章 24: 24. Meditation

Ash reached into his backpack and took out a notepad and pen. Both he and Mewtwo began discussing the advice the Alpha Pokémon told them. Quickly jotting down the main points of Arceus's plan so they can remember, they went over it a bit to make sure they understood.

After doing that, they then discussed several other things that included the island that was prepared for their training, the tournament that Ash would compete in, letting his family and friends know what they were allowed to tell them, which pokémon they should look for and in what locations, what sort of training regiments they should incorporate, what kinds of diets they and the pokémon should be on, what to do about weaknesses, and so on.

As they discussed these topics and many others, Ash was filling up his notebook quite rapidly. As their planning continued Mewtwo was beginning to become comfortable around him to the point of actually taking a seat beside the teenager and letting his guard down. They talked a little more, clarifying some things and ideas while Ash wrote down some more notes so they wouldn't forget anything. Mewtwo finished speaking, looking at the area around them. This time he took in what he saw, appreciating the view.

As Ash caught up in his notes, he began scratching Pikachu softly behind his ears since he had curled up next to him a little while ago to take a nap after tiring himself out at making funny faces.

Finishing up with his final notes, Ash had a goofy grin form on his face.

"And there. Done. Okay, that's the final thing we talked about. Whoa, that's a lot of things we came up with," remarked Ash as he flipped through the filled up pages.

"Once Riolu gets back we should talk to him as well and try to prioritize this stuff into something that will make sense and help us."

"Agreed. It's been a while. How much longer do you think it's going to take?"

"I'm not sure Mewtwo. When I had some beginner's training as an Aura Guardian in the Kingdom of Rota with Master Riley, that took a couple weeks. This may take a while. Let's rest until they're done."

"I suppose you're right. I'm going to explore a bit before I take a rest."

"Alright. I'm gonna take a few winks. I'll be here if you need anything buddy."

Mewtwo nodded, getting up to his feet and left. Ash took out his sleeping bag from his backpack and set it up away from the lake. He went back to his spot near the lake and picked up Pikachu carefully so he wouldn't wake up. Returning to the sleeping bag, Ash placed Pikachu beside his sleeping bag before he got in it himself and went to sleep.

While Ash was sleeping, Mewtwo explored the area for a little bit before returning to his previous position of standing in front of the lake. Going over what they had discussed in his head, he was actually quite surprised as to how Ash was able to come up with such good ideas.

Glancing back at the sleeping trainer, he began thinking a bit. Hmmm….he's much more than just a typical trainer. He may seem oblivious to everything else around him, but when it comes to pokémon and battling, he's a natural. I wonder where he gets it from. Perhaps there is something I can learn from him.

Mewtwo faced towards the lake again and after thinking some more, he decided to meditate as he waited. Crossing his arms and closing his eyes, he started doing just that.

As soon as he began however was when he sensed two great powers drawing closer to him. He raised his gaze above him and opened his eyes to see both Riolu and Mew floating down in a pink bubble.

"About time. Are you finally finished?" asked Mewtwo, his impatience evident in his tone.

"Of course silly!" answered Mew as they landed right in front of her brother with the pink bubble disappearing.

"If we weren't, then we wouldn't be here, would we? Geez, and you say nothing gets past you. Yea right!" teased the pink legendary.

"Alright, that's enough!" interrupted Riolu. He sensed Mewtwo getting angry again and didn't want things to escalate.

"We have more important things to do. Where's Master? Ah there he is!" The aura pokémon moved towards Ash and when he passed Mewtwo, the canine pokémon put up an aura shield to stop a small Shadow Ball launched at him from the psychic feline. After the attack, Riolu went on guard, his aura flaring around him powerfully.

"What was that for?!" growled Riolu.

Mewtwo smirked before answering him. "I was merely testing you. I wanted to see the results of Mew's knowledge transfer."

"Hmph." The aura pokémon relaxed and the aura around him faded away.

"Stick around. I promise you'll see more." Riolu went to Ash and woke him up by shaking him a bit. When he finally woke up and as soon as he saw his pokémon, Ash asked him how the transfer went. Riolu grinned.

"It went smoothly. I have all the known knowledge about aura imparted onto me thanks to Lady Mew. We can leave now."

Ash had his trademark goofy grin form on his face.

"That's awesome Riolu! But before we go, you should know some things that Mewtwo and I talked about regarding what we need to do next." Looking over Riolu, Ash signaled Mewtwo to join them.

"C'mon, we need to go over this with him."

The three discussed the ideas that the guardian and feline came up with as well as the advice that Arceus had given them with the pink feline hovering around them and listening in.

After some time, they prioritized what they needed to do. Their objectives were lined up, in a general idea of which to tackle first before the others. Of course they would adjust accordingly if they could do something quicker or had to leave something for later. The steps to take for their plan went as follows;

Go to New Island and check it out; figure out what they need to add, what to discard and what to change.