Fated Chapter 60: M02 - The Power Of One, a pokémon fanfic

Author's Notes (16)

...Well, damn. This chapter was supposed to double as a Mother's Day special.

*Internal screaming*

WAAAAHHHHHHH! Really sorry for the long update! I've been busy with my assignments in school (Seriously, wtf are degrees of freedom?!)

Not only that, M02 took a long time due to me cramming and removing a lot of ideas in it.

Power of One is the point where it could change the story depending on how I have written it. To explain this, I have sorted the movies into two categories:

Contained and Global movies.

Contained movies are events such as Mewtwo Strikes Back or Pokemon Heroes to name a few. They are events that take place in a contained setting, never affecting the world as a result.

However, Global movies are where things went messy. Power of One or the Deoxys movie and maybe the Entei movie could be counted as global since they're events that affect the entire world of Fated.

Now, what was the problem I had?

...Ash himself.

Do I officially reveal his AURA powers to the world for the villains to see? Or do I keep things hidden?

Luckily, there's a certain thing that helps me achieve that and power ups Ash as well. What is it? Guess you'll have to find out.

Speaking of which, I would like to retcon a certain part of my previous notes regarding Ash's specialty:

Ash's style revolves around Fakes and during my planning, I was eager to add in the 4-letter word powerup I've previously mentioned:

Copy.

It fits him thematically but in the end, I've decided to scrap it. How it works is that Ash would be able to copy other Trainers' style and use it against them.

Not only is it broken beyond belief, it would make him closer to the OP!Ash mold that I've been trying to avoid. So that's a no-no.

Fated!Ash is not going to have an easy time, I can promise you that.

Instead, I'll be giving him a different battle powerup in the form of a certain skill in Masters Ex. More specifically, one of Sygna Suit Thunderbolt Red's skill.

God, I'm tired. Just as I said, this chapter is nearly 33k+ words, surpassing M01 as a result.

I really don't wanna one up this...

And now, onwards to the questions:

...

From MegaSalamence64

Changing where Mew's Eyelash was found to be at the Tree of Begining is understandable... Especially given the larger focus on Aura as a Concept means Lucario's Movie would be delayed for bigger drama as well...

Plus given the Pokémon World's distancing itself for realty save for Pokémon Behaviour and Inspiration for their regions... It make sense you alter it...

And Zygrade's the Guardian of the Tree instead of the Regis... Wonder how they and their Galarian Cousins (Regidrago and Regieleki) and Papa Regigigas would be handled then...

Excellent questions! To start, I would like to clarify something. Zygarde isn't the Guardian of the Tree since the Regis are actually there in Fuji's notes (Legendary Titans), the reason why there's a mindless cluster capable of forming into a deformed 50% Zygarde is a lore spoiler and has something to do with Fated's altered Zacian/Zamazenta lore.

Still, Since you mentioned Arceus would have a considered Reduced Role (Like not being an Almighty Creator (Which I'm more or less embracing for my Fics...) For example)...

...Yeah, about that. I've mentioned before in a now deleted notes that Arceus isn't the Abrahmic God like what other fics like to depict it as...

But it's still the strongest Pokemon lorewise for a reason. So instead, it's presence is going to be limited, but I want to write it as if Arceus is always there, a looming presence in the story. Plus, Arceus doesn't feel like a creator god anymore as I continued research its lore...

Its abilities remind me closer to that of Lovecraft gods instead. Spoilers...

Since the Regis are mentioned to be based on Ages/Era of Real Life (Stone, Ice, Bronze/Metal, Medieval and Electric), Would this play into your Series's lore?

You did mentioned the mythology that double as the inspiration of certain Legendaries would play a larger role at least...

That's a great guess! You're right, the Pokemon's inspired mythologies play a huge part in their characterizations in Fated. As for the Regibros, their roles are minor in the grand scheme but hopefully in the future, I could cook something amazing for them since I've been a fan of Regigigas since the Giratina movie.

Also, 𝐔𝐍 𝐔𝐍 𝐔𝐍 𝐔𝐍 𝐔𝐍 𝐔𝐍.

How do you plan to handle the Treasures of Ruin?

They're Actual Legendaries unlike The Ultra Beasts and Paradox Pokémon at least and I do have an idea for them:

Maybe reveal the Forces of Nature (Aka Tornadus, Thunderus, Landorus and Enamorus clashed with them in the Past while they're on their migration Paths form Hisui to Paldea at least...

Reveal some past conflict with the Ruins and Maybe make Volo or any Gingko Guild Member the merchant whom delivered the Cursed Treasures to the Paldean King...

Maybe even work them into a theoretical Paldea Movie focusing on the above as an idea?

*goes on Youtube* Wait, the DLC's out?!

But seriously, yeah, I've been out of the loop regarding Pokemon news. Right now, I can't say much but from what you have written, these new Pokemon sound sick as hell. Treasure-like Pokemon is a pretty dope idea that I would love to play with. So yeah, can't say much about the Treasures, but I'm pumped to do more research to incorporate them in Fated.

Paldea movies... Fated verse Original movies... Not a bad idea. But its mentally taxing so I'm gonna put a raincheck on that.

Would Ash get Melmetal and Naganadel in Fated's Alola Arc?

Sure UBs would be of lesser important (Same with the Non Koraidon/Miraidon and Walking Wake/Iron Leaves Paradox Pokemon depending on what you do but would it be safe to assume Melmetal would still be got alongside Naganadel?

I can understand if the former would be remove to avoid undermining the Power of Legendaries but since UBs won't be seen as Legendaries in your Story, Would that mean Naganadel would still be obtained at least?

Now this... is a toughie to answer. As you guys know, this story is building up to an OP Ash (that makes sense) so giving him both of them would be a tad overkill. So, right now (subject to change), I'm leaning towards Melmetal and giving Naganadel to someone else (Not Serena, since it doesn't fit her) *Cough, cough, Masters EX, cough, cough*

Regarding UBs, there's a really neat concept in Fate/stay night, or rather the Nasuverse, regarding aliens. And it's that aliens are OP in that universe.

So even though UBs aren't considered Legendaries, they're probably more of a match against Godlike Pokemon due to their foreign status.

Paradox Pokemon is a big ? though, so Ash might be getting one though, I'm not sure which one suits him more.

So I'm curious as of right now, Would any Mega Evolution for any of the Five Legendaries/Mythical Pokémon (AKA Rayquaza, Mewtwo, Diancie and the Lati Duo) be included?

The Rayquaza's a Guarantee for sure but Mewtwo would be interesting justifying the Mega Stones for it...

Like how do you plan to do so, Would the Genesect Movie have an explanation for the Mewtwonites?

God, I hate the Mewtwonites. Its the biggest plot hole Pokemon has ever done, not to mention there are two Mewtwos in canon.

Anyways, rest assured, Mega Evolutions are gonna be a thing, but not right now. Meanwhile, I'm gonna have to BS my way through this Mewtwo stones nonsense... Did I mention how much I hate the Mewtwonites?

So any Plans on Including Any of the Game Protaganists that didn't shown up in the Anime like Hilda, Rosa and Juliana?

We know Calem was our confrontation in a way that the non Hold (Jimmy), Kris (Marine) Serena, Dawn and May Protaganists would be appearing in this Story as well...

But any future ideas for the ones mentioned above

Oh yeah. They're appearing, no doubt about that. Fated's somewhat of a love letter to PokeSpecials as well since I've loved the idea of every character in the series appearing. However, the Johto trio aren't gonna make their appearances until a bit later since as I've mentioned previously, they're younger than the current and updated Trainer age limit, 11. 3 years younger than Ash/Red.

As I planned, Unova's gonna be where I start cooking up some... intimate connections, tying them to Ash. But not in the way you're thinking, ya damn perverts! This intimacy is going to be what sets Ash off into the REAL HIM (the true protagonist mode).

(Huh? But isn't Ash the protagonist in this story?)

...Hahahahahaha! That's funny metawise, especially after reading this chapter.

Would Character Deaths for certain Characters be a thing? (As in an On-screen death, Not a mentioned one like Delia (And down the Line: Sada/Turo) if you're curious about what I mean)

I know this is a morbid way to confirm but HELL YESSSS!

People are gonna die in Fated. Permanently might I add.

At first, it may be characters no one cares about. But as the story gets going, you can bet your ass I'm not holding back.

As Ash gets closer to other people in the future, the more he risks losing them.

Who's gonna get the axe?

...Who knows?

DON'T HAVE ASH ACT DISSMISSIVE TOWARDS THE PALDEA RIVALS!

Ok, We can agree Scarlet and Violet's Story is at least better then SwSh...

But I don't want to see Ash bashing/Bullying the Paldea Rivals just because their Plights don't involve Dealing with Villain Teams like he has (Especially what happened in Kanto)

Sure, He may be annoyed by Nemona at least given his personality isn't his Canon Self's (Which is why many of us wanted to See Nemona and Ash battle at some point because they're practically made for each other interest wise)

But Avern and Penny YOU NEED TO AT LEAST ADAPT THEIR STORIES FAIRLY WELL SINCE ASH CAN RELATE TO THEM AT LEAST.

Avern's self explanatory since he has similar issues with Ash since his parents aren't there for him but agarubaly worse since Sada and Turo are more focused on their Research compared to Delia dying when she gave birth to Ash...

And Unlike Him, He didn't really have someone taking him under their Wing like Oak did...

So depending on Which Paradox Legendary you gave him (Koraidon or Miraidon, I vote Koraidon), I say Have Ash help Avern out as well since he actually had it worse then Lillie and Gladion (He doesn't really have good Memories with his Parents compared to the Aether Siblings since Lusamine used to be pretty decent as a Parent before her Husband's dissaperance and the Nilhelego toxins Posioning her mind in her grief)

Like maybe have Ash comfort him as well by helping him out as well and Even help Mabostiff recover with the Herba Mystica for his Sake.

Penny's a little trickier but more workable then Nemona for Ash Interactions at least but she has some usable material at least...

And How she and the Other Star Bosses are like a found Family for Each Other... Maybe Ash can RELATE to it to some extent as well (Sure it's not as Bad as N, the Aether Siblings or Avern as mentioned above but Ash isn't as hyper as he was in Canon so Again, Nemona would be more of an annoyance for him despite she being a fan of the Guy as well)

So my suggestion for Team Star, Have Them also reveal they had pretty Rough Family Situations at home as well which is why the Bullying they suffered makes it harder for them since their Home Life isn't any better either... give Ash an even bigger reason not to dismiss them like say with Team Yell (Whom I can see Fated!Ash sending Greninja and Pikachu directly onto them and Hopefully end their Annoying Lives and Marnie's since no one likes Team Yell..)

Like Maybe Atticus could admit his Parents don't really approve of his Shakespearean And Ninja Interests (Maybe also showing how he defends other Students with Odd Interests as well) or even Eri being form a Poor Family whom only got lucky getting her to the Academy...

Heck for Penny, You can have her also be revealed to Rose's Daughter at least, Maybe even admit Rose's very dismmsive of her and even purposely treat her as an annoyance then his own flesh and Blood as well... Or have her Mother be an abusive Alcoholic to her, Hence why she doesn't want to lose her Friends since they're more like Family to her then her Actual family at least.

I know this is a little Fanboyish of me to say this because of how I liked Team Star at least but just, Just Don't have Ash be cynical/A Jerk to Penny's Friends at least, Team Star is better then Team Annoyance/Yell at least.

Just ideas to have Ash Relate to Team Star at least, Show how he can relate to the Star Bosses about Family as well, Since he doesn't even have a Proper Family either as Oak essentially Adopted him...

Like heck, You can also have Ahs admitted other Kids Bullied him at some point as well because of Delia's death and how he's a Parentless kid to help relate to Team Star as well...

That said, I won't mind Ash beating up Team Yell and Marnie or even have those Annoyances form Galar Killed at least... No one likes Team Yell at least..

But Please don't kill off Team Star at least... It's a little hypocritical of me because I'm been wishing Death onto Team Yell because of my SwSh Hate, But again, Team Star is at least better then Team Yell at least.

Ok, damn.

Well, MegaSalemence, you've been a great reviewer here so I'll give my thoughts on this.

A jaded and cynical Ash is definitely going to happen if you think about all the shit he's already been through... On the FIRST region.

So Fated!Ash being those two things makes sense for his character... HOWEVER! He's not going to be dismissive of the team villains or be a jerk towards them in regards to the future Ash I'm planning to develop.

The reason why I've written Ash as an orphan is due to recent Pokemon pumping out family issues left and right. And who better than a mature Ash who deals with these problem more intimately. Canon Ash sure as hell can't relate since Delia's the sweetest mom.

Next, the idea of connecting previous gen with the newer ones with family trees is brilliant, like the Rose and Penny one. That one's going on the list of ideas.

So yeah, Team Star is walking bag of troubled family issues and Ash would be their 'boss' so to speak...

There's more reviews later after the chapter so this isn't the end of it! That's cuz I can't answer them without going through the chapter first!

Why? Cuz this chapter's a clusterfuck of way too many ideas that I crammed in and a crazy plot twist that you guys would probably enjoy.

With that, have fun reading and although it may be late...

Happy Mother's Day!

Chapter 60: [M02] The Power of One

Disturb not the harmony of Fire, Ice, or Lightning…

Lest these Titans wreak destruction.

Upon the world in which they clash,

Though the Water's Great Guardian shall arise to quell the fighting.

Alone its song will fail,

Thus, the earth shall turn to ash.

O Chosen One.

Into thine hands, bring together all three.

Their treasures combined tame the Beast of The Sea.

From the trio of islands, ancient spheres shall you take.

For between life and death, all the difference you'll make.

Climb to the shrine to right what is wrong.

And the world shall be healed by the Guardian's song...

A mantis-haired man with violet eyes stood in front of the ancient tablet as he read its content, a confident yet heinous smirk adorned his jaw.

"The Mirage of Fire, Lightning, and Ice… They may be Legendary Pokémon, but they are not what I'm after," he monologued to himself as his eyes narrowed towards the final line of the tablet.

"…The Guardian of the Sea."

Beep! Beep! Beep!

{ ATTENTION. INSCRIPTION DECIPHERING HAS RETURNED CONCLUSIVE. }

{ MIRAGE OF FIRE REFERRING TO THE LEGENDARY POKÉMON, MOLTRES… }

{ 100% MATCH. }

A holographic machine behind the man showed a 3D rendered Moltres.

{ A LEGENDARY POKÉMON PROVEN TO BE NUMEROUS IN NUMBERS LIKE ITS OTHER TWO COUNTERPARTS. }

{ MIRAGE OF LIGHTNING REFERRING TO THE LEGENDARY POKÉMON, ZAPDOS… }

{ 100% MATCH. }

{ MIRAGE OF ICE REFERRING TO THE LEGENDARY POKÉMON, ARTICUNO… }

{ 100% MATCH. }

{ IT IS BELIEVED THAT THE THREE SPECIES' PROGENITORS ORIGINATED FROM THE REGIONS OF SHAMOUTI OF THE ORANGE ISLANDS, AS EVIDENCED BY HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. }

"Hm… Good. The strongest ones should serve as excellent bait," the man walked towards the enormous chair in the middle of his museum of collections.

The control chamber features the aforementioned chair in which the man could sit comfortably as he commanded the artificial intelligence of his abode.

Sitting comfortably, the man's front view was projected with a holographic map with three waypoints of red, blue, and yellow.

"Moltres, Zapdos, Articuno. Having the Shamouti Mirages, the strongest of their species, would be a nice and priceless addition to my collection," he rubbed his chin with a smirk.

"But together… they are the three keys that unlock the ultimate treasure that I desire."

{ ATTENTION. THREE POKÉMON MATCHING SUBJECTS' PARAMETERS HAS BEEN LOCATED. }

{ MOLTRES, ZAPDOS, ARTICUNO. ALL THREE SUBJECTS DETECTED. }

"Then, let's get started," the mantis-haired man commanded.

Then, his chair whirred mechanically, ascending upwards to his desired location as he prepared his first course of action.

"Which one is the nearest?" he asked the AI of his machinations while ascending.

The yellow lights flickered around him as he approached the top at a steady rate.

{ MOLTRES OF THE FIRE ISLAND, SIR. }

"Good."

Finally, the chair reached the top, a room consisting of nothing, but three granite-coloured walkways surrounded in a circle of similar make with hollow floors in between.

He oversaw the three islands and Shamouti Island outside his now revealed flying castle with his control chamber positioning its maker above the skyline in prime viewing position of the landscape ahead.

Nearing his destination, the mantis-haired man's conceited smirk grew wider.

The palace of steel was circular, a design like the top dome where the master's primary base of operations took place. The palace was kept aloft by a series of rotating fans situated on each notch in a concentric circle, and on the side of the craft.

As the flying palace arrived close to its destination, the virtual map before the mantis-haired man shifted its view into a board with tiles, constructed similarly to a chessboard. The palace moved forward by one, inching close to the red blinker that symbolized the firebird's location.

Once Fire Island was in its vicinity, the aircraft's lowest part whirred open and revealed its heavy artillery in the form of rounded autocannons. From their barrels, round shots of chilling ice blasted towards the island.

The projectiles' objective was clear: Freeze the land.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

An autocannon shot burst upon the earthen land of Fire Island and from within, a half-sphere of bluish light spiralled before disappearing and revealing a radius of the earth frozen with chilling ice.

The fertile soil, blessed by the ideal temperature Moltres' feathers exuded, was froze within moments. Each one of the projectiles gradually destroyed the scenic land with its contents and before long, one of them managed to hit a certain cave entrance, encasing whatever was inside with a wall of bulwark ice.

Sizzzzzle…

From the clear blue glassy ice wall, a growling red heat began emanating. Steam rose rapidly as the ice could no longer hold.

Boooom!

The Mirage of Fire emerged from its home, enraged by the invader's trespassing as well as the autocannons' wreckage.

"Sqquuuuuuuuuuuuuuaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwkkkkkk!"

A mighty whistle from the firebird reverberated across the island and made its way even to the mantis-haired man's lair in the sky. Carrying the whistle was also the internal flames within Moltres' throat as the air around Fire Island began heating up and melting the surface-levelled ice slowly.

"Hm, so you're finally out, Moltres," the man hummed to himself, already having anticipated the results.

"I may be a Collector, but even I have enough common sense to know one must weaken a Pokémon in battle in order to catch it…"

"…Even if it's the Mirage of Fire."

The firebird glared at the flying palace with tempestuous anger before spreading its fiery wings wide to signal its ascension to the skies.

"All systems, prepare for Moltres' capture," the mantis-haired man smiled cockily.

'Now the chase in on.'

Shots of the ice spheres were aimed towards the angered firebird, but they were unsuccessful in taking down the Mirage of Fire. Moltres evaded every single one with ease as it glided through the air with blitzing speed.

{ ANALYSIS COMPLETE. MOLTRES' SPEED CALCULATION CONFIRMED. }

{ FROM THE DATA GATHERED BY THE FIRST SHOTS, MOLTRES' SPEED HAS BEEN DETERMINED TO BE IN THE MAXIMUM SUBSONIC RANGE. }

'So it's roughly Mach 0.8…' the man calculated before his palace intelligence spoke out.

{ ANALYSIS COMPLETE. CAPTURE MODULE UPDATED. }

{ CAPTURE RATE UPDATED: 100%. }

{ PROCEED WITH CAPTURE, MASTER LAWRENCE? }

"Begin."

Moltres's eyes widened as soon as the command was given. The autocannons were suddenly aimed at the firebird's predetermined flight patterns, already acclimated to its movements. The Mirage of Fire tried to evade by any means, be it diving or rolling mid-air, but the autocannons would find it as if they were heat seeking.

Boom!

Finally, the surprised firebird was hit and soon, more would come to damage its flaming body.

Boom! Boom!

Moltres took every single one of them, unable to shake it off due to the opposing element within the projectiles. Normally, this much would not take it down; however, the numbness it felt from its injured parts clued the firebird in that there was a paralyzing agent mixed into the shots.

"Now for my recent collection," Lawrence's smile grew wider as he activated his next contraptions.

From the palace's underbelly, multiple rings of malicious black flew towards the falling Moltres. The Mirage of Fire repelled the initial rings with its tremendous firepower but there were too many for its battered body. Soon, the rings encircled the great firebird before trapping it within harsh electric fields within the rings.

"Squaaawwwkkkk!"

A pained cry from Moltres echoed around its domain and before long, it died down as it lost consciousness from the racking pain of its injuries as well as the numbing shocks from the rings' electricity.

"That Rocket experiment, Mewtwo, had some rather useful devices for capturing. It was a great idea to salvage the ruins of New Island," Lawrence nodded to himself.

'Repurposing the technology gave me quite the advantage against Moltres. Looks like my countermeasures were unneeded,' he mused with delight at his newest inventions, reverse engineered from the destroyed Clone Balls from New Island.

The underbelly of the flying palace closed after the spherical prison of electric that trapped Moltres was flown into it.

"With this, I've taken the first piece without much difficulty," Lawrence commented, visibly pleased with the rings' performance.

The virtual chessboard updated to show the red waypoint captured and taking its position on the board was the palace.

And then there were two.

"Next, I'll capture Zapdos, then Articuno soon after. It's truly a simple game of chess," the mantis-haired man said aloud.

The waypoints of yellow and blue emerged onto the board, showing the man his next targets as well as their locations.

"And then… the game will get more interesting from there."

'I will flush out the King.'

"Into thine hands, bring together all three."

"Their treasures combined tame the Beast of The Sea—"

"—Lugia."

A melodious sound spread throughout the ocean of the Orange Islands. The song-like growl grew louder, and bubbles gurgled rapidly as an enormous creature swam with unnerving speed within the murky depths of the ocean.

A pair of luminous blue eyes narrowed as it headed towards its destination:

Shamouti Island.

