pokemon Fighting Dreamers

"These ancient texts showed me what I needed to know. They speak of a primal energy created when the Ultra Beasts first came to our world long ago, about good and evil, and of darker forces from other dimensions waiting to be unleashed."

"I was just jealous of your girlfriends... because we were going to ask you to do just that."

"Holy Mew, it's raining women."

"She could be in trouble... or maybe she just got distracted with something, whatever's the deal, I'll send Thorn to bring her back."

"We won the fight! Now call off the invasion!"

"Why are you suddenly messing with this kind of forces? What will you gain with all this?"

"...I don't know."

"You don't make the plans! I DO! ME! Only I know how this all turns out!"

"You have won this battle but our quest to rule your world will never end! You may have defeated the lightbane today, but we will rise again! Your urge to fight back has sealed the fate of this world!"

"Ash, this is bad! Agent Domino is here in Alola! She's going after the girls!"

Some moments before at the Ultra Guardian's base.

After Ash and the rest of the Ultra Guardians took down Stinger causing their braces to go shortcut, these also cut their communications with the base as well as the video signals that they had to keep track of the team, Wicke was doing her best to reconnect with them, with Peonia and Nessa standing next to her, meanwhile Acerola and Gloria were sitting behind them.

"Any luck?" Peonia asked.

"Nope, sorry." Wicke said. "I knew that blast would be powerful, but it took me off guard that it affected all of our systems."

"The signal must be down as well since he isn't answering his Rotom Phone either." Nessa sighed, both Peonia and her traded some worried looks, but then they heard some laughs coming from Acerola and Gloria, who had been talking between them for a while.

"Hey girls, I'm glad you two are getting along, but aren't you worried?" Peonia asked.

"Well yes, I'm super worried." Gloria said. "But I know Ash has made it out of worse, I'm totally sure he's fine and he must be on his way back here right now."

"Yep, I trust that too, Gloria and I have been sharing our stories about Ash, we thought it'd be a good way to get to know each other better." Acerola said. "And your stories are amazing, Gloria, not only the ones when you were with him, but also the ones you've told me about the adventures Ash had in other regions, I can see you truly know him, must have been the reason he gave you that hat."

"It's way more than that." Gloria answered taking the cap off her hair. "This hat is a promise, it represents the inspiration he gave me to become the person I am today, it represents the moments we've spent together and what we are now too, this may look like a silly hat, but it conveys both our feelings; and as his girlfriend, I'll treasure it forever."

"Wow, I hope my connection to Ash will become just as strong as that one day." Acerola smiled excited.

"I bet it will, little one." Gloria answered placing the hat on Acerola's head.

"Hehe... wait, did you just call me little one?"

"Uh, yeah, sorry, I guess it just came out on its own since I'm used to being the youngest of the group, it's nice to have a change of pace." Gloria replied.

"...How old are you, Gloria?" Acerola asked.

"Well, I'm turning 16 next week." She said.

"Well, I turned 16 a month ago." Acerola answered.

"...So I'm still the youngest?!" Gloria shouted.

"Looks like it." Peonia said.

"But the only reason I agreed to let Acerola join the harem was just so that I wouldn't be the youngest anymore!" Gloria shouted.

"That was seriously the only reason?!" Acerola complained.

"Heh, sorry Gloria." Nessa laughed at the scene. "But trust me, age isn't a big deal here."

'Gosh, this is so awkward...' Wicke thought.

Meanwhile, at the Pokemon School.

"Well, let's get a look at the menagerie..." Still with the Aether Employee outfit, Domino walked into Ash's old classroom to then press the same button that he had used to open the platforms beneath the desks, Domino then followed Ash's steps and descended to the base, finding herself in front of Wicke and Ash's girlfriends, with the latter getting rather suspicious of her presence.

"Uh, Who might you be?" Nessa asked standing in front the other girls.

"Don't worry, it's just an Aether Employee, they have access to the base." Wicke said. "Good to see you, but I didn't ask for any assistance right now."

"Oh, how odd." Domino giggled wanting to play a bubbly personality. "Silly me, I could have sworn some alarm went off, my bad, Miss Wicke." She said to then look at the girls. "And who are all of you? New recruits, perhaps?"

"They're just friends taking cover from the invasion." Wicke said. "Anyway, thank you for coming, you can stay here if you want, I'll try to see what alarm you received."

"So, what's your name?" Nessa asked getting closer to Domino along Peonia, while Gloria and Acerola stayed behind.

"Something wrong, Gloria?" Acerola asked noticing the suspecting look in her face.

"Not necessarily, but she seems... familiar." Gloria answered.

"My name is Tulip, pleasure to meet you." Domino answered to Nessa with a smile. "Now that I think about it... I saw you all of with Ash Ketchum the other day when he visited Aether."

"Uh, yes, we're all friends of him." Peonia answered. "I'm Peonia and this is Nessa, do you know Ash by any chance?"

"I haven't gotten the honor." Domino giggled. "But I suppose he'll be coming here for you once all this ruckus is over, so it'll be great to meet him... and what about those two over there?"

"I'm Acerola!" She answered. "And this is Gloria."

"Very nice meeting you, Acerola." Domino approached her and setting her sights on the hat on her head. "Oh, and you too, Gloria."

"Yes, very nice to meet you too..." Gloria trailed off.

"Excuse that I ask, but..." Domino looked at Acerola again. "That hat you have there, it belongs to Ash Ketchum, doesn't it?" Domino asked.

"Uh, yes it does." Acerola nodded. "Although it was a gift from him."

"That's all I needed to hear." Domino smirked.

"What..." Gloria finally connected the dots in her head and her blood froze once she recognized Domino. "Y-YOU!" She shouted getting Domino's attention. "Girls, get away from her! She's-"

"Silent predator of the deep, my ass." Domino pushed Gloria away causing her to fall to the floor and before Nessa and Peonia could intervene, she pulled out her tulip staff and shot an electric blast at the roof as a warning, seeing how everyone stopped in their place, Domino giggled and pointed the staff at Acerola.

"I-I knew it..." Gloria said standing up. "You're Domino from Team Rocket."

"Well, if it makes you feel better, you're literally the first person to ever see through a disguise of mine." Domino answered. "Now please, no sudden moves, no running away, no Pokemon, you saw what my little friend can do and if you recognized me you must know what I'm capable of on my own as well."

"W-Why are you doing this?!" Nessa exclaimed.

"Leave her alone!" Peonia shouted.

"I'd also appreciate it if you girls were a bit quieter." Domino walked around Acerola stopping right behind her to then look at Gloria. "Would you take a few steps back?"

"I'm not leaving her with you!" Gloria shouted.

"W-What do you want?" Acerola asked paralyzed by fear.

"Considering what she said earlier, I'm guessing it has something to do with Ash." Peonia said.

"Good guess, Ketchum and I got some story together." Domino said and looked at Gloria again. "Ever heard about that?"

"I know he kicked your ass and you better bet that he'll do it again!" Gloria shouted.

"Hmm...you seem to know a bit too much about me, Gloria." Domino replied calmly placing the tip of her staff on Acerola's back. "And you're also quite brash for someone so small."

"..." Gloria took a deep breath and tried to remain calm, worried about Acerola's safety and clenching her fists as she looked at Domino. "I'm telling you now... you're gonna regret this..."

"Way too brash..." Domino trailed off.

"J-Just put that thing down!" Peonia exclaimed.

"None of you are in place to order me, ladies." Domino said.

"P-Please, don't hurt her, nobody here is a threat to you." Wicke finally reacted and tried to ease the situation..

"Heh, you can never be sure these days, but I suppose you're right for the moment." Domino answered. "So let's wait for the main man, shall we?" After saying this, a loud thunder was heard outside the base. "And speaking of him..."

The silver lightning suddenly broke through the roof and landed in the middle of the base, teleporting Zeraora, Ash, Bea and Danika into the scene with a flash of light.

