I blinked as I finally made it out of Reflection Cave. The sun shone brightly and I surveyed the city I was now in.

"Hey, you made it!"

I turned to see Robert and Alex heading towards me.

Alex reached me first. "Why'd you run off like that!? Where were you!?"

"It's fine," I assured her. "I'm alright. See?"

I took a step back and held out my arms. She surveyed me and relaxed a little.

"What happened then?" Robert asked.

I glanced back into the cave. "I thought I saw something. I guess I ended up having a dream or something involving my past."

I held up a pokeball. "With Mawile's help though, I was able to get out of it."

"Wait," Alex stared at the pokeball. "Mawile?"

I nodded. "The very same one from Route 10. She was curious about me apparently."

I clicked the ball and Mawile appeared between us. She blinked her eyes and glared slightly at Alex and Robert before moving closer to me.

"It's alright," I said, kneeling. "They're my friends. They're good people. We're all working to stop whoever wishes to do Kalos harm."

Mawile gave me a side-glance, then nodded.

"So," I stood. "Shalour City huh."

From where we stood, we were on a hill overlooking the city. The path merged into a road that weaved down the hill, shops and houses on the sides. Eventually it led to the beach and just offshore was a huge tower.

"What's that?" I asked, pointing.

"The Tower of Mastery," Robert answered. "We did some information finding while we waited for you to return. The tower acts as the gym for this city as well as holding information on mega evolution. Someone named the Guru lives there."

"Guru," I said. "Sycamore mentioned him. He said we could learn about mega evolution from him."

"That would be cool," Alex said. "We've seen it before, but I wonder if any of my Pokemon could use it?"

"We can ask," I said. "But how do we get there with the tide up."

"We asked," Alex said. "It should be down tomorrow morning."

"So we get a whole day to relax," I said. "What should we do?"

Just then, the sound of an explosion rang out.

"What the!?" Robert looked around wildly.

"There," Alex pointed at the beach, where people had gathered. Two trainers it seemed were battling on the beach. One of them wore white and seemed very familiar.

"Diantha," I realized. "The champion is having a battle!"

"We gotta go see," Robert looked excited. "This is a great opportunity to see how she commands her Pokemon."

He took off and Alex and I followed close behind, equally thrilled. It was likely the same for Alex as it was for me, the desire to know Diantha's battling style so that one day, we could win against her.

It didn't take us long to reach the beach, but when we did, I could tell they were on their last Pokemon. Both trainers looked like they were going all out. Both Diantha and the guy in the cape.

Diantha was using her Gardevoir, not even giving her verbal commands, yet Gardevoir was still battling exceptionally well and holding her own against the other trainer's Charizard.

"Fire Blast!" The trainer with the cape yelled. The fire move shot towards Gardevoir, who blasted a Moonblast into it, scattering the flames with an explosion. Wind blew back the trainer's long purple hair, almost blowing off his cap.

I looked back at Diantha. I watched her closely, then realized whenever her eyes shifted, Gardevoir moved in that same direction. Gardevoir was also a psychic type. It would make sense for the champion to utilize her Pokemon's psychic abilities to communicate commands instead of voicing them aloud.

Charizard flew forwards, glowing claws slashing so fast they were a blur. Gardevoir nimbly dodged each attack, before unleashing a dazzling glow that was so bright it knocked Charizard back a step. Then the Fairy type's fist sparked with electricity and she slammed it on the underside of the Fire type's chin. He was knocked up and fell on his back.

A second passed, then the flame on his tail grew in intensity. He swung it, the flames blasting Gardevoir backwards and he flipped himself into the air, slashing his wings in front of him. The air was sliced as the wind slammed into Gardevoir. She shook herself and her eyes glowed pink for a second, then it was gone. She held up her hand and a ball of flames formed, glowing slightly pink. She blasted it at Charizard, who flew above it and soared towards Gardevoir, his wings glowing. She disappeared, then reappeared to the side, sending glowing leaves towards the Fire type. The leaves spun around him, forcing him to stop to blast them with a Flamethrower. The air above him rippled and a rift appeared, blasting magical energy down onto him. Then Gardevoir was there, slamming a Moonblast into his chest, blasting him backwards. Her eyes glowed and a pink aura surrounded Charizard. He was lifted into the sky before slammed back down on the ground. The aura pulsed before it collapsed in on him, causing him to roar in pain. Gardevoir teleported next to him, planting a kiss on his head, causing him to faint as Gardevoir healed a bit of her injuries.

The crowd cheered loudly as I just watched, amazed.

"That battle," I breathed. "It was incredible. Such a show of raw strength of two powerful Pokemon going at it."

"I know what you mean," Alex looked out of breath.

"So this is what two champions battling looks like," Robert rubbing his mouth, probably trying to remember every last detail of the battle we just saw.

