So I went and broke my wrist falling out of a tree (like an idiot) so this was a pain to write. Literally.

August 30th update: Everything's all good now. My shitty updating schedule still remains nonexistent, sure, but writing these stories is just a hobby at the end of the day- and, like many hobbies, I don't always have time to work on them.

TemporalKing: Thanks to you I've got a few ideas for that.

Can You Please Not: Jeez, flamers these days, am I right? Don't even bother to read past the description anymore.I mean, we've already established that betrayal fics are automatically cliché (in the first chapter no less), so… either keep up or begone. There's no in-between, my friend.

thunderofdeath97: That's not how it works. The league knows that legendaries aren't really meant to be captured and are vital to the world's balance, so they prioritize the safety of the ones that they know of.

Guest: I feel you, man. If I weren't so concerned about the harem being way too large I would honestly include all of those you mentioned.

PyroSolracIII: I've taken a lot of time to consider who I want to pair with Ash the most and tried to find a balance between what I want and what the readers want, without overfilling the harem. This entire story stemmed from me wanting to pair Aria x Ash tbh

Alright, the full harem is as follows (removed Zoroark for the time being, due to reasons that will be revealed in time):

Korrina

Phoebe

Latias

Cynthia

Aria

Meloetta

Sabrina

Skyla

Flannery

Mallow

Valerie

Clair

This list is prone to change- those of you that are disappointed, keep an eye out. I might just surprise you.

Also, some OC's get to be introduced (thanks, Deutschland1871).

Exile: Opportunities

The man let out an irate sigh as he eyed the sight before him with obvious disapproval.

"You know you can't keep doing this," the man said to the woman behind the desk. She just shrugged and continued typing away on the computer. The man narrowed his eyes.

There were two grunts mopping up the remaining puddles of blood on the floor. Cerberus the houndoom was resting on the couch once more, napping peacefully.

"Leave us," the man instructed the two pair glanced at each other before gathering their supplies and exiting without a word.

"That blood better not have stained," the woman said idly, not looking up.

"If it does, good show." The man took a seat on the empty couch, opposite the occupied one. "No more grunts will be killed, Bellum."

The woman, Bellum, paused to take a sip of her wine. "And why should I listen to you?"

"Because we are critically low on members," the man said calmly. "And we are already hard-pressed to find suitable replacements for the grunts you've killed." He paused to glare slightly at Bellum's disinterested look. "Not to mention, it's not like we can just go shopping for new aura users."

Bellum remained silent. The man pressed on. "We started with exactly thirty aura users, Bellum, including the four of us. We are now down to twenty two."

"They deserved what they got, Famis," Bellum argued. "They jeopardized our plans."

"And you killing them off based on every little mistake is jeopardizing our plans even more," Famis retorted with a pointed look. "But you don't see me feeding you to my Pokémon."

Bellum flushed slightly, but persisted. "We can only accept the best-"

"Which is why we are training them to be just that," Famis said simply. Bellum took a few deep breaths to calm her rising temper. Espeon brushed his tail gently along her hand, speeding up the process.

"Alright, Famis. I'll lighten up on the grunts."

"Not just 'lighten up,''' Famis said sternly. "From now on, I'll deal with the punishments. No arguing." Before Bellum could do just that, Famis disappeared from the room in a flash of red.

The streets of Black City were crowded. The young woman sighed in slight irritation as she pushed her way through the throngs of trainers, all eager to battle, gripping her younger sisters hand to make sure she wasn't carried away.

"Vicky," whined the smaller girl. "These people smell-"

The woman let out a short chuckle at her sisters observation."Well, we're almost to the gate, so hang tight, kiddo."

"Can we visit White Forest before we leave?" Begged the smaller girl, stumbling slightly when someone bumped her arm. "It was Mom's favorite place."

"It is her favorite place," the woman corrected.

