Chapter 39:

Ties that Bind, Ties that Break

Route 9

It had been a couple days since the incident at Power Plant Zeta, and the group continued their trip towards Amatree Town, their next destination, where Ash would win his fifth badge and Serena would hopefully win her fifth and last ribbon.

Route 9, also known as Fire Valley, was a grassy, forested zone surrounded by many peaks. The place was hard to traverse, but it was the fastest way for the group to reach Amatree Town. Hopefully, they would arrive with enough time for Serena's contest.

Given that they were making a pretty good time, they decided to set up camp for the time being. While Clemont, Bonnie and most of the Pokemon relaxed, Ash and Serena decided to have a sparring match.

"Alright Quetzoral, use Razor Leaf! And Minicorn, combine that attack with Fairy Wind!" Serena said.

Quetzoral beat her wings, releasing a flurry of razor-edged leaves forward, which were quickly caught inside a pink, sparkly tornado summoned by Minicorn.

"Frosulo, use Protect! Raptorch, get behind Frosulo!" Ash replied.

"Fro!"

"Ra, rap!"

Raptorch hid behind his partner as the Ice Crystal Pokemon generated a green energy barrier that blocked the attack, producing a burst of wind mist and green leaves as it crashed uselessly against the shield.

"Very well! Now Raptorch, Flamethrower! And Frosulo, Signal Beam!" Ash ordered.

Raptorch took a deep breath before exhaling a torrent of red and orange flames towards Serena's Pokemon, while Frosulo fired a multicolored beam from his antennae.

"Quetzoral, fly high to dodge! Minicorn, charge forward!" Serena ordered.

The Canopy Pokemon began to flap her wings as fast as she could in order to gain altitude and avoid the Fire Dino's Pokemon fiery attack, while Minicorn charged forward, sidestepping when necessary to dodge Frosulo's Bug-type energy attack.

"Now, Minicorn, Charge Beam on Frosulo!" Serena ordered.

As the Foal Pokemon drew closer, her forehead horn crackled with yellow electricity, as it fired from it a straight electric beam at the Ice Crystal Pokemon.

"Raptorch, intercept it!" Ash quickly shouted.

"Ra, rap!"

The Fire Dino Pokemon jumped between Minicorn and his partner, taking the attack, which harmlessly washed over him.

"You fell for it! Quetzoral, Drill Peck, now!" Serena cried in triumph.

"Queeeeetz!" Quetzoral cawed, as it dashed towards Raptorch, her beak glowing with a white aura which began to spin like a drill.

"Not so fast! Frosulo, snare her with String Shot!" Ash replied.

"Suuuu!" Frosulo chirped, before firing a sticky thread from his unseen mouth, getting the Canopy Pokemon all entangled in the stings, causing her to miss and crash painfully against the ground.

"Quetzoral! Are you okay?" Serena worriedly asked.

"Tzo...!" Quetzoral said, getting back on her tail and wiping the sticky thread from her wings. "Quetz!"

She sighed in relief. "Well, thank goodness it wasn't that bad," the honey blonde said.

"Wow, that was embarrassing," a new, unpleasant voice said in a taunting manner. "If your Pokemon fall for such obvious tricks, I don't think you'll ever make it to the Grand Festival."

Everybody turned around, and much to their surprise (and disgust) they saw Sayaka, in her black and red ninja uniform, a smug grin plastered on her face.

"You!" Serena said, frowning. "What are you doing here?"

"What? Am I not allowed to be here or something?" the ninja replied, her tone still taunting.

"You know what I mean," Serena said, as she walked towards her, holding her gaze. "You already won your fifth ribbon. Shouldn't you be on a boat to Venesi City already?"

"The Grand Festival is more than two months away, so I have time," Sayaka replied, shrugging.

"If you came here to further antagonize Serena...!" Clemont began.

"Relax, people. Me finding you guys here was a mere coincidence. Not that I need to reveal my reasons to be here or there, but if it's for the sake of avoiding an unnecessary confrontation..." Sayaka said in a somewhat bored and irritated tone. "I'm here looking for Dusk Stones in order to evolve my Misdreavus into Mismagius. I was told that you can find Dusk Stones around these parts."

"I see. Well, in that case, don't let our presence slow you down in your search," Ash said, as the boy crossed his arms, hinting to the unfriendly ninja to go away.

And she was about to, when something caught her eye. "That Pokemon I see... is that Minicorn yours?"

Minicorn tilted her head upon hearing her name,

"Yes, I'm her trainer," Serena told her. "What about it?"

"I see. And I guess that you'd like to evolve her into Kiricorn, am I right?" Sayaka asked, her smug grin growing wider.

Serena stammered a little, and looked at Minicorn, before looking back at Sayaka. "I mean... sure, if she's okay with it..."

"Yeah, you look like somebody who'd love to have a Kiricorn, don't you? Well, today may be your lucky day!" Sayaka said, as she began to dig for something inside her backpack. "Feast your eyes upon this!"

Everybody looked at the item Sayaka was showing, a grayish-white crystalline stone, with a dim golden light glowing from the inside.

"Is that...?" Ash began.

"A Shiny Stone!" Clemont finished.

"So what if that stone is shiny?" Bonnie asked, unimpressed.

Sayaka rolled her eyes at Bonnie's comment, but decided to elaborate: "A Shiny Stone is an evolutionary stone that Minicorn needs in order to evolve into Kiricorn. I was looking for one to evolve my Luxor, but I managed to find two. Would you like to have it?" Sayaka asked. "Aw look, it seems your Minicorn likes it!"

