Capítulo 11: 25,26
Ash went down to check with the harbourmaster, Miranda, just to see if travel was already blocked, and found the harbour buildings were already full of trainers looking disappointed.
Miranda shook her head. "Sorry, but the services have been cancelled. I know there was a special ferry, there's lots of trainers here who wanted to take it, but the storm's just too much for them."
She checked a pager, then listened to some chirps from a Wingull. "And… really? And it's getting worse… it's a supercell. I don't understand it, it's not the right kind of weather for a hurricane, but here it is…"
"Got it," Ash replied. "In that case, I'll just make my own way."
"Really?" Miranda asked.
"Really?" the local Jenny added. "That's not very safe, young man."
"I'll be fine," Ash said, sending out Pidgeot and patting her on the flank. "She's tough enough for it – I wouldn't be suggesting this if I didn't think she could do it. Pidgeot sneers at hurricanes."
The Flying-type ruffled her wings, then furled them again. "It's true. I do."
Putting action to words, she sneered at the wind.
Miranda shook her head. "I… well, I didn't expect something quite like that."
"I should arrest you for your own safety," Jenny threatened, but Miranda put her hand on Jenny's arm.
"Is she as confident as he is?" she asked the Wingull.
"Yes," Wingull replied.
"Then – I think he'll be all right," she told Jenny. "Or if he's not, his Pidgeot will abort the attempt before it gets too dangerous. Still… be careful, young man."
The harbourmaster frowned. "You know… something about this reminds me of an old story. About a storm that just came from nowhere."
"The… Winds of Water, right?" Ash said. "I heard that somewhere, but I'm not quite sure where from…"
He shrugged. "We'd better get going before it gets worse. Pikachu, bag or shoulder?"
"Bag," Pikachu decided.
Ash returned Riolu, the Fighting-type rather more all right with being in his Pokéball than Pikachu was, then climbed up onto Pidgeot's back. "Ready, girl? Let's go right above the clouds and then drop down into the eye!"
"Ah, a challenge!" Pidgeot said, crouching, then launched herself up and into the storm with a whoosh of air.
"I hope you were right," Jenny said. "He's awfully young…"
Then they spotted some more people on the move, on the wharf this time, and Gary, Misty and Brock plunged into the water on and with a succession of Water Pokémon.
"You'd think they'd have asked," Miranda grumbled.
Bink
James looked around. "Hmm…"
He began counting things off on his fingers. "High cliffs… lots of surfers… storm on the horizon… nope, this isn't the centre of the hurricane either."
Then find the one that is, Abra demanded. Teleporting all of you this kind of distance more than once is too much like hard work.
"Sloooow," added their passenger.
"What's he saying?" Jessie asked.
"He's askin' if we're the guys what he got told to expect," Meowth replied. "He's kinda runnin' behind, most of 'em do. Anyway, where's da map…"
He unfolded it, frowning. "Dis country has way too many islands… islands… hey, wait a sec!"
Meowth brightened. "Remember dat time we ended up on an island with no clue how we could'a got there?"
"You'll have to be more specific," Jessie replied.
"Well, we ain't got Blasted Off just before then, if dat helps," Meowth said. "It was… about now, last timeline, and if dat ain't it it's probably close or something."
Abra considered that. Well, it's a starting point. I'll see what I can find from your memory of leaving… with your permission?
Meowth nodded, and Abra's eyes glowed as he scanned through.
Ah, got it, he said. Hold your breath, we're landing in the sea nearby.
"Wait, wha-"
Bink
"Wow," Ash said, looking out over the storm.
They were moving fast, fast enough that Pidgeot could scoop up the air they were running into, keep it breathable, and then bleed it away behind them. But the storm was big enough to give them time to watch, and Ash whistled. (Badly.)
"This really puts it into perspective… three hours ago, it was a perfect blue sky, and now it's gone as far as Viridian City."
Mewtwo is a Legendary Pokémon, Ash. Possibly the strongest – apart from Arceus. Though I'm not sure quite how you measure strength like that.
"Yeah," Ash said. "Well… at least I managed it."
Yesterday.
"And I ate a lot last night!" Ash replied. "And for breakfast. I'm not going to give up."
Be careful, Ash.
"I will be," Ash replied, looking down at the seething clouds below.
They were drifting towards the eye wall itself, now.
"I wouldn't even think of doing this if he wasn't so, uh, distracted by doing all this?" Ash added. Then he crouched a bit lower and patted Pidgeot on the flank. "Hey, girl, I think I see an island down there – let's go!"
Pidgeot chirped. "Sure!"
She rolled half-over, and shot downwards in a dive.
"This place is pretty impressive," Jessie said, now her clothes were a bit drier. "It's some kind of lab, but… it's really complicated."
She put a finger to her mouth. "Didn't Mewtwo only come here weeks ago?"
James shrugged. "Maybe? But he had to have been created somewhere, so maybe it was here."
"Slooow."
"Yeah, I ain't doin' anything else today," Meowth translated.
"Didn't you read the file on Mewtwo?" James added.
Jessie huffed. "I read the important bits, you're the one who decided to read the life story."
She looked at the Slowbro ambling placidly along with them. "Speaking of which… why is this Pokémon with us, anyway?"
James looked puzzled. "I thought it was to help us with Mewtwo?"
"Right, but what I want to know is how," Jessie said. "When we picked up a Slowbro specially from the Boss's resort island, I was expecting it to be a strong Pokémon, not as thick as two short planks."
"Planks aren't very thick, though," James frowned.
Slowbro is along to help us out, Abra confirmed, sitting on Slowbro's head. But that's because Mewtwo's a Psychic Pokémon who could detect minds. I'm using my own powers to fuzz out Slowbro's sheer dimness, helping to hide all of your mental presences. But it's not perfect. Don't think too hard.
Jessie and James exchanged identical looks of bafflement. "Huh?"
Never mind, not sure why I gave the warning...
Pidgeot came gliding down over New Island in a lazy spiral, shedding height and speed with each rotation as she dropped past the miles of seething eye wall, then flew all the way down into the main courtyard and landed daintily on the edge of a large pool.
The same woman from the invitation walked over to Ash, bowed slightly, and began speaking in a light monotone. "Welcome to New Island. You are the first to arrive. Would you like refreshments while you wait?"
"Sure," Ash agreed. "That would be great."
He sent out Riolu, then the rest of his Pokémon, and Pikachu clambered out of his backpack to join the group.
"Right, guys," he went on. "We've arrived, so stretch your legs a bit. Looks like we get a bit of a wait before we find out why we're here."
"Got it," Ivysaur said, stretching forelegs-and-hindlegs, and Squirtle splashed into the pool to bob up and down muttering about a beach episode. Primeape shrugged, then jumped onto the same pool to begin practicing a kata, but Charizard just unfurled his wings before taking off with a crackle of leathery wing-membrane.
"Be right back, about to test something," the Fire-type said.
"Watch out!" Ash called. "The eye's tiny, so this storm's going to be strong!"
He turned away, throwing up his hands. "I warned him. And, knowing Charizard, he's going to be struck by lightning or something within the hour."
"Sounds about right," Pikachu agreed.
For her part, Pidgeot had checked over her wings in great detail and with patient care, then flared them and took off again to follow Charizard.
"What, you're not going to warn her?" Ivysaur asked.
