Author's Replies/Notes

: Ghetsis is cooking something in the background but that's all I'm gonna say to avoid spoilers. Yes, he is indeed having Ryoji do his bidding now and to him it's like getting his own Gameshark. As for your code, I'm pretty bad at this stuff so I'll leave that a mystery for now. I have the main plot set but thanks for reminding me of important locations and stuff from BW2/BW.

stormthekidcf: I'll see if I can fit anything in if that ever happens.

3697014: I'm tempted to do the Blake and Rosa ship since it's pretty good. But I'll have to write that alongside our current plot which will pick up fast. Chances are they won't meet officially for a while but when they do, Blake is gonna play tough. You will see Ryoji doing his new job more...

: Yes, Burn my Dread indeed.

ultima-owner: He is indeed, "saving" it from something. Not from Ghetsis tho. Ikr? Humans in the pokemon world are pretty tough, although here in fic I like to do a balance where they can maybe tank one or two hits but ultimately, I doubt they can do much against a giant Baxcalibur.

Minato fed his pokémon the last batch of poffins from the kitchen table, watching as Deino eagerly chomped down on a spicy new mix, immediately reacting to the bold flavor. After returning from the castle, he kept a low profile, quietly taking on whatever assignments Interpol threw his way. When asked to report on his findings, he submitted a generic write up, carefully omitting his conversation with N. It wasn't that he didn't want to inform Blake, it was the potential fallout of revealing how he had made plans with someone they considered an enemy. He wasn't sure how far he could push their trust, and any misstep might draw unwanted suspicion. Meanwhile, Blake had been keeping tabs on him, probing for any weakness he could use against him and thus, the bluenette concluded it was better to keep his agreements a secret. Not to mention he had to validate N's words with his own eyes if he allowed him to awaken Zekrom. If for some reason, the King turned rouge after his declaration, then it would make the veteran look even more like a gullible fool.

"Deino! De!" Deino hounded for another treat, enjoying the extra spices. Next, Woobat produced a similar reaction to an ice cream poffin Minato had invented.

"You guys like it?" He asked, checking off a list of requirements. Both his pokemon nodded, consuming more. The veteran smiled, now onto the human menu.

"These new poffins are really good, min!" Black snatched one from the colorful pile, "how can you make pokemon food taste so amazing?"

His childhood friend had the appetite of a wild Deino when it came to trying anything new, including wolfing down food that wasn't meant for human consumption.

"Deino, deino." The little dragon shook its head like it was any better.

"Woooooobat!" Woobat giggled, flying around the restaurant kitchen, spinning in circles. It loved the bustling atmosphere. Around it, Interpol agents dressed as chiefs prepared all sorts of dishes to a busy rush hour traffic.

"Can I try one?" Black took the tray of poffins, distributing them among the rest of the staff, people were gobbling up the confections left and right with similar pleasant remarks.

"We should put this on the human menu too," One women joked, "but I feel like that would draw too much attention."

"If only Plasma could see us now, a bunch of agents munching on pokemon food." Another chuckled.

On the outside, Minato kept his calm but even he was holding in a laugh. When Blake called him for his first official job as an Interpol agent, he expected something shady but instead he handed him their restaurant menu and told him to revise it. Truth is, they were looking to draw in more Plasma members so he gave the veteran a list of items favoured by their executives and told him to craft special entries based on their data. Of which he suspected happened due to Black's bragging of his wonderful cooking skills.

"I'm no professional chef so this is the best I can do." Minato said, honest. Shinji's training had been informal, so he had never been to an official culinary school. What was more odd was how Blake could have easily hired any five star chef in the city to craft a killer menu, yet he chose the most suspicious guy on their team instead.

"Are you kidding? Your chef skills are supernatural, more so than your teleports." Black raised an eyebrow, "I can't tell which one is more of a mystery."

"I learned from books and TV."

"Somehow I doubt it…." His friend sighed, refusing to press further. "But Deino's gotten much bigger lately, I'm surprised it hasn't evolved."

Deino was now the size of a Zweilous, you could say it was a one headed dragon instead of two.