And indeed, the Foal Pokemon was looking at the evolutionary stone with her eyes wide open and glinting, as if completely enthralled by the rock.

"But let me guess, you aren't going to give it to me just like that, right?" Serena asked, fearing what the arrogant ninja may want to ask her in exchange for the stone.

"Obviously not. These stones are very rare and valuable. Before you ask no, I'm not going to ask you for money, since I don't need it," Sayaka said. "So, let's make a little deal: help me look for a Dusk Stone in the area. If you manage to find one before me, I'll trade it for this Shiny Stone. If I manage to find one first... well, tough luck."

"Why are you proposing this? Serena is your rival. Wouldn't it make more sense to look for the stone yourself and not tell us that?" Clemont asked.

Sayaka snorted. "Trust me, relying on others is not something I take pleasure in doing. But I already wasted two days fruitlessly looking for that accursed Dusk Stone. Maybe with more people and Pokemon looking around, I can finally find one and continue with my journey."

Ash and his friends all looked at each other.

"So, what do you guys say? Should we help her?" Ash asked.

Serena looked at Minicorn, who looked a bit disappointed now that Sayaka had put the Shiny Stone back on her bag. Kiricorn was a Pokemon Serena would have loved to have in her team, and if Minicorn wanted to evolve, then it was a win-win, right?

"Okay, let's help her," Serena finally decided.

"Excellent. Let's begin the search then. I'll look over that area," Sayaka said, pointing at a cluster of trees to the south. "You should split into two groups and check the lake to the northeast and the small hill to the northwest."

"Clemont and I will take the lake. I know my brother isn't fond of climbing hills," Bonnie offered.

"Bonnie!" Clemont protested.

The lemon blonde shot her older brother an unamused stare. "Am I lying?"

Clemont reddened a little as he looked aside. "You didn't have to say it that way..."

"Alright. In that case, Serena and I will look on the hill then," Ash said. "Let's meet up here in two hours, alright?"

They all nodded, and the three subgroups went to check the three areas.

Ash and Serena were walking around the hill that they agreed to inspect. The hill was indeed small, and its slope wasn't as pronounced as Bonnie made it look, meaning that somebody as unathletic as Clemont wouldn't have much trouble climbing it. Oh well, it's not like they minded the place in particular.

Aside from Pikachu, Ash had also brought Aveden and Raptorch to help find the stone, while Serena had brought Quetzoral and Pancham. While Aveden and Quetzoral looked from the sky, their trainers and their groundbound Pokemon looked below. According to Ash, a Dusk Stone was dark purple in color, so if there were any stones like that around these parts, they would be somewhere where they wouldn't stand out, or else somebody would have claimed them already.

"So Serena, are you happy that Minicorn will finally be able to evolve?" Ash asked, as he looked under a bush.

"Sure. Though, I'm glad that Minicorn is on board with the idea. As much as I think Kiricorn is an impressive Pokemon, I wouldn't want to impose on Minicorn something she doesn't want," Serena said, as she looked under a large rock Pancham had flipped over.

"I still remember Maria's Kiricorn. Even Greninja had trouble with it," Ash said, recalling his first Gym match of the region. "Oh I know! Once Kiricorn evolves, you should challenge Sayaka to a battle! I bet that with Kiricorn at your side, you'll beat her this time around!"

Serena shook her head. "As much as I'd like the idea, I think I'm going to refrain from doing that. I don't want to make the same mistake I did on the cruise."

"Oh, I see..." Ash said, a little disappointed. "Well, how about you use Kiricorn in a battle against me then?"

This drew a smile from the honey blonde. "That, I can do."

"Pi, pika!" Pikachu warned, pointing to the sky.

Ash looked upwards, and saw that Aveden was flying towards him. He was carrying something between his talons, something that glinted with the sunlight. Had Aveden found a Dusk Stone?

"Ave, aveden!" he happily whistled, as he dropped his cargo onto Ash's hands once he was close enough.

"Is that...?" Serena asked, holding her breath.

Ash shook his head. "A Thunderstone. An evolutionary stone used to evolve some Electric-type Pokemon, Pikachu included," Ash said, much to Aveden's disappointment, who lowered his head and let out a sad whistle. "Sorry pal, but this isn't what we were looking for. The Dusk Stone is much darker in color. Come on, put it back where you found it. Maybe somebody else can find it and give it some use."

"Ave!" Aveden said, before taking off once again.

As they continued the search, something else dawned upon Ash. "Hey Serena, now that I remember, Kiricorn can Mega Evolve! And given that you already have a Keystone, maybe we should look for a Mega Stone for her after this!"

"Yeah, we could. Though, Mega Stones tend to be rare and hard to find," Serena pointed out.

"We can always ask Alain the next time we see him, given that that's the kind of job he normally does for Professor Sycamore. Maybe he even found one with some luck!" Ash said.

Serena took a moment to look at the ring on her index finger. "Yeah. It's been a while since I got this Keystone, and it would be nice to get some use out of it."

"Well, you can use it on Selkid if she ever evolves," Ash pointed out.

"Yeah. Though, I was expecting that she would have evolved by now," Serena mentioned.

"Oh...?" Ash asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's not that I want Selkid to evolve at all costs," Serena quickly amended. "I've been reading about Selkid on the Pokedex, and I saw that their evolution is triggered by a deep emotional bond. In a trained one, said bond is the one she forms with her trainer."