"Yeah, yeah- oof!" The smaller girl stumbled once more, and if it weren't for the quick shot of silk that latched onto the nearest brick wall, they both would've hit the pavement.

"You okay, Rin?" The older woman asked her sister, shooting a dirty look into the crowd of people. No one spared them a glance.

"Uh, yeah." Rin hugged the furry shape tucked into her coat. "Thanks to Spewpa, of course!"

The older woman nodded. "Great. Let's get-" She was cut off by the sudden commotion in the street.

"Watch it, twerp!" A male voice snapped, somehow projecting his voice over the sounds of the city. "You don't wanna piss off an adult!"

"What of it, old man?" A younger male voice challenged. "I was just on my way to Victory Road. You bumped into me!" By that point, people had stopped what they were doing to clear a space for the impending fight. The woman and Rin were trapped at the back of the crowd, much to Rin's frustration.

"What's going on, Vicky?" Rin demanded. "I wanna see!"

The woman was tall enough to see over most heads. She watched as the two males, one decked out from head to toe in black, the other in a classic youngster outfit, each pulled out a pokéball. "A battle," the woman said plainly.

Rin pouted. "I know that, at least. Can I-"

"Go ahead," the woman sighed, much to Rin's delight. "But just in case…" She handed her sister a black and gold luxury ball. Rin squealed happily and shoved her way to the front of the crowd to watch the battle.

The woman hung back, rather annoyed at the setback, but happy that Rin was enjoying herself. Battles in Black City were just as common as wild Pokémon in White was a designated battle tower, sure, but people were just as likely to duke it out in the middle of the street as out in the wild.

And yet, something was off about this particular battle. Something-

"You don't like battling as much as your sister there?" A scratchy male voice said from her woman inhaled sharply in slight surprise, but otherwise showed no indication of hearing him. The man was undeterred. "Or maybe you're just having a bad day? You have that look about 'ya."

"Do I know you?" The woman asked smoothly, still not looking tried to focus on the battle, with the scizor and mienshao throwing strikes back and forth.

"Victoria Louise-Habzollern." The woman, Victoria, turned her head sharply to face the man. "Twenty years old… or twenty one. Your birthday was four days ago."

Victoria took the time to thoroughly examine the strange man. He was dressed in clothes that looked casual upon first glance, but were actually quite peculiar. A plain black tee-shirt, black jeans, and brown combat boots.A vibrant blue feather dangled from a thin silver was it- no warm layers to suggest that he was a traveller or even a trainer. Her eyes travelled to his face, and she tensed up upon seeing it.

"Do you always stalk innocent travellers on the street?" Victoria said casually. Her hand stealthily slipped into her coat pocket, where three more pokéballs resided. "Because that's fucking creepy."

The man chuckled."I only stalk interesting people," he said, holding a fist over his heart. "Scouts honor."

Like that makes it any better, Victoria thought. Aloud, she said, "Interesting? I don't think so."

"I beg to differ," he responded. "You should check out that battle. Or, rather, the trainers."

Victoria looked at the battle, which was clearly going to the kid and his scizor. Her eyes drifted to the other trainer, the one dressed in black, and she immediately noticed something she hadn't man spotted her frown and grinned. "Look familiar?"

Victoria ignored him, fully focused on the bright red 'R' emblazoned across the trainer's chest. "What the fuck?" That wasn't there before.

"That's not even the most fucked up part. Look again." She did, and her eyes widened as she saw the faint red aura surrounding the man. "That's aura," said the man beside her conversationally. "And he and his friends are going to destroy the world with it."

Before Victoria could fully process what was happening, the tides of the battle turned. Quite suddenly, in fact. The mienshao began firing off Aura Spheres too fast for the scizor to deflect. They were tinged red with an unknown power. In practically no time at all, the scizor crumpled to the ground in a dead faint.

His trainer quickly recalled his Pokémon and stomped up to the victor. "I call bullshit!" He fumed, throwing the award money in the older man's face."Those Aura Spheres were red!"

