A/N: Ok, I know a lot of you are mad at me for how long this chapter took. Sadly, I can't say I have a great explanation. As I've mentioned in many of the other fics, Persona 5 kept my attention for a long time. But with this fic that's not all. I've honestly slowly becoming less and less motivated to write this story. Don't worry, I'm not stopping it short. I plan on finishing this story as planned without taking any shortcuts. It wouldn't be fair to all you readers that have stayed with this story for so long if I did otherwise. I'll do what I can to update this story as often as I can.

Ever since the panic from the battle with Laughing Coffin had died down, players had slowly begun returning to Shalour City. There were still many who were terrified of entering the city after all the damage that had been done by the PKer group, so the city was somewhat barren.

Ren and Misaki sat together on a bench in the city square, enjoying the peace and quiet. Things were still quite awkward between the two, but the couple was trying to patch things up after Ren's sudden return from his fake death.

"Everything's gotten so crazy, hasn't it?" Misaki asked. "I thought we'd be done after the Pokemon League in Sinnoh, but look at all that's happened."

Ren nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah. We all got thrown into Kalos, met Kirito and the others, and now we're practically in a war against Kira and Laughing Coffin."

"All because of a psycho named Kagutsuchi." Misaki let out a sigh. "The one thing I can't figure out, no mattered hard I think, is why he did all this. What could his goal be?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Ren said. "Even Ryota has no clue."

"Speaking of Ryota, who would have thought he'd get together with Kaitlyn."

"Come on, I know you're not his biggest fan but he's not all that bad of a guy. Ryota's just got a thick shell is all."

"At least he's not as bad as Akio. Now that's a guy that's never gonna get a girlfriend." Misaki said with a huff.

The sound of giggling soon interrupted the couple. "Maybe not, but he seems to be interested in something else." Ren and Misaki looked as Asuna walked up to them with Yui in tow. "Akio's been bugging Kirito all morning for a battle. That guy really wants to prove himself."

"Akio's loved a challenge ever since I've known him." Ren said. "A battle against a champion is the best way for him to do that."

"Papa will win!" Yui stated firmly with a big grin.

Asuna smiled as she patted Yui on the head. "That's right. Your Papa is really strong. He won't lose to anyone."

"Not even that big bully Kagutsuchi, right Mama?"

Asuna's smile lessened slightly, but she still nodded her head. "Yes. Even against him."

Ren's expression grew serious. "The deadline is coming up. Whatever he's planning, it'll happen then. And it'll be do or die, literally."

Out of nowhere, a new voice spoke up. "If you'd like, you can die now instead of then."

Asuna gasped as she recognized the voice. The group all turned towards where the voice came from, only to be hit with a freezing blast of cold air. Frost formed on their clothes while their feet became stuck to the ground, encased in ice.

"What the hell?!" Misaki exclaimed as she tried to endure the cold.

"Mama, I'm scared." Yui said, trembling.

Asuna glared through the blizzard, knowing full well who was the cause of it. "Izumi."

"Hello, Asuna." Izumi smirked as her two Cryogonal kept up the Blizzard attack. "I hope you don't mind the cold reception."

"What are you doing here? Didn't get your butt kicked enough three days ago?" Ren asked.

Izumi showed a vicious smirk. "I'd love to kill you all right here, especially you Asuna, I really would. But I have another mission entrusted to me."

Before Asuna could ask what Izumi meant, a sudden blur rushed at her. Asuna instinctively brought her arms up to defend herself, but her eyes widened as the blur rushed past her and grabbed Yui. As the blizzard died down, Asuna watched as the blur, revealed to be a Scrafty, landed next to Izumi along with Ju and Kira. The Scrafty was holding Yui over its shoulder.

"Mama! Help me!" Yui cried.

"YUI!" Asuna gasped. "Megumi, let her go RIGHT NOW!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Don't you remember, it's Izumi in here." Izumi said. "And don't worry, we'll take good care of your little brat here. She's our special package after all."

"What are you talking about?" Asuna asked.

Kira let out a dark chuckle. "Our client seems to have some business with this program here."

Asuna narrowed her eyes. "Program? What are you talking about?"

"Oops. Almost let that little tidbit slip." Kira turned around along with his two teammates. "We'll be seeing you, Lightning Flash. Feel free to chase after us. Once your feet are thawed out that is."

"Asuna!" a sudden shout was heard and everyone turned to see Kirito and Akio running over to them, attracted by the commotion. Kirito glared when he saw the leader of Laughing Coffin. "Kira."

"Be seeing you, Unova champion." Kira snickered. "We just came to pick something up. We'll be getting out of your way now."

"Papa!" Yui cried.

Kirito widened his eyes when he saw Yui with Kira's group. "YUI!"

"I'd say that's our cue to leave." Kira said. He threw out a pokeball and a Golurk appeared. Kira and Scrafty climbed onto it while Kira and Izumi brought out their own pokemon to make an escape into the air.

