Author's Notes (13)
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Alrighty, another chapter. And its a Serena-focused chapter.
This was a hard one to write since it's a world-building chapter instead of an action chapter. Because of that, I have to filter out some important ones that will be revealed down the line and find the ones I deem reasonable enough to reveal. So, when you finish this chapter and thought 'Wow, this is quite the exposition!', don't worry, folks. This rabbit hole goes a lot deeper than you think.
Buckle up, people. There's a lot of things to unpack here.
Now, for some questions...
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From a Guest review:
A few while ago you mentioned that Fated was written under the idea that Ash would win the M8, lately, I've been thinking about it lately and it's got me curious and wondering what exactly is the status of the Champions here. How would they rank, who's considered the strongest and so on.
If it's there's gonna be a PWC and therefore M8, how much are you planning to change if so. You probably know how it was full of controversial choices and decisions, not just in the battles, their order and how they turned out but even on how the participants on it were portrayed.
Sorry if this is potential spoilers so it's fine if you don't want to answer this or keep it vague. Wanted to be unbiased too.
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I'm glad this topic came up.
First off, Fated!Champions are gonna be written as Trainers strong enough to 1v1 Legendaries and win 50/50. I mean, Fated!Lance took on Mewtwo with his shiny Gyarados and was evenly matched, so imagine if he had used Dragonite instead. Plus, this was when Mewtwo was at his most volatile and he still was on par even without his ace.
Leon's still gonna be the strongest and that's including some very shocking revelation about a certain Champion who makes an official appearance this chapter unlike the previous intro. I felt like the anime and games don't really drive home of how strong Leon actually is, so after reading this chapter and getting a feel as to how strong that certain someone is, you can probably imagine how much stronger Leon could potentially be.*
As for the M8, I'll be changing it to M16 instead since, there's a lot of characters that deserved to fight with the big bois. It's a lot of battles, but when that time comes, I'll try my best to write them as enjoyable as possible.
*Edit: WAAAAH, I messed up here! Mr Guest, I'm sorry! I was on auto pilot when writing that I didn't realize how wrong this sounds. Let me clear this up:
What I meant was that the anime and games mismanaged Leon's strength, not that the anime and game made him look weak. In the anime, dude was cleaning house with Diantha while struggling against Eternatus which was confusing for me. That's what I meant by 'don't really drive home' when what I should've written 'don't portray Leon's power correctly'. Really, really sorry about that! So, TLDR, Leon's still the strongest but the power gaps are going to be more believable with the certain Champion I mentioned being the one to give Leon a run for his money.
Once again, Mr Guest, sorry for the miswritten words. I don't tolerate misunderstandings from my own mistakes so this was quite the wake up call despite my sleep deprived state. Hopefully, this'll clear some misunderstandings. Again, really sorry!
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With that, let's start.
Chapter 57: Incarnations & Origins
After a whole hour of worrying about the honey blonde, Ash finally calmed down as he wiped away the remaining tears as he conversed away with the honey blonde, glad that nothing serious had happened.
There was no telling what Ash would have done if the worst came to pass.
'I wasn't there to save her…'
"Red?" Serena fretted.
'Ah. Gotta make sure Yellow doesn't worry,' his darkened features returned to normal after noticing Serena's worried expression.
"Wow… Your PokéDex's much cooler than mine, Red," Ash whistled as he pulled up his own Dex to compare with Serena's square-like one while distracting her from his previous expression.
"That's not true! I like yours better, since it's much retro looking," the honey blonde shot back as her eyes sparkled at the raven-haired boy's bulkier version of the encyclopaedia.
'Really? I like the sleek design a lot though,' he thought to himself.
"In any case, welcome to the club, fellow Dex Holder."
Ash flashed a grin at the excited honey blonde as she held the device while stroking her starter's fur.
"It's not just me, y'know? My friends also got their own!"
"Oh yeah, Calem, Shauna, Trevor and Tierno, was it? They worked hard," the raven-haired boy praised as he recognized their names from his previous conversation with Serena.
"Yup! Calem was so happy when he got Chespin as his starter. The both of you would get along, Red," she giggled at the listening boy.
"Hey now, I'm not THAT social, y'know?" Ash shrugged with a lazy smile.
"Speaking of someone you'll get along… I think Froakie's a good match for you, Red."
'Froakie? If I remember correctly, that should be the Water starter for Kalos…'
"Why'd you say that?"
"He was so amazed by your performance in the Grand League. Calem and Tierno tried to choose him at first but Froakie would run away or hop back to me," she sweatdropped at the two hissing boys trying to return the blue frog back into his Ball.
"Then, why didn't you choose Froakie? He seemed okay with you," Ash wondered from what the girl told him.
"Well… I think…" she leaned towards the screen coyly, eliciting a slight blush on the raven-haired boy's face.
"Froakie's waiting for you."
"How'd you figure?"
"Just a hunch."
Ash and Serena continued chatting back and forth, going through everything they wanted to say, not wanting it to end and kept going to spend as much time as possible. In the end, the honey blonde was the first to yawn and Ash had to hesitantly bid goodbye for her sleep.
"Make sure you call me as much as possible, okay?" the honey blonde muttered groggily.
'She's all knocked out…' he gave a mirthful smile.
"Yeah, I'll do that. In exchange, please look out for incoming traffic on your way to the bed."
Too tired to notice Ash's teasing, the honey blonde nodded absently as she prepared to end the call.
But not before launching an unintentional counterattack with a drowsy smile that tugged on the boy's heartstrings.
"Huggies, Red~"
"..."
{ Sound muted. }
BAM! BAM! BAM!
The raven-haired boy allowed his auto-piloted body to purge the hormonal thoughts by banging his head on the nearest wall, startling Pikachu in the process.
'Cleave the wicked thoughts, Caliburn!' he begged his Sword for help to no avail.
