The 18 Masters

by StZushi

Strange things have been happening across the regions. Rainstorms and hurricanes punished cities. But something is off: Those things are not natural. Gary, Dawn, Ash, Serena, May, Drew and their friends are the ones chosen to find people to help solve this problem. Little do they know this will prove to be much harder than they thought. Currently re-writing!

5. Chapter 5 - Times of Change

A/N: Yo. I'm back. 2020 punished me, and 2021 feels weird, but I guess that's just life. Hello! Welcome to this chapter, which probably turned out longer than necessary (blame it on the weather or something) and blame me as well because I am the word "confusion" as a person, and the beginning of the year gave me time to write for once (probably because I don't leave the house due to the pandemic). To quickly summarize a specific person's comment in the last chapter (Rena): Unova is hell, basically lol! You're great Rena! So yeah, Unova is the worst place right now. And before I forget, this story is also on AO3. It's the same name on both websites, but here's the url anyways: *slash* works *slash* 11810337. And before I say anything else, let's just jump right in. So get yourselves a drink or two, some snacks maybe, and read on!

---

Chapter 5

Times of Change

Part 1: To Each their Own Way

Kalos, Lumiose City

A Pikachu ran through the crowd as it played around in the city. It was going pretty fast, but upon hearing its name from a specific voice, it immediately returned to where it was before running around. The small pokémon hopped about until coming by a small café, where a teenage couple talked, some pastries in front of them. Pikachu made its way to the boy, making itself comfortable on his shoulder. The boy smiled brightly.

"Hey, buddy!" said Ash Ketchum "I know you were having fun, but we're about to leave." He then took a colorful pastry and gave it to Pikachu. "I got this one just for you!" Pikachu grabbed it, then started nibbling on it.

The girl sitting by his side smiled. "You two are inseparable. Makes me kinda jealous!" She said, pretending to be sad. He laughed.

"Oh, really? Well then, Pikachu go give her some love!" Pikachu then hopped on her, nuzzling his cheeks with Serena. She laughed a bit.

"You're so silly." She said, as Ash gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"But you like it."

"I know." She smiled, her blue eyes meeting his brown ones.

To say they were both different was an understatement. Although she kept the short hair, her blond hair now had pink tips. She also seemed more athletic than before, which was expected from her performances. But at least today, she kept things a bit more simple, wearing a black long sleeved shirt, along with blue jeans and boots. A bit weird to see one of the most famous Pokémon Performers wearing such simple clothing, but she felt it was a nice change of pace.

On the other hand, Ash finally gained some height. And the constant training made him a lot more athletic: the muscle was showing. His hair was also shorter, but just a bit. But he refused to not wear the hat, which was, obviously, an official International Pokémon League cap. But this time it was different, because this one was his signature model (A/N: same one from the first season, but with some subtle Pikachu tail patterns on the red parts). Being a well known trainer had its perks. His t-shirt was dark blue, with a green pokéball sign on the front, with an open white vest on top. His pants were also jeans, but these were of a darker blue color that went well with his white running shoes.

He looked at her. "So, we've received some news from my brother from another mother Gary regarding these abnormalities and all that jazz. And," He then took his phone and showed her a message from Professor Sycamore. "the professor wants to see us urgently. I'm starting to think things are going to get weird."

"Makes sense. I mean, Diantha put me on standby, and you're one of the Indigo League Sub Admins, so you're technically always on standby."

He sighed. "And they told me I would have some days off this month. Why do weird things always happen when we're trying to be normal people for once in our lives?" He sighed again, his small friend mimicking him from Serena's lap.

She took a sip of coffee. The smell was intoxicatingly good. "I know. I'm lucky, honestly. It's gonna be a long time before the next contest season. I really needed some time with my friends while I'm waiting for that."

"Friends, you say?" He smiled slyly. "Interesting."

She laughed a bit, lightly slapping him on the shoulder. "You're stupid."

"I think you mean stupidly handsome." He took her free hand in his. "Come on, don't deny it."

She squeezed his hands. "I think you mean handsomely stupid." She then leaned her head on his shoulder. "Also, we're getting off track. We're already in Lumiose City, so we can go get info from Professor Sycamore and talk to Clemont and Bonnie to see if they'll help us in this." Pikachu then hopped on to his lap.

"Makes sense." He said as Pikachu returned to his shoulder. "Also, since we're here, I think it would make sense for us to start searching around Lumiose. It's a huge city, It might be possible to find one of them here."

"It is still very unlikely. I mean… Those guys you told Gary about before… Were they actually one of the trainers? Seems like it's too much wishful thinking."

Ash nodded in agreement. "I know, but for once, it would be nice if things could work for us without much problems. Like, I am all for adventure, but I don't wanna have to deal with legendary pokémon alone again. I've had enough of that." He then chugged his entire cup of pumpkin spice latte.

She laughed, then looked up at him. "You looked great though."

"I almost died. More times than I would like to admit. But, yes. I looked great!" He laughed along. "So, off to Sycamore's? It's a 30 minute walk from here, but it's in the middle of the way to Clemont's place."

"Yeah, let's go."

After paying, they left. The walk was indeed about thirty minutes long, but when they arrived, the one answering the door was not someone they expected to meet.

A boy, about their age, opened the door. They were also surprised to see it was someone they knew. Ash knew him well enough at least.

"Didn't expect to see you here, Ketchum." Said the boy, arms crossed.

"I could say the same to you, Silver." he smiled a bit.

Silver is a trainer with ties to the now disbanded Team Rocket. After a lot of things, he ended up becoming a regular trainer. He was also good friends with Champion Ethan Gold, from Johto. His hair was very long, and very red, almost like blood. His eyes were like his name, a silver color that seemed so mesmerizing yet so distant at the same time. His clothes were all very dark as well. "I take it you received the professor's message, right?"

"Um, yeah. We did."

Silver then nodded, and fully opened the door so they could enter. "Make yourselves comfortable." His voice, like his eyes, also seemed very distant, and yet he was standing right beside him.

Serena made her way to the backyard, wanting to talk to the professor after a fairly long time.

But Ash stayed.

"So, did you become Sycamore's assistant?"

"Something like that. Face it like a trade: I work as an assistant and he teaches me about Mega Evolution. Equally beneficial for us."

"Makes sense. Do you know the whole situation?"

"Yup. The Indigo League Champion is my best friend. Of course I know what's going on. And no, I can't come with you. There's really important research going on here, and the professor needs my help in this."

"That's honestly a shame. You're one of the best trainers I know." Ash said. "I've seen your abilities upclose." Pikachu then looked at Ash, then back at Silver, as he remembered when the redhead's Weavile knocked him out with a single strike. "You know I want a rematch, right?"

Silver smiled. "Me too, I want to defeat you at your best. I know you were holding back."

"You were too. It's not hard to notice these things after some time." He laughed again. "By the way, how are things with Lyra? I heard from Ethan that you guys had recently started dating."

Silver visibly stiffened up at that. "Well… She's a handful. And too enthusiastic. And has more energy than Ethan when I met him. But it's been great." He then smiled a bit. "She might be a bit crazy, but honestly, so am I. You guys all know my past."

Heh, someone finally brought him down, Ash thought to himself. "Yeah, we know." He then began walking away from Silver, heading to the backyard. As he passed by the redhead, he put his hand on his shoulder. "Good to see you, my friend."

As Ash walked on to the backyard, Silver looked at his direction. Likewise.

Ash opened the door to the backyard. As he stepped outside, he saw Sycamore and Serena talking, while the professor's Garchomp distracted some of the smaller pokémon. There was an Emolga on her head.

Sycamore then noticed Ash's presence. "I see my new assistant kept you busy for a while." he was smiling, happy to see a friend again after a long time.

"Yup. Me and Silver had some history a while ago."

Serena then turned to him. "He is still as stoic as ever." she said. "Maybe that's why I never really got closer to him."

The professor chuckled. "Makes sense. But honestly… it's nice to have someone so serious working with me. And he is very smart, though sometimes severely blunt."

"That definitely sounds like Silver." said the trainer as he shared a handshake with Sycamore. "I believe Serena already told you what we know, right?"

"She was about to do so. I was going to tell her what I know too, but you weren't here yet and also we got distracted." He pointed to his Garchomp. The very large dragon pokémon being followed around by an entire mob of smaller pokémon.

Ash wasn't surprised to see his Pikachu, who had hopped off from his shoulder, on top of Garchomp's head along with the Emolga, the two electric types sort of commanding the others.

"Well…" The professor started. "Serena told me about what you heard from Oak's grandson. And yes, the information checks out." He took a tablet, then showed it to them. "Oak sent me a copy of the report, along with the distortion map. Kalos didn't have as many distortions as Kanto or Johto, but they did happen here, as far as I can tell." he then zoomed in on a location "The points of interest here are Snowbelle City, which has been basically under 50 centimeters of snow. Mind you, it's summer in Kalos." he then zoomed in on another location. "And we have the entirety of Victory Road facing distortions as well. Many trainers gather there to battle others and train, but given the circumstances, Victory Road is basically empty right now. Seems like the entire structure is very fragile out of a sudden, as if the rocks and sole eroded very quickly."

Serena seemed to be deep in thought. "Something 's up. I mean, the distortions and their effects are obviously bad. But there's something else. These are the most dangerous distortions, correct?"

Sycamore nodded.

"They are very close to each other as well. Victory Road is in the same region as Snowbelle City. And the most dangerous distortions happened there. Doesn't this seem strange?"

