash chuckled.
"And, I will be counting on you Brock," he said and shook his hand, before the long time friends shared a brotherly hug. The others smiled at the scene.
"Too much drama for one chapter," mumbled Sabrina, rolling her eyes.
"What else did you do Ash? I want to know," asked May in an excited tone.
"Yeah, it must have been a whole new adventure for you. Tell us more," urged Gary as well.
Ash scratched his head.
"Taking part in missions and training the rest of the time," he replied.
"Sounds really boring too me, no offence," said Gary with a laugh.
"Now that I think about it, it was pretty dull," agreed Ash and laughed with Gary as well.
"Ehm," Lance cleared his throat annoyingly. Anyone would when someone was making fun of your assigned tasks. Ash and Gary shut up immediately.
"My first mission was regarding the mafia gang Armada, who used to reside in the Hoenn region," said Ash as May gasped.
"No way. Those people were such a menace, how did you managed to take them down?" she asked curiously. The others looked at him too.
Sabrina stifled a laugh as she recalled it.
Ash looked nervous and uncertain.
"Um, well..."
Flashback
"Are you sure?" asked Ash.
"Yes Sir. Armada gang has been last spotted in that warehouse," an officer said, pointing towards a large, dark house. The KDA officers had surrounded the house completely. It was late midnight by then.
"But we need a plan to sneak into the- SIR WAIT!" the officer yelled in a low voice because Ash was already ahead of them.
"The plan is to break straight in," Ash yelled back as he released a pokemon.
"Hey, do you feel like the ground is shaking a bit?" asked a gang member who was inside the house.
"Hm, I sure can feel a tremor. Probably just a....." before the other member could respond, the wall of one side of the house was smashed down to dust, shaking up the entire residence, as all the other members came downstairs.
"What was that??" one of them yelled.
"SNOOOOOORLAAAX," the big, sleeping pokemon bellowed as all the men stepped back, frightened.
"Wh-where in the hell that came from?" one of them asked.
"Must be a wild one," someone guessed.
"Let's capture it then. We will get loads from selling it," one suggested.
"I don't think so," a voice interrupted.
Everyone looked on as a mysterious black hooded figure stood beside the Snorlax.
"Hey! What are ya doing here? What's your name?" a grunt asked him with a yell.
"Hyper Beam," replied Ash.
"What kinda weird name is Hype-?" he began to ask, but stopped as his eyes widened in horrifying realisation. The sleeping pokemon released the orange beam from its mouth and instantly destroyed almost the entire place. The men screamed for help as they ran here and there, as the other officers came into view and captured them immediately before any one of them could attempt to escape.
"Great job, Snorlax," Ash praised and returned his powerhouse normal type.
"SIR," the officer from before came running to him. He stopped and looked at Ash with a slight frown.
"With due respect Sir, I don't think it's a good idea to barge in like that," he said.
Ash tilted his head in confusion.
"Why, What's wrong with it? We got all of them, didn't we?" he asked.
Present time
"He later had to be reprimanded by Lance for that stupid act of his," said Sabrina with a snicker.
"I still don't understand how was I wrong with it?" asked Ash innocently.
"You really want to me go again at it?" asked Lance with a glare.
"Typical Ashy-boy," said Gary laughing.
Brock shook his head.
"Do you always carried out your missions like that?" he asked as the girls giggled.
"Well.....apparently not" said Ash, thoughtfully.
"I remember you guys also disbanded Team Atlanta. How was it then?" asked Gary, curiously.
"Didn't they use to hunt all the pokemon that lives in the ocean and other water bodies?" asked Dawn, recalling.
"Yeah Dawn. They even got their hands on legendaries a few times," said Brock.
Ash spoke.
"Taking them down was intriguing too..."
Flashback
It was a deep black and silent night. The waves of the water were hitting on the shores as cold wind blew along with it in sync. Prior to the waves, a strong current was clashing against it from the opposite direction, as a large alligator could be seen swimming through it, with a black hooded figure on its back.
