The next day...

"Alright! Spheal use Aurora Beam, and Houdnour use Flamethrower!" Ash commanded. Houndour fired a stream of fire from its mouth and Ash's new Spheal obeyed its Trainer's command and formed a multicolored orb of energy in front of its mouth. It then fires a multicolored beam from the orb at its opponents, being Serena's Braixen and Pancham.

"Braixen, use Fire Spin and Pancham, Dark Pulse let's go!" Serena counter commanded. Braixen twirls her wand-stick above her head, causing a swirl of fire to cloak Braixen before travelling towards Houndour's Flamethrower, surrounding it with fire and preventing it from continuing.

At the same time, Pancham creates a ball of black and purple circles in each hand. It then combines them and fires the circles as a beam of circles at Spheal's Aurora Beam, countering it completely. "Great timing, Serena!" Ash congratulated his friend who standing opposite of him.

"Thanks Ash..." Serena said with a huge smile. "I think it's enough Training for one day..." Ash said before returning Houndour and Spheal to their respective Poke-Balls, causing Serena to do the same. "Hey Serena..." Ash spoke with a soft tone as he walked over to her side. "Can I ask you something...?" "Sure! Ask away!" Serena answered with her usual cheerful attitude.

"Well... why did you... ya know...?" Ash began to stutter, a little embarrassed. Ever since the long hug they've shared and the whole Fiasco with Team Cipher the previous day, Ash began to look at Serena a bit differently. He always saw her as a good friend and someone he could always rely on but now, whenever he was with her he felt a tingling feeling inside his stomach and his heart began beating faster.

"Why did I what, Ash...?" Serena asked, a bit confused. "Well... why did you kiss me...?" Ash finally mustered the courage to blurt the question out at once. Serena's face immediately reddened as her eyes widened in surprise. "Wha...?! Why...? Ki...?! Y... You remembered...?!" She stuttered immensely, not knowing what to answer.

"Of course I did!" Ash said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "It's not something you just forget..." "Err... I... I... I d... I don't really know..." she lied. She couldn't muster up the courage to tell him the truth. She knew that Ash wasn't mad at her for being an unofficial Team Cipher member with her mother, but she knew that for once, his opinion didn't really matter. In her mind, she's still technically a criminal. Someone who might not deserve Ash's blessing or his friendship.

Despite that, Ash knew her enough to know when she was lying. 'She's not telling me something...' he thought. Even though he knew she was hiding something from her, he smiled. 'She'll tell me when she's ready...' he thought once more before speaking: "It's okay Serena, I actually thought it was... well... nice..."

Serena's blush intensified as she looked at him, stunned. At that moment, time just froze for Ash as he gazed deeply into her eyes. "R... really...?!" She asked him, clearly surprised. Ash nodded, his cheeks also a light shade of pink.

"Sorry to interrupt but I really need your help..." Delia said, coming almost out of nowhere. Ash and Serena turned to look at her, both their blushes intensifying. "Sure thing, mom!" Ash said as he walked over to her, unconsciously taking Serena's hand and leading her over there with him. She blushed once more and smiled.

After the two entered into their motel room (Serena has been staying with Ash and Delia after the incident with her mother), they saw Delia working on some sort of computer. "What's that, mom?" Ash asked. "I'm trying to work on a way for Serena to detect Shadow Pokemon..." Delia explained. "I don't know how you can see Shadow Pokemon without any additional help, but I think I can help Serena with... aww how sweet!"

Ash and Serena were obviously confused by that last statement. What's sweet? Why is it sweet? They were bombarded with questions, until they looked down...

They both blushed like crazy and let go of the other's hand, causing Pikachu to giggle. Despite being annoyed with his mom and Pikachu for some reason, Ash felt more disappointed because he had to let Serena go... 'But why?!' He asked himself.

Delia chuckled and cleared her throat, trying to get her attention back to the project she was working on. "It's still just a prototype but after a few adjustments, Serena might be able to see Shadow Pokemon..." she finished her statement.

"I never knew your mother was an inventor, Ash..." Serena whispered, clearly impressed. "Me neither..." Ash whispered back. Before anybody could say anything else, Delia got a message on the emergency line of her computer. She answered it. "Delia Ketchum, what's your emergency?" She asked.

