She was deep in meditation when something disrupted the tranquility of her mind. Her periwinkle eyes began to glow brightly as all around her unfolded a vision. She'd had it before, but never had it been this vivid. In her vision was a woman in a brilliant gown, dancing happily while surrounded by a multitude of flowers. As the vision went on, a man appeared on the scene and began to court the woman, eventually coaxing her into dancing with him. All was well as they danced, and it seemed as though nothing could tear this happy union apart. It wasn't until the dance came to a close that disaster struck.

A circle of fire erupted around the woman, separating the two in an instant. Within mere moments, a pillar of flame consumed the woman, causing her to disappear completely, leaving the man distraught and filled with bitterness and rage. Then, as fast as the vision unfolded, it ceased, leaving the woman beholding it in a state of shock. Sweat trickled down the side of her face as she contemplated its meaning. As she dwelt upon the significance of the vision, another image flickered into her mind.

It was the face of a young man with dark auburn hair and eyes like the blue lagoon. Beside him, riding on a Mamoswine of their own, were two companions, one male one female. They were plowing through the treacherous path that was Mamoswine Road, casting aside boulders and digging up the snow in their way. Her eyes shifted from one face to the next before landing back on the blue-eyed male. Her eyes widened as she drank in his appearance. She could feel an great and terrible aura radiating from him.

She knew of only one other individual who possessed such power. As the vision faded, her body began to tremble. Excitement filled her entire being after seeing the approach of what could be her greatest challenge since a certain young woman a few years prior.

"Someone powerful this way comes..." she said to herself with a smile.

The sound of doors opening drew her attention to the entrance as two women, one with a blonde Kalosian bobcut and the other with short, brown spiky hair, made their way inside. Slowly making her descent from her levitating meditation, she touched down in front of the two women and placed a hand on her hip while meeting their eyes.

"It's been quite some time, hasn't it Olympia?" said the blonde with a slight chuckle.

"Indeed it has. You're looking well, Mathilde," Olympia replied, her periwinkle eyes shifting over to the Champion while raising a quizzical brow. "And to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit, Diantha?"

The Champion gave Mathilde a sidelong glance before addressing Olympia's question. "My good friend here, said that her student would be passing through here at some point today. Since I'm curious, I decided I would attend his gym match whenever he arrives."

"So that boy is your student huh? I thought I'd felt something familiar from him," Olympia said to Mathilde, earning a smirk from the swordswoman.

"Saw him already have you? I knew it would only be a matter of time before you caught wind of him. Nothing gets past those near all seeing eyes of yours."

"If he's every bit as strong as his aura depicts, then this will be quite a challenge for me..."

What a marvelous sight it was. Power radiated from every leafless branch, flowing into the Ultimate Weapon and bringing the towering man before it one step closer to his ideal world. Lysandre stood beside Xerosic and watched the power meter as it slowly increased in percentage. While it was thirty-five percent completed, it was going slower than anticipated. The royal descendant frowned at the progress and turned to Xerosic with slightly confused look.

"It's very strange... to think that we have the power of life itself in our possession and yet the progression of the power transfer has been sluggish. Why do you think that is?" Lysandre asked with a sigh.

Xerosic stroked his chin and placed his hands behind his back while looking up at the white tree that was powering the Ultimate Weapon. To him, the numbers didn't add up either. He knew that it wasn't the absence of the key that was causing it, and the power source was more than adequate and suited their needs perfectly, even in its dormant state. That's when it struck him, causing his eyes to widen.

"Perhaps it is because our friend here is asleep," Xerosic proposed, looking up at the tree as he continued. "While Xerneas is indeed powerful, it is still dormant and waiting to reawaken after gaining enough energy to do so."

"So you think that by absorbing the power from its dormant state, we are hindering its own progress and by extension... ours?"

Xerosic nodded in reply.

"It is possible that we will require a source with energy that hasn't been exhausted. Even with all the Pokémon that we've collected, I do not believe that their energy will be sufficient enough to empower the Ultimate Weapon to the fullest," Xerosic explained. "We need a source as powerful as Xerneas in its awakened state if our plan is to succeed..."

"As powerful as Xerneas in its awakened state you say?" Lysandre mused before turning and walked toward the large computer behind him.

Accessing the system, he began searching through the archives of history that made him aware of the whereabouts of Xerneas as well as the existence of two others that were dormant or in hiding. As he read, he came across a picture he'd seen a dozen times over. It was a picture of a man with his hands raised to the heavens as if in praise. Above him was a towering structure which was easily recognized as the Ultimate Weapon, however that is not where the focus of Lysandre's attention was fixed. It was the figure above it.

"The Eternal Flower..."

"Pardon?" Xerosic said, walking up beside Lysandre to get a glimpse of what his leader was looking at.

"An energy source that is just as strong as Xerneas in its awakened state. The Eternal Flower, a Floette, was given life by the Ultimate Weapon. Thousands of Pokémon were sacrificed just for this one Pokémon to be revived, making it an infinite source of energy. Xerneas has power that would be of better use to us if it were awake. Due to its dormant state it won't be able to speed along and give birth to our vision in the time that we seek. But if we had that Floette..."

"Then we would be able to empower the Ultimate Weapon with an indefinite amount of energy!" Xerosic exclaimed. "But where do you suppose it could be? According to these records, it hasn't been seen for over three-thousand years..."

"Tell me Xerosic, what are Floette most known for?" Lysandre asked his head scientist.

"Tending to flowers of course."

"And where do you suppose there are an abundance of well kept flower beds?" Lysandre inquired with a grin as he pulled up an image of the Parfum Palace.

Xerosic adjusted his glasses and looked at the image. He had seen many pictures of that place and knew of its beautiful gardens. The palace had several gardeners that kept the grounds looking as visually pleasing as they always were. Lysandre was right when he said that there was an abundance of well-tended flower beds. Any Floette would be foolish to resist such a beautiful display.

"There's one more thing," Lysandre paused, crossing his arms as he looked at the image of the palace. "There's evidence that our little friend has been there before as well as other places within the past few months. Remember that drought we had that wilted the flowers of Parterre Way? Wasn't it odd that they suddenly sprung back to life and were able to remain standing until the next rainfall?"

Xerosic nodded in agreement. "I found that most peculiar indeed."

"I believe that Floette is the reason for it and part of the reason why the gardens of the palace are still thriving even when there's been a dry spell. It was her home all those years ago and to see it go to ruin would be a burden on her heart."

"What do you suggest we do?" Asked Lysandre.

"I do have one idea," Lysandre began, reaching down to his belt in order to pluck a single black sphere from it.

Bursting out of his spherical home was a rather large, dark-blue avian Pokémon with feathers arranged to resemble a well dressed individual in formal wear, namely a mob boss.

"Xerosic, if you would be so kind, I would like you to hook up a surveillance camera to Honchkrow so that I may send him to investigate the palace grounds. If what I thought to be true from the start proves to be correct... we will have our power source and then our dream will finally come to pass."