They finally made it to Anistar City, Mew was invisible flying around. "Okay, Mew. Don't go too far if you go by yourself. Just because your invisible doesn't mean you're invincible." Aichi warned whispering. Mew was having fun flying around the city. They made it to the Pokemon Center and there was a large group in there. Ash recognized all of them.
"Hey! Dawn, Brock, Misty, May, Max, Tracey, Iris, Cilan." Ash called. Paul, Barry and Gary were also there. "What are all of you doing here?"
"We came for a visit to see how you're doing and a meet up." Misty said.
"I can see that you're still a little kid." Iris said.
Aichi walked over to Nurse Joy and handed her his Pokeballs. "Thank you, Nurse Joy."
"What is with him?" Iris asked.
"Oh, it's nothing. He is use to travelling alone that's all, I guess." Serena answered.
Ash ran up to Paul, Barry and Gary. "How have all of you been? I'm sure that if we battle now, I would be able to win with no sweat!" Ash said.
"You haven't changed at all. Are you still as weak as before?" Paul asked with a smile across his face.
"Hey! I'm not weak! Anyways, you should try battling Aichi over there, he is really strong! He already has seven badges." Ash responded.
"Right... He can't be that good, can he?" Barry asked.
"No! He is really good. I mean, I didn't get to battle him yet or anything, but I feel it!" Ash answered excited.
"Do you want to see how strong I am now?" Ash asked. Nurse Joy was quick and returned Aichi's Pokeballs back to him, Mew became visible and Aichi smiled at it
"Mew, you shouldn't be visible right now. You might create unwanted attention to yourself." Aichi said.
"Mew~?" Mew tilted its head.
"Why am I not meeting them, you ask? Well, I'm here to get rid of the darkness in this world. If I'm around people, they might be in danger." Aichi answered. "I already knew Ash, Serena, Bonnie and Clemont before, they've gotten pretty strong even without me around. I think I'll just lay low for now." Gary, Paul, Ash and Barry walked to him.
"Hey, Aichi! This is Paul, Berry and Gary, they are all strong trainers." Ash introduced.
"Nice to meet you three." Aichi replied with a smile.
"You too." They said together.
Barry put an arm around Aichi. "So Aichi, how did you get a Mew?" he asked.
"He reminds me a lot of Miwa." Aichi thought smiling from the memory.
"I didn't catch, Mew. She's just following me on my journey." Aichi replied, he was feeling like he's already warmed up to Ash's friends. "What was I expecting. Of coarse Ash has really good friends."
"How about a battle? Ash has been nonstop blabbering about you ans your strength, I want to fight it first hand." Paul replied.
Aichi nodded. "Okay, I'm up for it. I should practice battling again before I challenge the Anistar City gym leader." He accepted.
"Practice battling again...? Trainers should be battling all the time." Paul thought, he looked at Aichi with a suspicious look, but Aichi disregarded it.
"Wait! Aichi, you promised me a battle." Ash cried.
"Sorry, Ash. We can battle anytime, but I won't be able to fight them probably ever again." Aichi apologized. They went to the battlefield.
"Hey, where did Aichi, Ash, Paul, Gary and Barry go?" Dawn asked.
Serena thought. "I think I might know where they world me." She replied. They followed her outside and saw that all five of them there and Paul and Aichi about to begin their battle.
"Seriously, they need to battle now? Such little kids." Iris said. The matches were Paul vs Aichi and Ash vs Gary. Barry was being the referee.
"Let have a full battle with all the pokemon we have." Aichi suggested. He only had 5 pokemon; Charizard, Manectric, Gardevoir, Azumarill, Glaceon. Paul had 6.
"Won't that put you in a disadvantage? I will beat you in one sweep." Paul replied.
"6 vs 5 is fine with me." Aichi said.
After all the rotation battles, Aichi won all matches against Ash, Paul, Gary and Barry without breaking a sweat. "That was fun." Aichi said with a smile. He was really having fun battles again, ever since he got back all he did was try to catch up to Ash, Serena, Bonnie and Clemont. He didn't have fun.
Gary after last having battled Aichi, he sat at his side of the field exhausted and utterly defeated. Aichi walked over and lent him a hand, Gary accepted it. "Ashy boy, you really made friends with a powerful trainer." Gary commented.
