Chapter 35: The Guardian of Kalos

Everyone in the Pokemon Village looked up towards the sky. From civilians, to trainers, to Team Flare, to Diantha herself. A great silence washed over the area as humans and Pokemon alike stared at the hole in the clouds, and the Legendary Pokemon in the center of it.

"It's Zygarde..." Diantha said in awe.

"In it's complete form it would seem." A voice stated behind Diantha.

"Professor, it's good to see you're safe." Diantha said to Sycamore.

"Thank you, where is Ash and the rest of the group?" Sycamore asked.

"They must be over there, where Zygarde is." Diantha said. She explained everything she knew up to this point.

"I see, but where are your Elite Four? Are they protecting the village too?" Sycamore said looking around.

"I haven't seen any of them. I last saw Malva helping people at the stadium, but even she's disappeared it seems." Diantha explained.

"This isn't good. I hope the legend is true, and that Zygarde is here to protect Kalos." Sycamore said as he looked on with worry.

"We can only hope..." Diantha whispered.

"What do we do now?" Clemont asked to the group.

"Nothing..." Lysandre answered, "None of you are a match against the true form of Zygarde."

"We'll see about that!" Alain said. He turned towards his Charizard.

"Beyond evolution, Mega Evolve!" Alain shouted as he touched the keystone on his wrist. As the others looked on, Charizard shined with light until it again became the black and blue dragon they all knew.

"Please Alain...You barely held your own against Zygarde in it's 50% form, what makes you think you stand a chance now?" Lysandre said menacingly.

"Because he's not alone." Ash responded, stepping forward with Alain. He tossed out his own Pokeball revealing his own Charizard.

"Your Charizard can mega evolve?" Alain asked, noticing the harness on Ash's Charizard.

"Yep, Professor Sycamore gave us a mysterious mega stone that responded to Charizards. We couldn't mega evolve at first, but thanks to Serena we were finally able to." Ash explained. Alain looked over at Serena with question, wondering how she could have helped. All he saw was the honey blonde girl blushing deeply.

"What do you mean mysterious?" Alain asked.

"Well you see, the mega stone makes my Charizard mega evolve differently." Ash replied.

"Different?" Alain asked.

"Let us show you." Ash said, "Alright Charizard, respond to my heart. Mega Evolve!" Ash said as he touched the keystone embedded in his glove. Like Alain's Charizard, Ash's Charizard shined with a great light until it fully evolved, revealing its different form. Alain looked on with wonder, amazed that if given the chance, his Charizard could mega evolve like that too.

The two trainers and two Mega Charizards turned and looked up at Zygarde. With the two mega evolutions, they had caught Zygarde's attention. It looked down at them with an smoldering rage. It saw Alain and his Charizard, the ones that battled it months ago, resulting in its blue core capture. They were joined by another trainer and his Charizard, and they were standing in front of Lysandre and Team Flare.

They are protecting...HIM!

Zygarde raised one of its arms up, pointing it towards the group. With a roar that echoed throughout the area, it fired a multi-colored Dragon Pulse beam at them.

"Flamethrower!" Both Ash and Alain shouted. The two Charizard's attacked and met Zygarde's attack in mid-air. The resulting explosion, knocked everyone down save for Alain, Ash and their Pokemon.

"Charizard, use Dragon Claw!" Alain called out.

"You too Charizard!" Ash said as his Charizard flew up after Alain's. The two Mega Charizard's flew up towards Zygarde, their claws burning in a pale green light.

As the two Mega Pokemon flew up higher and higher, Zygarde surrounded itself in a green aura, then in an instant zoomed right at the two Charizards, knocking them down with great velocity.

"Charizard!" Alain shouted.

"Look out!" Ash cried out. Zygarde had fired off another Dragon Pulse at the two Mega Charizard as they continued to fall.

They can't avoid it in time...Greninja we have to stop it!

Ninja!

"Now! Water Shuriken!" Ash shouted. Greninja took the Giant Shuriken off its back and jumped into the air, past the two Mega Charizard who just recovered before landing safely on the ground.