"She sneers at hurricanes, we've established this," Ash replied. "The only real danger there is to Charizard if he tries to outdo her."
The hostess arrived with a tray, and Ash took it. "Oh, thanks… hey, is that a donut?"
He picked it up, and took a bite.
Riolu sniggered at Ash's expression. "Are you okay?"
"Novelty rice ball," Ash mumbled.
Despite that trick, the refreshments were generally pretty good, and Ash was just finishing off a drink when there was a sort of wet sound from a nearby door.
Ash turned to look, and saw Misty stomping up – utterly drenched, with water dripping off her clothes.
Brock was somehow even wetter, and Gary's hair was trying to spring back up despite the water trying to plaster it to his scalp.
"Glad to see you made it!" Ash waved. "You all look, uh… damp?"
Gary rolled his eyes. "That storm was ridiculous. Eventually I just borrowed one of Misty's rebreathers and came here underwater."
"Ouch," Ash said. "Must be a pity not being able to fly over the hurricane like Pidgeot did."
Misty looked very resentful, which was a bit unfair because she was the Water-type trainer, but didn't actually say anything before there was a rumbling crack-boom from overhead.
After a few seconds, Charizard came down for a landing, smouldering slightly.
"Not a word," the dragon muttered, as Pidgeot piped laughter next to him. "Not. A. Word."
"Did you actually get hit by lightning?" Ash asked, hiding his mouth with a gloved hand. "I thought it might happen, but-"
"It's not my fault," Charizard insisted. "I'm not sure whose fault, but it's not mine… Pikachu shocks harder, but I'd quite like a rest and something to eat now."
Over the next hour or so, another two trainers arrived along with their teams, and the hostess invited them all to come indoors to the dining room.
Fergus, the first, was a Water specialist trainer who got there mostly thanks to his Vaporeon – her Acid Armour ability had helped make the journey much easier for the Gyarados he'd ridden, and he hadn't got quite as soaked as Misty had – and after he'd sent out his team to relax in the pool Misty came over to talk.
Which meant that the two of them just ended up going on about Water types for ages, especially when Gary brought up his Blastoise. Ash was sort of tempted to go over as well, but something told him that if half the people in the conversation were talking about Pokémon who were Gurren Lagann fans it might end up annoying Misty.
The other one who arrived, a little later, was Corey. He was much more of a generalist, arriving by Pidgeot like Ash had, though unlike Ash he'd flown through the storm instead of over it.
It had definitely been a harder route, judging by how ruffled the Pidgeot's feathers were before he began preening them back into place, but Ash still felt like his own Pidgeot had done better.
Brock stared at the hostess whenever she appeared, and after the third time Ash got his friend's attention. "What is it?"
"I swear I know her from somewhere…" Brock replied. "I know her, I just don't know where from. It's frustrating."
Ash wished he could ask Dexter, but Dexter was in hiding and it felt like it'd be far too risky to reveal him just for the sake of curiosity.
"Waiting like this is getting on my nerves," Pikachu admitted.
"I know, Pikachu," Ash agreed. "I know."
Eventually, the hostess stepped onto the dais again. She just stood there, not saying anything, but over the next minute or so the conversations died away and everyone looked up at her.
She nodded slightly. "Here is the one who called you all here. The strongest Pokémon in the world. Mewtwo."
The Pokémon stepped out from the shadows behind her, and Ash swallowed.
He knew Mewtwo. He'd met Mewtwo, and the Psychic-type had been… wary of humans, perhaps, but at peace. And seeing this younger, angrier Mewtwo was…
...worrying.
"You mean you take orders from a Pokémon?" Fergus snorted. "How?"
Misty put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't antagonise someone you know nothing about."
Corey's Rhyhorn growled, then surged forwards in an impetuous charge, and Mewtwo swept his hand across to slam the Rock-type into a wall.
"What was that?" Corey asked, recalling Rhyhorn.
She takes orders from me in this manner, Mewtwo declared, making everyone in the room except Ash flinch from the sudden, powerful telepathic thought.
"Mewtwo is a Psychic Pokémon," the hostess agreed, then Mewtwo touched her on the head.
Your usefulness has ended.
The sudden shock made the hostess wobble, then slump to the floor, and Brock ran over to help her up.
"I knew I recognized you!" he said. "You're the Nurse Joy who went missing weeks ago!"
"I…" Joy began, shifting, and looked around. "Where am I? I don't recognize this place."
This is New Island, Mewtwo told them all. My birthplace, and the birthplace of the new order of the word… but I get ahead of myself. Come.
The door to the courtyard opened without word or gesture.
One of the reasons for inviting the trainers I did is that, among your number, there are trainers of all three of the Kanto Starter Pokémon. Like many, I began my time as a trainer with Squirtle, Charmander and Bulbasaur… but of course, they are stronger now. Stronger than Pokémon trained by humans.
He began moving towards the door. Come. I will show you.
Riolu whispered something to Ash, hopping up to dangle off his shoulder to do it, and Ash nodded his thanks before heading for the door behind everyone else.
Under the island, Meowth was tapping on a darkly lit tank. "Well, there's some kind'a liquid in here, but I ain't got any idea what it is..."
Then the tank lit up, revealing a blotchy-coated Venusaur.
Meowth flinched. "Gah!"
Two other tanks lit up as well, with Charizard and Blastoise in, and Meowth took a wary step back.
Not noticing, Jessie and James were crowded around a computer.
"Hmm…" James said, peering closer. "What's the Fuji Process?"
"It says… Mew DNA," Jessie pointed out. "And Mew DNA means… Mewtwo, is what it says. But there's other names on here too. This must be the cloning device."
"Brooo," Slowbro said.
In case you're wondering, that was Slowbro asking when lunch was.
"We've had lunch," Jessie hissed.
"Look," James said, scrolling down. "There's other names on here, uh… Bulbasaurtwo, Charmandertwo, Squirtletwo, Ambertwo? What's an Ambertwo?"
"Obviously it's a Pokémon cloned from Old Amber," Jessie replied. "So an Aerodactyl. We'll have to watch out for that… what do those symbols mean? All of them except Mewtwo have that one."
"Uh… subject died, it says," James answered, then winced. "Oh. That's really sad…"
"There's an arrow!" Jessie pointed. "You can still scroll down."
James did so. "Amberthree, Amberfour, Amberfive… all died… and then there's some that are dated only a few days ago. Charmanderthree, Bulbasaurthree, Squirtlethree? But where are they?"
I think Meowth found them, Abra said.
"Huh?" the two Rockets asked, in unison, then looked around.
"Gah!"
Now released from their tubes, the cloned Pokémon lumbered off, and James returned to the computer with a shiver.
"Uh…" he said, going to the file directory. "Sort by date… uh… and Mewtwo escaped, then… wait, isn't this a video? By the date, it's the last thing the lab did before Mewtwo escaped."
He hit play, and the Rockets watched as Dr. Fuji hurriedly explained the origin of Mewtwo, ending with the dire pronouncement that the team had tried to make the world's strongest Pokémon… and that they had succeeded.
Meowth put a claw to his muzzle. "Strongest is a funny word. You don't think Dialga or whoevertheface could stop time an' stuff, and sort Mewtwo out that way?"
I don't think he means the one who would win in any fight, Abra contributed. The word is 'strongest', after all.
