The Beginning in Kalos RIP

by BardofWorlds

As Ash attempts to win the Kalos League, he reunites with old rivals, friends and meets new ones while threats he dealt with and ancient forces begin to awaken from slumber, heroes rise to face them. In the end everything is connected and the destiny of many is not what they expect but one that they will love. Ash/harem Clemont/OC muilti story plot/ many stories united at the end

16. Chapter 16

I made a mistake last Chapter, I forgot to put what happened to one of my characters! I can't believe it, I reread it and I can't believe I made such a rookie mistake so I went back and fixed it and Happy Belated Chrismas everybody, and I will have a new offering called Trailers where I'll put trailers on what I'll be working on up on the last day of this year so look forward to it and I'll add the Dream Ash had in Chapter 1 on the same day if life lets me do that. If not everyone have a rocking New Year's Eve and see you sometime next month!

Riley looked up as he rode his Salamence high above as the others moved swiftly over the ground, Cameron and his Hydreigon were hugging the ground as they followed Rosette and Brock on Arcanine with Yuji and his Tauros as the rearguard as they moved toward Viridian. They had been making good progress since they've left the cabin and hadn't come across any Chimera, which while good was worrying. Especially once they started to come across dying trees connected to cables of some kind of silk like Yuji had found and trailed back to that cave he found. As his Dragon Type flew on Riley let his mind go over what they had learned so far and what he knew from experience. I've hunted Chimera before and this is strange, the trees are being 'killed' by something they have to be behind but why I can't figure out. They were sealed because they couldn't handle the death toll taking the other hives had shown, so what monsters were a part of this swarm, what horrors had been unleashed and how? Wait, what's that? Riley thought as he looked around and frowned as he noticed some fallen trees far off the pathway, all of them in the same direction. He followed the line they made and paled as he realized what the path formed was pointing toward.

"Down to the others, hurry Salamence!" Riley commanded his Salamence who hugged its wings to its body and dove towards the others, pulling out when they were just above Hydreigon. As they looked up at him as Salamance steadied its flight.

"There's a swarm of those things, I can see the path they took by the felled trees! The route their taking, I think they're going after Viridian!" Riley called as soon as he felt his voice would reach the others.

Brock and Yuji started to pale and Rosette gained a scowl on her face as Cameron started to look concerned.

"Did you see anything master, any traces beside the trees?" Riley shook his head at Cameron's question and looked at the others, his expression showing concern.

"No, nothing from the height I was at. I fear that's why we weren't attacked last night, those things got all the easy food that they could and gathered what they could to strike at Viridian." Riley said as Rosetta looked thoughtful. What's making these drone things, how much bio matter is it using to make them, Chimera tactical response 103; outlast the enemy then kill it'. But if there are so many of them they might outlast us! Rosetta thoughts ran wild before she heard Brock's replay.

"We have to get back to Viridian; we have Intel they need to know that might change the battle completely!" Brock exclamation caused her to look over her shoulders; the look on her face caused him to continue.

"Those horned ones, the leaders! If we can take them out then the fighters become nothing more than animals, dangerous animals but animals non the less! We can beat these things, we can out think them!" Yuji exclaimed as his Tauros carried its trainer. Riley nodded and looked towards the horizon.

"We're almost within sight of Viridian, we can take stock of the situation and plan from there but we need to move!" Riley said as he patted Salamence neck and his Dragon type speed up, Hydreigon, Tauros and Arcanine following behind them. I just hope we can make it in time! Brock thought as he looked ahead, hoping he would notice some sign of the condition in Viridian.

"Once we get there, Arcanine will get us to a safe spot to drop you off if they are attacking like we think they are Brock! Then I'll go help the defense!" Rosette called out loudly as Tauros moved closer to them, urged on by its trainer.

"Come on Tauros, faster! We've got to get back to Viridian! Damn it, I'd give you anything that Salma will be on the front line!" Yuji said as he held onto Tauros's saddle, the words caused Rosette to turn and look over her shoulder at Brock who looked at her, slowly paling at the look in her eyes.

"This Selma, she's not the one who's a gym trainer in Viridian, she was up on those mountains with you all?!" Rosetta asked with a hard tone to her voice as Brock slowly nodded his head.

Jenny snarled as she carried her Growlithe, ducking behind a car as the white needles one of the hornless Chimera sent at her flew over her head, cursing as she cowered behind a wall and cursed. If I see that bastard representative I, I don't know what I'd do. Jenny thought Albert had being particularly difficult and had tried to stop them, talking about how this was an isolated incident and that Chimera would never attack a city like Viridian, wait for the expedition to come back, it wasn't as bad as they made it out to be. Jenny had been at the barricades they had barely been able to set up when a swarm had charge down the road, thankfully the Militia had gotten most of the civilians out of there and the defenders there hadn't suffered any casualties besides a few wounded humans and Pokémon, and they had been falling back but the civilians were safe and that was what mattered. A low moan caused her to look at her Fire Type, Jenny looked down at it with a pained look, it been speared by one of the hornless Chimera's stinger limbs while it was glowing purple, and her Growlithe had swayed before falling to the ground, its legs falling it. Jenny had slammed her tonfa onto the Chimera's head, grabbed her Pokémon and had called out to retreat as she saw the white needles the Chimera had started to fire. The Millita had done a fighting retreat, during which Jenny had been cut off with a few other trainers who were using anything as shelter form the Chimera as they tried to fight back. She turned when she heard a form drop down next to her, seeing Giovanni as his Nidoking and Nidoqueen moved forward, an energy wall in front of both of them as they stood in front of the humans and Pokémon.

"If Albert lives, I'm going to kick his ass." Giovanni said darkly as she looked between the Protects his Pokémon formed. Jenny nodded absently and silently promised to do the same as her Growlithe looked up at her. She just hugged it closer to her, cursing silently as she did so, blaming herself for the condition of her Pokémon. Giovanni noticed the Fire type in her arms and frowned.

"Why haven't you recalled your Pokémon, it looks like it could use it." Giovanni's question caused Jenny to wince before she answered.

"Something is blocking the return; I think it's the Chimera's poison. I've never seen anything like it, hell I've never even heard of something like that! But where the hell did you come from?" Jenny snarled as she looked at the Chimera as they moved towards the two Pokémon as others tried to get into the building along the side of the street. A poison that negates the Pokéball, what in the name of science, that can't be the primary reason these things have it, a secondary effect then. But what's the primary, the way the poison affects the Pokémon it can't be to stop the ball that's insane. It must be meant to weaken its victims, but why would it affect the Pokéball? And why are those things in the back not moving in, just standing there? Giovanni thought as he tried to figure out a way to throw the Chimera back and why the Alphas were standing towards the just within sight of the battle.

"I was leading a party of trainers from the Gym to help at making a barricade in case that idiot did what he did, figured I'd use my own authority to help out, the few that made it by you all, they're doing what they can to keep the people safe. But enough about that, have those horned things moved closer, or have they just stood there?" Giovanni demanded as he looked at the Alphas as the Chimera stood far back and winced as small white needles hit the Protects his two Pokémon had up. Jenny looked up from trying to treat her Pokémon to look at the horned Chimera and frowned as she tried to work through the haze that was the last ten minutes and shook her head. Giovanni looked at her before he looked at the horned Chimera as he grabbed a Pokéball.

"Come out Rhydon, time to Rampage!" Giovanni called out as he threw the Pokeball and his Rhydon appeared, roaring as it did so.

"Jenny stay down, my team's got this. Nidoking, Nidoqueen; Keep the Protects up and get ready to drop when I say so then bring it back up right after. Rhydon start charging a Hyper Beam, target the closest horned Chimera. Let's see what will happen if one of them dies. Ready….Ready….FIRE!" Giovanni cried out as his Pokémon dropped their Protect before Rhydon fired a beam of yellow-orange energy that shot straight at the horned chimera before one of the hornless ones intercepted the beam, its body exploding in a shower of liquids and parts. Giovanni stared as the Protect formed back into place before the white needles sent at them from the Chimera and snarled as he looked at the Chimera. So I was right, those are the commanders of this farce. And the soldier things are so loyal because of maybe some kind of limited telepathy or some other method. And it sacrificed one of its pawns to save itself so is it sentient or something else? Giovanni thought as he looked at the horned Chimera and felt his glare harden as he saw the horned Chimera look right at him. He saw some of the Chimera turn away from the attacking the buildings and turned towards the shielded humans and Pokémon. Giovanni just chuckled a little as Jenny looked up at him as he started to speak.

"Those things are smart, they realized I was trying to kill one of their leadership castes and reacted accordingly. Jenny take your Pokémon and try to get away, call Pallet Town if you can, those people need to be warned that this place might Become Lost. Tell the mayor to sound the evacuation alarm, try to get as many people away from here as you can, my people and I'll buy you all the time we can." Giovanni said as he reached into his pockets and drew forth two knives as Jenny started to back up as the Warriors raised their stingers at the Protect. Jenny looked at Giovanni as she hugged her Growlithe to her body as she realized what he was saying. He's expecting to die holding the line. If these Chimera can take Viridian they'll slaughter all of Pallet and then there's the farms, the hamlets and the hurricane to consider, we need to send an alert so they can have at least a chance to survive. Jenny thought as she closed her eyes and turned away from Giovanni.

"Thank you Gym Leader, you're an honorable man." She whispered as she started to dash away from the battle before an explosion caused her to turn, seeing two of the horned Chimera had been killed by. Two screaming cries caused her to look up and see two trainers on two Dragon types coming out of the sky.

"FLAME CHARGE, Break through them!"/ "Rock Tomb Tauros, in front of the buildings!" Two voices cried from behind the Chimera before an Arcanine with a barrier of flames around it burst through the Chimera behind where the horned ones had been and a Tauros with a rider on it charge after the Fire type, its eyes glowing as boulders rose to block the Chimera from the buildings before the Tauros stopped in front of the Protect as the Arcanine stopped beside it, allowing Jenny and Giovanni to see the riders on the backs of their Pokémon. One of the figures got off the back of the Arcanine and grinned at them through the shield.

"Hello all, I presume that Salma got through without too much of an incident?" Brock said with a grin as he adjusted his backpack. The two trainers on the Dragons threw out two Pokéball each and released and Infernape, a Poliwrath, a Ferrothorn and a Lucario. The Ferrothorn formed a domed energy shield between Brock and the other Chimera and the Poliwrath dashed at the Warriors while the Infernape and Lucario charged at the horned chimera.

"Brock, your back!" Jenny said as soon as she recovered and Giovanni looked at the battle and made a choice.

"Drop the Protects and go help the Poliwrath destroy those Chimera, Rhydon back them up! Your group's timing is impeccable Doctor. But where are the other two who went with you?" Giovanni asked as his three Pokemon charged at the Warriors. Brock only grimaced before he saw Jenny had her Growlithe in her arms and the condition it was in.

"Officer Jenny, what happened to your Growlithe, why haven't you recalled it?" Brock asked as he gave it a quick examination and winced as he saw the state it was in.

"One of those hornless bastards stabbed it and I can't recall her to her ball, I don't understand why that could be possible." Jenny said as she laid her Pokémon on the ground as Brock continued his examination. Giovanni walked past them and stopped next to Yuji who was watching the battle as Riley and Cameron's Dragon shot blasts at the horned Chimera as Infernape and Lucario threw them into the air

"There's a reason their killing those things that way?" Giovanni asked as he watched the Chimera die. Yuji remained silent before speaking, just watching the carnage.

"The ones with horns explode when they die, a final fuck you. We're lucky that the other things aren't like that or we'd really be in trouble." Yuji reported as he sat on his Pokemon. Brock picked up Growlithe and turned to the Arcanine and its rider.

"Rosetta I need to get to the Hospital, this girl needs treatment, before she gets worse, this poison it's just like the spore." Brock said as the two Dragons landed and their trainers got off them before they charged at the Chimera. Rosette looked at the battle before nodding and gesturing for Brock to get on.

Salma cursed as she pressed she and her Machamp pressed their bodies against the table they had pressed against the door. When Giovanni had led a party from the gym, she had been directed to help people along the main avenue prepare if the barricade failed, and when the Chimera had broken through the town's border she had helped people into a restaurant and had thrown the tables against the windows had held them off with her two Pokémon until she had to retreat. I don't know how long this can last, those things are relentless! That horned thing, when Onix crushed it, the explosion took him out, thankfully Machamp was able to avoid getting hit, but why'd those things start acting so wild when it died? They started to attack each other before Machamp attacked one of them. Just gotta stay alive, gotta keep fighting, after all where there's life there's hope. Salma thought as she felt the doors buck through the table and winced as she tried to hold the table in place.

"Are we gonna be okay miss?" A soft question caused her to look at a little girl in a raincoat with the hood up. Salma looked around and noticed that everyone who wasn't holding something against the windows were by those who were with chairs or piece of wood ready to strike at anything that might break through. The girl was alone and looking back she saw other children with their backs facing the door, a few boys and girls who were huddled in a ball, some of them even seemed to be in shock.