"So if she evolves, it will mean that she formed a very strong bond with you, right?" Ash asked, and Serena nodded. "Don't worry. Even if it doesn't happen, anybody can see what a great bond you formed with Selkid. Especially since Selkid had such bad experiences with humans."

This managed to draw a small smile from the honey blonde.

"Hey, I just thought of something," Ash said, sounding like he was about to switch the topic. "I remember seeing the cover of a romantic novel that showed a man and a woman riding together on a Rapidash. Do girls like that?"

Serena's smile turned into an amused smirk. "Why? Are you planning for the two of us to ride Kiricorn together once she evolves?"

"If you're for it, sure! Kiricorn would be big enough to carry the two of us," Ash excitedly said. "And if Kiricorn is okay with it, of course."

"Well, I wouldn't be against the idea..." Serena said, blushing a little.

"I have some experience riding equine Pokemon. I can teach you if you want," Ash offered.

Serena quirked an eyebrow, as an amused smile spread across her lips. "Ash, should I remind you that I have plenty of experience on Pokemon riding? My mom trained me on Rhyhorn Racing, and I even beat her during that Skiddo race."

"Oh, right! Hehe, my bad…" Ash sheepishly said, rubbing the back of his head. "Oh well, that's one less thing to worry about! Once Minicorn evolves into Kiricorn, you'll ride her and I'll sit behind you."

"Me? But I thought that you'd be the one riding her and I'd be sitting behind you..." Serena said.

"But Kiricorn is your Pokemon. I don't think it'd be right for me to ride her instead of you," Ash replied.

"Oh... right, you're right," Serena said.

While a part of Serena was a little disappointed over Ash running her fantasy or holding him from behind while the two rode Kiricorn, another part of her couldn't help but feel warm over such a considerate gesture.

Little things like that were the reason why she liked Ash.

Meanwhile, the Lumiose siblings were inspecting the lake area. Clemont brought Luxray and Eletux to help with their search, Luxray because of his enhanced vision, and Eletux so he could search under the water, even if the Hippocampus Pokemon was proving to be less than useful, being more interested in annoying the group of Buizel living there, and shooting with Water Gun the Birbie and Owten that sometimes flew above the lake.

"Lux, luxray!" The Gleam Eyes Pokemon growled at his mischievous teammate in a harsh, scolding tone.

"Tuuuuux..." Eletux replied, as if begrudgingly accepting Luxray's protest, before diving underwater to continue with the search.

Bonnie was searching on her own, while Dedenne scurried around. Bonnie had told him to keep his eyes peeled for the Dusk Stone, but the Antennae Pokemon seemed to be more focused on the berry bushes growing near the water.

"I don't think there are any of those stones here," Bonnie said, as she looked under a small bush. "We've been looking for quite a lot of time, and nothing."

"Be patient. These stones are rarely easy to spot. Otherwise somebody else would have taken them sometime ago," Clemont told her.

"Maybe somebody else already found and took all the stones," Bonnie said, pouting. "You know, it's weird that you haven't cooked up some kind of invention for this situation with a lame name, like 'the evolutionary stone radar finder' or something like that."

"It has been on my to-do list, but I've been occupied with other projects," Clemont said, before adding: "And the name is not lame!"

"Sure thing, brother," she said, rolling her eyes. "And what projects?"

"Well... mostly related to Team Omega stuff... still working on that helmet... and trying to figure out how they copied my Aipom Arm..." Clemont began.

"Suuuuure, and none of those projects involving texting and calling Lilia, do they?" Bonnie asked in a somewhat annoyed, but still teasing tone.

"L-Lilia? What does she have to do with anything?" Clemont asked.

"So you don't deny that you've been talking with her a lot when you think no one's watching," Bonnie stated matter-of-factly.

Clemont reddened. "W-Well, of course I talk with her a lot! She's the reason we're in Tandor to begin with! And why do you mean 'when no one is watching'?"

"Yes, we know she and she alone is the reason we came to this region," Bonnie said, rolling her eyes.

"Wh-what's that supposed to mean?" Clemont sputtered. "Anyway, why do I need to justify myself over how much I talk with Lilia? That's none of your business!"

"It is, since you're my brother!" Bonnie protested.

"Ugh, this is like the last time! I thought that this is what you wanted, but you're so hostile to her? Why? What has Lilia ever done to you?" Clemont protested.

Bonnie didn't say anything. Crossing her arms, she turned her back at Clemont. "...I don't think she's good for you."

"Oh? And why not?"

"NENE!"

Upon hearing the cry of pain, Bonnie's head immediately snapped in Dedenne's direction, with Clemont behind her, and the lemon blonde quickly ran towards her partner, who was nursing his hurt mouth.

"Dedenne!" a worried Bonnie said. "Are you okay? What happened? Did somebody hurt you?"

"There don't appear to be any wild Pokemon around these parts..." Clemont said, trying to look for a potential culprit.

"Nene..." Dedenne whined, as he pointed at something on the ground.

Bonnie and Clemont looked in the direction Dedenne was pointing, and saw something sticking out of the berry bush. At first it looked like a dark colored berry, but upon further inspection, they realized it was a rock.

"Is that...?" Clemont began.

Bonnie grabbed the dark rock, and pulled it out of the bush. The rock gleamed with a purple sheen as sunlight passed over it.