"Give it everything we got! Water Shuriken!" Ash called out.

Zygarde's attack struck Greninja's Water Shuriken with incredible force, but the two attacks seemed to cancel out.

It's...too much!

Nin...ja!

No! We have to get stronger, we have to protect everyone. We cannot and will not lose!

As the group looked on, the water shuriken Greninja had grew until it was over three times its normal size.

"Gre...Nin...JA!" The Water Pokemon shouted as the water shuriken shined brighter and brighter.

"Charizard, Flamethower!" Alain shouted as he stood beside Ash.

Alain's Charizard was flying up towards Zygarde again. Now with the legendary Pokemon distracted, Mega Charizard fired a powerful blue flame at Zygarde, striking it on the side. The attack was enough to stop Zygarde from attacking. As the beam dissipated, both Ash and Greninja fell in exhaustion.

"Ash!" Serena cried out as she ran over. Alain caught Ash, before he fell and eased him down to the ground.

"Ash are you alright?!" Serena said as she grabbed her love in her embrace.

"Huh? Yeah. Just a bit tired is all. Help me up would you?" Ash said with a weak laugh. Both Serena and Alain helped Ash up. Ash's Charizard and Pikachu helped pick up Greninja, who was now standing under its own power too.

"Ha...thanks." Ash said as he stood on his feet.

"Ah! Look out!" Clemont called out to them. Alain's Mega Charizard came crashing down next to them. To their relief, Mega Charizard stood up as Alain rushed towards it. As they looked up, they noticed Zygarde taking aim at them once more.

"It's firing a Dragon Pulse again!" Alain exclaimed.

"Charizard, Flamethrower. Greninja use Water Shuriken!" Ash called out. The two Pokemon fired off their attacks, cancelling Zygarde's attack.

"We'll have to work together. Greninja hop on Charizard's back and cover him." Ash said. Greninja and Mega Charizard nodded and the two flew up towards Zygarde, followed by Alain's Mega Charizard.

Get ready Greninja...

"Charizard!" Ash and Alain both shouted. "Flamethrower!"

Wait until you get close...

The two Flamethrowers merged into one flame, roaring towards Zygarde. Another Dragon Pulse stopped the attack from getting to Zygarde. As the two Charizards continued to fly towards Zygarde, Ash and Greninja made their move.

"Alain tell your Charizard to go in with a Dragon Claw!" Ash told Alain. At first Alain didn't know what Ash had planned, but he trusted him.

"Charizard, Dragon Claw!" Alain shouted. As Alain's Charizard flew straight at Zygarde, Ash's Charizard flew underneath.

Now! Water Shuriken!

As Zygarde went to swipe Alain's Charizard with one of its arms, a giant water shuriken slammed into its arm. That was all Alain's Charizard needed as it landed two strikes across Zygarde's chest before retreating out of harms way.

"Now use Steel Wing!" Ash shouted. His Charizard had circled around behind Zygarde while it was distracted and landed a successful hit.

The two Mega Charizards and Greninja faced off against Zygarde in the air. Even with their combined hits, Zygarde didn't look damaged at all. Again it surrounded itself in a green aura.

"Look out!" Ash and Alain cried out, but again Zygarde was too fast and even though both Charizard dodged different ways, Zygarde was able to hit both of them in under a second. Both Mega Charizards fell to the ground in front of their trainers. Greninja was able to jump off Ash's Charizard and land safely, but it was still injured.

Ash's Charizard, being fatigued from the Elite Four challenge already turned back to it's normal form, fainted. Alain's Charizard stood up, but it was took weak to even fly.

"Zygarde's coming back for another attack!" Clemont pointed. Zygarde had raised one of it's arms and fired off a Dragon Pulse at the group, intending to finish off these evil humans protecting Lysandre.

"Greninja!" Ash called out, but the water frog Pokemon already knew what it must do. It stood firmly in front of everyone, looking up at the Dragon Pulse coming towards them.

"Full power, Water Shuriken!" Ash shouted.

