Chapter Summaries

Li Wei met Steven and Professor Sycamore at the Sycamore Pokémon Lab, where they examined a newly discovered Water-type Mega Stone that Li Wei recognized as Greninja’s. The group then discussed Olympia’s prophecy and prepared to help find Xerneas while Champion Diantha was away.

• Li Wei arrived at the Sycamore Pokémon Lab and reunited with Steven and Professor Sycamore, who revealed Steven had unearthed an unfamiliar Evolution Stone.
• Li Wei examined the stone and identified its energy as belonging to a Water-type Pokémon, then suggested they investigate Water-types native to Kalos.
• Professor Sycamore began studying the stone, while Li Wei privately recognized it as Greninja’s Mega Stone and Steven agreed to leave it at the lab for research.
• Li Wei told Professor Sycamore about Olympia’s prophecy and explained that Champion Diantha was filming in Unova and could not return soon.
• Li Wei said he planned to take Diancie to find Xerneas, and Professor Sycamore offered his help.

Dian recalled how Xerneas had saved him from Yveltal’s Death Wing a thousand years ago, inspiring Princess Diancie to leave the Ore Country and seek Xerneas so she could learn to create a Holy Diamond. As Diancie traveled toward Arus Forest, Ash’s group entered a Battle Festival, while two thieves pursued Diancie to exploit her powers.

• A thousand years earlier, young Dian witnessed Yveltal’s Death Wing drain the life from Arus Forest until Xerneas arrived and drove it back with Fairy Aura.
• Xerneas transformed into a tree to restore life to the forest and the affected Pokémon, then fell into slumber.
• Dian urged Princess Diancie to seek Xerneas and absorb its Fairy Aura so she could create a true Holy Diamond and protect the Ore Country.
• Princess Diancie left the mine cave for the first time and set out toward Arus Forest.
• Ash competed in the town’s Battle Festival, where Ayaka’s Mega Absol lost to Hawlucha’s type-advantaged High Jump Kick.
• Marilyn and Lairt began pursuing Princess Diancie, hoping to capture her and make her produce diamonds.

Ash rescued Diancie from Lairt and Liling, then joined her and his friends for a meal in Bineck Town. After receiving a mission from Li Wei, the Team Rocket Trio stayed nearby while Li Wei and Steven headed toward Ash’s group.

• Pikachu ran toward an explosion, and Ash followed it to find Diancie trapped between Lairt and Liling.
• Ash used Pikachu’s Thunderbolt to distract Lairt and Liling, then took Diancie to safety with Clemont, Bonnie, and Serena.
• Diancie introduced herself to the group, and Clemont explained that the thieves were after her because she could create diamonds.
• Li Wei called the Team Rocket Trio and gave them a mission as he and Steven prepared to meet Ash and the others.
• Ash invited the hungry Diancie to eat, then told Li Wei that they were in Bineck Town.

Li Wei and Steven found Ash and Princess Diancie in Bineck Town and learned she needed to reach Xerneas in Arus Forest to create an eternal Holy Diamond. They decided to escort her on foot and let the journey test her, then set out the next morning with Ash and his friends.

• Li Wei and Steven arrived at the clock tower and met Ash, his friends, and Princess Diancie.
• Li Wei's Diancie and the other Pokémon greeted Princess Diancie, while the Team Rocket Trio slipped away after Li Wei signaled them to leave.
• Princess Diancie explained that she had left the Diamond Domain to seek Xerneas's Fairy Aura and create an eternal Holy Diamond.
• Steven offered to fly Princess Diancie to Arus Forest, but Li Wei argued that she should make the journey gradually as a trial.
• Lairt proposed teaming up with Liling, but she refused to act while Li Wei and Steven were present.
• The next morning, Li Wei, Steven, Diancie, Princess Diancie, Ash, and his friends departed for Arus Forest.

Li Wei and his companions traveled toward Arus Forest while discussing Xerneas’s life-giving power and its difference from Ho-Oh’s power of rebirth. Meanwhile, Argus Steel and Molly followed in an invisible battleship and weighed whether to abandon their plan to capture Diancie.

• Li Wei explained to Ash and the others that Xerneas represented life while Ho-Oh represented rebirth, and Ash grew eager to meet Xerneas.
• Li Wei’s group continued toward Arus Forest with their Pokémon escorting them, and Diancie began to believe there were many good people in the outside world.
• Argus Steel watched the group from his invisible battleship and recognized that Li Wei and Steven made capturing Diancie too dangerous.
• Molly urged Argus to stop pursuing Diancie, but Argus said they would take things one step at a time.