"I admit defeat to the great, Charizard." Barry joked because Charizard was the one who swept his entire team.
"Wow, that trainer is really something." Brock commented after watching all the battles closely.
"His connection with his Pokemon is inspirational." Cilan said. Aichi walked to them and Cilan ran up to him taking his hands, he was startled by Cilan. "Hello, I'm a Pokemon Connoisseur. I can tell that you have a strong connection with your Pokemon."
"Thank you." Aichi thanked awkwardly shaking hands with him.
"Hey. Mary, Misty, Dawn. Are you going to enter the Pokemon Showcase?" Serena asked.
"What is a Pokemon Showcase?" They all asked together.
Ash walked up to them. "It's like Pokemon Contests, but you get Princess Keys instead of ribbons." Ash explained.
"The Princess Key will be a great souvenir before going back." Dawn said.
"That is only if you beat me." Serena replied.
"And me." May agreed.
"When is this Pokemon Showcase?" Misty asked.
"2 days from now. Can you make it?" Serena asked.
"Sorry, but we need to leave today. We expected you to come earlier than today. We already stayed 2 days here." May said.
Max ran to Aichi and pulled out a Pokeball. "Max!"
"I want to challenge you to a battle." Max said.
"Okay, I accept the challenge." Aichi accepted.
"Max, if you battle him you'll lose. You're a new trainer and he is really skilled." May warned.
"May! This is my one chance, I want to be just like dad and run the gym someday. I need some experience." Max answered.
"Max, don't come back to me crying if you lose terribly." May warned.
Aichi smiled, "Actually, I am a new trainer too. I started being a pokemon trainer a few months ago." Aichi paused. "I'm guessing you're the same too Max?"
"Yea!." Max agreed. They walked to the battlefield and something slipped out of Aichi's pocket.
Max picked it up and looked at it. "What's this?" he asked. Aichi turned around, but before he can say anything Clemont was there looking at the stone.
"No way, it's a Key Stone." Clemont identified. "Aichi, your Pokemon can Mega Evolve?"
Aichi nodded and took out 3 stones from his pocket. "Yes, they can. I also have a Gardevoirite, Charizardite X and Manectite."
"You have a Mega Stone for 3 Pokemon?" Ash asked. Aichi nodded.
"Wait, what is a Mega Stone and Key Stone?" Max asked.
"I'm wondering that too." Everyone else said.
"Mega Stones and Key Stones are used for a process named Mega Evolution. An evolution beyond the highest evolution, only specific Pokemon have Mega Evolution forms and are only found in Kalos and a few were found in Hoenn." Clemont explained.
"Mega Evolution happens when your bond between you and your Pokemon are strong, but the evolution is only temporary. After the battle they change back to normal." Aichi finished.
"Aichi I want you to battle me with a Mega Evolved Pokemon." Max said.
"But Max, that will put you a huge disadvantage." Aichi replied.
"I don't care, I want to see it in action, face to face." Max said. "If you don't battle me with Mega Evolution I won't give you this stone back."
"Max! You can't just take the stone from him!" May scolded.
"It's fine, if he wants to see it that badly I'll battle with it." Aichi said, he took back his Key Stone and Manectric came out of his Pokeball. "Do you want to battle, Manectric?" Aichi asked.
Manectric nodded. Aichi put on a collar and put the Manectite on it. "Okay, Manectric. This is our first time Mega Evolving." Manectric Mega Evolved to Mega Manectric.
After the battle, Max lost about 2 minutes into the battle. "That was a fun battle, you are definitely really strong considering you just started being a trainer." Aichi commented, trying his best to make sure Max doesn't feel to bad.
"But you also just started. Why am I so behind?" Max asked. Aichi knelt down and whispered in his ear.
"The only reason I'm strong is because I can speak to my pokemon, strengthening our bond quicker. I have an advantage over you." Aichi whispered in Max's ear.
"Really?" Max asked. Aichi nodded and stood up. "That's so cool!"
"Let's keep it a secret between us okay?" Aichi said with a finger in front of his mouth.
"Okay." Max said.
~At the End of the Day~
"Bye everyone!" Serena, Clemont, Bonnie, Ash and Aichi shouted while waving. The others waved back and went to their ships.
"What did Aichi say to you, Max?" May asked.
"It's a secret, May." Max replied.