The tender expression and the slight head tilt combined with the honey blonde's drowsy blue eyes as well as her outstretched arms inviting the raven-haired boy on the other side of the screen dealt super effective damage with a critical hit as a bonus towards a red-faced Ash with blood falling from his forehead.
'What the hell is this adorable creature?! This is illegal, right? Right? It's illegal to be this cute, right?!'
Summer camp days flooded his vision as they overlapped with the current honey blonde in front of him.
"I'm scared of the rain, Red. Can I… get some huggies?"
"…"
"I'll give you as much as you want when I'm finally with you."
He said that with a serious expression while a river of blood guzzled from his nose accompanied with a bloodied forehead.
Although mustering enough willpower to act cool-headed in front of Serena, the poor raven-haired boy's frantic brain was trying its damned hardest to salvage itself from short-circuiting via nuclear cuteness.
Beep!
"She got me again…" his voice muffled within his palms from the embarrassment.
A part of him was silently enjoying losing to the honey blonde.
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Vaniville Town, Kalos Region. (Few hours later…)
"Mmm…"
Serena peered an eye open as she roused from her peaceful slumber with the bright sun shining into her room. Beside her was her starter, Fennekin, who was still fast asleep.
'Felt like I had a nice dream last night…' she yawned with tears crouching in her eyes.
As she scanned her bed, Serena was surprised to find the two unidentified green blobs sleeping next to her pillow, basking in the sunlight.
'I can't tell if they're plants or Pokémon at this point,' the girl thought flatly as she dropped her head of honey back onto the pillow as she continued observing the sleeping blobs.
Then, by the rustling of Serena's blanket, the green blob with a red hexagon opened its singular eye, staring into the honey blonde's blue eye. Not long after, the second one with the blue hexagon woke up as well.
"I'm sorry. Did I wake you two?" Serena apologized with trepidation in her tone.
"We do not mind," the red core blob spoke telepathically, resulting in an alarmed Serena rising quickly from the bed and shuffling backwards into a corner.
'What…'
'What did that jerk just throw onto me?!'
Serena had half a mind to hunt down a certain smirking man.
"Fou?" Fennekin yipped sleepily from her slumber before noticing the two Cores on the bed.
"Fou?!"
The honey blonde could tell the fox was shocked at the two blobs as she immediately bowed her head towards the two mysterious things.
'Seriously, what is going on?' Serena begged to know.
Oh, how she wished Ash was here to save her from this predicament.
"Cease the flattering reverence, youngling. We are not so grand as the Creation Gods that you need to bow," the blue-core blob spoke with a more dignified tone, urging the fox to raise her head.
Seeing how the two blobs were conversing without hostility, the honey blonde slowly tip-toed her way back onto the bed so that she could get some answers from this madness.
"A part of me hopes that I'm still dreaming…" she muttered while pinching herself.
"We assure you. This is real," the red-core blob wobbled with amusement.
With that, Serena gave up on rationalizing the situation and decided to go with the flow.
"Well, I'm Serena and it's nice to meet the both of you. This is my partner, Fennekin," she introduced herself and the yellow fox.
"First thing first, I wanna make clear that this is most definitely that insufferable jackass' fault that you guys were kidnapped."
"Crude language aside, but we are of the same opinion of said 'jackass'. However, a slight correction in your words. We were saved by the Original One's… slave," the blue-core blob explained though it was trying to search for the right word to call the ashen-haired man.
"Slave? That guy? Looks free as a bird to me," Serena rolled her eyes.
"Trust us, young Serena…" the two drooped their heads in sympathy.
"That man is a pitiful existence."
'Eh?' the honey blonde was stunned by the horrible description of the ashen-haired man.
Sure, she was absolutely livid with the man's actions such as dropping two implied bigshot Pokémon like it was a chore, but after such words from said bigshots, the honey blonde found herself more curious about the man.
'…Who is that man anyways?'
A question that would plague her for some time to come.
"Now then, it appears we have yet to introduce ourselves," the two hopped in front of Serena.
"We are the keepers of Order. The one who maintains balance in the World," one of them started.
"We went by many names in the past. Fenrir, Garmr, Jörmungandr, Níðhöggr to name a few, though some were of our other Forms."
The honey blonde stiffened her body in shock as she listened to the two Cores casually namedropping some significant names from the stories and fairy tales that she had read since a tender age.
'W-W-W-World Serpent?!' her brain flummoxed.
"However, in this age, we are known as the Divinity of Order."
"We are Zygarde."
And with that, Serena tumbled onto the bed as she got hit with a double whammy of context as she finally understood Fennekin's behaviour. The fox in question was yipping in a panic at her Trainer's fainted state.
'Of course, that's why she was bowing…' she could not help but give a nervous laugh as the revelation caught up to her.
'BECAUSE THERE'S A FRICKIN' GOD IN MY ROOM!'
=Break Time=
"Have you calmed down, Serena?" the red-core blob asked worryingly.
"Yes, but it's a little awkward when a literal God is right next to me," she replied blankly.
"You guys are The Verdant Guardian, or rather Cores in your true form, right?"
"Yes. Our physiology is vastly different from the other Gods since we as well as Eikþyrnir and Hræsvelgr are not of this Planet."
"Er…?"
"Xerneas and Yveltal, my dear," the blue core clarified.
"…"
'Hooookay… So, my homeland deities are aliens, got it,' Serena nodded to herself, recognizing the other two names as the remaining Kalos Gods.
…
…
"AS IF!" the honey blonde shrieked as her brain threatened to implode.
"You guys are aliens?! Even Xerneas and Yveltal?!"
=Break Time 2=
After a cold shower and an earful from Grace, Serena was back in discussion with the two Cores, accepting Zygarde's words and decided to go with the flow again or suffer another headache.
"Have you calmed down?" the blue-core blob sweatdropped.
"Yes… I'm sorry for my outburst, you two," she bowed apologetically.
