Diana, Serena, Dena, Aura and their Pokémon sat on top of the remains of a garden wall, a cooler amongst them, drinking the last of the refreshments while wearing dusty ball gowns. They stared soberly at little explosions occurring behind remains that had been Aura's home just a few hours before. Another blast and another section of wall collapsed, provoking Diana to speak up.

"Shouldn't we stop them. You know, before your entire house is destroyed?"

Aura looked at the burning remains of her childhood home, an eruption of flames illuminating two mournful amber eyes, as the battle threatened to snatch away all evidence of the buildings existence. She had been busy etching every detail of her home into her mind, before it was all turned to cinders. The memory safely stored away she took a swig of her drink, and glanced over at the redheaded girl to address her question.

"The house is pretty much tinder by now. There's no point in saving it."She dolefully said. A large discharge of lightning caused her attention to shifted back to the battleground, "However we should do something to keep them from seriously injuring each other." She said bitterly, while glaring at the trainers who had destroyed her home.

"Already got that covered," Dena said calmly while putting away a new cell phone, "I called officer Jenny. She'll be here with her officers and the paramedics in a few minutes. They'll sort this whole mess out."

"I guess it is their job to handle these things." Diana said. She then looked quizzically at her friends, "What should we do while we wait for them to get here?"

Serena, who had been completely silent for the past twenty minutes, spoke up. "How about you two fill me in on how this happened?" She said, looking accusingly at Dena and Diana.

The two girls smiled sheepishly at each other and began explaining the events that lead up to their current situation.
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Earlier that day
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"Come on you two! Hurry it up, I don't want anything to spoil." Diana said over her shoulder.

Behind her Ash and Cal were trudging along slowly. The spoils of an all out grocery trip weighing down the teens. They'd been shopping all morning, gathering ingredients for treats to bring to the Danpens party.

"Diana how much longer are we going to be shopping?" Cal whined.

"Oh? Do you have somewhere more important to be?" Diana's face fabricated a phony tearful pout, "Or do you just not like spending time with me?" She said adding an artificial quiver to her words.

"The first one." Ash answered loud enough to block out Cal as he said both. Ash's swift response probably saved them from a world of misery. Intrigued, Diana impelled Ash to tell her what they were up to.

"I promised Cal we'd have a rematch once we got back to the hotel." Ash explained. "We've both been itching to tryout that underground battlefield Serena and Dena found yesterday."

Diana looked a little bummed to learn they were just going to go sparring with each other, but set aside her disappointment for the time being. She still needed one of them to help her finish with her errands and decided that Ash would be more tolerable than Cal. Acting on her decision she sent Cal back to the hotel, entrusting him with their entire food supply and leaving him with instructions to start baking the treats. 

As Cal hefted the groceries home, Ash and Diana went to find Serena and Dena, whom they'd left at a fancy emporium three hours before. Upon walking in they found Serena semi conscious reaching towards thin air, at a mannequins feet. Reacting on instinct both teens rushed over to their fallen friend.

The honey blonde girl was in a dazed state and could only mumble nonsensical words about stickers and someone named Kip, when asked what had happened. Realizing the futility in interrogating the weary teen, they moved her over to the men's sweater department and laid her down on a bed of cashmere sweaters. In a matter of seconds Serena drifted off into fitful slumber atop the expensive fabric.

With Serena resting, quasi peacefully, Diana set out to look for answers; leaving Ash behind to stand guard over their frazzled friend. She began her investigation back where they'd found their friend. Arriving at the site, Dena began to examine the area.

The first thing she was found a pair of small wet footprints heading to the right. The tracks were spaced out in a way that made it obvious the maker of these prints was moving very quickly. Alongside the small prints were three other sodden tracks and the watery tread marks of two sets wheels, seemingly burdened with heavy loads. She was about to follow the tracks towards whatever made them, when she heard the song of combat.

Following the serenity, she headed left into the women's department. There she found Dena, Torchic, and Serena's Pokémon duking it out with four other shoppers. Braxien and Pancham were fighting like vipers striking from the shadows then receding back into cover. Meanwhile Sylveon and Torchic played defense from the other shoppers, repelling any incoming attacks with moves of their own.

"Dena, what in the world is going on here!?"

