"Take your pick." Giovanni gestured to a line of Pokemon next to him. Some of Team Rocket's finest and most powerful Pokemon. The only ones that could be used for a mission of this importance. Giovanni was going to trust the trio of Jessie, James and Meowth, but he wasn't going to allow them to use their own weak Pokemon.

Jessie stepped forward first, eyeing the Pokemon with wide, amazed eyes. Her eyes scanned across them and then rested on one of the rarest of the bunch. A Kabutops that Giovanni had acquired a few years ago in the Kanto region. "I'll take Kabutops, please."

Giovanni nodded and waved Kabutops forward so he was standing next to Jessie. "Night slash, X-scissor, ancient power and hyper beam are its moves." He looked at James. "And you?"

James studied the Pokemon a few moments and then pointed at a Drapion. "I'll take Drapion, please."

Again, Giovanni waved the Pokemon forward. "Cross poison, venoshock, pin missile and poison fang are its moves." Giovanni then looked at Meowth. "You will have to rely on your own...strength. These Pokemon will not take orders from another Pokemon."

Meowth nodded, as though expecting it. "Yes boss." He looked at Kabutops and Drapion. "I think these two will allow us to do our mission successfully, though."

"Of course." Giovanni said. "And if not...you know I won't be pleased. Make sure you are successful. This is one of your most important missions. You're lucky to have been selected for it. Perhaps it isn't wise to choose you, after all of your failures, but you have done reasonably well, lately. I do reward acceptable work."

"Yes, boss." They all said, bowing.

"Now, you all remember the plan I hope?" Giovani asked, eyeing them carefully to make sure they didn't lie.

"Yes, boss." Meowth said. He held up the bag with their disguises. "It's sure to fool the twerpette and even the twerp later on. They won't have any clue."

"Good." Giovanni said. "Now, you may go. Be quick. Be strong. Don't fail." The three subordinates all nodded and quickly exited, recalling their new Pokemon. Perhaps they weren't the most capable, but Giovanni still expected that they would succeed. He'd planned the operation perfectly, so if they failed, it was only due to not following his orders. Soon, they'd have the girl and then, Ash Ketchum would have to obey any command Giovanni gave him.

XXXXX

Over the next few days, Ash kept extremely busy with his training. While he and Pikachu were practically flawless at the obstacle course, some of his other Pokemon were struggling. He'd been transferring them regularly, multiple times a day. Charizard, Pidgeot, Sceptile and Infernape were fairly good at it, but it was definitely a struggle for most of the others.

On the first day, Muk had somehow managed to get logs embedded in his slimy body, so it was pretty difficult getting him out. After that, Snorlax, who was actually doing fairly well through about a quarter of the course, suddenly looked at the kitchen area of the room and then was knocked down by a few logs at once. Donphan also did part of the course fairly well, but a log jammed in his horns and ended up pulling him aside and he started to get continuously hit after that.

The first successes started happening with some of Ash's smaller Pokemon, who were obviously a little more agile. Hawlucha perfectly performed a flying press to swiftly whip through about a third of the course. He was ultimately hit after that, but he had definitely performed well up until that point. After that, Buizel managed to get through about the same amount, using sonic boom, water pulse and ice punch to knock aside the swinging logs.

Finally, after five days, the first Pokemon besides Pikachu, was able to accomplish the course. It was quite strange to see, as Totodile almost didn't seem to take things seriously at all. He just started to dance his way through the obstacles, occasionally using water gun to hit some of the logs away. When they'd finished, Ash explained that he thought Totodile was able to do it, because it was easy to encourage him to relax and have him do what he thought felt right.

Quilava was the next to do it, his speed being a huge advantage to him. After that, Swellow showed some impressive flying skills which enabled him to dodge past the obstacles perfectly. Leavanny was next, doing a somewhat similar thing to Totodile, almost seeming to dance past the swinging logs.

Noctowl had one of the most impressive performances, although Ash had initially wondered if it was kind of cheating. He froze the logs with confusion, but according to Gurkinn, it was impressive that the owl-Pokemon was able to do so to every single log and then fly through them.

