At exactly 08:59 hours, Ashton and Aurian Borealis screeched to a halt in front of the G-Men Commander's office, travel duffels and thermoses of coffee in hand.

"Did you really have to oversleep, Ash?" Aurian hissed, knocking five times on the door.

Ash groaned. "It's not my fault that these damn formal uniforms take so long to meet regulation and that my alarm didn't go off!"

"More like you didn't set any," Aurian grumbled, quickly pulling her unruly mane of copper curls into a ponyta-tail.

"I heard that!" Ash protested. "I swear I did, right, Pikachu?"

The little electric rodent shrugged. "Pikapi pikachu-chu-pi, kapi. Cha?"

"Great, even my starter's taking my sister's side," Ash said, sighing as the door opened.

Lance Luxforde greeted his Colonels with a smile and an open box of donuts sitting on his desk.

"Morning, you two. I have your mission brief ready to read, but there are a few procedural matters we need to take care of before you depart for Kalos."

Aurian raised an eyebrow, half of a chocolate-covered donut in her mouth.

Lance chuckled. "First off: Research has been working on prototype combat uniforms that need testing. Go find Steven before you leave; he's barely been able to contain his excitement over this new project. Second: have you checked on the Armada chain of command for your absence?"

Ash nodded. "Yes sir- Riley's nominated Wes and Hiori to take over while we're across the ocean. We'll be in contact with them as regularly as we can manage to check on the functionality of our unit. Can't lose that first-place ranking the Armada earned, can we?"

"Of course not. Last- do you have everything you need for the mission?"

"I believe we do," Aurian said, running through a mental checklist. "Clothes to last for a while, we're keeping our main Pokemon teams for uniformed combat purposes, Pokegears, we'll get new Pokedexes once we meet with Professor Sycamore..."

"Plus Father's research, contained in an old Guardian pouch that was engineered to be bigger on the inside," Ash added. "We're not sure how they did that but we're not complaining."

Lance nodded. "Very well. Go meet with Steven, Riley and I will meet you at the International Police Headquarters in Castelia to proceed."

Ash and Aurian stood, saluted, and dashed out the door, taking care not to let it slam.

"You know, I'm amazed that Research is willing to give us more prototypes after what we did to the last pair in Sinnoh," Ash said, taking a flight of stairs at nearly a sprint and stumbling halfway down.

Aurian rolled her eyes. "Careful, brother, can't have you injuring yourself before the mission instead of during it."

"Yeah, yeah. We can just aura ourselves back to normal now since our reserves are fully replenished! I missed being able to heal paper cuts with a snap of the fingers while we were down and out. I think those books in Rota had it out for me, Ri," Ash said, nudging Aurian in the shoulder.

"We'll have to be careful about that in Kalos- they've had no active Guardians since well before the Great War. We can't raise any suspicion as to what we are or Lance and Riley have no choice but to pull us back," Aurian replied, eyebrows furrowed. "Can't be nearly as risky as we were last time."

Ash nodded. "Perks of surviving multiple nearly-deadly encounters on the same mission: you learn what not to do in an emergency."

The younger patonai knocked twice on the Research and Development office's door, crossing her arms while she waited. "Did we really have a choice other than Alea, though?"

Ash's answer was interrupted by a gleeful laugh as Steven Stone opened the door, eyes bright and hair a wreck, as usual.

"Welcome back, patonai!" Steven said, clapping his hands together and escorting the pair into the room. "Lance sent you to pick up your new uniforms, didn't he?"

Aurian nodded. "Steven, you already know the answer. Come on, don't keep us waiting!"

"Presenting model A017: the White Knight," Steven announced, pulling two brand-new uniforms from a side cabinet.

Ash gasped. "Holy crap, Steven, these are even better than the Twilight models!"

"We can't thank you enough," Aurian said, running her fingers over the Colonel insignia on the right arm and the symbols of the Armada and the Guardians worked into the armored back and breastplate.