"It is fine. It is natural for mortals to panic when the Gods they worshipped were extra-terrestrial beings in truth," the red-core blob nudged Serena's hand sympathetically.
"So… the three Gods of Kalos are all… aliens? Seriously?" Serena asked hesitantly.
"That is correct. Our role, we would understand if humans and Pokémon misunderstood us as deities of the Earth since that is our job, but those two imbeciles? You humans have a way with imagination," the red core scoffed.
"Their invasive nature of overpopulation and mass culling were devastating on the environment. It was such a disaster back when we arrived to manage the mess," the blue core threw its head back in annoyance.
"Thankfully, gracious Gaia, or the Planet if you will, granted us with Divinity so that we could bring order to the ecosystem and prevent the disruption of AURA flow by those two."
"You make it sound like the Earth is alive," Serena remarked.
"Indeed, it is. Does the term 'Mother Nature' seem familiar?" the two Cores asked.
"…Touché."
"After those two finally went into their hibernation modes, Gaia was able to enforce its Laws upon them. If our calculations are right, they should be in sleep mode now…" the red core continued.
Serena could tell that they held back some information at the end, but relented anyways since she was not really keen on learning more forbidden knowledge. In fact, she could call herself the leading expert on the Kalos Legends just from this conversation alone.
"Hm? Serena, that cloth…" the blue core noticed, narrowing on a blue handkerchief placed neatly on her nightstand.
"Oh, that? That's a precious handkerchief I've received from the dearest person in my life," she answered warmly.
The two Cores were pondering something as they stared at the handkerchief, slightly embarrassing the honey blonde.
"...I'll have you know I wash it every day, y'know," she defended herself with a huff.
"No… None of us are denying it," the blue core said as the Pokémon in the room sweatdropped.
"Anyways, it's just that there is a faint signature within that handkerchief."
Serena turned to the two Cores in confusion, wondering what they were saying.
"What kind? Is it bad?"
'Is Red an alien too?!' she panicked slightly.
The two cores looked at each other, clearly in their thoughts.
"No, nothing of the sort, Serena," they assured much to the honey blonde's relief.
'It may be faint but… This is…'
'The AURA signature of a Legendary.'
Outskirts of Trovita Island, Orange Island
'Haaaaah… This is gonna be a hectic day…' Ash sighed to himself as he found himself speeding towards a whirlpool.
After a long day's journey, the raven-haired boy had reached close to Trovita Island for his next Badge via Lapras. But before the boy could land, he caught sight of a whirlpool and a Seel with its young Trainer heading towards the eye of the swirling waves.
'Oh, goddamnit! Just as I… Gah!' he rushed towards the young girl at high speed, tired of his constant bad luck.
"Lapras, get close!" Ash barked out as he took a deep breath.
Splash!
The raven-haired boy jumped into the waters and headed straight towards the vortex with the intent to save the girl and her Seel.
'A whirlpool spins inwards so logically swimming outwards is the best possible move. But if they're already too deep into it…'
"Oi, kid! Hold your breath!" Ash cried out as he held the two in his arms while fighting off the powerful current.
'Kuh… It's stronger than I thought,' he clicked his tongue before diving down.
'…The only way is to swim down!'
Splash!
"Haaah! Are you two alright?" the boy gasped for air before asking the two.
"Cough, cough! Yes, thank you, mister!" the girl thanked.
"I don't need thanks for something anybody would do."
The plesiosaur swam towards her exited Trainer and urged the Seel and girl to climb aboard with an irritated Pikachu smacking Ash's wet hair.
"Yeah, yeah, I know."
Ash, in turn, summoned Snorlax for him to ride since Lapras was over capacitated. With his 'blubberfly', the round giant raced his fellow teammate to the shore with a smug smile.
'These two get along…' he closed his eyes as he felt the chilling winds beating on his wet face.
Then, he noticed the little girl on Lapras' back shivering from the cold, to which his partner gave a thumbs up to him while hopping to the girl.
"Pikachiii..." he gently cooed as Pikachu generated electricity within his body.
"Wahhh… You're so warm, Pikachu!" the girl exclaimed with glee as she hugged the warm electric mouse.
Electric currents generated heat when they pass through resistive elements. By flowing electricity within his body, Pikachu's natural insulative fur was able to generate warmth across his body, thus turning himself into a natural heater.
"Chaaa~"
"Show-off," Ash snorted with a grin.
Trovita Island, Orange Islands.
"Brother!" the little girl ran towards a sprinting man as soon as she landed on shore.
"Ah, Mahri!" the sprinting man hugged her sister tightly with some flair.
"I told you not to swim further away from the shore! Ah, but I'm glad you're safe!"
The dramatic nature of the man was more than enough to clue Ash in on the type of person he was.
'Ah, it's a siscon,' the raven-haired boy gave a thousand-yard stare.
"Pikachu pika…" the yellow mouse whispered into Ash's ear, sporting a similar expression.
"That's rude, Pikachu. You can't just say that out loud," Ash whispered back.
Soon after, the man calmed down and cleared his throat towards the boy.
"Ahem, thanks for saving my sister here. The name's Rudy, Trovita Island's Gym Leader," the now-revealed Rudy introduced himself.
"Oh! I'm Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and here for your Badge," the raven-haired boy followed bluntly.
"Hm? Raven black hair and red eyes… So, it's finally my turn, huh?" Rudy nodded to himself.
"Danny and Cissy told me about you, Finalist. Or should I call you Faker instead?"
"Just Ash is fine," the raven-haired boy cringed at the epithet the Battlers Board gave him.
'I don't need any more names for Green or Blue to tease,' he thought, unaware that Gary and Blue were similarly unhappy with their 'Tactician' and 'Little Witch' nicknames respectively.
"Normally, I would give you an attack test for your right to my Challenge, but since you've saved my Mahri here, how about we get straight to the action?"
"You serious? Is that even allowed?" Ash asked incredulously.