Ash had just finished managing to do the course himself once again, after Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Pikachu had done it, when Gurkinn stopped him. "Ash," he said, "I've been thinking it might be an interesting experiment to have you use a Pokemon that you haven't had much of an opportunity to bond with."

"You think I should catch a new Pokemon?" Ash asked.

"Not necessarily." Gurkinn answered. "Do you have any Pokemon you haven't spent much time with? I suppose Houndoom, but it is clear you two are already quite close."

The answer came to Ash quickly. Perhaps he'd bonded with this Pokemon, but really, they hadn't spent much time together. "Let me just make a call to Professor Oak. I think I've got an idea." Ash said, smiling.

A few minutes later, Ash was in front of the phone, and it was ringing for Professor Oak. After a couple of rings, the Professor answered and Ash immediately noticed his face had a bruise on it. "Whoa, Professor Oak, what happened?"

Oak sighed. "I had a call from a friend of yours, Anthony, about a certain Pokemon he's been training for you." He touched the bruise on his face and winced. "This was how I was greeted."

Ash did his best to bite back a laugh. He knew which Pokemon it was and it was exactly why he'd called. He didn't want Professor Oak to get hurt, but he knew the personality of that Pokemon and it was a little amusing. "Professor Oak, that's actually who I was calling about. That's quite the coincidence. Is he with you?"

Oak nodded and held up a pokeball. "I have him right here."

They did the transfer and then, a few minutes later, Ash was in front of the Lucario statue with Dawn, Korrina and Gurkinn. "Alright," Ash said, smiling, "I've got him." He opened up the pokeball and there was a flash of light. However, before Ash could even see the Pokemon, he felt a fist slam into his face and he was knocked on his back.

"PRRRRIMEAPE!" Was all Ash heard as he fell to the floor.

Ash sat up fairly quickly, though, smiling. His face hurt, but he knew it was just Primeape's way of greeting him. He could see the others were a little alarmed, but he ignored that for now and looked at his old fighting-type. A monkey-pig-like Pokemon with fluffy white fur and brown, boxing glove like fists stood in front of him. He had a glare on his face, but it was clear there was excitement in his eyes. "Wow, Primeape," Ash said, "you've gotten a lot stronger."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu nodded.

"Primeape!" Primeape agreed, pumping his fist.

Ash looked at the others. "This is Primeape. I got him pretty early on in my journey. We won a fighting-type tournament together and then Primeape got an offer to train to become a true P-1 champion." Ash looked at Primeape. "Clearly, you've been training hard."

Gurkinn smiled. "How about we test his strength before we try him in the obstacle course?" He asked and then he looked at Korrina. "It might be interesting to have a P-1 champion take on the fighting-type gym's best fighting-type Pokemon."

Korrina nodded and pulled out a pokeball and released her Lucario next to her. "Ash, how would you and Primeape like to battle Lucario and me?"

Ash looked at Primeape who was now staring down Lucario, looking like he wanted to fight right then and there. "I think Primeape would love that." He said, laughing.

Dawn's eyes widened excitedly. "Are you going to mega evolve Lucario?" She asked Korrina.

Korrina shook her head. "That's not fair to Primeape. I think we'll-"

"Hold on." Ash said, narrowing his eyes. "I think you're underestimating Primeape." He looked at his pig-monkey-Pokemon. "You want a tough opponent, don't you, Primeape?"

"Primeape!" Primeape yelled, nodding.

"There you have it." Ash smirked. "Mega evolution it is."

They made their way to the gym battlefield and Ash and Korrina took their places. Ash was in the challenger's spot, while Korrina was opposite him in her gym leader spot. Lucario was in front of Korrina, while Primeape was in front of Ash. Dawn and Gurkinn were on the sidelines.

Gurkinn stepped forward and explained the rules. "This will be a one on one battle between Ash and Korrina. Once Primeape or Lucario are unable to battle, the other trainer will be declared the winner. Do you agree?" Ash and Korrina nodded. "Then let the battle begin!"

