It had been a long day. Ash waking up early, dodging the media frenzy, defeating Iris, and having an emotional conversation with Gary. He was at his limit for today. Even with his five years of training, the day had been an emotional ride that exhausted him.

Ash walked up to his hotel room and drew out his key card. He slid it through the electron card reader, and when the light turned green, he opened the door. He took one step in; and immediately, he realized that he wasn't alone. Pikachu leaped off his shoulder and sparks began to fly out of his cheeks. Lucario, meanwhile, took a battle stance as two spheres began to take shape in his paws.

"What do you want, Giovanni?" Ash said as he flipped on the lights to reveal an older man, with silver hair that ran down to his shoulders, seated on a chair across from the door.

Over the years, Giovanni had taken measures to change his outward appearance, but he still maintained the same look in his eyes. Lying down, beside him, was his faithful Pokémon, Persian, who lazily eyed the trainer and two Pokémon, not showing any worry as it closed its eyes again, as if it were napping.

"How rude, Ash," Giovanni spoke sarcastically. "No 'How have you been?' or 'Good battle out there, today'? I must say, I'm hurt." The man smirked, as he could see the hatred in his adversary's eyes.

"I expected you to win. After all, you have had five years to train," Ash responded coldly as he eyed the man cautiously.

"Come, come, Ash. Please, feel free to come and sit down beside me," Giovanni motioned to a chair that was next to his.

"Excuse me, if I don't rub shoulders with a thief and a murderer," Ash responded.

"I see five years have done nothing to quell your bitterness or resentment towards me," he said jokingly. "I like that," his tone became much more serious, as his entire demeanor changed from playful to business-like in a matter of seconds.

"Again I ask: what do you want?" Ash fired his question at the man sitting across from him.

"Nothing. I just came here to talk with the fool, who ruined my life, before I give him a warning," Giovanni answered.

"And what warning is that?" Ash asked, but he feared he already knew the answer.

"Don't get in my way this time, Ketchum," Giovanni answered with a cold and serious tone in his voice.

"Then, you better just kill me now because I'm not stopping until you are either dead or behind bars!" Ash stated with no fear in his voice.

"You know I can't do that, boy." Giovanni retorted to his young foe.

"Why is that?" asked Ash.

"You, of all people, should know that I no longer have any pull among the PLA. Thanks to your meddling, all my insiders have been arrested and thrown in jail," Giovanni continued. "Along with my accounts being frozen, I can no longer bribe my wait out of situations and all of my top agents are in jail, along with my best scientists. Hell, the only four Team Rocket members that are both not in jail and still alive are yours truly," he gestured to himself with an air of arrogance, "and those three bumbling fools: Jessie, James, and Meowth. So you see, I cannot kill you or kidnap one of your friends because that will cause suspicion and I can't have the tournament canceled. I must win my prize."

"The money you earn here will only grow a Team Rocket that will be brought to justice, same as the last," Ash responded with a smirk on his face.

Giovanni laughed. His laughter took the smirk off of Ash's face and replaced it with a look of horror as chills began to run up and down his spine.

"Oh, you ignorant fool. The prize money would do nothing to bring back the old Team Rocket," Giovanni stated calmly as a devious smile formed across his lips. "The real prize is the Pokéball."

Ash stood there, in silence, for a moment. His mind racing, thinking about all the possible reasons why Giovanni wanted the Pokéball, instead of the money. His mind finally came to the only answer that made sense and it horrified him.

"Mewtwo," Ash muttered in shock.

"Exactly. That light bulb finally turned on for the young fool," Giovanni snickered as he watched every muscle, the young man had, tense up.

"No, you're the fool, Gio!" Ash shouted. "Don't you see what chasing after Mewtwo has done to you, done to the people around you? He has killed your best scientists, countless of your grunts, and almost demolished Kalos last time, had it not been for me!"

"If it hadn't been for you and that rodent," Giovanni pointed to Pikachu with a scowl on his face, "he would have been under my control!"

"Pi Pikachu pika pi," Pikachu shouted as more sparks began to fly out of the mouse's cheeks.

"Pikachu and Lucario, both of you, stand down!" Ash commanded. At his words, his Pokémon finally relaxed a little, but still kept a cautious eye on Giovanni.

