Next chapter is ready, folks! Enjoy ^^

Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon! If I did, the PMD spin-off games would have been fully animated instead of only a couple specials.

''Ash and Latias.'' Speech

'Ash and Latias' Thoughts

'Ash and Latias' Telepathy

''Ash and Latias'' Whiteboard Marker

''Are you sure this will be a good idea?'' Ash asked Latias unsurely. They were standing in front of Tobias' room he had rented for the tournament, ready to investigate. ''I mean, we're essentially breaking in. What if somebody found out?''

Tia gave Ash a reassuring kiss on the lips. 'It'll be fine. I scanned the area, and Tobias is nowhere in sight. Besides, if he does show up, I'll make sure we get out of there before he notices anything.'

Ash decided to trust his legendary pokemon, and nodded his head. ''Okay then. It's time we solved this mystery once and for all.''

The raven haired trainer reached for the handle and tried to turn it, only to meet a strong resistance. ''It's locked,'' he muttered.

In the next instant, Tia's eyes glowed, before the lock was psychically picked without too much trouble. A click was heard, and with confidence, she opened the door for Ash.

'Here you go, cutie.' She winked and motioned for him to enter.

Ash had to suppress a chuckle, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks. He gave her a peck on the lips, before answering, ''Thank you, sweetie.''

Latias giggled. She felt like they were a couple who just got married and were now on a honeymoon. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

Silently, she followed Ash inside the room.

The room—like any other room in the hotel—was pretty bland. A bed, with a big wardrobe to store in clothing were the two most prominent things inside the room. Furthermore, there was a bathroom, a desk, and a table with a couple of chairs. The place was very neat and clean. Apparently, Tobias was a very organised person.

'Watch closely, Ashy. Somewhere in this room, the answers to our questions must be able to be found.'

The raven haired trainer had to agree with Latias. Whatever Tobias' intentions were, he must've kept a record of his activities. They had to be somewhere in this room.

''Let's search then.''

'Already done,' Latias replied. Her eyes stopped glowing, indicating she had just scanned the room for anything that caught her eye.

'In the desk, there's a small diary. That must be what we're looking for.'

''Great job, Latias,'' he praised her.

She gave an appreciative coo in response. 'Anytime, Ash. Now, let's see what's in there.'

Ash took the diary out of the drawer. It was as white as snow, and when he opened it, he gave a confused look. ''It's written in a languange I don't understand.''

'Let me see it.'

Ash handed the diary over to Latias, who began to read some of it.

'Sola salvare possit fatum.'

''What does that mean?''

'It's Latin,' Latias replied. 'It means only fate can save.'

''You know Latin? That's so awesome!''

Latias blushed, happy with Ash's compliment, and tried her best to comprehend what was said next.

'It doesn't make any sense. The text is almost a prophecy. Find solace, find benevolence, find mayhem, find malice, and you may find your fate. What does that mean?'

Ash and Latias were so intrigued with the text, that they failed to notice a third person standing behind them.

''It means fate can't exist without them,'' Tobias' deep voice replied, making both human and pokemon jump and let out a startled shriek.

Turning around, they both gulped as they saw the unamused face of the mysterious man.

''You know, snooping around somebody else's room, especially your opponent's, can be a serious violation of league rules. You know I can have you disqualified, right? Besides, it's also very rude.''

He opened his outstretched hand. ''I'll take that back, if you'd please.''

Shamefully, Latias gave back the diary to Tobias, while Ash was sweating profusely.

'How did he get past your psychic senses?' he thought to Tia.

'I don't know! I couldn't sense him at all until a moment ago.'

''It's also rude having a silent conversation about the person standing right in front of you,'' he berated the young couple.

Ash almost choked. ''You can read my mind?''

''No, but I can pick up on Latias' telepathy, and to answer your question as to why she couldn't sense me, I have a Darkrai and a Latios, as you may know. They're powerful enough to hide my presence. But enough about that. I understand you two have a lot of questions, so please,'' he motioned to the table and the chairs, ''sit.''

Ash looked at him owlishly. ''You mean, you're not going to throw us out and have me disqualified?''

Tobias gave a crooked smile. ''Now why would I do that? That would be no fun. I much rather battle you, and then make you lose spectacularly. Now, any questions you may have about me, my brother, or my intentions I will answer. I promise.''

Again, he offered the duo to sit, while Latias watched him like a Braviary. She didn't trust Tobias for a second, and held Ash very close to her in case he decided to do anything funny.

Tobias noticed this, and smiled slyly. ''Ah, Latias. How have you been? I love the new disguise, by the way. Did you make it for your little boyfriend over there?'' He asked with false interest.