"Wait," I looked at him. "Two champions?"

The man with the cap had pulled it down to cover his face, but then straightened it, grinning widely, golden eyes sparkling.

"Champion Diantha," he and her met in the center of their battlefield upon the sand. "This was certainly a champion time! I do hope we can do this more often."

He shook her hand and she smiled warmly. "I wish that too. But is your region willing to open itself up more?"

He grinned. "Of course. As champion of Galar, I want to do what's best for it. I want to open ourselves up to the world. Not to mention all the strong trainers that might show up in Galar."

Diantha chuckled. "It's just an excuse to battle more isn't it?"

The other champion grinned proudly. "That's just a bonus."

A news reporter hurried up to them, her cameraman right behind her. "If you champions wouldn't mind, could we get a quick word on your battle? What does the Kalos Champion winning going to mean for Galar's reputation?"

The Galarian Champion stepped forwards, eyes on the camera. "Absolutely nothing. Our match was just a bout to test one another's different strengths."

Diantha stood next to him. "I second that. Besides, Champion Leon was certainly a tough opponent. He could easily win next time we battle. His and his Pokemon's strength might even be better than mine and Gardevoir's."

"This battle was also to show that Galar is willing to open itself up more," Leon said. "We won't let our history with other regions keep us holed up, especially with Kalos. We hope we can start building a wonderful relationship with this beautiful region. That is all."

The reporter seemed overjoyed for just getting that amount of information, so she left with her cameraman without complaint.

Leon waved at the crowd. "Thank you, people of Kalos, for cheering us on! I'm grateful you all have welcomed me here with open arms."

The crowd cheered again.

Leon and Diantha went to their Pokemon to heal them and the crowd began to disperse, some heading back into the city while others just went a little further away to continue watching them. Soon, the three of us were the only ones left.

"Diantha," I called as we headed over.

She looked up, her Gardevoir freshly healed. "Ah, you three. I've been meaning to check up on your progress."

I shared a look with my friends. "Yeah, we have a lot to talk to you about."

Diantha nodded in understanding. "We can do it over lunch then. It is about that time. Leon?"

She turned to look at him and his Charizard, who stood strong now. "As a fellow champion, I feel it appropriate to give you some hospitality."

He grinned. "Me and Charizard would love to."

"Plus," he studied us three with eagerness. "You three seem like strong trainers. "I'd love to get to know you all."

"Then it's settled," Diantha nodded. "I have a restaurant cleared out for the next couple hours. We can dine there without being bothered."

Gardevoir was eyeing the pokeballs clipped to my belt, which Diantha noticed. "Not now, Gardevoir. Wait until we get there."

Her Pokemon nodded, leaving me confused.

...

"First order of business," Diantha said as we had just ordered our food. "I heard from Professor Sycamore you're taking care of a 'special' Froakie?"

I nodded. "Frogadier now, yeah."

Diantha nodded at my pokeball. "Can I see him."

"Sure," I said, letting Frogadier out. He glanced between us all, then noticed Gardevoir and Charizard, both probably giving off powerful auras, since he seemed wary of them. Gardevoir walked up to him, knelt, and placed a hand on his head. Her eyes glowed pink, I assuming she was using her psychic energy for something. I trusted Diantha enough to know this was harmless, but I still had no idea what was going on.

After a minute, Gardevoir stepped back and looked at her trainer. Diantha let out a breath of relief and smiled. "Good. He's been in good care, not that I doubted you Zeno, but I had to make sure."

"Yeah, of course," I agreed. "Though, he only does have around a month to live."

Frogadier put his hand on my leg, staring at me with confidence. I smiled and rubbed his head.

"Hmm," Leon had his chin on his hands, which were propped up by his elbows. "I thought you're Frogadier was different. He's shiny, right?"

"Yeah," I confirmed. "That's why I'm taking on the Pokemon League. I want to give him a life worth living before, you know..."

"That's wonderful," Leon smiled sadly. "I wish you two the best of luck on your journey."

Diantha nodded, then turned to the three of us. "Now, you have more information then."

Alex looked at me, and I nodded. My face must've been pained, because she looked sympathetic.

"Yes," Alex said. "We're still not sure how this ties into what happened to Garchomp though. It might just be a totally separate thing, but they're incredibly dangerous. To all of Kalos."

"Who?" Talk of danger to Kalos brought out her serious side.

"A cult," Robert answered. "The Cult of Chaos. We ran into them the day after we dealt with Team Flare with you. They kidnapped several people, including us. They..."

He seemed to be having trouble finding the words, so I said, "Human sacrifices."

Leon sucked in a breath and Diantha's eyes narrowed. "What?"

Alex was about to speak for me, but I put a hand on her shoulder. "Its fine. I can do this."