"That was fun, I feel like I've gotten closer to everyone." Aichi said with a smile.
"Yea!" They agreed.
The journey continues…
The next day, they saw Shauna and Tierno when they came out of their room and in the Pokemon Center. Tierno and Shauna stayed at the Pokemon Center too, but Ash, Aichi and the others didn't notice them.
"Shauna!" Serena called.
"Hey, Tierno!" Ash shouted.
Tierno and Shauna turned around and saw Ash, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie, they ran to Ash and the others.
"Hey, Serena, Ash, Clemont and Bonnie. How have you all been?" Shauna asked.
"We've been fine, how about you?" Serena asked.
"Great, I've been preparing and practicing my performance nonstop for tomorrow's Pokemon Showcase." Shauna answered.
"Hey, Ash. Did you get any stronger?" Tierno asked.
"You bet, we got a new training buddy that is a strong trainer. He already has 7 badges and the last gym leader is the Anistar City gym." Ash explained. Aichi stepped up.
"Hello, my name is Aichi." Aichi greeted.
"Cool, my name is Tierno and she is Shauna." Tierno replied.
"Nice to meet you." Shauna added. "Hey, Serena. We should work on our performance together, we can give each other tips."
"Sure, I wanted to try out a different pair of Pokemon. I recently caught an Eevee and she danced gracefully." Serena commented, she released Eevee from her Pokeball and they all scared her and Eevee ran away.
"Eevee!" Serena called. Aichi ran after Eevee and the rest followed, Eevee was in the grass in the back of the Pokemon Center. Aichi held out his arm to signal the others that he will handle it, he slowly walked over to Eevee and she didn't react to him.
Aichi knelt down to Eevee and petted her. "Eevee, it's okay. There's no need to be shy, you're making Serena worried." Aichi said. Eevee slowly walked back to Serena and rubbed her head on Serena's leg.
"Eevee~"
"I think Eevee is apologizing, Serena." Aichi translated.
Serena knelt down and brushed her fur. "Maybe if you meet everyone you won't be nervous around them anymore." Serena suggested. "Are you willing to try meeting the other Pokemon?"
Eevee's eyes glistened like she was about to cry. "We should start small, with some smaller pokemon, instead of a big pokemon like Charizard and Blastoise." Ash suggested. They went back into the Pokemon Center and Chespin, Pikachu, Manectric and Dedenne were the firsts for Eevee's trust.
"Since Eevee is comfortable around Bunnelby, he should help Eevee get the courage to go up to them." Clemont said. Bunnelby sighed, standing beside Eevee. Serena was also there to give emotional support. Aichi stood in the back trying to calm Chespin down because he was nervous in case he scared Eevee away.
"Bunnelby~" Bunnelby made an action that told Eevee to go. Eevee slowly walked to Manectric, he protected Eevee once and she was pretty comfortable with him. Eevee brushed her tail on Manectric and walked back to Bunnelby and Serena.
"You're doing well, Eevee keep it up." Serena cheered. Eevee did the same to Pikachu and Dedenne but was more uncomfortable than Manectric and the last one was Chespin.
Chespin was covering his mouth trying not to scream, when Eevee got close he couldn't hold it in and shouted. Eevee ran back to Bunnelby and Serena and hid behind them. Everyone laughed and Aichi pet Chespin.
"Maybe next time, Chepin." Aichi laughed.
"Maybe Eevee will feel better, if she has a battle. It will strengthen you and Eevee's bond, also maybe she will be more open." Shauna suggested.
"How about a tag battle? Eevee might feel more comfortable being with a partner." Aichi asked. Tierno and Ash teamed up and Serena and Shauna teamed up and their battle started.
~After The Battle~
Serena and Shauna won.
"That was a good battle all of you, I think Eevee feels a little better around everyone." Aichi said.
"You danced so good Eevee!" Bonnie cheered, a net suddenly started falling from the sky going under the falling net was Eevee. She was too scared to move.
"Eevee, watch out!" Aichi shouted pushing her out of the way, a shadow ball came out of nowhere and a barrier blocked Eevee and Aichi. Without noticing, Aichi has activated his Psyqualia.
"What was that?" Meowth asked.
"Meowth! I want Eevee!" Jessie whined. Meowth pressed a button and an arm got Aichi and Eevee, it squeezed them hard.
