Once they'd all landed safely on the outskirts of Lysandre's destructive attack, everyone turned to look at what was happening above the city. Bonnie instantly felt fear, seeing both Ash andSquishy, now in his complete form, facing off against Lysandre's Zygarde. As strong as they both were, she didn't see how they could fight that battle without one or both of them being seriously hurt. Not to mention, the city was in pretty serious danger too. She hoped that Nurse Joy had been able to clear out the Pokemon centre.

Clemont's voice suddenly broke through Bonnie's thoughts. "Hey, where's d- I mean Blaziken Mask?" He asked, looking around with worried eyes. I thought he'd flown here with us."

"You don't think he went into the city, do you?" Brock asked.

"He does think he's a superhero." Bonnie said, feeling frustrated with her father. His Blaziken was poisoned. Did he really think he'd be any help to Ash if he couldn't even use his strongest Pokemon. Ash was already using super strong Pokemon and he was barely able to keep up with Zygarde. Meyer couldn't be much help.

"I'm going back, then." Clemont said. Everyone stared at him in shock for a moment. Even for the newcomers, Clemont's bravery was unexpected. "Even if we don't find Blaziken Mask, we can at least help Ash."

"Alright, I'll go with you." Dawn spoke up finally.

"Me too." Alain said and Mairin quickly followed suit.

Eventually everyone was volunteering to go, but then Clemont spoke up. "Thanks everyone, but I think some of us should stay here. We need to be on guard in case any of the other Team Flare members try to pull anything." He looked at Bonnie and she knew that his reasoning had nothing to do Team Flare, but actually that he needed someone to stop her from going to Lumiose City with him.

In the end, Brock, Misty, May and Gary agreed to stay behind, "to keep an eye on Team Flare", while Alain, Mairin, Iris, Cilan and Dawn, would go with Clemont. Bonnie could see her brother looking at her apologetically, but she felt like giving him a good kick to the shins. It wasn't him who had commanded Squishy in battle. She and Ash were the only ones who could say they've done that. She wasn't a little kid.

Alain, Mairin and Clemont got on the back of Charizard, while Iris, Cilan and Dawn got on Iris' Dragonite. Just before they were set to go, Pidgeot landed next to them, an Infernape and Sceptile on his back. It was kind of strange seeing the two Pokemon sitting like humans on the powerful bird's back, but Bonnie knew these were a couple of Ash's strongest Pokemon and they were going to be needed.

"Bonnie," Clemont said, looking at her, "be careful, ok?" She nodded and then Clemont smiled. "Keep everyone safe, here, alright?"

Bonnie knew that Clemont was just trying to make her feel like she was needed, because he knew that he was sidelining her, but she still appreciated it. "Nobody's getting past me." She said. "Team Flare won't try anything while I'm here."

Clemont nodded and then they set off. All of the flying types didn't seem bothered by all the weight they were carrying. Bonnie was amazed with Pidgeot's strength in carrying Infernape and Sceptile. Apparently his sheer determination to help his trainer was enough to make him fly stronger.

"Don't worry Bonnie, you're brother can handle this." Brock said, looking at her seriously. "He's a pretty fierce fighter. He wasn't letting anything stop him when we were looking for you."

"Yeah..." Bonnie said, watching as the group got closer and closer to Lumiose City. "I just want to be there to help."

XXXXX

Ash looked back at Squishy and Zygarde as he approached Prism Tower. He could see it was becoming more and more difficult for Squishy to restrain his mind-controlled friend. He knew he had to hurry. He had to finish this fast. Lysandre couldn't keep controlling that thing. He needed to be stopped and soon.

"Crobat, cross poison!" A voice yelled from the top of a building near Prism Tower. Suddenly, a bat-like Pokemon shot out from Ash's right, its wings crossed in front of it.

"Water shuriken!" Ash ordered quickly. Just as Crobat's wings were uncrossing to strike Ash, Greninja's watery ninja star smashed into it and sent it spinning away. Ash immediately looked to see who had attacked him. He recognized the man from the vision Olympia had showed him of Team Flare. Xerosic. "What do you think you're doing?" He yelled down.

"Ensuring Mr. Lysandre doesn't have to deal with you. At least until he has his Zygarde back with him." Xerosic answered with a chuckle. "Malomar, psycho cut."

"Pikachu, get ready to counter with thunderbolt." Ash ordered. Pikachu nodded and tensed up on Ash's shoulder in preparation. A few moments later, the dark, squid-like Pokemon shot up from beneath Charizard and slashed upwards. However, just like Greninja with Crobat, Pikachu was too fast. His thunderbolt crashed down and jolted the psychic Pokemon and caused it to stagger away. Ash turned to Xerosic. "This is just wasting time. You know you can't beat me."

