Darkness. That was all she could experience. Or, was it even darkness. No... it was nothing. Nothing was everything she knew. For how long she knew this nothing, she did not know, because it was nothing...

Then she was falling, seeing a bright landscape around her. In the split second glance she got, she realized that it wasn't much of a landscape, barren desert land stretching all around.

When she landed, she heard the sound of others rushing towards here, and before she went unconscious, she heard the same thumping sound of multiple others falling to the ground.

-

Serena felt a splash of water snap her to her senses.

"Finally, you are awake" a friendly voice said, Serena looking around at her surroundings. She saw a few others, just starting to wake up as the lady who had greeted her splashed them with water. Bonnie, Misty, Cilan, and May's younger brother, who she could not remember the name of.

"Where am I" Misty said, yawning and looking around.

"You are in Axeil" the lady replied, smiling brightly at her.

"What?"

"Axeil"

"I have no idea what Axeil is. What town is this?"

"Just outside of what was Castelia City"

"UNOVA!?" Cilan exclaimed, sitting up sharply.

"We have to find the others" Misty stood up, but the lady motioned for her to sit back down.

"You arent going anywhere, we still have the ceremony," she smiled.

"Look, lady. We need to find our friends" Misty said, pulling a pokeball from her belt.

"Oh yes, I had noticed those" the lady motioned to the pokeball "you shouldn't go waving them around. It will only cause trouble"

"Huh. Why cant we use our Pokemon"

"Its illegal"

"Illegal, why would someone outlaw pokemon" Serena asked, confused.

The lady sat down and sighed. "You don't seem to know anything about the world, but I don't blame you. You did come through the Axis, after all. We..." She motioned around her "are the Axeil, and this is our village. We have built it around the Axis, the method you used to get here. Every 33 days we send one member into the Axis, but no one has returned. That is why you are so special"

"Sounds like a cult" Misty mumbled under her breath.

"What was that?" The lady asked.

"Oh... Well that's all well and good but what is this stuff about Pokemon being banned?"

"Ahh yes, of course. It is the Sato Empire, who have outlawed Pokemon-"

"But why? And who is this Sato Empire?"

"Again so many questions, but it is understandable. The Sato Empire were the strongest trainers in the world, and they outlawed what they had been so good at, because the came to the realization that Pokemon were at the heart of all conflict. Now all Pokemon must be set free,"

"Sounds like those Team Plazma freaks" Cilan shuttered, and the lady nodded.

"Exactly. It was rumored that the remaining members of Team Plasma were behind the creation of the Sato Empire,"

"H-how long ago was this" Serena asked the question that had been on all of their minds.

"Oh about five or six years ago"