Sevii Islands…

The residents of the Sevii Islands often spoke about an elderly lady living alone who was said to be the keeper of the Ultimate Moves. Everybody knew her as a very powerful trainer, who lived in Cape Brink, in Two Island. Nobody knew how long she had lived there (or her actual age, for that matter), but the locals saw her with great respect, and many travelers came to the Sevii Archipelago only to train under her. However, she was very picky about the successors of her techniques; very few chosen ones could boast about having learned Blast Burn, Frenzy Plant or Hydro Cannon in Boon Island. This elderly lady called herself Ultima.

At the time, Ultima was at the harbor, waiting for a certain trainer. This was in itself a very unusual occurrence; she accepted very few trainers as her disciples, and even fewer she would take a particular interest in personally. However, this was a very… special case. Ultima had researched a few things about this trainer. Apparently, he came from the faraway region of Kalos. The boy was able to get his eight League Badges in the strongest Gyms of the region, and had a notable participation in the League, only losing in the semifinals. To have made it to the Top 4 in his first important competition, the boy had to be remarkably strong. But that wasn't the reason she had accepted to train him; after all, she had rejected trainers who fared even better than that.

The Ferry Seagallop was approaching in the distance. The boat quickly docked in the small port of Boon Island, and a boy and a girl around sixteen years old came down. The boy was dressed in a dark blue jacket and sky blue pants. His dark hair was covered in a baseball cap, and he had strange Z-shaped birthmarks in his cheeks. The girl hand blond hair tied in a ponytail, and her outfit was quite weird: it looked like a jumpsuit with a helmet and what seemed like wings below her arms. As soon as they set foot on land, the girl quickly pulled on her companion to approach the old woman.

"You must be Fitzdane," she said upon seeing him face to face. The boy nodded, and Ultima focused her attention on the girl. "And who's your friend?"

"My name's Ciel, I'm Fitz's girlfriend," the girl quickly introduced herself. "Pleased to meet you, madam."

"We've come a long way from Kalos to learn your ultimate attacks." The boy, Fitzdane, or "Fitz", as Ciel had called him, respectfully bowed before the old woman. "Please teach me."

"I must warn you, I will only teach those whom I consider worthy of inheriting my grand abilities," the woman said. "Tell me, boy, do you think you're worthy?"

"You be the judge. Come out now!"

The trainer summoned a tall blue Pokémon, looking like a bipedal frog and wearing his long tongue around his neck like a scarf. A Greninja, the Water-type starter from the Kalos region. Ultima was quite surprised, this was the first time she saw one of these in the flesh. Normally, the trainers coming to her for the ultimate attacks would bring her Kanto starters and more scarcely Johto starters. In any case, one single look was enough to asses if they had potential, and the boy's Greninja certainly looked fairly promising.

"Before I take you in, I'd like to know something, boy," she said in a serious tone. "Why do you want to learn one of my ultimate attacks?"

"I… I want to be strong. I need to be stronger." Fitz took on a determined expression. "Losing the Kalos League made me realize that I need to toughen myself up."

"I see." Ultima nodded. "Alright, let's start from the beginning. The Ultimate Attacks are: Blast Burn, Frenzy Plant, and Hydro Cannon. These are the strongest Fire, Grass and Water-type moves respectively. Many trainers have brought their starters before me to learn one of these moves, but very few have succeeded. Even fewer have managed to use them at their full power."

"What do you mean?" asked Ciel with interest.

"Most trainer can only use these moves at 50% of power," the old woman explained. "But if you can make it through my training, you'll be able to use the 100 % of its true power."

"Terrific." Fitz tried to imagine it.

"Of course, there's one reason I specifically called you for training." Ultima stared into the boy's eyes. "Are you really one of them? Those whom they call Bloodliners?"

Upon hearing this questions, both of the trainers before Ultima quickly shifted expression and exchanged a quick glance. The boy remained thoughtful, before deciding what would be the best way to answer the question. An image was worth over a thousand words, as they said.

"Allow me." Fitz began forming a water sphere between his hands, which slowly began taking a different shape, like a blade, until it finally shaped up into a four-tipped star. The elderly woman looked intensely, without uttering a single word, but she nodded, evidencing that she was impressed.

"Water Shuriken, a signature move of Greninja," said Fitz. "With my abilities, I can do anything a Greninja can."

"And Greninja is one of the few Pokémon capable of learning Hydro Cannon," said Ultima, preparing already her proposal. "Alright, boy. This will be our deal: I will teach your Greninja how to use Hydro Cannon, and in turn, you'll help me prove if my theory is true. Let's see if my Ultimate Moves can be learned by a Bloodliner. Will you accept?"

Ultima extended her hand, and Fitz quickly shook it, with a determined expression. The old woman smiled, and without further ado, she removed a bracelet from her walking cane, placing it in the boy's wrist.

"What's this?" the trainer asked in confusion.

"This bracelet contains all the power of the Hydro Cannon. It's the power source of the Ultimate Moves, many consider these as one of the first ways to encapsulate Pokémon moves. With our current technology, this has evolved to what is currently known as the TMs," Ultima explained.

"Interesting," Ciel said, clearly in awe at the story. Fitz, however, was worried about something else.

"Shouldn't you give this to Greninja instead of me?" he asked.

"This is the tricky part of these moves, boy," said Ultima. "If you really have a strong friendship bond with your Greninja, the Hydro Cannon's power will pass through you and it will be transferred to your Pokémon. Plus, since you're a Bloodliner, if my theory is right, your body should be able to absorb part of the energy to use this move."

"I understand," the trainer said, becoming thoughtful.

"You have a long and harsh road ahead of you, and you'll have to pass very difficult trials," the old woman warned him. "I'll ask you this one last time, once you accept, there's no turning back. Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, madam," the boy said. He had enthusiasm, and Ultima always liked that in young people. She then turned towards the blonde.

"What about you, lass? Wouldn't you like one of my Ultimate Moves?"

"I'd love to, but… I don't have any Pokémon capable of learning them," Ciel replied with an innocent giggle.

"Alright. Well, let's get this show on the road," the old woman said. Even though he was outwardly calm, Ultima could see in the boy's eyes he was anxious to get started. "Your first trial… you'll have to get to my house."

Both trainers almost face faulted at that. "Excuse me, your house?"

"This island is not for weaklings." The old woman giggled a bit sinisterly. "My house is at the other side of the island, at a place called Cape Brink. To get there, you'll have to go through a very long and harsh road."

With this, Ultima started walking, while Fitz and Ciel had no choice but to follow her. Alright, walking to the other side of the island, how hard could that be?

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A few hours later…

Contrary to what Fitz and Ciel expected, the path to Cape Brink was not a simple and boring walk. When the old woman said the trials awaiting him wouldn't be easy, she was underselling it. If anything "hard", wouldn't be enough to describe it, "brutal" would be more appropriate.

The first stage was to run across several miles while jumping over the obstacles, while a mechanic floor under their feet moved backwards. At first it seemed easy enough, but after a few miles, the trainers began to feel the toll, going forward only out of sheer willpower. Fortunately, they could rest their legs at the second stage, since the next stretch they were allowed to ride on the back of a couple of Dodrio, while trying to catch the berries falling from the trees, which according to Ultima was training for their arms and accuracy. At long last they reached the third stage, and they were at around a thousand meters from Cape Brink. By then, both trainers were exhausted, especially Ciel, who was breathing heavily.

"Hey Ciel, you alright?"

"Don't… worry…" The girl slowly regained her breath. "I'm gonna feel this tomorrow, though…"

"Hey, thanks for coming along, having you by my side means a lot," said Fitz, causing the girl to blush slightly.

Ultima looked at the couple, quite impressed. Twenty-two years before, another trainer took eight full hours to reach the second stage, but he was exhausted to the point that by the time he reached the last stage he just collapsed on the spot. Compared to him, these two did remarkably well. Maybe being Bloodliners gave them an edge.