"Don't worry kid; we'll make it out of here alive. Just find somewhere to hide and leave this to the grownups to handle and we'll be okay. Trust me, I'm one of the best trainers at the Gym and I've fought Chimera before, we can beat'em." Salma promised the girl who nodded before tensing when they all heard gunshots, the kids still aware started to cry.

Rosette rode her Arcanine through the streets; she had dropped off Brock with Growlithe at the Center and now they were making a half circle back to the battle to make sure nothing had slipped by the main barricade, she had to make sure nothing got by them, she had to defend the City, she had to defend her family! Where are you sis, you'd better be alive or so help me I'll drag you back to life before I kill you myself. She thought as she looked about as her Pokémon carried her through the city, her mind racing as she tried to find any sign of her sister. A cry ahead of her caused to her to notice a four of the hornless Chimera trying to get in to a building. Looking about she saw that they the marks of battle, the corpse of an Alpha and hastily made barriers on the windows of the bulding.

"Hello misplaced aggression. Let's go partner, Blaze runner tactical." She said with a smirk on her face as she drew her guns. She fired as Arcanine charged, hitting two of the Chimera in the head, killing them instantly. Arcanine slashed down with glowing claw as it ran past the last two Chimera and spun about pointing right at the two of them before it released a blast of fire straight at the last two Chimera, one still standing before a shot from Rosette at its head killed it.

"Best shot in the Guard, no matter what they say." Rosette said with a smirk as she holstered her guns and looked at the building. She noticed boards and tables against the windows and moved towards the building before calling out.

"THEIR DEAD! You can come out now; they're making a place to hold out at the Pokémon Center! I'd make for that if I were you all!" Rosette called as she looked at the building. One of tables blocking one of the windows moved a little and Rosette saw an eye peak out.

"She's right, the Chimera are all dead! We're saved!" Someone inside cried out as a small cheer rose from within as the door was open and people ran out, running towards the Pokémon Center, so of them carrying children as they moved. After a few seconds a Machamp came out smiling at with...Salma holding the hand of a young girl following behind, Salma looking at the girl.

"SALMA!" Rosetta cried as she ran at her sister, a smile on her face before she swept her up into a hug. Salma looked startled before she returned the hug when she realized who was hugging her.

"ROSSETA?! What are you doing here, were the Guards sent to help out?" Salma asked as she tried to understand why her sister was here.

"Long story little sis, come on, head back to the Center with your little friend and provide backup with Machamp, I'll meet you there later, so go now!" Rosetta said with a pointed look before she got onto her Pokémon and they moved off towards the borders of the town. Salma watched her sister leave and looked down at the little girl with her. Sis is right, it's best that I make sure that these people make it to the Center in one piece. Salma thought as she looked after her sister for a few seconds before turning back to the girl with her.

"So little one, lets get a move on, say what's your name?" Salma asked as she lead the girl off. As Machamp watched their back the girl replied

"Anastasia, but everyone calls me Anny." Anny answered as they walked after the others.

Shadow had been fighting Chimera since he had reached the area where Happy's place was and breathing heavily as he and his Pokémon bunched together as fourteen Warriors with glowing stingers encircled them while three Alphas watched from far back each far enough apart that their explosions wouldn't hurt the other two, watching as their slaves snarled at Shadow and his team. Shadow had come across a probing team of four Alpha's and twenty Warriors coming towards the place where Happy had their hideout and he had released his whole team to deal with them, leading the charge as they ran at the Chimera. They had killed one of the leaders and six of the others, but they had wised up and started to fire Attacks of all things at him and had driven them back, Noivern growled as it flexed its wing claws as the glow on them pulses as it feed the Dragon Claw attack more power as flames started to gather around Rattata as Venomoth hovered and a purple liquid started to leak from its mouth. Shadow looked over the Warriors and noticed that they were barely keeping their attention on him. Maybe if I can kill one more of the leaders then some of them might runway? And if I can kill one of them I could use their 'death booms' against them. Shadow thought as he looked at the Alphas standing far behind the combat. As the Warrior's moved closer he looked at his team and started to show more confidence then he felt about their chances and opened and closed his mouth, he couldn't lie to them so he wouldn't.

"We might not make it out of here guys, but we will send most of these scum to whatever hell awaits them before us!" Shadow said as he raised his blades as they started to glow purple. His team roared as the Chimera closed in. This is it, only thing to do now is fight and hope to live. Shadow thought as activated an Aura Tech and his blades gained a purple glow to them. One of the Alphas moved forward a few feet before a blade flashed through the air and sank into its head before it exploded, causing the Warriors to start to stare aimlessly before the Warriors ran at Shadow and his team, their stingers losing their glow as they attacked.

Venomoth shot a blast of a purple liquid that hit two of the Warriors as they moved over each other to get at them. Noivern surged forward and sliced with its claws, killing two of the Warriors and grabbed one in its mouth before throwing it at one of the Alpha's farther back. Rattata shot forward, flames covering it as it ran forward, Shadow running behind it slicing with his blades at the Warriors Rattata's Flame Charge had stunned, killing two more. Thowing knives rained from a tree hitting the heads of three. One of the Warriors pointed its stingers at Noivern and shot white needles at it, the attack striking Noivern and pushing it back before a throwing knife hit it, killing it as two of the Warriors started to fire white needles into the trees, hoping to get the thrower. Shadow looked at the battle and started to think about what he had seen so far. Kill a leader and the fighters with them lose their ability to use moves, if more leaders are there kill the warriors to adjust the ratio of how many there are and the fighters can use moves again. Gotta tell that gym leader and hope they can handle it. Shadow thought as he looked at the leaders and wondered how he could handle them.

Suddenly a knife hit an Alpha in the back of its head, killing it. Its explosion caused a few trees to catch fire as the Warriors staggered before some of them charged at Shadow madly. The two hit by Venomoth got back to their feet shakily, and barely took a step forward towards Shadow when Noivern sliced them in two with its claws. Shadow looked at the Warriors as they tried to strike and hit Rattata and he noticed that they just used their physical body parts, not a single attack. If I'm right that leader can only control at most five of them and let them use attacks, then that means we have to kill the leader before the fighters. Shadow thought as he looked at the last Alpha as it looked at him, each sizing the other up before three of the fighters threw themselves at Shadow. Rattata's flaming body charge through them and tore the head off of one of them before Shadow spun and sliced through the necks of the other two and looked at the final three fighters as they moved by the last leader. The leader started to form a glowing ball between its stingers when a final knife flew and hit its head, sinking deep into it before the glow winked out before a great explosion created a dust cloud around the Chimera, Shadow jumped backwards as his Pokemon converged, the dust cloud parted to revealed the last three Chimera, one cutting at a tree and the other two fighting at each other. A sickle on a chain flashed out the tree the lone Chimera was cutting at, striking its head killing it as Shadow flashed by the last two Chimera, slashing with his blades killing them with swiftly. Shadow looked upwards at the tree as the sickle was pulled back into the leaves as Shadow's Pokémon moved closer to him, all looking upwards at the darkness of the tress.

"Whoever you are, thanks but can you come out and talk to me?" Shadow asked before a figure shot out of a tree and landed before him. Shadow looked at the figure, who was revealed to be a woman in a white copy of his suite that looked straight at him, looking at her Shadow thought back to how she had slain the Chimera and released who it might be. Gabby, is that you? Shadow thought as the woman walked towards him and looked at him before she bowed to him and looked at him. Her helmeted head looked right on him and he felt the weight of her gaze as she looked at him.

"Hello Shadow. It's nice to finally meet you." She said coldly as he looked at her and sighed. He looked about and started to recall his Pokémon and turned back to looked at her. Shadow looked at her and decided to bite the bullet. Recalling his Pokémon he looked at her and gestured at towards Happy's base.

"She gave you that equipment, didn't she? You lead I'll follow." Shadow said before Gabby nodded and jumped off into the trees, Shadow moving after her, hoping they wouldn't encounter other Chimera but dreading the meeting that would happen later.

Happy looked about her screens, ever since the alarms had soon the movement of the Chimera and seen Shadow fighting those things Gabby had tried to leave and help her, barely stopping to change into the white suit Happy had designed and built a few months ago incase Shadow's suit was ever damaged. She noticed movement outside and relaxed when she saw it was Shadow and Gabby she relaxed and unlocked the doors, releasing a sigh of relief that they were back, she dashed towards them and threw herself at Shadow as soon as he and Gabby walked into the room. Happy looked up at Shadow, her eyes releasing tears as she looked up at him

"Your back! When I saw the Chimera attacking I was so worried, I now you can handle one Chimera but there were over twenty of them! I I I was so scared!" Shadow looked down at her and rubbed her head.

"I'm fine Sarah, I'll admit I was a bit worried but she saved me and turned the tide." Shadow said as he turned to the figure in white. She said nothing as she pushed a button on her helmet and revealed Gabby looking at him with a scowl on her face. Shadow winced and sighed as he moved his hands. I put it off long enough; I guess it's time to pay the piper. He thought as he undid the straps of his helmet.

Shadow removed his mask to show his face, green eyes under spikey red hair. As soon as he moved his helmet away from his face and put his arms down she slapped him. Sarah winced but Shadow only turned back towards Gabby, a sorrowful smile on his face.

"Good to see you again Gabby, how have the years treated you?" Shadow asked as she puffed out her cheeks and they went red before she exploded.

"Don't you ask me that Kotaro! Do you know how Aya and Koga reacted when you never came back!? I know someone betrayed you but you could trust us, mean really! Why couldn't you have trusted..." Gabby begain before stopping at the look Kotaro sent her as he sighed.

"Gabs, Nobu was the traitor, he was one of them." Kotaro said, stopping Gabby's tirade as she stared in total shock. She stumbled backwards until she hit the wall, her eyes looking back over all the interactions she had with Nobu and she couldn't see any sign that was his true alliance.

"Nobu? But he was…if he was one of them, then anyone could have been." Gabby said as Sarah looked on with a frown. The way she reacting I'm guessing the traitor was a good friend and they both trusted him, that makes a lot of sense about how he's talked about his past over the years. Happy thought as she looked on.

"Yes, beside you three I didn't know who I could trust back home. I went into the underground because those people, they make Chimera, something that no one else knows how to do, and they know how Chimeras are born. I've fought members of them in every level of society and a few gym trainers here and there in Johto and Unova." Kotaro said as Gabby just stared at him as she tried to process what she was hearing, not comprehending just what he meant.

"Yeah, his mercenary jobs, that's how I met up with Shadow here in the first place." Sarah said as Gabby snapped her head towards her before Kotaro started to speak.

"A job to spy on a company CEO found a catalog of girls from the school Sarah went to. I felt something was wrong from it so I decided to investigate the place, luck would have it that it was when she and her other two friends were escaping. When Sarah pulled her martyrdom act I knew I had to help her so the rest is history." Kotaro said with a shrug. Gabby looked shocked at what she had just heard and stared. Nobu was one of them? I know Sarah said they were a lot larger than I thought they were but Nobu? The bastard's even on the monument but gods if he was one of them then anyone close to us could have been one of them. But why didn't…Aya. She couldn't act and Koga has a terrible poker face when not in combat or commanding a Pokémon. And everyone knew how I felt about him even in those days so one of them would have watched me twenty-four seven, one single The only way to keep us safe from them was for us to believe he was dead. He's spent years fighting just so we could stay alive. I just found him, I'm not letting him fight alone and Sarah could do with a positive female influence. Gabby thought as she stared into space as events and knowledge finally crystalized in her mind and she came to a decision.

"You had no choice, you had to stay away to keep us all safe. Were you there, at the dedication?" Gabby asked as she looked at Kotaro who sighed and looked away.

"I was in a tree above you when you made that promise to the truth, but let's talk about what we can do to keep you safe for now and where you can hide with a new identity." Kotaro said only for stare when Gabby started to shake her head.

"No! You've been fighting for so long alone with just Sarah, Happy to help you, I'm staying! She shown me a few websites I can publish reports on that might help expose these scumbags to take them down, and investigating was always my specialty! With my training from the Gym and how I've kept in practice I think I can at least watch your back." Gabby said as she gestured to the suit she was wearing. Kotaro frowned as he looked at her and let his thoughts swirl. From what I saw out there she kept up her exercises so I can trust she can hold her own, but can I let her go into the underground with me, I don't think she'll remain unchanged. But it would be good to have someone watching my back, but can I let her? Kotaro thought as he looked at her, thinking how dangerous it was and the chance for Gabby to stay safe hidden away and relaxed she was safest with them.

"Gabby, are you sure about this, really sure? You won't remain the same person you are, you can't if you step into this world." Kotaro said as Gabby met his own with a smirk. She looked at him and he saw the steel and strength in her eyes and thought about all the stories she had broken, and why she had been transferred to Kanto.

