Hey everyone, just wanted to quickly upload the second-to-last chapter of this story. Enjoy!

Chapter 9: Invasion

Lysandre and Malva both believed that the world needed to be more beautiful, and so they became the leaders of Team Flare. Their desires and ideals eventually drew them together romantically, and they decided to have a child. They were very proud of the name they had chosen for their daughter, Lyneth, for it meant: "little beauty".

As a young girl, Lyneth quickly became quite skilled at Pokemon battling. She was able to defeat the Grunts of Team Flare, and even bested one of the organization's most acclaimed Admins. At age ten, she was already capable of using Mega Evolution.

Her father's passing was not something she took well. She shut herself away from her mother, who was also extremely depressed. Eventually, Malva left her daughter out of frustration after trying countless times to speak with her. Lyneth didn't take this well, either.

Lyneth didn't know what her purpose was in this world...all she knew was that as long as she had her Pokemon with her, she was strong. Very, very strong...

– –

~ Camp Sycamore ~

Charizard and Noivern landed just outside the main building, letting off their passengers. Ash and Aaron were the first ones inside, turning to Alain for guidance.

However, it was Alain who ended up turning to Ash for help.

"Alain...those submarines are with Team Flare. They're back, and they seem stronger now. I don't know what they're after, but I know that this camp isn't safe with them around. We need to act, now!" Ash said, his voice naturally commanding the attention of everyone in the room.

Alain put his head in his hands. "I've failed my father's camp, Ash. I've failed it...we've lost two kids and we have no idea where they are."

Misty and Brock both nodded. "We've checked all over the building...they must be outside somewhere, but how can we even know where to start looking?" Misty asked, her eyes full of worry.

Aaron and Meredith went around the room, looking for everyone they knew. They circled around and met up with each other back where they started, each one bearing bad news.

"I can't find Phillip," Meredith said.

Aaron looked out the window at the beach. "And I can't find Jason."

– –

"Why are we following this Pokemon, Jason?" Phillip asked quietly. He didn't want to disturb any potential inhabitants of the vast forest they were currently venturing through.

Jason kept his eye on the Fletchling flying ahead. "Because it needs our help. And we can't just turn our backs on it," he said, not looking back.

Phillip nodded understandingly. "But shouldn't we h-have at least told the professor?" he asked.

Jason shook his head. "Nah. He's already got enough to handle, what with those submarines and stuff. I'm sure they won't even know we're gone. Now, c'mon, let's hurry up, will ya?"

Phillip was breathing heavily, fatigued from the physical exercise. "S-Sorry, Jason. Running isn't quite my thing..."

– –

"Miss, we've reached the shore. Opening the doors now."

"Good! This will be fun. Now, tell them that I don't want any of them coming back empty-handed, because I know for a fact that it's here. No doubt about it," Lyneth said calmly. Everything is running smoothly, she thought.

The Admin she was speaking to nodded and began talking into the megaphone.

– –

"Are...are we there yet J-Jason?" Phillip asked, exhausted. In terms of athletic ability, he definitely took after his father.

"C'mon, man, why can't you just – whoa..." Jason stopped in his tracks.

Relieved, Phillip stopped walking and asked about what he saw.

"You gotta see this, Phil," Jason said, pointing at a Pokemon in the middle of a clearing. Phillip curiously stumbled up to where Jason was and followed his gaze.

A stag-like Pokemon with shiny blue skin and four-horned antlers was laying on its side in the center of the clearing, amongst many other worried-looking Pokemon.

Phillip adjusted his glasses. "Can that be...?"

– –

"Don't worry, Alain. We'll find them," Ash said as reassuringly as possible. To be completely honest, Ash was a little annoyed with Alain for being so...weak. This was not the Alain he had fought alongside with against Team Flare all those years ago.

"Um, guys? There are people on the beach. A lot of people..." Dawn said, pointing at the numerous Team Flare Grunts marching on the shore. It seemed that they were headed for the forest.

"I'll stop them," Aaron said, pulling out Charmeleon's Pokeball. His voice exuded so much confidence that the others in the room could almost tangibly feel it.

Serena placed a hand on her son's arm. "Aaron, sweetie, I don't think that's a good idea. There are a lot of them, and I know you're strong but honey, there's only one of you, and-"

She stopped speaking when Ash put his hands on her shoulders. "Serena, don't worry. He won't be alone. I'll be out there fighting with him, and I'd hope we could get some more brave souls to volunteer to go with us," he said, looking around the room at all the people and Pokemon.