"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt on Team Rocket's hot-air balloon." Ash commanded.
"Ash, Pikachu, don't! You might hurt him." Shauna and Tierno warned. Pikachu stopped his attack before he can release the Thunderbolt. The hand squeezed harder as Eevee let out a cry in pain.
Team Rocket laughed. "Eevee, we will release you if you come with me." Jessie said.
That pushed Aichi's temper, "Eevee, is Serena's! Eevee, won't ever listen to you!" Aichi shouted. He reached for a Pokeball. He released it and it was Charizard. "Guys, don't worry. Attack the hot air balloon."
They sent attacks and the hot-air balloon exploded, Charizard caught Aichi and Eevee and got them down safely. "Thank you, Charizard." Aichi thanked. He put Eevee in Serena's hands and Serena looked at Eevee worried.
"I'm sorry, Eevee." Serena apologized, while crying. "It was all my fault. I'm Eevee's trainer, I couldn't do anything to save her."
Aichi put his hand on Serena's shoulder. "We need Nurse Joy to check on Eevee, we were squeezed really hard by those hands." He said. Everyone else agreed and they tried to cheer Serena up, while Nurse Joy was checking on Eevee.
"Serena, Eevee is just fine." Ash reassured.
"That scream that Eevee made, she was in pain." Serena replied.
"I need to think of something to ease up the atmosphere. What would my friends say in this situation?" Aichi thought, the first person that came up in his head was Kai. He remembered all the things Kai told him to push him to get stronger.
Aichi leaned on a wall and took a breath, "You have something you need to do, don't you? If this is enough to break you down, then how are you planning on reaching your goal?" Aichi asked, he was looking at Serena with serious eyes.
"Yea, Serena. You can't give up now. You said that you will be the next Kalos Queen." Shauna added.
"Serena, you need to focus on your Pokemon Showcase." Ash said. Nurse Joy held Eevee and Eevee ran to Serena, she was scared of Nurse Joy.
"You're all right. I'm going to get the next Princess key." Serena declared with confidence. Aichi smiled, when they forgot about him he felt a little left out. But he's noticed that everything was still the same after all. Aichi felt a sensation and quietly left as they were having fun with Eevee and cheering up Serena some more.
Aichi was outside to where the battlefield was and he glew as another letter turned blue. Loyalty, the L glowed. Again, he felt stronger.
"One more… Will the last one change me? Takuto warned me about the power that I would receive once I unlock the last word." Aichi thought. He remembered what happened when he was protecting Eevee, when the attack almost hit them a barrier appeared around them. "What was that barrier? Is that a new power I have obtained?"
Aichi's bag shook and he opened it, Mew stretched and flew around Aichi. "Good morning, Mew. I was wondering, how did you manage to stay asleep? We just went on a crazy ride." Aichi asked.
"Mew~" She yawned and tears appeared in her eyes from the yawn.
"You're really tired, aren't you? When did you sleep last night?" Aichi asked. Mew blushed and didn't answer. "Sorry, Mew. I'm worried about you, I didn't mean to embarrass you." Aichi giggled as Mew looked at him with one cheek puffing up.
"Mew…~"
Aichi hugged Mew. "I'm happy you decided to come along with me, Mew. Let's have a lot of fun in our journey." He said with a smile, before releasing the hug.
The rest of the group joined him, after seeing him through the door window. Serena stepped up. "I never thanked you for saving and protecting Eevee twice, so thank you very much, Aichi." She thanked.
"It's cool, no one got hurt. It really is fine." Aichi replied.
"You should get checked on too, Aichi." Clemont suggested.
"Yea, you were the one protecting Eevee and she had some marks under her fur." Bonnie agreed. Eevee had a bandage around her body, everyone was looking at him seriously.
Aichi sighed and took off his jacket, there were red marks on his arms. "That looks bad." Clemont said. He touched it to check on it and Aichi winced a little.
"Maybe Nurse Joy can help." Shauna suggested. They went back inside the Pokemon Center and Nurse Joy bandaged his arms and Aichi put his jacket back on. They can still see the bandages peeking out in his sleeve.
"Nurse Joy said, 'I'll be just fine'." Aichi informed.
