Authoress' Note:

Well, this is it. The final chapter of this story! I hope you find it enjoyable and… hopefully I cover all loose ends. What's next from me is an idea which I'm still deciding whether to write or animate. If it comes as the later, I'll be sharing it on my tumblr, which you can find in my bio. :)

Special thanks to all my reviewers for keeping my spirits up through the whole thing! Even if I didn't always give you an answer, know that I was always happy to read them, so thank you everyone! This one is for you all!

Epilogue

"Please tell me we got them all," an officer pleaded as he stretched his arms over his head, causing a few bones to pop.

"Officer Jenny says there could still be a few criminals in the loose through the island," his partner explained. "We are going to be divided in search parties to explore it all and make sure no one escapes."

"I can already tell it's going to be a long night..."

Any further complaint was frozen in the officer's mouth at the sound of rustling bushes. Due to the nature of their conversation, they were immediately in high alert, preparing themselves to confront whatever was coming.

What came out into their illuminated surroundings however, went beyond their comprehension. It was a bit hard to distinguish the blue uniform within capes of mud and leaves, but the faces were still familiar. Three officers slumped forward just as a turtle like Pokémon made itself visible, looking quite a lot better than their teammates.

"We… finally made it," one of them whizzed out; his voice muffled by the fact he didn't bother to raise his face off the ground.

"What in Arceus sake happened to you?"

"We came searching for Turtonator's trainer," another explained as he tried to get up. "Nobody told us the forest was practically a mine camp of traps…"

"Didn't one of the kids was talking about his Pokémon being left behind?"

"Yeah, he was in a hurry to find it, so the kids left with John and Len."

"Wait what?!" all three muddy officer shouted at the same time.

"Yeah, they are heading for the camp set at shore."

Turntonator stared with his mouth hanging open. They had missed his trainer somewhere in their way there...

.:oOo:.

It was a quiet walk through the dark forest, with no eventualities thanks to Mewtwo's guidance. Kukui walked behind the group, just beside Fenriar to keep an eye on everyone. He was actually relieved to see that none of the kids seemed psychologically scarred by their experience. He had been particularly worried about Ash, but as always, he appeared to be in a cheerful mood, even if he seemed ready to fall over in exhaustion.

Kukui frowned. The kid had stubbornly insisted in walking on his own despite their objections. And the Professor was painfully aware Ash was only trying to appear strong for his friends. As noble a cause that was, it was still reckless, so he made a mental note to keep an eye on his behavior in case the kid's body decided to follow through on Kukui's predictions.

"So, what's going to happen with Team Flare now?" Serena was asking in curiosity.

"It turned out, the International Police had been investigating this group when they first started operating," one of the officers accompanying them mentioned. "They will be taking responsibility for them once we head back to the islands."

"The International Police?" Mallow asked.

"It's a police force that has jurisdiction and operates over most of the regions around the globe," Professor Kukui explained. "They normally take charge in investigating dangerous criminal groups like Team Flare."

He almost cut his explanation short at seeing Ash stumbling forward, but relaxed once Ash managed to find his footing almost immediately and so smoothly it almost had looked intentional. The Pokémon beside him sent him worried glances, but didn't say anything when seeing Ash's dismissive gesture.

Fenriar was another story, Kukui noted when hearing the beast huffing in something akin to exasperation before doubling its step forward.

The kid's surprised yell stop the group on their tracks to look behind them, were Fenriar was lifting the trainer off the floor by the collar of his shirt.

"What are you doing Fen-Whoa!" before he knew it, Ash was already sitting on Fenriar's back blinking in confusion.

Bonnie was the first to react, running to Fenriar and jumping in excitement with uncontained giggles. "Me too! Me too! I want a ride!"

"Bonnie!" Clemont looked both worried and exasperated.

Fenriar seemed a bit confused at the child's hyperactivity, but it wasn't long before it caved to her request, sitting her just in front of Ash. Seeing Fenriar continued to walk as if nothing had happened, the rest of the group followed; previous conversation long forgotten.