"Delia! Thank Arceus I got to you!" It was Prof. Krane's voice. "Professor?! What's going on?!" She asked desperately. "It's Team Cipher! They captured me! I'm in their hideout right now! Luckily I was able to get the coordinates of their lab! I'm sending them to you right now!"

"Hey Krane-y!" Delia heard a female voice coming from somewhere in the room with Prof. Krane. "What did we say about being naughty and wasting people's times with your calls?" "Dear Arceus! It's her!" Krane said, clearly sounding more desperate than ever. "The coordinates are on their way! Help m..." the message was then cut off.

"Professor?! PROFESSOR!" Delia shouted into the video-phone but to no avail. Luckily, Delia managed to receive Prof. Krane's coordinates. "He's in Central Orre! Right in the middle of the dessert!" Delia shouted. "But Mrs. Ketchum!" Rotom interrupted the conversation. "If the Prototype isn't completed, it might explode!"

Delia sighed. "You're right... I need to stay..." she said before looking at Ash and Serena. "Ash... I..." "Say no more, mom! I'm in!" Ash said. "Pikachu!" Pikachu squeaked in agreement. "I'm going too!" Serena said. "My mom's involved in this, so I'm going!" Ash hesitantly nodded.

"Wait a minute!" Delia said, as she looked for something in her pocket. "It'll take too long to get there on foot!" She said, finally fishing out a set of keys. "You'll need this to get there on time, just press the big red button!" She continued. Ash was a bit confused but took the set of keys anyway, just before leaving with Serena. "Be careful, son..." Delia said, shedding a tear.

"What now...?" Serena asked as Ash was fiddling with the keys. "Not sure..." he replied before pressing the big red button, which made a sound and after a few seconds, brought over a motorcycle with three helmets. Two normal sized ones and one small one.

(Best pic I could find...)

"Oh yeah!" Ash exclaimed in excitement as he hopped aboard the motorcycle and put a helmet on himself and one on Pikachu. Serena was a bit hesitant to get on but eventually accepted once Ash's gaze met hers.

"You sure you know how to ride this, Ash?" She asked, worried. "Not a clue!" Ash replied just before turning the ignition on and starting the ride. "WHOAAAAAAAA!" They both yelled as the motorcycle was moving a little too fast for comfort. Ash managed to barely dodge some people who were on the way and before long he exited the city.

The motorcycle also had a RADAR, which was already equipped with Prof. Krane's location, and it showed they were headed the right way. Ash started to get the hang of the motorcycle when he felt something in his stomach. No he wasn't hungry. He then noticed that Serena had wrapped her arms around his stomach and was holding on to him for dear life. Ash's cheeks turned a shade of pink at that notion but he was able to keep his cool.

"Just like old times, eh?" He asked her. "I don't remember ever being so scared before!" Serena answered, terrified. "Then you clearly don't remember that time we were riding Mamoswine to get over that mountain!" Ash answered. Serena was a bit surprised. "Yeah... I guess this is a little like that..." Serena replied. "You're right! Except this is way more awesome!" "Pikachu!" Ash and Pikachu replied.

After a while of riding, our heroes arrived at their destination, the old Cipher Laboratory.

"Serena... we're here..." Ash said in a soothing tone right after stopping the motorcycle. Serena was still clutching him, as if she was still terrified. Ash grinned, as an idea crossed his mind. Quickly maneuvering himself he was able to lift Serena out of the motorcycle and pick her up. His intentions were to hold her as if he was gonna give her a piggyback ride, but he was unbalanced and caused Serena to fall, forcing him to catch her bridal style.

As one would expect, they were both blushing like crazy. "I... I ah... um... we... we're here..." Ash stuttered. Serena was about to say something when they heard six voices coming from the lab. "Halt! Stop right there!" The two turned around and saw well... 6 people dressed like colorful idiots.

"We're the Hexagon Brothers!" The Red one said. "Count out!" He said again. "One!" The blue one said. "Two!" The brown one said. "Three!" The yellow one said. "Four!" The purple one said. "Five!" The green one said. "Wait! Just five?! Who's missing?!" The red one said again.