Alain shook his head. "Ash, I don't know if that's such a good idea. I'm responsible for the safety of these kids, and to send them out fighting just isn't...well, safe," he said, looking down at the wooden floor.

Meredith stepped up next to Aaron. "Well, I'm going with them," she said, trying her best to sound brave.

Brandon and Liam each held a Pokeball in their hand as they stepped up, too. "I'm going, too," Brandon said.

Liam nodded. "Cyndaquil and I are fighting, too," he said.

Some of the other campers raised their hands and volunteered to go as well. It is likely that seeing Aaron step up to the plate like that inspired them to not only have courage, but to act on it as well.

Alice turned to her brother. "Well I'm going, too. Damos, you with me?" she asked.

Damos looked down and shook his head. "I-I'm not much of a battler, Alice. I think I'll sit this one out."

Alice shook her head. "I'm disappointed in you, you know. You have no sense of adventure," she said, turning away and standing next to Meredith.

Dawn frowned. "Now, Alice, don't be saying things like tha-"

Ash interrupted her. "Dawn, we have to get going. Save your lecture for later. C'mon, everyone, let's go!" he shouted as he opened the front doors. Those that volunteered to help defend the camp followed him.

– –

"There's no question about it. That's Xerneas, the Life Pokemon!" Phillip said, adjusting his glasses multiple times to ensure that he wasn't just seeing things.

"Wow," Jason said. "Wynaut, check it out!" he said as he tossed Wynaut's Pokeball into the air.

Xerneas looked up weakly at the two young trainers, then rested its head back down. It looked utterly exhausted, and Jason got the feeling that it was injured.

"Hey, something's wrong," Jason said as he slowly walked up to the Legendary Pokemon. The crowd of Pokemon around Xerneas parted for Jason to get through, looking up at him hopefully as if expecting him to perform some kind of miracle.

Phillip followed, though more cautiously. He was generally not the adventurous type, but lately he had been learning a thing or two from Aaron, who was definitely more spirited and lively.

"What is it, Jason?" Phillip asked.

Jason looked up at him, his brow furrowed with a look of concern. "This Pokemon needs help."

– –

"Pikachu, use Electro Ball!"

"Houndoom, use Flamethrower!"

"Dodge that Poison Sting and use Flame Wheel, Cyndaquil!"

"Get up, Elekid! Get up, now!"

The battling had pretty much begun as soon as Ash and the campers had stood in the way of Team Flare. Brock had initially tried to take a more diplomatic approach to the situation, but Ash's anger had driven him to the most aggressive approach possible.

"Charmeleon, c'mon! Listen to what I tell you!" Aaron shouted, frustrated with his Pokemon's lack of cooperation. Charmeleon just used whatever move it wanted, whenever it wanted, with no regard to Aaron's commands at all.

Lyneth smiled cutely at Aaron, winking at him as she said, "Looks like someone's having trouble with their Pokemon!"

Aaron blushed at Lyneth's flirtatious tone of voice. "Y-you're wrong! I've got everything under control!" he said, for once sounding completely unsure of himself.

Lyneth laughed, a surprisingly lighthearted sound that made Aaron feel warm and fuzzy inside. He didn't know why...was he attracted to her somehow?

Beside him, Meredith glanced over at him and noticed that he was blushing. Why is he...?

She decided to ignore it for now and focus on the battle at hand. Mudkip was having a relatively easy time with the multiple Houndour and occasional Houndoom it had to battle, but now she was facing an Electrike.

"Why are you even here?" Ash demanded. "This is a summer camp for kids! Do you realize what you're doing right now?"

Lyneth just smiled and said, "It's a secret! But I'll give you a hint: we're hunting down a Pokemon!"

Hands gripped into fists, Aaron tried to ignore Lyneth's good looks and angrily shouted, "That's just wrong! People like you are just so evil, it's unbelievable!"

Lyneth held the back of her hand against her forehead as if she were about to faint. "Oh, that hurts, sweetie, that really hurts...how can such devastating words come from such a handsome young man?" she said with another wink at Aaron.

Aaron took a step back, his face turning a bright shade of red. "Uh, um, what?" he stuttured, words failing him.

Now Meredith's hands were gripped into fists. How dare that rotten, stuck-up red-head say something like that to Aaron! She thought. Then she looked down, thinking, Even if she is beautiful...