"Hello there! Glad you received the message!" Domino smiled at Ash.

"Acerola! A-Are you okay?!" Ash shouted.

"I-I'm sorry, she ambushed us-"

"Silence." Domino interrupted Acerola to then smirk at Ash. "Well, nice to see you, Ketchum, it's been a while, say, did you forget about me? Because I definitely didn't forget about you."

"You get away from her!" Ash was about to run at Domino, but she quickly shot another electric blast from her staff aimed at the floor between them, the shot landed right in front of Ash, causing a small explosion and leaving a crater. Domino then pointed her staff at Acerola's back again and after seeing that demonstration Ash had no choice, but to stay where he was.

"Hope that made you get the memo." Domino said. "And let me tell you, I'm getting tired of doing warning shots, you saw what I did to Wild Kratt, right? Well, my staff was only on 3 out of 10 back then, even more, that shot to the floor was just a 5 so if you want this girl to stay in one piece you'll do as I say... Nobody here wants to have their blood on their hands, right? Then give me some space!" After Domino said this Ash and the girls took a few steps back, Nessa and Peonia ran to where Ash was and Wicke stayed where she was in her monitor unsure of what to do, while Gloria also backed down, but still keeping herself close to Domino, who continued to point at Acerola from behind.

"Very nice." Domino said. "Now, answer my question, Ketchum, did you forget about me?"

"...Believe me, I didn't." Ash answered with anger.

"Correct answer!" Domino gave an innocent smile.

"I don't get it, Mewtwo said he erased your memories of what happened." Ash said.

"He did." Domino shrugged shoulders. "But he did so with the powers that Team Rocket gave him, so of course we were able of recovering the lost data without much issue... And even if we couldn't do that, how could I possibly forget about someone like you? Not to mention, I'm still part of Team Rocket and I just looooove to see how you keep kicking that trio of idiots... I've been waiting quite some time for this." Domino laughed to then look at Bea. "Who else do we have here? Right, your name is Bea, you fought against Charon during the Team Galactic incident, you're Ash's current sidekick, correct?"

"Stop hiding behind my friends so I can break each bone of your body, coward!" Bea answered.

"Wow, that's rude." Domino said. "Like, do you even know who you talking to?"

"Yes, Ash told me about your encounter." Bea said. "And you're no different from other Team Rocket members."

"Aww, you tell your friends about me?" Domino smiled to then laugh again. "That's so sweet, honey. But please, you know there ain't nobody like me. And last and least, of course, my favorite Wild Kratt." Domino continued laughing to then look at Danika. "I'm honestly surprised you can walk again so soon, you must be pretty sturdy."

"I told you I'm not letting you escape again!" Danika shouted.

"Blah, blah, blah, get yourself a new phrase." Domino told her. "Enough introductions, Ketchum, I suppose you know I'm here for you, however, this cutie here was the one who dragged my interest the most... Acerola... did I say right?" Domino took Ash's hat out of Acerola's head to then toss it up to the air and destroy it with a blast from her staff. "That felt good, heh, that hat was yours right?" She asked at Ash. "And you gave it to her out of all people, you two must be reaaally close then, actually, I think you're really close to all these girls, I would have loved to see your face when Wild Kratt gave you my message, you must have been like: 'oh no! I have to save them! They need my help!' ...hahahahaha! You goody two-shoes hero!"

"Get away from her..." Ash repeated.

"Or else what?" Domino kept giggling.

"Domino, if you dare to hurt her-"

"What will you do?" Domino noticed Ash was about to take a step forward so she suddenly caught Acerola in a choke hold with one arm while pointing her staff on the side of her head with her other arm, freezing Ash and everyone else in place. "Do I need to make it clearer? If I want to, this adorable innocent little flower will be dead in less than a blink, so I better don't see any demand, order or trick from you and your pals."

"Wait, don't do it!" Ash shouted.

"What did I just say?" Domino suddenly pointed her staff at Ash, and Gloria was still close to her, so she took the opportunity to try and tackle her down to help Acerola, but Domino reacted faster and dodged causing Gloria to trip and fall face first to the floor. Domino then pointed her staff at Gloria and stepped on her back to stop her from moving, all of that while still choke holding Acerola.

"Boy! Do we have problems down here!" Domino smiled pressing her cheek against Acerola's. "And it seems like someone has been watching too much of Ash's adventures to try and play hero." She said looking down at Gloria.

"Ash...s-sorry..." Gloria apologized.

"LET THEM GO!" Ash demanded as aura began to flow on his body.

"Turn. The. Lights. Down." Domino answered unfazed moving her staff to Acerola's head again. "Would you kindly?" She smirked again and Ash did his best to calm down. "There, I told you, I don't want to see tricks, and that includes your shield and Bea's sword... hmm, that's funny, maybe you could have formed a shield between these two and me while I was behind them, but in this position you definitely can't do it anymore, you didn't think about it earlier? Oh well, I guess it's that thing of stress messing up your powers."

"How do you even know all that?" Bea asked.

"I've been keeping an eye on Ash, for a while now." Domino answered focusing her sight on him. "Thought I'll admit I've been missing the lastest episodes since I got too busy, I had no idea you were in Alola when I first arrived."

"Just what do you want?!" Ash shouted.

"First off, stop yelling." Domino smiled again and then softly stepped on the back of Gloria's neck. "You should really watch your mouth, Ketchum. It'd be a shame if I end up breaking something to these lovely ladies."

"Ash, I'm okay! D-Don't worry!" Gloria shouted.

"I-I-I'm not sure if I can say the same..." Acerola talked with difficulty due to the lack of air.

"Oh, poor thing, did you hear that, Ketchum?" Domino said. "And all of this thanks to you, I mean, you brought them here, they wouldn't be in this place if it wasn't for you, so, how are we supposed to fix this problem?"

"I'll do whatever you say, just stop!" Ash shouted again. "At least let Acerola breathe!"

"So you'll do whatever I say? ...Let's begin with something simple then, kneel to me, how's that?" Domino smiled, Ash simply obeyed and took a knee to her. "There, good boy, as I told you, we have problems down here, and that problem is no other than you, you on top of everything else, you above all, just because you run around beating gods and shit, everyone praises you for that, is you, you and your absolute virtue... but I'm sure I can break you, Ketchum, I want to show everyone just how much of a fraud you are."

"A-Ash..." Acerola called him again shedding some tears and almost passing out. "P-Please, help..."

"Domino, please!" Ash shouted again.

"Amusing." Domino smirked tightening her lock on Acerola's neck. "You wish to beg? Go ahead, I'm hearing."

"Please! I'm begging you! Don't hurt them!" Ash shouted.

Domino simply smiled satisfied at that to then finally step off Gloria and loosen the grip on Acerola to let her breathe, but still holding her close. "That's a good first step, and now, the hero bends to my will!"

"So this is why you're doing all this?" Ash asked. "You want to humiliate me?! Fine! Just leave them alone! Your problem is with me, isn't it?"

"Yes, Ketchum! My problem is with you!" Domino shouted. "You represent the one failure in my whole career! I somehow lost to you! You're the solely responsible of Giovanni not trusting me anymore!"

"And what do they have to do with all this?!" Ash shouted. "Just shoot that staff at me! I'm right here! Don't you want to take revenge on me?!"

"Pfft, please, this thing is electricity-based and we both know that after living with your Pikachu for seven years you're more than capable of tanking it." Domino answered. "No, I want to do something more than scratch you. I want to make you suffer, Ketchum! I want you to wish to be dead and then I'll grant you that wish personally! And I know perfectly where to start, that precious heart of gold everyone loves you for, I'll show them how rotten it can get when it needs to, how rotten you can get, but until I get to you... these girls will do."