"From now on you can call me Hikari." Gabby said with a strong tone to her voice, only to turn when Sarah started to snicker a little, erupting in laughter as the other two looked at her.

"'Hikari'!? That means 'light'! That's a perfect name for someone who's trying to bring those who hide in the darkness into the publicc's eye! Plus it's the opposite of Shadow so there's that!" Sarah laughed so hard she had to hold her stomach as she laughed as Gabby and Kotaro both blushed and Kotaro coughed lightly.

"Well…..Then if you're going down the Rattata hole, let me show you just what's at the end." Kotaro said as he held up his hand and Gabby stared as a purple Aura came over his hand, Gabby looked on in shock as Sarah grinned at her.

"That's….Aura." Gabby whispered in total shock as she swallowed as her worldview changed.

Agatha smirked as she walked through Pallet Town, looking at all the people going about their lives and took a deep breath before she released it. This is what's important really, people living their lives in peace. With what happened in the mountains maybe I could move back together with Sammy, it'll be hard to hide what I am but maybe I could find a way around the runes and tell him all about what I've been up to over the years and time we've been apart. Agatha thought as she walked. Living with Sam would be fun and since she had retired she needed something to do and with the mess her guests had left of her home in the mountains she needed a place to stay. And I guess moving back in with Sammy wouldn't be the worst thing to do. I spent years in those mountains, trying to find what my sensei had sensed there and I came up with nothing, then maybe whatever it is, leaving it there might be the right thing to do. Agatha thought to herself as she moved through Pallet, stopping when she dumped into a young looking girl who looked at her and paled before she dashed off, Agatha looking back at her with a frown on her face as the child ran off. She just looked at the child and frowned when she saw an older girl with the same blue color hair.

"Damn eyes are playing tricks on me again." Agatha muttered as she continued on her walk, a small feeling of hunger that caused her to change her destination. Perhaps I should stop at Pallet House for a meal. Agatha thought as a grin formed on her face.

Sapphire ducked into an alleyway and grabbed her chest, her heart pounding in her ribcage as she tried to get her breathing under control. That was insane, who the hell was that old woman; she can't have been from home, could she? But if she wasn't than where did she come from, what could she be, one of them, someone else? Why the hell did I have to run into a user while I was just trying to get a few things to eat! Sapphire thought to herself as she looked about to make sure there wasn't anyone around to overhear her and touched the bracelet around her right arm with a glowing finger, activating the communication rune on her bracelet to connect her to her comrades.

"Sapphire, is everything going alright? What did the casher not…." Tom began until Sapphire interrupted him with a fierce growl. Why did this idiot have to be included with the team? Sapphire thought with a scowl on her face.

"No time Tom I need an ID on an old woman that bumped into me a few seconds ago, she didn't notice anything about me but my Identifier Rune told me she was a Ghost Auralist." Sapphire cut Tom off and he went silent as he tried to believe what he had just heard.

"But nobody from home was deployed so then she can't be from home. But that means, okay you're on the maid road, there's a bank I can hack into, the cameras are digital, got it. Okay give me a few seconds to fast-forward until you're on it and I got a side view of her. Got her give me a few seconds to ID her, and…..Oh, that's interesting." Tom trailed off in shock.

"What, who is she?" Sapphire asked as she looked out of the alley and looked after Agatha and wondered who she had discovered.

"Agatha, to be precise she's Agatha Oak, Wife of Professor Samuel Oak, Ghost Specialist and former member of the Kanto Elite Four, holds the record for longest tenure and she retired undefeated in all official League bouts." Tom said as Sapphire paled as she watched Agatha walked towards Pallet House.

"This is amazing, I mean if one of the Elite is aware of Aura then maybe all of them all, that's something to look into I mean it could help us out a lot of if we have others who would be against them, I mean this could be a game changer….."

"Our discovery is walking towards Pallet House, think she knows our Queen? Wait, Oak. As in that bitch who has a Pokémon spying on our Queen?" Sapphire asked as she stared.

"Give me a second; yeah the bitch is Agatha's in-law. Husband died when his youngest was a few years old, time is recoded as months before the attack so maybe he wasn't involved, cause unknown but they recovered an arm that had been chewed on, but remember where people were killed and dumped back home a few years back? I'm thinking his case wasn't something so simple." Tom said as Sapphire walked out of the alley.

"Given what she did during the attack I don't doubt she had something to do with it Tom, but the current problem?" Sapphire asked quietly as she moved along the buildings, staying away from people and trying to stay out of anyone's notice in her child form.

"Look you know how if she can't see you but those that can point you out to her she might start to wonder so turn it off Saph, and get out of there now. I'll send Weavile and Noctowl to keep an eye on her and see if something bites. Meanwhile I'll see if I can track down where the husband was before he disappeared, it's been years but maybe I'll find something." Tom said as Sapphire watched Agatha walk into Pallet house. I sow hope she's not one of them, one of them as a member of the Elite, that would make it so much harder to take them down. Sapphire thought as she walked towards the grocery to do some shopping for her 'family'.

Agatha walked into the restaurant and smiled as she took in the smells and sounds of the building as she looked around, taking in the ambiance of the place. This is one of the greatest parts of the Town, from old Port to when Delia took over, I wonder if she hand it down to her son or will she pass it to someone else, I'll be around so I'll probably see when it happens. Agatha thought as she looked around, not noticing someone walking towards her.

"Agatha, Agatha Oak is that you old lady?" A playful sounding voice caused her to turn and meet Delia's smiling face with a grin of her own.

"Hello Delia, how have you been? Where's that son of yours gone now?" Agatha asked as Delia laughed a little and gestured for Agatha to follow her, leading her towards a small table near the window facing the wildness.

"Kalos believe it or not, and he's met up with an old friend of his that moved there with her mother after the last Siege. What about you, shouldn't you be up in those mountains of yours?" Delia asked as Agatha laughed a little, a look of anger in her eyes that she forced away before Delia could turn back to look at her as she got into one of the table's chairs.

"No, let's just say I helped someone fight off some bandits and decided to leave the mountains early. I did a bit of damage to where I hang my hat so I decide to return to Pallet a little early this season. Sammy was fine with me coming in early and decided to go for a walk and stopped in for some food from my favorite restaurant in town. What about this place, anything new happening?" Agatha asked as she looked around the room.

"Well I put up a new boarder, and I have a new line on some cheaper ingredients from the Orange Islands. But enough about that, what do you want?" Delia said as she brought out a notepad and smiled at Agatha who laughed lightly.

Albia walked toward Pallet House, smiling as she walked, everything was perfect. Sure, Amanda was on the late shift today but she, Delia and Mr. Mime had preparing Delia's house for the hurricane that was due to hit with the week, and she and Delia were going to be staying at Amanda's house because it was in town instead of on the outskirts like Delia's house. All she had to do was handle the next few days, keep under her radar and everything would be fine. She frowned as she thought of the Mr. Mime/spy that was living under the same roof as Delia, they had to find just what its orders were. If she's one of them then I might need to get an escape Pokémon sooner or later, I like Delia, she took me in with a word, she even told me I should have said something when I first showed up for the Quest to handle the busy season before she made me an official employee as long as I like. But those bastards will probably burn all of Pallet just to kill me or capture me. Why are they so fanatical? Albia thought as she tried to make sense of what had happened to her at led her to Pallet. As she walked into the back of Pallet House Amanda shoved a platter into her hands and looked worried.

"Agatha is here, think she'll keep what you can do a secret?" Amanda asked as Albia stared before nodding.

Albia walked through the restaurant holding the tray and saw Agatha talking with Delia who turned when she saw Agatha's eyes catch sight of her walking towards them. Agatha's eyes darted from Delia to Albia and nodded at the girl before Delia turned around.

"And this is who I was talking about Agatha, Albia. She's my current boarder and a good cook all things considered. Not formally trained but she has a good sense of taste and that's hardest to train ya know. Albia, this is Agatha Oak, one of my oldest and best customers and Ginny's mother in-law." Delia said, causing Albia to try not to go pale as she heard Agatha's last name and relation. She did a good job but Agatha noticed something when Delia mentioned her in-law, a reaction of fear that she didn't like. I think I should have a talk with that girl later on, away from Delia if that spark was anything to go by. If that bitch is involved in anything that happened to her then I need to find a way to tell Sammy about her, our abilities and the connection to the bitch! Agatha thought as a she smiled at Albia.

"Albia is it, hello. I'm Agatha Oak, formerly of the Kanto Elite Four. It's a pleasure to meet you." Agatha said as she offered Albia her hand and Albia took it.

Albia sighed as she slipped into the restroom and into a stall before she hugged herself. I hope Delia didn't notice anything when she mentioned Agatha's full name! I can't believe the person who saved me from them is connected to them, even by marriage! Albia thought as she tried to process just what she had learned she never noticed the door to the main area open and she opened the door to see Agatha Oak staring right at her. Albia froze as Agatha held up a hand and quickly checked the rest of the stalls to make sure they were alone before turning towards her.

"I'll be quick; I saw your reaction to my relation to her. If you don't mind, I think you and I should have a talk about it, away from Delia if that makes it easier." Agatha said as Albia looked at her and felt a spark of hope. If she's not acting then maybe she could help us deal with that Mime. But I can't risk it getting suspicious about me anymore than it already is, Amanda, she could talk with Amanda! Albia thought as she looked at Agatha.

"It's complicated but talk to Amanda about it, she knows why I reacted the way I did." Albia said quietly as she looked straight ahead, her senses not picking up anything but still worried they could be overheard.

"Does she know about….?" Agatha trailed off as raised a fist, Albia nodded at her.

"Yes, like I said talk to her about it, it's a long story." Albia said as Agatha nodded and walked turned towards the door.

"Hey guys, I found a path!" Ash called as he moved aside a branch and led the way onto a dirt path. The others followed him and looked to be relieved as they caught their breath. Ash looked about the trail, noticing a small hill on the other side of the trail and he could see what he hoped was Odyssey Village in the distance. We made it, good we'll be able to worn the Center about that the wolves, people should be warned about them, maybe a Ranger or the police should come and deal with them. Ash thought as he looked at his friends as they sat on the path.

"What was up with those wolves, they acted like were rabid!" Clemont asked as he panted as Bonnie dropped to her knees and panted. They had been making good time when out of nowhere they had been attacked by wild ordinary wolves of all things! Thankfully Pikachu had watched their backs while Serena and Lilith ushered Bonnie away while Ash and Clemont had defend them until they had lost them. Lilith panted as she thought back to how the pups that had been with the pack had acted.

"A hunter of some kind attacked them; did you see the bullet wounds on some of them? I think their leader was trying to establish its dominance over its pack; we were just the unlucky slobs who it found to demonstrate its might to its pack." Ash said as he panted causing Lilith to look up as the others looked at him. He noticed that and it didn't detour him from making sure we were safe from them, that's instincts or a lesson he learned on the road, the question is which one was it? Lilith thought as she watched him.

"Can't be, hunting season isn't until three months from now and the nearest farm is days away from here. Who the hell could have?" Clemont thought out loud as he thought back to the wolves and realized Ash was right about them. He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he never notice Ash looking at him, jointing down another mark that Clemont was a Gym Leader, only the Gym Leaders knew where every farm in their areas were without

Serena looked about, something about this place was familiar to her, had she been here before? I know this trail, but how. Think why would I know this, mom brought me to the opening ceremony once and before we left I…. Serena went still as she realized where they were and in the distance she heard the sounds of something coming at them.

"MOVE, GET OFF THE TRACK!" Serena cried out as she grabbed Bonnie and pushed her down the hill.

"Track? What does she…MOVE IT!" Ash said as he realized what Serena had, grabbing Clemont as he moved after Serena and Bonnie, Lilith following behind them, trembling down the hill moments before five Rhyhorns with humans wearing tracksuits on them came charging around the bend in the path, one of them slowing down and turned towards the group. The person removed their helmet, revealing a woman's face with short black hair over a heart shaped face that looked down at them with purple eyes.

"Hey there, you all okay? What did you guys get turned around…. wait a second. Serena, is that you girl?" The girl asked as she looked down at them with a surprised look. Serena looked up at the girl and smiled when she saw who was there.

"Lyn hey, it's great to see you! I guess my mom is here after all." Serena said with a smile as she looked up at the girl on the Pokémon.

"Yeah, teacher is here but what are you doing here? She said you had gone to get your first Pokémon and would see her back at your home after a short trip?" Lyn said as she looked from her Rhyhorn. I never imagined that she would be here for the start of the season, and why did she come here? And who are her friends? The blonds look like siblings and the dark girl looks like someone who has an active lifestyle, but that boy, I think I know him, is that a Pikachu? Lyn thought as she got off her Rhyhorn and walked down the hill towards the group and noticed the Pikachu by Ash.

"Long story short, I need to have a talk with my mom. Oh, these are some friends of mine. These are Clemont and his sister Bonnie, Lilly Nightbloom and my old friend Ash Ketchum. Guys, this is Lyn Saint-Julia, the one of the best of her students and one of the best young racers in the league." Serena said, introducing Lyn.

