"Wow! This is better than anything I've ever had!" Domino remarked as she chewed on Brock's food. "Thank Arceus I don't have to eat Ash's ramen noodles anymore. I wanted to cut off my tongue."

Ash rolled his eyes, too busy eating to respond. Brock chuckled, "Thanks. It's a trait you need to have when you have so many siblings. You know that last time, Ash didn't let me cook until the near end of the Kanto journey?"

Domino turned to Misty. "How did you manage with Ash's food for so long?"

Misty shrug. "The pain becomes numb after being tortured for a long time."

"That's NOT FAIR!" Ash shouted, pointing at the orange-haired girl. "You should have tasted hers. At least mine was edible."

Misty looked as though she was about to blow up, and Mew had to use Calm Mind on her. She sighed, "Yeah, my food is pretty bad."

"At least Pikachu isn't complaining about not having ketchup now…" Ash turned his head to find Pikachu chomping down on his Pokéchow. At the mention of the red relish, he hopped over.

"Hey Brock, is there a way to make something healthy that tastes exactly like ketchup?"

Dexter translated, and Brock thought for a moment. "Hmm… Good question. I have to experiment on that and get back to you. It should be possible."

Ash laid out a map in front and him, and Dexter materialized next to the group. He scanned it.

"Information transferred. Setting up the best route. Finish computing." Dexter looked up and a red beam shot out of him.

"The best way to Cameron Palace is to start heading in this direction. I will warn you when you need to change course."

Brock heard the commotion and came over. "Why are we going to Cameron Palace? Isn't that way down the journey?"

"It is, but Sir Aaron told me that he left a bunch of his old gear that can help me train and fight at the place. I also need to go retrieve Lucario and cut him out of the seal of Sir Aaron's staff.

"Be careful not to touch it. Lucario might jump out and tried to beat you up again."

Mew spoke up, "Why are we walking? You know I can just get you all there the next second right?"

Ash facepalmed.

"This is a cool place." Domino remarked as she teleported herself in front the castle in Rota. It's the first time she tried long-distance teleportation, and she loved the feeling, even though it just zapped a third of her energy. Of course, normal human psychics wouldn't even dream of teleporting a hundred miles, much less a thousand.

Ash landed beside her, upside-down, courtesy of Domino, of course.

"OW! Can you stop abusing me!?"

"Nah, it's fun."

Mew, Misty and Brock appeared next to them a second later, landing on their feet. Ash pulled himself up and closed his eyes. Using Aura Sight, he can see a remarkable pulsing aura that has a similar frequency deep in the castle.

"What's the plan? Just go in there and take it?"

Ash shook his head. "We're going to meet the Queen and ask her permission. She has Sir Aaron's staff in the royal treasury, so we need to go through her anyways."

Domino huffed. "Fine, Mr. Goody. Lead the way."

"Oh my beautiful Queen! The day had finally came for our undying love to meet aga…" Brock had hearts popping out his eyes.

Misty snorted and reached over to drag him by the ear back into reality.

Ash bowed to the guards in front of the Palace. "Hello. My name is Ash Ketchum, and I wish to see the Queen for an important reason."

The guards eyed the group suspiciously, and Domino had to fight the urge to start beating people up.

"What's the reason?" The guard on the left said in a hoarse voice.

"I can only say it in front on the Queen."

"Can you go ask for her permission?" He turned to his partner, who nodded and went into the gate.

A few minutes later, he came back out. "You're lucky. Queen Ilene is free from her work today and is willing to meet with you. Next time, make an arrangement at the reception building first."

"Thank you. I will do so." Ash nodded.

They follow the first guard into the Palace. After a few minutes of walking, the opening widened to reveal a fancy throne room. Queen Ilene sat on the throne at the top of an elevated surface with some mini-stairs leading up to it. The guard kneeled, and motioned the group to do the same.

Brock came down in an instantly, not surprisingly. Misty and Ash followed suit. Domino growled behind him, not used to being on the other end of the ordering. Ash reached out and squeeze her hand slightly. She looked down to see his pleading look to make this easy, sighed and followed their lead.