Ash and Li Wei's group traveled toward Arus Forest, where Diancie hoped to learn how to create an everlasting Holy Diamond. Along the way, Diancie found happiness with her new friends as they neared the forbidden forest.

• Princess Diancie failed to create a Holy Diamond, but Ash encouraged her to make a wish upon a meteor, and she wished she could create an everlasting one.
• Li Wei, Steven, and their Pokémon secretly watched Ash and the two Diancie make wishes before returning to their tents.
• The group traveled by pickup and luxury cruise ship toward Arus Forest, also known as the Forest of Death, following the Fairy Aura left by Xerneas.
• Li Wei reflected on the beauty of the journey, and Meloetta sang with Ash's Meloetta as the group admired the scenery.
• Princess Diancie said it was the happiest she had felt since leaving home, and Ash told her they were friends as they approached Arus Forest.

Diancie learned what friendship meant and gave Bonnie the Holy Diamond before traveling with Ash and the others toward Arus Forest. When thieves ambushed the group, Li Wei and Steven revealed themselves alongside powerful Pokémon, turning the trap against them.

• Diancie formed a Holy Diamond after becoming friends with Ash and the others, then gave it to Bonnie.
• Li Wei and Steven discussed escorting Diancie to the Diamond Domain, and Li Wei revealed his interest in its diamond ore for Larvitar.
• Li Wei sensed two thieves and their Pokémon following the group, then arranged with Steven to leave Ash and the others as bait.
• Lairt and Liling ambushed Ash, Diancie, and the Carbink in a forest clearing, intending to capture Diancie.
• Li Wei and Steven appeared in the clearing with Darkrai, Dragapult, and Giratina, startling the thieves.

Li Wei and Steven ambushed Lairt and Liling near Arus Forest, swiftly defeating them and handing them over to Officer Jenny. With the thieves arrested, Li Wei prepared to continue toward the sleeping Yveltal, unaware that an invisible Flying Battleship was following the group.

• Li Wei and Steven emerged from the Distortion World and used Lucario and Metagross to defeat Lairt, Liling, and their Pokémon.
• Ash, Bonnie, and Clemont reacted to the arrest, and Officer Jenny arrived to handcuff the two wanted thieves.
• Li Wei warned Lairt that refusing his chance to stop had led to their arrest, while Steven encouraged them to reform and asked Officer Jenny to investigate whether anyone had directed them.
• Li Wei contacted Giratina and considered the danger of waking Yveltal as the group continued onward.
• An invisible Flying Battleship followed Li Wei and the others above the forest.

The Holy Diamond sustaining the Diamond Domain crumbled, and Diancie resolved to find Xerneas and create an Eternal Diamond. Li Wei, Ash, Steven, Serena, and their Pokémon reached Arus Forest, where they sensed a strong Fairy Aura.

• Li Wei and the others followed Diancie and the Carbink through the Diamond Road to the failing Diamond Domain.
• Dian revealed that Li Wei's Diancie could not create a Holy Diamond, and the existing Holy Diamond began to disintegrate.
• Ash encouraged Diancie to stop crying and keep searching for Xerneas, and Diancie vowed to create an Eternal Diamond.
• The Holy Diamond vanished, plunging the Diamond Domain into dimness, and Li Wei's group hurried onward through the caves.
• Li Wei's group emerged beside a great waterfall overlooking Arus Forest, where Diancie sensed a strong Fairy Aura.

Li Wei and his companions crossed the waterfall into Arus Forest after Dian warned them that Yveltal’s cocoon lay there and that disturbing it could bring destruction. They found a thriving forest watched by curious Pokémon and followed Diancie toward the strongest Fairy Aura, where their Radar detected two Legendary Pokémon, likely Xerneas and Yveltal.

• Dian told Li Wei, Diancie, and the others that Arus Forest was forbidden because Yveltal’s cocoon slept there, and Li Wei explained Yveltal’s destructive role and Zygarde’s duty to maintain order.
• Li Wei’s group flew across the gorge on their Pokémon and landed at the edge of Arus Forest.
• The group saw that the forest had recovered from the destruction of a thousand years earlier and encountered many wild Pokémon watching them.
• Dian shared a legend that Yveltal’s destruction awakened the forest’s ability to regenerate, and Clemont considered that it might be part of nature’s law.
• Guided by Princess Diancie and Diancie, Li Wei and the others headed toward the strongest Fairy Aura as his Radar detected two Legendary Pokémon, likely Xerneas and Yveltal.

