Both Ash and May exited Azelf's cavern and arrived back outside. The sky remained its blood-red color which didn't fill either of them with much confidence, but they knew that there was still much to do.

"Where to now?" May asked. "Both of the other lakes are quite a walk from here..."

"I know…guess we'll just have to pick one and go." Ash answered with a bit of a sigh.

"Too bad there's no faster mode of transportation…normally I'd ride Rapidash but she needs to rest...and she's not used to carrying two people anyway." She commented. Her remark caught Ash's attention. He knew the fastest way to get there. And maybe now that they'd built a bit of trust, May would consider his suggestion.

"Well…what if we flew there?" he asked.

"Flew there? How?" she wondered, tilting her head.

"On my partner." He answered as he grabbed one of his pokeballs and tossed it, releasing his Braviary.

"Brav!" Braviary announced himself.

"A Braviary...?" May gasped.

"Right." Ash nodded. "I know for a fact that Braviary can carry us both with ease. On him, we can get to either of the lakes much faster."

"Well…" May stalled, taking a deep breath. "I'm assuming you know how to fly with him…you know safely?"

"Yeah. I've flown with him several times before. We'll be fine." He assured her.

"…Ok." She finally nodded. With a smile forming across his lips at her trust in him, Ash took her hand and guided her over to his Pokemon. May blushed softly as she followed him to the hang-gliding harness and watched as he expertly hooked them both to the harness. Pikachu returned to his perch on Ash's shoulder and Glaceon spread her weight across both of May's shoulders, settling into a position where she could hang on. Ash then showed May where to hang on and soon both were in position to lift off.

"Ready?"

"As I'll ever be...I guess…"

"Don't you worry May." He said as he put an arm around her, causing her to blush. "I won't ever let you fall. Not again."

"O-Ok…I trust you." She responded, making Ash smile.

"Alright then. Let's go Braviary! To Lake Verity!" he called.

"Brav!" Braviary squawked as he took off and quickly flew up into the air. May gasped in fear and hung onto Ash and the handlebar tightly, causing Ash to blush hard. He couldn't help but smile a little as he gave her a reassuring squeeze with his arm.

"I got you…" he whispered his promise into her ear. His soft voice made her blush and realize fully just how close together their bodies were.

"S-Sorry…" she apologized. "I'm just definitely not used to this..."

"You have nothing to apologize for…" he assured her. His gentle tone made her blush again as she hid her head against him, making him smile even more. What he wouldn't give to be able to kiss her and comfort her in full right now. But even with that desire burning deep within him even now, he'd settle for just comforting her as a friend for now.

Soon enough, the duo saw Lake Verity rapidly approaching below them. It was just as big as Lake Valor and another small island was nestled in the center. Their path forward seemed very clear now that they knew what to do.

"There it is. Braviary try to land on that island." Ash instructed his Pokemon.

"Bravi!" Braviary nodded as he changed from his glide into a steep dive, heading right for the island in the center of the lake.

"Look out!" May gasped. As soon as the words left her mouth, their trajectory was suddenly thrown off when a Hydro Pump was launched at them from the water below. Braviary barely managed to dodge in time, losing only a few feathers from the move grazing his wing.

"What in the world?!" Ash yelled as he searched the water for the source of the attack. Eventually, he found the culprit. A school of Gyarados was glaring up at them from the water below, obviously seeing Braviary's approach as an invasion of their territory. "Damn it…Braviary change course and head for the shores!"

"Airy!" Braviary nodded as he changed his flight course. The Gyarados in the water continued firing attacks at the flying group, Braviary managing to keep out of the way aside from a few grazes. May hung onto Ash tightly and squeezed her eyes shut in fear. Ash did everything in his power to shield her from the attacks until finally Braviary dove behind a sizable rock wall and was finally able to land safely. Ash landed on his feet and then helped May onto hers.

"Are you alright May? Are you hurt?" he asked, keeping his hands on her shouldering with concern. May's cheeks lit up in a blush as she panted and shook her head.

"I-I didn't get hit…" she assured him, finally managing to crack a small smile in his direction. "Thank you..."

"You're always welcome May." He said, returning her smile. May blushed a bit more as Glaceon got off her shoulders, smiling along with Pikachu at their two trainers. Even with May's memories gone, it was clear both of them still cared for each other a great deal. Ash finally let go of May and turned his attention to Braviary, stroking the Pokemon's wing. "You did great Braviary. Take a good rest."