The professor smiled. "Good to see I was not the only one who noticed. Yes, that is very strange. Not only that, but given the proximity, you would expect the areas to be affected similarly, but one area has an extreme climate change, while the other has a severe erosion acceleration."

"Even though Gary explained it to me earlier, I still don't understand how the distortions might be related to those weird trainers." said Ash.

"Let me explain that." the professor then explained everything. After he finished he once again talked to the boy. "It honestly surprises me that you don't know this, Ash. You're part of the Pokémon League now."

"Only a sub-admin. We know a lot, but not that much. Also, I take care of tournament organization, and I don't really spend that much time in the Indigo Plateau, to be fair."

Serena was trying to keep in a giggle. "So you're basically the League's cover boy with an ID."

He laughed. "Well, someone's gotta do the dirty work." As he stopped laughing, he once returned to the topic. "Okay, so these trainers have like, ridiculously over the top skills. Okay, I get that. Gary told me one of them defeated Cynthia with no problems at all. Using a single pokémon. Which brings us to the next question." he then looked at Serena, who chimed in.

"How on earth are we supposed to beat them? Also, I'm not a trainer with enough battling experience."

"These guys seem to be on a completely different level." Ash said. He then looked at Pikachu, who was still playing around with the other pokémon. He was also the only pokémon the kantonian brought along for this trip to Kalos. "And I'll take on every single one of them. No matter who it is!" He grinned. His girlfriend and the professor looked at each other, a small smile on their faces. They've seen that grin before.

"But I'll need my most powerful pokémon for this next step. Could you excuse me for a minute? I just have to make a phone call."

"Sure." Sycamore said. "What about you, Serena?"

She seemed lost in thought for a moment. "I feel… uneasy. Like… I feel honored that the League trusts me enough to put me on standby for what seems like it's going to be a long mission. But I'm no fighter. I know Dawn, May and Drew were also put on standby, but they have more experience than me regarding battles. It's just that I don't feel prepared for any of this."

He smiled sympathetically. "I understand that. But I think you forgot something. The challenge is not necessarily a battle. And that's where people like you are sure to thrive."

"I know, but… it still makes me a bit uncomfortable." She sighed deeply. "I feel like I did when I started my Performer career."

"But that was a long time ago. Now you're possibly among the Top 3."

She smiled. "And last year I was Top 10." She took a pokéball in her hand. Braixen's pokéball. "I'll do it. But I'll do it my way."

"Well said."

Ash then came back. "Just talked to Professor Oak. He got some of my pokémon ready."

"You put some of them in rotation, correct?"

"Yes. But with me I have Pikachu, Charizard, Sceptile, Snorlax, Krookodile and Noivern. I'm sorry for using one of your PCs to access the box system without asking."

"It's no problem." He looked at the young trainer and performer before him. This all depends on them now, unfortunately. But there's still something I can do. "Before you go, I have something for the both of you. If you would come with me please."

He walked inside the lab once more, Ash and Serena following close.

He approached Silver. "Their boxes. I believe they should have them now."

"Right away, professor." Silver left, going upstairs. He returned shortly after with two boxes.

Sycamore took one of them and handed it to serena. "I've kept this here for a while now. Your mother asked me to take care of him while you were away."

She looked inside the box, seeing a pokéball.

"Activate it. He is your pokémon, after all."

She threw the pokéball. Out from it came a Rhyhorn, and she gasped in surprise.

"Your mother told me she was planning to give him to you herself. But since she left for the Rhyhorn Racing Cup in Alola, she left him with me for the time being."

She began petting the Rhyhorn, and he reacted affectionately towards her. "Oh, mom. She didn't have to do that!" She wiped away some tears. "Thank you, professor. I'll- I'll call my mom later today to thank her too."

"You should. She's been missing you a lot since you left to live in Pallet Town again." He said. "And you, Ash. This is yours." He then gave him the box.

Ash opened the box, gasping upon seeing items he didn't expect to ever use. A bracelet with a Key Stone attached to it (Mega Bracelet) and two Mega Stones. One of them was orange with red details while the other was green with pink details. "These are a Charizardite Y and a Sceptilite. Gurkinn sent me those years ago, but since you were very far from here, I was never able to give these to you."

Ash took the items and put them on his backpack. "Thank you, professor. And send my regards to Gurkinn and Korrina."

"Will do. Now go. I believe you have a lot of work to do now, like me."

"Yeah." Said Serena. "It was great seeing you professor, and you too, Silver."

The redhead simply nodded.

The professor gave them both a hug before they left through the same doors they came through, then Silver approached him.

"Professor, while you were in the backyard, I ran the tests like you asked." He led Sycamore to his computer, then showed him the files. "Like you predicted, there is indeed a drastic change in my Gyarados' dna upon Mega Evolution, but I still don't understand how the change in dna affects the type change."

"That is indeed very tricky to understand. But it actually traces back to the changes in Gyarados thought processing more so than anything else. Under normal circumstances, the power gained from Mega Evolution would overwhelm the already rather fragile mind of a pokémon such as this one. Gyarados' will rely on their instinct more than anything else, and the sudden increase in power makes it all the more difficult to concentrate. In other words, the sheer violent nature, fueled by Mega Evolution, makes Gyarados change its type unconsciously, yet naturally in a way."

"Okay, I think I get it. And it also explains how he will sometimes not listen to me while turned into Mega Gyarados."

"Precisely. By the way, you should get ready. I think we should run new tests, but this time we will focus on your Gyarados' resistance."

"Okay."

Outside, Ash and Dawn were already heading on their way.

"Great! Now, to talk to Clemont and Bonnie." Ash said.

"Yup! It's been such a long time. I can't wait to see them."

They made their way to Clemont's Gym, and were a bit surprised. It was in maintenance. And what's more, Clemont was outside, actively working on the maintenance along with his pokémon and his father.

Ash approached him, already thinking of something ridiculous to say.

"Excuse me sir!" He said, trying to imitate a young kid's voice. "Is this the Lumiose City Gym?"

Clemont didn't turn around, but answered anyway. "Yes! But we're all a bit busy now, but we might be able to schedule a Gym Battle 2 hours from now."

He was wearing a dark blue jumpsuit, except the top part zipped down and hanging around his waist, revealing a very dirty white sleeveless shirt, almost as dirty as the jumpsuit. His blond hair was a lot longer than before and was tied in samurai style.

Ash noticed he was too focused on his work, so he just dropped the voice. "Just turn around, dude. It's me."

Clemont recognized the voice, then turned around. "No freaking way." He then gave Ash a hug. "And you didn't even bother to tell me you two were coming to Kalos." He laughed. "I would have worn something better."

Serena then hugged him too. "Well, call it a surprise visit!" As they all separated, Clemont cleaned his hands with a towel he had around his neck.

His father, Meyer, then noticed them and sent greetings their way too, but continued his work.

"So, arriving without telling me anything, and on top of that, while I am working. Talk about bad timing." said the gym leader.

"We were actually planning to come by tomorrow, but some stuff came up, so we had to do it today." said the performer. "So here's the thing."

She explained everything to him.

"Oh. I… I was not ready for that. And I'm afraid I have some relatively bad news for you." Clemont said.

"You can't come with us, right?" Ash said.

"I can't, but there's also something else. Bonnie is not here."

Serena seemed surprised. "What do you mean?"

"She left Kalos. She is living in Goldenrod, working as an intern at the Radio Station."

Serena sighed. She really wanted to see Bonnie. "That's great for her though. There's a lot to learn over there. If she's really good, then she might even get a chance to work alongside Prof. Oak on his radio show."

"She talked about that last time we talked, actually. She actually already works on his show, but as a part of the production team of the whole station. So I think it's fair to say she's been working a lot these days." he laughed for a bit. "She sounded really tired that night."

"I hope she's doing well. Also, if she comes by, tell her I said hi." she said.

"Will do!" He said, but he then seemed a bit sad. "And the reason why I can't come with you is because I got word from that university in Sinnoh I wanted to get into. As it turns out, I'm in. Electrical Engineering freshman, starting two weeks from now." He said, smiling widely.

"You got in?! Hell yeah, dude!" Ash hugged him again. "Congratulations! I mean, honestly, they would be pretty dumb to not take in the freaking Electric type Gym Leader."

He laughed again. "Oh, come on." He paused for a bit. "But getting into college also means I'll have to step down as Gym Leader. For real this time."

"But what about your Gym Robot?" said Serena. "When we were on our journey through Kalos, you left the robot on the gym, and it was still perfectly fine for you to be away from the gym."

"I know, but rules have changed in the League since then. The robot is still there, but I changed the programming since I won't be able to have it replace me anymore."

Ash looked at his pocket, where his phone was, for a moment, then back at Clemont. "Do you already have someone to replace you at the Gym? Because if you don't I can literally just make a call."

"That won't be necessary. I already got that sorted out." He said. "We all know him, by the way."

Ash took a moment to realise, but grinned once he did so. "It's Tierno, isn't it?"

"Correct. He'll be coming by next week so I can show him around."

"I think he'll do great. Is he gonna keep the Electric type?"

"Yes. It's all fine." He paused again. "I'm still sorry for not being able to come with you. But I'll stay vigilant in case anything comes up."

After that, they both said their farewells. Ash and Serena then started to make their way to a pokémon center.

As they walked, hand in hand, Ash sighed in exasperation. "I really wanted to have Clemont and Bonnie with us, just like old times."