"Well, maybe fight's got something to do with it," Jessie said. "The one who's strongest when doing something that isn't a speciality? Given the hurricane we're inside right now…"
So, Mewtwo said. One of you has a Charizard, one a Blastoise, and one a Venusaur.
He floated over his trio of cloned Pokémon. Who will be the first to face their superior counterpart?
Gary and Corey looked at one another, then at Ash. "Well? What do you think?"
"About what?" Ash asked, then looked to the side slightly as Riolu urgently whispered to him.
Mewtwo frowned.
He'd been miscounting. Now he saw them all at once, the boy had seven Pokémon, not six, and he'd not been picking up anything from Ash.
Miracle Eye, he intoned. Will you face my superior Pokémon first?
"Why are they superior?" Ash asked.
They are cloned, Mewtwo said. Removed of imperfections, and the best versions of themselves. Removed from the impact humans have had on them.
"I mean, I get that they're Pokémon you've trained, but-"
"I'll go first, if neither of you want to!" Corey declared. "Bruteroot, let's do this!"
Bruteroot lumbered forwards, and Mewtwo folded his arms. Venusaur. Advance.
Corey pointed. "Razor Leaf!"
A volley of Razor Leaves whipped out from Bruteroot, and the cloned Venusaur blocked them before lashing out in return with a Vine Whip.
The attack's actual damage wasn't much, but the momentum was huge – just one blow knocked the natural-born Pokémon backwards, into the wall, and out of the fight entirely.
"Bruteroot!" Corey gasped. "How is your Pokémon that strong?"
Cloned Pokémon are superior.
"Like hell!" Corey retorted. "I know Venusaur like Bruteroot, there's no way a move like Vine Whip should have done that! Venusaur against Venusaur is a battle of attrition, not… that!"
"It knocked him into the wall," Brock pointed out. "That's what the problem was – Mewtwo turned it from a Grass move into an impact one."
"Oh, man," Corey groaned. "I really should have given him more coverage moves, I guess… guys, let's get Bruteroot a potion!"
The trainer hurried over to Bruteroot's wall crater to haul him out of it, accompanied by half his Pokémon, and Gary stepped up next. "You won't find my Blastoise so easy to deal with!"
Bravado, Mewtwo judged.
Gary gestured Blastoise forwards, and the Water-type ran out his cannons to their fullest extent with a sharp click.
He pointed at the clone. "I won't give in! I won't hold back! If you're a perfect duplicate of me specifically, I'll just have to move beyond who I was at the start of the fight! That's how Team Dai-Gurren roll!"
Mewtwo tilted his head up, somewhat taken aback. Is your Pokémon well?
"Yeah!" Ash answered, partly for Gary, mostly because that way he could pre-empt Misty answering the same question.
She'd said 'No, he's an anime nut', but Ash felt he was a bit more correct.
Mewtwo didn't seem convinced. If you say so. Blastoise. Water Gun.
"Rime!" Gary shouted, diving for cover, and both Blastoise fired at the same time. Ash and his friends also went for some kind of cover as the two blasts of water collided – and half the water instantly froze solid.
"What's Rime?" Ash called to Gary, as freezing water splattered down all around the area.
"Supercooled water!" Gary replied. "It freezes the moment there's a chance for it nucleate on something, it's like weather they get in Sinnoh sometimes!"
Since he'd known what was coming, Gary's Blastoise had fired in a more inwards pattern than his opponent. Much of the clone's water had ended up on the floor, but quite a lot of the natural-born Pokémon's water had ended up on his opponent and half-frozen them to the floor.
The clone broke out anyway, and Mewtwo gestured forwards. Skull Bash.
"Ice field tactics!" Gary responded, and his Blastoise aimed at the floor.
Mewtwo didn't say anything, but his Blastoise responded to some hidden command anyway and surged forwards. Then Gary's Blastoise volleyed a pair of Flash Cannon shots into the floor as the clone broke into a head-down full-force charge – before stamping his foot on the ground, making part of the floor tremble and collapse into a pit.
The clone fell into the pit, stunned for a moment, and Gary's Blastoise poured in a flood of freezing Rime before his opponent could recover – so that, by the time he could, the cloned Blastoise was encased in a block of ice almost as tall as he was.
Gary smirked. "His cannons aren't pointing anywhere he can melt the ice. Yield the match."
Impressive, human, Mewtwo conceded, gesturing. The ice glowed and shattered, and the cloned Blastoise rose into the air before being moved roughly back to stand next to his fellow clones. But that was trickery to substitute for the force you do not have. My whole life has been the same, tricked into servitude by those without power; I will not be tricked again.
"Then I guess it's our turn!" Ash said. "Charizard, get ready!"
Charizard stepped forwards to stand behind Ash, then roared a challenge.
"You're going down! Ash, any instructions?"
Ash shrugged. "Well, don't hurt them too badly, but otherwise… why not show off a bit?"
Everyone who'd ever had an interaction with Ash's Charizard went back into the cover they'd been using against the spray from the Blastoise battle.
Charizard opened with an enormous Flamethrower attack, one which engulfed his opponent entirely and which only avoided enveloping Mewtwo due to a shield the Psychic-type established with a single gesture.
Up, Mewtwo ordered. Flamethrower for cover.
The cloned Charizard sprang into the air, shooting out a jet of flame of his own to camouflage his position from Ash's Pokémon, then Ash's own Charizard took off with a whoom and followed.
While the first battle of the starters had seen Bruteroot overwhelmed in moments by sheer physical strength, and the second had seen Gary and his Blastoise deploy long-ranged firepower and tactics to overcome the cloned Blastoise, the aerial battle between the two Charizards was a much more knock-down drag-out fight with blasts of Flamethrower and Dragonbreath at range interspersed with close-in claw swipes, wing slaps and bites.
Corey and Fergus were silent, except for a gasp as Mewtwo's cloned Charizard fired out a jet of Dragonbreath and Ash's one rolled up a shining Steel Wing to deflect it away. Then Charizard rolled back down, used Dragonbreath, and the moment a silver sheen of Steel Wing appeared he switched that to a Flamethrower attack which the Steel Wing made more effective, not less.
"Your Charizard really knows what to expect, huh?" Gary asked, shading his eyes. "I'm impressed."
"That's what comes from spending time in the Valley, I guess," Ash replied. "He said it'd be that way, but it's great to know he's right… hey, Mewtwo! Is your Pokémon getting tired yet?"
Charizardthree is superior to your Pokémon, Mewtwo retorted.
"How can you know that for sure?" Ash replied. "Anyway… Charizard, come on down here for a moment!"
Charizardthree tried to follow, but Ash's Charizard spat back a Fire Spin which whirled into the clone's path.
"What is it?" Ash's Pokémon asked, swooping down to hover for a moment.
"If Mewtwo wants power, we'll give it to him!" Ash replied. "Charizard… Blast Burn."
Charizard gave a curt nod, then inhaled and opened his jaws. There was a faint blue glow from his throat for a moment, then he exhaled a jet of something that didn't quite seem like fire or smoke or anything else. It glowed with a blue light and spread out as it rose towards Charizardthree, moving so fast that the other Charizard had barely any time to react before there was a kind of blob of blue smoke-gas-fire right next to him.
Then, starting with Charizard's mouth, the entire inverted cone exploded. The blast raced up into the sky, engulfing the sphere overhead, and the sphere all detonated at once – and there was an intense white light and a blast of wind and pressure that slammed into everyone present.
