~ The Strange Mirror ~

-Seven and a half years later-

After her mother's passing, Leon's and Hop's family took Lia in with open arms and helped raise her to be the woman she is today.

That day, the two brothers made it their mission to make Lia happy for as long as possible until she went off on her own. Lia and her partner Pikachu finished their journey through the other regions and accomplished many goals over the years.

Although he retained his childish tendencies, Leon had grown into a strong and confident adult and was now the reigning champion of all of Galar. Lia's skills in Pokémon battling were now on par with her godbrothers'. However, she runs her mother's herbalist clinic and Pokémon shelter on her home property. People and Pokémon still go to the little cottage to get medicine and tonics; it warms their hearts that the daughter of the previous 'angel can smile again.

Hop stays in Postwick as an assistant for Sonia, a Pokémon researcher who recently took her grandmother's place. He visits Lia once in a while to see how she's doing. Sonia has known Lia ever since she and Leon were kids. To this point, she sees Lia as her sister, and much to her delight, Lia feels the same way.

On the day of the funeral, Galar celebrated Kaitlynn's anniversary by calling it Angel's Day to honor her memory. Many cities and towns occasionally played her songs and created festivals that day. The biggest celebration is held in Postwick, as people come from all over to pay their respects at the grave. It's also the most significant reason Lia tends to sing there.

Lia was just as talented as her mother when it came to singing. She didn't perform for anyone else besides her foster family and friends. She couldn't find it in her heart to do what her mother once loved before becoming a housewife and a Pokémon caretaker. The only time she'll ever perform in public is on Angel's Day; she won't make any other exceptions than that.

During this time, Lia has been training herself diligently to become a legally certified caretaker and follow in her mother's footsteps. She already received her herbalist certificate and finished training in raising and battling Pokémon. Along with her own Pokémon, Lia would also care for the ones her mother owned to be a full Pokémon caretaker. Sonia was always a great help.

However, occasionally, she gets carried away by telling Lia all these theory stories about Legendary and Mythical Pokémon. Not that Lia minded, though; if there was one thing Lia loved to listen to, it was stories.

Though she didn't remember much about her father, the times when he would tell her all these fascinating fairy tales that no other person had ever heard of remained in her mind. Most intriguing was that none of the fairy tales she was told had Pokémon. They didn't exist.

Lia still remembered the silly little vow she made when her father told her that. "I'm going to make my own fairy tales! And each one will include Pokémon! Cause Pokémon and fairy tales should be friends!"

Lia couldn't help but laugh as that memory flashed in her head. 'To think I was just six when I said that.'

"Is something funny, Lia?" Lia snapped back to reality when one of her friends asked her; she was in a cafe in Ballonlea with two of her closest friends.

The said woman looked over to her gingered-haired friend.

"It's nothing, Sonia. Just something I remembered when I was a kid,"

"It must have been a good memory then if you're laughing." said another woman at their table.

"It was, so how was your battle with Opel, Nessa?"

"It was interesting, instead of fighting with our Pokémon like usual. She made me, Bea, and Marnie compete with each other by decorating cakes."

"So that's why she asked to use some of my Alcremie. I think she had Leon, Raihan, and a few kids doing the same thing some time ago."

"That must have been fun for Leon. But Raihan? I bet you anything he complained about it before the contest started." Sonia joked.

"He did, Leon said so," Lia laughed. Then, she changed the subject. "So, Sonia, what did you want to ask me?"

"Well, you remember my cousins, Maddie and Matt, right?"

"Of course,"

Nessa chuckled. "How can anyone forget those two little rascals."

Madison and Mathew Magnolia. Sonia's younger cousins: their parents run a pretty big clothing and tech company in parts of Galar and two other regions. They sometimes get so busy with work that they leave the twins to babysit with Lia or Sonia.

For the three of them, they viewed one another as their siblings.

Even though Lia's not a champion like Leon, she's just as skilled as him, and sometimes trainers and gym leaders challenge her to a battle to get themselves ready when they face Leon. And because of that, it brought Lia a line of admirers constantly fawning over her. And that leads the twins to make it their mission to keep all of her unwanted admirers to stay away. By doing what they do best: pranking people.

Just typical, harmless pranks that seem to scare Lia's admirers away, in their words.

"Lia's too good for any of these silly dumb boys. So, they might as well give up!" -Maddie.

"The only guy that can be with big sis has to be as nice as her and like her for who she is, not by her looks. A snobby bully is out of the question!" -Matt.

All of Galar soon noticed their pranking after they targeted a man named Brock after he lost a battle to Lia. He didn't put up much of a fight as he just kept gawking at her through the whole match.