"Me too, but like us, they both walk their own ways now. It's better for them and for us."

"Still makes me a bit sad, though. But I think there's someone that can probably help… If he is available, that is."

"You're talking about Goh, right?"

Ash nodded. "Yes. But even then, he is probably busy as hell too. Still travelling the world."

Serena thought for a moment. "What about the other League Sub-Admins?"

He sighed once again.

"I haven't had word from Iris in quite a while. Alain is literally never around. Rosa is out of reach since she is taking on the Alola League Challenge. And the current Champions are too busy simply because they're the Champions. But I'll make sure to notify all of them on our group chat."

"So… I guess it's just the two of us then, right?" She said.

"Yup." He said as they stepped into the pokémon center, the automatic doors opening for them. "Ash and Serena on new adventures."

Kalos, Route 22

Two trainers walked around, headed to Santalune City. One was a girl, the other was a boy. She was taller by about a full foot.

Beside her, a Bulbasaur walked happily, while an Abra floated alongside the boy.

"Hey, Reno. Are you sure we're on the right track?"

The boy seemed a bit irritated. "For the 100th time, Laura. Yes. We're on Route 22. Literally the only way we could have taken from Victory Road to get to Santalune then Lumiose."

"Well, if you say so. Also, you don't need to talk like that. Calm down!" She smiled as if Reno wasn't completely done with her annoying him. "The weather is amazing today! Ain't that right, Bis?" She looked at the Bulbasaur beside her, who said its name gleefully in response.

Reno then looked at his Abra, who also seemed to be enjoying the weather like his friend's Bulbasaur. "I suppose you're right."

Laura's dress sometimes seemed to be part of the scenery whenever she walked beside blooming flowers. It reached down to her knees, and the sleeves went all the way to her wrists, and almost looked like rose petals toward the end. On her left wrist, there was a bracelet that seemed to be made of wood, very thin. Tiny blue flowers covered the bracelet as well. She wore very simple sandals. Her short brown hair was a bit messy, but it simply added to her charm. Her deep brown eyes seemed playful, as if they belonged to a very young child.

Weirdly enough, the young child was the one beside her. And those green eyes of his were definitely not playful. They actually would have been intimidating if Reno's face wasn't so cute. His clothes also didn't help much, given that they were so colorful as well. The hoodie seemed to literally be an optical illusion, colors all around it. And depending on how you looked at it, it would seem to have a different pattern. The jeans were very blue, a bit torn from the constant travelling, and his sneakers were also super colorful, like a rainbow puked on it. His light brown hair was short and neatly trimmed.

Laura then turned to him. "Do you think he'll come with us if we find him?"

Reno didn't respond immediately, so for a while they kept walking in silence. He seemed to be thinking about it.

"I honestly don't know. Will is the oldest of us, but as wise as he is, it seems he's been cursed with unyielding stubbornness."

"I know." She laughed a bit. Will was always like that. Whenever he was around, their friends would listen to everything he said. But he was also way too stubborn for his own good at times. "But that's why he's going to need you. The oldest and the youngest must come to good terms with each other."

"I know. In other words, Celebi wants me to suffer by making me deal with Will, of all people." He scoffed. "It's weird, you know? I can even get Alex to listen to me, but Will has never ever given consideration to anything I ever said."

She laughed again. "Reminds me of someone I know!" She said.

"Who?"

She then stopped walking, falling to the ground. She was laughing even harder.

"Hey! What's the matter?"

"Nothing!" She said in between laughs. "It's just that-" She then stopped laughing when she looked at a particularly pretty flower. "Ooh! That flower looks so beautiful!" She sat up to appreciate it. Her Bulbasaur seemed to be doing the same.

Oh my God… Reno thought to himself.

I know how you feel, Master Reno, his Abra said to him through telepathy.

I wish her attention span was as powerful as her glee.

But you have to admit something, Master Reno.

What is it, Sleepy?

She's a very fun person, there's never a boring time with Lady Laura. And I like having Bis around, she's nice.

Reno laughed a bit. Yeah, that makes sense.

Laura then stood up. "What are you doing over there? We have to get to Santalune City before night falls!" She then struck a pose, her hand pointing at the direction they were coming from instead of the one where they should be going. Bis seemed confused.

Reno laughed a bit. "Turn around, Laura. It's that way." He then walked past her.

"Oh, right. Let's go!" She rushed in ahead of him, her Bulbasaur following close behind her.

Reno simply shook his head in amusement. Yeah, let's go. He then ran along, his Abra floating beside him.

Kanto, Cerulean City

Erin woke up that morning, and for once, it seemed like she rested well. She felt really good upon waking up. But when she stretched her arms she suddenly hit something beside her, startling her.

Or rather, she hit someone in the face.

She looked at Alphonse as he slept beside her, and immediately remembered that they shared the bed that night.

Oh god! She thought, almost freaking out. But as she noticed he probably wasn't going to wake up any time soon, even after getting hit in the face, she calmed down, sighing in relief.

She got up from the Bed and opened the windows.

"Such a sunny morning." She smiled. As soon as she said this, a pokémon came out from one of her pokéballs. It was small, and it seemed like there were ribbons and bows on its little body. It approached her, nuzzling up to her. "Hey Bowtie! Good morning!" She sat down on the floor and began to pet her Sylveon, who purred in delight. She then stood up and went back to the side of the bed.

"Al, it's time to wake up. It's already morning." She said, trying to shake him awake. But he kept on snoring lightly. "Alphonse Vero!" She raised her voice.

And he still slept.

Hm. Seems like he really needed some rest. I think I'll let him sleep for a bit more.

She then called her Sylveon, and he came to her side. "Let's go get some food really quickly, okay?"

Bowtie nodded and followed her closely out of their room and down the stairs.

In the lobby of the Pokémon Center, she quickly sent a 'good morning' Nurse Joy, who answered gleefully. She then made her way over to the Cafeteria of the building. Like any other Pokémon Center, the Cafeteria was super simple, and was only open during the mornings. If one had rented a room, then they could enjoy breakfast by the morning as well.

She didn't waste much time there, leaving the place with a bag filled with food and drinks. Her Sylveon had a piece of bread on his mouth, and walked beside her gleefully.

They went back inside their room, being surprised to find not only Alphonse awake, but also one of his pokémon out. It was larger than Sylveon by quite a margin, its fur was both black and grey, very thick. On any other occasion it would be quite frightening to see a Mightyena out and about, but this one seemed very much behaved.

And once he put his eyes on Erin, he barked, and rushed in, making her fall to the ground as he began to lick her face.

"Hey!" She laughed as she tried to get the large pokémon off of her. "I'm happy to see you too, Din! But let me get up!" After a few moments of the Mightyena being goofy and the Sylveon not even trying to help her (he was eating his bread), she finally managed to stand up, and began petting the dark type's head. "Always playful, huh?"

"Yes, he is." Alphonse said, standing up from the bed and approaching her. "You know you didn't have to go get food alone. I would have gone with you."

"But you seemed like you needed those extra minutes of sleep." She said. "And I was already awake, so why wouldn't I?"

He smiled, looking at her gray eyes. "Thanks. And good morning."

She smiled back. "Good morning! I brought us some fruits, bread, carton milk and chocolate powder."

"Wait. You're not drinking coffee?" He said. "You always do."

"I tried their coffee actually. Didn't like it very much."

"Huh. So chocolate milk was the next best thing for you."

She laughed. "I mean, you can't go wrong with chocolate."

They sat down by the table and began to eat. As they did so, Alphonse took a small device from his pocket. It was black, and had a small screen. He tapped some buttons on the interface and music began to play. By the sound of the distorted guitars, powerful vocals and very slow yet peaceful drums, it sounded like it was a metal ballad.

"I'm still surprised Celebi even let you have a music player." She said. "But I'm not complaining though. These songs you have in there are great."

"You like this? Well, I just downloaded this album, actually. It's by a band called Luxray in Black (Beast in Black), and this album is based on a-"

"A manga from the 90s? Given your tastes I wouldn't be surprised." She interrupted him, knowing exactly what he was gonna say. Alphonse was the biggest anime and manga fan out of the Reborns. Possibly the only one, really.

"From the 80s, actually. But yeah." So she was mostly correct. "I never thought I'd listen to music based on such a classic, but here we are. Do you like it?"

She listened for a bit, and began to enjoy it. "Yeah, it's nice! But I honestly don't get the lyrics. I mean, some of it makes sense, but other things seem very specific."

He laughed loudly. "Yeah, I expected just as much."

"I'll take a guess and say that you know the exact meaning of every line this guy sings."

"I'm not saying it. You are." They both laughed.

After a moment, they both were close to finishing their meals.

Erin finished her glass of chocolate milk. "We need to know where we go from here."

"You're right. Under normal circumstances, I'd say we should go to Pewter, but after the earthquake I don't think that's a good idea."

"And going anywhere from Cerulean will take a very long time."

He thought for a moment, grabbing another apple slice and eating it. "Okay, how about we go to Viridian?"

"We would need to get to Pewter first."

"Not if we take an alternative path." He grinned.

"Like what?"

"Diglett's Cave."

"Good idea! But that means we would need to go to Vermillion first. That's still a pretty long distance. Also, why would you want to go to Viridian of all places?"

"Because if we want to go to Pallet or Johto from there it's a lot closer, and we also won't need to spend money on the cruise from Vermillion to Olivine. We don't even have that much on us to begin with."

"That makes sense." She said. "But I know there's something you're not telling me."

