Hey guys. Got the final update for you here today. I wanted to apologize for taking so long to get these last four or five chapters written...a 19-chapter story should NOT have taken me 7-8 months to complete. I think the large gaps I started having to take recently ended up affecting the pacing and quality of the story, as well, so I wanted to apologize for that and thank those of you that have stuck with it this whole time. You guys are awesome!

With that being said, here is the update you have all been waiting for, so I hope you guys enjoy it!

Despite Ash's troubled slumber, the next morning finally arrived all the same, carrying with it a looming sense of urgency in the young trainer's mind. Despite himself, Clemont, and Bonnie all sharing the room, their early morning preparations ended up being relatively devoid of conversation, as the events that were to come later that day weighed heavily on all of their minds.

Diantha and Ramos were waiting for them outside when they left the Pokémon Center. Ramos then guided them through the city to what appeared to be a small private airport, which he explained as being run by a friend of his. To their surprise, the Gym Leader had arranged for them to be flown across Kalos in a private jet, piloted by the same man that ran the airport.

After some hasty goodbyes and a genuine thank-you to Ramos, the group filed into the small passenger compartment of the airliner and, just like that, they were off.

During the flight, not much was discussed until Clemont inquired as to whether anyone actually had a plan about what they were going to do once they reached their destination.

"Well, like I mentioned yesterday, the first thing to do would be to head for the sundial. It's near the center of town; it won't be hard to find."

"But…what about after that?"

"That's easy." Ash interrupted, a stern, defiant look on his face. "We find Serena and Seth, and we stop whatever those guys are planning to do today."

"…I don't know about you, Ash, but that doesn't exactly sound 'easy' to me." Clemont remarked.

"Don't worry." Diantha assured him. "There's a reason I'm coming along with you, you know. I wasn't named the Champion of Kalos based on my popularity, after all."

Clemont had no choice but to have faith in her words, and, following this exchange, not much in the way of conversation occurred for the remainder of the trip.

The reason for going to the trouble of using a personal jet instead of something easily accessible quickly became apparent to Ash, Clemont, and Bonnie, as scarcely two hours had passed before the pilot's voice crackled over the intercom, announcing that they were approaching Anistar City.

"Wow, that was really fast." Clemont commented, clearly impressed by the vessel's speed.

"Wait a second…aren't we forgetting something?!" Bonnie cried all of a sudden. "How are we gonna get down there? We can't just land, can we?"

Diantha grinned at her words and stood up, motioning for everyone to gather up around her. "Oh, don't worry about that. I've already taken care of it."

"Um…" Ash muttered awkwardly as the three of them plus Pikachu clustered up around her. "Okay, but…what exactly are we doing?"

"Hold on." Diantha explained, winking at him. "You'll see."

A few moments of silence passed before the voice came back over the intercom again. "Okay, Diantha. You guys are good to go. Good luck down there!"

"Thank you!" Diantha replied before looking down to Ash and the others. "All right then, are you ready? Gardevoir, come on out!"

None of them actually answered her question, instead taking the time to stare at Gardevoir in confused anticipation as their minds slowly put the pieces together. Clemont seemed to realize it first.

"Wait, don't tell me - !"

"Gardevoir, use Teleport! Take us down to the city!"

"Gaaarde-vooir!"

And just like that, they shimmered out of existence in the plane and reappeared a second later down on the ground, apparently now in the middle of Anistar City.

"Whoa…did we just…?!" Ash stammered, glancing around wide-eyed at the city as if to make sure it was real.

"Wow! That was so cool!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"Y-yeah…it was 'cool', all right…" Clemont remarked slowly, clearly shaken by the experience of blinking in and out of the physical realm, even if only for a brief time.

Diantha chuckled at their reactions. "I'm glad to see you all enjoyed the trip. Now, I believe it's time we make for the sundial, don't you?"

Ash looked over at her and nodded seriously, seemingly losing all of his wide-eyed wonder in merely a moment. "Yeah, you're right. Let's get moving."

"Pika pika!" Pikachu agreed.

With Diantha leading them through the streets, it didn't take them long to reach the large, open plaza that housed the sundial. However, the very second that they laid eyes upon it, they could tell that something was very wrong.