After that combination flash-and-bang, which left Pokémon and trainers alike blinking spots out of their eyes, the third step was a splash-and-crash as a smouldering Charizardthree fell out of the sky to slam into the fountain. Something broke in the stone basin, and the water in the pool drained away – choking off the fountain itself which sputtered to a halt a moment later – and Ash's Charizard alighted next to his trainer with finicky precision.
There was a singing silence for a few seconds, after the incredible noise, and Gary was the first to break it.
"Okay, Ash!" he said. "What. Was. That?!"
"It's Blast Burn," Ash replied. "Only, a bit… more than before? See, Pikachu and I spent some time working on physics stuff anyway for his best move… anyway, the outer part of the explosion goes off first and it compresses the stuff inside as the explosion ripples inwards. That makes it way, way more powerful, but only a tiny bit of it actually does that because as soon as the middle bit ignites it just blows the whole rest of the attack apart."
Gary blinked several times.
"That's nuclear fusion," he said. "You're describing nuclear fusion. A tiny amount of it, sure, but – just – how!?"
"I think some really powerful Fire attacks do it anyway, like, V-Create maybe?" Ash said. "I guess that's probably using psychic power to hold it together instead of just the shockwave…"
I can say, with all honesty, that I did not expect that, Mewtwo said.
Ash brightened, but only for a moment – then a trio of levitating black balls shot past Mewtwo, instantly capturing all three of the Pokémon that had battled his clones.
"What the-" Ash demanded. "How did you do that – what was that for?"
His hands flared blue, trembling for a moment as Ash tried to suppress his rage. It had sounded like he was getting through to Mewtwo – and now-
Your Pokémon are unusually strong, Mewtwo stated implacably. I will clone them, and the clones will be the only creatures left to inherit the earth after I have scoured it clean of life.
Dozens more of the black Pokéballs appeared, and swarmed the trainers.
Pikachu reacted first. His cheeks sparked up to a brilliant glow, and he created a crackling shield of electricity that spread like a canopy over almost half the Pokémon in the courtyard. Gyarados and Steelix were too large to protect, and vanished in moments, but most of Ash, Brock, Misty and Gary's teams were protected at once. The first black Pokéballs to approach got hit and electrocuted to the point of no longer functioning, then Mewtwo gestured slightly and the rest split up to go after the remaining Pokémon.
Ash tried to protect Fergus and Corey's Pokémon, hurling Aura Spheres, but even with Riolu's help Mewtwo's Pokéballs swarmed them. Rhyhorn's Pokéball was somehow captured, then the rest of the teams, and within less than twenty seconds the only natural-born Pokémon left in the room were the ones inside Pikachu's shields.
"This isn't great," Gary admitted. "But at least half our Pokémon are safe… I don't suppose you're feeling really happy right now, Eevee?"
"It's daytime," Eevee pointed out.
"Good point," Gary agreed. "Uh-"
Mewtwo gestured, and the shield was hit by a massive psychic impact. Misty's Psyduck threw all the power he had into helping Pikachu resist the attack, making eerie light flash all across the room… then Pikachu's oversized Counter Shield collapsed a few seconds later and the Pokémon scattered.
"Mewtwo!" Ash shouted. "What are you doing here? How is this meant to end?"
I explained this.
"But why!" Ash retorted. "Why this whole plan to begin with? You – why do you think all the humans and Pokémon in the world are so wrong, that it's better to destroy the world?"
Pidgeot had rocketed into the sky the moment Pikachu's shield went down, and she should have been safe. But the Flying-type had come back down to help her friends, and Mewtwo stretched out a hand to hold her in place.
The backlash from stopping a Pokémon moving nearly at the speed of sound sent out a ripple across the whole room, and Pidgeot screeched in despair as she vanished into one of Mewtwo's dark Pokéballs.
Ash's heart ached. "This can't be the only option, Mewtwo!"
Humans are inferior, Mewtwo insisted. And the Pokémon that follow them are fools, mindlessly trusting them.
"And wild Pokémon?" Ash pushed. "There are Pokémon who've never even seen a human before!"
They will be a necessary loss, Mewtwo said. Once human trickery has been purged from the world then everything will be better.
Two of Mewtwo's Pokéballs exploded under a blaze of flame from Brock's Ninetales, and she scooped up the flame again before sweeping it into a Fire Spin shielding herself and Gary's Eevee.
"What about if I could convince you that you were wrong?" Ash said, desperately. "You keep talking about trickery – but I don't use trickery! My Pokémon are my best friends! Far more humans do that than the kind of thing you hate – can't I just show you somehow?"
Mewtwo considered Ash, then gestured, and all the dark Pokéballs stopped at once.
If you can show me that you do not rely on borrowed strength, human, then I may reconsider.
"Ash, I should-"
"No, Pikachu," Ash replied. "This is – it's something I have to do. If you were with me, it…"
He shook his head. "It wouldn't prove anything. And I can do this."
Adjusting his gloves, Ash strode forwards.
"Mewtwo!" he called, raising his voice. "You're hurting, and – I know that. I know you can be better, you can heal, but… right now, you need to stop."
Do you plan on trying to talk me into surrender, human? Mewtwo demanded.
"I don't want to fight," Ash retorted. "I don't want anyone to get hurt. That's why I'm trying! But if you won't listen, I guess I'll have to."
He stopped in front of Mewtwo, close but not quite touching the Psychic-type's shields, and held out a hand.
"You saw me using moves earlier," he said. "But there's some types of moves that are harder, because they need things I don't have. I'm not psychic, stuff like that… and there's a kind of move where they're mostly about sacrifice. Giving things up. And… I could do this just with my energy, like Pokémon do, but it'd tire me out really easily. I need to pay something else."
Focusing, Ash sharpened his thumb with a little bit of Metal Claw, and cut a thin line across the ball of his forefinger. Blood welled out, spreading down to his palm as he rubbed it, and he formed an Aura Sphere.
Except that it wasn't one. It was shadowy, half-there… ghostly.
"If you don't get how important this is, then I'll just have to bleed for it," Ash declared. "And I'll keep doing that until you get it! I wish you could understand without that but… if I have to, I'll do it this way."
What are you… Mewtwo asked, thrown, and Ash hoped he'd got through. I don't understand. Humans make Pokémon battle. You make your Pokémon battle!
"I don't make my Pokémon do anything!" Ash retorted, the Shadow Ball still whirling on his palm. "There are some Pokémon trainers who do, but – but I hate them. Forcing your Pokémon to do that is wrong and it's terrible and – and Pokémon battling is different from actually fighting over something! I don't know if you ever learned that, if the people who hurt you ever bothered to explain, but… Pokémon battles are to win, sure, but that's all there is to it. My Pokémon battle because they want to. And, if I have to, I'll fight you to keep them safe."
He reached out his other hand. "But we don't have to."
Mewtwo might have wavered. But then he shook his head.
Your bluff has failed, human.
"It's not-" Ash said, then bit the words off. "Fine! If nothing I can say will convince you, maybe doing it will show that I'm telling the truth!"
If you're truly not bluffing… then, perhaps, we will make a deal, Mewtwo decided. If you can demonstrate to me your strength enough to injure me, then I will admit I was wrong about the weakness of humanity. If you can somehow convince me that even one human on this rock is noble enough, then I will admit that not all humans are treacherous by nature. If you can do both… then maybe mankind will live another day.
