Authors Note

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any of the characters and locations in it.

Well thank you to everyone who reviewed my last chapter as they were all kind words that have encouraged me to keep trying hard on the story and publish this chapter now though I will usually try to put out a chapter every Saturday I think, this first week may be an exception though as I may not have my laptop with me, if I won't be able to do it then I will try and post it slightly earlier. I think I will be trying to make most of my chapters more like the length of this one because a couple of thousand words like the first chapter is not enough to qualify as a real chapter in my opinion.

Now to answer a question and respond to a few statements made in the reviews.

Saiyan-Styles:
I have indeed read that story and liked I quite a lot but I do intend to make my own quite different but there will be some larger similarities near the start probably. I found it while looking for stories regarding Ash and Mewtwo as a team as I really think that Ash's first legendary should either be him or Ho-Oh but Mewtwo makes more sense. As to the fact that there are similarities between the two, there will always be similarities due to them starting at the same point and following the same path (for example
*slight spoiler here* I also intend to do an adventure based on the crystal Onix episode but with a different twist of my own *spoiler end*) but I hope that I can make mine completely distinguishable in time as although I like it I do not want to be copying it as that is Sabor364's story which by the way I recommend if anyone reading this hasn't read it yet.

Now to those of you who were commenting about pairings, at the end of the day I will close my current poll on whether there should be a romance or not. If the majority of votes go to 'Yes' then I will put up another poll with characters I am considering. Though I am afraid there will be no harem option Saiyan-Styles, and anyone else who wanted one, as like I said at the beginning of the last chapter this is the first thing I have ever written properly so I want to make it good quality and I think I can do that better with a single romance. Maybe if I find the romance writing easy I will later on in the story but they would probably be in Hoenn/Sinnoh, maybe Johto if I work fast and one of the earlier introduction choices is selected, by then. Though the travelling companions (Misty, May and Dawn. Not sure who will be in Unova yet as I don't like Iris's character that much but she will make an appearance that I intend to make humorous) I am going to try and have fangirling him after a little while.

I forgot to mention last chapter as well, here's a key for the different types of speech:
"Normal vocal speech."
"Telepathic speech."
'Private thoughts.'
'Quoting someone/something.'

I think that's all so on with the story.


Master Quest Chapter 2 – Mewtwo Mellows, Charizard Chills and Riolu Rumbles

Just inside the boundaries of the Pallet Woods there was a flash of blue light. The source of this light was the sudden arrival of 32 beings, these beings were Ash, Misty and Brock, all of whom had returned their Pokémon to their pokéballs before they left New Island, as well as Togepi, Pikachu, Mew, Mewtwo and all his cloned Pokémon.

"Alright guys, I want you all to stay here while I go and sort things out with Professor Oak and Mewtwo, I want you to use your psychic powers to make sure nobody gets close to you while I'm away, okay?" came Ash's voice from the edge of a clearing.

"Very well." Mewtwo said with a hint of nervousness that nobody but Ash picked up on. Ash decided that it was probably best to leave discussing that till later when Mewtwo got used to his new surroundings.

With that exchange of words over Ash, Pikachu, Misty and Brock dashed off towards Professor Oak's laboratory. Deciding that it was best to avoid drawing attention to themselves, the group took the slightly longer route, skirting the edge of the town. After about 20 minutes they arrived at the Laboratory and knocked on the front door just before the Dodrio began their morning calls. The door opened to reveal a pleasantly surprised Professor Oak. "Well to what do I owe this pleasure Ash? It's rare for you to be up and about before the Dodrio start calling and I didn't even know you were back yet." He asked while adjusting his lab coat.

"It's complicated to say the least and I think we should discuss it somewhere slightly more private, I don't want certain people to know about this."

"Oh, is that so. Well, follow me then, we can go to my office where I can guarantee you some privacy." And so the group of three humans and one Pokémon followed the Pokémon Professor to his office where Ash proceeded to explain everything, though he decided it was best to leave out the fact that he had died, instead simply implying that he had fallen unconscious while not going into specifics.

"So what you're telling me is that in the Pallet Woods there are twenty-five cloned Pokémon, one Mew and one previously unknown legendary Pokémon named Mewtwo all of whom want to join you?" Professor Oak asked surprisingly calmly.

"To put it simply, yes" replied Ash.

The Professor suddenly slid onto the floor, unconscious as the others watched unable to do anything. When he came to he briefly wondered why he was on the floor before remembering the conversation he had just had and nearly fainting again. He managed to regain his composure and said to Ash "Alright then, lead me to them and let's get this over with."

When they got near to the clearing in which the Pokémon were resting Ash said seemingly to thin air "Ok, you can lower your guard now Mewtwo" before proceeding towards the clearing.

"What was that all about?" Professor Oak asked Brock and Misty.

"Before we left Ash asked Mewtwo to use his psychic powers to make people stay away from the clearing where the Pokémon are so I guess he was telling him that is was just us so he could let us through." Brock answered.

"I see, so this Mewtwo has strong psychic powers then does he? Interesting…"

"And what exactly is so interesting about that Professor?" asked a defensive voice in all their heads.

"What was that?" the Professor questioned, looking around but seeing nothing.

"Well, I did tell you Mewtwo could talk telepathically didn't I?" Ash stated simply.

"I suppose you did, I just found it difficult to believe as I've never heard of a truly telepathic Pokémon before."