"Alright." He sighed. "Two things, actually. For one, I want to go to the Whirl Islands. That's where the legend was born, and I don't think any of us have ever been there."

"Oh my gosh, you're right! I've never been there as well. That's… weird, actually."

"I know! And the other thing is because I think I know where another Reborn might be."

"Who?"

"Damon."

Damon Freebird was the flying type master.

She nodded in response to that, but still seemed to have some doubts.

"Why do you think that?"

"The Battle Frontier. It's located near Olivine City. Damon always said one of his dreams was to break all the records there. Using a different name and a fake Trainer ID, of course."

She laughed. "That sounds like him alright. But you know he probably won't agree to join us on the trip to the Whirl Islands. Not to mention that he may not even be in Johto."

"I know. The man moves like the wind. But hopefully the wind will guide him through the same path we're going."

"Yeah, maybe it will."

She poured herself another glass of chocolate milk as she thought to herself.

Sleeping too much, suddenly wants to go to Johto, and wants to go specifically to the Whirl Islands… He really is hiding something. If he's not telling me, that means he also doesn't know why he wants to go there. Or at least I hope so.

Meanwhile, the much larger pokémon, Mightyena, was playing around the room with Sylveon. Minutes later, the room had become a lot more messy. Alphonse looked at the warzone that had become this little room. "Really guys? We're gonna have to pay extra because of this mess." He said as he pinched his nose.

Erin simply laughed. "Relax. It wouldn't be the first time we'd have to pay for the mess. Remember that one time when your Hydreigon accidentally broke the door down when we were at Alola?"

"Don't remind me. Dante had just evolved from Zweilous. He was still getting used to being able to fly. And it didn't help that he has always been clumsy."

"It was cute though. Seeing such a huge monster acting all confused."

He looked at her for a second, a bit annoyed. "That's one word I wouldn't think would be fitting to describe him. But that time, it was very much fitting."

They began to gather their stuff with the help of their pokémon, and then they organized most of the room so the mess wasn't as bad.

After checking out, and, unfortunately for Alphonse, paying extra for the mess, they set off to their new destination.

With an exasperated sigh, he walked along her side. "And now we only have enough for lunch, and maybe dinner if we find a cheap place."

She put her hand on her shoulders as she smiled sympathetically. "I know it sounds bad, but Kanto's big. Let's battle some trainers along the way to see if we manage to gather a bit more money."

He looked at her. "I know this is how we get most of our money, but it honestly feels like we're cheating when we do this. No one ever stands a chance." He seemed down for a while. "It kinda feels like stealing sometimes."

Erin's smile faded as she heard him. "I know the feeling." she paused. "I don't like it as well. It's how we've been doing things for years now, and I really wish there was some other way for us to earn money."

"But for now let's not worry for now. It'll take a while before we arrive anyways."

She nodded, and they proceeded to continue their trip.

---

Part 2: Conflict Rises

Kalos, Santalune City

Ash and Serena arrived there after some time travelling. And while on their way, Serena decided to try out her new Rhyhorn.

Hours before

Serena stood across from Ash, as they prepared to start some training.

"To be honest, I'm kinda nervous. I haven't trained like this in quite a while." She said.

"Relax. The main purpose right now is simply checking out your new Rhyhorn. It won't be anything serious." He then threw a pokéball.

Out of it came a green bipedal lizard. There were bladed leaves on its arms and its tail was long and spiked, looking like it was a pine tree.

"Alright, Sceptile. This is simply a test. Just dodge the attacks."

Sceptile nodded, then took a loose twig from the ground and put it on his mouth, biting on it.

Serena released her Rhyhorn, clad in rock-like armor. A very large pokémon indeed.

He looked at his lizard-like opponent with fierce eyes, as if recognizing an experienced fighter in front of him.

Serena then walked up to him. "Calm down." She put her hand on the Rhyhorn's head, seeing as it relaxed a bit upon contact. She then walked back.

"Let's start. Rock Blast!" She commanded.

Rhyhorn roared as his body shone a silvery light, small rocks forming around him and spinning. "Fire!" Serena said.

He began to shoot rock after rock at the Sceptile, who dodged most of them easily, being the more experienced of the two. Those he couldn't dodge were being deflected with his Leaf Blade.

Ash smiled. "That's good. A solid option for ranged attacks. Let's see a physical move now, okay?"

She nodded, already thinking of a good option.

But then she decided to check on the pokémon using her Pokédex.

I should have done this before… Rhyhorn knowing Rock Blast was actually a lucky shot.

She then checked Rhyhorn's available moves.

Okay so we have Rock Blast, Drill Run, Scary Face, Take Down and… Megahorn? Nice! And his ability is Rock Head…

"Use Take Down!"

The rhino-like pokémon ran recklessly towards Sceptile.

"Detect!"

Upon his trainers commanded, the green lizard took a defensive stance.

As soon as Rhyhorn was within melee range, Sceptile nimbly side-stepped, completely dodging the move. Though Rhyhorn missed, and crashed forcefully on the ground, he showed no signs of being hurt at all.

The more experienced trainer laughed a bit. "Rock Head! Nice catch, babe!"

She grinned, rather deviously. "Thanks. But do you know what else is an awesome catch?"

"What?"

"Megahorn."

Rhyhorn was closer than before, and there was very little space to dodge.

His horn glowed a pale green as he rushed in more quickly than expected for such a bulky beast.

"Block it with Leaf Blade!"

Sceptile's right arm blades glowed a vibrant green as they extended, he then swung his arm and met his opponent's horn, the two now locked in some sort of tug of war.

"Alright, I think that's enough." Upon Ash's command, Sceptile pushed back his opponent, then crossed his arms.

"I think you're right." Serena said, prompting Rhyhorn to return to her side.

They both recalled their pokémon.

He made his way over to her, putting his hand over her shoulder. "That was impressive. Quick thinking is important for a trainer, as well as critical judgement. And believe me when I say this: I learned that the hard way." He laughed "And you made good use of Rhyhorn's 'Rock Head' ability as well. 'Take Down' may be a basic move, but if used well, it can give you the upper hand rather quickly."

"Thanks! But no moves actually hit your Sceptile, though."

"I don't see a problem with that, because you made good calls. Megahorn is a predictable move, but you had the insight to use it when there would be very little time to dodge. You used a move that caused recoil damage smartly because you knew Rhyhorn wouldn't be affected. And don't think I didn't notice that you didn't know what kind of moves he knew. But still, you knew that a Rhyhorn's common move is 'Rock Blast'."

She felt weirdly proud. She never really thought about battles since her career had a different focus, so it's always been more of an afterthought for her for years. But Ash was right. She showed that she knew what she was doing.

"I know battling is not really within your focus as a trainer, but you have the potential to do well in them."

She felt her face heat up a bit. The fact that one of most accomplished and well-known trainers in the world, who just happened to be her boyfriend, was praising her skills in pokémon battles was nothing short of amazing in her eyes.

"I guess… I guess I do, huh?" She smiled lightly, then looked up at him. "But I still need more practice, and I also need to find a style of my own regarding battles."

"I can definitely help on the practicing part. And you and I know of some people that might be able to help you find your personal way of battling."

"You're talking about May and Dawn, right?" He nodded at her. "Yeah, that would be cool. But I need to have a solid base first." Her determination was rising rather rapidly.

"I couldn't have said it better myself!" He said, then kissed her cheek. "Now come on, we still have some hours of travelling before arriving in Santalune."

Present Time, in Santalune

They both headed toward the Pokémon Center. It was already night, and it was best to rent a room quickly.

As they arrived on the building with the signature red roof, they noticed there was a certain commotion inside. The place was surprisingly cramped.

"Now, everybody better stay really quiet if you don't wanna get hurt, or worse!" They heard someone shout from inside, a feminine voice, which prompted them to hide behind the walls of the Pokémon Center.

"What the hell is going on?!" Ash whispered to her.

She then tentatively took a look inside through one of the windows, taking caution as to not be seen.

She didn't expect anything that was transpiring inside, though.

Tons of people cowering by the walls, clearly in a hostage situation. Nurse Joy with her hands up as a small ninja-like bug pokémon loomed behind her, a blue energy sphere charged and ready to fire at her head at any given moment. The Accelgor seemed very calm, which only increased the intensity of Joy's situation.

There were lots of people, men and women, dressed in black. She immediately thought it was Team Rocket, but she discarded this option as she observed the uniforms more attentively. There were big white V's on the shirts.

And the woman in the middle looked to be their commander. She wore the same uniform, though hers had some details made of steel, and she wore a trench coat. Her leather boots were thigh high. Her eyes, green like acid, seemed to carry such hatred that it spooked her a bit. The woman's pretty face accentuated the intimidating appearance as well. The shoulder lenght silvery white hair, along with the nearly perfect make-up completed her menacing visage.

Behind her, a hulking beetle like pokémon, two very large horns protruding from its head, was standing quietly. Her Pinsir seemed to be well-trained.

"So…" She smiled. "It seems we've all quieted down, eh? That's good. That means I won't need to resort to drastic measures. For now, at least."

A man, he stood up quickly, trying to make his way to the door to escape.

But like a flash, the Accelgor moved away from the nurse and appeared in front of the man. I then launched the Focus Blast at point-blank range. The man flew back and crashed against a wall as some people screamed. Accelgor then moved toward him, and put its little stubby hand on his neck, then nodded at the woman.