"I am glad to see you have matured a bit," Giovanni commented as he saw the Pokémon begin to relax. "You are certainly picking your battles better, Ketchum. Five years ago, your Pikachu would have destroyed half this building with a Thunder attack."

"Giovanni, you're insane!" Ash stated as he made eye contact with the ex-crime lord. "Mewtwo's power is uncontrollable! You saw what he did in Kalos! No Pokéball can capture it, and if you were to capture it, Mewtwo would still not obey you!"

Giovanni again laughed as the boy began to amuse him. "I have tracked the beast to a cave, outside of Cerulean City, and if the Master Ball is all that it's cracked up to be, Mewtwo will have no choice but to obey me as its rightful master. After all, he is still a Pokémon. Whether born in a lab or in nature, a Pokémon is a Pokémon. Besides, it took me years to find a scientist who would be willing to help create that beast for me. Did you know that I killed one scientist, who refused to go along with this project and would report it to the authorities?"

Ash responded, "Yea, I quickly read about that in one of the files that I stole from you. The man, you killed, was Trevor's father! You killed his father, you selfish bastard!"

"Sacrifices had to be made to create the world's strongest Pokémon, for only me to control," Giovanni responded without feeling any guilt for murdering the young trainer's friend's father.

"Why are you telling me all of this?" Ash asked.

"To warn you. Even if you do make it to the finals, against me and defeat me, I will still win. In fact, it would behoove me if you actually won, given somehow I don't make it to the finals myself, because I can then just simply take the Pokéball from you," Giovanni began to smile as if he had already defeated Ash.

"As you said before, you have no more pull or financial backing," Ash stated calmly, looking to unnerve the tyrant in front of him. "You can do nothing to me."

"Yes. That is true. It would best suit me to keep a low profile during the tournament," Giovanni got an evil look in his eyes before he continued. "But there will be no mercy after the tournament when the ball is firmly in your possession."

"You don't scare me, Giovanni" Ash yelled.

"You, of all people, should know, Ash," Giovanni said as he stood up from his chair, "that a Ninetails only shows its true teeth when it's backed into a corner."

Ash gritted his teeth as he saw the older man walk toward him with his Persian at his side. He clenched his fist tightly, holding himself back from punching the man, as he slowly walked past him before stopping behind him. With their backs turned to each other, Ash could hear the sound of the doorknob being twisted, and the door slowly being pulled open.

"Oh! By the way, Ash, you and Serena make a cute couple." Giovanni said sadistically as he walked out the door and shut it behind him.

Ash held it throughout the entire conversation. Every emotion seemed to be going through his head. He held it in as long as he could before he knew Giovanni was out of earshot, so he wouldn't have the pleasure of knowing that he had gotten the best of him. It seemed like hours passed before he finally let it all out. Ash screamed as he hurled a fist into the wall, putting a good-sized dent, where his punch had landed.

Lucario and Pikachu rushed towards his side with worried expressions on their faces. When they got there, Ash was on a knee and his head down, facing the ground.

"Master! Master, are you ok?" asked Lucario.

"Pikapi, pi Pikachu," Pikachu asked worriedly.

Ash just stayed there, on his knees, his breathing became more stable with each breath.

"Master! Please say something, anything!" Lucario pleaded.

"I'm weak. I'm not strong enough," Ash said softly before letting out another yell and slamming both his fists against the wall.

"Pikapi, pika pika Pikachu! Pi pika pikapi pi pi pika chuchu!" Pikachu shouted.

"Master, Pikachu is right. You didn't waiver, in front of him. You stayed strong, stronger than him. You could see it on his face. He saw defiance in your eyes," Lucario tried to soothe Ash.

"I can't do this. Not when my friends are here. You heard him," Ash was sputtering out his words at this point. "Trevor's father's death happened because of his selfish and sick obsession with owning Mewtwo. But worst of all, he blatantly threatened Serena. How can I stay in this tournament and risk their lives?"

"You know as well as I do that if you exit this tournament early, you're not just only risking their lives, but the lives of the entire world," Lucario said as he gently placed his paw on Ash's shoulder.

"Pika pika pika pi. Pikapi, chu Pikachu," Pikachu agreed as it jumped on Ash's knee and rubbed its cheek against his.

