(Somewhere in the Kanto Region)

"Father!" Calem says as he bustles into the room.

"Yes? What is it?" Giovanni asks as he looks up from the work lying on the table.

"Your attack failed father. They are still alive," Calem retorts.

"Yes," Giovanni says in his cold, silky yet deep voice as he gets up from his seat.

He locks his hands behind his back and stares out of the window with ominous silence.

"And?" Calem inquirers.

"And nothing," Giovanni says while turning around.

"This was a setback but a minor one at best. Regrettable, but a testament to the Dragon Emperor's skill," Giovanni says as he turns to face his son.

"Don't worry. Contingencies have already been deployed. All we need to do now is wait. Now go and rejoin your sister," Giovanni reassures Calem.

"But..." Calem says only to be cut-off.

"But, nothing. I was not asking for your opinion," Giovanni dismisses Calem as he retakes his seat.

Calem stands in his position for a while, thinking about what to say but then decides now's not the right time, and then takes his leave.

(In KIP Meeting Room)

"Grace... Are you sure that you don't want him around? I mean..." Oak says before Grace turns around to look at Oak with a look which quells his voice.

"Professor. I don't know what to do right now at the moment. My mind is too fucked up to think clearly. All I know is that that man is the reason why my daughter and her husband are in danger. All this started the day he waltzed over her, with his fancy charlatan-like mysterious talk and tricked me in into allowing Ash and Serena to train with him. The whole reason behind their fucked up lives starts and ends with him," Grace's voice thunders across the room.

No one says anything. Everyone steals quiet glances at each other as a storm of thoughts takes shape in their minds.

"I agree with Grace, one hundred per cent," Delia finally speaks up.

"Grace. Delia. You know I agree with both of you. But..." Diantha says as her voice trails off.

"But what Diantha?" Grace responds.

"Grace. You know I am your friend. And god knows I despise the Dragon Emperor as the next person here. But we all could feel that the Dragon Emperor was scared. Now the man, who scares everyone else, being scared is not a good sign. I just want to know whether your decision on the matter is final?" Diantha asks.

"Yes," Grace reaffirms.

"Very well, then I and the others shall do all in our power to keep Ash and Serena safe," Diantha says as she takes Grace's hand to show her support.

"Thank you, Diantha. You're a good friend," Grace replies before the two share an emotional hug.

Everyone is silently standing by when Harry enters the room.

Grace, on seeing Harry is here, separates and then turns to face him, "Harry? What are you doing here? How are Ash and Serena?"

"Grace, I messaged you quite a lot but never got any reply to any of my texts," Harry says.

Grace realizes that her phone has been on silent mode and she takes it out of her pocket. Delia walks over to Grace while she's opening her messaging application. On seeing the pictures, Grace and Delia immediately start crying.

"Grace what happened?" Diantha asks, worry evident in her voice.

"My little girl and her husband are fine now," Grace says in an emotional tone as she shares a tearful hug with Delia, who's mirroring Grace's reaction.

Everyone breathes, a rather audible, sigh of relief when they hear the news.

"Thank Arceus. I am so relieved," Grace says before she turns to Harry, "Thanks for watching over them."

"Of course. You know Serena is like my daughter too, in a way," Harry smiles which Grace reciprocates.

"Let's hope that the coming days pass pleasantly," Oak hopes as everyone nods.

(Eight Months Later)

Grace, Diantha, Cynthia, Delia, Sycamore, Oak and a few other professors are taking a leisurely stroll through the campus.

"Isn't it a lovely day?" Grace asks to which everyone agrees.

"It's been eight months since the fiasco at the wedding. With our airtight security and measures, not even a twig can move without us knowing about it," Diantha says.

"Indeed. This means the decision to keep the Dragon Emperor away from the children was the right one," Cynthia remarks.

"Let's not sour the mood by talking about him," Oak says as everyone nods in agreement.

"Well, I don't mean to be a spoilsport but there's one thing we do need to discuss regarding your children," Sycamore says.

"What is it?" Delia asks.

"Umm, here's the thing. You know they've attended classes for the first time in their college. It's the last semester then they'll graduate. But..." Sycamore's voice trails off.

"But what Professor?" Delia inquirers.

"But they already know everything that's going to be taught to them. They know way more advanced stuff than what is being taught in the class. So when they do attend the classes the only thing they do is doze off to sleep. They don't attend half of the time and despite not studying one bit, they score full marks in all the tests. Their classmates are getting irritated by this cavalier behaviour. Many of the other Professors, including me and Professor Rowan, get quite irritated and frustrated when they correct our theoretical concepts in front of all the other students. And what's worse, is that when we pull up the data to confirm whether what they said is right or not? What they say is much more in keeping with the data than what we teach the students," Sycamore says.