"A Dusk Stone!" Bonnie excitedly said. "You found a Dusk Stone, Dedenne, great job!"

"Nene!" Dedenne cheered.

"Good job indeed," Clemont said, smiling. "Now come on, let's get back to the camp and give that stone to Sayaka before she changes her mind."

When Ash and Serena returned to the camp, Sayaka was already there. She was standing up, rigid as a pole, with her arms crossed and a frown marring her face, an aura of hostility emanating from her body that kept the Pokemon away from her. It seemed that, just like them, the ninja also came back empty handed.

"No luck?" Ash asked. Sayaka pouted and looked aside.

"We didn't find any Dusk Stone either," Serena admitted.

"For some reason, I find that easy to believe," Sayaka said.

"You know, given that we agreed to help you, you could show a little more consideration," Ash said in an annoyed tone, his patience with the arrogant ninja wearing thin.

"Pi, pika!" Pikachu agreed.

"Oh please. You aren't helping me out of the goodness of your hearts, but because you want something from me in return," Sayaka fired back. "So save your holier-than-thou attitude for whoever's naïve enough to buy it."

"Guuuuuuuys!"

Fortunately, before an argument could take place, Bonnie's distant shout drew their attention to her. The young blonde ran towards them at a good pace, with her brother a few meters behind, struggling to keep pace, Luxray and Eletux flanking him. Bonnie looked visibly happy and excited, and held something in her right hand high above her head.

Something that gleamed purple under the sunlight.

"Did that little girl...?" Sayaka began, stunned.

"Yes it is! Bonnie found a Dusk Stone!" Serena cheered.

"Look what Dedenne and I found!" Bonnie said, waving the stone as she came closer.

Serena heard Sayaka sigh. "Alright, I see that you are more competent than I gave you credit for. Guess that you're going to have that Shiny Stone in the end. Oh well, I never faced anybody with a Kiricorn, so defeating one might be a worthy challenge."

Unfortunately, none of what Sayaka said would come to pass, because in her excited mood, Bonnie didn't notice a small stone that stuck from the ground, making her trip and sending the stone flying.

"Bonnie!" Clemont and Serena shouted in unison.

"The stone!" Sayaka yelled.

Making a wide arc, the Dusk Stone landed on the ground with a soft thud, but miraculously, it didn't break. It bounced a few more times, but the stone remained whole, finally landing near a spot where all of Serena's Pokemon had gathered. All of them looked at the evolutionary stone on the ground, as if they were afraid that it might shatter into a million shards, but after no such thing happened, they all exhaled sighs of relief.

Well, all of them except Minicorn, who looked at the stone as if it was a treasure of untold value.

"Oh thank goodness, it doesn't look like it's broken," Bonnie said, after her brother helped her back on her feet. "After how long it took us to find it..."

Before anybody had the chance to say or do anything, Minicorn walked towards the stone, and touched it with her hoove.

"Minicorn...?" Serena asked.

There was a crackling sound, and Minicorn's body glowed with a bright blueish-white light, as the Foal Pokemon began to grow and change while it absorbed the evolutionary stone.

"NO!" Sayaka shouted. "No, no, no! Look what your stupid mare has done!"

"What the... what's going on?" Clemont asked.

"Minicorn is evolving!" Bonnie said.

"I can see that! But how!? I thought that Minicorn needed a Shiny Stone to evolve!" Serena said.

"It does, in order to evolve into Kiricorn!" Sayaka angrily said, much to Serena's confusion.

Once the evolution was complete and the light vanished, everybody could see the new Pokemon, which just like Sayaka said, wasn't a Kiricorn.

The Pokemon in front of them was also an equine, like Minicorn and Kiricorn, but that was where the similarities ended. If Kiricorn looked majestic, ethereal and magical, this Pokemon was... well, in one word, terrifying. She had a dull purple body, with a wild crimson mane running down her neck and her rear. She had three long yellow horns on her head, one on her forehead and one on each side, plus two more horn-like spikes on her back. She had black eyes with yellow irises, and a long, thin tail ending on a tuft of crimson hair.

Wordlessly, Ash pulled out his Pokedex in order to check into what Pokemon had Minicorn evolve:

"Oblivicorn, the Dark Horse Pokemon, and one of Minicorn's evolutions. Dark/Fairy. Its powers are strongest at night when the moon is not visible. Only a veteran trainer can tame one well enough to ride it." the Pokedex explained.

The newly evolved Oblivicorn looked at Serena with those terrifying yellow eyes, and the Kalosian girl flinched. Oblivicorn rose on her back legs while letting out a loud, reverberating neigh.

Sayaka scoffed, reminding everybody that she was still there. "It serves me right for relying on people like you to help. Enjoy your new Pokemon," the ninja said, before tossing a smoke bomb to her feet, producing a gray cloud. Despite the cloud being dispelled very quickly, Sayaka was nowhere to be seen.

After the ninja's departure, a moment of very uncomfortable silence followed, as people and Pokemon alike looked at the newly evolved Oblivicorn with several degrees of worry. For some reason, Oblivicorn looked really agitated, almost as if she was preparing to attack.

"Alright!" Serena said in a chipper manner, clapping her hands, in an attempt to dispel the building tension. "Maybe that... didn't come out as most of us were expecting, but nonetheless, if this is what Minicorn wanted, who are we to judge her?" she said, as she walked towards the Dark Horse Pokemon. "So, Oblivicorn, how are you feeling-"

The moment Serena came close, Oblivicorn let out a loud neigh and rose over her hind legs, waving her front hooves dangerously close in front of Serena's face.