"Maybe it enjoys having only one head. I wouldn't want a second head to fight with either." Minato felt the dragon cub bite his arm, to no one's shock. Deino munched on it, although as usual nothing happened.

"Now that you bring it up, they say Hydreigon is the result of the two heads either becoming one or one consuming the other out of dominance." Black said, petting the black dragon. "Our research is still lacking so we have no idea which cause is true."

"Which is why I'd rather not find out. I don't want to lose either head if that were the case." Minato fed his little demon another poffin, it letting go.

"Deino!"

"Do you want to evolve, little buddy?" He asked. The creature thought for a moment before shaking its head, then picking up a mixing bowl, acting out a fight between it and a nonexistent foe, splattering flour all over the table like it were in a fight.

"So you'll fight with your other self?" Minato acknowledged. Deino nodded, it didn't want to deal with another who invaded its personal space, quite literally. However, in a way, the second head of a Zweilous would be its other self.

"Di!"

Its trainer chuckled, the mental image was both hilarious yet concerning for his first pokemon. However, he didn't have time to muse as Blake appeared from a back door and handed him a blank envelope.

"Here, for your work today and extra."

Minato opened up to find a handsome amount of pokedollars and two new bank cards. "Which one is my personal?"

"The white one is your new company card, and the black one is your own. We made sure to convert all your assets into legal funds…" His boss emphasized his last words, like he had done something dirty, although no one really knew where those gold bars came from.

"Can I ask how much is in here?" The veteran was curious, just how much half of his gold stash was worth.

For a moment, Blake bit his tongue, then he cleared his throat, "Enough to rival the entire Stone family's net worth…" He wanted to drag him to the interrogation room so bad, but their contract had a non disclosure clause for a reason.

Minato simply smiled, knowing Mitsuru had showered him with enough wealth to last multiple generations, but for what purpose he couldn't discern yet. By the Stone family, Blake was referring to the people who owned and ran the Devon corporation, with their current heir being Steven Stone, the champion of a distant, sea like region.

"You don't seem moved at all…" Blake narrowed his eyes, deep down this guy was really scaring him. Just who was he? A boy who was incapable of understanding his own emotions was now taking the first steps to feeling fear. After joining Interpol, Minato randomly handed him a bag full of gold one day, asking him to convert all of it into liquid cash, leaving the superintendent stunned. It was through a lot of careful maneuvering and favors did he manage to dodge his boss' radar for such a titanic cash infusion.

"Everything worked out as I anticipated, that's all." The veteran simply replied, mimicking the red heiress. Her mask for confronting these types of people always made them do a second take before thinking about challenging her authority.

"You owe me a massive favour for this, you know that? Any job I ask you to do next, you better complete in record time." Pissed was the last word one could describe Blake, where he thought he would take advantage of his new hire's capabilities, but Minato had quickly turned the tables, because what place would be best to legally convert all that gold without drawing law enforcement's attention? By using the police themselves, of course.

"Alright boss, I'll gladly flatten Twist mountain if you told me to."

At that, Blake facepalmed once more, "I can't tell if you are joking or not, Arisato…"

Headache, it was a word poor Blake would soon be well acquainted with. Being the youngest superintendent in Interpol's history, he might just age the fastest if he dealt with Minato anymore.

Once Minato's shift was over, he added his two new bank cards to his sea, choosing to stash them away from prying eyes. Both to prevent his friends from accidentally discovering his new job and stop another N from raiding his pockets.

Shuffling the contents of his soul dimension, he intended to find a box that could hold them when he happened upon something peculiar, something he hadn't noticed his first go through when he had received these items from Elizabeth. Seeing this item, he moved into an alleyway far from the public eye and reached for it among his weapon stash.

"Is this…?"

He held the old sword, one he had never used before, mixed among rest. Likely due its plain, unassuming nature, he had never noticed its presence, an unremarkable yet worn out katana greeted him from his sea. Unsheathing the sword from its dark scabbard, the metal that came out was chipped and shattered, with one half of its full blade length missing. What was once a whole katana appeared to have its top half torn clean off.