The gears in his bronze skies clicked resoundingly.

He felt his summons drawing near, accepting them without question.

Once more…

The Guardian was deployed.

…

Vhoomp!

The air vibrated as space-time began warping into a spiral, an impossibility given form as it made the Slowking's pink scales shiver in fear at the successful manifestation of the anomaly.

A cape of red billowed in the sea breeze of the ocean as the kneeling anomalous man stood up tall with his ashen hair slicked upwards.

"…Tch, how stingy. My power's been reduced to a hundredth…" the man in red clicked his tongue in annoyance as he spoke to himself.

'This better be the loophole I forced; otherwise, this is going to be my 1996th deployment since Lysandre.'

"You are…!" Slowking gasped.

The lavender eyes glanced at the talking Slowking beside him before suddenly…

Ba-bump! Ba-bump!

A resonance from a faraway island caught his attention. His lavender eyes narrowed naturally towards the centre of the entire archipelago, now covered with darkened clouds and stormy weathers:

Shamouti Island.

Before long, a vindictively cruel grin plastered on his tanned and sharp face, revealing his gleaming canines.

"Looks like my luck's finally turning around..."

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FATED

SPECIAL CHAPTER (M02)

THE POWER OF ONE

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Two hours from Kumquat Island…

A raven-haired boy and his shoulder-equipped Pikachu were traversing the wide sheet of cerulean waters atop of Lapras who was enjoying the view.

"The ocean's a lot more beautiful recently," Ash said aloud absently to which his Pokémon nodded.

'Yeah… I wouldn't have thought it would be this beautiful if I'd continue being impatient,' the raven-haired boy thought internally, peacefully staring at the shimmering sea without a hint of urgency.

"When we're older, I'll take you to see the ocean."

"…Promise?"

"Yeah. Promise."

A toothy grin crept onto his face as he took out his silver locket from digital space. After caressing it tenderly, he got up from Lapras' spiky shell.

"Everyone, come on out!" a cheerful Ash grinned wider as he summoned his Pokémon from their capsules.

Snorlax floated on the ocean surface, clearly enjoying the coolness that surrounded his rotund body while Marowak sat atop on him with excitement towards the water.

Charizard, meanwhile, was gliding through the air and flexed his wings wide after being in his capsule for some time. The orange dragon's pleasure to fly the open skies was accompanied with a loud bellow and a [Flamethrower] towards the clouds.

…

"Oh, goody~! The twerp's relaxing without a care in the world," Jessie chirped with delight.

"Let's nab those Pokémon, especially that strong Pikachu!" James declared excitedly.

After the overpowering appearance of a limitless Pikachu in the Grand League, the trio thought it was fitting that the electric mouse would an appropriate gift for their now-retired boss.

Basically, they were after Ash completely on their own, without Giovanni's consent since they wanted to surprise him.

"Promotion, 'ere we come!" Meowth drooled over his fantasy of being Giovanni's lap cat.

"You guys sure are happy," Ash commented while dipping his feet into the waters.

"Pika!" Pikachu squeaked cheerfully as he played with Marowak on Snorlax's body.

"Ga-ra!" the skull warrior imitated the movements of an oar with his bone club with the rotund bear as his boat.

Pikachu mimicked his movements with glee. The Pokémon were enjoying the warm sunlight as well as the cool waters and seawater breeze, much to Ash's relief.

'I haven't been giving them much of a break lately. They deserve at least this much…' Ash mused while closing his eyes and basked in the sunlight.

Since beginning his Orange League run, the raven-haired boy had been surfing left and right challenging the Gym Leaders without rest. Realizing how desperate he had gotten during the last two Gyms, the raven-haired boy cringed at his past mistakes and decided to let his Pokémon have their fun before his League's climax.

'I still have to catch my sixth since Butterfree's returned to his family,' he thought, envious that his previous Pokémon now had a family.

"The weather's nice…" he sighed contently.

…

Drip.

'…?'

Drip, drip.

'…Eh?'

Rumble, rumble.

"What the—"

Crackle!

The warm sunny skies were quickly replaced with malefic dark clouds of rumbling lightning, leaving a dumbfounded Ash stunned as he twitched upon staring at the rainclouds while keeping his locket into his pocket.

Then, the once peaceful ocean instantly switched to harsh waves of dangerous maelstroms with crashing waters violently hitting onto Lapras and Snorlax.

'Oh, for fu—'

Ash's thoughts were cut short as he noticed Pikachu and Marowak holding onto Snorlax's fur for dear life. The Sleeping Pokémon was doing its very best to not capsize his passengers as well. Commendable for a creature his size.

"Pikachu, come back! Snorlax, Marowak, return!" the raven-haired boy returned his Pokémon while the electric mouse hopped onto his Trainer's extended arm to perch.

"Can't ask for one goddamn day!" the boy growled vehemently towards the clouds, cursing his innate luck.

"Kyuu!" Lapras wailed as she was carried away by the vicious currents, heading into a large gaping whirlpool.

'Lapras can't swerve in this condition! If that's the case…!' he racked his head for solutions.

"Charizard, it's up to you, buddy!" Ash yelled out to the orange dragon above to which he received a curt nod from him.

"Lapras, return!"

The raven-haired boy returned his plesiosaur as his Fire starter grabbed his Trainer's striped T-shirt and pulled him and Pikachu onto his back.

"Roar!"

"Yeah, we've got no choice!" Ash agreed as he took out his compass.

"—Wha?!"

He widened his bloodred eyes in disbelief as the needle within his compass began spinning erratically clockwise before going counter-clockwise without stopping.

'You've gotta be kidding me…' he clicked his tongue.

Bzzt, bzzt!

"Pikapi!" the electric mouse on the boy's shoulder squeaked in shock.

The raven-haired boy noticed the sparks crackling on his partner's rosy cheeks, leading him to form a hypothesis as to why his compass was going out of control. His eyes darted around his sudden obscured surroudings or rumbling darkness.

'Don't tell me… Are we inside thunderclouds?' he shuddered coldly.

"Crap, Charizard! Sto—!"

But with one mighty beat of his blue-green wings, hammers of crackling lightning smashed upon the three with Pikachu trying to tank most of it as he was the most resistant. Charizard was faring poorly due to his Type disadvantage while the raven-haired boy's body was invaded by venomous shocks of zapping yellow.

'What the fffff—?!'

"AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"

He screamed in agony as the unforgiving snakes of thunderbolts mercilessly stab into his entire body without remorse.

"Rooooaaaaarrrrr!" Charizard cried out in guttural pain due to his Type weakness.

"Ergggghhhhhhhh!" Ash gritted his teeth, trying to prevent himself from passing out.

As both Ash and Charizard took on the full brunt of the electric shocks, the former glanced below, noticing the high altitude they were in, explaining why they were in such a place and the compass going haywire but still drew a blank as to why such an abnormally charged thundercloud even manifested in the first place.

'Screw that. Think!' he shook his head, focusing onto his next move instead.

Then, Ash saw it. He saw a speck of land at a far distance from their airborne position, a miracle as they were in the heart of a group of murderous clouds of black. Soon, he got the craziest idea formulated in his mind.

'…This thing better work this time!'

Despite his complaining…

The boy wore a savage grin bordering on insanity as he seemed rather nervously excited on enacting his idea.

"Pika… chu! Hold… on…!" the raven-haired boy pulled out Charizard's PokéBall with extreme difficult due to the intense jolts running in his body.

"Chari…zard, re…turn!"

The orange dragon vanished into a red beam, sucked into the Ball with Ash and Pikachu falling to their demise from above.

The raven-haired boy could already feel the angry outbursts from the capsules around his waist as well as the burning one in his palm, but he was adamant on his decision.

Soon, the two were freed from the electric shocks from the clouds but were now faced with the impending descent towards the violent seas. Wasting no time and already fed up with his luck, Ash held his partner opposite to the land's location and facing him with a determined expression.

"Pika?!" the electric mouse gasped in horror as he knew what his partner was thinking.

"I'll be fine, partner!" he assured, closing his eyes to concentrate.

…

"AURA, on!"

The sudden corrupted imagery of a cyan wolf coupled with an auditory trigger of a familiar yet powerful howl flooded the boy's mind unconsciously as the bloodred eyes glowed bright among the dim and dark skies.

'…Zacian,' he suddenly caught the name that tried to escape his mouth.

'Who…? No, it doesn't matter….'

'—Thank you…'

"Do it, Pikachu!" Ash cried out as he Reinforced his body while taking out his now golden AURA-activated Sword from the Bag's digital space.

'Alright, this should be enough for my body to handle [Railgun] and the landing!'

The AURA circuits flared within Ash's body, resonating with Pikachu due to their metaphysical link and finally granting the electric mouse access to his strongest lightning variant.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu pumped his fists as black and gold lightning surrounded his small body.

"Alright, hit me, partner!" Ash braced himself, pouring every unit of AURA into Reinforcement.

The small body of yellow bounced into the air and with his black lightning, thrusted himself into an acceleration of black and yellow, similarly to a travelling bullet. The difference was, Pikachu's speed was boosted to levels slightly above even [ExtremeSpeed], making him less of a bullet and more of akin to the move's namesake:

An electromagnetic catapult designed to hurl projectiles at extremely high speeds.

"[RAILGUN]!"

But the boy did not realize…

"PIKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

He had severely overestimated himself.

'Wai—'

Pokémon Academy, Kalos Region

"Dang, it's really coming down…" Blue muttered in disbelief at the sudden flash rainstorm.

The infinite curtains of rainwater were like loud marbles shattering onto the earth as the tense students in the Academy watched anxiously…

Only for the capricious weather to sing a different tune as the skies switched into a blistering bright one with the sweltering sunlight sinking its fangs into the skin of the children as well as the teachers.

"What the heck's going on?!" Calem exclaimed in horror.

As if hearing his cries of scepticism, the skies changed once more. This time, an even more unbelievable sight was beheld in their eyes:

White.

White specks of fluff emerged in front of them as the skies morphed into a blackened sky, though still bright but accompanied with snow instead.

"This… isn't natural, is it?" Kimia crossed her arms, feeling the cold beginning to permeate into her skin.

"Yeah. Hold on, everyone," Alain grabbed his blazer as he headed towards his second place of occupation.

"Are you going to the Professor?" Serena asked.

"I'm his aide, after all. This weather's too bizarre to ignore," he nodded with the honey blonde responding in kind while he sped off.

Suddenly, the Pokémon began acting weirdly. The class's starters summoned themselves from their capsules, wearing a face of dread and urgency. The Kanto duo's veteran teams were no different as they suddenly appeared, startling the class as they had not seen them all out at once.

"You guys! What's wrong?!" Blue yelped out in surprise as Espeon growled at the skies with shivering purple fur.

"Arcanine, you too…" Gary stared, confused at the glaring red canine, unable to take his eyes off the everchanging weather.

'Red… Is Red alright?' Serena began to panic slightly.

Though she knew Ash had promised not to be reckless as much, she had a foreboding feeling that the raven-haired boy was somehow going to be the centre of such an event.

'It's fine, Serena. We have eyes all around the Planet thanks to our Cells,' an invisible Squishy relayed to her.

'That's right! Do you guys know where Red is now?' she remembered.

'Of course, right now he's… HUH?!' Puni-chan uncharacteristically yowled in shock.

'That human…! Is he insane?!' Squishy thought to himself, not wanting the curious Serena to find out what they had saw.

'Eh? Eh?! What's up?! What happened to Red?!' she broke into a cold sweat.

'No, no! It's nothing! Nothing to be worried about!' the Cores tried to assure.

While Serena was panicking internally, a certain someone had arrived on his landing spot.

…

BOOOOM!

The raven-haired boy was blasted with blinding speed towards the land Ash saw through the foggy rainstorm, although he was reeling from the unbearable pain from Pikachu's [Railgun]. The impact had blown him away towards the now observable sandy beach with fresh blood gushing from his mouth despite his Reinforced body.

'Holy shit, this hurts like a goddamn truck!' he cursed while secretly proud of his partner's power.

Pikachu, on the other hand, was falling towards the ocean whilst grabbing onto the golden Sword that thrummed haphazardly as if it was in a panic. Ash had already accounted for his partner's descent and gave the Sword to the electric mouse as his means of [Surf] while acting as a beacon of golden light.

Meanwhile…

BOOOOOM!

The raven-haired boy crash-landed onto the grainy ground of coarse sand, struggling to breathe from his damaged lungs. The vicious migraine within his cracked skull danced to a chaotic tune as it slithered around his head, eliciting pain wherever it went.

"Cough, cough!" he hacked with blood gurgled in his mouth whilst still holding onto his locket which miraculously survived the impact.

'Fractured ribs… punctured lungs… Damnit, is my Reinforcement output still weak?' he assessed his condition, not even slightly worried that he was at death's door for the second time, to his knowledge.

Whether it was due to his current damaged mind or just his own naturally unminding self, no one knew for sure. In any case, his damaged brain was impeding his nerve reception as well, blunting the overwhelming pain.

'—Wouldn't have been weak if I could train…' Ash grumbled in his thoughts, still carrying a grudge over his inability to practice AURA due to it not working most of the time despite his internal bleeding.

The raven-haired boy managed to mitigate some damage into his golden blade as a means of a lightning rod, but even that was still too much for his body, The main reason was that Pikachu could not control his strength when using [Railgun] due to his lack of practice with the black lightning.

"Cough…! Don't… pass out…"

'This might be bad…'

…

Pallet Town, Kanto Region

"Grandpa! The weather's…!" Daisy burst into the lab in a panic.

Professor Oak turned toward his granddaughter from his emergency meeting with the various Professors around the world.

"Are you alright, Daisy?!" the elderly man asked with worry.

"Yes, the rain stopped and when I came here; get this, it was snowing!"

'…Odd. Now it's snowing…' Oak thought curiously before another Professor spoke out from the monitor.

'If only Turo or Sada were here, we could've found out whether this had happened in the past from Sada's abundant knowledge or an efficient way to solve such an event with Turo's ingenuity towards the future…' Oak lamented as he had not seen the two missing Professors for quite some years.

'I wonder how little Arven is doing now…'

"Professor…" Ivy stared at her second screen, calling out to Oak.

"Ivy? Give me some good news…" Oak asked while pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Ahem, with Birch's research on wild Pokémon behaviour, I applied the same method with the little ones in my lab in different locations around my Island," the plum-haired woman explained, nodding towards Professor Birch.

"Like what Ivy said, it appears that in the Hoenn Region, I've received countless reports a few hours ago about wild Pokémon turning their attention towards a certain direction."

Murmurs of agreement came from the others as they had received similar reports as well.

"With Ivy's and my own observations, we've managed to triangulate and find the source of the unnatural phenomenon," the large Professor finished, urging Ivy to show the results.

Beep, beep.

A virtual map was drawn in front of all the Professors as it scanned towards the epicentre of the hypothetical source. As the source was located, a chair crashed onto the floor with a pale-faced Ivy widening her eyes in horror.

"No… This place…" she muttered with fear.

The Professors observed as the name of the located place showed up on screen:

{ TRIANGULATION COMPLETED! }

{ ONE MATCH FOUND: }

{ SHAMOUTI ISLAND }

"Ivy? What wr—"

"Ash… Ash might be there!" the plum-haired woman shuddered as she recalled the raven-haired boy had departed from Kumquat Island not too long ago.

"If he's this close to the source, then he might be experiencing even worse conditions than us! That means the only place he could take shelter is—"

'Shamouti!' Oak and Daisy connected the dots.

"…Ivy."

"Yes, sir!"

Oak put on his lab coat and prepared to head out.

"Grandpa, where are you going?" Daisy asked, still fearful of Ash's current situation.

"I'm heading to Shamouti with Ivy," he replied sternly.

"I'm coming with!"

"Daisy…"

"No, Grandpa! You don't understand!" Daisy shouted uncharacteristically.

"Ash… Ash has never asked for help, even when he's in trouble…"

The girl gripped the hem of her Doctor coat as her voice shook in worry. The memories of a young Ash came into her mind, a broken and inexpressive boy who came home covered in injuries and bleeds.

A boy who felt more machine-like than human and would rather throw himself into danger rather than protect himself. Not only that, another one came into her mind in the form of a hostile and wounded Pikachu. It was because of Ash and Pikachu that Daisy became more focused in her Doctor studies, so that she could help both Pokémon and humans alike.

"Right now, Ashy needs help! This is my chance to finally help him!" she bowed to her grandfather, begging to take her along.

Oak was stuck. The elderly man really did not want his granddaughter to follow, but having a Doctor on board would be beneficial since he knew Ash was a magnet for trouble.

"Also, that little girl, Serena, is counting on me! It's my duty as a shipper… I mean, older sister to protect her knight in shining armour!" she pushed further and more desperately, almost leaking out her true feelings.

With such airtight reasoning, Oak relented.

"But Grandpa… I didn't think you'd be this worried…" Daisy said in a surprised tone.

Sure, the elderly man was rather fond of Ash since Delia's passing for some reason, but both Gary and Daisy were still in the dark about his reasonings. What's more, Oak's hand was visibly shaking.

Since there was a news helicopter waiting for the Professor, he and Daisy wasted no time finding a ride towards the Orange Islands. First, he had to pick up Ivy from her Island and from there, it was straight towards Shamouti Island. Not so much to figure out the cause, but to save Ash.

'This feeling…' Oak glanced at his trembling hand as he rewound his memories.

Memories of his youth. More specifically, the event that stuck with him even to this day.

"Haaah… Goddamnit. Why'd you have to end up here…"

"Pro… No, Samuel Oak?"

The recollection of the flowing red mantle captivated him forever, using it even in his PokéDex design in the future.

'Please be safe, Ash…' the Professor bit his lip anxiously.

…

"Cough…! Don't… pass out…" Ash balled his fists, grasping amounts of escaping sand within them as he desperately held onto consciousness.

Most people would be holding onto dear life after suffering such injuries, but Ash was desperate to cling on for an entirely different reason.

'No way am I getting an earful from Nimue!' he gritted his teeth while sweating from the festering pains, shuddering at the thought of an angry lecture from the silver-haired woman.

Apparently, a heated lecture was more terrifying than death for the raven-haired boy.

"Pikapi!"

'Oh, thank goodness…'

The boy breathed a sigh of relief as he could see his partner carrying his Sword in his arms. The size difference was a sight to behold and rather amusing for Ash to see.

The golden Sword – Caliburn immediately went into effect as if it was desperate to heal the boy. Ash felt his body recovering at a blistering rate while feeling the aftereffects of his strengthened body.

"Ow!" he yelped suddenly, feeling searing heat within his injured parts, the miniature swords knitting the wounds without care for him.

It was not painful nor fatal, but it was akin to pinching. The raven-haired boy shifted his position from a lying state to kneeling over in comical despair.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow! Why?!"

'Who the heck's sending these attacks?!' his body twitched uncontrollably from the pinching pains.

The electric mouse, meanwhile, was wheezing and busting his guts out from laughter even though he was clueless at what was happening. All he knew was that his partner was getting his just desserts.

"Urgh… Yeah, you're having fun, aren't you?" Ash gave a half-hearted smile sarcastically to the yellow rascal.

'This never happened before. It's like Caliburn's mad at me,' he mused while rolling his recovered arm, seemingly rejuvenated from the Sword's healing pulses.

"Pikapi! Pikachu!"

"…That was the only way both of us were getting outta that situation alive, dude," Ash retorted, unable to comprehend why Pikachu was so mad.

"Besides, I got a free travel ticket from [Railgun] so it's all good."

The boy's reckless and frankly, insane plan of making Pikachu blast him at high speed towards the beach while Pikachu used the Sword as his surfboard and beacon to safely ride the waves ashore was a success in his mind.

Ash rationalized that since his constitution was different from regular people, he could afford to do stuff like this without any repercussions and since he would rather hurt himself than letting others get hurt, it was a no-brainer he would come up with such an asinine plan.

The electric mouse glared at the raven-haired boy, completely exasperated at his partner's dense nature and his obliviousness as to why he was in the wrong. It was getting on his nerves quite a bit.

'But seriously, what the hell were those thunderclouds?' he wondered as he could still see the group of dark clouds with constant hammers of lightning raining down upon the ocean.

'Reminds me of that thing Green learned. What was it again?'

'Cata*… something or whatever.'

(Catatumbo lightning phenomenon)*

Rattle, rattle.

Ash and Pikachu took notice of incoming maraca rattles as well as drumbeats, causing the former to immediately deactivated AURA. He did not actually know how to but thankfully, his bad luck helped this time since it turned off by itself, reducing the golden glow of the Sword back to the stone-clad blade and returned it back to digital space.

The raven-haired boy was privy that AURA Wielders were a scarce commodity with him only knowing two, him included. The fact that they could be counted with just a hand's worth of fingers was enough for him to understand the implications that AURA should be kept secret.

'The last thing I want is a crowd of surgeons wanting to dissect me,' he shivered at the morbid thought as he wore his locket around his neck as a good-luck charm.

He knew he needed whatever morsel he could get nowadays.

However, the approaching noise was revealed to be the unnerving appearance of a group of people wearing tribal Pokémon masks.

"…"

Ash wore a thousand-yard stare as he got up from the sandy shore.

"…"

Pikachu mirrored his Trainer perfectly.

"…Hey, partner?"

"Pika…?"

"Is it just me or is my luck getting worse?"

"Pikapi, cha."

"You little…"

The group of tribal masks hopped from the beach's ledge and surrounded Ash and Pikachu in no time. The two instinctively went into battle mode as Pikachu jumped onto Ash's shoulder as his pair of eyes for his back.

"Hm? Are you Ash?" a feminine voice muffled within the mask of the person in front of the boy.