"Thanks for the battle." The black clad man disappeared into the crowd, and that was the cue for everyone to continue their day.

"Vicky, Vicky!" Rin exclaimed, running up to her sister and handing the luxury ball back."Didja see that? The scizor was winning and then the mienshao was like-" Rin suddenly stopped and stared at the man next to Victoria. "Woah, dude… what happened to your face?"

"This isn't our problem," Victoria hissed to the man, placing a hand on her sister's shoulder. "We don't-"

"We need you," he interrupted."You have skills very few people have. We are the only ones who can stop this before it fire with fire- or in this case, aura with aura." Rin, sensing the seriousness of the situation, stayed silent. Victoria only glared harder at the man.

He sighed, putting his hands up in a placating gesture. "Alright, fine. If you change your mind…" he produced a small card, "...which I know you will, if that little one you've got to protect means anything at all to you… You'll know where to find me."

The blue feather glowed dully, right before he disappeared. No brilliant flash of light or even a ripple in time- one second he was there, the next he wasn't.

Victoria and Rin turned and kept walking- but not before Victoria slipped the card into her pocket.

Latias had always enjoyed her time spent out in the city. The people were kind and fully supportive of their draconic guardians- even if never having met one of them face to face. Latias loved to go out and simply watch how the people interacted with each other, and how they interacted with their Pokémon in turn. She was a 'people watcher,' as the human term went.

Of course, she couldn't stay out for too long; what with being the sole guardian of the Soul Dew and all.

Recently, Latias had been working on a human form to call her own. She told herself that it was only because she wanted to give Bianca her face back. Nothing more, nothing less.

She certainly wasn't trying to form some sort of individuality from Bianca so that the next time she gave out a surprise kiss, there would be no mistaking one for the other.

Certainly not.

Reasoning aside, Latias thought she was doing relatively well.

What do you think of the red, brother?

Latias said speculatively to the Soul Dew, using her newly discovered projective telepathy- which worked just like speaking out loud, except dark types couldn't hear it. One flash for yes, two for no.

Latias was referring to the fiery red locks she had settled gave a short twirl, simple white dress fluttering (she decided to deal with clothing later).

The Soul Dew gave two dull pulses of light.

Lighter?

Two more pulses.

Darker?

One pulse. Latias nodded thoughtfully and closed her eyes. Using her innate psychic ability, she altered the illusion so her hair was a deep crimson-bronze instead of cherry she opened her eyes. Better?

The Soul Dew blinked smiled. Always so helpful, even in death. She took a seat on the edge of the fountain, heaving a deep sigh.

She felt pathetic. Not because she spent most of her days talking to a rock, but because she was still hung up on a boy she had known for a grand total of two days. 'Not to mention that was years ago,' she thought with another silent sigh. 'I'd be surprised if he even remembers who I am.'

She, on the other hand, remembered every single detail of the boy that snagged her attention. The human boy.

Latias rested her head in her hands, elbows on her lap, and stared out at the wide garden. The silence was welcoming-

Wait. Latias sat up straighter. It was way too quiet. There should've at least been the sounds of the wilderness- pidgeys chirping, combee buzzing, the like. But all she heard was the rushing fountain behind her.

Focusing on her psychic ability, Latias scanned the entire garden. She found no other life forms that weren't was cause for slight alarm.

Had all the Pokémon migrated, or something? The dragoness shook her head; that was would've at least let her know if they were all leaving.

Standing and beginning to pace around the fountain, Latias decided that leaving the Soul Dew alone would not be a good idea. At least, not until she figured out what was going on.

Unexpectedly, the sound of something ringing surprised Latias right back into base form. She was momentarily confused; where the hell did the cell phone on the nearby swing come from? Then she remembered that Bianca had gotten her one for 'instantaneous communication.'

The dragon type quickly used Psychic to flip the device open. Phones were relatively new technology; they were basically just two way X-Transceivers with no other features. They were leagues cheaper both to make and buy.