"Yay! This is so cool!" Bonnie laughed.

Kukui raised his eyebrows at seeing Fenriar somehow managing to look amused, despite its beastly features.

"I must say, Fenriar is a lot friendlier than the legends implied," Lillie mentioned with a smile.

It was as if a light bulb had turned on right on top of Ash's head.

"You know the legends, Lillie?" he asked her in sudden excitement. "Do they mention anything about Fenriar's siblings?"

This got the wolf-like Pokémon's attention and the curious glances of the rest.

Lillie nodded as she frowned in thought. "Jorminder y Haidee... There is not much information about Jorminder. In Nordic cultures, they associate Gyarados as direct descendants from this sibling. It was described as a huge sea serpent that could surround the Earth with its length..."

"Wow! That's huge!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"What about Fenriar's sister?" Ash pressed.

"She was the youngest. All stories shown her as a human girl with dark hair and pale skin, but due to the nature of her siblings, it is put into question if that is her true form."

Ash nodded in understanding. When he saw her in the memory, he almost thought she was a ghost. There was definitely something extra-natural about her.

"So Fenriar has siblings… That's so sweet!" Mallow commented.

"Fenriar has been looking for them—" Ash explained before pausing, unable to contain a yawn. He continued, rubbing at his teary eyes. "...I thought maybe the legends could give clues to their whereabouts."

Fenriar roared in interest, managing to express its desire to know more. Seeing this, Lillie concentrated further.

"All versions of the legend vary in content…" she finally said. "And they are not very detailed as to talk about specific locations. But seeing as they originated from Nordic lands, I would suggest starting there."

"Are you from those lands, Fenriar?" Bonnie asked, receiving a slight nod.

"If you need help, I can take you there once we leave," Mewtwo offered.

"You are leaving?" Clemont asked.

"The island has been discovered. It is far too dangerous to stay," he explained as he glared at the memory of Lysandre's face. "We can't risk other humans like those in Team Flare to find us."

"Hey Ash, are you okay?" Lana's question was met with silence, so Bonnie turned her head upwards to look at his face and noticed he had slumped slightly forward.

"Is he… snoring?" she blinked. Understanding the situation Bonnie grinned broadly, reassuring the others around them. "He's just taking a nap."

"I guess it is only natural," Clemont tried to reason. "I can't imagine how exhausting it must be to have all your energy drained and refilled."

"And, he is not the only one," Kiawe mentioned, wishing he could just let himself drop to the ground and lie there for hours.

"We are almost there," Mewtwo announced for their sakes.

.:oOo:.

And indeed, it wasn't long before they found the shore, and eventually the police camp. The officers' initial reaction was to send wary glances to the huge beast and the bipedal Pokémon approaching, but once they saw the kids and their teammates, they knew not to worry and concentrated instead on receiving the group by providing them with a health check; which made most of the kids whine; and the promise of a warm dinner; which got them more willing to cooperate at the prospect of food.

Soon enough, the camp was eased up into a sense of normalcy despite the initial circumstances and Mewtwo found himself conversing with Pikachu; Fenriar standing in the sidelines, content with just listening.

"I see. So it was no coincidence that you were here." Mewtwo noted, not looking even slightly surprised at what he had been told.

"Pi pika…" Pikachu nodded. "Pikapi pi-pika pika pikachu."

"That sounds troublesome indeed."

Pikachu sighed in agreement before murmuring with a deadpan expression. "Pika pi pi chu chupi…"

That got a confused expression from both listeners. "What do you mean he has a record for the longest head first dive?"

"Excuse me," Serena's voice got their attention to the approaching girl and her starter, who were carrying each a tray of desserts. "Our first batch of Poképuffs just came out, so I was wondering if you would like any," she said timidly.