"Well done, both of you. Now, on to the next trial!"

The trainers approached the next path, marked by a sign that read: "Battle Road". With a name like that, it didn't take a genius to know what came next. But before entering, Ultima, stared severely at Ciel; she had something important to say.

"Lass, I'm afraid this trial is only for those who want to learn the Ultimate Moves. From here on in, you can't help your boyfriend."

"Oh, I see…" The girl felt a little disheartened at this.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Fitz assured her. "OK, let's get to it, who am I going to fight?"

"Your opponent is right in front of you," said Ultima, surprising them both.

"Wait… are you saying that…?" Fitz already knew what was coming.

"That's right, boy. You'll have to fight me." The old woman smiled, amused at his surprised expression. "And you better take me seriously; if you can't beat me here, I won't teach you my Ultimate Move."

Ultima seemed quite confident; she hadn't had a decent battle for a very long time, and she was hoping her new disciple wouldn't disappoint her. Fitz thought it over before giving his response.

"Alright, if I can't beat you here, my skills will never improve," he said with determination. "Let's do it then."

"Good luck, Fitz," said Ciel, smiling at her boyfriend.

"Hey, lass, there's no need for you to keep running. Do you want my Dragonite to carry you to Cape Brink?"

"No thanks, I have my own means of travelling."

"Really?"

"Well, I don't know if you've heard of it, but these clothes are the usual gear worn by Sky Trainers," Ciel explained. "In Kalos, Sky Battles are a very popular sport."

"Sky Battles?" Ultima titled her head in confusion. Definitely, living in that island for so long, she missed out one or two things of the outside world.

"We use the air currents to soar the sky along with our Flying Pokémon, to fight side by side." Ciel smiled as she showed the wings of her suit. "It's really exciting. Let me show you, come out, Fletchinder!"

The girl summoned a red bird Pokémon. At first, Ultima was surprised to see a Pokémon she had never met before, but that was nothing compared when a sudden air current came from nowhere and began propelling Ciel into the air. While the Sky Trainer made a few rolls and twirls in midair, Ultima couldn't help but see in admiration her performance; it even looked like the wind currents obeyed the girl's will, and the old woman had the feeling that was the case.

"Do your best, Fitz, I'll be rooting for you!"

The girl winked at her boyfriend before flying off with the air currents, while he tried to cover up his blush, ready to get into the Battle Road, followed by Ultima.

The Battle Road was divided in half by a high fence. Ultima took one side and Fitz remained in the other. The old lady proceeded to explain the rules.

"This will be a double battle. You can use any of your six Pokémon whenever you want. The floor underneath us will move, and every time one of us takes damage, the other's floor will speed up. The one who reaches the end of the path first wins!"

The boy adjusted his cap, getting ready for the battle, while the old lady mounted in one of her Dodrio. Since she was a far cry from her prime, this would save her some backaches. The old woman had to fight the urge to laugh at her own joke, but there was no time for joking now.

"Let the battle start!"

They both summoned their Pokémon at the same time, Ultima brought a Meganium and a Typhlosion, while Fitz started with his Quilladin and Tyrantrum. The elder didn't recognize the large dinosaur, but she was sure the green one evolved in one of the Pokémon capable of using Frenzy Plant. The two started running and that was the cue for the battle to start.

"Meganium, Sunny Day! Typhlosion, Flamethrower!"

Meganium launched a large energy ball towards the sky, bringing out an artificial sun that powered up the Flamethrower. The attack was aimed directly at Quilladin, but Tyrantrum jumped in to intercept it. The old woman gazed with interest; to have tanked it that well, it was probably a Rock type. Nevertheless, with the first hit in, Ultima's side sped up, while Fitz and his other Pokémon had to run to catch up with the old lady.

"Tyrantrum, get ready with Dragon Dance! Quilladin, use Seed Bomb!" Fitz commanded. While Tyrantrum powered himself up, Quilladin began firing out a barrage of high-powered explosive seeds.

"That won't work! Meganium, Light Screen!"

Meganium raised a force field, protecting itself as well as its partner, greatly reducing the Seed Bomb's power. But that wasn't the only surprise for Fitz, since in that very instant, a flaming aura surrounded Tyrantrum, damaging it.

"What?!" The trainer took a few seconds, but he finally understood. The Flamethrower, while not very effective, did leave a few burns. Ultima chuckled at his predicament. "We can't give up! Tyrantrum, use Fire Fang on Meganium!"

"Typhlosion, protect Meganium!"

Typhlosion began running to intercept the attack, but it was rammed by Quilladin and its Rollout move, giving Tyrantrum ample chance to chomp on Meganium with his jaws engulfed in flames. This was a very hard blow for Ultima's Pokémon, so Fitz's side quickly sped up, overtaking his opponent.

"Not bad, boy, but the games are over. Behold, the fury of Blast Burn, and the greatness of Frenzy Plant!"

Ultima had decided the boy deserved a view of the Ultimate Moves. Meganium summoned several gigantic roots from the ground, while Typhlosion created a gigantic fiery explosion. Fitz was left astounded; those were stronger than any attack he had ever seen in his life, but the amazement quickly made way to the panic.

"You have to dodge, quickly!" he yelled.

But it was too late; the attack was too powerful. The explosion was so great that it actually blew apart a large portion of the ground, and when the smoke dissipated, Quilladin and Tyrantrum were knocked out, and he had no choice but to return them.

"You did a great work," he said, as he put away their Pokéballs.

"How did you like that, boy?" said Ultima, who was quite surprised to see a big grin in her opponent's face.

"I really want to learn those moves! Let's go, Noivern, Fennekin!"

The next Pokémon Fitz called in were a large draconic bat and a small yellow and red fox.

"Is that a Fennekin? Are you going to fight me with an unevolved Pokémon?" a confused Ultima said. "I expected more of you, boy."

"Don't underestimate her, she's got the level to become a Delphox. But this little girl has her pride, so she refused to evolve," Fitz replied. Ultima then noticed she wore a holder on her neck, carrying what seemed like an Everstone. "Noivern, show your aerial supremacy and attack with Dragon Pulse!"

Noivern flew at high speed, placing itself in front of his opponents to deliver a large green energy sphere. The old woman thought he was wasting his time, since the Light Screen would protect her Pokémon, but upon looking again, she was shocked to see them take the full brunt of the attack, and Fitz's floor began speeding up even more.

"But how…?"

"My Noivern has the Ability Infiltrator. Moves like Light Screen won't protect you," Fitz replied.

"Impossible. But this isn't over! Meganium, Frenzy Plant! Typhlosion, Blast Burn! Take that bat down!"

Both Pokémon were ready to deliver their ultimate attacks again, but the two of them as well as their trainer were in for a surprise, when they saw Fennekin in front of them. In the middle of the confusion after the Dragon Pulse attack, she had hidden in Noivern's back and now she had jumped off him.

"There's no perfect defense that I cannot break." The trainer smiled, while he and the little vixen exchanged a glance, and Ultima noticed a strange glow in her opponent's eyes. "Right there, Fennekin! Aim your Fire Spin to Meganium's neck!"

Fennekin opened her mouth and launched a flaming spiral at high speed, focusing it in a closed point rather than letting it spread out around the opponent. Since they were in the middle of charging up their attacks, none of them was able to react in time, and the fire spiral struck Meganium right in the middle of her throat, causing her to suffocate and faint immediately.

"Meganium!"

"We're not done yet! Use Psychic!"

Right when Typhlosion was about to launch the Blast Burn, Fennekin shut its maw with her psychic force. Not being able to unleash all the power, all the energy stored in Typhlosion's mouth exploded inside, and when the smoke cleared, Ultima's fire Pokémon had been knocked out, once again speeding up the floor under Fitz. Her job completed, Fennekin jumped over Noivern's back, who flew back to their trainer.