Korrina quickly pressed down on her key stone which was on the bracelet on her wrist. "Lucario, mega evolve!" She yelled. There was a blinding white light, and Ash had to shield his eyes. After a few moments, he looked and saw it was complete. Lucario's feet and fists were now red. The yellow fur that usually was just around his chest, was now extended to his tail. The aura sensing appendages on his head were extended. He also had black stripes on his face and throughout his body.

Ash smiled, seeing Primeape looking more pumped up after the mega evolution. It was a big test for him, but Ash...well he could sense that Primeape was strong enough for this. He'd looked in his Pokedex and checked the moves Primeape now had, and he was ready to go. "Primeape, use power-up punch!"

"Lucario, you too!" Korrina ordered.

Both Pokemon pulled back their fists, bracing themselves to leap forward, and then they did so. With incredible speed, Lucario and Primeape closed the gap between them and then launched their fists forward and slammed them together. The shock wave of energy blasted them both back. Both Primeape and Lucario left skid marks in the dirt of the battlefield from where they'd been blown back.

Primeape turned back to Ash, looking pleased. Ash nodded back. "Yeah, that was good, Primeape. I knew you could do it."

Korrina looked dumbfounded. "How did he match Lucario's power-up punch?" She asked.

"He's been training hard." Ash said.

Gurkinn interrupted. "Not quite." Both Korrina and Ash looked at him. "Obviously he's trained hard, but once again, Ash, you are helping your Pokemon. Clearly your limited time with Primeape was enough to bond with him and that allows you to lend your strength to him."

Ash smiled. "Works for me." He looked back at Primeape and Lucario, who didn't seem too interested in learning about why Primeape was so strong. They wanted to battle. "Alright, let's get back to it."

Korrina nodded. "Lucario, aura sphere!" Lucario swiftly pulled back his arms and prepared an orb of blue light and then blasted it forward. It was too fast for Ash and Primeape to react and it slammed into Primeape, sending him flying through the air. He landed hard on the ground to the left of Ash.

"You ok, Primeape?" Ash asked. Primeape got to his feet and nodded. "Good. Ok, use aerial ace!" Primeape seemed to disappear in that instant, he was so fast. Ash looked towards Lucario and saw him glancing around, unsure of where Primeape was. And then, before he could react, Primeape was behind him in the air and lashing out with his leg and kicking Lucario in the back. The aura Pokemon was slammed to the ground. "Seismic toss!" Ash yelled. Primeape landed quickly and then grabbed Lucario. He then jumped up, launching himself high into the air. He held Lucario by the legs and swung him around a few times and then threw him down with all his might. Lucario rocketed towards the ground and then slammed into it hard, shooting up a huge cloud of dust.

Primeape landed in front of Ash, looking quite pleased with his performance thus far. They waited for the dust to settle and once it cleared, Lucario was still trying to struggle to his feet. Clearly being mega evolved hadn't given him a huge advantage over Primeape. Finally, though, Lucario was able to stand. Ash knew, one more move was all he needed.

Korrina wasn't giving up, though. "Aura sphere!" She yelled. Lucario prepared another sphere of blue light in his arms and then launched it forward.

"Power-up punch! Knock it away." Ash ordered. Primeape pulled his fist back and waited for the aura sphere. Once it came into his reach, he launched his fist forward and slammed it into the orb of blue light. For a moment, the sphere seemed to try to force its way past Primeape's fist, but Primeape was too strong and the aura sphere was launched back, causing Lucario to have to dodge it swiftly. "Finish with aerial ace!" With Lucario having to dodge his own aura sphere, Primeape had a perfect opportunity to strike and he used it. He launched forward, slid past Lucario and then jumped up and kicked him. Lucario was once again launched to the ground, but this time he didn't get up, instead he stayed down, reverting back to his original form.

"Lucario is unable to battle. Primeape and Ash are the winners!" Gurkinn called.

Ash was surprised, of course. It was definitely a quicker battle than it had been with Pikachu and Lucario, but perhaps his training had already started to make him stronger. Primeape pumped his fist happily and then ran back to Ash and hugged him. "Great job, Primeape!" Ash said happily. "You were so awesome!"