"Well, the thing is, their parents are going on a business trip over to the Unova region for two years. Of course, I volunteered to look after them, but-"

"But then you remembered that you had your grandmother's research to focus on, so you couldn't."

"Right, so if you could, please watch over them for me until my work is done?"

"Do you even have to ask? I'd love for them to come over, and they can help me with the Pokémon at the shelter."

"Is it still at your cottage?" Nessa asked.

"Yep, that's one thing that'll never change."

"It's so cool that you can get away with making your own Pokémon shelter at your mother's cottage, Lia." Sonia smiled.

"That's because the property is pretty big; I only needed to add a few habitats for certain Pokémon,"

"Yeah, a winter dome for Ice-types, a jungle dome for some grass types, and a desert dome for some of your rock, ground, and fire types. That cute lake is perfect for your water types; other than that, the rest of your property is perfect for Pokémon. Now that I think about it, you pretty much have every common Pokémon from every region, right?"

"Yep, and that Shiny Togepi egg I found a few weeks ago."

"How do you know it's a Togepi egg?" Nessa asked.

"The colors and patterns on the shell. Besides all other Pokémon eggs, a Togepi egg is easy to identify. And if I'm right, it should be hatching soon!"

"Be sure to send me pictures or a video of it happening," Nessa informed.

"Of course," Lia turned to Sonia, "So, when do I have to pick up the two?"

"I'll text my aunt to have them meet you at the train station tomorrow. Then you can use the train to Postwick and drive from there."

"Alright, you hear that buddy? Maddie and Matt are going home with us." Lia said to the Pokémon in her bag, but she didn't get a reply.

"Pikachu?" Lia and the other two looked down at her beside her feet. And sure enough, the Shiny Pokémon was asleep with bits of crumcake around his mouth.

The three girls giggled at the sight, "I guess after having a battle and a sweet reward, tuckered the little guy out." Sonia laughed.

"I guess so," Lia quietly picked up her bag and exited the table. "Alright, see you, girls, next week at the same time?"

"You bet!"

"See you then." The two waved her off.

Later that evening, Lia returned to the hotel room she rented near the train station. In the room, resting on the bed, was an Alolan Persian that used to belong to her mother.

"We're back, Persian,"

The said feline Pokémon opened one of his eyes to look at her. He began to stretch and then jump off the bed.

"Also, I got you a slice of your favorite cake roll. ~"

"With extra chocolate coconut flakes?" he asked telepathically.

"Of course,"

"I swear to Arceus, you become more and more like your mother every day. And I don't mean that in a bad way, so that you know," he began to eat.

"Hmm, I know. Maddie and Matt will be staying with us when we return home."

"Let me guess, the parents are working out of town, and Sonia is busy?"

"Yep,"

"As long as they don't pull their silly pranks on me. I don't have a problem with that." he licked his plate clean and jumped back on the bed as Lia was getting ready to call it in, too.

"Now Persian, you know they only pull those pranks on my 'adoring fans."

"And thank Arceus for that; I keep thinking some other Pokémon hit them with an 'Attract move and made them go crazy."

Lia just laughed, "Only you would make that as an excuse. But maybe you're right, and Pokémon is just trying to get all that attention for themselves." she took Pikachu out of her bag and placed him on a pillow beside hers.

"Don't see why. None of the men that come to you are good enough for you. Most want you by their side just because you're as pretty as your mother was."

"I'm not that pretty." Lia retorted as she climbed into bed with him and Pikachu.

Persian shook his head at her, "Sometimes you're too modest for your own good, Lia."

"Alright, enough of that, let's get some sleep. We got a long trip back home, and I don't want to spend most of it feeling tired." As soon as the lights went out, they were swept away to the dream world.

________________________________________________________________________________

It was pitch black everywhere she looked. She felt the floor under her, but nothing was in her radius as she searched for something to hold on to.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

There was no answer, and she started to fear for the worse. Then, a faint light appeared off in the distance. She began to walk towards it, and the light got more extensive as she did. She was shocked at what was before her when she finally reached it.

Hanging from the ceiling was a lavish chandelier; under it was a dark, eerie mirror that floated over a fountain filled with strange green liquid. But what shocked her were the floating coffin boxes around the room.

Suddenly, a strange breeze came in, and the mirror was surrounded by a black fog-like mist that shook the chandelier. The green flames appeared in the mirror. The scene seemed to have put her in a trace as she slowly walked up to the mirror when she heard a voice coming from it.

"Ah ~, my dear esteemed benefactor. . "

"My proud, beautiful flower of evil. ~"

.

"You are truly the fairest one of them all ~."

.

.

"O Magic Mirror, thy wisdom I entreat . . . Reveal unto me the visage I seek. . . "

The voice suddenly became muffled. She could not hear the mirror's final words as if the shining green flames silenced its voice. . . .