"Location?" a voice from the other side on the phone asked.
"Near the ship," replied Ash, who was riding on his Feraligatr.
"This is an important one Ash. I'm counting on you," said Lance via phone.
"You won't be disappointed," he replied, reassuringly.
They have gotten the information from a source that Team Atlanta's main ship was going to be anchored somewhere in the south-west of the Sinnoh sea. The location was already pinpointed before. Ash took the responsibility of infiltrating their base before the others arrived.
"Slow down," he ordered quietly. Feraligatr nodded and deaccelerated its speed and came at a halt near the base. The ship was more of like an underwater submarine with dual features of travelling on surface as well. It had modern weaponries attached to its side. Ash jumped through an open window and got inside. He returned the Big Jaw pokemon and started to inspect the interior properly.
Just because it was night doesn't meant that everyone was asleep. Almost most of the sapphire coloured, uniform wearing grunts were strolling around the ship. Lights were turned on inside as well. Ash sneaked into a few rooms as he examined them carefully. It was just some normal dorm rooms for the grunts.
He used his experience and searched for the admin room. It took a while, but he found it. The door was unlocked, but he felt the aura of two individuals inside.
"Ivysaur, use Sleep Powder," Ash commanded as he let out the Kanto grass type starter. He slightly pushed the door ajar and put on a mask. The seed pokemon released the powder as it slowly went inside the room. After a few seconds, he heard two loud thuds on the floor. He went inside and surely enough, both the grunts were sleeping soundly. Ash returned Ivysaur and analysed the map of the entire ship that was on the digital counter.
'Hm. The electrical is not too far from here, but I've to cross the main control room, which is full of their men. I can disable their weaponry system, but there is a pretty high chance I will get noticed. All I need is a safe distraction,' he thought and pulled out a pokeball from his belt.
'And that's why, you are here my friend. You are gonna distract them,' thought Ash with a goofy grin.
He exited the admin and sprinted along the walls. He stopped and hid behind a corner. He peeked out and saw that the control room was full of Atlanta grunts, just like he assumed. He glanced and saw the electrical room which was at the far end of the corridor opposite to him. He enlarged the pokeball and released the mon from inside it.
"Go and do your thing," whispered Ash with a thumbs.
"When are we ready to leave?" asked the chief.
"By the early morning Sir," a grunt replied.
"Are the engines checked?" he asked.
"Yes S-s-s-s-sir..." the grunt suddenly stammered and pointed behind his back.
The chief looked confused.
"What are you-?" he started and turned around, as he immediately fell on his butt due to the sight in front of him.
"Just what in the name of distortion world is THAT?!!" he yelled, pointing at the unusual pokemon standing before him.
By this, all the men around room looked at the direction. Their eyes widened in surprise and absolute shock as all of them backed away in confusion and shock.
"UNOOOOO LA LA LA."
The fossil pokemon of galar let out a highly unusual cry as it started to charge for the chief.
"Help, somebody," he screamed and ran around in desperation. The Fish God started to rampage around as some either tried to control it or just hid themselves in fear. It was a total mayhem.
Ash chuckled as he quickly hurried across the room and safely reached the other side, without being noticed.
Later, he successfully disabled all systems with his computer, which was connected to their headquarters. The hackers did everything for him as Ash was never really a guy of technology. He came back to the control room. The men by then had reorganized themselves as they had cornered Dracovish with their pokemon.
"Just where the hell did that thing come from?!" yelled the chief who was sitting on a chair, wiping his sweats and panting from all the running.
"I feel like I've seen that thing before," one of the grunts wondered.
Ash slowly walked in the scene and stood beside his pokemon. The others went alert at his sudden presence.
"Hey, who are you?" a grunt asked.
"Now where the hell did he come from?" another one asked. They couldn't see Ash's face due to the black mask over his face.