"I only came in second in the last season Serena, I'm not that great." Lyn said as she rubbed the back of her head, blushing as she did so.

"Yeah, against the champion from the previous year and bet the person everyone thought would be the either the winner or take second place! But what are you doing, I thought the season doesn't start until the day after tomorrow?" Serena asked as she looked up at the track.

"Yeah, long story I decided to try the track to get my mind off things and distress. And some of the others who were feeding or looking over the track decided to join me for an improve race. Saw you all and decided to stop and see if you were all okay." Lyn said as she looked up at her Ryhorn and recalled it. She grabbed Serena and started to pull her towards the track in the distance as the others got up and followed after them. Lilith looked as she huffed as she let her thoughts run wild. So her mother is here, good. I can share that blend of tea and maybe it'll help get some extra money for them. Not to mention bringing the plan ahead a bit, especially if you count on its secondary affect. Lilith thought as she watched Serena walk off, being pulled along by her friend.

"I got you Lilly." Clemont voice caused Lilith to look up at Clemont bending and extending his hand towards her, causing her to blush a bit when she realized what he was doing.

"Thanks." Lilith said softly as she grabbed Clemont's hand and he pulled her back to her feet. Lyn and Serena had looked back and giggled at each other as they saw before Lyn pulled Serena after her, the others trying to keep up.

"So anyway teacher's staying at a room at the place by the track, so maybe your friends should stay at the center, but I'd be careful, they're here as well Serena." Lyn said with a scowl on her face as Serena looked confused for a few seconds before she realized who she was talking about and dropped her mouth open for a few seconds.

"Here!?" Serena exclaimed in shock as the others caught up to them. Serena looked shocked and stared into space. They're so brazen to do it in the same town that both Circuit's use as the starting race? How, what changed to make them so brazen. Serena thought as she just stood there until she felt someone pulling at her side, looking up she saw the others had caught up to them and Bonnie was looking up at her with a worried look.

"Serena, is something wrong?" Ash asked from behind her causing her to wince slightly.

"I'm fine guys; Lyn just told me something that shocked me. It's nothing really, just something I wasn't expecting. If our luck is as it's been I'll tell you about the problem once we see them." Serena reassured them as the others looked at her as Ash frowned.

James smiled as he moved out of the storage facility's office with the key to the garage they had put their truck in in his usual disguise of a green t-shirt and brown pants, throwing a small key up before he caught it in his right hand. A few days to travel to Lumiose City to make the handoff and another feather in our caps! And I can't believe how lucky we were to have been able to find those two! With them back with us our strength has increased a lot, now all we need to do is to make it back and this is done. Still I can't believe Ash took out all those gang members on his own, goes to show you if he ever takes the kids gloves off to run in the other direction. James thought as he shuddered as he remembered a few other instants when Ash had shown his rage and savagery over the years. If the twerp, if Ash ever decided that the three of them deserved his wraith, then he didn't want to think about what they would do, or if they would survive it.

"One thing I'm happy of is that he never felt the need to deal with us like that." James muttered as he joined the hustle and bustle of people moving about the city. He let his eyes wonder and looked up at two signs, one saying the ceremonial start of the Pokémon Racing League JR division would be tonight and the other proclaiming that a Pokémon Contest open for all genders would be held tomorrow and frowned as he stopped and looked at the sign as he stepped out of the flow of people to look at it. Something about the wording, it's bothering me. Why just what is it that I'm not seeing or have heard about this? James thought before he resumed his walk back to his partners.

A few minutes later he had moved down two blocks when he heard a loud commotion ahead of him and noticed a few disgruntled looks on a few people's faces.

"Another one of those, really what is Jenny doing?" A woman asked with a scowl as the source of the noise moved closer.

"I think it's a travesty, I mean really, why would those punks bother us and take such actions in our town, I mean the Contest is one thing but this?" A man in a business suit said with a huff as he turned his head up in a way that James remembered his father doing before he had run away.

"Of course some people would have problems with them but really, the locals at least do it outside the city limits most of the time." James heard a voice to his side, turning his head he saw a few teens grouped together along the sidewalk's edge, each of them trying to look down the road. James looked about and saw a few adults looking at the teens with frowns on their faces. He looked about and walked towards the teens, deciding that he should get an answer from them about what was happening. Stopping just behind them he tapped a boy on his shoulder, gesturing at the older people behind him when the teen turned his head.

"Pardon me, but what's the noise and why are they looking at you all like that?" James asked as the teen looked at him as the others turned to look.

"You're not from around here, are you?" The teen asked as the noise got closer to them. James shook his head and noticed the others had adopted smirks on their faces as they looked at him.

"No not really, me and some friends of mine are here on vacation and well, the way they were talking…." James trailed off with a shrug.

"Then welcome to Kalos and just watch part of the local culture!" The teen said with a smirk as James noticed something darting between the cars on the road. What on earth, are they doing what I think they are doing where they are?! James thought with shock at what he was seeing.

"So what was that about Serena and don't try to dodge the question. You haven't changed that much over the years." Ash said as Lyn lead the group through the town. Serena sighed and shook her head and frowned as she looked ahead. I don't want to talk about those memories, but given how my luck has been lately I might, no I will have to. I'll talk about what happened to me when and only when I'll have to. Serena thought as she walked along the sidewalk and released a deep breath.

"It's not that they're a problem really, but I have a few issues with some of them. And I will say that some of them are pretty good people but some of them aren't and what they do." Serena said as she trailed off as she heard a noise from up ahead. She just held her head and closed her eyes, looks she had to face it now so she opened her eye to peak out, only for them to widen in shock. Wait, is that Bolt?! What are the chances? Serena thought as she looked down the road in surprise.

"Guess you all are going to see just what Serena was thinking about first hand." Lyn said flatly as the others looked down the street.

Ash looked on with a shocked look as Lilith's mouth dropped open as Clemont closed his eyes and groaned as Bonnie, Pikachu and Dedenne only looked on in confusion. A Mightyena, a quadruped, leonine Pokémon with a red mane with a light brown body and a quadruped Pokémon resembling a fully-grown black lion with blue hind legs and a long thin tail ending in a yellow four-pointed star were charging through traffic without a care in the world as they moved between the cars on the road. Ash looked on shocked to notice each Pokémon had a saddle with a person on it. Each of them was wearing a full bodysuit with a helmet with each of them the color of the Pokémon they were ridding's type. As they dashed by them Ash noticed the curves of the rider of the Mightyena before she and her Pokémon were gone from sight, a few seconds later three police cards blew by, the local Officer Jenny following behind them.

As the police moved off Ash turned his head to look at Serena, and with a deadpan look on his face spoke.

"I'm guessing that its Street Racing gangs you were talking about, right Serena." Ash said with a completely calm tone on his face. Serena just laughed softly as the others turned to look at her.

"Oh yeah and Serena's problem is because one of those gangs kidnapped her once and others saved her." Lyn said as Clemont jolted and looked at Serena in shock.

"You're the girl that was kidnapped two years ago? No wonder you…" Clemont trailed off as he started to feel something behind him, turning he saw Ash's eyes were set in a hard line that looked at Clemont before he slowly turned to look at Serena, Lilith meanwhile had gone still and a savages scowl was on her face as she held herself and looked like she would happily murder someone.

"Someone kidnapped you?" Ash said with a look of death to his eyes and an edge to his voice. Serena looked at Ash and felt herself swoon at the look in his eyes and forced herself to keep herself focused on the present. Ash looks like he'd murder someone who hurt me and part of me is… glad? I know I have a crush on him but why does it feel right? Serena a growl from Lilith caused Serena to turn and saw the look on Lilith's face and caught sight of light reflecting off of Clemont's glasses.

"Tell me those dead men walking are locked away where I…where people can't get at them." Lilith said as she clenched her hands around an imaginary throat as Bonnie eye went as hard as Lilith's.

"Yeah, I got rescued because they were after the others for trouble the gang that had me caused the people who rescued me, funny story they were another Street Crew." Serena said as she held her hands up. I can't tell them that the real reason they were there to saved me was because those scum had kidnapped Bolt's sister, I owe them that much at least. Serena thought as she looked at Ash. Lyn looked at the scene and pushed herself between Ash and the others, a bright smile on her face as she did so. I think Serena found some good friends, but this is getting a bit dark. Better take them all to teach fast. Lyn thought as she reached out and grabbed Ash and Serena's arms.

"So let's move on, Grace should be making sure the hall is ready for the ceremony just up ahead, spoiler alert, it's not a black tie afar." Lyn said as she pulled Ash and Serena after her, Pikachu jumping onto Ash's shoulder as he moved. Lilith shot a look at Clemont and shrugged and moved after them, him and Bonnie following them.

"So those riders, were they the local culture you were talking about? And the way those people were looking at you" James asked the teens. The man he had asked the question of just laughed before he replied to James.

"Yeah, their called Street Crews, most cities have at least one or two of them depending on local Pokémon and how people are, as for the looks well they think the idea of Street Crews are against the 'noble' traditions of Kalos like the new Pokémon contests." The teen said as he looked after the riders and the Police. James looked over the street and gave a small sigh at what he had heard.

"The old fogies don't like that some people bet on the races, five will get you ten that they'd bet on the official Pokémon races, they don't like the fact that the racers bet money with each other for the prize." The girl said to James confusion causing her to laugh before she continued explaining.

"Yeah, each crew puts some money up for a pot and after each race a half of it is giving to the winner, half of the remaining to the second place depending on how many are in it and the rest is saved for the final race of whatever season they race under, at least that's for the 'official' races. Nobody knows what the course will be before the day of the race, just where to meet up for the start is sent hours before to the racers." The girl said as James looked at them and noticed someone pulling Ash and a honey blond girl along behind her across the street. He forced his head not to move and tracked their path before putting all his attention on the people he had talked with.

"Thanks for the info, but I really have to go." James said as he nodded at them and dashed off, moving parallel to Ash as he was pulled along. So the twerp is here, good we don't have to put effort into staking out the Gym in Lumiose. Still, best see where he's being dragged to since the Center is in the other direction. James thought as he moved, dodging the people moving against him, ignoring their cries as he shoved past them.

"No problem, hope you all enjoy your vacation!" The teen called out as the small group of friends walked off.

Grace looked about the room as she directed the final preparations for the opening ceremony. The general Racing League had finished a month back and she had been given the 'honor' of opening the Jr. League. I could be back home training for the next season but no, I had to draw the short straw to open the Jr. League. Still it was getting a bit lonely and he was coming by to talk to me more and with Serena gone on her trip she couldn't be there to be a barrier for me, I mean I love that she more active, she never really got over leaving Pallet Town the way we had to. Maybe a good vacation together is what the two of us need; a nice cruise before we fly home could be just what the Professor ordered. Maybe we could take one to Kanto and stop by Pallet, it would be nice to see that place again. Grace thought as she looked about the room, nodding as she saw the work was almost finished. She looked around and noticed that the final decorations were almost all finished and the podium she would give her speech was already done, everything was well ahead of schedule.

"Good, tomorrow I open the race and then I can start planning how handle my time until the next season; still maybe I should look for something to do." Grace mused as she walked around the room killing time.

"Hey teacher, look who's here!" Grace turned at the call, seeing Lyn pulling Serena and a boy in a blue jacket and red hat with his face down, with two blonds, one younger and the other older and a dark haired girl with black lipstick on following them, a Pikachu on the boy in blue's shoulder. She looked at the blue boy for a few seconds before he looked up and she caught sight of his black eyes and she felt her jaw drop open in shock.

"Ash, Ash Ketchum is that you?" Grace asked as she walked towards them a grin on her face. Oh my, little Ashy did grow up and well at that

Ash looked up and his face went blank for a second before he smiled back at her. He had enough control to keep his face happy but he was surprised at the twitch of anger he had felt when he saw her face.

"Hi Aunt Grace, how's your career been, Serena said you've become the champion." Ash said as he held out his hand, only for Grace to give him a hug before she stepped back, a smile on her face.

"Damn good to see you again kido! How's your mother been, how's Pallet been doing, Gary still have a chip on his shoulder the size of Mt. Moon?" Grace asked as the others gathered around them. Ash chuckled and grinned at her.

"Would you believe that he's given up becoming a Pokémon Master and is studying to get a doctorate in science?" Ash said as Grace looked at him before she started to laugh, remembering hearing about how Gary treated science back when Serena went to school in Pallet at that one fair the school had before the Siege. As she laughed Serena looked at her and tried to speak up but went silent when Grace looked up at the others.

"So I know Ash but who are you all?" She asked as Lilith fought back a curtsy, the way her teacher had taught her to introduce herself to the people who gave off the same feeling Grace was and smiled at her as Clemont spoke up first.

"Hello, I'm Clemont and this is my sister Bonnie, and this is our friend Lilly." Clemont said as he indicated his sister and Lilith in turn. Serena looked at her friends and took a deep breath and raised her hands before lowering it.