"AAAAH!" the honey blonde screamed, as she tripped a few steps backwards, before falling on her butt.

"Serena!" a worried Ash said as she rushed towards her, as so did the rest of her Pokemon. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Serena said, letting Ash help her back on her feet. "I guess that Oblivicorn is kind of... intense now."

It wasn't rare for many Pokemon's personalities to shift after evolving. There was almost nothing left of the bashful and painfully shy Eevee when she evolved into Sylveon. She simply needed to know what made Oblivicorn tick now.

Wiping the dust from her clothes, Serena attempted to get close to Oblivicorn a second time. "Now, keep calm, okay? It's me, Serena. You haven't forgotten about me, have you?" Serena asked, as she slowly approached Oblivicorn. The equine so far seemed a bit more relaxed. "Great! Now-WHOA!"

"SYL!"

But once again, Oblivicorn's response was violence as she charged towards Serena horn-first. The honey blonde would have been seriously hurt had Sylveon not wrapped her feelers around her and pulled her out of the way.

"H...huh... that was a close one," Serena said almost in a whisper, blinking slowly. "...thanks for the save, Sylveon."

"Oblivicorn! Just what's wrong with you!?" Ash angrily asked. "You could have seriously hurt Serena!"

"Pi, pika!" Pikachu agreed.

This time, it was Delphox who angrily stomped towards the seemingly frenzied mare in order to give her a piece of her mind.

"Del, delphox, del, phox!" Delphox angrily berated Oblivicorn.

Oblivicorn neighed loudly once again, and menacingly rose over her hind legs, waving her front hooves at Delphox as if threatening to stomp her, forcing the Fox Pokemon to back off, before aiming her ignited wand at Oblivicorn.

"Deeeel...!" the Fire-type started hissed.

"No, wait! Please don't fight!" Serena pleaded.

"Del?" Delphox asked, a little confused, but lowered her wand.

"It seems like there's something wrong with Oblivicorn. This sudden hostility is not normal." Clemont observed, before turning towards Serena. "Maybe we should take her to a Pokemon Center. Perhaps a Nurse Joy can see something we can't."

"Good idea. Better check with a professional," Serena said, as she pulled Oblivicorn's pokeball, making the Dark Horse Pokemon stare at her in shock. "Oblivicorn, re-GAH!"

But before she had the chance to recall her rogue Pokemon, Oblivicorn pretty much blitzed at Serena, becoming little more than a dark purple and crimson blur. This time, it was Ash's Greninja who managed to pick Serena between his arms and move out of the way. In doing so, though, she made Serena drop the pokeball, who landed next to the Dark Horse Pokemon.

"Thank you, Greninja," Serena said as he put her back on the ground, before looking at her Pokemon. "Oblivicorn...?"

The Dark and Fairy-type Pokemon rose a hoof, and brought it down on the pokeball, shattering it into a thousand shards of metal and plastic.

Everybody else, both human and Pokemon alike, gasped in shock.

Serena almost choked, and brought her hands to her mouth.

"O-Oblivicorn...?" Serena repeated, as tears began to form at the corner of her eyes. Why was something like this happening...?

Oblivicorn then galloped away, rising a small cloud of dust in her wake.

"What's going on?" Bonnie asked, a little frightened. "Why is Oblivicorn acting that way? Doesn't she want to be Serena's Pokemon anymore...?"

"I don't know. When my Charizard evolved he didn't obey me at first, and even attacked me sometimes, but he never went as far as trying to abandon me..." Ash said, sounding like he was feeling out of his depth.

"Well, I plan to find out," Serena said, as she looked at the rest of her Pokemon. "Come on everyone, let's get Oblivicorn back!"

"Good idea! We'll help you!" Ash offered.

"Thanks, but I'd prefer if you stayed at the camp instead," Serena said, shaking her head. "I believe this is something my Pokemon and I need to do on our own."

"Are you sure?" Ash asked.

"Very sure," she firmly replied. "Come on, let's go! Quetzoral, fly ahead and see if you can find Oblivicorn."

"Que, tzo!" the Canopy Pokemon cawed in agreement, before taking off and flying in the same direction Oblivicorn had taken.

Serena and her other four Pokemon continued on foot, as fast as they could.

"How can I pretend to be the next Kalos Queen, to make people smile, if I can't tell what's wrong with my Pokemon?" Serena thought. "Sorry Ash, but I need to do this alone. Don't worry Oblivicorn, whatever's bothering you, we'll fix it. Together."

Normally, chasing a fleeing Pokemon whose body was designed for long distance running isn't something most people would think of doing. Oblivicorn could run very fast for a long time, and neither Serena nor any of her Pokemon, except maybe Quetzoral, had any chance to catch up to her.

But Serena kept running anyway. Not only because she had a hunch that Oblivicorn wouldn't go very far, but because she had to get her back. She couldn't rest until she'd find what happened for her to become so hostile towards her trainer the moment Minicorn evolved.

"Look! There she is!"

And turned out, Serena's hunch was right. Oblivicorn was at the edge of a small river, drinking some water. Of course, it didn't take her to notice Serena and the rest of her Pokemon. The equine raised her head and locked eyes with her former trainer, but she didn't make any attempt to flee.

That was good.