Ash suddenly looked ahead again and said in a calming tone "And Mewtwo, Professor Oak was simply interested in you psychic powers because a Pokémon with as much psychic power as you is unheard of and he needs to have some idea of what you are capable of in order to classify you in the pokédex."

"Why should I go through that and even if I agree to that what else will it require?" Mewtwo questioned cynically, though there was slightly less hostility in his voice following Ash's defence of the man's thoughts.

"Well why you should do it is simple, I could tell earlier when we were talking about battling that you wanted to show the world how strong you are. The easiest way to do that is to battle in the upcoming Indigo Conference which will be watched worldwide in the final rounds. But to do that you need to be registered in the pokédex, don't ask me why because I don't know but there is a reason. As for what else it will require…" Ash looked to the Oak for this question and he provided.

"All that is required to register you in the pokédex is your species name, which is obviously Mewtwo and your type, again it is obvious that you are psychic, you may have a secondary type as well but that can be deduced through what you are capable of. The only other things that are necessary are height and weight. We like to put in your natural habitat and behaviour as well but they are done by observation and aren't required anyway so it's possible to leave them out to maintain your privacy." As Oak finished talking to the unseen Pokémon they arrived in the clearing and what he saw amazed him, all sorts of different Pokémon sitting together without the slightest hint of conflict even though one of them was a Gyarados and they are known for being extremely vicious most of the time. Then he saw Mew and Mewtwo, each of them sitting on a branch in one of the trees at the edge of the clearing.

"As you are a professor I presume you have a field in which you specialise?" Mewtwo asked.

"Why yes, in fact because of my field I believe that I may be the most suitable of the regional professors for you to stay with and it's also one of the reasons I'm so grateful to Ash. You see my field of research is Pokémon interaction, that is to say how Pokémon interact with members of their own species, different species and even how they interact with humans. For example, recently I have come to believe that a Pokémon's performance in battle is greatly dependant on the relationship they have with their trainer. This I have found from Ash's Pokémon because although they are not as well trained or experienced as other Pokémon of the same species they have repeatedly outperformed those others in battle so that they do not let Ash down."

"I see, perhaps you are right, if anyone other than Ash can help me learn to interact with humans peacefully as I now wish to it would be someone who has done a large amount of research in this area." He then turned to Ash "What now then?"

"Well I guess now is where I capture you all. Once you're securely caught in the pokéball it will be transferred to the Oak Corral at Professor Oak's laboratory. We'll be maybe twenty to thirty minutes behind you as we'll have to walk but when we get there I'll let you all out and introduce you to everyone else and help you settle in." Ash replied. He then started throwing pokéballs until only two Pokémon stood before him, Mew and Mewtwo. "I'll see you guys in a little while then." He said simply before throwing two more pokéballs at them and beginning the journey back to the laboratory with the others.

When he arrived at the laboratory he took his pokéballs and went out to the corral. As he got there he gave a whistle that echoed across the grounds and when his Pokémon heard it they all charged over and gathered before him, eagerly awaiting whatever news he was bringing. He then released the Pokémon that had been travelling with him recently and they joined the group knowing what was coming next. "Well guys, we have a lot of new family members today, twenty-seven in fact, and I want you all to treat them nicely. Now, time for introductions" He first released Mew and Mewtwo who introduced themselves. He released these two first as he thought the other clone Pokémon might be reassured by Mewtwo's presence as he was their former master and because he correctly deduced that it would take a minute or two for him to get Mew to stop playing and sit down. Though when he did sit down he sat atop Ash's head which elicited a chuckle from the boy and a couple of the Pokémon present, even Mewtwo. However some of the Pokémon stood in awe of the fact that they were now welcoming two legendary Pokémon to the family, they all eventually managed to come to terms with it and introduce themselves. After that all of the new clone Pokémon were released and introduced as well; though some made friends more easily than others such as the clone Bulbasaur and Venusaur who easily befriended Ash's original Bulbasaur whilst most of the Pokémon steered clear of Gyarados due to their reputation. Ash saw this as well as the sad look on its face and decided to rectify it. He took off most of his clothes before diving into the small lake that it was resting in and swimming over to it for a hug which brightened its mood a bit. All the others looked on as Professor Oak chuckled saying "That's Ash."

"What is he doing?" asked Mewtwo sceptically.

It was Misty who explained Ash's actions this time "Well Ash could see that Gyarados was sad because none of the others wanted to go near it so my guess is that he decided to cheer it up by playing with it and getting the others to join them. By the way is that Gyarados a boy or a girl because I don't like using the term 'it' to describe a Pokémon? I'm sure Ash doesn't either for that matter."

"That Gyarados is a female but I feel I must ask, why does he go so far just because one Pokémon is slightly saddened?"

Now it was Brock "Well to Ash all his Pokémon are his friends and his family and you don't sit around doing nothing while your friends or family get down in the dumps so he tries to cheer them up." With that they looked back to the lake just in time to see Ash playfully splash some water on Gyarados. She responded by using her tail to flick some water over him making the both of them laugh before Ash called out to the others to join them which they did, gradually closing the distance between them and Gyarados until eventually all the water Pokémon and some of the others such as the grass types were playing together and making friends. Ash slipped out of the water while the others were too distracted playing with each other to pay attention to him.

"It actually worked." Mewtwo said somewhat shocked.

"Of course it did." said Ash pouting "Did you really doubt me?"