"Mom, is it okay if we talk privately after the ceremony, I think we need it." Serena said quietly as Grace looked up and smiled at her daughter nodding.

James put down his camera and moved away, his mind full of questions as he slipped away from the building. So they came here to talk to that girl's mother, but why, and the twerp pack grew by two? Well Meowth can look into who the woman is and we can plan around what he finds. Given what I saw she has to be important, still maybe we're lucky and she won't be someone who will cause problems for us. James thought as he walked away, hoping that he would get back to his comrades swiftly and without anyone who knew who he was seeing him.

Lilith dropped back and put her hand on Serena's shoulder, signaling her that she wanted to talk to her and Serena nodded at her.

"You guys go on ahead, I'll show Lilly where the bathroom is in this place and we'll meet you at the restaurant." Serena called out as she pulled Lilith to the side and waved to their friends as them moved off. After walking a few minutes they reached the bathrooms and slipped inside, Lilith looking around and made sure they were alone.

"Okay girl, spill it, you want to talk to your mother about a lot more then what happened back there would show." Lilith said as she looked at Serena who looked conflicted before grabbing her right arm with her left. She looked at the mirror before she started to talk.

"Mom, she's been having me train to join the Jr. League, I've always said no but I never had another goal so I think she thought I had a problem following her footsteps but it's not. Its time I find what I want to be, and it's time for my Journey. I've decided it's time, and I want to experience it with all of you." Lilith let a smile show on her face and hugged Serena from the back, startling her and she looked at Lilith in the mirror. Lilith meanwhile was thinking about how this would affect her mission. If she's around it might cause some of Ash's seal to break, and a Dhampir unleashed might be more then I can handle on my own, but damn it if it won't be nice to have a girl my age to talk to. Lilith thought as she looked at Serena's reflection.

"I'm guessing you're going to talk to Clemont and Ash about this, before or after you talk to your mom?" Lilith asked as Serena sighed.

"I think I'll talk to her about it tomorrow after she opens the Race, sorry but I think I'll miss your contest." Serena said, causing Lilith to laugh a little.

"Just make it to the next one and I'll call it even girl, so come on, and let's not leave the boys waiting with Lyn long. And I have to share that tea with your mom." Lilith said with a wink to Serena, who blushed at the insinuation, hitting Lilith on the head causing her to laugh as they left the room.

Gazer led the way through the forest, leading a group of consisting nine other Goblin and Healer back towards their cave. The creature Protector had slain had been so massive it wouldn't be right to move it so instead Sire had them gather food and eat there. After they cleaned the meet off the bones Sire had taken most of them and ordered the group to take them back to the cave, it had instituted that the bones would be useful and had ordered all the bones to be brought back to their den and then a rustling had heralded a group of grey creatures had charge at them. Protector, Sire and a few others had met them while Gazer had grabbed Healer and escaped together while the others had scattered in threes and twos. Gazer and spotted others and had led gathered together the other nine and they moved through the woods hoping to get back to the mountain saving all the lives Gazer could.

A commotion ahead of them some of the others to tense but stopped when Gazer raised its hand. Out of the bushes ahead of them three more Goblins came out, one of them holding its right arm as blood from a gash in it. Gazer walked ahead and started to make soft sounds as it went to them and gestured at the wound, the wounded Goblin turning so Gazer could see it better. Looking at the wound Gazer let its self-relax when it saw the wound wasn't that bad. Smiling at the injured Goblin Gazer looked at the others and gestured for them to join the others. As the others welcomed their fellows they soon moved on, Gazer leading them as some of them looked behind them, hoping to spot anything hunting them before they pounced on the party. Gazer moved forward, its eyes spotting the life around them and leading them around the sights that looked like they might challenge the party.

A rustling in the bushes ahead of them caused them to stop and Gazer to move forward and relaxed when he saw that it was only others of their kind. As the other Goblins moved into sight Gazer frowned when it identified two members of Deadeyes pack. They looked wounded but relieved when they saw the others and muttered softly as Gazer stared at them. A touch from Healer caused Gazer to look at it and sigh before nodding at the two who perked up and gestured for them to follow as they moved through the woods. Gazer looked about, its eyes and senses on overdrive as it followed the two Goblins, something about it was wrong but what it couldn't tell. As they lead the other nine Goblins into a crater with walls at least twenty feet high Gazer noticed a small hole in the ground that lead into the earth that had a few marks about it and was hidden by a tree in front of it that the other two missed as they ran towards an opening in the wall at the far end. A crash behind them caused Gazer to spin about and saw a boulder had dropped and blocked the path they had taken into the crater and a crash ahead of them caused Gazer's head to snap upwards and it went cold when it saw Deadeye, Sire and members of Deadeye's pack move boulders into place to drop on them. Gazer reacted and pulled Healer behind it as it ran towards the tree, five of the others following as it Sire bellowed and the rocks were pushed over the edge as the others stared in horror.

Sire looked down at the boulders and smirked at the bodies of his sacrifices under them. All it had to do now was get that idiot fool Protector enraged and send it at that flamed one and it would finally have enough power to break through the barriers and release its Maker! It, who the others held back because they thought that it was so week that it wouldn't amount to anything, but it would have the last laugh on them all. It and its spawn would save its Maker and it would be elevated. The City would fall and then the rest of the two leggers and their pets! Sire chuckled as it walked off as Deadeye looked down and gave a small grin as it saw the tree had been destroyed and it saw limbs under the rocks, so they were dead. Deadeye moved after its Sire as it thought of the pain that fool Protector would have when they told it about what had happened to the others.

As they moved towards with Deadeye's pack, they never noticed a blue humanoid had been watching the entire performance from the top of a tree and frowned as it watched them move. It had been surprised when the party of Goblins had been led into the hollow before the boulders had blocked the entrance and then fallen onto the trapped Chimeras. This was an unprecedented event and something that its leaders would want to know about, how this would affect the power structure in the area was unknown, but if the old Ogre was willing to kill its own then something was up and they had to know about it. With these thoughts in its head the Lucario jumped from branch to branch as it moved through the forest towards the Castle of its masters.

Gazer looked up at the large boulder and looked about, besides healer only three others had made it into the hole it had seen. Gazer had seen the hole and ran for it, those that reacted like it following. It turned and saw Healer was shaking and let its eyes soften as it looked about at the others, the other three coming down off their adrenaline and trying to deal with what had happened to them and Gazer could understand what they were going through, what had happened was something that it hadn't thought possible ever, Sire had tried to kill them but why and why now. It went still when it remembered what Protector had done when one of their own had been killed by that Grass creature and it understood the why they had killed their own but the why behind their actions wasn't clear. Looking about Gazer saw signs that something used this passage way and the fact that a large tunnel went under the earth was concerning, they had to move and get back to Protector and tell it what had happened. That old one had done this for a reason, and if they thought to use its friend then they would break that plan.

Rex sat before a table in a room, chained to the a bar on the table's middle with a scowl on his face, across from him sat Office Jenny with Viola leaning against a wall on the same side as Jenny looked at him and opened a folder. Rex merely smirked across at Jenny and waited for her to say anything, leering at her as he sat there. So this fool of a whore thinks she has me, I can't believe the how stupid she really is. Once I'm transferred and out a few days to strategize and then I think I'll step up my conquest. Rex thought as Jenny started to speak.

"Rex Tristo, age twenty 22, eldest of three children. Parents were locals, active in the community and donated to charities. Was a Gym Trainer for a length of two years until three years ago when Voila was chosen as the next Gym Leader; Left Gym after meltdown after the announcement of Voila succession; was next seen about town three months later, parents were announced missing two weeks after return, parents bodies found in Chimera den. Buzz Lords made first attack three months later." Jenny read out loud as Rex scoffed as he leaned back as far as he could.

"What, am I supposed to be impressed with the information you've been able to gather about me?" Rex asked as he looked at Voila who met his look with a glare. Doesn't he know it's over for him? Does he think he has a chance to find a way around this, to turn it around for his benefit? Voila thought as she decided to speak up.

"It's to show that we know enough to put you away for a long time, maybe even take away your right to be a trainer. With what you did to that Volcarona, I wouldn't trust you to be responsible enough to handle a Pokéball." Voila said as she looked at him. Rex just laughed as he looked at them.

"To think things like you think you have me caught, I can't stop laughing. Just you wait, I'll be free soon and then when I rule over this land as my family did in the past, oh when I have you two in my clutches I'll take my time breaking you both." Rex said as he leered at the two women as he sat back. Jenny's mouth dropped open and looked at him while Voila just stared in total shock at the words Rex had spoken before Jenny snapped out of her shock and shook her head.

"'Rule this land as my family did'. So that is the great destiny your parents stood in the way of." Jenny said as Rex looked at her, his face neutral but his eyes held a rage in them as he looked at her.

"My parents were killed by a Chimera; their bodies were found its den after all." Rex said frostily as Jenny shook her head and looked at him with a hard look.

"That is what is accepted as what happened, but when we raided your dwelling we found a most unique book and a few other items." Jenny said as Rex's eyes narrowed as he looked at her before turning his head to look at Viola who smirked at him.

"I practically loved the dart board idea, I'm thinking of getting one myself in your group's colors; think it'll really help with my stress level." Viola said with a smirk as she caught his eyes. He said nothing and just looked at her and turned to Jenny.

"Anything you have can be argued that I didn't leave them there. All you have are a few items that can be argued are mine but really you have nothing." Rex said as Jenny just looked at him while Viola scoffed.

"What, thinking because your so called 'noble blood' that your get off. Really I don't know why so many people defer to people because of something they couldn't control. I mean really if it was talent I

"Shut your mouth you Giratina damned bitch!" Rex snarled and lunged at her but the chains caused him to barely move a foot before the chains stopped him. Viola and Jenny jerked back and looked at Rex as he continued his outburst.

"You know nothing you foreign whore! People like you who don't carry the blood of our great nation like that police bitch over there only deserve to be our slaves and be owned by your betters! That time is coming, oh it is coming and when it comes I'll make sure that your there as we watch that whore of a reporter sister of yours becomes just what she is meant to be! For I am of noble blood and am the holder of a great Destiny!" Rex snarled as spit flew from his mouth as Jenny and Viola looked at him.

"What about those who do carry that blood but they still get in the way of that Destiny, what happens then?" Jenny asked quietly as Rex sat back down and started to laugh madly.

"Then I don't do anything at all. I just sit back and let Destiny play out, those people either fall in line or something happens to them." Rex said with a dark chuckle.

"Then why did you try to recruit Ash, since he's a foreigner like me?" Voila asked only for Rex to grin with a dark edge to it before he replied.

"I tried to bring him into my employment for his skills and I must admit I went about it the wrong why. But about the blood, is he? It seems I know a few things about Mr. Ketchum's past then you don't. I believe that will be all for now Jenny, I'm revoking my right for consul and this meeting is over. I wish you luck in the remainder of the time I'll be under your care." Rex said as he leaned back as far as he could and looked at the two women.

Jenny snarled as she slammed the door closed as she leaned against it as she massaged her eyes. I knew he was mad, but that mad? With that I can see his lawyer making and insanity defense work, but it'll only change where he'll end up, not in a prison but a mental instate for the rest of his life. Jenny thought as she tried to deal with a headache.

"Not how you hoped it would go hu Jenny? Still I have to say the insanity defense is strong with him Jenny, think a lawyer might be able to argue to have him put into an institution instead of a prison." She looked up at Voila words with a deadly looking glare on her face.

"Go get stung by a Beedrill Voila. I knew from reading his 'journal' that he was a piece of work but really, that was just too much." Jenny said with a shudder as she held herself.

"Yeah, he did not act like that around the old man, that's for sure. Even when he lost that duel against me and I was acknowledged as the successor, he actually complimented me before he disappeared for those months, never gave a single sign that he felt that way about people who don't have a connection to Kalos by blood. Think he hid it because of something he knew about the old man?" Voila asked as looked at the door. Jenny sighed as she remembered the previous leader of the city's Gym.

"Maybe, but he could have had anything happen to him that turned him into this. It doesn't matter really, he's gone too far for me to even think about tell the DA to treat him with the kid gloves." Jenny said as she turned and walked away from the room without a backwards glance.

"How much longer can you keep him here until you have to transfer him?" Voila asked as Jenny frowned. Why the hell does the Commissioner keep insisting on transferring gang members to holdings out of town I can't understand, but I have to trust in the chain of command, even when it makes no sense at my level! Jenny thought as she looked ahead as she walked. She looked at Voila and saw she was still confused and wondered what was wrong.

"Something he said bothering you V?" Jenny asked her friend as they moved through the bull pen towards her office.

"It's that comment he made about Ash, what could he have meant and why was he after him? The kid's is good I will admit, most challengers never use strategy like how he beat me and some of them take at least three tries to beat me but how did Rex…. I mean he's from Kanto, how could Rex know anything about him?" Voila said as they entered Jenny's office.