A group of half a dozen of the cloaked, hooded men that they had previously encountered had congregated around the base of the crystal, their presence having seemingly driven away all of the other passerbys for the time being. Seth was with them, as well, and along with a few large, empty, metal crates littering the surrounding area was a large device that appeared to be hooked up to the sundial itself through a series of wires and cables. And, standing in dead center of the device itself, was Serena.

"That's them, all right." Diantha confirmed as they approached the group of hooded men.

"Serena!" Ash cried out upon seeing her strapped into the device. The four of them stopped a few yards away from where the hooded men were standing.

"Ash…?" Serena murmured softly, leaving him to wonder if she was still under the effects of the Hypnosis or not.

"See? I told you they'd come, didn't I?" Seth announced proudly, stepping in front of Serena and crossing his arms with a defiant look in his eyes.

"Indeed you did. I knew you would turn out to be a valuable ally for us." One of the men replied.

"Come on, Seth! Don't you remember who we are?!" Clemont demanded.

"We're your friends, remember? You don't have to fight us!" Bonnie insisted.

"That's what you think." Seth replied, grinning at them darkly.

"Serena, come on! I know you can hear me!" Ash roared angrily.

"I…I have to do this. It's going to make everything better, don't you see…?" Serena argued, though it was clear from her tone that she wasn't so sure of herself.

"This is bad." Clemont murmured to Ash and the others. "That device she's strapped in to…it has to be the one that Korrina told us about. The one that induces Mega Evolution without a Mega Stone…"

"Yes, that seems to be the case." Diantha agreed. "But that doesn't explain why Serena is in it, or why it's apparently plugged into the sundial…"

"It doesn't matter!" Ash declared, raising his voice so that the hooded men could hear as well. "If Serena won't listen to us, then we're just gonna have to come over there and take her back ourselves!"

"Pii-kaachuuu!" Pikachu growled, glaring at the hooded men as sparks began flaring out of its cheeks.

"Oh, you think so, do you?" Another of the men replied arrogantly, five of them plus Seth moving forward to form a barricade. "Well, fortunately for you, the eclipse won't be here for a little while yet…so I suppose we do have some time to play with you."

Bonnie stepped back nervously as Ash, Clemont, and Diantha held their ground, sharing a glance before nodding to each other and turning to face down their opponents. The men simultaneously released their Pokémon almost at once, prompting Ash and the others to do the same.

"Fletchinder, I choose you!" Ash called before turning to his partner down on the ground. "You ready, buddy?"

"Pika pika!" Pikachu nodded, a fire in its eyes as it ran out beside Fletchinder on the field. The two of them were up against Seth's Aggron and a Sableye.

"Luxio, Bunnelby, I need your help!" Clemont cried, releasing his two Pokémon as well, who were pitted against a Mawile and a Misdreavus.

"Goodra, come on out!" Diantha called at last before turning to her own partner. "Gardevoir, are you ready?" Gardevoir nodded back to her almost without a second thought and stepped forward alongside Goodra, standing across the field from a Gengar and a Sigilyph. However, rather than a battle, what commenced instead was a nervous staredown between everyone present, person and Pokémon alike, each side daring the other to make the first move.

As the stalemate wore on, nobody seemed to notice that the moon, which had only been slightly visible in the late morning sky, was slowly but surely beginning to turn a bright shade of crimson. The sixth hooded man, the one not fighting and who was assumed to be their leader, looked up at the approaching eclipse and smiled menacingly.

Finally, after some time had passed in almost complete silence, neither side wanting to be the first one to attack, the last bit of gray on the moon was filled in with red, and almost at once, the sundial began to glow. Leader smiled and turned toward Serena with a fierce glint in his eye.

"Wait – look at the sundial!" Clemont cried, noticing the reaction almost at once. "Diantha, what's happening to it?"

"I – I don't know!" The Champion admitted.

"Don't you?" The trainer of the Gengar shot back. "That crystal is extremely susceptible to quite a few different unusual occurrences in regard to the Earth and the moon, possibly even the sun, too. So when something like, say, a lunar eclipse happens…"

"A…an eclipse?" Diantha trailed off, looking up at the blood moon now hanging over them in the sky.

