New Goldenrod City, Ash and Serena's apartment.

With Pangoro's injury to consider, Ash and Serena often spent much time in their apartment taking care of him. Most of their days without any orders from Mr. Star comprised of only that and training outside the city. There wasn't much else to do when every tile of sidewalk in the city was occupied by excitable trainers who would no doubt keep them occupied with requests for favors all day.

While Serena sat with Pangoro on the balcony as usual, Ash found himself in an odd discussion with Paul on his Secretary Bot.

"Wait," Said Ash, "The base was empty?"

Paul replied, "Not just empty, but it was as if no one had been there to begin with. There was no trace of anyone! We even looked under the floor, but there was just a bunch of permafrosted dirt."

Puzzled, Ash asked, "Wasn't there video footage of the outside of that place?"

"Supposedly." Replied Paul with a scoff. "Clearly it wasn't right. These people are crafty but to that level? No way. There's gotta be something wrong with our intel, and I'm thinking it's intentional."

Ash caught onto his train of thought. "You think there's a spy?"

Paul gave a quick nod. "I do. And they've gotta be somewhere high up the chain. That intel came directly from Mr. Star. If it's not him, it's gotta be someone close to him."

Thoughtfully, Ash put a hand to his chin and stared up at the ceiling as he tried to think of anyone who could fit. "Well, I know for sure Mr. Star has nothing to do with it. Every time I've sensed his intentions with my Aura, they've always been pure. But I don't know many people close to him by name."

"Maybe it's time you started keeping track of that," Paul suggested, looking off in another direction. "But if I were you, I wouldn't keep that information stored on these Secretary Bots. With the massive networking that goes into these things, I highly doubt it's only the old man who's listening in. You're probably closer to him than anyone else. It won't be hard to figure out who's close to him."

Ash hated the thought of having to doubt people, especially his friends or even the friends of his friends. Still, the possibility was too dangerous to not take action. "Alright," He said. "I'll keep an eye out. I should be able to spot them with Aura no problem."

Paul merely replied, "Let's hope. I'll be looking into this too as much as I'm able. See you around Ash."

"See you."

When Paul's face disappeared from the screen, Ash sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Of course, on top of everything else they now had to deal with a traitor of all things. It seemed like the list of things they'd have to do to get this broken world patched back together was only getting longer.

Ash stretched his arms over his head, then slapped them onto his lap to sit up. "Serena!" He called. "You ready for today's training?"

There was a whispering of something from Serena to Pangoro before she rose to her feet, turned to him, and replied, "Alright! Ready when you are!"

"Braixen, Blaze Kick!"

"Greninja, duck under and use Cut!"

Serena's Braixen lunged up at Greninja, believing she had finally managed to catch him off guard. However, the frog's blinding speed was too much. Her foot only caught his afterimage, and before she knew it, her other foot was swept out from under her and she was flat on her backside. When Braixen attempted to sit back up, there was a white kunai pointed between her eyes.

The battle was over as far as Tobias was concerned. "Braixen is unable to battle!" He announced. "The match goes to Ash and Greninja!"

It wasn't a surprise to either of them. When they renewed their training after the raid on Nova Branch HQ, Serena made Ash promise not to take it easy on her. She was determined to grow as a trainer by any means necessary, even if it required defeating Ash at his best. So far, that occasion had yet to arise.

The white kunai faded and Greninja offered his hand to Braixen. She sighed, acknowledging her loss, but smirked up at him and accepted. The two bumped fists before being returned to their Pokeballs.

Without missing a beat, Serena put Braixen's Pokeball away and took out another. "The day's still young. You ready for round two?"

"Nah," Replied Ash. "I've actually gotta talk to Mr. Star about something, so I'm gonna head back into the city."

Though disappointed, Serena didn't show it. "Alright. Think you'll have the time to make it back for a match or two before sunset?"

As Ash threw his bag over his shoulder, he asked, "You're not coming with?"

Serena shook her head, substituting the Pokeball in her hand for another one. "Actually, I wanted to get some training done with this old rusty boy. He could use some exercise."

Ash merely nodded along. "Sounds good to me." Looking to his shoulder, he asked Pikachu, "Think you could stand in for me as a training partner?"

Hopping off of his shoulder, Pikachu proudly bumped his fist over his chest and cried out his name. Ash chuckled, flashing his partner a thumbs up before departing.

Though, as he recalled exactly why he was leaving, he suddenly came to a stop. "Oh, that's right!" He said aloud. "Serena, you oughta hear this actually."