"My Gym, my rules."
'That's power abuse, dude!' the raven-haired boy retorted internally.
"But I didn't really do anything worth—"
"Nonsense! Saving my sister has already proven your worth," Rudy laughed as he patted his sister's head.
"But—"
"Please just accept my brother's Challenge, Ash!" Mahri huffed persistently.
"…Lead the way."
'Uwaah… Girls are scary…'
The three people entered the Gym with Ash witnessing Rudy's Pokémon inside training and exercising. The raven-haired boy could tell they were very well-trained.
'First time I'm seeing a Gym being used as an actual gym,' he noted.
Rudy and Ash entered the back of the Gym, revealing a standard battlefield with Mahri going to the stands as a spectator.
"Hold on, does this mean…" Ash widened his eyes.
"Yup. My Challenge to you, Ash Ketchum…" Rudy pointed towards the boy.
"A Standard 3v3 Pokémon Battle!"
Ash blinked once before letting out his battle-hungry grin towards the Gym Leader with Pikachu mirroring his partner. It had been so long since he had a proper battle that his body was craving for it like an addict.
"Now this is more my speed!" he howled with excitement.
Vaniville Town, Kalos Region
Since Pokémon Academy was attacked yesterday, the school decided for the students to take a week off while the authorities tried their best to figure out the perpetrators as well as identify the mysterious saviour who protected the students from harm. With that, Serena decided to spend the entire day with the Zygarde Cores with Fennekin by her side indoors while her mother, Grace, was working as a Rhyhorn racing coach.
"So, what now? That jerk just dumped you two onto me," the honey blonde huffed upon remembering the man in red.
"We will go into hiding since there is a group of humans seeking to use our powers for their nefarious plans," the blue core said angrily.
"Those guys in red suits that you said?" Serena asked only to be confirmed by their nods.
"And also… To protect you, Serena."
"…What?" the honey blonde widened her eyes.
"We cannot tell you much of the details, however…"
"Serena, would you like to be our Incarnation?"
"…Come again?"
'Waitwaitwait. What's going on here?' the honey blonde pinched the bridge of her nose as she tried to sort out her thoughts.
Migraine wormed its way into the brain as Serena was starting to wonder if Ash's bad luck had rubbed off on her as well. Realizing that their request came out rather weird for mortals, the two Cores began explaining in more detail to not confuse the delicate child any further.
"Our apologies, let's start from the beginning," the blue core started.
"Most of the Legendary Pokémon, including us, have our own powers granted by the Planet to enforce the mortals as well as to protect it from invaders."
"Invaders as in other aliens?" Serena raised a hand.
"Yes, those that unlike us, seek to take over or terraform the Planet, but that's not important now."
'Oi! Sounds like you two just glossed over some pretty scary stuff!' the honey blonde retorted in her head.
"In any case, us Legendary Pokémon designated as Gods decided once in the past to observe closely to the mortals to build a relationship with them. Something that was approved by Gaia," the red core continued.
"Since then, we have found humans we liked and protected them as their guardian deity; hence, adopting them as our Incarnation. And that's where you come in, Serena."
"Becoming a ward of a Legendary Pokémon means that you could receive Blessings from them. In our case, it would be earth-related powers since our legends are tied closely to the soil of the Planet."
Serena took a moment to digest the bombshell Zygarde gave her.
"Those people favoured by Legendaries, you called them Incarnations? Does that mean…" the honey took a moment, worried about the implications.
"Nothing of the sorts. We bless them with our gifts but nothing more than that. No taking over the body or soul or anything as drastic as the previous two."
"Phew… But, why me though?" she asked curiously.
The honey blonde really did not want to get into any trouble being an Incarnation was about to bring. And if she really had no choice, she at least wanted to know the catch.
"Finding a suitable Incarnation is no easy matter for us. There are two conditions: Affinity and Origin," the blue core answered readily.
"Affinity refers to the individual's affinity with the Legendary in question while the Origin is the starting point that defines one's existence and directs one's actions throughout life."
"Cool... Then, what's my Origin?" the honey blonde asked again, not bothering to question the absurdity of what was listening to anymore.
The two Cores obliged as they closed their eyes, sensing the AURA within Serena, her lifeforce. Every living thing's AURA was intimately linked with their Origin as it dictated their life's journey as well as their Fate.
"…What a surprise. We didn't think you were a reincarnated soul as well," the blue core was stunned at its findings.
"Reincarnated? I was someone else before?!" Serena burst out, flabbergasted.
"Yes, because your Origin is something not many humans share. In the eras of old, there would have been more humans with your Origin, though still rare, and in the present era, not a single human has it except you."
The Zygarde Cores were confident in their words as they had Cells scattered across the Planet, sensing and scanning every single individual living thing's Origin and came back with no result of another existing Origin similar to Serena's.
"Then, what is my Origin?" she questioned again.
The two Cores shared a look and eventually gave the girl the name of her Origin.
"Your Origin is…"
"Sovereign."
Trovita Island, Orange Island
"Electabuzz, go!" Rudy called forth.
"Ele-boo!"
"Pikachu, I choose you!" Ash called out with the electric mouse jumping into the battlefield with a grin.
"Pika!"
Rudy's first choice was a humanoid Pokémon with yellow fur and black stripes. The raven-haired boy wondered if this would be how Pikachu would look like if he was a feline instead of a mouse.
Without waiting, Ash swiped his Dex from his back pocket and scanned the Pokémon. He knew of the Pokémon's name since there was a Johto baseball team that went by the same name. However, as for the species itself, he had no clue.
[=]
Electabuzz, the Electric Pokémon.
Its body constantly discharges electricity. Getting close to it will make your hair stand on end. Half of all blackouts occur when this Pokémon appears at power plants and eats electricity. Electricity runs across the surface of its body. In darkness, its entire body glows a whitish blue.