Steven chuckled. "I'm glad you've taken such a shine to them! We figured that your invisibility tricks counteracted the need to stay within official dress code colors, so we thought we'd experiment with white and grey. Plus, it'll be a little chilly where you'll be- these are insulated for your protection with shed Milotic scales. We have your standard steel-woven fabric, but we reinforced the armored areas with Bastiodon skin just to be safe."

"I didn't think you could top your past creation," Ash whistled, folding the uniform and stashing it in the bottom of his backpack, "but I'm very glad you did. Many thanks, Steven, we'll let you know how they perform in the field."

Steven nodded. "Try to bring them back in one piece this time, yes?"

Aurian laughed as she and her brother exited the room. "No guarantees!"

Two pairs of combat boots moved in perfect sync to the Armada headquarters.

"Think the boys will be excited to see us?" Aurian asked.

Ash shrugged. "To see us? Yes. To find out that we're leaving them? Probably not. Wes won't be happy that he's in charge of our favorite hooligans again."

"He did a great job last time," she said. "Headquarters wasn't destroyed when we got back."

Ash laughed as they entered the familiar blue-painted space. Their comrades immediately perked up once the door slammed, looking away from their books, research files, and foosball games.

"Patonai!" Michael said, limping over to his friends. "You're back! How was your sabbatical?"

"Not long enough," Aurian chuckled, embracing the younger trainer. "Has your recovery been smooth?"

Michael sighed. "They won't let me on active missions anymore. I'm still a member of the Armada, but Riley has me focusing more on Research and case monitoring than anything else. Everything's healed just fine but I'll be limping for the rest of my life, unfortunately."

Ash put an arm around his heartbroken brother-in-arms. "Can we do anything?"

"Take me with you, wherever you're going?" Michael pleaded, pouting like a baby Poochyena. "Kidding, kidding."

Wes clapped Aurian on the shoulder. "You're probably off to save the world again, aren't you?"

"I really hope it doesn't come to that," Aurian said, "we're just observers for now. Here's hoping we don't have to call in the Cavalry."

Eusine nodded, gently setting his book on the edge of the couch. "As much as I enjoyed our last combat assignment, we don't need a replay of that any time soon."

Murmurs of assent filled the room.

"Am I in charge again?" Wes asked, eyeing the patonai's travel supplies. "Looks like you'll be out for a while."

Ash nodded. "While we're in Kalos, Wes and Hiori will be in charge. If you riot for them, we'll make your lives miserable when we get back. Clear?"

The assembled company saluted as Hiori and Wes fist-bumped.

Ash and Aurian exchanged hugs and goodbyes with their comrades and left for Riley's office to check in with their commander.

"Leaving never gets easier, does it?" Aurian asked.

Ash shook his head. "Never. Our brothers will be fine, but I still worry about them."

"Especially if Wes runs PT for the next few weeks. Lord, they'll be sore," Aurian said, shuddering at the mental image of the excessively-athletic Wes running the Armada's morning work-out block.

Silence came between the siblings as they reached Riley's door. Aurian knocked twice and the Armada commander opened, hat in hand.

"You're back! Dropping in before heading to Kalos?" Riley asked.

Ash nodded. "That's the plan. We wanted to ask about Michael-"

Riley's face fell. "The bullet he took two months ago shattered his femur and the muscles around it. He spent fifteen hours in reconstructive surgery, patonai, and it's all he can do to walk without pain. I'm just as devastated as you are, he was one of our best field operatives. Damn Andan."

"Is there really nothing we can do?" Aurian asked. "Would aura be of any help here?"

"We're wielders, not biological miracle-workers," Riley replied. "As much as I wish we could pool our resources and fix things, we can't reconstruct frayed nerve endings. I'll keep researching alongside Michael for now- he's come incredibly close to purifying Tobias' Shadow Pokemon. We might hit a breakthrough within the next few weeks."

Ash sighed. "Understood. Are you coming with us to Unova to meet with the International Police?"

"That's why I was nearly out the door," Riley said, grabbing his bag. "Ready to leave?"

"Honestly?" Aurian paused, eyes closed. "I don't know. Are we throwing ourselves into another Global Invitational? Could Flare be as destructive as Andan was?"