"The point, Sycamore is trying to make is that the Dragon Emperor has taught them far more advanced stuff. Stuff we might not even have any notion about. We just can't cater to them, academically. This is causing a huge rift between them and the students. So after much thought and deliberation, we have decided that we'll give them all the papers and assignments they need to solve in order to pass and give them their degree in advance. This will allow them to leave earlier than usual and also allow the other students to resume learning at a normal pace," Oak says.

"I'll think about it professor," Grace says after thinking for a few moments.

"Excellent, but don't worry. We know their circumstances and we respect what they've endured in the past months. So no pressure," Sycamore answers.

Everyone resumes walking and they all see the building where Ash and Serena's apartment is present. The all continue their walk to the building, while continuing their little banter. Sycamore looks up to see Ash and Serena on the terrace of their apartment, waving at them.

"Look! Ash and Serena are waving at us," Sycamore remarks as he proceeds to wave back.

Soon everyone joins in as they all wave back at Ash and Serena. A few moments later, Ash and Serena turn around before they go back into their apartment.

"Well let's go and give them a visit," Diantha suggests to which everyone nods.

"Wait," Grace says as she sees her shoelace has come undone. She bends down and redoes her laces. All of them watch in silence as they see Grace struggling with her laces.

"Need help with that Grace?" Delia offers.

"No thanks. I have always had a problem with laces. Don't know why? Just can't get the hang of it," Grace chuckles which cause many people to smile. 

A few minutes later, Grace finishes tying her lace. All of them then resume walking towards Ash and Serena's building.

As they're walking, Grace turns to Sycamore and says, "You know Professor. The funniest thing happened yesterday night."

"Really? What happened?" Sycamore asks.

Grace opens her mouth to say what happens when suddenly a loud bang is heard. Everyone turns, only to be hit by a strong gust of wind which lifts them of their feet. A rumbling sonance sweeps through the area as everyone blacks out.

A while later, Grace opens her eyes. Her breath blows off the sand right next to her mouth. All she can hear is the sound of her own breathing. She tries to get up but can't as strength seems to leave her body. She struggles to her feet only to fall instantly. Her head spins as she experiences dizziness and disorientation. She sees Diantha right in front of her. Diantha has a deep gash on her forehead but looks okay otherwise. Diantha appears to be saying something but Grace can't hear anything but a low ringing sound in her ears. She turns to the right only to see Delia unconscious and Oak, who's injured himself, attending to her. What little strength Grace has in her body leaves her when she sees a ginormous pile of smoking, burning rubble right where the building was. A blackness takes over as she slips into a cold... dark... oblivion.

(2 Weeks later)

A faint beeping monitor sound can be heard while everything is pitch black.

"Is she alright?" one voice says.

"I don't know. She did take a bad fall," another voice says.

Grace's eyes flicker open. She, immediately, shields her eyes from the bright light right in front of her.

"Turn it off," Grace sharply says following which the lights are dimmed.

"Grace? Grace?" Diantha says as she lightly shakes Grace's shoulder.

"Uhh? Diantha?" Grace says in a confused monotonic voice.

"Yes. It's me. Calm down," Diantha says as she tries to calm Grace down.

Grace sees that Diantha and Sycamore both have stitches on their faces.

"What? Where? Where am I?" Grace asks.

Sycamore and Diantha bite their lips upon seeing the confusion echoing in Grace's voice.

"You're in the medical centre. You've been out cold for two weeks," Diantha says.

"What? Delia?" Grace asks as her eyes dart left and right to scan the room.

Her vision is not yet very focused but she can still see reasonably well.

"She woke up a few hours back but the doctors put her in a medically induced coma to further her recovery process," Sycamore replies.

Grace's experiences a sharp pain in her head as she tries to recall the memory of what happened just before she blacked out. After minutes of groaning and clenching fistful of her hair, finally, the memory of the rubble flashes in her mind.

"Ash! Serena!" she shouts as she resumes panicking.

"Grace. Calm down," Diantha shouts as she and Sycamore restrain Grace.

"What happened Diantha? Are they safe? Are they alive?" Grace frantically shouts.

Diantha doesn't reply for a few moments. She looks down, takes in a deep breath and says, "You should rest."

"That's not an answer. What happened to my son and daughter? Diantha?" Grace shouts.

Sycamore signals the nurse who comes and gives Grace an injection which makes her reluctantly fall asleep. Diantha and Sycamore both let out a deep breath.

She turns to Sycamore with a passive face and says, "How do we tell them?"

"I don't... I don't know," Sycamore mumbles back, completely lost for words.

"How do I tell two mothers that their children are.. that their children are..." Diantha tries to say but her voice cracks up.

"Hush. We don't know anything for sure. At least not before the investigation is completed and the autopsy reports come back," Sycamore says as he pulls Diantha into a hug as she starts crying.

