Heeeeyyy everyone! It's finally here! The next major story arc is finally about to begin! I've already got most of it planned out, however some parts I might still come up with on the spot. But regardless, I hope you'll all enjoy the next major arc of Our Promise, Our Future!

The sun rose up from the horizon, greeting a new day for Alola. Ash and Serena rose from their bed fully awake. Serena let out a yawn as Ash stretched his arms. Pikachu and Sylveon awoke as well, Pikachu yawning and Sylveon stretching. The group made their way down the ladder and went into the kitchen. The professors were already up and working on breakfast.

"Morning" Ash and Serena said.

"Good morning you two, sleep well?" Kukui asked.

Ash and Serena nodded. Breakfast was eventually done and everyone sat down and ate. After finishing the phone rang, which Burnet volunteered to get up and answer it.

"Hello? Oh! Lusamine! This is an unexpected surprise!" Burnet said with happiness. As Burnet listened, her face slowly turned from happiness to concern. "I see...alright then, we'll stop by. Alright, bye."

Burnet hung up the phone and sat back down at the table.

"Everything alright professor?" Ash asked.

"I just got off the phone with Lusamine. She says she needs to talk to us about something" Burnet answered.

"What about?" Kukui asked.

"She didn't specifically say, just that it was imperative that we come right away."

This concerned everyone. Serena suddenly rose up.

"Well then, let's go!"

The professors and Ash looked at her with surprise.

"You want to go too Serena?" Burnet asked. Serena nodded. Burnet turned to Ash. "You want to go too Ash?"

Ash nodded. "Wherever Serena goes, I go." Serena blushed upon hearing that.

"I'll get the boat ready then" Kukui said as he got up.

Delphox suddenly froze and turned ghost white.

Ash was preparing his gear when Silvally suddenly started to get worked up.

"Silvally? What's wrong buddy?"

Silvally looked Ash in the eye and once again changed the scene for Ash. Ash suddenly found himself in the same barely lit area he was in last time. This time he saw Silvally through a window in chains. Ash started to beat on the glass but it wouldn't break. Suddenly he saw three figures walk in the room. Two of them were wearing helmets while the third person had weird green bug shaped glasses.

"Is it cooperating now?" The man asked.

The two masked scientists said nothing, indicating that it wasn't. The man let out another "tch" as he entered the room. He walked up to Silvally and got in its face.

"Listen here you simple minded beast. You were created to do my biding! So unless you wish to be destroyed and rebuilt, I suggest you start behaving or else!"

Silvally simply growled at the man. The man got up and walked back towards the door. He started to walk past Ash as he mumbled to himself.

"In order for this to succeed I need Type: Null's power."

The scene changed back to where Ash was. He looked at Silvally, who just stared at him. Ash scowled and nodded his head. He raised Silvally's Poke Ball up. Silvally growled as it too nodded its head. Ash recalled Silvally and placed its ball on him where no one would find it.

With everyone else ready they all set out to Kukui's boat. Greninja had to drag Delphox as she flailed her arms everywhere. Eventually they made it to the boat and everyone boarded. It was going to be a 30-45 minute boat ride. The second the boat started to move, Delphox fell flat on her back and started to moan.

"I wonder what causes Delphox to get so seasick. What do you think Serena?" Ash asked. He didn't get a response. He looked to his side and saw Serena over the railing with her hands covering her mouth. "S-Serena?!"

Serena fell back as Ash caught her.

"S-Serena?! Hey, you alright?!"

"No...I feel so sick..." she said in raspy voice.

"What happened? She rode on the boat to Akala and back just fine" Kukui said.

Ash thought for a second, until realization finally struck him.

"It's probably because Delphox and Serena are connected now. They share their thoughts, pain and even motion sickness now" Ash explained.

Ash and Greninja placed their respective girlfriends next to each other.

'This sucks...' Serena said on the verge of vomiting.

'Sure does...' Delphox answered in the same state.

As the boat ride continued, the others had to keep an eye on the sick girls in case something happened.