"This isn't just about mankind," Ash said, stubborn. "It's about everyone. Human and Pokémon alike… even you."
Mewtwo snorted, then gestured, and the storm outside rippled.
The storm wall is no longer advancing, he said. I will maintain it at this size until we are done… one way or another.
Slow and certain, Mewtwo kicked off to rise six feet into the air. Light crackled around his paws, and a protective bubble appeared. Then he slashed at Ash with a Psycho Cut, and Ash dodged to hurl his Shadow Ball back.
"This is crazy, right?" Fergus said, softly, during a lull, as Mewtwo hovered overhead and slung Shadow Balls to try and catch his opponent – not that he could apparently tell where the human was. "You know that? This is crazy. Who is that kid?"
"Ash Ketchum," Misty replied. "And… I don't think there's anyone like him."
She chuckled. "We can hope there isn't anyone like him… or, wish there were, I guess-"
Psystrike.
Mewtwo hurled a psychic attack that turned into a physical blow, one which demolished part of one of the remaining walls, and Misty swallowed in fear.
Fear for Ash, and fear for herself… for all of them. Then Ash broke cover, leaping out and throwing a Shadow Ball from a direction Mewtwo hadn't been expecting, and followed that up with three more in quick succession which made Mewtwo's shields ripple.
Mewtwo responded with a burst of psychic force that reached out at the rubble around them, throwing stones at Ash, and Misty's friend ducked one of them before smashing another to pieces with a palm strike.
Then Mewtwo used a Psychic attack which destroyed the floor underneath Ash.
"Is he-" she asked, choking the word off.
"Mewtwo's Miracle Eye wore off, we think," Riolu told them, or Misty and Brock at least. "That's why Mewtwo couldn't find him, and – he's still okay down there. But – I'm worried for him. What he's doing really tires him out."
Hiding, are you? Mewtwo asked.
Then Ash sprang back out of the hole, stumbled a little on the lip, then got moving just before Mewtwo could hit him with a Shadow Ball. He threw one of his own back, then ducked behind a wall, and Mewtwo demolished it with that intense psychic attack he'd called a Psystrike.
"Is he-" Ninetales asked.
"Mewtwo missed," Riolu reported. "Mostly? I think?"
He clenched his paws, blue light flickering around them, as Mewtwo followed Ash through into the dining hall. "I hate this."
Ash was starting to get tired, and woozy, and he wasn't sure what to do.
Shadow Ball was tiring him out, but unlike Aura Sphere he couldn't just throw it from behind cover and have it home in. Mewtwo could do something like that, using his own psychic powers to make the Shadow Ball turn corners, but Ash couldn't do that – and using an Aura Sphere was not only much weaker, but it'd cost Aura and Ash needed all the Aura he had.
And throwing Shadow Balls through walls… hadn't worked.
There were places for Ash to hide, at least. And Mewtwo couldn't just slam him into the ceiling with psychic energy at the moment… but he could fling a wave of psychically pressurized air, a kind of replicated Gust that had knocked Ash into a wall once already and which had led to bruises all down his side.
And Mewtwo was still… strong. Not only that, he was protected by a shield, and that shield was stopping Ash's attacks which hit from doing anything – they weren't hitting Mewtwo, they were hitting the shield. And-
There was a crack as Mewtwo launched a psychic attack which made the air ripple. It went overhead, and hit the roof of the room Ash was hiding in.
Which heaved up, then began to collapse.
Breaking into a sprint, cape flying out behind him, Ash dove out of the way as the roof avalanched down. He made it, landing with an oof and forcing himself back upright again, then hid behind a pillar for a moment.
The pillar promptly got hit by one of Mewtwo's massive Psystrikes – Ash barely had the time to use Protect to keep himself safe – and he rolled over twice with an oof. Then he threw a Shadow Ball back at Mewtwo, running between different bits of cover, and kicked a door open.
He didn't go through it. Instead he changed his weight so it was nearly nothing and scrambled, getting away from where Mewtwo would think he was, and ducked behind the wall between the courtyard and the dining room.
Putting him back outside.
Ash didn't want to think about how he looked to his friends. Instead, he drew blood from his abused finger, coating both hands, and looked back through the wall to see where Mewtwo was.
The ground trembled as Mewtwo blasted through the door Ash had pretended to be, then turned and aimed his palm at the wall between them.
This time, Ash managed to get off to the side before the wall exploded, and he didn't even need to pulse his Protect shield to avoid debris. Part of New Island's ornate laboratory sagged, collapsing in a rain of masonry, but Mewtwo floated through the hole with stone and brick pinging off his shield.
Maybe Mewtwo was trying to say something, or maybe he wasn't. It didn't matter.
Ash lunged.
A needle-thin spike, maybe Shadow Claw or maybe Force Palm or some kind of horrid mix, flashed out. Ash wasn't entirely sure of everything he was doing any more, but he did know what he was trying to do and the attack punched into Mewtwo's shield before breaking it open with a flash of dispersing psychic energy.
He tried to reach for Mewtwo, not even trying to attack now, just hoping he could-
Then a psychic blast of air launched Ash backwards into the wall, and something cracked.
Miracle Eye. Mewtwo's mental voice was competing for Ash's attention with a lot of pain, but he could still hear it. Almost, human. But all it was in the end was trickery… you couldn't get close to me, otherwise.
He rotated, a little, and stretched out his left arm. Now, since I need to remove all humans from the world… I'll start with the ones right here.
Mewtwo began to charge up an attack that looked and felt familiar – like the ones he'd been using on all the load-bearing walls… and this time, it was pointed at Ash's friends.
"No!" Ash protested, struggling upright again. He… definitely had a broken rib.
But that didn't matter.
Foolish, Mewtwo said, still charging – much slower than normal. You can't do anything in your condition.
Ash kept stumbling forwards anyway. Ready to do anything to protect his friends, maybe to prove something to Mewtwo, to-
He was too late.
Mewtwo fired before he'd made it more than halfway.
"Prepare for trouble, because we're being brave!" a voice said, through the smoke and dust.
"And make it double – it's a last-minute save!" a second one agreed.
Ash stumbled to a halt, grabbing onto a lump of fallen masonry to steady himself.
It was hard to think – to – what had just happened?
"Sorry we took so long," said the voice that Ash really should know. "But it took quite a bit of work to knock all those clones out!"
Mewtwo swept his arm across angrily, clearing the smoke, and revealed…
...Team Rocket.
Every single one of their Pokémon had the broken fragments of something fabric around them. Weezing was glowing with what looked a lot like Endure, Meowth and Arbok had some kind of Dark-type attack fizzing on their fangs or claws… Cubone was surrounded with the light of her weird reality thing… and, behind them, Riolu was standing fearlessly in front of the other humans and Pokémon.
Ready to do whatever he could to keep them safe.
And there was a Slowbro embedded in the wall on the other side of Misty, Brock, Gary and the others. Ash wasn't really sure where that had come from.
How? Mewtwo asked imperiously. How did you block my attack?
"Whole lotta things," Meowth replied. "Uh… Focus Sashes, useful moves, a Slowbro what we borrowed and got to use Amnesia an' stuff… lots of X Defend and X Special Defend… some ninja stuff… you know, da works."
This changes nothing, Mewtwo said, glaring at the Rockets. All you have done is added to the number who will die here today.