Kirito quickly grabbed a pokeball from his belt. "Hydreigon!" The capsule device opened and Kirito's dragon type roared furiously as it sped at the Laughing Coffin trio.

"Use mist." Izumi ordered.

The two Cryogonal breathed out a thick mist that made visibility go down among the group. By the time it cleared away, Kira's group was already retreating through the air.

Kira looked down at Kirito. "If you want this brat back, come to Lumiose City. We'll be waiting for you in the Lumiose Tower."

Kirito was forced to watch helplessly as Laughing Coffin fled the scene, with Yui in their grasp. He curled up his hand into a fist and slammed it into the ground. "Damnit!"

Ren brought out his Charizard, who quickly went to work thawing them out of Izumi's ice. Once they could move their feet again, they wasted no time in gathering up everyone and heading out immediately to chase after the PKer trio.

Flying through the air on the back of a pokemon had always been something a lot of the players in PWO enjoyed. But for everyone chasing after Laughing Coffin, they were too busy flying as fast as they could towards Lumiose City. Their fastest route would be going to Coumarine City and then traveling through the desert to Lumiose City.

"It'll take us at least three days to get to Lumiose City." Ryota said as they flew.

"We'll make it in two." Kirito responded.

Kirito was flying in the lead, clearly trying to go as fast as he could. Even though the raven haired trainer's back was to Ren, he could sense the worry in his expression. "Kirito, I know you're worried about Yui, but we can't go rushing things. We need to pace ourselves, or we'll just end up putting ourselves in even more danger later."

"I don't care, damnit!" Kirito yelled suddenly, shocking everyone there. "Yui she… she doesn't have anyone else. Just me and Asuna. That's the only family she has right now."

"That doesn't mean we can go full speed non-stop." Ryota reminded him. "Even without the fatigue our pokemon would feel, the desert between Coumarine and Lumiose is dangerous. Flying in those sandstorms is practically impossible."

"Shut up! This is all because of your father!" Kirito snapped.

Ryota fell silent and kept his head down. Sinon called out to Kirito. "That was uncalled for Kirito. You know what Ryota's relationship with Kagutsuchi is like."

Kirito stayed silent for a few moments before letting out a sigh of regret. "You're right. I'm sorry Ryota."

Asuna flew next to Kirito. "I know you're worried about Yui. I am too. But we'll save her, right?"

Kirito nodded his head. "Yeah. You're right. And once we do, Laughing Coffin is going down for good."

"No arguments here." Akio said.

As the group's journey through the air continued, Misaki flew up to Asuna. "You never went into much detail about how you met Yui. What happened?"

Asuna looked on in the distance, thinking back on old memories. "It was back in the early days of PWO. Back then, it was just me, Silica, and Liz traveling together. We came across Yui in the forest. She was lying unconscious on the ground. We brought her to the nearest town and waited for her to wake up. When she did, she had no recollection of her past. The only thing she knew was that PWO was a virtual world and she logged in for some reason."

"That must have been scary for her." Misaki frowned.

"It was." Asuna nodded. "But then she came up to me, calling me 'Mama'. I guess she just wanted some sort of family to cling onto with how scared she was. So I played along. Later on in the game we met Kirito, and she started calling him Papa. I don't know if it was because of that, but Kirito and I started growing pretty close afterwards. And now we're a couple, as well as Yui's guardians."

"What about after PWO though?" Kaitlyn asked, joining in on the conversation. "She's gotta have some sort of family in the real world, right?"

Asuna looked down. "I guess she'll go back to her real family. As much as I'll miss her, it's what's best for Yui."

Misaki nodded her head. "First thing's first though. We need to get her back."

"And take down those Laughing Coffin jerks while we're at it." Liz added.

"We'll do whatever we can to help." Silica said. She looked at her partner holding on her shoulder. "Right Emolga?"

"Emol!" Emolga nodded.

Asuna smiled at her friends. "Thanks you guys." She continued to fly through the air on her Swanna. "Now let's go save Yui."

By the time everyone reached Coumarine City, it was too late in the day to make it through the desert. As much of a rush they were it, going through the harsh desert at night would be far too risky, if Ryota and Kaitlyn's description of it was anything to go by. The group ended up spending the night at the inn at the pokemon center.

As Ryota was preparing to go to bed he heard a knock at his door. He walked over and opened it, seeing Kaitlyn standing on the other side. "Hey Kaitlyn. What's up?"

"What do you mean what's up? I'm coming to my room."

"Wh-What?!" Ryota exclaimed.

Kaitlyn wasted no time walking through the door into the room. "Well I am your girlfriend after all. Isn't it social norm that we sleep together."

Ryota didn't even know where to begin for explaining to Kaitlyn how far she was jumping ahead with her logic. But it was late and they had a big day ahead of them tomorrow, so he decided to just go along with it. "Alright then. Might as well get to bed." The black haired trainer walked over to his bed. As he turned towards Kaitlyn, his eyes widened seeing her only in her underwear.