Gurkinn approached Ash. "You know what, Ash?" He said. "I think there is very little left to do. A little more practice, and you should be good to go. It seems as though, the interference with the Sundial is affecting you less and less. You're truly beginning to rely on your own abilities."

"Yeah." Ash said, thinking of how easy it had been to fight with Primeape. "And then I've got one more stop before I can go back to Se – my friends." He blushed, hoping Gurkinn hadn't caught what he was about to say.

Gurkinn nodded. He was about to say something, but then the phone rang. "Well, I'd better go get that." He said, leaving the battlefield to go and get it.

When Gurkinn left the battlefield, Korrina and Dawn came up to Ash. "Congratulations Ash." Korrina said. "That was definitely impressive."

"Yeah." Dawn agreed, looking at Primeape. "Fighting like that, there's no way you can lose in the Kalos League."

"I hope so." Ash said. He looked at Primeape. "How do you feel about helping me out with that, Primeape?"

"Primeape!" Primeape nodded.

The door to the battlefield opened and Gurkinn appeared. "Ash, it's for you. Your friends are calling from Lumiose City."

XXXXX

The next few days were busy. Serena and the others had notified the police that Lysandre was likely plotting to attack Lumiose City with his Zygarde and things had become very hectic. A lot of people were evacuating, fearing both surrendering to Lysandre and fighting against him. However, a few trainers had agreed to help.

Serena had even told Palermo that she was taking a break from training, so that she could help prepare for whatever Lysandre had planned. She was surprised when Palermo had actually seemed quite impressed with this.

"Just what Ash would do, I think." She had told Serena.

Serena and her friends were currently at the Pokemon centre, getting their Pokemon checked on. They were making this a daily visit, wanting to ensure that their Pokemon were in perfect condition for whenever Lysandre showed up. They were sitting on one of the couches while they waited for Nurse Joy to do the check up.

"I've been thinking," Clemont said, "we should probably give Ash a call. If we're going to have any hope of winning this, we're going to need him."

Serena nodded. "I guess I was just hoping to give him an opportunity to train. Olympia did say it was important right?"

"I guess so..." Clemont agreed. "Well...maybe we can just let him know what's going on. We don't exactly know when Lysandre is going to show up. If we at least tell Ash what's up, he can maybe speed up his training a bit."

Bonnie nudged Serena. "You're going to talk to him, right?"

Serena blushed. It was almost like she was starting over. It was like she had her secret crush on Ash all over again and she was nervous about talking to him. "I...maybe it should just be you guys. He might not want to talk to me."

"Come on, Serena." Mairin said, rolling her eyes. "Ash will want to talk to you. He'll want to make sure your ok. He only didn't go to see you when he was here, because he didn't want to hurt you, because he was leaving again."

The most surprising one to speak up was Alain. "Serena, you should talk to him. We...don't know what's going to happen in the next little while. It's better not to leave things unspoken."

Serena nodded. "Alright...let's go call him then."

They gathered around one of the phones and then dialled the number to the Shalour Gym. Gurkinn answered the phone. After they all greeted him, Clemont spoke up. "Hi sir, um...is it alright if we speak with Ash? It's kind of important."

Gurkinn nodded. "I'll go get him."

A couple minutes later, after Serena thought her heart couldn't beat any faster, the person appearing on the screen caused her to feel really dizzy all of a sudden. And, of course, the first person Ash locked eyes with, was her. "Serena..." He said quietly.

"Um...why don't we all go see if Nurse Joy is done with the Pokemon?" Bonnie suggested. Serena's eyes widened and she had a sudden urge to strangle the girl, but Bonnie just smirked as everyone nodded and they left Serena alone at the phone.

Serena and Ash were quiet for a few moments, but then Ash finally spoke again. "Is...your training going ok?"

Serena nodded. "I...I think so." She squeaked. She took a deep breath to try and calm down. "Um...are you doing alright?"

"Yeah." Ash said, smiling. He looked to something beside him and gestured for whatever it was to come forward. A pig-monkey-Pokemon appeared next to Ash. "This is Primeape. He just beat Korrina's mega Lucario."