(4 Days Later)

"The investigation has finally been concluded. The cause of death was an explosion caused a bomb detonating inside the building. The bomb was most RDX mixed with certain other elements which caused the explosion's strength to increase manifold," Looker says as he puts the paper down.

Everyone then looks at Grace and Delia who have gone silent as the grave. They don't say anything, they don't do anything. It's almost everything they had with them, has been ripped away in most brutal fashion possible.

"Out of the sixteen security staff present, only the bodies of seven were recoverable. The others were too close to the blast centre. Their bodies got pulverized by the explosion. There were also traces of two more bodies... male and female, in their early twenties," Looker continues as tears start rolling down Grace and Delia's cheeks.

"After much difficulty, we managed to find some splatters of blood whose DNA matches with that of..." Looker says as a wave of guilt washes over him, "Ash and Serena."

Grace and Delia close their eyes and they once again burst into tears. Cynthia and Diantha immediately signal Sycamore and Siebold who escort Grace and Delia out.

"Finally for concluding remarks. We found another set of DNA on the crime site. The DNA matches with that of a know hired gun known as Killer Strike. He's a hired gun, who specializes in precision demolition. But for the past two years, the word on the street is that he's been hired by Team Rocket for assassination missions," Looker finishes before he too lets out a sigh of disappointment.

Everyone's eyes lower as a wave of saddened disappointment washes over them. Tears come in their eyes as the fact, that they all promised to keep Ash and Serena safe, reverberates in their minds. They let Grace and Delia down and they know it full well.

"This is all my fault. I knew deep down that the Dragon Emperor going away would be a threat from a security point of view but I was too... too blinded by my preconceptions," Diantha starts.

"Don't say that Diantha! We did everything we could. There was nothing more we could do," Rowan remarks.

"Which is why we should have kept the Dragon Emperor around. He would have protected them. At all costs. We kicked him out and now Ash and Serena are gone," Diantha breaks down.

Siebold instantly walks over to Diantha and then hugs her following which she starts crying her eyes out into his chest.

"Well no matter what the evidence might suggest, we will still investigate further. The evidence is circumstantial at best and then some. Till we don't find something more concrete, we will keep investigating," Looker says as he packs up the file.

"Don't seal your judgement just yet. DNA can always be planted and what's suspicious is that the Pokemon and their Poke-balls are missing. If there is one thing I have learned from the Dragon Emperor. Things aren't always what they seem," Lance remarks.

"Missing?" Cynthia asks in a suspicious tone.

"Yes, it could be many things. Maybe the Pokemon were killed in the explosion and their Poke-balls were destroyed. But for not even one Poke-ball's fragment to be found in the debris, that is suspicious. But I have a different theory," Lance says.

"What is it?" Juniper eagerly asks.

"I think they took Ash, Serena and their Pokemon," Lance says.

"They? You mean Team Rocket? But how? How did they get through the security?" Rowan asks in a flabbergasted tone.

"Don't forget. They managed to sneak the bomb in. Didn't they? If they can sneak a bomb they can sure as hell get people in and out too. How did they get in and out? That's on part of the puzzle... I think they took Ash, Serena and their Pokemon, took their blood to leave the impression of death, detonated the bomb to cover their tracks," Lance says.

"Why would they do that? The target was Ash and Serena even at the wedding," Rowan answers.

"Yes, that is what the Dragon Emperor told us. But I think he didn't tell us the whole truth.  Think about it. Dragon Emperor has been playing us since day one. Since the day he's come into KIP. He's been setting events into motion which will put us into direct conflict with Giovanni," Lance says.

"He wants to use our resources and our control over the government to take Giovanni and his organization out. It's plain as daylight that they are enemies. Which is why I agree with Lance that Ash and Serena are alive," Looker says.

"Why?" Cynthia asks.

"Because they are his apprentices. They have critical intel on the Dragon Emperor. His whereabouts, his habits, his Pokemon, his strategies, his friends, his aliases everything. All these years we have known Dragon Emperor yet we don't know anything concrete about him. Only Ash and Serena do. Why kill the little fish when you can use them as bait to get to the bigger fish?" Lance says.

"And the Pokemon?" Oak asks.

"Ash and Serena's Pokemon are exceptionally powerful. They are of great value. Giovanni may be a criminal but he is a businessman and he understands value. He'll be sure, to make great use of those Pokemon," Looker says while getting up.

"You both sound like the Dragon Emperor," Diantha remarks.

"We learned a great deal from him," Looker answers.

"Nevertheless, we'll keep looking into the matter. We'll pursue all possible avenues of investigation," Lance remarks before he goes out of the room with Looker, leaving the rest of the people in the room to sit in a pondering reticence.

(1 Week later)

"We're all here, on this unfortunate day, to inform you that another attack, similar to the one of Team Flare's, was carried out around a month back. We believe that at least sixteen people were killed in the bomb blast attempt," Diantha says into the microphone as reporters take notes.

