Chapter 3! On with the show!

A Family that keeps on teasing

Latios, as one would say, was not a happy dragon. Not in the slightest. Not because he woke up from his nap with Latias in his face, but because he didn't. Everyday, without fail, Latias would poke him awake after she came home from her shifts. The fact that she didn't this time annoyed and worried him. While she could have been out with Mew and forgotten to check with him, he did not want to take any chances. Not since the incident that nearly destroyed Alto mare and nearly his own life. Thanks to those over-zealous Team Rocket members, the entire city almost sank, and thanks to them, he would've gone with it. Lucky for him (and Alto mare), Mew just happened to teleport there in time to see the wave, and the twins flying off to stop it. With her superior abilities, she joined in on them and effortlessly stopped the wave with an enormous psychic blast. Luckily, barely anyone had been affected by it, Ash being one of them. When the trio had flown back, they found the young trainer, knocked out on the docks. Latias, he noted, had practically panicked, until the boy woke up barely a minute later. He also remembered Mew altering him and his friend's memories of her, making them believe the twins took care of the "problem" on their own. Lorenzo and Bianca had been spared, as they had encountered and interacted with Mew multiple times, although all accidentally. Mew almost removed Ash's entire memory of that night, as well as ever meeting the dragons. Latias had begged her not to do that, not wanting Ash to forget about her.

Latios's eyes narrowed. Latias…. He growled, annoyed that he allowed himself to become distracted from the main issue. Latios shimmered, before becoming invisible. He shot through the barrier and up into the sky, intent on trying to find his sister.

After a few moments, he found her, as well as Mew. And…. no, surely he was mistaken. Maybe I'm still groggy..
Latios flew a little bit above them, his mouth opening in rare shock. Ash…?

Latias seemed to feel his presence, looking up and appearing to look for him. He heard her voice in his head. "...Latios? You're awake!" He growled back, "Yes, I am." He paused, before continuing. "I see you found someone… special."

Latias blushed, turning her head forward again, while leading Ash… and a large group.

He frowned. "Latias, who are these people? And where, for Mother Arceus's sake, are you taking them?"
She didn't speak for a minute, before hesitantly replying, "Well, I was going to take them to you…"

"And why is that?"

Latias looked a bit guilty as she responded. "I might have made a mistake earlier."
He sighed, not very please, but not surprised, either. "What did you do, confess to him?"

He smirked as Latias blushed even harder. "No! Why would you think that?"

Latios didn't respond to that, too busy chuckling. He backed off some, before telling her, "Take them to Lorenzo's. He's back from the museum." She seemed to frown. "I was going to take them to the Garden… but alright."

Latios nodded in satisfaction, before flying home. He thanked Mew's obliviousness, or her choice of not speaking with him. No matter she was an ancient Legendary; she is, and always will be, a pest.

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Ash hoped Latias was ok. While she was dragging them (or more accurately him) along, she seemed to get red occasionally. Just a minute ago, her whole face appeared to be blazing. Was she ill? He spoke up, "La- Bianca, are you alright? You're not sick or anything, are you?" She glanced back at him, appearing confused. "I'm not sick. Why do you ask?" He nodded, thankful she was fine. "Well, I saw your face and neck get red a few times. In fact, just a while ago, your neck was super red."
At that, she seemed to get red again. Behind them, he heard a snort. A voice, probably Sophocles, quietly muttered what sounded like, "Denser than a pile of rocks.…" He disregarded this, as Latias responded, "No Ash, I'm fine. But, thank you for caring." At that, she seemed to get redder, before she faced forward once more. Up ahead, the pink-haired girl giggled, before zooming off towards a fountain nearby. Ash focused on her. He frowned, thinking. Was that really Mew? She seemed rather carefree, for a legendary. But then again, Latias had been super playful when he was in Alto mare the first time. He also remembered the Mew from the Tree of Beginning. That one had been playful as well… at least, when the Tree hadn't been trying to eat everyone, that is. Was this the same Mew?
He was broken from his thoughts when Latias announced, "We're here."