"That....that hideous thing must be his," the chief said as he got up from his chair, pointing at Dracovish, who looked very offended and looked down sadly. Ash put a comforting hand on its head.
"The only thing hideous here is you people, that you're too blind to see how adorable it is," Ash said petting stroking the dragon type. It cooed and playfully bit its trainer's head.
"Enough! How did you get in here?" yelled the chief frustratingly.
"You should worry more about you getting out rather than me getting in," the Champion replied, crossing his arms.
The grunts started to laugh at this.
"He thinks he can defeat us? Teach that kid a lesson," the chief ordered.
On cue, the grunts started to attack with their pokemon.
"Use Dark Pulse."
"Hydro Pump."
"Use Swift."
"Razor Leaf."
The attacks headed towards Ash who calmly stood his ground and commanded.
"Use Protect."
Dracovish stood in front of him and summoned a shield, which easy deflected the attacks. Ash then heard the sounds of the blades of helicopters from the above the ship.
"I would like to battle some more, but sadly it ends here," he said.
"What are you rambling abou-?"
"Use Fishious Rend."
The fossil pokemon cried and dashed towards its opponents at a high speed. It started to use its hard gills and beat them up severely, covering them in a dust cloud.
After a few seconds, all the pokemon except Dracovish dropped to the floor, completely knocked out.
By then, the officers had made their way inside the ship as they started arresting the Atlanta members.
"And....mission success," said Ash with a triumphant smile.
Present time
"That was the only ever time he actually used his brain," said Sabrina, earning a laugh from the others as Ash shot her a glare.
"And you were all alone? So coool," said May with a fan-girling voice.
"Ash, you never told me before how KDA took down a powerful criminal organisation like Team Rocket in the first place. Can you tell me more about it?" asked Professor Oak, curiously.
As soon as he questioned that, Ash's face went a bit dark. Lance and Sabrina gave him an uncertain look.
"What's....the matter?" asked Gary, feeling the tension.
"Remember when I said that was the only time he used his brain on a mission?" asked Sabrina to which the others nodded.
"You can say it was the complete opposite with this one," said Lance.
"Ash?" called Serena as he looked at her.
"What. Did. You. Do? asked Dawn, with a frown.
Ash sighed and dug his hands inside his pockets.
"Team Rocket was the very reason I joined the squad in the first place so, when it came down to them, I..."
Flashback a year ago
Ash was in the middle of a training session with Lucario.
"Let's finish this with some pull ups for today," he said as Lucario nodded. Before they could start, something tugged at Ash's feet. The boy looked down.
"Hey Scraggy, what's up?" he asked.
"Scaargy," it said and gave a phone to Ash. He glanced at the screen and saw two missed calls.
"It must have been on silent. Thank you Scraggy," the trainer thanked the Shedding Pokemon who nodded with a smile and walked away. Ash dialed the number once more. It rang once as someone picked it.
"Hello?" asked Ash.
"..."
"Oh, its you. Yes, what is it?"
"...."
Ash froze for a moment as his body fidgeted.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"... ... "
Ash sighed. "Okay," he said and cut the call. Lucario sensed a disturb in his aura.
"Master, who was it ?" he asked.
"Meowth," Ash replied as the Aura Pokemon looked at him incredulously.
"That pesky little pussy cat from Team Rocket?" he asked, snickering.
Ash sighed again. "They are now former Rocket members Lucario. I made a deal with them to keep their identity hidden in exchange for Giovanni's hideout," he explained.
"Took a while for their boss to realise what idiots he had hired," said Lucario yet again, mockingly.
"No Lucario," Ash replied sharply as he put on his black jacket and cap.
"Huh?"
"It was their own decision to leave Team Rocket. They finally realised that what they were doing was wrong....in a hard way," said Ash in a cryptic manner, but the Fighting type didn't press it any further.
Ash returned Lucario to its pokeball. He was then currently in the top floor of the HQ. He entered his dorm and looked around for his partner.