The mask was quickly taken off, revealing a woman with dark red hair. The juxtaposition from her two appearances had Ash taken aback as he stood there, surprised at the woman's normal look.

"Getting recognized from a glance isn't exactly flattering, lady," the raven-haired boy grimaced, not knowing how to feel about his growing reputation.

"Ahaha! As if the hotshot kid who blitzed through the Islands' Challenges would escape our ears," she grinned in return.

"Shamouti may be isolated since it's the centre of the archipelago, but news travel here too, y'know?"

'Shamouti…' he tasted the island's name.

'Is this where Miss Luana was telling me to land just in case?'

"Name's Carol," she introduced herself before noticing a glaring problem with the boy.

"…?" he looked down and immediately froze on the spot.

'Ah.'

[Railgun]'s impact had torn through his striped T-shirt, revealing his bare skin underneath. The raven-haired boy was wondering why he felt breezy and had identified the cause.

'Dang… Blue's gonna kill me. Alolan clothes ain't cheap after all,' he grumbled, now only having his other outfit without any spares.

He was sorely regretting his plan earlier now. But now, the raven-haired boy opted to focus on his greetings instead of his battered clothes.

"Well, in any case…"

"Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town, a Trainer aiming to be a Pokémon Master! Nice to meetcha!" he gave his signature grin as he offered a hand, which the woman accepted.

"Ooohhhh! A Pokémon Trainer!" the masked group cheered, completely forgetting about Ash's haggard appearance.

"You're lucky to land here after this terrible storm, Ash," Carol said.

"But… Are you alright?" she continued, referring to his clothes.

"Ahaha… It's nothing," he waved it off nervously.

"If I didn't know any better, it's like you fell from the sky or something!" she joked with a hearty laugh.

'Boy, do I have news for you…' he sweatdropped.

"Carol! What's taking so long?!" a new voice cried out from the docks.

The raven-haired boy turned towards it and widened his eyes at the appearance of a teenage girl.

She had red hair, lighter than Carol, that was covered with a green cap and wore a pink and black top as well as blue jeans with large leg cuffs. The girl also carried a purse with an instrument peeking out as well as an orange belt and cream sandals.

All in all, she was a girl that could steal the hearts of boys her age, let alone an 11-year-old. However, the 11-year-old in question was not at all entranced by her looks. The raven-haired boy already had a more beautiful girl in his heart, after all.

No, what had Ash surprised and slightly apprehensive was the AURA surrounding the teenage girl. He had noticed he could passively sense the ambient AURA around him, something he could not previously do. That passive came in the form of an enhanced sense of smell.

Ash's nose twitched as he picked up on the illusory scent of the teenage girl's innate AURA.

'This smells like… melodies and… flowing water?' he tilted his head, confused at how he knew the scent of water currents, let alone melodies.

The raven-haired boy wondered if this was how synaesthesia felt like, as it was a bizarre experience.

"Are ya' listening, Carol?!" the teenager with shades continued.

"Sorry about that, my brat of a sister really dislikes the Legend Festival," Carol sighed.

"Legend Festival?" Ash and Pikachu tilted their heads in confusion.

"You'd think you'd have outgrown this dorky ritual," Carol's sister huffed standoffishly.

'Kinda reminds me of Misty,' the raven-haired boy kept his mouth shut, noticing they were both redheads of different shades as well as their personalities.

"It's our tradition. You should be honoured to take part, Melody," Carol replied.

"And wait, why aren't you wearing the festival clothes?"

"Eh, don't worry about that," Melody waved off.

"I'll play my role in this festival. I've seen you done it a zillion time, after all."

"Just be there! We've already got our Pokémon Trainer!"

Hearing this, Melody's attention turned towards the raven-haired boy. His clothes torn and ragged, but her focus was not on his outfit, but rather what was underneath.

'Hmm… For a kid, he's rather well-built,' the teenage caught herself staring.

The raven-haired boy's physique had changed once more after his journey through the Orange Islands. Though his frame was still lean and still unchiselled, an ordinary person could tell Ash trained a lot. This was mostly thanks to his own exercise alongside his Pokémon due to morale boost as well as his own improvement.

'What the heck? I felt a chill down my spine…' Ash shivered for a moment as if he was getting the feeling of being preyed on.

Without warning, Melody had appeared in front of him, much to his surprise. The redhead took a closer look at the raven-haired boy's face before taking off her shades.

'Quite an adorable face, even if it's average. He could pass as a girl too…' she observed with a smile.

"Here's your welcome kiss," she puckered her lips towards the boy.

'…Welcome what now?!'

Smooch!

But the impact of those soft lips met the squishy rosy cheeks of a blushing Pikachu with his deadpanned Trainer holding him in front of his face.

"…"

"Chaaa~"

Melody went for another attack and Ash responded with his Pikachu shield, not wanting to get the teenager's kiss. In the end, Pikachu's face was one of sheepishness as well as decorated with multiple lipstick marks from Melody. Ash, on the other hand, scored a perfect victory as he kept the attacks from his face while wearing an accomplished expression.

"Hey! Stop dodging and surrender already!" she blew up in indignation, much to the raven-haired boy's twisted amusement.

"Wow, Pikachu! You must've reaaaally like her if you keep 'stealing' all her kisses! Then again, she is a pretty girl," Ash exclaimed sarcastically, completely disregarding the embarrassed Melody.

"YOU were the one who used him as a shield!" she shot back, the compliment he gave felt a little back-handed when compared to his reaction.

"Well, excuse me for being cautious, Miss Pervert," he drawled with as much mockery as he could.

'What's with this kid?! He doesn't want a kiss from a beauty like me?!' she fumed, feeling as if she had lost the battle before it even began.

'I'm fighting for my life here, woman! If Yellow ever found out, it's off to the gallows for me!' he shouted internally as beads of sweat rolled down his face.

"Am I not pretty enough for you, brat?!" she demanded childishly.

"…It's not like that, but…" he tried appeasing to no avail.

'It's just that I prefer blondes...'

Not that Ash was going to blurt it out. The boy had the decency to do that much despite how dense he was.

As Melody stormed off, Ash was escorted to the main hall of the Legend Festival.

The hastened steps of the redhead eventually turned leisure as she glanced back at the ragged boy with mild interest.

'Weird… I feel nervous around him,' Melody scrutinized Ash as she felt an AURA signature within the boy, unaware as she was.

'And this feeling…'

There were no words she could use to describe such an imagery that pricked her skin dangerously. If she had to choose, it would be…

'It's like there's a world full of blades inside of him…'

'…Looks like I'm down to my last blue themed clothes now,' Ash sighed as he arrived at the main hall where the ceremony was held.

His Alolan clothes were ripped too much from [Railgun]'s impact that it was too far gone to sew it back, not that he knew how to begin with. With that, he wore his original blue and white vest as well as denim trousers again. This time, he vowed to be more careful with his clothes.

'Tch, I really don't wanna wear my original red one though…'

The festive mood was in the air as the islanders went merry with the appetizing food and drinks. Ash was sitting next to Carol since she was the only one who he was acquainted with.

'Man, I hope this storm pass soon,' he drank the fruit juice he had been given.

Unlike the out-skirting waters, Shamouti Island's skies were surprisingly tame , albeit just as dark. However, no thunderstorms nor abnormal weather were present here. It was plainly pleasant.

And that gave Ash the chills.

'…No way this isn't gonna end THIS smoothly.'

The raven-haired boy was starting to feel the cynical seeds within him beginning to bloom after they had been watered by misfortune left and right, much to his chagrin.

"How're ya liking our Festival so far, Ash?" Carol asked as she gulped down a tall mug.

"It's festive, that's for sure. I'm more surprised it's going well despite the thunderstorm outside," Ash replied.

"Pikachu!" the electric mouse squeaked in affirmation as he showed off the Charizard mask his partner bought during the Grand League.

"Haha! Well, for some reason, Shamouti ain't affected so don't worry much about it… Oh!"

As Carol gasped in surprise at the end, Ash heard the soothing tune of a pleasant melody. Turning back to the sound, he widened his eyes at the new appearance of Melody, who was playing the ocarina he had noticed within her purse earlier.

The teenager no longer wore the clothes that gave the raven-haired boy the air of a city girl; instead, Melody was now wearing her ceremonial outfit that consisted of a white dress with red on the ends of her skirt and sleeves as well as a light blue stripe on the torso, a light orange hat and orange sandals, each with blue gems on the straps. Completing her look, Melody also wore a flower crown attached to a translucent veil.

'Woah…'

The raven-haired boy could not help but be captivated…

'…That's a pretty song.'

—At the music she was playing.

As Melody finished her song, she could not help but get the nagging feeling she had lost as a woman.

"Amazing, it's like flowing water…" Ash breathed out in awe.

"You're not the only one whose given that description," Carol chuckled.

"Melody is what we islanders call a child blessed by the ocean. Ever since she was young, she was able to play the Guardian's Song perfectly. Heck, I would go as far as to say she's the best Festival Maiden in Shamouti's history."

"That's right!" Melody cut in as she sat next to Ash.

"Melody!" her sister hissed to which the teenager stuck out her tongue.

"Ahem!" Melody cleared her throat.

"Hear ye all!"

"From the trio of Islands,"

"Ancient spheres shall you take."

"For between life and death,"

"All the difference you'll make."

The redhead knelt before the raven-haired boy with a hidden cheekiness in her eyes.

"O Chosen One, you must climb,"

"To the shrine to right what is wrong."

"And the world will be healed by the Guardian's Song."

'Oi, what's with this Chosen One stuff?!' he whipped his head towards Carol in a cold sweat.

"Ah… I didn't tell you, huh?" she laughed sheepishly.

'These two sisters…' the raven-haired boy twitched his forced smile.

"Don't worry, Ashy," she whispered into his ear.

"You just need to collect our glass orbs near the three Island altars."

'Girl, you better back away…' he tried to keep a straight face, already scared of Serena's wrath.

There was no way the honey blonde could know if such an 'accident' were to occur, but after experiencing such abysmal luck for so long, the raven-haired boy was confident it was going to screw him over anyways.

Thankfully, his cap-wearing partner was planted on his raven head in case things get dicey. For Ash, at least.

'As expected of my partner! You read me like a book!'

Pikachu gave a thumbs up in return with a pouting Melody glaring slightly. The redhead was trying her darndest to get the hard-to-get boy to acknowledge her beauty.

"Hm? Doesn't that imply I'm not collecting the real ones?" Ash quirked a brow.

"Haha! No way!" Carol burst out laughing again.

"The glass orbs IN the altar, the real deals, those ones…"

"Cannot be removed."

"…What do ya mean?"

"Apparently, some previous 'Chosen Ones' tried grabbing the real orbs from the altars, but they weren't able to, saying that it wouldn't budge at all," Melody explained.

"Even some rude ones tried to use their Pokémon's strength to remove it, but they couldn't as well. So, we concluded that only the true Chosen One and his Pokémon could take the orbs!"

'Seems like a stretch but okay…' Ash wanted to retort but kept his mouth shut.

"So, what I'm getting at is since I'm now this festival's 'Chosen One', I gotta collect all 3 glass orbs?"

"Yup," Carol nodded.

"Aight, imma head out."

Before the siblings could say anything, Ash and Pikachu rushed out of the main hall to immediately start his side quest.

'I gotta get away from her,' the raven-haired boy released a breath of relief as he ran.

The reason for his impatience was not only he wanted to get this over with quickly but also the overpowering scent of water currents that emitted within Melody.

'If she had gotten even closer, I felt like whatever was inside her was gonna drown me.'

Ash had a sneaking suspicion that Melody was an AURA Wielder herself, but quickly removed it since she did not seem to know about her AURA. One clue led the boy to that conclusion, and it was that the redhead was implied to have lived on Shamouti Island for most of her life according to Carol's words.

This meant Melody could not have learnt about AURA since the only person other than Ash who could wield it was Riley himself.

'I doubt she met him too. Otherwise, Riley would've told me.'

"Lapras, I choose you!" Ash summoned his plesiosaur as he rode on her shell towards his first destination.

"Kyuu!"

"Yeah, we're going on a detour. First off, that Island," he pointed towards a faraway Island.

Ash was now heading towards Fire Island.

Rumble, rumble.

"Well, our Magikarp's totalled," Jessie frowned as the trio floated on the debris of their submarine.

Shortly after Ash was blasted towards Shamouti, the Team Rocket trio found themselves unable to control their craft due to the turbulent waves and violent storm, resulting in their Magikarp vehicle to be destroyed.

Just then, the three noticed their twerp atop of Lapras once more. This time, he was heading towards Fire Island, causing them to grin widely.

"Was…?"

"That..."

"Da twerp?"

The cream-coloured cat's lightbulb lit up.

"Do ya two get wha' I'm getting'?" Meowth meowed.

"Let's follow the twerp and we can get Pikachu once and for all!" James nodded.

With the trio in agreement, they got to work as they made a makeshift sea scooter from their scraps. While not plotting to capture Pikachu, the three were abnormally efficient in other works. Building was one of them.

"Let's go steal us a Pikachu!"

Just as they departed, a heavy downpour showered upon the Orange Islands.

…

Shamouti Island Altar, Orange Islands.

A Slowking stood within its cave, silently gazing at the heavy storm brewing with rain.

"Disturb not the harmony of Fire, Ice, or Lightning."

Slowking yawned as the stormy weather began invading the safe space that was the entirety of Shamouti Island and its contents.

"What a mess," he said with a bored tone as he turned towards the stranger residing alongside him:

The man in red.

"He's coming," the stranger grunted as he narrowed the lavender eyes towards Fire Island.

And as he finished his words, the man could not help but bare his sharp smirk.

'Earlier than I thought…'

"Is he gonna be alright?" Melody asked worryingly as she now wore a light orange hat, replacing her previous veil.

'The storm's getting worse. What if he doesn't make it…?'

"Carol, I have to take your boat," the redhead requested to her older sister.

"But Melody, what can you do?"

"Ash is caught in the storm cuz of we dragged him into our stupid ritual. What's more, I was the one who picked him for it," she stared with determined blue eyes.

"It's my responsibility as the Maiden…"

…

The teenage girl ran across the rainy docks and finally found her sister's boat after receiving her permission. Though, Carol's teasing wormed its way into her face as a form of blush.

Immediately, she revved the boat to life and sped off towards Fire Island where she last saw his retreating visage.

The angered waves rolled, crashing into the boat but it was useless since the craft was reinforced with sturdy steel and shrugged the waves off like no big deal. Melody, the captain of the vessel, was also a big factor since the redhead navigated the seas for the optimal path, even in such harsh conditions.

It was a gift bestowed upon her ever since she heard it for the first time…

The Guardian's Song.

"Please be alright, Ash…" she whispered into the raging storm.

On the Flying Palace, a smirk wore itself on Lawrence's face as he watched the updated virtual map before him.

"Disturb not the harmony of Fire, Ice, or Lightning."

Once there were three pieces on the board, the red one disappeared as it symbolized its capture at the hands of the collector.

"It seems there's a shift in the balance of power," the mantis-haired said aloud.

The yellow piece grew bigger as the squares surrounding it began to spread, taking over the red squares as well as the red piece's original position.

{ ATTENTION. ZAPDOS DETECTED. }

Pokémon Academy, Kalos Region

The classroom's HoloProjector showed the global news channel where it was confirmed recently that strange weather was observed everywhere.

{ EXPERTS BELIEVE THAT WEATHER DISASTERS ALL OVER THE GLOBE ARE DUE TO A POWERFUL AND UNKNOWN PHENOMENON. }

{ THE PROFESSORS FROM SEVERAL REGIONS HAVE BANDED TOGETHER TO SOLVE THIS CRISIS. }

{ ROWAN: FROM OUR COLLEAGUES' INVESTIGATION, WE'VE DETERMINED THE MAIN CAUSE TO BE COMING FROM THE DEEP BENEATH THE SURFACE OF THE OCEAN. }

"Damnit, it's getting worse…" Gary clicked his tongue whilst holding a shivering Blue in his arms.

The chaotic weather disasters had finally gone global as across the world, every region was experiencing different climates. Kalos for one, was experiencing the harsh winters as the class began to cover themselves with their blazers while the Fire types tried to heat up the room with their small flames.

Even then, the Pokémon would not stop staring towards a singular direction outside the windows.

"S-S-S-Serena, a-a-aren't you cold?" Blue asked with chattering teeth.

"Hm? Oh, I'm fine. I like the cold," the honey blonde waved off as she gave her blazer to Blue.

"You and Red are really alike," Gary commented.

"I take it as a compliment, Gary."

Other than Serena, only Cynthia was unaffected since by her words, her archaeology hobby required her to brave the harsh weather conditons.

"…You're really cool and mature, Miss Cynthia," the honey blonde praised when she found out about her hobbies.

"Why, thank you or should I say… Merci, Sere-chan," the blonde woman beamed with a blush.

{ ELM: THIS IS A SIMULATION OF THE UNDERWATER RIVER SNAKING ITS WAY AROUND THE PLANET, DISRUPTING OCEAN CURRENTS, WEATHER PATTERNS AND THE ENTIRE GLOBAL CLIMATE. }

The students were baffled by the sight of a comfy Cynthia hugging Serena from the back with the latter not minding it as she was concentrated on the news. The blonde woman's air-headedness was a way for uneasiness to be dispelled from the students since even as a Champion, there were things even beyond her capabilities.

'If only it was a fight… Leon and I are only good for that,' the Champion pouted.

'Bet Lance is having a headache right about now. Poor guy…'

Then, Serena jolted from the woman's arms as she stared at the HoloProjector's screen in horror.

{ BIRCH: THE PROBLEM IS CENTRED AT THE CENTRAL REGION OF THE ORANGE ISLANDS. }

'No…' Serena covered her mouth with trembling hands.

{ JUNIPER: THE MAIN SITE FOR THE WORLD'S ADNORMAL PHENOMENONS… }

{ …IS AT SHAMOUTI OF THE ORANGE ISLANDS. }

"No… not again…" Serena began to show signs of a panic attack.

At once, Gary and Blue leapt from their sitting positions and went to comfort the honey blonde with Calem and Shauna right behind them. Cynthia did the same as support.

"What's wrong with Sere-chan?" the Champion asked worryingly.

"It's okay, it's okay…" the orange-haired boy rubbed her back as he glared at the shown picture of Shamouti.

"That idiot… He's probably there."

"Do you mean…!" Cynthia realized, panic beginning to set in.

"Red… Ash is in trouble…!" the honey blonde had tears in her eyes.

All the while, the two Cores could only curse their uselessness, unable to help their human protector.

Fire Island, Orange Islands.

"Yeah sureeeee… Just stop the rainstorm when I ALREADY LANDED!" Ash shouted in annoyance as his voice echoed throughout the Island.

Although it was a rough journey, Lapras managed to soldier through the tempestuous seas and raging rain like a trooper, though her energy had been sapped for the entire day.

"Thanks, Lapras. Return," Ash thanked as the plesiosaur was sucked into her capsule, fatigued, and snoring away.

'Man, Lapras really came in clutch… Those waves were no joke,' he frowned while twisting the water out of the blue vest.

"…Partner?"

"Pika?"

"Doesn't this feel like déjà vu?"

The raven-haired boy recalled his arrival at New Island with a shiver running down his spine.

"Pikapi!"

The electric mouse pressed his paws onto the raven-haired boy's mouth in fear of jinxing it.

"I wasn't gonna say it!"

The raven-haired boy appeased Pikachu with his red cap, smirking at his partner's cooing as he hugged the cap as he prodded himself onto the raven head.

"You really like my cap that much, partner?"

"Chaa~"

As Ash walked, he found a path leading towards his destination. The raven-haired boy recalled that the festival's Chosen One had to collect the glass orbs near the altar since the actual ones were immovable.

'Would be funny if I could do it…' Ash hastened his leisure walk into a run as he was beginning to get excited at the idea.

He was still a child, after all.

Suddenly, Pikachu leapt from Ash's head and began making his way towards the top ahead of the boy, causing the latter much confusion.

"Hey, Pikachu?! Wait up!" he yelled out, but it was no use.

The electric mouse, still wearing Ash's cap, had already left his Trainer alone. Ash noticed that his partner had a worried look on his face and decided that the situation was perplexing to say the least.

'Damn, partner. How could you leave me in the dust like this?' he broke into a sprint towards the top.

"What the hell's going on here…?" Ash glanced at the dark skies, feeling the strong winds on his skin.

…

A gigantic wall of seawater rose far above the norm, threatening to crash onto Melody and her boat. But fortunately for the girl, she was an expert in manoeuvring her vessel.

"Don't underestimate a gal whose been with boats her entire life!" Melody licked her lips with confidence.

The boat propelled along the wave, barely avoiding the crashing water just behind which was a testament to Melody's talent in piloting.

'As if I'll get scared of the ocean,' the redhead smiled as she remembered a particular memory of her childhood.

The song that captivated her, sung from the ocean and gave the once little girl its blessings. The young maiden of the ocean, she was once called.

The ocarina in Melody's purse was a gift from the unknown singer within the depths of the ocean, never once revealing itself to her but always reminding her that it would protect her, no matter where she was.

Finally, the violent waves carried the boat towards Fire Island with it crashing onto the rocky shores, grinding the metallic hull to a halt.

Screeeeeecccccchhhhhh!

"Uwaaah… Carol's gonna kill me…" she scratched her chin sheepishly.

'But it wasn't the ocean that made me crash. The winds are extremely strong today,' Melody turned to the black skies.

The roaring howls of the gales whooshed and wailed loudly, prompting the redhead to shiver from the cold.

"Ash…!" she remembered as her goal was to bring the raven-haired boy back.

Seeing how her boat was aground perfectly on the rocks and coupling that with the powerful winds, Melody had an idea.

