"Hum," Zack said while he was drinking in the stream next to Damini, "This is delicious! "It's been a while since I've prove such delicious water, it must be nice to live in this place"

"Not much…" Damini replied, pointing around her, "This biome was even more colorful and full of life a long time ago…"

"And what happend?"

"Do you know about the invaders? Well, we migrated from one plain to another, and this terrain was our spring migration site. When we arrived, there were barely any berries left and the stream is too small for the entire pack, not to mention the other Pokemon that live around it. Possibly the ground withered from his mere presence"

"Oh, wow… and how does your dad handle the pack thing?"

"Between being rigid and flexible, and he wants me to become the new leader when my evolution comes"

"And what would you do as the pack leader?"

"I don't know… being a pack leader seems difficult. Changing the subject, why did you come here?"

"As I said before, Xerneas sent me and my companions. And he said that I had forgotten the key to working in a pack…"

"My dad said that strength reside in the unity of the pack, and that we don't necessarily have to be family to be a pack, because we are united by a special feeling... although he hasn't told me what it is. I'm sorry I'm not helpful…"

"No, thank you very much… you told me what was best you could. If there is someone who doesn't understand the key to working in a pack, it's me."

Suddenly, a loud explosion was heard in the place where the rest of the herd was gathered, while screams were heard. Then, without thinking, Damini ran in that direction. Zack immediately followed her.

As they approached to the place, they realized that it was not just any enemy: almost the entire herd was unconscious and wounded on the ground, while the few that remained were still fighting by launching fierce Thunderbolts at the invader. This one was twice the size of a Luxray, with a face reminiscent of an orc and quite extensive fur on its body (which served as protection).

"A Grimmsnarl" Zack thought when he saw it. But he was not like a normal one... his hair was white and his face was too pale to be normal. On his side, he wore the insignia of the Celtic Cross: he was one of the Hybrids of the terrorists.

"False Surrender!"

With a single shock of his hair, he took down at least six Luxios. From another angle, Vidyut jumped to attack him.

"Thunderbolt!" he attacked.

But the Grimmsnarl saw it coming.

"Spirit Break!" he counterattacked, launching a slash empowered with his hybrid powers.

The energy of this attack was perhaps two or three times more powerful than a normal shadow attack and, as expected, he overwhelmed Vidyut's Thunderbolt, leaving him badly injured. However, he was able to stand up by sheer force of will. Damini tried to get closer, but her father stopped her.

"Damini, go away!" he yelled at her, "Don't worry about me, just protect the pack!"

"No dad!" Damini told him, approaching anyway, "I won't leave you here."

"Ha, how touching…" the Grimmsnarl Hybrid sneered, "It reminds me of my human times, when slaves cared a lot about their families. That feeling of seeing them suffer was fun…"

"I won't let you make fun of them," Zack shouted, "Time to Ultra Evolve!"

The lightning bolt symbol appeared on Zack's chest and his Pokephone glowed.

"Luxio evolves into… Luxray!"

Once the evolution was done, Zack launched himself into attacking Grimmsnarl.

"Swift!" he attacked, launching a flurry of rapid stars.

The first attempt was totally useless: the thick layer of hair of that Hybrid protected him as if it were a wall of very hard rocks.

"I feel ticklish…" the Hybrid mocked. Zack decided to try something else.

"Thunder Fang!"

The chosen one launched himself with electric fangs at full power, but when he bit the Grimmsnarl, he realized that the layer that covered him still persisted... was there a way to get through it?

"Hybrid Pulse!"

A powerful wave of energy that should be dark, but was white from the Hybrid booster, launched Zack against the rock walls. The pain was immeasurable, and that with a single blow.

"It is time to finish you, chosen child…" the Hybrid declared, "Spirit Break!"

"Zack!" Damini shouted, getting in front of him.

There was an explosion in which Zack couldn't believe what had happened. However, when the smoke began to clear, a very bright blue-blue glow could be seen surrounding Damini's body... when it was over, Damini had evolved into Luxray as well.

"Have I evolved?" she wondered, amazed.

"Ha, no matter how many there are, they are still vermin like those humans who died in the fields… Hybrid Pulse!"

The Grimmsnarl launched that attack again, to which Damini responded with all of her Thunder Shock. However, the clash of energies was uneven and little by little it advanced towards her. When she was almost about to lose, Zack got up and supported her with his Thunder Shock.

"Thank you, Zack," Damini told him.

"Don't worry," he said, "But why did you get involved in the attack before? It was dangerous"

"Maybe you're not officially part of the pack... but we're friends, right?"