"Hello," Serena said, as she began to approach slowly. "Listen, Oblivicorn, I don't know what happened for you to act this way, but whatever it is... we can fix it."

Oblivicorn snorted. Serena didn't know what she just said –she internally cursed how in her hurry to rush behind her Pokemon, she didn't think of taking the PST with her. It would make talking with Oblivicorn all that easier– but that reaction didn't sound good. Still, Serena wasn't going to give up, neither now nor ever.

She took another step. "So why don't you return with us to the camp, huh?" she asked, trying to give her the best of her smiles.

As a reward for her smile, Oblivicorn fired a Charge Beam from her horn to her trainer's feet, making Serena yelp loudly and fall trip backwards. All her Pokemon cried almost in unison and quickly put themselves between their trainer and the rogue Oblivicorn, forming a barrier between them. Oblivicorn glared at her former teammates, who returned the hard stare back in silence.

That's it, until one of the Pokemon broke the silence and took a step forward.

"Sel, selkid, kid, sel, selkid!" Selkid angrily shouted. To Serena, it shouted as if she was chastising Oblivicorn.

Given that Selkid and Oblivicorn had both been under the less than ideal care of Team Omega, the Sea Nymph Pokemon had the strongest tie with Oblivicorn.

"Sel, kid, sel!" she continued.

Oblivicorn snorted again, before letting out a low pitched whine.

This seemed to infuriate Selkid, whose face scrunched and almost turned red. "SEL!? Selkid! Sel, kid!"

Oblivicorn rolled her eyes and snorted once again. Whatever Oblivicorn had said, it seemed that it had angered Selkid royally, given that the Water and Fairy-type Pokemon fired a Water Pulse at Oblivicorn's face.

"Selkid...!" Serena shouted.

Of course, such an attack wouldn't be left unanswered, as Oblivicorn, her yellow eyes looking as if they were bloodshot with rage, fired yet another Charge Beam. Selkid seemed to expect a counterattack, as the Sea Nymph Pokemon jumped aside, letting the electric bolt hit the grass instead.

"Del!" Delphox said, wand ignited and ready to battle.

"Pan, pancham!" Pancham cried, jumping forward.

"Sel, selkid!" Selkid shouted at them.

Delphox and Pancham looked surprised by Selkid's reaction. They looked at each other, before taking a step back.

"Selkid...? Do you want to fight Oblivicorn alone?" Serena asked. Her first Tandorian Pokemon nodded, her face full of resolve. "Very well. Let's hope you can make Oblivicorn see reason. Or maybe she'll calm down once she spends some energy battling."

Oblivicorn stomped her hoof on the ground twice, before letting out a loud neigh. Serena could tell that the violent equine wasn't planning on pulling any proverbial punches. The rest of the Pokemon moved back in order to make room for Selkid.

As Oblivicorn's body began to crackle with black sparks, she let out another loud neigh and blitzed towards Selkid, moving so fast, she was almost impossible to see, while leaving a trail of vanishing afterimages. Oblivicorn slammed into her former teammate, sending her rolling backwards. Despite the impact, Selkid took no time in jumping back to her feet.

"Selkid, use Hyper-Voice!" Serena commanded.

"SeeeeeelKIIIIIIIIIID!" Selkid shouted, making Oblivicorn flinch as the powerful sonic waves washed upon her.

Oblivicorn neighed angrily, and waved her frontal horn, which was glowing with a pink light. A pink, sparkly wind blew towards the Sea Nymph Pokemon.

"Quickly Selkid, counter with Ice Beam!" Serena ordered.

Selkid opened her mouth, and fired a white beam of freezing power. Both attacks clashed in the middle, resulting in an explosion that produced a cloud of pink and white. However, before Serena had a chance to issue another order, Oblivicorn came out of the cloud, fast as lightning, and violently slammed against Selkid, sending her rolling backwards a second time.

"Selkid!" Serena cried.

But once again, Selkid got back on her feet, and shot Oblivicorn a stare full of reproval and resolve. Oblivicorn snorted, and dashed forward, her hooves glowing with a white light.

"That's Double Kick! Quickly, jump back to dodge!" Serena warned.

Selkid didn't need to be told twice, as the Sea Nymph Pokemon began to jump as far as her stubby legs allowed her to, avoiding the violent stomps of Oblivicorn's hooves, which left a small circle-shaped mark on the grassy ground any time they slammed against it.

"And now Water Pulse!" Serena shouted.

As Selkid jumped to avoid another powerful kick, she formed an orb of water between her hands, and launched it at Oblivicorn. The watery missile slammed against her face, leaving it completely drenched for a second time.

Neighing in anger, Oblivicorn charged once again towards Selkid as she landed back, her front horn glowing with a white light. Selkid was unable to dodge in time, and the Sea Nymph Pokemon took the Horn Attack in full.

"Seeeeeel!" Selkid cried in pain, as she was knocked backwards, making Serena gasp in horror, before covering her mouth with her hands.

"Selkid, please stop!" Serena pleaded. "You're only getting hurt!"

She didn't want to openly discourage her Pokemon, but Oblivicorn was both strong and didn't care how much she hurt her opponent, so Serena didn't have much hopes about Selkid overpowering the violent equine. But Selkid had no intention to stop. As she watched the Water and Fairy-type Pokemon getting back to her feet once again, Serena knew that Selkid would fight until the very end.

"Sel, selkid, kid, sel!" Selkid shouted at Oblivicorn.