Greninja took the Shuriken off it's back and raised it over its head, arm outstretched. The Water shuriken floated above and began to spin. Again the Shuriken grew to three times its normal size, but as the Shuriken began to speed up, it glowed a bright orange. As the Dragon Pulse neared, Ash and Greninja were ready.

"NOW!"

"Gre...nin...JA!"

Greninja threw the Orange Shuriken at the Dragon Pulse. It cut through the Dragon Pulse and slammed into Zygarde, erupting into a huge explosion.

"Greninja did it!" Serena exclaimed.

"That was unbelievable!" Clemont praised. Ash and Greninja looked up, both exhausted but a grim look was on their faces.

You sense it too?

Ninja...

As even Alain seemed to believe that Zygarde was defeated, Ash and Greninja stood there, looking up into the cloud of smoke and dust. Serena rushed over to Ash, intended on giving him a kiss, stopped once she noticed Ash's stern face.

"Ash? What's wrong?" Serena asked.

"It's not over..." Ash said quietly.

Serena gasped and looked up into the cloud as it started to dissipate. A shadow of a figure began to take shape from inside the shrinking cloud. As the group looked on, Zygarde emerged from the cloud. Though Ash and Greninja put all their effort into the attack, all that it left was a small blackened spot on Zygarde's chest.

"What do we do now?" Serena asked, turning towards Ash. She could see the beads of sweat coming from Ash.

"I don't know...Greninja and I are all out of energy." Ash said weakly.

Zygarde looked down at it's chest. The last attack from the Greninja had damaged it, but only slightly. It was enough to enrage it. Zygarde had enough of these evil humans. It concentrated it's power into its chest...

"What's Zygarde doing now?!" Ash said, Serena noticed a tone of fear in his voice.

"We need to run!" Clemont shouted. He looked around the group...

"Where's Bonnie!" He cried out, frantically looking around.

These humans...I must destroy all of them...CORE ENFORCER!

Out of Zygarde's chest, a enormous power began to form. In mere moments, the entire area would be engulfed in green fire.

"Squishy!"

That...voice...

"Squishy, you have to stop this!"

Why is that voice familiar to me?

"Squishy please...you're scaring me...

It's from the human girl...Bonnie. The one my other half befriended...

Zygarde looked down. On the hill overlooking the now destroyed lake stood a lone blonde girl. Tears were in her eyes.

She's scared...but why...do I care?

Because brother...we are joined.

From inside the core of Zygarde, the core known as Squishy had awoken and was now speaking with its counterpart.

We are joined...so now you have my memories.

Your...memories

Squishy showed the other Core, the memories it had with Bonnie and the group. Squishy showed that not all humans were evil. That while there were humans that only wanted to do evil deeds, it was not the nature of humans to be evil. That there was still good in this world, and that alone was worth protecting.

While Squishy was showing the other Core it's memories, Squishy was also experiencing the horrible memories of the other Core while captured by Team Flare.

The human Lysandre will be brought to justice. You must remember we are the Guardian of Kalos...not its destroyer.

From the ground Ash, Serena, and Clemont had rushed up to where Bonnie was. Clemont collapsed and hugged his sister. Ash looked back to where they had been. Alain and Mairin were still keeping a close eye on Lysandre and his executives. Ash's eyes then went back to Zygarde who was just staring down at Bonnie, not moving at all. The energy that had started to form from it's chest had now disappeared.

Brother...no Pokemon or human should have endured what you did, but let me show you a better and brighter world that I have experienced.

Will you do that?

Yes, but first...let us undo the damage that Team Flare has done.

Ash and the group looked on as Zygarde finally moved. It lowered itself down towards the lake. A bright green aura surrounded the legendary Pokemon. As everyone looked on, the storm began to break, and the sun shined through once again. The green aura that had surrounded Zygarde now shot out in all directions. Soon the forest was healed, the ground flourished with green once more, and the lake was refilled with crystal clear water.

With it's work finished, Zygarde then glowed as the Cells dispersed, once again covering the planet until only the two Cores remained. The two Cores flew up towards Ash and the group under the newly healed tree on top of the hill. Bonnie ran towards them.