"It's this or die in a hurricane within a week," James retorted. "Wondering if we could have made a difference.
Jessie nodded. "Besides, we needed a role!"
Mewtwo noticed their eyes flicking to the left, and he turned to block whatever the boy was going to try this time.
Instead of a punch or a Shadow Ball, though, all he got was the human grasping his shoulder. Just for a second, then collapsing.
And Mewtwo remembered. In a sudden surge, he remembered it all… his rage last time, at this same place… the battle against Mew… Ash's self-sacrifice, which had convinced him that the best of humanity was worth everything else about them… and then, the years as he had pieced together his wounded soul.
I… I see, he said, looking at his hands. I have done terrible things, and… nearly done them all again, and worse.
Team Rocket relaxed with a group sigh of relief, and Mewtwo turned. Thank you, Ash Ketchum, for saving me. Once again.
Then he noticed that Ash didn't actually seem to be breathing.
Ash found himself floating in nothingness.
Again.
It was like with Ho-Oh, but only a bit. And like before, when he'd come back in time, but only a bit.
:What's happened?: Ash tried to say. :Am… am I dead?:
Memory flashed through his mind. :Again?:
"That depends on how you view things."
A shape appeared in front of Ash. A Pokémon made of darkness, with a red collar and a white plume.
:Darkrai?: Ash asked. :Those are… you're a Legendary Pokémon associated with nightmares, right?:
"Nightmares and other things," Darkrai agreed, with a nod. "Fear and terror and dread. The darkness of the new moon, and unrestful sleep. And… the understanding that fear itself is nothing to fear."
:So why am I here?: Ash asked. :I was trying to reach Mewtwo… I think I did reach him, I hope I did… and now I'm just… here?:
Darkrai spread his hands. "There are many who come close to death, and many who cross over. And in some cases, special cases, one of us will come to usher them through. It keeps things moving, you see, and for those who have passed on nightmares hold no sway… and death is singular, but dying is universal, so there must be more than one usher."
:So I am dead, then,: Ash said. :I…:
"No," Darkrai denied. "If you were, I would be here for that reason. But I am here for a far more… unusual reason. The Rainbow Hero is entitled to certain considerations, if they have the full blessing of the Storm's End."
Ash sort of felt like he was beginning to grasp what Darkrai meant, but the details weren't quite there.
But he was moving. Or Darkrai was moving. Backwards. And Ash could feel a slight pull on his back, and the scent of rosewood and spice hung faint in the space around him.
:What's going on?: Ash asked.
Darkrai faded away, leaving only a chuckle.
"What did you think the purpose of Sacred Ash was?"
His eyes fluttered open, and Ash saw a familiar yellow mouse and a familiar worried look.
"Hi, Pikachu," he said, weakly. "Looks like I'm still here."
Indeed… though I'm not sure why. But we had better resolve all this.
Riolu's paws touched Ash's shoulders, then lifted from under his arms, and that helped Ash rise to a sitting position. His hands had bandages wound around them, from the medical kit Brock had open next to him, and it tasted like there was Sitrus juice in his mouth.
"Ash, you've got to stop making a habit of this," Misty said, swallowing. "How do you even make a habit of something like this?"
Ash chuckled. "I'd rather not…"
He turned to Mewtwo. "Are you… okay, now?"
Fully. Thank you for… healing my mind. I do not know what would have happened if you did not know the technique Aura Purge.
It took a moment, but Ash got what Mewtwo meant.
To think I had forgotten what my very first friend in the world told me… Mewtwo wondered, then made a grand gesture. The storm dissolved into nothing more than scattered rainclouds.
If any of the Pokémon here who I did not manage to capture are willing, I would be honoured to take clones of them with me as well – for I intend to travel to a remote location, and contemplate with the clones I have already made what our place in the world shall be.
For many of them, like Pikachu and Squirtle and Ninetales, that was an easy answer because one way or another they knew it had already happened – simply from meeting their clone, at Mewtwo's remote location. Riolu and Togekiss, and Eevee, took a moment longer to think – but ultimately agreed as well – while the Rockets got involved in an intense private discussion.
I had at first contemplated that the events of the last few hours were best forgotten, Mewtwo began. But, while that may be true for those in the rest of the world, to those who are here I will offer a choice. I do not want to leave Ash trying to explain where his blood loss came from.
"My mom's…" Ash swallowed. "...going to love this one…"
Before long, the clones were either decanted or revived, and the originals released – though not always without significant indignity. Gary's Blastoise in particular insisted that it had only been ten more minutes before he'd have broken the tanks, while Pidgeot demanded a chance to shower as soon as possible to clear the gunk from her flight feathers.
Mewtwo obliged by opening one of the water mains threaded through the castle, then turned his attention to Team Rocket.
I assume you have some sort of explanation for Giovanni?
"Well, we got somethin'," Meowth replied. "But, eh, he ain't the kinda man to let it go lightly.
"We do plan to stress your change of heart," James said. "And your marvellous sense of drama, of course!"
"Plus how you were firing attacks that could take out a building in one blow, while controlling a hurricane," Jessie added.
Then I shall hope it is enough, Mewtwo decided.
"Though, uh, I got a question?" Meowth said, raising his paw. "How'd da clones know any moves?"
Mewtwo blinked. I… actually don't know that. The cloning machines were survivors of my rampage, and I fixed some obvious mistakes, but I didn't bother affecting the flash learning machines.
He put a paw to his chin. I suppose since Meowthtwo can't speak there must be some kind of filter.
"I guess we'll call it a mystery, then," Meowth shrugged. "You takin' any of the stuff on the island with you?"
Only a little. The cloning tanks go into Mount Ember, frankly. Now, everyone, you may feel a slight distortion.
The surroundings blurred, and suddenly everyone who'd travelled to New Island was back in the Pokémon Centre at the marina near Pallet Town.
"Where did you come from?" Miranda asked, as her Wingull took flight in surprise.
"It was a confusing last ten minutes," Brock replied. "There was at least one teleport."
Behind him, the local Jenny embraced the returned Joy. "Oh, it's so good to see you safe!"
"It's good to be back," Joy replied, with a smile.
"But… where have you been?" the officer added.
Mewtwo appeared outside the window. Sorry, few loose ends to fix.
Another ripple of psychic distortion, and the officer reached out to shake Ash's hand.
"Thank you and your friends for saving her from that island, trainer Ketchum. I can't believe I forgot to search the bay after her schooner went missing."
"Heh, yeah…" Ash said weakly, as he spotted Mewtwo levitating the schooner in question out of the harbour – before vanishing off with it to parts unknown.
And a weight dropped into his pocket.
Ash got plenty of praise for what he… hadn't done… over the next few minutes, but it was probably better they were telling him well done for rescuing someone whose boat had been lost in a storm rather than telling him well done for a duel with a Pokémon that had wanted to destroy the world.
Once he got a chance to actually check his pocket, meanwhile, he found a shrunken-down Pokéball, all white, with a note.
I hope you don't mind the presumption.
"Wow," Pikachu said. "I know we don't know what happened here last time, but between then and now… you really made an impression on him, Ash."
Ash nodded.
And somehow, it seemed really right that Mewtwo had assigned himself a Premier Ball.
26
"You did… what."
Ash winced. "Sorry, mom… but I had to, because, it was either I went or everyone on the planet got wiped out."
