When Ash had finished his conversation with Serena, he had immediately gone to Gurkinn and told him that he had to go. Gurkinn had been fine with it, saying that really, all Ash had to do was continue trying to focus on strengthening his aura. Ash and Dawn had then set off quickly for Coumarine City, although Dawn had rushed off momentarily before, claiming she needed to make a quick call. Ash had been pretty impatient, but she'd stressed it was important and that he'd thank her later for it, so he didn't argue too much.

Ash hadn't bothered switching out the current team he had, which actually consisted of his older Pokemon. Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Charizard, Pidgeot, Primeape and, of course, Pikachu, were with him. Pidgeot and Charizard flew full speed towards Coumarine City over the next day and a half. It was probably the fastest either of them had ever gone.

Ash didn't really know what he needed to do in Coumarine City. He was assuming that perhaps he had to go and see Ramos, the gym leader, but if that wasn't it, he had no idea what he'd find in Coumarine City.

"I guess we'll stop at the Pokemon centre." Ash told Dawn, as they approached Coumarine City. "We'll stay there for the night." Dawn nodded. Ash directed Pidgeot and Charizard to where the Pokemon centre was and they were landing within a few minutes.

When they entered the Pokemon centre, Dawn stopped Ash at the front. "I'll take your Pokemon up. Why don't you give Serena a quick call?" Ash could tell she was barely controlling herself from giggling, but he nodded and handed her his pokeballs, while Pikachu hopped onto her shoulder.

Ash then went towards the phone, while Dawn went towards the desk to give Nurse Joy the Pokemon. When he sat down, and was about to dial the number to call Serena, he suddenly had an idea. He'd been thinking about how they were going to fight against Lysandre and Team Flare. There was really not much of a chance, unless they had a lot of trainers and Pokemon to help them. He knew there were some trainers there and that the police would help, but he suspected they'd still be heavily outnumbered. There was, however, somewhere nearby Lumiose that could be of some help. Ash decided that was the place to call first.

The phone rang a few times and then a middle-aged man with grey facial hair and a green and brown vest and jacket appeared. "Ash? Wow, it's been a while. How are you?" Keanan asked, looking pleased.

"Hi Keanan." Ash greeted, smiling back. "Well, I guess things are...complicated to be honest." He scratched his head nervously. "Um...I don't know if you've heard about what happened a few weeks ago in Geosenge Town?"

Keanan nodded. "Yes, we were all watching the news coverage on that." He smiled. "Goodra was quite pleased to hear of your victory over Malva. That's quite impressive. I think he would have liked to be there to help you, though."

"That's actually why I was calling." Ash said. "Lysandre escaped that night. I guess you know that. Anyways, it sounds like he's planning to attack Lumiose City. There's a few people preparing to defend against him, but he's going to have a Pokemon called Zygarde with him that can...do a lot of damage. Not to mention, Team Flare is probably going to outnumber whatever we have in Lumiose City."

Keanan nodded. "And you were hoping the Pokemon from the Wetlands could help you?" He asked.

"Well, I was thinking more about Goodra." Ash corrected.

Keanan smiled. "Ash, you know those Pokemon love Goodra more than anything, right? He's become the true leader here. I'm sure he'll want to help and I know the others will go with him."

"Really?" Ash asked. This was really more than he could have hoped for.

"Of course. Besides, if Lysandre is attacking Lumiose City, I'm sure the Wetlands will be one of the next targets. Everyone might as well make a stand together." Keanan said seriously.

"Right." Ash said. "Well...if you think they're up for it, that would be a really big help."

"I'll talk to them right away." Keanan assured. "Reinforcements are on the way."

When Ash's call with Keanan finished, he was just about to call Serena, when someone came up behind him. "Well hello there, Ash. Nice to see you again." Ash smiled, turning around to see an old man in a green shirt. He looked like a typical elderly gardener. The Coumarine City gym leader, Ramos. "What are you doing in Coumarine City? I'd have thought you'd be training for the Kalos League."

"Hi Ramos." Ash greeted. "Um...well it's a long story, really. A lot has happened since we last saw each other."

"Mm." Ramos nodded. He then gestured over to the couches. "How about you tell me? Although, I think I know some of what's gone on. I may live in a tree, but it's not under a rock, you know." He then noticed the phone. "Oh, I'm sorry. You're making a call. I'll wait over there, then."

Ash hesitated. He didn't want to be rude...maybe the call could wait...but Ash would have liked to call Serena. Although, she would probably be heading to Palermo's for the night. Maybe it was better to actually wait until tomorrow. "No, it's alright." Ash said. "Let's talk."