The six started counting again, this time in the opposite order, and ran into the same problem. However, our heroes noticed long ago that they weren't paying attention so they just walked right pass them. "You know these idiots, Ash?" Serena asked. "Only one of them, snagged my Houndour from the red one..." Ash answered.

After a few minutes of walking around the lab, our heroes heard some muffled cries, and followed the sound until they saw a door slightly ajar. They decided to take a peek through the small crack. "Prof. Krane! When will you tell me about your purification study? I do so wanna know!" A weirdly dressed girl spoke.

"That will help me power up my XD001! I so made it myself! Don't you think it would be fabulous?" The girl continued, finally removing the gag over Prof. Krane's mouth, as he was tied up to a chair. "You've got to be joking!" Prof. Krane snapped at the girl. "I would never cooperate with people like you!"

The girl made a face that was like a toddler's face when they don't get a toy they really wanted. "But whyyyyy?" She whined. "I so don't get it! Why would you refuse an offer so wonderful as this?" She asked. "I don't care how often you repeat yourself!" Prof. Krane snapped again. "I have no intention of helping your Shadow Pokemon plan! Artificially slamming shut the hearts of Pokemon is inexcusable!"

"Oh you! You're so mean and close-minded!" The girl whined again. "You won't even try to understand how marvelous it is to help my XD001! I bet it's because of Naps! He was so rude when he invited you here!" She complained. Suddenly, something in her mind clicked. "I think you'd so want to help us... if you had the right motivation!" She said before revealing a machine.

"Team Cipher is so much better than last time!" She said. "We now can create more than just Shadow POKEMON!" Prof. Krane's eyes widened in shock. "You... you're experimenting on humans...?" He asked in utter horror. The girl started to giggle as she brought the machine closer to Prof. Krane.

"Iron Tail! Let's go!" The girl heard Ash's voice. Pikachu then appeared, its tail glowing a metallic blue. The girl was surprised and startled as Pikachu cut the machine with Iron Tail. "Hey! Meanies!" She whined as she looked at Ash and Serena, who were now in the room with her. "You're so paying for that! You should've thought twice before facing the great Lovrina! Go my pretties!" Lovrina said as she hurled two Poke-Balls, releasing two Pokemon: A Delcatty and a Breloom.

Ash then drew two Poke-Balls of his own and hurled them forward. "Eevee! Spheal! Let's go!" He exclaimed, releasing his two Pokemon. "Serena, I need you to make sure Prof. Krane is safe!" Ash said. She nodded and went over to Prof. Krane.

"Alright! Eevee use Swift! And Spheal, go for an Ice Ball!" Ash commanded, and his Pokemon obeyed. Eevee released a barrage of golden stars from her tail and Spheal creates a ball of ice and snow that it launches forward. "Delcatty! Use Iron Tail!" Lovrina commanded. Delcatty's tail glowed a metallic blue and it swung it at the incoming attacks, swatting them away.

"Use Attract!" Lovrina commanded once more. Delcatty then winks and blows a kiss at Eevee and Spheal, causing multiple pink hearts to fly and surround them. The hearts then sink into both of them. "Oh no!" Ash said, worried, but he didn't need to worry because both Pokemon shook the Attract off, neither one being affected.

"How did that happen?!" Lovrina questioned. "I guess they're both girls..." Ash murmured. Ash's lightning-bolts then glowed blue and his eyes glowed gold, allowing him to see that Lovrina's other Pokemon, Breloom, is a Shadow Pokemon. "Kay guys, let's throw all our efforts into defeating that Delcatty!" Ash exclaimed and his Pokemon nodded.

"Breloom! Use Shadow Blitz!" Lovrina commanded. Breloom crosses its arms in front of its face and its body suddenly becomes engulfed in a purple and blue shadowy aura. Breloom then puts its arms down and soars straight at the Target like a missile. While flying towards it, only its head can be seen, and its body becomes covered in a spiraling black-red mist.