"What do you mean at least sixteen people? After so many days have passed since the incident, have the law enforcement authorities not been able to complete their investigation?" one of the reporters enquirers.

"The investigation is complete but due to the sensitive nature of the details, this is all I am at liberty to say," Diantha answers.

Another reporter raises her hand and Diantha on seeing her nods.

The reporter asks, "Can any light be thrown as to the reason behind this attack. Any possible leads?" The reporter asks.

"No comment," Diantha monotonically answers.

"What explosives were used? Dynamite? RDX?" another reporter questions.

"It was a high-density RDX bomb. Suspected to be as small as possible in the size but with maximized efficiency. At least that's what the bomb residue analysis seems to suggest," Diantha answers.

She then sees Alexa raise her hand. She points to Alexa and gives her a nod to go ahead.

"In the wake of the attack of Team Flare, a few months back, at the press conference you said and I quote, 'As of today we along with the International Police Agency are announcing a joint effort by all the region combined to hunt down and defeat any such evil criminal organizations that may exist anywhere in the Pokemon world to ensure the peace and security of all the regions of the Pokemon world'. The timing of this attack, coupled with the location being right here, in the heart of the action, mere months after your statement can't be a mere coincidence," Alexa remarks.

"I still haven't heard a question, Alexa," Diantha remarks.

"The question is this champion. A bomb is a bold yet a very powerful way to not just kill people but also make a statement. Sounds like Team Rocket is sending a message telling the Pokemon world to not make empty threats. What is your take on this and what would you like to say to Team Rocket right now in the aftermath of the unfortunate incident?" Alexa asks which causes all the murmuring to be extinguished instantly.

Diantha looks back at Alexa with a serious face while Alexa locks eyes with Diantha. Nobody says anything as the tension subtly rises with each passing second.

Diantha let off an air of anguish before saying, "All I will say is this. They wanted our attention and now they've got it. Over the course of the next few days, I and the other champions are meeting with the government heads of all the regions. We are confident that all the governments will pool their resources and allow us to declare war on Team Rocket. Until yesterday, they were merely a criminal organization. Today, they are a terrorist organization. We'll find them, arrest them and bring down the harshest punishment on them as per the extent of the law. As for my message to Team Rocket, it is this. I am coming for you. You better have one hell of a hiding hole because from now on the only thing that will be free for you is the air you breathe," Diantha says as a passive desire for justice and anger clearly reflects in the pallor of her skin.

(In a Secret Base in the Kanto Region)

"Cheers my son," Giovanni says before clanking his wine glass with Calem's, who also smirks back.

"Congrats, dad. Your plan worked like a charm," Ariel says as she gives Giovanni a hug.

"Don't they always my dear?" Giovanni returns the hug while smiling maliciously.

"That's all good dad. But what do we do about this?" Calem says as he points to the TV screen where the press conference which Diantha was giving has just concluded.

"They won't be able to do anything. Not without the Dragon Emperor backing them which I don't he will. All we now need to do is dig deep and wait. Soon.. very soon the tables will turn and when they do... no one will be able to stop us," Giovanni says before finishing the thimbleful wine left in his glass.

"Speaking of digging deep. Have all the bases been relocated to their secondary locations?" Giovanni asks.

"Kanto and Johto are done. Hoenn and Sinnoh are still pending," Calem answers.

"Don't tarry any further. You both leave for the Hoenn and Sinnoh regions tonight. Supervise the relocations. Come back within the week," Giovanni orders as Ariel and Calem nod before taking their leave.

(In KIP Stadium After the Press Conference is Over)

"Grace?" Diantha asks in an uncertain tone as she sees Grace and Delia standing silently.

"Diantha, nothing you say will make me believe that my children are dead," Grace says plainly.

"Grace I am not saying," Diantha tries to say only to be silenced by Delia.

"Diantha. All this is made up. There is no conclusive proof our children are dead. And I will not believe that my Ash and his wife are gone. I just won't accept it," Delia says in a defiant tone as she shakes her head and hands sideways.

"No one wants this to be true Delia but we do need to face facts. There is a possibility," Oak breaks his silence.

"No! You don't understand. I feel it in my bones professor. My children... no, our children are alive. Don't ask how but I know it. Besides I know I will not get the answers which I seek here. I know just the person to call," Grace says as she turns around.

"DRAGON EMPERRRRORRRR!" she shouts leaving everyone stunned.

"WHERE ARE YOU?" she cries in the hoarsest tone possible.

"IF ASH AND SERENA MATTERED TO YOU. BE PRESENT AT ONCE," Delia also shouts.

All the spectators look at each other nervously. Not sure what to say, they watch in pin-drop silence as the two mothers shout themselves hoarse.