(In the Battlefield)

"Giovanni," Ash and Serena breathe at the same time.

Giovanni merely smiles back at them as he comes to the stop. Everyone gazes at Giovanni who's calmly standing in his velvet black suit. Taking advantage of Ash and Serena's split-second lapse of concentration, Ariel and Calem both manage to teleport away to safety. Ash and Serena, mutter curses under their breath as Calem and Ariel reappear behind Giovanni.

"Who's running now?" Serena fires as she glares at Calem.

Calem is about to say something but stops in his tracks when his father subtly raises his left hand. Calem and Ariel lower their eyes as Giovanni takes a few ominous steps forward.

"Well young man, I thought I had gotten rid of you and that pesky wife of yours, once and for all. I see that Dragon Emperor managed to smuggle you away to safety and here we are now. After all these years, you're still nothing more than a pesky thorn in my sight," Giovanni speaks, all the emotion in the environment vanishing with each uttered syllable.

"At least this thorns know how to fight in the old ways, unlike your incompetent children. Calem is particular, is most impressive for he is the most incompetent trained duelist I have ever seen. You must be proud," Serena answers in a cool tone.

Giovanni gives her an even look then turns to face Calem who shaking to the core, trying to contemplate what's going on in his father's mind.

"I'll deal with you later," Giovanni says in a dismissive tone.

When Giovanni turns around, Serena sees Ariel looking very pleased with herself while Calem's feet are shaking as gulps, fearing the punishment his father has in store for him later.

"I must say you do how to wave an Aura sabre though you still have a long long way to go," Giovanni remarks, inspecting Ash and Serena's outlook.

Ash and Serena narrow their eyes at Giovanni's remark, calculating the situation with every breath they draw, taking the temperature of the environment with every gaze of scrutiny they cast.

"But it matters not," Giovanni says in a soft tone before continuing, "Your fate is as good as sealed. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that you managed to defeat my children which gives you a higher standing in the present situation, but you can't be further from the truth."

"And what truth is that," Ash says as Giovanni's casual advance comes to a halt.

"The truth that your fate is sealed. You don't have the strength or the skill to meet me in battle," Giovanni sneers, his eyes smirking malevolently.

"Your children were under the same impression and look how that turned up," Serena answers.

Ash on hearing this turns to Serena and says, "Well we crushed them."

"Then they took their pity ball and ran home," Serena says, playing along with Ash's conversation to mock Calem and Ariel.

"Right behind their father's back so that they can watch, as they cower behind the blanket of safety which they think their father provides them," Ash finishes the exchange, delivering the closing observations of the event transpired so far, much to his and Serena's amusement.

"I am your sworn enemy but I am telling you something, underestimating my father will be the worst and last mistake of your lives. Weigh your words carefully," Ariel says in a grave tone.

https://youtu.be/yKSh1BEwKw0

"It's OK, Ariel. A little-heated exchange of lipped quips before the fight commences is only quid pro quo," Giovanni says before directing his attention back to Ash and Serena.

"Yes Ariel after all now that your daddy is here, there's no need to open your foul mouth," Serena coolly remarks.

"Hahahahaha," Giovanni breaks into a streak of harsh laughter.

After laughing his fill, his face goes from crying with laughter to one of a murderous glance. So devious is the look on his face that everyone, except Ash and Serena, gets their hearts in their mouths.

"Tell me have you ever been alone in that cold dark abyss of a night?" Giovanni's question floats over to Ash and Serena who give each other a quick confused glance.

"The reason I ask is that you have some nerve standing against me so defiantly instead of turning tail and running away. You don't know who I am? Do you?" Giovanni continues.

"We're listening," Ash answers.

"That you are. So listen to what's going to happen. You both are going to meet your demise at my hands, preferably torturous and full of screaming. Then the whole Pokemon world will watch as we proceed with the plan that the two of you so ungratefully interrupted. Then finally, we will seize the Pokemon world and take what is rightfully ours as is our right," Giovanni says.

"Your right? No one has the right to rule the Pokemon world least of all you," Serena says.

"Oh! I see... he hasn't told you, has he?" Giovanni asks, pleasantly surprised with himself.

