1 Minute Prior To Team Shadow's Appearance...

Serena was taking a slow walk along the forest edge when she saw Miette already waiting for her. She started jogging along the path, quickening her pace to get to Miette, who heard her footsteps and turned with a smile, greeting Serena warmly.

"Hey!" Miette said just as Serena stopped beside her.

"You wanted to talk? How was your day with Ash?" Serena asked. She couldn't make her interest in Ash more obvious if she tried. Miette was quite surprised that the other girls hadn't picked up on it. 

"Well, that's what I wanted to talk about" Miette sat on one of the bike rails, swinging her feet back and forth, looking up at the sky. The moon was slowly rising over the horizon, the sun setting over in the opposite direction. The contrast in light caused the sky to turn a mild orange colour and Miette was admiring it.

"Oh, ok. Talk away" Serena sat next to her and looked in the same direction. 

"The day was, quite bland, I guess that's one way of putting it" Miette admitted, with a light nod. Serena looked at her with one eyebrow raised. She was feeling quite interested, wondering how Ash could be 'bland'. "I suppose my motives for asking him to hang out with me today was due to our previous conversation"

"What about it?" Serena almost instantly replied. She didn't like the use of the word bland, feeling quite protective of Ash.

"No need to be so protective. Anyway, I said I didn't actually like Ash and it was more for your benefit, but then I, thought, maybe I do like him. That's why when I won, I had already decided on what I wanted. But after today, I can see that he isn't my type. We just don't mix well together"

Serena jumped for joy on the inside but continued to listen.

"So, I just want to warn you, try not to go shopping too much when you finally tell him how you feel" Miette winked at Serena, who turned bright red.

"Wh-" she began, but there was a shout in the forest. The shadows had grown even darker and Miette began to worry.

"Sounds like Ash, these shadows had been worrying me when we got here," Miette told Serena, who nodded. They both went running in but another voice stopped them.

"You girls alright?" it was Clemont, walking over.

"I think Ash is in trouble" Serena explained, looking at Clemont's side. "Where is Bonnie?"

"Oh, May's little brother, Max I think, was bragging about looking after May's Pokemon so she practically begged him to let her help" Clemont explained. "But that isn't important, what about this situation?"

"We need to help Ash!" Miette urged them both, making them jump.

"Yeah, yeah, alright! Jesus" Clemont said, recovering from the sudden shout. He went through the trees on the right side with Serena behind him and then Miette behind her. There was a flash of purple eyes behind Miette and then she disappeared like she was never there. Serena and Clemont shimmied up a tree to get a better view.

Meanwhile, Iris had been witnessing the whole confrontation from the start. She had heard voices and immediately hopped into a tree, waiting for a moment to help Ash.

Gary had decided to head into the city, to grab some things for his Gramps, when he came across Ash.

In The Present...

"Serena's right, where is Miette?" Clemont said, clearly confused by her sudden disappearance. 

"Are you sure she followed you?" Cilan asked for confirmation. 

"Yes, she was definitely right behind me, but now she is gone" Serena put her hands together and placed them on her chest. "I hope she is ok"

"Maybe she just got scared and ran home?" Misty asked casually. "Who cares really, so long as she is ok"

"Misty!" May moaned at her. "That is no way to think about a friend"

"May is right, we have to try and look for her," Dawn said in agreement.

"Well, I will be helping, Axew and I can search in the trees," Iris said, instantly jumping up onto a branch. She landed like a bird, literally sticking to the branch, as light as a feather.

Cilan came up, suddenly wearing a hat and having a magnifying glass at hand. He clicked his fingers and lifted his head slightly. "It's detective time!" he announced, preparing himself for an investigation.

"Does he keep those on hand?" Clemont asked, sweatdropping.

"Pika..." Pikachu answered him, also sweatdropping. 

"Ok, so when you last saw Miette she was behind you, but where?"

Serena walked over to the tree line they walked along and stood where she was. "Here"

"So there was only two ways she could've gone, this way" Cilan pointed back to the city. "Or this way" Cilan pointed to the left side of the forest, which would've been behind Miette.

"Can we use something to maybe check her location or something like that?" Dawn asked, thinking of possible solutions.

"I guess that is where I come in," Clemont said, pushing his glasses up his nose. "The future is now thanks to science!" he said, unravelling his bag. "Clemontic gear, on!"

Cilan turned around, sweatdropping just like Clemont did. "Does he keep those on hand? In his bag?" 

"Axew ew..." Axew replied, this time, scratching his head.

"I knew we would encounter a problem precisely like this one," Clemont said, pulling out his invention.

"Really?" Iris said, folding her arms in disbelief. Everyone looked on, too puzzled to even comprehend what was going on. Serena was preparing for the big boom, while Ash and Brock looked on with sparkling eyes, amazed by his creation.

"I call it the footprint tracker!" Clemont announced. There was no Bonnie around, but Misty nearly passed out as he said the name.

"I can tell you are not good with names..." she said, watching Clemont set up his device. He totally ignored her and carry on.

"If I just set this down here like so...It should pick up residual energy from Miette and then give us her location" Clemont studied the screen. 

"Wow! Science is so amazing" Brock and Ash said in unison.