"Protect!" Ash commanded. Eevee's body then flashed white and a spherical wall of hexagonal shapes appear in front of it. Breloom then slams into Eevee's force field, bouncing off of it. "Now Spheal use Rollout!" Ash commanded. Spheal curls its body into a ball and rolls into Delcatty multiple times with incredible speed and power.

"Now let's test how many moves you can really use!" Ash said. "Use Double Kick!" He commanded. Eevee's body becomes surrounded by a dark-red aura. It then charges at Delcatty and rears up on its hind legs. It then turns around so its backside is facing Delcatty and it then kicks Delcatty with both of its back legs, sending Delcatty flying backwards into a nearby wall and knocking it out.

"Oh! That is so it!" Lovrina said. "Use Shadow Blitz!" She commanded. Breloom charged at the two with the same move as before. "Here goes nothing..." Ash murmured. "Use Attract!" He commanded. Eevee then pulled the same trick Delcatty pulled earlier. However when the hearts sunk into Breloom, it became infatuated.

"No way!" Lovrina exclaimed. "They can't feel love!" "That's what we'll see!" Ash said before grabbing a Poke-Ball. The sphere on the Snag Machine then begins to glow, and the button in the middle of the Poke-Ball begins to repeatedly flash red before it glowed light blue.

"Snagging process initiated"

A mechanical voice came from the Snag Machine. "GO! SNAG-BALL!" Ash exclaimed before throwing the Snag Ball at the Shadow Breloom, bouncing off of its forehead, opening and sucking the Breloom in with a flash of blue light.

The button on the Poke-Ball flashed red for a few seconds. Suddenly cyan, yellow and violet sparks, flow out of the Poke-Ball as the button in the middle of it glew red for a split second before dissipating with a Thung sound.

"Snagging successful"

"Yeah! We caught another one!" Ash exclaimed proudly. Lovrina's jaw was on the floor. "What on earth? How could you be strong?" She asked. "Practice, trust, and a whole lotta luck!" Ash answered.

"Ooh, I so hate to say this! Little boy!" Lovrina whined. "I can't beat you right now. Master Greevil will so be cross with me but… But that's okay. I'll let you owe me this one time. But you have to promise you will think of my plan next time. If you see XD001 you will so want to help me. I'll so be waiting for you!" She then threw a smoke bomb and escaped.

"Good job everybody..." Ash told his Pokemon before returning them to their Poke-Balls (except for Pikachu). "Thank you so much Ash and Serena!" Prof. Krane said. "But we're not even close to done! Team Cipher not only has access to Shadow Pokemon that cannot be purified, but they can also turn humans into Shadows of themselves!"

"That's horrible!" Serena said. "I know..." Prof. Krane answered. "They're the worse people I've ever met!" Ash said, lowering his head in anger. "Lysandre and Team Flare wanted to destroy humanity, I know... but these people... they're straight up ENJOYING turning every Pokemon they come across into their little slaves! And I've won all the battles so far and I've never come close to winning the war..."

Ash paused for a second before looking up at Serena and Prof. Krane. "But Lovrina just made a big mistake!" He said. "She let us know that there is a war! And now we can work together to stop it!" "Pikachu!"

"I agree!" Serena said as she took a step forward. "We're gonna need help though..." she continued. "Just leave it to me!" Prof. Krane chimed in. "I have a lot of International Connections! I'm sure I can find ways to help!"

"Great..." Ash replied, smiling at last. "We're gonna find a way to purify that XD001! Free all the people and Pokemon they've corrupted and end Team Cipher once and for all!" "Yeah!" Serena and Krane exclaimed.

......................................................................

Hey guys! Infinityalbi10 here! It's been a while hasn't it? I know I always say I'm gonna update sooner next time but I never do. Well... this time I remembered just how fun writing these stories is! So be prepared for a rush of updates to both of my stories later this month!

And because I haven't updated for so long, I realized that it will take forever to complete at my current rate. So to get me focused on RARVAB (Roses are Red, Violets are Blue), I'm gonna make this story kinda like Pokemon Origins. Short, sweet and with stuff that happens off-screen. I'm sorry if that annoys you but it's the only way I won't be 70 and still having stories to finish. I'm gonna try not to leave anything too important off screen. Peace guys! See ya next time!