They sat down at one of the couches in the lobby. Ramos started to speak, but just then, Dawn came over with all the pokeballs. Pikachu hopped onto Ash's shoulder and Dawn sat down. "Hi." She said to Ramos. "I'm Dawn."

"Dawn is a coordinator from Sinnoh." Ash explained. "She and I travelled together when I was challenging the Sinnoh League."

"Ah, well hello there young miss." Ramos greeted. He then looked around the Pokemon centre. "But where are your other friends, Ash?"

"Well...as I said, there's a lot to that." Ash muttered. He then explained about everything that had happened since Geosenge Town. For some reason, he had no issue telling Ramos all of it. It was easy to talk to him. It was like talking to a supportive grandfather. "So...I'm not exactly sure what Olympia wants me to do here, but I came. I'd obviously rather be in Lumiose City, but I guess it was important if Olympia wanted me to come here."

"Very interesting." Ramos nodded. "Well, perhaps I can at least help you out while you stay here. You and Dawn are free to stay at the gym. It'll be quite interesting to be up in the tree at this time of year. We have a large flock of Butterfree that should be arriving any time now. They come to Coumarine City about this time every year, from all over the world."

"Sounds awesome." Ash said. He looked at Dawn. "How about it?"

"Sure." Dawn agreed. "Maybe there's a special Butterfree or something that Olympia wants us to find. I guess it's our best shot right now." She smirked. "Well...I've got something in the works too."

"What do you mean?" Ash asked. She'd been acting kind of suspicious ever since she'd made that call back at the Shalour Gym. "What's in the works?"

"Nothing." Dawn giggled. "Anyways, these Butterfree sound interesting. I think we should check them out."

"Yeah." Ash said. "It would be awesome if..." He trailed off, thinking. Wait...maybe there was a special Butterfree that could help them. Olympiahad said that old friends would be needed. Maybe...an old friend would be showing up. He smiled. "We've definitely gotta see those Butterfree. I've got a good feeling they'll be showing up soon."

XXXXX

Serena had just finished discussing some arrangements with Clemont and Alain about where they should be planning to fight off Lysandre. Alain had mentioned that the base where he'd met Lysandre was south of the power plant, but that probably meant Lysandre would likely try to attack from the opposite direction. They ended up deciding it would be better to spread out, despite it being dangerous to spread their already thin numbers. Serena was beginning to realize they were practically preparing for a war.

However, as bad as things looked, Serena couldn't help but feel a little excited. She felt guilty about it, of course, but knowing Ash was coming and knowing that they would be together...she couldn't feel as scared of what was coming as she might have if Ash wasn't going to be there soon. In a way, the coming battle made her feel safer, because she knew that she'd have Ash with her.

As she walked back towards Palermo's apartment, Serena noticed how quiet things seemed. She supposed it was because of how many people had left from fear. It was a little creepy, walking like this, but she knew Greninja was nearby. Regardless, she decided to call out her Pokemon for some company. There were three flashes of light, and then Pancham, Sylveon and Delphox appeared.

"Hi everyone. I just needed some company. It's just a little creepy walking in the dark, alone, you know?" Serena explained. Her Pokemon all nodded and they began walking again.

Suddenly, there was the sound of feet hitting the ground behind her. Serena quickly turned around, bracing herself, but only saw three non-threatening looking people coming towards her. They were dressed in business suits. One was a woman with red hair. Another was a man with blue hair. The third was a very short person that seemed to have what looked like whiskers on their face. Serena didn't stare though, not wanting to be rude.

"Excuse me, miss." The woman said. "I am Jessaline, from the Kalos Today paper. I'm not sure if you got my message."

Serena had gotten the message, from both Bonnie and Palermo, but to be honest, she didn't really have much interest in getting interviewed. However, since these people had apparently made the effort to come and find her, she supposed she would have to give them something. "Oh...yes. I'm sorry. I just didn't have time to call you back." She lied.

"Quite alright." The man with blue hair said. "Not a problem at all."

"How about we do the interview right here?" The short person said. "It's nice and quiet here. Nobody should interfere." He looked around. "I'll go and make sure that nobody interferes."

Just before the short person left, though, the blue-haired man stopped him. "Hold on. Maybe I should be the one guarding – I mean, ensuring we have quiet." He sounded nervous.

"No!" The short person said seriously. "You have the gift from the boss, remember?" Before the blue-haired man could answer, the short person left.

Serena looked questioningly at the blue-haired man. "What does he mean by gift from the boss? Something that will help with the interview?"