The Queen smiled and gestured everyone to be seated. Like Brock's speed of kneeling, Domino's speed in standing back up was just as swift. She seated herself on the chair, bit her lip and closed her eyes, leaving the talking to Ash.

Closing her eyes made her miss the dazed look on Ash's face as he turned around and saw her cute expression. Shaking the feeling off, Ash remained standing and bowed to the Queen.

"Queen Ilene, I came here in hopes to obtain one of the items in your royal treasury of which you have no use."

Ilene looked at him curiously, "And that is?"

"Sir Aaron's staff. Everyone thought Sir Aaron disappeared without leaving any trace behind a thousand years ago. In truth, he did leave something."

"When I was on my Pokémon journey, I encountered a very complicated situation. Long story short, I became an aura user because of some of his remaining stuff." Ash tried to be as general as possible in his explanation.

"He had asked in his remaining will that his inheritor shall come and free Lucario, who was sealed in the staff by Sir Aaron until the world is a safe place again. He also recommended me to get his past-accessories, which will aid in my training and fighting."

Queen Ilene was silent, and Domino smirked a bit at the truthfulness and hiddenness of Ash's speech.

"Do you have any proof? If this is really his will, I will gladly respect his wishes, but please show me your evidence."

Ash unclipped his backpack and took out the staff, assembling it. On the other hand, he spun a ball of aura.

"This is aura, and this is one of Sir Aaron's other staffs. You can see by the medieval designs and other patterns that this is indeed a thousand years old."

Queen Ilene looked at it for a while, then nodded. "Very well, you had earned my trust. Guard, please retrieve for me Sir Aaron's possessions."

The guard returned a few minutes later. The few minutes entertained Misty and Queen Ilene talking about makeup, Brock staring at his beloved royalty intently, Domino pretending to sleep, and Ash planning with Pikachu on how to revive Lucario without his being wrongly pissed at Ash.

The Queen took Aaron's clothes, which consisted of his hat, boots, and gloves. She handed those over, but held the staff on her hand. "I have one request before I give you the staff."

Brock interrupted before Ash could open his mouth. "Anything my Queen, anything!"

Misty sighed and dragged him back.

"I want to see how Lucario would be freed."

"Okay, that's doable." Ash nodded after meeting eyes with Pikachu. "However, we have to do it at a place that is NOT the Palace, preferably a really large clearing. Definitely not in the city. There are… things that could go… unexpected."

Queen Ilene arranged that easily, and took them to a park behind the Palace, secluded from most other influences. Misty and Brock ledher back about sixty feet from the staff, which Domino had taken and laid on the ground. Mew floated next to her, and took her Pokéballs, and released Spiritomb, Ralts and Zorua. On the other hand, Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder in alert, and the boy released Pidgeot and Butterfree. He threw out his Pokédex, which materialized into a Porygon.

The guards stood in front of the Queen, and Misty and Brock sent out their Pokémon as well. Geodude construct a barrier with windows in front of them. Mew then teleported next to them and formed a bunch of pink Light Screen.

Misty turned to the pink legendary. "Why aren't you with them?"

"They need to sharpen their skills. They can't do that with me there wrecking everything all the time. Real lessons are learned when put under extreme pressure. And let's just say that Aaron's Lucario is quite a bit of pressure."

"Is this really necessary?" The Queen asked, not seeing the point of their immense preparation.

Ash nodded. "OH YES! Lucario can probably beat up a normal legendary by himself."

He looked over to Domino. "You ready?"

Domino stared him back in the eyes. Her heart shook a bit, and she reached over spontaneously and grabbed his hand. "Don't get hurt."

Ash nodded and squeeze her hand. With the other hand, he touched the staff with a burst of aura.

The staff began glowing, as the aura seal performed by Sir Aaron began leaking away through the hole that Ash's aura had just created. It shot up in the air, and the couple backed away cautiously.

Within a few seconds, a form materialized next to the staff, which fell back down. The blue and black bipedal form of an ancient Lucario opened his eyes, which were a dull color, not realizing at all what was going on from the amount of time sealed.