"Are we really going to the right place...?" Serena asked weakly.

"If it's to hell then yes..." Delphox answered out loud.

"You should work on that navigation a little bit" Dartrix joked.

Delphox shot her head up to look at him.

"Oh yeah?! Well I bet I can still navigate my fist to your forehead!"

The others gulped at this, Dartrix deciding to shut up.

After what felt like an eternity for Serena and Delphox, the boat finally made it to the loading dock of Aether Paradise. Ash recalled everyone except Greninja, he also recalled Serena's Pokémon except for Delphox and Vulpix, who he decided to carry. Upon disembarking, Serena and Delphox fell to the ground, swirls still in their eyes.

"Fiiiinnaaalllyyy..." Serena moaned.

Ash sweatdropped as he helped her stand up, Greninja doing the same for Delphox, who had a similar response. Soon afterwards they were greeted by a few employees, one of them was a woman with purple hair and glasses.

"Hello Burnet, Kukui, it's been far too long" she greeted with a smile.

"It sure has Wicke, I'm sorry I haven't visited, it's been crazy to say the least" Burnet said with a smile.

Wicke just waved her hand back and forth. "No no, I completely understand, we've all been quite busy here as well." She turned to see the people she hasn't met yet. "Oh? And who might you people be?"

"My name's Ash, and this is my partner Pikachu."

"Pika, Pikachu!"

Luckily Serena had managed to gather herself a little bit.

"My name's Serena, and this is my partner Delphox."

Delphox just simply waved.

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Ash and Serena, my name is Wicke" she said with a smile.

"Wicke is one of the admins here and is also the assistant of President Lusamine" Kukui said.

"Speaking of..." Burnet interjected.

Wicke nodded. "She's waiting in her office, you all can follow me."

Wicke led the group out of the loading dock and into the main building. The newcomers were in awe at all they were seeing. There were Pokémon everywhere, and tons of different machines doing who knows what.

"Man, Clemont would love to see this" Ash said.

Serena nodded. "For sure, and I know Bonnie would love playing with all the Pokémon here too."

The two suddenly felt a little sad. They knew why of course.

"I know it hasn't been that long since we've seen them, but I still miss them" Ash said.

"Me too. Part of me actually misses Bonnie teasing me about the love I have for you."

Ash chuckled. "I'm still surprised I never picked up on any of it."

Serena giggled. "That's because you were still completely dense."

Ash laughed. "Yeah, guess so."

Serena suddenly laid her head on Ash's shoulder. She sighed in pure bliss. Ash just smiled as the group continued to walk.

Eventually they reached a large door at the end of a hallway. Wicke opened it and allowed the group to enter. Once everyone was inside, Wicke closed the door behind them. At the center of the room was a large black desk, glass windows were stationed behind it. There were pictures on the walls and on the desk itself. Suddenly a woman came from around the corner. She had blond hair and was wearing a white dress and white leggings and open toed heels. She spotted the group and walked up to them.

"Burnet! Great to see you" she said as she held her arms out.

Burnet responded by holding her arms out and the two embraced each other. After a few seconds they parted.

"It's great to see you too Lusamine! How have you been?"

Lusamine let out a tired sigh. "As well as you might expect. Work has been endless around here." She noticed Kukui next. "Oh! Kukui, this is rather unexpected, what brings you here? Do you need move documents of some kind?"

"Hello Lusamine. Unfortunately I don't need any kinds of documents today, I'm mainly here because Burnet asked me to accompany her."

Lusamine finally noticed her other guests. "And who are you kids?"

"My name's Ash, and this is my partner Pikachu and my other partner Greninja."

"My name's Serena, and this is my partner Delphox and this is Vulpix."

The Pokémon did their respective greetings.

"My name is Lusamine, I'm the President of the Aether Foundation."

After introducing everyone, they began to discuss the topic at hand. However, before they could start, Lusamine approached Ash and Serena.