Li Wei and his companions found Xerneas in Arus Forest, where it blessed both Diancie with Fairy Aura. Afterward, Xerneas told Princess Diancie that she herself was the one who nurtured life.

• Li Wei and his companions followed Diancie through Arus Forest and found Xerneas in a clearing.
• Xerneas ran from the group, but Diancie called after it and Li Wei intercepted it with Arcanine.
• Xerneas recognized Princess Diancie's wish and agreed to grant a blessing to both Diancie.
• Xerneas's Fairy Aura enveloped the two Diancie, changing the light within their diamonds and filling the forest with vitality.
• Xerneas told Princess Diancie that she herself was the one who nurtured life.

After Xerneas blessed Diancie and Princess Diancie, it asked Li Wei, Steven, and Ash to help contain Yveltal’s awakening. They reached the basin as Yveltal emerged from its cocoon and fixed its gaze on them.

• Xerneas bestowed an eternal Fairy Aura blessing on Diancie and Princess Diancie, allowing both to create Holy Diamonds and raising Li Wei’s Diancie to Champion Tier.
• Xerneas told Li Wei and the others that Yveltal was about to awaken and asked them to help stop its death energy from spreading.
• Li Wei, Steven, and Ash agreed to help, and Xerneas warned them that Yveltal was not evil and only needed to be stopped.
• Yveltal’s awakening darkened the forest, drained the plants’ life, and sent a blood-red pillar of light into the sky.
• Li Wei and the others followed Xerneas to a basin, where Yveltal emerged from its cocoon and fixed its gaze on them.

Li Wei, Xerneas, Steven, and their allies fought Yveltal as it rampaged through Arus Forest. Diancie awakened her power to protect Ash, and Li Wei Mega Evolved her too, but Yveltal turned its full assault on the two Mega Diancie.

• Li Wei and the others rode into Arus Forest as Yveltal awakened and ravaged the land with Death Wing.
• Steven Mega Evolved Metagross, which clashed with Yveltal's Death Wing while Ash rushed to rescue Pokémon trapped in the battlefield.
• Li Wei sent Latios and Latias to help Ash, while Lucario, Zeraora, Darkrai, and Xerneas attacked Yveltal.
• Diancie awakened her power to protect Ash, Mega Evolved, and struck Yveltal with a Holy Diamond that disrupted its Death Wing.
• Li Wei Mega Evolved Diancie, and the two Mega Diancie hit Yveltal with Moonblast and Diamond Storm.
• Yveltal abandoned its ranged attacks and swooped toward the two Mega Diancie with Dark-type energy surrounding its talons.

Li Wei and the others calmed Yveltal with his power of overcoming and Xerneas's Fairy Aura, then watched Xerneas enter a long slumber as a tree. Princess Diancie used her power and Xerneas's life energy to restore the Holy Diamond and save the Diamond Domain.

• Li Wei reached Yveltal through his power of overcoming while Xerneas used Fairy Aura to soothe it, and Yveltal calmed down and flew away.
• Xerneas transformed into a tree and fell asleep, and its life energy restored Arus Forest.
• Li Wei and the others returned to the Mineral Kingdom, where Princess Diancie began creating a new Holy Diamond.
• Princess Diancie infused the Holy Diamond with Xerneas's Fairy Aura, and its power spread through the Diamond Domain, saving the kingdom.

After restoring the Holy Diamond, Princess Diancie rewarded Li Wei and his companions and agreed to trade rough diamonds for his Pokéblocks and Poffins. The group followed the Diamond Road to Lumiose City to celebrate, while Li Wei updated Cynthia that the crisis was over.

• The Holy Diamond restored the Diamond Domain, and Princess Diancie gave Li Wei, Ash, Steven, and the others eternal diamonds as tokens of friendship.
• Li Wei received a Fairy Plate and a random Mythical Pokémon clue for completing the hidden mission, then asked Diancie for rough diamonds to feed Larvitar.
• Diancie agreed to trade rough diamonds for Li Wei's Pokéblocks and Poffins, with Steven arranging delivery through Rocket Logistics.
• Li Wei invited Diancie and the others to Lumiose City, where he planned to visit Cynthia's property and ask Ash and his friends to help Professor Sycamore research Greninja's Evolution Stone.
• The group reached Lumiose City by the Diamond Road, and Li Wei told Cynthia that the crisis had been resolved while the thieves responsible for provoking Yveltal were arrested.