How odd, Minato thought. Who did this weapon belong to? Could it have been Junpei's? He inspected the item but couldn't find hints of it being a SEES manufactured product. Usually, all the plain starter weapons they received had their team's signature, but not this one. Curiously, it had the name of an unknown craftsman in its place, which meant the owner must have purchased it from somewhere else in Japan. Checking his inventory once more, no other weapons beside his own appeared. Would Mitsuru really have made such a simple mistake, or perhaps its inclusion was intentional in some way?

Carefully inspecting the katana, he noted how there were subtle burns along its edges, like someone had channeled electricity through it to fight. The way it had broken also hinted at it blocking some massive force before shattering under intense pressure. Of which he slightly cringed, as the owner must have received the remaining force in the attack, likely enough to severely injure a regular persona user. Shifting the sword around, there indeed were tiny droplets of dried red which confirmed his theory of someone at least being hurt. He hoped the user made it out alive, as unlikely as that was.

"Maybe you could tell me something more…" He released Honedge from its ball, giving it the broken sword. "Since you can transform into weapons based on my memories, can you check on this one's?" If his pokemon failed to mimic the weapon then it meant it was from someone he'd never met before, however, if it succeeded in matching the katana then…

In a spark of blue light, a perfect, untarnished replica of the weapon appeared in the bluenette's hand and his eyes widened. So whoever this was, he had met before, but he couldn't recall their name.

Swinging the blade around, he found Honedge leading him in going through this owner's techniques, which were way more refined than Junpei's wild baseball swings. The best way he could describe this style was it balanced both defense and attack, where the user prioritized working with allies to topple enemies, so it wasn't selfish but rather team orientated.

After practicing with the weapon for a few more minutes, his pokemon reverted back to its default state, leaving Minato with more questions. Just who was it that he knew that fought like this? And where did he meet such an individual? Sighing to himself, this would only add to the pile of mysteries in his new life. If only he could ask Elizabeth, feeling the velvet key in his pocket pulse but no door in the alleyway appeared. Guess he'll have to bide his time and find out later. If only he could…

He blinked, immediately backing into a wall, seeing someone standing before him, his muscles tensed at her presence.

"Liz…?"

His jaw dropped, as her piercing gaze seemed to cut through him entirely. For a moment, stunned blue eyes met gentle yellow as the two stared silently at each other. She leaned in close, so close that their lips could touch, where once he could feel her warmth, here she was cold, akin to the body of a ghost.

"Is that really you…?" Soon, Minato began to have his doubts as his attendant tilted her head in confusion, like she was just as bewildered as he was. Something about her just appeared off, like a bad imitation where one could subtly tell lacked the soul of the original.

Gritting his teeth, he was about to summon one of his personas and deal with this imposter when she handed him a piece of paper, and smiled, backing off.

Reading what was written on it, he stopped.

"Dear Guest,

My apologies for sending this informal letter, however I am still in the process of breaking the barrier that separates us. Although I have made significant progress, I have only managed to procure a small opening between our worlds to send this curious creature through. It appears to have strange properties of creating the most amusing of illusions. As for its presence, I do not have a good explanation for its appearance in the Velvet room, as one day it manifested by itself, injured and out of breath from the cold, and so I chose to nurse it back to health. I can only assume it has some importance to your journey so I sent it along with this letter to reach you. I hope you are just as delighted as I, as I have taught it our resident's greatest tricks. In fact, I hereby dub thee an honorary attendant and Elizebth the second to serve in my place for the time being. It may not be much, however, I hope its illusions bring you comfort.

Aside from my current progress and this letter's delivery, I am also writing to inform you of your present situation, as the dark presence from before has been progressing at a concerning rate. I do not have the particular details, however after reading your cards, I urge you to tread with caution as not everything is as it seems.

I hope you are well, Minato.

Sincerely, Elizabeth."

Lowering the letter, Minato faced the fake Elizabeth once more, "Can you transform back to your real form?" He saw the creature morph into the shape of a small, white fox, one that was both similar to N's Zorua, yet different. Blue ghostly smoke flowed from head and tail, its neck coated in a thick layer of gray fur while it held a mellow expression with amber eyes.

"Zoruaaaaa." It squeaked, its voice echoed like a howl in the wind.