Mewtwo took one look at his face before he burst out laughing and it wasn't long before Ash joined him. They both stopped quite abruptly though when a wave of water swept over the two and they looked to the lake to see all of the Pokémon there laughing just like they had been. "So you want to play like that, huh?" they said in unison before charging over to join the fun. Ash spent the rest of the morning playing with his Pokémon in the lake while the others looked on. When it was nearly time for lunch brock went to prepare the meal while Professor Oak called his mother, Delia, to invite her to join them. Once she arrived she took to the new Pokémon in an instant and went around giving hugs to everyone and welcoming them to the family. His new Wigglytuff took a shine to her instantly and began following her around like a lost little Growlithe, noticing this Delia asked if she wanted to help and when she nodded her agreement she started getting small tasks to do to help the others. After they had eaten Ash decided to spend some time with the Pokémon that hadn't joined in with the water games earlier because he felt like he had been ignoring them. This pleased them greatly and soon he had his own little, or maybe not so little, follower in his Ninetales. He found that she enjoyed having the areas beneath her jaw and behind her ears scratched, a pleasured growl coming from her throat every time he did so.

As the end of the day approached Ash decided that Mew and Mewtwo should stay near him for the moment and asked them to come back to his house for the night to which they agreed. As his Ninetales and Wigglytuff didn't seem to want to leave his and his mother's sides respectively he told them to come as well, this resulted in his Ninetales bounding around him and yipping cheerfully all the way back to the house. When they arrived his mother started cooking dinner and though Brock offered his help she wouldn't have it as he was a guest so in her books he should be putting his feet up and resting. Dinner was magnificent and Brock enjoyed it so much that he went so far as to say that it put his cooking to shame though Delia told him that it was just the years of experience paying off. The Pokémon all enjoyed themselves thoroughly, none other than Pikachu ever having tasted such fine food before. Though for that matter Pikachu didn't eat an awful lot after he discovered his favourite treat once more, Tomato Ketchup. Delia was amazed at how much of the red sauce Pikachu was eating and couldn't help but laugh at the look of ecstasy on the mouse's face. This made the others look up before noticing and joining her, Pikachu was far too absorbed in his ketchup to notice however which just made them laugh harder. When they finished; she promised Ash's partner to buy him lot's more, much to the delight of the small mouse who then went tearing round the house to tell Ash the good news.


The next morning Ash awoke on the sofa, Misty had been given his bed while Brock got the spare room, and found that his Pokémon were all sleeping beside him, save Mewtwo and Wigglytuff. Ash assumed that Wigglytuff was with his mother while Mewtwo was probably out in the garden as he didn't seem comfortable in enclosed spaces. Ash gently moved Mew off his stomach while Pikachu got up from his position by Ash's head and stretched, Ash gave him a scratch on the head which earned him a short "Chaaaa" from his yellow friend. "Morning Pikachu" Ash whispered to him while stepping over Ninetales, who was curled up by the foot of the sofa, trying to avoid waking the others. Ash walked into the kitchen with Pikachu in his usual position on his shoulder and looked out the window; sure enough Mewtwo was sat in the middle of the back garden meditating. Ash then spoke to Pikachu "Hey buddy, what do you say we surprise everyone by showing them the cooking skills we've picked up over the last year?" Pikachu nodded with a grin on his face before he started helping Ash prepare everyone's breakfast. He knew that everyone thought that Ash couldn't cook so he wanted to see what their reactions would be when they tasted the food, because Ash's cooking was exquisite.

When the cooking was well underway Ash began to hear some movement upstairs and soon his mother walked in to the kitchen and froze for a moment. "Ash dear, when did you learn to cook?"

"Well I picked up a fair few things by watching Brock along the way and a couple of the Nurse Joy's we met were kind enough to give me a few cooking lessons as well. But Brock and Misty don't know about this yet so would you mind acting as if you cooked until they give their opinion then we can spring the fact that it was me who cooked it on them. I can't imagine how shocked they'll be as they think I can't cook at all."

"Well, that might be a bit fun actually so I'll play along for now" she replied with a giggle.

"Thanks mom."

Soon enough the others were all up soon and said good morning before they began tucking the breakfast that Mrs Ketchum had served as Ash had finished a little while ago and she had been keeping it warm to follow through with Ash's plan. When they had all finished, Brock and Misty began to voice their opinions having assumed Delia was the one responsible.

Misty was the first to speak up. "That was divine Delia, even better than the meal last night."

"Oh, well…"

"Misty's right Delia, but you really shouldn't have gone to such lengths for us." Brock interrupted.

Ash let out a small snicker but regained control of himself before his mother corrected them. "Well actually, I wasn't the one who cooked this."

"What?" The two asked in unison, looking around the house for another person. "Then who did?"

"Well, it was Ash that cooked breakfast this morning."

"Yeah, and Diglett have feet." Misty responded "Come on Delia, we know Ash couldn't cook to save his life."

At this he could no longer contain himself and he burst out laughing as Pikachu began rolling around on the table in a similar state. The others turned to look at the two before Brock and Misty gave Ash a look as if to say "And what pray tell is so funny?"

Ash got himself under control before he spoke "Well the thing is guys, my mom's not joking. I really did cook breakfast this morning and asked her to act as if she cooked it so I could get your honest opinions." All the Pokémon began laughing with him as well while Brock and Misty had stunned looks on their faces and their eyes travelled between Ash and their plates. "Oh, and Misty, Diglett actually do have feet so you might want to reconsider that phrase."