Oblivicorn replied with a mocking snort, and stomped her hoof on the ground once.

"SELKID!" Selkid defiantly yelled.

Then, there was a crackling sound, and her entire body began to glow with a bright, blueish-white light.

"Selkid...?" Serena asked, while the rest of her Pokemon gasped in surprise. Even Oblivicorn seemed surprised.

The honey blonde watched in awe how the Sea Nymph Pokemon began to grow in size, from barely reaching her knees, to being taller than she was. Her thin, streamlined body became thicker and more defined, white her tiny arms became larger, and grew hands at the end of them, and her head grew something that resembled hair.

"SYREN!" the newly evolved Pokemon cried, her tone being deeper than that of Selkid's.

"Selkid, you... you evolved!" Serena said, a little shocked. She quickly pulled out her Pokedex in order to see what had Selkid evolved into:

"Syrentide, the Siren Pokemon, and Selkid's evolved form. Water/Fairy. Their song is hypnotic, and all who hear it are immobilized. Legends tell of shipwrecks that were caused when the sailors were captivated by a Syrentide's song." The Pokedex explained.

Syrentide was a large Pokemon that looked like a mermaid. Her body was mostly dark blue, with lighter blue patterns that looked like ocean waves, and had two thick arms ending in dark blue hands with three fingers each. Her belly was white, and so was her face, which had four protrusions, two at each of its upper sides, and had a golden collar around her neck. She had two large black eyes, with two blue streaks under them, a mane of hair that looked like a running waterfall, and a trident-like golden hairpiece on her forehead, and another golden trident-like piece at the end of her tail, from which two small fins came out.

"Sy, syren!" Syrentide cried at Oblivicorn.

The Dark Horse Pokemon looked taken aback at first, but she didn't relent, and fixed Syrentide with a chilling glare. Letting out a loud neigh, Oblivicorn blitzed towards Syrentide, slamming into her before she had any chance to dodge.

"Sy!"

However, unlike last time, Syrentide's large size and bulk allowed her to resist the hit much better. The attack made her skid backwards, but she held her ground.

"Well done, Syrentide! Now let's show her again your Hyper-Voice!" Serena cheered.

"SyyyyyyREN!" Syrentide yelled, sending a sonic wave so powerful, it blasted Oblivicorn backwards.

"Pokeball, go!" Serena said, before tossing an empty pokeball at the rogue Oblivicorn.

Oblivicorn was turned into pure energy, and was sucked inside the capture device the moment the object hit him, before dropping to the ground. It shook once. Then twice.

"Come on...!"

Before the pokeball broke open, releasing Oblivicorn. The equine's face was a mask of fury, and her yellow eyes glinted with so much anger, they almost looked like burning coals.

"So, it wasn't enough. You just don't want to come back, do you? Guess we'll have to show you how much I'm willing to keep fighting," Serena said, as she touched the keystone on her ring. She knew that attempting Mega Evolution was risky. But out of the wild Selkid only evolved into Syrentide when they formed a strong bond with their trainer, so in theory, there shouldn't be any problems with Mega Evolution. "Come on Syrentide, let me help you bring out the potential that hides deep within you! Mega Evolve!"

Beams of light shot from the Keystone on her ring and the Mega Stone tied to Syrentide's tail, triggering the second transformation in a row, ending with the Mega Evolution helix flashing in front of her for a second.

Mega Syrentide was a sight to behold. She was even larger than before, her whole body being now deep blue, as if wearing a long, regal gown. The protrusions at the side of her face had elongated into wing-like appendages, and the trident-like headpiece on her forehead had now five prongs instead of three, almost looking like a crown, with her hair becoming longer and lusher. Her golden collar was now a golden chestpiece, with two wing-like protrusions coming out of her shoulders. Her tail was now longer, with two long pink fins running up its sides. The tail-fin at the end is larger and fancier, pink-colored, and has a larger trident attached to it, with the middle prong ending in a point and the side prongs ending in spirals.

Even Oblivicorn seemed a little worried, since she didn't look so sure of victory anymore. Still, it showed that, just like Serena, the Dark Horse Pokemon refused to give up either, as she fired a powerful Charge Beam at Syrentide.

"Water Pulse!"

"Sy!"

The sphere of water formed between Syrentide's hands was noticeably larger than before. Once the projectile was launched, it plowed through the electric bolt coming out of Oblivicorn's horn, before it slammed against her face, resulting in a large watery explosion.

"The power of Mega Evolution is simply breathtaking... a power born of the bond between trainer and Pokemon, twice over in this case. Don't worry Oblivicorn, I don't know what happened, but I shall fix our bond!" Serena resolutely thought. "Another one!"

Syrentide launched another orb of water at Oblivicorn, but this time, the mare was ready. Using that speed-based attack, Oblivicorn dodged the blue sphere and smashed her body against Syrentide. Before the Mega Evolved Pokemon could react, the Dark and Fairy-type Pokemon dashed out of range once again, and began to to run circles around Syrentide, in an attempt to confuse her.

"Oblivicorn's fighting is becoming more erratic. The anger and confusion she must be feeling is affecting her head… I need to end this." Serena deduced, shaking her head. "Syrentide, Ice Beam on the ground in front of you!"

Syrentide did as she was ordered, the attack covering the ground in a sheet of ice. The results were instant: given her speed, Oblivicorn was unable to break in time, and the slippery ice made her lose her balance and fall headfirst into the ground with a painful whine.