"Now, that that is over with. How about we all get some rest? Serena and I have a Pokemon Showcase tomorrow and we need all of you to cheer us on." Shauna said. They all went to bed, but Serena couldn't sleep and Ash checked on her.
"Serena, you should really get some rest. You need to be fully rested for your Pokemon Showcase tomorrow." Ash said.
"I just needed some time alone to think." Serena replied. She looked at the starry sky.
"Don't tell me you are still bothered about what happened today." Ash said, Serena didn't reply. Aichi was in the shadows listening to their conversation. "So that's it, everyone is fine. You just need to focus on your Showcase."
"But… I am Eevee's trainer. I didn't protect her, I just froze there." Serena replied.
"Then, don't freeze up next time. Protect her all you can, you can fight Team Rocket next time and protect all our Pokemon." Ash replied with a smile, Serena blushed and smiled back.
"Thank you, Ash. I'll do better next time." Serena thanked. Aichi smiled to himself before walking back to his room.
~The Next Day~
Aichi got up early, he told Nurse Joy that he was going on a walk and told her to tell Ash and the others. Then he left on a walk around the city and he saw the Sundial. Aichi looked at it, it glistened in the sunlight. Mew came out of his bag and also looked at it, she flew around it happily. He smiled watching her have some fun.
"Come on, Mew! Don't get too carried away, we need to get to Serena's Pokemon Showcase!" Aichi called. He felt a sensation from the Sundial and touched the surface of it, all of his Mega Stones and his Key Stone flew out of his pocket and circled around him.
"Mew~" She flew back to Aichi and sat on his shoulder. A young girl around his age stood behind Aichi as he was looking at the Sundial while touching it.
"Mew, this must be the Sundial. This must be somehow related to Mega Evolution, somehow." Aichi thought out loud. He was started when Psychic carried him up in the air and dropped him in front of the girl.
"What do you think you're doing to the Sundial?!" The girl asked angrily. Aichi's Mega Stones and Key Stone landed in Aichi's hands, Mew peeked out on Aichi's shoulder.
"I'm sorry, I just felt something from the Sundial and I wanted to know what it was." Aichi apologized. The girl looked in at Aichi's hands and saw the 3 Mega Stones and the Key Stone.
"3 Mega Stones?! You must be one of those Mega Stone thieves!" The girl accused.
"No, I'm not-" Aichi was cut off by the girl again.
"Stop lying! You look too suspicious!" The girl shouted in Aichi's face. Mew was fed up and used Psychic on the girl and was about to throw her.
"Wait! Mew, it's fine. She can think what she wants of me! Just let her down, gently." Aichi said quickly before Mew can make the throw. Mew dropped her on the ground angrily and opened Aichi's bag, went inside and closed it angry. "Mew, I said gently." He whispered.
The girl was on the floor and Aichi held out his hand to pull her up. She knocked away his hand away. "I don't need your help getting up!" The girl shouted as she got up. Aichi looked at her confused. "I'll let you off the hook today. But next time you mess with the Sundial, I will bring you to Olympia and she will punish you!" She stamped away.
"I'll keep that in mind." Aichi said quietly making sure she didn't hear him. "She didn't seem to notice Mew somehow... She didn't ask me any question, so that's what I assume."
"Oh! We better go to the Pokemon Showcase, We'll be late." Aichi whispered, hoping Mew would respond. Then he started running to the Pokemon Showcase.
He made it to the registration area and looked around searching for Ash and the others. He checked the time and it was almost time for registration to end.
"Where are Ash and the others?" Aichi thought. 5 minutes before registration was over everyone ran in. "Where were all of you?"
"Ash, overslept and we waited for him." Serena answered.
"Serena, we need to hurry!" Shauna said while pulling Serena to the front desk. After getting registered they ran to the change room to get ready, they waved to the others.
"Good luck!" They shouted together.
~Middle of the Showcase~
Eevee went missing and everyone went searching for her. Serena was also searching, knowing that her turn was probably next.
"Eevee!" They called.
"Serena, get to the stage. It's your turn soon. Leave Eevee to us." Aichi said.
"No! I'm Eevee's trainer. It's my job." Serena answered. Aichi was worried as Serena started to cry. "I should've protected her! I am the one that has to find her." Eevee started peeking out from under a chair.
"I understand. Eevee's right there, now get back to the stage." Aichi said with a fake smile.