Pikachu right away agreed, saying his thanks as Braixen let him choose one from her own tray. Seeing the electric type enjoying the treat was prompt enough for Mewtwo to levitate two Poképuff with Telekinesis for Fenriar and himself.

"Th-thank you… for what you did for Ash," Serena suddenly said, unable to stop herself from stammering her gratitude at such an intimidating presence.

"So, you are one of Ash's friends," the Pokémon commented.

"Pi, Pikapi, chu chu pi," Pikachu said grinning mischievously.

Fenriar perked up in interest.

"I see…" he took a bite from the Pokétreat before adding. "Do make sure to keep her safe."

"W-What?" Serena suddenly felt her face warming up for some reason. "What did you tell him, Pikachu?"

Instead of answering, he smiled even wider. That didn't comfort her at all.

"Brai, Braixen-brai," her fire-type shrugged with a dismissing expression.

"Oh, so that is what you call a joke," he looked at the puff in thought. Then back at Serena making the girl shrink a little. "Too bad…"

"H-Huh?!"

Both Braixen and Pikachu smirked in amusement.

.:oOo:.

At the other side of the camp, Ash was just walking out of the medical tent, complaining about being hungry and wondering why his checkup took longer than the others'.

"It shouldn't be surprising after what happened," Clemont commented patiently as he walked towards his friend beside Greninja with two warm bowls of soup each.

"Thanks, Greninja!" Ash said taking one of the bowls from his Pokémon. "Still… you could have waked me up..."

They went to sit a little far away from everyone else, where Kiawe hadn't even touch his food, sulking in his lonesome; dark waves of depressing aura could be seen coming from him.

"You haven't found Turtonator yet?" Ash guessed, getting him out of his dark musings.

"The officers I asked said he went looking for me!" he cried. "For all we know he is somewhere lost in the forest!"

"I'm sure he's fine," Clemont tried to reassure him. "He went with three other officers, so they'll make sure he is safe."

"Here's an idea!" Ash said brightly as they took seat beside him. "Why don't we finish eating and then go looking for them?"

Kiawe threw him a deadpan look. "In your condition? Don't be stupid."

"I'm totally fine!" Ash retorted with a bright smile, just as Greninja passed him the second bowl; the contents of the first completely gone. "I just need to eat so I can gain back my energy!"

Clemont smiled a bit unsure; Kiawe on the other hand frowned in thought. Ash continued eating without concerns, already in his third bowl when he finally noticed his friend's expression.

"Kiawe, your head is steaming…"

"Huh?"

"You are making that face that you do when you are thinking too hard," Ash explained as he pointed at his own face and frowned with an exaggerated visual imitation.

Clemont watched his friend's antics with certain amusement, but didn't comment about how Ash himself tended to do that same expression when he was thinking too hard.

"That's your fault!"

"Huh? How is that my fault?" Ash asked with a confused frown.

"You just keep avoiding talking! That's why!"

"What are you-?"

"A group of wanted criminals just kidnapped you and almost killed you in their attempt to destroy the world! And you act like nothing's wrong! That's just… not normal!"

Seeing as Ash was not about to give an answer to that, being too busy feeling speechless, Clemont decided to give him a hand.

"It may not be my business but… maybe I could help you understand?" Clemont offered. Kiawe kept quiet but looked attentive, so Clemont guessed that was his permission to continue. "During our journey through Kalos, we encountered an undiscovered Pokémon and befriended it. It turned out, Team Flare was after it, trying to control its power so they could rebuild the world by destroying it first; much like they were trying to do with Fenriar… Because of that, we ended up confronting them several times along the way. It could be we just created some kind of... immunity to feel scared in certain situations; even if we still took them seriously."

Kiawe stared at the two of them, trying to understand their point of view with the new information he'd been told, but there was something still bugging him.

"I guess I can understand that much," he said. "But that's no reason to bottle up everything. Why be afraid of telling your friends everything that happened, if they can deal with it as much as you?"