Since she still couldn't speak human language, and projective telepathy didn't work over devices, Latias just made a sort of trilling sound.

"Latias?" Bianca's voice, made crackly and tinny by the phone speakers, said questioningly."I'll be in late. Do you think can fend for yourself for dinner?"

Latias paused, and chirped in affirmative.

Bianca spoke again. "Okay, awesome. The shop is packed today. I swear it wasn't this popular two days ago." This was the second time Bianca would be staying late at work, which was an art shop she owned. She sold original works and also did on-the-spot portraits for customers. "Anyway, sorry about this, Latias. I've gotta go now." Then she hung up.

Latias placed the phone back on the swing. Her paranoia certainly wasn't helping things. Normally, she'd have been perfectly fine being home alone- she was a legendary dragon, for Arceus's sake, and she wasn't technically alone, if you counted the Soul Dew.

But this was weird.

Too weird.

Just to be on the safe side, Latias sent out a weak psychic pulse over the entire garden- it's purpose was to locate any life forms nearby. Her 'radar' came up blank. Now sufficiently worried, she tried again with a stronger pulse- this would reveal any 'interference' with aura signatures.

This time, Latias felt a very faint blip, loaded with negative intention.

Surprised, she gave one more pulse, and this time the blip was gone. For the first time in years, Latias felt scared. Truly afraid. She didn't fully understand why- she just instinctively knew that if the blip she had felt decided to pay her a visit, she'd be quite screwed.

Unbidden, thoughts of Ash flooded her mind. How he was strong. Caring. Courageous. Capable of keeping her- and the Soul Dew, her brother- safe. Safe from whatever was lurking in her city, at the very least.

Of course, she didn't believe that because of the feelings she one-hundred percent did not have for the raven haired trainer. Definitely not. It was for sure because of the fact that he was chosen by Arceus for a reason- not to mention, her creator had warned her several years ago about the dangers of humanity. 'My chosen will protect any of you without hesitation or regard for his own safety in the face of uprising evil,' blah blah and all that.

Now, at this point Latias stopped and considered. She was most likely just freaking out over absolutely nothing, and subconsciously trying to find an excuse to track down her favorite aura guardian. Nothing was amiss in the city of Alto Mare; neither she nor the Soul Dew were in immediate danger.

She carried those thoughts for approximately .7 seconds before she was suddenly slammed into the ground.

Through the white-hot slice of agony and shock-induced muddled confusion, Latias managed to comprehend the fact that she was being attacked, and reacted.

Or rather, she attempted to react. The Pokémon who dared to assault a legendary had her throat in a subduing grip, and if she tried to move it's teeth would dig in to her exposed flesh and most likely kill her. It was at times like this that she cursed the Creator for giving her feathers instead of scales. Really, what kind of dragon didn't have impenetrable scales?

She tried focusing a psychic blast, but it bounced off the Pokémon's mental barrier harmlessly. A dark type, then.

"Don't even attempt anything, dragon," an unfamiliar voice warned. "We only want the Soul Dew." Latias tensed up even more, unable to lift her face from where it was being forced into the mud by the astoundingly strong dark Pokémon.

As the unidentified human undoubtedly made his way over to the fountain, Latias felt herself become overwhelmed with panic. They were going to take it. They were going to take her lifeline. Her brother.

She wasn't entirely sure what happened next; surges of adrenaline rushed through her as she released a blast of shimmering white light from her reflective feathers. There was a canine yelp as her captor temporarily loosened it's grip, which was enough for Latias to twist away from it's jaws and attack with a sharp slash of draconic energy.

The mightyena wasn't able to dodge on time. It also wasn't able to survive a rage-fueled full power strike from a legendary dragon, and was sent flying into a tree, snapping it in half on impact.

Not wasting any time, Latias darted for the Soul Dew and snatched it up, while also delivering a psychic shove to the stunned human.