"Pika Pi?" the mouse walk up from its nap and walked to Ash. The boy kneeled down and scratched behind its ear earning a delightful cry from the rodent.
"You good?" Ash asked.
"Pika pikachu," it sparked its cheeks and gave an affirmative nod.
A small smile crept to the raven haired trainer's face.
"Then let's go and settle things with the ghost from our past."
***
"Sir Lance," an officer said as the Johto regional Champion raised his head from the desk.
"Yes?"
"Your assumption was right, sir."
Lance sighed in annoyance as he got up.
"Call the units, we are are going to follow him," he ordered.
"Sir." The officer gave a salute and hurriedly walked away.
Lance walked to the open window and looked outside. A flickering flame could be seen in the night sky as the silhouette of the trainer and his pokemon slowly faded away.
"I knew you were going to do this alone Ash, despite all my warnings and restrictions," he said to himself, shaking his head in disappointment.
***
Two grunts stood outside the front gate of the Headquarters of Team Rocket. It was located then at the outskirts of Indigo Plateau, a place pretty much unreachable for an individual.
"You got anything to do?" one of them asked.
"Yeah bitch. You seen Cynthia's newly posted photos? So fucking hot," the other grunts showing his phone screen.
"You ain't gonna jerk off with it, are you?" the other asked with a sigh.
"Course I will," he said, lustily.
Unfortunately for them, that 'moment' didn't last long.
"Kirlia, use Confusion."
Both grunts looked up from where the voice came from. A small, white, bipedal figure landed in front of them. Its eyes glowed blue as both the grunts were smashed against the wall, knocking them out cold.
"Good job," Ash praised as his Charizard landed to the ground.
"Lia," the psychic type nodded and smiled cutely.
"What was that?" a grunt from inside said, pointing at the door.
"I think I heard some sorta sound. Are those two fooling around again?" another grunt said with a frown.
"C'mon, let's check it out," a third grunt suggested as they together approached the entrance.
Suddenly, the big metallic door was blasted away to shreds as hot and powerful flames engulfed it. The impact from the explosion sent all of the people around flying across their feet. The grunts who were the nearest, screamed as they felt the sheer hotness of the fire that danced across the huge platform.
Red emergency alarms started to ring as the rest of the grunts rushed to the entrance area. They looked on as a black hooded figure casually walked through the flames and stood before them. They immediately released their pokemon sensing the danger.
"There is an intruder. I repeat, an intruder has broke into the base," a grunt shouted in his ear piece, sending the message to the other units on every floor.
A loud and menacing roar pierced through the air as every Rocket member on the base of the HQ, cowered in fear. Two glowing red eyes could be seen through the dark momentarily, as the monstrous creature flew and above its trainer and roared once again, challenging all the grunts at once.
"Quick, use Hydro Pump," a grunt ordered.
The huge blast of water was countered with an equally powerful flamethrower as it resulted in a cloud of mist.
"Gabite, Melmetal," Ash called out released two more of his powerhouses.
"Help Charizard out and take care of things down here, okay?" the trainer requested.
The trio gave him an approving cry as Ash proceeded to ascend upwards the building.
"Hey?! STOP HIM!" a voice yelled from the base.
Several more grunts blocked his path on the second floor, much to the Champion's annoyance.
"I don't have time for this, Typhlosion!" Ash yelled and called out the fiery beast. The Volcano pokemon roared as the hot flames on its back flared with confidence.
"Use Eruption."
Before the grunts could react, the floor beneath them was blasted apart with the powerful fire type attack, as they fell all the way to the base, screaming their lungs out.
Ash then told it to help the others. The Johto starter obligued as Ash ran through the corridors.
"Matori, what is going on??" asked a middle aged man who was fidgeting on his chair.
"Some imbecile broke into our base a few minutes ago boss," the purple haired women, who was the secretary of Team Rocket's leader informed. Giovanni frowned as he stood up dialed a number on his phone. His Persian was lazily sitting on the couch, despite the situation.