When the Showcase, finished Serena won and got her second Princess Key. They met up at the lobby after the Showcase, Shauna and Tierno left and left Aichi, Ash, Serena, Bonnie and Clemont there. Aichi seemed to have something in mind.
"Is something wrong Aichi?" Bonnie asked. Aichi turned to Serena, he looked at Serena seriously.
"You told me that you wanted to protect your Pokemon, but I have a habit of doing the opposite of your wishes. Which got me thinking, you will not be able to be the only one to protect as long as I'm travelling with you. The same thing happened to the last group I traveled with, since I left their group, they have grown so much stronger." Aichi explained. "The same thing is happening." He said quieter.
"I didn't mean that." Serena replied.
"Then what did you mean exactly? You wanted to protect alone, without anyone's help, don't you?" Aichi asked for clarification.
Ash stood in between them. "Serena meant that she doesn't want anyone to get hurt for her Pokemon." He said.
Serena signaled Ash to move aside and he moved over. She now had a serious face instead of her unsure face before. "Ash is right. I felt so helpless and scared when Eevee was in danger, I couldn't move my legs. I want to be strong." She said.
Aichi put on his gentle smile, "It doesn't take a lot to protect Pokemon and people, just think about what they mean to you. Keep in mind though, don't charge in like I do and take the hit. Find another method of protecting." He replied.
"Oh yea, Aichi. Who were those friends you were talking about?" Bonnie asked.
"Yea, I would like to know as well." Clemont agreed.
"I'm starting to feel like I should tell them, but we should go to the right place." Aichi thought. "Let's go to the Sundial first, I promise I'll tell you when we're there."
When they got to the Sundial they first admired the beauty, but then they wanted to listen to what Aichi wanted to say, a place there no one was around.
"This might sound crazy, but the friends I was talking about was all of you." Aichi said.
Everyone was shocked. "We just met you that day. I don't remember meeting you sometime before that." Ash said.
"I'm not from this world, I come from another one. My world was in danger when I met all of you the first time, there was a threat that forcefully trapped me into your world. Whenever I was down, all of you cheered me up. If I explained everything you did for me it will take a long time to do so, all of you meant a lot to me." Aichi explained.
"But we have no memories of you." Clemont said.
"When I left your world, all the memories that you had were wiped. Once I'm done helping you fight your enemies in this world, you will probably be losing your memories once again because I didn't originally belong here. All of you still have bits and pieces of when I was here the first time, all the lessons that you learned from that mysterious person you compared to me. You just didn't have a name and a body to fit it." Aichi explained.
"Why did you have to leave? Didn't we have a lot of memories together?" Bonnie asked.
Aichi nodded. "Yes, we did. My body was split last time I was here, so the side that was sent here started to weaken and weaken, until I couldn't do anything in this world anymore. My old friend was powerful enough to bring me back to my world, but with the cost of my memory in this world. My friends and I from my world defeated the treat and we saved my world. I decided to come back to your world and help with your enemies." He answered.
"But isn't it painful to know that all of us forgot about you?" Serena asked.
"It was at first, but when I rushed in to protect you and Eevee, I forgot that all of you don't have memories. But I noticed how much stronger all of you gotten without me and it made me feel empty inside. All of you had learned, so much since last time. I honestly wished I could've just stayed and been with all of you in your journey." Aichi explained.
But you had to leave to save your world." Serena finished Aichi's explanation.
"I wish all of you remembered me and all the wonderful stuff you did to help me get stronger as a person." Aichi admitted while his eyes started to tear up. They gave him a group hug.
"We don't need the old memories, we can create new ones from now on." Ash said. Aichi looked at all of them and smiled, he started to glow as the last piece in Aichi's necklace turned blue, 'Honesty'. The chain broke and the blue from the pendant glew, Aichi screamed as black started to appear around Aichi's blue aura.
"Aichi! What is that?" Bonnie asked. Aichi started to appear to be in pain as the pendant disappeared with the black in Aichi's aura spreading.
"No! Why is my aura being contaminated with the power in that pendant? This must be what Takuto was talking about and this must be a test." Aichi thought, he calmed down as he focused on his aura and decontaminating it. Ash and the others ran to Aichi, his aura flared enough to be visible for them to see.
"Aichi!" They called.