(31.1 – Written by Viroro-kun)
Serena walked only a few steps into her home before letting herself fall on a chair. She took a deep breath with her eyes to the ceiling, finally recovering her strength. Delphox, Pancham and Sylveon entered as well, closing the door behind them.
"Rough day at work, dear?"
She saw her husband come inside the living room with his Pokémon. As he hugged her, Serena smiled. "I spent the whole day with Palermo and Monsieur Pierre preparing for the Master Class. It looks like we will have a rather healthy bunch of competitors this year."
"Do you think someone will manage to take the title from you?"
Serena laughed, before showing off a confident grin. "I've spent years preparing to be Kalos Queen, I'm not giving up the position anytime soon."
Her husband smiled, adjusting his glasses. "And to think that when we started our journey, you didn't know what your dream was..."
"Heheh, right. I owe a lot to our trip through Kalos, all those years ago."
Serena and her husband glanced at a nearby shelf together, where several photos stood: pictures of four friends, two boys and two girls, smiling at the camera with their Pokémon around them.
The man fidgeted, and a sigh escaped him. "Say, uhm... do you still miss Ash, sometimes?"
"Maybe just a bit, he was my first crush after all. But Ash is just too much of a free spirit, he would've never settled down too easily."
"I understand." The man sighed again, shaking his head.
"No need to feel bad, Clemont." Serena put her hand over his shoulder. "I loved Ash, yes, but that's all in the past. Right now, you are the only one I'd want to be with."
"R-really?" Clemont gulped, redder than a Tamato Berry.
Serena giggled. "Of course, silly."
Without warning, she pulled Clemont into a kiss. The inventor almost managed not to pass out as he replied in kind.
As the two kept going, their Pokémon eyed the lovebirds with approving nods. All aside from a certain duo, at least.
Chespin elbowed Pancham in the side with a knowing glance. "Heh, aren't our trainers cute?"
"More like saccharine. I don't get why they need to be so lovey-dovey every single day." The Fighting-type shrugged and turned the other way as he munched his Pokéfood.
Chespin grumbled, eating his Macaron with a pout. "You are really not romantic at all. No wonder you are always so stingy and wooden during our dates."
Almost choking on his food, Pancham blushed, swallowed and turned to glare at the Grass-type. "We don't date! We just have friendly meetings! Frenemy meetings!"
"Yes, yes. That's why you gave me that Macaron-flavored cake for Valentine's day, right?"
"Ugh!" Frowning, Pancham turned around and walked towards the bathroom. "Well, I need to take a shower, bye."
"Don't forget, we have the movie night with Pikachu and his wife in a few hours!"
Pancham's cheeks became distinctly more red as he slammed the door behind him.
(31.2)
Mewtwo deposited Sasha on the counter of the League registration desk and the attendant - one of the many Joys littering the region - looked at the psychic feline and his charge curiously.
"So which of you is participating?" she asked, not even batting an eye at the oddity.
"She is," Mewtwo said. "Alone."
"What hold items?" the receptionist asked, typing on several keyboards.
"Everstone and Eviolite," Mewtwo said. Sasha pawed at her collar nervously, paw brushing against her scarf.
"And the scarf?" the woman asked, glancing at it.
Mewtwo stroked his chin. "It's not a Silk Scarf..." he mused thoughtfully.
"So just the two then," Joy said, hitting the enter key, printing out a set of papers she then handed to Mewtwo, who teleported them away. "Welcome to the Indigo League."
Mewtwo collected Sasha and the duo departed.
"Why'd she ask about hold items?" Sasha asked.
"Usually, it's one item per pokémon," Mewtwo said, "One Mega Stone or Z-Crystal per team, following the Kalos and Alolan League rules set for both items."
"And for single pokémon challenging the League?" Sasha asked.
"Technically you're allowed six hold items," Mewtwo said. "No duplicates or items with the same effect though."
"So I could have Oran, Sitrus, Lum and Persim Berries if I wanted..." Sasha said slowly.
"You could," Mewtwo said with a nod. "And they're being sold over there, if you want to pick some up," he added, pointing to a thriving market that was selling all manner of items, ranging from TMs and HMs to vitamins and berries.
Sasha shook her head. "I'd rather win or lose without having my health restored mid-battle," she said. "Put everything I've learned these past months to the test and all that."
"If that is what you wish," Mewtwo said.
(31.3)
"Oops."
The Hall of Origin went silent as the dreaded word floated through it.
Everyone stopped what they were doing to crane their heads to look at Arceus, who looked up from where it had been piecing bits of Johto back together.
"'Oops'?" Citlali said. "'Oops'?! What happened where that's your response? What did you retcon out of existence? Is Fairy no longer a Type? Did you make Giovanni Ash's dad? Please tell me you didn't just put Ash in a coma-"
"Citlali."
Citlali shut his mouth with a click of his teeth as Arceus got to its feet.
"I didn't break anything," it said. "However, what I did inadvertently do is add an extra week to someone's timeline, throwing off their future."
