Ash, Pikachu, and Greninja walked back inside the Pokemon Center, feeling very good. Looking around, they spotted their friends at a table, eating breakfast. They had their Pokemon out, eating as well. Ash smirked before the trio walked up to them.

"Hey guys, you started breakfast without us?" he asked in a mock hurt tone. Everyone else turned to look at Ash with shock on their faces. Pikachu and Greninja walked up to Sylveon and Delphox, respectively, with "hurt" looks on their faces.

"Ash, you haven't had breakfast yet?!" Misty exclaimed.

"Nope. Pikachu, Greninja, and I got sidetracked." Ash replied, still keeping the smirk on his face. Everyone instantly knew that something was up. Pikachu and Greninja were acting weird, as well.

"OK, Ashy Boy, something is definitely up with you. You don't just get sidetracked from breakfast." Gary stated suspiciously. Ash, Pikachu, and Greninja's smirks grew.

"You're right, Oak Tree. I got something to show you guys and the rest of my team." he stated as he took three Pokeballs off his belt and pressed on the white buttons to enlarge them.

"Come on out, everyone!" Ash shouted as he tossed them up in the air. The Pokeballs opened up, revealing Charizard, Sceptile, and Lucario. They let out their signature cries.

"OK, guys, I've got something to show you. First, I should tell you that I sent Garchomp back to the Lab." Ash stated smugly. Everyone except for Pikachu and Greninja was mainly shocked and confused.

"Now why did you do that, Ash?" Lillie asked in a curious tone. Ash's smirk grew even more as he looked at Pikachu and Greninja, who had the same looks as him.

He then looked back at everyone else before saying, "Oh, let's just say that Pikachu, Greninja, and I found a very old friend. And Misty, you might remember her." Pikachu and Greninja stared at Misty with mischievous smiles on their faces. She, along with everyone else, was very intrigued.

"I want to guess Squirtle, Pidgeot, or Butterfree, but they're all males. You're obviously talking about a female, so it's not them. It's also probably not Lapras either, since you could have just recaptured her yesterday. OK, I'm done guessing. Who is she?" Misty asked. Ash, Pikachu, and Greninja's smirks had gone over 9000 at that point as he took the Luxury Ball off his belt. Delphox, Sylveon, and Pancham gasped upon recognizing it.

The trio nodded at them before Ash said, "Yes, it's the same Luxury Ball that Serena gave me." He then pressed on the black button to enlarge the Luxury Ball.

"Come out and say hello, Latias!" Ash exclaimed as he tossed it up in the air. The Luxury Ball opened up, revealing his newly caught Latias.

'Good morning, guys!' she said with a sweet smile. The whole room fell silent. The looks on everyone's faces were priceless. Ash, Pikachu, Greninja, and Latias had to laugh at their reactions.

"No..." Misty started with her mouth ajar.

"Mother..." Gary continued with his eyes wide.

"Fucking..." Gladion went on with his jaw hanging wide open.

"Way!" Lillie finished with sparkles in her eyes. Charizard, Sceptile, and Lucario were utterly stunned that their trainer now had a Legendary on the team. The rest of the Pokemon were totally in awe. Latias couldn't help but giggle at this as she affectionately nuzzled Ash on the cheek. He smiled as he waited for the initial shock to die down.

"WHERE IN THE HECK DID YOU FIND A FREAKING LATIAS?! NEVER MIND ONE THAT CAN MEGA EVOLVE?! DUDE, THAT'S A FREAKING LEGENDARY!" Gary exclaimed in amazement. He suddenly got smacked in the back of the head by Lillie.

"Not so loud, Gary! I'm pretty sure Ash and Latias don't want any unnecessary attention." she stated in a scolding tone. Latias snickered as Gary rubbed on his sore spot.

'Yeah, listen to your girlfriend, Gary! Or, should I say, Oak Tree!' she said with a smirk. Ash couldn't keep it in any longer, as he started cracking up even louder.

"You...got...owned...Oak...Tree!" he shouted in-between his laughs. Ash's team, along with Delphox, Sylveon, Snowy, Misty, and Gladion, was laughing with him. Lillie and especially Gary were flustered.