[=]
'Seriously, just one of these guys can cause blackouts? No wonder Green called bullshit on these entries ,' Ash's brow twitched in disbelief.
"Electabuzz, [Quick Attack]!" Rudy made the first move.
As the Electric Pokémon blitzed towards the electric mouse, the latter instinctively dodged, making the former stumble slightly as it missed the target.
'Alright, Pikachu. Let's try out some new moves!' Ash glanced momentarily at his partner, who nodded immediately.
"[Quick Attack] around Electabuzz!"
"Pikachu!"
The Electric Mouse Pokémon broke into a flash of zipping yellow as he circled around Electabuzz.
'That Pikachu's fast! I daresay it's faster than all of my Pokémon!' the Gym Leader widened his eyes at the unexpected speed of the yellow mouse.
Soon, Pikachu ran enough to generate harsh winds that surrounded Electabuzz like a shiver of sharks. And another surprise slapped itself onto Rudy as he noticed Electabuzz was starting to get cuts over its body from the sharp winds.
"This must be…!" Rudy realized as he turned to Ash.
"[Razor Wind (Fake)]!" the raven-haired boy grinned.
Seeing was believing. Rudy knew of the boy's ability to create Fake moves but did not think much of it. However, as he watched with undivided attention at [Razor Wind (Fake)], he let out a small chuckle as he reprimanded himself for taking the child lightly.
"So, this is the Faker…" Rudy breathed out.
"Release all that energy, Pikachu! [Volt Tackle]!"
Pikachu obliged as he stopped his circling marathon and dug into the ground deeply as he channelled every bit of built-up kinetic energy within him and blasted it onto Electabuzz.
"PIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKA!"
Boom!
The results were obvious to the two as a grinning Pikachu pointed a V-sign with a fainted Electabuzz in his wake.
"That's one," Ash sharpened his eyes with a grin.
"Hot damn, kid. Your Pikachu packs a punch!" Rudy laughed as he returned his Electabuzz.
'Looks like this kid's no joke…'
'Strange… Were we ever this strong?' Ash pondered as he felt weird that he was overwhelming the Gym Leader instead of the opposite.
"…Ah."
And then, he realized why.
'…Of course. I just battled some of the strongest Trainers in Kanto at the Grand League as well as Mewtwo. Something'd be wrong if I was still struggling!'
"Okay, Pikachu… Ya' think we can make this a sweep?"
The battle-hungry grin made its way back on Ash's face as Pikachu's red cheeks sparked with delight as the prospect of going all out without limits in a genuine battle.
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"The winner: Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town…" Mahri announced with her jaw agape.
Pikachu had soloed all three of Rudy's Pokémon with minimal damages. Ash, on the other hand, got to practice some Fake moves he had concocted alongside [Razor Wind (Fake)].
'Alright, some things to note: Never going all out with Pikachu during Gym battles ever again,' Ash clutched his head at the sight of the wrecked battlefield.
"Pikachu…" the electric mouse rubbed his head sheepishly.
"Well, Ash. Here you go, the Spike Shell Badge," Rudy gave his Badge to the boy.
"Gotta say, kid. You might be the fastest Challenger in the Orange League yet if you keep this up," the man whistled.
"Well, I can't take my time, after all…" Ash replied dryly.
"What's up? Got a girl waiting on you or sumthin'?" Rudy guessed haphazardly with his sister pouting beside him.
But to the siblings' surprise, the raven-haired boy simply smiled contently.
"…Yeah."
The sweet memories of the straw hat girl came to the forefront of his mind.
"I'm searching for my star right now."
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"Three down, one to go, huh?" Ash frowned as he rode Lapras to his next destination.
"Pikapi, pika?" Pikachu squeaked with a tilted head.
"Hm… I guess you can say I'm a little impatient, partner," the raven-haired boy chuckled.
'After all, Kalos is my destination now,' he thought although he felt a little disappointed during his battle earlier.
'With my current team, they've gotten so strong that my battles have gotten shorter.'
'It's… kinda disappointing.'
Ash felt incredibly dissatisfied with his overwhelming performance. He wanted to get stronger to protect the GS Ball from evil doers, that much was his honest goal. However, the bad aftertaste in his mouth was still present. He was still craving for the thrill of battle.
"Ah, whatever. I'm not much of a thinker anyways," Ash sighed in resignation as he laid back on Lapras' shell.
But something within him was desiring the joy of battles.
'Seriously, what's up with me…?'
Vaniville Town, Kalos Region
"How is it, Squishy? Too sweet for you, Puni-chan? Want some milk, Fennekin?" Serena giggled at the two Cores and Fennekin munching on her baked cookies.
After their discussion, Serena decided to name the red core Squishy and the blue core Puni-chan. Both had the same meaning, only Puni-chan was of Oriental tongue. The two Cores had no qualms with their names since it was hard for the honey blonde to converse specifically, though they were slightly embarrassed to have such cute names.
'Come to think of it, how are they even eating without a mouth?' she quirked a brow in confusion.
"This is delectable, Serena," Squishy praised.
"Indeed. We may not need food for sustenance, but we would not mind having these cookies every day," Puni-chan nodded enthusiastically.
"Fo-ko!" Fennekin yipped cheerily.
"Why, thank you all for the compliments," Serena twirled back into the kitchen as she took out another batch of readied cookies for the Pokémon.
As Serena placed a new plate of freshly-baked cookies on the table, the Cores spoke.
"Serena, are you sure you don't want to be our Incarnation?" Puni-chan asked.
By using AURA, they were surprised to find a near perfect Affinity with Serena. It was rare for anyone to even be compatible with Zygarde, all except for one in the past, so the Cores were more intrigued at the honey blonde.
"Nope, or at least, not right now," her answer interested the two Cores.
"Right now, I'm your caretaker, Squishy, Puni-chan. Wouldn't make much sense using your powers to protect you, right?"