"Hold on a minute." Brock said. "Since when could you cook at all let alone this well?" he finished, gesturing at their plates to emphasise his point. Misty nodded her head in agreement, also wanting an answer.

"Well, after my miserable attempt at cooking shortly after we first met up you didn't expect me to just not try and improve did you?" Ash asked before continuing. "After I found out I was that terrible at cooking anything other than instant noodles I knew I had to learn so I started watching what you did when nobody was looking. I also asked a few of the Nurse Joy's we met along the way to give me cooking lessons as well, 'cause I knew you wouldn't let me near your utensils, and they really helped." At this Brock started crying in the corner as Ash had got to spend time alone with more than one Nurse Joy whilst he had never got a minute alone with any woman since his Gym Leader days. Ash continued "Then a few weeks ago I decided to try putting it all in to practice so I took a few of your ingredients and utensils and cooked something up for me and my Pokémon and we really enjoyed it so I kept practicing every once in a while and got even better. Now I'm this good."

It was Misty who spoke next. "But Ash, if you're cooking was this good why didn't you cook for us sometimes? No offence Brock but Ash's cooking makes yours look plain and simple." At this Brock suddenly stopped crying and gave ash a quick, joking glare before smiling again and telling Misty that he in fact agreed with her so there was no problem.

"Well, two reasons really. For a start I only know how to cook a few things, I haven't had a chance to see if I can cook any proper meals yet. On top of that, would you have actually tried my cooking, be honest, and that's if I had even been able to get a hold of the utensils from Brock."

"I guess you have a point there." Misty responded before adding. "But my opinion of you has just grown quite a bit Ash Ketchum, the fact that you would go so far just to learn to cook shows that you're more mature than I thought."

"Well; as much as I wish it weren't so, I do have to consider that you guys and my mom won't be around to look after me forever."

At this his mother added her opinion. "Oh, my baby boy is growing up so fast."

"Mom, cut it out. You're embarrassing me in front of my friends" The 'baby boy' responded.

Brock was sitting there his face a bit down upon realising that they would eventually have to split up just as Ash had pointed out. Misty was in the same state though there was a slight hint of red in her cheeks as she thought about what he had said. 'What if we could stay together forever though?'

"Well guys, we better head over to the Professor's lab now 'cause I know he wanted to make an early start gathering data from Mew and Mewtwo for their pokédex entries. Plus I want to try and get to know my new Pokémon and those I haven't worked with much a bit better." Ash added as he turned to the two. This snapped them back to reality and they agreed before heading out for the day.

When they arrived at the lab they were welcomed into it by Oak who was almost bouncing off the walls as Ash released Mew and Mewtwo and asked them to let the researcher examine them for a while before going to see his Pokémon. After playing for a bit he had got to know most of Pokémon quite well but there was one who steered clear of the fun all together, Charizard. Ash decided that he had had enough and it was time to resolve their differences. He approached Brock and Misty and told them what he was going to attempt, they wished him luck before he went back in to the lab and found Professor Oak with Mew and Mewtwo beginning his measurements. "Hi Professor." Ash said as the researcher looked up at him "I'm going to take Charizard and go out to the woods and see if we can resolve our differences so we can be friends again."

"Well Ash I wish you the best of luck as I think you'll need it to deal with your Charizard's attitude."

"Thanks. You two," he added, now looking at Mew and Mewtwo "I want you to help the Professor out as much as you can. I'll see you soon, whether I get through to Charizard or not." He then walked out the door before Oak looked at Mewtwo who nodded his assent for the measurements to continue.

After a while the necessary measurements had all been taken and Mewtwo had even been kind enough to supply the researcher with a few facts about their habits and behaviour though he made sure to keep habitats strictly confidential as he didn't want hundreds or thousands of trainers from across the world to go looking for the few remaining wild Mew. Once he had all of the information, Oak walked over to his desk and placed his notes upon it before opening a drawer and pulling out two syringes in vacuum packages. The moment he turned back around to the Pokémon however, he was pinned up against the wall by an enormous amount of psychic power. Mewtwo had seen the syringes and as was quite obvious, he was not happy. "What exactly are those for? I thought you said that was all you needed for the pokédex." Mewtwo said angrily while eyeing the syringes.

"Oh, well this is for you rather than for the pokédex. You see if I take a small sample of you blood, so little that your body will have replaced it within a day I might add, I can analyse it and see if you have any bacteria or viruses floating around in your system and if you do I can provide medicine to help you recover more quickly. As well as that I can have the computer analyse your DNA and that will allow us to identify any genetic conditions you might have or any diseases you might be particularly susceptible in the future." Oak replied anxiously, hoping Mewtwo would understand.

"And why should I believe you, human? The only scientists I have encountered before saw me only as a test subject to do with as they willed, why should I believe you would be any different?"

"Well for a start Ash does." The Professor almost yelled as he had felt the grip of the psychic energy tighten somewhat with Mewtwo's last outburst. "Listen, you trust Ash don't you and he left you here in my care trusting that I wouldn't do anything that would hurt you. Why, you can even look into my mind if that's possible for you. I don't care as I have nothing to hide from you."

When Oak finished his short speech Mewtwo considered what he had said for a moment before realising that he was right. He dissipated the psychic force that was pinning the prestigious researcher against the wall and apologised. "You are right, I am sorry I acted so rashly. You may take a sample of my blood and anything else you may need."