Popping out his pokedex, he was surprised by the machine displaying a picture of a regular Zorua, upon scanning it. Looks like this particular one could either be a regional variant like the ones he'd heard of from a distant place, or it may have been affected by the powers of the Velvet room to alter it in some way.

"Zorua!" Suddenly, it morphed into a mirror image of Minato.

"Liz did say she taught you some tricks. Can you show me some?" He asked on a whim, expecting the fox to juggle or something more ridiculous as his attendant had a nature of taking things too far. However, what happened next even caught him off guard.

His mirror copy pulled out an evoker, pressing it to his head and summoned Jackfrost, encashing a nearby trash can in ice before the pokemon switched to another persona and spammed zio at the same object. While they were mere illusions, the entire experience still felt eerily real and well made, to the point Minato thought he really was looking at another version of himself in the Dark Hour. Thankfully, the trashcan remained undamaged as Zorua returned to its fox-like state.

"That was interesting…"

White scooped up Zorua in a bear hug, "Awwwwww! You're so cute! I've never seen this variant before!" Fluffy, so fluffy was this pokemon that she couldn't stop cuddling it as it struggled in her tight grasp. "Where did you find it Mina? Tell meeeee." She poked him multiple times, pouting.

"I happened to come across it in a random alleyway." He said, drawing a blank.

The group was planning to traverse across Unova's Desert Resort to reach Nimbasa city on the other side. Among them were other trainers who lined up at the supply center, preparing for the three day trip across the sand. Despite the area having a free bus service, many chose to brave the desert due to the chance of encountering powerful ground type pokemon, which served as great insurance against Elesa's electric Gym.

"Lucky! I should go look next time, but for the moment, I wanna catch something big for our next challenge." The girl checked her bag, stocked full of pokeballs of all types, scouring the internet for the kinds of pokemon that could be encountered in the area.

"I'm in agreement here, a ground type wouldn't be bad for my team." Cheren said, also fully prepared, "What about you two?"

Bianca pulled up a picture of a Darumaka, "I recently saw someone with a Darumaka and I thought it was adorable, so I want to make friends with one too."

In a place of a reply, Minato was deep in thought as he combed through his memories in search of clue for the shattered katana, holding a tiny, chipped piece of the sword in his hand. The weapon had broken so bad, pieces of it fell out when he tried putting it back in his sea. He frowned, a memory gradually forming at the edge of his mind as a name was on the tip of tongue when someone interrupted his train of thought.

White waved a hand in his face, as he snapped back to reality. "Hellloooo? Earth to Mina? You there? We're about to head out, are you doing ok?"

" I'm fine."

"Do you need water? Are you dizzy? Heatstroke isn't a joke, Mina." White said in concern, she shoved a bottle of water into his hands. "Here, you can have Cheren's, he's planning to do the no water challenge, hehe."

"Really now? Then I suppose you won't need your ultraballs either." Cheren made a motion to toss away the extras in his bag, ones White convinced him to carry for her as her's was already full.

"Stop! Ok! Ok! I was just playing around, four eyes." She made a face and stuck out her tongue at the boy who huffed.

"Beartic for brains."

"Egghead the second."

"Slowpoke."

"Alolan Egg tree."

"Guys, guys, can we please stop? The weatherman says there's going to be a sandstorm coming in a few days, we have to go now or we'll be stranded." Bianca protested, trying to break out their little spat. Meanwhile, Minato was about to put away the chip piece when a kid bumped into him, causing the piece to drop to the floor, in a metallic tink.

"Huh? What's that, Mina? You dropped something?" White broke away from her little fight, spotting a strange piece of metal with small stains of red. She tried picking it up, her hand clasped onto its cool edges when she felt a sharp, electric jolt.

"Gahh!"

"Are you ok?" Minato hurried over.

"I'm good, must have cut myself when touching it somehow." She wasn't sure why it hurt, but it did as she made contact with the object. Strange how it didn't react to him but to White instead, maybe there was still some dormant power left in the blade after leaving its previous owner. Like an afterimage when their story has concluded.

"Are you sure?" He asked again, more concerned.

