A/N: I LIVE! I'm not dead, and I can faintly see the light at the end of this tunnel. I hope you guys had a good holiday season and I'm happy to announce that I have two fics in the works after this one that I am super excited to share with y'all. And I'm trying to watch the entire anime and I'm already on DP: Battle Dimension.

Now back to the story.


"Gardevoir, are you doing okay?"

Gardevoir was shaking as she nodded to her trainer.

"Diantha, here," the blonde Sinnohan Champion said, tossing a pink and white spray bottle to the brunette Kalosian Champion.

"Thank you, Cynthia," Diantha said, spraying the Hyper Potion on Gardevoir.

"I've got another if Metagross needs it, Steven."

The blue-haired Hoennian Champion shook his head, "Metagross is doing fine, as is Garchomp, I see."

Cynthia smirked, "Well, I have seen Garchomp spark fear in the hearts of even the top Galactic Admins. I think Hunter J was scared of him and even Leon backed away from a battle between Garchomp and Charizard," she said, rubbing Garchomp's back.

"Leon would do a lot to protect his reputation as the 'Undefeated Champion'."

"I agree. And back to the issue at hand; Even though we know the power of those kids, I still have a responsibility to take care of my Gym Leaders. Alain might have put my seat in danger, but he's one of Sycamore's top researchers, and I don't even wanna think about the reaction Kalos would have if Serena was badly hurt, or Ash's for that matter," Diantha said, muttering the last part.

"Neither do I," Cynthia said.

"I'm inclined to agree as well," Steven added.

"We could've used you during the Kalos Crisis."

"I had so much to do that I didn't even realize that it happened until the cleanup started."

"Well then, I guess this is Arceus's way of saying that you should have helped," Diantha joked.

Cynthia rolled her eyes at this. "Having experienced the ambitions of two power-crazed men, what new thing does Lysandre bring as a challenge."

"For starters, it's not just Lysandre here. Team Rocket and their leader are here as well and seem to be against Team Flare," Steven said.

"Ah, Giovanni. I remember him in Unova trying to harness the power of the Kami Trio by using Meloetta."

"Since we know the extent of Lysandre's abilities from the Kalos Crisis, what can you tell us about Giovanni?" Diantha asked.

"He was the man who created Mewtwo, even using it against trainers in his own gym. And even if we can stop this, he'll use one of his aliases to evade capture by the International Police," Cynthia explained.

"So we're in agreement that Lysandre must be killed?" Steven asked.

"Absolutely."


"What does Lysandre want with Serena?" Ash yelled, terrifying the Team Flare grunt in front of him.

"I-i-i don't know; he said something about her dad or something but I don't know."

Serena's eyes widened as the grunt nearly begged Ash to let him go. Ash, thinking he got at least one answer, let him go, watching the grunt stumble away from the group of trainers. Turning to Serena he opened his mouth but shut it when he saw tears welling up in her eyes.

"Serena? Are you okay?" Dawn asked.

"What's wrong?"

"My dad died in a plane crash when I was five," Serena said, forcing herself not to cry. "He was coming back to Kalos when the plane's engine failed; there were no survivors."

Ash wrapped his arms around her in an attempt to comfort the Kalosian Performer.

"Could he have been secretly working for Team Flare?" Brock asked, earning a glare from Ash.

Serena shook her head, "Not at all. My dad didn't even live in Kalos, he'd just come back for a few days every couple of months. He was a Kantonian Gym Leader."

"What city?" Ash asked.

"Viridian." Ash and Brock shuddered to the confusion of Serena, "What?"

"The guy that replaced your dad is actually their boss," Ash said, pointing to the Team Rocket trio.

"How exactly did a criminal mastermind manage to become an official Gym Leader and keep the fact that he was a criminal mastermind a secret?"

Ash shrugged, "Lance was just too busy gallivanting off into random regions being a G-Man."

"But he was removed after Mewtwo was released. Agatha of the Elite Four held that spot until they found someone else," Brock explained.

Both Lucarios glanced at each other and narrowed their eyes at the path in front of them causing both Korrina and Ash to turn towards their Pokemon.

"What's up, buddy?"

