Prologue

"Daddy, where are we going? Where is Shera?"

Ashley looked behind her as she tried to find her caretaker, Professor Shera Blanchard.

"Don't worry Ashley, Dad will take good care of you. Shera is coming later."

Ashley looked at the man in front of her who she called dad.

Shera had one day come back with him and told her this man was her new dad.

The man who held her hand had long grey-green hair with strands standing out at the side and top of his head, while the rest hung down just over his shoulders.

Her hair was different from his, as it was a bright white with blue and black streaks in her bangs, while hidden beneath it were two small yellow antlers with multi-coloured gems embedded into them, growing from her forehead.

The man was also really tall and handsome, with sharp red eyes, while a single monocle-like item obscured one.

She really hoped she would become as beautiful as he was.

"Shaymin, Sylveon, let's go!"

From behind her ran a Pokémon called Shaymin.

It was a little Pokémon who had leaf-like fur atop it's back on which pink flowers bloomed.

The other Pokémon that was just behind it was white and pink and had a lot of ribbon-like feelers near its neck, which would grab her hand in affection.

"Shaay, Shaymin!"

Shaymin looked at the man, who held Ashley's hand, with suspicion.

This man had only been in Ashley's life for a brief year, yet he was already taking her somewhere with him, without Professor Blanchard's permission.

Truly too suspicious, he didn't trust him one bit.

Sylveon didn't trust the man either, but she would keep Ashley safe.

"Ashley can trust daddy, cause daddy likes me a lot. Daddy also likes it when I am a good girl, so I will follow daddy."

Ashley giggled as she clung to her *Daddy's* hand.

He ruffled her hair as they moved towards a plane a little distance from her.

"Let's go, Shera will come later!"

Ashley nodded firmly at her daddy's words.

"Un!"

She was really excited to go somewhere new.

So far she'd been stuck at home, rarely being able to come out with other people, yet daddy took her somewhere new!

The only times she could go out, was when other Pokémon would take her without miss Blanchards notice.

In front of her was something she hadn't seen before.

"Daddy, Daddy, What's that big thing in front of us? Is it daddy's?"

The man gently rubbed her head as he walked near the entrance.

"It's a plane. It can take us far, far away. It's very big and very fun."

"Really? I want to go on the plane!"

Ashley excitedly jumped up and down.

Sylveon grabbed her firmly as she placed Ashley on her back.

Ashley giggled as she grasped Shaymin and put him on her lap.

The man walked in front of her on the stairs leading up into the plane, mentioning for her to get up too.

Sylveon still didn't trust the man, but still followed behind him.

Once on the plane, the door closed, while a loud rumbling noise reverberated through it.

"Whaaa! What is that? It's roaring."

Ashley looked around her in shock, not finding any Pokémon that could make such noise.

"It's the plane that's making the noise. It's preparing to fly."

Her dad gently patted her head again as he grabbed her and put her down in one of the chairs inside the plane.

Ashley sat opposite of him as Shaymin lay down in her lap and Sylveon lay down at her feet.

"Where are we going daddy?" Ashley was really curious.

"You're going to visit daddy's family. I really want Ashley to meet them."

"I really wants to meet daddy's family too, cause daddy is really nice to me so they must be nice people too!"

Ashley happily wiggled in her chair, looking at the view outside the windows.

The plane started to move forward, first slowly after which it quickly accelerated.

In the distance she could see her caretaker, Miss Blanchard, running towards her and waving.

"Daddy! Shera is waving at Ashley. Why doesn't she come with us?"

Ashley kept her eyes on her caretaker, missing her daddy's eyes darkening in displeasure.

"Shera is coming later. She still has a lot of things to do at home, but she came to say goodbye for now."

"Really? Then I'll wave back at Miss Blanchard!"

Ashley happily waved back at her caretaker as the plane left the ground.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Looking down at the sleeping five-year-old Ashley, the man leaned back in his chair in satisfaction.

"Lord Ghetsis, how did it go?"

A hologram showing another man in uniform appeared before the man, Ghetsis.

"I've succeeded in obtaining the girl. The rumours were true. It was worth the trouble dealing with Professor Shera Blanchard.

Prepare another room in the castle. We'll be there in less than two hours."

"Yes, lord Ghetsis."

The man on the television nodded his head, after which the transmission ended.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

When Ashley woke up, the plane had already landed and her daddy was waiting for her.

"Are you awake?"

Ashley drowsily nodded as she rubbed her eyes.

"Then Dad will show you around in his house. There will be many friends you can play with."