"Ummm, yea? I'm not bleeding or anything?" She felt her fingers, each one was still there, no cuts, bruises or blood whatsoever. Both Cheren and Bianca were puzzled and stopped to stare at the chipped object too.

"Is there something wrong with that object, Minato?" Cheren questioned, grabbing the piece before the bluenette could take it away. He inspected it, silent. Although one could see his eyes lock onto the dark stains on its metallic surface, he kept his thoughts to his himself.

"I don't see anything special about it? Was it a keepsake from the Dreamyard? I saw similar scraps around when we were there." Bianca mused out loud.

"Yea, I thought I'll take a keepsake for our journey." Minato lied, when Cheren handed the piece back to him, wordless.

"Awww, that's a good idea, I wanna get a few keepsakes too!" Bianca chirped.

"There's a souvenir store on the first floor you can visit." Her friend pointed to a flight of stairs.

"Thanks Cheren, I'll get something. White, can you come with me? I want to pick out something cute!"

"Sure, I'll buy gifts for mom and Black too, let's go check it out." The two girls shuffled down stairs, melting into the crowd of people and pokemon. When they both disappeared, Cheren turned to Minato, his expression darkened.

"I'm not going to tell them what that object actually was…" He referred to the chip, "But if I'm correct, can you promise me it's not something dangerous, Minato?" He was the most studious among their group, as well as the most observant. Not to mention he kept glaring at the dark stains on the sword chunk with mixed emotions.

The veteran nodded, "It's not."

"Then can you tell me at least where you picked it up?"

He shook head as his friend frowned, "It was a gift." Technically, it was the truth.

A palpable silence fell on them as his friend processed his words.

"Very well, I won't pry further…"

Cheren accepted the bluenette's words, however he kept his doubts to himself.

After tracking through the desert for a day, the party setup camp among the sandy dunes with White spotting an empty fire pit used by previous travelers. As marked on her map, they were a third of the way to Nimbasa.

"That's strange, you'd think there would be more trainers out here." She surveyed the area, finding the other campgrounds deserted, apart from scraps of food wrappers. When they were at the Castelia resort station, there were plenty of trainers making their way into the sand.

"We were one of the last groups to depart for the day, perhaps everyone left ahead of time." Cheren said, dropping his bag down, inspecting the fire pits for fresh use. His hand hovered over the charred burnt remains of black coal, but they were all cold, meaning everyone must have left a while ago, possibly for one day or more.

"Can you show me which trail we chose, White?" Minato was handed the map, noting how there were multiple routes to Nimbasa from the vast desert. The one White chose was referred to as the express route, although it had the most challenging wild pokemon to deal with but was the fastest. In short, it was made for Gym challengers who calmored to find an ace to fight Elesa. Aside from this trail, there was the construction site which housed a primitive hotel for casual travelers and an intermediate route.

"What if everyone just went for the intermediate route or stayed at the hotels? I can't imagine many people liking to set up camp in the desert like us." Bianca took a look at the map next.

"I dunno about that, Bianca. There were a few badge holders at the station. Isn't it strange how we're the only ones that made it out here?" Cheren pointed out, unsure of what to make of their situation. Perhaps they all grew a little paranoid after the two Team Plasma encounters but to be in the wild alone where there supposed to be other people was…a surreal experience.

"Hey! You guys come check this out, I think I found something!" White waved for the party to another section of the campgrounds, which was structured in a neat, square like formation. They watched as she and Gigi unearthed a battered tent from the sand, "Who leaves their tent midway through a trip?" Her voice had a mixture of apprehension, curiosity, and finally bewilderment.

Cheren and Minato also started to dig through the dirt, finding various belongings scattered about. A broken Xtransciver, several cracked open cans of food. Just what happened here to lead so many to abandon their things? Although one thing was for sure, every item here was covered in sand, buried deep so no one arriving would notice their presence.

Minato rose from his spot, brushing the sand off from his clothes in an uneasy silence. "Everyone, we're going to have to leave this camp group ground." A pile of sand twitched out of the corner of his eye.

