(Previously, from another point of view…)

Zack was swept away in the whirlwind of colors in an unknown direction. When all the sensation of hyperspeed travel stopped, he could see around him: In the sky, a sea of white clouds soft as cotton, blocking at short intervals, weak but warm rays of the sun. On the land, a range of mountains rises majestically not far from him. The land in front of him was flat, with low grass, several rocks protruding and no flowers growing, it seemed like a wild territory. Furthermore, a stream ran through that place until it was lost behind the mountains.

"That must be Aim Plains," Zack thought. "It could be dangerous, so I better be careful."

Zack began his journey, walking in that inhospitable terrain... He wasn't afraid at all of the Pokemon that might live there, but he was worried about a couple of things: the Hybrid Pokemon (in which he assumed he wouldn't be the only one), and the words of Xerneas.

"You have forgotten the key to working in a pack" repeated in his head.

"Pack…" he thought, "What does it mean?"

While he was wondering that, he noticed something strange: he felt like someone was watching him. For a minute, he thought he saw a shadow staring at him through a rock.

"I hope it's just my imagination," he thought.

But, suddenly, a strange tremor shook the area. In front of him, the floor began to crack and a large Scolipede appeared in front of him. On his thick neck, he wore what looked like a black ring.

"A black ring…" he said, taking out his Pokephone, "Time to evolve!"

His device glowed and his body began to evolve.

"Shinx evolves into… Luxio!"

In Luxio's form, he could move more slightly and thus jump along the Scolipede's tail, trying to seek out and hit the evil ring. However, the huge insect was quite tough and he managed to shake it off. He was about to fall on a rock when someone stopped him: another Luxio.

"Are you ok?" she asked him. From the tone of his voice, he assumed she was a girl.

"Eh, yes… Thank you"

But it wasn't much time to talk: The Scolipede was fiercely approaching them.

"Damn…" Zack said to himself, "I'll have to go into Ultra mode."

"Thunder!"

A Thunder launched from some direction hit the Scolipede, stopping it dead. Zack turned to see who had thrown him and was surprised to see a Luxray on a rock. His appearance was similar to anyone else, although this one seemed more imposing; Luckily, he wasn't wearing an evil ring.

"Attack from the edges!" he shouted.

To Zack's surprise, several Luxio appeared from the rocks (he now understood why he felt watched), and ran in different directions, spinning around the Scolipede, managing to confuse it. This one, he tried to attack each one with his huge tail and Poison Stings, but he always failed. Zack couldn't believe how great coordination they had.

The Scolipede was getting tired, at which point the Luxios took advantage to attack together with Thunder shock from different angles. Even though one alone wouldn't hurt a bug-type much, working together paralyzed it. However, the control of the evil ring prevented him from stopping fighting and he shook violently trying to free himself from the electric field from which he was confined.

"Don't stop!" the seemingly leader Luxray shouted.

"Wait! Scolipede is being controlled by a dark ring in his neck" Zack shouted at him, "If you destroy it, he will calm down"

The Luxray stared at Zack, as if he doubted the stranger's sincerity. However, before making a decision, Scolipede broke free from the electric field and swept away all the Luxio with its enormous tail. Seeing this, the Luxray ran in the direction of the insect Pokemon, trying to stop it. Zack knew he couldn't do it alone.

"Time to Ultra Evolve!" he shouted at the same time as the lightning bolt on his chest shone.

Again, in the light, the chosen boy's body evolved again.

"Luxio Ultra evolves into… Luxray!"

Now, with the Ultra form of him he could ran following the leader. Upon seeing him, the leader showed a slight impression, but he returned to focus on the main problem. The Scolipede detected them and launched an attack of Toxic Spikes that they managed to dodge. The leader stepped forward and dashed towards the insect Pokemon, scaling the slimy body in a second.

"Iron tail!" he attacked, breaking that artifact of evil.

The Scolipede writhed in pain, for at last he had control of his actions. The leader Luxray got off the beast and the Scolipede left, digging underground (apparently, he had that ability). Zack was impressed: he never thought he would find any Luxray more skilled than him.

"Are you alright?" the leader asked his pack. They answered yes (somewhat painful). Then, he turned to the Zack (who had returned to the Luxio form) and the Luxio girl who had helped him.

"You're getting better, Damini," he told to her.

"Thank you, father," she responded, to Zack's surprise.

"As for you…" he added, turning towards the chosen boy, "You are not from the pack, what are you doing here, stranger?"

"Well, you see…"

"Anyone who is not part of the pack, even a Luxio who can evolve at will, must stand trial"

"Father! Please don't be so hard on him," Damini told him. That didn't sit well with Zack.

"That depends on what he says, Damini… Bring our guest to the trial rock" he finished, as he turned his voice towards the rest of the pack, "Come, we must make a judgment."

"Yes, leader Vidyut!" the other Luxios responded, and followed him.

Damini and Zack were the last ones

"I'm sorry about all this," Damini said to Zack, as she led him to the rest of the Luxio pack, "My father takes all the law of the pack seriously in order to protect us. By the way, what is your name?"