"Geez, Latias, how did you pick up the 'Oak Tree' nickname that quick?" Misty asked with a snicker aimed at him. Ash and Latias smirked.

'I'm a Psychic type, remember? In all seriousness, though, apparently, once I'm captured by a worthy trainer like Ash, I automatically gain access to his memories while he automatically gains access to mine. We don't know how or why, though.' she answered.

"Yeah, I can do that with Greninja after we've perfected the Bond Phenomenon too. Anyway, enough about that. Misty, you remember our old friend from Alto Mare, do you?" Ash asked curiously as he rubbed Latias's neck. She cooed in affection. Misty's eyes widened in surprise.

"Wait, wait, wait, you're the same Latias that kissed Ash on the cheek in your human form?! Or was that Bianca who did that? I couldn't tell. You two confused the heck out of us there." she stated. Ash and Latias both blushed profusely.

"That would be Latias. I'm glad Serena wasn't around for that. Or Melody's kiss, for that matter." he replied in embarrassment.

'True. At least be glad they were on the cheek and not the lips like hers was.' Latias replied bluntly. Ash nodded in agreement at those words.

"Geez, Ashy Boy was getting all the kisses earlier on too?!" Gary exclaimed, flabbergasted. Ash's face was now as red as a tomato.

"Yeah, when you're constantly saving the world like I am, sometimes you get a lot of affection. Can we please drop this subject? You're making me want to kiss someone when the girl I wanted to kiss the most is not even here." he replied. Gary could clearly see the sadness in Ash's eyes and decided not to push the issue any farther. After a few minutes, a voice broke the silence.

"Piplup!" it called out from a distance. The group turned to the source of the voice and saw a Piplup heading straight for Pikachu with a smile on his face.

"A Piplup? Aw, so cute! Wait, why is he heading straight for Pikachu?" Misty asked curiously. Ash and Pikachu had worried expressions on their faces as they gulped. Everyone, especially Sylveon, noticed this.

"Uh oh, if that Piplup is who I think he is, Pikachu has an even bigger issue on hand. Well, not as big as a vengeful Mimikyu, but still..." Ash stated, mumbling that last part to himself, as Piplup crashed into Pikachu. Gary, Charizard, Sceptile, Greninja, and Latias instantly knew what he meant by that. Everyone else was confused.

'Pikachu, it's been ages!' Piplup exclaimed as he hugged his old friend. Pikachu couldn't help but smile back in spite of the worry he was feeling.

'Yeah, it certainly has, Piplup. Did you leave Dawn behind?' he asked with a knowing smirk as they separated.

Piplup smirked back before answering, 'Yeah, and I did that on purpose. After all, I wanted to get to you before you know who starts flirting with you.' Pikachu's smile instantly disappeared as he looked at Sylveon, who was frowning, and then at Ash. He nodded in understanding before whispering something to Latias.

Pikachu regained his smile before turning back to Piplup and saying, 'Then I am glad to see you first. I'd like to introduce you to a very special someone.' At that comment, Sylveon affectionately nuzzled his cheek. Pikachu blushed before licking her on the cheek too. Piplup was stunned.

'Wow. I didn't think I'd be seeing you this affectionate, Pikachu. Is she your girlfriend?' he asked while looking around for his trainer. To Piplup's relief, she hadn't arrived yet. Pikachu and Sylveon looked at each other's red faces.

She then turned back to Piplup and said with a sweet smile, 'Yes, I am Pikachu's girlfriend. Nice to meet you, Piplup.' His eyes widened in surprise as his beak dropped ajar. Pikachu and Sylveon couldn't help but giggle at this.

'Whoa, bro, where did you find such a beautiful Pokemon?! You know who would be very jealous to see this. She's been dreaming nonstop for two years about you.' Piplup stated in a nervous tone. Pikachu gulped as Sylveon looked at him suspiciously.

'Before you ask, Sylvie, 'you know who' is Dawn's Buneary. She's had a crush on me ever since we first met. I haven't felt the same for her, though. In fact, I had never fallen in love before I met you. You are my first, and only, love.' he admitted passionately. Sylveon had a loving smile on her face.

