Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or anything associated with it.

" Ahhh" – talking

"Ahhh" – telepathically talking

'Ahhh' – thinking

Inside a cave on a island off the coast of Kanto, a TV sat turned on. The lights from the TV illuminated the otherwise dark cave and the volume was turned so high up that it echoed throughout the cave. Directly in front of the TV, sat a 20 year old former trainer on the cold, hard ground. This ex trainer had z's on his cheeks and was covered head to toe in a black cloak. With the hood on the cloak down, the light from the TV reflected off the figure's messy black hair. An ugly scar in the shape of a lightning bolt spanned the entirety of his otherwise handsome face and his deep brown eyes are glued to the TV.

On the TV, the finals of a Grand Festival is being displayed. Currently, there is smoke covering the entire battlefield. Just moments before, both coordinators ordered their respective Pokemon to release an attack at its opponent. Both Pokemon released their attack at the same time and their attacks met in the middle of the battlefield and exploded.

When the smoke clears, a Glaceon can be seen on one side of the field with swirls in its eyes. Standing directly across it, a Delphox stands triumphantly with a smirk placed on its face. Three buzz sounds quickly fill the air.

"The three judges have ruled Glaceon unable to battle! Therefore, the winner is Delphox and the new Kanto Grand Festival Champion is Serena!" the female announcer's overly excited voice said.

A few seconds after those words left the announcer's mouth, deafening screams and cheers could be heard coming from the TV. Things like "I knew you could do it Serena" and "I love you Serena" were shouted and confetti started falling from the ceiling in the celebration of a new Top Coordinator.

In the cave, a warm smile starts forming on the figure's face.

The camera starts zooming up on Serena as she runs towards her worn out Pokemon. Serena's beautiful short honey blond hair and red and pink strapless dress is blowing in the wind as she runs. Black leg stockings hug tightly against the 19 year old's legs and a pink bow is tied in her beautiful hair. Once within range, the new Top Coordinator leaps into her Delphox's arm. A huge smile is on her face and tears of joy are coming out of her crystal blue eyes as Pokemon and human embrace.

"Serena has done it!" the announcer said over the screams and cheers. "Serena blew through the battle stage after earning a perfect score in the performance stage. After finishing in the top 4 five years ago at her first Grand Festival in the Hoenn region, she now wins it all in her second ever Grand Festival!"

Serena, still with a huge smile on her face, removes herself from Delphox, faces the crowd, and starts waving to her fans. Tears were still running down her cheeks.

"Who would of thought," the announcer continues, "four years ago when Serena earned the title of Kalos Queen that she would some day also earn the title of Top Coordinator. You are witnessing history folks! As Serena becomes the first person ever to hold both titles. Stay tune folks, will be back with more live coverage of this historic event after these short messages."

"So she won like you said she would, huh Ash," a monotone voice says telepathically to the figure in front of the TV while standing directly behind him.

The now identified Ash quickly jumps up in surprise. His eyes grow to the size of saucers and he lets out a high pitched "AHHH" as he falls comically on his head.

"Of course she won! Didn't I tell you that she is amazing Mewtwo!" Ash angrily replied after recovering from his fall. "Also, stop sneaking up at me!"

Mewtwo, with a stoic expression on his face, lifted his arms and crossed them on his chest. His white body and purple tail is covered by a brown cloak and his black eyes are glaring at Ash as he says, "It's not my fault that you couldn't detect me."

Ash raises his hands in frustration and says, "You're a legendary Pokemon for heaven sakes! How can you expect me to detect you."

"If you spent less time watching TV and more time training we would't be having this conversion," Mewtwo responded, gesturing to the TV with his eyes.

"You wouldn't appreciate the true value of TV," Ash said with a playful smirk. "All you ever do is meditate and mope all day."

Unfazed by Ash's remark, Mewtwo said, "Why do you even watch Pokemon battles and contests on TV? You gave up battling six years ago. Do you know how hard it was for me to set up a TV on a deserted island? I had to gather what you humans call an 'antenna' and a 'battery.' Plus, I have to get an electric Pokemon to recharge the battery every time it's low."

With the mention of an electrical Pokemon and giving up battling, Ash's playful expression immediately gets replaced with a serious expression. His left hand unconsciously reached up to trace the large scar on his face.

Turning away from Mewtwo, Ash says in an even tone, "I only watch any news on my friends on TV. That includes their battles and contests. You know how important my friends are to me."