"Who told us what?" Ash asks as his eyes narrow.

"Dragon Emperor. He hasn't told you who I really am? Has he?" Giovanni says, smiling as smugly as possible.

"He told us that you're a cold-hearted son of a bitch, which seems to be confirmed by our interaction so far," Serena answers.

"Oh yes, and I won't deny that. I am a cold-hearted son of a bitch. But your master hasn't been truthful with you has he? He's not told you about how he knows me, has he?" Giovanni maliciously smirks as Serena's expression falters for a few moments.

"Sweetheart. You've put your faith in the wrong man. The fact is that a dark cloud is approaching and when it gets here, you all will be wishing, no strike that begging that you were all dead," Giovanni says while peering at Ash and Serena with his dangerous eyes.

"But it matters not. You two have troubled me far enough as it is. Time to say goodnight and close the chapter of yours and my interaction... forever," Giovanni says in a cold tone, causing everyone to start shivering in fear.

The very next second, Giovanni brandishes his right hand in Ash and Serena's direction. So swift is his move, that Ash and Serena are blasted off their feet by the force of the attack, unable to find the time to counter in time. Grace, Delia and the others watch in shocked silence as Ash and Serena are smashed into the boundary wall following which the wall collapses on top of them.

"Ash... Serena," Diantha whispers.

To everyone's shocks, two explosions occur from within the collapsed wall debris, causing every one of the spectators to shield their eyes one more time. They see the entire area getting covered with smoke before Ash and Serena leap out of the smoke. Giovanni watches as Ash and Serena both somersault mid-air before landing right where they were standing originally.

"Now I'm pissed," Ash snarls.

"Not bad. Your Aura shields are stronger than I expected. To be able to take the hit of my spell and then keep intact after taking the weight of all those debris pieces of the wall. Not bad at all," Giovanni smirks, internally impressed against his will.

"Indeed, not bad. Why don't you get a taste of this," Serena says before nodding to Ash who nods back.

"I see. Let's see what the so-called students of the Dragon Emperor can throw at me. Even I wish to be amused for a while," Giovanni says.

https://youtu.be/P76-XVkj6S4

Ash and Serena bring their hands together resulting in a loud clap. Then they separate their hands following which they cross their hands, creating two Aura Spheres in their crossed palms. Giovanni merely yawns as he raises an eyebrow at Ash and Serena attempt. Ash and Serena then break the X created by their arms resulting in the Aura Spheres sparkling more vibrantly.

"Is that all?" Giovanni mocks them.

Ash and Serena give out a loud cry before they bend down and slam the Aura Spheres on the ground. All the spectators watch as several currents of electricity emerge from the source of the slammed Aura Sphere as they bounce, on the ground, on their way to Giovanni just like a Froakie leaping towards its goal.

Giovanni merely smirks as he runs a few steps and then jumps high into the air, avoiding the Aura Electric bouncing on the ground beneath him. Ash and Serena take battle stance readying themselves for what Giovanni is about to throw at them. Giovanni, while growling like a savage bloodthirsty animal, in mid-air punches the air towards Ash and Serena. From the punch emerges a jet black beam of energy which hurtles at Ash and Serena, ready to obliterate them into nothingness. Halfway to its destination, the beam splits into two, one each for both opponents. Ash and Serena shout before they take a step back and throw their hands down. When they do so, a shining blue wall unveils in front of them, like a new curtain falling for the first time. The wall deflects the beams causing Giovanni's attack to be neutralized.

"Not bad. Now taste this," Ash roars as both he and Serena push their hands forward and send the Aura Barrier wall hurtling towards Giovanni who's now descending to the ground from his jump.

Giovanni deftly lands on the ground opens his right-hand following which a large Shadow Claw-like claw appears. The very next second he slashes right across the incoming hurtling wall, causing it to shatter into thousands of pieces like a glass wall.

"Not bad. Not bad at all. But nowhere good enough," Giovanni says before spitting on the ground.