"That's quite alright Mewtwo. From what Ash told me about you the only scientists you've met before me were members of Team Rocket so it's no wonder you have a dislike for my kind. But I assure you, with Ash as your trainer you are likely in the safest place possible as he would risk his life for even wild Pokémon time and time again, so if they tried to hurt you now I suspect he would hunt them to the ends of the earth to make them pay." When Oak had finished on the subject of Team Rocket they continued on with the tests.


Elsewhere, in the Pallet Woods.

"Charizard, I choose you." Ash called out, he had left the lab with only Charizard, not even Pikachu had come with him, though Ash suspected he'd get a thundershock or two for that later. As the large red lizard materialised before him Ash spoke up. "Well then, I want to sort out our problems once and for all." At this Charizard huffed, exhaling a small cloud of smoke into Ash's face before turning away from him and laying down. "Charizard, listen. I just want to go back to being friends again, whatever it takes. Don't you think I deserve that after everything I've done for you and the others in the past?" Charizard made no response to its trainer's words though that did not mean he didn't hear them. He still listened to every word his trainer said, all that had changed was that he didn't act on them anymore. "Charizard plea…"

Ash was interrupted by a sudden distressed cry from slightly deeper in the woods. Both Ash and Charizard looked in the direction it had come from with a worried expression. "Was that a Pokémon? Whatever it was it sounded like it was in pain…" Ash trailed off before they heard another pained cry from the same direction. The Pokémon and trainer looked at each other and nodded before heading in the direction of the cry. They soon came to the edge of a clearing and what they saw shocked them. In the centre of the clearing stood a small bipedal, dog-like Pokémon, it was pure white, almost the same colour as snow. The Pokémon was obviously on its last legs as it was panting hard and kneeling down. Before it was a pair of Primeape, they were both commanded by men in white clothes with a large red 'R' on the front. "Team Rocket again…" Ash mumbled with anger clear in his voice.

"Primeape, use karate chop." The two members of Team Rocket called out suddenly.

'Oh no, that Pokémon can't take on hit like that let alone two' Ash thought before he came to a decision and charged into the clearing and dived in front of the small canine Pokémon taking both hits before falling to the floor. Everyone present was surprised at this turn of events but the Team Rocket grunts recovered quickly and laughed at the trainer now lying unconscious on the floor.

"What an idiot." One said to the other.

"I know, who would be stupid enough to get in the way of a Pokémon battle, let alone when those Pokémon belong to Team Rocket." His partner acknowledged "Let's just finish him off, grab the Riolu and get out of here."

This was too much for Charizard as he suddenly remembered everything he had been through with his trainer. Ash had saved its life the very first time they met, protecting it from the rain and taking it to the Pokémon Center for treatment. After that Ash had happily welcomed the small Charmander to his team and family and they had trained and played together almost constantly, just like the other Pokémon. They had even endured a harsh blizzard together before it had evolved, after that it had become arrogant and disregarded everything Ash did for it. Finally, on New Island Ash had given his very life to protect all the Pokémon, Charizard included, and Charizard had cried with the others, though it cried more than most others just like the rest of his Pokémon. It realised, now that it might lose him again, that life wasn't worth living without Ash. Ash was his trainer, his guardian but most importantly of all, he was his greatest friend. Charizard knew what he had to do now and he would not let his trainer down again. As he watched the small Pokémon approach the unconscious Ash it stepped out into the clearing and uttered a mighty bellow, a challenge to any Pokémon that might hurt its master that caused every wild Pokémon, but for the Riolu, within a mile to flee in terror. The two Primeape cowered before their trainers as Charizard's tail flame grew in both size and intensity, vast amounts of heat pouring off of its body.

"K-k-k-karate chop?" One of the trainers ordered but his Pokémon simply cowered in front of him before Charizard unleashed a devastating flamethrower that burnt everything for 50 metres in front of it to a crisp. The Team Rocket members were finished.

Charizard then turned to Ash and the Riolu and scooped Ash up in its arms. It looked at the Riolu and said in its native tongue "You will follow me by land. If you do not, I will be angry." then took to the air and flew back to the lab, hoping Ash would be alright. Riolu followed the orders it had been given as it didn't want to anger that Charizard after what it had just seen.

Soon Charizard arrived back at the ranch with Riolu in tow. He roared loudly which got everyone's attention and they soon saw the unconscious trainer in his arms. He carried Ash to the lab building and arrived just as Oak, Misty, Brock, Mew and Mewtwo were leaving. They took one look at him and the bundle in his arms before Misty whispered "Not again… Please not again." and collapsed to the floor crying. The others acted quickly; Brock and Oak cleared a path while Mewtwo used his psychic powers to move Ash to a desk that had been cleared moments ago by Brock. Mew was just watching, shock and fear etched in her face. Mewtwo turned to Charizard next.

"What happened to him?" he asked, struggling to keep himself calm. After a series of grunts and roars from Charizard, Mewtwo told the others what had transpired. "It seems that Ash was injured trying to save an injured Pokémon from the grasp of Team Rocket, he took a karate chop to the back from two Primeape to end up in this state."

"Thanks Mewtwo, that should help us figure out how to treat him. What happened to the Pokémon though, Ash will want to know when he wakes up?" Brock replied.

"Charizard said that he brought it with him but he won't leave Ash's side until he recovers so we can't see it till then unless it comes to us. But from what Charizard said it isn't injured enough to need immediate medical attention."

"Ok, thanks again Mewtwo. I'm sure Ash will be up in no time, just you wait and see."