"He's knocked out. Good job, Accelgor." She sighed. "I believe none of you will be trying anything, right?" She observed as some people nodded. "I find it cute how people can be so obedient in situations like this. Now, on to the matter at hand. Me and my troops here are looking for a specific person of interest." she paced around the room. Her Pinsir followed her closely.

"It's a young man, probably no older than 18. Unmistakable red hair, silver colored eyes… Does it ring a bell to any of you? I sure hope it does, as my scouts had intel that he's been through here last month."

The people didn't seem to know who the woman was talking about, but Serena's breath hitched strongly as she stopped looking through the window.

"I think they're after Silver!" She whispered to Ash.

"What?!" He then took her place and began watching the scene inside.

The woman continued walking around. "You see… We, of Team Void, are here to bring… our…" She paused to laugh a bit. "Ideals… to you, the masses. And this boy, could be a potential threat to our plans, giving his past."

Ash felt his heart sink. No…

"We are after a pokémon trainer named Silver. Some of you might know him as just that. But we know his story. He is the only heir to the fortune left by the late Giovanni, leader of Team Rocket. His son."

… Late Giovanni? He's dead?! Is that why they disbanded?!

"So… anybody knows of his whereabouts?"

She waited for about a minute, and she received no answers. "What a shame…" She sighed. "Protecting the boy won't do you any good, I hope you know that. The same fate that awaits him might just befall on you should you not comply…"

Her Pinsir then growled and began walking very slowly towards a group of people.

Ash then looked back at Serena. They knew what to do, as they both grabbed a pokéball each.

Pinsir was about to attack a girl with Vice Grip, but suddenly a wind blade crashed against him, launching him against the nurse's counter, but he still seemed fine.

The woman smiled as she saw Ash and Serena standing at the door. Hovering above them, an orange dragon-like pokémon roared menacingly. And in front of them, a fox-like bipedal pokémon held a twig as if it was a magic wand. Ash's Charizard began to charge some fire in his mouth after firing the Air Slash at Pinsir, while Serena's Braixen channeled light into the wand, making a bright Flash, blinding the other grunts as they tried to send out their own pokémon. Pikachu jumped from Ash's shoulder and unleashed Thunderbolt at the Accelgor, but it dodged at the last second.

"Oh look. The Pokémon League's personal little puppy. Ketchum. And the bitch. Serena." She giggled, a sick laughter. "Truly a pleasure to make your acquaintance personally."

"Release these people." Serena ordered. "And leave." Her Braixen then charged fire on its wand.

But the woman simply laughed harder. "Look around you, 'darling'." Serena visibly gritted her teeth at that. "You are outnumbered. Severely, so".

As she said it, her troops had recovered their senses and were sending out their pokémon.

Electrodes, Weezings and Golems.

All of those were Pokémon capable of using the move Explosion, a self-destructive move that would certainly cause more than bruises on the people inside, and both trainers knew that.

"Come on, make your move." The woman taunted them. "Test me."

Ash motioned towards Charizard and Pikachu, prompting them to stand down. Serena did the same to her Braixen, who extinguished the flames on her wand..

"Smart decision." The woman said.

"What do you want from Silver?"

Her visage then darkened. "He poses a threat to our cause. And given his past and how he is not only connected to Team Rocket, but also fought against their efforts, we decided that he should be executed upon sight."

"He doesn't want anything from them! He hates Team Rocket more than anything!" Ash shouted. "What do you really want to accomplish here?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she put her hand on her left ear, as if she was listening to something.

She then cursed under her breath, but her mad grin returned to her face in the next second. "We have new intel." She then looked at one of the grunts. "Give the command."

As he was about to say the word, a small but quick figure stepped into the middle of the room, spinning rapidly as if dancing. A storm of green spores forming inside the building as a Roserade, its green body with the red and blue roses for hands, released a huge cloud of Sleep Powder, putting all of the explosive pokémon to sleep.

"What?! Pinsir! Get the runt!"

Pinsir moved with impressive speed towards the Roserade, managing to withstand the spores, and tackling it, effectively sending it away, but the rose-like creature seemed to be fine still.

"Accelgor! Take it down!"

Accelgor then rushed in at blinding speed, but as it got closer, it suddenly stopped. Its body was enveloped in a bright blue light as it was suspended in midair. It then got thrown at Pinsir, who caught it with a bit of trouble.

The woman looked up then, as two people stood on the top floor, watching them from above. A large, bell-like pokémon floated beside them.

Laura jumped down from the top floor, landing rather gracefully and stood beside her Roserade, while Reno remained in the top floor.

Ash and Serena then looked around, realising Roserade had also put all of the people to sleep. Leaving only them, those two strangers and the woman awake.

"You shouldn't behave like that, old lady." Laura said, clearly mocking the woman.

"It seems I'm the one who's outnumbered now, huh?" She then smirked. "Remember this then, trainers. I will come back for you. And to you, Ash and Serena." She turned to them as a large Claydol, a black doll-like creature with lots of red eyes, popped out from one of her pokéballs. "Your friend Silver is running out of time." Claydol's eyes shone brightly as it teleported its trainer, the grunts and their pokémon away.

As things began to calm down, Reno came down the automatic stairs, his Bronzong following close behind him. "Thank you for distracting her long enough. Taking any kind of action from inside could potentially be worse for the people."

As he said it, the Bronzong began chiming rather loudly, as the people began to stand up from their sleep. The people seemed very confused for a moment, but then one of them, an elderly woman asked a fateful question.

"What just happened here? I don't remember anything."

Ash and Serena noticed that many people were making similar questions.

Laura then walked up to them. "There was a sudden electrical malfunction. It was caused by some wild electric pokémon that were feeding off the electricity of the city but everything is fine now. The problem is that this malfunction caused a very high frequency sound wave, which must have made you faint. It's a good thing we all managed to stop it before it could severely hurt you!" She smiled sweetly through the lies. The people seemed to believe it, and began to leave, except for Nurse Joy, who worked there.

Reno moved over to Ash and Serena, who still had their pokémon ready for battle, seeing as these two individuals basically lied to a lot of people.

"Let me guess." He said. He was a lot shorter than both of them, but he still commanded attention with not much effort. "You think lying to all those people was bad because they deserved to know the truth about what happened to them, and also the League should know about this."

"Pretty much." Ash said.

"And you're very suspicious. Both of you." Serena said, a fierceness in her voice.

"We are. But you're suspicious as well. Think about it. If we told the truth and the police arrived, we would both be taken into custody for being directly associated with whatever transpired here. You wouldn't have much problems with it, Ash Ketchum, seeing as you're a respected presence within the Pokémon League. But Serena Yvonne wouldn't be so lucky, just like us. They would put us through the entire process, and we can't have that."

The other girl then approached them giddily, dancing along with her Roserade. "He's right! We have more things to worry about than being taken by cops. That's not fun at all." She kept on dancing.

Serena watched them closely. As the girl moved, she caught a glimpse of her right thigh, and she could swear she saw something tattooed.

She blinked a few times, then looked back at the boy, and she noticed there was a bit of dark colored skin poking out his shirt, by his neck. Like a tattoo as well.

"I'm gonna take a gamble here and say that you," she looked at the boy, "you made your Bronzong use its psychic powers through the sound of its tolling bell to change the memory of those people. And this was made easier by her Roserade's Sleep Powder putting all of them to sleep."

"That's correct."

"That's a surprising amount of coordination." she then grabbed his shirt and pulled it down just enough to reveal a tattoo on the crook of his neck. A Celebi Tattoo. "She's got one too, right?"

Ash, Charizard and Pikachu then got ready to fight, seeing as things could get ugly really fast.

"Perhaps. But why would this be important?"

"It doesn't matter." Ash said. "Can you help us? As you may have noticed, things just got a little more complicated than we expected."

Reno looked at Laura, who had stopped dancing and simply looked around the Pokémon Center as if he and the two trainers were not there.

"Yes, I will. And I will tell you this much." He then stepped away from them as he recalled his Bronzong. "You already passed the challenge. You managed to stop the people from getting hurt while also discovering the enemies' objective. As a bonus, greatly appreciated by us, you gave us an opening to act and negate the most immediate danger."

Ash and Serena seemed confused. "But we didn't even talk to you before, and we didn't know it was a challenge." She said.

Laura then approached them. Apparently, she was listening, even though it didn't seem like it. "Call it an 'unofficial challenge'. We honestly were just going to wait for them to make any wrong moves, but it didn't really seem like they would. And we didn't want to put anyone in any more danger. When you showed up, our hopes were reignited, and Reno and I decided that if you managed to give us a chance to act without causing people to get hurt or, Arceus forbid, killed, we would consider it as a successful challenge completion."

The four trainers then recalled their pokémon, but from the two Reborns, two pokéballs activated. Of course, Pikachu remained outside and returned to his signature spot on top of Ash's shoulder. A Bulbasaur and an Abra came into view, as the grass type stood beside the girl and the psi pokémon floated beside the boy.

Laura then held the small creature in her arms. "I'm Laura Oliveira! I am 15 years old and the Master of Grass Types!" She then flashed a toothy and childish grin. "This little Bulbasaur is my good friend Bis, she's great! And I believe you already met Mascara, my Roserade. Celebi bestowed upon me the title of Wishing Flower."

The boy then smiled a bit. "And I am Reno Vero. 12 years old. Master of Psychic Types. This Abra here is my buddy, his name is Sleepy. And my Bronzong is called Bello. Celebi chose the title of Mind's Eye for me."

