The meeting for the top Team Flare members, as well as her small talk with Lysandre, hadn't gone on too long. It had started around 6 and then ran into evening around 8-ish. From there, she debated with herself until she snuck over to Siebold's home. Lights were off, but she wasn't too concerned with that. She knew that it was an early day tomorrow for Siebold, so tonight he would go to sleep early. Ash liked to go to sleep at the same time, so she might be sleeping, but...

She found Ash's room from the outside, and rapped her knuckles against the glass panes of the window sharply. She heard a muffled sound from inside, before she saw Ash at the window. Grinning, Malva waved cheerily and pointed to the window. Ash only hesitated a moment, before she opened the window and Malva could talk to her better.

"Hey, you not sleeping yet?"

Ash shook her head, offering a small grin. "I was just grooming Pikachu. I can't sleep anyway."

Malva's grin widened. "Wanna sneak out and come with me somewhere?"

She hadn't expected Ash to shy away at that moment, looking at Malva warily. The usually cheery girl (though Malva suspected Ash had used to be more outgoing and happy than she was now) was suddenly looking at Malva like she was a Seviper that was going to bite her.

Malva's grin faltered and softened to a more reassuring smile.

"I won't hurt you and I won't let anyone hurt you," Malva silently promised to it. "Come on, Ash. You know me. It'll be fun! Maybe reckless, but you know I'm a crazy, reckless person," she winked at the girl.

Ash smiled a little, and Malva claimed that as a small victory for herself. She slowly reached out a hand to her, and Ash stared at it before looking at Malva.

"Where are we going?" she whispered.

Malva hid her flinch. "It's...a secret," she reluctantly said, hoping it wouldn't set Ash back.

Ash frowned, but then surprised Malva by carefully getting out of her window and then she was next to the older woman. Pikachu jumped out of the window and landed onto Ash's head, almost slipping off before he scrambled on to a more secure position.

"Okay," Ash still sounded hesitant. "Lead the way."

So Malva grabbed Ash's hand and tried to play up the playfulness to help Ash worry less. Outside of Siebold's villa, she had to hail down a cab before they were then moving away from Siebold's home and to Café Soleil.

"Let's have some ice cream sundaes first," Malva decided, thinking that maybe that would help loosen Ash up.

This was looking suspicious and she didn't want to upset Ash or make her afraid of her, even if for a second. Unfortunately, Lysandre was already in the café and at a table of his own, near the café's entrance and in front of the large window.

Malva gently directed Ash towards Lysandre's direction, feeling the girl stiffened up under her hands.

"Ash, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine and who you might recognize. Or at least his name. This is Lysandre from Lysandre Labs? He owns and created that company," Malva stopped right in front of her boss.

Lysandre gave a friendly smile, holding out his hand. Ash flinched at the movement. Though Lysandre noticed, he said nothing and didn't move his hand away, keeping it there until Ash eventually uncertainly reached out and shook it quickly, before snatching her hand back.

"It's nice to meet you, Ash," Lysandre said solemnly. "Malva's told me a lot about you."

But Malva, with a sinking feeling, noticed that Ash was starting to breathe heavily, was nervously glancing all over the café and repeatedly towards the café's entrance/exit the most, and was starting to ring her hands.

"Do you like pokémon?" Lysandre asked, hoping to break the ice.

Unfortunately, that made Ash remember that time with the man with the Vulpix.

"You want to come over and pet Vulpix? She's shy, but she likes attention. Little girls like cute things, don't they?"

Ash clamped her hands over her ears and closed her eyes. "No, no, no."

She started to feel faint, before she froze at feeling a gentle paw tapping her forehead and a slight nudging at her knee. Opening her eyes, she realized that Pikachu was the one who'd tapped her forehead, and a lion-ish pokémon was curiously by her feet and rubbing its head against her knee.

Seeing her calming down brought relief to the other two watching, glad that the panic/anxiety attack seemed to have been avoided.

"That's Pyroar. I look like him, don't I?" Lysandre spoke, grinning slightly.

Ash giggled as she glanced between the pokémon and he. She nodded her head shyly.

In the meantime, Malva had gone to order the ice cream sundaes and when she came back, Lysandre was regaling Ash with tales of the Kalos Region's legends. At least he wasn't mentioning the weapon they were trying to rebuild from those old legends, otherwise Malva might have been grumbling...

