DISCLAIMER: Read Pokemon XYZ, The Shadow Project, as it is this series is the sequel to that story!

The Alola League came to a climatic conclusion. Champion Ash Ketchum defeated Professor Kukui and Tapu Koko in a clash that would change Alola tradition from that point forward! Now it was a peaceful few days. The Alola season was winding down and many people had to think about what it was they were going to do next. Ash was one of these people. He had been spending the last few days contemplating what it was he wanted to do. The first thing was somehow breaking the news to the others that he was returning to Kanto soon. His time in Alola was coming to a close and he knew it. "I wonder what I'm gonna do…" The trainer wondered aloud. Pikachu, always perched on his shoulder, glanced at him worriedly. "Don't worry! I'll figure it out!"

"Pika!" Pikachu smiled and nodded in agreement. Right now, they had a long day at the Pokémon School. Ash took the usual path back home, taking in the Alola scenery he'd grown accustomed to. He was sure the others were busy with their own plans.

"Bzzt!" That sound came from Rotom! The pokemon made its home inside Ash's pokedex and floated around him. "I hear there's a marathon on TV after school! We have to watch it!"

It was a calm day that was for certain. The days he'd gotten used to. Little did he know that the peaceful days on Alola would be in jeopardy soon enough. There was a strange breeze in the Alolan winds. Ash had been around long enough to notice that this breeze was a little different than what he was used to. "Huh…" Whatever could that mean? It'd have to wait. His stomach was rumbling! He was starving!

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"I'm not going to be a burden to anyone anymore!" One of the last words uttered by an old friend, Kasumi; the girl who was plagued by the Cipher organization. How long had it been since that day in Kalos? Ash could still remember it clearly. They were all pushed into a corner, but Kasumi's heart opened at the last possible second and she saved them all. Ash awoke in the dead of night, glancing around with a melancholy expression.

"That dream again…" The tired Ash yawned. It wasn't the first time he had that dream. There were times where he wondered if he could do things differently, but he was also reminded that Kasumi was the only one who could do anything about that situation. But it did make his mind wander to the friends he hadn't seen in such a long time. "I wonder how they're doing…"

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Melemele Island was one of the more popular tourist spots in Alola. It brought in plenty of people over the last few days, although some were kind of stuck for a few reasons. Even during the night, the city of Hau'oli still had its own kind of busy rush. That rush included the shopping trip of a certain rich pink haired Heiress from Kanto! Takeba Vermillion, 5th place in the Regional Tournament casually strolled about the city streets. Her outfit of choice for this island region was a tank top and shorts, coupled with heels just for the sake of it. "All right you two! We've still got some more shopping to do!"

"Listen, can we please take a break…?" This complaint came from Grace. 3rd place in the regional tournament and former assistant of the Cipher organization. Not by her own free will. It was all to save the friend that risked it all for them. Unfortunately for her, she was stuck carrying some heavy bags. "All of this stuff is yours!"

"Hmmm…" Takeba turned to face Grace, tilting her head. "You know, you're right. It's unfair that you're carrying all my stuff. So the next store we swing by, I'll buy you all the stuff you can carry then!"

"NO!" Grace shook her head. "That's not what I meant…!" She then turned to the male next to her. "Do something about this! She's your girlfriend and she's running us ragged!"

Marcus groaned. The runner up of the regional tournament! He was just as tired as she was. "Do you know how many times I've tried to stop this back in Kanto? I can't stop her! So I've just accepted that this is a part of our life now."

"Why did you give up so quickly…what spell does she have over you!?" Grace questioned.

Takeba smiled mischievously, turning around to pat Marcus on the head. "The spell of love, duh~. But all things aside, I really do appreciate you both joining me on this vacation! I wish we would've gotten here a little sooner though! I would've loved to see Ash fight in person!"

"Is it really a vacation when we're being driven into the ground…" Grace mumbled. When the topic shifted to Ash, she did not in agreement. "Yeah, I'm sad we missed that. To think he'd become Alola's first champion…"

"And we still can't figure out where he is!" Marcus grunted in frustration. "I've been doing a lot of training and really wanted that runback!"

"Maybe if you're lucky, we'll run into him." Takeba poked her tongue out. "But you can't very well battle in that outfit, can you?"

"…You said you liked this outfit…" Marcus blinked.

"….Well, I do! But there's always room for improvement! Come on, the next shop is this way!" Takeba just continued to lead them around. They were starting to learn very quickly why not many people accompanied the heiress on vacation.

Grace rolled her eyes and just followed behind Takeba. As they wandered around the city late and night, her thoughts started to wander. "Kasumi would love this place…"

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Route 2. It was a ways off from the city of Hau'oli. As much as the Alola weather was killing the Sinnoh native, she unfortunately had a job to do, while also unaware of her companions presence on the island. She was here for a completely different reason and she was, well, kind of in agony. Out of pure stubbornness, Elizabeth kept her usual sinnoh style. This was regrettable since Alola was far hotter than Sinnoh would ever be! "Not here either, I see…"

It was then that a hiker passed the woman by; staring curiously at the clothes she decided to wear to this tropical reason. "Uh, excuse me. Aren't you feeling a little hot in those clothes?"

"Oh absolutely." Elizabeth responded. "This region feels like I jumped into the sun. And before you ask, it doesn't matter what I wear, I'd still be feeling like I'm on fire!" She kinda snapped with that comment unintentionally. She'd been receiving that question for the last few days and it was getting on her nerves.