"My job is to delay you, not to beat you." Xerosic chuckled. It was strange to for Ash to fight a villain that was perfectly willing to admit they were weaker than him. Even Team Rocket refused to admit it most of the time. "Now, Crobat, use steel wing. Malomar, use psycho cut again."

"Charizard, flamethrower on Crobat. Greninja, night slash on Malomar. Pikachu, you know what to do." Ash ordered his three strongest Pokemon. When Crobat shot towards them, Charizard perfectly launched his flames and they engulfed the bat-like Pokemon, which was once again blasted backwards. Then, Malomar came up, preparing a savage cut towards them, but Greninja pulled out his glowing sword of purple light and smacked the squid-like Pokemon away easily. The two enemy Pokemon then came shooting back up, ready to go again, but Pikachu unleashed a tremendous thunderbolt that smashed into them, sending them rocketing into the side of the building Lysandre was on top of. "Done?" Ash asked.

Xerosic stared down at his Pokemon, clearly noticing they were, indeed, done. He looked up at Ash and the latter was pleased to see a little bit of fear on the Team Flare member's face. "You'll be too late."

Ash ignored him and ordered Charizard to move forward towards Prism Tower once again. They finally reached it, and Ash looked up at the Sundial. It lit up the now dark sky. It was just a bright, white light now. It was likely still pulsing in all its different colours, but just unnoticeable to the human eye. Ash knew that it was because of him and his Pokemon. It still had the orange outline from the laser machine Lysandre was using on it, but Ash somehow was sure that it didn't matter. It was still unlocking the power he was capable of. Ash just needed to keep the door open.

"Hello Ash." Ash looked down and saw Lysandre was standing on the area where he had saved Garchomp. The Team Flare leader looked pretty comfortable. "Clearly Xerosic wasn't able to keep you away very long. Oh well...I'm not surprised."

"Where's Serena?" Ash yelled. He didn't care about hearing about Lysandre's disappointment with Xerosic. He didn't care about hearing fake compliments about his strength. All he wanted was to get Serena back from this maniac.

"I told you, I don't know what you are talking about. I don't have Serena." Lysandre said, looking seriously at Ash. "I never did."

"Charizard, flamethrower!" Ash yelled.

Lysandre simply dropped a pokeball at his side and then ordered a counter. "Flamethrower as well." He said calmly, as a male Pyroar appeared next to him. Ash was stunned as Charizard, who's flamethrower was hardly matched by anyone's even when not at the top of his game, was held at bay by Lysandre's Pyroar. Lysandre laughed. "See, Ash, I'm quite a capable trainer myself. Didn't you ever wonder why Malva was willing to obey me as her leader, despite being a member of the Elite Four? Didn't you ever wonder why she'd be willing to risk an Elite Four position to work with me?"

"What are you saying?" Ash growled.

"I'm saying that you've never faced someone like me." Lysandre smirked. "I'm stronger than any member of the Elite Four. That is part of the reason Malva wanted to work with me. It's how I got Alain to work for me, albeit temporarily and without him knowing everything." He narrowed his eyes. "You may be capable of beating them, but you have no chance of beating me."

Ash turned his head towards where Squishy and Zygarde were still struggling against each other. He could see Squishy's grip was getting weaker. He had to move. "Greninja, water shuriken!" He yelled. Greninja pulled back his arms and formed the watery ninja stars and then shot them forward. They spun rapidly towards Pyroar and struck it in the chest and then the jaw. He staggered back in pain, but then quickly righted himself. Ash knew he needed to give his Pokemon easier movement. "Charizard, land on the platform. We're going to fight."

When they landed, Ash, Pikachu and Greninja hopped off Charizard and glared at Lysandre. "Alright," Lysandre said, "a good old fashioned battle." He nodded forward and Pyroar stepped forward to fight. "I know you may not trust me, but if you can beat me, there is really nothing to stop me from fighting back. You can end my control of Z-2 if you beat me in this battle."

"You're right, I don't trust you." Ash said. "But I also know I need to beat you." He looked at his Pokemon. He knew Lysandre wasn't using his best yet, so he couldn't either. As ridiculous as it seemed to him, that meant sending out Charizard. "Charizard, you're up."

"Fighting fire with fire?" Lysandre smirked. "Flamethrower." He ordered.

"You can match that, Charizard." Ash called.