"Not bad, boy, not bad at all." Ultima recalled her Pokémon, noticing the glow in Fitz's eyes had disappeared. He seemed to be breathing heavily, though. "Is there a problem?"

"Don't worry… I'm just a little tired," Fitz tried to recover. The elder didn't seem to buy that, but if he wanted to continue, she'd have to do so as well.

"Let's go, Feraligatr, Dragonite!" The old woman called the large, ferocious blue alligator from Johto, and the legendary final dragon from Kanto. "Dragonite, Draco Meteor! Feraligatr, take down Fennekin with your Hydro Pump!"

"Noivern, fly up! Fennekin, dodge the Hydro Pump and counter Psyshock!"

The Water-type alligator fired off a large stream of water, but Fennekin dodged easily and launched a psychic energy blast, which he seemed to take rather easy. Unfortunately, Noivern wasn't as lucky, and one of the energy meteors hit him hard in the wing and caused him to fall to the ground.

"Feraligatr! Use your Ice Fang!"

"Noivern, defend with Dragon Claw! Fennekin, help him!"

"Dragonite, don't let Fennekin get in the way!"

Fennekin rushed off to aid her partner, but Dragonite stopped her with a powerful Twister. Meanwhile, Noivern and Feraligatr clashed their attacks, pushing each other forward, but ultimately Feraligatr prevailed, and Fitz's dragon went down.

"Return, Noivern! I choose you, Heliolisk!"

Fitzdane switched his Noivern for a strange Electric-type Pokémon. Another stranger for Ultima; this battle was getting more and more interesting. She was enjoying herself, she had to admit the boy was a worthy opponent.

"Heliolisk, use Thunder!"

Fitz's Pokémon summoned a powerful lightning bolt, but Dragonite and Feraligatr managed to dodge. Ultima decided to take out Fennekin first, using the third Ultimate Move, the one the boy had come for in the first place.

"Use Hydro Cannon!"

"Cover her, Heliolisk!"

Feraligatr fired its Ultimate Move, a mighty energized water blast directed towards Fennekin, but Heliolisk got in the way to take the hit, causing a huge explosion. Ultima was sure that should be enough to take them out, not matter how strong it were, that Pokémon shouldn't be able to take an Ultimate Move head on. But when the smoke cleared Ultima saw that, not only Heliolisk was still standing, but it showed no damage whatsoever. How could it take such an attack?".

"Dry Skin, Heliolisk's special ability," Fitz explained upon seeing her shocked expression. "Water-type moves won't make any damage."

"Interesting," the old woman muttered. The boy didn't cease to surprise her. And of course, there was the fact that after launching the Hydro Cannon, her Pokémon had to recharge.

"Combine Heat Wave and Electrify!"

Fennekin fired off a rain of flame blades, while Heliolisk created an electric wave. Once the two attacks merged, the flame blades turned electric, hitting Feraligatr for supereffective damage, enough to knock it out.

"Amazing, but I'm just warming up. Come out, Tyranitar!"

The next of Ultima's Pokémon whipped up a giant sandstorm just as soon as it entered the field, buffeting Fennekin and Heliolisk. Fitz gritted his teeth; one single glance was enough to tell this was a very high-leveled Pokémon. Fennekin and Heliolisk would have difficulties.

"Combine your Hyper Beams!" Ultima commanded.

"Counter with Heat Wave and Air Cutter!" Fitz replied in turn.

Ultima's intimidating Pokémon fired their combined energy beams. Fennekin tried to fight them off with her fire waves, while Heliolisk did the same with wind blades. The moves clashed with each other, but the combined Hyper Beams quickly consumed the moves of their opponents, hitting them hard, and speeding up Ultima's floor once again.

"Fennekin, Heliolisk! You alright?!"

Both Pokémon struggled to get back up, but Ultima wasn't done yet with her attack. She had finally decided to stop holding back; she was so excited with the battle she was just letting herself get carried away by the excitement.

"Finish them with Earthquake, Tyranitar!"

"Quick, you have to dodge!" yelled Fitz. A hit like that would defeat them both.

Tyranitar stomped on the ground with great force, causing everything to rumble. Since Dragonite could fly, he would take no damage unlike both of Fitz's Pokémon. Or so she thought: the old woman saw in surprise how Fennekin jumped and managed to get a hold of Dragonite's foot. Not only that: Heliolisk was floating in the air surrounded by a strange purple aura, Fennekin had saved him by levitating him with Psychic.

"You're smart, boy. And for a Fennekin to have that kind of Psychic control even unevolved, that means she's well trained." The old woman smiled. "But you made one fatal mistake."

"What?"

"As long as he's levitating like that, he's immobilized. Hammer Arm!"

Taking advantage of Heliolisk not being able to move, Tyranitar delivered a powerful punch, sending him flying and knocking him out, and at the same time Dragonite managed to shake off Fennekin. Four out of Fitz's Pokémon were out of the game, but he still had one last hope.

"It's all up to you now! Let's go, Greninja, Water Shuriken!" Just as soon as he came out, Greninja began throwing his Shurikens at Tyranitar, but Ultima was ready for that.

"Use your sand as a shield!"

Tyranitar concentrated his sandstorm around himself like a tornado, protecting himself from the Water Shurikens. Fitz was surprised, he had never seen anyone use a Tyranitar's ability that way.

"Thunderbolt, Dragonite!" the old woman commanded.

"Greninja, use Substitute! Fennekin, Psyshock!"

Like his namesake, Greninja vanished and the attack impacted a small log coming out of nowhere- Meanwhile, Fennekin took her chance to jump over Dragonite and fire her psychic waves on him, but Dragonite didn't seem to feel them at all.

"Shake her off with Dragon Rush!"

"Greninja, Night Slash!"

Justo when Dragonite was charging up energy to finish off Fennekin, Greninja leapt high and intercepted him, slashing him with a shadowy blade, rescuing his partner and getting her away from danger.

"Well done, you guys!" Fitz smiled in triumph at his Pokémon.

"Aren't you forgetting someone?" Ultima pointed.

While they were preoccupied with Dragonite, they didn't notice Tyranitar charging a Hyper Beam, until it was too late. The attack hit them head on; Greninja managed to get back up without much trouble, but Fennekin was struggling to get back on her feet. The small Fire-type vixen was surrounded by a red aura. Blaze had activated, she was reaching her limit. Fitz knew he had to act fast, with his Pokémon so weakened, he couldn't get into the defensive, but he couldn't risk to try and attack with the defense Ultima had set up. There was only one last choice. Tyranitar had resistance to Fire-type attacks and it could control the Sandstorm to protect them from Water-type attacks. What could he do?

"There's no perfect defense I cannot break." Once again, a red glow appeared in Fitz's eyes, which didn't go unnoticed by his opponent. "I got it. Fennekin, use Fire Spin against Dragonite!"

"That won't work at all! Use Dragon Rush, Dragonite!"

While Fennekin charged up her flames, Dragonite became engulfed with energy, both of them ready to collide their powers, but in the last possible moment, Fennekin dodged Dragonite.

"How?!"

"Right there, Fennekin! In the middle of the wings!" Fitz called.

The Pokémon gave her trainer a confident look, launching her focused Fire Spin attack right into Dragonite's back. Not only this left him with a burn status, but also caused him to start losing control of his flight, due to the critical damage to his wings.

"Come on, Greninja! Now's the time!"

With a lightning-fast movement, Greninja jumped over Dragonite's back along with Fennekin. Dragonite tried to shake them off but was unable to, and he had lost control of his flight. To make it worse, Greninja began pulling him on him and directing him, forcing him to fly up high.

"Now Greninja! Bombard Tyranitar with your Water Shurikens!" Fitz called. The Water-type readied his ninja stars, and Ultima reacted instantly.

"Cover up with your sand!"