Ash was a bit surprised to see a house. Were they not going to the garden? He then remembered there was a large amount of people with them, and that Latias didn't have too much reason to trust them just yet. He asked her, "Is this Lorenzo's place?" The disguised dragoness nodded as she knocked on the door. "Yes, it is. Close enough to the garden where he can get there quickly, while still being able to go to shops and such. Secluded, but not overly so."

Suddenly, the door opened, revealing an old man- Lorenzo. "Ah, how are you, my dear..?" He finally seemed to notice Ash beside her. "Ash! Is that really you, my boy? How have you been?"

Ash rubbed his neck sheepishly, before replying. "Hey Lorenzo. I'm doing alright, I guess. I've been going to school over at Alola. These are my friends, and that's Professor Kukui and Professor Burnet."

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Professor Kukui raised his hand in greeting, his ever present smile showing on his face, while his wife did the same. He stepped forward to introduce himself. "Hey there! I'm Professor Kukui, I teach over at the Pokemon school. Professor Burnet here is my wife, and these are my students."

At that, the class started introducing themselves to the old man. Seeing them momentarily distracted allowed him to focus on more important items. Namely, the red-haired girl. While seemingly ordinary enough, her friendship with the other girl (who Kukui very much suspected could be the real Mew) and the claim that both her and the other friend she mentioned shared the same name tipped him off that she was more than she seemed. If the pink-haired girl really was Mew, that raised several questions as to the identity of the red head. Was she a Pokemon too? If so, which one? Was she perhaps a Zoroark? If she was, what was her attachment to Ash-?

His thoughts were interrupted as Burnet spoke quietly into his ear. "Is it just me, or do both those girls seem a bit off to you?"

He shook his head. "No, I believe so, too. That hyper girl, with the pink hair… what are your thoughts?"

"I can't really be sure. I mean, she said her name was "Mew", which is a name I have never heard a human having. Maybe the parents are a fan?"

Kukui rubbed his forehead. "Somehow, I don't think so. Very, very few people have heard of Mew. All, or most, are researchers and professors. I say we should just keep our distance. For the time being, that is."

His wife nodded in agreement, before a thoughtful look took over her excited one. "Then, the red-haired girl… what do you think of her?"

He turned to look at the subject of her question, who was currently still holding Ash's hand. "I… don't know. She said her name was Bianca, but then she mentioned her other friend, whoever that may be, was also called Bianca. On top of that, it looked to me like she made a mistake in saying it. Although, she does appear to be rather… attached to Ash. Probably something that happened when he was first here. Anyway, whoever they are, whatever they are, there is more to both of them than meets the eye."

Burnet huffed in agreement, before smirking. "Whatever the case, it seems Mallow has competition."

Kukui only laughed quietly.

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Latias was barely paying attention to the class as they introduced themselves. She wasn't even paying attention to Ash, whose hand she noticed she was still holding. No, her focus was behind her, at the two professors. Nothing about them seemed malicious, but she couldn't help but feel nervous as they talked about Mew. Although, it was a bit of a relief that they didn't suspect anything… hopefully.
However, Latias was less than thrilled when the professors began talking about her. It had been her own fault, really, making that slip up, but she hadn't been thinking. At least, not as much as she should have. She had been too focused on Ash grabbing her hand to use her head properly.

Now, that was coming back to bite her.

Her cheeks lightly flamed as they commented about her bond with Ash. How obvious was it? It seemed everyone but Ash could see her… affection. However, Burnet's last comment made her frown. Mallow? Competition? She threw a glance at the green haired girl that was currently enraptured by Lorenzo. Did that girl really have feelings for Ash? The mere thought put a scowl on her face as a spear of jealousy lanced through her. If she had competition, she would make sure it didn't last…. She took a deep breath. Maybe she was being a bit over dramatic. Maybe the professors were talking about a different kind of competition, although she didn't know what for. Latias debated whether or not to inspect Mallow's mind, when a voice interrupted her thoughts. "Alright, Bianca, have fun."