She looked back at him with interest. "Oh yeah? What's going on?"

"You didn't happen to overhear my call with Paul earlier, did you?" He asked, to which Serena shook her head. "Well…" Ash trailed off, looking down at his Secretary Bot and deactivating it before continuing. "Apparently, Paul finally went and looked at the rumored Nova Branch base in Sinnoh, but nothing was there. Not even under the floorboards."

Tobias's eyes flicked toward them.

Serena's eyes widened slightly. "For real? Freaky."

Raising his finger, Ash added, "That's not all. Paul said he had video evidence of those Nova guys being there, so he thinks one of them might have infiltrated the Star Foundation and gave him wrong information." He pointed up at Star Tower, which still towered over them at a distance. "I'm heading over to see what I can find."

"Should I come with you?" Serena asked, giving him a look of concern. "If someone is spying on us, they might not be alone."

Ash merely shook his head and smiled. His ivory colored Aura slowly swirled to life around him. "I don't plan on fighting if necessary. With my Aura, I can figure out who it is and report them to Mr. Star. They'll be surrounded in seconds."

With a sigh, Serena returned the smile. "If you say so, Ash. I guess I'll stay here with Pikachu then, but make sure to be careful, alright?"

Ash gave her a wordless nod and wave before turning away and beginning his trek back to the city. Over his shoulder, he heard Serena's voice as she initiated the battle. "Let's give it all we've got, Rhyperior!"

Though New Goldenrod City was truly massive, Ash was sure he had it figured out by now. He slunk through the alleyways where he knew few people ever came, diving across breaks in them that led back to the streets. He could just fly there, sure, but this provided good personal training for him.

Ash came to a sudden stop when he felt eyes upon him. There were so many people around that it was difficult to pinpoint where it was coming from, but he knew it was above him. Figuring it was just someone looking out their back window and noticing him, he continued.

Yet he couldn't shake off that feeling. Something was following him. He wondered if this happened frequently, and if he only noticed it now because of his conversation with Paul. Maybe it was just paranoia. His mind could be messing with him, making him overthink his surroundings.

To test this, he came to a stop near a corner. "If any of you jerks from the Nova Branch are here, you should save yourself a beating and steer clear of this city from now on."

There was no response from his observer. Ash and whoever they were stayed in silence. He flinched in response to sudden, rapid movement from above. When he activated his Aura fully, he was taken aback by the sudden sensation of horrible pain from whatever it was.

That distraction stunned him long enough for a shadow to descend upon him, grabbing him by the shoulders and pulling him around the corner. Ash brought up an Aura Sphere and prepared to drive it straight into whoever was stupid enough to mess with him. And then, he saw who the perpetrator was.

"A-Ash…" Wheezed Latias.

Ash felt his heart sink when he saw her. He backed away in shock, putting a hand over his mouth. His Aura embraced hers on its own, paralyzing him momentarily when he embraced the full extent of her pain. He pushed away before it could extend to her memories, shaking himself off to banish the pain to the back of his mind.

He knelt beside her and went to work, running his Aura-coated hands across her wounds. She looked out into empty space with a blank, vacant look in her eyes. They were grey and lifeless, not even tracing Ash's movement.

"Oh man, Latias… What in the world happened to you?!"

Her movements stopped all of a sudden, and her heavy, drooping eyelids finally came to a close. Yet, amidst all of the pain Ash felt from her, there was a slight reception of happiness in response to his Aura before she fell completely still.

As Ash continued to fuel her life force with his own, the extent of the damage became more clear to him. There was nary a part of her body not covered in bruises, cuts and burns. The burns were the absolute worst part. Parts of her skin had blackened and even bent inward as if it had melted. Something had truly put her through hell.

Ash looked up from the dragoness and scanned the area around him. "This place won't work at all," He admitted. Not to mention that he had no idea about the anatomy of a Legend. There was so much internal damage that he worried about healing something in the wrong way or order and making it worse.

Taking out two Pokeballs, he shouted, "Go, Charizard and Noivern!"

The two dragons roared proudly upon their summoning, but when they spotted the brutalized Latias at Ash's feet, those roars cut off into surprised wheezes.

Ash nodded up toward Star Tower far above. "Charizard, I'm going to need you to carry Latias. I'll need Mr. Star's help for this one."

He motioned toward Noivern. Nodding, Noivern flew over Ash and grabbed him by his shoulders, plucking him off the ground as they took to the air. Charizard, meanwhile, carefully picked up Latias in his arms and followed after them.