Upon hearing Diana's voice, Dena rushed over to her friend and 'compelled her' to help fight off the attacking trainers. Calling out her partners Diana set to work, fortifying Dena's weak points and strengthening her strong ones. The reinforcement she provided allowed them to defeat all four shoppers within seven minutes, leaving the two girls and the Pokémon with a moment of reprieve.

"Thanks for the save." Dena cheerily said.

"No problem. But could you explain; what the heck is going on!?"

"I'll explain in a bit," she replied as she pulled out a sheet of name tags and stuck one on Diana and each of her Pokémon, "Right now we've got to regroup with Serena."

Diana looked curiously at the square paper that had been stuck on her, "Okay, she's with Ash in the men's sweater section; also, why did you tag us with these papers?"

Dena smiled and began walking towards the men's department, the four Pokémon she'd fought alongside falling in behind her. As she walked she began talking to Diana. "Those 'tags' let everyone know you're are part of the sales competition going on." Receiving a bewildered look from Diana, Dena, explained in greater detail.

"Alright I'll give you the short story. The store's having a super sale to bring in the New Years. Everything marked with a gold star is 90% off. Customers can shop independently or as a group to gather as much as they can in one of the carts they supply us with." She paused to make sure Diana understood. Receiving a nod she continued.

"Shoppers have until four to gather as much as they can and bring their haul to the checkout. Once there their merchandise is marked with stamps that match with the 'tag' they have stating that, that merchandise is no longer up for grabs."

"Wait so does that mean until you buy your stuff anyone can claim it?"

"Well there is the normal shoppers edict of stuff in another persons cart is theirs; but, as you saw with those people back there, not everyone follows the same code."

"That explains why you were under attack. But why'd we find Serena knocked out and surrounded by water?"

Dena stopped walking confused by Diana's question. "Wait, what happened? Why was Serena unconscious?"

"You can ask her yourself." Diana said as soon as she saw the red of Ash's hat.

The group quickened their pace and moved in on the spot Ash and Serena were supposed to be. However instead of finding the two trainers, they were met with a Shadow Ball fired from one of the many rakes of sweaters around them. The group dove for cover as another orb of purple darkness was volleyed their way. Hidden amongst the wool and fleece cover, they waited as more Shadow Balls were shot in their general direction.

The attacks were almost unrelenting, the attacker only pausing when he changed positions. This momentary pause however was all Sylveon needed to sneak up on their assailant. Timing it just right she slinked out of her cover and dove into a nearby rake . She then slipped under the path of another shadow ball and moved in behind her target. When she was close enough she used her ribbons to grapple a him just before he let loose another Shadow Ball.

The Pokémon was startled to find himself trapped in the powerful hold of the pink and white ribbons and began trashing about. Smiling Sylveon brought him closer to her so he could easily identify her. As soon as he saw her joyful grin he ceased all movements and gawked at her for a whole four seconds.

Realizing he was staring he turned his head, so as not to reveal the light touch of pink that had bloomed on his face, and sheepishly asked to be set down. Sylveon giggled at his embarrassment, causing a deeper tone of red to spread, and promptly set him down. The pair then walked out to the two trainers and Pokémon that were strategizing behind a necktie display case.

"Okay so we're rushing from all sides taking them out in one blitz attack." Diana repeated in confirmation of the plan Dena had formulated.

Dena in turn made a nod and a series of hand motions that were intended to be further instructions, but made no sense at all. Seeing the confused faces of her comrades she repeated her hand signs only to receive the same ten mile stare.

"I'll flank left- with these two-. You go right- with them-. You two go up the center!" She repeated emphasizing each part with the gestures she'd been using.

Understanding finally reaching them Diana and the Pokémon nodded and assumed their positions. Dena then counted down from three and gave the order to charge. All ten of them stood up and started to climb over the display case, only to find Sylveon and Eevee staring up at them curiously.

The realization that Ash's Eevee was their attacker dawned on the group as they noticed the Shadow Ball barrage had ended with the arrival of the two fox Pokémon. Awkwardly they slid off the glass case and approached the silver-grey fox, who was intently staring at the ground refusing to look at anyone.

Sylveon noticed this inclination to avoid eye contact and gave him a playful nudge to compel him to apologize for attacking them out of the blue. Eevee in turn bowed his head to the victims of his attack, an action that was easily understood as him asking for forgiveness.

"Awe it's alright, Eevee. Nobody actually got hit with any of your attacks, so no harm no foul." Dena said chipperly.