"That's right. The crystal resonates sometimes at sunrise or sunset on its own, but not like it is right now…"

"And now that it IS resonating, and so strongly, at that…" Leader suddenly spoke up, not taking his eyes off of Serena and the sundial behind her. "All we have to do is force the reaction that occurs when Mega Evolution takes place, and feed that energy into the crystal. Then…its energy will explode, and ALL Pokémon far and wide will know the glory of Mega Evolution!"

"You're going to try to force all wild Pokémon to Mega Evolve?!" Diantha exclaimed in disbelief.

"B-but…you can't! Most Pokémon can't Mega Evolve even with a Key Stone and a Mega Stone! Who knows what this will do to them?! And even the ones that survive won't be able to control themselves!" Clemont argued rapidly, now more determined than ever to put a stop to the hooded men.

"We humans have devised a term for such proceedings…it is called natural selection." Leader replied grimly, without a hint of remorse. "The ones that are not worthy will be wiped away, and what remains will be the mightiest group of Pokémon ever to walk the planet. It is the next natural step of evolution!"

"No, you're wrong!" Ash declared. "Mega Evolution isn't just a power you can give out whenever you want! It's a symbol of the connection between two living things, a Trainer and his Pokémon! If you try to force that on everyone like some kind of king, you're only going to end up destroying everything!"

"M-Mega Evolution is…a symbol…" Seth repeated to himself softly, the words seeming to ring a bell somewhere deep in his mind.

"What do you know about it, boy?!" Leader spat angrily. "I have not come this far to be stopped by a whelp like you!"

"And there's one more thing I didn't mention!" Ash continued on, ignoring Leader's words entirely. "There's absolutely no way that I'd EVER let you get away with using Serena for all of this!"

"A-Ash…" Serena breathed, and at that moment, the remains of the Hypnosis attack that had been recast on herself and Seth this morning broke, and her mind became her own again. "Ash!"

"Serena?!" Ash called, noticing the tonal shift in her voice. He took one look at her, and knew it was the real her again. "Serena! Don't worry, we're gonna get you out of there!"

"Ash, no, you can't!"

"Oh, what's this? You broke our control over you?" Leader remarked, looking down at her condescendingly. "No matter; the eclipse is already here. It's time we finish this!" He moved over to the console that was plugged in to the machine that Serena was in and began working the buttons, preparing to activate the device.

"What do you mean, we can't?!" Ash cried, attempting to run forward toward her, but stopping when Aggron and Sableye barred his path.

"Ash, all of you, listen! When this thing turns on and resonates with the sundial crystal, the shockwave will destroy anybody nearby without a Key Stone to protect them from it!" Serena explained frantically.

"Wh-what?!" Ash stammered in disbelief.

"Did she just say what I think she said?" Clemont murmured in frustration.

"Wait, what about you?!" Ash called back to her.

"Well…" She held her hand up reluctantly to show the Mega Bracelet that was now present on her wrist. "They gave me this, with a Key Stone in it…I think it's for the procedure…but it doesn't matter, anyway. If this procedure is completed…I can't survive it."

"What?!" Ash boomed, turning to face Seth angrily. "You knew about this, and you didn't try to stop them?!"

Seth merely turned away from him with a pained expression on his face. Ash grunted angrily and turned to Diantha and Clemont. "Guys, come on! We have to do something!"

Clemont looked back at him helplessly. "Y-yeah, but…" He turned back to indicate the literal wall of men and enemy Pokémon separating them from Serena.

Diantha, meanwhile, continued staring thoughtfully at the machine Serena was in, and her position relative to that of their leader. A few moments later, she nodded to Gardevoir. "You know what to do? Then go."

In an instant, Gardevoir Teleported behind the men, ending up only a few feet away from Serena.

"H-huh? Diantha - ?!" Ash exclaimed in surprise, looking back and forth between the Champion and her partner. Diantha merely grinned.

"Oh, I see." Leader answered knowingly, pausing from his work on the console for a moment to regard Gardevoir, who was now only about three yards in front of him. "But…I'm afraid it's still not good enough. One should always be prepared for the unthinkable, after all."

Gardevoir ignored him and reached out for Serena, but before she could grab her, Leader pressed a button on the console, and Serena was instantly shocked with an intensity that almost brought her to her knees on the spot, causing Ash's eyes to widen in fury.

