When a life fades away

Serena stood there, her hand clutched to her blue ribbon, the one Ash had given her all those years ago.

She had finally met him. It was brief, not flawless, but unique.

It had happened when they were not on the same timeline. Like the blissful memory it had created, it floated in the middle of time. They spoke for a bit, they yearned for each other. Then they danced. With no music. On their own rhythm… And they nearly kissed… She was sure. Ash knew what the kiss at the escalator meant.

Her heart couldn't stop pounding in her chest. Her cheeks refused to return to their usual color.

She sighed. She had seen Ash again. He was the same Ash. It was brief, not like that sunset moment at Lilycove Harbour.

That moment was unexpected. They only said what they were aiming for. Motivating each other as they had always done. While the ship separated them, they exchanged glances and promised to meet again. But then everything happened. And they met again. In a strange way. But this time it was less brief than the other and they were alone. Now Serena wanted him back again. With her.

Sylveon felt the same way about a yellow sassy yet caring mouse.

Serena wanted to feel the same freedom she had felt and also make sure that everything she was feeling wasn't only a dream.

With the moon still high in the sky, she made an impulsive decision. She took off her clothes and jumped into the crystalline water of Lake Acuity. Sylveon followed her while Delphox collected all the pieces of clothing scattered by her insane trainer. But she understood her.

Serena remerged from the water, her hair wet, her pale skin reflecting the moonlight. She had a blast.

She took a short bath before starting to shiver, and Delphox asked her to cover her naked body before getting sick.

The girl accepted and sat in front of the fire, her eyes still glimmering at the blissful thoughts wandering in her mind.

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Being chased in the middle of the night by an electric-type Pokémon is a not-so-good thing, right? Well, no, if you're being chased by your best friend.

That was the situation in which was Ash after taunting Pikachu about a certain Sylveon. Of course, it all started with a sassy mouse making kissing faces at his trainer, but the end was fascinating. After running around the lake, Ash was also running low on energy and so he made the most stupid decision a man could take when it came to electricity: jump into the water. With a loud splash of water, Ash chose his faith.

Pikachu stopped his chase. His trainer sometimes could be such an idiot.

When Ash came out of the water, his clothes were drenched in water

Ash extended his arm to Pikachu: "Peace?" he said with a goofy smile. Pikachu reciprocated the gesture, not facing Ash. While still holding hands, Pikachu's serious expression turned into a devil smirk. The boy didn't have time to react and was zapped. Pikachu laughed before being tackled to the ground by a soot-covered Ash who started to tickle him.

They laughed, they talked, and then they rested.

Ash had a short moment to think about this night. He had seen Serena again, since that brief moment at the dock in Lilycove. After the boat had sailed, he had stayed there watching the dock until the only thing he could see was only darkness and the reflection of the stars on the blue sea surface.

So many things to say, not enough time. He had had to say everything in a moment so short. Not so easy.

His eyes were still glimmering. Never had he thought to see Serena there. He had passed her, not even noticing her, excited like he always was. She had called for him. So many emotions had rushed through his mind in a moment. But perhaps it wasn't time for the reunion, he thought. They had so much to do before crossing path again. Still, why couldn't they stay together for a little longer?

Ash was so proud of Serena. She had grown so much during their time in Kalos and he could say that she had grown even more during his absence. He smiled and went to talk to Chloe and be informed of his friend's contest debut. It was surprising to say the least to discover that Serena had mentored Chloe using his own words. Obviously, he didn't tell anything to the girl who had never shown interest in him even in the slightest, leaving him shocked on the ground the first day they met at the Cerise Laboratory. However, he was so happy to know that Serena still kept his words in such high regard to even advise others through them.

And, of course, Goh was eager to know more about this Serena, but his curiosity was shut down by his newly acquired Altaria. Ash and Goh spent the night discovering more on the new Pokémon, enjoying their time together like they had always done. That was more than six months ago but to Ash, felt like an eternity.

He sighed, Pikachu knowing well what his trainer was up to, deeply connected like they were. He snuggled close to Ash, stroking his paw on Ash's cheek, snapping him out of his bubble. He smiled again. Better dead than without Pikachu was what the Kantonian trainer thought.

They hugged for a while, Ash letting out some pent-up emotions, silently crying, hidden under his cap, Pikachu, comforting him and releasing his emotions as well.

