Watching the back of Ash and group leave the village and head back in the forest to search for Celebi, Towa was touched.
"Excuse me, is that the forest where Celebi is said to have sighted many times?"
Towa and her granddaughter Diana, turned to look behind. A red haired woman, beautiful and detailed, stood with a camera in her hands.
"It is. Are you here to see Celebi as well?"
Towa asked. Delighted by what she heard, the red haired woman, Aima, thanked the old lady and the young girl.
As she was about to follow behind Ash and group, she heard Towa mutter about a familiar individual trainer.
"What's going on today? The young boy and his Charizard also went into the forest. Did everyone catch wind about Celebi's return?"
'Young boy? A Charizard? Could it be him?'
Aima stopped her steps and faced Towa and Diana again. She quickly pulled out a notebook and flipped pages one after another.
"Could the young boy be him?"
She held the notebook and passed it to them. On one side of the page was a drawing of Kota, staring seriously at the viewers.
"Yes, it's him. Do you two know each other?"
"Kind of. Anyways, did he also go into the forest?"
"Just this morning. Maybe you two can meet in the forest."
"Okay. Thank you very much."
* * *
Soon, traveling in the forest, Ash and group saw the destruction wreaked by the Iron-Masked Marauder's giant mech.
Trees broken down, bushes set on fire and ground totally unleveled. It was frightening.
Not long, Sam and Ash found where Celebi was hiding. However, the Time Travel Pokemon appeared not to want their help, sending out vines to get them away from it.
Pikachu prepared to ThunderShock it, but Sam prevented Pikachu from doing so. After some time, Ash and Sam were able to, together, soothe Celebi and bring it with them.
Boom!
A small smoke bomb blasted in front of the group, filling their sight with smoke.
Team Rocket revealed themselves with their iconic motto, but all it took was for Wobbuffet to come and break the tree branch they were on.
Break!
"Ahhhhhh!"
Thud!
The fall didn't look so good.
"Do you think they are gonna be okay?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
Sam asked in worry, staring at Team Rocket. Misty responded to him with a slightly disappointing tone, clearly showing how she wanted Team Rocket to leave forever.
On their path, just as Ash said that the town where the old woman and Diana live together was close, the Iron-Masked Marauder arrived on his gigantic mech.
"I have been looking for that little Celebi. Hand it over to me now."
He declared loudly.
"Who the hell are you?"
"You don't need to know."
Iron-Masked Marauder called out his Tyranitar against Ash and the group. Tyranitar used Hyper Beam which nearly hit them.
The only reason they were able to escape was partly due to the intervention of Weezing's SmokeScreen.
* * *
Somewhere far in the forest, Kota sat on the ground and looked at the screen displayed by his bracelet.
On it was everything about the mech, the Iron-Masked Marauder was using. All the details were listed one after another.
One thing that he didn't really like about the mech was its design. With only four legs, it wasn't very scary.
"It needs to be bigger with six legs, only then will it appear more terrifying."
Since he didn't have anything to do, he called Birkang and asked about the updates on very project.
In the dark and misty forest, surrounded by thick and tall trees, Kota thought about his next actions. Was he to only stay in the shadows and watch as Ash and his friends fight against the Iron-Masked Marauder?
Or was he to interfere?
His mind was telling him to act quickly and approach them, also to catch a Celebi but his heart… it was asking him to not do anything.
In childhood he grew up with many anime and cartoon shows, Pokemon being one of his favorites. So there was a struggle in him, of not wanting to change the plot.
"But it's already too late."
He said in a low voice. Without any delay, Kota stood up and walked the path to search for Ash and the group.
In hopes of seeing one of the movies, scenes rolling before his eyes.
Passing the trees and bushes, he arrived past the center of the forest and finally found Ash leading his friends towards the Lake of Life.
After reaching the lake with the help of some wild pokemon, Sam carried Celebi and submerged it underwater slowly.