"You didn't think I'd have some of my own personal insurance, did you? That Mega Bracelet we gave her isn't just for show, you know…"

Diantha gritted her teeth angrily. "…Gardevoir, come back." She ordered hesitantly, prompting her Pokémon to rematerialize next to herself and Goodra.

"Now that that's settled…I believe it's time for the main event." Leader remarked smugly. "This machine will simulate the process of Mega Evolution on her body…all that she must do is activate her Key Stone at that point, and then the combined reaction of energy in her body will destroy her; her energy will then be transferred into the crystal…and it will us into a new age!"

"Wait, stop!" Ash insisted.

"You can't – " Diantha began urgently.

"Oh, but I CAN!" Leader remarked, flipping a switch on the console and turning the machine on. Within moments, a circular pad lowered over Serena's head, identical to the pad she was standing on, and the two began producing a strange, rainbow-colored light in the space between them; the very space that Serena was standing in.

"SERENAAAA!" Ash called out desperately, throwing caution to the wind and running toward her despite the obstacles in his path.

"Yeah, right - !" Sableye's trainer cried, only to be promptly slugged in the face and knocked out by Seth before he could actually make a move. Not even a moment later, Aggron took its trainer's cue and delivered a swift and decisive Superpower to Sableye, removing it from the equation as well.

"Huh…?" Ash stopped briefly as he locked eyes with Seth, who merely smiled and gave him a thumbs up. Ash didn't stop to argue and continued on past him.

"Hey - !" A couple of the other men grunted, noticing Seth's sudden betrayal and turning to go after Ash. Seth and Aggron quickly stepped in between Ash and the rest of them without missing a beat, and was soon joined by Clemont and Diantha, as well as their Pokémon, encircling them from the other side.

"What?! The boy broke out of our Hypnosis, too…?" Leader remarked disdainfully. "Don't come any closer!" He threatened, eyeing Ash and placing his hand over the trigger for Serena's shock bracelet.

Ash skidded to a stop at once and turned to Serena in frustration. The crystal sundial was glowing even brighter than before from its position behind her.

"Ash, I told you guys to get out of here!" Serena insisted.

"No way! I'm not leaving you behind!"

"You have to go, or we'll ALL be destroyed! At least if you get away, then you all can – "

"No! I already told you, I'm not leaving without you!"

"Ash…!"

"That's enough talk!" Leader interrupted. "The time has come. Activate your Key Stone! Complete the ceremony!"

Serena's eyes widened as she felt the last vestiges of the Hypnosis spell trigger in her mind, and her left arm began to rise unbidden. "A-Ash…you don't have much time left…you've got to go…"

"NO!" Ash roared defiantly. "If it's a choice between getting out of here and living without you, or staying here and dying along with you…then – I choose to STAY!"

For the first time in what seemed like an eternity, and despite the circumstances of everything that was currently going on around them, Serena's stomach did a backflip. "You…you…what?"

Ash's eyes fell to the ground, as he realized the leap he was taking by continuing to speak. "Everything that's been going on lately has made me realize…besides everything else that's important to me, like winning the Pokémon Leagues, or becoming a Pokémon Master…there's something else that's even more important to me than all of my other dreams. I didn't really get it at first, and I guess I still don't…but I know now that this has gotta be what I'm feeling." He looked up and met her gaze, and she saw a look in his eyes that she had never, ever seen before, not ever in her life. "I want to stay with you, Serena. Forever, beyond life and death. And, that's because…I love you."

"A-Ash – "

"That's ENOUGH! Activate the stone, NOW!"

"SERENAAA!"

"AAAASH!"

Despite her best efforts, Serena found that she couldn't resist the Hypnosis any longer, and she found herself bringing the Mega Bracelet up just as her other arm moved over to activate the Key Stone lodged inside of it.

"NOOOOO!" Ash bellowed, and just as he did, a rainbow-colored funnel of energy suddenly erupted from the crystal and into his body. He was instantly enveloped in a shimmering, rainbow-colored aura, and he felt the effects of it at once; his entire body felt as if it were supercharged, for lack of a better word.

"Wait…what's that?!" Clemont exclaimed, adjusting his glasses and staring at Ash in awe.

"The crystal…" Diantha mused. "It's almost as if it's sharing its power with Ash…"

"All right!" Bonnie cheered. "It's Mega Ash!"

"What – but how - ?!" Leader stammered angrily.