He then extends his hands out and a Shadow Ball like orb appears on each of his palms. Giovanni's eyes shine purplish black causing the orbs floating in his palms to grow bigger in size and sparkle with black electricity more aggressively. Giovanni smirks at Ash and Serena before pushing his palms forward. Ash and Serena run towards the incoming attack and jump in the air, somersaulting themselves over the attacks headed their way. The moment they land on the ground and look up at Giovanni, the two black orbs collide with the ground, behind Ash and Serena's back, causing two tremendous explosions.

"Well this is fine and dandy, but if that's the best you've got to offer then you won't last long," Giovanni says.

"Then I guess it's time to take it to the next level. Shall we Serena?" Ash inquires.

"Of course. You can take point on this one," Serena smiles back.

"Very well," Ash says as Serena's eyes shine a bright blue. Several Aura hoops appear around Giovanni while Ash sweeps his cloak and vanishes on the spot. The very next second Ash appears in one of the hoops and fires an Aura Sphere at Giovanni. The Aura Sphere hits its mark causing Giovanni to stumble. Giovanni fires an attack but Ash disappears from within that hoop, only to fire another Aura Sphere from a different hoop. Everyone watches as Ash pummels Giovanni right and left with an unpredictable barrage of attacks. Suddenly, however, Giovanni reaches out into one of the nearby hoops and the very next instant grabs Ash by his neck. He roughly pulls Ash out and slams him into the ground, having finally isolated the pattern with which Ash was attacking him.

"Insect," Giovanni snarls while tightening his grip on Ash's throat.

Ash's face starts turning blue as Serena sweeps her cloak and vanishes on the spot.

"I may be an insect but I made you look," Ash manages to croak out.

Giovanni instantly develops a confused look as to what Ash is saying but his dilemma is cleared the very next instant as he feels a palm being pressed to his back. He turns to see Serena concentrating very intensely on her palm which is glowing blue very intensely.

"Check and mate," Serena says as her Face Palm like Aura Palm goes off causing a huge explosion, covering Ash, Serena and Giovanni under a cloud of kicked up dust.

"Serena!" Grace and Delia shout in unison, beyond worried with what is happening around them.

"That should do it," Serena's voice can be heard from within the dust cloud causing a tidal wave of relief to roll over all the spectators.

As the dust clears Serena is smiling but her smile turns to a look of horror when she sees Giovanni standing there as if nothing just happened.

"But but," Serena splutters, completely taken aback by shock.

"If that's the best you've got. Then you won't be able to so much as tickle me, Kalos Queen," Giovanni sneers.

"I..." Serena tries to say when Giovanni grabs Ash's hands and then lifts Ash's body and uses it to bludgeon Serena.

Everyone watches, completely horrified, when Ash and Serena spin several times before crashing into the ground a little away from Giovanni.

"Like I said, once an insect," Giovanni says before he slams his right fist into the ground.

This creates another blast of energy which sends Ash and Serena crashing into the ground once more.

"Always an insect," Giovanni says, feeling very happy with himself while Ash and Serena grunt in pain as they try to get up.

"You really thought you stood a chance against me?" Giovanni taunts Ash and Serena as they get up, severely panting and feeling considerable pain in their arms and legs.

"I think we need to finish this now," Giovanni says when suddenly all of Ash and Serena's Pokemon jump in front of them, to protect their masters.

"Get out of my way," Giovanni roars before unleashing a powerful attack which detonates with the force of a bomb.

When the smoke clears, all of Ash and Serena's Pokemon except Mega Charizard Z and Mega Sylveon have been brutally knocked out, almost pushed to the precipice of death.

"Of course you survived," Giovanni says before slashing his hand horizontally and sending both mega evolutions flying into the stand, knocking them out too.

"You brutalized our Pokemon, you'll pay for that!" Serena snarls as she and Ash wipe the sweat off their beyond infuriated faces.

"Really? Humour me," Giovanni coyly remarks, completely cool as a cucumber.

"Time to bust out the heavy artillery," Ash says while turning to Serena.

"Seconded," Serena says while not taking her eyes off Giovanni for even a fraction of a second.