After a wait of about half an hour Ash began to stir and the Professor called Brock, Misty and Mewtwo back to the room. Pikachu, Mew and Charizard hadn't left his side throughout the whole process though Charizard had been made to stick his head in through the window as he was too big to fit inside. Soon everyone was gathered and Ash's eyes began to flicker open. "Ugh, what happened? And where am I?"

"Well Ash, apparently you got in the way of two Pokémon attacks which knocked you out then Charizard brought you here which is back at the lab." Oak told him.

At this Ash looked at Charizard and began to speak. "Thanks Chari…. Wait, Charizard brought me back?" At this everyone looked at Ash questioningly and Charizard nodded.

"Why wouldn't he Ash?" Misty asked.

"Well the last I remember, Charizard was still ignoring me." Ash answered.

At this everyone realised that they were in the same position and looked at Charizard in the same way they had looked at Ash. He gave a series of grunts and roars similar to those from his description of what had happened to Ash earlier. When he had finished Mewtwo translated for them all. "It seems that when Charizard saw you falling to the ground in that state he remembered all your times together and everything you had done together, with that he realised that you weren't just his trainer but his guardian and his friend as well. After that he wiped out the Team Rocket members and brought you back here telling the Pokémon you saved to follow him."

"That's a point Ash, what type of Pokémon was it?" Brock asked.

"I… I don't know, it was kind of like a small dog that stood on two legs and it was pure white."

"Hmm… I've never heard of a Pokémon like that before." The Professor told them all.

"Team Rocket called it a Riolu according to Charizard." Mewtwo informed him.

"A Riolu? But Riolu are native to the Sinnoh region and are never found in Kanto, add to that that its apparently white when Riolu and its evolved form, Lucario, are meant to be blue and black then it's difficult to believe. Though now I think about it, I may have read about a couple of legends that mentioned a white Lucario so perhaps it is possible."

"Well that would explain why Team Rocket was after it." Ash interjected "They love trying to get their hands on rare Pokémon so if they can usually only be found in a distant region and it's a colour only ever mentioned in legends then it's the perfect target for them. Why don't we go find out?"

Everybody agreed to this so they set out and found the Riolu at the outskirts of the ranch. At the sight of Charizard it shivered slightly but then it saw Ash and ran towards him. When it got within a couple of feet it dived at him and embraced him in a tight hug which confused Ash slightly before he decided to return the hug. "Hello to you too little guy." Ash said before putting him down. "Well Professor what do you think?"

"Well it's certainly a Riolu and it's certainly white so it seems everything was true, but I suppose that's no surprise really when I'm dealing with you." As Oak said this Riolu noticed the other humans for the first time and moved closer to Ash as if scared.

"Don't worry little guy. Everybody here is my friend and they won't do anything to you unless you really make them angry, though you're probably so cute you could get away with anything anyway." Ash told him with a laugh.

They played together for a while before it started getting late again and Ash decided it was time to go home. When Ash told Riolu this and tried to leave, Riolu just wouldn't leave him be. Then Ash had an idea "I know, Riolu, would you like to join my team with the others?" Brock and Misty were slightly shocked by this but realised that it was an inevitable result from the moment Ash first saved it. The Riolu nodded its assent so Ash pulled out a pokéball, when Riolu saw the pokéball though it backed away slightly. "Do you not like pokéballs, is that the problem?" The Riolu nodded and Ash thought for a second before realising the answer to their problem was right in front of them. "Well how about I capture you then let you out again and you can stay out like Pikachu?" he asked. The Riolu thought for a moment before agreeing to the proposal and allowing itself to be caught. At this point Ash made his trademarked pose before adding the accompanying comment. "I just caught a Riolu!"

Pikachu had jumped up on his shoulder to join his pose with a few words of his own. "Pi Pikachu!" Everybody laughed at their antics before Ash released Riolu and headed back home with the same group as last night plus his new Pokémon. When they got home dinner was already prepared and everyone sat down to eat and talk about their day.


It had been couple of weeks since Ash had caught his Riolu and those weeks had been spent training both himself and his Pokémon. In the mornings and afternoons they would train themselves physically in one of the ranch's empty fields, Ash was able to train his Pokémon more effectively now as Mewtwo had quite a lot of good advice for training them all. The evenings however would be spent at home on his computer where he would research training methods, new moves, ways to counter moves and spent a lot of time looking at one of the newest theories, abilities. The theory proposed that all Pokémon had some sort of natural ability; a good example was Pikachu who could have the ability static, as a result if a Pokémon came into contact with Pikachu than there was a chance it would be paralysed by the electricity it produced. He realised that if applied correctly in battle these abilities could make all the difference between winning and losing. Ash was growing both physically and mentally. His personality had changed a lot with a good dose more seriousness now, though he still loved to play with all of his Pokémon. The physical training was resulting in Ash's body becoming more toned and slightly taller than before, equal in height to Misty now. As usual Ash was oblivious to the changes he was going through but everybody else was not, it was obvious that Ash was now a true Pokémon trainer. He knew his Pokémon inside and out, he was ready to face physical challenges along the way in his journey and most importantly of all he knew how to look after both himself and his Pokémon; especially after his mother and Brock had started teaching him how to cook food for both humans and Pokémon.

Professor Oak had agreed to leave it a while before releasing the new information about Mew and Mewtwo in order to avoid people finding out that Ash had both when the media came snooping around to know how he made the discoveries. Everyone agreed that for the last month before the Indigo League Ash would leave for New Island with only his Pokémon, there they would continue training in private while the world learned more about Mew and the existence of Mewtwo.