"Really? I will have many friends? I always wanted to have more friends!"

As if her sleepiness was an illusion, Ashley jumped in happiness as she clung to her daddy's hand.

As the door of the plane opened and the stairs lowered to the floor, two rows of people greeted her, bowing deeply as they stood at the door opening.

Behind them she could see a massive castle towering over them.

Ashley stared with shock at the scene before her.

She'd often been told of these kind of happening from picture books.

"Is daddy royalty?"

Ashley looked at her daddy with sparkling eyes.

Her daddy rubbed her head, giving a faint nod, as he mumbled "Something like that."

"Wow, then daddy is super important!"

Her daddy nodded again as he led her down the stairs and through the procession.

Shaymin and Sylveon followed closely behind her, as if they were her trusted guards.

At the end of the procession stood six men of the same age as her daddy, some even older.

She hid behind her dad as she sneakily looked at the six men.

"Lord Ghetsis, congratulations on your accomplishment. I'm glad to see it went well."

The man on the left said, followed by other praises from the men behind him. They each stole glances at the little child behind their leader.

Ashley tugged at her daddy's, Ghetsis' hand.

"Daddy, are they the family daddy spoke of?"

Ghetsis looked at Ashley as he pulled her in front of him.

He lowered himself slightly as he made eye contact with her.

"These are dad's precious family, they're your family too now so there is no need to be shy. Introduce yourself."

The other sages looked with surprise at the act of their leader and in their hearts praised lord Ghetsis in amazement for his acting skills.

Ashley nodded as she stood in front of the six men and made a faint wave of her hand after which she firmly grasped the hems of her little dress.

"My name is Ashley. My other family is Daddy, Shera, Sylveon and Shaymin. It's nice to meet you."

Done with the introductions she hid behind Ghetsis again, her face faintly visible as she stared at them.

Each of the six sages lowered themselves as they began their introductions.

Their names were from left to right; Gorm, Bronius, Ryoku, Giallo, Zinzolin and Rood.

A man in uniform came forward and informed them about the prepared room.

"Excellent, I'll introduce you to another member of our family."

Ghetsis stepped forwards carrying Ashley in his arms.

The child was too small and he didn't want to take too much time with this.

This was a matter of convenience, as the distance was quite far.

they walked through the big castle, passing many people in uniforms and walking past many clossed doors.

Led by Ghetsis, Sylveon, Shaymin and Ashley arrived at a big door.

Without knocking, Ghetsis opened the doors, revealing a big playground.

There were toys like stuffed bears and train tracks.

At the back of the room was even a skateboard park.

In the middle of the room stood a boy, approximately ten-years-old.

That boy had the same unruly and green hair as Ghetsis.

Around that boy were a few Pokémon who quickly hid as they entered the room.

It was clear that the boy was Ghetsis biological son.

"Is this a friend for me?"

Ghetsis shook his head as he stood before the boy.

"Ashley, this is N. From today on he will be your brother."

Ashley walked towards N and looked up at him.

He really looked a lot like her daddy.

Not even a bit did he look like her, which wasn't strange as her daddy wasn't her real dad.

"Nice to meet you N. I am Ashley, let's get along!"

She grasped N's hand, startling him at the sudden contact and ran towards the train tracks.

Looking behind her, Ashley looked at her daddy.

"Is it alright if I play with my big brother?"

Ghetsis laughed silently, giving her a nod as he left the room.

"Does big brother like Pokémon too?"

Ashley said as she tried to arrange the train tracks, though it was doomed to fail. There were so many bite marks that some of them couldn't be used anymore.

N nodded as he sat down beside her, his arms around his legs.

"Pokémon are pure, kind-hearted, unlike most people."

"I like Pokémon a lot, especially big sis Sylveon and Big bro Shaymin. They're the best."

N looked at her with a slight sparkle in his eyes.

"Can I meet them?"

N hadn't seen a lot of Pokémon, while most he had seen had been badly hurt by humans.

He really wanted to meet new Pokémon, even more when she spoke so highly of them.

"Sure! They're near the door, so I'll get them!"

Ashley happily went towards the door, quickly coming back riding on Sylveon and with Shaymin in her arms.

"They and Shera are my precious family. It's sad Shera isn't here, but I still have Sylveon and Shaymin, so I'm fine~"

the Pokémon in her arms didn't seem to agree with her as it began to shout in a loud voice.

Shaymin angrily began to rebuke her, patting at her hands in annoyance.

While he kept going on, Sylveon eventually stopped him, placing her feelers in front of its loud mouth.