"This whole place is giving me the creeps." White crossed the campground off her map, "When we get to Nimbasa, let's inform the station…"

"Yea, I'd think it'll be good for the authorities to take an extra look at this place." Cheren nodded, packing up once again. He heard something move under the dunes, ignoring it, he quickly caught up with the others already making their way out of the area.

"But where should we set up camp tonight? The sun is going to set soon." Bianca said, worried. They could try to find a random place, but putting tents down in the sand where wild pokemon roamed could be dangerous. The camp was specifically made for both ease of use and had barriers to keep out creatures of the night. In the past, trainers had crafted all sorts of ways to spend the night in the desert but many would go missing among the dunes, so the association eventually stepped in to create official safe areas for people to set up base.

"I guess we'll just have to brave it for tonight, unless we find something else." White frowned, unaware of the danger they were just in. Minato stayed at the back of the group, watching several pokemon pop their heads out from the sand before disappearing. Ones he was sure were capable of attacking unsuspecting travelers. They kept their distance, trying to out maneuver his gaze, as if they knew attacking him would be a bad idea. It followed the same logic of nature, where a predator would not interfere with something bigger than it, knowing it could become its prey.

And so these pokemon followed them, stalking them through the sands. Quietly, he released Honedge from its ball to nail the little nuisances. The ghost blade rushed at the speed of sound, stabbing its steel into the ground when Minato heard a sharp yelp from the front, forcing him to twist around to see his friends sinking into pits of quicksand as a sharp red claw came at his neck.

"White! Bianca! Cheren!" Eyes widening, Minato knew they were tricked by this group of wild pokemon as he rolled his hand into a fist, countering his attacker with a rough punch, colluding with its side, sending it back in a loud screech.

"Krookodile!" Shrieked the red croc, stomping the earth until it shook the ground around them in a rumbling earthquake. Smaller, Krokorok emerged from the dunes, raising their heads above to attack.

"Oh shit!"

"This is isn't-?!"

"Ekkk!"

All three trainers aside from Minato sank underground, leaving him to deal with the sand crocs above.

"Krookodile!" The predator of the sands roared, challenging the bluenette. As if it knew Minato had to be dealt with alone, it dove into the sand, racing to catch his new prey.

"You've done it now…" Opening his palm, Honedge flew into his hand, pulling into his pocket, Minato released Deino and Woobat.

"Magaru, and vorpal blade!"

Swarms of Krookodile were swooped up by the sudden gales, helplessly flying through the air, only to be met with a painful, sharp chomp from Deino. Now scattered through the sand, they lay fainted one by one, dropping to the ground like flies. Not stopping, Woobat flipped its wings, beating off more with another force of guest when Deino covered the field in sparks of light, altering between Kouha and dragon breath.

"Kroo-!"

Leaping through space with a blast of wind, Minato landed, digging his hand into the sand to pull the red creature up by its tail, swinging it above from left to right in a giant arc before slamming it onto the ground in a sickening thud. It protested, trying to release itself from his grip, however no matter how it clawed and bit at him, he remained unharmed. Kicking up a pile of sand, Krookodile caught them in a raging sandstorm where it thought it had the advantage once more, when the veteran let go. Taking this chance, it pounced on him when Minato shielded himself with one arm, the red croc's jaws dug into his flesh. Biting down with all its might, the pokemon tried to throw him into a death roll, twisting its body, yet Minato barely moved from his spot.

"Krook?!" It let out an alarmed shout when an icy fist ran through its cheek, twisting its head when Minato's eyes glowed a bright blue. Energy unleashed from his body, petrifying any living creature around, drilling into them the might of death.

Having Honedge shapeshift into Akihiko's gloves, Minato went in for another jab, this time aimed at the croc's gut, smashing its ribs, downing it. The pokemon cringed, its claws clenching the sand, trying to recover, but it remained on the ground. Worse, it felt the presence of an unknown pressure weighing heavily on its spirit as what amounted to the grim reaper was staring it back with deathly blue eyes.

"Tell me where they went, or you'll really be sorry." The Messiah growled, more like a monster than a human. Letting out a roar, where even those who were unable to speak human tongue could understand his demands. Krookodile shuddered, realizing it had underestimated its prey.