"Ash, if they are important to you, why don't you visit them? Its been six years since anyone has heard from you."

"You know why I can't visit them. Besides their are still Pokemon out their that need our help."

"We already destroy most of Team Rockets and every other evil organization's bases. You have to face reality. The only reason why you are still here is because you are afraid to confront them. Heck, you haven't had a Pokemon battle in six years. Wasn't it once your dream to become a Pokemon Master?"

"Dreams change," Ash said in a low voice with his back still facing Mewtwo.

"What happened to you. Just because Pikachu died doES NOT MEAN YOU THROW IT ALL AWAY. THIS IS NOT WHAT HE WOULD HAVE WANTED," Mewtwo said while, for the first time, raising his voice.

"WHAT DO YOU KNOW!" Ash shouted while turning around with tears in his eyes. "PIKACHU MEANT EVERYTHING TO ME! HE DIED IN THAT EXPLOSION SIX YEARS AGO WHILE PROTECTING ME! HE WAS MY BEST F-FRIEND!" Ash shouted with his voice breaking at the end. Collapsing to his knees in despair and lowering his head so his hair covered his eyes, Ash spoke softly while still tracing the large scar on his face, "Thanks to him, all I got was this scar. . . He had been with me since the beginning. . . I just can't battle anymore with him gone."

"Even if you don't battle anymore, don't your friends, mother, and Pokemon at least deserve to know that your alive?" Mewtwo spoked softly while looking at Ash with sad eyes.

"I don't deserve to call them my friends or Pokemon anymore. They would hate me if they found out how Pikachu died. As for my mother, I am sure she would be disappointed in how her son turned out to be such a horrible person. They are all better off without me in their lives."

"I may not understand human behavior, but I know your Pokemon would understand if you tell them what happened."

Raising his head, Ash said, "It was my decision that ended up costing Pikachu his life. It is my fault that he died no matter how you look at it."

Looking into Ash's now red eyes, Mewtwo said, "You are not a bad person Ash. You saved my life that day."

"Mew mew," a pink Pokemon said while teleporting in front of Ash and nuzzling her right cheek against Ash's right cheek. Tears were also rolling down her cheeks.

Both Mewtwo and Ash jumped a little at Mew's sudden appearance, but seeing that it was their friend Mew and used to her sudden appearances, they both recovered quickly. Ash started petting Mew's head.

'Mew must have sensed Ash's emotional state and teleported here,' Mewtwo thought. "You saved Mew's life too that day."

After a couple minutes, Ash stood up and wiping away his tears, Ash said, "Thanks guys. I needed t-"

"And we're back!" the TV announcer's loud voice said, interrupting Ash.

All three figures turned their heads towards the TV.

The announcer is now visible with a microphone in her hand and right next to Serena on the battlefield. The announcer has long brown hair and is dressed in an elegant knee length black dress. "So, Serena, take as through what was going through your mind during the battle!" the announcer said, placing the microphone near Serena's mouth.

Serena with a big smile on her face says, "Well. . . The battle did not go well at first. My opponent came out strong and quickly cut my points in half." Her big smile turned into a sad smile as she continued. "However, a special friend once told me to, 'Never give up until it's over.' And I knew that it couldn't end like this. . . So, I quickly took a more aggressive approach and aimed to knock my opponent's Pokemon out before time was up. Delphox responded well to my commands and the rest is history," Serena said, a big smile, again, appearing on her face.

The announcer moved the microphone backed to in front of her mouth and said, "Wow! It sure was an impressive comeback! What would you say to this special friend if he or she was here right now?" the announcer said hoping to get some insight on the coordinator's relationship to this 'special friend.'

"I would say . . . Thank you," Serena whispered into the microphone. A single tear ran down her left cheek and her right hand came up, quenched, next to her heart. "Thank you for always being there for me and always believing in me. Without you, I wouldn't have realized my dream and probably still be at home trying to think of ways to get out of my daily Rhyhorn racing training. You're the reason why I stand here today and I hope wherever you may be that I am making you proud. . ." Serena said, looking up towards the sky.

Ash starts tearing up and whispers, "I am proud of you. Way more than you can ever imagine."

The announcer, realizing the emotional state of the new Top Coordinator, quickly says in the microphone. "I am sure this person is very proud of you. So, what are your future plans?"

Thankful for the change in topic, Serena composes herself and says into the microphone, "I plan on resting for a bit and celebrate my victory with my Pokemon. After that. . . Well I am not sure. . . I would like to go on another adventure, but where and what I would be doing I don't know at this time."