"Black, Domino, Attila, Hun, capture that nuisance and bring them to me," Giovanni ordered.
"Yes Sir!" All the elite rank members of Team Rocket replied as they cut the call.
"If you may, can I scout as well?" asked Matori.
"Yes yes, do everything you can, but stop them," said Giovanni in a hasty voice. Matori silently left as the leader continued to stroll in his room, nervously. This wasn't the first someone had done this before, still why was he so anxious? What was this bad feeling?
"Use Spirit Shackle."
Decidueye flew and shot a barrage of arrows through its quill. All the opposing pokemon got completely trapped in their position.
"Crap, quick move."
"Why can't they move, I don't understand."
The grunts kept rambling with their futile requests.
"Dragonite, finish them," Ash commanded calmly.
The Dragon Pokemon charged up a Hyper Beam and blew every pokemon on sight with a fiery explosion. Ash kept walking as he passed through the piles of fainted pokemon. The grunts returned their mons and tried to run away, but only to be froze in their places with another Spirit Shackle from Decidueye.
The alarms were spreading red light across the corridors. Ash ignored them and kept walking as he entered another room. As soon as he did, he felt a sudden presence of an aura as he quickly reacted with his instincts.
"Kingler go," he called and opened a pokeball, as the obnoxiously big crab monster used its pincer grabbed the incoming Iron Tail from a Steelix. The Pincer used its another pincer and landed a powerful Crabhammer, pushing the Iron Snake pokemon back towards its trainer.
Ash heard footsteps as a long white haired woman came from his left and eyed the black hooded figure from top to bottom.
"You have some good reflexes, I will give you that," she said and crossed her arms.
"But you have some nerves coming here all by yourself kid," she said coldly.
"Have to agree with you there Attila," another voice said from Ash's right. He looked in that direction to see a huge, bulky guy in a rocket outfit. He had yellow stylish hair and a pair of black sunglasses on his face. A Nidoking was following him.
"Looks like you are surrendered kid. You are coming to the boss with us, and we won't ask you nicely twice," he said with a threatening tone.
"Oye kid!" a voice yelled. Ash looked up to see yet, another man looming over him from a gallery with a grin on his face.
"You coming with us or what?" he asked mockingly.
"Jeez Black, go a easy on the kid," a feminine voice said as she stood beside Black on the balcony. She had curly yellow hair tied upto both sides with a knot.
Ash clenched his fist in annoyance. Those stupid smug looks was infuriating him more than the former trio's dramatic entrance. All these time he had trained tiredlessly was just so that he could face situations exactly like this one.
"Kingler, return," he said quietly and returned it. The four members laughed hysterically at this.
"Well, that was too easy," said Hun, the big, yellow haired dude.
"You can say that again," added Black. But the two women still eyed him suspiciously. Proving that their hunch was right, Ash immediately took out two pokeballs.
"Greninja and Infernape, I choose you."
Two bipedal pokemon materialised on the floor. One stood proudly, crossing its arms and the other punched the ground with its fist, challenging for a battle.
"Bad choice," said Attila.
"Nidoking, use Sludge Bomb," Hun commanded immediately as the Drill pokemon shot the clusters of poison at the two pokemon. Ash simply blinked his eye as both of them dodged them perfectly and then landed back to back.
"Steelix, Stone Edge," commanded Attila.
The pillars of blue stones rushed towards them at the moment Steelix gave a battle cry.
"Mach Punch."
Infernape's fist glowed white as he easily destroyed the stones with effective fighting type move and reached upto Steelix. Before it could react, the Iron Snake received a barrage of super effective blows from the monkey as it cried in pain.
"Quick Nidoking, help Steelix out," Hun said. Nidoking quickly started to approach, only to be blocked by a Water Shuriken to its head from Greninja.
"What are we standing here for, let's go," Domino urged.
"Right," Black agreed as they started to get down.