"So, I'm gonna protect you two with my own strength. And when my job's done, I'll be more than happy to be your Incarnation," Serena smiled warmly at the two.
The Zygarde Cores were wide-eyed at the honey blonde's declaration. Their first and only Incarnation was from 3,000 years ago. He was a gentle and kind King who dearly loved his Pokémon and his homeland. That was why they gifted him a whisper of their Ability to prosper the lands of Kalos, saving it from the alien cycles of Life and Death.
"Good grief… It seems we have a knack for choosing Kings, other me," Squishy said with amusement, referencing Serena's Origin.
"Agreed, however… I think Serena does not have the arrogance like he did nor the darkness that came after," Puni-chan replied in reminiscence.
'Looking back, it was our fault for not guiding him. So now, let us rectify our past mistakes.'
'And to answer the Monster's prayers...'
"What's wrong, you two?" Serena worryingly as she was able to read the melancholic look on the Cores' face.
"Nothing, Serena. It's just that… As much as you dislike the Monster, we feel thankful to have met you through him."
"…I'm happy to have met you two as well, Squishy, Puni-chan," the honey blonde gave another bright smile, not bothering to question who the Monster referred to.
Knock, knock!
A series of knocks echoed from the door of her house, surprising the residents slightly before the lone human remembered another event taking place today.
"Oh, right. The questioning for yesterday's events," she slammed a fist into her palm softly.
Apparently, since the honey blonde was the sole student who was saved by the ashen-haired man, some high-ranking personals wanted to meet her for recounting the man, finding clues as to who the mysterious saviour was.
"Coming!" she called out.
Acknowledging the situation, the two Cores made use of their absorbed sunlight and reflected the light around them, thus making them invisible.
"You can do that?" she whispered at the two who had made themselves comfortable on her shoulders.
"This is child's play, Serena. And, it's useful for staying undetected," Squishy bragged.
"Hm…" she hummed before stopping abruptly.
'…Wait, then how the hell did these two get caught in the first place?' Serena shot a confused look.
'She's wondering how we got caught if we had this ability, isn't she?' the two Cores read her facial expression, hitting it right on the mark.
Ka-chak.
"Hi there. You must be Serena," a woman wearing stylish white clothing with a white gigantic sunhat greeted enthusiastically while her companion and manager stood beside her.
Serena failed to move as even she could recognize the aura of beauty surrounding the woman. Not only that, those clothing were way too obvious for her as she instantly knew who the visitor was.
"D-D-Diantha?! The Kalos Champion?!" the honey blonde pointed a creaking finger.
The now identified Kalos Champion humoured her with a playful smile.
"Bonjour, mademoiselle."
…
"H-H-H-Here's some t-t-t-tea!" Serena's teeth chattered nervously towards her guests.
"Merci, Serena," Diantha thanked as she giddily sipped on the richly scented tea.
"Thanks," Diantha's companion thanked similarly with a wry smile.
'Hm… Have I seen this woman before?' the honey blonde wondered as she took another but more detailed look at the second woman.
The woman had extremely long blonde hair that extended all the way to her long lean legs. She wore a pair of unusual hairclips that resembled the colour scheme of a certain Pseudo-Legendary, a Pokémon that Serena recalled seeing in Professor Sycamore's lab. The blonde woman also wore a long black coat with a V-neck and black fur rimming its cuffs and hem, and a teardrop‐shaped pearl on the centre of the coat. Under the coat, she donned a black top. And to complete her appearance, a pair of black kitten‐heel pumps possessing each a yellow stripe.
However, what captivated the young girl's attention was the blonde woman's eyes. They were platinum gray with a hidden edge within them, giving them a mysterious aura as well as ethereal beauty.
'Beautiful…' she caught herself thinking, blushing a little at the small smile the blonde woman gave as the latter noticed the girl's gaze.
Serena's fascination with the woman's platinum eyes had her drawing similarities with her own adoration of a certain pair of bloodred eyes, causing the honey blonde to see some resemblance within the two.
'Her eyes are like Red's.'
Ash and the woman's appearance, let alone gender, were like night and day as the former was realistically average looking while the latter was a stunning beauty on par with Diantha. However, the sharpened edge within their eyes could not be any similar.
'…Serena,' Squishy relayed through telepathy with a strained tone.
'Yeah?' Serena relayed back, already adapting to the weirdness of the two blobs' abilities.
'If we say run, you run, okay?' Puni-chan gulped.
The honey blonde quirked a brow at the Zygrade Cores' sudden shift in demeanour as we watched the two guests drinking her tea with a flowery air around them, pleasing her. Her refreshments were something she took pride in, after all.
'Eh? What's wrong?! Are they one of the Red Suits?!' she panicked in disbelief at the thought of the women in front of her being in any way remotely associated with the villains that imprisoned the Cores.
'No, nothing of the sorts…' Squishy composed the honey blonde to her relief.
'It's that woman in black we are apprehensive of.'
Serena widened her eyes as she was just thinking how beautiful the blonde woman was and now was faced with the reality that she was unnatural enough to spook the Cores.
"Um… You are?" Serena began asking the woman's identity to gather more intel.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't introduce myself," the blonde woman realized with a small sheepish chuckle.
Serena was starting to suspect the unknown woman was something of an airhead, another similarity to the past Ash.
'Ah, I ended up comparing them again.'
"Well, let's go through this again, ahem!" the blonde woman cleared her throat.
"Hello, Serena. My name's Cynthia, the Sinnoh Champion."
…
…
"Saywhatnow?" Serena had stopped working.
'EHHHHHHHH?!'
=Break Time 3=
"Hahaha! Sorry, sorry! I didn't think you'd be this surprised!" Cynthia let out a chorus of laughter at the embarrassed Serena.
"Cyn, you're too rude," Diantha side-eyed her friend.
Serena watched the two Champions' interaction and got the idea that they were good friends, judging from their comfortableness with each other.
"Ahem, now back to the matter at hand," the Kalos Champion cleared her throat as she began her business.