"Hmm.. it seems the level isn't high enough" he pulled the lever to the max. Then, the machine began to shake. Miette's name popped up on the map for half a second, before the machine began to malfunction.

"Erm, is that supposed to happen?" Gary asked. He had been quiet the whole time, standing away from Ash's friends. Everyone stepped back but it was too late. BOOM! the machine exploded, covering everyone in soot and machine parts.

"I swear this one was going to work..." Clemont said weakly, laying down on the floor. 

"That's another one that goes boom..." Serena added, slowly getting up.

"Well, I got a small glimpse at her location. It seemed to be east, so that suggests she is still nearby and wrapped around from this way" Clemont pointed away from the city, in the second direction Cilan had deduced.

"Ok then, lets head east," Ash said, taking the lead

"Well, it was more east south-east," Cilan said, being precise.

"Sorry Mr. Perfection" Iris retorted, with a little grin.

"I want to find her as soon as possible, just the same as you guys" Cilan admitted, putting his magnifying glass away.

"Hey, Ash?" Gary came walking up beside him, carrying a Pokeball in his hand. "I'll be here to back you up if things go south"

"Thanks," Ash said, focusing on the path up ahead. The trees began to break, revealing a path that lead to a dark cave. They only had to walk for a minute before they found Miette. She was stood outside and instantly came running to the gang.

"Thank god you're ok!" Serena said with delight. Everyone began murmuring until a man in a black robe stepped outside of the cave.

"Consider that a little warning" his purple eyes flashed in the night, a sly grin curling across his lips. "Next time, you will battle us without question" the man walked back inside, but Ash wanted the last word.

"I will be waiting for the challenge because I am going to win!" Ash looked at Pikachu, who nodded, his eyes narrowing with determination. There was no reply in the cave, so everyone headed off.

"Why did they let you stand outside?" Cilan asked as everyone took a slow walk through the forest.

"Something about you guys having the ability to find me and like he said, it was a warning" Miette replied honestly, everyone slightly nodding in agreement. 

"He did show he was capable of forcing our hands pretty easily. We must keep our guard up if we are to be targeted by such a strange team" Cilan suggested. "The next time you walk through this forest, take someone with you, ok guys?"

Everyone nodded and murmured in agreement, settling the deal.

"We will handle this, right Pikachu?" Ash asked his buddy, who stood on Ash's shoulder and clenched his fist, clearly pumped up for a battle.

"Pika!" Pikachu said with a more violent sounding voice, wanting to battle now.

"Well, we can't handle anything right now, because they will only battle on their terms" Serena pointed out.

"Or take our Pokemon," Iris said, making everyone feel worried. Ash didn't seem bothered at all.

"That's why we go around in pairs from now on because then they will find it harder to take our Pokemon. We should also all keep one Pokemon out per team, to stay safe" Ash suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea," Misty said with surprise, placing her hands on her hips.

"I never thought I would see Ash come up with a decent idea in the middle of a worrying event," Dawn said, laughing a little. A few of the girls joined in with the laughs, but Serena and Miette didn't really understand. Miette never really saw Ash much during his journey, but Serena had the first-hand experience and he was always the one to come up with the ideas, although he never thought twice about anything.

"Well, I will go with Iris," Cilan said, picking his partner. "We have Axew, so that is also sorted"

"I will stick with Dawn" May picked her partner and smiled. "We can use Piplup"

"Sounds like a great idea, Piplup would love it" Dawn smiled back, wanting to be with May.

"Say, where is Piplup?" Ash asked, realizing she wasn't holding him like usual.

"At the daycare. I had to run a few girl errands, so I ended up leaving him there for the day" she explained before Serena stepped up.

"I will stick with Clemont and Bonnie. But what Pokemon shall we use?" Serena wondered, but Clemont had an idea.

"Luxray can act as a sort of guard dog" Clemont suggested and then Serena smiled.

"Great, lets do that!"

"I guess I will go with Brock because we always meet up after our day at the gyms," Misty said, turning to Brock. "Croagunk sound ok to you?"

"Sure," Brock said, with a slight frown. He knew now he couldn't advance on women with Croagunk around.

"We will have to go as a three" Miette said, walking up to Ash and Gary.

"Sure thing. Gary and I live in Pallet Town so we can pair up on the way through, then if we need to go through again we can go as a three" Ash suggested, then turning to Pikachu. "You will be up for keeping us safe, right buddy?"

"Pika!" Pikachu clenched a fist again and nodded.

"I will keep Slurpuff out as well," Miette said "There is three of us so two Pokemon stand a better chance"

"Sounds good to me" Gary sighed. He wasn't up for getting involved, but there wasn't much he could do now. "I gotta head into the city now, smell ya later Ash"

"Yeah, bye," Ash said as Gary walked off as casual as ever.

"I better get going now, so bye guys!" Ash decided, realizing he was a little late for dinner. He turned and broke off into a sprint, Pikachu following beside him.

"We all better get going then. I need to keep up the training for the tournament" May broke the moments silence after Ash had left. 

"Yeah, need to get stronger if I want to win!" Dawn declared with determination.

"Ok then, see you guys later!" Serena smiled and waved as everyone parted ways, heading in several different directions, but ultimately going through the same city. With the day drawing to a close, it meant there was now only 2 days until the tournament began!