'Aw, Pika...' she purred as she planted a kiss on Pikachu's cheek. He smiled widely before staring at Piplup, whose eyes were wider than before.

Pikachu laughed before saying, 'Yeah, I met Sylveon in Kalos when she was still an Eevee. She was caught by...' He trailed off when he started thinking about the girl he was going to mention. Sylveon got a little sad too. Piplup could tell that there was something wrong, but decided not to pry. 

'Hey, it's fine. You don't have to tell me everything if you don't want to.' he replied in a concerned tone.

Pikachu sighed before saying, 'Yeah, I don't feel comfortable talking about her trainer right now. Ash's been having a difficult time coping with the situation he's currently in.' Piplup looked very curious.

Before he could ask anything, everyone heard another voice call out, 'PIKACHU!' Pikachu groaned as he instantly recognized that voice.

'Great...Buneary.' he muttered to Sylveon as he saw Buneary run up to him. When she stopped, she started rubbing her cheek on Pikachu's.

'Uh, Buneary, you don't want to do that.' Piplup stated nervously as he pointed at an enraged Sylveon. Buneary didn't listen, nor did she even catch sight of the Fairy type Eeveelution, as she continued showing affection towards Pikachu, who was looking very uncomfortable. Suddenly, she was surrounded by a purple aura and sent floating up and away from him.

'What the hell?! Who's taking me away from MY love?!' Buneary exclaimed angrily as she struggled to get out of the invisible hold. Pikachu and Sylveon both smirked as they saw Latias, whose eyes were glowing purple. Piplup gasped in shock at the sight of the Eon Pokemon.

'Dude, where did that Latias come from?!' he shouted in a scared tone. Pikachu just snickered at Piplup's reaction.

Ash couldn't help but laugh a bit as he said, "It's almost like Brock all over again." Gary, Misty, Pikachu, Sylveon, Charizard, Sceptile, Greninja, and Delphox all had a good laugh out of that. Buneary continued to struggle until she came face-to-face with a not so friendly Latias. The Rabbit Pokemon instantly froze up in fear.

'A-A-A L-L-LATIAS?! Uh, is there a problem, miss?' she stuttered out. In response, Latias turned Buneary to the direction of Pikachu. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw him calming Sylveon down by nuzzling her on the cheek with the same one that she was previously rubbing on.

'HEY! WHO IN THE BLUE HELL IS THAT BITCH?!' Buneary screeched out in anger. Sylveon looked rather offended as she glared at her. Pikachu was even more pissed off as sparks started coming out of his cheeks.

'NOBODY CALLS MY GIRLFRIEND A BITCH IN FRONT OF ME, YOU BITCH!' he yelled out, thankful that the humans couldn't understand Pokespeech. All of the Pokemon in the room who had ever known Pikachu flinched at the anger in his voice. Even Ash was looking bewildered by his sudden outburst. Pikachu had rarely looked so angry before. In fact, the only times he did look this pissed off were when an evil organization tried to destroy the world or when everyone first found out what Lusamine had done to Serena. Now Pikachu had just snapped at an old friend he hadn't seen in two years. Buneary's expression told the whole story. She was heartbroken.

Buneary looked back at Latias with tears rapidly falling down her cheeks before saying, 'Latias, can you just put me in my trainer's arms?' She nodded in sadness before slowly pushing the Rabbit Pokemon away. The aura and glow in Latias's eyes disappeared as she was placed in the arms of a very shocked and worried girl. The girl, Dawn, had dark blue hair that was held together by two golden hairclips on the front and eyes of the same color and was wearing a white beanie with a pink Pokeball logo on it, a black mini dress, a pink skirt, and pink knee length boots. Next to her was an equally shocked and worried boy. He had black hair that flowed to one side of his forehead and green eyes and was wearing black sunglasses on top of his head, a white T-shirt with a Pokeball logo on the chest, red shorts that went past his knees, black shoes, a white Z-Ring on his right wrist, and a Mega Ring on his left wrist. He had a Pikachu on his right shoulder, who was glaring angrily at Ash's Pikachu.

