Quite a bit of time has passed since I last updated but I have my reasons as to why. School is really being tough right now and with the lack of a spring break, it only makes the process more grueling. Also, I have noticed the issues with the story, but then again I promise that answers will be provided down the line. Thank you for reading this far, I hold most of my creative work to a certain standard and this is no different. Without further ado, here's chapter 5.

Calem was a good distance down Parterre Way. The route was a mostly straight, wide road that led all the way up to Lumiose city. Either side was patched with gardens of varying variety. Some boasted bright annuals and seasonal blooms that sent bright petals to the wind if someone stepped through them or if a wild Pokemon rustled the vegetation. There were Parterre gardens, hedges situated in ornate patterns as to make the landscape seem wider than it was all along the road. As he neared Lumiose, more and more trainers seemed to be around. Gardeners led Corphish alongside them to help with the trimming of shrubs and low trees. For as beautiful as the scenery was, Calem wasn't in the best of moods. His eyes were focused on the ground in front of him and his mind wandered.

"What… happened? There had been a castle, some sort of attack on the Unova league. That was the battle… Right?" Things were too hazy for him. It made his head hurt. "I am really sorry Serena… I should've let you help."

The waning afternoon sun began to cast long shadows. One long shadow belonged to a large, artistically crafted fountain in the center of a small, paved plaza. Calem could only gaze in awe at its golden crests, beautiful statues, and the way it was framed by Lumiose City against the afternoon sky.

Some skaters were using the circular plaza as a skating rink. They had chosen the spot to hold some sort of informal race and were zipping around the fountain in wide circles. Calem had the misfortune of stepping in their way.

"Move! Get out of the –'' One skater shouted at Calem.

"Huh?!" Calem didn't have any time to react before a female skater barelled into him. Both were knocked to the ground.

Dazed, but relatively unhurt, Calem pushed himself to a standing position with a grunt and offered his hand to help pick up the girl. She slapped his hand away furiously.

"Were you not paying attention?! How did you not see us?" She was irritated. By that point, her other friends had made the loop and had gathered.

"Yeah, what gives bro?" One of the Skaters said.

Calem glanced at them and back to the girl who was working her way to her feet. "Sorry." he said. He made the motion to walk away and leave this encounter behind him but was blocked by two of the boy skaters.

"You're not going anywhere bud! You made me lose the race, so I'll beat you in a Pokemon battle!" the girl said. "The name's Calida and you're going down!" She rollerbladed some distance away from Calem and threw out a Pokemon that Calem had never seen before. It seemed like a small white bug like creature that clung to a flower and floated a small distance off the ground.

"A flower… a small bug… whatever this thing is. It's toast." Calem thought for a second.

"Alright… I'm game. I'm Calem and I accept your challenge." He got into his fighting stance. He whipped his hand to his waist, grabbing Fennekin's ball and sent the small fiery fox into battle.

Some of the other trainer on the route here and there noticed the commotion and began to come over to Calem and Calida to watch the battle. Some gardeners dropped their tools and came over with their Corphish as well.

"Flabebe! Use Vine whip!" Calida said. The little creature pointed its flower at Fennekin and long, green vines lashed out and struck Fennekin across the face. She recovered and glared at Flabebe.

"Vine whip huh?" Calem was positive this thing was a grass type. "Fennekin hit it with ember!" Fennekin reared back and a plume of embers shot from her ears at Flabebe. Upon impact, Flabebe recoiled a little but remained mostly unscathed.

"Wait… that should've been more effective than that if it's a grass type. Dual typing then?"

Calida grinned at the obvious confusion on Calem's face. Fire didn't affect Fairy types very well.

"Flabebe use Fairy wind!" Flabebe lifted its flower and from the petals came a sharp wind laced with a pink sparkle that battered Fennekin and blew it backwards toward Calem.

"Fennekin can you still battle?" Calem asked. The small fox growled and got up again. "Good effort. Let's finish this with Flame charge!" Fennekin wrapped herself in flames and charged at Flabebe.

"Quick! Lucky Chant!" Calida said as she raised her fists, bracing for the inevitable impact. Flabebe wrapped itself in a ring of sparkling powder before dropping it as Fennekin made impact with the poor creature in a plume of flame and smoke.

The people watching this classic street brawl began to cheer as things had heated up and gotten interesting.

The smoke cleared and Flabebe got back up on its flower, but it seemed pretty hurt. Both sides were pretty hurt at this point. Calem was surprised it got back up.

"Fairy wind… fire not very effective… something is going on here."

A mysterious duo, a boy and a girl joined the small crowd of 12 or so people watching without Calem taking notice.