Before he could reach for a pokéball, he was struck with a low powered Dragon Pulse and knocked into a tree. His body hit the ground, out cold. Latias panted from the adrenaline; she couldn't believe she let herself get snuck up on and blindsided like that.

She also couldn't believe her instincts told her that the threat was far from over. Even though she couldn't sense anyone else in the garden, she still felt completely unsafe and she knew that if she stayed long enough she could very well be killed.

Carefully moving over to the unconcious human, Latias peered into his mind to see what he intended to do with the Soul Dew, and who he worked for, if anyone at all. Or at least, she started to peer into his mind, but as she pushed her will into his head she felt something force her right back out. She tried again with the same result.

Latias needed to get out of there. Find Ash. It just seemed like the right path to take. She quickly realized that she couldn't just up and leave without warning Bianca, so she would wait for her to return home and then announce her plans.

Yes, that's what she would do. Relocate Bianca and then hunt down the one person who could keep her safe.

She just hoped nothing bad would happen before then.

A young woman, age indecipherable, watched her partner with barely contained annoyance.

"Gula!" She snarled, green eyes narrowing on the tall bulky man currently downing handful after handful of cashews. "We don't have time for this!"

The silver haired man barely reacted to her words; the salesman behind the snack stand was standing there uselessly with jaw agape. "S-sir, I don't think-"

"These are free samples, yes?" Gula interrupted with a mouth full of cheese and nuts. The salesman blanched.

"Yes, but-"

"For fucks sake, Gula. Ira said to stakeout, not pig out!" The woman was rubbing her temples furiously. "You've literally just eaten seven burgers!"

"How could you expect me to resist free stuff?" The man asked rhetorically. "Plus, lunch was on her tab anyway. I'm an opportunist, you know."

"More like an honest to Arceus black hole," muttered the woman. "We need to go, like, right now. We can't afford to waste any more time.*

Gula scoffed, now turning away from the free samples. "Since when did you give a damn about what Ira wants you to do? If I didn't know any better I'd say you've accepted her as your superior."

"That's not-"

The woman was cut off by her X-Transceiver ringing shrilly. She cursed before answering. "This better be good," she snapped without looking at the screen.

"Now, there, Invidia. That's no way to speak to your future boss now is it?"

Her blood ran cold as the unfamiliar voice reached her ears. Invidia looked down and saw a dark screen. She motioned for Gula to come closer to hear the call.

"And who might that be?" She said casually.

"The one who saved your friend's asses," was the cryptic response. "Imagine if your beloved Luxuria had been taken into captivity with the rest of them. They'd all be taking turns with the electric chair as we speak."

Invidia couldn't find a way to respond in time, too shocked by what had just been revealed. "Right now, I have the four of them right in front of me. They've decided to convert to our way of thinking; all we're missing is you and your gluttonous friend."

Gula steered his partner to a more isolated area as she gathered her wits. "What's in it for us?" She said with slight nerve.

"Glad you asked. How about we discuss this in person, so there's no confusion? These open phone lines are quite untrustworthy.*

Invidia glanced up at Gula, who was tensed up. He nodded slightly. "He's telling the truth- how else would he have gotten your contact?" He said in a low whisper.

"Okay," Invidia said to both Gula and the mysterious man. "When and where?"

"Exactly four miles north of your current location, in two hours time. Don't be late." With that, the man hung up, and Invidia flung her X-Transceiver to the ground and stomped on it.

"Fuck," she hissed. Gula echoed her profanity.

After going to retrieve Pikachu and pack up the camp, we find Ash tearing ravenously into a large slice of pie. He'd forgotten just how amazing a home cooked meal, even it it wasn't technically a meal, could be. Pikachu was on the table beside him, dipping his paws into a saucer of ketchup and licking them clean.