Her head was pounding like crazy. When her eyes opened, she could hardly make out a thing. All of her senses had gone fuzzy. There were sounds and lights and voices, but nothing made sense to her. Around her, there were mysterious figures in white racing about. At first, she simply lazily traced their movement with her head. The act inspired a resounding outcry from them. And then, she understood the sounds as voices. Human voices.

Visions of her family's murderers flashed across her widened eyes. Her sense of awareness snapped back all of a sudden, and she tried to leap into the air. However, bindings were strapped to her limbs, holding her down. She screamed and writhed against them with all of her might, scaring off the humans into backing away. The iron wraps tore against her weakened scales and skin as she panicked, worsening her wounds.

"Latias!"

The sole Eon Pokemon ceased her panicked movements when she heard a familiar voice. And then, a wonderful, peaceful feeling flowed through her nerves. It felt like rainfall putting an end to a fire. She recognized the Aura undeniably as Ash and fell back onto the table.

Latias stared up at Ash as if she were beholding an angel descended upon the world. Upon seeing him, her vision became clear once more. Her eyes practically shimmered. In utter bliss, she declared, "Oh, Ash… I finally found you!"

Ash's eyes narrowed. "You were looking for me?"

She tried to sit up, only to be reminded that she was bound. Ash nodded up toward Mr. Star, who peered at them from the glass walls of the chamber they were in. The old man returned the gesture, then turned to say something to someone else on the other side. Latias jumped at the brief sound of steam, and then the binds retracted into the table.

"Sorry about that," Said Ash. "The doctors wanted to make sure you didn't hurt anyone if you freaked out when you woke up. You are a Legend after all. But..." His eyes trailed over to her visible, albeit patched-up, wounds. "What happened to you? What did this to you?"

Latias's expression upon hearing that question made her look as if she had just been slapped. Turning a shaky glance toward the strange doctors, she asked, "C-could you…?"

Shifting a glance between her and those men, he nodded. "If it's alright, can we get some privacy?"

They quickly nodded, not planning to argue with the Chosen One and a Legend, then vacated the room. Once it was empty, Mr. Star gave Ash a thumbs up. Metal shutters rolled down the glass, leaving the two well and truly alone.

Ash turned back toward Latias expectantly. "Alright then," He urged gently, "You were saying? I'm all ears."

Latias glanced around the room with unconfidence practically written across her face. Yet the gentle hand of Ash upon her wing, and his Aura working to soothe her nerves, made her trepidation slowly melt away.

She let out a sigh as she worked up the courage to begin her story. "Those people you're hunting…well, they decided to pay Alto-Mare a visit."

Ash furrowed his brow. He expected that answer, but the confirmation hardly brought him any peace. "What were they after?"

Latias stared down at her chest, bringing up her arms as she recalled the sensation of holding the Soul Dew tightly. "The Soul Dew. They took it, Ash! They took everything!" As she recalled the story, the memories she had repressed erupted to the surface, bringing back the pain of her losses as if they were brand new.

Hot, stinging tears began to flow freely from her eyes no matter how hard she tried to shut them and keep them in. Now, she could hold nothing back. Latias slammed the round edge of her forearm onto the table in frustration, making it quake.

"I tried, Ash, I really did!" She wailed. "I tried to stop them, but I was too weak! Now they're gone!"

Ash merely continued to gently run his Aura across her back, though he recognized that nothing he could do could heal the extent of the damage done to her. Leaning over by her side, he asked, "What happened Latias? What did they do?"

All she could reply between pained sniffles was, "L-Lorenzo…a-and Bianca…! They killed them!"

Suddenly, Ash felt his heart drop. The Aura drained from his hand, which fell still at his side. Noticing its absence, the weeping Latias turned toward him, gasping when she witnessed the look on his face. It was a wide-eyed blank stare, yet she could feel malice practically radiating off of him.

When Ash noticed her staring, he blinked and awkwardly looked away. "I uh, um," He stammered, working his blank slate of a mind into overtime to try to give her a response. "That's…horrible, really. I, um…" Shifting his leg off of the table, he turned away. "I…"

The teary-eyed Latias was only able to put her memories out of her mind due to the shock she had just experienced. She turned to him with worry. "Ash? Are you okay?"

Ash pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. "Sorry, Latias." He said as he faced her again. "I should be the one asking you that."

His face no longer held that dark, unending malice that it once did. Yet, it was replaced by a somber expression that seemed so very tired.

Latias crossed her arms on the table and lowered her head onto them. She replied, "Well…I don't think I am."