"Now, Syrentide, Hyper-Voice!" Serena shouted.

A pink glowing outline appeared around Syrentide, before the Siren Pokemon unleashed a devastating sonic scream against her opponent. The powerful attack blasted the rogue equine backwards, tearing the grass apart and blowing powerful gusts of wind that forced Serena and her other Pokemon to shield their faces. Serena could also see that this Hyper-Voice was pink instead of colorless for some reason. Perhaps it had something to do with her Mega Evolved form?

One way or another, Oblivicorn wasn't going to get up from such a strong blow.

"Please Oblivicorn, don't fight anymore," Serena pleaded, as she pulled out another empty pokeball. "Pokeball, go!"

The pokeball hit Oblivicorn, opening up as the Dark Horse Pokemon was turned into pure energy and sucked inside, before the ball closed and fell to the ground.

One shake.

Two shakes.

Three shakes.

"Please, don't..."

A ding, followed by a small burst of star-shaped sparkles that quickly faded away.

Serena let out a huge sigh of relief. The rest of her Pokemon did the same, while Syrentide reverted back to her normal form, and plopped on the ground.

"Great job, Syrentide," Serena said, patting the exhausted Water and Fairy-type on her head.

"Syre..." she nodded in appreciation.

After that, Serena walked towards the pokeball, and picked it up. While the mood was overall of sadness, she allowed herself to smile.

"You put up such a huge fight, Oblivicorn... but I will never give up on anyone, not even my Pokemon," she said, gripping the ball with determination. "I will learn what caused you to act this way, and I'll help you out no matter what. I don't mind how much time it will take."

Because deep down, she knew that she would never be able to become Kalos Queen until she did so.

The way back to the camp took more time than she thought, given how fast she had caught up to Oblivicorn when she ran away.

The first thing she did was to send a message to Ash reassuring her that Oblivicorn had been recaptured, the rest of her Pokemon were okay –and that Selkid had evolved– and that they were coming back to the camp.

On the way back, Serena pulled out her Pokedex, and used the time she now had to check a few things she had seen during the battle.

Turns out Oblivicorn's speed-based attack was a Dark-type move called Sudden Strike, which was similar to Quick Attack and Aqua Jet. And the reason Syrentide's Hyper-Voice had taken on a pink color was due her ability upon Mega Evolving, Pixilate, which converted Normal-type moves into Fairy-types on top of giving them a boost.

After some time, she finally returned to the camp. Upon being seen, her friends quickly ran towards her.

"Hey Serena!" Ash shouted.

"How did it go?" Clemont asked. "I know you said you got Oblivicorn back, but how did you do it?"

"Is that Selkid's evolution?" Bonnie asked. "She looks so cool and beautiful!"

"S-Syren..." Syrentide blushed at the compliment.

"Guys, I appreciate your concern, but can we leave the questions for tomorrow?" Serena asked, trying to sound as polite as possible. "Getting Oblivicorn back... both my Pokemon and I are exhausted, and wish for nothing more than rest now."

"Of course," Ash said in an understanding manner. "If that's what you want, we won't bother you."

No more words were spoken.

Serena didn't do anything else nor spoke with anybody other than her Pokemon for the rest of the day. She didn't feel like talking to anyone now.

Not only two of her Pokemon had evolved, but she had used Mega Evolution for the first time ever. Such a day should be remembered as one of the best of her career as a Pokemon trainer, yet it was anything but.

Still, the sour memories created today would be easy to cast away if she could find what made Oblivicorn react the way she did, and how to fix it. Would she be able to do it? Serena wasn't sure.

What she was sure of is that she wouldn't give up until the end.


Author's Note: Bet you thought that after the previous chapter, this was going to be a more relaxed romp, didn't you? Nope! It's Serena Suffering Time!

There were some of you who wondered if Minicorn would evolve to either Kiricorn or Oblivicorn, and after mulling over it, I finally decided for the latter. I liked the idea of Serena having a Pokemon that's not only not cute or cuddly, but it's downright terrifying, as a way to shake up her team a little. Plus, I don't think Serena needed a second Pokemon capable of Mega Evolving, plus another advantage I'm pretty sure some of you can imagine. Though, before you ask, no, this isn't a Charizard situation; there IS a reason behind Oblivicorn lashing out against Serena shortly after evolving, despite the fact that she evolved by her own choice. It will be explained in a future chapter.

And Minicorn evolving into Oblivicorn isn't the only change among Serena's Pokemon, since after much buildup Selkid finally evolved into Syrentide (she had reached the friendship requirement sometime ago, but she needed something to push her into evolving) which allowed Serena to access Mega Evolution for the first time. Too bad her Mega debut was against one of her own Pokemon.

Though, if you aren't looking forward to this development, worry not, because just like the Sylveon's Phobia arc, the Oblivicorn's Disobedience arc won't last so long that it overstays its welcome.

Thanks a lot to TheDoctor1998, MegaSalamence64, Jake, Fox McCloude, Hirowriter and Viroro-kun for reviewing last chapter, and special thanks to Viroro-kun for betareading this chapter, whose edits and suggestions make it so much better.

Next chapter, our heroes progress their journey towards Amatree Town as they cross the perilous Baikal Rainforest, where Serena's Quetzoral originated. Some of her past will be revealed, and there will be another big change to Serena's Pokemon team. In the meantime, don't forget to drop a review with your thoughts on this chapter!