Korrina watched them both from behind the kitchen island, using the guise of tidying up as an excuse to avoid conversation before she was good and ready. Normally, she was an extremely social butterfly, often inviting people over to her sizable gym-leader funded home for snacks and gossip when she wasn't training and exploring, but recent events had left her quite unreceptive to frivolous human interaction.

People often wondered how a seventeen year old girl was possibly able to maintain such luxurious living conditions, even on a gym-leader paycheck, and Korrina would always state with pride hpw she brought in extra money by evaluating mega stones with her grandfather. But as she stared at the raven haired teenager sitting at her table, dirty and tired and full of life experience despite his age, Korrina couldn't help but feel as if she was missing out on so much more. A hell of a lot more adventuring opportunity than staying in the same city for her entire life had provided, at least.

She finally snapped out of her deep thoughts when Ash loudly proclaimed, "That was amazing, Korrina. I had no idea you could cook so well!"

"I only really know how to bake," the blonde girl corrected with surprising modesty. "Tell me to boil a pot of water and I'll somehow end up with third degree burns. Lucario does all of the cooking."

Almost as if he were summoned by his name, the fighting type sauntered into the kitchen. He stopped and sniffed the air before giving Ash a dirty look and placing a paw over his nose.

Korrina noticed this behavior and giggled. "Lucario thinks you need a shower, Ash. Use ours; upstairs, the door at the end of the hall." Her tone left no room for discussion.

Ash tentatively sniffed the collar of his shirt and gagged. "I think you're onto something, Lucario."

After finding the bathroom and thoroughly scrubbing himself under the hot spray of water, Ash heard a knock on the door. He swung it open, after making sure to wrap a towel around his waist, to the sight of Lucy holding an outfit out for him to take.

"Thanks Lucy," Ash said cheerfully, oblivious to the aura canine's face burning under her cobalt fur. He shut the door again and Lucy stood there for a few long moments, entranced by what she'd just seen, before finally breaking out of it and rushing back downstairs.

Lucario noticed his sister's behavior immediately as soon as she entered the living room. The large grin was hard to miss. After she had bolted out the back door, the older jackal Pokémon sent through their mental link, "What's got you all in a hurry?"

"Nothing!" Was her immediate response. Lucario rolled his eyes at her predictability.

"Don't be gone for too long. I've been considering offering exclusive aura training to Ash, and if he accepts, then I'll need your assistance."

She didn't respond right away, but he could sense her spike of apprehension. "A-ah, okay, that sounds great. See ya then… I guess." Then she severed the link.

Just on time, Ash stepped into the living room, hair still dripping water. "Where'd Korrina go?"

"Running inventory at the Tower of Mastery," Lucario informed through their link. "I stayed behind to speak to you about something important."

"Like what?" Ash asked, carefully lifting a fast asleep Pikachu off the recliner chair and sitting down before placing the electric rodent in his lap.

"How would you like to be trained to better utilize that incredibly potent aura of yours?" Lucario said, cutting straight to the point. "I can tell that you have massive potential, a dormant strength I've never seen before in all my years. I'd like nothing more than the opportunity to help you ascend to greater heights. What do you say?"

Ash's jaw dropped in shock. Sure, he'd had assistance in learning basic aura capabilities with Mew, but this was an opportunity of a lifetime. Not only would he get to learn from a literal aura master in the flesh, he'd also get extra training for his own Pokémon. It was a win win. "I accept this offer."

"My training will be harsh. You'll most likely hate me and wish for me to be hit by a train at many points. Are you one hundred percent certain that you're willing to go through with it?"

Ash remembered that moment in the lab after his defeat in Kalos. How everyone turned on him so suddenly, calling him weak and stupid. He never wanted to experience that kind of helplessness, that insecurity, ever again. "I'm more than willing to follow this through to the end. Whatever it takes." He said this firmly, making eye contact with the fighting type Pokémon.

Lucario nodded once. Just as he had expected; this one would keep his word, no doubts about it. "Alright, then. We start tomorrow."