They calmed down after a while: "Pika pika, Pikapi?"

"Yeah. You are right. We should see the bright side right now. We are together, we are making progress. We saw Serena and Sylveon. Not to forget we have Greninja and Akari waiting for us back in Jubilife!"

"Pikaaaa!!" the adorable mouse cheered. The duo relaxed for a little while more and theY looked out over the lake, smiling.

They headed back on the back of Wyrdeer, looking at the sky: what a magical night.

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Something not so magical was happening in Alola. Clemont was now in the middle of the sea heading toward the source of that mysterious time/space rift.

After a nice lunch with the Alola gang and Professor Kukui, they had decided to investigate the strange phenomenon happening in the sea. It was something they had to do right now because the weather forecast had predicted heavy rains and a storm coming to the tropical archipelago in the next days.

With that being said, Lana had offered Clemont her support for the mission. At first, Mallow sounded more eager to help but she had to take a step back when Lana made her realize that she did not have a Water Pokémon to help.

Clemont reassured her that he had appreciated her initiative, lifting her mood again.

After all the preparation, Clemont and Lana sailed from the beach, wearing a diving suit in case things went ugly. Clemont was on a Lapras while Lana was on Primarina. The blonde inventor had packed some detectors and other stuff in a waterproof bag.

Approaching the rift, still invisible, Clemont started to collect data while Lana was collecting samples in the area to see if the water or algae were touched by this distortion. Suddenly, a strong gust of wind hit them, and a dark rift appeared in front of them.

It looked like it had a black vortex inside. Clemont came closer only to be thrown into the water by another stronger gust. When he remerged, from the vortex, a sound of glass shattering accompanied the appearance of three big cuts on the vortex which crackled and shattered. From the darkness, thunders propagated all around the spot, and a man with a cloak emerged on top of a giant Pokémon, completely obscured by the vortex itself. The only thing Lana and Clemont were able to notice were the blood-red eyes, its snaky form, and the six big tentacles sticking out from it, each one terminating with red spikes.

As fast as it had appeared, the Pokémon disappeared, leaving only the cloaked man riding a majestic Gyarados. At his side, a Honchkrow. Both were surrounded by a black aura exuding their bodies and making them look way more menacing.

Clemont was shaking with fear and the same could be told for Lana.

The man looked at them and Clemont managed to catch a glimpse of the man's icy gray eyes.

"Where is Celebi?" asked the man.

"What?" said Clemont, surprised by the man's dark and low voice as well as the strange request.

The man sighed. They didn't have an idea of where Celebi was. And he didn't have time…

Time. That's funny. He was meant to dominate time to conquer the space and then Arceus' throne.

Clemont and Lana now had jumped on their mount Pokémon again, soaking wet.

"What do you want? And why did you appear from that rift?"

The man snapped out of his thoughts and his gaze made the duo's blood freeze.

Clemont regained immediately his composure. Ash had always shown him to stand in front of the enemy and protect. Yes. Right now, he didn't need to calculate meticulously what to plan and scientifically analyze the situation.

Even if he didn't have answers about this man, he was threatening him and Lana. He wanted to protect his new friend and the others, Mallow on top, waiting for them on the shore…

Clemont inspected his backpack and pulled off a floating platform. Lana watched impressed while the hooded figure didn't react. The blonde inventor pulled a Poké Ball off his pocket and Luxray emerged from it standing on the platform.

"I don't know what you're looking for and why on Earth you appeared from a time rift, but if I know something, it is that you don't have good purposes; so, I will stop you, right here and now!" proclaimed the inventor.

The man smirked. Honchkrow nodded and gathered his energy to release a dark pulse.

"Luxray! Thunder Fang!"

Lana was bewildered. How could Clemont stand in front of an opponent with such a strong terrain advantage? Looking better, even in that bad moment, she smiled and recognized Ash's behavior in his. It was time for her to do her part.

The Clash between Luxray and Honchkrow went on and it was immediately clear that the bird had the upper hand. Luxray was confined to a little platform while he could fly around and wasn't scared of falling into the water. However, Clemont was still calm, analyzing the situation. Lana had now fully comprehended the situation and his plan.