Pulling on a cord underneath her pilot controls like a chainsaw, the boat deployed a mechanical sail of turquoise with a green stripe. The fierce winds immediately went for the new addition of the boat and blew it with so much force, Melody and her boat were drifting on land with the redhead controlling the sail with her cords for directions.

'If I'm gonna get yelled at anyways, might as well as get the most mileage outta it!'

The teenage girl grinned whilst controlling the boat to go up the rocky steps towards the altar of Fire Island.

Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt!

"Squawwwkkkk!"

Lawrence stood in front of the encircling rings of shocks, trapping the imprisoned firebird within. Moltres glared hatefully towards the mantis-haired man but to no avail.

"Poor Moltres, you seem so miserable," the man mocked the Mirage of Fire.

"But they do say misery loves company."

Back on his control centre, a 3D image of a thunderbird was shown with the AI voice making itself known.

{ ZAPDOS IS APPROACHING FIRE ISLAND. }

"And the game comes one step closer to the end."

"Pi, pi, pi!"

Pikachu turned back, making sure his Trainer was close behind following him. True enough, Ash was no slouch when it came to stamina-related task as the raven-haired boy was soon seen catching up to his partner.

"Pikachu!" he cried out.

The electric mouse continued his ascent with Ash following suit.

The boy knew Pikachu was behaving weirdly for a reason, meaning he had no intentions of complaining. What set off alarms for him were the shaking of his PokéBalls on his belt, as if they were mirroring their leader's panic.

'Seriously, what's going on here?' the raven-haired boy ascended the steps while shielding his eyes from the never-ending ominous gales.

Unbeknownst to the two, a certain group had arrived close by.

"Hey, look!" Jessie sparkled.

"There they are," James grinned.

"I can't believe we caught up!" Meowth gave a Cheshire smile.

"Pikachu…"

"We'll…"

"Get you!"

"Huehuehuehuehue!"

…

Finally, Ash had arrived atop the end of the ascending stairs. Taking a quick glance, he noticed two pillars of stone resembling somewhat of a capital T, though he felt his eyes were mistaken. Then, the raven-haired boy noticed his partner was waiting for him…

Downwards, at the altar. The centre of Fire Island.

"Pikachu!"

Ash hurried down the steps, his mind wrapping around the fact that the centre of the Island was rather hollow akin to a volcano. But instead of piping hot lava, there was only mist that shrouded the bottom.

At last, he stood in front of the altar, within was a statue depicting an ancient sculpt of a great bird with fiery patterns.

'This must be the real orb, but…' Ash looked around the place and sighed to himself.

'Of course, the winds must've blown the fake one away…'

That was not a hypothesis. Ash truly believed it had been blasted down towards the misty bottom since he was convinced of being the unluckiest person in the whole world.

"Pikachu!" the electric mouse pointed at the orb. The raven-haired boy marvelled at the glass orb. As Ash and Pikachu got closer, the orb began lighting up with the inside manifesting a small flame that grew brighter with each step.

"Woah…" he breathed out before grabbing onto it tightly.

'Here goes!'

And he pulled with all his might.

…

Only for it to not budge at all.

"…Eh?" he croaked out in confusion.

Ash then proceeded to use:

Pulling out the orb with two arms: Fail

Kicking the orb out: Fail

Punching it: Fail

Biting it out: Fail, with a sore jaw to boot.

"Damnit, it's not working," he sighed to himself.

Clunk!

Suddenly, the glass orb was tossed towards the raven-haired boy's hands. His saviour came in the form of a sheepish Pikachu rubbing his head beneath the red cap.

"…"

"Couldn't you have done it earlier, partner?" Ash deadpanned whilst giving a tired stare.

"Pika…"

Just as the glass orb reached Ash's hands, the small flame within it was extinguished.

'Strange. Why did it come off when Pikachu pulled it out, but not me?' he wondered to himself, trying to remember clues Carol told him about the ritual.

…

"Hear ye all!"

"From the trio of Islands,"

"Ancient spheres shall you take."

"For between life and death,"

"All the difference you'll make."

"O Chosen One, you must climb,"

"To the shrine to right what is wrong."

"And the world will be healed by the Guardian's Song."

…

'Think… There's something wrong! I can feel it,' he recalled even further.

…

"You just need to collect our glass orbs near the three Island altars."

"The glass orbs IN the altar, the real deals, those ones…"

"Cannot be removed."

…

'More…'

…

"Apparently, some previous 'Chosen Ones' tried grabbing the real orbs from the altars, but they weren't able to, saying that it wouldn't budge at all."

"Even some rude ones tried to use their Pokémon's strength to remove it, but they couldn't as well. So, we concluded that only the true Chosen One and their Pokémon could take the orbs!"

…

And he finished sorting out his thoughts, a terrifying chill ran down his spine. Goosebumps invaded his skin as his breathing turned heavier.

'…What… What's going on here…' Ash began to have a migraine.

However, his disarrayed thoughts were interrupted by familiar voices.

"Guess who, Pikachu?"

The two turned to the top of the stairs to find the Rocket trio posing for them.

"Prepare for trouble—"

"Not right now, Rocket!" Ash growled out.

The trio immediately fell comically from their poses.

"I'm in a hurry, plus the weather's screwed up right now!"

"Now that you mentioned it, it is starting to get worse," Jessie put her palm up to see if rain was coming down.

"Isn't that always our luck?" James sighed.

Before the trio could say anything, the sudden appearance of a flying boat popped out behind the three, startling them to move away.

"Waaaaaah!" the Rocket trio yelped out.

Screeeeccchhhh!

"Ash!" Melody cried out form the descending boat.

As soon as the raven-haired boy heard the redhead's cries, he instantly went towards the boat, hoping to stop it from crashing.

"What are you…?!" Melody spluttered out in confusion and terror.

"AURA, on!"

The familiar howl emerged from the boy's body as it was Reinforced with immediate effect.

BANG!

"Errrggghhhh…!" Ash gritted his teeth as his legs dug into the ground, trying to decelerate the boat's descent.

And thankfully, it did…

With some crushed plates at the front resembling grappling hands.

'I did it… I… I saved someone!' the raven-haired boy smiled satisfyingly.

Meanwhile, Melody could only stare with widened eyes at the boy. Not only did he saved her, albeit foolishly, from crashing the boat and potentially injuring herself, the genuine smile Ash wore as he succeeded in saving the girl caused the redhead to blush immensely.

"Melody! Are ya' alright?!" Ash asked as he jumped onto the boat, hurrying towards her.

The redhead turned away quickly, not wanting to show her face now matching the colour of her hair.

'Omigosh! He was so cuuuutttttteeee!' she breathed heavily.

Since their meeting, Ash displayed only expressions that conveyed annoyance and tiredness towards the girl. And now, faced with an all-new expression of happiness from the raven-haired boy caused Melody to short-circuit due to the juxtaposition.

'Why can't he smile like that more?!'

"Ahem! I-I-I hope you're happy, Mr Hero!" she stuttered, failing to hide her blush.

"You should've stayed at the party… dummy."

Ash blinked. And again.

'…Weird. Is she having a fever?' he thought, noticing the redhead sporting a flushed face.

Another one entered the 'list'.

Somewhere, a certain honey blonde was feeling a certain kind of danger.

"Squuuuaaaawwwkkkk!"

A thunderous cry made its presence known as a great bird of yellow and black flew overhead. Sparks of lightning danced around the altar, prompting Ash and Melody as well as the Rocket trio to take cover underneath the grounded boat.

"What is…?" Ash widened his eyes at the lightning-clad thunderbird.

"Zapdos. The Mirage of Lightning," Melody recognized.

'Zapdos?'

The haphazard thunderbolts that fell began to energize some of the rock formations around the altar, causing them to glow ghostly blue.

After flying through the dark skies while displaying its dominating lightning, Zapdos glided towards the humans, its wings of bolts crashing mercilessly around them.

Suddenly, Pikachu leapt onto the hull on the boat and began charging up its own electricity.

"Pikachu, no!" Ash warned.

A weak [Thundershock] zapped onto the thunderbird with no effect at all, the latter retaliated as well with a similar shock towards the electric mouse.

Bzzt!

"Pika!" the electric mouse plopped backwards from the slightly stronger bolt.

"Pikachu!" Ash went to his partner.

Meanwhile, Zapdos perched itself onto the altar of Fire Island, as if declaring it its territory. As soon as its powerful talons claimed the altar, the whole place began to turn ghostly blue, electrically charged with dangerous lightning.

'This is… an electric field?!' Ash spun around frantically.

Zap!

Pikachu continued shooting out shocks of lightning towards the uncaring Zapdos who was squawking fiercely towards the dust-coloured skies…

…As if something was among them.

"Pikachu's pretty tough, but Zapdos isn't even feeling its attacks," Jessie said, wondering why the electric mouse was adamantly attacking the thunderbird.

"Those aren't attacks, Jessie," Meowth explained.

"He's tryin' to talk to Zapdos."

"Pikachiiii!" Pikachu let out another shock of lightning.

"He's asking why it's on Fire Island and where's Moltres," the cream-coloured cat translated.

"Good questions," James agreed.

Finally, the bolts of electricity caught Zapdos' attention, its head of jagged yellow turned towards the young Pokémon and zapped it. Unlike before, it was a harmless lightning bolt that was used for communication among Electric types.

"Squawk!"

Ash stared in amazement as his partner nodded while taking in the information carried within the electricity of the thunderbird.

"Um, let's see… 'Moltres used to rule here. But now that Moltres is gone, Lightning shall rule over Fire and I claim this Island as my own from this day forward'," Meowth continued.

"Moltres is gone? That's impossible!" Melody gasped.

"According to legends, the Shamouti Mirages hold the balance of the ocean. They would never fly off their respective Islands!"

'If that's the case, then… something must've happened to Moltres,' Ash surmised form what little information he had.

He knew of the firebird since the flames of the Grand League's torch was given by the Moltres of Victory Road, clueing him that there were multiple Legendary Pokémon of the same species. Hearing Melody's words, the raven-haired boy could draw the conclusion that the Legendary birds of Shamouti Island were far stronger than any of their species, making him gulp audibly.

'Why the heck am I getting roped into situations like this?' he wanted to vent out.

The bolts of thunderous lightning began to writhe around the Island, dominating the land as Zapdos declared itself to be the new lord.

Ba-bump!

'The heck?!' the raven-haired boy grasped his chest as his AURA began to resonate suddenly.

Just then, the haphazard bolts suddenly rose into the clouds, attracting the thunderbird's attention as it turned upwards and continue its glare.

"Squawk!" Zapdos cried out angrily.

And from the ominous clouds, a castle-like aircraft descended with its bottom tips acting as lightning rods for Zapdos' attacks.

"What…"

"The…"

"Heck?"

The Rocket trio hugged each other in fear of the intimidating presence of the palace. Melody made her way towards Ash who had his hand reaching to his Bag with narrowed bloodred eyes.

"Pika…!" the electric mouse growled at the flying palace.

"Key… Items: Sword."

Ash swung his materialized Sword and brandished it towards the descending craft. However, instead of a blinding gold, the Sword was thrumming a cyan blue. The boy was confused as to what it meant but did not dare take his eyes off the palace.

It was as if…

'Something… Something's in that thing…'

…There was something calling out to him.

…

{ ABSORPTION COMPLETION: 80% }

{ ZAPDOS IS NOW PERFORMING AT SUB-OPTIMAL CONDITION. }

"Draining Zapdos of its electricity, a simple and effective plan," the mantis-haired man acknowledged.

"However, its powers continue to surprise me. Even after 80%, I can tell that the almighty Mirage of Lightning still has plenty of strength in it."

"However…"

{ ABSORPTION COMPLETION: 100% }

{ CAPTURE MODULE ENGAGED }

"Now without your lightning, you'll be vulnerable to my latest inventions."

…

Rings of black flew from the palace as they preyed on the weakened Zapdos, no longer able to manifest its crackling lightning. Having no choice, the thunderbird took to the skies for a chance to fight against its assailant.

"Squawwwkkk!"

Yellow lightning destroyed a few rings, but the rest kept coming like zombies refusing to die. Next, Zapdos flapped its wings and prepared for evasion as it dived towards the Island and flew right above the humans.

"Ergh, damn winds!" Ash shielded Meldoy and Pikachu from the resulting gales caused by the thunderbird.

Unfortunately for them, the rings that followed the thunderbird closely ended up designating the humans and the boat as targets, trapping them in a cage of blue electricity.

"Woah!" Ash and Melody yelped out in surprise as they began levitating.

"Waaaggghhh!" the Rocket trio held onto each other for dear life.

Meanwhile, Zapdos was also captured by the imprisoning rings as both it and the humans were carried towards the palace.

{ ZAPDOS HAS BEEN CAPTURED, SIR. }

"And there goes the second piece," Lawrence hummed in satisfaction.

"Once I've captured Articuno…"

"The real prize will appear."

…

From deep below the depths of the ocean, a roaring melody was heard and reverberated across the waters once more. Sensing a second anomaly as well as a certain someone endangered, it sped up towards the place of origin:

Shamouti Island.

…

{ ATTENTION. }

{ DURING THE CAPTURE, WE COLLECTED SOMETHING MORE. }

"More?" Lawrence squinted his eyes.

The man's control centre whirred down towards the below deck of his flying palace. As he reached the bottom, the mantis-haired man met face-to-face the intruders he captured at the site of Zapdos' new abode.

Ash and the rest were stuck in a cage of metal with the raven-haired boy trying to smash the bars using his bluish blade, now emitting brighter blue for unknown reason.

"Moltres… Zapdos…" Melody recognized her fellow prisoners.

Clang!

"Ash…" the redhead turned apologetically at the boy slashing haphazardly with Pikachu chiming in with [Slash (Fake)].

'I should've never dragged him in this stupid thing…'

Clang! Clang!

"Twerp, it's no use…" Jessie tried to persuade Ash to give up, but it was useless.

"Oraaaa!" Ash shouted out, baring his savage canines as if an animal trying to break out.

CLANG!

"That's enough, child," Lawrence made himself known.

While the others turned towards Lawrence's entrance, Melody noticed a tablet, encased with a glass case and written with ancient ashes of a certain prophecy.

'This is…!' the redhead widened her eyes at the material written.

"Well, this is certainly a pleasure, though an unexpected one," the mantis-haired man began.

"What do you think? The Mirages of Fire and Lightning."

"Of course, without Articuno, it's not a complete set—"

Unexpectedly, it was James who interrupted out of anger.

"How disgusting! You would compare Pokémon to something like collecting bottle caps?! Now that's going too far!"

Now snapped out of his annoyance, Ash blinked in surprise at the periwinkle-haired man's argument. At first, the raven-haired boy thought that James was a pot calling the kettle black, but as he pondered upon it, Ash realized that the Rocket trio's Pokémon never seemed to be brainwashed or forced into enslavement similar to the other grunts he had the displeasure of meeting.

'Huh, that explains why I didn't feel any malice from them when I met them,' he realized from back then.

'Discounting the fact that they keep trying to steal Pikachu, they seem like good people… Damn Giovanni,' he blamed the retired boss instead.

"Those words you spoke of refers to a Trainer, but I am not a Trainer," Lawrence elaborated with a flourish of his hair, peeving both Ash and James simultaneously.

'Wow, this guy pisses me off,' the two males thought at the same time.

"I am merely a Collector. It all started from my first edition of a Mew card and after years of collecting, now I have all of this."

The mantis-haired man continued chatting. It had been a long time since he had conversation with others, after all.

"From the obscure artifacts of Galar to the famous tablet of Shamouti's prophecy, all exist for me to collect."

As he said that, an object far behind them began thrumming slightly…

At the same time as the Sword.

"Legendary Pokémon has always been my passion," Lawrence continued.

"And soon, my collection itself will be legendary."

{ ATTENTION. SENSORS INDICATE ARTICUNO IS CHANGING COURSE. }

"And now, you'll have to excuse me."

The mantis-haired man sat back on his throne, whirring up to his control room and left the caged humans in their prison.

"Man, he must love his voice," Ash commented sarcastically.

"Indeed. I thought he'd never shut up," James concurred.

…

Meanwhile, nearby Islands were covered in snow and cold winds. Now that the pillars of Fire and Lightning were gone, the cryophoenix was free to do as it pleased, freezing the trees and the lands before turning its terraforming rampage towards the ocean, freezing most of the water region of Shamouti Island with its powerful [Ice Beams].

Pokemon Academy, Kalos Region

The entire student body was moved to the main hall as the heaters there were working overtime. The classrooms were invaded by the heavy hailstorm, breaking in from the glass windows and letting the unrelenting chills' diffusion.

Meanwhile, the news channel continued broadcasting the strange phenomenon, working alongside the Professors to let the world know of the strange calamities happening everywhere.

Serena watched while clasping her hands together, trembling from anxiousness for a certain fool who got inside into a potentially world-ending situation.

'How bad is it, Squishy, Puni-chan?' the honey blonde relayed her thoughts to the invisible Cores on her shoulders.

'Not good, Serena. If this goes on, I'm afraid the Earth might be covered in white,' Squishy lamented.

'Can't you guys help or the other Gods?' Serena wondered.

'Not right now, no. We are not allowed to interfere. Thankfully, there's still one last bastion of hope for Earth in the form of a fellow deity,' Puni-chan assured.

'The Guardian of the Sea.'

Just as Puni-chan finished, the news channel broadcasted in the hall rang loudly, showing the entire student body a familiar group of people.

"Eh, Gramps?! And Daisy?!" Gary exclaimed, flabbergasted at the sight of his kin.

"Wah, it's that pretty lady who was with Red!" Blue gasped as she saw Professor Ivy.

{ HERE'S A MAP OF SHAMOUTI ISLAND, THE EPICENTRE OF THE UNPRECEDENTED WORLDWIDE WEATHER DISASTERS. }

The screen showed a satellite image of Shamouti Island as well as its three other smaller islands, all of which belonged together.

{ THOUGH NOT YET KNOWN WHY, THOUSANDS OF POKEMON ARE ON THEIR WAY TOWARDS THE ISLAND. }

{ WATER POKEMON ARE COMING BY SEA… }

The screen changed again to live recording of a multitude of sea-based Pokémon swimming towards the direction of Shamouti with haste.

{ FLYING POKÉMON ARE COMING BY AIR… }

{ AND THOSE ON LAND ARE MASSING TOGETHER NEAREST THE ISLANDS. }

"Hey, Cal… We're gonna be okay, right?" Shauna held onto Calem's hand with worry.

"Don't worry, it'll all blow over soon," the black-haired boy reassured, though he himself was in a similar state of mind.

…

All around the world…

…

Petalburg City, Hoenn Region.

"It's alright, kids. Come closer, otherwise you're gonna freeze," Norman beckoned his family as he wrapped all of them with a thick woollen blanket.

"Sis…" Max sniffled from the cold.

May held onto her little brother's hand and warmed it up with her own body heat while watching the news.

…

The remaining, Articuno, unleashed its powerful frost.

…

Twinleaf Town, Sinnoh Region.

Dawn snuggled close to her mother with chattering teeth from the frosty winds outside her house. Closing her eyes, she held onto a certain picture frame dearly, trying to give herself some semblance of comfort.

"Sniff… Akari…"

…

Here and now…

…

Village of Dragons, Unova Region.

"I hate the cold…" Iris whispered with tears in her eyes, wanting the snowstorm to disappear.

The tanned girl, not even 8, shivered with her best friend, Shannon, as she began hoping…

'Please… Someone…'

For a hero. A hero who would subjugate the winter.

…

The world tethered closer to destruction.

…

Lumiose City, Kalos Region.

"Come on…!" Clemont clicked his tongue, rewiring his prototype.

"Clemont… Achoo! Big Brother…" Bonnie had tears in her eyes from the scary wind howls.

Whirrr!

"Alright! It's working!"

The prototype heater, more powerful than the house's thermostat, whirred to life. Instantly, Bonnie and Clemont felt toasty as they snuggled together, watching the news channel for some good news.

…

Click, clack…

…

Shalour City, Kalos Region.

A grandfather and his granddaughter meditated, trying to fend off the coldness that threatened to attack their skins.

As they meditated, the news channel began showing an interview with two Professors.

…

Click, clack.

…

Pokémon School, Alola Region.

Professor Kukui and his students watched patiently as they waited for the interview to begin. Seeing how he was not needed, the muscular man tended to his students instead and comforted them from the glacial storms approaching the region.

…

Click!

…

Vermillion City, Kanto Region.

"I'm so cold, Goh…" Chloe whimpered under her blanket.

'It's because we're close to the epicentre…' the tanned boy concluded as he wrapped even more layers onto her.

"Don't worry, Chloe. This'll all pass quickly! I'm never wrong on my predictions!" he gave the biggest smile he could.

"With me now, are Professor Oak and Professor Ivy to help explain this phenomenon," the reporter announced with the two researchers sitting at the back of the helicopter.

The elderly man wore a serious expression, resembling close to that of his prime years. It was an expression reserved for the troubling times.

"Near Shamouti Island lie the three islands: Fire Island, Lightning Island and Ice Island. They are home to Moltres, Zapdos and Articuno respectively," Oak began.

"I fear the Mirages are somehow involved in this. Ancient writings from the Orange Islands' legends and cultures name this area, or rather these islands…"

"The Cradle of the Ocean. The source of all the waters of the world."

Oak drew illustrations of the three islands on his notepad to depict his points across for the audience to learn.

"This has been disputed by scientists for centuries. But if you ask me, it makes poetic sense when you consider what forms when combining fire and ice."

"Then, what about the Lightning Island, sir?"

"Imagine an imbalance of power occurs between the three elements," he continued.

The drawings of the water currents were formed by Fire and Ice while the third party, Lightning, was drawn circling the currents like coils.

"Here's potentially how the underwater current has formed."

"Um, I don't follow, sir…"

"What I mean is this:" Oak circled the three island illustrations on his notepad.