Kaitlyn didn't seem to feel the same awkwardness as she casually walked over and crawled into the bed. With red cheeks Ryota got into bed as well and faced away from Kaitlyn. 'Why are all the women in my life crazy?'

"Hey… Ryota?" Kaitlyn said, snapping the male trainer out of his thoughts. "I know you want to take down your dad for everything he's done. I get that. But I want you to promise me something."

"What is it?"

"Promise me we'll fight him together." The sudden request caught Ryota off guard as he turned his body around to face her. "I don't want you rushing on to fight him alone. I want to be there with you, so I can watch your back."

"Kaitlyn…"

"Please." Kaitlyn looked at him with pleading eyes.

Ryota looked at Kaitlyn, unable to resist the look Kaitlyn was giving him. He let out a sigh. "Alright, Kaitlyn. I promise."

Kaitlyn smiled at him and cuddled up next to Ryota. "Thanks Ryota. Just hearing that makes me feel a lot better."

Ryota felt the warmth of Kaitlyn's body as she rested next to him. He closed his eyes and held her close. 'Kagutsuchi has taken the lives of so many people with his sick game. But even if it costs me my life, I promise I won't let you be one of the ones he takes.'

Once the morning sun began to rise, Kirito and the others immediately headed out towards Lumiose City. Kaitlyn and Ryota were able to make the trip easier on them traveling through the harsh desert, since they had done it once before. Even still, the difficulty of crossing the barren wasteland took a toll on the group. But there was no time for them to waste if they were to rescue Yui.

The second they entered Lumiose City, Kirito and the others wasted no time in going straight to the giant structure in the center of the city, Lumiose Tower. They had avoided the pokemon center for two reasons. To start, they had each kept to using one pokemon to traverse the desert. The more important reason however was their lack of patience on the matter with Yui's life in danger.

"This is the place, right?" Liz asked.

Ren nodded his head. "Yeah. But how do we get inside? This place has been sealed off since we all arrived in Kalos."

"I assumed it was simply because it was a gym in the original games." Kirito said. "We had no need for gym battles in this region. But maybe there's something hidden here."

"Who cares?" Akio smirked as he cracked his knuckles. "We just need to go in and kick some ass."

"First we need to figure out how we get in." Sinon mentioned as they walked up to examine the building. "The doors should be sealed so-" Everyone widened their eyes as the doors to the tower opened suddenly.

"... Good news, the doors aren't sealed." Ryota said, knowing full well that this couldn't mean anything good.

Asuna steeled her resolve. "They want us to go in. So let's accept their invitation and put an end to this once and for all."

With a collective nod, the group all walked through the doors to the building, the doors closing behind them once they were in. The room they saw around them was completely empty. The only thing noticeable was an elevator in the center of the room.

"Looks like we know where to go." Ren said as they all walked forward. Once everyone was in the elevator, they were automatically taken up to a higher floor.

"I don't like this. It's too suspicious." Kirito said. "This has trap written all over it."

"Oh calm down." Akio said, waving away the Unova champion's concern. "Whatever they throw at us, we'll simply deal with it, simple as that."

Their conversation was cut short as the elevator came to a stop, opening up for them. As they all walked out of the elevator, the group couldn't help but notice how dark it was.

"What's going on?" Silica asked.

Suddenly a voice sounded through a loudspeaker. "Greetings trainers. I welcome you the Lumiose Tower."

Ryota instantly recognized the voice of the person. "Kagutsuchi!"

"Hello to you too, son." Kagutsuchi said. "You all arrived here earlier than I had anticipated."

"You can keep your praise!" Asuna shouted. "Give us back Yui!"

"If you want her, why don't you try reaching your way to me first. Allow me to introduce your first obstacle."

Suddenly, the lights all switched on for the room, slowly illuminating the place. With the lights on, the room was revealed to be a single, open area with a simple battlefield. Standing on the other side of the field was a lone trainer.

Ryota and Kaitlyn both widened their eyes as they recognized the player standing across from them. Kaitlyn turned towards Ryota. "Isn't she…"

"Yeah." Ryota nodded. "That's the trainer we fought in Coumarine City."

Ren looked over at Rytoa. "You've seen this trainer before?"

"She's a brainwashed puppet of his, just like how I was back at the Sinnoh League." Ryota explained. "She went on a full scale attack in Coumarine City under Kagutsuchi's control."

Kagutsuchi let out a chuckle. "This one is special. She managed to accomplish something that you, my son, were unable to do."

"And what's that? Accomplish murder as a lifeless slave to a maniac?"

"Among other things." Kagutsuchi grinned. "Allow me to introduce Kaede… the Kanto champion."

A/N: Well for all of you that have been wondering where the Kanto champion is, now you have your answer. I know this was a rather short chapter, but I can assure you that next chapter will more than make up for it.