Domino pointed the staff to Gloria and tightened her lock on Acerola's neck again, smiling as she could see the stress in Ash's eyes, as well as the other girls. "Heh, I just love that look in your face, so impotent, you can all try and take me down if you want, but these two are getting hurt before you get to me, it'll be your responsibility, Ash; and I bet you don't want that, these girls must be really important to you... you... wait a sec." Domino blinked a few times to then laugh again. "Y-You love these two, don't you? They're yours! Say it to me! I want to hear it!"

"Yes, I love them!" Ash shouted. "And if you hurt them-"

"You still don't understand what's going on?!" Domino interrupted and shot a quick electric blast at Ash, the attack knocked him down, but just like Domino predicted, it didn't cause much damage and Ash stood up again in mere seconds with only a few scratches from the impact.

"You still think you can threaten me?! I should just snap her neck all together!" She shouted again. "Heh, this is exactly what love causes... and you seem to have plenty of it! Of course, it was just a matter of time, something like this had to happen! Ha! Ash Ketchum, the ladies' man, finally decided to cut loose and take a bunch of slaves into a harem! It's a whole family of idiots! Those two are also in, right?" She pointed at Nessa and Peonia. "And that muscle girl you have there! Even the Wild Kratt is part of this thing, isn't she?!"

"I-I'm not affiliated with them." Danika stuttered, while Wicke slowly hid beneath her desk seeing how Domino wasn't paying attention to her with the whole situation.

"This is so ridiculously amazing!" Domino continued. "Pfft, maybe I would have joined in another life! Looks like I've had hit the jackpot! Oh, this is just too good! This is super great! You wanna know why? Because I thought these girls were just your friends and I was seriously going to let them go! But if you love them so much I think I'm gonna put this thing in eleven and kill one of 'em now just for the heck of it! Let's see how you live with that in your conscience, Ketchum!"

"Domino-!"

"But wait, there's more!" Domino interrupted with another laugh. "I'll let you choose! Let's do this, if you choose right now which one gets shot, I promise I will let the other one totally unharmed."

"You really think I would do such a thing?!" Ash shouted.

"What a wrong answer." Domino made a pout. "Oh my, Ketchum. At least if you accepted that you could have kept one of them, but if you don't want to play with me then fine, I'll choose who goes first, hmm..." Domino took another deep breath and prepared her staff again. "EENIE..." She moved the staff from Acerola to Gloria and then continued to switch between the two. "MEENIE...MINEE...YOU!"

"Z-Mode Brace!" Wicke suddenly shouted and everyone looked at her wearing a purple Ultra Guardian suit.

"0-4-6* Avatar Gear!" The purple wrist brace opened a slot on its front quickly shooting a small red gear that attached itself to Domino's staff causing it to go short-circuit and lose its power.

"What the-" Before Domino could even say anything, Ash quickly ran at her and tried to grab her, Domino then let go off Acerola and made some gymnastic moves to get away from them while Ash caught the fainting Acerola.

"Acerola! It's okay, I-I got you." Ash exclaimed softly hugging her while she still breathed with difficulty.

"I-I'm fine..." Acerola coughed weakly hugging him as well, Ash then carried her on his arms and went to aid Gloria as well. "G-Gloria..."

"I'm ok, had it easy honestly." Gloria answered standing up while rubbing her back. "I'm so sorry, I thought I could..."

"This can't be happening!" Domino shouted trying to take the gear off her staff without success, while the rest of the girls grouped around Ash.

"...Girls, please look after Gloria and Acerola." Ash told them as he carefully left Acerola in the floor to then walk to Domino, leaving Wicke, Peonia and Nessa behind with them, he then stopped a few steps away from Domino, looking firmly at her, with Bea and Danika standing by his side.

"I suppose this is the part where we tell you that this can still end peacefully." Bea said cracking her knuckles.

"But let's be honest, you won't accept that deal." Danika added.

"Well, you girls seem eager, how's this? You beat me without Pokemon, I turn myself in." Domino suggested.

"I didn't want to use them anyway, I'll take you down myself." Bea said. "This became personal when you threatened the girls."

"Besides, that thing is out of power, what are you supposed to do?" Danika asked.

"Well, I can still smack you around with this." Domino extended her staff further, revealing a blade on each end. "These thorns are my last measure, but I'm not ashamed to use them."

"You think this is gonna be a street fight?" Danika smirked. "You're damn right!"

"Alright, Danika, you take left and I take right." Bea said

"I got your back." Danika nodded and prepared herself to fight, but Ash suddenly ran to Domino on his own without saying anything, Domino spun the staff around and tried to slash him, but Ash summoned a shield on his hand and blocked it to then knock the staff out of Domino's hand with a single hit, she then tried to go and grab it again, but Ash bashed her with a bigger shield, crashing her against a wall and causing Domino to let out a scream of pain.

"...Or seems like he has it covered." Danika said.

"Ash..." Bea trailed off worried.

"You." Ash called off the shield and Domino simply looked at him in fear barely able of standing up after that hit, while Ash simply glared at her with dead eyes.

"Why...w-why did you do that?" Domino asked.

"You have the nerve to ask?" Ash asked forming a shield around his fist.

"Y-Y-Y-You wouldn't hit a lady, would you?" Domino stuttered.

"You're not a lady!" Ash shouted launching a punch that Domino barely avoided, she then tried to run away again, but Ash held her by her neck with his other hand lifting her up as he pushed her into the wall again.

"W-Well, you got strong, I'll give you that." Domino stuttered.

"I should kill you!" Ash shouted surprising everyone in the room. "I should kill you right now with my own hands!"

Domino had an extremely scared expression on her face after hearing that, but she suddenly let out a laugh. "Huff, good show, t-that really hurt, but come on, who are you trying to fool? W-We both know you won't do anything to me."

"Stop talking like you know me!" Ash demanded.

"Oh, but I know you, Ash." Domino smiled. "I told you, I've been watching you for a while now, and look at this, I managed to snap you, that's some real progress, but we both know you're just trying to scare me. The good guys are so predictable, you'll take me to prison and then I'll escape and we'll do this all over again, I know how you play this game."

"Then game's over, Domino..." Ash answered as he put both hands on her neck.

"N-No, what are y..." Domino once again found herself in fear as she could start feeling the struggle to breathe. "W-W-Wait! You can't do this!"

"You think you can threaten them like that in front of me?!" Ash shouted.

"I-I wasn't-" Domino gave Ash a sudden kick on his sides, but she didn't even move him a centimeter.

"I'm gonna kill one of them right now just for the heck of it! Wasn't that what you just said?!" Ash shouted.

"P-P-Please have mercy!" Domino exclaimed with the last of breath she had.

"From now on, every breath take will be mercy from me!"

"Ash, that's enough!" Peonia ran to him and held one of his arms. "What do you think you're doing?! Stop it!"

"She was going to-"

"Ash, snap out of it!" Peonia shouted again. "You heard her earlier! She wants to make the world think you're rotten like her! If you do this, she wins!"

"...P-Please..." Domino called weakly and Ash continued to look at her for a few more seconds before letting go off her, leaving Domino to fall to the floor as she tried to regain air. Seeing her like that, Ash suddenly came into the realization of what he was about to do and it all hit him at once, he then looked at Peonia, who took a few steps away from him, making his guilt grow bigger.

"Ash! Are you okay?!" Bea ran to him placing her hands on his shoulder.

"B-Bea..." Ash looked into her eyes and Bea could tell he was about to start shedding tears. "I-I'm sorry, I can believe I almost-"

"Hey, it's alright." Bea interrupted. "After all, if someone knows about going berserk to protect your loved ones that'd be me." She smiled and Ash suddenly hugged her. "... it's all okay." Bea answered brushing his hair.

"You gotta be kidding me..." Domino trailed off as she tried to stand up, but the adrenaline from the whole moment had already wore off and the pain from that bash stopped her from moving much. Ash then noticed this and separated from Bea to walk to Domino again, but she backed off still scared by what had happened a moment ago.