"Zack" responded, "What is this kind of 'judgment'?"

"Well Zack, it is a series of questions to determine if you can be trusted or not. And you must answer honestly, because my father has a quality to detect lies."

(A few minutes later…)

Zack was in a kind of circular courtroom… or at least, that's what it seemed like: it was a spiral-shaped pit descending and the supposed seats were actually made of rocks where each member of the Luxios pack took his position. In the central part, there was a medium-sized rock on which Zack had to sit (as a defendant) and, in front of him, there was a rock protruding like a peak, where Vidyut (as the judge) was positioned.

"Introduce yourself, stranger," Vidyut told him, "Your name and who you really are: I have seen you evolve and return to your previous form of your own free will, that is not possible under normal circumstances."

"My name is Zack, and I am a chosen child," he responded.

A series of murmurs began to be heard throughout those present at the mention of the words 'chosen child'. Leaving that aside, the conversation continued:

"What are you looking for in our territory?" Vidyut asked him, "If it weren't for the fact that you are a chosen child who can evolve into all forms of Luxray, you would be out of this field in less than the blink of an eye."

"Well, I…" Zack began to say, "I come from Xerneas, he told to me and my companions something about looking for a special stone and our origins"

There was a moment of murmuring among the Luxios when Zack mentioned Xerneas. Amidst all this murmuring, Vidyut remained silent, debating in his head what decision to make regarding the new one. Finally, when Vidyut roared, he fell silent.

"We only help our pack," Vidyut told him, "If you want to be part of it, you will have to pass three tests to join us, are you sure you are going to submit to them?"

For a moment, Zack hesitated, but remembering the mission, he responded:

"I will!"

For a moment, Zack could see a quick smile on Vidyut's face. Then, he turned to his daughter.

"Damini, take charge of guiding the rookie in the tests," he said, to the surprise of her and Zack, "Can you do it?"

"Um… Yes, of course, father," she replied.

With the session over, each Luxio climbed down from their respective rock and left the clearing. Vidyut, for his part, talked a little with his daughter before addressing Zack.

"Damini will evaluate the first test. "I have things to do," he told him and left.

"So… what is the first test?" Zack asked Damini.

(A few minutes later…)

Damini had taken Zack to a ravine entrance, a rocky canyon that ran through Amp Plains. Each of its walls were high and steep. Several Luxio were positioned on top, as spectators.

"Well, the first test is proving your speed," Damini told him, "You have to go from this beginning to the exit of the canyon, before me."

"Are you going to be the one I compete with?" Zack asked her.

"Well, of course, are you afraid of me?" she laughed.

Zack didn't say anything: he was almost sure that she was a fast opponent. Having made it clear, they both positioned themselves at the starting line while another Luxio acted as their referee.

"Ready, Set, Go!"

At the same time he shouted the last word, both Luxios ran away with all the speed their four legs could give them. Zack had already run before with his new Pokemon body. However, Damini was an exceptional competitor without a doubt. And soon, both of them had crossed half of the ravine while remaining head to head.

The rocky terrain became increasingly narrower as they approached the end of the ravine, and both Luxios were too close together, but they remained at the same level of speed. Soon, a winner would be known… there were only a couple of meters left…

"Draw!" shouted another Luxio, who was waiting for them, along with others.

Zack collapsed from exhaustion: each of his muscles was beating as much as his heart. If compared to such a race, the hundred-meter dash was just a walk in the park. On the other hand, Damini was also exhausted, but not as exhausted as Zack.

"Well done. You have passed the first test" she told him, "Wait about five minutes and then we will continue with the next one"

Zack just hung his head from exhaustion, remembering that that exhaustive race had only been the first test.

(Five minutes later…)

Zack was now on the same platform where he was judged, with the difference that this time it seemed more like a coliseum, because in front of him, ready to fight, was Damini. Around them, several Luxio impatiently wait for the start of the fight. Likewise, there was also Vidyut.

"Second Test," Damini told him, "You will have to demonstrate fighting skills. And no spontaneous evolutions, okay?"

"Okay…" he responded. As with the previous test, a Luxio was the referee.

"Ready? Begin!" said

"Thunder bolt!" Zack immediately attacked.

But Damini was, as she had demonstrated in the previous test, faster. In the blink of an eye, she had dodged the attack and approached her opponent.

"Thunder Fang!" she attacked.

"Iron tail!" Zack defended himself.

There was the sound of a crash and Damini had managed to catch Zack by the tail, even though Iron Tail's attack was still active. In order to free herself, the chosen boy rolled on the ground to force her to let go of him.

"Spark!" They both attacked.

Both Luxios attacked at the same time, colliding headbutt with headbutt: they were very evenly matched in power. As they continued their confrontation, Vidyut roared.

"Stop!" he shouted, "It's a Draw. Congratulations rookie, you have passed the second test… Take a break and then you will continue with the last test"

"Thank you…" Zack managed to say before the leader left, as did the other Luxios.

"Hey, Zack…" Damini said to the chosen boy, "That match was pretty close, do you want some water?"

Zack appreciated the gesture and accompanied Damini to the nearby stream.