"I couldn't expect you to be," Said Ash, shifting back around to look down at her. "I'm so sorry, Latias. If I had been there…!"

She slowly glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, then returned her gaze to normal. "Please don't blame yourself. You weren't there."

Ash let out a long, grating sigh between his teeth. "…What did they look like?" He asked simply.

Upon trying to remember, Latias began to whimper when visions of her family's murderers flashed across her sight . A worried Ash quickly stepped off the table and hovered his Aura over her to soothe her.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" He apologized profusely. "I shouldn't have brought that up."

With Ash's help, the sting of the memories slowly began to dull until she could see him clearly again. As his worried face reappeared before her after banishing the faces of those horrid men, her heart suddenly fluttered. She was reminded of exactly why her first instinct was to find him.

Looking away, she murmured, "Don't, uh…worry about it. But those men…most of them were just wearing these fancy suits with weird gadgets."

Ash frowned, having a good idea of who they were. "Those people." He hissed, having to force himself to recognize them as people rather than entirely monsters. "I know them. I've fought them before, but I didn't expect so many to be left after what we did at the island."

"That's not all," She told him, catching his full attention. "The one that led them…didn't even seem human. It looked more like a machine."

"What did it look like?"

Latias furrowed her brow. "It spewed fire from all over its huge body. All over it, there was metal so dark it barely reflected in the moonlight. And that thing… It killed them both. They saved my life, and it killed them for that!"

Ash felt his breath catch in his throat. "I'm…" He didn't know what to say. The admittance of his failures hung on the tip of his tongue, yet the courage to go through with it evaded him. Not for his own sake, but for hers. In her condition, that kind of news may make her go mad. But she deserved to know. To know that he had let this tragedy happen.

"Latias, listen…" He started hesitantly. Latias glanced at him oddly. Ash could barely meet her eye. "I think...I could have stopped that from happening."

Swiftly shaking her head, Latias replied, "Stop, please. I know how busy you are. You were probably fighting our enemies at the same time. And you couldn't have known either. There was nothing you could have done."

Ash's skin crawled at that.

She continued, ignorant of what Ash knew. "I…look up to you a lot, you know. After that night, the only thing that kept me going was getting to you. Please don't think this is your fault when there was nothing you could-"

Unable to listen any longer, Ash pushed himself off of the table. "You're wrong." He said flatly. "I know I could have stopped that. That big hunk of armor that shot fire, right? I faced him before on that island. I let him pass without so much as a fight because I thought someone else would take care of it. I was wrong. And because of that, this happened."

Latias could only silently stare at him with her jaw agape after that. It looked like she was having trouble even processing that. Ash found it difficult to meet her gaze, but at the same time, felt he didn't have the right to shrink from it. Because of him, Latias's family and the Soul Dew were gone. In his mind, he deserved whatever was coming to him.

Yet instead of screams and fury, Latias was the one who couldn't meet his eye. "Is…that so? W-well, I know it's not like you to run from a battle. Did s-something happen?"

The quakes in her voice betrayed her true feelings. Ash knew she was mad. She was utterly furious, but she was mostly just confused.

"…My Pokemon, and the Pokemon of someone I care about, were hurt badly in a prior battle against someone like that big guy." Ash explained. "Another fight would have killed them. We were on our way to Lee as well, but still…"

Latias turned away. "Is that so?" She asked. "Well then, I guess I can't really be mad at that."

"No," Ash retorted, so quickly that Latias was startled by it, "You have every right to be angry with me. I wasn't thinking ahead at the time, and it cost you. Latias, you are entitled to your anger."

She mulled over Ash's words silently for a while after that. Ash refrained from sensing her feelings, but she couldn't even begin to try to find out how Ash felt. So, she merely continued to try to wrap her head around what he said with her tired mind. It took her a while to process it. Then, she recalled something he had said earlier.

"Wait a minute, did you say there was someone else like that thing?!"

Sighing, Ash merely replied, "Maybe we should bring in Mr. Star for this. He could explain the situation better than I could."

Though Latias recognized the name from the Hall meetings, her face wrinkled with concern. "I'm not so sure if…" She trailed off, unsure how to properly voice her meaning.

Deciding to press the issue, Ash told her, "He's a knowledgeable guy and a trusted friend of mine. I think you'd like him if you gave him a chance."

But Latias was still not convinced. "Ash," She said, "It's fine, really. I came all this way because, well, I wanted…" For a moment, she was stifled by her own words. "I wanted to be with you. Just with you."