"Some trainers have fan pages; I think I'll check to see just what his official record is, might be interesting. Anyhow mind staying until after I have a talk with the sister, I might need some help with her." Jenny said only to be meet with a grin from Viola.

"You just want someone in the room who can back you up if she's as mad as old Rex, don't you?" Viola said as she looked at Jenny who sighed. A buzz from her intercom caused them to look at it as Jenny touched a button on it.

"She's here boss, should I send her in?" A voice asked as Viola looked at the door as Jenny sighed and straightened her clothing.

"Send her in, I'm ready for her." Jenny said as she sighed and looked at the door and Rebecca Tristo walked in wearing blue sundress and blue heals could be seen on her feet. She smiled at them shakily and sat down at a chair Jenny indicated.

"Hello Officer Jenny, Gym Leader Viola. It's been to long since the three of us have been together." Rebecca said as she looked at them, Viola giving her a wave.

"Hey Rebecca, nice to see you again but I'm sorry to have to talk to you because of what Rex did." Viola said as Rebecca looked at them.

"Yes, the charges against my brother, I don't mean to say you're wrong but were there no other reason for him to have been there?" Rebecca asked, Jenny only shook her head and looked at her.

"No, the evidence while is varied it is airtight, and it shows that there is a chance that he might have had something to do with what happened to your parents." Jenny said resolutely. Rebecca looked at her before she put her head down and adopted a look of sorrow.

"They always pushed him; harder than I thought was right or proper. A fight between father and Rex, I can see how mother might have been drawn into it on father's side. If he brought their bodies to hide what happened to cover it up then I could see how he created that gang, I thought he wanted to stay in the town to handle the family business on his own. He had been giving me more and more responsibilities lately, but I never thought he was…." She turned her head away and Jenny gained a softer look on her face.

"He was a terrible person but he was smart and he could hide what he was doing from a lot of people. A lot of people just thought he was living off his family's money while he was brooding. But it was even worse; he tortured a Volcarona to the point of madness and released it to destroy and kill. The journal we found said he had planned to have it kill me and blame its condition on me, and make up a story how he had created the Lords to defend them from what I was doing, he even created a few sub teams for window dressing to make the tale all the more believable." Viola said as Rebecca turned to her in total shock before she started to look resigned.

"I had no idea what so ever that he had become that mad, I knew he felt cheated that you became the Gym Leader but that, I'm sorry I never noticed." Rebecca said causing Jenny to sigh before she forced herself to glare at Rebecca.

"That's what the investigation found so far, the journal said he was looking around for someone to set up a match with you. Know anything about what that meant?" Jenny asked as Rebecca paled and got a look of shame as she wrong her hands.

"My parents, their marriage was set up by their families, they learned to love each other over time. Most families don't do that anymore but enough do, there are a few rumors of….local families looking for a bride for their sons so he might have meant that." Rebecca said as Viola picked up on the wording and frowned a bit. So there are more people who hate foringers and are happy to take their money while cursing them, maybe I should call the other Gym Leaders and talk to them about it, arrange a formal sit down to talk about the gangs and crews, might be a good thing all in all. Viola thought before she spoke.

"So you know how Rex felt about me being a foreigner?" Viola asked as Jenny looked up at this as Rebecca looked away shamefaced. Jenny forced her face to remain expressionless as she noticed Rebecca's eyes reflecting off the office's door, they had a look in them that didn't match her face.

"I knew he had a low opinion of people not born in Kalos, but that not illegal right? I just thought it was one of his personality quirks or something that he'd grow out of. Do you need anything else from me Officer?" Rebecca asked as she looked up at Jenny. Jenny just shook her head and waved her off.

"Thank you for stopping by Miss Tristo, I'll contact you if anything comes up that I need to talk to you about anything else." Jenny said as her eyes caught Viola's as Rebecca got up and left the room, seeing that Viola had picked something up as well. Once the door was closed Viola walked towards it and opened it, looking out as Rebecca walked out of the station before turning, leaning against the door and looked right at Jenny.

"So you don't believe her then?" Viola asked flatly as Jenny shook her head and as she looked at the door, her face hard.

"That she didn't have an idea that Rex was behind the Buzz Lords, no, that he was up to something, yes. That she hadn't thought Rex had something to do with their parents' deaths, I think she knew and was trying to find evidence about it. That she felt Rex's attitude was a personality flaw he'd grow out of, no way in hell do I buy that. I think we should keep an eye on her for the future, maybe she'll slip up sooner or later and we'd have a better understanding of this whole situation and how she fits in. But I'm curious, how did you see she's hiding something?" Jenny asked as Viola smirked.

"The way she was reacting, I've never advertised this but before I when I was learning to be a photographer I did some work with models, a few fictional scenes and well, she reminded me of those actors." Viola said causing Jenny to stare at her before she put her head into her hands.

"I don't need this right now, the cleanup from that horror theater is still causing a lot of trouble, the girls we rescued are on something the doctors haven't seen before, some of the ganger members are on it as well and we found the drivers for the missing truck knocked out and without their uniforms." Jenny said as her phone buzzed. She looked at it with a look of anger. What could have happened now, a new law that says I have to give those Buzz Brats a five star meal or have to dance for their amusement? Or maybe a Chimera has been sighted dancing a jig? Jenny thought as she reached for the phone and picked it up with a scowl on her face as she brought the phone to her ear, releasing a sigh as she did so.

"Jenny here, go ahead." She said as she heard the sounds of the city, someone had called from outside the station.

"Ma'am, we've found the missing truck, it's been stripped of some technology and the eggs that were in it are all gone, what's more the rest of it has been destroyed by acid and fire, I doubt we'd be able to find any DNA evidence or fingerprints of who took it." A nervous sounding voice answered her, causing Jenny to close her eyes and try to keep a lid on her emotions.

"Is there any way you'd be able to get it back to the station's garage, any way at all?" Jenny asked with her eyes closed.

"No mam, whoever did this also destroyed the axel, tires and stole the engine as well. The truck is a write off; I doubt we'd even get anything for the metal as scrape." The reply caused Jenny to sigh and look upwards with a scowl as she tried to think of what should be done. So it's a complete write off, and we have to move it. Do we have to move it? Jenny thought before she spoke into the phone.

"Is the truck anywhere that it might prove a problem for people in the future?" Jenny asked with a hope that that might go her way.

"No ma'am, it's in the abandoned section of the eastern part of town, only thing around it is abandoned buildings and a few wrecked cars." The answer caused Jenny to sigh at least that was something going their way about this whole thing then.

"Leave the truck where it is, bring back the GPS if it's still there but leave the wreck where it is. Get back to the station or finish your patrol, I'll start the paperwork for a new truck." Jenny said before she put the phone down.

"Found the truck then?" Jenny looked up at Viola's question and gave her a deadpanned look that caused her to wince.

Rebecca looked back at the station as she walked away, as soon as her face was facing away from the station she let a smirk show on her face. That's done, and with luck they'll never know I had anything to do with the Buzz Lords, and with Rex's fall I knew all those acting classes at my school were worth it. My poor brother, he never knew how easy it was to find the proof that he did kill our parents to takeover, but of course that was why I found how to take everything away from him in return. I think I'll send a message out that he's out of the protection of the Tristo's Family and if they want to kill him they can. With any luck someone will handle him when he's transferred so I won't have to deal with him myself. Rebecca thought to herself as she walked back towards the outskirts of the town, hoping to get home and she hoped that her friend had woken up.

Two Machokes welding axes moved through the underbrush of the forest as they ran, looking over their shoulders as they tried to get back to their masters. The one behind the other looked behind them as they moved; the blood they had found was not going to be well received by their masters.

"Machoke choke!" The one behind said as the two of them moved as the one in front frowned as they moved through the woods. After the ambassador and the party had been sent out the Champion had sent out a force to strike against the Ogre, a large group and a few smaller ones to bring in the groups out training. The two of them had been sent out to find one of the Machamps that had gone out and gotten lost but all they had found was its weapon in a clearing with blood and battle damage around it.

"Choke Mach choke." The front Machoke said as it led its comrade forward, they were the just one of many parties but it knew that those it hunted for were dead. The two of them moved through the undergrowth silently as they could, their eyes darting all around for any sigh of any hidden enemies. As they passed through the woods they noticed that the animals and other Pokemon were quite, that was worrisome, that usually meant they sensed the approach of a bigger predator, something that they couldn't see.

"Mach choke." The lead Machoke said softly as he lead its fellow onward towards their base, neither of them looking up and seeing the shadowy figure following them as it glided from branch to branch. The Machoke reached the river and moved alongside it against its current, keeping an eye out all around them for the source of the threat, but neither of them noticed the shadow following them. The trailing Machoke looked around, straining its senses to their limit hoping it would sense something anything that would tell it where the threat was. Nothing, were they the threat the creatures felt, no, it had been in groups of his Queen's followers and never had they been around so much silence, there had to be a reason for this…. It almost stopped when it heard the creak of a branch above it as something landed on it. It moved silently as it gripped its axe as it heard another branch creaked as something moved along the top of the trees as it followed them. It looked ahead, whatever it was had followed them to the river that lead to the tributary that lead back to their Queen's base, if they brought whatever it was there, then who knows what that could cause, it had to do something, change the situation but it had to wait unil it was just right…. NOW!

"MACHOKE!" It screamed as it swung around and threw it's axe, the axe spinning as it sliced through the tree it had heard the shadow land on, cutting through the tree and six more it flew in a semicircular back to Machoke who caught it as the other Machoke looked at the fallen trees, having heard its companion's cry and had turned, seeing a shape fall along with the trees. A fallen tree shattered as a slivery crescent sliced through and between the two Pokemon before part of the tree was thrown over their heads, both keeping their eyes on where the tree had been thrown from, hoping to see just what had tried to follow them. A screech from the darkness heralded two light-blue crescents that both of the Machamps slammed their glowing axes, breaking the crescents before the shadow flew above them and they were finally able to see it.

The Chimera they saw was as tall as they were with grey feathers on its biped body and four limbs, two legs ending in three talons with a heel spike and arms/wings with three claws at the end of the limb and its head had a white beak with two solid white eyes that had a hunger in them as it looked at them{[Harpy]}. As the Harpy hovered over the river as it beat its wings it looked down at them, its plan to track them to their base was ruined, now it had to deal with these two and take some of them back to its mother as an offering to appease the old bird. As it hovered watching it the Machokes moved apart, each of them trying to figure out if they could handle the Chimera without it killing them, but it would be difficult at best, it was hovering above the river, which was deep enough to be over their heads if they tried to go into the water, and it could fly. If they tried to bring it down with a jump at it and missed then the Chimera would kill them as they splashed or sank in the water. And if they tried to use their axes like before with the trees it could just dodge it and kill them at its leisure. The Harpy moved along the river and flew upward, flying until it hovered with its back to the sun as the Machokes tried to look at it, straining their eyes as they did so.

Two light-blue crescents flew out of the sun suddenly, the two Machokes moving quickly trying to dodge, but the one on the right got hit on its left arm towards the top of the arm, slicing a deep cut through the shoulder muscle. It winced and forced its self to keep holding the axe, moving it to its other hand tried to keep an eye out for any other attacks from the Chimera when a cry startled it.

"MACHOKE, MACHOKE!" The other Fighting type cried out as it looked up at the shadow in front of the sun. The injured Machoke looked and saw its comrade falling back into the forest and the injured one nodded at it and dashed into the trees, hoping that their actions might force the Chimera to move in after them, making the battle to come a bit more even.

The Harpy hovered looking at the two escaping preys and moved after the stronger one, it could hunt the wounded one at its leisure if the first prey was light enough after it was killed. It flew over the trees after the creature, never noticing that something was bounding out of the trees on the opposite shore as it entered the wood.

Machoke ran through the trees, trying to keep an eye on the sky and the ground to make sure it didn't trip and it had its senses. Split up and hope that it either went after one of them or let them go, but given their luck it doubted it, but maybe it could find a place to make a stand, or after a while try and find its fellow. Still it had to keep move, it still had a chance to live through this and it had to keep fighting, it wouldn't dishonor the Queen or Champion by giving up! A creak behind it told it that it was being followed by the Harpy, at least its comrade would survive at least, letting the others know about this thing so they could try and defend the base. A clearing ahead of it with a cliff face at the far end had just come into sight; there was where it would buy its fellow time to get away.