"W-What?! You're gonna finish the job?!" Domino shouted trying to look confident, yet trembling in fear, Ash simply sighed and looked at Danika, who nodded at him.

"You're coming with me, Domino." Danika said approaching her while Ash, Bea and Peonia walked back to where Acerola and Gloria were still recovering.

"S-Stay away from me." Domino managed to stand up despite the pain.

"Please, this has lasted too long." Danika answered. "Not to mention you seem to need medical assistance, I have to take you out of here one way or another."

"Sorry, but I'll have to take her with me instead." A feminine voice called from above and suddenly a pale spike ball fell off the ceiling through the hole that Zeraora caused, the ball then rolled at high speed aiming at Danika who jumped away from Domino to dodge it, the ball then opened revealing itself as a Chesgnaught that stood in front of Domino to protect her from Ash and co.

"Uh...Bea?" Nessa asked.

"That's not my Chesnaught..." Bea trailed off and the Chesnaught suddenly fired off Pin Missiles at the group, but Ash quickly summoned a shield and blocked them.

"Well, at least you're smarter than Ash's last buddy." The same voice called and a young woman descended from the hole in the ceiling riding on top of an Aegislash who floated until they were next to Chesnaught. "So, whatcha playing?" She asked adjusting her glasses to then hop off the Aegislash. The girl in question had short black hair and blue eyes, she was wearing tight-fitting striped jeans along a black tank top that showed her navel, a green shrug with the colors of Chesnaught's armor over her shoulders, a pair of green sneakers and a necklace with a long white pendant.

"Millis?" Ash asked recognizing her.

"Very nice of you remembering me." Millis smiled. "Although my new friends prefer to call me Thorn now, but if you want to call me by my name then I won't complain, handsome."

"Wait, Millis Steel?" Bea asked.

"She's the one who tried to capture Diancie!" Gloria shouted.

"And is that the only word on me?" Millis asked.

"Only word I care about." Danika answered.

"I supposed so..." Millis shrugged shoulders while both her Chesnaught and Aegislash prepared themselves to fight. She then walked to the still injured Domino who was slightly in shock with her entrance, Millis then pulled out two Poke Balls out of Domino's pocket, releasing her Liepard and shiny Roserade.

"H-Hey! What do you think you're doing?! Who are you?!" Domino shouted once she reacted.

"I'm your way out." Millis answered to then look at Ash again.

"You want to get into a fight?" Ash released his Coalossal, Weavile, Linoone and Lucario.

"As much as I'd like to catch up, Ash, I have to take the package out of here." Millis answered to then pull out a golden watch with green glass from her pockets.

"What's that?!" Ash shouted standing in front of Bea and Danika.

"A little gift from an old friend of yours..." Millis replied as she was about to toss the watch, but Ash quickly called up a shield before she could, he then widened the shield from floor to roof and from wall to wall, leaving Domino, Millis and their Pokemon on one side, while Wicke, Danika, his Pokemon and his girlfriends were on the other, Ash then put his hands in front of the shield, bracing himself for whatever Millis was about to do, but she simply let out a smirk and put the watch on her wrist.

"What are-"

"What? Thought it was a bomb or something? That would have been a bit too cliche...La vie sur la voie rapide." Millis talked to the clock which then illuminated with a green light and began to teleport Domino and her away. "You know, Ash? I think I like your new style, I wish we had more time, but don't worry, this isn't over... I'm sure I'll see you again."

"Ash, the shield!" Danika shouted and he quickly put it down, Danika then ran at the villains alongside Ash's Pokemon and Zeraora, but the Roserade, Chesnaught, Aegislash and Liepard attached with a combination of Leaf Storm, Pin Missile, Flash Cannon and Burning Jealousy creating a massive explosion that sent them flying back and created a fire wall between both teams.

"This is just the beginning...adieu." Millis waved at Ash with a confident smirk.

"A-Ash..." Domino simply maintained her scared expression as they both disappeared along their Pokemon in a green flash of light.

"They...D-Danika! You okay?" Ash ran to aid her once those two disappeared.

"I'll be fine." She coughed while Ash helped her stand up, the group then looked at the fire which was quickly growing around the base. "Please tell me this place has a water sprinkler system."

"I'm afraid not." Wicke said.

"Let's solve it ourselves then!" Nessa released her full team, consisting of Drednaw, Barbaracle, Dragalge, Froakie, Lapras and Milotic. Bea released Cloboppus, Ash released Dracovish and Dewott, Gloria released Inteleon, Peonia released Carracosta and Danika released Azumarill, all of them then used their water attacks to help put down the fire, but the flames kept growing and their attacks weakened quickly.

"What's going on now?!" Peonia shouted. "C-Can't they put this out?!"

"They can't use enough water, it's evaporating too fast!" Nessa exclaimed.

"What's that mean?!" Peonia shouted.

"It means it's hot! And they're dehydrating, Nia!" Nessa shouted.

"They're running out of water?! They can't run out of water!" Peonia exclaimed. "Can't they use the water in the air?!"

"There is no water in this air!" Nessa shouted. "In case you haven't noticed this room is small enough and being underground doesn't help at all!"

"I can take you all out of here, but it'll have to be three on three." Zeraora said.

"Let's get going then." Ash said summoning another wide shield to separate the group from the fire. "Go ahead, I'll be last."

"Alright, who's first?" Zeraora asked and everyone returned their Pokemon. Although nobody wanted to go first and leave the rest alone, they eventually decided that Acerola, Gloria and Danika would be the first group, considering how they were all still somewhat injured, the three went with Zeraora who teleported away with them and left them just far enough from the Pokemon School, which was now catching fire as well, he returned in less than 30 seconds, the second group to leave was Nessa and Peonia and he left them with the first trio. Zeraora returned once again and Bea and Wicke put a hand over his shoulder.

"Ash, come on!" Bea shouted.

"I'm going!" Ash put down the shield and ran to where they were, but he saw Domino's staff laying on the floor, after a few seconds of hesitation, Ash took it and ran to them, letting Zeraora teleport them to safety, although they ended up a bit far from the rest of the girls.

"Where's everyone?" Ash asked.

"Sorry, I'm exhausted." Zeraora said panting. "This was as far as I could take you, but they surely saw the lightning so they must be on their way here."

"At least we made it." Ash looked at Domino's staff and this shortened its length into just the tulip, Ash stared at it for a moment and decided to simply place it inside his pocket for the moment. "Thank you, Zeraora."

"Looks like you can be a hero after all." Bea said.

"Hopefully." Zeraora nodded and the Pokemon School suddenly collapsed into an explosion due to the flames.

"Uh, someone will have to explain that to Kukui and Samson." Wicke said.

"And I guess that'll have to be me." Ash rolled his eyes.

"If it makes you feel better, it was Lusamine's idea to have the base beneath the school in the first place, so I suppose she won't mind paying for the damage." Wicke said.

"Hey, what is that?" Bea saw a flying fire ball coming from the collapsed school directly at them.

"I got it!" Zeraora jumped and caught the fire ball, which was none other than the sleeping Komala of the school, who despite being slightly burned, was still sleeping as always and seemed rather unharmed.

"Right, I forgot about this dude." Ash laughed.

"Good thing I could the Ultra Guardians' ride Pokemon before we left." Wicke said.

"Ash!" The girls finally found them and Acerola and Gloria were the first to reach him and give him the biggest hug they could.

"Girls... I-I'm so sorry, this is all my fault. Are you two okay?" Ash asked worried.

"We're fine, I-I'm okay, really." Gloria answered. "And please, don't blame yourself for other people's actions."

"I knew you'd save us, but I was...really scared." Acerola said. "F-For a second I thought that I'd..."

"No, please, d-don't say that." Ash interrupted hugging them closer. "Don't worry, this is all over."