The first thing he sensed was a familiar aura pulse next to him. The familiar pulse of his once teacher, once hero, once master, and whom he thought was the most wicked traitor in his life.

He reflexively roared. "Aaron!? You dare to come see ME!? You traitor! You betrayed me and all your soldiers!"

Ash held out his hand in a friendly gesture, and Mew tried to calm Lucario down with a Calm Mind.

"Lucario, I'm not Sir Aaron. My name is Ash…"

"Do not talk, traitor! I cannot believe you will use such a lame excuse! You dare mock the transparency of AURA!?"

With that said, he lashed out with a blue-coated fist, using a Force Palm a lot stronger than any ones Ash and Pikachu had used in the past. It shattered Ash's Protect and knocked him flying.

Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder toward the bipedal Pokémon and punched with a Force Palm of his own, which hit Lucario on the chest.

The blue glow was absorbed, then a second later, released back at Pikachu by Lucario's Counter, sending Pikachu flying back into Ash.

In the distance, Misty and Brock drew in a deep breath. It had been a long time since they last saw Ash getting beat up as bad as this.

Butterfree and Pidgeot both soared into the air. The Bug Pokémon released a wave of Sleep Powder that engulfed his opponent. His aura turned red, and pulsed out a Fire Blast. The five-sided star lit up the cloud, burning it off. Using the few seconds, Butterfree released a partial Solarbeam, which turned into a full -on one as it took in the energy from the sun.

Lucario raised a Protect shield, and deflect the green and yellow energy to the side toward the attacking Ralts. The Feeling Pokémon yelped and teleported away. His palms flashed, and a giant ball of aura formed, which broke into numerous pieces of Aura Sphere and sent it flying toward Spiritomb, who traded Shadow Balls with the spheres, but was interrupted from charging up his Dark Pulse in the process.

Pidgeot dived down from the air and used Extremespeed. With the wind at her back and gravity helping her, she managed to get a glancing hit at Lucario without defense, who swirled around and avoided the most power of the attack at the last second.

"Why are you still following that TRAITOR? Pidgeot, you have more sense than THAT!"

The Bird Pokémon ignored his outburst and lifted back up into the air. Ash and Pikachu recovered from the initial strike. Pikachu stood back and started charging up an electric attack, which is probably extremely powerful by the amount of time it was taking PIKACHU to prepare.

On the other hand, Ash launched a dozen Aura Spheres at Lucario, forcing him to stay in place and use Protect. Sliding over, he poked the shield, shattering it and followed the series of attack with a Fire Punch, with a prepared red-glowing fist.

Lucario met fist with fist, and a sickening crack was heard as Ash stumbled backwards. Domino teleported next to him in an instant.

"Are you okay?" She asked with concern.

"Nothing's broken. My arm just hurt like crap." Ash muttered as his arm is lit with aura, trying to heal the damage.

Lucario charged over. Domino narrowed her eyes. Her eyes glowed with an anger never seen before. A strong pink energy flowed over her. "Dumbf*ck! How dare you hurt him!"

Arceus looked up from the Times Magazine Dialga just published. "Domino is under stress. Her psychic just spiked to the level of a normal psychic legendary. Not Mew level, but say, Jirachi level."

"Domino? Really? I would think that Ash is the emotional one. Afterall, she's always so calm."

"Yes, normally, but not when it comes to Ash, so the sudden rise probably has something to do with Ash."

"You're right again. They are a good pair."

Domino used Psychic, launching the Pokémon back ten feet. Following up without giving him anytime to recover, she sent out a barrage of Psybeams and Psystrikes. Teleporting behind his just-risen Protect, she develop a pair of Psycho Cuts that knocked the Aura Pokémon off his feet.

Mew stared at her trainer/apprentice. "HOLY CRAP! Her psychic just spiked so much. Why does none of them see their care for each other?

She projected a psychic sense onto the girl. "Come back and charge up, or else you will run out of energy extremely quickly in the hype mode."