"We still have some energy left! Use fairy wind!" Calida said beginning what would be the final moves of this battle. The wind buffeted Fennekin who winced but held her ground.

"Hold on Fennekin! Use Flame Charge again!" Calem called. Fennekin tried to summon the flames but couldn't and just continued to be brutalized mercilessly by the Fairy wind.

"This is it, its over" Fennekin couldn't use flame charge. The Fairy wind was just too strong. "There is something poetic about this."

Calem had always liked fire types for their simplicity and nature. They could burn their way through problems and battles and the solution was always more fire, more intensity, and more brute force. Here however, he was being beaten by a simple trainer from the streets and his typical solution wasn't working. "I can't just burn through every problem…" Calem had begun to realize.

Suddenly, a blue light surrounded Fennekin startling both Calida and Calem as well as the people watching. Fennekin's form began to morph and change until the blue light subsided and a new pokemon stood in Fennekin's place. It was a bipedal fox-like pokemon with a stick poking out of its bushy tail.

"Fennekin you evolved!" Calem said with excitement. "Alright, use flame charge! Finish this!" Braixen cloaked herself in fire, calling upon her new stick which she waved around like a wand. She was engulfed in flames that burned brighter than before and charged into Flabebe. The force sent the small fairy to the ground and out of the battle.

"Dang! That's unfair! Fennekin evolved into Braixen during the battle that's the only reason you won!" Calida recalled Flabebe and stamped her foot on the ground.

"Its completely fair" Calem said as he recalled Braixen. "Thank you for the entertaining battle though." He collected his prize money from a very sulking Calida.

"Braixen evolved to solve the problem at hand…" Calem thought. "Maybe its time to evolve and try a new strategy. One where I don't run away from help."

The crowd clapped but most of the onlookers resumed what they were doing having been distracted only momentarily to watch the brawl. All except two people.

Calem was approached by a boy and girl around his age, both wore completely white clothing which was rather off-putting to Calem.

"Umm, hello?" Calem asked.

"Hello there!" The boy responded. "You seemed to have some trouble with that Flabebe. Ever battled one before?"

"No, I can't say that I have. Let me guess, it isn't a grass or bug type?"

"You're correct!" The girl said. "Flabebe is actually a fairy type."

"Huh, new region, new type." Calem thought.

"Fairy types are somewhat exclusive to Kalos which means you're probably not from around here."

"I'm not, who's asking?" Calem said.

"We are assistants to Professor Sycamore. I am Sina." The girl responded. "A beautiful name for a beautiful lady." She smugly put her hands to her hips.

"Alright, Sina. My name is Dexio and two years ago, Professor sycamore entrusted us with Pokedex's to start officially cataloguing all the Pokemon in Kalos. Most of the information you'll read on the Kalosian pokedex is actually from us."

"Oh, I have used that quite a bit here recently." Calem said

"Really? Well that is good to hear that our research hasn't gone to waste." Dexio said.

"Calem, we've been instructed to deliver a message to you from the professor himself." Sina handed Calem a letter. It was another envelope with a wax seal. Inside was another professional letter with beautiful handwriting.

"Jeez, does this guy do anything normally? Couldn't he just call me or…?" Calem asked.

"Well, define normal." Dexio responded.

Calem read the letter:

Dear Calem,

I have heard about the unfortunate circumstances with the rest of the group. I immediately sent Sina and Dexio to collect you. I know being in a foreign land alone can be troublesome. Tomorrow morning, might I suggest swinging by the lab around 8:00? We must discuss things before the others arrive. At the end of it all, I do hope you can set aside what bad blood there is with the others and at least professionally work on the mega evolution assignment. Kalos is counting on you. I am counting on you.

Sincerely,

Professor Sycamore

"It's just telling me to meet him at the lab tomorrow morning." Calem said putting the letter away.

"Oh we know! We've been sent to get you and take you to the pokemon center in Lumiose and show you where the lab is." Said Dexio.

"Are you ready to head there now?" Asked Sina. "Or do you want to battle more of the rowdy children around here?"

"I think I am good for now." Calem said. "Let's head out."

The three continued down what was left of the route as the sun sank in the sky and was bathed it in a golden, orange glow. Lumiose city was very close now. Just up ahead, there was some sort of brick wall with a gatehouse built into it marking the threshold between Parterre Way and Lumiose City proper.

Though his mood was slightly improved from before, the company of Dexio and Sina was enough to distract him from his earlier thoughts about the fight between Serena and him.

"So Calem, how are you and Braixen getting along?" Dexio asked.

"Oh, pretty well!" Calem answered. "I've raised a good deal of fire types over the years. They're easily my favorites."

"That's good to hear. I am sure Braixen will prove to be a powerful ally in your quest through Kalos." Dexio said.

