One sunny morning about a week later, Ash found himself waking up early. He lay in bed for a second, considering just rolling over and going back to sleep, but abruptly shot up, wide awake.
The Alola League is gonna start today! He thought with anticipation.
He quickly hopped out of bed, tugged on his clothes, grabbed his Pokéballs, and shook Pikachu awake. The commotion caused RotomDex to wake up too, and it followed Ash out of the room.
Ash dashed down the stairs and out to the Pokémon Center's battlefield, only to find that it was already occupied by a certain honey-blonde trainer.
Serena had all of her Pokémon out, which included Delphox, Pancham, and Sylveon, as well as two new additions, a Roserade and a Swanna. Serena's PokéDex sat propped up on a nearby bench, music flowing from its speakers. Serena and her Pokémon were evidently busy practicing a routine, and Ash just stood there for a while, mesmerized, while RotomDex turned around and started to record.
At that point in the routine, Serena was dancing energetically while Sylveon and Roserade bounded around her.
"Sylveon! Use Fairy Wind! Roserade, use Leaf Storm!" Serena called out.
With a flourish, Sylveon and Roserade both unleashed the attacks, which merged to create a sparkling whirlwind that gently lifted Serena and her Pokémon into the air. Ash immediately thought of Serena's Master Class performance, which included her doing the same thing with just Fairy Wind.
"Everyone! Now!" Serena exclaimed.
With a trill of affirmation, each Pokémon fired off their respective attacks. Delphox gave its stick a twirl, then sent out a Flamethrower. Pancham unleashed a Dark Pulse. Sylveon used Swift. Roserade used Magical Leaf. Swanna fired off a Bubble Beam.
The five attacks collided in the middle of the whirlwind, creating a beautiful shower of rainbow-colored sparks.
Then, Delphox, Pancham, Sylveon, and Roserade landed on the ground next to the whirlwind, dancing, while Swanna was circling it in a graceful arc.
Serena, who was still floating inside the whirlwind, did a complicated series of flips and twirls. As the whirlwind dissolved, Swanna flew up and caught Serena on its back. Swanna then gracefully spiraled down to the ground, with Serena balancing on its back.
Once they were on the ground, Serena hopped off of Swanna's back and struck a pose. "We're all done!" She exclaimed to an imaginary audience.
That's when she realized that she actually had an audience.
"Ah!" Serena exclaimed in surprise. "Hi, Ash. Good morning!"
Ash, without realizing it, had his mouth hanging slightly open. RotomDex had finished recording and flew up to Serena. "That was amazing!" It chirped. "The way you combined offensive attacks with visual appeal was astounding! It's no wonder that you're Kalos Queen!"
"Aw, thanks," Serena said, smiling warmly. She turned to Ash. "So, what do you think? Have I improved any?"
Ash shut his mouth, swallowing, before opening it again. "Ye-"
He was interrupted when a loud boom reverberated through the air. The force ripped small branches off of nearby trees and almost bowled Ash and Serena over.
Ash's blood ran cold as he looked up and saw a glowing blue hole in the sky. It was identical to the hole that Ash saw at the docks on Poni Island.
"Ash, what is that?" Serena asked, her eyes wide.
"I don't know," Ash replied, brows furrowed.
Just then, two tall bug-like creatures began to descend from the hole in the sky. One was white and thin, with long antennae sprouting from its head. A translucent white membrane flowed down its back. The other was muscular and black and red, its head resembling that of a mosquito.
The two creatures landed soundlessly in the middle of the battlefield, then let out two deafening calls. The white one let out a haunting screech, while the black one belted out a buzzing roar.
Their voices shared the same metallic ring as the creature from Poni Island.
RotomDex floated up and scanned both creatures. "No data!" It exclaimed fearfully.
Both of the strange creatures looked around curiously. Then they saw Ash and Serena standing there and roared, firing attacks at the two young Trainers.
"SHIT!" Ash yelled. He pulled out a Poké Ball. "Torracat, I choose you!!"
The black and red cat materialized in front of him, muscles coiled and ready for battle.
"Use Fire Blast!" Ash commanded.
Torracat nodded, and fire shot from its mouth and wrapped around the white creature, but all that did was enrage it even more. It glared at Ash and fired a Hyper Beam aimed directly at Serena.
"SERENA!!" Ash yelled. He lunged forward, pushing Serena to the ground. The Hyper Beam came close enough to knock off Ash's hat, but thankfully missed.
Ash frantically looked up and saw that the hole in the sky was shrinking. Relief crept into his chest as both creatures started to flicker. Then, the hole vanished, the creatures vanishing along with it.
Ash looked down at Serena, lying flat on the ground with him flopped on top of her. Ash felt his face flush and he hurriedly stood up, offering a hand to Serena.
"You okay?" Ash asked.
"Yeah," Serena replied, smiling. "Thanks to you." As she took his hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet, she abruptly sobered. "Ash, what were those things?"
"I don't know," Ash responded honestly as he reached down to pick up his hat. "But that's the second time that I've encountered a... a wormhole like that. The first time was with the others, and it was just a single creature, but it was also incredibly powerful. And RotomDex couldn't get any data on that one either."
Serena was silent for a moment. "Do you think... do you think there's something bigger at play here?"
Ash swallowed. The implications of Serena's words sent chills down his spine.
He tugged his hat back onto his head. "Arceus, I hope not. For all of our sakes."
Edit(2022): LET ASH KETCHUM SAY FUCK
IT WOULD BE VERY FUNNY
YOU ARE READING
Ultra Aether
Fanfiction(This is my first fanfic, so please don't brutally murder me if I did something wrong.) Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon! Ash has completed his final Grand Trial, and is now headed to the newly built Alola League. On the way there, he is reunited...