Clemont looked confused, but Kiawe noticed Ash's expression going carefully neutral.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, don't you?" Kiawe asked him directly. "Something happened then and you kept quiet about it. The Team Flare crazy ladies hinted as much. And now, you are doing it again with whatever happened that got your Pokémon so upset with you."

Ash seemed to clam up with a very serious expression. Kiawe was afraid he had made his friend angry with his bold prying, but Ash only closed his eyes and sighed in resignation, taking a hand towards the back of his head.

"Is not that I'm afraid you know. It's just… I don't see the point of worrying anyone over something that was already solved, anyway."

Clemont frowned with uncertainty, still caught in what Kiawe had said. "When you said 'then' are you talking about the incident back in Kalos? Did something else happen?" he whispered to himself unsure.

As he did, he thought back to that time, hoping to grasp something he was missing… There was a long period of time when none of them knew where Ash was during the attack, and they were so invested in solving their own problems, none of them thought to search for him, even though he said he was going to meet them back at the Prism Tower and didn't make it until later on. And then he noticed it. The weird part of the turn of events. The piece he should have wondered about then, but didn't even cross his mind because there was a world threatening emergency to attend.

"Before we met back at Prism Tower during Team Flare's take over…" Clemont looked at Ash as he started, noticing his poker face slipping slightly into a wary frown. "You said you were going to go searching for Mairin with Alain and then meet us back at the tower, but she arrived alone with neither of you. She said she did meet you and that you were heading that way. Still, we fought our way in, but never saw you there until after we have taken the tower back. Something happened during that timeframe, right? Something kept you from arriving until then."

Ash turned his sight away from them as if embarrassed, before he spoke a lot more quietly than what was normal of him. "It… was kind of like that. I mean… we got there earlier. Or at least I think so… I just don't know at what time that was exactly…"

Clemont frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I- we were…" Ash took a long breath and tried again. This was a bit of a delicate part to explain, since he didn't want to mention how Alain had been part of their organization; even if it was for the right reasons. "Alain and I were ambushed by the purple-haired lady when we were trying to reach Mairin and... I was careless so one of her Pokémon knocked me out. Next thing I know, we are at the top of Prism Tower, seeing the city being destroyed by Zygarde."

They kept quiet after the end of the explanation. Clemont trying to piece together what Ash meant with what little he said and what he wasn't saying… It seemed Team Flare had actively confronted them out of nowhere. Which didn't sound logical. Why go out of their way to confront a couple of trainers that weren't even near their target? If anything they would have kept them busy so they could not reach the Tower. But they had instead taken them right where they were operating… why? ...Then the conversation with the Team Flare admins in the forest came to his mind and something clicked.

"T-This… is not the first time you've been targeted by them…" he whispered in realization. A feeling of guilt drowning his stomach at the thought of Ash needing help and not getting it even though Clemont was so close by. If only he had noticed before...

Ash looked incredibly uncomfortable, just proving Clemont's guess to be right. Kiawe caught on fast and folded his arms.

"And it had to do with your bond with Greninja," he guessed.

"Why would they have been so interested in that?" Clemont asked outloud as he thought hard on what use that could give them. Were they trying to study how it worked to replicate it perhaps?

"Lysandre said they wanted to control it," Ash answered in automatic.

"Control it?" that didn't make sense, for that to work they would need to control the u… sers... "The red beam!" Clemont exclaimed in sudden realization.

"Huh?!" both Ash and Kiawe jumped at the sudden outburst.

Flashbacks of the time were he was exposed to the same red light came back to his mind. Thankfully, he had been prepared. But even with the neutralizing chip he used to protect his mind, he remembered it being painful. He couldn't even begin to imagine how much more painful the experience would have been, had he being hit with the laser without protection. He shivered at the thought.

"What beam?" Kiawe asked in complete confusion.

"There was this control system Xerosic built to control Zygarde!" Clemont explained. "Once they managed it, it was really hard to make it snap out of it!" he turned to Ash next. "Did they try to use it on you too?"

