Ash was tired. He was hungry, but he was not going to be confronted by the giant barricade.

The last time Ash spoke, he was blabbering to Greninja and pikachu abour how they were going to get past the wall, how the only thing that they had that Necrozma didnt have was the power of bonds, linking them all togather.

Despite this, pikachu and Greninja were still as tired as they could ever have been, and cold like an iceburg. Even Ash himself was shivering without realisong it. It was almost as if the terrain they were on was slowly turning into a gigantic freeezer!

"We can do it." He muttered half heartedly, suddenly having lost all his enthusiasm.

Serena... The thought of Serena made Ash jump. He imagined Serena in a sutiation like this. He needed to rescue her!

Reckless determination flowed up in him and puleld him up.

"We can do this" he cried as he fistpumped into the air.

Like a good general, he managed to not show to mich despair, but in truth Ash's heart had already melted into a puddle of water. Ash did consider putting Greninja and Pikachu into poke balls but he knew they wouldnt be happy.

With one last leap, he starting climbing the barricade, with Greninja and pikachu following him.

"Pi pika chuuuuuu" pikachu said (thanks for the pep talk, but I dont thknk it is sensible...)

Before the little mouse pokemon could continue, Ash started to fall. He had lost a grip on the stone he was trying to balance on. This time he had somehow managed to get his footing and only fell a few centermetres before he regained footing.

"Believe in me!!!!!" Shouted Ash as he did an exagerated jump onto the top of the barricade.

Pikachu had less luck. Greninja stayed beneath pikachu to catch the little mouse pokemon before it landed head first onto the floor.

"Pi" pikachu said, thanking  Greninja.

"I believe in you!" Shouted Ash at pikachu and Greninja. With that, Ash closed his eyes and tried to reach out to pikachu and Greninja, this time with his mind.

He was suprised it actually worked, and he could sense Greninja's thoughts just as clearly as if they were in Ash-Greninja form. Pikachu, however, was less clear. There was a barricade like the one Ash had just passed, that was blocking Ash and Pikachu's mind from complete connection. Ash knew why. He could sense that pikachu needed a more advabced mind to be able to completely link with Ash, and it could do it by evolving. Pikachu had sworn off evolving from the start, and Ash respected it. He wasnt going to force pikachi to evolve just to get there mind connected!

Ash felt a slimy finger on his shoe. It belonged to Greninja, who had just made it to the top with pikachu.

Now, it was time for the next challenge: getting diwn the opposite side. Sure Ash could have let out a flying type pokemon to fly him down and up to save all the trouble, but Ash did not want to cheat, particularly in what Necrozma had used to taunt him with. That, was his fatal flaw, like all the heros had. He completely trusted his pokemon, so mich that he hardly even trained them before a battle!

Getting down turned out harder than getting up. Necrozma clearly was taunting Ash, making him mistep several times that he nearly fell of and broke his head! Fear taunted his heart like the criesnof demons, preventing him from even daring to attempt to climb down.

Necrozma had other plans for hom though! In the distant light, was a pale breatheless figure. Almost dead, but still alive with a sliver of might. Serena knew that she had to keep living, for the sake of Ash and her pokemon, who she knew was in her dress, which by chance necrozma allowed her to keep. Several possesed ultra beasts had insisted to necrozma that she needed a new shirt to wear, and just for the just for the sake of dignity, Serena had fought back. Yet she was defeated and controlled like a puppet. Useless... and now Necrozna was forcing her to stand still, waiting as a bait for Ash. Serena was broken on the inside, yet stil strong on the outside, necrozma's psychic grip a claw of distruction, gripping her mind and playing with it.

Ash shook his head(Again! How much times does he have to do that?) He was not going ti be beaten by the trip down the barricade. Oh, i forgot to say this. In necrozma's lybrinth, time was unpredictible. One mistep and you will be an hour in the future. One more mistep and you will be back in the past, before you got past the barricade! Also, history does repeat patterns. This was shown particualary in the maze as Ash kept on thinking the same things, and it would always be the same things happening. Ash would rescue Serena, then rescue her then more times, than be forced to do the barricade again...

One thing was certain. Ash was guarenteed to get passed the barricade on the way down. If only history would stop repeating itself...

So the same thing happened... the same speech and pep talk Ash made and that stuff. Just a replacement of a few words like down instead of up excetra.

To make a long story short, after all the same fuss, and the exact same amount of time taken to get up, they finally got down.

Then he saw her. He saw her a million times, but yet again he only saw her once. Time was repeating and rewinding itself very quickly. So quickly Ash's head started spinning.

"Ash!" Shouted Serena. Her face was a candle, lighting up the darkness.

It was more like his name was called about 20 times. Ash didnt hear anything Serena said. He was slowly losing consciousness.

Then he felt better. He was able to stand up. Almost robotically, he moved towards Serena. His eyes blurred and flashed.