Ash smiled, trying not to giggle. The contrast between them is so… intense. She is super carefree and weirdly cute while he is super serious, speaks in monotone and a lot smarter than your average 12 year old.

Upon seeing the two smaller pokémon, Pikachu chimed in to greet them.

"Well, I believe you already know who we are."

"Yes. And that honestly worries me." Reno said.

"What do you mean?" The blonde girl said. "Like, I get that we're famous and all that stuff but we're not bad people."

"I know. But I knew we were going to meet sooner or later." They seemed shocked. Reno then explained the vision his Gothitelle had. "You two were there. With us. Shade, my Gothitelle, doesn't really like to use this ability of hers. But I needed to know when things were going to start going wrong so I could get the others to prepare for the worst, should it come."

"And by meeting us, you now know that things are very bad." Ash said.

"No." The Kantonian then seemed confused. "Meeting you means things are worse than I could have foreseen. Visions are never really clear, and normally things are not what they seem on them. But this time… It's happening accordingly. That worries me a lot. The Reborns are still not all together and our whereabouts are completely all over the place."

Laura then seemed very sad. "Our fellow Children of Celebi… We have to complete our training to face the problem. But that alone is not enough."

"Then we have to find the others." Serena said. "There has to be another one of you here in Kalos!"

"We were about to get there." the psychic master said. "There is one guy we know the location of."

"But he is… problematic." Laura said sheepishly. "He doesn't want to go out into the world anymore, claiming he's already seen everything."

Ash heard stories like that one before, so he knew the feeling. "But now that you know your mission is approaching, and fast, then this should convince him."

"That's what we hope for." Reno said.

Serena then took her phone and checked her notes. She typed down some of the important stuff about the League Mission and asked Sycamore to send her a copy of the Distortion Report. "By the way, we were already looking for you. But we hoped we would find you in a more pleasant situation than a terrorist attack. And this is the reason why we've done so."

She showed them the files. Everything.

The Reborns exchanged troubled looks.

"We arrived here after spending some time in Victory Road. And the information checks out. The place is a wreck." Reno said. "Laura was actually very gloomy for a good part of our stay there."

"There were lots of pokémon and plants in danger because of the situation. The place is as fragile as a wet piece of paper right now. It's a good thing most of the trainers had already left before things began getting very bad over there." she chimed in.

Serena then put her phone back in her back pocket. "Do you think those Team Void guys are related to these distortions?"

"Seems fair to assume that. But unfortunately, we can't be sure of that. They may be using this as a distraction for their plans, or they might be benefiting from those events should they be unrelated."

"Are you sure? I have some experience with people like them. I think it's obvious that they're causing this." Ash said. "Team Rocket has used radio waves to manipulate Pokémon in the past, and Team Galactic literally tried to break space and time to 'reset the universe'. They failed, of course. But seeing as those Team Void bastards were willing to put people through situations like this…" he then looked at Nurse Joy, who was reading a book. "If they're behind it, then they're more dangerous than the others… Also, they said the Leader of Team Rocket was dead…"

"Really?" Serena said. "I didn't catch that part. I thought he had been arrested, which made Team Rocket disband."

The trainer crossed his arms, deep in thought. "He was arrested… It was all over the news two years ago. He even spoke publicly before being taken away."

"I remember." She said. "It's still weird though. If anyone would have a powerful influence in prison, it would be him."

"That's what's bothering me too. But the fact that Giovanni is dead and those guys are after Silver…"

The grass master then spoke up. "Do you think they killed Giovanni?" They all looked at her at that moment. "I mean, it's possible. They said Silver was a threat for being somewhat connected to Team Rocket. Giovanni was the leader."

Reno looked at her curiously. "I find it weird how you can be completely clueless to lots of situations but sometimes just say these things that make a tremendous amount of sense." He turned to the others. "She poses a valid theory. Giovanni was a powerful man, with a lot of influence in many places in the world. By killing him, they eliminate a rather unpredictable and very important variable."

Serena then chimed in. "That makes sense… but there are other things to consider if this turns out to be true."

"Like what?"

"The other major crime leaders. Like Lysandre, head of Team Flare. And all the others, of course. Wouldn't they pose a threat similar to or greater than Giovanni?"

Ash gasped. "You don't think… !"

The Reborns looked at each other, as if predicting what they meant.

Reno sighed. "They might be dead too. Or they're targets." His expression darkened for a second, but he calmed down right after. "But let's worry about that later. You know Silver, right?"

Ash nodded. "He's a friend."

"Do you know where he is?"

"Yes, he's at Lumiose City, working as Professor Sycamore's assistant."

Serena then remembered something the woman said.

We have new Intel.

Your friend Silver is running out of time.

"We need to go back now." The urgency that her voice carried was worrying.

The psychic master seemed to understand, since he turned to his Abra almost immediately. "Teleport us all to Lumiose City."

Sleepy focused as it channeled his psychic powers. The trainers and the other pokémon watched as their bodies were slowly being enveloped in a faint blue aura. Moments after, they disappeared.

Kalos, Lumiose City

They reappeared in front of one of the Pokémon Centers.

But Sleepy was floating beside Reno.

Asleep, and snoring a bit.

Reno quickly returned the small Abra to his pokéball as they all began running towards Sycamore's Lab.

Ash looked at him as they ran. "I get the name now. That's quite the sense of humour."

"Not now, Ash. Focus!" he responded. But Ash could see a faint blush on his face, a sign that he was embarrassed for showing that. The sub-admin just laughed.

Within minutes, they all arrived.

Serena took the front and tried to open the door, but it was locked.

Not locked, as she noticed a few seconds later. It was barred. Something was blocking their entrance.

"Dammit! We were too late!" she said exasperation. She then released her Rhyhorn.

"Force the door open with Take Down!"

Her Rhyhorn charged in, forcefully ramming his large body into the door, breaking it apart. As she expected, the door was indeed being blocked. Chairs and desks were placed in front of the entrance, but Rhyhorn managed to clear the way for them for the most part.

"They arrived before us." Ash said as he came into the room. "Pikachu, go look for the Professor and Silver at the back."

"Pika Pi!" the small electric type said as it jumped to the ground. It then ran towards the back of the large laboratory.

Ash then activated one of his pokéballs. Out of it came a huge red crocodile with black stripes all over its body. Strangely, it was wearing surprisingly stylish blackglasses. "Krookodile, stay here at the entrance. No one goes in or out until we say so. Got it?"

He made a peace sign, then took his position at the door.

The trainer activated another pokéball then, but the pokémon that came out was a mixture between a wyvern and a bat. "Noivern, go outside and scout the city. Look for people wearing dark clothes with white V's on the front. If it's a woman with silver colored hair, follow her but remain hidden."

The large pokémon made a high pitched growling sound before moving past Krookodile and taking flight into the city.

"Rhyhorn, stay with Krookodile." Serena said, as she walked towards the Reborns. "There's a greenhouse in the back and lots of Pokémon live there. Could you check that place out?"

"Sure!" Laura said as she went on ahead, Reno following close behind her.

In the way, she turned to him. "Ash seems to have handled situations like this one before."

"He is a League Member. I'm not surprised." he said. "But Serena is something else. It's easy to notice she's not used to situations like this, but she catches on quickly, even though she might act on impulse, like with the front door earlier."

Pikachu then came back to his trainer, shaking his head. "Nothing, huh?"

"Pikachu…" the small pokémon said sadly as it took his place on Ash's shoulder again.

Ash looked at the stairs, where they hadn't checked before. An uneasy sensation began to fill his mind. I really hope I'm wrong. "I'm heading up." He said as he walked towards the stairs, but Serena held his hand, stopping him.

"Be safe. It could be a trap."

He squeezed her hand lovingly, then looked at her deep blue eyes. "I will." He went up the stairs after letting go.

Literally seconds after, she heard Laura's voice from the greenhouse. "Guys! You have to see this!" Serena ran towards there.

Ash noticed the top floor was mostly untouched, but he knew someone had been there recently. The grey walls were just a tiny bit scratched, some papers were scattered in the back of one of the corridors, and a desk had obviously been moved out of place.

Then he looked down as he sighed, but ended up surprising himself upon doing so.

Blood. Just some small drops, but fresh blood nonetheless, stained the carpeted beige floor.

He noticed some more stains up ahead, so he followed them. "Pikachu, stay alert." He whispered to his partner as he followed the trail.

It led to Sycamore's bedroom.

Please, Arceus, let me be wrong on my assumptions. He tried to open the door, getting shocked at the moment he realised it was unlocked.

He wasn't exactly glad that he was wrong. If anything, it only made him worry more.

Silver sat on Sycamore's bed. There was blood on his left hand, but he seemed perfectly fine physically. But Ash could tell enough.

The young man was devastated.

"They took him, right?" Ash said.

Silver said nothing, but looked at him.

He sighed deeply, then stood up and walked over to Ash. "They'll pay. Every single one of them."

Ash grabbed his left hand. The boy didn't react, but looked at his hand.

"I forgot to clean it." He said.

Ash was shocked by this. "That's not your blood, is it?" Silver didn't answer once again, but the other trainer knew exactly what the silence meant. "So you fought them. And won, apparently."

He looked at the raven haired boy's eyes, a dry smile on his face. "It was a rough night." He then sat back on the bed.

Downstairs, inside the greenhouse, Serena, Laura and Reno looked on in horror as they saw not one or two, but several human bodies lying on the floor. And they all had the Team Void uniform.