"Buneary, you OK?" Dawn asked in a very worried tone. Buneary didn't respond. Instead, she tapped her paw on the white button of her Pokeball, returning herself inside it. Dawn got even more shocked as she looked up at Ash.

"Ash, what is the meaning of this?!" she shouted angrily. Ash and his Pikachu flinched at the rage in Dawn's voice.

"Hey, it's not my fault Pikachu's acting very overprotective towards Sylveon. He's madly in love with her. If it was you being flirted with in front of your boyfriend, would he have done the same thing?" he retorted as he stared expectantly at the boy next to Dawn. They blushed as they looked at each other.

"And here you said Ash is dense." the boy stated with a smirk. Dawn simply shrugged her shoulders.

The boy then turned back to Ash and said, "Yeah, I would have done the same thing Pikachu did. Well, besides using a Legendary Pokemon's psychic powers to take the flirt away. I never would've thought of that." He looked rather curiously at Latias. Ash, being the overprotective one now, stood in front of her.

"Don't you dare think about it, dude. Latias is my Pokemon!" he exclaimed. Dawn and the boy both gasped in shock.

"Wait, WHAT?! When did you catch a freaking Latias that can Mega Evolve?!" she asked.

"A few minutes ago, actually. She came all the way from Alto Mare." Ash replied as he and Latias smirked. Dawn and the boy were even more stunned by the revelation.

"You know, I once heard a rumor about Alto Mare. You remember Tobias, yes?" he asked in a curious tone. Latias flinched at the name.

'Tobias...oh, how I loathe that name!' she exclaimed in an enraged tone. Ash instantly became intrigued.

"Wait, you know Tobias?" he asked curiously as he rubbed on Latias's neck. That calmed her down to an extent.

'Yeah. I could have traveled around the world three years ago if Tobias and his Darkrai hadn't stolen another pair of Latios and Latias from me. That rumor is true.' Latias stated in a sad tone. Everyone gasped in horror. Ash, his Pikachu, and Sceptile, in particular, were enraged.

"Now I know exactly how you feel, Latias. We both lost our loved ones to either a trainer or a mind-controlling Ultra Beast." he said as soon as he calmed himself down. Dawn was surprised to hear the words "loved ones" come out of Ash's mouth.

"Wait, you lost a loved one?" she asked curiously. Ash had a sad look on his face from that question.

"Yeah, Serena, my best friend from the Kalos region. Simply put, she is my angel. Everything that I do, especially now, is for her. Before I tell you what happened, who's your boyfriend?" he asked with a smirk aimed at the boy.

"Oh, right, I haven't properly introduced myself yet. I'm Sam. And as you've correctly deduced, I am Dawn's boyfriend. This is my Pikachu, Stone. And I already know who you are, Ash. Dawn told me all about you and your Pikachu." he replied with a smirk back.

"Pikachu!" Stone said, still glaring at Pikachu.

"Nice to meet you, Sam, Stone. Hey, quick question. Does Stone have a crush on Buneary?" Ash asked while looking back and forth between the two Pokemon. Stone's face turned red.

"Yeah, he does. Geez, when did you become such a love expert? You were dense two years ago!" Dawn exclaimed in shock. Ash had a wide smile on his face as he remembered exactly how his denseness was broken.

"Well, I haven't told Misty this yet, but I've had a huge crush on Serena from the very beginning of my journey through Kalos. However, it took me until the very end to realize that she shared those same feelings. You see, Serena gave me my first kiss on the lips. That moment was when I truly realized the meaning of love. She was getting ready to leave for Hoenn, so after my shock had died down, I hurried over to her and kissed her back. Nothing can compare to that feeling. Not even winning a league would compare." he explained. Misty and Dawn were beyond stunned by how in love Ash really was.

"Wow. Serena really means a lot to you, eh, Ash? Have you considered asking her to be your girlfriend?" Sam asked with a teasing smirk. An angry expression crossed Ash's face.