"He must mean the mega evolution research…" Calem thought. "I mustn't get distracted by such, I need to figure out why I ended up here in Kalos in the first place. Serena wants to help…"

The trio entered the gatehouse and crossed into Lumiose.

Immediately upon entering Lumiose city, everything came into scale of how large the city actually was. That luminescent tower was now fully in focus as the centerpiece of the city but even that seemed far away which gave Calem an idea of the sheer size of everything. To his left and right, the large, curving boulevards were divided by a row of trees as pokemon, people, and some small cars meandered through the city streets. By that point, many of the streetlamps flicked on in the waning twilight which only added to the sight. Cafes, stores, homes, and offices lined the streets. To summarize it in one sentence, it was grand.

"Impressed huh?" Sina saw him staring. He probably had that touristy look in his eye.

"Not what I was expecting, but yes." Calem said. He was kind of glad the professor had sent Dexio and Sina to get him. He honestly would not have known where to go first.

"From here, we are going to take you to the pokemon center for the night. We have already booked you a room." Dexio said. He had been on his holocaster contacting someone. "If you do wander out for the night, please don't wander far."

Calem was still slightly struck with awe at the streetscape before him. Sina stood on the edge of the street corner and waved her hand in the air a few times before one of the cars pulled out of traffic and off to the side of the street where the three stood. There was a gruff looking man inside sporting some sort of company logo shirt.

"Hop in!" He said.

Calem was ushered into the backseat of the car and squeezed in between Dexio and Sina.

"Thank you for choosing the Lumicab Taxi service. Where to?" The man asked.

Sina chimed in "Can you take us to South Boulevard's Pokemon Center please?

"Can do." The driver said and they were off. Once the car had joined traffic again, Calem peered out the front window and was treated to more of the sights in Lumiose. Somewhere, the rest of the group were in all these large crowds.

"Had Tierno been serious when he said 'come find us in Lumiose?'" Calem thought. A feat like that would've been next to impossible.

After a few short minutes, they were at the pokemon center. Dexio paid the man and the light blue cab left them on the side of the street.

"Alright, Calem this is where we leave you." Dexio said after handing Calem a room key. "This is for your room at the pokemon center. Also, don't forget, be at the lab around 8:00am!"

"Wait, how do I find the lab?" Calem asked. He didn't mean to sound helpless, but the big city was a little disorienting.

"There will be a cab here to pick you up tomorrow." Sina said. "The professor is eager to meet you so he's already arranged for the transportation. Try to get some rest tonight Calem, big day tomorrow."

With that, they bid each other goodnight and parted ways. Calem was somewhat satisfied with the arrangements that had been made. He didn't want to run into his group yet and had at least a few contacts in the city though something was missing. From the moment he stepped foot in Kalos, Serena had been there and now he was alone.

Calem turned the lights out in his room. He had gotten ready for bed early and decided not to wander around. The light from the city cast a blue hue in his room and he found himself at the large window, peering out over the city streets in silent contemplation. He found landscapes and cityscapes to be calming typically but not tonight. Everything had been too quiet. Calem had tried to find solace in Riolu and Braixen but that had ended quickly as Calem felt like he was betraying them.

The purpose of a trainer is to be strong for your pokemon so that they'll trust you in battle, betraying that trust with weaknesses was not a good idea even if he needed a distraction.

He thought about his old pokemon, somewhere far away. He didn't know if they were ok. They were gone. He thought about Cheren, Bianca, and all the other people he had met on his journey. He had been the one the one to run away every time.

In Kanto, he fled to Johto just to get away from it all. His parents, responsibility, and expectations. In Johto, he found himself involved with Team Rocket but he escaped that too in the back of a moving truck and somehow wound up in Hoenn. Sinnoh was a boat ride from Hoenn thanks to the many cruise lines that come through but it was really Unova where he was offered a fresh start. Trouble found him though and before he could blink, he was wrapped up in the Team plasma ordeal where they planned on using a legendary dragon to impose their will upon the Unova region. Calem had been the most capable at the time so he and N did battle. Everything past that point was a blur. Now he was in Kalos.

"Was I too weak?" Calem thought. This line of reasoning could apply to anything. His inability to face any real adversity and to run away from responsibility. His inability to conquer evil when it found its way to him in the form of Team Plasma and Team Rocket. Now he was in Kalos, stripped of the one thing he held dear which was his old team of pokemon. People had even tried to help him here in Kalos. Grace offered him a place to stay, Serena wanted to help him figure out what happened in his past and he shoved both away.

It had always been like this, but then why was it more difficult this time?

All of this hurt Calem's head.

"Just… focus on the goal."

What was the goal?