"Ashley is not a Dummy! Ashley trusts daddy. Shera will know where I am for sure, so I will see her soon!"

Ashley pouted, as she angrily looked away, her language momentarily degrading.

"Syl Syl, Sylveoon."

Sylveon patiently patted Ashley's head with her feelers, calming Ashley down.

"Alright, I will listen."

Ashley looked with teary eyes at Shaymin.

"I'm sorry. Is Shaymin still angry with me?"

Shaymin angrily huffed a bit, but still rubbed his head on her hand meaning he forgave her.

"Shay Shay Shaymin!" (translation: "I will protect you for sure!")

"Thank you Shaymin! I feel a lot safer with you protecting me."

Ashley happily hugged Shaymin while Shaymin proudly raised his head high, like a true guardian knight.

"I'm jealous you get along so well."

N looked longingly at the three of them. It was a first for him to see such happy Pokémon right from the start.

"Eh? N knows what Sylveon and Shaymin say? N is like me?"

N seemed to be deep in thought.

"Am I?"

N didn't seem to be sure about it as a frown appeared between his brow.

"Then, then, does N glow too?"

"Glow?" N was confused by her words. Why would a human glow?

"Yeah! It feels like 'whoosh, whoosh' in my body, then my horns go, 'Glow, Glow' and the when I put my hands on an ache, the pain flies away. Daddy's always very proud of me when I do it."

Ashley copied Shaymin's gesture as she stuck out her chest in pride.

"I can't do something like that. Can your family do something like that?"

N was very curious about this strange ability of her.

"Don't know? I don't know my real daddy and mommy. Now Shera is my caretaker and Ghetsis is my Daddy."

Ashley thought very hard, but didn't know if she had people around her who had the same ability as her.

"But uncle Xern knew about it, so I don't know?"

"Uncle Xern?"

Another name that made N curious.

"Yes Uncle Xerneas, he's a giant Pokémon with shiny antlers like mine but bigger and a black and blue body. He's always very kind to me and visited a lot. But, but, every time other people come, uncle Xern goes away."

Ashley had at some point, gotten a hold of paper and crayons as she drew her Uncle Xern.

The Pokémon was just as she'd described it, looking much like a stag.

It was a Pokémon that N had never seen or heard of before, not even in books.

Even the Pokémon she'd come with were unknown to him.

"Uncle Yvel knew too, but he only visited once per month, also only at night, afraid others might see him. According to him, the people and Pokémon back home didn't like him much. But I like uncle Yvel very much! It's always fun to fly on his back. Ah, Uncle Yvel is a giant bird-like Pokémon. He's red and black, while shaped like a Y."

Like with uncle Xern, she drew her uncle Yvel too, which also looked much like her description.

These exotic looking Pokémon amazed N.

He very much wanted to meet them too if he had the chance.

"Does Brother N know other Pokémon too? I wasn't allowed to see many Pokémon at home."

Looking up from her beautiful pictures, she looked back at N as she handed him the drawing.

N took the drawing as he began to wonder again.

This little girl in front of him suddenly got to a new place full of strangers, while the only thing she though about was Pokémon and making friends.

"I have a few friends, but they are shy around strangers. They don't like humans."

"But I like Pokémon thiiiiis much! I really want to meet them!"

Ashley spread her arms as wide as possible to show him her degree of like.

She pouted at him, as she pitifully looked him in the eye.

"I can't?"

"W-Well, only if they want to come themselves."

As N said it, there was no change in the room.

It showed their intent to stay hidden.

"Then I will play hide and seek with them! If I find them I win, but if I can't I'll lose and will give up. Buuuuuttt, only for today. I will try again tomorrow."

Before N could dissuade her, she started to count to thirty, though it took her awhile as she lost count at fourteen.

Yelling loudly 'Thirty!' She ran around the room as she looked through the chest of stuffed toys, behind the skate rampart and in the drawers.

N looked at the scene in amazement, seeing the Pokémon flying soundlessly though the room or hiding in the places she'd just looked through.

Their first impression of fear quickly changed into enjoyment and mischief.

He could see the playfulness of his little friends as they tried hard to avoid being seen.

Eventually Ashley gave up as she sat down in front of N in defeat.

"Meanies! I'll come back tomorrow and I'll definitely find you then!"

While Ashley yelled her intentions, Sylveon was already dragging her out of the room with a helpless expression on her face.

The days of hide and seek continued as Ashley enjoyed her stay at the castle of her daddy, Ghetsis.