She studied me for a second before nodding. I turned to Diantha. "They worship an entity knows as Chaos. Or the All-Powerful One as they call her. They plan to sacrifice people to bring Chaos here, to Kalos. They murdered a little girl in front of me, her blood the first of many to come."

I felt my gaze harden. "I will find them again and I will stop their plans."

Diantha looked deeply troubled. "I heard that some people had gone missing in Ambrette Town after the body of the Pokemon Center's Nurse Joy was found. I'm guessing that was them?"

Alex nodded. "We figured it would be best to not panic Kalos by talking about this."

"Wise call," Diantha said. "But I might have to become public with this soon. If they can't be found soon, we need all of Kalos on high alert. I also don't think it would be a good idea to have you three involved anymore. This is starting to become dangerous-"

"No," I cut her off. "We have a role in this now. They want me as a special sacrifice, so I can't just back out now. Besides, we've dealt with danger before. Did you hear about the incident in Alola six months ago?"

Diantha nodded, but Leon was the one who spoke. "I saw that on the news. Alola was pretty much brought to ruin. Apparently something was going to destroy all of Alola, but it was stopped by a trainer who gave up his life."

"Yeah," I looked down at the table. "That was me."

I brought my gaze back up. "You probably heard Alola mention something about the Hero Born of Darkness. That's me as well. It wasn't just me though. Alex and Robert both were a major part in what went down in Alola. We all saved the region, along with many others."

"What I'm getting at," I said. "Is that we're capable of handling ourselves. With all due respect Diantha, even if you told us to leave this alone, we wouldn't. We can't just sit back and do nothing."

Diantha sighed. "I see. Fine then. I will allow you three to continue to help. But I want you to be extra careful."

We all nodded.

"Was there anything else you needed to tell me?" Diantha asked.

"The stones," Robert said. "We found out who were taking the stones from Route 10."

"Team Radiance," Diantha nodded. "Lysandre managed to find out. But we don't know why."

"Neither do we," I said. "But..."

I shared a glance with my friends. They looked unsure, so I decided to say it. "We managed to hack some messages we found from Team Flare. Something about a mission involving Kalos' Power Plant."

Diantha grimaced. "Just one thing after another then. Great."

"That's not all," I hesitated, then continued. "We discovered Lysandre has been communicating with them. We surmised that he's their leader."

Diantha's eyes widened, but she tried to remain composure. "Evidence?"

Robert handed over his Holo Caster and Diantha scrolled through it, her eyebrows knitting together. She handed it back after a couple minutes, seemingly exhausted. "I'll look into this more. If you meet him again, do not tell him you know anything. He can't know that we're onto him."

"If there's anything I can do to help..." Leon offered, but Diantha shook her head.

"I appreciate the offer," she said. "But this is Kalos' problem, not Galar's. If there wasn't anything else you three needed to tell me, I say we start eating."

...

As we left the restaurant, Leon turned to me. "I can tell you're a strong trainer just by looking at you. I wish I could battle you, but I have a schedule I have to stick to today. So here, take this. I think I can trust you with it since you're taking care of that Frogadier."

He handed me a pokeball. "That there holds a Pokemon native to Galar. I hope you two become great friends."

He waved to us as he got onto his Charizard. "Thanks for the wonderful battle and meal. Maybe I'll see you trainers again one day. And make sure to have a Champion Time during your journey!"

His Charizard flapped his wings hard as he took off into the sky.

Diantha smiled. "He's a young and energetic champion. Hopefully Kalos and Galar will build a strong relationship with one another."

She turned to us. "Here, have something I found a while back."

She held out a small marble shaped object and I grabbed it. I stared at the orange patterns within it.

"Is that a Mega Stone!?" Robert's eyes were wide.

"I don't know," Diantha admitted. "Ask the guru tomorrow when you go to challenge the gym. He'll know."

"Stay safe trainers," Diantha said. "Please, don't be reckless."

We nodded. "We'll be fine."

She smiled. "Good. Goodbye then."

We waved her goodbye as she walked down the street, Gardevoir by her side. I tucked the stone into my pocket and shrunk the pokeball onto my belt. I could check what Pokemon lay inside later.

"What should we do now?" I asked.

"How about we go to the beach," Alex suggested. "Unwind from our travels."

"That sounds like bliss," Robert nodded.

I smiled. "Then let's go."

Together, we all headed to the beach, the rest of the day ahead of us.

Two weeks again without an update. So sorry. School's been keeping me busy. On the plus side, I've already introduced the first Galar character, Champion Leon. Plus, he gave Zeno a Pokemon from Galar. I want you all to guess what he got. In other news, I was planning on putting the first chapter for TMR's sequel up around Christmas, but considering I haven't updated a whole lot recently, I might push that into 2020. More likely than not. I need to focus on getting more of this out, plus another chapter of Dark, which I would say about a fourth of it is done. Besides that, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Toodles