"Brav." Braviary nodded as he was recalled to his pokeball. May cautiously peered around the rock wall that was providing them cover and watched as the Gyarados all swam in the waters around the island that they needed to get to.

"How are we going to get to the island with all those Gyarados around…?" she wondered.

"As crazy as it sounds...I think Basculegion is still our best bet." Ash answered her, much to her surprise.

"Are you sure about that?" she questioned him.

"I am. Basculegion should be fast enough to get to the island without drawing too much attention. But we're going to need to be quiet and he's going to need to swim as fast as he can." He explained.

"Well…alright." She conceded. With her stamp of approval, Ash brought Basculegion back out and both trainers quickly mounted him along with their Pokemon.

"Get to that island as fast as you can Basculegion." Ash instructed him in a soft voice.

"Bas." Basculegion nodded as he stayed stationary for a moment, watching the Gyarados carefully for his opening. Finally, the Gyarados seemed to all regroup on the other side of the island and Basculgion immediately started swimming towards the island as fast as he was physically able. Ash and May held on tight as within only a few minutes, Basculegion brought them to the island. Both trainers and their Pokemon quickly dismounted the Water type and Ash recalled him to his pokeball.

"That was close..." May sighed in relief.

"At least it worked..." Ash chuckled, giving her a relieved smile. She watched his face as he softly laughed, again sensing a familiarity about him.

"Every moment...you feel more familiar..." she suddenly commented, drawing everyone's attention. She blushed under everyone's gaze, but Ash's surprise quickly turned into a smile as he took one of her hands in his own.

"I'm so glad to hear that...you have no idea how important you are to me May..." he told her, giving her hand a light squeeze and earning a deeper blush across her cheeks.

"Why...?" she timidly asked. "What's our connection…?"

"I want to tell you...more than anything I want to tell you everything…" he said honestly, using every ounce of willpower he had to keep from spilling everything to her. "But I can't right now...not while we still have so much work to do...but I promise I will soon…"

"But why...?"

"Because I can't force you into something that you don't feel…I'd never do that to you…" he admitted honestly, surprising her.

"Oh..."

"Believe me, I really want to tell you everything I know about you…about us…but I know I can't right now...there are things going on that are more important than my feelings…" he sighed.

"Oh Ash…" she whispered, able to feel his pain through the look in his eyes. A sad frown crossed her face as she gave his hand a light squeeze, hoping to bring him some comfort. Her gesture seemed to work as Ash flashed her a small smile, which she reciprocated.

"Well anyway...we should find Mesprit..." he reminded her.

"Right..." she nodded as she and Ash looked towards the rocks. Once again, they seemed to be sealed up tight. Remembering their last attempt, Ash took out the Arc Phone and held it out towards the rockface. The Arc Phone starts glowing brightly once again and both trainers shielded their eyes. Once the light had faded they both opened them back up and saw the entrance to the cave had appeared before them. "There it is..."

"Right. Let's head in there." Ash agreed as he walked in with her. Given their last encounter, May grabbed a pokéball and held it at the ready. As they arrived in the main area of the cavern, they found another large Pokemon waiting for them. The Pokemon looked a lot like a Goodra but had much sadder eyes and a large metallic tail.

"Goo!" the Dragon type roared loudly.

"Is that a Hisuian Goodra?" Ash gasped.

"Sure is…and a big one..." May nodded.

"Guess we've got no choice but to take him down." He said as he took out a pokéball and threw it. "Come on out Dartrix!"

"Dar Dartrix!" the Grass-type announced himself.

"Zorua we need your help too!" May called as she threw out her own pokéball. Out of her pokeball came a little Pokemon that indeed looked like a Zorua, but he had white and red fur that seemed to move on its own and much thicker fur as if he was trying to stay warm.

"Zor!"

"That's a Zorua?!" Ash gasped.

"Yeah what of it?" May asked.

"Nothing…just looks different than I thought…" he admitted sheepishly. Goodra suddenly roared loudly at them and drew their attention back to the matter at hand as he fired a Dragon Pulse at them.

"Counter with Shadow Ball!" she called to her partner. Zorua heeded her order and fired a powerful Shadow Ball, blocking the Dragon Pulse and creating an opening for Ash and Dartrix.

"Quick use Peck!" he ordered. Dartrix obeyed and charged in quickly, landing a Peck on Goodra. Goodra roared in pain and quickly disappeared into his shell, raising his defense with Shelter.