"The three Mirages balance each other, causing the planet's ocean currents to move normally. If the balance between the powers of Moltres, Zapdos and Articuno were somehow disrupted, a powerful underwater current could emerge from this region and ultimately flood the entire planet."

"Us scientists and the ancient people call this…"

"The Beast of the Sea."

The news people, including the helicopter pilot gulped audibly at the dreadful conclusion Oak made.

"The Pokémon could be gathering because they feel a sense of impending doom," Ivy continued whilst caressing a certain PokéBall in her hands.

"Pokémon are acutely in tune with the balance of nature. The urge to correct this imbalance is causing them to gather, to try and save the planet, though they may be unable to do anything."

'Best not to tell them, Professor Oak,' the plum-haired woman glanced at the elderly man, who nodded back.

'Yes. The other reason why the pokemon gather… It is because this potential extinction-class event is somehow the least dangerous from all the ancient legends and myths we've researched,' he narrowed his eyes.

'How frightening. To think our current predicament is the least disastrous out of all of mythologies and legends. If any of the others were to happen…'

'—It would be in the realm of Gods, untouchable by mortals.'

'That is when we pray.'

"And who are you?" the reporter turned towards Daisy.

"I'm Professor Oak's granddaughter," she introduced.

"Shouldn't you be in the comfort of your hom—"

"My foster brother is at Shamouti Island!" she cried out in a panic.

"If things get as bad as Grandpa said, A—"

"—My foster brother, I might never see him again!"

Pokemon Academy, Kalos Region

"That goddamn moron!" Gary scratched his head, distraught at what he had heard.

'Shit, shit, shit! This isn't funny, Red!' he tried to rack up a way to save his foster brother but came up empty.

"Damnit!"

A fist slammed onto the ground as the orange-haired boy had never felt this powerless before. His rival, stuck on the epicentre of the worldwide disaster, and potentially never coming back to Serena.

"Red… No…" Blue despaired silently.

After hearing every detail of the imbalance and what it might do to the world as well as the revealed information by Daisy that Ash was confirmed to be on Shamouti Island, no one held out hope for the raven-haired boy.

The Grand League battles were one thing, but surviving a literal apocalypse was something they did not dare to hope.

'Please… please come back…' Serena began to sob uncontrollably.

"Mmf! Ash…"

"Stay back!" Ash exhaled as the others stepped away as far back as possible within the cage.

'—AURA, on!'

AWOOOOOO!

The raven-haired boy's AURA whirred to life, its metaphorical engine starting up with the deafening howl of a wolf.

The Sword's bluish steel turned golden as Ash held Caliburn overhead and exhaled once more.

Schwing! Schwing! Schwing!

With Reinforced strength as well as the absorbed swordsmanship from Caliburn, the cage's bars did not stand a chance.

Clung, clung!

"Whew… it worked," Ash whistled, pleased that AURA was activating for him this time.

'If I didn't know any better, my AURA's kinda a tsundere,' he joked to himself.

"What is that sword, Ash?" Melody marvelled at the golden blade.

The Rocket trio were equally intrigued, prompting a sigh from the boy. He did not want people to find out, but since this was an emergency, he conceded.

"Caliburn, the Sword in the Stone… I think?" Ash revealed sheepishly.

"Anyways, what's happening now?" he changed the subject.

As the crew escape the destroyed jail, they looked outside and saw the rather breath-taking view of the icy landscape. Truthfully, it was a sight that inspired fear and awe at the same time.

"This sure beats an in-flight movie…" Jessie commented, amazed at the view now accompanied by the rising sun and disappearing snow.

"What's it like?" Ash asked since he had never been on one before.

"Trust me, twerp. Never go on the economy seats, those are the Devil's work," James patted the boy on the back.

'The hell's an economy seat?' he quirked a brow.

Ba-bump!

Ash whipped back from the view and felt a slight tug on the other side of the lower chamber. Slowly, he walked towards the tug, not even fighting it and following its lead…

…Almost as if calling for him.

"Disturb not the harmony of Fire, Ice, or Lightning…" Melody recited from the tablet earlier.

"Lest these Titans wreak destruction upon the world in which they clash…"

"What if the legend is coming true?" she squeaked in fear.

"If it's true, all intelligent life will be destroyed," James answered.

"We have to do something!" the redhead exclaimed.

"Huh, where's da twerp?" Meowth asked.

Melody spun around with no Ash in sight. But as she got closer to the centre, the redhead spotted the raven-haired boy standing in front of a glass case.

"Ash! What're you doing?" she ran towards him.

However, the raven-haired boy was stunned speechless. He could not move, for he had found the source of his AURA's resonance.

'This is…?!' Ash froze in bewilderment.

Ba-bump!

"That's…" Melody scrutinized the object.

Within that glass…

"…A dagger?"

—Was a rusted dagger with a white hilt.

"Go, Weezing!" James summoned his newly evolved Pokémon.

"You too, Arbok," Jessie did the same.

After their few encounters with Ash, the Rocket trio's Pokémon had evolved, all in the name of giving the raven-haired boy a harder time and to steal Pikachu.

Crash!

"What was that?" Meowth jumped form the sudden sound.

Right on cue, Ash and Melody returned with the former holding onto the white-hilted dagger.

"Woah, twerp. Are you stealing?" Jessie was impressed the boy had the guts.

"Hey, from what that slimeball said, I don't think these are even his," Ash deadpanned.

'What's more, I can feel something in Caliburn is happy to see it…' the boy glanced at the thrumming Sword along with the rusted dagger responding in kind.

'Really confused as to what the heck's happening…'

With that, the two groups divided themselves to try and free the Mirages of Fire and Lightning.

…

"Time to turn up the heat," Lawrence smirked as he prepared to engage against the last Mirage.

{ CAPTURE MODULE ENGAGED. }

Autocannons blasted towards the cryophoenix, who dodged all of them elegantly whilst maintain its subsonic speed. While evading, Articuno continued to let out its [Ice Beams] everywhere, even onto the frozen ocean.

The autocannons, now armed with flammable materials within, destroyed the wall of ice, exploding the surface of the ocean.

And as it continued, a pair of glowing eyes in the depths of the ocean turned upwards as it marked its entrance. The great creature spiralled as it ascended from the murky depths, turning into a cyclone of rushing currents, and rushed to the top with haste.

…

"Squawwwkkk!" both Moltres and Zapdos widened their eyes at the glowing Sword and white-hilted dagger.

"Um… right. Anyways, stay back," Ash warned the Mirages as he held Caliburn two-handed and horizontally.

With Reinforced strength, the raven-haired boy performed a series of slashes that tore away the imprisoning cages.

Now finally free, the two birds squawked with reinvigorated strength, stretching their wings in the process.

"Alright, now we—"

Ba-bump!

'What now?!'

"I ▇ the of ▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇."

'—This voice!'

Goosebumps flooded his skin as Ash snapped his head towards the outside…

Looking towards the main altar of Shamouti Island.

'That piece of…!' his breath hitched in panic.

With little time to react, the raven-haired boy pushed Melody and Piakchu onto the floor frantically before yelling out to Team Rocket.

"—Rocket, get down!"

BBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

Melody struggled to move, her body feeling an unfamiliar weight on her as she peered at it. Her eyes flew open in distraught as she beheld a wounded Ash using his body as a shield from the sudden assault.

"Ash!" she quivered in shock at the lacerations on his arms.

The previous scars the raven-haired boy suffered made their appearances as Melody was now close enough to see the faded ones. Adorning his arms were the new additions created from the unexpected explosion.

However, as much as the redhead wanted to yell at Ash for being so suicidal, she was mesmerized by the small scar on his eyebrow, seemingly adding an animalistic charm to the boy.

'…Oh no…' she flushed immediately, much to Ash's obliviousness.

"That's…" the raven-haired boy growled at a nearby object.

Pikachu, who was in the redhead's arms, turned his yellow head towards Ash's line of sight, only to find a broken object:

It looked like the hilt of a sword with a horizontal guard but missing its blade.

"Ergh… Are you two alright?" Ash gave a strained grin.

Melody and Pikachu nodded as they began helping Ash by removing a large rubble of steel on his body.

'He was shielding us from something that heavy?!' the redhead could not believe her eyes.

"Twerp!" the Rocket trio exclaimed, seemingly glad to see the boy still kicking.

'I'm starting to get the feeling these guys don't really know how to villain,' he monologed sarcastically.

"Urk… Where are the birds?" he held his head from the aching pain inside.

As if answering his question, the palace began to crumble with deafening screeches. The two free Mirages were wreaking havoc upon the aircraft while simultaneously fighting each other for dominance.

It was the Legendary birds' nature as once imbalance occurred, there was only correction in mind for them, but their ways of balancing were far from peaceful as their corrections came in the form of a three-way showdown for a winner-takes-all.

"Why the hell do I keep getting myself in these situations…?" Ash grumbled as he stood up.

'I think my arm's broken.'

His Reinforced body, although taking the full brunt of collapsing debris, was still up and running, injured mostly on his right arm since he had to support that side more.

'Eh, still have the other one.'

"Are you alright, Ash?" the redhead asked worryingly.

"She's right, twerp. Don't gotta push ya' self," Meowth chimed in.

Rumble…!

"I'll live. First things first, we gotta haul ass right now," the raven-haired boy looked around for a way to escape.

Boom!

The gaping hole made by the stray 'bullet' announced itself as the flying palace had crashed onto a snow-covered cliff, slowly tipping towards the fall. Just as the weight of the gigantic craft tilted, its exterior steel wall broke off from the decimated palace due to the aftermath of the Mirages' battles, landing coincidentally right in front of the hole made by the anonymous projectile.

"Let's go!" Ash instructed to the group as they ran for it.

The group rushed out as quickly as they could while Melody's boat had dropped nicely below the cliff, ready to be boarded. The raven-haired boy nodded silently to the others to which they plan to make it there after their sprint towards the snow.

Creaaaakkkkkk!

The infrastructure of the flying palace groaned, inclining the steel wall further upwards and making sure the cluster of humans down below tumble from the uneven footing.

"Waahhh!" all of them collectively screamed.

Poof.

Luckily, their landing on the snow was fluffy and devoid of pain, though all except Ash shiver from the cold.

CRASHHHHH!

Next to them, a somewhat familiar structure was destroyed by the demolished turbine as a small object fell before the raven-haired boy.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu held the orb in his paws, the orb lighting up with a spark of electricity within.

"This is… the Lightning orb?" he scanned the glass object, realizing they had landed at Lightning Island as opposed to their initial location at Fire Island.

"Ash, quick!" Melody hurried the boy, to which the latter agreed as he held the orb in one hand and the new dagger he swiped in the other, more unfortunate arm.

Without warning, the raven-haired boy Reinforced his body again and dashed towards the redhead, carrying her despite her embarrassed protests.

…

Fire, Lightning, and Ice.

The three great birds fought each other, correcting the imbalance in their own ways, believing themselves the one to dominate.

[Flamethrower] of raging flames, its power was enough to create an area of heat as it ate away anything in its vicinity with hungered dances.

[Thunderbolt] of roaring lightning, its resounding electric served to become hammers of smashing gold as they sought to destroy its enemies.

[Ice Beam] of dominating frost, its controlling ice created stalwart defences when needed and mercilessly struck its foes that breached it, becoming the embodiment of an immovable object.

The three birds continued their showdown, though it was evident none of them had the upper hand. At this rate, they would just tire themselves out and become easy pickings for the silent Collector.

However, unbeknownst to everyone…

The fourth was about to show itself.

…

"I'd hate to be burned," Jessie commented frightfully.

"I'd hate to be zapped," James replied similarly.

"I'd hate to get hit by their droppings!" Meowth gulped.

Fwsssshhhhhhhh!

An [Ice Beam] trailed dangerously close to the boat, nearly freezing it with the Rocket trio along with it.

Thump!

As the blue light passed, Ash landed safely onto the boat with Melody and Pikachu in tow. His torn torso from the initial debris now displayed the luminous blue circuits, widening the trio's eyes but they had no time to react as they needed to escape from the warzone.

Zaaaappppppppp!

Next was the [Thunderbolt], which destroyed the frozen waters all the way to the cliff, causing the frozen waterfall to flow once more. As Melody pondered as to how to get the vessel going, falling rocks and metal plunged from above and generated enough force for the boat to move towards said waterfall.

"Wait… this is bad!" the raven-haired boy realized.

But it was too late as the boat slipped apart from the flowing water and began its fall towards the still-frozen ocean caused by Articuno's terraforming.

"Aaaahhhhhh! I don't wanna blast off like this!" the Rocket trio hugged each other in fear.

Having no idea to salvage this, Ash decided to hold onto Pikachu and Melody, suing his body as a shield once again. The redhead, tired from the number of close calls and the numerous times she had to witness the raven-haired boy sacrificing his wellbeing for his partner and her, shut her eyes and clasped her hands together.

The AURA around her began to swirl like a whirlpool as she cried out for her saviour:

The one who blessed the redhead with its Song.

"Save us!"

And with her prayer, a cyclone of spiralling aqua erupted from below.

Fwooooossssshhhhhhhhh!

"Eh?!" Melody opened her eyes, feeling a warmth within her heart.

The cyclone proceeded to carry the boat through the frozen terrain, leaving behind a trail of broken shards of ice and remerged blue water. As it swirled, something massive within the tornado of water began humming. Humming a familiar melody.

'This song…' Melody began to piece everything together.

Finally, the cyclone flung the boat towards the closest land it found with the unfortunate Rocket trio blasting off with a distance with a lifeboat due to not following safety procedures.

Meanwhile, the boat crashed onto an island's cliff, slowly but surely tilting itself to the faraway bottom. Ash and Melody nodded to each other as they disembarked the falling boat with Pikachu aboard on his partner's shoulder.

Boom!

'Great, now Carol's gonna yell at me,' Melody grimaced.

For now, Ash laid onto the cold inviting ground, catching his breath for the first time in a while. As he rested, he could feel his arm healing, though it felt weaker than his initial landing at Shamouti's shores.

Noticing this, the raven-haired boy wondered if there was a limit to Caliburn's healing. The Sword had been placed between his back and Bag, acting as an impromptu sheath as it was tucked in nicely. Meanwhile, the rusted dagger he took from Lawrence's treasury was also kept snugly in his belt next to his team's capsules.

"Can this day get any more tiring…?" Ash sighed rhetorically.

"Boy, do I have news for you," a sudden familiar voice uttered out.

In an instant, Ash jumped to his feet as he took out his Sword and clashed it with a pair of yin-yang blades…

Belonging to an ashen-haired man.

CLANG!

BZZT! BZZT! BZZT!

Resonance between the weapons begun.

"Tch, I missed…" Nameless clicked his tongue.

"You, that was you!" the raven-haired boy growled tempestuously, recalling the sudden attack towards the flying palace.

"Oh, sorry. That wasn't on purpose," the man shrugged unapologetically.

CLING!

With a forceful disengage, Ash was tumbled backwards and landed on his feet while his bloodred eyes were trained onto the man in red.

"You damn liar!" he retorted, unable to believe the audacity of the older man.

"Based on what grounds?"

"You just said you missed!"

"Oh, you heard that?" Nameless deadpanned.

Ash fumed even more, any more and he was about to blow up in anger.

"How are you—"

"Here? Damn, you're predictable," Nameless scoffed.

The raven-haired boy's mood dropped even further down, now that he had to deal with someone who he thought was a figment of his imagination but turned out to be real.

And to the boy, that begged the question:

"Who the hell are you?" Ash demanded to know, brandishing his Sword towards the man.

"And I believe I told you that I have no intentions of telling yo—"

As the ashen-haired man's words cut off, his lavender eyes took great notice at the Sword the raven-haired boy brandished. Nameless stood with stunned silence as he analysed the blade, switching his attention back and forth at Ash and the blade.

"Ha… Ha… Hahahaha! So that's where it was!" the ashen-haired man guffawed, as if he had been slapped in the face.

There was no amusement in his baritone laugh, just pure depression. It was as if he had been the unfortunate fool of a cruel joke.

"H-Hey… are ya' alright?" Ash asked with genuine worry, letting go of his irrational hatred for a while.

"No wonder I couldn't find you at Slumbering Weald…" Nameless muttered to himself.

The Sword, now in its Caliburn form, thrummed at the sight of the man. Ash, confused as he may be, was still kind enough to stab Caliburn into the snowy earth and gestured towards the man in red.

"…Can I?" the lavender-eyed man asked.

"What do you think, asshole?" Ash shot back sarcastically to which the man rolled his eyes.

As Nameless knelt in front of the Sword, Melody walked towards Ash with bashful steps.

"Hey, do you know him?" she whispered in his ear.

"Unfortunately…" he nodded dispassionately.

"Though I guess you can say I don't either. It's complicated…"

It was true that Ash was aware of the man's existence, though he did not expect the same guy was real this whole time. But it was also true he did not know his identity, let alone a name.

'Who the hell is he…?'

As Ash Reinforced his hearing, he managed to catch bits and pieces of Nameless' conversation with the stabbed Caliburn, which was thrumming now and then:

"You don't have to apologize…"

"I made my choice…"

"Eh? That idiot?"

"…Fine, it's not like I'm going to last long."

'Oi, why does it feel like I got trashed?' Ash's eye twitched in vexation.

"In any case…" Nameless got up and flourished Caliburn in his hand.

'…Damn, that's cool,' Ash admitted begrudgingly at how Nameless expertly wielded the blade.

"Here, sucks that I've to teach you some things," the man handed the boy back his Sword with a groan.

'Well screw you too.'

"Wait, is that…?" Nameless paused at the sight of the rusted dagger before grinning.

"Well, this makes things easier. But first…"

The man in red gestured to the patient Slowking, who began by beckoning the boy to the altar.

"Hurry along, Chosen One. Take the treasure and put it there."

Although curious about the Slowking's ability to talk, Ash wisely followed his instructions, more attentive to the pressing matters.

The raven-haired boy proceeded to place the two glass orbs on the altar, each one facing their respective Islands. However,…

"What?"

An invisible force was blocking his hand as Ash tried to force himself to push into the altar. Suffice to say, he failed despite Reinforcing his arms.

Remembering how he took out the Fire orb, the raven-haired boy urged Pikachu to place it instead. The electric mouse obliged as when it was handed the orbs to place, their elements manifested within the glass. For some reason, it infuriated Ash somewhat.

'Are they moody or something? Or do they just hate me?' Ash wondered with annoyance as well as the reason why Pikachu was allowed but he was not.

"Only two? You're one treasure short," Slowking observed the altar.

"Huh? Yeah, I can count," the boy replied sarcastically.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Melody turned towards the approaching explosions, choking at the sight of the three great birds' clash coming closer and closer to their current location.

"Shit, Melody!" Ash prepared to move, but someone else beat him to it.

"Move, moron."

With speed equivalent to Pikachu's [Volt Tackle], the ashen-haired man pulled the redhead into his arm while holding out his other arm as if he was about to manifest something.

Safe to say, Melody was instantly charmed by the man's adult appearance up close as well as the delicate yet firm hand on her shoulder.

'Right about now,' Nameless thought.

Fwooossshhhh!

A cyclone of rushing waves erupted from frozen ocean as it shielded the altar and its temporary denizens there from the trio of Fire, Lightning, and Ice.

Now near enough to see, the children watched as a gigantic beast swam up the cyclone of translucent water before bursting out of it with its pristine white wings.

"Roooooaaaaarrrrrr!" the silver wyvern bellowed loudly.

"That's…!" Melody gasped in awe.

"The Great Guardian, Lugia!" Slowking exclaimed in reverence.

With its true name revealed, a chunk of the darkened skies parted to reveal the bright Sun shining down upon them. Lugia's silver scales shimmered with soft radiance from the sunlight.

"It's you…" the redhead recognized the melody that followed its roars.

Lugia glanced back at the humans, homing in onto Melody before smiling gently at her.

"Ho… Now I see," Nameless understood finally.

Ash turned to the man with curiosity in his eyes.

"She's an Incarnation."

"…A what now?"

"Oh right, you're still here," the ashen-haired man snarked to the boy's chagrin.

"It's what we call a mortal blessed by a Legendary, or in this case, a deity," the man explained.

"Melody's one of them?!" Ash spluttered in surprise.

"Melody…" Nameless turned to the bashfully blushing girl in his arm.

'Right… That was her name…'

"That's right. What's more…" he muttered that last part as he sneaked a peek at Ash before keeping it to himself.

"What're you looking at, jerk?"

"Your clothes are ugly. Why'd you go for blue anyways?" the ashen-haired man changed topics smoothly.

"What do you think, stupid?" the boy replied sarcastically.

"You look like shit."

Melody watched as the man in red bickered back and forth with the flustered raven-haired boy and wondered to herself.

'Hmm… Are they brothers?'

Before they could trash talk any further, Lugia began engaging against the three birds.

"ROOOOAAARRRR!"

A telescope zoomed in towards the silver guardian, its owner grinning with glee and excitement in his voice.

"Finally, my prize. It's magnificent."

Lawrence powered up his palace once more, still determined to capture Lugia for himself. The flying palace had stabilised in its current position, its weapon systems still active and ready.

"The Beast of the Sea will soon belong to me."

Zapdos let out a flurry of lightning towards the new addition to their fight with Moltres and Articuno following suit with their respective elements. With a mighty beat of its silver wings, Lugia ascended as it evaded each elemental attacks whilst tucking in its wings for a more aerodynamic form.

Blazing fire burned the air, but it did not matter as the wyvern dodged it flawlessly. Nor did the chaotic lightning or the paralyzing ice. Every single move was Lugia's plaything to avoid.

And responding to the Mirages' attacks, the silver wyvern swooped downwards with speed equal to a missile. As it neared the frozen ocean, Lugia folded its dark blue plates on its body as it prepared to dive.