"Wwwwhoooo areeee youuuuu" he wispered, his voice suddenly as old as time itself but at the same time as young as tommorow. Pikachu and Greninja stopped and looked at their trainer, wondering what happened.

"You...you dont reconisge me?" Serena said, her eyes flashing with sadness. Their was no fury inside her. Something was wrong... a trap. Was this all planned out?

Ash was ageing in front of their eyes, time turing 100 times it should have went.

"Ashhhhhhhhhhh" Serena cried out. When Ash didnt respond, Serena cried out once more, her chains rattling like a snake. Necrozma had done something to her, made her as poisonis as a snake, and Serena knew it. Her life was fragile right now, as fragile as glass.

Have you ever been drowning in a sea lake or river? Its no pleasant feeling. Ash felt like as if he was drowning himslef! He was aware of what was happening but helpless to do anything about it.

"ASHHHHHHH" She shouted. She wanted to badly hug Ash, confort him apologise him, but yet at the same time she wanted... to die. Her life had ever since been a misery since captured. What did she have to save Ash? Necrozma was holding something from her. But what?

Her eyes suddenly flashed red and she realised that she was experiencing... anger. Why was she anger though? Confusion spiralled inside her. Then, something harder struck inside her. She begin to fall backwards, to faint.

At the same time, Ash suddenly stopped his thrasing, deaging right to the age he was at moments ago.

"Serenaaaaa" Ash shouted as he caught Serena in his arms, aware of how fragile she was.

Unknown to Ash, three pokemon were watching silently in the darkness.

"Kartana, do we have Ash?" Necrozma's voixe was powerful and dangerous at the same time, like a storm, a drowning sound over the world.

"Yes, my lord" Kartana replied, swiftly gliding in the wind.

The truth was that Kartana and Necrozma couldnt exactly speak to each other in human language. It was more like...telephy!

The other ultra beas did not have anything to say to this, perhaps it was because it wasnt very interested in the other coversatuons, or perhaps because it was asleep. The second option was more likely as the ultra beast was snoring.

"How is the battle going?" Demanded Necrozma.

Kartana shook slightly before answering. "Badly, Im afraid".

"Then shoo! Remember we must stop human allies aproaching from the north!" Grumbled Necrozma unhappily.

Kartana turned to leave, but before it disappeared into the darkness, Necrozma questioned it once more.

"And how much ultra beasts are still yet to wake up and join me?" Necrozma thundered.

Kartana paused for a second."I'd say 200, my lord. But what do we have to fear? Ash is finally under your mercy my-"

"Dont underestimate that boy. He needs to be executed or killed in before the day"

"Yes my lord," Kartana muttered fearfully before evaporating into the darkness of void and doing necrozma's latest tasks.

"Dont forget to capture the four tapu guardians of each island as well" barked Necrozma.

Then, Necrozma turned his attention back to Ash. As much as he wanted to kill him, he also wanted to torture him. That was the reason why he hadnt activated his master plan yet. He wanted this boy to suffer.

Ash shook his head clumsily, Serena's voice echoing countless amount of times in it.

"Snap out of it" he whispered to himslef, hoping Serena wouldnt hear him. Serena had just fainted and now lay silently still in his lap. Pikachu stood at his side. Greninja had been returned to his poke ball to rest.

Something took control of his mind, a substance so thick it was almost impossible to displace. He didnt know where he got the urge. He didnt know where he got the urge to ask Serena... out.

Ash shook his head in confusion, not knowing what was wrong with himself.

"Serena... can I-" Ash did not know what was happening. Words were being forced out of him like the way necrozma forced Serena to do next:

"NOOOOO" Shouted Serena, suddenly waking up."I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I wont ever go out with you... not even of you... no forget it. Jump in that pool of lava and we'll call it even."

Ash suddenly felt heartbroken, and confused at the same time. He was completely unaware that strange wisps of smoke, black as night and wispy like... he wasnt really sure what the smoke was as wispy as. It trecked through the air and went into Setena's noise. Unknown to anyone, necrozma had just fed Serena some of its mind control potions(do ultra beasts make potions? I dont really know. This is an expression)

Empty as void. Ash felt as empty as void. His heart suddenly melted, and this time did not harden. He wanted to jump into a nearby lake of lava which he did not recall seeing before Serena said... how she hated him. Slowly, he trudged towards the lake of lava, feeling hurt and useless on the inside. Perhaps the traitors were right. Mabye he was a loser after all.

Pikachu tried his best to pull Ash away, and tried some of its famous thunderbolt theraphy on Ash. Nothing worked.

A/N I wrote this chapter on my phone, which is the first time. Its hard to write on my phone. There are a lot of spelling mistakes in here which i will edit out when i edit thos chaptet. Finally, I know its alrwady a few days past halloween... but... happy halloween everyone!