However, before Zack could fully process the word 'friends', the Hybrid increased the power of the attack, causing a reaction and exploding near the two Luxrays. Fortunately, they had narrowly escaped. The chosen boy could see Damini equally injured as him, trying to get up.

"…We are friends…" Damini's words repeated in his head.

It was so obvious! He thought, why hadn't he seen it before? Of course, before he had played sports and won on his own, without the help of the rest of the team. Pack work was not very different… he finally understood it.

"It's time to end this," the Hybrid commented, approaching Damini to finish her off.

"I won't let you hurt them…" Zack said, standing up.

"Are you still stubborn?" the enemy asked, "Please, you are weak. In my society there was no place for weak filth and when we got rid of it, we were one of the best governments in the..."

"At the cost of innocent lives!" Zack snapped, "You abused the weak! And those who had the courage to stand against them were punished by the leaders. A true leader listens to his people, to his team, to his pack…"

"Don't tell me," the Hybrid mocked, "What do you have that could contradict me?"

"I didn't take my team into account when I played, that was a mistake. This pack showed me how wrong I was…maybe we are not related by blood, but there is another value that is equally important… friendship!"

As soon as he said the last word, his medallion began to shine, the earth began to shake and the rock where the leader sat for the trials cracked, revealing a small blue and yellow stone. It flew in Zack's direction and the lightning symbol came out of the chest and fused with the stone. Then, it entered the Pokephone.

"I don't know what that was, but I'll kill you anyway!" the Hybrid shouted.

"Time to Mega Evolve!" Zack shouted as the medallion and device glowed.

And it happened: the glow became more intense than normal and Zack felt his body evolve once again.

"Luxray Mega Evolves into… Mega Luxray!"

The Mega Level that Zack had reached was quite impressive: his body seemed covered by a kind of armor as flashing as lightning in full fall. On the other hand, the Hybrid, although he felt some fear, tried to show himself as he was in his time: a cruel and proud general of that cursed government.

"Don't think too much, little boy... it's impossible that you have surpassed my powers... False Surrender!" he shouted.

His long hair shot out to hit Zack. However, even though they did hit their target, they were rejected by a kind of electrical energy emanating from Mega Luxray's armor. It was like hitting a steel door with a whip.

"Damn you … Spirit Break!" he shouted.

The Hybrid dark energy ball was launched at full speed, impossible for Zack to dodge.

"Thunder Roar!" he counterattacked, roaring.

With a powerful roar, from which electricity was released in droves, the ball of destruction stopped dead and fell apart like scattered pieces of paper. Almost on the verge of desperation, the enemy leaped into the air, concentrating all of his strength into one final great attack.

"Hybrid Pulse!"

But, from the ground, seeing that that aggressive attack was planning to attack the meadow, he did not hesitate to jump and attack with all his strength. Charging up with energy, he counterattacked.

"Mega Fang!"

It was a combination of a Gust and the Volt Tackle attack, possibly twice as powerful as that fusion. In the second, he was passing through that hybrid energy, as if it were just a breeze of the wind, and covered the Hybrid, trapping and clawing at it like multiple knife-like attacks. This triggered the same reaction as Hyzard: the hybrid body was deteriorated.

"Noooooooooo!" the enemy was heard for the last time.

When he finished, Zack fell on his feet on the ground and returned to his Ultra form. However, when everyone was recovering from that unforeseen attack, a miracle occurred: thanks to the shine of Zack's Pokephone, the biome began to bloom again little by little.

(A few minutes later…)

Luxio's pack was gathered and recovered, looking at Damini evolved into Luxray. As the murmuring continued, Vidyut roared to calm things down. Then, he turned to Zack.

"Zack, you're officially a member of the pack," he declared.

"But, I still had to pass the third test…" said Zack.

"The third test was to put your friends first before a victory," he explained, "But, with what you have shown today, I think that more than just a member, you could be the leader of the pack one day, what do you think? "

Zack looked at the pack, but stopped at Damini and remembering his friends.

"It would be a great honor, but I have another pack that I must be with," he replied, "Plus, I think she is a great future leader in this pack"

Vidyut, to the surprise of even his pack, smiled.

"It's true," he said, turning to his daughter, "Damini, I'm proud of you. I am sure you will be a great leader."

"Thank you dad," she responded.

"Well… I have to go" Zack declared.

"Wait Zack!" Damini stopped him.

They both looked at each other.

"We will see us again?" she asked.

"It is possible," he said, "But you must not forget what you told me: we are friends after all, right?"

"Yes, friends. And friends will never forget"

With that farewell, Zack then took one last look at the pack that changed his way of thinking and, returning his sight to the path that awaited him, he hoped to reunite with his pack or, in other words, his friends.