"Oh no, you don't! Bitter Malice let's go!" May fired back. Zorua growled and fired a wave of ghostly at Goodra, attacking and shaking his shell to the point that he was forced to come back out, which seemed to anger him.

"Dra goo!" Goodra roared as he fired another Dragon Pulse, this time aimed at Zorua.

"Use Razor Leaf!" Ash called. Dartrix quickly fires Razor Leaf at the Dragon Pulse and blocked it from hitting Zorua just in time.

"Thanks for the save." May said, giving Ash a small smile.

"No problem." He replied with his own smile and a small wink.

"Alright Zorua use Shadow Ball one more time!" she called. Zorua lept into the air and fired off another Shadow Ball faster than Goodra could account for and cried out in pain as he was hit.

"Use Peck one more time!"Ash followed up.

"Trix!" Dartrix squawked as he flew in and used Peck again, forcing Goodra to stumble backward. Seemingly having had enough, Goodra suddenly roared and was able to hit Zorua with Dragon Pulse before May could call out a counter.

"Zoru!" Zorua cried out in pain.

"No Zorua!" May gasped, running to him and picking him up in her arms. Seeing his partner go down, Dartrix glared at Goodra before charging straight at him for another attack.

"Dartrix?!" Ash gasped. Darktrix used Aerial Ace and flew in for the hit, but Goodra was able to fire off a Hyper Beam before he was able to make contact. Dartrix was easily blasted away and crashed into the back wall of the cavern, stunning both Ash and May.

"Oh no!" May gasped.

"Dartrix!" Ash called worriedly. They could only watch as Dartrix struggled to get back up, all while Goodra smirked triumphantly over them. Dartrix glared at Goodra and spread his wings wide in defiance.

"Trix!" he yelled as his body suddenly started glowing, stunning everyone.

"Whoa!" Ash exclaimed.

"Is he...?"

"Looks like it!" he smirked. Darktrix grow bigger and began to change shape. Within moments the glow faded and a new Pokemon was standing in Dartrix's place.

"Decidueye!" the new Pokemon announced himself.

"Whoa..."

"A Hisuian Decidueye..." Ash realized, noticing the differences between this form and the one he remembered from his time in Alola. Seemingly not intimidated by Decidueye's show of new power, Goodra fired off another Hyper Beam directed at him. But this time his opponent was ready. Decidueye jumped out of the way of the attack and then quickly struck Goodra by shooting three feather arrows from his wing all at once. All three arrows made contact and Goodra cried out in excruciating pain.

"Whoa! That looked like a new move!" Ash marveled.

"Sure was...that was Triple Arrow…" May realized. Goodra collapsed to the ground and fainted, winning Ash and May the battle.

"Deci!" Decidueye chirped in triumph.

"Amazing! Way to go Decidueye!" Ash happily cheered.

"Ueye." He smirked, giving Ash a thumbs up as he was recalled to his pokeball. May smiled softly and recalled Zorua in just the same way.

"You were wonderful. Thank you." She smiled as she put the ball away. As soon as their Pokemon were put away, a soft glow lit up the cavern, and Mesprit suddenly teleported into the cave. Both trainers turned towards her in surprise as they sized each other up.

"Mesprit..." Ash whispered. Mesprit began to glow softly and another telepathic voice entered into Ash's mind.

"Your emotions...share them with me." She requested.

"Alright then..." he nodded, not realizing that May had been left out of the conversation this time.

"When you fell to this land, what stirred in your heart?"

"Bewilderment...everything is so different here…"

"What did you feel as you met Hisui's people?"

"Surprised…there are many familiar faces…yet they're all so different from the people I knew…"

"Should your love never regain her memories, what would you feel?" Ash's eyes widened in surprise as he glanced at May briefly before answering.

"I would feel devastated...like a piece of me was missing…"

"Would you still love her?"

"I always will love her no matter what..." Seemingly satisfied with that answer, Mesprit then looked to May and projected her voice into the young woman's mind next.

"Do you trust this man despite having no memory of him?" At first, May was surprised to hear her voice as well as the question. She hesitated for a moment as she looked at Ash and considered her answer. After some thought, she turned back to Mesprit and gave her answer.

"...Yes." Mesprit smiled and began to glow, allowing a tuft of her fur to appear in Ash's hands.

"Take this piece of the spirit and bind the world together once more." She instructed them before teleporting away and leaving them alone in the cavern. The two trainers looked at the material they had gathered before turning toward each other and smiling.

"Two down..."

"One left..."

To be Continued...