The honey blonde was incredibly willing recounting the events during the attack on the school, from the sudden explosion to the classroom's evacuation under the orders of the mysterious saviour.
"Can you describe that man for me?" Diantha requested while taking another sip of her tea.
Wordlessly, Serena nodded and took out a pencil and paper to sketch a profile of the man in red. Her time in the Art Club had not gone wasted and in fact, her artisan skills were quite sought after if her admirers' number were anything to go by.
"That guy had white hair and tanned skin, wearing some weird clothing," she described while continuing to sketch absently.
"I see… Was he that handsome?" Cynthia grinned cheekily.
"Eh?"
It was then Serena turned her attention towards the sketch and realized something horrible.
On that piece of paper was a dashing man wearing a charming smirk with slicked back ha—
"Gwaaaaaak! Forget that! That jerk's just the worst!" the honey blonde immediately ripped apart the sketch much to the two Champion's amusement.
'What the hell?! There's no way that asshole was that handsome!' she fumed.
'I mean, yeah sure, he had some broad... shoulders and… very firm… hands—'
Serena blushed as she caught herself thinking about the man's grip on her shoulders.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
'Forget it! That guy's the Devil!' she bled from her forehead, glaring at the offending scraps of paper.
The two Cores on her shoulders abandoned ship as they looked worryingly at the bloodied Serena.
Her childhood memories of Ash came to the rescue as she calmed herself, her ears blushing as she remembered the hand that held hers and pulled towards the warm chest that was forever engraved in her heart.
'As expected, Red's number 1,' she smirked to herself.
"Sorry about that, I was sorting out some garbage from my mind," Serena returned with a genuine smile despite her disturbing words and appearance.
Soon after, the questioning came to an end.
"Well, thank you for your assistance, Serena. It was very helpful," Diantha bowed to the girl.
"See you soon, Sere-chan!" Cynthia waved goodbye, using the same nickname Blue adopted for the girl.
Serena politely saw them out and went back into her house.
'Hm? Come to think of it, her voice sounds familiar…' the blonde woman pondered.
"Phew… What a day," she said aloud, prompting the two Cores to reappear from their invisible state.
"You could say that again," Squishy sighed.
"Oh right, what was all that about? Y'know, about Miss Cynthia?" Serena asked, raising a brow.
The two Cores turned deadly serious as they answered.
"Listen, Serena. Remember the thing about Incarnations?"
"Yeah?"
"That Cynthia is one."
"…"
"…Wat?"
Serena paused for a moment as her mind replayed every single moment of Cynthia's behaviour. But no matter how hard she tried, the honey blonde could only surmise that the blonde woman was a beautiful and mature person.
"It'll be faster if we share our senses. Thankfully, there's still some residual AURA that leaked from that woman," Puni-chan concluded as the two Cores connected their senses with the honey blonde.
It was only a momentary link, but what Serena felt was harrowing enough for her to keel over in fright.
The AURA she felt via Zygarde was neither benevolent nor malefic, but overpowering, nonetheless. If she could describe such a dominating presence, it would be akin to a looming shadow that engulfed the world with pitch-black wings.
"That imagery…" Serena gulped as the link severed, relieving the girl from her first experience with AURA.
"It was a faded picture of the Legendary that made that woman its Incarnation."
"However, from what we have seen, it appeared that her Incarnation status was a hereditary one."
Serena was confused as to what they were saying. Thankfully, the two Cores explained for her sake.
"It means that the God that favoured Cynthia is her family guardian rather than an individual guardian. A perfect Affinity plus an extremely strong Blessing and an enormous AURA reserve at that. That is how we knew."
'Hey, hey! What are these main character cheats?!' Serena retorted internally.
"Then, to make sure I understand that last part, how big is my reserve?" Serena returned to the conversation.
"Every living thing has their own AURA reserves within them; however, only Wielders could harness them. Serena, your reserve is nothing to scoff at either, probably due to you being a reincarnated soul," Squishy nonchalantly elucidated.
"However, if your reserve is the size of a city, then that Cynthia is the size of a region," Puni-chan said with a narrowed eye.
The audible gulp from the honey blonde conveyed everything she was thinking.
'What a hectic day…'
.
.
.
School resumed after that with a hyperactive Calem narrating about his training with Chespin while Shauna happily filled in some blanks cheerfully.
Because there were not enough starters for the other individuals in the top 10, excluding those that already had their Pokémon, Professor Sycamore received some assistance from Professor Oak as the latter gifted Kanto starters to the young researcher as a reward for the other budding Trainers for passing the exams. It turned out that the examination taken was similar to the ones the Pallet trio took, albeit easier, so the top 10 were more than qualified for the Provisional License as well as a starter Pokémon.
Shauna received Bulbasaur as she admired Blue and her Venusaur. The chestnut-haired girl was very flattered by her choice.
Tierno was rejected brutally by the picky Froakie so he received Squirtle instead. It got to the point where Froakie stuck to Serena to make his point clearly that the blue frog was not choosing anyone except for maybe the honey blonde.
Froakie was glad that she picked Fennekin instead as he was happy that the yellow fox was beginning to smile more. Because of that, Serena could not help but see Ash even more in the frog.
Trevor was left with Charmander and was rather nervous since he felt like he had to live up to the reputation of Charizard Trainers.
There existed a superstition that Trainers with Charizard were destined for greatness in their endeavours, though not all believed it.
However, seeing how the undefeated Leon had a Charizard for his own as an ace as well as Ash's own Charizard's power that was showcased in the Grand League, Trevor could not help but be intimidated.
'Can I really live up to those two?' the bowl-haired boy shivered as he stared intently at his own Pokéball that housed his Fire type starter.
Unconsciously, he was beginning to put Ash on an unwanted pedestal.
Then, Sycamore came into the classroom with another announcement. Serena watched with narrowed eyes, suspecting this was going to be a pattern in the future.