In the beginning Ash had been having trouble training his Riolu as he knew nothing about it and Oak only knew what it looked like and its species name so he had had to request the information from his colleague Professor Rowan in the Sinnoh region. Rowan was greatly interested in the fact that an actual white Riolu had been found and Ash promised that if he ever came to Sinnoh he would let Rowan take a quick look at him as thanks for the information. After that Professor Oak placed an order for a national pokédex as opposed to Ash's current regional pokédex. It contained information on the Pokémon from every region not just Kanto, he got the feeling it would be particularly practical later on in his journey when he started visiting other regions. After all that had taken place Ash was able to learn all the information there was available about Riolu and it quickly mad a big difference to the rate Riolu was improving at.

It was late morning and Ash had just gathered together a team for the short training expedition he was planning for the day. His team consisted off Pikachu, Riolu, Mewtwo, Mew and finally his original Charizard and Squirtle. He had already let everyone know that he was going and told the rest of the Pokémon to have a day off training as they had all earned a break. Misty had tried to insist on going with him but he wouldn't have it and Brock had managed to help him convince Misty to leave him alone. He had noticed that she had been letting him have less and less time to himself recently but he had no idea why. He decided to ignore it and set off in a random direction, making sure to note the path he took so he didn't get lost like he used to. Soon he stumbled across a small ravine that looked perfect and split his Pokémon into two groups for training. He had Charizard attack Pikachu who attacked Squirtle who in turn attacked Charizard, going full circle. He told them not to use too much power at once as they were to focus on building up their endurance today. The other group was Mew, Mewtwo and Riolu. He had Riolu practice its new shadow claw attack on Mew and Mewtwo to build up his power while the other two increased their endurance like the others. Soon the Pokémon were getting tired and just as Ash was about to call for a stop Charizard's flamethrower went astray and hit the edge of the ravine causing a minor explosion which opened up a small cave. The group decided to take a look after having the lunch that Ash had cooked up for them.

Just as they were finishing the meal however, Ash heard voices approaching and Mew and Mewtwo looked at him to let him know that that they had as well. To make sure nobody found out about the two he recalled Mewtwo and turned to Mew. "I want you to use transform to turn into a Sandslash as I might want you to use dig in a while and we need to make sure your form doesn't arouse suspicion." Mew nodded before there was a flash of pink light and a Sandslash stood in her place.

"Slash?" Said Mew in her new voice.

"That's perfect 'Sandslash'. Well everyone, I think it's time we took a look in that cave."

The Pokémon cheered at the prospect of a new adventure, it had been a while for those who had been on one of Ash's adventures before but both Mew and Riolu had never been on one before and looked even more excited than the others. Ash laughed at the look of glee on Mew's face, a reminder of how playful and inquisitive she was. They wandered over to the cave and before they even entered Pikachu spotted something on a small altar just inside. "Pi Pikachu Pikapi?" he called out, pointing at the object. The others looked at it and Ash picked it up to look more closely. It was gold with brown spots dotted all over it and at the centre of it there was a small blue crest with a curved depression in it. Suddenly a woman slightly shorter than Brock tried to grab it out of his hands but he closed his fingers around it and looked at her. She had blue her and seemed to be dressed like some sort of adventurer out of a cartoon.

"Excuse me but what do you think you're doing? I found this a minute ago; you can't just try and take it from me." Ash informed her.

"You found it. Oh please, you can't expect me to believe that. What qualifications do you have to find such an item?" She asked rhetorically in a high pitched tone.

Although he knew the question was rhetorical he couldn't resist the chance to take this arrogant woman down a few pegs "Well actually I have all the qualifications you could possibly need." She was shocked by this before he continued. "After all, you don't need any qualifications to simply find something by accident." This made her pout as she had no comeback to his logic.

She suddenly brightened up before trying a new tact. "Ah, but you don't even know what you are holding so how can you possibly use it to obtain valuable information like I would? Ah, Professor, over here. This little boy is withholding my discovery from me, can you perhaps convince him to give it back."

The man she had addressed walked over before asking. "What is the meaning of this? Doctor Eve is a very renowned archaeologist and you are refusing to return her find to her?"

"No, I am not. I found this artefact myself on the altar over there." He said pointing to it.

"Altar?" Eve questioned. "Do you know what this means? This artefact was obviously of great significance to the people who placed it there, I simply must be allowed to figure out what it is."

"I guess you were telling the truth when you said you found it then. Sorry about her, she gets carried away when she thinks there is a discovery at hand and this could be one of the greatest discoveries of the century." The unnamed Professor told Ash.

"Ash, I'm speaking directly into your mind from my pokéball. I have noticed a strong Psychic presence coming from that artefact so I think it may actually be a primitive version of a pokéball, be careful with it." Came Mewtwo's voice.

"Well it's alright but I believe I already know what this is. There's a strong psychic aura coming from it so I think it's an early version of a pokéball that contains a powerful psychic type." Ash informed them "Also I think you should leave as this land is private property belonging to Professor Samuel Oak. I have permission to be here from him as one of his sponsored trainers but I suspect that you on the other hand, do not."

"Ah, well…"

Dr. Eve interrupted him. "Did you say a primitive pokéball? Perhaps this is the unearthly urn or dark device referred to by the tablet then."