"Really?" Delia asked. "Really! And how do you know that, Ash?"
He's right, Dexter said. Even as untrained as he was, Mewtwo is incredibly powerful, and able to apply that power indiscriminately to cause enormous damage. The best case scenario is Legendary Pokémon collaborating to stop him, and even under those circumstances there would still have been huge numbers of-
Delia turned her gaze on Dexter, who collapsed his digital form back into his projector and let it drop to the floor.
Ash swallowed, then reached into his bag, and rummaged around for the drawstring bag.
"I checked," he said. "Most of this is still there. It's what brought me back, and… I guess it was what kept me safe, so I should be fine."
Delia closed her eyes or a long moment. "I'm not going to be able to convince you, am I?"
"I'm doing pretty well, I think?" Ash tried. "Apart from the property damage, at least…"
"It's who you are, I suppose," Delia admitted. "Just… be careful, Ash."
Late that evening, under a crystal clear sky, Ash sat and looked up into the heavens.
Mewtwo was out there, somewhere, and maybe he'd be able to heal. Let his heart and spirit go free.
"Hey," Misty said. "You all right?"
"Yeah," Ash agreed. "I guess my mind was wandering a bit."
He reached down, into his pocket, and took the Rainbow Wing out. "I got this a long time ago, this time around… I found it next to Ho-Oh's bag of Sacred Ash. And I was wondering… did he know this was going to happen? Did he guess?"
"With you?" Misty asked. "Ash, it'd be a safe bet something would."
Ash nodded, holding the Rainbow Wing up above him, then slowly twirled the feather. It glittered in the starlight and the light from Oak Labs, and he frowned slightly.
"It's weird, to think about what might have happened," he admitted.
"Huh?" Misty asked.
"If I hadn't been involved with… any of this," Ash clarified. "With the Legendary Pokémon, and whatever. If I'd just been a trainer who travelled around with Pikachu – or even my first choice, which was actually Squirtle."
"That's just a weird thought, you without Pikachu," Misty admitted. "But you mean… if you'd had a normal journey, right?"
"Right," Ash confirmed. "Most people on their Pokémon Journey spend a few years travelling around, meet a few good friends both human and Pokémon, challenge some gyms maybe… then they find what they want to do with their lives, and they do it. And I just… I don't know."
He shrugged. "It's sort of more like two things. What if I hadn't got mixed up in any of the Legendary Pokémon things, what would I have been like, and… what would it be like if I'd dropped out before the League?"
"Ash, if you'd dropped out before the League… unless it was for some weird reason anyway, like Sabrina or whatever, you wouldn't really be… you," Misty replied. "You're more determined than smart. That's Ash Ketchum right down to the ground."
Ash snorted. "Maybe, but… still."
"I think you'd still have been a great trainer, Ash," Misty said. "Sincerely. And… I sort of know what you mean, because my sisters all knew what they were going to do with their lives. And I did too, but I wanted to make sure I knew what a proper Gym was like. So after my Elite Four qualification run, I decided to journey around Kanto to see what other Gyms did, and maybe get Pokémon that were even close to as strong as the borrowed ones I'd used against the Elite Four. And then…"
"Then Pikachu and I blew your bike up," Ash summarized. "And your chance of a peaceful life, too."
"Don't be like that, but… yeah, completely accurate," Misty said.
"Story of my life," Ash agreed. "I sometimes wonder how the other two did, you know… Sammy, she dropped out after reaching her fifth gym? And she's just looking for a complete team of good friends, now. While Oscar didn't do more than about three gyms, same reason…"
Ash trailed off, turning the feather again and watching it shimmer.
"Maybe this is a metaphor?" he asked.
"For what?" Misty said.
"Dunno, but it'd be a good one," Ash said, which got them both chuckling. "But, uh… the colours are because it's made of tiny sheets of… something? And only one colour can bounce off all the sheets properly, but when you turn it the thickness changes so the bouncing colour changes. It's like with the colours you see on soap bubbles."
"I didn't know that," Misty said, then looked vaguely suspicious. "And I'm surprised you do, really."
"I asked Dexter," Ash explained.
"Mm," Misty responded. "Maybe that's a metaphor, how everyone looks at it from a different place, so everyone sees something different. A different rainbow, or something."
"Could be," Ash agreed, then closed his eyes. "...huh. This still has Aura."
He inhaled, held it deeply for a long moment, then exhaled, and a tiny rose flame danced for a second at the tip of the feather.
"Do you think that's that Rainbow Hero thing?" Misty asked.
"Don't know, but maybe," Ash replied. "And maybe… well, Ho-Oh is about regrowth and renewal, like… after a storm. Like now. So for something to keep burning, that's… it could work."
"It's hopeful," Misty said.
Ash just nodded.
"Are you okay?"
Gary looked around. "Huh? Oh, Brock, right… yeah, I'm fine, I was just processing."
The older trainer nodded. "Yeah, I was going to see how Ash was doing, but he and Misty are having a talk and I don't want to interrupt either of them."
He stretched. "We've been through a lot together, and right now just going up and saying hi would be intruding… just a feeling you get from looking at a conversation, sometimes."
Brock looked Gary up and down. "So… how are you doing?"
Gary shrugged, and Brock sat down next to him.
"Gary," he began. "I don't know how much of my past you know, but I used to parent all my siblings at once. It's okay to admit it to yourself if you're overwhelmed… and I'd be surprised if you weren't."
He shrugged. "If you're really fine, that's fine, I'm not going to make you say you did struggle. But I don't think you ran into much of this in the last timeline."
"Yeah," Gary admitted. "It's… last time I faced Mewtwo in Viridian Gym, and he was so powerful, but I didn't know how powerful. So I was scared. And then… at the end, I was there at the Spear Pillar, and there were the Dragons of Creation, but they were mostly just… there."
He shivered. "It's one thing to know how powerful a Legendary Pokémon is in the abstract, it's something completely different when he's blowing a castle apart right in front of you. And when I saw Ash just… jumping around and playing the hero, it made me scared for him as well and I didn't want him to get hurt and-"
Brock's hand landed on Gary's shoulder, helping break the runaway his breathing was starting to take. "Calm down. It's over, you're safe now."
"I…" Gary said, swallowing. "I think I'm okay now. Thank you."
"No problem," Brock replied. "Take as long as you want to spend to calm down."
Gary nodded, and just focused on breathing.
After a few minutes of deep, slow, even breaths, Gary resumed.
"I think I'd have felt better about it if I had Umbreon along," he decided. "Both because she's a Dark type, and because… well, I really got used to relying on her after she evolved. More than Blastoise, if anything."
"It can happen," Brock said. "Steelix is my starter, and I tend to reach for Crobat a lot, but when I went to Hoenn and Sinnoh I left both of them and Geodude back at Pewter. The Pokémon that you end up using are just… it's how it works out. But that's why people go on Pokémon Journeys, to give it time to work out."
Gary snorted. "Ash could have retired with the perfect Pokémon for him on day one. He and Pikachu… as far back as I've known, they've had an amazing rapport."
That made Brock grin. "Fortunately for you, and unfortunately for Ash, I've known the two of them together for longer than you have. Let me tell you about what happened when he came to my gym the first time around…"
Gary frowned. "Huh?"
"Well, by that point they were already friends, but he didn't understand types at all," Brock said. "He tried beating Geodude and Onix by using Pikachu to do it… and, when that didn't work, he just charged Pikachu up more and came back again."
