Welcome back!

Have fun with the new chapter.

Here a little side note: I just re read this story and realized that I made a 'small' mistake. I said that Ash was ten years old. Because this story is set in Advance Generation and because of a fanmade timeline I find reasonable Ash would be actually 12 years old. I will edit the chapters soon and set things right.

Disclaimer: Pokemon is not mine (Sadly...)

The 'rescue squad' was still tied up in the darkened room and the 'grown ups' – namely Jessie and James – were starting to get restless.
"I can't believe we're tied up again!" Jessie complained while tugging uselessly at her ties. "How come it's always us who get in this kind of mess? What did we ever do to deserve such a fate?!"
"Maybe if you lots weren't so utterly incompetent you would have more success." Giovanni grumbled.

Those idiots were seriously starting to get on his nerves. If he was to be tied up in this room for much longer he would break free from his ties by sheer will power just to silence those morons.

"But boss" James now started to argue. "It is not our fault those twerps always get in our ways!"
"Look who you're talking about." May sneered angrily. "If you're too stupid to take care of four kids you're really hopeless."
"You know" Meowth suddenly spoke up and interrupted the lovely conversation. "It would help my concentration a great deal if you could be a bit quieter. Thank you very much."
"What do you need to concentrate on?" Max asked curiously.

There was a beat of silence before they heard the ripping of rope.

"What the…" Jessie started but Meowth interrupted her.
"While you were busy panicking I tried to cut my ties with my claws." Meowth explained with obvious smugness in his voice.
"Oh, Meowth, you're a genius!" James praised the little cat Pokémon.
"I know, it's a gift." Meowth replied self-satisfied.
"Well, hurry up and free us!" Giovanni ordered impatiently.

Now that they had a chance he couldn't wait to finally find Ash and let Zane pay for his actions.
He didn't know why his old rival suddenly decided to appear again but Giovanni knew whatever it was it couldn't be good – And if the leader of Team Rocket knew one thing than that he didn't want to endanger his son who didn't even knew about.

Quickly Meowth cut the ties around Giovanni's hands and feet and then the Pokémon proceed to free James, Jessie and the children.
Giovanni stood up and went to the door to check the look. Like he had expected it was locked and immediately he checked his pockets when he froze.

'Oh, you stupid…' Giovanni thought angrily when he remembered that he hadn't took any of his Pokémon with him except for Persian – his loyal companion.

"Damn it" He cursed.
"What is it, boss?" Jessie asked behind him.
Giovanni ignored her and directed his attention to Ash's friends.
"Do you still have your Pokémon with you?"

Immediately Brock and the girl began to check their pockets.
"Oh, great, they're still all here!" The girl exclaimed happily and looked up to the older boy. "What about you, Brock?"
The teenager nodded: "Yes, that's good. I guess they didn't waste time to search our pockets when they had tied us up."
"Finally we have some luck." The bespectacled boy added grinning.
"Let's not waste any more time." Giovanni said and swiftly turned back to the door. "It's time to find Ash."

The man took a poke ball out of his pocket and summoned Persian.
"Oh, not you again…" Meowth grumbled behind him but Giovanni ignored him.
"Persian, break down this door!" He ordered.
The graceful feline did a quick job with her attack iron tail and the sturdy metal door was no more.
"Good job." Giovanni praised his partner and stepped out in the corridor.

Everything was quiet and it seemed that the building was empty. Giovanni had the feeling that something was clearly wrong. They had to find Ash as quick as possible.
"Pikachu!" The yellow mouse Pokémon suddenly shouted out and Giovanni looked down in surprised.
"Have you picked up Ash's trail?" He asked hopefully.
Pikachu smiled at him encouragingly: "Pika!"
"Perfect! Lead the way."

Pikachu wanted to start running when Persian got in his way.
Confused the little mouse looked up at the bigger Pokémon.
"Meow…" Persian said and crouched down.
The electric Pokémon looked surprised for a moment before it happily jumped on the back of the feline.
Persian stood up and Pikachu motioned down the corridor.
"Meow" Persian replied and took off in a fast tempo.
"Hurry!" Giovanni said to the others before he ran after the Pokémon.

"Oh, man, this is getting boring." Ash sighed as he opened another door to another empty room.
"How am I ever gonna find Pikachu and the others? I sure hope they're okay…"
Suddenly he heard quick feet steps around a corner and the boy started to panic.

'Damn it… they found me…' He thought scared and rushed to hide behind another corner.

Nervously he grabbed the piece of wood tightly in his hands, ready to fight at all costs.
He wouldn't let himself be caught a second time. No, he wouldn't let Zane this satisfaction!
His followers rounded the corner and came to a stop. Ash held his breath and waited.
Suddenly there was a sound he would recognize everywhere.

"Pika…"
"Pikachu?" Ash asked surprised and looked around the corner.
His yellow partner caught his eyes and shouted excitedly.
"Pikachu!"
"Oh, man, I'm glad you're okay, pal!" The twelve-years-old exclaimed and went to his friend.
The mouse Pokémon jumped off of a Persian into the arms of his trainer.
Happily Ash embraced his partner and held him tight. He was so glad Pikachu was okay. Now he just needed to find Brock and the others. Then he would take care of Zane.