Soon enough the ice cream sundaes came and while Ash and she ate, Lysandre began to speak of his hopes to transform the world into a beautiful paradise. Malva wasn't sure if she should interject, because it wasn't like they were recruiting Ash. She wasn't really the type to fit into a Team...Ash was much too kind and sweet for such groups.

Ash nodded though, looking far more older than she was and wiser than she should be.

"It sounds nice," she said wistfully. "But I don't think you can," she said, surprisingly rather cynically. "Someone told me once that the world was an ugly place and I shouldn't be so trusting."

The two of them were taken aback by that, and that it sounded like she really believed that.

"I didn't listen to what he said as much as I should have," Ash told them seriously. "I should've listened."

Malva felt a part of her rage at the world at that, because someone like Ash deserved to be happy and be ignorant and sweet forever. She shouldn't become so jaded at all, much less at such a young age. And mostly, Malva raged at herself and her Team, because they were all such failures.

A beautiful paradise...

She scoffed inwardly and thought that she and her Team were nothing but hypocrites, and that the world would never be a paradise, if even Ash couldn't see it so.

"Then I will have to work harder for you, don't I?" Lysandre cut in, wearing a grim smile. "I will make a beautiful paradise that you can live in, Ash. You'll see."

Malva still hoped to see, but she could see that Ash didn't.

~*~*~

It had been a close thing, but Ash had agreed to coming with them.

"You see, Ash, I must admit to something," Lysandre said dramatically, playing it up to amuse the girl. "I...am Team Flare's leader."

He could see that Malva hadn't expected him to plainly admit to that. But already, in the enclosed confines of the car they were riding in, he could see how skittish Ash was already becoming. She was beginning to think he was going to kidnap or sell her again, or something of the sort. It was in her best interest to try to clear that up, even though it would bring into light his actual occupation.

But he also despised and felt disgusted at being associated with those lowly people, if they could be called as such.

He didn't want her to think of him in such a way. He truly wanted, no matter the extremes he had to go to, to create a beautiful world. But this world was truly ugly, as she had said, and he wanted her to believe in him and his goals.

He slowly reached out and took her hand, looking her seriously in the eyes.

"I will create a beautiful world for you to live in, Ash. The world, yet, will be paradise. Just wait for me," he promised.

She frowned and stayed quiet, but there was a spark of hope that actually lit up and was barely seen in Ash's eyes.

That was the best he could hope for, and he was determined that he would prove to her that Team Flare will change the world into his vision.

~*~*~

Ash was not as worried as she probably should be, about being around a boss of one of those Teams. It was ironic and almost funny, because everyone was always warning her about them.

She was less scared of him than she was of those people who took her and kept her captive, and did all those things to her and the others that had been taken with her.

The base she was in, after having entered it through the red café that they had gone to, was large and was also Lysandre Labs, according to Malva. Lysandre had to deal with something quickly, having been called away for an emergency, so the female Elite was showing her around. They'd even stop by one of the uniform rooms and dressed Ash in one of the uniforms.

Malva grinned widely. "There! You are unofficially a Team Flare member! You look cute."

Ash giggled and let Malva pull her closer, taking a picture with her. After a few more pictures, Ash was led around some more and eventually they ended up in someone's lab. She saw Malva sneer.

"This is Xerosic's lab. He's one of Flare's top scientists, who equate as high-level Admin from the other Teams. I don't like him," Malva said with a scowl.

She didn't elaborate on why, but Ash didn't push either. After that, Malva continued to show her the rest of the place, until she was also called away for something and Ash had been left alone in a conference room until she was to come back.

It wasn't too long until the door opened and a strange man entered. Ash tensed up and watched him warily, just as he looked at her in surprise.

"Who are you?" he asked curiously.

"I'm Ash," she said hesitantly.

"I'm Xerosic, the best of Team Flare's scientists!" he boasted arrogantly, tossing back a rather cheesy 'villain' laugh. Whether it was on purpose or not, it made Ash smile and giggle quietly. "I don't think you're supposed to be here, little girl."

Ash scrunched up her nose. "I'm not little. And Malva put me in here and told me to wait, so I'm going to wait."

"Malva?" his eyebrows raised. "Huh. Well, there's supposed to be a meeting in here soon, so I guess I'll wait with you."

