Ash and his friends woke up and got ready for the day. "We're going to see if we can find Vortex today. Right?" Brock asked as he put his backpack on.
"Yeah." Ash said making a fist followed by an enthusiastic cry from his Pikachu. "Let's get going." He said running out of the Pokémon center with his friends following closely behind.
At the same time, three members of Team Plasma had already arrived outside of the cavern that Aaron lived in. One of them found the secret switch and watched as the wall slid open. "Be careful what you touch. We don't need this kid finding out we were here." One of them said. They began going through all of Aaron's things taking pictures and scanning everything in sight. "We have more than enough data on the capture crystals as well as the magic that he uses." One of them said looking at a data pad. "Let's get moving now." He said as they all ran out of the cave, but not before grabbing a few of the capture crystals lying around and taking one of the spell books.
They managed to leave right before Ash and his friends arrived. They started looking around the cave hoping to find Aaron's hidden cavern, but they had no luck. "Maybe he'll come back if we just wait." Max suggested.
"Okay then. Let's hide." Brock said pointing to a large boulder which they all walked behind. It wasn't long before they heard footsteps approach the cavern. They peeked from behind the rock and watched as Aaron touched a panel on the cave wall causing the rock wall to slide open where Aaron disappeared inside.
"Let's go after him." Ash said running out from behind the rock.
"Wait up Ash." May said running after him. Ash fumbled around hitting the wall until it slid open for him. Ash was greeted with a gust of wind blowing him back.
"You're the thieves who broke in to my hideout." Aaron said readying his staff and calling out his Lucario. "Aura sphere." Aaron commanded as his Lucario started attacking.
"We're not the ones who broke in to your hideout. Pikachu, thunderbolt!" Ash called out as the Lucario was struck down by the attack.
"Lucario, return." Aaron said holding out his glove as the Lucario was absorbed by it.
"Why did you believe us like that?" Brock asked in confusion.
"I can tell when someone is lying. Being trapped in a void gives you a lot of time to learn and think about everything. I'm sorry for attacking you like that. I haven't been in the best mindset lately. Please come with me." Aaron said motioning for them to follow.
Once they were all inside the hideout, they gasped at the shelves full of weapons, armor, trinkets, and various magical items that Aaron had collected. May looked at Aaron. "So who are you really, Vortex?" May asked the hooded figure.
"Give me a minute. I need to check the time flower." Aaron said walking over to a small rock like flower in the corner. He held up the glove containing his Lucario and channeled his aura in to it. The flower started projecting Team Plasma wandering around the hideout and taking several items. "Team Plasma, who knows what they'll do with that stuff." Aaron sighed as the flower closed. "Capture crystals and a spell book. They're going to open a portal. I won't be able to find them until it's actually opened." Aaron sighed as he turned around to face the four kids.
"Capture crystals?" Ash asked curiously.
"They function as the pokeballs of the Lost Plane. A trainer can keep their Pokémon in them and use their power without actually having to call out their Pokémon. That spell book has a few spells on how to open a portal to the Lost Plane." Aaron explained.
"Lost Plane?" Max asked.
"It's a dimension created by the legendaries of Sinnoh, Palkia, Giratina, and Dialga. It's existence and nonexistence at the same time. It's pure chaos where time comes to a standstill where nothing grows or dies, no one grows hungry or thirsty. A Pokémon battle using capture crystals essentially is like a life or death battle. When all Pokémon are exhausted the trainer as well as their capture crystals vanish like you saw with that snake woman." Aaron explained. "Oh, and I already know why you're here. I'm not going to be your friend and I'm not going to be normal again." Aaron said turning away from them.
"Do you at least want to tell us who you are?" Brock asked taking a seat in a chair.
"Fine." Aaron said pulling down his hood revealing his snow white hair and purple eyes. They all looked at the eleven year old boy who had a cold empty look on his face. "I used to be a trainer. I was heading for my eighth gym badge, and then everything happened. While I was walking a portal opened and I was sucked in to the Lost Plane. That void gave off a strange energy that was infused in to me and my Sandslash." Aaron explained briefly then calling his Sandslash out. They all gasped at the white and purple Sandslash. "We're linked together by that void. We can see when and where the portals open. I met my team in that void. After I found my way out, I made a vow to prevent others from suffering the same fate as me and to protect them from people who use the void for evil."
"It sounds like a noble cause." Brock said putting a hand on his chin.
Aaron and his Sandslash and cringed when they saw the purple lightning flash in front of them. He recalled his Sandslash. "I need you guys to leave. A portal opened in Kanto, and I have to go take care of it." Aaron said pulling his hood up and grabbing his staff before teleporting away. The group of trainers left while Aaron went to go close another portal.
Meanwhile in Team Plasma's secret lab…
"Sir we have the formula and can start synthesizing the crystals in a few hours." A scientist told his superior.
"And the portal?" He asked.
"We just need to have the environment set up. If it's not set up correctly we could destroy this facility and severely damage the fabric of time and space." The scientist explained.
"Just get it done. The longer we wait the longer it will take to build Team Plasma's new kingdom." The man said before walking off.