'Cut the crap, Tobias. You will answer us, and then let us go,' Latias snarled back.

The legendary trainer held up his hands. ''Easy there, I already promised to answer all of your questions, and I'm not holding you guys hostage. You're free to go whenever you please. If anything, you should be thanking me. After all, I was the hiker who saved Lorenzo.''

Latias' features turned even more angry. 'Don't lie! Why would you save Lorenzo after killing your own brother?'

Tobias sighed. ''I see you two are still very confused about the whole situation. Please, just sit, and I'll tell you everything. If you still have questions afterwards, then I'm happy to answer them. After all, my job here is almost done.''

''Let's just listen to what he has to say, Tia,'' Ash reasoned, gently persuading her to sit in one of the chairs.

'Fine, but if he tries to hurt you in any way, I'll blast his head off of his body like an overripe Tamato berry.'

Tobias tsk'ed. ''Still as fierce as ever, I see. It's no matter. Just keep in mind I have a Darkrai and Latios with me. So don't be trying anything foolish, you'll regret it.''

The disguised legendary huffed, but stayed silent nonetheless. She sat down with Ash, where she harshly refused anything to drink from Tobias.

When Tobias had taken a seat as well, he began his story.

''First off, let me apologize for all the trouble my brother gave you two. Everything that has happened between you and my brother is my fault. He tried to get his foolish revenge on me for trying to kill him. I should've finished him off three years ago along with his daughter and wife,'' he said casually.

Latias was almost ready to explode on the spot right then and there. 'How could you talk so lightly about something so horrible?' she demanded.

''I guess it comes with experience,'' Tobias admitted. ''I apologize, what happened to my brother and his spouse must sound terrible to you, but for me, it was necessary and my job.''

Ash and Latias looked at him incredulously.

''Let me explain. I'll start from the very beginning, and when I mean that, I do really mean the very beginning of this very universe.'' Tobias paused for a second, before continuing.

''When Arceus created the universe, he agreed that it needed rules, so it could prosper without the need of his help at all times. Without these rules, the universe wouldn't be able to exist, and would collapse in on itself. This is why rules of nature exist, for example,'' Tobias explained.

''One of these rules also covered fate. The rule for fate was simple; itself could decide the fate of every living being on this planet, so that everything would go smoothly and just as planned within the rules Arceus had set for the universe. But unfortunately, while fate is strong, there are even stronger things that can meddle with its affairs. So, to make sure everybody's fate was set in stone, it created guardians. These guardian's sole purpose was to combat the anomalies that could alter somebody's fate, or else a rule of the universe would be broken.''

Tobias watched if Ash and Latias understood so far. When he was satisfied, he continued.

''My brother, was one of these guardians. He got the name Malice, and his job was to create malice everywhere where it was necessary. For centuries, he did his work loyally, for it was his sole purpose that he was created. If he were to quit, he would quite literally stop existing.''

Latias and Ash eyed each other in realization. Lorenzo told them how Malice had disappeared, as had his Froslass. They couldn't deny what Tobias was saying was the truth.

He went on, ''Each guardian has his own set of unique skills. My brother was gifted with stealth and a very extensive knowledge of the anatomy of human and pokemon alike. He became a very deadly mercenary, and did his work exactly how it had wanted.''

Tobias took a gulp from his coffee.

''But fate had made a mistake. Because even the guardian's fate could be meddled with, and that's exactly what happened.''

'He fell in love,' Latias realized.

''Yes, he fell in love, but not with a human. He fell in love with another guardian.''

Tobias' face got dark for a moment.

''Solace,'' he said.

''Solace?'' Ash reiterated.

''Yes, Malice fell in love with Solace. She had seen how lonely Malice had become. His job was without joy, while her job was without sorrow. The two craved for each other's touch, but they knew it was forbidden to start a relationship. It was ten years ago when Malice and Solace decided to abandon their job and run away anyway, and surprisingly, they didn't disappear, because their love kept them together.'' Tobias almost gagged.

''They had found a new purpose in life; to have a family. But they knew they had to stay low as well, so Malice took a job as a pokemon doctor, naming himself Thomas, and Solace became a mountain guide, naming herself Julia. They disappeared off the radar for seven years.''

Tobias took another gulp of his coffee.

''They knew the consequences of their actions. They neglected their duty, so there was no purpose to their existence anymore, yet they didn't disappear into thin air; something which was supposed to happen. They became an anomaly. An anomaly that needed to be dealt with. I was the one who had to deal with it.''

''So you killed Malice's wife and child, with the assumption Malice would disappear as well, because once his family was gone, he had nothing left to live for,'' Ash filled in.