Once again, the sand focused around Tyranitar as a tornado to shield him from the attack, but Fitz had anticipated to that. The Water Shurikens flew right through the eye of the storm, hitting Tyranitar without him being able to stop them. Once the sand subsided, Ultima only got to see her Pokémon was out cold, and Fitz's floor sped up once again. Seeing Dragonite was recovering, Greninja held Fennekin and leapt off to celebrate their little victory. Meanwhile, the glow in the trainer's eyes had vanished, and he was breathing heavily, notably tired.

"It's time for you to take part in the battle, Dodrio." Ultima had finally been forced to use her final Pokémon and was more than satisfied. She had never seen strategies like those her opponent had just used.

"We're almost there, guys. Just two more Pokémon to go!"

"Maybe so, but this battle is not about who has more Pokémon. It's about who reaches the goal first," Ultima reminded him. Indeed, they were almost at the end of the path. "Dragonite, use Thunderbolt! Dodrio, Tri-Attack!"

Both attacks took Greninja by surprise and collided at the same time, causing great damage and making Ultima's floor to match Fitz's. They were so close… they couldn't lose now. They had to reach the goal first! Fennekin and Greninja glanced at their trainer, waiting for the next order.

"We have no choice. Greninja, use Hydro Cannon!"

The old woman's eyes widened at this. They were going to try the Ultimate Move? However, part of her wanted to smile, this was an excellent chance to test if the bond with his Pokémon was strong enough to summon a Hydro Cannon so soon. As Greninja formed a large water sphere in his hands, they were almost reaching the goal.

"Now, Greninja!" Fitz cried out.

The Pokémon unleashed his full power, firing out his attack, at first everything seemed alright, but the move came out very unstable and burst in midair. Nevertheless, the explosion's wave managed to hit Dragonite, though it almost got Fennekin too, had it not been because Greninja shielded her, enduring his own attack. Dragonite, for his part, not only was hit by the wave, but he also took damage from the burns, and that was it. They had made it to the finish line, and Fitz breathed heavily, but seemed happy enough.

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"We won… by the hairs… but we won…"

Greninja helped his trainer up, while Fennekin was so excited she began licking the faces of both her trainer and her Pokémon comrade.

"Well done, boy." Ultima was satisfied with the battle. "And to think you were able to use Hydro Cannon so soon, it's impressive."

"But I couldn't control it," the trainer whispered, a bit disheartened.

"You'll improve with practice." Ultima chuckles. "If you allow me to say this, I'm impressed you could unlock this great ability by yourself."

Right in that moment, Ciel descended from the sky along with her Fletchinder, and the first thing she did was hugging her boyfriend.

"You were amazing, Fitz!" she said. The boy felt out of breath, so all he could do what smiling at his girlfriend. "Don't worry, I'm here now, you can rest."

"Thanks…" With this single word, Fitz fell unconscious, having to be caught by his girlfriend and Greninja. Ultima looked in concern.

"What's the matter? Is he alright?"

"No need to worry. He just overextended himself a bit, but nothing a good night of sleep can't solve."

"I don't get it. He does seem very tired, though." The old woman didn't get what happened. Was the training really that much intense for the poor boy? Upon seeing her expression, at first Ciel hesitated for a bit, but after gazing at the old woman and judging that she was trustworthy, she decided to speak up.

"Well… the thing is, Fitz has another ability aside from Greninja. The downside, every time he uses it he ends up really tired and has to sleep to regain his strength."

"I see," said Ultima. Despite her years, the abilities of the bloodliners were still a mystery to her. "Alright, we've finally arrived to Cape Brink, so my house is not too far. Take your boyfriend there and he can rest all he needs."

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Cape Brink, Ultima's house…

As the afternoon died down, Fitz was still fast asleep. Ultima had left him at her guest room, still concerned for the boy's health. The strangest thing was that their Pokémon seemed to act like this was normal; after recovering from the battle, Greninja had gone to practice his new attack along with Fennekin, maybe to surprise his trainer when he had woken up.

From what Ultima could see, Fitz's Pokémon team was used to this situation. The old woman came into the guest room with curiosity, finding that Ciel had remained by her boyfriend's side whole time, but she didn't seem worried. She just stared at him with a protective and somewhat nostalgic expression in her face, so Ultima finally decided to approach her.

"He's still asleep?"

"What?" The girl was caught off-guard by Ultima's presence, but she quickly regained her usual cheerful demeanor. "Don't worry, he'll be good as new tomorrow."

"Your boyfriend is a very good trainer," the old woman said. "Bloodliner or not, he's definitely worthy of learning Hydro Cannon. I can barely wait to teach him the move."

"Can I ask you something, madam?" Ciel said. "Why are you so interested in Bloodliners?"

"That's a good question, lass. It all starts several years ago. As you know, I was born in a different age, one where there weren't many people like you. Like many, I thought the bloodliners' existence was but a legend, it seemed too much to be real. Of course, that changed around fifteen or sixteen years ago."

"What happened then?" the blonde asked.

"As you know, Two Island is surrounded by strong whirlpools, which make hard for ships to dock here."

"That's true, the trip was quite turbulent." Ciel giggled as she remembered how easy her boyfriend got seasick as they went around the whirlpools.

"Well, back then, I was doing some training at the beach, and I saw something very strange. There was a girl, maybe the same age you have now, trying to cross around the whirlpools on the back of a Pokémon. That was insane; very few Pokémon have the strength needed to cross those dangerous whirlpools. The girl found herself in a pinch, and I was about to come to her aid, but she did something I didn't expect."

"What?"

"She began firing what I recognized as Ice Beams from her hands," Ultima replied. "The girl was trying to freeze the whirlpools, but the currents around this island are too strong, so she ended up falling into the water and I had to rescue her."

"And what happened then?"

"I brought her here to rest while I went to get her some food," said Ultima. "Unfortunately, by the time I came back, she was already gone."

"Where did she go?"

"I never knew; she just grabbed her things and vanished. My guess is that Two Island wasn't her destination, and given that she was heading east when I saw her, probably she was going to Three or Four Island."

Ultima sighed, that simple experience had left a deep mark on her. She would have liked to do some more for that young woman. Meanwhile, Ciel thought to herself, having a slight idea of why that girl had just up and left like that. She was aware of how hard it was for a Bloodliner to get by every day.

"For years I didn't give much thought to that encounter, but then, the Bloodliner Baby Boom, I think that's what they call it, happened. Everybody started talking about them, and it picked my curiosity. You see, I have many friends around the world, many of them researchers and scientists. Recently, many discoveries have been made about Bloodliners, and I read of a specific type of them, those called Species Bloodliners."

"Like Fitz," said Ciel.

"Exactly. Supposedly, they're capable of learning all of the techniques of a determinate Pokémon. So I figured, would a Species Bloodliner be compatible with my Ultimate Moves? Thanks to your friend I'm about to find out."

"I see. That's why you accepted to train him, isn't it?"

Ultima nodded. "I have to admit, your abilities are amazing. Fitzdane and you are very lucky."

"We're not as lucky as you think." The old woman noticed Ciel's smile dimming down. "People fear and hate us; we have to live on the run."

The old woman tilted her head, as if she believed Ciel was just exaggerating. She had a hard time believing what the girl had said. Ciel almost read her thoughts, as she continued:

"I'm not kidding, it's been like that since I can remember." The girl took on a more serious demeanor, trying to hold back some tears. "When my parents found out about my powers, they didn't hesitate to leave me to fend by myself. Had it not been because I met Fitz, I don't know what would have happened to me."

"I'm sorry, I had no idea." Ultima was quite shocked at this. What kind of parents would abandon their child for something as simple as a bloodline?

"But that's nothing compared to what happened to Fitz."

"What happened to him?" Curiosity got the better of Ultima. Did that boy suffer something worse than being abandoned by his parents?

"Unlike me, Fitz did have his mother, who loved him despite his powers…" The girl stopped for a bit before continuing. "Sadly, the townspeople weren't the same way, they though he was a monster. I don't know all the details, but… from what he told me, his mother was killed trying to protect him."