He strode over while adjusting his red goggles and sat down in a seat next to Ash, dropping his folders and papers onto the table in front of him. He then pulled out a piece of paper that had a bunch of squares that were smaller boxes inside and numbers in some of them.

Ash blinked. "What are you doing?"

"It is called Sudoku!" he nodded to himself as he filled in some numbers in one square. "It is very addictive," he admitted to her.

Somehow or other, Ash had gotten roped up in helping him, and soon they started finishing the Sudoku problems he'd brought with him. And then they'd moved onto tic-tac-toe, and then SOS. By the time Malva came back, they'd gotten into Hangman and the pinkette had noticed the myriad of papers around the two (and recognizing the games they'd obviously played on them -some of those papers looked rather important too...).

"Xerosic! There you are," she snapped at the man. "What are you doing here?'

She eyed Ash closely, making sure she was okay, unharmed, and not upset or frightened in any way.

"Waiting for the meeting," he replied in exasperation. "In the meantime, this young lady and I have been engaged in several contests of intelligence."

Malva inwardly snorted. If he called playing games 'contests of intelligence'...

"Idiot! The meeting is over. It was next door. You missed it," she glared at him through her sunglasses.

Ugh, he was so irritating.

Xerosic huffed in irritation, glaring back. However, she heard Ash giggling and softened a little. Not outwardly though! But still, it was good to see her happy and relaxed, even if it was because of this dumbass.

"Ash, come on. I've got to take you back before Siebold's up and finds you missing," Malva pouted a little.

Ash got up and headed over to her, before turning and waving at Xerosic. "Bye! Hope to see you next time!"

"Goodbye, young Ash! Next time, I will make sure to up my score!"

Malva sneered, but it lost its effect as Ash giggled again.

~*~*~

On their way back to Siebold's home, they started talking about pokémon, which led to gyms. Malva was curious (and slightly apprehensive) on what Ash felt about taking a pokémon journey. She didn't know if she wanted the girl to, or if she just wanted Ash to be safe and secure somewhere and never go back out into the world. Not after what she'd gone through.

"Siebold actually took me to meet Clemont the other day," Ash told her brightly. "He's nice and not too much older than me! And he has a cute younger sister named Bonnie."

"Did Siebold? That's nice," Malva noted, though she did still want to meet the gym leader in person now. The Elite Four, in any region, didn't tend to interact much with the gym leaders of their own region, much less of the others.

"Uh huh," Ash bobbed her head. "Plus, he let me battle with him with Maximus and Pikachu! I won and got a badge."

That stopped Malva in her tracks and she slightly stared at Ash, who stopped as well and looked back curiously. She knew that Maximus had to be strong already, given he was in his last evolution stage, had been ready and been training for Mega Evolution, and had also been previously owned and trained by someone else before he'd been given to Ash. And she also knew Pikachu was a wily one, headstrong like his trainer, and oddly extremely powerful for his species. But still...

Lumiose City tended to be the fifth gym for Kalos trainers to go to, for that region's traditional order. It wasn't an easy gym for beginner trainers to hit at their first go. But being Ash's first gym and first real professional match and having won, it was rather impressive.

But Malva shouldn't be so surprised. She, Diantha, and Siebold (even longer than they) had been training and battling against Ash for some time, as well as preparing and then working through the Mega Evolution process with her and Maximus. And if there was a Mega Evolution for Pikachu, unevolved as he was, then she would bet all her damn marbles that freak of nature would have been just as ready to Mega Evolve as the Charizard.

The bond and power between these three was amazing.

Although... "You've registered with the Kalos League already then? I hadn't known that."

Ash shrugged. "Not really. Siebold said that Professor Sycamore's going to register me himself today, and then hand me my badge case and pokédex too. I was really excited! That's why I wasn't asleep last night when you visited me."

"I'm excited for you," she said sincerely, though she still wasn't sure how she felt about the idea of Ash traveling by herself. "But wouldn't you be afraid to...you know...travel around the region, after what you had to go through?"

None of them were really comfortable talking or even just mentioning the traffickers and Ash's situation, and they were doubly uncertain about it around Ash herself.

Ash gave her a grim smile. "Don't worry, Malva. I want to do this. I need to do this."

It frightened Malva a bit, not knowing or understanding Ash about this.