"Infernape, finish it with Flare Blitz," Ash commanded as Steelix was knocked out instantly from yet, another super effective blow as Infernape slammed into it, after cloaking itself in a blue, raging fire.
"No Steelix," Attila cried out.
"Enough of this. Nidoking, Megahorn," called out Hun.
"Finish it with your dual combo," said Ash with a smile. Infernape and Greninja smirked, knowing what to do. As the Drill Pokemon got closer, Greninja instantly surrounded it using Double Team while Infernape went underground. The Ninja kept firing Shurikens after Shurikens at a helpless Nidoking, while staying at a safe distance.
After a second, Infernape smashed into the Ground/Poison type with a super effective Dig attack. The exhaustion finally got into the pokemon as it fell to the ground, unconscious. The Water and Fire type of Ash's shared a triumphant fist bump. Hun fell to his knees in disbelief.
"Attila, Hun, we are here to.....help?"
Black trailed off as he saw how easily Team Rocket's one of the strongest members were defeated in mere moments.
"N-no way."
"I-impossible."
They were too shocked to say or do anything. Ash returned his pokemon and praised them for their help. He later released another mon of his.
"Gengar, treat them nicely for me," Ash said with a smirk. The Ghost type appeared right next to him and nodded eagerly with its signature grin. Ash walked past them without any interruptions as he moved onto the second last floor.
'Giovanni, Giovanni,' Ash thought about his location when suddenly he was ambushed out of nowhere. A large iron cage emerged from the floor, traping him inside. Several grunts and their pokemon came out as they completely surrounded him.
"To think that you'll be such a fool to let your guard down," the toxic tone of Matori said as she stood in the middle. Both glared at each other. Ash noticed an Alolan form of Persian standing near her legs and taunting him.
Ash thought about a plan to escape when Matori spoke again. Km
"Don't even think about trying to escape. This is a prison specialised to trap strong and powerful pokemon. And I doubt anyone of your weak-"
"Iron Tail."
A yellow pokemon jumped out of the backpack Ash was carrying. Its zigzag tail glowed white as it clashed it against the cage bars, which broke instantly on contact. Pikachu took a battle stance as Ash smirked, then seeing Matori's shocked expression.
"Yes, you were saying?" asked Ash, mocking her.
"Ughhh. Persian, Giga Impact," she commanded as the Alolan form rushed towards them covering itself in bright energy. As it got closer to them, one of Ash's pokeball opened up without a warning.
Persian ended up clashing against the materialising light. They were at a stalemate as the felin creature was pushed back roughly. Ash was surprised as a white bird like pokemon appeared. It had a long, sharp leek on its hand which resembled a sword. Its other hand was occupied with a similar looking shield. Its cool and collected eyes carefully examined its opponent.
"Glad to see that fiery enthusiasm still inside you Sirfetch'd," said Ash with a smile.
"Pika Pikachu," the mouse agreed.
The proud Wild Duck pokemon nodded and pointed its leek at Persian who hissed in return.
'That pokemon looks familiar. Where have I seen it before? ' thought Matori.
"Use Fury Cutter," Ash commanded wasting no time.
"Counter with Shadow Claw," she retorted. Both pokemon charged at each other clashed with their respective attacks. Each of them were equally skilled in battling as every blow were ending up at a stalemate.
"Brutal Swing, go," commanded Ash as the Wild Duck started to swing its glowing black leek at a full rotation. It hit Persian a couple of times in succession, but managed to endure all of it. Matori smirked.
"You have to better than that. Thunderbolt," she commanded as Sirfetch'd took a direct hit from the powerful electric type as it groaned in pain.
"You okay?" Ash asked worriedly.
"Don't stop, use Giga Impact," she ordered before the duck could recover.
"You've been through worse Sirfetch'd. You can't give up now," encouraged Ash. The Fighting type opened its eye and used its shield. Persian slammed into it with an explosion. It jumped back from the spot with a triumphant expression. It didn't last long as Sirfetch'd was still standing.