She also was reminded of the uncomfortable bindings she awoke to. "I don't think I need anyone who would trap me on a table either."

Ash chuckled at that, earning a dejected pout from Latias. "Well, that was to save you, you know."

"You saved me didn't you?"

To that, Ash surprised her by shaking his head. "Nope. Well, not by myself." He flicked his fingers to create an ivory flame above them. "This new Aura is still something I'm getting used to. I didn't know how to properly treat you, but Mr. Star and his doctors did. They told me if I ended up healing you too much, I could have made it worse. It's thanks to them we're talking right now."

Latias furrowed her brow over the decision.

"I just know you'd like him," Ash added. His voice disrupted Latias's train of thought, making her exhale between her teeth in annoyance.

Ash felt bad about pestering her, especially after their previous subject, but he knew their best shot for getting any information about those men in weird armor would lie with him.

"Fine," She eventually replied in defeat. "If you think he can help, then…I'll trust your judgement."

Ash smiled down at her kindly. "That's all I ask."

He then made his way over to a silver door at the room's edge, which opened when he came near. Latias suddenly felt a panic coming on when he was out of view. Fortunately, he returned shortly, and the sensation disappeared, but she hadn't expected his absence to make her feel so vulnerable.

She shook off the residual feeling once Ash approached her with Mr. Star in tow. "Latias," Spoke Ash, "This is Mr. Star. Mr. Star, Latias."

The old man immediately shocked her by bowing to her as an introduction. "Latias in the flesh!" He marveled in excitement. "It is an honor to meet you formally." The old man suddenly knelt in far too close for her comfort, scanning her face's every detail. "It never gets any less exciting meeting a new Legend. I heard those wings of yours are unmatched in terms of speed. Is that true?"

Unsure of how to respond to the old man's eccentricity, Latias stammered, "Uh, I-"

But Mr. Star, bubbly old nerd that he was, could not even wait for that. He grabbed hold of her hand, earning cries of protest from both her and Ash. "And these claws!" He exclaimed. "Sharper than any razor, I see! And the arms are shielded by round, natural armor!"

Letting go of her hand, he went on to prod at her wings. By now, Ash began to voice his protests against Mr. Star's prodding, seeing how upset Latias was becoming. He should have known this would happen. As dependable as the old man was, he could never stop himself from nerding out over the Legends.

"These wings are simply immaculate in design!" Cried Mr. Star, oblivious to Ash's talking. "I was right to model my aircrafts after these. Their sleek design promotes speed and balance that nothing else can match! This is-"

"Enough!" Shouted Latias, tearing herself away from Mr. Star and floating off of the table. "I am not going to sit here while you stick your fingers all over me! If you're not going to help, then get out and leave me alone!"

Realizing he had overstepped his boundaries, Mr. Star's eyes widened and he backed away. "M-my apologies! I should know my place. It's just that I've spent my life researching and exploring. Seeing another Legend always…" Deciding it best to drop the subject, Mr. Star cleared his throat and said, "Erm, forget about that. What can I do to help you?"

"That thing in black armor." She hissed. "Where is it? Tell me everything you know!"

Sensing rising tensions, Ash stepped between them with his arms up. "Look, I think we've gotten off on the wrong foot. Maybe it would be best if we slowed down a sec to explain the situation to him?"

With wrinkled brows, Latias cast an unsure glance to the old man, then back to Ash. "If you think it'll help."

Mr. Star pinched his nose and sighed when the story came to an end. "To think they would go and attack Alto-Mare. Unforgivable." His head rose back up to look upon the face of Latias. She was surprised to find his eyes wet. "Latias," He said, "Please forgive me for my rudeness earlier. It was inconsiderate of me to berate you with questions after that happened to you. Truly, I am sorry for your losses."

Both Latias and Ash were taken aback by how emotional his reaction was. "Uh, it's alright," A bewildered Latias replied, "But...are you okay?"

The old man gave a small nod. "I'll be fine, but...it's such a shame. That city was one of the most beautiful I had ever visited."

"This is news to me," Said Ash. "I didn't know you visited Alto-Mare before."

In spite of his visible sadness, Mr. Star let out a hearty chuckle at that. "My boy, you would be hard-pressed to find a named place that I haven't set foot on back in my old explorer days." Turning back to address Latias, he said, "Yes, I spent quite a while in Alto-Mare. You said that...one of the people you lost was named Lorenzo. A woodworker, right?"

Surprised by his knowing of this, Latias replied, "Y-yes! How did you…?"