Professor Sycamore identified Steven's Evolution Stone as Greninja's and agreed to give it to Ash after completing his research. Li Wei introduced Diancie to Sycamore and recounted what happened in Arus Forest, and the chapter ended with Sycamore inviting Ash to try Mega Evolution with Greninja.

• Professor Sycamore identified Steven's Evolution Stone as Greninja's, and Steven offered it to Ash once Sycamore finished researching it.
• Li Wei prompted Professor Sycamore to notice the second Diancie, who introduced herself as a princess from the Diamond Domain.
• Li Wei told Professor Sycamore that Yveltal had left Arus Forest and Xerneas had taken root there, revealing that the Legendary Pokémon were not enemies.
• Professor Sycamore agreed to help Diancie learn about the human world, while Steven continued answering her questions.
• Professor Sycamore invited Ash to try Mega Evolution with Greninja.

Ash and Greninja Mega Evolved for the first time in Professor Sycamore’s lab, but the transformation felt different from their brief Bond Phenomenon. Steven offered a battle to help Ash understand the difference.

• Professor Sycamore gave Ash a Greninja Mega Stone and a Key Stone after confirming the stone’s identity.
• Ash and Greninja Mega Evolved, with Greninja gaining a spinning Water Shuriken that let it fly upside down.
• Professor Sycamore recorded the stable energy readings, and Steven praised Ash and Greninja’s coordination.
• Ash and Mega Greninja sensed that something was missing compared with their brief, deeply synchronized Bond Phenomenon.
• Steven took out a Poké Ball and challenged Ash to a battle to resolve his confusion.

At Sycamore Pokémon Lab, Ash and Greninja struggled to understand their unusual transformation, which Li Wei suggested might be a unique bond-based power. Steven challenged them to a battle with Princess Diancie to help reveal its nature, and the chapter ended as Diancie’s Dazzling Gleam made Mega Greninja’s light flicker.

• Steven proposed a Pokémon battle to help Ash and Greninja understand their transformation, and Princess Diancie volunteered to battle alongside him.
• Li Wei suggested that Ash and Greninja’s power might be a form of evolution triggered by their bond alone, then encouraged them to discover its path together.
• Ash renewed his resolve to master the power with Greninja, and Professor Sycamore led everyone to the lab’s battle court.
• Ash and Mega Greninja opened with Water Shuriken, but Diancie blocked the attacks with a diamond barrier created through Diamond Storm.
• Steven and Diancie countered Greninja’s attacks with Moonblast and other moves, exploiting their type and experience advantages while Steven tested Ash’s abilities.
• Diancie struck Mega Greninja with a super-effective Dazzling Gleam, causing the light around it to flicker violently.

Ash and Greninja awakened the Bond Phenomenon during their battle with Steven and Diancie, briefly gaining power beyond Greninja’s Mega Evolution. Steven and Mega Diancie defeated them, leaving Ash determined to learn how to control the new power.

• Steven and Diancie drove Greninja to the brink of exhaustion, causing it to revert from Mega Evolution without fainting.
• Ash and Greninja resonated, and a surge of blue energy transformed Greninja into its first-stage Ash-Greninja form.
• Steven Mega Evolved Diancie, and Ash-Greninja’s Water Shuriken briefly stalemated Mega Diancie’s Diamond Storm.
• Mega Diancie used Moonblast to hit Ash-Greninja after predicting its Aerial Ace, and Greninja fainted as the Bond Phenomenon ended.
• Ash helped Greninja up, and Steven praised their power while advising Ash to learn to control it.

After Ash and Greninja’s Bond Phenomenon drew Professor Sycamore’s attention, Li Wei left Lumiose City to investigate a Mythical Pokémon lead. He decided not to enter Ultra Space and traveled home to Sinnoh with Giratina.

• Professor Sycamore studied the data from Ash and Greninja’s battle and compared the Bond Phenomenon with Mega Evolution.
• Li Wei told Ash that the battle had shown him and Greninja the path they needed to follow, and Ash resolved to master their bond.
• Professor Sycamore agreed to give Ash the Greninja Evolution Stone in exchange for three days of research assistance.
• Li Wei left Lumiose City, and Darkrai returned to Alamos Town after they parted ways.
• Li Wei used his intelligence about a Mythical Pokémon and learned that it pointed to Meltan or Melmetal in Ultra Space, but he chose not to seek out Palkia to reach it.
• Li Wei rode Giratina through the Distortion World toward Sinnoh, offering it Pokéblocks and Poffins as payment.