An explosion occurred directly in front of the group. Ash held his arms in front of his face to shield himself from the explosion. A few stray stones sliced his skin; not deep enough to be concerning but deep enough to draw blood.

The dust settled to reveal a figure standing next to a Garchomp; Ash, Brock, and Dawn's faces lit up as they recognized the figure.

"Sorry about that. I'm just used to making the flashy entrances," the figure said, stepping out of the dust cloud.

"Cynthia!"

"Flashy?" Another figure, this one is surrounded by a pale blue glow as she was lowered to the ground besides Cynthia. "That was more destructive than flashy," Diantha said with her arms crossed.

"I have to agree with Diantha on that, Cynthia," Steven added, standing on Mega Metagross above their heads.

"Says the man standing on his Metagross."

"Touche," Steven said as Metagross lowered to the ground, allowing him to step off.

Diantha ignored the other two Champions and made eye contact with Ash. "I see Greninja is back with you."

Ash grinned, "Life happens."

Diantha glanced at her Gardevoir with a smirk before looking back to Ash, "How hard would it be to schedule a one-on-one exhibition match against you in Kalos?"

"You're on," Ash said, shaking Diantha's hand.

"Have you kids managed to pin down where Team Flare is operating out of?"

The group shook their heads.

"He'll have some kind of weapon, so he'll need a power source," Alain said, thinking out loud.

"The Vermillion Gym has a huge power supply, but it's protected and cut off from the grid. The biggest power supply in Vermillion City goes to-" Goh's face paled.

"What's wrong?" Chloe asked.

"There's a new power plant being constructed, and they're testing the software that regulates the electric flow." Goh's eyes widened. "My parents designed the software, and they're there right now!"

"How likely is Lysandre to hurt innocent civilians?"

"They wouldn't even be helpful at all; they're just programmers!"

Steven frowned, "That's where you're wrong. The software would be unfamiliar and having the people who designed it would be like finding a hunk of blue opal in an iron mine. Lysandre would immediately take advantage of them."

"He wouldn't hurt them, right?" Goh squeaked.

"He would if they don't comply," Alain said.

"Well, that's just wonderful."

"I'm sure we'll be able to get them out of there, but we won't if we keep standing around here the whole time," Ash said.

"Ash is right, we need to get moving if we want to stop Lysandre."


"Sir, we've pinned Lysandre down in a newly-constructed power plant in the city."

"He would need power for whatever he has planned," Giovanni mused.

The informant spoke up again, "And three more Champions have appeared."

"Which ones?"

"Steven Stone, Cynthia, and Diantha."

"Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Kalos. Are they alone?"

"No, sir. They've met up with the Alolan Champion, one of Professor Sycamore's assistants, the Shalour City Gym Leader, some others, and the coordinator they call the Kalos Princess."

Giovanni nodded again, "Dismissed."

And I thought faking my own death would be enough to protect you and your mother. I'm so sorry, Serena.


"There! It's done!" A man with black hair and blue eyes cried.

Lysandre narrowed his eyes before turning to a scientist beside him, "Ensure he actually did what he claims."

The scientist pushed the man aside, typing in various permissions before nodding to Lysandre.

"Good, cuff him."

Two grunts fastened handcuffs around the man's wrists.

"Where's Camille?" The man cried as Lysandre was leaving.

"My dear Walker, have patience. You complied with my requests and will be returned to your lovely Camille in a few moments, thank you for your compliance."

Walker was led into another room where numerous technicians and engineers were trapped. One of the grunts unlocked the cuffs, having them clatter to the ground.

"Walker!"

"Camille!"

The two of them wrapped their arms around each other.

"Hate to interrupt your moment but Lysandre would like to thank you for assisting Team Flare in the creation of our new world. Oh, and for the newcomer, there is no escape."

"Walker?"

"I had to, Camille."


A/N: I'm just going for everyone's perspectives here. And we've got a lot to resolve in these last few chapters so stay tuned.

Amourshipper35 - Thanks for the review :)

UnKnownGuy2006 - I used to play Minecraft but I don't anymore

Shadow wolf42 - Thanks for the review :)

Robins in the Ashes - Don't bully my son

IAmDomeAceTucker - Yes