Mr. Star sighed once more, pulling up a chair to rest his weary old legs. "Lorenzo was an old friend of mine. Or rather, I should say I was a friend of his fathers. I knew Lorenzo only when he was a young boy, but he was always so endearing." He gave a laugh that Ash could tell had pain behind it in spite of how boisterous it was. "I was actually forced to squat in their house because I didn't have any money. Spent about a year or so there until I saved up enough to leave. Lorenzo actually…"

He suddenly perked up. Without saying another thing, he stood up from the chair and bolted out of the room, leaving Ash and Serena with vacant stares.

"...What was that about?" Asked Latias.

Ash could only shrug.

They sat in silence, awaiting Mr. Star's return, but when that didn't happen, Ash was the first to speak up. "Hey, Latias?" He asked. "You said you were looking for me after all this happened. Why me?"

Latias thought about that for a moment, unsure of it herself. Upon trying to remember why her first thought was to find him, she was brought back to the horrors that came before and winced. "It was just the first thing I thought to do." She answered. "I couldn't really think much at the time, but that one thought kept me going. It's...why I'm still alive."

Ash nodded, finally smiling a bit. The action caused Latias to flush a bit, but Ash didn't seem to notice. "Well," He said, "I guess I'm glad for it then. Clearly, we've had enough losses already. If you were one of them…" Latias felt a pang in her heart when he sighed and cut off that sentence. His smile faded with it. "Either way, I promise we'll make Team Rocket pay for this. But what will you do until then?"

She hadn't thought about that. The only thought that had occupied her mind was a purely instinctual desire to get to Ash. Now that it had been fulfilled, she wasn't quite sure what to do.

"I'm not sure if New Goldenrod is somewhere you wanna be," Admitted Ash, rubbing his chin with his fingers. "It's the 'bastion against Team Rocket' and all that, but that's made it the prime target for them. You'd be spotted pretty easily and you're in no condition to fight."

The Eon dragon lowered her head onto the table, sighing. "Where do you expect me to go?" She asked. "Sleeping in some forest wouldn't exactly be safe either."

Ash nodded in agreement. "You've got a point. Well, you could always stay here. In your condition, you'd probably need to do that for a while anyway."

Immediately, Latias objected. "Nope. No way. I came here for you, Ash! I'm not going to stay in this-"

The sound of footsteps clattering on the iron floors caught their attention. Mr. Star came running back into the room. He leaned himself against the doorway, wheezing. He held something firmly in his hand, trying to raise it to show the others, but his trembling arm couldn't quite make it. Ash rushed to him, picking the old man up. Ash offered his Aura to rejuvenate Mr. Star, but the old man refused.

"I'm...fine," He said between breaths. Mr. Star stood back up, still holding his upper chest, and weakly raised the thing in his hand up. Latias's eyes shot wide when she saw what he held. It was a small wooden statue. The thing was small, had simple shapes, and was rough around the edges, but it was clear to Latias what it was. It was another Latios and Latias, flying around one another. They were held up by jagged, uneven pillars and most of the wood was fraying off.

"This," He said, placing it on the table in front of Latias, "Is an old carving Lorenzo gave me back in the day. He didn't seem very proud of it at the time. He was actually going to throw it away, but I said I'd take it off his hands. Thought it would make for nice memories if I came back, but…"

He stopped when he noticed the sound of sniffling. Tears fell steadily onto the table. Mr. Star's face went pale when he saw that his actions had caused Latias to cry. "I-I'm sorry!" He quickly apologized, reaching for the wooden carving. "I did not mean to bring up any-"

Latias stopped his hand. "N-no," She whimpered, "You don't understand…!" Latias was smiling in spite of those stinging, burning tears in her eyes. "Thank you!" She cried, gently grabbing onto his frail old hands. "Thank you so much!"

Night had long since fallen. Ash peered over the edge of Star Tower from the top of the glass hallway. Against her wishes, Ash had left Latias in the care of Mr. Star, who had told him to go and rest. Ash had originally protested, feeling obligated to stay by Latias's side, but the old man was persuasive. Since Pikachu was with Serena, Ash decided that now was a good time to try out Riley's floating technique he used when they first visited Celadon. His body could take it.

From their Pokeballs, Ash could sense that his Pokemon were wary. "Don't worry, guys." He said to them. "You know me. I'll be fine." Chuckling, he added, "And if I won't be, then I'll have you guys to bail me out."