Eevee smiled at her gratefully, thankful to be forgiven so easily. His smile quickly turned into a frown as he realized he hadn't landed a single blow to his opponents. Feeling he'd somehow failed as a fighter, he hung his head in shame and curled up into a silver ball of gloom.

The rest of the group felt rather uncomfortable with the current state of their former assailant, and stood in an awkward semicircle around the mopey fur ball. Eventually Sylveon picked him up and placed him on her back, allowing the group to head for their intended location without feeling awkward for leaving him in that state.

They only took about twenty steps before they arrived at the spot where Ash was supposed to be watching over Serena. Instead they found Serena propped up against a nearby display case a decent sized lump had formed on her head and she was staring off into space when group arrived.

Her Pokémon were the first ones to rush over, the concern for their friend's wellbeing obvious in the way they instantly began hugging her in an attempt to comfort her. Serena began laughing as her compassionate Pokémon accidentally tickled her. Her laughter assuring her Pokémon that she was alright they backed off to let Dena and Diana get a look at her.

"Serena are you doing better, and secondly where's Ash?" Diana asked frantically,"He was supposed to be watching over you."

Serena smiled wearily,"I'm okay. I just got a light bump to my head. Nothing to worry about though." She said quickly assuring her friends that she was alright.

"And what happened to Ash?" Dena asked. A hint of contempt could be heard when she said Ash, showing how upset she was with the raven haired boy for leaving her cousin all by herself.

"Calm down, Dena. He didn't just up and abandon me-"

"Well it certainly looks that way! After all we found you here all by yourself."

"That's not entirely true," Diana said, "We found Ash's Eevee here. He probably left him to stand guard over Serena while he was gone."

Dena saw the logic in her words but was still upset with Ash. "That's a fair enough point, but still begs the question of why he left!"

Serena coughed loudly to draw their attention. "If you had let me finish you'd know that Ash went to rescue Mudkip from the goons who gave me this throbbing companion."

Dena instantly felt guilty for doubting Ash's character so easily. Of course he wouldn't just leave an injured friend without a good reason, and rescuing Mudkip was more than a substantial reason. Her guilt quickly turned into panic as she realized something else.

"I'm sorry but did you say Mudkip was missing?!"

"Yes."

"Mudkip the little four legged blue fish?"

"Yes."

"The same Pokémon who was pulling our cart, the same cart with all our stuff in it?!"

"Yes. And once I told Ash all that, he left Eevee to watch over me while he went to fix this mess." She paused and pursed her lips, the expression an obvious indicator for her feeling something was off.

She then tried to stand up only to need the support of her Pokémon to keep from collapsing. Thanking her loyal partners she raised her right hand and pointed towards one end of the store, "Ash headed that way a while ago, I don't know what it is but I have a gut feeling that he needs our help."

Dena and Diana were doubtful of her gut ,but felt obligated to check on the raven haired trainer after they had basically slandered his good name. Sighing discontentedly the two trainers took Serena from her Pokémon, each girl standing on one side or the other, ready to support her as they headed out to find Ash.

It didn't take them long, and Serena only stumbled twice, before they heard the sound of a massive Thunderbolt that could only belong to one electric type Pokémon. Following the sound of battle the group managed to arrive just in time to see six trainers running away from a black haired boy and a yellow mouse.

Serena smiled and called out to the boy, "Ash!"

Startled to hear Serena's voice, Ash jumped and quickly slipped a white object into a pocket, hiding it from the approaching group. He then turned to addressed his friend. "Hey, Serena. Glad to see you're doing better," Ash then noticed the rest of the group surrounding her,"And by the looks of things it seems I'm not the only one to reunite with a lost friend."

Serena's eyes brightened at the inclination Ash was making, "Does that mean-"

"Mudkip!" The blue fishlike Pokémon called happily from behind a nearby mannequin .

Serena and Mudkip both moved shakily towards each other, both trainer and Pokémon being bruised and battered. They took a few steadier steps towards one another before meeting in a joyful embrace. Serena broke down into tears of relief, exuberant to be reunited with her missing partner. Happy tears streaming down her face she looked up and smiled gratefully at Ash.

"You got him back. Thank you, Ash."

"It was no problem really," He responded casually, "Actually I should be the one thanking Mudkip. He saved me from a sneak attack which allowed me enough time to fight off those thugs."

Serena looked at Mudkip with renewed gratitude, "Did you really save Ash?"