Suddenly, a loud deafening roar echoed through the air that caught everyone's attention. Ash looked up, along with Aaron, Meredith, and just about every single person and Pokemon on the beach.

A Charizard in its Mega Evolved form soared above them as it blasted blue fire out of its mouth as a way to make an intimidating entrance. On its back was Alain Sycamore, with a look of determination on his face. The look that Ash had seen back when they first fought Team Flare. The look of the man that Ash had come to respect.

Lyneth smiled as her Houndoom stood before Aaron's Charmeleon. "Okay, Houndoom, it's time to show them our true power!" she said, raising her wrist. "Mega Evolve!" she shouted, touching two fingers to the mega ring on her left hand.

For the first time ever, Charmeleon took a hesitant step backward. It had never heard a Pokemon roar as fiercely as the opposing Mega Houndoom.

– –

Jason and Phillip heard a faint roar in the distance. They stood up and wondered what could possibly be going on back at the camp.

Xerneas stood up as well, only it faced the opposite direction and began to walk. It limped as it slowly made its way towards the other side of the clearing, away from the camp. Jason quickly turned to Phillip.

"Look, Xerneas is leaving! It must be scared or something..." Jason said.

Xerneas was moving faster now, almost breaking into a run as Jason and Phillip started running after it.

Phillip was already tiring as he said, "Jason, there's no way we can keep up with this Pokemon, no matter how injured it is! We can't keep running after it, we'd just exhaust ourselves and potentially get lost."

Jason shook his head. "We've gotta try, at the very least! Xerneas needs out help. It's so...alone..." he said. I can relate... he thought.

Xerneas suddenly broke into a sprint, increasing the gap between it and the two trainers desperately trying to keep up with it.

Jason's heart sank as he kept running. "Man, there's no way we can follow it...maybe you were right..."

To his surprise, Phillip just smiled and adjusted his glasses. "Hmm...the future is now, thanks to science! Technology, lend me your gracious hand!" he said as he pulled out a small, round device out of his pocket. It looked kind of like a poker chip.

Phillip tossed it to Jason. "Here! Throw it at Xerneas! You've probably got a better arm than I do," he said.

Jason caught the device and chucked it towards Xerneas as quickly as he could. It flew through the air and just barely managed to latch onto Xerneas' back, catching it just before it sped away at a lightning-quick pace. The two trainers stopped running, breathing heavily from fatigue.

"So...what was that, exactly?" Jason asked.

Phillip smiled. "A tracking device. I have one on Helioptile, in case we somehow get separated. That one was just a spare prototype, though...I'm not entirely sure if it will work one-hundred percent yet," he said as he pulled out a small device with a screen. He toyed around with it, pressing buttons and sliding his fingers across the screen. His eyes lit up as he said, "Looks like its working!"

"All right! Let's follow it, then," Jason said.

Phillip stopped him. "Hang on just a minute. Shouldn't we go back and tell them what's up before we leave? We could use the help, and the adults should know where we are."

Jason shook his head. "Nah. No time. You said that was just a prototype tracking device, right? We never know when it could bust out on us, so we better move as quickly as possible! C'mon!" he said, motioning for Phillip to come with him as he turned and ran.

Phillip sighed. "Well, okay, but remember running isn't my cup of tea!" he shouted as he sprinted after him.

– –

"Charmeleon, get up! I know you can do it!" Aaron shouted. He had just helplessly watched Charmeleon get struck by a powerful Dark Pulse attack from Lyneth's Mega Houndoom.

His father was busy fighting three Admins at once. Greninja and Charizard seemed to be holding their own, but Sceptile had taken too much accumulative damage from being targeted by several Houndour, Houndoom, and other Fire-type Pokemon.

Alain and his Charizard were fighting off hordes of Grunts, along with the help of Meredith and the rest of Aaron's friends. Many of the other campers were out of Pokemon; Team Flare had proven to be quite strong.

So that left just him and Lyneth, the leader of Team Flare. Unfortunately for Aaron, her feminine charisma was influencing him more than he would have wanted it too, and it was definitely affecting his battling.

Just when Aaron was about to recall Charmeleon and give up, his Pokemon stood up. Slowly, very slowly, it managed to get back up on its two feet. The flame on its tail, which had been quite feeble just moments earlier, was now burning brighter than it ever had. Charmeleon roared angrily and breathed a Flamethrower attack into the air between itself and Lyneth's Houndoom.

And then, its body began to glow bright white.