"Well you definitely deserve some rest and I am sure I can speak for everyone when saying that we look forward to hearing what your future plans are. Thank you, Serena, for your time. This is April reporting from Kanto, saying so long and-"

Ash turned the TV off and turned towards Mewtwo. "I hope she decides to return home and visit her family and friends before going on her next adventure. She hasn't been home in years," Ash said with a worried expression on his face.

'How does Ash know that Serena hasn't been home in years? He only leaves the island to go on our missions. Now that I think of it, how does he know when his friends are on TV,' Mewtwo thought. "How do you know that Serena hasn't seen her friends and family in years?" Mewtwo said with a look of confusion.

Ash brought his right hand to the back of his hand and scratched his head nervously, "Well. . . After listening to her say that she was going to train right away to become a Top Coordinator after just becoming Kalos Queen, I sort of grew worried that she was becoming like me and I sort of had Mew follow her."

Looking at Ash with disbelief, Mewtwo said, "You had Mew, who is suppose to be looking after the The Tree of Beginning, stalk your friend because you were worried about her?"

Normally, seeing the normally calm and collected Mewtwo making such a ridiculous face would make Ash laugh. However, with his embarrassment of admitting to having Mew stalk Serena, he just stared out Mewtwo with his cheeks slightly red. 'Well I actually have her check up on all my friends occasionally to see how they are doing. I just asked her to pay extra close attention to Serena after her announcement, but Mewtwo doesn't need to know that,' Ash thought. "Well stalk is a strong word. . . But I guess yes. . . I did."

Mewtwo turned to Mew for confirmation and after laughing for a couple minutes at Mewtwo's face, Mew gave a single nod confirming Ash's statement. 'He must have had Mew not only stalk Serena, but all of his friends. That is the only way he would of known when they were on TV,' Mewtwo realized. Recovering from his shock, Mewtwo said, "Is what she did in the past really a bad thing? Look at where it got her."

Ash sighed. "Serena is just like me when I traveled. I never contacted my friends after our adventures together. Never called to see how their life's were going and never gave them a way to contact me. Worst yet, I never spent a long time home with my mother before my next adventure. All that matter to me, was achieving my dream I didn't realize the pain I was causing my friends and family until after I reflected on my past adventures while staying here."

"I don't understand. How does her or your actions cause your friends and family pain?"

Looking at Mewtwo with a serious expression, Ash said, "How would you feel if your fellow clone Pokemon never gave you way to contact them and they never contacted you ever again after leaving them?"

Mewtwo brought a hand up to his chin in a thinking pose and said, "I would think that they didn't care about me and feel that our past experience with each other meant very little to them."

"Extactly," Ash said, pleased with Mewtwo's answer. Lowering his head so his hair covered his eyes, Ash continued, "That is the pain I caused my friends after our adventures with each other. As for my mother, that pain must have been at least two times worse because she raised me. Only spending a day or two between year long adventures with her must have really hurt her. Serena is doing a similar thing. However, she has taken it a few steps further. . ."

"How so, Ash?" Mewtwo said while slightly fearing the answer.

Ash raised his head and with a worried look on his face said, "She is going on adventures and training alone. At least I made new friends on my adventures. She goes place to place alone while traveling and is all business when interacting with people. She also hasn't visited her mom since at least before becoming Kalos Queen. Sure, this new attitude of her's may have helped her accomplish a lot of things in a short amount of time, but at what cost?"

Accepting Ash's reasoning, Mewtwo cautiously said, "Why don't you go visit her and point out the errors in her ways?"

With a look of guilt, Ash responded, "You know why I can't visit her. Please, just drop it, Mewtwo. I don't want to have this conversation again."

"But-"

"Mew," Mew said, shacking her head at Mewtwo. With sad eyes, Mew flew towards Ash and, like earlier, nuzzled his right cheek with her right cheek.

Mewtwo sighed in defeat and said, "So, what are you going to do about her if your not going to visit her?"

While petting Mew's head, Ash responded, "Right now, all I can do is hope that she makes the right decision or one of her friends or her mother can reach out to her."


At the entrance of the cave, Ash stood alone. He is staring at the raining falling outside and is deep in thought.

'Maybe Mewtwo is right. Maybe I should visit her. I haven't seen her in person since are adventures together through Kalos six years ago.'

A bolt of lightning suddenly shot across the sky.

'Pikachu, I wonder what you would do in my situation. . .'