"But Pikachu" Ash said when he let go of his Pokémon who immediately went to sit on his shoulder. "Who is this?" He pointed at the Persian.
It was unusual to see such a Pokémon in Hoenn.
"Meow." Persian said and held up his paw for Ash to take.
Surprised Ash took hold of the paw: "Hey, I'm Ash. Did you save Pikachu?"
Persian miaowed again and looked at Ash as if it recognized him.
"Do… do we know each other?" Ash asked confused when he saw Persian's gaze.
Why did he have this feeling that he knew this Pokémon?

"Ha-ha, come, play with me!" The little four-years-old shouted grinning and chased after the little Meowth.

The feline Pokémon was anything but amused by the little human child. Meowth jumped onto the balustrade of the patio and looked down on the black haired kid with a scowl.

"Oh, don't you wanna play?" Little Ash asked confused and sad.

"Meow." The Pokémon answered before it lay down on the banister to sleep.

"She doesn't like all this excitement, you know, Ash?" A deep voice behind him answered before Ash was scooped up by a pair of strong arms. "But this doesn't mean she doesn't want to play with you. Just be more affable with Meowth."

"Okay, dad" Ash answered and snuggled deeper into the embrace of his beloved dad…

With a gasp of surprised Ash broke free from this sudden memory. What was that?

"Persian?" Ash asked confused and looked down at the feline.
Persian gazed at him with a serene expression before she bumped her head against his leg.
Unsure of the situation Ash petted Persian's head and the cat miaowed in content.

"Ash!"
'The young trainer startled at the loud voices of his friends.
"Hey, Ash, are you alright?" Brock asked him concerned and stopped in front of him.
"Yes, I'm fine." Ash replied still a bit out of it. "What about you guys? Everything alright with you?"
"Yes, we're fine." May answered. "Did that scary guy hurt you?"
"Scary guy…?" Ash asked confused before he realized. "Oh, you mean that douchebag with the scar?"
"Exactly." Max replied.
"No, he didn't hurt me. He just really got on my nerves." Ash explained. "Can't wait to see him again. He won't know what hit him."
"I don't think it would be a good idea to see him again." May said. "We should get out of here as fast as we can."
"I can't go!" Ash argued. "He still has all of my Pokémon and I won't let this guy get away with kidnapping me."
"But Ash" Brock tried to reason. "We should get back to Haven City and inform Officer Jenny. Let her deal with those criminals."
"No!" Ash shouted angrily.

He couldn't explain his wrath but he wanted to face Zane himself. There were still so many questions and only Zane could give him the answers. He knew that Brock was probably right and that it was dangerous but Ash just didn't care.

"But Ash…" Brock started again and sighed deeply.
That was the side of his friend the former gym leader didn't like to see. This rough, reckless and angry side of Ash Ketchum. He didn't see this Ash often but the few times in the past that he did see him had been more than enough.
And now that he knew where those traits of his personality were from he hated it all the more.

"You want to get one on Zane, kid? Then I'm with you." A deep voice behind Brock suddenly spoke up.

Startled Ash looked behind his friends and saw no other than the boss of Team Rocket in the flesh.
"What are you doing here?!" Ash asked angrily.
"We're trying to save you, you ungrateful twerp!" Jessie barked beside Giovanni.
"Won't be trying that again." James added and folded his arms across his chest.
"Sorry for the inconvenience." Meowth sniffed sourly.
"What?" The boy asked confused.

What was it with Team Rocket and their crazy rescue schemes whenever he was in real danger?

"You heard right." Giovanni said and looked at him with an unreadable expression. "Now, do you want our help… or not?"
Ash and Giovanni gazed at each other for a few minutes.

Now that they were both together Brock had the chance to really look at them. It was frankly pretty disturbing how alike they were. The same dark, passionate eyes, the same unyielding expression, the same stubborn personality.

'I guess the genetic question is answered then.' Brock thought and sighed silently.

"Why should I trust any of you?" Ash finally asked and looked challenging at Giovanni.
"Oh god" The boss of Team Rocket chuckled. "Don't do that. Never trust anyone."
Surprised Ash blinked. Why did he have such a bizarre déjà-vu?
"Whatever" He finally said. "I guess I can get any help I can. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?"
"Certainly." Giovanni replied and a strange satisfied smile appeared on his face.

Why did it feel to Ash as if he had just passed some kind of test? Man that was weird as hell…

"Right." Ash said again before he looked to his friends. "Where to now? Do you guys have some kind of map or something?"
"Unfortunately not." Brock replied and tried to figure out how they were going to find Zane in this giant building.
"Meow!" Persian suddenly exclaimed and startled the humans.
"W-what's up?" Ash asked confused.
Persian sniffed at the ground before she looked first at Ash than at Giovanni and miaowed again.
"Brilliant." Giovanni praised his partner. "You still remember Zane's scent, do you, Persian."
The feline miaowed in reply.

"Remember?" Meowth asked confused. "How can Persian remember that guy's scent? It was in his poke ball at the time, wasn't it?"
Persian ignored her fellow cat Pokémon and pointed with one paw down a corridor before she once again looked up to Ash.

Thoughtfully Ash mustered the feline. Even though Persian was the Pokémon of the boss of Team Rocket the young trainer somehow knew that he could trust her.
"Okay." He finally decided. "Lead the way, Persian."
"Meow…" The cat replied and darted down the corridor.
"Hurry!" Ash said to the others and followed Persian.