Tobias nodded. ''However, he still didn't disappear. Solace is strong. She reincarnated herself as a Froslass, lost her memories, but gave Malice his resolve to go on. He now had a new purpose; to get revenge on me. He moved to Alto Mare, in the hope to forget, but when he witnessed the DMA fiasco from Team Rocket two years ago, a new plan formed in his head. He wanted Latias, so he could power up the DMA himself, and use its power to wipe me from existence.''

Ash and Latias finally began to understand Malice's intentions.

''So that's why he kidnapped Lorenzo, got my Pikachu for good measure, and tried to capture Latias in the process.''

''Indeed. But because malice and solace are emotions that don't go exactly hand in hand, my brother lost a lot of his touch. He became soft, which worked out for you guys in retrieving Pikachu, and for me in tracking him down. So again, I apologize for all the trouble he made you go through. My brother was a lost sould, who didn't even should've existed at this point. Let him rest in peace,'' Tobias said respectfully.

Latias narrowed her eyes. Something was off about that last statement. She could almost feel Tobias wasn't genuine.

'Didn't you hate your brother?'

For a moment, Tobias' eye twitched, before he hid that reflex and gave a calm smile.

''Oh yes, I certainly did. He gave me a lot of unsuspected trouble. Partly because he was being obnoxious and harassing you guys, thus being a nuisance to me as well. After all, I'm here for you, Ash Ketchum.''

'That's not the real reason you hated him, now is it, Tobias?' Latias replied, easily seeing through his cover up.'You hated him because he fell in love.'

''That's none of your business, woman!'' Tobias barked, losing his temper.

Latias shrinked back behind Ash, who gave an angry frown at Tobias' sudden change in behavior.

''Love,'' Tobias muttered, regaining his composure. ''It's such an useless emotion. It only causes strife and problems. We would be better off without it,'' he concluded.

''How could you say such a thing? You robbed your own brother of his happiness, a happiness he had found because of love.''

''A happiness that was never meant to be,'' Tobias countered harshly. ''It was forbidden love; they knew what was in store for them.''

'That's not true, they had every right to be happy. Love knows no boundaries after all, Tobias. Isn't that something special?' Latias inquired softly, deeply looking Ash into his chocolate brown eyes.

''Ironic coming from the dragoness who fell in love with her human trainer. Your relationship is frowned upon in certain regions as well, don't you know? But that didn't stop you two lovebirds,'' he mocked.

''That's because I love her and she loves me, and like Latias said, love knows no boundaries. I don't care if it's frowned upon in some regions!'' Ash boldly declared.

''Oh? Then you won't mind declaring that in front of the whole stadium when we battle, right?''

Immediately, both Ash and Latias shied away from that question, and looked unsurely at each other.

''You see? If the world knew you were dating your own pokemon, Ash, chances are your reputation would go down the drain very quickly. This love you feel for each other will only bring you trouble, and I'm that first obstacle in your road.''

''What do you mean?''

Tobias closed his eyes and sighed. ''I told you I was here for you, Ash. You're an anomaly, a big one. As the chosen one of Arceus, you must follow your fate, just like everybody else must.''

''And what would my fate be?'' Ash asked.

''To lose the Lily of the valley,'' Tobias answered bluntly. ''Actually, your fate is to lose every single tournament you ever participate in.''

Ash's shocked face gave away for denial. ''No,'' he muttered. ''That can't be right!''

''I'm sorry, Ash,'' Tobias said. ''Fate has decided for you. You will never win a tournament, and you may never win a tournament. Why do you think you have never reached the semi-finals before now?''

'That doesn't matter anymore,' Latias defended Ash. 'Ash has me! I will win this tournament for him!'

''And that's exactly why I am here,'' Tobias countered. ''You were never meant to meet Ash ever again after the events in Alto Mare, yet love is such a pesky little emotion, it'll find a way. Your love for Ash began to alter his fate; he would win the Lily of the valley with you as his pokemon by his side, which would go against the fate it has decided for Ash. So that's why it sent me, one of its guardians, to make sure Ash would lose,'' Tobias revealed.

''You're here... to stop me from winning the tournament?'' Ash muttered.

''Yes, I am an unbeatable trainer with legendaries,'' Tobias said cockily, ''I am the bringer of bad news, and the one who makes that bad news into a reality.''

He paused, before grinning darkly.

''I am called Mayhem.''

Oh man! So I hope this chapter clears up what Malice and Tobias exactly are, and what Tobias' true intentions are as well. Of course, if you ask yourself: ''Why did Tobias even exist canonically in the anime?'' there's only one logical answer ;) Did you guys like it, love it, hate it? Review please! Next chapters will be the last bit of fluff in this story, before the final battle against Tobias AKA Mayhem begins. Until next time!

~Syrup-Waffle