Ash frowned and clenched his fists, deciding to go with his gut instinct of accepting things at face value before charging forward. To everyone's surprise, though, he ran straight past Leader, and even past the machine and Serena, who was mere moments away from activating her Key Stone. He continued sprinting until he reached the base of the crystal, and when he did, he reared back and slammed his fist into it with all of his newfound power.

Almost at once, massive fractures began spreading throughout the entirety of the massive crystal, though it did not shatter. Leader realized what he was trying to do immediately, and abandoned his console to try and intercept him.

"What do you think you're doing?! You'll pay for attempting to interfere!" He roared, sprinting toward Ash with hatred in his eyes. Ash paused and turned away from the crystal for a moment, meeting the man's cold glare with one of his own. Leader reared back to swing at him, but before he could make contact, Ash surged forward, his hat flying off in the process as he used his body's newfound power to grab Leader by the head, and launch him back so far that he landed near the other hooded men, with the wind completely and utterly knocked out of him.

Everyone seemed frozen in shock, and all eyes were on Ash as he turned back to the gigantic sundial one last time. With a sense of finality in his eyes, he clenched his fist, reared back, and delivered one final blow to the crystal, pouring every bit of his 'Mega Evolution's power into the blow. Many more fractures appeared upon the tops of the old ones, and then, almost entirely at once, the crystal shattered into a rain of thousands of small shards, just as the blood moon hanging in the sky above them began to fade back to its natural color.

As it turned out, the machine Serena had been in didn't actually end up doing anything to her, likely due to the fact that she never actually activated the Key Stone, and, of course, the fact that she was not a Pokémon. The power Ash had obtained from the crystal disappeared as quickly as it had come, but before any of the hooded men could make any serious moves against any of them, a squad of Officer Jennys showed up, apparently following a report that a civilian had made upon being forced to clear the sundial plaza some time earlier that morning. The Jennys took the men into custody and cordoned off the plaza to do further investigation on the machine they had been using, as well as to clean up the remains of the sundial.

Upon explanation of the situation to them, they also decided not to hold Ash accountable for destroying the valuable icon of the city that had been the crystalline sundial, though they still admitted that Anistar City would never be quite the same without it.

The five friends, as well as Diantha, ended up reconciling after all of the other stuff had finally been taken care of. Seth apologized for what he had done while under Hypnosis, as well as Serena. Diantha agreed to get them all a ride back to Coumarine City so that they could resume their journey where they left off, an offer which they happily took her up on.

As the afternoon wore on, Diantha had still not returned with their promised transportation, and despite the fact that they had appreciated the chance to rest after the morning's events, they were now finally beginning to grow restless.

The five of them had been relaxing in the city park, which a portion of rested near the edge of the city, giving a perfect view of the large river that ran beside the town.

"You know…I really didn't think I'd say this today, but…I'm bored." Bonnie admitted sadly.

"Yeah…I wonder where Diantha ended up going?" Clemont pondered. They were all occupying the same bench, going in order of Ash, Clemont, Bonnie, Seth, Serena down the line.

"Who knows?" Seth remarked, jumping up suddenly and stretching, as if gaining a sudden burst of energy. "If you guys are really bored, though, I bet we can go find something to do back in town."

"Mm…yeah, I guess you're right." Bonnie agreed, getting up to join him. "It's gotta be better than sitting around here."

"Well, if Bonnie's going, then I guess I'll be joining you, too." Clemont said, also getting from the bench, leaving Ash and Serena alone on opposite ends.

"Y-yeah, sounds like fun – " Ash began, standing up but being blocked in his path by Seth.

"Ah-ah-ah." Seth scolded. "You two don't get to come along."

"What?! Why not?" Ash whined.

"Because you two haven't spoken all day, and I'd like to actually have fun exploring the town." Seth explained bluntly.

"I hate to say it, Ash, but he does have a point." Clemont agreed.

"Wha – Clemont, you too?!"

"You two play nice while we're gone, okay?" Bonnie added teasingly, giggling at him as she spoke.

"What – I – wait a minute, you guys!" Ash persisted, but the three of them merely ran away as he spoke, smiling and laughing back at him all the way out of the park.

He remained standing there a moment before finally turning back to Serena, who was turned away from him. He slowly and awkwardly maneuvered his way back to the bench, grappling with himself mentally before finally deciding to sit down right next to her.