Ultima was shocked at Ciel's story. How could people do something like that? Trying to kill a boy whose only sin was having been born different? To Ultima's eyes, the townspeople were the real monsters.

"Some time after that we met, and we've been traveling together since then." The girl wiped her tears before continuing. "We couldn't trust anyone else, we only had one another. It was hard, we had to hide our powers, because if somebody found out they would attack us. Still, Fitz and I decided to fight to fulfill our dreams. Mine was to become a great Sky Trainer. I can still remember when Fitz gave me my suit, it was the happiest day of my life."

"And I'm guessing your boyfriend's dream is to be a Pokémon Master, isn't that right?"

"Something like that. What Fitz actually wants is to become the strongest trainer he can be. He wants to be strong enough to make sure that what happened to his mom won't happen again. In fact, he entered the Kalos League just to test his strength."

"Indeed, he's a very strong trainer." After having fought him, Ultima was convinced of the boy's strength.

"Yeah, but there were many powerful other trainers at the Kalos League." Ciel recalled in excitement those great battles she witnessed. "Fitz was pretty confident in his abilities, and with Greninja's help they won one victory after another. But when they got to the semifinals, he faced the toughest trainer until then. At first he had the advantage, but his opponent responded in kind, and when he finally got to his final Pokémon, it completely turned the tables."

"How did it happen?" Ultima asked.

Ciel began to tell her the story. The opponent's final Pokémon was a Delphox. Not only it had been very well-trained, defeating Fennekin and Noivern with relative ease, but when Fitz was just down to Greninja and it seemed like he was about to win, Delphox executed a transformation that gave it more power. Something similar to what was known as Mega-Evolution, but this was different. The Delphox changed colors, turning all the red parts of its body blue, and the flames of his attacks also changed to blue. The battle was intense, Fitz and Greninja gave it their all, but in the end, that Delphox was clearly superior.

"The Pokémon League is never easy, lass. Not many can win on their first try." Ultima tried to comfort her.

"Yeah, but losing the league really affected him, he's begun doubting his own strength," said Ciel. "It was then we heard of you, so that's why we came here."

Everything made sense for Ultima now. The boy had been hurt, and he wanted to be strong so what happened to him would never repeat. To protect himself and his loved ones from whomever wanted to hurt them. He had a strong bond, not only with his Pokémon, but also with this girl.

"So… why did you tell me all of this?" the old woman asked after remaining silent for a while.

"I don't know." Ciel thought it over for a bit. "I guess it's because you're the first person to know we're bloodliners, and yet you still want to help Fitz."

The old woman just smiled at the Sky Trainer. It had been a long day, and the two of them needed a good rest, so she decided to leave them alone for now. Ciel thanked her again for helping them, remaining by her boyfriend's side for the rest of the night.

----------------------------------------

Sometime later…

Fitz's training turned out to be really complicated. Hydro Cannon was very hard to master, not to mention Ultima was quite the demanding teacher. Meanwhile, Ciel was always cheering him on, while practicing her Sky Battles with her Fletchinder. After a long time and a lot of hard work, Greninja had finally managed to launch a fully-powered Hydro Cannon.

"Well done, Greninja!" Fitz hugged his Pokémon, tired, but very proud of him.

"Not bad, boy. You managed to get a perfect Hydro Cannon in record time."

"Yeah, but Greninja looks pretty tired. That last attack drained all of his energy." The boy observed.

"That's a small price to pay, boy. Every power comes at a price, but you'll get used to it," the old woman said. "All you have to do is work on the attack's accuracy, and you'll have it mastered."

"I'm glad." Fitz was very happy. All that training had borne its fruits.

"On the other hand… we do have a little problem." Ultima glanced at Fitz.

The boy's enthusiasm dimmed down. "I know…"

Unlike Greninja, Fitz had difficulties to summon the attack, he wasn't able to focus his bloodline enough to muster it. By that time, in theory he should be able to at least gather up some power for the Hydro Cannon, but there was no advance. Every time he tried, the boy managed to form an energized water sphere in his hands, but instead of unleashing the Hydro Cannon, the sphere would explode, splashing water all over and leaving the trainer all soaked and lying backwards on the ground.

"Be careful with that, boy, you almost got me!" said Ultima as she dodged the stray water.

Fitz slowly got back up. "Sorry."

Ultima glanced at her disciple. The boy had enthusiasm, but it seemed like he had hit a snag, something blocking him from accessing the power. She glanced at Greninja, who had already managed to learn and execute the attack perfectly. If his bloodline was the same as Greninja's species, shouldn't they have in theory the same power?

"Boy, how about you try it alongside Greninja?" Ultima suggested. "Try and imitate his movements."

"Alright. Ready, Greninja?" His Pokémon partner just nodded. "Hydro Cannon!"

Trainer and Pokémon adopted the same stance and began charging up the water spheres in their hands- Greninja managed to compress his own and then fired the energized water torrent, which flew up into the skies, exploding and falling back like rain. However, Fitz couldn't do the same; his sphere simply exploded in his face, just like always. After the attack, Greninja fell tired to the ground, while Fitz once again dropped himself all soaked on the floor. That didn't go so well.

"I think it's time you and Greninja take a rest," the old woman said. "We'll continue our training later."

After this, Ultima walked away, thoughtful. She was pretty concerned; at this point she expected Fitz to be able to at least summon an imperfect Hydro Cannon. The results were less than satisfactory so far. Maybe her Ultimate Moves couldn't be learned by Bloodliners after all? No, she wasn't willing to lose hope yet.

Fitz and his weakened Greninja decided to take advantage of the break to go meet up with Ciel and the rest of their Pokémon, who were eating a meal. The girl gave him a puff she had baked herself, but her boyfriend was so disheartened he didn't even have the mood to eat.

"Hey, don't let yourself get put down. You'll make it," she said.

"To be honest… I'm not sure I should keep up with this."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know if learning this attack is a good idea. Plus, I came here to become stronger as a trainer, not as a Bloodliner." Fitz had accepted the old woman's terms so he could get Greninja to learn Hydro Cannon. Learning the move himself seemed like an added value, but now… he wasn't so sure.

"You're a very strong trainer," Ciel assured him. "If you had a rematch right now, that Delphox wouldn't know what hit it."

Fitz smiled. The girl always knew what to say to cheer him up. One of the many things he loved about her. She was right; he had to rest for now, and he'd have plenty of time to think about his Hydro Cannon. The Sky Trainer gladly offered her lap as a pillow for him to rest his head, while she gazed at his Pokémon team. Greninja was eating to regain his strength along with Fennekin, Quilladin attempted to snatch some food from his teammates after finishing his own, Tyrantrum and Heliolisk had fallen asleep on the grass, and Noivern stretched out his wings.

From a distance, Ultima gazed at the couple and their Pokémon with a smile in her face. They clearly had a very strong bond with each other, almost looking like a family. And in a way, they were; from what Ciel had told her, they didn't have anyone else but each other to rely on. With a bit of nostalgia, she remembered her own group of friends when she had been younger. Those days were too far away now, now they were all a bunch of elders and each one has taken his or her own path. After exiling herself in Two Island, she hadn't met up with them in a very long time, save for the occasional call from her friend Samuel, who was now a renowned Pokémon researcher.

However, Ultima didn't have much time to drift into her memories, since after a few minutes, she saw in the distance what looked like a smoke column. Upon looking closer, the old woman noticed it seemed to come from the same direction as her house. She didn't want to assume the worse, but if something was up… she had to go immediately.

"Fitzdane, Ciel! Wait for me here, I'll be back soon!" The old woman threw one of her Pokéballs quickly. "Hurry, Dragonite!"