Ash took his sister's hand. "There's a possibility, yes, but we have foresight going in. We know how to shut something of this size down. It's up to us to keep it from getting that bad."

"Good answer," Riley said. "Ash, can you take us to Castelia?"

Ash nodded, releasing his Gallade. "Xiphos, take us to IP Headquarters."

The dual-type enveloped the trio in light and they vanished, leaving only an echo of their words behind.

The patonai appeared in front of a looming skyscraper in Castelia City, the International Police logo hanging over their heads as Riley led them into the bustling headquarters. Men and women in uniforms of all kinds hurried around the main atrium, pausing whatever they were doing to take in the odd sight of teenagers in formal military regalia.

Whispers followed Ash and Aurian as Riley led the way to where a tall man in a trenchcoat stood, arms crossed.

"I really thought we'd be used to this by now," Aurian muttered, fidgeting with her shoulder cape. "Yes, we're young. Yes, we're military, no, we're not anyone's kids."

Ash kept an eye on those staring and took a protective few strides in front of his younger sister, attempting to shield her from curious eyes.

"Detective Looker," Riley said, extending a hand to the trenchcoat-sporting man.

Looker nodded. "Good to see you again, Riley. Are these Colonels Borealis and Borealis?"

Ash shook Looker's hand. "Ashton Borealis, pleased to meet you."

"Aurian Borealis, likewise," she said, returning the motion. "Where to now?"

Looker frowned, dark eyes narrowing. "We have a conference room booked. Your guide and interpreter is waiting on us. Is Lance coming?"

"Wait no longer," Lance said, cape swirling as he rounded the corner. "Ran into a hold on our second-to-last round of paperwork but we're clear to proceed. Looker, can you tell us about your guide?"

"It'd be my pleasure," Looker replied, leading the group through labyrinthine hallways. "First Lieutenant Sawyer Ellian Rosseau is one of our finest young officers, handpicked for this mission. Lieutenant Rosseau hails from Cyllage City and turned twenty last month."

"Battle experience?" Lance asked.

Looker grinned. "Inaugural Kalos League Champion at eighteen. He turned down an instant Frontier Brain position in Sinnoh and the opportunity to fight our Elite Four to serve with us until his contract expires."

Ash whistled. Aurian's jaw dropped.

Riley snorted. "You two are Colonels at eighteen, why so surprised at his accomplishments?"

"Touche," Aurian groaned as the group came to a halt. "I take it he's in there?"

"Yes. Come on, in we go!" Looker said, nearly throwing the door open in excitement.

A tall man with sandy hair and a crooked smile stood upon Looker's entry, quietly surveying those that followed his commanding officer.

Looker led the way to the conference table and quickly organized everyone into chairs.

"First Lieutenant Sawyer Rosseau, at your service," the unknown man said, bowing slightly at the waist. His green eyes flickered. "Pleased to meet you in person, Lance."

Lance outstretched a hand. "Good to meet you, Lieutenant. The International Police wanted me to brief you in person. Are you willing to proceed?"

Sawyer nodded, green eyes flashing. "Yes, sir."

"Excellent," Lance said, passing case files around the table. "This is a joint mission between the IP and the Pokemon G-Men. You, as a native Kalosian, will guide Colonels Borealis and Borealis around the region as they take on the role of beginning trainers to flush out Team Flare operatives and take them into IP custody. Something's brewing here and I'm trusting these two to stop it."

The patonai beamed.

"Borealis? I swear I've heard that name before..." Sawyer trailed off as the patonai exchanged smirks. "Merde sainte! Lance, are these the agents that shut down the Global Invitational?"

Aurian blushed. "Guilty as charged, Lieutenant Rosseau."

"And if you shut down the GIGT, you're also... no way. You're the Guardians who lead the Armada?" Sawyer yelped. "Sir, do you really think I'm experienced enough to help these two? I haven't had field time in two years; my commander would be much better-"

Ash smiled. "Lance picked you for a reason, Lieutenant, don't doubt yourself."