Both fire-types opened their jaws and shot out their jets of flames. They clashed together and the heat made Ash feel like his body was melting right there in that moment. However, as uncomfortable as that was, he knew one thing. As strong as Lysandre claimed to be, Charizard's power was definitely a match for Pyroar's. He could see that Lysandre wasn't too pleased about it, either.

"Dragon tail!" Ash yelled.

"Fire blast." Lysandre coutered.

Charizard flapped his wings and shot forward, his tail glowing in a green light as he approached Pyroar. However, just as he approached, Pyroar unleashed his five pronged fire attack and it launched forward towards Charizard.

"Keep it going, Charizard." Ash encouraged. "Remember the Cinnabar Gym." Charizard immediately changed his stance and then faced the attack head on, his wings outstretched behind him, his feet landed on the ground and his tail, still glowing in preparation for his dragon tail attack, flat on the ground. The fire blast hit, but Charizard strained himself and actually somehow managed to catch it.

"What?" Lysandre stared in shock. "He...caught it?"

"Go!" Ash yelled, ignoring Lysandre's confusion. Charizard knew exactly what Ash wanted. Thrust his arms forward and the fire blast started to reverse course and go straight back towards Pyroar. Charizard then flapped his wings again and hovered in the air. He pulled back his glowing tail and shot it forward. He slammed it into the fire blast and sent the attack rocketing towards Pyroar. It struck the fire-lion head on and slammed it backwards. It skidded across the ground and rolled over in front of a stunned Lysandre.

"Impossible." Lysandre stared down at his Pyroar and then pulled out its pokeball and recalled it. He then threw out another one, glaring at Ash the entire time. A purple and white weasel-like Pokemon that stood in a fighting stance. A Mienshao.

Ash looked at Pikachu and nodded and called back Charizard. I'm making quick work of this.He thought to himself. "Pikachu, iron tail."

"High jump kick." Lysandre ordered.

Mienshao leaped forward, its foot outstretched to land a powerful kick. Meanwhile Pikachu braced himself for a moment and then leaped up to counter, his tail shining in a silvery light. The attacks collided but it was immediately clear who was stronger. Mienshao winced on impact and then was launched backwards.

"Thunderbolt!" Pikachu charged the electricity in his cheeks and then unleashed as much as he could give. Ash only felt slightly guilty as the ground was ripped up in front of them. He knew Clemont would forgive him. The thunderbolt rocketed forwards and struck Mienshao with full force. It stood, wobbling on its feet for a moment, and then toppled forward. "Two nothing." Ash taunted.

Lysandre looked furious. He recalled Mienshao to its pokeball and then glared at Ash. "A Charizard and a Pikachu. The two Pokemon that defeated Alain and Malva." He then looked at Greninja. "And the Greninja that can mega evolve without mega evolution stones." He looked at Zygarde and Squishy, still struggling away. He then pulled out another pokeball. "We'll see how strong his mega evolution really is." He threw out a pokeball and a massive blue serpentine Pokemon emerged. Ash immediately noticed a stone around its neck. Lysandre saw where his eyes had gone and he smirked. "Correct, Ketchum, he can mega evolve." He pulled out a stone that was on a bracelet on his wrist and pressed his finger to it. "Mega evolve, Gyrados."

The light that shone from this mega evolution was particularly bright. The power was evident. Ash and his Pokemon had to shield their eyes, otherwise they surely would've been blinded. Finally, it dimmed and they were able to look upon Mega Gyrados. It was similar, but it kind of looked more like a giant shrimp now. Its body was more curved and it had wing-like fins stretching out from both sides. It also now had a black underside and its body now had a red pattern on its sides. It had a large black fin in the middle of its head.

Ash turned to Greninja, who was glaring at Mega Gyrados. "Ready to go?" He asked. Greninja nodded and leaped forward. Ash looked at Lysandre. "You haven't beaten me yet, Lysandre. Just because you can mega evolve your Gyrados, doesn't mean it can win. You're still like Malva and all of your Team Flare friends. You'll never win when there's something better to fight for."

Ash was just about to order an attack, when a noise interrupted. It was the sound of a bunch of propellers or motors going at the same time. He looked at Lysandre, expecting that he was ordering his people in the helicopter to do something, but noticed that the Team Flare leader also actually looked quite surprised.

"What's going on?" Ash asked, still wanting to accuse Lysandre of causing the noise. Mostly because he wanted to blame Lysandre for everything at the moment.

"I don't know." Lysandre answered. "That shouldn't be coming from us. Did you get even more reinforcements?"

