Disclaimer: Pokémon is copyrighted property of Nintendo.

Authoress' Note: Stupid plot bunnies won't leave me alone :'D I should stop putting aside my other projects for things like this but… really couldn't stop this from happening!

The idea has been bothering me for quite a while now, so here it is hoping it will flow easier. I have most of it all writen down already, but I'm missing a few connecting dots here and there; which are being the vain of my existance when trying to convert all my notes into decent writing...

My main objective was to practice a certain narration style which I'm still green at, so bare with me, please.

If you wonder about the timeline, this is set sometime between episodes ten and fifteen of Sun and Moon.

Hope you enjoy the reading!


Chapter 1 'Plans in Motion'

The legends had been proven real, and Lysandre couldn't have been more satisfied. A faint smile grazed his lips as he admired the blazing red color of the crystal he and his team had just discovered. The ancient object shone with powerful flashes, as if something from within it was furiously fighting to come out.

"So this is Fenriar…" he spoke almost in a whisper. "Soon… we will find a way to set you free of your prison."

As his newly reformed team worked around him, installing equipment and taking notes, he looked away from the crystal in favor of gazing at the runes carved through the rocky walls of the chamber they were currently in; after months of search, he was finally here...

He had come a long way since his apparent demise at the mercy of Zygarde's power. Lysandre had made sure his existence had been erased from the planet. No one would go searching for a dead man after all.

With his ideals of eradicating humankind from the faces of the Earth as strong as ever, and knowing his original plan was no longer an option, he had dedicated the past months to re-planning and research. And so, tales of an ancient legend that spoke about Aura wars and sealed away evils had picked his curiosity.

"You really don't know what you are trying to unleash," a voice called behind him.

Coming back to the present, Lysandre turned around and chuckled. "Then we shall find out."

The one he was addressing was a pink talking Pokémon he had stumbled upon while visiting the Orange Archipelago. After a few minutes of conversation, he had judged the Slowking more knowledgeable than any other wise shaman he had encounter during his endeavors, so of course Lysandre made sure to bring it along.

The Pokémon frowned without saying another word, so Lysandre continued. "If the Aura Guardians that sealed Fenriar are as powerful as you described. And the struggle was as great as the legends tell… surely it will be a sight to behold."

"You need to understand," the Slowking started. "The Aura Guardians were protectors of the world. They had good reasons to do what they did. If you free this beast from its prison, you'll be condemning the world to chaos."

"Director, Sir!" The voice of one of his new recruits interrupted before he could give a reply. Unaware of this, the low rank grunt bowed in respect before continuing. "The research team from Cameran Kingdom has just arrived."

Lysandre's eyes glinted with something akin to excitement; his smile widening lightly.

"Very well," he dismissed his follower before turning back to the Slowking. "After you…"

The Pokémon knew better than to refuse.

As they walk out of the chamber, everyone fail to notice a Pikachu with unusual black patterns on its ears hiding back in the shadows and sneaking away…

Once out the rocky chambers, the yellow rodent ran through thick foliage a good distance away from the humans' camp. When it arrived at a clearing, the Pikachu called out to the tree tops above. It waited a few seconds before a Pidgeot answered its call descending to the ground.

A few alerted squeaks later, the flying type nodded in understanding before taking flight away from the island at full speed...

.:oOo:.

Back at the camp just outside the ruins, Xerosic was already waiting with an excited grin that could rival that of a Cheshire Cat. Behind him, two blue flowers in bulb form were encased in two separate containers. Lysandre didn't waste time in asking for a report regarding the expedition's outcome and findings.

"Unfortunately, no one in the kingdom had any information about Aura Guardians living as of today," the scientist began, making the Slowking feel momentary relieved by the news; without an Aura adept, they had no chances of breaking the seal after all.

"You don't look very disappointed," Lysandre observed with a passive tone.

"Doing a bit of research through the kingdom's precious Tree of Beginning, we stumbled upon these unique flowers that seem to only grow around that area," the scientist was fast to continue; his excitement was palpable. "As the legend tells, these flowers are capable of remembering events from the past. Aura Guardians used to be able to see fragments of time through them so they could learn what had transpired in the places where the flowers bloomed."

"That's an interesting concept. But I'm intrigued to know how it will help our cause."