"Wow." Serena finally smiled. Seeing Ash so happy with his Pokemon always had that effect on her. "It's nice to meet you, Primeape."

"Primeape!" Primeape said.

Ash then looked a little more serious. He looked like he was hesitating. "Serena...I...I'm sorry. I...was in Lumiose City a few days ago. I..." He couldn't finish. He was now avoiding eye contact.

"I know." Serena said, causing Ash too look up in alarm. "Don't worry, the others didn't tell me. I...saw you."

"What?" Ash asked, looking embarrassed. Primeape and Pikachu looked a little awkward and they stepped away from Ash, apparently deciding to give him some privacy with the call. "When did you see me?"

"With Greninja." Serena explained. "When you asked him to watch over me."

Ash blushed. Serena didn't want him to be embarrassed, but it still kind of made her feel good that he so obviously cared about her. "I...well I'm worried about you." Ash finally said. "And I needed someone I could really rely on to help you if you were in trouble. Not that I don't trust Clemont, Bonnie and Mairin. It's just that...Greninja's the closest thing to me being there."

Now it was Serena's turn to blush. "Thank you, Ash. That means a lot." She braced herself. She didn't care about the last time they had spoken. She didn't care about what he had said about them breaking up. She still loved him and she knew he felt the same. "Ash...I-"

"I love you, Serena." Ash interrupted. "I screwed up. Leaving you was stupid." He took a deep breath. "I know I still have a few things I need to do, but after that...maybe..."

"Of course." Serena said quickly, unable to control her huge smile. "Maybe Palermo will help me become Kalos Queen or maybe she won't. I don't care, though. I only want to accomplish my dreams with you there by my side."

"Me too." Ash whispered. "That's the only thing that matters."

There was a loud squeal behind Serena and she turned around to see Bonnie running up to her. "I knew you two would get back together!" She yelled. "Yay!" She picked up Dedenne from her bag. "Isn't this great, Dedenne?"

"De-ne!" Dedenne said happily.

Serena looked exasperatedly at Ash, but saw him laughing. He didn't seem to care about Bonnie's interruption. He then looked at Serena. "Um...did I see Alain there before? Did he find anything out about Lysandre?"

Bonnie then stood next to Serena. "Yeah." She said and then she gave Serena a mock disapproving look. "Really, Serena, you had to focus on getting back together instead of telling Ash what was happening?"

Ash laughed, but then looked seriously at Bonnie. "Ok, what's up?"

"Lysandre has full control of that Zygarde he has." Bonnie explained. "He told Alain to tell everyone in Lumiose City that he wants them to either surrender or he will..."

"Attack." Ash finished. He thought for a few moments and then nodded. "I'll leave right away." He said. "We'll beat him together."

"Wait." Serena said quickly. As much as she wanted to see Ash again, she knew Olympia had told him to train for a reason. "Don't you still have training to do?"

"My training is pretty much going perfectly." Ash said, waving his hand to dismiss it. "I'm supposed to go to Coumarine City, but I can probably skip that."

"No." Serena said seriously. "Ash, we don't even know when Lysandre is going to be here. You need to finish your training. It's important. If anything happens, we'll send a message to you right away. I want you to be here as much as you want to be here, but it's only asking for trouble if you ignore what Olympia told you to do."

Ash narrowed his eyes, looking like he wanted to argue, but then he sighed. "Fine." He looked at Bonnie. "Could you give us a moment, Bonnie?"

Bonnie smirked at Serena and then nodded. "Alright." She turned and walked away, returning to the group waiting at the desk for Nurse Joy.

"Serena," Ash said seriously, "if I hear anything about Lysandre or Team Flare, I'm coming back. I don't care about training. If you're in danger, I'm going to be there as fast as possible. Even faster."

Serena nodded, not bothering to argue. "Ok...just...don't worry too much." She smiled. "Iam capable of taking care of myself, you know?"

"I know." Ash said, smiling. He then seemed to focus on her and Serena suddenly felt a warm feeling, right in her heart. She didn't know how to explain it, but for some reason she felt it was coming from Ash. "We'll be together again, soon."