"Something like that." Jessaline answered. She then smirked and quickly pulled her suit away, revealing bright red tights. The man did the same. Immediately, the two of them threw out pokeballs, revealing a purple scorpion-like Pokemon, Drapion, and an upright brown shellfish-like Pokemon with a half-moon shaped head and blade-like arms, Kabutops. "You're coming with us."

"Team Flare?" Serena felt stupid asking the question, but nothing else really came to her in the moment. She was starting to feel panic rising up in her. This couldn't really be happening now. She'd let herself get cornered so easily. She was all alone.

But then there was a loud splash from the river nearby and within what seemed like a second, a frog-ninja Pokemon was standing in front of Serena and her Pokemon, staring down the Drapion and Kabutops in front of him.

"Greninja!" Serena shouted out in relief.

Jessaline looked angry, but not surprised. "James – I mean Jameson – don't back down. If you let up, I'll tell the boss." She pointed at Greninja. "Kabutops, night slash!" Kabutops jumped forward, his blade-like arm, glowing purple. He slashed it down towards Greninja. However, the frog-ninja Pokemon was prepared. He pulled out his purple sword of light, and countered night slash with night slash. Kabutops tried to force his attack forward, but Greninja wasn't backing down and managed to shove him back. "Help...me..." Jessaline glared at the man named Jameson.

"Um...Drapion, use cross poison." Jameson ordered.

"Kabutops, X-scissor." Jessaline ordered.

Serena knew she had to help Greninja. "Pancham, block their way with stone edge. Delphox, stand with Greninja and prepare to use flamethrower. Sylveon, on top of Pancham's stones and then use fairy wind." She was surprised at how quickly she was ordering the attacks and how easy it seemed in the moment, but she had to ignore that for now. Her Pokemon responded quickly. Kabutops and Drapion had to stop in their tracks from Pancham's stone edge. This gave Sylveon an easy target and she was able to strike quickly with fairy wind. The attack struck perfectly, but Serena realized these must be particularly strong Pokemon, because they barely flinched.

"Hyper beam." Jessaline called. Serena could just see Kabutops preparing a the yellow energy past the stones from Pancham's attacks.

"Sylveon, quick, off the stones." Serena yelled.

"Use Drapion!" Jessaline growled.

"Drapion, venoshock." Jameson yelled. Before Sylveon could get back, a jet of what looked like purple electricity engulfed her. She shrieked in pain and slumped, falling off the stone and landing with a thud on the ground. She didn't move.

And then Kabutops' hyper beam struck. It blasted through the stones and headed straight for Greninja and Delphox. Greninja held out two glowing swords of purple light, preparing to force back the hyper beam. Delphox held out her branch, flames already starting to shoot forward from it. Then, the attack struck. For a moment, the flames and Greninja's night slash held, but then the two Pokemon were blasted back and they slammed to the ground in front of Serena. Delphox didn't move, but Greninja quickly got up. It was now only him and Pancham.

"Pancham, dark pulse!" Serena yelled.

"Pin missile." Jameson said, however, there was a brief hesitation before doing so.

The dark jet of energy shot forward and at the same time, a group of purple needles came back, countering it. However, Greninja took this opportunity to strike. He followed Pancham's dark pulse until it collided with the pin missile and then used the smoke from where the attacks collided. When the smoke cleared, there appeared to be about fifty different Greninjas around, all preparing to attack with water shuriken.

"Ancient power!" Jessaline yelled. Immediately, Kabutops started to glow in a purple light, and then hundreds of stones seemed to emerge around him. They all shot forward with unimaginable speed, slamming into the field of Greninjas. Serena heard him cry out in pain and then a moment later he slammed into the ground next to Pancham. He lay there a moment, but then struggled to his feet again. "Prepare hyper beam." Jessaline called.

Serena knew she needed to help Greninja, otherwise, who knew what was going to happen? "Pancham, stone edge. Use it to get some air and then use dark pulse." Pancham nodded and then slammed his fists to the ground, generating the stones that shot up in front of him and Greninja. He immediately jumped onto them and Greninja followed. They hopped the stones and as soon as they reached the one closest to Drapion and Kabutops, they unleashed their attacks, dark pulse and water shuriken.

But, of course, it was too late once again. Kabutops unleashed the massive blast of yellow energy and it erupted past Greninja's and Pancham's attacks and slammed into them. The stones shattered as they were struck as well. Greninja and Pancham were launched high in the air and then came crashing down. Pancham didn't move, but once again, Greninja forced himself to rise.

"That Greninja is a real pain." Jessaline growled. "Kabutops, night slash."

"Drapion, cross poison." Jameson ordered quietly.