________________________________________________________________________________

Lia reached out in front of her while she was still asleep with her two Pokémon sleeping beside her. However, she grabbed nothing.

She slowly sat up and looked around the room; yep, it was still the hotel room she rented in Ballonlea. She then sighed as she held her forehead. "That was really weird. It felt so real; something tells me today will be different." Lia thought while looking out the window.

Later that afternoon, Lia, Pikachu, and Persian waited for the two little rascals at the Ballonlea train station. "Excited, buddy?" Lia smiled at her bouncing little friend.

"Pi!"

"Mmhmm! So am I."

Then the train came in, and when it slowed to a stop, the doors opened, and crowds started to get off the electric locomotive. Lia and her Pokémon looked through the crowd to find their chaperones.

"Li!"

"Over here!"

She and her Pokémon turned around when they heard two voices behind them. To find very excited, happy faces staring at them. One was a little girl who looked similar to Sonia but had two wavy 'pigtails instead of one with star-shaped hair decorations instead of hearts. The other was a little boy with short, curly ginger hair; he looked exactly like his sister except for two things. He had some freckles on his face and wore glasses. He had one of those nerdy but cute looks, which earned him much cheek-pinching from people.

(A/N - To be clear to everyone, Matt is an inch taller than Maddie. It may not look like it in this pic, but that's the case.)

"Maddie! Matt! It's so good to see you!"

"Pika!" Pikachu cheered as he jumped from Lia's shoulder and landed in the pair's arms in the middle. And started cuddling with them.

"Hi, Pikachu! You're as cute as ever!" Maddie giggled as she rubbed her cheeks with his.

"Good to see you, Pikachu! H-hey, that tickles!" Matt laughed as the 'Tiny Mouse Pokémon started to lick his cheeks.

"So, you ready for great fun and adventure!?"

"Yeah!"

"Pika!"

Persian sighed. "Oh boy,"

*ATTENTION, THE TRAIN FOR POSTWICK WILL BE DEPARTING IN THREE MINUTES!*

They heard the announcer over the speakers.

"We better hurry, or we'll miss our ride," The group did just that. On their way, the kids played small games with Pikachu while Lia drew out that mirror she saw in her dream. When she showed it to Persian, he said something she did not expect to hear.

"It looks familiar, but I can't put my paw on it."

"You mean you might have seen this before when you were with my mom?"

"Sometime before you came along, yes. But not just while I was with your mom. There's a high possibility that I've seen this when your mom and I went to your father's homeland for the first time."

That shocked Lia, "You've been to Dad's homeland?! What was it like over there? What did he do? Where are there other Pokémon there?" She bombarded him with so many questions that Persian had to sit up and place his paw over her mouth to stop.

"First of all, do I look like a twenty-question game? Second, I don't know because I don't remember. When we returned, your mother told me something happened on our last day, and I got hurt. It draws a blank in the back of my mind. So, I'm sorry, but I can't help you with this. All I can tell you is that the mirror in your dream is somewhat connected to your dad."

Lia sighed. "Well, I guess that's better than nothing."

"Hey, Lia,"

Lia and Persian turned to Matt. "What's up?"

"I've been meaning to show you this," Matt dug through his bag and pulled out an incubator with a Pokémon egg. But this one was light purple with a darker purple ring-like pattern.

"Yep! I found it while exploring a small cave in a forest back home. It was pretty much abandoned as I looked when I called out to make sure the echos made the egg fall on my head,"

Lia lightly laughed as she ruffled his hair. "And let me guess, you want me to help you hatch it?"

His eyes dazzled in excitement. "Yes! That way, your shiny Togepi will have a hatching buddy!"

"I think that's a wonderful idea, Matt; you can place your Noibat egg next to the shiny Togepi in the living room. Okay?"

"Okay!"

Soon after the train finally made it to Postwick, it took a little while for the group to find Lia's car and drive through town. As the kids looked out the window, Maddie challenged her brother to see if he could count all the Wooloo they passed by before they got to the cottage.

Matt replied that he wouldn't fall for that again since the last time she did that, he fell asleep when he got to fifty-eight. Soon, they were at the cottage. As they got out of the car and the kids started to run around laughing, Maddie said, "I don't know why, but every time we come here, this place has a magical vibe. As if a new adventure starts every time here."

"I feel the same way; I'm always on an adventure wherever my imagination takes me. Why don't you two play with the other Pokémon while I settle your stuff? Then we can start picking some berries for my special berry smoothies."

"YAY!" the two cheered as they entered the front door.

"I swear, Lia, you tend to spoil them way too much."