Without wasting a second, Ultima mounted on her Dragonite's back and flew towards Cape Brink, leaving Fitz and Ciel all confused. Something had happened? Then they noticed the smoke column in the direction of Cape Brink, and where there's smoke… despite the old woman's warning the two of them quickly followed her, in case she needed help.

By the time Ultima reached the source of the smoke, she found a small group, half a dozen of guys she only knew in passing from the island, several with Fire-type Pokémon who were launching their attacks at her house. The old woman immediately summoned her Feraligatr and had him use Rain Dance, to have the downpour douse the flames and soak everyone in the vicinity.

"What the hell is going on here?"

"Master Ultima!" Ciel and Fitz called out. And just as they had arrived, the thugs immediately fixed their glares on them.

"There they are! Kill them, quick!"

The thugs began sending out their Pokémon to attack them. Ultima replied in kind, sending her own, and they quickly made short work of the aggressors, but the trainers didn't let that stop them, and they quickly grabbed anything they had at hand, either stones or sticks, to start attacking Ciel and Fitz directly.

"Damn, what's this? Why are you attacking us?!" Fitz yelled.

"Shut up, you freak!" the guy in front replied, his eyes filled with pure hatred. Those eyes he had seen in so many places before.

"You fucking Bloodliners will not invade our Sevii Islands!" Another one threw stones at Ciel, who had to cover under her suit's wings.

"We'll show you, monsters!"

Fitz scowled; this wasn't the first time people would attack him just for being a bloodliner. Where did these guys come from? He had heard Two Island had its own city, very far from Cape Brink. Ciel, on the other hand, didn't take this well, she was fed up with having to run away from every place they arrived at.

"I'm sick of this!" The girl surprised her companion by placing herself between him and the people attacking him. "Why do you judge us without even knowing us?! We've never harmed anyone!"

And raising her arms, a powerful wind current pushed backwards the aggressors, sending them flying backwards a pretty good distance. The ones that managed to hold their grown looked at Ciel like she was some kind of evil witch. This made the girl's eyes get filled with tears. Why did this happen to them? They had never wanted to hurt anyone, they just wanted to be left alone. Ultima, for her part, upon noticing this, realized there was no reasoning with these guys. There was only one way to deal with them.

"Fitzdane, Ciel, I'll handle this. You two go and hide, I'll meet up with you later."

"But…"

"Just do it!" the old woman insisted. "Or I'll declare your training terminated right here and now!"

With some resignation, Ciel summoned wind currents and used her suit to take flight, while Fitz called for his Noivern to get him out of there. The girl wasn't happy about this, she was sick of having to escape from everyone and everywhere. Fitz didn't like it either, especially seeing his girlfriend cry, but he didn't want her to get hurt. Once they were at a good distance, Ultima directed her attention to the thugs, who seemed to be about to chase the young couple.

"You want them? You'll have to go through me first!"

"Out of the way, granny, this is none of your business!"

Poor idiots. Ultima had no problem with being called "granny", as long as it was done affectionately, and not looking her down and underestimating her. Did they think they'd have it easy because she was an old woman? These thugs deserved a very rude and painful awakening.

Meanwhile, the young bloodliner couple soared the skies above the woods, trying to escape their attackers. They were really grateful to the old woman for standing up for them, but they felt really guilty for leaving her alone like that. They were tempted to return and help her, after all, those people only attacked her because she tried to protect the two of them. Why did it have to happen? Wherever they went it was the same thing; there was at least one person who tried to hurt them because they were… different, and if someone tried to help them, they'd get dragged into the line of fire and in the worst of cases, with fatal consequences.

However, they had no more time to have regrets, since right then, and orange flash came out in between the trees, followed by an energy beam of the same color, which dangerously grazed them. The two maneuvered to dodge, but a second beam caused them to separate, and a second later, something purple flew towards Ciel, attacking her by surprise.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" the girl screamed as she felt a pair of sharp fangs in her neck.

"Ciel!" Fitz cried out.

The attacker was a Crobat. It charged to bite the girl with what clearly was a Leech Life attack. The shock of the surprise attack prevented her from doing anything to defend herself. She began feeling too weak, and to make things worse, a Fearow showed up shortly after, tearing apart one of her wings with a Drill Beak. This, coupled with her evident loss of strength thanks to the bloodsucker bat made her start to fall. Fitz tried to fly towards her to catch her, but in doing so he forgot to look out for himself, and Noivern was hit by another Hyper Beam, blasting them out of the sky. After a rather forceful landing, Fitz returned his Noivern, and immediately rushed to where Ciel had fallen. It seemed like the thick treetops had (somewhat) cushioned the girl's fall.

"Ciel! Please, tell me you're alright! Say something, anything!" Fitz almost let out tears out of rage and helplessness.

"Fitz… I'm sorry… that Crobat… sucked my blood…"

And with these words, the blonde was rendered unconscious. Fitz hugged her and looked around, in search for the attacker or attackers who had done this to her. Using his power, he focused his vision, determined to make them pay.

"Come out already! Show your face, I know you're there!"

In response, a high-pressure water stream hit him hard and crashed him into a tree. Fitz had no doubt, someone had attacked him with a Hydro Pump. Such a powerful water could have killed a normal human, he only survived because as a bloodliner he was made of sterner stuff than the average human. Putting up with the pain, he struggled to get back up, but the danger wasn't over just yet.

"Hyper Beam!"

The boy once again saw an orange flash approaching his way, if that attack hit him he'd be a goner. Reacting out of instinct, he managed to get a Substitute just before the attack reached him. But that last alert had left things clear. Someone there was directing the Pokémon attacking him. Someone was after his head.

Taking advantage of the ceasefire, Fitz took her chance to hide Ciel out of sight, hoping that nobody would find her and to come back for her later. Whoever the aggressor was, if there was no other choice but to give them a target to fire upon… better him instead of her.

"You want a piece of me?! Come out and fight, here I am!"

As the only response, a strange spherical device fell in front of Fitz. His first reaction was to jump backwards to take cover from the incoming explosion, but it never came: the device only sent out an electromagnetic wave, which gave Fitz little more than a little cramp around his body, but quickly wore off and didn't seem to cause any damage. Until he realized that the real purpose of the device wasn't hurting him.

"What the…?" Fitz's Pokéballs were giving off electric sparks, and the activator button had been jammed, he couldn't press it down.

"You can't hide behind your Pokémon, you accursed abomination." said a male voice, loaded with sheer hatred and loathing.

Out of the bushels, flanked by the Crobat and the Fearow who had attacked Ciel, two Rhydon, a Manectric and an Octillery, appeared a strange man. He looked around his mid-to-late thirties, and his eyes were filled of hatred like very few others he had seen. He was familiar with that glare in people who just would be content with him going away, but this… this man was clearly out to kill him. He saw him like a monster.

"Who the hell are you? Why are you attacking us?!" Fitz asked in shock.

"Shut up, abomination! Attack!"

The man's Pokémon launched their attacks at the same time, and Fitz had to jump into a trench to dodge them. He had no choice. Fighting in this place would be too hard with so little room to move around. The best thing he could do was to go into open field.

"Get him, don't let him get away!" He heard the man screaming. "Forget the girl for now, he is to be the top priority!"

Fitz wondered why he cared more about killing him first than Ciel, but he didn't complain. The furthest he could lead the man from his girlfriend, the better.

----------------------------------------

Shortly after…

The thugs who set Ultima's shack on fire were no match for the old master's Pokémon, and they ran off as fast as they could, screaming out curses about how evil the bloodliners were and that they didn't get paid enough for this job. But it soon came into view why it was so easy. She wasn't the real target, and these guys had played their part by distracting her.

Riding on her Dragonite's back, Ultima had no choice but to follow the ruckus and the noises from the attacks, and sure enough, she could see explosions that were bound to be the result of a fight. Whoever the aggressor was, they had cornered Fitz at the edge of a large cliff. The boy was fighting bravely, throwing Water Shurikens at the two Rhydon who tried to attack him, while by his feet there were an Octillery and Fearow, lying knocked out. A Crobat fluttered around while a Manectric awaited its chance to play a part.