"No." Ash muttered, irritated that he'd be accused of whatever it was that was showing up. He was cautious about doing it, but he turned his head to see what was happening. Lysandre didn't order an attack, so he kept his attention on whatever was approaching from the forest next to Lumiose City. From their vantage point on top of Prism Tower, it was fairly easy to see. And what they saw, seemed to surprise both Ash and Lysandre. A large group of people in black suits were emerging from the forest. They definitely weren't Team Flare, but something about them seemed familiar.

"Who are they?" Lysandre asked.

The answer then came to Ash, as a single helicopter started flying out of the forest. "Team Rocket. And I don't mean the three you might know."

XXXXX

The first thing Bonnie heard, that signalled things were going to get worse, were the helicopters. She had heard them when Team Flare had arrived, and she was hearing them now. She turned to look at Brock, who had also apparently heard them, because he was turning his head around to look at the direction the noise was coming from.

"Do you think it's more Team Flare members?" Bonnie asked, hating the sound of fear in her voice. She trusted Ash's army of Pokemon, but she hated the thought of fighting more. It was not only terrifying, but exhausting.

"I don't think so." Gary said. "They," he pointed to a few exhausted looking Team Flare members who were also staring around in confusion, "don't seem to know what's going on."

"What is it then?" Misty asked, clutching a pokeball in her hand. Clearly her instincts told her that something bad was on its way.

Then, they appeared. Running through the trees, were probably about eighty to a hundred people. They were all wearing black outfits, which told Bonnie they weren't members of Team Flare. However, they definitely didn't look friendly and a lot of them seemed to be coming their way.

"Who are they?" May asked, pulling a pokeball out herself.

"No way..." Gary said quietly. "That's Team Rocket."

Bonnie stared at him like he was insane. From what she knew, Team Rocket was a trio of a a red haired woman, a blue haired man and a Meowth that consistently failed at capturing Ash's Pikachu. The people currently emerging onto the fields around Lumiose City, definitely did not look like they were the goofy and incompetent crew she was used to.

Brock must have noticed her doubtful look. "Bonnie," he said seriously, "Jessie, James and Meowth are not the only members of Team Rocket. It gets a lot worse than those three. Some of them are actually quite dangerous."

"What are they doing here, though?" Misty asked. "Team Rocket doesn't operate in Kalos, do they?"

"I didn't think so." Brock answered. "But maybe they..." He turned his head and looked towards Lumiose City, where Squishy seemed to be holding tightly to Lysandre's Zygarde. "Jessie, James and Meowth must have spread the word about those two." He pointed to the battling Zygardes. "They must have decided it was worth coming here for them."

Gary stepped forward and threw out a pokeball and a large turtle-like Pokemon appeared. A Blastoise. Bonnie could tell it was stronger than Tierno's just by looking at it. It had clearly been in some tough battles. "Well, looks like we've got more battling to do." He laughed, although there was no amusement in it.

Just then, a helicopter flew out from the trees. It hovered above the large gathering of Team Rocket members for a moment, and then flew forward. It then stopped, hovering in the middle of the field between Lumiose City and the area where everyone had fled to avoid Lysandre's land's wrath attack. Something dropped down from the helicopter and then hung beneath it.

It was some kind of net. There seemed to be something in it. It was moving. Bonnie narrowed her eyes. It was hard to see, now that it was night time. Then, a person from an opening in the helicopter spoke out. A man's voice. He didn't sound friendly, that was obvious enough.

"Greetings people and visitors of Lumiose City." He was speaking through a similar kind of speaker that Lysandre had been using. He waited for a moment, clearly hoping that people were now starting to focus their attention on him. "I see that you've been quite busy today. It looks like Team Flare and Ash Ketchum's friends have had quite a party here."

"How does he know who Ash is?" Bonnie asked.

"I don't know." Brock answered, looking just as confused as Bonnie felt.

The man in the helicopter continued. "Now, it seems as though you have exhausted your battling strengths. No matter. You don't need to worry about fighting anymore. At least if you're smart." Bonnie felt her heart starting to beat faster. That kind of thing usually meant the person speaking was hoping for a battle. "I'm here for the Sundial, both of the Zygarde and Ash Ketchum."

Suddenly, the Team Rocket members that had emerged from the forest, started to move forward. Bonnie thought some of them would move towards the city, but they were clearly focused on the large group that was assembled outside of it. She immediately noticed Team Flare members starting to move away. As tough as they acted, they seemed to be pretty spooked by this new arrival. They'd already been beaten once. Clearly they had no intention of being beaten again and Bonnie could understand why they were getting the impression that this man was capable of doing so.