"Hey, they don't stay as children for long. It's nice to see them live life to the fullest." Lia smiled as she watched the two playing with some of the Pokémon in the back as they made their way through the house.

"I'm just saying, there's going to be a time where you're going to have to be stern with them,"

"I know, I know."

"Pika, Pikachu." (You're already stern with Lia)

"Well, someone needs to look out for her." Persian retorted back.

Lia laughed a bit at the two's little bicker. Suddenly, she felt something off in the house. She looked around to see what it was but realized that she probably wouldn't find it with the naked eye.

"Lia, what's wrong?"

"Pika?"

"Shh," Lia closed her eyes and tried to use her aura to see if she could find what was off.

"There's a weird energy here, and I'm trying to place it."

Concentrating, she scanned the area and found that what was off was behind the door that led to the cottage basement.

"Persian, do you know what's down in the basement besides our storage?"

"If I remember correctly, Your father's study is also there. But it hasn't been opened since he left years ago."

"Well, that's where I'm sensing the weird energy."

"Pika Pi." (Should we check it out?)

"I don't see why not. I pretty much own the cottage now. I don't see why we shouldn't."

"We should still be careful. No one but your mother entered that room, and I hardly remember what was in it." Persian mentioned. And he was right; not even Lia knows what's in that extra room. Lia took a deep breath and started to go down the stairs.

When they got to the bottom, they first saw the pantry, the laundry corner, home storage, and the little spot where some of the dark and ghost Pokémon played. A few feet away from that spot was the door that led to Lia's father's study. The three went over and stood in front of it,

"You guys ready?"

"For you kid? Anytime."

"Pika!" (You bet!) Pikachu pumped his fist with determination.

"Alright then," Lia reached out and opened the door.

When they went through, it was pitch dark once the door closed. Before Lia could reach into her bag to get a flashlight, some candle fixtures suddenly lit themselves a flame. They were leading the trio down a small hallway to a vast room. When all the candles in the room lit up, all three were speechless at what they saw.

Though dusty and full of cobwebs in some places, the room was like an at-home library, filled with books, scrolls, and objects that Lia had never seen before. Then, there was a corner that looked like a lab filled with old herbs, elixirs, and liquids that she didn't recognize.

Lia looked around. "It's something out of the old stories Dad used to tell me when I was little,"

"Seems sketchy to me..." Persian huffed, looking at the lab.

Pikachu shuttered into Lia's shoulder when he saw a skeleton head on a shelf. "Pika, pi." (And creepy.)

"Lia, are you sure you sensed something from the room?"

"Well, not the room entirely. More like what's in the room."

Then, she came across some curtains in the room's far corner. 'What are you hiding there?'

She went up to the curtains and pushed them aside. Only to find a small, empty room with nothing but an eerie mirror floating over a pedestal...

Lia gasped; it was the mirror from her dream! But how and why?

Slowly making her way toward the mirror, Pikachu grew anxious and wanted them to go back. "Pikachuuuu." (Let's go back, I wouldn't say I like this.)

"Y-Yeah, maybe we should," but before she could turn around, the inside of the mirror suddenly burst into green flames, just like it had before. Then, they, or at least Lia, heard the voice again.

"Ah ~, my dear esteemed benefactor. . "

"Huh?" she looked back at the mirror. Her partner looked at her with concern.

"My proud, beautiful flower of evil. ~"

.

"You are truly the fairest one of them all ~."

.

And just like in the dream, Lia felt herself fall into a trance and started to walk up to the mirror. Pikachu noticed she wasn't herself and tried to stop her, but he couldn't snap her out of it.

"Pikachu!" (Persian!)

"What's wrong!?" Persian ran in. Seeing Lia absentmindedly walking to the suspicious mirror, he got the message. "Lia, stop! What are you doing!"

.

"O Magic Mirror, thy wisdom I entreat . . . Reveal unto me the visage I seek. . . "

The voices of her beloved companions became muffled until they could no longer be heard, silenced by the mirror's influence. The same green hellish flames appeared as the voice continued speaking.

.

"Those who are guided by the dark mirror . . . As long as your heart desires . . . Take the hand that appears in the mirror . . ."

.

Both Pikachu and Persian screamed out her name, trying again in vain to bring Lia out of her trance. They even tried to stop her from continuing further to the mirror. Yet, the girl's mesmerized gaze never moved away from the mirror; from this, a hand reached out for her through the flames. Lia did the same to it.

.

"For me, for them, for you . . . We are all running out of time as the hour grows thin. Steady your grip, no matter what--"

"Never let go of that hand."

.

The moment Lia's hand touched the surface of the mirror, the hand became real and held hers. The mirror suddenly flashed a tremendous green light, engulfing her and her companions.

It all went black.