"Celebi, please be okay…"
Sam muttered sadly. Ash, Pikachu, Brock and Misty stood on the land with worried faces.
Sush.
Celebi swam in the water and let itself float under the light reflecting from the sun in the water.
It spread its arms and embraced the energy being delivered to it from the lake. While so its body started glowing in bright green light.
"Celebi!"
Surprised, the group gasped as Celebi opened its eyes and called them out with joy.
"Bi! Bi Bi!"
"Celebi! Haha!"
Sam chuckled and followed Celebi to the land. Flying in the air, Celebi continued to express its excitement and happiness.
"Bi! Bi!"
"Lake of Life? Oh right! The lake must have healed Celebi!"
Brock explained as his thoughts covered the information he had heard from various sources. The other nodded in understanding.
"All right!"
Ash grinned and jumped in the lake. Sam also reacted, he dropped his bag and jumped in the lake as well.
Underwater, the two swam alongside Celebi and witnessed the mind blowing world in blue. Tens of water pokemon came near them.
While all this happened, Kota stood behind a tree with his arms crossed over his chest. His dark eyes observed the surrounding area silently.
"Sir, there are new intruders coming towards this direction. About 10 vehicles."
"What? From where?"
"Sir, from the back. It seems they have crossed the forest from the back instead of coming from the side or front."
Ariya notified Kota about the new intruders approaching from the back. The distance was still far but with them on vehicles, it won't be long before they reach here.
"Send me the satellite images of these vehicles. Fast."
"Yes, sir."
Kota left from his spot and quickly advanced towards the direction where the vehicles were coming from.
'It's strange. This wasn't how the movie went. There shouldn't be any other party here. So who could they be?'
Bep! Bep!
"Sir, the images have been sent."
"Hm."
He raised his wrist and opened the screen. On it, three images of the vehicles were displayed from three slightly different angles.
They were armored and had huge tires. One of the ten, at the very front, was a vehicle that created a path for the others as it cut down anything in its path.
"I must stop them."
Kota called out Charizard and hopped on his back, the two made haste and flew towards the incoming vehicles.
Swoosh!
"Cha!"
Charizard flapped his wings faster and caught extreme speed in the air. Leaving behind gusts of wind he cut through.
"There! Get down."
Kota tapped on Charizard's shoulder, and asked him to get down on the ground before the people in the vehicles saw them both.
Grm! Grm!
The loud roars of engines and thunder of trees falling down resonated in the forest. From far, Kota narrowed his eyes and soon saw the vehicles zooming forward.
"Chaa!"
Beside him, Charizard clenched his fists and let out a small burst of flames from his mouth. He was ready to fight.
"No, it's unwise to battle them. We don't know anything about them and what they could be armed with. But still, be prepared to launch an attack at any moment."
"Cha."
Charizard nodded his head at Kota's command. While the two conversed, the vehicles neared and finally stopped.
"Huh?"
Confused and surprised, Kota lowered his head and tried to see if there was something special about that particular location.
But no matter what, he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. There were just trees, bushes and land, nothing more.
The vehicle doors opened, and one after another individuals got out of the armored cars and took their positions.
"Them again!"
Kota exclaimed. Even Charizard could recognize the clothes of those people.
They were from a secret organization.
Qeen, Jenny and another important looking man came to the front and looked around the woods.
Kota hurried and hid himself and Charizard behind the tree trunk. From this distance, he couldn't hear what they were talking.
Whatever the case was, he could tell that they brought no nice news to him.
And there was also something he needed to do…
"I have to kill those two!"
In the dark eyes of his, red light flashed brightly. Like a burning candle it lit the pitch black.
"Charizard, listen. None of them should survive today. All of them must die."
"Chaaa!"
Charizard could feel the bloodthirst and killing intent of Kota, and it made him feel crazily excited. His claws trembled and his eyes widened.
The fire on the end of his tail enlarged.