Ash slowly chuckled as he scratched behind Pikachu's ears, causing the electric mouse Pokémon to coo with delight. He picked up his partner, into his arms, and slowly stood up. He looked down into Pikachu's eyes before turning his gaze over to Lucario. He sighed before walking over and placing Pikachu on the bed.

"Where you're going, Master?" Lucario asked as Ash headed towards the door.

"You guys are right. I know you're right," Ash said as he gazed at the door, not turning to his loyal companions. "I got scared when the thought of endangering my friends crossed my mind, but if I can't stop Giovanni first, then I can't possibly protect them. I need time to breathe a little and think about a few things." He reached down into his bag and took out the ocarina, before stuffing it in his jacket pocket. "I'm going to go take a walk in the forest, nearby. I will have a few of our friends with me, so don't worry. You two. stay here and rest. We have two days off before we battle again and I want both of you fresh."

With that, Ash opened the door and headed out into the hallway. He took an elevator to the lobby, where he exited the building and headed towards the woods.

I'll always be there to protect them. That was a promise I made to her, and it's a promise that I intend to keep.

---

What Ash and Giovanni didn't know was that Trevor and Gregor had listened to their entire conversation through Gregor's psychic powers.

After Giovanni left Ash's room, Gregor felt a shiver down his veins and was shaking for a bit. He turns to Trevor and notices his face was in complete shock and there was a horrified look in his eyes.

Sinking in the information that he just heard into his head, he looks down to the ground, then at Gregor, and finally, the wall where they were listening to the conversations. Trevor was sweating, breathing heavily, and tears welling up in his eyes. After a brief moment of silence, Trevor fell onto his knees. Gregor ran over to his trainer with a worried look in his eyes.

"Trevor! Trevor, are you going to be alright?" He asked as his trainer looks at him at eye level.

"Yeah. I think I'll be alright, Gregor." Trevor lied as he trying to hold back the anger and rage that's building up right now.

"You sure? I mean, we just found out that your friend is still alive! Shouldn't you be glad for him?" asked a confused Gregor.

"It should be, but I'm not. You know why?" questioned Trevor.

Gregor hesitated to answer because he already knew the answer as he notices the tone, in Trevor's voice, changing to a serious one.

Trevor took a deep breath before continuing, "Not only did we discovered that Ash is still alive, but Giovanni, the man who took away my father, your friend, from us, is alive as well. We all thought we lost him to the flames; but it turns out, he survived and didn't tell any of his friends that he was okay! Sure, spend five years of training so that you can be ready to face Giovanni, in case he's still alive. However, he should have informed us that he was not dead. He lied to all of us, and for what, just so he can finally take down the goddamn bastard that killed my father! Ash, you selfish, dull, son of a b-" Trevor suddenly stops and looks towards Gregor, as his face expresses fear in his trainer's rage towards Ash.

Trevor, coming to terms with the shocking information, sits down on his bed and rubs his face with his hands as he groans.

Gregor walks over to Trevor and places a paw on his shoulder while trying to comfort his trainer.

"Trevor, rage isn't going to solve this, you know." He stated. "All that we can do, right now, is do our best in this tournament."

"You know, eventually, we'll have to face him." Trevor reminded the Genetic Pokemon, who didn't seem to be worried.

"That would be great if we do get to face him." He responded as his eyes are filled with determination and pride.

"How come?" asked Trevor, even though he already knew the answer.

"Because I would like to battle against that Lucario of his," Gregor answered as Trevor chuckled at his statement.

"Well, it looks like you have a rival in this competition now," Trevor said as he begins to yawn.

"It's been a long day, Gregor. Let's get some sleep." Trevor suggested as the Genetic Pokemon nodded in agreement.

Trevor returns Gregor to his Pokéball, put on his pajamas, and then, falling asleep on the comfy bed.

In his mind, he was still thinking about Ash. Even if he did keep tabs on all of us, how can I truly know if Ash is still our friend? 

Suddenly, Trevor remembers something that happened after Ash's battle against Iris. Wait a minute! Gary! Of course, Gary must know something about Ash's five-year absence. When I get a chance, I need to confront him about Ash, so I can understand why he left us and why is it important for him to face Giovanni by himself.

With that, Trevor was deep asleep.