Suddenly the man shouted: "I don't know what you think you can obtain by stalling me, but it won't work!" He let an evil laugh escape his mouth.

Clemont shivered in disgust at this man when something caught his attention and so smirked as well, catching off guard the mysterious figure for the first time: "Lana! Now!" he shouted.

Lana didn't think twice: "Primarina! Waterfall!"

A large column of water emerged separating the man and the duo.

"Are they trying to escape?" whispered the man, clenching his fists. "Honchkrow, go get'em through the cascade! Brave bird!"

The "big boss" Pokémon leaped forward surrounding himself in a blue glow, hot energy being released from his body, and he crashed against the water wall when Clemont shocked the man one more time: "Luxray! Electric Terrain!"

Luxray gathered all his electric power and released it to the ground, or better into the water, using all his might to condense it into the most horizontal path possible. The column was shattered by this powerful and concentrated electricity and Honchkrow was there, shocked and collapsed into the sea. The same fate had befallen Gyarados on the other side of the column. The man was somehow protected by his rubber boots and was now riding the Honchkrow which had remerged from the water to carry his trainer, his dark aura intensifying.

Clemont and Lana had recalled their mounts and were safely on Mallow's Tropius and Kiawe's Charizard. They were both stunned at the strength of this man's Pokémon. Mallow and Kiawe were speechless.

Breathing hard, Clemont whispered: "Shit! What are they made of?!"

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"So Lucario, what are you sensing?" Gary was trying to keep up with Lucario who was running through the Sinjoh ruins like he had been there many times. Of course, this wasn't the case.

Gary had come here only to discover more about the odd prophecy but in the last weeks, he had been dragged around these ruins by Ash's Lucario who was feeling his trainer aura probably.

But still, he hadn't found the source yet, something even stranger for Gary. If Lucario had felt Ash, how was possible that he still had not found the clear source of his aura?

Even stranger was the fact that the ruins seemed a bit different from all the photos Gary had seen in his grandpa's book. They looked much bigger and also had some little differences in style. Even if the main portion of them, had kept the ancient Sinnohians art style, some of the newer parts of them had a slightly pronounced Unovian style. There was also a strange picture on a wall, depicting two people and what looked like a railway through Gary's eyes, something impossible. And then there was an inaccessible chamber.

Even after a lot of efforts from Tyranitar, Blastoise and Electivire, the door stood there, locked.

How in the world has no one ever documented this? Why Lucario was behaving like that?

Gary didn't have an answer to these questions but knew one thing for sure.

These were clear signs of the world-changing influence of Ash. Or better, it was his hypothesis. In reality, if that was the case, more questions would emerge than answers: Why hasn't Ash returned yet? Why signs of future changes would be in the Sinjoh Ruins and not in other places? But, the most significant thing: if the future was changing, why the books didn't consider those changes? It was like the world was changing now, manipulated by some kind of force, rather than altered by Ash's actions in the past.

This wasn't normal. People should adapt and think that things have always been the way they were if the timeline is altered, right? Gary was led to believe that the world and the people inhabiting it were separate things.

Quite intricate and not so clear. Gary's head was aching from all these thoughts.

One thing was sure: something big was happening. Something that maybe, even Ash could not face. And this was scary, even for the great Gary Oak.

"Ashy Boi… I'd prefer to be there with you facing whatever the matter is rather than being here, following your Lucario and waiting to know if you were able to face whatever Arceus asked you to face."

When Lucario heard Gary say that, he stopped in his tracks. Columns began to shake and suddenly the noise of a door unlocking was heard. Gary and Lucario shared a gaze.

What in the world was happening?

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"We have to move this fight away from the sea. We can't stand a chance in this way!" shouted Clemont while recalling Luxray. They had to move, and quickly since the strange figure was clearly pissed off.

"YOU WON'T GO AWAY FROM HERE! NOT NOW THAT YOU HAVE SEEN ME!!!" he shouted. His cold voice was now that of a beast rather than a human.

"Come on, let's go to the beach! Quickly!" instructed Mallow, following Clemont's lead, admiring his calmness, even if she knew that he was wearing a mask.

"Call Professor Kukui and make him evacuate the area from civilians!" Kiawe cried, to which Clemont nodded.

"Mallow, go with Lana to the beach! I and Kiawe will try to secure some time for you to help Kukui! He whispered to the girl.