"I'm sure you will find the memory recorded in this flower in particular very interesting," Xerosic mentioned as he nodded at the nearest one. "We can forget about finding that slippery Aura adept from Sinnoh… After all, he's not the only one who has inherited Aura abilities," this picked the Director's curiosity. "We just never noticed his true potential because he seems to not have developed them like his predecessors did…"

"Hm, you speak as if we know this person…"

Xerosic grin widen even more and nodded, before connecting the flower's capsule to a technological contraption on the desk. "Allow me to show you the memory within," he expressed as he turned the device on.

Soon enough, their surroundings were replaced by the ones within the memory, and as the events replayed before them, the Slowking's gasp of recognition went unnoticed. Lysandre's eyes grew wide with surprise, before letting out a hearty laugh of victory. It couldn't be called anything less than poetic irony, he thought. The piece he was missing was exactly one of the people who had contributed to his downfall...

"Do we have his current location?"

"As a matter of fact, yes we do."

"Perfect, prepare one of the airships. I'm heading out myself."

Xerosic's smiled turned malicious.

"This is bad…" the Slowking whispered to himself; a worried frown adorning his features.

.:oOo:.

Far from there, in one of the islands of the Alola Region, two young kids and their Pokémon were taking a quick excursion to the forest.

"Come on, Ash! Let's find the fruit I need, so we can head back in time for school!" Mallow was saying, as her little Bounsweet happily balanced on her shoulder.

"Coming, coming!" Ash answered with a sheepish grin as he left behind a nest of Pokémon he hadn't seen before; Pikachu tagging along with an amused grin. Taking excursions to the forest was always fun and exciting. He always found something new to learn and Rotom was always ready to share his knowledge.

"There is a twenty percent probability of finding the tree before we go too far, bzzt."

"Does that mean if we can't find it within that probability we'll be late to class?" Mallow asked a bit concerned.

"Let's step it up then! A possibility is still a possibility," Ash commented running ahead.

Mallow smiled feeling his enthusiasm contagious and ran to catch up.

The day before, Mallow had commented how her family's restaurant was lacking a certain berry used on most of their desserts recipes. The next stock was not coming for another week so she had placed it upon herself to find some. Figuring she might need a couple of extra hands to carry them back to town, she had requested Ash to accompany her early in the morning before classes started. Of course, Ash was fast to agree.

So here they were in the middle of the humid forest, making their way to a tree that most commonly grew in the deepest parts of it, where hardly any sunlight went through, according to Rotom.

As they went on their way, three individuals shadowed their steps from a safe distance, already plotting their next strategy to get ahold of a certain electric type Pokémon.

"Just the twerp and one twerpette today," Meowth commented in a hush.

"Let's just follow them until they reach the berry tree and then we'll grab both Pikachu and the fruit," Jessie suggested.

"Great idea!" James agreed. "We have yet to get breakfast and I am getting hungry."

With equally gleeful snickers, the three Rocket members continued on their endeavor; that is, until an extra presence made them all stop in their tracks; none of them believing what they were seeing.

"Why do we have to follow the brat around?" A woman with a very extravagant getup and very familiar sunglasses complained to another just a few bushes away. "Wouldn't it be easier to just knock him out and go? It's nothing we haven't done before…"

"Hey! Those ar-mph!"

"Shhh!" Meowth and James were fast to stop Jessie from finishing her loud remark and risking detection. Temporarily forgetting about their plan, they listened in to the two women conversation.

"Stop complaining about it. We were order not to engage until they were further away from the town," the second woman reprimanded. "Besides, the Director himself wants to deal with him personally first."

The three rockets exchanged confused looks.

"So the big carrot hair is alive?" Meowth asked incredulous.

"What would he want with the twerp?" James wondered.

"Maybe is just a vendetta? He and his friends did play an important part on their plan's demise."

"Whatever it is, we should keep an eye on them," Jessie decided as they continued to follow. "They are a threat to Team Rocket's ideals."

Unbeknown to any of the groups, a single eye was following their movements with a worried expression. The little green cell to which it belonged to, camouflaged out of sight as its main cell received the images it had just provided…

.:oOo:.

In the outskirts of Lumiose City, said main cell purred in worry before merging with a few cells on the area and transforming into its canine shape. Without wasting time, it ran towards the location of a certain blue ninja Pokémon.