"Besides, that battle record of yours speaks for itself," Aurian nodded. "You're the right person for this, Sawyer, even if it doesn't seem like it at the moment."

"Now then," Lance clapped his hands, "I'll leave you three to get acquainted. Speak for a while, then we'll send you to Kalos and you'll officially start the mission."

"So soon?" Aurian asked. "Lance, we're in Castelia, the City that Never Sleeps! Would it kill our cover to go sightsee for a bit?"

Lance frowned. "Yes. We can't have people getting suspicious. We're risking enough by not sending you in with contacts and different hair colors, we can't add any additional chances."

"We'll be back soon, we have to clear this with a final round of signatures from the IP to release Lieutenant Rosseau to our command," Riley said. "I'd love to be free from this hellish paperwork but legality calls for it!"

The patonai waved as Looker, Riley, Lance left the room, cape swinging dramatically behind the head of the G-Men.

A slight silence came into the room.

"Your Commander General certainly knows how to make a grand exit," Sawyer shook his head.

Ash laughed. "You haven't seen anything yet."

"Before we arrive in Kalos, we have to warn you that trouble, crises, and perpetual apocalypses tend to follow us around," Aurian said, uncrossing her ankles. "We've had two or three near-death experiences on every mission we've taken with the G-Men. Are you willing to risk your life for this?"

Sawyer nodded. "Without hesitation. The reason I joined the International Police was to keep things like this from happening to my beautiful homeland. I'm grateful that I've been given a chance to do so."

"Good answer," Ash replied.

"Now then... how is your Kalosian?" Sawyer asked.

The patonai made nervous eye contact.

"Not the greatest," Aurian laughed. "We never throught we'd end up going somewhere as farfetch'd as Kalos, to be completely honest with you. I promise you we paid attention during language training but it's all but faded away. That was what, three, four years ago?"

"I've lost track," Ash said, "but we'd greatly appreciate it if you helped us out."

Sawyer paused, lost in thought. "C'est trop relou that your Kalosian is rusty but that will change. The League's joint dialect is our second official language here so you won't have to worry about being understood. Have you established cover identities?"

Aurian nodded. "We have. According to our 'official' Kalos League records, Ash and I were born in Shalour City and have been studying Pokemon Evolution at Allied Cerulean University in Kanto. We've come home to Kalos to take field research for our joint thesis on Mega Evolution."

"A very solid cover," Sawyer said, one eye squinting as he smiled. "What do I call you when we are around other people?"

Ash grinned. "This time around, we've decided to keep the color scheme theme and go by Vert and Cerise Bonheur- Vi and Ri for short."

"Ash calls me Ri whenever we're in combat so it still fits as a nickname of sorts," Aurian laughed.

Sawyer took a sip out of his water bottle. "Is there any particular reason you take color names?"

Ash nodded. "We took Red and Blue as our cover names when we fled the League three and a half years ago and stuck with the trend."

Aurian sighed, noting the confused look on Sawyer's face. "That's a story for another time, Sawyer, so long as we're cleared to fully disclose who we are and what we've done."

Curiosity sparked in Sawyer's eyes but he held his words back, instead nodding once. "I understand. If you don't mind my curiosity, how old are you? The files I was given didn't have more than your names and a mission log."

"We're both eighteen," Ash said. "Aurian had a birthday four days ago!"

She shrugged. "Guilty as charged!"

"We must celebrate once we get to Kalos!" Sawyer replied. "There is a lovely gelato stand in Aquacorde Town that would make for a perfect place to drop by."

Aurian grinned. "That sounds like a lovely idea."

"Even though you're technically here for a mission, I've taken it upon myself to show you all of the beautiful things in my homeland," Sawyer said. "I promise that you'll receive the full Kalos experience!"

Lance reentered the room, brandishing a thick stack of papers smelling of fresh ink. "We've been cleared! Patonai, your next step is to Teleport to Lumiose to meet with Professor Sycamore and pick up your new Pokemon."

"Do we get to keep them after the mission?" Ash asked. "It'd be great to add some fresh faces to the team."

Pikachu growled at his trainer, who let out a nervous laugh.