White opened her eyes to a rough fall, her head ringing, as she coughed bits of sand. "Ack! Gross, it got everywhere." She tried to move when she realized she was being carried by someone else.

"Wha….?"

Blue eyes, same face, but his hair was a little off. "Mina…?" She gazed into his eyes, as he gazed back. Wait, something about him told her he was different as he gave her a sunny smile.

"You know my friend?" Ryoji said, catching her off guard. The girl then jumped out of his grip when she saw the infamous emblem on his clothes and the hooded knight uniforms behind them. Somehow, she had woken up to a bunch of Team Plasma grunts.

"Gah!" Did you steal my pokemon!?" She dug through her bag, a wash of relief swept over her as she realized Gigi and Stacy were still in their balls. She gripped onto her pokemon, ready to throw down with everyone there. "Team Plasma, you people have been nothing but trouble, what are you doing here now?"

Ryoji sighed, already seeing the brunette back in a corner like a scared animal. He shook his head, "We're only here to rescue those who've been pulled into these sand pits, nothing more."

Behind White were indeed several unconscious trainers who, like her, must have fallen through the Desert Resort above.

"H-hhow do I know you guys didn't knock them out and stash them here to die!" Her trauma from the Nacrene taught her these white knights were more than they appear, and they weren't above taking hostages to prove their point.

"I'm sure you've come across that empty campsite above ground, yes?"

White tensed, listening to the raven haired boy explain.

"These trainers were chased off by the wild Krookodile and its nest of young. They nest down here in the ruined city, and they mainly lure in unsuspecting people and pokemon for food." He gestured to a pale of crushed cans, and other foodstuff. Thankfully, no bones of any type were mixed in, which meant the creatures were only after their traveler's supplies.

Now that she was aware of her surroundings, her jaw dropped at where they were. A complete, ancient city preserved under the sand, like its subterranean world. Withered stone buildings in the thousands lined the dark streets, decaying at the slow passage of time. Overhead, were massive stone cliffs that stretched up to the sky, literally sealing the place under a giant dome like structure that separated them from earth above.

"Where are we…?" Moreover, how did she get here? Her last memories were walking through sand and then sinking down into the underground.

"Relic Castle, an ancient settlement from the days of old. I like to think we're entering a different world when we come down here, neat isn't it?" Ryoji joked, "But as I've explained before, we are only here to rescue those who were swept down here."

"What about that pokemon nest? Wouldn't you be taking food away from them?" If anything, Team Plasma would support the Krookodile, not the other way around, White thought.

"Oh, we simply left them some stuff from our own supplies. I can show you everything if you're willing to trust us." He reached out a hand. The sound of his voice, his movements, and even his intentions were very Minato like, the brunette mused. Just who was he?

"When I fell, you mentioned you knew Mina? What kind of relationship do you have with him?" She's never known her friend to have a twin brother, so why did this Plasma member resemble him so much.

"You could say we're distant cousins, I'm sure my face gave it away didn't it? Although our families have been estranged from each other for quite some time now."

Hesitating, she mauled over her situation. Falling from above, she saw the unconscious trainers and the pokemon these Team Plasma members held, and then the ancient city around them. Being pitch black underground and without knowing what type of wild beasts roamed these hidden dungeon, she was sure she wouldn't make it out if she didn't get help. Swallowing her pride, she accepted the boy's offer. Not to mention she had to find Cheren and Bianca and who knew where Minato actually was?

"Fine, I'll trust you all for now, but make one wrong move and I will burn you." She took his hand and he chuckled.

"I'm glad we've reached a favourable outcome between us. My name is Ryoji, and yours Ms?"

"I'm White."

Somewhere in another world, in another time…

Placing a batch of flowers by a grave, Yu Narukami wished the owner of the headstone to rest in peace. Incense were burned for the departed soul and they would visit this individual each year. Mitsuru held back tears as Aigis comforted the women.

"How many years has it been now…?"

Aigis gave the number count, causing the red head to break down.

"Are you alright, Ms. Kirijo?" Yu worried, his voice gentle.