Sweat drop. The hiker clearly wasn't going to be able to do anything about this so he just shrugged his shoulders and tossed her a spare bottle of water. "Here. I'd feel bad just leaving you out here like this, so take it. I hope you warm up to Alola soon!" And with that, he was off!

Elizabeth did accept that bottle of water and chugged it down. It was ice cold, which she desperately needed. "Arecus…no offense to this region, but it's like I stepped into a hellhole…" Rolling her eyes, she kept looking. "Now…they should be on this island at the very least. If not, I'm going to be upset I have to spend any more time in that blazing sun…" That's when her Zoroark popped of out its pokeball, giving her a look. "…Don't give me that look! You have fur and are somehow cool no matter where we go! It's not fair!"

During her little rant, Zoroark noticed something in the skies above. A strange hole opened up in the sky a few kilometers away on Route 1. Something dropped from the hole into the thicket of the trees. "…!" Zoroark then pointed in that direction.

"Huh?" Elizabeth just barely noticed it. The hole in the sky vanished as quickly as it appeared. "What in the world? Is that it?" Was this what she was looking for? Without thinking much about it, she and Zoroark hurried to the estimated location of the object that fell from the sky. A few minutes of searching yielded no results. "…Did we just see things? I swear something fell. And what was that hole in the sky? I've never seen anything like it…"

Zoroark searched for a few minutes, ultimately shaking its head. It found nothing as well and grunted.

"Agh. How annoying." Sighing, the bluenette simply turned around. "I think that's enough searching for tonight. If I don't get back to our AC in that hotel room, I'm going to die. C'mon…"

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Aether Paradise. One could call this a sleepless night for the President of the foundation: Lusamine herself. It was just one of those nights. It was rather unfortunate she couldn't get any sleep and it would probably show in the morning. Still, there was nothing wrong with checking a few things. It was a silent night and as the hours passed, she was starting to drift off at her desk. The only thing that stopped her from doing so was the small beep on her monitor. She jolted away enough just to catch the reading. "What? An Ultra Wormhole?" It was no surprise that they were still popping in around Alola every so often. Truthfully, she expected some Ultra Beast to pop out, but that wasn't the case. The reading was otherworldly, that was for sure, but not that of an Ultra Beast. "…?" What was this reading? There was an abundance of Z-power coming from it! "I'll have to check this out…" She was drifting off. "Tomorrow….." And she was out cold…

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The Alolan sun rose once again! Another fine morning to greet the day! Ash and his party of Pokémon were already out and about on the beach, preforming some daily stretches before heading to the Pokémon School to meet up with everyone! "All right! Let's get going!"

"Ash!" That voice belong to his friend Lana. She was up for some early fishing, waving from the ocean on her ride Lapras. "Good morning."

"Hey, Lana!" Ash greeted his friend with a smile. "What are you doing so early? I thought you'd be at the school by now."

"I was finishing up a horde of Wailord." Lana said with a straight face.

"WAIT, REALLY!?" Ash's eyes widened. This was the same girl who managed to fish a Kyorge for real, so he wouldn't put it past her!

"Just kidding." Lana stuck her tongue out playfully. This caused Ash to comically wither away into dust. The blue haired girl motioned for Lapras to return to her home on its own. "But since I'm here, I'll walk with you."

"All right!" Ash said. The two of them began a usual trek down the path to the Pokémon School. When they passed by the forest, that's when a surprise was waiting for them. Tapu Koko was in front of them. It was staring more at Ash than Lana, but it clearly had something it wanted to show them. "Tapu Koko…?"

"What's it doing…?" Lana questioned, not that she had any idea.

"It looks like it's trying to tell us something, bzzt." Rotom suggested.

"…" Tapu Koko didn't say anything. Instead it rushed into the forest!

Ash had experienced this a few too many times. He knew that the island deity was trying to tell them something! "Come on, Lana!"

"Okay…!" Lana didn't question it! She suddenly found herself running alongside Ash as they followed Tapu Koko. They were going to be late, but when your island guardian told you to follow it, you followed. It was a few minute dash, but they eventually came to a clearing. Tapu Koko circled around a pile of leaves before flying off into the distance. Whatever it wanted to show them was right within that pile.

"Bzzt. It's gone." Rotom flew up a little past the trees to see where Tapu Koko went. It was long gone.

"The leaves?" Ash blinked.

Pikachu hopped off Ash's shoulder, curiously sniffing at the leaves. That's when it picked up a weird smell. "Pika! Pika!" The mouse gestured to the leaves with a concerned expression.

"Is there something in there?" Lana started to remove the leaves. That was when an arm fell out and she almost cried out from surprise. "H-Huh!? Is this a person!?"

Strange. But Ash, Pikachu, and Lana started to remove the leaves. Luckily a gust of wind did most of the work for them! The pile of leaves scattered, leaving the tiny group with a surprising sight. A girl was passed out in the leaves; she wore a red hat, her hair was black and it was difficult to discern the color of her eyes due to her being unconscious. She wore a yellow shirt with a floral pattern and green shorts. Why she was here, or why Tapu Koko brought them here was a mystery. "Hey…is that…a Z-Ring?" Ash's eyes wandered to the black Z-Rign on the girl's wrist. It was just like his own! Which was…odd, since the four Tapus personally upgraded his Z-Ring on Poni Island!

There were numerous questions floating in the air, but the most prominent one was…

Who was this girl?

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Next Time: The Girl Who Fell From the Sky.