He spread his arms out wide, summoning a barrier around himself as Riley did back then. Then, he tilted forward, facing the endless lights below that made the stars above seem dim. Ash felt a sense of exhilaration when he fell. The height made his legs feel almost numb, and the chilling wind only worsened it. Yet that thrill that accompanied it was intoxicating. However, the fall did not last long.

Something shot out from underneath him, sweeping him up. When his Aura reached out instinctively to see what it was before he could even see them, he was surprised. Sitting up atop their back, Ash asked, "Latias?! What are you doing here? You need to be resting!"

"Coming from a guy who never rests." She remarked, looking back at him with a smirk. Her eyes were still sunken from crying, making it difficult for Ash to believe her expression was genuine. "Come on, gimme a break. It's not like I could get much sleep anyways. Just let me have this. At least to wherever you're going."

Ash bowed his head, sighing. A smirk of his own crept up his face. "Suit yourself. Sorry if it's disappointing, but I'm only heading to my apartment."

Latias nodded. "Fine by me. Where's that?"

To that, Ash ran his Aura across her back. Through the conjoining of Aura, intent was made known. Meaning became clear in the absence of words, and Latias's eyean an Aura-coated hand across her back. Upon the conjoining of their two Auras, intent was made known and meaning was found even in the absence of words.

Latias tilted her head down at Star Tower, attempting to narrow her vision on where she now knew Ash's apartment was. "Didn't know you lived right here," She said. "It's nice that he lets you stay in a place like this."

She craned her head backwards, shifting her body to loop around and backflip through the air before jetting down the tower. Even in her weary state, her speeds were enough to make the passing windows tremble.

Though the moment only lasted for a second, to Ash and Latias, it was enough. In that short moment, Ash could feel Latias's relief, and Latias could share in his sense of exhilaration. Before long, they slowed to a halt at the balcony. And all of a sudden, the moment was over.

Ash hopped down onto the balcony as an awoken Serena threw open the sliding window, Pikachu trotting out behind her. Latias's face paled upon seeing the slumbering, disarmed Pangoro on the corner.

"Don't worry about him," Ash said, motioning for them to enter the door. "He'll be fine. It's a long story, too. Why don't you come in?"

She sent a final passing glance at him before obliging. As she entered, Pikachu took his rightful place atop Ash's shoulder, earning a laugh out of his trainer.

"Good to see you too, buddy. Latias, you've already met Pikachu."

Nodding, Latias waved to the yellow mouse, who returned it eagerly. "I have. Good to see you again, Pikachu!"

Serena covered her mouth as she yawned, though she did her best to try to greet the Legend. "So you're…an old friend of Ash's?" She asked groggily. "Nice to meet you. My name's Serena."

Her hair was all over the place and her eyes were too exhausted to open. Ash gently put a hand on her back and lightly ran some Aura across it, making her smile a bit and hum in delight. Latias looked at this oddly, but decided not to make a remark.

"Er, it's nice to meet you too. I'm Latias."

There was a sudden knock on the door.

Ash pushed himself off of the bed. "I'll get it."

When we went to open the door, it was Tobias who came in. "I heard some noise," He said. "I could feel my room shaking. Did something happen-"

And then, his eyes locked with those of Latias's, and he felt his blood run cold.

Authors note

Pokextinction fact of the day: At their utmost limit, the powers of Aura and Necrozma both relate to augmenting reality. Ash does not know of this, and it is unknown if the power he was given has this property. If Aura is to be believed about not wanting to interact with the universe, it may not be the case. But there is always the possibility that Aura may not be telling the truth, even to itself. Then again, it is only a possibility.

The creator- Finally done. Seems like the world was against this chapter. Got a minor foot injury and sick along the way. I'd have probably gotten this done ten days ago if that didn't happen. Well I hope you all enjoyed seeing Latias again either way. I hope you're all having a grand Olympics though.

Hydra- We have finally made it to chapter 50! It only took 4 years but we're here everybody, now let's just hope we don't have to celebrate chapter 100.

British-Vulture- Everyone: We need to work together to beat Team Rocket and the Nova Branch!

Genesect: *equips new, advanced cybernetics* Fine, I'll do it myself.

All seriousness, this chapter was brilliant! The constant 'gotchas!' of the warehouse raid ending in the potential for a mole to be within Star Industries, the satisfying defeat of the director and Genesect getting a couple of hundred levels of extra badassery, this is my favourite chapter so far. If only because we got Genesect going from Bloodbath Diablos to straight up FATALIS (Monster Hunter's set in a postwar world, though it's not clear or mentioned often, and Fatalis singlehandedly did most of the heavy lifting against humanity).