Greninja took a deep breath and then he pulled out two swords of purple light and braced himself for the coming assault. Kabutops reached him first and he slashed out with his purple blade-like arm. Greninja, however, managed to duck and then stab upwards with his own night slash, shattering his own sword with the force he used to drive it into Kabutops, who fell back hard from the attack. Drapion reached Greninja next, its claws stretched out in front, glowing purple. Greninja quickly stepped back to dodge and then slashed out across Drapion's chest with his second sword. Drapion was shot backwards from the force.

Serena was too scared to move. She wanted to run to her hurt Pokemon, but the fear of what was happening was too overwhelming. These were extremely powerful Pokemon. She could see Greninja was struggling. Not to mention, they'd already defeated all of her Pokemon with only one move each.

Greninja wasn't going to give up though, and Serena could see that. He had promised to watch over her for Ash, and he was fulfilling that promise as well as he could. He wasn't going to go down easily.

"X-scissor!" Jessaline shouted.

"Venoshock." Jameson ordered.

Greninja immediately started multiplying so that there were at least about fifty copies surrounding Drapion and Kabutops. Drapion, however, didn't stop. Serena could instantly see the plan. The scorpion-like Pokemon would flush out the real Greninja, for Kabutops to strike. The jet of purple energy started blasting around at all the copies and a few would go down with each strike. However, when Drapion had finished shocking each one, Greninja was nowhere in sight...until suddenly he shot down from above Drapion and slammed his foot hard into the scorpion-like Pokemon's back. For a moment, Drapion stumbled around, but then it dropped and didn't move.

Jessaline looked angry, but she apparently decided to ignore it. "Kabutops, X-Scissor." Kabutops immediately shot forward, his blade-like arms crossed in front of him. Greninja was prepared, though. He brought forth yet another sword of purple light and slashed forward, intercepting Kabutops' strike. They struggled against each other, each trying to force their attacks through. Serena then saw Jessaline smile, as if excited. "Lock him in and then use hyper beam."

No! Serena thought. She was about to run forward. She couldn't let Greninja get hurt trying to protect her. She didn't care if he was protecting her for Ash. However, just before she could move, something grabbed her legs. She fell forward and then turned her head, seeing the short person from before. He was now tying her legs in rope.

"You're not going anywhere, twerpette." He said, finishing the knot.

Serena tried kicking him, but her legs could barely move. She was about to try again, but she heard Greninja struggling in his battle and turned her head. She could see Kabutops had locked Greninja's arms within his X-Scissor and that his hyper beam was fully prepared. For a moment, things seemed to freeze in time. Serena saw Greninja turn to look at her and there was pure guilt and defeat in his eyes. And then the hyper beam struck and the frog-ninja Pokemon was blasted away with extreme force. Serena had no idea where he landed, but it must have been far away and into something hard, because she heard a crash that sounded like it was coming from quite a distance away.

"Greninja!" Serena screamed. She glared at the Team Flare members that had attacked them. "You're not getting away with this. Ash is going to be here soon and he's going to crush you and Lysandre."

"Isn't that cute?" Jessaline asked her two companions. "It looks like our disguises worked. Hopefully the twerp's Greninja thought so too. The boss really knows what he's doing."

"What are you-" Serena suddenly felt ropes being wrapped around her arms. She struggled to fight as Jameson and the short person tied her up. "Get off of me!" She screeched. She had no other choice. She had to yell for help. "Somebody he-" A piece of tape was quickly shoved onto her mouth. A second later, a bag was over her head. Serena couldn't believe it. She was being kidnapped. And she knew why. It was all so they could mess with Ash. It didn't matter, though. What these people didn't realize, was that Ash would make them pay for this. They had no idea what was in store for them.

XXXXX

As Ash, Dawn and Ramos arrived at the massive tree that was the Coumarine City gym, Ash started to feel fear and anger boiling up inside of him. He had no idea why, but the only possible explanation he could think of, was that something was happening to Serena.

"We have to-" He gasped in pain and stumbled forward. He felt like he was getting attacked. He closed his eyes and focused. Greninja...what's happening? And then he could see. Two people dressed in red body suits with a Kabutops and a Drapion in front of them. Team Flare? Ash could just see that Delphox, Sylveon and Pancham were all unconscious and that Serena was watching Greninja battle, looking terrified. No...

"Ash?" Ash opened his eyes and realized he was sitting on the ground. Ramos and Dawn were looking at him with concern. "What's wrong?" Dawn asked.