~*~*~

Ash and Siebold were in Professor Sycamore's lab, and she was in awe. The place was huge, with high ceilings and three different floors. The foyer itself had been large and amazing by itself, but combined it with the rest of the facility, it was massive and extravagant.

The professor himself was a handsome man, probably in his late twenties, and had a bit of stubble on his face. He smiled widely at them and held out his hand.

"Augustine Sycamore! It's nice to finally meet you, Ash," he greeted her enthusiastically. "Siebold's told me plenty about you, especially about the impressive progress you've already gone through with Mega Evolution. I hope you don't mind if I get to see your Charizard Mega Evolve? I don't know if Siebold's told you, but the bulk of my research deals with Mega Evolution."

Ash beamed at him. "Sure, Professor Sycamore! And it's nice to meet you too."

Sycamore's smile widened even further. "Oh! You're rather precious, ma bichette. Come, follow me. I have your things in my main lab, where you can also show me Charizard's Mega Evolution."

They followed after the professor, with Ash bemused at yet another nickname she'd picked up. Siebold tended to call her his petite colombe, which means 'little dove,' and thanks to his tutoring she knew a little bit of the local language enough to know the professor had called her 'his little doe.'

It was kind of funny, especially when she remembered that Giovanni used to call her 'little blackbird' a lot back then too.

Once in the lab, Sycamore handed her her badge case and then her pokédex, explaining some things. He also offered her one of the Kalos starter pokémon, but she already had Pikachu and Maximus and didn't think it'd be fair to take another pokémon. She thought it would be better if she caught the rest of them on her own.

Then it was time for her to bring out Maximus and show his Mega Evolution, but as she called him out of his pokéball, she looked at his wings sadly. They were much better now, but they weren't completely healed and were still not fully functional.

"Oh, his wings," Sycamore sighed, moving closer and gently reaching his hand out. Maximus watched him warily, but a glance at Ash made the large pokémon keep still. "They were badly damaged, I see. I think there might be something I can do for him, but it would require he stay here for a while."

But if he could do something, anything, for Maximus, then of course Ash would be okay with that.

"Would it really help him?" Ash asked anxiously.

Sycamore nodded and gave her a reassuring smile. "Indeed. I am more than sure that within this week, I could get his wings completely healed and back to normal, ma bichette."

Ash squealed in excitement, rushing to give him a hug and then going over to tightly embrace Maximus next.

"You hear that, Maximus? You'll be able to fly again soon!"

Maximus let out a loud, triumphant roar to echo her joy.

~*~*~

"Ugh, Pikachu, that has to be unhealthy," Ash scrunched up her nose.

Though Siebold had similar sentiments, he said nothing (though he did make a small facial twitch that belied his disgruntlement). But when one Pikachu binged on ketchup, a person is sure to be grossed out.

"Pika," the mouse pokémon groused, ignoring them as he went back to his ketchup bottle.

Ash shook her head in amusement, though she became delighted at the presence of Diantha and Malva at the restaurant. Though she and Siebold were going to cook, she was always happy to receive visitors like those two.

"Someone's happy~" Malva sing-songed, though she had a knowing glint to her eyes.

Ash grinned and showed off her pokédex and badge case (with the Voltage Badge already settled in its spot).

"I'm officially registered for the Kalos League!" she told them in excitement, though since Siebold had helped her and was with her when she received everything and she'd told Malva last night, only Diantha was the one who was really finding out for the first time.

The graceful beauty hugged her. "That's fantastic, Ash. I look forward to you getting all your badges and facing us in official battles!"

Ash's face turned red. "W-well, it's not a guarantee I'll be able to make it all the way to face you guys for real."

Malva snorted loudly and started laughing. "Yeah right! I'll resign my post as an Elite if that ever happens. Trust me, Ash, you are one of the better trainers out there, and you've only just started."

Flattered and embarrassed, Ash just smiled shyly and focused on cooking.

"Why would you want to go on a journey?" Malva brought up again, not that the others knew she was.

Ash embarrassedly rubbed the back of her head. "Well, part of the reason is 'cause I want to be able to be an equal to Giovanni. He's an amazing pokémon trainer and is the best! Plus, he went on his own journey and he's the one who gave me Maximus. It's part of the list I have."

Though they traded bemused looks and wondered who this Giovanni was, Ash's enthusiasm and cheer was great to see.