"Well, class… Um… This is going to be a sudden announcement, but we have a guest teacher for your Pokémon Battling (Basics) classes," Sycamore announced sheepishly.
"Please introduce yourself."
The click-clack sounds of heels could be heard as a familiar person entered the class, sending the honey blonde into a panic.
'Gah!'
The students gawked in awe at the person before them as they were entranced by the sheer beauty of their new teacher.
"Bonjour, I think that's how Dian-chan said it. Ahem! I'm your substitute teacher for your Battle classes," she announced with a confident grin.
'Red…'
"I'm Cynthia, the Sinnoh Champion. Hope we get along."
'I want a refund for your luck.'
Chapter 57: Incarnations & Origins
"Hm? Hi, Serena!"
.
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"Oi, Zygardes. It's time to haul ass," Nameless slashed the glass prisons that held the two Cores captive with his yin-yang swords.
Crack! Crack!
"Olololo…"
"That's right, I'm not supposed to be here," the ashen-haired man affirmed as he narrowed his lavender eyes at the large group of red suits coming for him.
"Olululu…"
"I may be the Monster, but I prefer not to kill if I can. So, use the last of your strength for Authority of the Land."
The two Cores were shocked at the man's words to which said man merely smirked knowingly.
"What? This ain't my first rodeo, Verdant Guardian. That Authority of yours gave me lots of trouble in some rogue Lines that I had to prune," he explained as he conjured his flower shield to deflect the incoming attacks from the Flare goons.
"In exchange for your freedom, can I ask of you two with a request? Think of it as a prayer if you want to. Though, I warn you, I'm an atheist so this is my first time doing this."
"Olololo!" / "Olululu!"
Now it was the ashen-haired man's turn to be surprised.
"…What a shock. I would expect some disagreements, especially from you, Z2."
"Olululu!"
"True, this is a different Line than what I was expecting."
"Olololo."
"Making her your ward? Wait, how did you know…?"
"Well, it doesn't matter. Just... don't tell her about this, okay?"
The man's voice turned low as he began his prayer to the two Cores.
"Alien God of Life…"
"I pray to you that you will protect her."
"I pray that no harm will fall upon her."
"And…"
"I pray she'll find at least a small share of happiness..."
"...from this unfulfilled promise."
With renewed strength, the two Cores accepted with a thunderous earthquake that rumbled the lands.
Fated Lore Explanation: Authorities
Authority is a classification of special abilities possessed by the likes of Legendaries that are worshipped as deities.
They are on the level of creating a world, this includes event shifting, time-flow manipulation, kingdom-building, and other such powers of that level. While normal Attacks "achieve a certain result based on some logical process or principle," Authorities "realize a result simply because the user has the right to do so."
For example, Authority of the Land and [Earthquake].
[Earthquake] is an Attack that creates a shockwave on the ground by shaking it.
Authority of the Land forces the Earth's tectonic plates to collide through a single command.
Author's Notes (13.5)
Well, time for some explanations.
Firstly, Legendaries have their own unique set of powers since some of them are portrayed as Gods. That, and the anime has made the Legendaries look weak (captured by villains so easily, wtf) with the exception of the Creation trio. So, using some Fate elements, godlike Pokémon are going to be overpowered, living up to their name.
The Aura trio being aliens. It's not canon but hey, fanfics are fanfics. It's my interpretation, after all.
My reasoning is cuz' Xerneas and Yveltal don't really do shit in the life and death cycle since their lore consists of them just releasing or siphoning energy to sleep for the next 1000 years, turning into a big ass tree or cocoon. Every. single. time. But if we think of them as invasive species, everything starts to make sense. Xerneas' species may create life as an aftereffect while Yveltal does the opposite. If you think that's weird, just chalk it up as an alien's common sense.
Zygarde is a no-brainer. I mean, look at it. Two cores with a bajillion cells scattered across the world, a Zygarde cube that Sycamore just happened to find during Gen 7. Shit just ain't adding up, chief. And its behaviour to act as a keeper of Order, despite being on a foreign planet can be its own alien common sense which humans benefit from, but will never understand.
And so, TLDR, AURA trio is sus.
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Ash's power scaling.
Now Rudy vs Ash was cut short because let's be honest, this ain't the anime where Ash just resets outta nowhere. Fated!Ash has been battling against the strongest people in the Grand League and realistically, nobody should be able to beat him now, doubly so with his Kanto team who are experienced at this point. Pikachu has no limits now, so him soloing Rudy's team isn't far-fetched.
However, Ash is still getting nerfed each region since an overpowered character is kinda boring. And that's in the form of team switching. Pikachu isn't getting resetted in each region, so to counteract that, our beloved mouse is mostly taking a backseat in Gym battles since he'll just wipe the floor with them.
And finally, Ash's disappointment for not being able to battle all-out. Without giving any spoilers, it has something to do with a certain something in the chapter's title.
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And Cynthia...
Yep. Cynthia's THAT strong. She's a walking cheat code, after all.
So now, try to imagine Leon's level since he's even stronger than her. And no, Leon doesn't have any special Blessings or anything like that.
Fated!Leon is going to be the definition of humanity. Someone who became the strongest through hard work and going above and beyond, eclipsing even special people. And that's something I feel will carry weight whenever he is called the undefeated Champion.
If I have to make a power level comparison with a new anime I've been binging, Cynthia is Gojo while Leon is Sukuna, ironically. (Seriously, JJK slaps)
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Now, for Serena...
No, you didn't misread that. She's a reincarnated soul. And now that it's revealed through Zygarde, you guys'll probably get that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Then again, reincarnation isn't really a big deal in Pokémon since Ash's Lucario is theorized to be Aaron's Lucario reincarnation since they have the same voice.
As for who Serena was in the past, I'll leave it to your imagination. As at the time of writing this, Serena's the only one confirmed to be reincarnated.