"You'll still be my number-one, Pika," Ash reassured the little one.

"I don't have a problem with that, but Customs might," Looker replied. "Assume yes for now, I can pull a few strings if they initially reject the notion."

Aurian stood, brushing specks of lint off her jacket. "One more question before we go, Commander. How much about Lily of the Valley are we allowed to tell Sawyer?"

"Define 'much'," Lance said, crossing his arms. "Are we talking the official mission report that you two submitted or the surplus information?"

"Surplus," the younger patonai said, shoulders tensing. "All of it. In case we fall in battle, someone unaffiliated with the G-Men needs to carry the news of who we truly are to the world."

Lance frowned. "Riley?"

The Armada commander shrugged. "We can take care of any... liabilities... that might happen if he breaks the privacy code."

Sawyer's eyes widened. "How severe is this information?"

"Rather," Ash muttered. "Can we tell him?"

Lance nodded. "I give you my permission. Sawyer, they'll specify what you're not supposed to speak of. Make sure you make it clear, patonai, yes?"

The Guardians saluted.

"We've alerted Sycamore that you'll be arriving shortly. Once you receive your Pokemon, change into civilian clothes. Best of luck, you three. Please don't hesitate to call if you need information or if you have the desire to check in with us," Looker said. "You are dismissed."

"Riley, are you and Lance headed back to HQ?" Ash asked.

Lance nodded, Riley shook his head.

"I need to drop in on Cynthia and ask her a few things about the reconstruction process on Lily of the Valley. Our fund transfer's about to go through and I need to make sure she gets the right information."

Aurian raised an eyebrow. "Riley, Cynthia can clearly handle herself in fiscal manners. What's really going on?"

Riley stammered and blushed a bright red. "W-w-we have a date in two days. I wanted to drop in with flowers to surprise her."

Aurian's eyes widened to near supernatural proportions. "Riley, why didn't you tell us about this? We could've helped!"

Lance laughed. Riley punched the commander in the shoulder.

"The last time you two tried to help my romantic life, I ended up single for two years!" Riley groaned. "Maylene still won't talk to me!"

The patonai made eye contact and grinned, their hands glowing blue. A minute later, a bouquet of twelve perfect flowers formed from aura rested in Aurian's hands.

"Use these," the younger patonai said, passing the flowers to Riley. "Real flowers die, these will not. You'll get extra points for creativity. You created these yourself, right?"

"Thank you. Best of luck!" Riley replied, blushing and slightly flustered.

Ash rolled his eyes and released his Gallade, who politely saluted. "Xiphos, please take us to Professor Sycamore's lab in Kalos."

The psychic type saluted, surrounding Ash, Aurian, and Sawyer with soft pink light as they winked out of Headquarters.

The trio appeared outside of a charming little lab with brightly-painted shutters and a grey shingled-roof just outside of Lumiose City.

"That's odd, I suppose that Sycamore is in his rural office today," Sawyer frowned. "No matter. Have you thought about the Pokemon that you will choose?"

Ash shook his head. "Nah. I normally figure out which little one I bond with the most and go from there. Worked when I started in Kanto!"

"Unorthodox but effective," Sawyer answered. "Is that how you found Pikachu?"

Aurian burst into laughter, catching the Kalosian native off guard.

Ash sighed. "I overslept. Pika was the only one left."

"Are you serious? That's unheard of!" Sawyer cried.

"Hey, it was for the best! Pika and I make a fantastic team and that's what counts," Ash chuckled, scratching Pikachu behind the ears. "We've had some incredible adventures and I wouldn't trade those for anything in the world."

"Aurian, how did you meet your starter?" Sawyer asked.

Aurian shrugged. "Same as everyone else, I suppose. Met with Professor Rowan, spoke with the starters, picked Piplup, went on an adventure. Or two. Or... what are we up to? Fifteen? Sixteen?"

"Officially? Not sure. Unofficially?" Ash frowned as he opened the door to the lab. "Even less of an idea."

Sawyer cleared his throat. "Professor Sycamore?"