"No way. It's too risky to move from Tropius. It's better if they go and we stay here!" she immediately countered, a determined grin on her face. Clemont wanted to counter but didn't, accepting the advice and nodding to Kiawe and Lana.

"NIGHT SLASH! HYDRO PUMP!"

The group was cut off by the man instructing his Pokémon to fire their attacks toward them.

"Quick Tsareena, Tropi kick!" said Mallow, releasing her Pokémon on the floating platform!

"Come on Diggersby! Mud shot!" added Clemont releasing another platform for his Pokémon.

"Tropius, shield us with Leaf Storm!" a vigorous storm of leaves surrounded the area, directing to the man while his Pokémon were countered by the combined efforts of Diggersby and Tsareena.

"NOW!!" shouted Mallow to Kiawe and Lana. The two of them left on Charizard's back, as fast as they could.

The hooded man had to hold his mantel tight to not display his face and wasn't ready to order further attacks.

Once the Leaf storm had ended, he growled: "YOU ALL HAVE SIGNED YOUR DEATH TODAY!"

Clemont took Mallow's hand: "Not today!" he proclaimed, a furious gaze on his eyes through his glasses.

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Bonnie couldn't sleep that night. She didn't find Hoopa, even with Alain by her side and Clemont hadn't answered her calls. Ash had disappeared. Her entire bright and hopeful world was collapsing, and she had a gut feeling that things were about to get worse. She held tight Dedenne, who was seemingly upset and curled again in the bed: "Big Bro. Please, help me…" some tears escaped her eyes. Her innocent days were over and was experimenting fear: fear to be alone.

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Dawn felt a nostalgic feeling watching Lake Verity. The day she began her journey, received Piplup and met Ash. Not to forget, she saw Mesprit, the same Pokémon she was about to face.

Piplup looked at her trainer with a preoccupied gaze. It was her trainer's chest that was rapidly lifting and releasing, causing her to hyperventilate.

She wasn't ready for this. Even if she was confident, cheerful, and optimistic, like Ash, she wasn't stupid and knew what Mesprit was capable of.

In normal situations, even this thought wouldn't have been this much of a concern for her.

However, this time, the challenge wasn't for herself. It was for Ash. She couldn't know what would happen if she failed.

Piplup chirped, pumping his chest, snapping the girl out of her thoughts, and making her release a small chuckle at her proud Pokémon: "You are right Piplup. No need to worry! We will pull through!"

Piplup nodded in approval and Dawn let out Togekiss to bring them to the small isle in the middle of the lake where a familiar rock stood.

Then, Dawn released Quilava. They would be their team for the fight.

Soon the rock started to shake, and an opening appeared.

A deep breath and the girl entered the grotto. It looked deserted with only stalactites hanging from the roof and small puddles of water creating some strange forms on the pavement.

Dawn tightened her chest, her Pokémon doing the same, concentrating her thoughts on her heart and emotions. It lasted only a moment, but the girl felt every possible emotion in an instant. A small teardrop adorned her face and, when it ran off her face, falling to the ground, it splashed into one of the puddles on the ground.

The water started to glow, and a white shadow emerged from it.

Dawn watched the scene unfold, holding her breath. "Mesprit…" she whispered.

In a moment her gaze hardened, and her determination grew. She was ready.

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"Look Pikachu! That's the village! Ash exclaimed excitedly, holding his cap with a hand while using the other to grasp Wyrdeer.

"Piikaaaa!" shouted a likewise excited Pikachu, clearly happy to come back to what had become their home in this ancient world.

Approaching the gate, a guard stopped him: "Hey, don't you dare to cross the gate with that monstrosity of a Pokémon!" he shouted, referring to Wyrdeer.

Ash hopped off the Pokémon and thanked him, petting him, and giving him some berries. The "Big Horn" Pokémon stroked his head against Ash and Pikachu and then proceeded to disappear into the wilderness of the Obsidian Fields.

Ash watched his friend going away for a while, smiling gladly, but then he turned and faced the guard with a hardened expression, mimicked by Pikachu.

He passed through him, ignoring his hateful gaze, and entered the village.

Pikachu sighed: "Pika..Pikapi?" asked the yellow mouse.