Gloria simply rested her head on Ash's shoulder while Acerola had her face buried on Ash's chest and they both could feel she was doing her best to not burst out into tears, Ash softly brushed her hair with his hand, but he was honestly unsure of what to do after all that happened.

"Hey, Acerola..." Gloria called her to then let out a weak laugh. "I-I thought you wanted Ash to save you... well, your wish was granted, wasn't it?"

"...Hehe, yeah, I guess." Acerola smiled and looked up to Ash to then kiss his lips. "Thank you, my brave prince."

"...No, you should thank Miss Wicke on this one." Ash looked at her. "The idea of you getting hurt completely paralyzed me, I don't know what I could have done if she hadn't intervene."

"Oh, don't mind it, Ash." Wicked replied. "In any case, I could do it only because Domino was focused enough on you."

"Wait, so you did have a purple suit?" Acerola asked.

"Well, you gave me the idea and I started preparing it while you guys were on the mission." Wicke answered. "It's still a very early design, but lucky for us I had already programmed some codes."

"You really came in clutch, miss Wicke." Ash said.

"Well, I think we should-" Gloria was about to part away from the hug, but Ash continued to hug her tighter. "Ash?"

"A-Are you sure you aren't hurt?" He asked.

"I understand you're worried, but it's fine, I can walk it off." Gloria answered kissing his lips as well. "Although that really made me feel better."

"Yup, kisses and hugs are the only therapy I'll accept!" Acerola exclaimed to then jump onto Ash to hug him by his neck and go for a deeper kiss. "How's that, doctor?" She asked with a laugh.

"I love your laugh." Ash smiled. "I really needed to hear it after what just happened."

"How about we trade kisses for laughs then?" Acerola asked.

"A reasonable price." Ash answered hugging her closer to him and giving her yet another kiss.

"D-Don't just hog him, I was attacked too!" Gloria laughed hugging Ash again.

"Hey, I'm also stressed!" Nessa jumped into the hug as well. "Where's my therapy kiss?!"

'AWKWARD!' Wicke thought again.

"I'm quite moved as well." Bea said joining them. "I'm so glad you two are okay."

"...I love you all, girls, you know I do." Ash said, but then he noticed Peonia was looking from afar. "Uh, Nia?"

"S-Sorry, I..." Peonia tried to avoid eye contact with Ash. "It's not that I don't want to, but after what you just did to Domino."

"Nia!" Nessa shouted walking to her. "What are you talking about?! She threatened Gloria and Acerola!"

"I-I know, but-"

"What if it had been you?!" Nessa shouted. "Ash was only defending them!"

"I know! Ok?! I'm really glad Ash defended them, but I-I just feel like he went a bit overboard!" Peonia answered. "And what he said-"

"And what about what Domino said?!" Nessa shouted. "You didn't hear her?!"

"Y-Yes, I did, but Ash could have..."

"Nia, are you suggesting Ash could hurt us?" Bea asked walking to her as well.

"W-What?!" Peonia shouted. "Who do you take me for?!"

"Who should we take you for?!" Bea shouted as well.

"Of course Ash would never hurt us!" Peonia shouted again. "I'm his girlfriend too, I know him! B-But I'm just worried!"

"You're worried about Domino?!" Bea shouted.

"She literally shot Ash like it was nothing!" Nessa exclaimed. "She could have killed any of us!"

"Girls, that's enough!" Ash interrupted still hugging Gloria and Acerola. "Please, we've had enough fights for a month, the last thing we need is that you end up fighting each other."

"Nia, are you... afraid of Ash now?" Gloria asked

"N-No! Of course I'm not!" Peonia answered. "But that's not what I'm trying to get at, you saw how much he snapped when something almost happened, what if...what if Domino had actually-"

"She'd be most likely dead." Ash interrupted, all the girls then looked at him and he simply sighed out of guilt. "Nia... I'm really sorry if I scared you with all that... Actually, I owe an apology to all of you, Nia is right, I went overboard with Domino, but if I had to do it again, I'd do it, she looked me straight in the eye when she said she was going to kill them, I have no doubt she was going to do it for real, that may be no excuse, but just like Domino, there will be other people who could try to hurt you or other people who are close to me... After all, she only targeted Acerola first because she was the one wearing that hat, it would have been the same for Gloria, Nessa or Nia... and Domino was also right, it would have been my fault, how could I continue living knowing any of you was injured or... just because you were my girlfriends? ...I was the one who decided to have this kind of relationship with all of you, and in that moment I swore I'd take all the responsibility that it implied, that includes protecting each one of you no matter what, I told you girls, you're the most important thing I have in the world, and you can be sure I'll make pay whoever dares to try hurting you."

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to doubt you, I..." Peonia did her best to stop herself from crying. "I know I have to trust you, you did it for our safety... what kind of girlfriend am I?"

"You're just a concerned one, that's more than understandable considering all that happened today." Ash answered kissing her forehead. "And don't worry about 'doubting' me, I need you to do exactly that whenever you're feeling like I'm not doing the correct thing, ok?"

"Sure." Peonia nodded to then look away. "But don't kiss me on the forehead, it's embarrassing."

"As you prefer." Ash cupped her face and kissed her lips before embracing her in a hug.

"Huff... Sorry about the accusations, Nia." Bea said.

"Y-Yeah, me too." Nessa added. "Please forgive me, but all of this was-"

"Hey, it's fine." Peonia interrupted. "I understand, really, we're in this together after all."

"Now let's go for that group hug!" Gloria exclaimed and the rest of the girlfriends joined Ash and Peonia.

"Wow, he... this really seems to be working out." Danika smiled at the scene.

"Yeah, seems like it." Wicke agreed. "And what about you?"

"Oh? Well, name's Danika, I'm just an agent of project RKS who came to help against the invasion."

"RKS? Right, that's the organization Gladion joined recently, I supposed he came with you." Wicke said. "But that's not what my question was going for, what are you to Ash?"

"To Ash? I-I'm just a friend, really." She answered.

"Really?" Wicke smiled noticing the blush on Danika's face. "Well, all of those girls were just friends a few weeks ago too from what I've understand."

"W-What are you implying?" Danika stuttered.

"Figure it out yourself." Wicke giggled.

"Oh my gosh, Danika!" Gloria finally got out of the shock of all the scenes and ran to hug her friend. "I can't believe you're here! It's been so long, how are you?"

"I'm doing fine." Danika hugged her to then look at Ash. "And I see you're doing well too, when Ash told me that you were part of the situation I'll admit I had my doubts, but you all seem really happy with him."

"We are!" Gloria nodded.

"So you already knew?" Peonia asked.

"I did, I was there when Ash accepted Mallow and Lana so he explained me everything." Danika answered.

"Mallow and Lana are in too now?" Acerola asked.

"They are, the two called me for help during the invasion and then they confessed to me." Ash answered. "Apparently Mallow, Lana and my other friend Lillie wanted to share me between the three of them, that's why Mallow reacted the way she did when I told them about you all."

"Hmm, I wonder what would have happened if you had come to Alola before we had started this relationship then." Nessa said.

"So you got a 2×1, huh?" Peonia asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I guess you can say so." Ash nodded embarrassed.

"And where are they now?" Gloria asked.

"Well, after it all happened, we met with Danika and my Naganadel." Ash continued. "Then Stinger transmitted that message challenging me, I left my Pokemon with Mallow and Lana so they could help out the people of the island, while Danika, Naganadel and I went to Aether."

"On the way there we met with another group of friends of Ash." Danika added. "Then all of us made it to Aether, Ash defeated Stinger, but he turned giant, the Tapus appeared and I went inside Aether and... I met with Domino and she took me out."

"Lucky for you, Ash was more than willing to carry you on his back." Bea said.

"Y-You did what?!" Danika shouted blushing.

"Hehe, told you." Gloria whispered to Ash.

"Uh...yes, I did." Ash answered. "I was really worried about you, you were...a little heavy tho."