"What's going on down there?" the old woman asked. "It doesn't matter. Dragonite, rain a Draco Meteor over them, but don't hurt the boy!"

Dragonite opened his mouth and fired off the large meteor up into the sky, which exploded making its fragments rain all over the place. Thanks to his training, he could always determine where they would fall to avoid damaging allies, in case there were multiple targets around like now. The two Rhydon, taken by surprise with this attack, fell easy prey to Fitz's Water Shurikens, as he used them like swords for melee combat, while the Crobat was crushed by a particularly big falling meteor and was left out cold. The Manectric managed to take cover, and Ultima saw it summoned a Thunder to strike the boy. He yelled in pain, and by some kind of miracle he didn't lose consciousness. Ultima threw her Tyranitar's Pokéball, who materialized in front of them to take a second Thunder strike before it could finish off the helpless boy, who was panting heavily. Next, she and Dragonite descended to face the aggressor.

"You alright, boy?" the old woman asked.

"Master Ultima…" Fitz was quite surprised. For a minute he saw his life flash before his eyes, he almost couldn't believe he was still breathing.

"Where's your girlfriend?" Ultima asked when she noticed Ciel was nowhere to be seen. "No matter, we'll go look for her later. For now, leave the rest to me."

"No, I'm fine," the boy assured her. "I can still fight."

Ultima wondered why he was fighting on his own, without using his Pokémon, although she had to admit he was doing pretty well until she arrived. For now, she would focus her attention on the real villain. The guy was a man in his thirties, with a stone-hard face and his eyes filled with pure hatred. He looked like someone so hardened by life that there were wrinkles in his face making him look even older. Before she could say anything, though, the man spoke up:

"Step aside, old woman. My problem isn't with you, it's that monster behind you."

"Monster? The only monster I see is right in front of me," the old woman replied. "Was it you who sent those idiots to set my house on fire? Funny joke, but it's over."

"Those idiots, I told them to create a distraction long enough." The man huffed with noticeable annoyance. "It doesn't matter. Don't make me repeat myself, stay out of my way. That monster has to die!"

"You want the boy? You'll have to go through me first. Go Meganium!" The old woman was about to throw her Pokéball, but the guy went ahead and threw another device Fitz instantly recognized.

"Master Ultima, wait!"

But it was too late. The device activated first, and the Pokéball containing Meganium gave off sparks and didn't open up. The old woman saw the ball in shock and then stared at the man.

"That disruptor won't let you activate any Pokéball for at least a couple hours," the guy said. "So don't even bother try and call them."

"I tried to warn you," said Fitz. "A while ago he used one of those on me."

Ultima understood. A very nifty trick, even if it was playing dirty, to leave his opponents unable to call their Pokémon for help. Fortunately, Tyranitar and Dragonite were already out and ready to fight and with a single gesture, they stepped forward to stand up to the guy, who seemed more and more furious by the moment.

"You stupid hag, why are you protecting that monster?"

"I say it again, the only monster here is you. What do you have against this boy?"

"Boy? Please, he's not even a human being," the man replied. Ultima scowled upon hearing that. "Manectric, use Flamethrower!"

"Tyranitar, Iron Defense!"

The electric canine launched a powerful fire stream, but Tyranitar got in the way taking on a metallic coating, enduring the attack without difficulty. Dragonite remained in standby, awaiting the moment to act.

"I don't like harming human beings, but I'll do whatever it takes to rid the world of these threats," said the man.

"Threats?" the old woman asked. "Who the hell are you, and what's your beef against the boy? What did he do to you?"

"It's not what he's done, it's what he and those of his kind will do in the future!" The man abandoned any pretense of calm. "Stop getting in my way, old hag, I'm on a divine mission!"

"Divine mission my ass! You're attacking an innocent boy!"

"Innocent? He's cursed! That beast is anything but innocent! He's not even human, he's an abomination who goes against the nature of Arceus! Abominations the world needs to be cleansed of!"

Ultima couldn't believe the words this man had uttered. She had heard of people who hated and feared Bloodliners, but she never imagined it to this extreme? He was saying these kids were not humans? Ultima couldn't disagree more; she had been with them long enough to see they had the feelings and values of any other kid their age. Unfortunately, she couldn't think about it, since Manectric got into a tooth-and-nail fight with Tyranitar, the two had already started brawling like a pair of wild beasts, without having to listen to their respective trainers.

"Don't you understand, old hag?! I'm trying to save the world!"

"You plan to save the world killing a poor boy?! Nonsense!"

"Bloodliners are nothing but monsters! They'll destroy the entire planet! I've seen it every night, over and over again!" The man held his head between his hands in desperation. "I've seen the future, these monsters will bring nothing but calamities and a great war. The whole planet will be devastated. Death, destruction, life as we know it is going to change because of these freaks…"

Upon hearing these words, Ultima reasoned her foe was nothing short of mad. Where did he get all that, seeing the future, or the bloodliners bringing about a war? The old woman was speechless, so it was Fitz who spoke up.

"That's ridiculous. Ciel and I would never hurt anyone."

"Silence, you freak! You'll be one of the main doom bringers! After all, you have the marks of the beast!"

"Marks?" Ultima was confused.

"Those things on your cheeks, those Z-shaped birthmarks." As the man said this, Fitz unconsciously touched them. He never knew why he had them, they had always been there. "Those with the marks of the beast will be the leaders in the Bloodliner War! They pose the biggest threat to this world, so destroying them is my priority! MANECTRIC, USE THUNDER!"

With a mighty roar, the Electric Pokémon summoned a lightning bolt that struck hard on the young bloodliner, who fell to the ground instantly. Ultima was unable to make a move due to the shock. Getting struck by a lightning bolt like that would instantly kill anyone.

"That's it. Now let's go get the girl," the man declared as he prepared to leave.

However, surprising as it was, Fitz moved again, gathering up strength from nowhere, and slowly rose back up, with a faint blue aura glowing around him. The glow intensified more and more until he was completely engulfed, and upon opening his eyes, these glowed with the same power.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Ultima knew what it was. In Water-type starter Pokémon, that was what the ability Torrent looked like. If a Pokémon was capable of enduring the damage, it would activate an emergency power that would give a boost to Water-type attacks. Fitz slowly brought his hands together, gathering up energy and forming a concentrated water sphere. That was the energy of a Hydro Cannon. A perfect Hydro Cannon.

"I… won't let you… HURT CIEL!"

And saying this, he fired of the energized water blast. Ultima had never seen such a perfect Hydro Cannon, not even a Torrent-boosted one. The boy had just proved her theory. Even more than that: the attack hit Manectric so hard it sent him flying back to the woods no less than at least a hundred feet, causing it to slump into unconsciousness. With that, the aggressor had just lost his final Pokémon.

"How… how the hell can you still be alive after that?"

"The boy has someone to live for," said Ultima. "He's not going down that easily."

Indeed, Fitz was standing, gasping for air and exhausted with the effort, but still willing to fight. One of the things he had learned to do over time was to channel the power of the Torrent and spread it around his body to give himself a temporary recovery at least. Seeing himself with no more Pokémon left, the aggressor pulled out what seemed like an electric baton, and giving himself into a murderous rage, immediately jumped on the boy.

"I'll finish you off whatever it takes! The abominations must die!"

In response, Fitz materialized a large Water Shuriken, but instead of throwing it, he made it as dense as he could to use it as a melee weapon, colliding it with the guy's baton. The man was completely out of it, attacking him like a raging beast. In a fit of desperation, Fitz raised the shuriken over his head and was about to strike his foe right in the head. He jumped backwards to dodge, but Fitz didn't gauge the strength of the strike, and adding up the Torrent boost, it caused a huge crack on the ground, making a piece of the edge to be severed, right under the man's feet. They were atop a 500-plus feet cliff over the sea, if he fell…

Prey of the horror, realizing what was about to happen, Fitz immediately stepped forward, just like Ultima, and they got to see the guy had managed to get a hold of an edge that would crumble at any second. Ultima didn't know what to do, but Fitz without hesitation kneeled down and extended his hand.