"I'm terribly sorry to say this, but I have things to discuss with the adults here. Would it be alright if you two stepped out for a bit?"

Ash and Serena nodded. "Of course, we understand" Serena answered.

"Excellent! I promise we won't take too long, I'm very curious to know more about the two of you." She turned to Wicke. "Wicke, could you show our guests to the garden please?"

"As you wish madam President" she said with a bow." Wicke opened the door and let Ash and Serena and their Pokémon out before shutting the door.

After dropping them off at the garden, Wicke left to return to Lusamine's office. Ash and Serena sat down on the grass and sighed.

"This place is so cool, and that Lusamine person seems nice too" Ash said.

Serena nodded. "Yeah. I was kinda expecting her to be more stern or strict but she's actually kinda laid back, and she's pretty too."

"Not as pretty as—"

Before he could finish, he felt Serena's finger over his lips. He looked and saw her looking at him with a playful, almost seductive smirk. He said nothing as she removed her finger from his lips. They sat in silence for a brief moment.

"...you."

Serena blushed and proceeded to pounce onto Ash as the two wrestled each other playfully.

The Pokémon watched their trainers interact with smiles on their faces.

"Mommy and Daddy really love each other" Vulpix said.

Delphox nodded as she leaned onto Greninja. "I've never seen two humans more in love than them."

"Nor have I. Those two were meant for each other." Greninja said. He suddenly gripped Delphox tighter. "Much like us."

Delphox giggled as she nuzzled closer into her boyfriend's side.

Vulpix just watched her parents playfully interact with each other. It suddenly made her remember things she had forgotten. She remembered a garden just like this one, jumping around while giggling up a storm. She remembered playing with a group of other newly hatched Pokémon. She suddenly grew sad.

"Mama..."

She suddenly felt a hand on her back. She turned to see Pikachu smiling at her.

"Hey, don't be sad, everyone's having fun. You wanna play with me and Sylveon?"

"I'd love to Uncle Pikachu!" She said happily.

Pikachu blushed from that comment. 'So adorable...!' He thought.

Unbeknownst to the group, someone had been watching them through a security camera. Once he noticed Vulpix, he reached for a phone.

"Sir, I think you might want to see this."

After a couple minutes a man entered the room. He had light colored hair and green colored glasses that looked bug like.

"What is it" he asked bluntly. The employee pointed at the screen. The man looked and saw the group playing on the garden.

"Who are those people? And who let them in?" He asked with slight agitation.

"The President asked Professor Burnet to come here, so maybe those kids accompanied her here too?"

"Tch, I don't have time to deal with noisy brats." He started to turn his head away, only to spot Vulpix in the corner of his eye. "Wait a minute...is that...?" After a brief pause, he grew an evil smirk. He started to leave the room. "This might actually succeed after all."

Ash and Greninja suddenly felt something overtake them. They looked at each other with a very serious look. The two nodded. They both got up, confusing their respective mates. Ash spotted an employee walking by and ran up to him.

"Excuse me, do you know where the bathroom is?"

"Of course, right this way" the employee smiled.

"We'll be right back Serena, me and Greninja really gotta go."

"O...kay. Just don't be too long."

The employee led the two boys towards the nearest restroom. Along the way, Ash secretly handed Greninja Silvally's Poke Ball, who tucked it underneath his long tongue. The employee directed Ash to the bathroom and directed Greninja down the hallway. The two thanked him and left towards their respective bathrooms. Once Greninja was out of site, he let Silvally out. Upon realizing where it was, Silvally started to growl.

"Calm down. I can explain." Greninja said sternly. Silvally stared at Greninja as he continued. "Me and Ash sensed something here that belongs to you, and me and you are gonna take it back."

"...I know where it is" Silvally said.

"Then let's get it. Quickly."

The two stealthily traveled deeper into the building to find what they were looking for.

Meanwhile Serena and Delphox were still waiting for the two to get back. They watched as Vulpix played with Pikachu and Sylveon.

'Y'know, I think Sylveon would be a great mother some day' Delphox said.