"Ouch." Danika said. "Well, thanks, but... I can't believe it, I let Domino escape with my totem."

"Your totem?! But how?!" Gloria shouted.

"She was too close and I tried to use it to make a way out, my mistake." Danika answered.

"What totem are you talking about?" Ash asked.

"...Have you heard about a place in Galar called the Isle of Armor?" Danika asked.

"I haven't. Bea?" Ash looked at her.

"Of course, there are some legends about mysterious Fighting Types there." Bea answered.

"One of those legends corresponds to the Urshifu, a pair of Fighting Type Pokemon strong enough to fight Legends, they were Hye-Jin, the rapid striker, and Min-Ho, the single striker, they were sworn to protect the island and they fulfilled that duty for centuries... But the people that lived there started to fear them, they thought they were too dangerous to let them wander around the island and fight whatever they thought necessary, a powerful Fighting Master forced the two Urshifu into a vow of peace, trapping them inside two small wooden totems, they accepted this fate, however, unknown to the master, the Urshifu had an egg, one that they hid deep in the mountains hoping it would be found by the right trainer that could prove that humans had no reasons to fear their kind."

"So that legend is real, no surprise there considering all we've seen." Bea said. "Now, the question is how did you find one of those totems?"

"My partner Quillon and I found both totems actually." Danika continued explaining. "It seems like the totems were being guarded in an ancient temple, but said place caught fire some months ago, while we were on our way to the Crown Tundra to help with the Galarian Birds we stumbled upon the totems in a blackwater river, Quillon was the one who recognized them."

"Danika also knew I had an old story book about the Isle of Armor so she called me to confirm those were the totems." Gloria added. "And the designs were exactly the same as the drawings in the book."

"And shouldn't you have returned them or something?" Nessa asked.

"We could have, but we decided to keep them in order to study them, after some investigation we found a way to set the Urshifu free and they accepted to help in our missions, however, the summoning is only temporary and what gets brought out is merely their spirit, we're not sure of how to release them completely... And maybe the ones who sealed them are right, maybe they were too dangerous."

"If that's the case wouldn't that mean that Domino and Team Rocket can use them now?" Ash asked.

"I doubt it." Danika answered. "You need an specific call in order to summon the spirit and you also need to put a bit of your aura into it... Whatever, I'll have to find a way to get it back, at least now I know all this is connected to Team Rocket, but what about that girl who saved Domino?"

"Her name is Millis Steel." Ash replied. "She was part of a gang of Pokemon Thieves along her father Argus, I met them back in Kalos when they targeted the Mythical Pokemon Diancie to steal her diamonds."

"Hmm, interesting, I read some reports of that incident regarding Diancie, Xerneas and Yveltal, although the people implied were never specified so I guess they never arrested her." Danika said.

"Correct, and I actually thought they had gave up that." Ash added.

"What do you mean?" Bea asked.

"Well, my friends had met Diancie when they were trying to capture her, so of course we got in their way, they eventually failed their mission, then some time later my friends and I met them in Shalour City, they had opened a chocolate shop there, only Argus was there, apparently Millis was doing some deliveries, but he assured us that they had abandoned their criminal life to try and start anew and we never heard of them again so I suppose he wasn't lying... Millis was also not as bad as Domino, at least from what I remember, she genuinely helped us for a moment, I wonder what happened... I'll have to make a call."

"Seems like I have more problems to investigate as well." Danika sighed and began to walk away. "Whatever, it was nice working with you all, but I have to leave."

"Wait a second there, you're still injured." Ash suddenly took her hand and Danika froze in place with a massive blush while he checked the burn that domino caused her with her staff, not to mention the chaser was still covered in bruises after Domino's attack and that explosion. "You should at least take a break and go to a Pokemon Center or a hospital."

"I-I appreciate a lot your care, Ash, but I can't stay." She answered. "I need to go back to the base and inform my superiors of all that happened here, specially the part with Team Rocket."

"Hmm...wait, I got it." Still holding Danika's hand, Ash quickly looked for a Poke Ball and released Flabébé, the fairy quickly noticed the burn and floated above Danika, letting her golden pollen of her flower fall over the girl fully healing her injuries. "There, good as new."

"Wow..." Danika touched the spot where the burn was and noticed not even a trace of it was left. "What kind of Flabébé is that?"

"A very special one." Ash answered as the fairy sat on his shoulder. "How do you feel?"

"As if I wasn't throw to a wall by an electric blast to then receive an explosion right on my face, so I suppose I'm fine." Danika answered and Ash let go off her hand. "Thanks a lot, but again, have to keep moving."

"Are you sure you want to leave?" Gloria asked her. "Like, it's been a while since we've hanged out, you're so busy with your work lately... also maybe you could..." Gloria pointed at Ash and he let out a nervous laugh.

"Heh... maybe another time." Danika smiled. "But Ash, that innocent date you mentioned... w-well, I'm not exactly an expert in the topic, but-"

"Of course, I'd love to." Ash answered smiling and Danika tried to cover her blushing face.

"T-Then I guess I'll call you later." Danika giggled. "Uh... I think this would be the part when I kiss your cheek, but I'm still a little embarrassed."

"Well, Ash can kiss your cheek instead if you want." Gloria suggested.

"N-No! Nevermind!" Danika shouted. "...Guess I'll see y-"

"ASH!"

"What-" Ash turned around to be suddenly knocked down by a double running hug from Mallow and Lana. With Pikachu, Rowlet and Lycanroc following them.

"Are you okay?!" Mallow shouted on top of him.

"W-We saw all those bigs explosions in Aether and then we saw the smoke of the fire! And now the school collapsed?!" Lana exclaimed also on top of him.

"Yeah, a lot of things happened, but don't worry about that, I'm glad you two are safe." Ash answered. "Mallow, Lana, these are the rest of my-"

"Miss Nessa!" Lana shouted to then run at the young woman and vigorously shake her hand. "I-It's a pleasure to meet you! Please forgive me, I didn't recognize you back in the hospital! As a Water-Type specialist and fisher, it'll be an honor sharing my boyfriend with you!"

"Uh...thanks." Nessa giggled. "Your name is Lana, correct?"

"Yes, ma'am! That's me!" Lana gave a salute. "And I'd appreciate it a lot if you could take me under your fin!"

"Really?!" Nessa should excited and Lana gave her a firm nod. "That's so great! I always wanted an student, I have lots of things to teach you!"

"Mallow, did you hear that!?" Lana asked with a squeal, while Mallow and Ash stood up.

"Of course, I'm really happy for you." Mallow smiled to then look at the rest of the girlfriends taking a slight bow at them. "Y-You heard them, my name is Mallow, I-I'm really sorry about what I said when we met, if Ash decided to be with all of you that must mean you're all very important to him, I promise I'll do my best to get along with you, so I hope you all accept Lana and me."

"Don't worry about it, Mallow." Bea was the first to walk to her. "Ash told me about you actually, I know you two are really important to him as well, I mean, he accepted you as his girlfriends after all. Name's Bea by the way."

"She's Ash's first girlfriend and second-in-command to the herd, so show some respect." Gloria introduced her with a laugh. "And I'd be Gloria, her left hand, nice to meet you too."

"I'm Peonia, is a pleasure as well." She offered Mallow a handshake which she accepted. "And from what we've heard, you two already know Acerola."

"They sure do." Acerola nodded. "I didn't expect you three to like Ash though."

"Meanwhile Mallow always suspected about you." Lana giggled. "She was really pissed about your whole deal with Miss Ketchum."

"...Oh my gosh! We still haven't told your Mom we're together!" Acerola shouted.

"You're right!" Ash shouted as well.

"I didn't even tell Phoebe and Shauntal!" Acerola continued. "They weren't at my home, so I just packed my things and left to your mansion!"

"You have a mansion?!" Danika shouted.

"Oh, so Kukui did give it to you." Lana said.