"That's exactly what I was planning on doing before she got mind-controlled by a motherfucking Ultra Beast!" he shouted as he clenched a fist. Dawn, Sam, Piplup, and Stone were mortified by Ash's words. Even Nurse Joy was looking at him weirdly now.

"Geez, Ash, you do know you're cussing in a public place, right?" Dawn asked in a scared tone. Ash calmed himself down again.

"Sorry, I haven't been myself since my old Lapras came up to me with Serena's Pokeballs on her back. I'm just so mad at the world right now. And I'm also scared of losing Serena." he stated with tears in his eyes as he looked at Pikachu and Sylveon, and then at Greninja and Delphox. Dawn casted a glance at Sam, who nodded as if telling her to go ahead. She mouthed a thank you before turning to Ash and wrapping her arms around his waist. He was reluctant at first, but after seeing Sam nod, he returned the hug.

As soon as they separated, Dawn asked, "Is there a way to bring Serena back to normal?" Ash grimaced before looking at Sam.

"Uh, yeah, is Sam taking on the Alola League?" he inquired curiously.

"Yeah, I am. Why?" Sam asked back, confused.

Ash hesitated for a moment before sighing and saying, "Serena is too, and the only way to bring her back is by beating her full team of Ultra Beasts in one battle. She won't battle just about anyone in six-on-six competition before the League starts, so yeah, we got ourselves in a sticky situation. Oh, and the world is most likely in danger once again..." He rolled his eyes at the last part. Dawn couldn't blame Ash, considering that he's already saved the world countless times.

"Hm, I see. So, we'd have to hope that either one of us don't get paired up with Serena before the semifinals if we want a chance to save her. And while I have a strong team, I'd be feeling overwhelmed by the power of her Ultra Beasts. Yeah, this is going to be a problem all around." Sam admitted as he stroked his chin.

"True, but at least we have five months to train up until then. Sam, if we do battle in the League before facing Serena, I don't want you to go easy on me. Even if it means you beating me. I'll have you know that I'll do everything in my power to stop the Ultra Beasts and save my love. If I have to beat you on my way to her, then so be it. I will not rest until she is safe and sound!" Ash proclaimed with determination evident in his voice. Sam smirked at this.

"Oh, I won't go easy on you. A battle is still a battle, no matter the cost!" he replied as he held out a hand. Ash immediately shook it, signaling the beginning of a new rivalry.

When they separated, Sam suddenly said, "Oh, have you heard? There's a missing Totem Pokemon from Acerola's Ghost type trial." Ash, Gary, Lillie, Gladion, Misty, and all of their Pokemon gasped in shock.

"No way! Were you able to do the trial then?" Ash asked worriedly. Sam nodded.

"The Totem's been missing for four months now, so Acerola's been running her trial fine without her. I still managed to beat it and the Grand Trial, though." he stated with a triumphant smirk. The smirk turned into confusion when Sam saw dread on Ash's face. Pikachu and Sylveon also had the same looks as him. Gary, Lillie, Greninja, Delphox, Latias, and Snowy knew what was causing it.

"Who's the Totem Pokemon?" Ash asked, his legs trembling. Sam, Dawn, Misty, Gladion, and every uneducated Pokemon were looking very worried now.

"Acerola's Totem is Mimikyu. Why?" Sam replied. Ash, Pikachu, and Sylveon's faces became pale.

"Hold on, I'm going to call someone really quick. You coming, Pikachu?" he asked, obviously in a hurry. Pikachu jumped up on Ash's shoulder. Before anybody could react, they were out the door. Once Ash sat down on a bench, he took out his blue tablet and pressed on a name to call. He waited for a few moments before James's face appeared on the screen.

"Ash? You OK? You and Pikachu look pale." he stated in a worried tone.

"That depends, James. Tell me something. Can Jessie's Mimikyu bring out orange aura?" Ash asked in a hopeful tone.

Those hopes were dashed when James answered, "Yes, we have seen Mimikyu bring out orange aura. Jessie could never use that aura, though." Ash and Pikachu gulped in fear as a realization hit them.

Acerola's Totem Mimikyu is the same one who wants Sylveon dead.