Ash sighed as well, walking through the main road: "Yes Pikachu… The more we help here, the more we are hated. It's sad but that's what we need to do" he said, stroking Pikachu's tail, earning a delightful coo.

Ash didn't stop by the Galaxy Hall. He should have done a report on the mission to Cylene and Kamado, but he was more eager to see Greninja again and give a hi to Akari.

He and Pikachu were feeling the frog Pokémon's aura, so they headed to the source of it, finding what looked like a dojo with a battlefield on it. Ash's eyes began sparkling at the sight: "A battlefield?! That's great to give some more training!" exclaimed Ash, cheering wildly.

His joy was quickly noticed by a tall and robust woman, but, most importantly by a blue-haired girl and a frog.

Said girl turned and saw who was shouting like that and, upon seeing who he was, her eyes widened, and she began to run.

Ash, who was still talking and dancing excitedly with Pikachu, was suddenly tackled to the ground by a fury.

When he opened his eyes, he spotted a blue head and recognized who was responsible for the assault: "Akari! It's you! How's it going?!" asked the guy.

The girl, overexcited didn't answer but instead tightened her grip on him.

Ash patted her back awkwardly, Pikachu, who was amused by the scene, being approached by Greninja.

After a while, the girl stood up, freeing Ash, who stood as well, shrugging the dust off his clothes.

He then watched the girl, who was there, her hands behind her back and her eyes glimmering with joy.

She looked directly into his eyes, and smiling widely, proclaimed: "I missed you so much, Ash!"

Of course, Ash didn't notice the pink that adorned her cheeks.

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"Come on, Luxray! Avoid it!"

"Tropius, get us out of here!"

"Gyarados, Hyper Beam!"

The battle was getting more ferocious, and Clemont and Mallow were doing their best to keep the man from reaching the beach.

The worst thing was the gigantic clouds appearing on the horizon and coming closer with every minute passing. It was a sign of the storm coming which would eventually isolate Alola from the rest of the world and would be for a long time. For Clemont, of course, it was the worst-case scenario since he was en route to inform his friends and search for Ash.

Suddenly, from the transceiver, the sound of Lana's voice was heard saying the duo to come back that the beach had been evacuated.

After a long resistance, Tsareena and Luxray were called back and Tropius managed to escape another assault from Gyarados and Honchkrow.

Finally, they took footing on the beach's sand, but they didn't have time to reunite with each other since a Hyper Beam was shot and the man appeared from the sea as well.

"Shoot! What the hell are you!?" shouted professor kukui, Ash's Alolan team coming closer to Ash's father-like figure.

"YOU WON'T STOP ME, NOT RIGHT NOW!" shouted the man again.

"HYPER BEAM, GYARADOS! DARK PULSE, HONCHKROW!"

"Brace yourself!" shouted Professor Kukui to the group. The sky was now dark, clouds full of rain, and strong gusts of wind were hitting the shore.

"Incineroar! Fire Blast! Lycanrock! Stone edge! Rowlet! Razor Leaf! Melmetal! Flash cannon!"

The attacks collided, generating an enormous shockwave, shattering glasses all around the area, sending debris even further.

After that, it was quiet for a brief moment. People were horrified aand fled in terror.The streets were deserted soon after, with only one man running toward the source of the explosion.

It was Brock, who found the Alola group laying on the ground, wounds and scratches all over their clothes and bodies. An Incineroar and a Lycanrock, standing with difficulty, breathing heavily and full of bruises.

A Rowlet and a strange metallic Pokémon fainted next to a still conscious man with a bruised lab coat. Clemont, whose jumpsuit was torn, stood near Brock, holding a girl whom Brock recognized as Mallow.

On the other side of the sand cloud, which was starting to sediment, were the shadows of a man, a Gyarados, and a Honchkrow. Even in the darkness in which Alola had fallen, an even darker aura was still recognizable around them.

Brock gulped as the shadows started to close in. Kukui got up, holding his chest.

Clemont helped Mallow do the same. They were holding hands.

Lana and Kiawe stood only a moment later. Rowlet and Melmetal also rose, showing their indomitable spirit.

There was a silent nod between Brock and Clemont as if saying "I'm here with you".

The dust finally settled revealing the hooded figure and his Pokémon again. Round two was about to begin.