Before Domino could teleport, she was sent flying by a Force Palm with only a half-formed Light Screen as cushion. She landed, and Lucario punched out twice to send Zorua and Ralts scurrying backwards. The Psybeam from the green and white Pokémon was sent at Butterfree by his Counter, who had to abort his attack run to avoid the sudden assault. At the same time, he opened his mouth to spit out a series of Aura Spheres, using it as if it was Bubblebeam, backed the immense aura collection of an ancient Pokémon. Spiritomb blocked most of it with Shadow Claw, and had to phase behind a tree to avoid the rest, which blew said tree apart.

Lucario ran toward the blonde girl, who's still sitting on the ground, recovering from the shock of the attack. Ash took a deep breath, and his aura started to burn as he saw Domino under attack. He zoomed out, and within a second, he was somehow behind the Aura Pokémon and launched out a fist.

Lucario turned around and punched his fist too, like last time. Another crack was heard, but it was the bipedal Pokémon who was sent back flying this time. Ash stepped forward to follow with another punch, and another. The second one shattered his shield, and the third one landed directly on his chest, and a sickening noise came from his opponent's ribs.

"Don't you DARE harm her!"

"Wow, now Ash too? He just had an aura spike as well." Sir Aaron finished making the chocolate pie.

"They must be under some severe stress."

Mew stared in shock. "Him too? How does emotion affect them so much!? And also, did he just crack the ribs of an ancient Steel Type?"

Lucario retaliated with a barrage of Aura Spheres to the boy in front of him. Having no time to dodge or put up a shield, he closed his eyes, preparing for the wave of pain and possible unconsciousness.

Suddenly, he felt himself getting lifted up. He opened his eyes to find himself in the talons of his loyal Pidgeot. Looking down, he saw Pikachu finally finished charging up his attack. He recognized it in an instant. After losing in the Kalos League, he spent an entire week with Pikachu and Dexter, trying to work out an electric Hyper Beam variant by referencing Zekrom's Fusion Bolt. It's only half worked out, but seeing the energy flowing from the mere half, he couldn't wait to finish it. Last time, there were a bunch of concerns about manipulation of electricity, which would not be nearly a problem now that Pikachu knew aura.

The yellow mouse is wearing a ball of electricity between his ears, with two more in his paws. The three balls lashed out, and waved a pattern in the air, leaving stranded energy in the air. The energy suddenly turned magnetic, which attracted more natural, static electricity to fuel the hurling ball. By the time the three balls got to Lucario, they were three times their original size.

Lucario's shield was shattered upon contact, and the super effective move hit him dead on, sending him into a rock, which also shatter from the impact. For the first time, tiredness could be seen on the ancient Pokémon's face.

On his large bird's back, Ash whistled at the power of the attack. Pidgeot spoke up, "Ash, do you still have the Pidgeotite?"

Ash slapped his head. "Oh yeah! That's right. He reached into his bag and took out the Mega Stone and hung it around Pidgeot's neck. Grabbing his staff as well from the bag, he touched the purple Keystone.

Evolution lights shone from the Bird Pokémon, and Queen Ilene gaped at the new transition. "I thought Pidgeot was already the highest evolved form of the Pidgey line."

Brock was shocked along with the Queen, so Misty took the job of explaining to everyone briefly the concept of Mega Evolution that Ash told her about.

The huge bird grew even more giant as she reappeared. Newly grown blue feathers lined her tail, wings, and the three special feathers on the top of her head. Shrieking into the air at her new power, she prepared for a Gust attack, and found the attack that she had to charge up for was almost instant. Ash jumped down from her back, falling for twenty feet and still landing safely with a burst of aura.

Lucario was too busy recovering from the Paralysis to care about him. This gave Mega Pidgeot the time to go in for a Brave Bird attack. Releasing Gust first, she did some damage to the ancient Pokémon, bringing the blue and black Pokémon to his senses. Seeing the physical attack coming in, he glowed with the standard light of Counter.

Which was a good move, had the attack been fired by Regular Pidgeot or had he not been Psybeamed/Striked/Cut, aura abused and electrocuted by Pikachu.

Mega Pidgeot landed her attack full force, and an unexpectedly overwhelming energy rushed into the Lucario's body. Before the Counter could trigger and convert the attack to be his own, it became the last straw and he passed out from the attack of the first ever Mega-evolved.