They both raise their right hands into the air and start muttering something inaudible under their breath. The sky starts turning dark with black clouds shooting off sparkling blue lightning. In the moments to pass, the air surrounding Ash and Serena's raised hand starts glowing a faint yet sparkling blue as an outline of a hammer and a bow appears in Ash and Serena's hand respectively. As time passes, the weapons start materializing more and more in their hands.

"Celestial weaponry, that's cute. But to think that you can bring celestial weaponry to the party and I won't do anything. That I'm afraid I can't allow," Giovanni says as he brandishes his right hand which releases a pulse of black energy which expands on the ground like a dome.

The pulse of energy hits Ash and Serena causing them to stumble a few steps back. The very next second the weapons vanish from their hand, leaving them completely bamboozled as to what just happened.

Putting two and two together Serena looks up and shouts, "You son of a bitch, you blocked the signal before we could completely summon our weapons!"

"Don't expect me to play by the rules. The only rules are the fact that the winner gets to make the rules and winning is the only rule in the rulebook," Giovanni says it like a matter of fact much to Ash and Serena's chagrin.

https://youtu.be/CN37WNxLiI8

"I must say, I have enjoyed this little spat that we've shared. But I think now it is time to end this. So tell me, little annoyances, how you choose to die?" Giovanni enquires.

"Just because you've managed to stand against us so far, doesn't mean you'll win. We still have an ace up our sleeves," Ash shouts before coughing.

"Hahahahaha," Giovanni laughs much to everyone's surprise.

"What's so funny?" Serena snaps causing Giovanni to stop laughing.

"Please excuse me. When you said I have been just standing against you, I couldn't help but laugh at you. You see I haven't been fighting at all, more like playing along to see how much the two of you can entertain me," Giovanni says causing Ash and Serena to throw him a look of judgemental disbelief.

"Stuff and nonsense," Ash snarls.

"Why debate about it when the truth shall reveal itself very very soon. It always does," Giovanni's voice hollers across the silent stadium where everyone else is playing mute spectator.

"Serena, we need to go all in. It is the only way I see we can beat him," Ash telepathically says to Serena who replies in agreement.

"Let's do this," Ash says as he makes a cross with his arms and pulls them close to his chest while Serena does the same.

Their eyes shine a bright blue as the air starts swirling around. Their bodies develop a blue outline as the air start swirling around them even faster, taking up twigs and dirt from the ground around them. Grace, Delia and the others who are behind Serena's defensive shield watch as a small blinding light appears in front of Ash and Serena. With every passing moment, it becomes bigger and brighter, until it becomes a fully fledged shuriken.

"Aura Shuriken let's go," Ash and Serena shout in unison as they push their hands forward causing the massive Aura Shuriken to spiral its way towards Giovanni who's been quietly observing the entire fiasco with pin drop silence.

The Shuriken hits Giovanni square in the chest followed by an explosion which sends destructive bolts of lightning high into the sky and sends out an outward force which causes everyone to be thrown to the ground.

After the dust has settled, everyone looks up to see Ash and Serena on their knees, panting profusely.

"I don't believe it. They beat father!" Ariel says in a tone of disbelief when she sees her father is nowhere to be seen.

All the Team Rocket grunts and Calem are stupefied, not believing what their eyes are showing them.

"I can't take it anymore," Grace says as she tries to restrain the heart in her chest which is pounding so hard that it might jump out of her chest.

"That did the trick," Ash says as he helps Serena get on her feet.

"And all it took was almost spending all of our power. We need a day's rest to recover our strength," Serena pants as she balances herself by leaning on Ash as the wind ominously blows across the stadium.

<Author's Note Begins>

Vote on the music tracks in this chapter.

1) Giovanni's Arrival

https://youtu.be/bd4uBYYC98s

Rating out of 10?

Thoughts?

2) Giovanni's Advance

https://youtu.be/yKSh1BEwKw0

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3) The fight against evil - 1

https://youtu.be/P76-XVkj6S4

Rating out of 10?

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4) Aura Shuriken

https://youtu.be/CN37WNxLiI8

Rating out of 10?

Thought?

That's it for this week. To catch more action wait for next Sunday when more drama shall unfold. As always please vote and comment as much as possible.

<Author's Note Ends>