"W-what? But how?" she asked in shock.
"Great Job. Now finish this with Meteor Assault," commanded Ash. Sirfetch'd cried as it dashed towards Persian at a supersonic speed, its leeks glowing with supreme power. The cat's eyes widened in horror before it was met with a devastating blow. Sirfetch'd came back to its spot, panting heavily as Persian was lying on the floor, fainted. Matori was stunned at what just happened. She has never been this speechless in her life.
The other grunts prepared to attack, but Alas! They were too late. The floor beneath them broke apart as Charizard came out from beneath it, followed by the others. Ash released Greninja and Infernape back to the fight, as he intended to finish this off quickly.
***
"Why is no one picking up?" Giovanni grunted as he kept dialling the phone while his Persian watched him curiously.
There was suddenly a loud explosion. One side of Giovanni's office wall broke apart to pieces as the man stepped back in alert.
Persian stood in front of him sensing danger. The dust cleared to reveal a person standing their with a Dragonite beside him. He returned it and slowly, but menacingly walked into the office as Giovanni took out a pokeball.
"W-who are you? What have you done to my men?" asked Giovanni, conspicuously terrified.
Ash glared at him with strict eyes. He slowly pulled down his mask and put away his hoodie. The light reflected upon his pale face and dances upon his auburn eyes. The yellow rodent on his shoulder was unmistakably recognising as Giovanni's eyes widened in horror, realising who it was.
"Ash.....Ketchum?" he said.
The raven haired trainer smirked.
"So you do remember me," said Ash.
Giovanni cracked a laugh as he clenched the pokeball in his hand.
"To think it was you this whole time. You made a grave mistake coming here in the first place Champion," he said and enlarged the pokeball in his hand. "Nidoqueen."
"I didn't come here unprepared Giovanni," said Ash as he enlarged a pokeball as well. "Torterra, let's go."
***
Moments later, both trainers returned their respective fainted pokemon.
'Tch. He isn't weak or someone to be underestimated, that's for sure,' Ash thought as he took out his second pokeball.
"What's wrong? Can't accept you couldn't defeat someone like me?" Giovanni asked him with a evil sneer.
"Don't get over yourself for a tie," Ash said as he enlarged the ball. "Lucario, I choose you."
"We'll just see. Go, Rhydon," Giovanni said and called out his second pokemon.
"Close Combat," Ash called out the first move as the Aura pokemon successfully landed a couple of hits.
"Stand your ground, and use Power-up Punch," Giovanni countered. Rhydon dodge one punch from Lucario and landed a blow on him with its fist as the Aura Pokemon was pushed back. Both took damage from the respective super effective moves.
"Use Double Team and surround it," Ash commanded as Lucario executed the attack.
"Use Hyper Beam and blow them away," said the leader of Team Rocket.
"Aura Sphere, quick."
The multiple Aura Spheres and the single Hyper Beam collided with an explosion as both pokemon went back to their previous position.
'At this rate, this will be end up with another draw,' thought Ash as he checked his surroundings. His eyes landed on the chandelier attached to the ceiling and fortunately for him, Rhydon was standing right below it. Ash smirked.
"If you're not gonna attack I will. Rhydon, use Bulldoze." The Drill Pokemon cried and charged at Lucario.
"Run around," Ash commanded. The Aura Pokemon started to avoid Rhydon and move around the area.
"What? You scared to get hit?" asked Giovanni with a smirk. As soon Lucario was beneath the chandelier, Ash commanded immediately.
"Use Aura Sphere, above you."
"What?"
Lucario cried and fired the sphere in that direction as it was told. It destroyed the ceiling above as the chandelier came crashing down. Lucario dodged it at the right moment as Rhydon took his place.
"Watch out!" Giovanni yelled, but Rhydon was too fazed to dodge it. Its head got crashed by it as it started to see stars.