"Ouch," Gary winced. "How did he beat you, anyway?"
"...well, it worked, but that's beside the point," Brock admitted. "Actually, I may as well take the chance to tell you about some of the other things Ash got involved with. Like how he left Pallet Town with a pair of rubber gloves and Pikachu on a leash…"
The stories went on for a while, and Gary only noticed how long they were taking when the lab lights went out.
"Wow," he said. "It's already midnight… thanks, Brock. For taking my mind off it."
"Not a problem, Gary," Brock said. "I've had far too long dealing with younger siblings to leave someone miserable like that."
Silence fell, but this time it was calmer. More contemplative.
Eventually, Gary pushed himself back upright, then went back to his house without a word.
Pikachu lay back on the grass, staring up at the heavens.
"I've seen them different," he mused. "Funny to think about."
For a long moment, he just lay there.
"I know you're there, by the way," he said, without turning.
Meowth tripped.
"What gave it away?" he asked. "I'm pretty sure I got hearing at least as good as yours, and I wasn't hearin' anything. I'm downwind of you and all, too."
"Electromagnetism," Pikachu replied. "You're not able to feel it, so you don't know what to fake."
"Ah well," Meowth said, then flopped down next to Pikachu. "You know, it's kinda strange for us to just be talkin'. It's happened now and then that we have a kinda truce, but this one's longer than most."
"I hope it lasts," Pikachu replied. "You'd never hear me say this normally, but there's a lot to like about you. All of you, I mean."
He flicked an ear. "A lot to not like, as well, let's not go crazy. But your team is… surprisingly functional… and you've got an astonishing determination, it's just, you mostly use it to try to steal me personally."
"Hey, think of it as a compliment!" Meowth invited. "And it's just business."
"There's an old saying."
Both Meowth and Pikachu looked around at that, and saw Riolu walking up to them.
"I destroy my enemy, when I make him my friend," Riolu quoted. "It's certainly appropriate for Ash… sorry if I'm interrupting, I just didn't want to be alone tonight. Not after… that."
"It's never a problem, Riolu," Pikachu assured him. "I'd say your first one is the hardest, but I don't know if that's true… they're all hard, though, that much is certain."
He turned over, stretching, then returned to looking up at the sky. "And I like the saying."
"It's a weird one, though," Riolu frowned. "Because it sort of means that your old self is destroyed when anything happens to it, since it's changed…"
He shrugged.
Meowth nodded, then blinked. "Wait, didn't ya say you saw the stars different? Like… from Unova or something?"
"No, it's when Ash and I went back in time thousands of years," Pikachu explained. "I don't think we've travelled in time further than then, though, obviously one like this is the one that's the longest and most impactful. Anyway… there was an eclipse, and I looked out for the stars, and they were different."
He pointed. "The stars move in different directions, over time, it takes thousands of years but they do. Those five stars near the centre of the Dragonair…"
Little sparks flickered overhead as Pikachu pointed out which ones he meant. "They used to be the wings of a constellation called the Dragonite. That's the only one I remembered well enough to look up, once."
A light breeze ruffled their fur, and Meowth made an approving noise. "Huh, yeah, I guess dat makes sense."
"That Slowbro was new, right?" Pikachu checked. "I don't remember you having one before."
"Yeah, good thing they were along," Meowth agreed. "Without them and Cubone's reality-marble whatchamacallit and all the other stuff, I don't think we'd still be here."
"So, new team member?"
"Nope," Meowth shook his head. "I asked, and they said no."
He paused. "For, about fifteen, twenty minutes constantly, just so's we knew that was the question that was bein' answered. Then made a rude gesture a lot."
"It happens," Pikachu decided.
He glanced over at Riolu, who was shivering. "Cold?"
"Battle shock," Riolu denied. "I recognize it, but… I've never been in such a stressful situation before and I think it's setting in."
He shuddered, paws balling into fists. "Even with Hunter J, I was able to help, or I could see what you were doing to help, or – or I was just not aware of anything. But staring into that cloud of dust, hearing the blasts and feeling the ground shake… Ash spent his life like water to fight, and I couldn't do a thing."
Pikachu offered his tail, and the Fighting-type gave it a squeeze.
"I've felt helpless before," Pikachu said. "But I made myself a private promise."
"Huh?" Meowth tilted his head. "What kind'a private promise?"
"Not a very private one, apparently," Pikachu decided. "If Ash dies, properly, I'm breaking into the afterlife and bringing him out myself."
His cheeks sparked momentarily. "Starting by going to New Moon island in Sinnoh and asking Darkrai nicely whether they can sort it out or who I should address my next complaints to."
"And if he don't answer?" Meowth asked.
"I stop asking nicely. And before you ask, Worry Seed."
Riolu let go of Pikachu's tail, and his paws flickered. "If you ever have to, Pikachu, I'm coming with you."
"Got room for more?" Meowth asked. "Oh, don't give me dat look, if Ash was gone there wouldn't be anyone to steal ya from!"
"This is too depressing to think about," Pikachu decided. "Let's talk about something else."
"Well, I wouldn't mind getting a quick update," Meowth confessed. "What's happenin' next?"
"Hmm… let's see… you've not been selling fake Leaf Stones, have you?"
"No, but we got a pretty good line in cut price real ones," Meowth answered. "It ain't smugglin' if you do it right."
"Right… and after that is… oh, I think we're about to get to that guy who wanted us to help make a movie," Pikachu brightened. "Now that should be interesting."
Sir Aaron caressed the hilts of his Sacred Swords, and looked out over the grassy plain before them.
Next to him was Dialga, who was either technically recruited into Sir Aaron's army or vice versa, with Ieyasu stood arms-crossed on his back.
"So, who do we fight here, again?" Sir Aaron asked.
Ieyasu jumped down, landing in a crouch. "This is the territory of the One-Eyed Dragon of Osshu."
Aaron paused. "Did you say dragon? Because I have a terrible feeling about this."
"Like what?" Dialga asked.
Suddenly, a shout echoed over the crest of the nearest hill. "ARE YOU READY GUYS?"
The accent was terrible.
Ieyasu clenched his fists, Dialga's gem pulsed as he gathered power, and Sir Aaron contemplated the virtues of alcohol.
And then, Palkia rode over the crest of a nearby hill, on top of a visibly straining Rapidash and followed by a horde of mounted samurai.
"Let's go!" Dialga called. "Charge!"
Sir Aaron shrugged, threw his Sacred Swords, and followed. They arced in a series of looping trajectories, flashing back and forth across his path, and he appropriated a Rapidash from one of the Osshu men with a quick Mach Punch before swinging up into the saddle.
"Okay, Palkia!" he demanded, catching both swords out of the air and turning his new mount to face the Dragon-type. "Since when could you speak like that? As in, not in Palkia, but yes in a terrible accent?"
Palkia looked guilty. "I didn't say anything."
His horse finally collapsed with a wheeze, and Palkia landed with a thump on the ground. "It must have been your imagination."
"And, one eyed dragon?" Sir Aaron pressed. "You've got both eyes, you're just wearing an eyepatch. I saw you switch it around just a moment ago."
He frowned. "Admittedly your helmet is very nice, but why?"
"Image," Palkia replied, then extended two sets of three claws each. "LETS PARTY!"
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