"Although I'm not sure if pissed is the word I'd use to express my thoughts about Acerola and Ash." Mallow scratched the back of her head. "M-Maybe I was just a little upset that you became his girlfriend before any of us, you know?"

"And what about the third friend you mentioned?" Nessa asked. "You said her name was Lillie?"

"Yes, that's her." Mallow sighed. "She's currently returning from a trip in a cruise, so Lana and I agreed that it'll be the best to not tell her about us until she returns, that way we can explain it all directly, she'd get to know each of you and then Ash can make her his girlfriend as well."

"Because you're gonna make Lillie your girlfriend as well, right?" Lana glared at Ash.

"O-Of course!" Ash nodded slightly scared. "I mean, I'd be lying if I say I don't think Lillie is charming and lovely, but you have to remember that at the end of the day is her decision, she may have accepted to share me with you, but that was only three girls and I'm sure it was mostly because you're all really close friends, this a different situation."

"I hope she accepts then." Lana said.

"She has to accept!" Mallow exclaimed. "A-As happy as I am, I would feel so guilty if we leave Lillie out or even worse if we end up breaking her heart, she's already feeling down with the lack of progress that the search for her father has made, I can't imagine ourselves making it worse for her."

"Hey, at least the invasion is over, so we have no more things to worry about until she gets here." Lana said.

"ASH!" May shouted landing along Dawn on Togekiss while Skyla and Cynthia landed on Garchomp, as well as Naganadel, who was carrying Bea's Chesnaught.

"What happened here? Are you okay?" Dawn asked once he was I front of him along May.

"I'm fine, the danger is over for now." Ash answered.

"So those are the girls you mentioned?" Dawn said looking at them.

"We'll get introduced to your friends later." May said. "Alright Ash, before you end up going to space to stop a falling moon from crashing the Earth or something like that, Dawn and I have to tell you the real reason why we came here."

"W-Wait, we're doing that now? In front of everyone?" Dawn asked.

"As I was saying, Ash..." May ignored Dawn's question and took both of Ash's hands. "The real reason why we're here is because Dawn and I love you, we love as much more than a friend and since we know you'd hate to break out hearts, we agreed to share you and be both your girlfriends."

"W-W-What?!" Skyla shouted.

"So that was the thing..." Cynthia trailed off.

"I... Dawn is that true?" Ash asked once he got out of his initial shock.

"Yes, we... w-we both want to be with you, Ash." Dawn nodded.

"And now all you need to do is to say yes, and then it'll be just three of us!" May smiled.

"Just the three of us...?" Ash trailed off. "May, Dawn... I need to explain you something first."

Meanwhile in front of Team Rocket's Headquarters.

"Alright, new rule number one while messing with Ketchum: Stay away from the girls." Millis giggled after being safely teleported all the way back to Kanto, she then looked at Domino who was breathing heavily in the ground still recovering from the situation, a pair of grunts then approached them and tried to help Domino, but she pushed them away and looked at Millis.

"No need to thank me." Millis winked.

"I'll ask again." Domino coughed. "Who are you?"

"My name is Millis Steel, I was recently appointed as a special agent in Team Rocket. Sorry if I don't look like one, but one of my requests to join was that I wouldn't wear that boring uniform of yours."

"And why wasn't I informed about you being assigned as an agent?" Domino asked standing up. "Besides, that watch was one of the devices stored in the King's Credential's data, how did you get access to it?!"

"Well, Giovanni gave it to me so I could go and save your ass." Millis answered.

"I didn't need saving! I had it under control!" Domino shouted.

"Sure, you had it under control, but then you lost your staff, Ash got angry and the rest is history, pfft, you were literally pleading for your life."

"I-I wasn't...Ash wasn't going to hurt me..." She trailed off. "Was he?"

"Eh, good news is that thanks to me you won't have to find out." Millis said.

"Whatever!" Domino shouted. "You haven't answered why you have that watch! There's no way Giovanni would hand over that kind of technology to a new recruit!"

"This 'new recruit' saved you from prison, hospital bills and/or hell, so be glad Giovanni handed it over to me."

"For the last time, I didn't need saving!" Domino shouted. "I had Ketchum eating from the palm of my hand!"

"Yeah, too bad for you he believes in real gender equality." Millis answered. "So extra points for him, I guess."

"Are you trying to pick a fight with me?!" Domino exclaimed while her Liepard and Roserade stood next to her.

"Well, it does look like the smack of reality that Ash gave you wasn't quite enough." Millis crossed her arms while Aegislash and Chesnaught stood by her side. "I'll have to give you another one it seems."

While the scene unfolded, a group of Team Rocket Members quickly grouped around the two girls to watch the fight, including Jessie, James and Meowth.

"What's going on now?" Meowth asked jumping to James' head to get a better look of the battle.

"It seems like the new girl from Kalos is challenging Domino." James said. "It's like a Mashindano."

"If that's the case then the Kalos girl better win." Jessie rolled her eyes. "Someone has to put Domino in her place."

"Liepard-!"

"Aegislash-!"

"Enough." An Hyper Beam suddenly was shot and exploded between the two girls' Pokemon, everyone then looked to where the attack came from and saw Giovanni and her Persian simply staring around, some grunts left the scene and returned to their business, while others along the higher-ranked agents decided to stay and see what would happen. Giovanni simply sighed and walked to Domino and Millis. "...Do I have to ask?"

"I-I'm terribly sorry about all this ruckus, Sir!" Domino exclaimed taking a bow.

"Meh, she was the one who started." Millis pointed at Domino. "But here she is, I brought her in one piece, just like you asked, Boss."

"Hmm... good work, Millis." Giovanni replied. "It seems I wasn't wrong in trusting your record."

"R-Record?" Domino stuttered while Millis stuck out her tongue to her.

"Now, Domino..." Giovanni looked at her. "I watched some of the situation on the television, but why don't you tell me what happened in Alola?"

"Uh, of course, Sir, I'll have a report ready by the end of the day." Domino answered.

"No, no reports." Giovanni said. "Tell me what happened, right now."

"Right here? In front of everyone?" Domino asked.

"Don't tell me you have stage fright." Giovanni said.

"N-No, of course not, Sir."

"Then go ahead, nobody here is going to interrupt you, not even me."

"Well... I-I made it to Alola yesterday and I met with Faba, later I released Stinger and we began the preparations..." Domino looked around for a moment and seeing how everyone was simply staring at her she continued. "We activated the portals today in the morning and the invasion began, b-but we didn't expect Ash Ketchum to be there, his friends and him began to fight back and motivated the civilians to do the same, eventually Stinger challenged Ash to a single match claiming he'd stop the invasion if Ash won, I-I imagine you saw Ash did, in fact, win the fight, but Stinger didn't respect his word, the battle continued, the Tapus got involved and...and I retired, Sir..."

"Is that it?" Giovanni asked.

"Y-Ye-"

"Uh... you're not gonna tell him the rest?" Millis interrupted.

"The rest?" Giovanni said.

"That part when she was spying on Ash and went to threaten his friends, almost killing one of them, but then her staff was disabled and Ash almost killed her instead." Millis explained while Domino simply looked down. "That's the part where I come in and pull her out of there."

"...And why didn't you tell me that yourself, Domino?" Giovanni asked.

"I-I didn't consider it relevant for the mission, Sir." She stuttered.

"Hmm... Very well, if that's the case then I guess I just have one thing to ask you." Giovanni took a few steps closer to Domino. "Why did you decide to attack Ash and his friends?"

"I-I just thought..."

"You thought what?" Giovanni interrupted her. "If Millis explained everything right, then that means you were the one who revealed yourself to them, they didn't know you were there, they didn't know Team Rocket had a part in that invasion, but now that you showed up they're totally aware we helped Faba, who seems to have been captured and will definitely confess everything like the rat he is, and even if doesn't, it's just a matter of time before the authorities connect the dots to the Team Galactic Incident, they'll soon strengthen their investigations against us and it's all thanks to you."