"Squishy!" She cried as she picked up the red Core. They rest of the group laughed with joy.

"Oh and you must be Squishy's friend?" Bonnie smiled, reaching out her hand for the other Core.

How can she be like this after what I have done

There are a lot of things we can learn from the humans. In this case, it's their capacity for forgiveness.

Forgiveness...?

As the Blue Core accepted Bonnie's offer, Ash and the group noticed a commotion down below. They looked over at where Alain was and saw Diantha along with several Officer Jenny's. As they were about to go, Squishy and the blue Zygarde core jumped out of Bonnie's arms.

"Squishy?" Bonnie said, looking back at the two cores.

Bonnie...It is time for me to leave

"Wha?!" The group all gasped. Tears began to well up in Bonnie's eyes.

"But why...?" Bonnie whimpered, holding back the tears to no avail.

I am tired and will have to go away for a time.

The group stood there in silence. No one able to find the right words to say.

"I..." Bonnie said in between her tears. "I...understand."

I won't be gone long, and remember...I will always be watching.

"Ok..." Bonnie said wiping the tears from her eyes.

Thank you Bonnie...and you three as well. For everything...

Squishy and the other Zygarde core then flew away, disappearing into the distance leaving the four friends with a feeling of sorrow and happiness.

The group headed down, and met with Diantha as four more Officer Jenny's arrived to arrest Lysandre and the rest of Team Flare. As they were leaving, Alain went with them.

"Alain, where you going?" Ash asked. Alain turned around, a stern yet sad look in his eyes.

"I am partially responsible for these events. I'm the reason Lysandre was able to get so close to destroying Kalos." Alain explained. Even with Ash and Mairin's protest, Alain allowed himself to be taken into custody along with Lysandre and the rest of Team Flare.

"But he didn't do anything wrong." Ash said to Diantha as the group made their way back to the Pokemon village.

"We'll see Ash. I'll have a word with Professor Sycamore. Alain was his assistant, maybe he'll have some answers." Diantha said. At the edge of the Pokemon Village, Ash had to say goodbye to Alain as he was taken away along with the remains of Team Flare. Mairin was allowed to accompany the Officer Jenny that had Alain.

The rest of Team Flare had been rounded up with the help from dozens of trainers who stood against them. Now everyone was recovering from the attack. Most headed to the Pokemon Center to tend to their injuries while the rest helped cleaning up the destruction. Among those, were three of the Elite Four members. On the way to the Pokemon Center, the group ran into them.

"Seibold! Drasna and Wikstrom! Where have you been? What happened?" Diantha asked as she ran up to them. Ash, Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie followed after her.

"It was Lysandre." Seibold answered.

"He gathered us up so we could fight against Team Flare, but it was all a ruse to lure us into a trap." Wikstrom explained. "Before we knew it, we were attacked with Sleep Powder and when we awoke, we were locked in a room without our Pokemon."

"But then how did you escape?" Ash asked.

"And where's Malva?" Diantha asked as well, but with a serious tone.

"It was Malva that rescued us." Drasna answered, walking forward.

"But it's not that simple." Wikstrom said quickly.

1 hour earlier

"I didn't want any of this to happen..." Malva said as she returned the Pokemon to her colleagues.

"What do you mean Malva?" Drasna asked.

"There's no time. Go to the Village and protect the people, there's something I must do, but please know...I thought of you all as friends. Goodbye, I doubt we will ever see each other again." Malva said as she ran off.

"Before Malva joined the Elite Four two years ago, she had worked for Lysandre in the past." Diantha said as Wikstrom finished explaining what had happened.

"So where did she go?" Serena asked. The three of them shook their head.

"We don't know." Siebold answered.

"It's alright." Ash said. "At least everyone is safe and we stopped Team Flare. That's all that matters."

The group nodded. Malva may have been a part of Team Flare, but in the end Malva helped protect the people and went back and saved the Elite Four. For now, their main focus was to tend to the injured and to restore the Pokemon Village back to the way it was. Everything else, could wait.

Next chapter on Saturday...