"Dare we ask who?" Aylen ventured.
Arceus shrugged. "Nobody too important."
Meanwhile, four years and a week earlier, a man traveling through Johto suddenly stopped and turned. Beside him, a Darkrai and Latios stared at their trainer curiously.
"...The Lily of the Valley tournament was a week ago, wasn't it?" the trainer asked, facepalming. "Could've sworn it was this week..."
With a sigh, he shrugged. "Oh well. Maybe next time."
(31.4)
Yellow strode through the paths of Viridian Forest, hands clasped behind her back.
She stopped at the sound of buzzing wings and turned her head to regard a beedrill hovering beyond the path boundary.
"Hello there," Yellow said carefully, slowly stepping back. "I'm not after your young."
"Stand down, she lives here."
Another beedrill flew into view, dismissing the other with a wave of his stingers. The other bee stared at Yellow for a moment longer before it nodded and departed.
"Sorry, they're new and have yet to be told about you. We've missed you these past few months," the new bee said. "What have you been up to?"
Yellow sighed, brushing a hand through her hair as she leaned against a tree. "Went in search of Team Magma and found out they'd already been dealt with by the local deity."
"Did they stray too close to the deity's nest?" Beedrill asked.
Yellow chuckled, shaking her head. "As far as I know, they don't have any young. They were just very upset over people trying to upset the natural order of things. But what about you? What's new in your life?"
"Arbok and Golbat have not visited in a while," Beedrill said. "Which makes sense, as they help out with more than just one Atrice Center."
"Golbat, I can understand, since she can fly, but...Arbok? They're not exactly known for their speed..." Yellow said skeptically.
The ground beneath her heaved and the woman found herself snared in thick purple coils, staring into a pair of large yellow eyes.
"Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course," Yellow added. The arbok gave her a gentle hug before loosening his coils. "Still guarding Viridian then?"
"It is a pleasant enough place with plenty of food," the snake replied. "I see no reason to depart such fertile ground."
Yellow took in the snake's length and frowned. "You've grown again."
"The ground is fertile here," the snake repeated, eyes gleaming.
Yellow sat on his coils, admiring the sheen of his scales. "It suits you," she said. Turning to Beedrill, she asked, "You mentioned Golbat. Has she said anything about any potential long absences?"
"Knowing her, consorting with ghosts," Arbok said bitterly.
"You're still torn up about that?" Beedrill said with an exasperated buzz. "That was...years ago."
"Back when Ivysaur and Marty were around, yes, I'm aware," the poison-type replied dryly. The snake shifted under Yellow and his voice got softer. "I...enjoyed our time together. I was able to make them stronger, but in the end…"
Yellow winced, resting her hand on the cool scales.
"Rather unfortunate about Ivysaur. One of Team Rocket's, wasn't it?" Beedrill mused.
Yellow nodded. "Oh yeah, I heard about that. Them giving out Starter pokémon who had been raised to be reliant on their trainers and without them were..." her voice trailed off and she looked down awkwardly.
"Were useless," Arbok finished bluntly. "To the point they'd drag their dying trainer around the region, chasing a foolish dream."
Beedrill flinched. "Hey now..."
"I'm not saying it wasn't fun, and without me, you'd have died ages ago," Arbok said, turning his gaze to the bee. "But hindsight being what it is...well..."
"Yeah, I know," Beedrill muttered.
Arbok blinked as Yellow stood up. "Well, it was nice chatting and catching up with you two," she said. "Perhaps we can get together with the others later and I can tell you all about what I did while I was away."
"I will see if I can't get a message to Golbat," Beedrill said. "She'll probably be most interested in your story."
"I'd like that very much," Yellow said happily. "Take care, you two."
(31.5)
Ash took a deep breath of the salty Alolan air and grinned.
He lifted his hand to stare at the Z-ring nestled around his wrist and flexed his fingers a few times.
He wasn't entirely sure how Z-moves worked, but he had been suggested Alola after clearing the Kalos League without much issue – he made a note to call Alain later, as Ash was reasonably sure Sycamore's lab assistant would be intrigued by them as well – and he was happy Alola had turned out to be just as interesting.
"What do you think, Pikachu?" he asked, squatting beside the yellow pokémon. "About Alola so far?"
"I was honestly expecting some major catastrophe as soon as we arrived," the electric-type replied.
"The battle with Tapu Koko wasn't enough?" Ash asked in amusement.
"In my defense, I wasn't really trying," Pikachu muttered. "If I had my Light Ball, that battle would've ended differently."
"Mhh," Ash said, rubbing the mouse's ears. "You look better with red cheeks anyway. A raichu-colored pikachu would look quite silly, I imagine."
Pikachu snorted and followed his trainer to their next destination.
A/N - People are more than welcome to write snips for this world of mine and send them to me to be published, especially if you're curious about a part of the universe I haven't covered in detail and want to play around. The sky's the limit, as are the number of universes affected by Cyrus' machinations.