"Thank you Narukami, but I just need a moment." Mitsuru shook her head, wiping away warm tears that washed away her makeup. What was once the face of the Kirijo corporation is now reduced to a sobbing mess. "I apologize, I have a bad habit of becoming emotional when it comes to him…"

Every year, come March, everyone would visit his grave. Albeit this year, they arrived on different days, with Yu tagging along.

"I understand, losing a good friend must have been painful for you." He read the name on the grave, 'Minato Arisato', someone he was eager to meet after reconnecting with SEES. Because after the incident with Labrys and Sho, he would subtly regain some of his memories from that time in the labyrinth in that other world. He remembered once he tried asking the others, yet they only gave him strange looks. And so, he kept his memories to himself, clasping his hands in prayer, hoping the Messiah could at least one day be free.

"He was…always calm, even in the face of despair." Aigis mumbled, looking up at the vibrant blue sky, a sky he may never see again.

If Minato had lived, he would be twenty five by now, that was how much time had passed since the Great Seal. By this time, Yu had also graduated university and entered the workforce as one of Kirijo's employees.

"The stories you have about him in SEES, they remind you of the good times you had, don't they?" Yu said, somber. "When my grandfather passed away, I always like to think of the great memories we had."

"Yes and we must look forward to the future as well. He would not have wanted us to live with such grievances," Mitsuru recovered, regaining her composure.

"I concur, he may be gone, but we shall treasure the days we spent with him for the end of time." Aigis nodded.

"Thank you for coming with us today, Narukami. I'm sure he'll appreciate what you did for us during the multiple incidents in Inaba too." Mitsuru thanked him that he was able to save the world twice. Once during Izanami and another with Sho. Because if the world had ended after the Messiah gave his life to save it then it would have been a tragedy like no other. Hearing this, Yu shook his head.

"No, I thank you all as well. SEES has done much for humanity, you all are the reason my friends and I were able to grow up at all. And for that, I had to come and express my gratitude to him."

After Yu learned about Nyx and Minato's work, he was both frightened and grateful. Grateful that the bluenette had given humanity another chance, however, frightened of the weight he bore and the seal's limitations. One day, if that door were to burst open, then it would be the end of life on earth as they know it and for that reason, he joined the Shadow Operatives. Although there was also a bit of survivor's guilt mixed in as he wondered why he was the only Wild Card to survive.

Being persona users, they were always in constant danger of dying to a random pack of shadows if they didn't act fast enough, which meant plenty of close calls, even during the labyrinth. Despite both SEES and the investigation team accepting these harsh realities, they were lucky enough to keep everyone alive. And by the time both parties parted, they had made promises to each other to get together again once more when they returned as a way to cope with their constant life threatening situations. After all, no other humans on earth would share in their gruesome fates if worse came to worse, it was a morbid way to comfort each other, but deep down they were all scared of something. Being the next victim of the Inaba murderer, mauled by a shadow, or losing control of your own persona were just some of the few possibilities among dozens shared among their cohort.

However, the universe wasn't so kind as to hear human vows as by the time Yu reunited SEES once more, they had already lost two of their members.

It's a shame, Yu thought. He wanted to invite them to his wedding too. When he had created invitations with Ms. Narukami to be, they had mistakenly prepared two extras. He was sure she was just as puzzled as he was.

The Messiah gave his life for an ideal cause, while the Seeker of Truth continued his legacy.

The Hero of Ideals discovered his own truth and the Hero of Truth confronts her reality.

Author's Notes:

Minato is playing double agent now and trolled Blake into giving him tons of money without informing the actual police, complete win on his part. It's better for Blake not to know he can actually flatten Twist Mountain on command for his own sanity.

Elizabeth did indeed send Minato a shiny hisuian zorua. Originally I had it be red like its normal colors but it matched Minato's blue hair so yea, I like the shiny better.

And for those who are wondering? Yes, Ryoji did indeed carry White princess style. But was he telling the truth? Who knows. Guy already lied about his connection to Minato from the get go.

Yu does get married to someone after he goes into the work force.

Last note: I created Art for the Minato sees the katana scene, which you can view on the Ao3 version of this fanifc