BOOM!

Lugia greeted the cold seawater with comfort as it spiralled the waters around its silver body, creating another vortex of currents that protected the wyvern. Accumulating enough defence, Lugia blasted out of the ice and scored blows upon the off-guarded Mirages.

Angered, Articuno breathed out [Ice Beam] and instantly froze the cyclone of water. However, its efforts would go to waste as a bright blue light emitted from within the encased ice.

BOOM!

A [Psychic]-armoured Lugia emerged with an aloof expression on its face as if taunting the cryophoenix. Seeing how the three Mirages began to attack in joint, seemingly calling a truce against the guardian, Lugia flew close to the surface of the icy ocean.

Triple elemental powers aimed towards the wyvern who expertly dodged each one, destroying and rebuilding the sheet of ice depending on the element. As the wyvern gained altitude once more, the Mirages charged up their respective moves to defeat the guardian.

"Squawk!"

Moltres' wings flared up with blazing flames as it breathed out its [Fire Blast] that far eclipsed Charizard's firepower.

Zapdos' body sparkled with gold, summoning a great tower of lightning as [Thunder] fell onto Lugia.

Finally, Articuno's red eyes glowed blue as it unleashed a condensed [Avalanche] onto its enemy with blitzing speed.

And all three birds became stunned as a ball of bright blue AURA protected the wyvern, rendering their attacks useless before converging into Lugia's mouth as bright blue energy.

Swoooooooossssssshhhhhh!

Multiple beams of blue discharged onto the three great birds, hitting them with powerful strength. However, the aftermath resulted in the birds glaring angrily at the wyvern.

Wounded but not done yet.

Not wanting to involve its Incarnation into the fight, Lugia steered the Mirages away with its supersonic speed that slightly broke the sound barrier.

With that, the battle resumed.

…

"That's… a God," Ash stared with an unreadable expression at Lugia's power, something that far eclipsed any of his Pokémon's strength currently.

'If a God is that powerful…'

'W̷̥̱͉͛h̷̨̯̯̭͎͚͍̝̙̟̝̼͍̤͕́͋͑͆̄͋̽͐̒̆͊̚͘͝ý̶͎̩̖̬͇̞̱̠̬̓̆̇̉̉̌̿̅̓̚͝͝ ̸̛͉͉̳̑̑̐̄̈́͐̎̿͑́̅̋͛͠d̶̢̳̰̜͓̺̙͈̟̫̓̍͂̀̐̎͝͝ͅȋ̴̺͉͍̄͗̏̊̿d̶̬̳̼͖͙̝̦͍̜̹̋̀̾̍̆̌͋̔̄͑͆͒̕̕͜n̵̞̼̫̘̞̱̆̂͗'̶̠̇͋͌̓͊t̷̨̨̛̩̦̟̘̠̟̦̙̗͓͐͗̄̐̈́̊̄̔͝͠͝ͅ ̸̖͔̞͆̈́t̴̨̨̟͍̪͔̟̺̙̲̼̒͋ͅh̸͚͖͇͍̪̬̜͖̗̊̉̑̇̂̄͂̄͒͆͆̃́̂̕͜͜ͅe̸͉͎̭͕̦̣̠͚̦̼̍̉͊̑͊͛̌͊̇̚͠͠ỹ̶̝͚̖̼͖͖̙̬͗̅̅͋̏ ̴̡̼͒̀̀̑͌̍͒̅͠͠s̴̳͍̦̩̞̭͕̖͙̹̫͖̲̉a̷͖̒̈́̃̅̉͐̾̓̒͊̅̃̏͘͝v̶̢̨̛͉̥͚̲̙͍͇̰̱̜̦́̅̓͂̂̿͂͜͝͝͝ę̷̙̪͉̮͔͗̓͐ ̸̡̩̥͙̞̇̉͗͐̑̀̓̍̂̇͛̐m̵̡̙̫̩̳̣̖͓̠̑̽̓͂͆̉̀̒̔̾͑̿̚͜͝ỹ̴̧̢̼̯̥̪͚͒̎̐̈́̈́̌̆̇̈́̄̓͠͝ ̷̡͈̖̖̋̄̂̈́̄̽͆̎̒͌͘̕͠m̷̨͕͍̮̦̮̋̇͌͗́̽͆̂̾̅̓o̴̢̜̣͎̜̬͙̝̪͔͛̅͜t̷̡̮̮͙̜̯̖̀̎h̶̨̨̡͓̱̥͙̣̹͎̘͎͖̦̦͐͂̉̇̀̌̀͐̂́̏ě̷̢̢̡̢̡̧̫̲̞͎̼̠̬̲r̶̢̲̺̠̹͆?'

The man in red glanced at the boy with an understanding gaze before closing his eyes in contemplation, deciding not to voice out his words.

"Though the Water's Great Guardian shall arise to quell the fighting."

"Alone its song will fail; thus, the earth shall turn to ash."

As Slowking recited the prophecy, his expression turned grim as he watched Lugia fighting the Mirages alone.

"This looks bad."

The Legendary birds were smart. Smart enough to get the idea that the silver wyvern was trying to protect its Incarnation on the altar and soon, all of them collectively sped towards Melody.

"Stay close, Melody," Nameless narrowed his seemingly glowing lavender eyes.

But as they closed in, Lugia's sound-breaking speed reached their location first as it roared ferociously at the three. Unbeknownst to the guardian, this was what the three great birds were aiming for as they let out another barrage of elemental attacks at Lugia.

Having no choice but to defend, Lugia conjured its spherical shield of AURA but was quickly overwhelmed. Despite its status as the Guardian of the Sea, in a straightforward back-and-forth against three Legendaries, it was bound to lose.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

The limp body of the silver wyvern fell and crashed into the freezing ocean below, smashing the sheet of ice in the process.

As if that was not enough, the great birds blasted their attacks onto the hole made by Lugia, closing it as a sign of their victory. With Lugia defeated, the great birds resumed their clash, restarting the malefic weather of snow.

…

The helicopter shook violently from the sudden snowstorm, rummaging the passengers aboard as the youngest inside peered out to see a great number of Pokémon rushing towards Shamouti Island, their destination.

"What are they doing in such terrible weather?" Daisy hung onto the grab holder on the passenger seat.

"The Fate of our Planet is what we should be worried about. The Pokémon know that better than us," Ivy replied as she caressed the restless capsule in her hand.

Land Pokémon made their way across the frozen ocean from their respective locations while Gyarados' breathed [Flamethrowers] and [Hyper Beams] to make a path for the aquatic Pokémon. Over them, avian Pokémon from across the world flew, hypnotized by their need to correct the Planet's imbalance.

As they reached, the Pokémon did not go any further for fear of incurring the deities' wrath.

…

As the storm cleared, Ash could finally see the Pokémon that had reached the Island, staying in the side-lines.

"There's only one hope," Slowking sighed.

"Only the Chosen One can bring together the treasures to help the Great Guardian."

"The prophecy said its song will fail," Melody chimed in.

"And… 'Thus, the world shall turn to Ash'."

Immediately, everyone present turned to the raven-haired boy who wore a dumbfounded expression on his face.

"…No."

"No, no, no. I can't do it!" Ash refused adamantly, feeling the pressure on his body.

"Pika, Pikachu!" his partner squeaked, begging his Trainer.

'How the heck did it come to this? I was just heading to Ivy's place…' he lamented his twisted luck.

"Right now, you're the one who matches the prophecy, Ash," Melody said.

"It… it can't be me…"

'I don't deserve such a title.'

Melody bit her lips as she recalled the events that led to this. The redhead could not blame the boy for refusing as she was the one who forced the role upon him. But she was determined to save not only the world, but her guardian deity as well.

"Then, I wi—"

"Is that it, Ash Ketchum?"

DOOOOM!

An intimidating wave of hostility was slammed into the raven-haired boy, prompting him to point his Sword towards the indifferent-faced man. However, Ash could tell Nameless was rather angered by his decision.

"Are you really going to let the Planet be destroyed?" the ashen-haired man sneered with disgust at the raven-haired boy.

"So that whole bullshit about Pokémon Master was just that, huh?"

DOOOOM!

A second wave of killing intent burst from the boy. The bloodred eyes shone with raging red, condensing the ghostly blue pupils that brimmed with hostility.

"What a joke, Ash Ketchum," the man in red smirked tauntingly.

"…I'd rather die than listen to yo—!"

"Then…"

"Are you going to let her die?"

Ash's mouth clamped shut as he widened his eyes at the man.

"Don't get me wrong, I could care less what happens to this World," the ashen-haired man admitted truthfully, though cryptically for the ones present.

"But as someone living 'here', don't you have an obligation to protect the person you treasure most?"

'The person he treasures most?' Melody gazed at a silent Ash, unmoving.

"I ask you once again, Ash Ketchum…"

"Are you going to sacrifice Serena due to your uselessness?"

"No fucking way!" the raven-haired boy roared in retaliation as he grabbed onto the red mantle around the man's arms.

"There's no way I'm letting Serena die!"

…

"…Good answer," the ashen-haired man grinned, clearly pleased at his reaction.

Then, he carried Ash to an open snowy plain near the altar while placing the rusted dagger and glowing Sword next to him. Ash, although confused, let him do as he pleased since he had an inkling that the man in red knew more than him.

Unconsciously, the raven-haired boy had begun to trust Nameless, much to his disgust.

"Concentrate as I build the link. Once you're done, you'll probably be stronger," the man in red stated as he placed a palm on the boy's back.

A spiral of midnight blue AURA erupted from the boy as he concentrated with the rusted dagger began emitting a similar colour.

"Melody," the ashen-haired man called to the redhead.

"You're Lugia's Incarnation. Play the Blessing that it gifted you."

"We need it to stall some time."

The redhead realized what he was insinuating at and took out her ocarina and began playing the Song.

The harmonious melody chimed the surroundings, growing louder as Melody began to glow with rainbows covering her body. As she played her ocarina, the rainbow notes found their way to the fallen wyvern.

'Hmm… Been a long time since I've seen the Blessing of the Water's Song,' the ashen-haired man mused as he felt the link stabilizing within the boy.

'…Shame I can't slit his throat right now.'

Link established.

Registering…

Weapon types unlocked.

Sword, Dagger, S̶h̶i̶e̶l̶d̶ , L̶a̶n̶c̶e̶

Two relics missing, unable to replicate.

Dagger analysed.

True Name…

"Already done?" Nameless noticed the raven-haired boy stirring up.

Whooossssshhhhhh!

A rainbow-coloured cyclone blasted from the cold ocean with a rejuvenated Lugia roaring its return with a resounding bellow.

"The song…" Lugia spoke for the first time.

"The song has restored my strength."

"But it alone cannot bring harmony to the three warring ones."

"What do you mean?" Ash asked as he got up, similarly rejuvenated from his meditation with Nameless.

"When the treasures of Fire, Ice and Lightning are aligned, my Song shall harmonize with their powers and tame the beasts above…"

"As well as the Beast below."

"But this can only pass only with the help of the Chosen One."

"…What can the Chosen One do that others can't?" Ash asked again.

"Only in the hands of the true Chosen One and their Pokémon will the Ice sphere glow like the others, its power awakened."

The raven-haired boy narrowed at Ice Island, already determining his next move.

"The choice is yours. You must only go where your heart leads."

While Ash stood still, Lugia approached Melody who immediately ran to it with tears in her eyes.

"Ah, Melody. How big you've grown," the wyvern gently rubbed its silver scales onto the redhead.

"The Song… you were the one who taught it to me," she smiled.

"When I noticed the wilful little girl on the sandy shores of Shamouti, I couldn't help but listen."

"The Song you played was by no means perfect, let alone average. But the determination you showed in playing my Song…"

"That was beautiful to me, Melody. That was why I chose you, my Incarnation."

"Your Song, immature yet full of passion, had reached the heart of a God."

Melody remembered a voice from the ocean, asking her if she loved the Song to which her younger self nodded with delight. That was more than enough to move the guardian.

"And you… The Monster," Lugia narrowed at Nameless who scoffed at his title.

"Are you here to aid us, or…"

Melody could tell even her guardian deity was apprehensive, as if it was wary of the ashen-haired man.

"If I was going to do the other thing, I wouldn't have gone out of my way to help your ward or loophole my way here," Nameless commented dryly.

"Is your Lord aware…?"

"Hah! I sure hope so. What I wouldn't give to see that llama bastard fuming."

The redhead was clueless as to what the two were talking about, but Ash interrupted them and her thoughts.

"I see you have chosen—" the wyvern glanced at the determined gaze by the boy before realizing the Sword and Dagger in his hands.

'That Sword… This presence! Is that…?!' Lugia panicked internally, terrified of the one within the blade.

"I'm surprised you didn't notice, Lugia," the ashen-haired man smirked to himself.

The wyvern took a moment to collect itself before facing the boy once more.

"Yeah, I'll do it," Ash said with a resolved expression.

"I still gotta be Pokémon Master for her, after all!"

However, Nameless merely gave a frown and a defeated sigh.

"Tch."

And thus, the final showdown reached its prologue.

Minutes later…

Everyone around the world watched with bated breath as the news channel had finally reached the epicentre of the phenomenon, gasping at the sight of the three Great Mirages of Shamouti Island and the destruction they bred.

But before they could film more, the news helicopter crashed onto the snow-clad island of Shamouti due to the strong winds. Thankfully, the passengers were unhurt.

Gary let out a sigh of relief upon seeing his grandfather and sister safe from the helicopter's crash. However, seeing his family all the way at Shamouti Island gave him a sense of dread as he began to imagine the worst.

"It's okay, they're okay…" Blue held his hand, trying her best to collect herself from the shivering.

As the camera broadcasted worldwide showed the news crew and the guests climbing down, they were awestruck by the ancient altar before them. From there, the adults found a single Melody looking upon the frozen wasteland with the great Lugia by her side.

"Holy… that's Lugia?" Calem gulped at the sight of the silver wyvern, still holding onto Shauna to comfort her.

Meanwhile, Trevor and Tierno were in awe at the redhead as she stood side by side with a Legendary Pokémon that was considered a God.

{ HEY! IT'S NOT SAFE! }

Melody noticed the group of people approaching and told them of the situation.

{ IT'S ALRIGHT, I'M NEEDED HERE. }

The news reporter frowned as he took a glance at the Pokémon around her, as if they were guarding the girl.

{ JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE THESE STRONG POKÉMON, DOESN'T MEAN… }

{ EXCUSE ME! }

Daisy suddenly cut in as she took a closer look at the Pokémon, all of which greeted her familiarly. But for the older sibling, her heart sank at the implications.

And from the students in the main hall of Pokémon Academy, one honey blonde recognized them immediately.

"That… can't be…" Serena did all she could to not break down on the spot.

Cynthia rushed to comfort her before noticing it as well. Her platinum eyes widened at the familiar team of Pokémon…

The one she was rooting for in the Grand League.

"What's—" Gary was immediately cut off by the cry of a bone-chilling revelation.

{ PIKAPI! }

Everyone in the group creaked their attention towards a Pikachu on-screen…

A Pikachu with a scar on its ear and wearing a very iconic red cap.

"There's… no way," Gary muttered, stunned at the sight of his rival's ace with his red cap.

Seeing the red cap on the frantic electric mouse had made everyone assume the worst-case scenario. Unconsciously, they had associated the cap with Ash and since he was not present…

The children's hearts sank into the abyss at the implications.

"Ah… Ahhhhh…" the honey blonde's tears began to fall.

{ IT'S STARTING! }

Melody's cries caught everyone's attention next as suddenly…

{ BOOM! }

Two explosions could be heard from below the cliff. The news camera edged the terrain and zoomed in on two figures rocketing towards Ice Island at speeds of superhuman levels.

"May… I'm scared," Max choked at the sight of the otherworldly figure.

A man in red… and a shadowy shade resembling a werewolf.

"That man…!" Cynthia recognized her target.

This was it.

"What… is that monster?" Iris squeaked from her blanket.

Everyone was watching...

"…Red?"

It was all or nothing.

Minutes earlier…

The plan and roles were finalized.

Ash summoned all his Pokémon, instructing them to protect Melody while he went to retrieve the final sphere. Of course, he was met with disagreements by all, but he was used to it, explaining to them their roles.

"I need you guys to protect Melody," he instructed firmly.

"She's the Maiden of the prophecy and those overgrown chickens are probably gonna target her. And that's where you guys come in, the last line of defence."

"Gara! Garara!" Marowak wanted to come with.

"…Sorry. I'm gonna be the vanguard with that jackass over there," Ash apologized with a weak smile.

"Lugia is gonna protect us as we go and get the last sphere."

Protests erupted again before Ash calmed them down with a determined grin on his face. The raven-haired boy wanted to convince them that it was alright.

"I won't do anything stupid," he said confidently.

"Have some faith in your Trainer. Besides, I promised Serena I'll be more careful."

The Pokémon were hesitant still but after seeing the resolved expression on their Trainer's face…

How could they still say no?

…

Below the cliff, two stood as they made their preparations.

"Hey, boy," Nameless called out beside him.

"What?"

"You remember all the advice I gave you?"

Ash nodded as within the time he made it to the bottom of the cliff, Nameless gave him a bunch of helpful tips as to improve his AURA control. Suffice to say, the man was flabbergasted at his initial poor AURA.

…

"What the hell?! It's been nearly 2 months since then and your AURA control is still this pathetic?!" the ashen-haired man spat out in disbelief.

"Oh, shut up! I couldn't even activate it and it only worked now of all times!" the raven-haired boy shot back defensively.

"For the love of… Haaaahhhh… I keep forgetting you didn't start out the same…" Nameless calmed himself.

"Huh? What do you me—"

"Alright, first. What did you gain from the link with the Dagger?" the ashen-haired man quickly changed the subject.

"Um, well, I feel like my reserves got bigger. Like about 5 times?" Ash surprised himself.

"Uh-huh. And?"

"…I feel like I can Project a lot more things than just swords."

The man in red then Projected a small flower shield to show the clearly impressed boy before letting it fade into motes of light.

"That shield, can you make it?" he asked.

"…No, I don't think so. It's like something's blocking me."

"Then… what about spears or lances?"

"Nope."

Nameless placed a hand on his chin as he pondered, seemingly understanding Ash's situation. The boy, on the other hand, was beginning to feel restless from the sudden silence by the man.

'So that's how it works… He's still missing the two others. And that Dagger… it's a perfect addition for him now.'

"Alright, I've got the gist of your abilities. Now, listen closely…"

…

Ash Reinforced his body once more; this time, it was far stronger than his previous attempts. It boosted him to superhuman levels while the previous iteration only gave him up to peak human parameters.

"Congratulations. Now, the mental trigger for your activation…" Nameless drawled sarcastically.

"Yeah, yeah. That's something I gotta figure out myself," Ash peeved in return before taking a deep breath.

Shroud me in darkness.

No eyes shall fall upon me.

Carnwennan!

|Little White Hilt of Shadow-Treading|

Nameless watched as the raven-haired boy was wrapped with shadows, turning into a 2-meter-tall werewolf of misty shadows with red thunderbolts for eyes and gangly arms with sharp claws.

"Woah… this shadow cloaking thing is pretty cool," Ash commented, almost drooling at the new dagger.

'So, this is the King's Dagger,' the boy could hardly stop the delighted grin on his face.

After his link with the dagger, the rust on its blade faded and revealed a newly forged dagger with a pristine white hilt and jagged curved blade of umbral darkness, resembling that of a stylish fang.

Knowing its True Name and its capabilities, Ash figured out how to use its cloaking ability with ease due to it requiring only the wielder's imagination.

"Seriously? A werewolf?" the ashen-haired man quirked a brow.

"It may be a utility type weapon, but c'mon. At least turn into a Zoroark, for crying out loud…"

"Hey, I don't see you giving any tips for this, ya stingy fart," the raven-haired boy blew raspberries at the man.

'The hell's a Zoroark?' Ash wondered.

"Hmph. Well, it's far from the worst. It suits a chunni kid like you," the man jabbed.

"You don't say a lot of nice things to me, y'know?"

"That's because I hate you, fool."

"The feeling's mutual, ya damn bastard."

The reason why Ash disguised himself was due to him not wanting Serena or anyone he knew about to find out that he was an active participant in the quest to save the world. The raven-haired boy was pleased of his new dagger's ability, firmly believing that no one would ever figure out that he was there…

…And that all came crashing down when the news channel found his Pokémon, literally telling his closest friends he was there.

However, despite that, nobody knew of the shade creature's identity except for the closest people to him as they immediately recognized the golden Sword in its hand. The Dagger, on the other hand, was a new addition.

As they were about to take off to Ice Island, the ashen-haired man gave one final smirk.

"Hey, brat."

"..?"

"Can you keep up with me?"

Ash was ticked off at the insinuation by the man in red, his anger built up even more. The raven-haired boy poured in every unit of AURA into his legs as they prepared to explode.

"Can you keep up with me, my ass!"

Ash wielded his golden Sword on his right…

"It's YOU…"

And his Dagger on his left in a reverse grip.

"Who's gotta keep up with me!"

With strength enough to destroy the ice caps underneath their feet, they took off at high speed.

BOOM!

"Hey, what is that thing?!" one student clamoured.

"That shadow monster is… fighting the birds?" another questioned.

Meanwhile, Serena could only watch in bewilderment at not only the shadowy wolf who she was convinced was Ash, but also the infuriating man in red.

"Sere-chan, is that the man who saved you?" Cynthia asked, not wanting to take her eyes off the screen.

"…Yep."

'Serena, you were right,' Squishy wobbled on her head.

'That creature is just a manifestation of shadows. Its real identity is as you feared,' Puni-chan saw through the disguise with ease.

