Goh lay on the ground in pain, Raboot right beside him breathing heavily. They had been lobbing Embers at it for a while now, with Goh being able to stop Z2 from wreaking havoc upon the city. He was confused as to why it was attacking them, as Ash had told him that Zygarde was on their side now.
He didn't have time to question the motives of the beast in front of him, however, as Z2 began snarling and making its way towards Goh. The beast got in a pouncing position, forcing Goh to grab Raboot in an attempt to protect him from whatever Z2 was about to do to them.
"Use Flamethrower!" A feminine voice rang out as Z2 jumped into the air towards Goh. It was hit and thrown off course to the side, causing Goh to look up in shock. What was that? He thought to himself as a hand extended down towards him in an inviting manner. He grabbed it and used it to pull himself up off the ground.
"Thanks," he said, shaking his head to regain his posture. He looked over and was happy to see that the person that had saved him was Serena. "No problem," she said with a smile, Braixen coming up behind her after delivering a powerful Flamethrower to the injured Z2. "How did you know that I was in trouble?" Goh asked. Serena shrugged her shoulders. "You said you'd be late right as we heard about Zygarde, so we assumed you'd be here," Serena explained.
"We?" Goh repeated, looking behind her shoulder. It was Chloe, running over to the group with a worried look on her face. "Sorry that we didn't come sooner!" She exclaimed as she caught up to the two. Looking over at Z2, her face morphed into shock. "What is that thing?" She asked as Goh stood in front of her defensively.
Raboot hopped in front of Goh, standing beside Braixen in a fighting stance. "Why is Zygarde doing this?" Goh asked Serena, confused. She frowned and shook her head. "I have no idea," she said quietly. "It was supposed to be calmed down after..." she whispered to herself, recalling the events of the crisis and how both cores were supposed to be free from Team Flare's control.
Goh analyzed the Pokemon to try to understand its rampage. In between the flames, he saw a small shine of metal alongside the glowing of a green dot. Realizing that was probably the answer to Zygarde's anguish, Goh determinedly came up with a plan.
"Hey, Raboot!" Goh exclaimed, getting Raboot's attention. Raboot turned around and stared at Goh in anticipation. "You see that thing that's around Zygarde's neck?" Goh asked, pointing at Z2. Raboot nodded in response. "I want you to kick your rock at that thing as hard as you can!" Goh exclaimed, earning a nod from Raboot as it fished its rock from its pocket and began kicking it mid-air, lining up the shot.
"Ra! Boot!" Raboot exclaimed, slamming its foot into the rock and sending it towards Z2's neck at full force, straight into the strange device around its neck. There was a clang, causing Z2 to yelp. The rock had landed directly on the device, proven by the massive dent where the green light was before it was hit. It was pretty clear that the device had stopped working, as Z2 had calmed down and was laying on the ground in mild pain.
Goh began walking towards it, only to be pulled back by Serena. "Wait, hold on," Serena said anxiously, not taking her eye off of Z2. It began to move slightly, giving a small roar before glowing before their very eyes. "What's happening?" Goh asked curiously, watching the white light surround Z2. Serena had a feeling she knew what was happening, but stayed quiet as they watched Z2.
The white light dissipated, and Goh watched in surprise as small green cells began jumping out of Z2's body, disappearing into the woods. A small, fragile Zygarde core sat on the ground, the device broken right beside it. Goh ran up to the core and grabbed it, realizing that it was in pain and needed recovery. "Is it okay?" Goh asked Serena, who walked over to help Goh.
"I think so," Serena said, kneeling next to him. "Something similar happened a while ago, so it should be fine," she explained to Goh, who nodded at her explanation. "I'm just wondering why it was attacking..." Serena mumbled to herself. "It was probably that device," Goh suggested, picking up the remains of the thing that was wrapped around Z2's neck.
"Yeah, it was," a feminine voice said behind them. Goh and Serena whipped their heads around and were met with something that made them angry. It was S, Serena's clone, making an appearance from behind a tree. "It controlled the core," she explained with a defeated tone in her voice. Goh stood up and Raboot hopped in front of him. "What are you doing here!?" He exclaimed with a level of annoyance in his voice.
S sighed and shrugged her shoulders. She frowned and said, "It doesn't matter if you guys turn me over to Officer Jenny or whatever. None of it matters anymore." Chloe walked over and stood beside Goh defensively. "What are you talking about? And why do you look like Serena?" She asked accusingly. Serena stayed silent, not able to process what was in front of her.
Goh looked back at Serena and realized what was happening. He and Chloe had fought back in Anistar City about whether to tell Serena about her clone and had ultimately decided not to do so. Unfortunately, that meant whatever emotions she could've had time to process were all coming in one big wave, and Goh was worried that would be too much. "Serena, it's... hard to explain," he said, trying to get her attention but failing to do so.