Ash nodded enthusiastically, "Not only did he save me but while Pikachu and I were battling, he went and hid the cart," Ash gestured to the area behind the manikin Mudkip had emerged from, and smiled, "By the looks of things he even snatched their cart too."

The rest of the trainers and Pokémon moved in closer to see the spoils of war. Behind the manikin were two small wooden carts piled high with everything from cellphones to formal dress wear. Everyone was surprised by how profitable the battle had been and repeatedly thanked Mudkip for providing them with all of that loot. Mudkip, in turn, smiled happily at his friends, their admiration towards him meaning much more to him than the expensive trinkets he'd recovered.

"Alright enough fiddling with the loot," Serena said sternly as Dena was trying to tryout a smartphone she'd found in the second cart, "We have to get everything to the checkout before time runs out or someone else takes our haul."

Realizing that they'd be a high priority target to any shoppers wanting to get in on the massive deal, they promptly returned everything to the carts and dashed towards the registers. They managed to make it there in just under half an hour, having to stop only twice to fend off rival shoppers looking to get their hands on their booty.

When they made it to the register a young cashier smiled as she greeted them, asking if they found everything they were looking for while she rung up their merchandise. Whether she did it on purpose or if it was just a happy coincidence, the beeping of the register mimicked that of a the beat in Enrique Iglesias song Bailando. The cashier picked up on the tune and began humming the lyrics as she scanned all their merchandise.

In the end they wound up buying: three formal men's dress suits, six dresses-three ball gown and three casual-, five phones, half a dozen pairs of pants, shirts, and skirts, two stainless steel pots, an assortment of camping supplies to vast to name every single item, and six high quality backpacks.

The final price for their merchandise was originally ₽16,000, but when they showed the cashier their tags she hacked off 90% of the price, leaving them with a bill of ₽1,600. Oddly enough that was the exact total in prize money the three coordinators had earned together from their last contest.

Handing over their winnings they paid for the discounted products and carried them back to their hotel, where they spent the next two hours getting ready for the party that night.

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Return to present.
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"That still doesn't explain why Auras house is a smoldering mound of ash!" Serena exasperatedly shouted.

Dena looked at Serena confused if her cousin was joking or not. Realizing she was sincere Dena said, "You seriously don't get it? I thought it would have been obvious."

"How does telling me about an event, that I was there for, help explain why Ash, Cal, and half a dozen people and Pokémon are having an all out brawl on Auras lawn!?"

Dena and Diana looked at her with the straitest faces imaginable and said in unison, "We left Cal in charge of baking the treats we brought over."

"What?" Aura asked perplexed. Their explanation creating more questions than answers.

Dena quickly explained that Cal is a terrible cook, he could make things look extremely delicious, but whatever he made would wreak havoc on the consumer. The treats he baked for the party must have had a hallucinogenic effect on everyone who ate them causing them to attack anything around them. Serena and Aura stared at Dena for a good thirty seconds, thinking over the logic in her reasoning. It wasn't a fully rational theory, but it was the only one they had at the moment and so they begrudgingly accepted it for the time being.

Not a moment after they had accepted Dena's wild theory, officer Jenny and her officers arrived at the site. It took her and her unit around four hours to get the raging partiers under control and in custody. The girls and Pokémon watched as the guests were handcuffed and loaded onto either ambulances or police vans. They only began walking over when they saw Ash, Cal, and their Pokémon being moved along towards a police van.

As they approached the two trainers, an officer walked up to them to keep them from getting any closer, explaining that the boys were being transported to a clinic for severe hallucinations resulting from food poisoning. They explained that they were friends with them and asked if they could ride with them until they reached the clinic. The officer was about to object but his opinions was granted null as officer Jenny okayed their request.

Following the sick trainers and Pokémon into the van, the girls took up positions around them, ready to help if they became even sicker. The ride was a short one and only Pikachu needed comforting when his yellow face took on a slight shade of green. Once at the clinic the patients were loaded off and taken to intensive care. None of the girls nor their Pokémon wanting to leave their friends in their current condition they staked out a spot in the waiting room to patiently wait for their friends to get back.

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Sorry it took me so long to finish this chapter, I've been beyond busy this month and could scarcely find time to write. I'll probably be able to write more frequently soon but I can't make any promises.

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and will stick around for the next one. Thanks for reading! 😁