The honey blonde was internally screaming in frustration towards Ash's tendency to rush headlong into trouble. However, she remembered how the raven-haired boy had promised her not to be as reckless as last time.

Knowing Ash's character as one who did not take promises lightly, Serena frowned as she theorized that the 'jackass' next to him was the cause.

'Although, we did not expect Carnwennan to be in the hands of that boy,' Squishy commented with a surprised tone.

'Carnwennan?! The King's dagger?!' Serena choked on her saliva at the shocking revelation.

As an avid lover of fairy tales, Serena naturally knew of the King's treasury, including his prized weapons. She grew up with them, after all.

'Caliburn was already a shock, but even Carnwennan?'

Unbeknownst to Serena, Cynthia was eyeing her with a discerning gaze…

Especially towards seemingly nothing on her head of honey.

AURA was at maximum output. My body felt as light as a feather once I burst towards Ice Island with speed that I never knew was possible.

The wind, the heat. I could feel all of them with clarity as I sprinted whilst trying my best to avoid the periodic attacks from the great Mirages.

Then, I turned to the man in red. The bastard who roped me into this.

Though I hated that guy, I couldn't deny that he was extremely helpful when he taught me with what little time we had. And even within that limited short time, I had learnt probably even more about my powers than I would have if I could practice on my own.

Glancing at the man in red, I caught sight of an unfamiliar weapon in his hands. Analysing it, I was enamoured by the craftsmanship of said weapon:

It was a straight bow of matte black, constructed with materials unknown to me. I couldn't see its history as I felt a block whenever I tried to go deeper.

"Having fun snooping around?"

The sudden gruff voice alerted my senses as I turned to find the asshole smirking, to my displeasure.

"Where did you pull that out off? You definitely didn't have it before," I interrogated, knowing I wouldn't get a straight answer from that bastard.

To my surprise, he answered almost immediately.

"I have something similar to that Bag of yours. Unlike you, I can use it out anytime I like."

That was quick. Suspiciously quick.

It was as if he had rehearsed that answer. The worst part was…

I couldn't tell if he was lying.

Nameless was ahead of me. I had known he was an AURA Wielder just like me and Riley, though the latter had no knowledge of him.

Despite that, even as I ran, trying to keep up with the man in front of me…

I could not feel any AURA around him. He was not using it at all.

What the hell…?

"Oh right!" I slashed an incoming icicle headed for my head.

Clang!

"What about those swords you used just then?"

"…Did you see them?" Nameless asked as he took out multiple peculiar 'arrows' from the red mantle around his waist.

Huh… is the storage system machine in his ass?

Brought a whole new meaning to 'pulling something outta one's ass'.

"If you didn't see them, that's the best outcome I could get. Like hell I was going to let you analyse them for yourself," the bastard said as he pulled the bowstring, aiming it at multiple bolts of lightning coming our way.

"Hm!"

The bowstring loosed. The custom arrows the man shot tore the crackling lightning asunder. I could tell it was no easy feat since I was practically running for my life away from them during the escape from that mantis-haired jerk.

Wait… Analyse?

"Hey, asshole. How did you know I could analyse things?" I demanded an answer from him.

"…Let's just say I have a similar power to yours."

That was the most convincing thing he had told me since we left Shamouti.

Seeing how the man was glad I could not copy his blades, I felt stupid for not noticing his swords more.

I knew they were twin swords, but other than that… Blank.

My focus was primarily on that bastard that I didn't even get a chance to look at them.

What a shame…

Overhead us, I could hear explosions coming from above us.

Lugia was taking on the three birds while Nameless was assisting it with his bow and arrows. Meanwhile, I was the one dragging them down since after the halfway point, I was beginning to slow down.

The werewolf cocoon of shadows around me was beginning to fade as my AURA reserves sank lower. Apparently, it was not wise to let Carnwennan keep eating my AURA.

"Fool! Use AURA Rotation!" Nameless scolded as he released triple arrows onto a charging Moltres, damaging it whilst avoiding its flaming body.

AURA Rotation. It was an extremely difficult skill to master since it required me to unconsciously take in the ambient AURA around me. In a nutshell, I was recycling AURA that I used back into my reserves.

It was the best skill for me to learn since my body was conditioned with AURA Exceeding.

"I still can't do it unconsciously!" I complained as I steadied my breathing, taking in the ambient energy.

With that pain in the ass' guidance, I could perform AURA Rotation, albeit only for a few seconds before my concentration was shot. While I thought I was a genius for even successfully doing it, Nameless berated my talent as I couldn't even do it for a few minutes, let alone unconsciously.

"You're a pain in the ass, you damn archer!" I snapped at him as I evaded the falling [Avalanche] created by Articuno.

"The feeling's mutual, brat!"

But with some AURA back in the tank, I managed to reach Ice Island within close to a half hour after running.

"Haah… Haah… I'm gonna be sick…" Ash held onto his mouth for fear of throwing up.

The shadow form around Ash dissipated as he finally ran out of gas to keep Carnwennan active.

Suddenly, a strong hand grabbed onto his blue vest and proceeded to rush with hastened speed towards the shrine.

"We don't have time for your dilly-dallying, Ash Ketchum," Nameless sneered without even sparing the boy a glance.

"I… Erk! Hate you…" the raven-haired boy used every bit of willpower not to vomit.

"…Me too."

That last comment never made it to Ash's ears.

…

"We're here," Nameless unceremoniously dropped a pale-faced Ash onto the ground.

"Can't you treat a sick person with some dignity…?" Ash groaned as he got up.

"Bullshit. You've never been sick before," the man shot back.

"Wait, how did yo—"

"—Just hurry up and grab the sphere, fool."

With a grumble, the raven-haired boy walked towards the shrine with a mural-like statue of Articuno with the Ice sphere in its beak.

"Let's get this over wi… Ah."

'I forgot...' he whimpered.

Clink.

Clink, clink.

Clink, clink, clink, clink, clink, clink.

"Oi, brat! What's taking so long?!" the lavender-eyed man trained his eyes onto the skies, hearing the incoming Mirages taking their fight with Lugia even closer.

"Um… Promise you won't get mad?" Ash bargained with worry in his voice.

"What. Did. You. Do?"

"I kinda… sorta… maybe…"

"Get to the point," Nameless growled.

"I can't take it out."

That statement alone was enough to make the man in red turn his head in disbelief towards the sweat-faced raven-haired boy.

"…For real?"

"For real."

The ashen-haired man instantly went to grab onto the boy's shoulder, startling the latter in the process. The two tanned hands firmly grabbed onto Ash's shoulders and rocked him back and forth.

"Did you not encounter a huge rainbow bird when you left for your journey?! Even after being chased by a flock of Spearows?!" he threw out tons of questions.

"No! And stop shaking me!" Ash had swirls for eyes as he answered swiftly to stop the rocking.

The raven-haired boy could have sworn he caught a glimpse of relief in his lavender eyes.

"Damnit! I mean, for reasons I can't say that I'm actually happy you didn't… but damnit!" Nameless held his head in disbelief.

'Seriously, what the hell's going on?!' Ash begged someone to give him any sort of details.

"Ahem. Well, in any case…" the man walked up to the altar with confident steps.

'What's he doing?' Ash wondered as Nameless stood in front of the altar…

Clack.

…And took out the Ice sphere with zero resistance.

"…" a slack-jawed Ash watched in muted shock.

'…?!'

"Shall we?" the ashen-haired man smirked.

"Wait, how did you—?!"

But before they could leave, Nameless suddenly whipped around as he turned to Shamouti Island with a surprised gaze.

"What? What is it?" Ash asked with a raised brow.

"Tch. We've got company," the lavender-eyed man clicked his tongue.

"The news reporters are already with Melody."

"Eh? Isn't that why you suggested me to use Carnwennan to disguise myself?"

Nameless narrowed closer towards Shamouti, leaving a flabbergasted Ash to wonder how he could even see that far away. From Ash's guess and time taken, the boy speculated that it would be around 4 kilometres from where they were standing.

'Is this dude even human?' he glanced at the man in red.

"It appears that Gr… I mean, Professor Oak and Ivy are there," he observed closer.

"Wait, what?!" the raven-haired boy exclaimed.

"Your foster sister too. What was her name again…"

"Daisy?!"

"Ah… Right, that was her name…" Nameless let out a decrepit smile.

"Aside from you knowing things for some reason, what the hell am I gonna do?!" Ash wailed in defeat.

'I'm doomed if I stay here. I'm doomed if I go back…' Ash was not ready to face the angry looks on Daisy and Serena's faces.

However, Nameless simply stood there, unmoving as the man seemed to be ready to do something.

"Alright, boy. Here's the story:"

"I was the one who turned you into that werewolf. I put you under mind control to aid me in getting the sphere, without your consent. And I was the one who almost killed you in this mess."

Ash was really confused as to what the man was talking about.

"I can't lie, man. That's like my weakness," he replied to his plan.

"You feel guilt when lying, don't you? Then bluff," the ashen-haired man said, still not looking at Ash.

"Say all of that with the intention of only telling the truth of the last one."

The raven-haired boy felt enlightened. Bluffing was not really something he enjoyed, but he had no qualms with it as opposed to straight up lying. Sometimes he wondered if the Nameless man knew more about him than he himself did.

"Wait, but wouldn't the last one be a lie as well?"

"Oh, don't worry about that."

'Wha—'

KSRCHHHK!

One moment. That was all it took.

Within that small window of time, Ash blinked to find Nameless gone from his sight—

"GA-HACK!"

—And a sharp pain ramming through his guts.

"Wha… Ack!"

Fresh blood trailed down his stomach while gurgled froth of red guzzled from his mouth.

"With this, it won't be a lie, right…"

"Ash Ketchum?"

The ashen-haired man had stabbed the boy. His cold lavender eyes had sported the golden cross-like wheel pupils as the man watched the dying bloodred eyes slowly dim. As if savouring the moment, Nameless dug the blade deeper.

Ash could not see the blade within his body, but his focus was solely on the ashen-haired man, showing a betrayed expression on his face as his heart started to beat chaotically.

"Woah, now," Nameless grinned maliciously.

Shrrk!

"Wouldn't want you analysing this now, don't we?"

Before the boy could even catch a glimpse of an object in the man's hand fading into motes of light, Nameless kicked Ash with immense force as the latter could feel AURA within that attack, sending the boy flying back towards the altar like a ragdoll.

"GAH!" Ash choked on his own blood as every single part of his body was torn from the resulting crash.

Once more, his ribcage had been shattered with its shrapnel lodging into his vital organs, gushing out blood fast. What's more, the ancient debris from the now destroyed altar had also gored through his shoulders and back, leaving more openings for his warm blood to leak out from.

"If you want someone to blame, you need only look in a mirror, boy," the ashen-haired man said cryptically.

"If only you didn't spout out your ideals of becoming Pokémon Master…"

"This is all your fault. Because of you, we're trapped in this never-ending cycle of nightmares."

"A machine pretending to be human."

"…What an eyesore."

The raven-haired boy was unable to process anything the man said, just the struggles of breathing.

"I don't care if you make it out alive, but if you have enough resolve then heed my final advice to you…"

…

The man in red rushed out of the Island, awaiting Lugia to descend. He glanced back to see the aftermath of the war overhead, rubbles and snowclad debris crashing into the altar spot.

'Another one…' the ashen-haired man sighed to himself as he gripped onto the Ice sphere tightly, the blue energy within glowing bright.

'How many times do I need to stop hoping? Hoping for Ash Ketchum to pursue another goal?'

"I don't know. But at the very least, that mistake won't pollute this World Line," he muttered to himself with vicious disgust at the raven-haired boy.

Fwoosh!

"The last one?" Lugia descended with a beat of its silver wings.

"Here."

"Hm? Where's the Chosen One?"

"Who knows?" the ashen-haired man dodged the question.

CRAAASSSHHHHH!

The open space where Ash was last seen was engulfed by cold rubbles and destruction. Nameless closed his eyes before glaring at a distraught Lugia.

"Any more questions?" the golden cross wheel glowed ominously towards a shuddering wyvern.

Pokémon Academy, Kalos Region

{ OH! THE GUARDIAN LUGIA IS RETURNING! }

The students watching cheered loudly as their saviour had returned in the form of an ashen-haired man descending in front of the camera, landing on his feet with the Ice sphere in hand.

Serena watched with apprehension at the man in red who saved her from the explosion. However, the honey blonde was frantically searching for someone else.

'Where is he? Where's Ash?!' she darted her eyes on the screen.

Nameless ignored the crew and the demanding cries of Ash's Pokémon as he proceeded to place the final sphere into the altar.

All at once, the shrine glowed green with the pillar surrounding it transforming crystalline. Melody activated her Blessing as she played her guardian's Song.

As she played, green water flowed from the altar as it overflowed from the cliff and into the frozen ocean. But things were not always easy.

"Squawwkkkk!"

The Mirages of Fire, Lightning and Ice were coming for the redhead, the human girl who had earned the great birds' wrath.

"Oh no! They're gonna hurt her!" Shauna closed her eyes in fear.

{ OI. }

DOOOMMMM!

The entire world watching felt the chilling bloodlust permeating from the screen as the ashen-haired man effectively halted the frightened birds to a stop.

{ YOU ALL KNOW ME, DON'T YOU? }

{ BEGONE. UNLESS YOU WANT TO FACE THE MONSTER. }

With that, the birds departed to their Islands in great hurry while the Planet was cleansed of the disasters. The Pokémon returned to their place of belongings. And from the end of the Song, the world was finally saved.

A happy ending.

{ YOU DEVIL! }

Gary and Blue were shocked to see Professor Oak grabbing onto the ashen-haired man with angered eyes. Anger that they had never seen before.

The ashen-haired man merely smirked upon seeing the Professor.

{ YO. HERE FOR HIS FUNERAL? }

Before anybody could see what happened next, the camera feed was suddenly destroyed, blinding the world as they wondered what had riled the elderly man up so much.

"That man… How did he…?" Cynthia tried to wrap her head around the confusing situation.

Thump, thump!

"…Serena?"

The honey blonde was deathly pale, unable to utter a sound.

Thankfully, with the crisis now averted around the world, Cynthia managed to sneak the catatonic girl away with her without anyone noticing. The Champion had grown quite attached to the honey blonde in the time she spent in the Academy and seeing her horrified expression, the blonde woman opted to take her to her hotel to calm her as the current environment was far from ideal.

'Hang in there, Sere-chan!' Cynthia took out a certain PokéBall from her waist, preparing to summon it.

'Red… Ash… That man…' Serena was lost in her thoughts, not even noticing the bellowing roar of Cynthia's Pokémon as well as the sudden winds on her face as the two flew up into the air.

'I've decided.'

'…I'm going to kill him.'

Shamouti Shrine, Shamouti Island

The ashen-haired man had knocked out the news crew and Ivy, gently placing them on the ground. The man did not need any more listeners after all.

"Where's Ash?!" Oak roared in anger.

"What a foolish question, Professor. Shouldn't you be asking what flowers he likes for his funeral?" Nameless continued smirking as if he was deriving pleasure from seeing the desperate looks on both Oak and Daisy.

"Pikapi! Pikachu!" Pikachu squeaked to his fellow companions, receiving nods from them.

"Oi, Pikachu and friends!" a familiar trio appeared, seated within their lifeboat.

"What're we waiting for?! Let's go get that twerp!"

The Pokémon climbed aboard with Lapras and Snorlax opting to swim while Charizard flew ahead. Daisy, on the other hand, climbed aboard as well with Pikachu and Marowak.

"Please… Please get me to him!" Daisy sobbed with the Rocket trio nodding in understanding.

And suddenly…

Poof!

The capsule in the unconscious Ivy's lab coat burst into light as the Pokémon within materialized.

"You wanna come with?" Daisy asked.

The Pokémon nodded. With that, all of them rushed towards Ice Island with Melody praying for them.

Vrooooommmmmm!

…

"Gotta say, old man. You're pretty spry for your age," Nameless shrugged as he placed the unconscious news crew to the ground.

"Quit joking aro—"

"You know he's alive, don't you?" the ashen-haired man said with a confident tone.

"Seeing as how you recognized me, that's already proof enough he survived, don't you think…"

"Sam?"

The Professor balled his fist as he glared at the man in red.

"…What are you?"

"And I believe I've already told you all those years ago. Or is it happening later? I can't remember things clearly since I'm not affected by linearity…"

A peaceful breeze weaved around them with Melody hugging Lugia affectionally in the background. Suddenly…

Fwwoooommmmm!

Bzzt! Bzzt!

"Kyaaa!" Melody screamed in terror as a cage of electric trapped her within.

Lugia was in a similar position as the rings of imprisonment had returned to confine it.

"Melody!" the silver wyvern roared to its ward.

A cloud of black rings was coming their way from Lightning Island…

…From a grounded ruined palace.

"Ahahaha! Soon, Lugia, you will be mine and my destiny will be fulfilled at last!" Lawrence grinned sadistically as he watched Lugia squirm as the silver wyvern tried to save a falling cage of rings.

"I have no need for the girl anymore. All I needed was one moment to catch Lugia off-guard and she had done her role splendidly."

But as Melody was about to hit the cerulean ocean, Nameless moved faster than the eye could see. He had jumped from the cliff, materializing his black bow, and shooting down the vulnerable rings of black.

Zip! Zip! Zip!

The rings were outmatched by the arrows he produced, and the ashen-haired man grabbed onto the falling redhead just in time. But he was not done yet.

"I was wondering where you were…" Nameless grinned maniacally towards the mantis-haired man, seemingly looking into his eyes despite the far distance.

As he reached Melody, AURA welled up in his legs and using the cliffside as his foothold, Nameless propelled himself back up with the redhead in his arms.

The ashen-haired man felt his slicked-back hair falling back to its original position, but he could not care less. The man had one last task to finish.

The telescope Lawrence used showed the insane expression the man in red was showing, terrifying the Collector before another bout of fear crawled up his spine.

'Hmm… Since this is the end of my vacation, let's use up everything I have left,' the ashen-haired man decided as a deep red flame manifested from his hand.

"What in the world?!" Oak shielded his eyes at the heat emanating from the man's hand while pulling the stunned redhead away from Nameless.

The deep red flames coalesced into a weapon. A weapon that gave those witnessing it unfathomable fear and dread:

It was a sword with a drill for a blade.

"Heh… This never gets old…"

Nocking the spiral sword onto his matte black bow like an arrow, the ashen-haired man pulled back the bowstring. As he did, the sword morphed and elongated into a twisted black arrow. Pulling it to the furthest end, the sword-now-arrow began to burn with supernatural red with Nameless aiming it towards the palace at Lightning Island.

Taking a deep breath, the ashen-haired man sharpened his lavender eyes of golden pupils.

I am the bone of my sword.

And with that, the bowstring was released.

Caladbolg (II)!

|The Spiral Rainbow Sword (Fake)|

As the arrow soared, its form changed into that of a shooting star, spiralling with immense winds enough to shatter the sound barrier as it blasted onto the palace with a dumbfounded Lawrence unable to react in time.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

…

Nameless let out a held breath as he recalled the black bow, its job finished while its master began to disappear into motes of golden light.

"Tch. Well, there goes my vacation…" he sighed, still not facing the two humans behind him.

PANG!

As he finished his words, Lugia had forcefully broken off the black rings that were now unfunctional due to the destruction of the control centre.

"Monster…" the wyvern narrowed its eyes.

"Don't worry, Guardian of the Sea. I missed on purpose," the ashen-haired man shrugged, not even intimidated by the visibly angered Lugia.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

Another round of explosion was heard far off the distance…

…It had come from Ice Island.

'Took that fool long enough…'

Midnight blue AURA throttled into the skies as everyone, including Nameless, shivered with cold dread clawing into their spines.

"…That's my cue to leave," the ashen-haired man declared his departure.

'That idiot had it coming… Don't blame m— Oh wait.'

"Your face…!" Lugia noticed the man's current appearance with his hair down.

But the man in red merely placed a finger on his lips, silencing the wyvern.

"Are you leaving just like last time?" Oak asked sternly, still wary of the ashen-haired man.

"Looks like it. Tell that fool, Ash Ketchum, to quit that bullshit he calls a dream; otherwise, the next time we meet, I'll no longer be this merciful to him," Nameless said, still not turning to the two.

"As if I will," Oak spat out.

"Heh."

And then, the second one voiced out.

"Excuse me!" Melody called out bashfully to the disappearing man.

"Um… Thank you for saving me—"

"Woah there," the ashen-haired man interrupted with his back turned to her.

"I don't think something like that warrants gratitude. Anyone would've done what I did," he smirked, feeling the fluster on the redhead's face.

"What's more, I know that kind of tone, little missy."

"…Eh?" the redhead blushed as if she was a deer caught by headlights.

"Sorry to say, you're not my type."

"Wha…!"

"Forgive me, but I prefer blondes."

With one last snide remark, the smirking ashen-haired man faded into golden motes of light.

"THAT JERK!"

Hours ago…

Fuck…

This might be the end.

My quest to save the world was about to end with me dying in a place like this.

With laboured breath, I scanned my surroundings with bleary vision.

The floor around me was coloured like my eyes, probably due to the stab wound that bastard gave me.

Damnit…

I tried. I really did.

I did my absolute best not to be reckless. My damned hardest to take care of myself.

And yet…

I still ended up like this.

What went wrong? Did I do something wrong?

I didn't know. He didn't tell m—

"If you want someone to blame, you need only look in a mirror, boy."

I could hear the rumbling sounds of the ensuing fight above me. Without strength, I couldn't turn to see but I knew.

My AURA had been depleted. Caliburn's healing had reached its limit.

Carnwennan can't fix my body. And so, the only option was to die.

…

Again… I spoke of my death as if it was a mild inconvenience.

Was this normal?

"A machine pretending to be human."

I don't know.