"What tablet?" Ash inquired, believing now that these people knew more than they were letting on.

"Ah, well…" Was heard again.

Now he knew they were trying to hide something and that annoyed him "Tell me now." He growled as his Pokémon added their own growls or warnings. Though strangely Mew had disappeared completely, he decided he need not worry as she was powerful enough to look after herself.

Surprisingly it was Eve who answered and what was more surprising was the sudden change to a polite tone. Perhaps it had something to do with the threatening looks the Pokémon were giving her. "Well we recently discovered a stone tablet not far from here that we believe referred to the ancient city of Pokémopolis. On the tablet there was an inscription that went as follows:

Beware the two great powers of destruction, the shadow of the dark device will grapple with the prisoner of the unearthly urn.

The sacred city will be no more as day is swallowed up by night.

Darker still for you when they return to lay waste to the world, but no human knows the secret to soothe the powers and guide them back to the shadow world."

As she finished Mew popped up out of the earth with a "Slash!" as she was thankfully still disguised. In her hands rested a second small artefact, this one was black though and shaped somewhat similarly to a dumbbell. At the sight of it Eve tried to snatch it up again to investigate it but Mew sidestepped her and took it to Ash. Ash thanked her before giving her a scratch under the jaw which she thoroughly enjoyed. Ash then turned to Eve and spoke once more. "Well I reckon this new one is the dark device and the first was the unearthly urn given their appearances. Let's just hope that whatever is inside them decides not to come out." However it seemed that he had spoken too soon for there was a sudden blast of chilly darkness before a 10 foot tall Gengar covered in tattoos materialised out of the second artefact that they were now sure was the dark device. As it fully materialised a spoon made of the same material as the unearthly urn flew out of the cave and into the depression in the urn. There was a blast of light before an equally tall and tattooed Alakazam appeared before the group. The two of them then set to fighting each other with a vengeance, as if they wanted to wipe each other out. "Two great powers of destruction." Ash muttered before shouting to Eve and her team who had arrived shortly after the Professor. "Get out of here, if you stay you might get seriously injured. I'll try to knock them out with my Pokémon so that we can stop this chaos."

At his words the archaeologists all turned and fled abandoning their equipment in the process. Ash then turned back to the scene in front of him. The battle between the two was devastating the area and he decided the best move would be to go on the offensive. "Alright guys listen up. Riolu I want you to use your shadow claw on the both of them as it should be super effective, the rest of you are to use whichever attacks you think are most suitable. Mewtwo, you come on out and help too." The two 'great powers' were now suffering a lot of damage from the onslaught of thunder, flamethrower, psychic, hydro pump and shadow claw attacks. Soon they were down on their knees panting hard as they tried to get their breath back to attack each other once more. Ash took this chance to throw a pair of pokéballs at them. Unfortunately they each managed to launch one last attack before their successful capture. Ash saw that Riolu was about to land right in the middle of the two attacks and shoved him out of the way taking the attacks himself. His Pokémon watched in horror as the smoke cleared but when it did they were relieved to see Ash still conscious and in one piece. As they ran over to him once more, expressing their relief, he started laughing. "Well, I guess it's a good thing I trained with you guys. It'll take a lot more than that to bring me down now." Pikachu sighed at his antics before they all looked up at Riolu who had suddenly started glowing, the bright light of evolution was enveloping him and when it faded, in his place stood a pure white Lucario.

After celebrating Lucario's evolution a little bit the group headed back to their temporary camp by the cave thinking it was all over, boy were they in for a surprise. When they arrived they found a 10 foot Jigglypuff sat at their camp with a bell in its hand. "Not another one." Ash groaned wondering how many more of these giants he would have to face. It looked round and saw them, the moment it spotted them its face lit up in a smile and it began to raise the bell. Ash realised that it was about to use sing and called out to his Pokémon "Mewtwo, Mew, Charizard and Lucario. Use a group earthquake." That they did, Charizard and Lucario jumping high into the air and adding some rolls to increase the force they struck the ground with while Mewtwo and Mew gathered up a large amount of psychic energy ready to use it to exert a massive force on the ground. They all managed to unleash the attack at exactly the same moment, increasing the power even further. The poor Jigglypuff was suddenly shaken all over the place and cried out in pain. As the shaking stopped it started to recover and Ash knew he would have to knock it out completely before this would be over. Before he could call out any attacks though he saw Lucario charging up an attack and stopped; it was Lucario's favourite attack, one that he shouldn't have been able to use as a Riolu but for some reason could, aura sphere. Lucario finished building up the attack which you could easily tell was much more powerful than it had been when he was a Riolu and threw it straight at the giant. It struck dead on and knocked it out immediately. Ash threw one last pokéball for the day before looking around. With all the damage to this part of the ranch and the three giant, tattooed Pokémon he had just caught he was going to have some serious explaining to do.


Ok, so if any of you were wondering the first addition to his team isn't anything from the episodes or games. Not a shiny, just pure white, apart from the metal of course, that's as silver as it normally is.

The other three will be making appearances from time to time but not too soon as Ash needs to help two of them get over their anger issues. By the way I am being vague on purpose, just in case anyone skipped right to the end for some strange reason.

So yeah, a few new friends and some training later and Ash has a different personality now. I'm trying not to make it too different such as the fact that he will still love playing around with his Pokémon and a few other things whilst he will be much more serious in battle and more prepared.

Well once again, I hope you liked it and please let me know what you think.