A short, slim, dark-haired man rounded the corner, carrying three Pokedexes and juggling four clipboards filled with notes. "Bonjour! You must be the G-Men that Lance sent! Give me a moment, I'm a little-"

Sycamore slipped on a few fallen papers. Sawyer caught the professor, Ash made a dive for the Pokedexes, and Aurian collected the clipboards before they hit the ground.

"Merci beaucoup," the professor replied. "My apologies, I tend to be rather clumsy when I am in a hurry. You are here to meet your starter Pokemon, yes?"

Aurian nodded. "Yes, sir. I'm Aurian Borealis, this is my older brother, Ashton. Please call us Cerise and Vert Bonheur."

"Understood. Are you ready to meet your new teammates?" Sycamore asked, blue eyes bright.

"Am I ever!" Ash said. "It's been ages since I've started from scratch."

Sycamore led the trio to a back room, where three small Pokemon immediately ran forward to investigate the new humans.

"Before you, you'll find Fennekin, a fire-type, Froakie, a water-type, and Chespin, a grass-type," Sycamore said, handing the three soldiers their new Pokedexes. "The research portion of your mission begins now. Take your time in deciding!"

Aurian immediately sat on the ground, crossing her legs primary-school style. Fennekin crawled into her lap and curled up, staring up at her with big crimson eyes.

"I think I'm sold," she said, patting the little fox on her head. "Fennekin, want to come with us?"

Ash smiled as his sister caught her new starter.

"Either of you feeling particularly adventurous? We'll be challenging gyms, making friends, maybe even saving the world?!" the elder patonai asked, gesturing wildly with his hands.

Froakie immediately perked up and hopped onto Ash's shoulder, where he was greeted enthusiastically by Pikachu.

Chespin shied away from Ash's enthusiasm.

"That settles it!" Sycamore said, scribbling on a clipboard. "I have everything I need. Do you need to take care of anything else before you leave?"

Aurian nodded. "Yes, actually. May we borrow your restrooms to change out of formal uniforms?"

"Through the back door and to your left," Sycamore answered, motioning with a pen. "Meet me at the front door before you leave, I have one last surprise for you."

Ten minutes later, the three trio met Sycamore at the entrance to the lab, dressed in civilian clothes.

"You look just like native Kalosians," Sycamore nodded. "I know you most likely have your own supplies, but I stockpiled a few Pokeballs for the three of you. It's not much, but please take these for your mission."

Aurian, Ash, and Sawyer each received a small satchel filled with Premier Balls, Ultra Balls, and Dusk Balls.

"We can't thank you enough, Professor," Ash said, extending a hand. "We'll put these to good use."

Aurian grinned. "What he said! We'll repay you somehow."

"Keep our beautiful Kalos safe, that is all I ask," the professor replied. "Now, go! Adieu! Do what you came here to do!"

The trio waved as they walked away, the sun beginning to set.

"I'd say this has been a productive day," Ash said, stretching his arms.

His sister nodded. "We need to start training soon if we'll have any chance of infiltrating the Kalos League Tournament. Sawyer, how many days do we have?"

"The tournament's in just about two months," Sawyer answered. "I think you will have enough time. For now, we need to start heading towards Santalune City, where our first gym is located."

Ash frowned. "Can we make it by tomorrow morning?"

"We're not walking all night," Sawyer protested, "Flare seems to strike most often at night off of the Routes, where inexperienced trainers seem to camp out the most. There's a well-known halfway point that we'll reach by sundown; we'll stop there. Verdehr Town will serve our purposes well."

"Understood," Aurian said. "As we walk, we can fill you in on the information that we cleared with Lance in Castelia."

"I've been swallowing my curiosity since you confronted him about it," Sawyer confessed. "I do have a question, though- if you are siblings, why did you receive your starter Pokemon from different professors?"

Ash took a deep breath. "As you correctly guessed, we are the Colonels that lead the Armada- and we are also two of the three living Guardians within the G-Men. Before Riley, our immediate predecessor, there was a fifty-seven year drought of Guardians in the G-Men. As for your question... Ri, what's the best way to explain this?"