She jumped, startled as she looked around to find Mew some ways off, looking back at her. Latias frowned, and asked, "Are you leaving so soon?"

The disguised cat nodded as she stretched, before replying. "Yup! I've done what I came here to do. Plus, I'm bored. I'm going to go annoy Dialga for a while!"

And with that, she disappeared around the corner, before a pop was heard.

Latias groaned. Mew was going to get into serious trouble, saying things like that with strangers around. Taking a look around, she noted the class hadn't been paying attention to their exchange. Instead, Lorenzo was holding their interest, telling them the legends of Alto mare. She spared a glance at the Professors. They were both staring at her; Burnet seemed merely intrigued. Kukui looked expressionless.

She quickly looked away, cursing to herself. She needed a distraction. A pit of excitement grew in her stomach as she thought of an idea .Latias subtly tugged Ash's wrist. As he looked over at her, she quietly spoke to him, "Come on."

He looked questionably at her.

Latias rolled her eyes, before pulling him away. "I want to show you something."

And with that, the two slipped away, virtually unnoticed.

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All was not well back in Alola. Quite the opposite. The figure walking slowly through smoking debris, deep in the forests, was the source of the trouble.

The being was covered head to toe in a tight fitting black armor, with bits of purple strategically placed here and there. A black, ragged cloak covered the torso, while an eerie matching helmet encased the head. Boots crushed pieces of the wreckage into pieces of ash as they were stepped on.

Every footfall brought the figure closer to five others, not including the shapes standing behind them.

These, however, were not as free as the one walking towards them. They were on their knees, hands tied behind their backs. Two were female, while the other three were male.
All five wore black gang-like clothing, with a skull-like necklace around each of their necks and white caps on their heads. Bandanas lay in front of each, some of them slightly burnt.
The two females were wheezing from the smoke, while two of their male compatriots were looking at the ground in defeat. The last one was looking up at the approaching figure, a look of defiance on his face. When he spoke, his voice was slightly raspy. "Who do you think you are, messing with Team Skull? Our boy Guzma-"
The figure flicked their hand, and one of the shapes standing behind the brave (or foolish) Team Skull grunt brought a heavy branch-like limb down, knocking the grunt to the ground. The four others all flinched, and the struck member groaned as he picked himself back up into his previous position. He didn't dare speak up again.

The figure stopped some feet in front of them, and bent down slightly to inspect each. None of the gang members had the courage to look up into the gaze of their captor.

Worthless. Incompetent. Waste of time.

The figure straightened up, pulling black spheres out from underneath the cloak. With bursts of sickly looking yellow light, the shapes behind the captives were sucked in.

Wordlessy, the figure turned and walked off into the dark woods, abandoning the weakened and wounded grunts where they kneeled.

Did they leave? Or, was I lied to?

The individual reached a cliffside, peering out over the ocean.

Ash Ketchum… I will find you.

Author's Note:
Happy Pokemon Day! As I've expected (along with everyone else), we got a Gen 8 reveal today. I must say, I am very excited. The starters don't look half bad. I'm gonna have to go with Sobble. I have created a poll; let me know which starter you'd choose. Located on my profile.

Alright, onward to the meat of the matter. Someone was kind enough to point out the deal with the suspicion of Mew. I hope I addressed that properly in this, as it was a review I found helpful. Unfortunately, the "reviews" I get are typically not helpful in fixing things like that.
In this chapter, introduced to Lorenzo. Thoughtful chit chat between the professors, and a Latias whose not happy with the idea of competing for Ash. After all, she knew him long before any of the Alolan crew.
And the end of the chapter…. I must say, of all the bits I will enjoy writing, this unknown person will probably be my favorite. After all, they are my OC. Aren't OCs fun?
This OC will not be like Team Rocket. That is all I have to say about it for now.
Anyway, thanks for tuning in. Glad I got this out in time for Pokemon Day!

See ya next time,

~Mimikyu