Running towards the cliff it turned looking at the trees, waiting for any sign of the Harpy. A grey figure shot out of the trees to the right and hit the ground, dashing forward at Machoke on a circular route back towards the trees on the far left, and the Harpy's arms were ready to slash into the Pokémon. When the Harpy was close to Machoke, Machoke swung its axe at the Harpy's head, only for the Chimera to dodge and slashed at Machoke as it dashed past it, its claws dripping flesh and blood as its beak seemed to gain a joyful expression as it saw Machoke wince in pain. It saw the wounds were on the Machoke's chest and saw Machoke straining to keep the axe in its hand and move sideways, trying to put some distance between the two of them. It looked at the Machoke as it tried to stand against it, but with a lazy stance the Harpy moved towards the lone Pokémon, it was time to end the game and kill its foe. The Harpy moved towards the Machoke and sliced its claws at it, the Machoke blocking two slashes in three, Machoke's body starting to gain wounds as it tried to defend its self. The Harpy started to gain a sense of satisfaction as it looked at its weakened foe, only for it to sense something and jump straight above the Machoke and starting to hover, dodging a blue ball of energy that passed through the space in front of Machoke!

Machoke turned towards where the energy ball had shot from and saw a Lucario with standing on a branch with its eyes tracking the Harpy. The Harpy looked towards the Lucario and flew upwards, dodging arrows sent by other Machokes that poured out of the trees, all in all there were 10 of them, four of them had bows and quivers with arrows, and the last six had lances, each one of them tracked the Chimera as it looked at them, it flew upward away from the Pokemon, it had done enough, it had followed them part way towards where they were based, knowledge that would might help it in the future. For now it would leave the battlefield and come back for such strong and tasty power when it was needed, that blue creature looked practically tasty and it would gain such strength from eating it.

Lucario looked at the retreating Chimera until it went beyond sight before it let itself drop out of its combat stance. It turned its attention towards the Machoke with an axe as the others with it went to it, gathering around it as they looked over its injuries. Lucario barked at them and they looked towards it, only to start to move towards river as Lucario jumped from branch to branch, hunting down the other wounded Machoke in the forest to lead back to the castle.

The Champion walked through the castle, a sense of anger following in its wake. It had just come from debriefing the two wounded Machokes and the Lucario and to say the Champion was mad was like saying water was wet. The knowledge the three of them had given it was not good, the affects the knowledge would have on their plans, it went without saying that the plans were affected.

The Champion walked towards the doors at the end of the corridor, not evening stopping as a blue glow formed around the door and opened it for the Champion to pass through. Unlike the last time it was in the throne room, this time the Queen was alone with four small humanoid Pokémon with a white body. They had thin arms and legs that widen toward the feet, two stood farther back while one stood around four large harps with the strings glowing blue as music came from them, another stood by the Queen as three large fans glowing blue sent a breeze as the Queen reclined on a couch drinking from a goblet. At the sound of the doors opening the Queen looked up and saw the Champion walk into the room.

[Ahhh, my Champion! Tell me, how was our attack on the Ogre, was the beast finally slain?] The Queen asked as the Champion stopped a good ten feet from her, causing her to sit up.

[No my lady, sadly only a few of the Ogre's pets were slain and many of our Warriors were hurt in the process, some were even killed. But before all of the survivors escaped the area, one of our Spy's saw the Ogre kill some of its own. And to bring up another matter, two of our searchers were attacked by a Flying Chimera of an unknown origin. According to the two who were attacked it had been following them trying to find where our Castle is, this is unprecedented for a single Chimera, so the theory that there are more than one of this Chimera strain is something that must be considered.] The Champion said as the Queen sat up and started to gain a look of rage on her face. The Champion looked at her face and sighed as he realized just how she was going to react.

[My lady I would calm yourself, we can still handle this quite easily.] The Champion projected before he moved his head to let a goblet fly past his head to smash against the wall behind him as the Queen turned her attention back to him, her face still enraged.

[HOW WILL WE HANDLE THIS!? We lost another of our leaders and we only gained a small part of the packs we sent our ambassador to and only of one the lines. The force we sent against the Ogre only killed some of them and then our spy said that the Ogre killed some more of them, what is it planning?! And a new Chimera was following our soldiers!] The Queen demanded as she looked about, her hand maidens cowed in fear as they grouped as her Champion stood there and looked at her stoically.

[We will handle this by continuing the plan my Queen. We will gather to us the strength of the packs, this new Chimera is perfect for us, we can use it as another reason to bind the others to us. And as for that old Chimera and what it's planning, so what my lady, how will it affect us? So it's planning something, we've always had dealing with it as part of our long term plans, we just have to move it up. The fruit is gone, we are denied that and the base. While losing that place as a fall back location is damaging, we can use it to test our forces after we move against the Forest.] The champion sent to his Queen, causing her eyes to lose their glow and look at him before she turned and gestured, calling a new goblet and the pitcher to her, fulling the goblet before she looked at the Champion with a cunning tint to her eyes.

[Yes. That could work, it would help our Heralds gather to Us the power needed to take this area back from the humans, but we must prepare Ourselves for attacks!] She declared causing the Champion to nod at her.

[Of course we will. I'll have the patrols doubled and have the new comers look for places by the entrance that they can hide and be ready to help the guards. And if a new flying chimera is moving into the area perhaps we should look at the bringing in the flock sooner than later, doesn't the leader have a vendetta against a group in the forest?] The Champion mused as the Queen started to chuckle.

[Yes, yes it does. I don't know the details but if it knows that they might be more likely to join us, and they will help us out so much.] The Queen said as the Champion walked and poured his own drink. He looked at her as her handmaidens moved about and one resumed fanning her with telekinetically held fans as it resumed its training, while another started to pluck the strings of the harps once more. He looked about the room as he let one of his skills active and noticed a few who looked like they might evolve soon, good then they might be trained into roles that would suite the plans of him and his Queen, gathering more power to rule this part of the land. Perhaps it might be best if I go to get the loyalty of the flock myself, I would be able to talk with the leader privately while I try to get make the entire group around to Ourside. The Champion thought as he looked down at the goblet before he looked up at the Queen who stood and radiated a feeling of carnage as she stood there. The Champion coffed and went to one knee the goblet on the ground beside him.

[My Queen I beg your leave to speak my thoughts.] The Champion said causing her to look up at her first warrior. If anyone could find a way around the problems this is it would be my most loyal warrior. She thought as she looked down at the kneeling form before speaking.

[Precede my Champion; you have my leave to speak your thoughts at all times.] The Queen said as she dropped the goblet, one of her handmaidens catching it with her telekinesis after it fell a few centimeters, flying to land on a side table against the wall.

[If so then please listen to my thought O' Queen, so I might speak what I believe we should do, while we send out reinforced teams to spread our message to the other group, I should go myself with a strong backup to show our might to the Flock. With your permission I shall go now and gather those who would give best impression to them.] The Champion finished with a bow towards her. The Queen brought a hand against her face and for a minute only seemed to look upwards as she thought about what was said. He could, no he would bring them under our banner, but then would his coming send the wrong message to that one? No to get the strength I need to chance it is the best way forward. She thought as shewent over the pros and cons of the proposal and finally spoke her decision.

[You are to take a balanced loadout that lets you defend yourselves from the air and from the ground. Choose your escort on those points and remember; speed is important as well. And send for our Master Instructor, we would talk to him about the state of our forces.] She declared as the Champion bowed low to her before he left to carry out her will.

"And our top story tonight, yesterday evening the Police Force of Santalune City raided the headquarters of the infamous Buzz Lords. Their leader and founder, Rex Tristo was captured and is currently being held on a verity of charges including kidnapping, slavery and Pokémon abuse. The Santalune City Police have issued a statement that with the fall of their base, they expect to capture the rest of the Buzz Lords in the coming days. Up next, has the Showcase, an old traditional competition only open to girls become a block on the creativity of our youth, more on this when we're back." A newscaster said as a TV was turned off. The person who dropped the remote had short white hair with hard blue eyes. He glared at the dead screen as he got up and started to pace back and forth as he muttered.

"Of course Rex would be caught by the police, and it had to be now, when they've started to do regular Pokémon Contests! Damn them, what is this?! Everyday more and more of our heritage is being destroyed by others idiots who don't know the truth of our great nation! Why did they have to sign those damned treaties! And being held for Pokémon Abuse of all things!? Insane to think anything done to those weapons would count as abuse!" He said with a snarl on his face as he walked about a room with a large TV on a wall and a desk with a computer. The man stopped walking and took a deep breath and walked to a chair in front of the TV and sat down,

"Okay let's be frank about this; I don't know of anyone who bought any products from Rex, any business I personally did with him is above board and with his family's civilian side. The products he bought from them were in cash so the only way they could figure out about them is because of something on his end. And I know he'll be transferred soon so I just need to make sure he never tells anyone anything, he'll last through the first interrogation so I just need to…make sure he never makes it to the prison." He said as he smiled and nodded. A beep from his Pokégear caused him to look at it, smiling he walked to his computer, a grin on his face as he walked to his computer. As he opened the file and started to read it his mouth dropped open and he stopped and reread a section before he finished the file and stared into space before he exploded with rage.

"THAT DEGENERATE IMBECILE! A Diary! HE HAD A DIARY! And he was caught because he tried to hard recruit a trainer who beat Voila in a rematch?! And he kidnapped Grace's daughter to try and use her as leverage or a reward?! I can't believe this, I just can't even begin to comprehend just what was going through his head! I have to silence him all right, permanently it seems! Where are you going, ahh, just perfect, the route goes by that swamp, I can call them to handle it." The man said as he looked at the planned route to the holding facility Rex would take soon. He scanned a part of the document and smiled when he saw just who would be sent with him and smiled as he noted the names before he moved to a few records and found them.

"This is perfect, just perfect! I can take care of him and at the same time I can use those buffoons, if they can't make his end painful, then nobody could. I will have to pay a bit extra for that but my angel deserves the best." He thought as he sat down and pushed a button, activating a program he had gotten years ago. As he sat down he smiled as he thought about just what he would set in motion with a small call.

"I.L.S., I want a call placed to the number under Muscle 22, and one more thing, do order a bouquet of flowers to be sent to Grace, her favorites with a few chrysanthemum." He said as he leaned back. With them handling this I can rest easy, still I wonder how family will react once they find out what happened to him. If that one becomes the head I wonder if they will ever be a threat again, but if she takes power then I will have to watch them closely to see just what she does with what forces Rex made before. He thought as he stared into space.

"Yes sir, dialing now. Shall I have your dinner brought up to you, and this week's profits statements are here, do you want them now?" A robotic sounding voice said from a speaker set against the wall as a dialing sound came from his phone.

"No, I think I'll make something light later, and do remember to wake me up early tomorrow, it's going to be a busy day." The man said as he waited for his call to go through, finally he heard someone pick up the phone.

"Who's calling?" A grave sounding voice said as he leaned forward and smiled as he spoke.

"This is Arm Spector; I have a job for you." He said as he leaned forward. All I need is for these people to handle the problem; if they get captured I know they will only be able to give my code but that wouldn't be enough for anyone to find me. The man thought as he gathered his thoughts as he waited for a replay from the person on the other end of the phone.

"Recovery, denial or mayhem, what do you want?" The voice asked.

"Denial of an insect that let it's self be captured by a certain collector. The others being sent to storage are of no matter to me but do deal with the King. How it's done I really don't care." The man said as he looked at the phone.

"Only the denial or do you need any parts recovered as proof?" The voice asked as the man gave a shudder as he remembered the rumors about some of the jobs these people had been said to have done.

"I only need to make sure this other collector doesn't add it to their collection, as long as you give me proof of death I will be content." The man said as he looked down at the phone with a look of disgust in his eyes.

"When will the trade take place?" The voice asked.

"It will happen tomorrow, early from what I heard, I do hope to hear good news." The man said before he heard a click, signaling that

"Swamp dwelling scum, I can't wait until they outlive their usefulness." The man said as a chime caused him to look up.

"Pardon my interruption sir, but a message has come in that I believe you will like, the headship of the Tristo family has passed to the daughter as of yesterday, she has sent a statement to all parties that they have washed their hands of Rex Tristo for the crime of kinslaying, whatever anyone wants to do with him is not their business." The man looked surprised at what he heard before he started to laugh.

"Excellent, it seems all the bases have been covered after all! Send a few alstroemeria, amaryllis and a peony to her with this message sent with them' Rebecca, heard about what Rex did, my most heartfelt sympathies about it. May they rest in peace and I hope this is the beginning of a better relationship between our families, Palvo Ta Jarlson.'" The named Palvo said as he leaned back.

"Yes sir, do you want a message sent with the flowers to be sent to Ms. Grace?" I.L.S. asked as Palvo got up.

"No, no message needed for her. Do let me know if any news comes in that I should know about, I will be in the kitchen." Palvo said as he walked out of the room. A smirk on his face as he thought about how the political map would change now that Rex was off the board, he had a chance to become more powerful.

"It will happen tomorrow, early from what I heard, I do hope to hear good news." A hand put a phone down and walked away from the door to look out onto a complex in a swamp as two Bisharp spared as male punks stood around them and called out as they watched the fight. Of course those idiots will be out doing that, so I know where they are now. Still with sightings of those things recently I guess I should be happy they're all here but really don't they have something better to be doing. The man thought as it looked past the figures and Pokémon to look about the rest of the facility. Beside the house he was in there were two long cabins forming a path to the house he was in with a pier going out into a swamp at the far end of the path. He noticed someone riding a Pokémon was heading towards them, the pink of the Pokémon's body told him who it was.