"Ash Ketchum, I'm speaking to you, now." The man said. "I believe I have something you want."

Bonnie then realized exactly what it was that was moving in the net underneath the helicopter. It wasn't a thing, it was a person. A person that everyone had thought had been kidnapped by Team Flare. They had been completely wrong. The people that had kidnapped Serena were actually Team Rocket. And they were using her as a bargaining chip to get what they wanted.

XXXXX

Ash was on Charizard in an instant, not caring one bit about Lysandre anymore. Greninja and Pikachu were quick to follow. He could sense Lysandre's shock at him abandoning the battle, but he didn't care. Someone else was due for his wrath now. He now understood that Lysandre had been telling the truth about Serena.

He barely even noticed as he shot past a surprised looking Clemont, who was acompanied by Alain, Mairin, Dawn, Iris and Cilan. He was fully aware, though that Pidgeot, who had Sceptile and Infernape with him, was now accompanying Ash, Pikachu, Charizard and Greninja. He realized he had his number one team with him. Exactly who he needed to save Serena.

"Stop right there." The voice from the helicopter said. Ash gritted his teeth and called for Charizard and Pidgeot to stop. He couldn't risk Serena getting hurt. He could just barely see her in the net, looking at him. "I hope you remember me, Ketchum. I am Giovanni, leader of Team Rocket. Our last meeting was...interesting."

It sure was. Ash thought. You tried using legendary Pokemon to destroy Unova. Can't imagine you doing that again...

"I'll make a deal with you." Giovanni said. "If you help me control the power of the Sundial, so that I can control those Zygarde, you can have her back."

Ash watched the helicopter in front of him for a few moments, thinking. If he could hit it and cause them to go off balance, he could dart in with Charizard and catch Serena. Or maybe, he could get Charizard to use flamethrower on the rope holding the net and then fly in quickly.

"I hope you aren't trying to plan something silly like a rescue." Giovanni said. A light flashed next to him and a large, horned purple Pokemon appeared next to him. "My Nidoking will use hyper beam on her if you make any move other than what I order you to do."

"What makes you think I couldn't get her in time?" Ash asked. He was bluffing, of course. There was no way he'd risk Serena getting hit by a hyper beam. He needed to appear confident, though. He wanted Serena to feel safe and he also wanted Giovanni to have a sliver of doubt. He had Ash backed into a corner, but he didn't need to know there wasn't a way to get out of it.

"Your Pokemon are weighed down. They couldn't make it in time." Giovanni countered. "You wouldn't be foolish enough to risk it."

Ash narrowed his eyes. Maybe a poker face wouldn't work here. He could stall, though. Something might come to him if he had time to consider his options. "Why do you want the Sundial?" He asked.

"To control both Zygarde, of course." Giovanni answered.

"And why do you want them?" Ash was actually curious what Giovanni would say here. It was obvious why he wanted them. He wanted to use them to control his enemies. Would he say that to Ash, though? It would make his promise to release Serena, meaningless.

"You're a clever one, aren't you?" Giovanni replied, irritation in his voice. Then he started chuckling. "I suppose it would be obvious that no matter what you do, I'm not really keeping my word. However, I don't pretend to be trustworthy. Where would I be if I were?"

Ash's eyes widened. He knew what Giovanni was going to do now. He had no intention of letting Ash delay things. "Charizard, go!" He yelled.

"Hyper beam." Giovanni said calmly.

Ash felt pure panic. This couldn't happen. "Serena!" Charizard knew how desperate he was. The fire-lizard was going as fast as he could. Pidgeot was as well. However, it wasn't enough. They weren't closing the gap. Nidoking was about to unleash. Now he was firing his hyper beam. It was heading straight for Serena.

And then it stopped. Almost right in front of her face. It stayed there for a moment, frozen in place, a blue outline around it that seemed to be what was holding it. Then, it was redirected into the sky.

The whole thing was so strange and unexpected that Charizard and Pidgeot stopped. Everyone seemed to stop. No one was sure what was happening. Ash took a quick glance back at Squishy and Zygarde, thinking maybe one of them had done it. But no, they were still involved in their own struggle

Then, when he looked back, something suddenly appeared before him. No, it teleported before him. It was facing Giovanni, and Ash could tell by its stance that it was angry. It was a Pokemon. It was purple and white and had a mix of human and feline features. And Ash recognized it.

"Mewtwo?" Ash asked.

Then, one of the most powerful Pokemon Ash had ever met, turned and looked at him. Hello Ash. I hope I arrived in time.