Lifeless.

"What happened here?" She said. She also noticed the Pokémon that lived in the lab were not there.

Laura put her Bulbasaur on the ground as she grabbed a pokéball and activated it. In front of her, a green monkey appeared. The Simisage seemed ready to move around upon seeing such a space. "Nail, pay attention." The simian looked at her attentively. "There are pokémon that live here. I don't know what sort exactly since this is a greenhouse, but if you find any, bring them here."

Nail gave her a thumbs up as it began climbing trees while looking for pokémon from above.

Renos then sent out a goth and feminine like pokémon. The Gothitelle floated looked around, seemingly deep in thought. "Shade, grab this." He then threw a small object at her, who grabbed it through telekinesis. It seemed to be similar to dough, but in a green color. "That's a Light Clay. You know what to do."

She then began to manipulate the item along with her psychic powers, making very large barriers around them. "Inside her Double Barrier, we should be safe against pretty much anything." The barrier was a mixture of Light Screen and Reflect, both moves being boosted through the use of the Light Clay. "But stay alert, Shade. This environment is considered hostile. If you sense anything wrong, you may act as you see fit." The Gothitelle said her name in response, signaling that she understood.

Serena approached one of the bodies, already wishing she didn't, because the view was nauseating. But she tried to look for any kind of sign of what could have caused it, and unfortunately for her, it didn't take long.

The man she was investigating was killed by a pokémon. And judging by the gaping wound on his chest, three large gashes, she had a suspicion of what could have happened. Some other bodies had similar wounds, all on the chest as well. She then checked another body. This one was a woman. Her chest had been crushed by something large, and there were also cuts like the ones on the first one she checked, but these weren't as deep or long. She also noticed that another man had a similar fate, two meters away from her, but the wound was on his head. As she kept going, she noticed there were about seven bodies like these.

She kept on investigating, and felt the nausea return as she noticed some of the bodies had been dismembered, missing arms, legs and even heads sometimes. The remaining bodies had signs that were a bit different. Three of them had clearly been electrocuted, while two had gnarly looking wounds on their necks, where there was some dried blood that had dripped from the holes.

Finally, the last body had been spanked to death. The face was covered with bruises, each one worse than the other. There was no way to know what the man looked like before.

She stood up, a heavy feeling looming over her heart. How could…

Minutes before, on the same place

Silver sat in front of a computer, typing away. The office was mostly empty, with just him and Professor Sycamore still present. Said professor had come back from the greenhouse, and walked right up to the redhead. "I'll be turning in for now. Don't take too long, it's very late."

"Okay, professor. Have a good night."

Sycamore nodded as he went on to walk up the stairs.

Silver continued his work for a while, just making some final touches on his report. After he finished, he stood up and walked towards the Greenhouse.

"Better get at least some training done before going to sleep." He said as he walked into the greenhouse. Most of the pokémon that lived there were already sleeping, so he figured he would have some peace for the time being.

One of his pokéballs suddenly activated. A small, dark weasel-like pokémon with what could be described as a red crown on its head showed up, sharp claws at the ready.

Silver noticed that his Weavile was looking around urgently, growling as he did so.

"Who goes there?" He asked out, his voice echoing inside the large space of the greenhouse.

For a while, no response came to him as he looked around. He grabbed another one of his pokéballs, this one was a great ball model. He then went on to press the button in the middle to activate it.

But a surge of dark energy shot out from the trees. He had no time to dodge.

But Weavile jumped up and deflected the Dark Pulse with his claws, using a powerful Night Slash attack.

Silver then released the pokémon inside the great ball. The long and red serpentine form rose from the device's light, roaring loudly. His Red Gyarados opened his mouth, at the ready to fire Hyper Beams at whatever moved.

From the dark another attack was launched, a Thunderbolt aimed right at Gyarados, but the feral beast blocked with a Hyper Beam.

The trainer tried to look for the source, but the more he looked, the more it seemed like there was nothing there. But he then looked in front of him.

A woman stood, at about 20 or so feet from him. The silver colored hair, near perfect make-up, black trenchcoat and Team Void uniform. The green eyes seemed to shine in the dark.

"Hello." She smiled smugly. "You're quite the tricky man to come across, Silver."

"Who are you?!" He spat angrily.

She sighed. "That is no way to talk to a lady, young man. Has no one taught you manners?"

She was mocking him, and he hated it.

"I don't think manners are necessary to talk to someone who just tried to kill me."

"Oh, please. These details are unnecessary. But I will tell you." She said. "I am a member of Team Void. Captain Delilah Stryker. And while we've been talking, you were being surrounded by my troops. From all sides."

He looked around this time, not surprised to see the large number of criminals. He took notice of their pokémon as well.

Pangoro, a fighting and dark type panda-looking pokémon. It was very bulky and a powerful physical fighter. There was a concerning amount of those around him. He figured one of those had used the Dark Pulse.

Eelektross, a blue monstrous looking eel. An electric type that was immune to ground type attacks. He now knew which kind pokémon used that Thunderbolt. There were also numerous creatures like this one around.

There were also Excadrills. These were mole pokémon that could dig at an impressive speed. He figured that's how they managed to enter the greenhouse directly.

But he also noticed these criminals had planned ahead. They brought only pokémon that are strong against mine… They really are out to get me…

"What do you want from me?" He asked.

The woman crossed her arms. "Isn't it obvious?" She said. "We're here to kill you. You are the son of Giovanni, and as such, our leader has deemed you a threat." she grinned evilly. "Aren't you glad you'll be able to meet your father in the afterlife? I heard his death was…" She paused to laugh at him. "Oh, I'm sorry. Old bastards that get what they deserve always crack me up. Let's just say his death was quite… the blast."

He knew the story. Giovanni's prison cell was protected from any outside force, as he had influence over everyone in the prison. According to the information he managed to gather after learning of his father's death, Giovanni's body was blown up. But according to all official sources he was still imprisoned and very much alive.

"You know something I don't… Who killed him?!"

She pouted rather cutely. "Oh, poor Silvy… Still sad your old man was killed brutally by one of our assassins?" She laughed loudly, and she sounded legitimately mad, like a psychopath. She then turned around and slowly began to walk away, into the lab. "Kill him."

Silver sent out four other pokémon at once.

One was a large blue alligator standing on its hind legs, and around its neck there was a necklace holding a purple orb. Feraligatr was ready to defend his trainer from anything. The second one was a Crobat, flapping his four wings rapidly above Silver, and tied around one of his wings was a fang, very sharp. The third was a large bear with brown fur with a golden ring on his belly. That was his raging Ursaring, and similarly to Feraligatr, he also had a necklace holding an orb, but it was orange instead of purple. Finally, a Magnezone hovered behind him.

One of the Excadrills charged in, aiming for the Magnezone as it spun its body, using Drill Run. Silver seemed to be shouting out commands in a wild state, but his pokémon seemed to understand, as Weavile moved quickly and attacked by smashing on the mole's side, making it flinch with a Fake Out. Feraligatr used the opportunity to take it down for good as it surrounded itself in water, the Life Orb on his neck glowing faintly, and smashed into the enemy, fainting it instantly with a Liquidation, that was being boosted by the Life Orb and his Sheer Force ability. Magnezone used this opportunity to manipulate electromagnetism, making its partners be unaffected by ground type moves using Magnet Rise, effectively shutting down the source of damage that would come from the Excadrills. It then began to charge energy, its magnets spinning rapidly, then fired Flash Cannon after Flash Cannon at any enemy that got too close. Feraligatr and Weavile then charged against their opponents as well, slashing them down as they did.

In an attempt to flank them, three Pangoro charged in to try to take down Ursaring quickly, their large fists glowing as they prepared to begin pummeling the bear with a barrage of Close Combat. Ursaring roared as its Flame Orb activated, burning him, but also activating his Guts ability. Silver shouted the command, and the bear charged in as a purple aura surrounded him, crashing against the three pandas and knocking them out instantly with a powerful Giga Impact. But he faltered after striking due to the sheer potency of the attack, leaving him wide open for the Thunderbolts that struck it almost instantly, making it fall, but still he remained conscious. Gyarados saw this and, following Silver's command as the trainer grabbed a small colorful stone from his pocket, began to change form. The light was blinding, but as Mega Gyarados came out he rushed in recklessly against the Eelektrosses, crashing into them as it used Payback. He roared loudly as he saw his fallen opponents, the veins popping as it charged against even more opponents.

Crobat was the only one having it easy. Being the fastest, he simply used hit and run tactics against the Pangoros, using Aerial Ace as he attacked the pandas, quickly retreating afterwards whilst dodging several Thunderbolts.

After about ten minutes, the pokémon all laid defeated on the ground, save for Silver's tired pokémon.

A grunt then ran at him, trying to slash him with a dagger.

"Weavile." The trainer said.

And like a flash, Weavile pierced the man's chest with his claw. The grunt coughed out blood, and fell forcefully after the small pokémon violently removed the claw from the man's chest.

Some of the grunts were shocked, but they all charged in nonetheless.

"Dispose of them." Silver sounded colder than he used to.

Weavile kept doing his thing. Ursaring simply smashed his Guts boosted fists against anyone that got too close, attacking recklessly and violently. Feraligatr and Gyarados were literally breaking those guys apart. Magnezone sent Thunderbolts at anyone one who tried to escape. And Crobat was biting down on their enemies' necks using Poison Fang.