Mew floated over and used Calm Mind on everyone to get them to settle down from their pumping adrenaline. Mega Pidgeot devolved back to Pidgeot and exclaimed, "That was awesome! Can I fly you to the Cerulean Gym in Mega Form?"

"Of course!" Ash laughed. "Hey why don't I Mega Evolve you again so Dexter can take a few pictures to send to Gary? He's probably finishing his research while journeying.

"Gary Oak, you have one new message." His Pokédex, Dee, rang. Gary pulled it out and opened it. He did a double take.

Shaking his head as he headed back to his car, he remarked. "That boy!"

He flipped out his research journal.

Day 6:

Received pictures of Mega Pidgeot, the first ever Mega-evolved Pokémon. Trainer: Ash Ketchum. Mega Stone: Pidgeotite.

Each trainer needs a Keystone along with a specific Mega Stone to Mega-evolve. The Keystone and Mega Stone cannot stay apart for too long of a distance, and they are activated by the Pokémon's will. Further research will be conducted when I meet up with Ash.

Lucario came to his senses, and discovered that he was lying in a bed. He blinked, and saw a bunch of humans and a few Pokémon alongside them. He sensed the familiar aura again. Now that he had gotten over the rush of being first released, he discovered something different about this aura. Even though it is the same frequency as his previous trainer, it was obviously weaker in comparison.

A stream of realization suddenly hit him. Lucario coughed. "Maybe I should go back into the staff…"

Ash chuckled. "Hello Lucario, we meet again." He held out his hand, slightly glowing blue. He had his other hand in wrappings, being nursed from the previous fight.

Lucario stuck out his hand to shake, and jerked slightly at the pain in his chest.

"Sorry for punching you so hard." Their hands touched, and Lucario looked up abruptly. Breathing deeply for a second or two, he asked quietly.

"So my death is sealed."

Ash shook his head. "No it's not. This is another timeline, so nothing is set in stone yet. This is Mew from the Tree of Beginning." He motioned to the pink cat next to Domino.

Lucario bowed. "Lucario at your service."

Mew waved back coolly.

Ash continued. "As long as we can get that photographer to not provoke the white blood cells, we're good. Even if something does happen, I'll be here with you to save the Tree. We might be extremely weak afterwards for a while, but we won't die."

The Aura Pokémon's eyes started to glimmer with new hope. "In that case, I better start training up. Currently I am extremely weak from being sealed for… how long? A thousand years?"

Ash nodded in confirmation. "Just to let you know, you still punch extremely hard."

Lucario winced. "Yeah... Sorry about that."

"Ooh! Aaron told me to tell you to try some chocolate. They can calm your nerves apparently.

The Pokémon agreed. "In the last timeline, after I died and was with him, his chocolate was indeed very good."

He then looked at Ash expectantly.

"What?"

"What are you waiting for? Capture me!"

Ash stuttered. "But… you're Sir Aaron's Pokémon."

"Whether I want it or not, he's dead a thousand years ago. You just beat me in a Pokémon battle, so you have the rights to capture me, and you've proven yourself with your aura and bravery in both the last world and the current one."

He continued. "And I need a trainer to help me with aura. I could also help you with training as well."

Ash thought for a while. "Okay, I'll capture you. But just letting you know, you can leave whenever you want."

Lucario shrugged. "It's not like I have anywhere to go."

Queen Ilene spoke up, after witnessing what she thought was the craziest scene of her life, "Lucario, you are welcomed here in Rota whenever you want."

Lucario looked at her. "I can sense part of Aaron's blood in you. Are you a descent of him?"

The Queen nodded. "Yes, but the line had been dormant for many generations."

Lucario bowed to her. "Either way, please accept my apologies of breaking your palace."

"Don't worry about it. I can get it fixed in no time," Ilene waved, "Now, who wants lunch?"

A/N: Sorry guys that this chapter took a bit long. I wanted to make the battle awesome, not some two-piece crap. Thanks for waiting patiently, and not spamming reviews of negative comments.

So enjoy! Pidgeot just Mega-Evolved, and a bit Skillshipping fit in there. They just care for each other so much! So cute!