'You think so?'

Delphox nodded. 'She just has that gift of natural motherly instinct that you have.'

Serena blushed. 'I never really thought of it like that.' She looked at Delphox. 'And what about you?'

Delphox looked at her partner with confusion. 'Me?'

'Don't you think you'd also make a great mother someday?'

Delphox went deep red. 'I-I-I m-mean I w-well m-m-maybe I w-would but I haven't r-r-really thought about it m-much' she said in a complete stuttering mess.

Serena sweatdropped at seeing her partner in this state. That's when it dawned on her that right now she was just the mother to a baby Pokémon, and not to a human baby. When that thought appeared, and when Ash was attached to it, her face started to grow deep red as well. The two looked at each other with their red faces. Steam erupted from their heads as the fell backwards.

Ash was finishing up in the bathroom when he heard Greninja's voice.

'Ash, are you there?'

'I'm here, what's your situation?'

'We got what we needed, but there's something else here too.'

'What is it?'

'Ash...where is Vulpix?'

'She's...still back with Serena and the others...why?'

'We need to get her out of here. Right now.'

Ash was confused and a little scared. Suddenly the scenery changed again. Ash suddenly found himself standing beside Greninja and Silvally. His body was glowing, indicating he was just a projection and not actually there. He looked in the direction they were facing and his eyes widened in shock.

'No...'

There, in front of them, was a screen projecting an image of an Alolan Ninetails being experimented on. Although no audio could be heard, the three could still easily notice her yelps. Just then a voice suddenly became audible.

"We're nearly finished sir, all we need now is samples from the child."

A man made his appearance known. "Good. I'll go retrieve it now."

"What about the guests that it's with?"

The man smiled menacingly. "I'll just ask if I can, pet it."

The man left the room. The scene changed for Ash again, who was back in the bathroom.

'Get back here. Get back here right now! We gotta get them out of here!!'

'On it!'

Ash ran out of the bathroom at rushed back towards the garden.

Serena was now growing more worried.

"Something's wrong, Ash and Greninja have been gone for way too long."

Vulpix sensed her mother's worry. She jumped up into her arms.

'Let's try to find them' Delphox said.

Serena nodded. Before they could leave however, a man approached them. He had light colored hair and green colored glasses.

"Well this is a surprise. I didn't know we had guests today" the man said with a fake smile. Serena and Delphox felt something was off with this man. "My name is Faba, I'm the Branch Chief of the Aether Foundation." He looked to see Vulpix in Serena's arms, the former looking at him with a weird sense of deja vu. "My word, is that an Alolan Vulpix you have there?"

"Um, yes. She's my Pokémon" Serena said with a sense of nervousness. Something about this man made her stomach hurt.

"Could I possibly pet her?" He asked as he reached his hand out.

Serena was about to say no when a Water Shuriken suddenly exploded between them. The group looked and saw Greninja with another Water Shuriken ready to throw.

"Greninja?!" Delphox said in surprise.

"Serena!"

The others looked and saw Ash running up.

"Ash?! What's going on?" Serena asked.

"Serena! It's him! He's the one who had experimented on Vulpix and her mother!"

Serena and the others eyes widened. The man snarled at him.

"Hey you impotent brat, careful what you say. Now then...I would greatly appreciate it if I could see your Vulpix for a second young miss."

"Like hell you will" Serena growled.

The man let out another "tch." He reached for a couple Poke Balls. "Guess I'll have to ask a little more nicely." In a flash he released an Alakazm and a Hypno.

Ash rejoined Serena's side. "Let's go Pikachu!"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu growled as he released sparks of electricity from his cheeks.

"Delphox! Sylveon! Get ready!"

"Del!"

"Veon!"

'Ready when you are Ash!' Greninja said as he jumped to Ash's side.

"Alakazam! Hypno! Attack!"

And that's it for part I! I hope you all are enjoying the arc so far, and I hope you'll stay tuned for part II. Until then, Power to the Readers!

JohtoAmour64 out!