"Tomorrow, go see the professor. Find Serena." He thought.

He undid the drapes and let the curtains close. The room was swallowed by a hollow darkness. Here Calem found some semblance of rest.

Morning dawned on another cloudless day. Calem had stirred early, eaten breakfast, gotten ready and went to see the professor.

The cab ride had been a silent one. Eventually he found himself standing in front of Professor Sycamore's lab. It was a three storied sandstone colored building with a blue roof. It was set back from the road a ways with two concrete Pokeballs on columns out front.

"Here goes nothing…" Calem said.

The interior of the building was about how Calem had expected it. The lobby was furnished similarly to a hospital with white tiled floors and blue walls. Some pictures of pokemon adorned the otherwise bare walls. A receptionist with blonde hair in a grey suit noticed him step in and waved him over.

"Goodmorning! Do you have an appointment with the professor this morning?" She asked.

"As a matter of fact, I do." Calem said. "My name's Calem. He should be expecting me." He dug in his bag and took out the letter that Sina and Dexio had given him yesterday.

The receptionist took the letter and punched something in on the computer. "Calem? Oh! Yes the professor can't wait to meet you. He should be in his office on the third floor."

Calem nodded and stepped over to the elevator. He pressed the brass button for the third floor. The doors closed and Calem was on his way up. He had very little idea of what to expect.

The doors opened to a large room with red carpet over the white tile. It was messy with various papers and books laying scattered here and there. In a certain way, the mess was expected.

"Hello?" Calem heard a voice call from beyond the wall partition to his right.

"Hey professor? Its me, Calem. You wanted to-" Calem was cut off as a man emerged in a white lab coat. Under said coat, was a blue button-down shirt tucked into black slacks. He had a mess of long black hair that went every which direction.

"So, we finally meet!" said the man ushering Calem into his office. "I am Augustine Sycamore, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Its nice to meet you." Calem replied. He sat down in a small leather armchair in front of Professor Sycamore's desk. Sycamore took his place behind it, his tall, backed desk chair was framed by the large window through which a harsh, early morning light spilled through.

"I heard about the squabble from the rest of the group." Sycamore said, "I do hope that you are feeling well despite all of that."

"I am, I think everything will be fine." Calem said. He disregarded anything he had felt last night and opted to not tell him.

"Good! Good." Sycamore said. "Now, let's talk business. I have selected you for a reason." Sycamore paused and studied his desk. Turned back to Calem he asked. "You are a great pokemon trainer correct?"

"Yes" Calem was going to be truthful to see where this was going. He couldn't bury the feeling that he was being used though.

"So you have lots of experience with your pokemon, from what I've heard. You know one thing I know is that you traveled a great deal, through many regions judging from your trainer record."

"That's true as well. I have been to 5 different regions."

"So the bond you share with your pokemon must be very strong."

Calem didn't understand where this interrogation was going. He didn't answer Professor Sycamore right away and instead he locked his eyes to the floor.

"I… don't have any of my old pokemon…" Calem said. It had been hard to say that.

"Oh… I am sorry then, I thought you did." Said Professor Sycamore. "The reason I asked is because of the mega evolution research. We have an understanding that there is a list of requirements a pokemon must meet before mega evolving and one of those things is an inseparable bond between trainer and pokemon."

"Oh, so that's what this was about." Calem said. He decided to bring it up. "professor, isn't mega evolution a bad idea?"

"What do you mean?" Sycamore asked.

"Wouldn't giving the power to basically super charge your pokemon to a bunch of young adults give that access to those who would abuse its power?" Calem asked.

"Well…" Sycamore considered the question. "Any type of power can be used for evil. Good guys can use that same power."

Calem was a little appalled by the answer. Sure he had opposed N but he had very little recollection of how that had actually worked out for him, and he thought his power had been adequate.

After that, the conversation lulled to his exploits in other regions and the gym challenge here in Kalos. They talked for a good while, whereas other professors from other regions had seemed overbearing, Professor Sycamore's more laidback yet superfluous style was welcome.

The clock struck 9:00 on the wall. Professor Sycamore stood up along with Calem.

"Our other guests should be arriving soon. We shall discuss more then."

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, a familiar group of four walked in.

"Hey Professor! Its Shauna!" Shauna said stepping into the office in front of Trevor, Tierno, and finally Serena.

Serena locked eyes with Calem upon entering and oddly, Calem couldn't tell what they were trying to tell him.

When it comes to certain issues, emotions can be hard to describe but hopefully that one seen solidified some answers to questions I received previously. I hope to have the next part done before the end of the month, I just need to clean it up and find time to improve the original text. Again, thank you for reading! I hope It has been a pleasure so far.