"I...I guess I didn't think about that." Domino said.

"Is this really my second-in-command?" Giovanni walked around her while Domino could feel everyone's stares over her. "Someone who lets a personal grief get in the middle of the work and ends up destroying a whole operation?"

"I didn't destroy the operation!" Domino suddenly shouted at Giovanni and then covered her own mouth I disbelief. "I mean, I only went for Ash after he had already stopped Stinger and he sent back the Ultra Beasts, the operation was already over; And this is no personal grief! I did that for all those times he has gotten in Team Rocket's way! I wanted to make him pay!"

"... Believe me, I want Ash to suffer as much as everyone else here." Giovanni sighed. "So if you had managed to actually do something, then maybe I wouldn't feel so disappointed, but not only you acted without orders, Ash also defeated you, again, you couldn't do anything, so this mission was a total failure, so you can forget about those explanations you wanted."

"Maybe the mission wouldn't have been a failure if you had told me what the fuck was going on!" Domino shouted again. "I-I mean, how come Faba knew more about the mission than me?! Why did you trust the King's Credential's technology to this poncho girl?! Why can't you just tell me any of that?!"

"If I don't tell you, is because I received a very good advice from someone." Giovanni answered.

"From who?!" Domino exclaimed. "I'm your second-in-command! Whose advice could be more important than mine?!"

"...As I told you, you're second, you're not in place to do exigencies, especially not after this, and much less in front of the Team." Giovanni suddenly grabbed Domino's wrist. "After all, you know what happens to the people who disrespect me, don't you?"

"Y-Yes... of course I know, Sir." She stuttered.

"Yes, you do, but neither of us wants that." Giovanni said letting go off her. "And you did send us Faba's dimensional tracker blueprints before it all went straight to hell, the portals also worked, so I suppose this wasn't a total loss to an extent, for old times sake, I'm gonna let this one slide... but not completely."

"How so?" Domino asked.

"I'm lowering your rank." He answered and everyone in the scene gasped. "From now on, you're back to being a mere grunt."

"What?! B-B-But Sir! It took me years of work to get where I am now! And I've worked harder than anyone else to make it! Y-You can't just push me all the way down because of a failed mission." Domino exclaimed.

"Yes, I can, and I hope that a few more years will help you think about what you've been missing." Giovanni answered. "Or tell me, Domino. Do you want to leave Team Rocket? Do you want to be like Mars and abandon an organization that has given you everything, that has turned you into what you are today?"

"...No, I-I don't want to, Sir." Domino lowered her sight again.

"Of course you don't, after all, where could possibly go?" Giovanni asked. "Who would accept someone who was done such terrible things?"

"... No one, Sir." She answered.

"Then keep that in mind, Grunt." He glared at her one last time before leaving the scene, while everyone else began to mutter.

"Geez, that was rough, even for him." Millis said. "But hey, you could be my sidekick now."

Domino simply took off her hat and began to walk away to her room inside the building, still feeling how everyone was staring at her.

"Oh my, the boss really humiliated her in front of everyone." James said.

"Yeah, it's kinda sad." Meowth said.

"Yes, but you boys have to look at the positive side of things." Jessie said. "If Domino is down to a mere grunt then that means we're a quarter of rank above her now! We're now her superiors! I'll make her suffer! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Meanwhile in the Hall of Origins.

"This planet never runs out of trouble, does it?" Zacian asked after they had watched the fight against Stinger from the hall along other few Legendary Pokemon.

"At least they could handle it." Zamazenta added. "I'm just glad the Tapus decided to help."

"Would have been pretty hypocrite if they didn't." Solgaleo said.

"Right, Nebby, uh? Shouldn't Lunala and you have gone to help them as well?" Zacian asked. "Like, that is your region."

"Sure, it is, but I was waiting until it was absolutely necessary, you know I'm still getting used to the whole thing of being a legendary." Nebby said. "And what about you? Any luck with your sacred objects?"

"None at all." Zamazenta answered. "And it's starting to worry me, we don't have that much time left and Ash doesn't seem to be making much progress with that topic either."

"Hey, take it easy. Ash has been in... quite the situations recently, I'm sure he'll find the time." Solgaleo said. "Also, you can count me and Lunala too to help when Eternatus shows up, we'll also try to convince the Tapus."

"Thanks a lot, Nebby." Zacian said. "Anyone who helps is an advantage for us."

"No probs." The lion nodded. "Still, I'd prefer if Ash stays in Alola for now, I'd like to give him a visit later... and Ultra Beats are really resilient...I honestly think this is far from over."

Meanwhile in the World of the Lightbane.

Stinger was now inside a pitch black room, which had many white spots resembling stars on the roof, walls and floor, at the end of the room there were three giant thrones, in the left throne there was a red Solgaleo, on the right one a crimson Lunala, while a dark blue Necrozma was floating over the middle throne, the three of them staring at the shiny Naganadel.

"Very well, General..." The Necrozma started to talk. "You wish to explain yourself?"

"The humans of that earth... they are not the cowering wretches we were promised." Stinger answered. "They stand. They are unruly and fought back, I suppose our forces weren't expecting such a resistance."

"So you were defeated... by a child." The Necrozma continued.

"...Yes, I was, my Lord." Stinger lowered his head.

"Hmp, so this is what my strongest general is capable of?" Necrozma asked. "You know? I've always heard your reports of the invasions, but I just never find the time to be there and see you in action, must have been a tough fight."

"Yes... it definitely was." Stinger nodded. "I apologize, it won't happen again, please don't be distressed because of this."

"I don't get distressed..." Necrozma let out a chuckle that echoed in the whole room. "But I am... quite hungry."

"Uh... L-Listen, my Lord, I know we've talked about this before, but if you were to, ehem, help me, with a little of your powers then I'm sure our next attempt will be successful."

"You'd like a small sample of my power?" The Necrozma floated until it was right in front of Stinger.

"Of course, if it isn't too much trouble, my Lord."

"...Very well." The shiny Necrozma suddenly stabbed Stinger with his claws and the body of the Naganadel was absorbed inside of his prisms.

"Hmm... maybe I was a little distressed... and that's the worst light I've tasted in a while, but well, I suppose he wasn't the right man for the job." Necrozma then looked at Poipole who had been floating from afar and looked at the whole scene. Necrozma then approached and patted his head while Poipole trembled in fear.

"Poipole! Great news!" The Necrozma talked in a surprisingly cheerful tone. "You have been promoted. You're in charge of our armies now. Huh? Not bad. Now tell me, General, what are your thoughts on this invasion?"

"L-Lord Radeus, I advise you to remain on your guard." Poipole said. "This Earth...It appears different from the countless worlds we have invaded. They defeated our forces with... rather ease."

"That's what it looks like... and our alliance with Team Rocket and Faba wasn't of much use..." Necrozma sighed. "Tell me, how is our other human visitor?"

"He's finally recovering from his comatose state." Poipole answered. "Although the lectures seem to show a case of memory loss."

"Hmm, we can work with that, we just need to scratch a little inside of him." Necrozma replied. "Let's hope he can be of better help for us... Now please leave, Poipole, I must talk with my advisors. I'd also appreciate it if you tell our armies about what happened here."

"O-Of course, my Lord..." Poipole nodded and left the room, while Necrozma looked at the Solgaleo and Lunala.

"So, should we prepare ourselves to lead a new invasion?" The Lunala asked.

"Not for now, our people need to rest after all." Necrozma answered. "Let the humans have this victory."

"So you want to give them a false sense of security?" The Solgaleo asked.

"Eh... more or less." Necrozma said. "I really doubt that this Ash Ketchum will be able of standing against us three, but even then I want to try something less severe first... So my people is unable of facing some primates? ...fine... I'll do it myself."