"Quick! Grab my hand!" he said. Ultima was surprised at this. The young Bloodliner was trying to save his foe. But he didn't answer, just stared at him with his eyes full of hatred. "What the hell are you waiting for?! TAKE MY HAND!"

"I WON'T BE SAVED BY AN ABOMINATION!"

And with these words, the edge crumbled, and the man irremediably fell towards the sea below. Fitz and Ultima were left in shock, especially the former. That man had tried to kill him, but even so… the boy didn't think he deserved to die like that. However, he had no time to feel any guilt, since in that very moment, his strength faded away and he fell unconscious.

Ultima gazed at what had happened without uttering a single word. Everything was over now, and with no more danger in sight, she placed the unconscious Fitz on the back of her Dragonite, ordering him to take the boy to her home so he could rest. All that was left was to look for Ciel and make sure she was safe and sound.

----------------------------------------

A few days later…

After that horrible experience, Ultima once again was at the Two Island port, preparing to see the young bloodliner couple off. If something good came out of all this, it was that Fitz was able to finally get past his block and use the Hydro Cannon. Nevertheless, even though they couldn't forget what had happened, the time had come to say goodbye.

"You did great, boy," the old woman said. "Thanks to you, I could finally prove my theory. You can be proud of yourself; you're the first Bloodliner to inherit one of my Ultimate Moves."

"Thanks a lot, Master Ultima," said Fitz with gratitude. "It was incredible to train under you."

"And now that you finally proved your theory, what will you do?" asked Ciel. "Will you teach the moves to other bloodliners?"

"Of course. Ancient traditions need to adapt to modern times," Ultima declared. "From here on in, I will not only pass on my moves to powerful Pokémon, but also to bloodliners whom I consider worthy of them. Although I doubt they can be as good as you. You've been my star pupil, boy, there's nothing left for me to teach you."

"Did you hear that, Fitz? Master Ultima is praising you, that means you're a strong trainer!" Ciel hugged her boyfriend tightly, causing him to blush.

Ultima had spent the last few days helping them fix their clothes. In particular, Fitz took great care to fix the wings of Ciel's suit, even better than before. It was nice to see them so full of vitality, maybe even more than when they had arrived.

"So, what do you plan to do now?" said Ultima. "Are you going to try it again at the Kalos League?"

Fitz shook his head. "Not for now. I'd like to try somewhere else, maybe Kanto or Johto."

"Well should you choose to go to Johto, I can suggest you a couple of locations to visit. I've got some good friends over there."

"Really?"

"If you go to Azalea Town, you can visit Kurt, the Pokéball maker. You should also stop by the Pokémon Daycare Center in Route 34. Tell them Ultima sent you guys, and you'll be welcome with open arms."

Right then, the Seagallop Ferry docked on the port. The time to say goodbye had come.

"I'm really grateful for everything you did for us, Master Ultima," said Fitz. "Also, I'm sorry the trouble we caused you, with your house being set on fire and all."

"Hey, boy, no need to apologize." The old woman shrugged. "I'll just have to improve my security measures from now on."

"Anyway," said Fitz, "it was short, but I had fun with your training. I'll miss you."

"And I'll miss you two as well. But don't forget, kids, if you ever are in trouble or need someone you can trust, you'll always have a friend in Ultima from Two island."

Both bloodliners smiled. Ciel hugged Ultima tightly, while Fitz gave the old woman an awkward handshake, prompting Ciel to push him to give her a more proper farewell. The pair then boarded the Seagallop Ferry, and the ship set sail. Ultima watched until it disappeared in the distance, taking her now best disciple towards new and exciting adventures.

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Two weeks after, Three Island…

Even though Fitz and Ciel were long gone from Two Island, Ultima was still recalling everything that had happened. Of course, the ruckus caused by those thugs couldn't go unnoticed, but the old woman certainly didn't expect that an agent from the International Police would appear by her door to ask her about those events. The two had agreed to meet at one of Three Island's restaurants, and now the old woman was enjoying a cup of Moo-Moo Milk, until a mysterious man in a trench coat appeared. She didn't seem surprised, she was clearly expecting him.

"Sorry to make you wait, Master Ultima."

"Don't worry, Agent Looker."

The agent sat in front of her, and asked the waitress to bring him a coffee. After taking a sip, he decided to get started with the reason he was there. Pulling out a photo, he showed it to Ultima.

"Is this the man who attacked you?" he asked.

"Yes, that's him," said Ultima. "Let's go straight to the point, agent. Who exactly was I fighting?"

"Even though he's used several aliases to prevent being tracked, deep investigations have determined his original name is William Stronger," said Looker. "However, most people know him as the 'Bloodliner Hunter'. He's a very dangerous criminal."

"Bloodliner Hunter?" asked Ultima. Even though she didn't fully understand, such an epithet definitely gave a faint idea on why he was after the boy.

"He's a serial killer who has caused no small amount of trouble for the International Police for quite a while," Looker explained. "We have a total of eight confirmed victims, and six unconfirmed ones. Their only thing in common was they were all bloodliners, and most of them not even older than sixteen years."

"That's terrible," said Ultima. Had she not been there, Fitz and Ciel would have probably been two more victims.

"And believe it or not, Stronger has quite a few followers around the world, who are more than willing to help. That's how he's managed to evade us until now." Looker took another sip of coffee. "Thanks to you, we were able to catch several of them."

"What about Stronger? Is he…?"

"We're not sure," Looker replied to the unspoken question. "We've sent search parties, but his body has yet to be found."

"No one could survive such a fall." Ultima sighed. "If you need someone to hold accountable for his death, I'll assume all responsibility."

"There's no need to worry, you only acted in self-defense," said Looker. "Besides, we can't press any charges since there's no confirmation of his death."

"He… when he was hanging over the cliff, he preferred to fall to his death rather than accepting the boy's help." The old woman took another sip of her milk. "Why? I can't understand why he did that. Did he hate bloodliners so much he preferred to die rather than let one of them save his life?"

"Bloodliners are a radical change to our way of life," said Looker. "People fear what they don't understand."

"That wasn't just fear. It was hatred, complete and utter hatred," said Ultima. "While we were fighting Stronger I saw it in his eyes. He wanted to kill them, a pair of kids who would never hurt anyone."

"I know it must have been hard for you," said Looker. "But since you talked to Stronger, any information you might have, as irrelevant it might seem, might be of use to us. Even if he's gone, there might be others like him out there."

The old woman thought for a bit. At first there was nothing, until she recalled something he mentioned.

"I don't know if it's of any use, but I do recall he mentioned something about certain bloodliners. They have some facial markings, and they were his primary target."

"What kind of markings?"

"Fitzdane had some strange Z-shaped facial birthmarks," said Ultima. "Stronger mentioned something about eradicating those who have them. He said some crap and nonsense about them bringing about calamity and war to the world."

"I see." Looker became thoughtful. He didn't say it at the time, but the part of the facial birthmarks… that sounded particularly familiar. He knew of someone like that. Could he be one of them? "That'll be all. Thanks a lot for your help, your information will prove useful."

"Pleasure in helping you," replied Ultima.

Looker was about to take his leave, but he stopped to say one last thing. "Master Ultima… it's an honor to meet in person one of the first wave of legendary trainers."

Ultima just gave him a smirk, while Looker slowly left the restaurant, placing his hands in his pockets. There was so much to investigate, and the information Ultima provided had him intrigued.

The increase in bloodliners around the world, the animosity against them, and a conflict that seemed about to explode at any time. Where would these events lead the world to?

FIN.