Also, all those certains was confusing until the slaughter of one's family part was mentioned. This leads to three potential candidates. First is Latias, second is Genesect (though this is more of a stretch) and third is… fuck, who's the kid that Mew effectively kidnapped?

Anyway, cracking chapter lads, keep up the good work!

(PS, most of my 4th of July's are spent either watching Independence Day or shit talking the US. I am British, after all)

The creator- Glad that chapter was your favorite. I promise there will be more Genesect to come. The kid's named uh… goes to look it up… Shaun btw. And Fatalis, you say? Rumor has it that it's got a lot of firepower. Heheh. Get ready for that to pay off in twenty chapters.

Hydra- Happy you enjoyed the blood bath it was really fun thinking up this chapter. Genesect is going down quite the dark path and while it's directed toward her enemies let's just hope that no innocents get in her way.

G- Great chapter, so we could see more about the hunting of Genesect, well was satisfising to see her setting scores in the Nova Branch for what they did with her family. Being honest, to this point i cannot help in imagines to Genesect like the another Doom Slayer version, only that she targets Nova Branch and Team rocket members than Demons; RIPS AND TEARS UNTIL ITS DONE.

Also, was a great twist plot that Genesect found barely alive to other of her siblings, well was heartbreaking to see the tortures and torment that this Genesect had to endured after be dismantled, reprogrammed, mind probed, and studied like a computer, to not only understand more about their species, but also to enhances the Black suits of this organization. Adding that this Genesect ended asking her to mercy killing after all this torment, leaving the already distraught Genesect even more traumatized and thristed for revenge against the responsibles of all this.

As other point, during the dialogue between the Genesects, i couldn't helps in imagines this scene similar like the death scene of Zack Fair in Final fantasy 7, especifically as the dismantled Genesect says to the other Genesect that she is their legacy now, much like Zack said to Cloud that he is now his living Legacy, as if Zack and the dismantled Genesect tried to consoles Cloud and Genesect, and ask them that they should uphold their memories, to that their legacies can be known and brings hope to others that needs their support.

To finishes, i wonder what would do Paul with the finding about that false coordinates of the Nova Branch in Veilstone? As now he suspects from some possible mole or traitor in the organization of Mr Star, making that now Paul tries to finds this leaking of information. Though that if Paul is smart, he should't be too much obvious to makes that everyone knows that he suspects from some mole or traitor, as the perpetrator could be more careful to avoid be discovered if he/she knows that Paul is after him/her. Well, we can only hope that Paul can finds the responsible, before leads them to a trap.

Keep the good job :)

The creator- 'Rip and tear until it is done' is a great quote for what Genesect is going to be doing for the rest of the story. A smile better fits a hero, though. I'm sure Paul will end up fiiiiine though. Thanks again for your awesome reviews, G.

Hydra- I just love looking at Genesect now considering she went to an innocent little girl to a blood thirsty vigilante. It seems like she's starting to lose herself to her anger and go down the path of the dark side. It seems a confrontation is inevitable.

DarkPugLord23- HOLY CRAP! Genesect has just become this world's version of John Wick and I am loving every single bit of it! The fire, the anger, the rage of a Pokemon who has butchered quite a few people in vengeance, and you guys weren't kidding when you said she's not on a good path; hell, by the sounds of it, she intends to build a new one for herself out of her killstreak. Also, I love the fact that she's basically Frankensteined herself by building a new body out of the remains of other Genesects, and I like to think that she'll take them with her on this quest for vengeance of hers whether they like it or not, and I think it signifies that all traces of her old, innocent self are gone, and are now replaced with a merciless killer. I could be wrong on that last part, but one thing's for sure, I absolutely cannot wait for the next chapter!

The creator- Arceus help anyone who would murder a Growlithe or Lillipup in front of Genewick. Not only does Genesect's new body incorporate parts of her sibling, but that laboratory was where Ryder got his suit. Imagine what she can do now. Sorry if this chapter wasn't quite as exciting as the last one.

Hydra- Oh god imagine if the new red that's all over her body was from the blood of her enemies? That would be really freaking dark. I love the new look she got though, now she's capable of a whole lot more with her new upgrades.

The creator- Next time, we'll be getting answers about someone very young. See y'all then.

Hydra- Well guys thanks for reading. I still can't believe we finally made it to 50 chapters, hopefully we can finish this story before we go too overboard on word count lol. Have a great night guys!