"Ser-" He winced and grabbed his chest. He closed his eyes again and focused. He was seeing and feeling exactly what Greninja was seeing and feeling. He was soaring through the air, bright yellow light in front of him. The light was carrying him. He had failed. His trainer had asked him to watch over Serena, but he had failed. And now...darkness.

XXXXX

Ash opened his eyes and looked around him. He was in a room with all kinds of plants and various gardening tools and other nature objects. He groaned, sitting up straight and then noticed light was streaming through a window at the other end of the room. When did I go to bed? He thought. Then his eyes widened, remembering.

"Serena. Greninja." Ash jumped out of bed and collected his things which had been placed on a shelf nearby the bed. He then looked around, wondering where Dawn and Ramos could be. Immediately, he noticed them. He realized the room he was in, lead out onto some kind of balcony, and he could see the two of them sitting out there, watching something. Pikachu was with them. He ran outside to meet them.

"Pika!" Pikachu happily shouted, jumping up onto Ash's shoulder.

"Ash!" Dawn exclaimed. "Are you alright?"

"You passed out after stumbling down there." Ramos pointed to the ground. "I had to have my Gogoat carry you up."

"I'm..." Ash shook his head. "Serena's been attacked. Serena and Greninja."

"What?" Dawn asked. "How would you know?" She then shook her head, deciding that was a dumb question. "Never mind...what happened?"

Ash quickly explained the vision and feelings he'd felt. How he'd seen the Team Flare members and Serena and her unconscious Pokemon. How Greninja had been fighting and then how he'd been hit with a hyper beam.

"Well...I suppose you'd better get going, then." Ramos said. He then looked towards whatever he and Dawn had been looking at before. "I'd been hoping you might find whatever it was Olympia had wanted you to see, but perhaps there's nothing here for you."

"Yeah...I guess..." Ash trailed off, following what Ramos had been looking at.

They were all gathered in the trees and plants around Ramos' gym. There must have been about two hundred of them. Multiple groups must have come from all over the world. They were blue Pokemon with white wings. The butterfly-Pokemon known as Butterfree.

Ramos realized what Ash was looking at. "They arrived here last night. Dawn and I have been watching them throughout the morning. Very peaceful creatures, don't you think." He smiled. "Although, they can definitely be fierce fighters."

Ash nodded. "I know that. I used to have one." It was a long shot, but Ash had to try. He closed his eyes and focused. It took a moment, but eventually it came. The dark world with the blue lights that signalled aura. He moved his mind towards where the many Butterfree were. They were all very similar, the auras, but Ash knew that if the one he was looking for was there, it would be different.

After a few minutes, Ash was feeling a little tired and he was about to give up. It was becoming clear to him that he was wasting time and that he had to get moving to save Serena and leave Coumarine City with nothing. But then, just as he was about to cut off his connection with the aura, his mind noticed a light pulsing much stronger than the others. He reached out to it, and immediately felt a sense of familiarity. It washim. Ash focused harder and reached out to the light. He could sense alarm, but then also excitement.

Ash opened his eyes and saw Ramos and Dawn looking at him strangely. He didn't care, though. They'd see what it was about in a few seconds. He looked towards the many groups of Butterfree and then he saw it. There were three shapes approaching them. A smaller Butterfree, clearly younger than the other two. A pink Butterfree, which clearly excited both Dawn and Ramos, because they hadn't expected to see a different coloured Butterfree. And then, the one that Ash wanted to see. The Butterfree with the yellow scarf.

"Butterfree!" Ash yelled happily. And his old friend, the first Pokemon he had ever caught, slammed into him with the closest thing to a hug, a butterfly-Pokemon could do. It finally backed away and he and Ash looked at each other. "I knew it." Ash said. "I knew you'd be here."

"Ash," Dawn asked, "that's not...your Butterfree is it?" Ash nodded.

Ramos laughed. "Well how about that?" He looked at the two other Butterfree. "And I suppose this is his mate and his son."

Ash hadn't even really registered that. He had obviously seen the pink Butterfree before, but he hadn't thought about how the smaller one could actually be Butterfree's son. "No way...wow Butterfree, congratulations."

"Bwee-ee-ee." Butterfree said happily.

Dawn then looked at Ash seriously. "Ash, I know it's nice to see one of your old Pokemon and everything, but...Serena."

Ash nodded. He hadn't forgotten, but there was something he was hoping for. "Butterfree, I know we haven't seen each other in a long time, but I need to ask you something. It's probably not fair, but I've got no other options right now." And then he explained what he needed. When he finished, Butterfree didn't even hesitate. He nodded. Ash smiled. "Alright, a quick call to Professor Oak and then we're off."