"Throwing me under the bus, aren't you?" she rolled her eyes. "Sawyer- what you're about to hear is Level Nine classified information within the G-Men. If you breathe one word of this conversation to another living being, we are legally allowed to wipe your memory through amnesia or other methods. Are we clear?"

Sawyer gulped. "Crystal. I thought that classified documents only reached Level Eight?"

"They do. This is a different level of top-secret," Ash said, checking his surroundings through aura sight and dropping his voice. "Sawyer, Aurian and I are the son and daughter of Sir Aaron Borealis."

"We weren't meant to live in this time, but due to John Cabot- you know him as Giovanni di Angelo-'s meddling, we and our mother ended up here due to our father's last plan. Mom split us up since raising two aura-sensitive kids together is a dangerous task. I went to Sinnoh, Ash stayed in Kanto. Here we are, eighteen years later," Aurian finished. "There's a lot more to this story, mind you, but we'll save that for safer surroundings."

Sawyer stayed quiet for a good three minutes before speaking again. "You're the last heirs to the Guardian bloodline, aren't you?"

Ash nodded. "I'm afraid so. Part of the reason why we were sent here is to look for others who are sensitive to, can see, or, if we get incredibly lucky, can wield aura like we can. The chances are slim to none, I know, but we can't afford to give up hope."

"I can't imagine how lonely you must feel at times," Sawyer sighed. "That has to be terrible."

"Does it suck? Yes. But I have my patonai and that's what counts," Aurian said, lowering her shirt collar to show Sawyer the mark above her heart. "We chose this bond before we knew we were siblings, ironically."

"Patonai?" Sawyer asked, fumbling over the unfamiliar word.

Ash smiled. "Sworn combat partners. A lot of the ritual is kept secret but part of the vows we swore read "the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb." We firmly believe that we choose our own families in addition to the blood relations that we're born into. Our division, the Armada, is the family that I never knew I needed until we were chased into asylum by the League."

Sawyer began to speak but Aurian cut him off.

"Another story for another time," she said, crossing her arms. "Can't have you learning all our secrets at once."

"You two really are something, aren't you?" Sawyer asked.

Ash shrugged. "Depends on who you ask."

"What kind of an answer is that?" Sawyer blinked.

"A very Vert Bonheur kind of answer," Aurian laughed.

The trio crested a hill, revealing Verdehr Town, a small grouping of homes surrounding a Pokemon Center.

"This is Verdehr," Sawyer said. "It's not much, but it's a great stopping point. I take it you're used to camping overnight?"

Aurian nodded. "We have everything we need to survive for a few months out in the wild. As much as I loved taking sabbatical in Rota, it'll be nice to be back out under the open sky every night. I've missed that."

"Where's the best spot to set up camp, Sawyer?" Ash asked. "Camp food would be great right about now."

A half-hour later, the trio were roasting marshmallows over a well-fed campfire after a somewhat satisfying meal of mac-and-cheese and wild apples.

"Hey, Sawyer- why did you turn down a chance to challenge the Elite Four to join the IP?" Aurian asked, letting her marshmallow drop and burn on the embers.

The Kalosian frowned, green eyes narrowing. "Do you want the short answer or the long answer?"

"Tell us what you feel comfortable telling," Ash said. "You don't have to say any more than you want to."

Sawyer sighed. "My father was murdered. He was the biggest reason why I went through the gym circuit so I took some time off to grieve and reconsider. After working closely with Looker and company to solve the case, I discovered that my passion lay in helping others than for beating the crap out of them with my Pokemon. My team agreed; here we are."

Aurian put a hand on Sawyer's shoulder. "I'm so sorry. Did you bring the killer to justice?"

"All we had was circumstantial evidence. Nothing happened during the trial," Sawyer answered. "The worst part is that I can feel that we were right in accusing the person that we did."

Ash frowned. "How do you know?"

"I've always had a very, very strong gut instinct. It's never been wrong. When we left the courtroom for the final time, I could... feel... the satisfaction and hatred rolling off of him. Ever since that day, I could feel others' intentions."