"It's not hard to explain," S interjected matter-of-factly. "I was created to look like her," she said pointing at Serena. "But who created you?" Chloe asked, wanting to know more. S frowned and shook her head. "You'll find that one out later if what he told me was correct," S said, her head facing the ground. "What do you mean?" Goh asked, finding the personality of S to be the opposite of when they encountered her earlier.
S pulled out the device that allowed her to teleport everywhere. "I had a conversation with him after he told his counterpart everything, so maybe he can explain everything to you guys," S said, walking towards the three. Goh stepped in front of the two girls and stared at S. "Who is he?" He asked determinedly, his patience dwindling. "Ash's counterpart. Just like Serena is my counterpart, Ash has one, too," she answered.
"Ash has a counterpart, too?" Serena whispered, confused as to what was happening. Everyone had lived with the knowledge of this clone for a while, except for Serena. S nodded and said, "Yeah, and he's with Ash right now, so now would be the best time to visit him." Goh's eyebrows furrowed. "Wait, we're gonna go visit Ash? Where is he?" He asked with a hint of excitement.
Chloe and Serena both looked at each other excitedly. Chloe knew how much Serena cared for Ash, so the fact that they were possibly about to see him was unbelievable. "You can take us to Ash?" Serena asked S, who nodded. "But Serena, what about the Performance?" Chloe asked. "It's tomorrow morning, it can always wait," Serena responded, staring ahead at S.
"Why are you helping us?" Goh asked S, who shrugged again. "I was just told a lot of things by Ash's counterpart about my master. My entire life has been working for this person, so for it to suddenly all be a lie is a bit weird," S explained, messing with the device so that it would teleport to Ash's location. "So someone close to you lied?" Goh responded, summarizing what S just said. S slowly nodded and whispered, "Something like that."
A click was heard from the device, signifying that it was ready. "Just click this button and you'll be teleported to Ash," S said, handing the device to Goh and walking away from the group. "Aren't you coming with us?" Goh asked, watching as S turned her back and continued walking into the woods. She stopped momentarily. "My entire life has just been changed, so I have no reason to go back to anyone that was a part of that life," she explained.
"I figured I'd find the answer to why I'm here on my own," she added before walking again into the woods and out of the group's sight. Goh stared at the device in his hands then at the two girls. "So what do we do?" He asked the two, who stared at him in disbelief. "It's pretty obvious, Goh," Serena responded shockingly. "We've got to press that button!" She exclaimed, with Braixen nodding in agreement.
Goh turned to Chloe. "Same with you?" He asked. Chloe nodded. "He's our friend. Why shouldn't we see him again?" She said, forcing Goh to contemplate. "I just think he left for a good reason," Goh retorted back. "Maybe we should respect his reasoning," he explained, earning dirty looks from both of the girls. "Regardless of why he left, we should still see him again, right?" Chloe said in a demanding manner.
Goh didn't want to see Chloe get mad, as he knew that at a certain point, her anger could surpass anything he'd ever seen. "Ok, ok, ok," he quickly said. "We'll go see Ash." Both girls smiled and grinned at each other in excitement. Goh held out the device and suggested that they all press the button together, to which they agreed. "3...2...1...Go!" He exclaimed as they all pressed down on the red button and felt themselves being transported to a new location.
In the Ninja Village, Ash and A sat by each other near the tree that A had been hiding behind. A had explained everything, starting from his first memory all the way up to Aaron locking him in the cage. Ash had been silent for the past few hours, seemingly taking in all the information as A presented it to him.
"What I don't understand," Ash suddenly said, startling A. "Is why he never tried to talk to me." A could tell that Ash was not only shocked by this recent information but also hurt by his father failing to be there for him. "He said that Giovanni would've just targeted you and your mom," A answered honestly, vividly remembering the conversation in that dark room where he was held captive by the iron bars.
Ash sighed and mumbled something unintelligible to A, so he kept quiet and let Ash process. In front of them were village kids playing with a group of Pokemon, a sight that A noticed Ash was smiling at. "Looks like fun, huh?" A said, staring at the kids playing. Ash nodded and sighed again, thinking about the situation.
The kids suddenly ran away, causing Ash to be concerned. "What happened?" Ash said, standing up alongside A. "I have no idea, but it looks like something scared them," A responded, both of them beginning to run over to the location. Three people were laying on the ground on top of each other. "Those people weren't there before?" A said, noticing some familiarities in them.
Ash continued running and stopped once the three people began to get up. "That's cause they weren't there before," Ash whispered to himself, unable to believe who was in front of him. All three people looked around before their gaze fell on Ash, smiling as they made eye contact with him. "Those are my friends!" He exclaimed happily, running over to reunite with them once again.