"BONE RUSH! FULL POWER!" Ash yelled, releasing his aura. It gave it a power boost as Lucario summoned a long, hard bone and gave Rhydon a powerful and brutal beating until it was knocked out. Lucario returned to Ash's side, dispersing the move as Rhydon's eyes were replaced with swirls. Lucario was panting from the fight, as well as Ash.
"Thank you," Ash said and returned his fighting/steel type pokemon. Giovanni returned his as well. He had an expressionless face.
"Tell me...." he started.
"Huh?" asked Ash.
"Why are you doing this?" Giovanni asked.
Ash was panting heavily. Hr gritted his teeth in anger and also a little..... regret.
"To stop you people from ruining other people's lives, just like you ruined mine.
Pikachu, I choose you," Ash replied and called out his starter pokemon, as the rodent gave a flip and landed in a battle stance.
"I can't let you get away with this either," said Giovanni as Persian landed the similar way in its battle stance.
"Thunderbolt/Power Gem."
Both trainers called out their attacks at the same as it resulted in a medium explosion across the room.
"Giga Impact," Giovanni said as the Classy Cat pokemon already started charging at Pikachu in a powerful cloak of energy.
"Jump," said Ash simpy. The mouse used its tail as a spring and jumped over, dodging the Normal type move easily.
"Now, use Brickbreak."
One of Pikachu's paws glowed white as he smashed Persian to the floor with the super effective fighting type move.
'It knows Brickbreak? Dammit,' thought Giovanni. "Get up and use Lash Out."
"Iron Tail."
Both attack cancelled each other out one more time. Giovanni's phone suddenly beeped. His radar was alerted with the warning of incoming officers.
'They are here? How?' he thought.
"Pikachu use-"
"Persian, destroy that wall with Power Gem," Giovanni cut him off as the Cat obeyed and blasted the back wall of the room to dust.
The cold wind of the black night blew inside the room. Giovanni quickly returned Persian and swung a backpack over his shoulder.
"We will continue our battle some other time kid, but for now-" he said and jumped outside.
'Did he seriously just applied the anime logic here?' thought Pikachu, shaking his head.
"Dragonite, fetch him for me please," Ash said casually without any reaction, as the Pseudo Legendary followed Giovanni trail outside. Seconds later, Dragonite came up, holding a struggling middle aged man in one of its hand.
"Arghhh, you stupid-"
"Save it," Ash shut him off with a bored expression.
The sirens grew louder around the area as Ash proceeded to go downstairs, preparing himself to get bashed by Lance for disobeying his orders. Also maybe getting some praise for all the work he did.
Present time
Literally everyone who heard the story for the first time, were left completely speechless. The whole world knew about KDA taking down the evil Team Rocket. But who in their right mind would believe it was actually done by a single person or more specifically, a teenage boy.
"No. Flipping. Way." said Gary with widened eyes.
"This isn't a joke, is it?" asked Brock, unsurely.
"That's too long and accurate to be a joke Brock," said Dawn, leaning her face on her hand in wonder.
"So all those times we heard about the demobilization of Criminal Syndicates..... it was you behind most of it?" asked Anabel.
'Those are some strong selection of words alright, hehe,' thought Gary with a sweat drop.
"You can say it was his last biggest mission. Lance sorta grounded him after that," said Sabrina with a snicker as Ash looked away in embarrassment.
Serena felt like she wanted to hug him and shower him with kisses, but restrained her for the time being. Everyone thought about just how much has the poor boy gone through after that tragic incident. He really has changed after that, both physically and mentally. But he still kept the good inside him all this time and his friends were glad of it.
And after today, Ash might get back to his happy self once more. He might get lifted off this weight forever when he will meet the person once more who he lost all those years ago.
Today will be special.
And memorable.
Lastly, unforgettable.
"Ash Ketchum?" Nurse Joy called him from the door as everyone looked at her. Ash gazed at her with hopeful eyes. She smiled and nodded.
"She's awake."