One grunt still managed to dodge most of the attacks, only getting grazed on his left leg, and managed to land a punch on Silver's face.

But Silver retaliated quickly and even more violently, by smashing his knee into the man's lungs, making him gasp for air, then grabbing him by the collar of the shirt with his right hand.

The grunt laughed arrogantly, but it was a painful sort of laughter. "You're already beaten, Silver."

The trainer punched the man's face. "Your allies are dead. I am alive. You failed your mission."

He kept laughing through the pain. "We know your secret. And we'll be coming after you again. The Captain will make sure of that…"

The next words the man said were not pleasing to the redhead's ears. "... Rocket Boss Silver."

He gasped. "... What?"

"That's right! After Giovanni was killed, we tracked the location of Team Rocket remnants. This guy, a weird dude with purple hair, he told us you were the new leader. And all it took was some money."

Petrel… That bastard… Silver seethed in anger

"And now, to make things even worse for you," the grunt said. "the Captain's in the lab." he began to laugh loudly.

As realization dawned on Silver, he knew he had indeed been defeated. He could see nothing more than a darkness as he repeatedly punched the man, until nothing else could be heard from him anymore.

He recalled all of his pokémon, then took an ultra ball from his pocket, and activated it to release a Xatu, a bird pokémon that resembled a totem. "Xatu, return all of these fallen pokémon to their pokéballs using Psychic."

Xatu's eyes glowed as it made the devices float, then activated them. The red beams reached the pokémon as they were returned to their pokéballs. It kept the devices floating in front of it.

"Teleport them to Jessie and James. They'll know what to do, hopefully."

Xatu's eyes glowed with more intensity as it made the pokéballs disappear. Silver then returned it to its pokéball as he made his way to Sycamore's room in a hurry.

On the way, he noticed the furniture had been flung all over, making things even more difficult for him as he was forced to maneuver around everything weirdly. They're trying to stall me.

Once he went through the room, he started running again, his left hand dripping the red liquid on the carpet.

He opened the door fiercely, looking inside in desperation as he saw Captain Delilah and her Claydol, who was using psychic powers to levitate an unconscious and bruised Professor Sycamore.

She looked at him pitifully as Claydol's eyes shone even brighter. "You're late, 'Rocket Boss'. And it seems I'll have to kill you another time!" She blew him a kiss as they disappeared when her psychic type used Teleport.

Silver just stood there, almost numb to the situation. He closed the door slowly, then sat on the professor's bed.

He grabbed his cell phone and quickly dialed a number. After a few moments, he spoke.

"Jessie, we have a situation. Have you received the packageI sent you?"

"Yes, boss. James is taking care of it as we speak. Do you require extraction?"

"That won't be necessary. But mobilize Butch and Cassidy."

Jessie paused for a moment. "What would be the reason?"

"Petrel sold me out."

He heard her gasp, but she quickly recovered from the shock as it seemed. "I'll have them ready right away. Should they use lethal force?"

"As they please." He said. "And also… I don't know when I'll be able to come back to Johto, so have someone protect Lyra in secret. If I'm a target she might as well be."

"It will be done, boss. I'll have Sierra take care of it."

"Excellent. Now, the next thing I'll tell you is to remain a secret. Only you and James must know of this for now."

"Understood."

He then told her everything that happened.

Present time

Silver told Ash nothing that could point him as the leader of Team Rocket, he felt the kantonian should know of the important stuff.

"Fighting me was a distraction so they could take the professor. They wanted to kill me, that's for sure, but I was the superior trainer and won. But once I realised it was a trick to get to Sycamore, I snapped." That was not a complete lie, but it was still a lie.

Ash sighed deeply. He sat the young man back down on the bed, and sat beside him. "You look like you need some rest." So he killed all of them… "You know, under normal circumstances I would have you arrested right away."

Silver didn't even look up.

"But the situation has just become dire. You are a very skilled trainer and we'll need your help."

"I can't come with you. Not after what I've done." Again, not a complete lie, but still a lie. "But I'll help you in my own way. I know the mission you guys are taking on will be extremely difficult. Gold told me some of the stuff. You and Serena go ahead and find those trainers. I'll take care of Team Void."

Ash stood up, making his way back out, stopping just before leaving the room. "Good luck."

"You too."

Ash went down the stairs to meet up with the others, then told them what Silver told him.

Serena began to tear up after hearing about Sycamore. "We- We talked to him today! He took care of Rhyhorn for my mom! He-" She began to choke on her words. "He gave me the chance of travelling the world and meeting all of my friends. And now…" She broke down. Ash held her tightly as he fought back his own tears.

Reno and Laura looked at each other, a somewhat sympathetic expression on their faces. She came up to them. "We… We don't know the professor and we don't know the story you guys shared with him. But I can see that things got a lot more personal for you guys. And…" Laura paused. She didn't know why she hesitated exactly. "And I know we're complete strangers to you, but now, more than anything, we want to help you guys."

"She's right. It's pretty clear to me that those Team Void guys are planning something big if they were willing to make such an audacious move. So hear us out now." Reno said. "Starting from now, you will have our full support."

Serena looked at them as she slowly calmed down, but still felt very distraught. She also noticed Ash was still very tense.

They had bitten off more than they could chew, and there was no way they could have foreseen that.

From the dark, Laura's Simisage returned, shouting his name as he jumped around her, then pointed towards the direction he came from.

Sycamore's Garchomp was walking towards them, with lots of smaller pokémon following close behind.

"Oh, what a relief!" Laura said. "At least the pokémon are safe. Thank you, Nail!" The simian then high-fived her enthusiastically. "But the professor's not here… What should we do with them?"

Ash then looked back at the Lab. "Silver will know what to do. I don't think he'll be leaving anytime soon. But let's head back to the Pokémon Center for now." He said. "I think we'll both need some time to digest everything that happened today."

They recalled their pokémon and headed out. On the way, Ash's Noivern returned to him, and then was recalled as well. That was one night that would take a long time for them to forget.

Kanto, Vermillion City

Alphonse and Erin decided to take a faster route to Vermillion: flying. Alphonse was mounted on his Hydreigon, a three headed grim looking dragon, and Erin was on her Togekiss, a white avian pokémon. They landed near the Pokémon Center.

When Erin dismounted, she noticed Alphonse looked conflicted as he looked around the city, and he remained on top of his Hydreigon. She then looked around as well.

It was 6pm. But there was no one to be seen. Shops were closed, houses and buildings were locked and barred, and when she looked at the Pokémon Center, she realised the lights were on, but there was no one inside. Not even Nurse Joy.

She turned to her Togekiss. "Angel, fly around the city to look for people. But be quick."

The Togekiss said his name in response then took flight.

Erin then released another pokémon. It was humanoid and it looked like it was wearing a dress. The Gardevoir looked at her then put her hand on the trainer's shoulder, sensing the distress within her. "Titania, stay close. Things might go weird."

The Gardevoir nodded.

But Erin still kept looking at Alphonse from time to time, as if expecting something to happen to him. She looked up at the sky.

She sighed in relief upon noticing it was a new moon.

Alphonse hopped off the Hydreigon. "Dante, fly up and cover our surroundings. I have a really bad feeling." The Hydreigon flew up then, and the trainer turned to his friend. "Better stay close. You never know what might-"

A sudden pokéball activation interrupted him.

Surprisingly, it was one of his pokémon that came out. It was a white furred quadruped, with black skin and a scythe-like blade growing from its head. His Absol had come out.

She looked around, the red eyes scanning the area for the danger she felt.

"- happen now." Alphonse finished. Absol coming out of her pokéball was not good in his eyes, since an Absol could sense when tragedy was approaching.

They then heard sounds of fighting. Alphonse and Erin could tell their pokémon were the ones fighting, since they could hear the sound of Dark Pulses and Moonblasts being fired.

Erin's Togekiss flew back in a hurry. He looked fine but seemed worried. "What happened?!" She asked.

And her response came crashing down in front of them as the Hydreigon was shot down by a Hyper Beam. Dante quickly stood and took flight again, roaring in rage at the attacker.

They looked at where Dante had been flung from, coming upon a vision most unexpected.

Floating in the air, red and blue skin, very pale, almost sick-looking, a gem on it chest, and a humanoid appearance.

"A Deoxys!" Erin said. "... It looks so weird." She said when she noticed the strangely pale skin, and the fact that the gem was black instead of green.

"Mephis, get ready!" Alphonse said, and his Absol's eyes glowed slightly.

The Deoxys then began to stretch its body sideways, almost impossibly so.

It then split in two.

Then four. Eight. Sixteen.

And didn't look like it was stopping any time soon.

---

A/N: Ah, cliffhangers… (sorry for that though, but really not sorry lmao). And that's the end of chapter 5. Took longer than I wanted, but it was still faster to write than I expected it to. Anyways, sorry if that whole passage with Silver was a bit violent, but when it comes to Team Rocket and a villain team such as this one I created, I felt it was the best way to do it. Also, please leave a comment (any comment, really lol), but constructive criticism is the thing I'll be looking forward to seeing from anyone reading. And thanks for reading, obviously! Writing this has been my little piece of heaven in quarantine, so it's good to know someone out there enjoys this!

Random Question (Because I refuse to stop doing these and quarantine has been keeping my resource of cursed knowledge updated): If you bake two lasagnas and stack them, one on top of the other, are they just one big lasagna or still two lasagnas?

Aaaaaand that's all for now. See ya on the next one! (not even God knows when that'll be but hey, we trying lol) StZushi out!