"Are you a psychic?" Aurian asked. "A friend of ours is an empath and she can do exactly what you can do."

"I know I am not," Sawyer answered. "I've spoken with Anabel at length about this and she confirmed the statement. I'm not sure what I am. You've had a lot more experience with things like this than I have; is this normal?"

Ash shook his head. "Not by our knowledge. We'll think on it tonight and speak more on it in the morning. In the meantime, think of any useful information about Team Flare that you can. What have they been up to lately?"

"Our main concern with Team Flare is that they've been forcing Pokemon to undergo repeated bouts of Mega Evolution and Pokerus to harvest energy. It's a lot more efficient than what Galactic did the first time around with windmills," Sawyer said. "They're trying to create a more beautiful world, free of pain, strife, and dissent."

"That last one scares me the most," Aurian sighed. "Without dissent, how can we become further rooted in our ideals after investigating why we believe them? Dissent is a driving force to making things better, not the root of the problem."

Sawyer nodded. "My thoughts exactly. Looker and I aren't sure how we can bust Flare for Pokemon abuse but we've been throwing a few ideas around."

"Fill us in on those later," Ash said. "It's getting late and we have a long way to go to reach Santalune tomorrow. See you guys in the morning?"

"Bon soir," Sawyer replied, stretching out within his sleeping bag and rolling over.

The Borealis siblings waited until Sawyer's breaths evened out before they dared to share what they were thinking.

"Kokani?" Aurian breathed.

Ash nodded. "Good idea, little sister. It'll be easier to speak within each others' heads than risk waking Sawyer up. What's on your mind?"

"Ash, Sawyer has to be aura-sensitive," Aurian said. "It's the only explanation we have for what he's been going through. Really take a look at him."

Her brother's eyes flared bright blue as he entered Aura Sight and gasped.

"Holy crap, Ri, you might be right. There's a flicker of something there, all we have to do is pull it from wherever it's been hiding..."

"What if he's a wielder?" Aurian asked, eyes widening. "What if-"

Ash shook his head. "Ri, I know you're excited, but we can't jump to conclusions. He can sense if we train him! Great! But we need to begin with that and work our way upwards from there."

She sighed. "You're right- as usual. Thank you, brother, for being my head when I can't find my own."

"It is entirely possible that one or two of the Kalos Guardians slipped through Andan's fingers during the Great War," Ash pondered. "We'll have to do some serious genealogy research to even find a line that might've survived in secret."

"That's a problem to tackle later. We need to rest; we start building new teams tomorrow. Any plans for how to train Froakie and Fennekin?"

Ash bit his lip. "We need to nickname them, first, but yes. Remember how we trained your second Mienfoo and Achak? I'm thinking something along those lines. We'll do standard new-trainer exercises during the day and then get our veteran Pokemon to help out at night."

"Sounds like a plan," Aurian said, rolling onto her back and gazing at the stars. "This sky feels... different."

"How so?"

She frowned. "Normally, the constellations stay relatively unchanged throughout the regions we frequent. Here, they're inverted. I'm not used to seeing Orion on the north side of the sky, I'm not used to seeing Cancer and Gemini this early. We really are on the opposite side of the world, aren't we?"

"Frightening but wonderful," Ash said. "Just like all of our past adventures."

Aurian snorted. "Waxing poetic, aren't you? I think that's your sign that you need sleep. See you in the morning, brother."

"G'night, Ri," Ash whispered, taking in the sound of his best friend's quiet snores.

Pikachu shifted next to Ash's head and he looked up to trace the constellations that his sister pointed out. Aurian was right, Ash decided. These skies were unfamiliar, yes, but they could yet prove to feel like home.

(A/N): Hello, everyone, and welcome to Secondary! I'm very excited to start this journey again (and here's hoping I don't take almost three years to finish the project this time around...). A small note: if you haven't read Primary, the prequel to this new adventure, a lot of the references that I'll make here won't quite make sense.

Here we go! I'm excited to see where Secondary goes. Tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, what I can improve on.

This is PL, signing off!