Ash looked a bit panicky at this and raised his palms in defense. "Y-Yeah but, we managed to break free before anything happened! Beside, we were fine after that, right?! So you don't have to worry about it!"

Greninja nodded beside him, supporting his trainer's statement.

So that was it, Kiawe thought. Whatever he didn't want to tell them had to do with what that beam did. And if he was reading Ash's reaction correctly, it was more serious than what he was trying to make it sound.

"But they still used the beam on you, didn't they?" Seeing as Ash refused to admit if he had guessed correctly, Clemont pressed. "Ash, if that's what it was you need to tell me! What if that thing had secondary effects on you and Greninja? We should have given you a check for lingering control waves or something!"

"You were also hit by it and you were fine, why would we be any different?" Ash asked in sudden irritation.

"I was using a multi magnetic wave blocker!" Clemont explained as if it was obvious. "Jamming number 1, remember?"

"A what?" Kiawe's question was completely ignored.

"I'm fine," Ash said forcefully as he turned away and crossed his arms. "No use worrying about it now. Nothing happened."

The only lasting effects had been sore muscles and a very annoying headache that went away a couple of days after. Something he didn't dim worth mentioning.

Clemont looked doubtful but decided to let it go anyway. "I didn't mean to be nosy, but we are friends, right? I just want to make sure you are okay…"

Ash deflated at that and looked back at his two friends. "Sorry about that. I just, don't want you to get all worried about it. I mean, it's not the first- ...I-It's not a big deal. Really."

Kiawe frowned noticing how Ash had slipped and stutter at the end. He couldn't help feeling like Ash was hiding more than they first thought, but maybe it wasn't wise to push him to tell them. Yet…

"Ash, whenever you need someone to talk to, you know you can count on your friends, right?" Kiawe said. "We can take it."

Clemont nodded his agreement and Ash looked at them both with slight surprise before the beginnings of a smile started to form.

"Got it. Thanks!"

.:oOo:.

A little ways away from them, Slowking stood apparently alone, content in just watching the camp completely unnoticed.

"Another world crisis comes and goes," he suddenly said, receiving a snort in response. He smiled knowingly, but didn't comment, letting the other presence make themselves known.

"You say that as if it was common occurrence…"

"It might as well be as far as the chosen is concerned," he answered back without turning to look at the translucent man in blue behind him.

"I still think he is too young to be dealing with that prophecy of yours," the man commented in disapproval. "But you know? ...I can't help but feel like there is no one else better suited for the job."

Slowking nodded, agreeing to both statements. As the silence set back comfortably between them, Tyrus leaned his back against a tree and looked up at its branches, lost in a memory.

"When I was retelling Fenriar's story, I was ready to be judged harshly, or at least get a complaint of why I didn't explained myself to Fenriar sooner. But that never happened," he said. "Instead... He showed Fenriar his memories of our conversation, so it wouldn't be mad at me for what I did."

"That does sound like him," Slowking commented with slight amusement.

Tyrus smiled. "He is a good kid, alright."

.:oOo:.

Early afternoon of the next day found Team Rocket sprawled on the forest's grass back at Melemele Island. After an almost all-nighter traveling through the ocean, their only concern was to catch up on some sleep. So when several flying rides passed by over the top of the trees, they barely looked up in slight interest.

"Aren't those the police rides we saw yesterday?" James pointed out.

"D' twerps must be back too," Meowth agreed.

"Well, whatever," Jessie dismissively turned around to try and keep sleeping. "As long as the bratty kid doesn't get himself involved in another end of the world fiasco for the next twenty four hours…"

"Make that a month," James requested earning a snort from his female teammate.

"You are dreaming impossible."

"In dreams is where I wish to be right now," Meowth commented, already closing his eyes sleepily.

"Team Rocket is taking a nap for today…"

"Wobo-wobbuffet…"