"Well she's back, might as well tell her about the job the same time as the others." He muttered as he walked towards the doors.

"Well, well. Hey, guys the actress is back!" The girl riding the pink serpentine Pokémon heard one of the punks call out as she got onto the dock and dusted off her blue skirt/shirt. Beside her in the water her Gorebyss looked at the direction the call had come from and growled low in its throat.

"Gorebyss, chill." The girl said before she recalled it into its Pokéball and turned to look at the speaker, a scowl on her face as she turned, her brown pigtails flapping as she did so.

"And what have you done lately Saw, nod off to sleep while waiting for a bite?" She asked as she started to unbraid her hair as it started to turn purple as she removed her glasses once she was done as her hair fell to her back past her shoulders, a glossy purple shine to it. She looked at a man with his hair in red mohawk style, wearing a black vest and pants the man was sitting on the pier, a fishing rod in his hands as he turned and looked at her.

"Not really, on overwatch to see if any of those mutant Lapris come towards us and seeing if I can get anything for sup; how was the trip home, see anything?" Saw asked as looked back into the swamp.

"Nothing out of the ordinary, caught anything yet?" The girl asked as she looked into the water.

"A few catfish, saw a Seaking kill a snakehead a few hours ago, but nothing out of the ordinary really, think we've scared those things off?" Saw asked as he looked at his fishing rod.

"Were they alive in the first place? See ya latter, gotta switch out of school girl mode." The girl said as she walked off, Saw waving his free hand as she did.

"Later Jamelia!" Saw called out as he looked at his rod, waiting for any movement of the string. As she walked towards the building she saw the group around the sparing Pokémon and moved towards a bench to stand on to see the fight when the doors in the main building slammed open and a man in a black overcoat, black pants and shirt with grey hair walked out.

"Get over here all of you, we have a job!" He shouted as he started to walk away from the building. The men surged away from the fighting which stopped as soon as they heard the command. Smirking Jamelia moved towards the gathering and pushed herself to the front, getting a nod from the man before he looked at the rest of them

"What's the caper bossman, a little robbery, a little murder?" One of the grunts called out as the others started to snicker and grin. The man looked about with a smirk on his face and answered them.

"It seems that dear old Rexy got himself caught, and wouldn't you know it we're supposed to keep em from talking ever again, permanently this time." He said as everyone started to chuckle and as Jamelia felt a grin on her face as well as past interactions went through her mind.

"Hey brother do we need to show anything, give the buyer anything this time?" She called out only for him to grin back at her.

"Nope, this is my favorite type of job, we just need to cause some mayhem and leave the bodies for them to find. The transfer happens tomorrow so I'll head out with the team for the job and we'll strike when we see it. Jamelia, you're in charge while I'm gone, keep the base in one piece and escape if more of those things attack again, go to the secondary fallback and light this place up." He said as he caught Jamelia in a glare that caused her to nodded at him with a sheepish look on her face.

"Got it Zayn-bro, have a nice night." Jamelia said as the named Zayn walked by her, stopping to rub her hair.

"Will little sister, I will. Team one with me!" Zayn smirked as five grunts followed after him as he moved towards the docks. One better thing about this is that I can finally pay Rex back for those comments he made about Jamelia, and that is really the catch of the day with this job. Zayn thought with a smirk.

Ash looked over the city as the moon shined down on the city as he sat at one of the chairs the Center had outside. Meeting 'Aunt Grace' again and her students had been a bit of a mixed bag if he was honest about it. He had been hurt when they had moved away but he understood why they had left, but it had still hurt a lot. Come to think about it, I was so angry I got into a fight with everyone for a weak, I even fought Victoria before it was found what those two had done. When did it stop hurting? Wait, it was when I talked to Mrs. Oak, I just went in feeling angry after that fight I had with Victoria, I went to talk to her and then I just went home happy? How did? Ash thought as he tried to remember what she had said to help him but no matter what he couldn't remember. He was so caught up in trying to remember that he never noticed the doors to the Center opening.

"Nice night, isn't it Ash?" A familiar sounding voice asked him from behind him. He turned his head and saw Serena with a blanket around her shoulders as she moved towards him, two steaming mugs in her hands. Ash accepted one and sipped it, the taste of chocolate bring a smile to his face.

"You know, this reminds me of that night during the Siege, remember Serena? How mom started to make a large batch of hot coca so we wouldn't be scared while the others stood guard?" Ash said as Serena sat down next to him.

"And how Gary burned his tongue and ran around the room trying to cool it down with it sticking out of his mouth?" Serena said as she remembered how everyone laughed.

"Yeah, man o man I still think he did that on purpose. Oh, I never told you about him, did I? He's trying to become a Professor of all things, last I heard he was in Sinnoh studying dimensions, taking a reading on a mountain there." Ash said with a chuckle as Serena looked at him.

"And how would you know what he's doing in Sinnoh at a mountain Ash, were you involved with something?" Serena asked, causing Ash to just chuckle a little as he looked sheepish.

"Let's just say I got involved in taking down a criminal origination and well, it was crazy at the end." Ash said as he leaned back. Serena only looked at him for a few seconds before sighing.

"So the Buzz Lords's base?" Serena asked as Ash smirked as he looked at her.

"Not my first time storming an enemy stronghold. Of course when I've done it in the past I was rarely alone and had backup in the area but well." Ash said as he looked upwards at the sky as memories passed before his eyes.

"You've done a lot on your journey, haven't you Ash?" Serena asked as she looked at him.

"Yeah, I guess I have, I've been to the Johto, Unova, the Orange Islands to name a few places, seen some amazing things but I've still haven't accomplished any of the goals I started with." Ash said as he started to look sad as he looked down.

"You mean your mom, you haven't found anything?" Serena asked as she felt pain in her heart for what she knew about Ash and his mother.

"Nothing, I've looked in most of the open regions and I've looked up any missing persons for the last twenty years, people wanted for questioning and I've even asked an underground info broker for anything about any kidnap rings that use Psychics, nothing at all." Ash said with a snarl as he looked murderous. If I didn't know just how many of those 'people' to use the term so loosely are either dead or in jail, I would spend a year or two tracking them down and showing them the consequences of doing those things! Ash thought as Serena looked at him in worry.

"Did you ever find a Psychic to look into what happened to her, I know that some of them can create….things in people's mind that can affect them but I've heard good things about some times people need their help. I mean with what happened I heard happened in Saffron years ago but it seems to have been a…." Serena said as she shuddered, thinking about what they had heard on the news about a renegade psychic who had controlled the Saffron City Gym until for a year until a trainer defeated him about five years ago, just…when...Ash started hi journey! Serena went still as she stared at Ash, who looked at her and chuckled sheepishly.

"So you heard about how the thing I stumbled onto?" Ash said as Serena looked at him in total shock before she grabbed him.

"How the…Ash what did you do?" Serena demanded as she shook him, causing him to laugh a little. He grabbed her arms to get her to stop shaking him.

"I entered the Gym to challenge it and came face to face with the guy who had conquered the place with Sabrina as his slave, he tried to teleport me, Misty and Brock away but it didn't work on me for some reason. My team and I attacked him while Misty and Brock fought off the brainwashed trainers they had been sent to and I fought him off enough to force him to escape when I broke his concentration enough for Sabrina to snap free and start throwing things at him. Last I saw him he teleported away and a day or so later I fought Sabrina and earned my next badge." Ash said with a smirk as Serena only looked at him and shook her head as she released him and stepped backwards.

"You saved Sabrina, wait, did you ask her to look into your mom's mind…." Serena trailed off at the frown Ash had and stared. Even the leader of Kanto's Psychic Gym couldn't find anything, what in the world happened to Mrs. Ketchum before she got herself and Ash to Pallet! Serena thought as she looked at Ash.

"She did, she found nothing. I've been looking into what else could have affect mom but I just don't know if I'll ever find out what happened or where we come from." Ash said as he looked up at the stars. But I won't stop looking. I don't know when or how, but I promise I won't stop hunting for the truth until I die or I find it. Ash thought as he hardened his eyes.

Serena looked at him and sighed as she shook her head. I think I'll talk to him about it tomorrow; this so didn't go the way I wanted it to. Still it felt nice to have a talk with Ash like this, something I can look forward to for my imminent future after I talk to him about it of course. Serena thought as she forced a smile onto her face.

"Well good night Ash, see you in the morning." Serena said as she turned away from him and walked back into the Center.

"Good night Serena, have a nice sleep." Ash said as he looked up at the stars, his thoughts wondering about whom else might be under the same stars, wondering if his mother was okay in Pallet giving the outbreak, hoping his friends and loved ones were all okay and were still in good health.

Lilith looked up from putting Bonnie's to bed when she heard Serena walked into the room she, Bonnie and Lilith were sharing and smirked at the look on Serena's face.

"So, have a nice talk with Ash?" Lilith asked softly with a grin on her face, causing Serena to go red and her mouth to open and close for a few seconds before Serena smirked back at Lilith.

"I did, did you have a talk with Clemont Lilly?" Serena asked only to receive a grin back at her.

"No I didn't. But really girl, are you okay? Making a decision to finally start your journey, that's big." Lilith said as Serena sat on her bed and leaned back.

"Yeah, I am. It's surprising really, but I've felt more alive in the last few days then I've felt in years. I guess after I moved here I just didn't see a big deal in traveling, I just did online classes and town quests here and there and just existed, not live. In the last few days I've seen a Gym Battle live, seen a Pokémon Contest and was kidnapped by a gang and fought my way out, if someone told me I would do any of this a year ago I would have thought they were liars and laugh myself silly." Serena said as she lay back on her bed and closed her eyes, missing the look of worry Lilith had in her eyes before she forced it away. I guess I know what happens when someone tries to Aura Link to someone they can't connect to. So the seals are starting to unravel, I'll have to find a way to let Misstriss know about that…come to think of her, why is it taking so long for her to come back to me? Lilith thought as she realized that she had expected her Murkrow to have comeback by now.

"So what'd he say when you said you wanted to travel with us until you found what you're looking for?" Lilith asked, only for Serena to put a pillow over her face. Lilith just sighed and shook her head.

"Girl, you've got it bad." Lilith said with as she shook her head and looked at Serena with a deadpanned look on her face.

"Well is it so easy to talk to someone you've had a crush on?" Serena asked quietly as she looked at Bonnie's sleeping face. Lilith only frowned and looked at her

"No, but after I won a few contests I started to have to deal with this guy who just wouldn't take the hint I wasn't interested in him, one of the reasons teach suggested I'd try some contests out of the country for a while I jumped on it." Lilith said as she shuddered, remembering him and how he'd tried to get her to marry him.

"Stalker?" Serena asked as she looked up at her with a look of understanding that surprised Lilith for a few seconds before she replied.

"Like you wouldn't believe, he's this rich brat that so self-rightous and full of himself I can't even describe how bad he is. But he at least left me alone when I was in my hometown or with teacher most of the time. From your tone you and your mom have dealt with those kinds of people before?" Lilith asked as she looked at her only for Serena to scowl in reply.

"Calling them people makes my skin crawl! That's partly why we moved to Pallet in the first place to tell you the truth. I didn't think too much about them until one of the tried to steal some of our garbage for a shrine of all things!" Serena finished with a shudder.

"You ever found a way around that here in Kalos?" Lilith asked, causing Serena to chuckle as she grinned at her friend.

"Yeah, the place we moved to is a gated community, so thankfully we don't have to worry about stalkers getting into the place, but I've been doing online courses for a while so besides going with mom to events I haven't seen much of Kalos really, something my journey will fix at least." Serena said as she smiled. Lilith grinned at her friend, happy that she didn't have a stalker to worry about. Of course if she did I could take a few frustrations out on them, things I couldn't do to that one because of who his family is, why do the most painful people to deal with have to have connects to the worse people to make problems with? Lilith thought as she reached for a pillow slowly, not to draw attention to her arm from Serena.

"Well let's have a good sleep girl, tomorrow is a new day and it's the last day before your start your Journey, so rest up and sleep." Lilith said as she smirked humorously at Serena.

"Maybe you'll have a nice dream with Ash in it!" She said as Serena reddened and threw a pillow at her. Lilith just laughed and threw her own at Serena as she laid back and smiled as she closed her eyes, ready to rest for night.

Kanto Slang; Become Lost; Kanto slang term for city destroyed , conquered by Chimera. Ruins of such cities have in the past become the final battle ground for Chimera Siege

Aura Rune; Communication; Able to connect to the paired Receiving Rune, Receiving Rune has no limit to connections but the Communication Rune may only be connected to one Receiving Rune

Aura Rune; Identifier; A Rune that when it or any gear with it as part of it touches someone the person using it or wearing are told if the person touched is an Aura user, Auralist or Caster