In fact, there's a whole lot I don't know.

I understood what Nameless was going for, seeing my inability to lie. But to mortally wound me like this…

The soil beneath my hand crumpled as my fingers drove deep with seething anger.

No.

I refuse to die here.

I heard the crashing boulders all around me. Even without turning my head, I knew I was about to be crushed.

Caliburn and Carnwennan were at a distance away from my current position, likely scattered somewhere further since the felled boulders around me were piling up.

"Erk…! Agh…!"

I pushed myself even further while disregarding the agonizing pain across my body…

And so…

I commenced my Projection.

Every drop of AURA from Rotation was poured into my Projections. I was that desperate as I held out both my broken arms, both having my forearm bones protruding out due to that bastard.

"AU… RA… on!"

Two bright flashes of blue light shone on my palms as I grasped onto two materialized swords: a heavy bladed sword called a gladius, and a ring-pommelled sword called a hwandudaedo.

K̸̟̬̃̒̓̒̊͊̿͒̎͛͘̕̚͠R̸͇͎̰̥̻̼̮̖͇̰̗̻͕͈̆̿͂̊͆͛͋̄̈́͐̂̓́́͜Ŗ̸̺͕͖̠̘̻̗̫̣̹̼̎̏͆͂̒͊̅̃̔̀͝Ȓ̶̞̙̩̺͇͚͇̠͘̚͠S̶̢̧̡̛̙̳͙͙̹̥͙̫̯͓͋͑̀̓̓̑̍̔̀͗͘S̷̡͚̬̫̻̯̫̪̲͕̪̙͆̇͊̀C̵̡̡̧̫̬̫̣̼͇̒̌̉̽́̈́̅͛C̵͖͇̟͕͇̤͇̣͈̝̮͊͊̓̀̚C̷̢̨̺̜̮̖̖̩̠̞̯͚͎̍͊͗͊̓͛̂̿͒̾̓͜͝H̶̛̝̪̏͂̔͒͌͂H̵͈̗̰͓̲͉̹̣̆̓̐̑̋̐͛͠͠H̸̩̮̟͈̲̦̻̣̜̿̿̒̄̉̒͐̚͝H̴̨̪͕̭̜͉͌̂̍́̆H̴̨̟͖͎͎͈̠̮̩̿̀̽̎̐̈́̓͗̋̾̚͠͝Ḩ̴̟͖̠̻̈̾̅̆̃̐̋́̓͐́̅̅H̴̢̡̗̜̦̗̞̹͕̺̺͚̫͖̾͊͘̕ͅ!̶̲̘̳̬͈͓̓̊̂̈́͋̊̍̿̔̂̑͒͌͑̕͜

A large boulder fell in front of me, crushing my legs underneath. Another pool of blood gushed out from my legs, painting the floor even redder.

"Rrrraaaagggghhhh…!" I bit down a guttural scream, forcing myself to concentrate as I applied Reinforcement into the swords.

My mind was one-tracked. It only focused on Reinforcing the Projections, something I'd been dying to try since that day I took on the GS Ball.

Crash! Crash!

More boulders of white came for me, destroying any form of escape route. The memories of my ambush in the Pokémon Centre were coming back as the minor claustrophobic environment had me hyperventilating.

It was, after all, the main reason as to why I hated sleeping indoors.

Done…

I blinked away the tears forming in the corner of my eyes due to my crushed legs as I beheld the two Reinforced swords in my weak grasps.

Creaking my head upwards with a pop here and there, I found a gigantic rock looming over me as I spat out the blood from my mouth.

…I can't die here.

My bloodred eyes widened as the towering rock began falling towards me at alarming speed.

I can't die here.

"Come at meeeeeeeee!" I roared at the plunging boulder.

CCCCRRRRRRRRAAAAASSSSHHHHHHH!

Both of my swords stabbed the boulder, heavy and more powerful with the added gravitational force.

SNAP!

My right arm was ripped apart almost immediately, the protruding bone stabbing itself to the bloody ground with the severed hand still holding strong.

I had no time to think. I had to survive.

With my left arm, I did the same thing my shredded arm was doing, placing the bone that stuck out into the reddish earth as support.

As for my severed right…

CHOMP!

I sank my teeth into my severed wrist, pushing it into the boulder with every ounce of strength I had left.

My canines pierced deeper into my severed wrist, letting it bleed since it was no longer my arm. My left was still attached, but I could still feel the visceral pain it was undergoing.

"RRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The tears won't stop flowing, but I pressed on.

Don't give up!

The pain won't stop coming, but I pressed on.

Don't give up until it's over!

The blood won't stop gushing, but I pressed on.

Don't…!

I pressed on, without pause. If I faltered for even a fraction of a second, I die.

Pssscccckkkkk!

A chunk of sharp rock broke off from the descending boulder and had pierced my left eye, rendering it useless.

"DON'T GIVE UP UNTIL IT'S OVER!"

Every second that went by felt like an eternity. And after suffering for a whole 60 of those eternities, the boulder halted its descent, leaving me with some breathing room, albeit limited.

I had done it. I bought some more time.

My eyes felt heavy, but my mind knew it was a trap.

Right now, I had no Caliburn to save me. This was what Nimue warned me about.

The feeling of death slithered around me, waiting to strike.

But I won't give up.

There's still someone I must reunite with.

"Se… rena…"

How long had it been? Why am I still holding on?

No rescue was coming. Even if they do, it'd be weeks before they could find me.

Gulp, gulp.

Parched and lethargic, I had no choice but to drink the blood flowing from my ripped arm to even hydrate myself. It was disgusting and vile, but I forced myself to swallow.

The only reason why I'm even breathing is due to AURA Rotation.

As the energy of life, it was my only lifeline and the only thing keeping me alive.

But as I continued living, the smell of blood as well as the unbearable pain around my body was torturing my senses.

Do I really need to hold on anymore?

…Can I let go now?

Why am I being subjected to this?

Finally, my vision began to fail…

Ba-bump!

My survival instincts received a second wind as I bit my lips to stay awake.

This can't be the end.

I won't let it.

She's still waiting for me!

"My body is made of swords!"

Minutes before the palace's fall…

"Pikapi!" Pikachu squeaked out as he swept the surroundings from the Island's top, overseeing the decimated altar.

There was nothing left but gigantic wreckage that crushed anything below.

"Pikapi…"

"Ash… I'm coming for you…" a despaired Daisy weakly rummaged the rocks with tears in her eyes.

Jessie and James watched sadly as the older Oak sibling aimlessly dug out the smaller rocks, unable to even move the gigantic ones.

"…Is da twerp real' gon'?" Meowth meowed with teary eyes.

"Pikachu's right there for the taking… But…" James balled his fists.

"Let's go, brat girl… There's nothing here anymore…" Jessie tried to carry Daisy away.

"NO! ASH!" Daisy flailed without strength, breaking Jessie's heart as she dragged the girl away from the rubble.

"Ash, wait for me! Onee-chan is coming!"

"Ash… Onee-chan… Onee-chan's coming…"

As her voice died, the Oak sibling sobbed louder as no words could ever describe the pain she was feeling.

Charizard and Snorlax punched the rocks, pummelling them into small rocks with tears in their eyes. Lapras, although inefficient on land, froze the boulders and broke them with a snivelling Marowak beside her. However, the sight of a despondent Pikachu left them heartbroken.

If their leader had given up… What was the point?

…

"KERO!"

A [Water Pulse] was shot towards a certain boulder with the user croaking to the electric mouse.

"Kero, kero!"

It was Froakie…

The sixth Pokémon.

With reinvigorated hope, Pikachu and the others began aiming at the gigantic boulder Froakie marked.

"No way… Froakie found him…" Meowth translated, earning him the swift attention from the rest of the humans.

"Really?! Ash is there?!" Daisy rocked the cream-coloured cat violently.

"Yeah! Yeah! That's what he said!"

Wasting no time, the humans began to help the Pokémon with the digging with Team Rocket being the most helpful.

Crack!

Crack! Crack!

Crack! Crack! Crack!

CLANG!

"That's…" Daisy muttered at the discovered object…

A radiant Sword.

"Not Ash…"

But just as she said those words…

"My body is made of swords!"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

A great explosion bloomed around them, destroying the obstacles without mercy.

However, despite that great power, the group remained unharmed as they were floating in the air, the large debris beneath them vanquished. The group turned to the centre of the surroundings and found a peculiar sight:

A snow-haired woman wearing a black veil was carrying an unconscious raven-haired boy.

"Ash!" Daisy cried out with the veiled woman noticing the girl.

"This is bad… This is really bad!" Meowth panicked, holding onto his two partners tightly.

"I got a bad feeling about that… thing!"

With a wave of her hand, the group of Pokémon and humans were gently placed onto the floor with Ash's team and Daisy rushing towards the boy.

What they found shocked them, causing some to feel the urge to vomit.

The raven-haired boy's left eye had been gouged by a shrapnel of rock while his legs had been crushed into two severed bloody pulps. Not only that, but his right arm had also been torn apart with his left arm barely dangling, attaching only by a string of muscle.

"Ashy…" Daisy was about to cry again before the veiled woman wiped away her tears.

It's okay.

The veiled woman nodded towards them, silently gesturing to stay away.

BOOOMMMMM!

Twin orbs of cyan glowed within the black veil as ambient AURA slammed into Ash's unmoving body, regenerating it to its peak. The scars lingered but the raven-haired boy was good as new.

"Is he…?" Daisy asked with trembling hands as the veiled woman passed the comatose boy towards her.

"Thank you… Thank you!"

The snow-haired woman let out a small smile before fading into grains of ghostly wisps. But before she could disappear completely…

An unconscious Ash had unexpectedly grabbed onto the woman's hand, as if he was begging her not to go. Seeing this, a soft chuckle emitted from behind the black veil as the woman knelt towards the raven-haired boy in Daisy's arm, letting herself disappear whilst holding onto Ash's hand.

Tonelico… You did an amazing job.

With that, the boy's hand fell as he held onto nothingness.

One week later…

Ash was getting ready to depart from Shamouti Island with Pikachu on his shoulder as usual. The boy had heard of Lawrence's demise at the hands of Lugia from Melody, unfazed by the news and merely thanking the redhead for the experience.

However, Melody had also told him that she would be watching his final match and was rooting for him, much to his embarrassment.

His clothes had been fixed by Daisy, who was insistent in accompanying the raven-haired boy on his journey to his destination of the Orange Islands:

Pummelo Island.

"Seriously… I'm fine," Ash pouted as he found himself aboard of a blimp that was headed to Pummelo.

The boy had wanted to [Surf] there with Lapras but Oak, Daisy and Ivy were not having it. Surprisingly, his Pokémon were all in agreement as well since their trust in the raven-haired boy had reached rock bottom after what would have been his second death if not for the snow-haired woman's last-minute regeneration.

Ash sighed in return, caressing his newly-acquired (written: stolen) Dagger, sheathed in a leather strap on his belt as it made itself home alongside his Pokémon. The recovered Sword, however, was still kept in digital space since walking around with a weapon would draw too much attention.

Daisy was still wondering who the woman was. For some reason, she did not feel animosity towards the snow-haired woman unlike Lorelei, the vixen who she thought was planning to steal the boy away from Serena.

Resigning himself, Ash recalled something with a grin as he got up from his seat, a PokéBall in hand.

Poof!

From the Ball, a blue frog was summoned, surrounded by Ash's Pokémon who were excited upon meeting the frog.

"Kero…" the blur frog rubbed his head sheepishly.

"Froakie, right? Did she send you to me?"

"Kero!"

"Haha… Even when she's not here, she's still helping me, huh?"

"Well then…"

Destruction averted.

Ash proceeded to kneel a leg in front of his newest friend with a grin.

The Dagger reunited.

"Thanks for saving me, Froakie. Let's get along!"

And the world of blades shook.

"Kero!"

Chapter 60: [M02] The Power of One

And the party of 6 was finally completed.

Author's Notes (16.5)

...Betcha didn't see that one coming, didja?

That's right, folks! I DIDN'T WRITE HO-OH IN FOR A REASON!

The Chosen One and the Rainbow Hero are, to me, interchangeable. Doubly so when you consider both Lugia and Ho-oh to be the mascots of GSC.

Now, the prophecy ain't wrong as well. But Nameless was the one who was the Chosen One instead of Ash.

This right here, ladies and gentlemen... Is peak comedy.

Once everything is officially revealed, you're gonna come back to this chapter A LOT.

All of this makes the title 'Power of One' more of a play on words and take on a whole new meaning once you get what's really going on here.

...

Bone of my sword makes its debut!

WOOOOOO!

As if it wasn't painfully obvious who this mfker is already. Bros not even trying to hide it.

...

Next up, Carnwennan!

King Arthur's dagger from mythology, able to cloak its user in shadows and has been used to kill a witch once.

In FSN, there's not much written about the dagger so that gives me free rein on how to write its abilities in Fated.

PS: The werewolf form Ash cloaked himself with in actually a reference to a certain Avenger in FSN as well as confirmation as to which Unova dragon he gets.

Who is it? It's the one the dragon was based on, aka read the trivia.

The Dagger is merely a utility type weapon, meaning it is pathetically weaker than the Sword, or any of the other two, in terms of power. But this unlocks Ash's ability to Project even more stuff such as cloaks, armor, maybe even kitchen utensils. However, shields and polearms are still locked for Ash and you guys can probably guess the shield.

The Lance is none other than the Rhongo Bongo, Rhongomyniad, King Arthur's lance.

Right now, this is the current setup:

Dagger = Support, Shield = Defense, Sword = Balanced, Lance = Power

So right now, we're not gonna see the two for quite a while. But each one unlocks Ash's projections, giving him a power boost in Projections as he gets into more difficult fights.

Froakie. Yep, I did it.

But... For now, Froakie's a temp member, meaning he would go back to Kalos after the Orange League. But what do you guys think?

Should Froakie start right now, or should he be pushed back to Kalos?

The choice is yours.

...

Now back to the reviews:

Serena's Possible involvement in Paldea...

Well this Idea's likely not going to happen but Maybe for say the Unova/Hisui Arc... Serena can get involved with an Exchange Student Program to go to the Mezaogza Academy in Paldea...

Like this could be how you can use Nemona provided Ash doesn't dismiss her as Annoyance...

Have her actually be JUST A FAN OF ASH'S BATTLES AND HIS BATTLE STYLE like she sees Ash as the type of Person she wants to have a Battle with Like Canon!Ash with Leon...

Maybe Serena could fear Nemona wants Ash for herself, then a Battle ensuses with her intimidation style actually not phasing Nemona but rilling her up for a Battle with Serena even and while Serena would end up wining said Battle, Nemona would actually enjoy it and maybe she can try to be friends with Serena during her Exchange Student Stay in Paldea (Granted, Unlikely to happen given Serena's Ice Queen Persona but Maybe just a small Battle and Even Nemona admitting she's only truly interested in a battle with Ash (Again, Like Canon with Leon for Ash) to put Serena's possible Jealousy aside between them)

Maybe Serena could get a Sprigatito as well form Clavell or even take part in the Paldea Gyms lf you want to have her do so...

Just make sure Ash still can Help Avern and Penny as well as whatever the Scarlet/Violet DLC would contain at least... So you can Serena do her own Thing with Nemona at least then when Ash goes to Paldea in your Fics... You can have him do the Area Zero and Team Star Stuff at least.

What do you think of this advice?

Now, see. This is a problem as Paldea is a very difficult topic to go on.

The problem is when does it take place?

We have Roy and Li... RIKO! but we don't know if Ash is still 10 or older in canon Horizons. If Paldea's story takes place in the future, I can't write Serena interacting with Nemona due to timeline differences.

So... Let's take a vote!

Do you guys want Paldea to happen in Fated's future, or would you rather it happen at the same time as Ash's journeys?

Sorry if this isn't an answer you're looking for, but i simply can't say without knowing which one you guys prefer.

But for the hypothetical Nemona and Serena interactions, yeah, it fits in the story.

Whew, that's about everything... Oh?

What's this down here? Gasp!

The chapter's not done yet?! Impossible!

Jokes aside, this next part's more of a Mother's Day special so enjoy... Or probably not. Depends how you see it.

Pallet Town, Kanto Region…

—11 years ago.

A stormy night engulfed the small town, drowning out the laboured screams and grunts coming from Oak's Lab.

"Hold on, Delia! Where's the doctor?!" Oak grasped onto Delia's hand firmly as he searched for the medic.

A mahogany-haired woman laid on the table, preparing to give birth to her only child…

The woman's name… was Delia Ketchum. A Pallet Town native who had returned with a sickly appearance underneath the maelstrom-like weather. Her arrival to Pallet Town for almost a decade since her departure.

"Auntie…" a 7-year-old Daisy sniffled as she held onto Delia to comfort the pregnant woman.

"It's fine, sweetie… Go take care of your baby brother, okay?" the mahogany-haired woman smiled sweetly despite her ragged breaths.

"Daisy! I'm sorry, Cerise, but can you please get Daisy out of here," Oak asked of his apprentice.

"Yes, mentor! C'mon, Daisy—"

"Erghhhh!" Delia bit back a scream as she pushed harder for the baby to come out.

"Hold on, Delia, hold on! Please!" Oak begged as he called the physician again.

Unfortunately…

"You can't make it because of the storm?! There's a patient here, about to give… Hello?!" the Professor slammed the rotary phone, already at his wit's end.

"Why… Why?!"

'It's like the entire world is against this mother and child!' Oak thought with frustrated tears.

The mother was beginning to lose consciousness as she began to bleed out. The baby within was also in a similar position, its life bound to its parent.

"De… St… Wa… up!"

Delia could no longer hold on. After being pregnant with her child, the woman was befallen with illnesses and fragility…

Almost as if she was being punished for carrying the baby.

The doctor was not coming. The Professor was despairing.

But the mother already knew…

The child had already died halfway through.

Suffocation, excessive bleeding.

The baby was never given a chance.

But…

The mother never gave up…

…Not until it was over.

And so, Delia did the one thing she was left with—

—The mother prayed.

She prayed for a God.

Wishing for her baby's safety.

She did not mind dying, if it meant her child survived.

…

Her prayer was heard across the Planet…

But not a single God answered.

None of them.

They had ignored the plea of a mother.

…

Until—

Woooooooommmmmmmmmmmm!

Delia opened her bleary eyes, feeling as if the air had been halted.

The woman scanned her weakened eyes around her surroundings, in awe at what had transpired:

Time had stopped. Not a single atom moved without permission.

Clack, clack.

The sound of heels echoed among the silence as Delia turned to her side to find a surprising sight:

A snow-haired woman wearing a black veil.

Even at death's door, the mahogany-haired woman could not help but be enchanted by the seemingly divine beauty of the stranger.

"I ask of you…"

"Art thou the one who summoned me?"

"…Are you a God… Goddess?" the mother asked, a glimmer of hope twinkled in her eyes.

"Nay. I am no God, but the Witch they all quake before."

"The one who challenges the Divine."

"What an ambitious person," Delia replied sweetly, much to the snow-haired woman's sudden bout of embarrassment.

"...Thou art quite a peculiar one."

"I have been told that. My friends used to call me an airhead, you see," Delia conversed happily with the veiled stranger, elated to have someone by her side in her knowingly final moments.

"I'm Delia Ketchum. And you are…?"

"My name… Thou may call me Zacian."

"Hm… That doesn't suit you. Ah! Were you lying?" Delia pouted.

The snow-haired woman wondered if the mother could read the room.

"Erk… Alas, my name is a cursed one. I do not wish for thou to—"

"I'm already dying. At the very least…"

"…I would like to know the name of my final visitor."

"…"

"My name is…"

"██████ ██ ███."

The mahogany-haired woman widened her eyes upon hearing the veiled woman's True Name and let out a soft smile.

"What a beautiful name…" she chuckled, her face getting paler.

"Delia… I have received thy prayers."

"And unlike the parasites that call themselves Gods…"

"The Witch shall answer them."

"Waaaahhhhhhhhhh!" a loud cry echoed around the Lab.

It was a miracle. Delia had successfully given birth to her baby.

"It's a boy! Delia, look!" Oak showed the mother her child with happy tears in his eyes.

"How cute…" Delia muttered with sweat rolling down her sickly pale face.

"What's his name, Delia?"

"…Name?"

"Let's see…"

Oak jumped up from his seat as he tried to shake Delia awake. The mother laid still, holding her crying baby in her arms as the light in her eyes were slowly drained into the abyssal darkness.

"Delia! Delia!"

…

"Hmm… What name should I give him?"

"Tis your choice, Delia."

"Oh no, no, no! You're going to decide with me, ██████! You're now somewhat of his mother too now, right?" Delia grinned cheekily.

"Something about being making my baby your Incarnation?"

"…Fine."

"What about Bob?" Delia snowballed.

"Absolutely not."

"Rika?"

"I'm pretty sure that's a girl's name."

"Then why don't you try one?!" the mahogany-haired woman childishly fumed, much to the snow-haired woman's amusement.

After pondering on it, the veiled woman gave her suggestion.

"…Tonelico."

"Tonelico? That's Kantonian for Fraxinus, right?" Delia nodded to herself.

"…Ash." / "Ash!"

The two women looked at each other before laughing to themselves.

"Looks like you're now a godmother now."

"...It seems so."

Alas, the time for parting cometh.

"I leave him to you… ██████."

"I promise… Delia."

…

"…Ash."

Oak stopped as the name was revealed. Delia let out a small smile with happy tears in her eyes as she took in one last view of her sleeping baby.

With one last breath…

"My baby… Ash Ketchum."

"Don't ever give up until it's over."

"Mama loves you… Your godmama loves you too."

"You're so loved, my little hero."

"Oh, Ash…"

"—You're my whole world."

Delia closed her eyes with a loving smile.