"S-so…um…Serena…" Ash began slowly, honestly at a complete and utter loss as to what he was supposed to say to her. She remained looking away from him, causing the silence to persist once again until Ash decided to take a different approach. "Look…I'm sorry if you're all confused because of what I said back there. To be honest, I didn't really even know what I was doing…I just kinda did it, and said whatever came to my mind." She remained silent once again. He looked down at his hand and flexed it slightly, back and forth a few times. "You know, Diantha said she thinks that whatever came out of that crystal had something to do with powerful emotions. So even if I don't really know what I was talking about, that at least means something…right?"

Serena still maintained her posture, and clenched her fists across her lap at his words this time. He sighed, as even he could tell that he wasn't making any progress with her. "All right, well…if you want to, we could just pretend like none of this ever happened. I think it'd be worth it if you would just…talk to me again."

At that, just as he was about to get up and walk away, she finally snapped and turned to face him, so quickly that Ash almost jumped. "Ash…"

"Uh…?" Ash grunted in response, not sure what else to say. She merely sat there for a few moments, meeting his confused look with a piercing one of her own.

"…Did…did you really mean it? What you said back there?"

"Huh…?" Ash breathed, getting a slight feeling that this might be the reason she had been ignoring him all day. To him, it seemed almost like a stupid question, but he could tell just by looking at her that somewhere deep inside of her, she needed to hear him tell her himself. "Of course I did. Do you think I could make up…stuff like that?"

At his words, she finally broke into a smile, and to Ash, that might as well have been the equivalent of the heavens themselves parting. "Oh…Ash! Thank you!" She exclaimed, moving forward and throwing her arms around him.

"Serena…?"

"You don't know how long I've wanted to hear that from you…" Serena told him softly as she rested her head against his chest. "So many days of wondering what you thought about me, or if you even particularly noticed me…and then feeling worried, because of everything that's been going on recently…"

Ash's expression softened, and he awkwardly but delicately reached around and put an arm around her. "You…weren't the only one, you know..."

She looked up at him and smiled, and like a sudden rush, all of her memories of her developing feelings for him suddenly surged into the forefront of her mind. She remembered how she felt when she first met him as a child, the feeling that she later realized was a crush. She remembered the exhilaration she felt when she saw him on TV, and set out to go and meet up with him. There was the nervousness she felt upon meeting him again which quickly transitioned into admiration and attraction, feelings that only became stronger over time. She regretfully remembered feeling twinges of jealousy when they encountered Korrina, and the dedication she had felt toward him that led her to swim to the Tower of Mastery on her own. She remembered the night that they had almost kissed under the moonlight…and the crushing disappointment she had felt when she'd allowed herself to believe that that could never happen.

With all of these feelings rushing through her head, she brought her face right up next to his, and uttered four simple words to him before boldly closing the gap and sharing her first kiss with him.

"I love you, too."

As I mentioned before, I'm not really sure how well this one turned out, relatively speaking, because of the gaps in chapter updates. When you take a break from something for that long, you can sometimes notice a difference in the quality even after you pick it up again...Love is Blind II seemed to survive intact, back when I wrote that, but this one I'm not so sure about, unfortunately. I suppose I will leave that up to you all to decide.

With that being said, it is a huge relief to have this finally be finished! I know I didn't really bother much with the villains in this one, but I think that's because I'm tired of writing up reasoning and backstory for villains in these Pokemon fics; it always ends up being the same thing, more or less, because when you really delve into it, there's not much wiggle room to have 'bad guys' that are relevant to a blossoming relationship in the Pokemon universe, everyone is too nice for that. The only real villains you can have are just self-indulgent criminals, possibly ones with a larger vision, and I think I was just tired of trying to flesh out something for the umpteenth time that ultimately would just end up being the same as all of the other bad guys I've written (for Pokemon).

Anyway, I am at least happy with how it all ultimately ended, at least as far as Ash and Serena are concerned. I might've liked writing a bit more of a bookend to Korrina and Seth's characters, but in the end I ultimately just decided that it wasn't really necessary to the overall story. I hope you guys have enjoyed reading it, as it is, as much as I have enjoyed writing it! Thanks again for sticking with it through all the delays!