Squishy had grown fond of the kids he had travelled with. Even if little Bonnie had been the one he had bonded with most, he still cared for all four of them, so when they said goodbye a few months ago, he made sure to get a cell to follow each of the children; that way, he could keep an eye on them. A wise move, Squishy thought as he ran faster. He was starting to wonder if it was possible for Ash to live through a single year without attracting some kind of trouble.

He soon reached a clearing, stopping just before a dark giant root crashed right where he would have been had he not stopped in time. He didn't have to do anything to defend himself though, as two different attacks came from opposite directions and obliterated the dark thorn.

From one side came Grenija, landing skillfully beside him. From the other side, a MegaLucario was just lowering his paws nodding in satisfaction.

"Way to go, Lucario! I can feel our power getting stronger and stronger!"

"Is this human always so noisy?" his partner Z2 asked the Lucario in question from a nearby tree.

Lucario gave an affirmative answer as if he was proud of such statement before joining Korrina in her celebration of victory. It had been a week since the young gym leader and her Lucario had come in search of growth. They could control Mega Evolution neatly now, but they said it was yet to be perfected, and couldn't find a better way to train than helping keeping everyone safe. Squishy wondered if hero complexes was a recurrent trait in humans.

Now with the danger taken care of, Squishy immediately gained their attention. Greninja was the first to notice, walking forward and asking what was wrong.

"It's your trainer," Squishy said shortly making Greninja tense.

.:oOo:.

Trouble had found said trainer in the shape of a small army of flying ships.

"Unidentified flying objects, bzzt!" the rotom pokedex yelled in excitement. "Scan confirms they are not pokemon, bzzt."

A flash of recognition passed through Ash's eyes the moment people started to descend from them. He shuddered, feeling a flashback coming, followed by a strong chill down his spine, not expecting to see a dead person standing right in front of him.

"A good day for a walk, wouldn't you agree?" a red-haired man, Lysandre, greeted the children as casual as if he had just stumbled upon them on a morning stroll.

Ash tensed looking guarded and ready for battle, not even acknowledging the man's words. Pikachu leaped to the ground in front of his trainer allowing small charges of electricity to spark threateningly through his pouches. Mallow herself was confused but somehow read the tension and kept her guard up with uneasiness creeping up her back.

Lysandre observed them with a calculating gaze before he spoke again.

"It's been a while, hasn't it, Ash? But I'm pleased to see you're still doing a marvelous job with your Pokémon," he stated as a way of breaking the ice. "Tell me, has Greninja gotten any stronger?"

"What do you want, Lysandre?" Ash was fast to ask, not fooled by the formalities, yet having half a mind to stop himself from asking how it was possible for the man to even be alive.

The man in question smiled unfazed by the rude tone, and decide to give an answer before the child got impatient and attack without giving any chances of talking some more.

"I merely wish to speak with you," he was acting casual, leading Mallow to wonder how someone that expressed themselves so politely could be so intimidating and menacing looking.

"Speak?" Ash was obviously confused by this, but suspicion won over his curiosity. "If it's another of your 'achieving peace through world destruction' speeches, there's nothing to talk about!"

"Pika!" Pikachu growled his agreement.

"What!? World destruction?" Mallow now knew where the dread feeling overwhelming her came from. Was this guy really that dangerous? What were they supposed to do now? It was obvious they were outnumbered and overpowered. She looked at her friend hoping for an answer and was surprised to see how focused he looked; not a trail of fear in his posture.

"I see you'll continue to decline my offer of peace," Lysandre said as he tossed a Poké Ball, releasing a menacing looking Gyarados from within it. "Though I admire your determination, I'm afraid you have no choice but to come along."

"Get ready, buddy!" Ash alerted Pikachu, receiving an affirmative yell. "Rotom..." he called next in a low whisper.

The sentient device flew nearer in attention, waiting for his assigned trainer to continue.

"I need you to head back to Professor Kukui and let him know what's happening and where we are."

Mallow's eye widen at his request. These people really meant trouble if Ash was being cautious instead of confidently charging ahead against them with no apparent plan.

"Bzzt! Roger!" RotomDex looked just as surprised, but was fast to accept his mission and flew away.

With that taken care of, Ash gave his full attention to the threat in front of them, already sensing the inevitable battle coming...