"And what list is that?" Malva asked dryly.

"It's the list of all the things I want to do in life!" Ash told them. "It's like a bucket list. Being an equal to Giovanni is also on there, along with that I'm gonna marry him when I'm older! Just a few more years, since I'm still too young right now."

They traded looks again.

"Who is this Giovanni?" Diantha asked in amusement.

Then Ash told them how she met him and how he'd saved her from a man with a Vulpix when she was younger (they all shared and hid their flinches at that, though Malva now understood the significance of Ash's reaction to Lysandre's attempt to be friendly using Pyroar), and that he'd watched over her the next day. That was when he gave her a Mew plush that also had Maximus' pokéball hidden inside and she'd promised to him she was going to marry him when she was older, right before she left him.

It was as sweet as it was hopeless. It was years ago and it seemed like Ash hadn't seen the man since they met all that time ago, so who knows where he was now.

Ah well. They could indulge her.

~*~*~

Ash was just taking out the garbage back in the alley behind the restaurant, when at the entrance of the alley she saw a familiar girl walking passed in the street.

"Serena?" she called out.

The girl looked confused, looking around before catching sight of Ash. Her blue eyes widened.

"A-Ash?"

Ash grinned widely. "It is you, Serena! And yes! It's me, Ash Ketchum! I can't believe you still remember me."

Serena's face also broke out into a grin, and the other girl rushed towards Ash.

"Of course I remember you," Serena said sincerely. "You saved me and helped me out all that time. I never forgot."

Ecstatic at having met each other again, the two chatted for a while, until Ash realized she'd forgotten what she had been doing and the time. Which led to Siebold going out and checking up on her, and finding the two of them together.

"Siebold! This is Serena," Ash excitedly introduced him to her old friend. "I met her a long time ago when we were both kids and in Professor Oak's summer camp. I can't believe we got to run into each other like this!"

"It's nice to meet you, Serena," Siebold gave a polite smile. "Ash, why don't you wash up inside, so you can hang out with your friend? In fact, the two of you can come inside the restaurant and share a dessert, if you'd like?"

Both girls agreed eagerly, and after Ash had washed off, the two of them sat in the finally empty restaurant and got the place all to themselves, since it was closed. As they were chatting and sharing a fruit salad, Siebold came back out with a delicious cake, accompanied by Diantha, Wiktsrom, Drasna, and Malva.

"Happy Birthday, Ash!" the five of them echoed.

Ash was surprised. She hadn't realized the date or the fact it had been around a year since she had been taken from Kanto.

"I believe you are 15 now, yes?" Siebold smiled softly, placing the cake on the table. "So blow out the candles and make a wish."

Ash counted 15 candles all lit up just for her, and she closed her eyes and made a wish, before blowing out the candles.

Cake was cut and passed around, and Ash and Serena shared how they met to the others, before talking about various stories of their time in the summer camp together. Serena realized the time sometime later, and knew she had to leave to meet her mother.

"My mom works at Hotel Richissime," Serena explained. "She should be getting off right now, and I should meet her."

"I can walk you there," Ash offered. "I know some shortcuts by now, so I can cut you the time."

The others were a little worried and wary of letting Ash go by herself, but she wanted to spend some more time with her friend and catch up. And the luxury hotel wasn't too far...

"I'll be back!" Ash called out, and they watched her leave with Serena, feeling something off.

They'd made it to the hotel soon enough, and Ash and Serena had just traded off numbers and a promise to meet again tomorrow. But then a van came screeching out of nowhere, tires squealing on the road as it drove crazily just passed them. It stopped, and masked men jumped out of the van, pushing Serena roughly onto the floor and grabbing Ash.

Ash was tossed into the back of the van, and the men climbed in after her. The last thing she glimpsed was Serena's horrified face, before the van's back doors were slammed shut. Duct tape was put onto her mouth and then her head was being covered by something. Next, they tightly wrapped duct tape around her wrists and her ankles, and she knew she was immobilized and unable to scream for help.

"We should have grabbed the other girl too," she heard one of the men grumble.

"No, Ro would have been upset with us," she heard another man reply. "'Man of his word and shit.'"

"Tch."

Ash couldn't believe this was happening. It couldn't be. It just...she couldn't go back! She couldn't!

And now she didn't even have Pikachu or Maximus with her, or to follow her and get out like last time.