Chapter 2: Father's Secrets

"Are we done?" I asked Arceus as we finished the three tier cake. It was a vanilla cake with white icing and purple lacing around the edges.

"Yes." She said with a smile, admiring her work.

"Can I ask a question Mother?"

"Go ahead."

"Why not just make it all with your powers?" I asked, curiously.

"Well what fun is it if you can do everything with a snap of your fingers? There is no journey, therefore no reward. You will figure it out for yourself soon enough." She said.

"Ahh." I said, digesting her words.

"You might want to go get your friend. He is still in the tree." She said, going back to the oven. "You can teleport again."

I did just that, only to see mom giggling and playing with her toys still. Rob was nowhere to be seen though. "Hi honey, Rob fell into the portal." She said, referring to the portals that carry nutrients throughout the giant tree.

"I'll go get him." I said, transforming into my mew form. I floated down the portal and saw Rob struggling to hold on to the green orbs of energy that were floating upwards.

"Hi Mew. I could kinda use some help please." I just floated backwards and teleported a soda from the fridge in The Hall's kitchen. I struggled to open it seeing how I only had paws. I eventually got it open and took a sip, laughing in my high pitched mew voice. "James! Help…" He pleaded.

"Oh, come on, you aren't in any real danger. You might not have realize it, but there isn't any gravity in here." I said, smiling.

"Wha-" He said, letting go of the orb and trusted me. "Woah.." He said. "Now how do I get up there?"

"Oh brother." I said, putting my paw on my face. "Here, take my paw." I said extending my short arms toward him. He was able to reach it and I pulled him out of the tree.

"Thank you… Really." He said, obviously relieved. "Uh-oh, It is getting dark. I will have to call my parents and tell them I am staying with you for tonight, unless you feel like teleporting me back."

"Call away, I don't care what happens. If ya want to go back I'll take you." I went over to mom and began playing with her like I did when I was little. I grabbed one of my favorite toys, it was a small little blaziken action figure made out of wood.

He left to go call his parents. "Mom?" I asked. "Do you ever got lonely?"

"Well, I try not to think about it. I would have preferred if you father stayed… but I guess he had higher priorities than children." She said a little depressed.

This had made me think. I knew that Ash was my father, but I never really thought of him much as a person because of the fact he left my mom with his pikachu to go become a "pokemon master". If I see him… I don't know what I would do. I thought to myself. "I will never leave you." I said, hugging her. As I hugged her she began purring and I did the same.

"Aww cute." Rob said sarcastically. I then decided to mess with him and put him in a bubble of psychic energy so we couldn't hear him.

"Anyway, I gotta go get something to eat, you boys must be starving." She smiled.

"Nahh, we are good for now." I said, remembering Arceus' task for me and how she had a meal prepared for us. Just as I said that the usual yellow slip of paper appeared before Mom and I.

"Dear James,

Thank you for your help today, if it weren't for you, the feast would have had to wait until tomorrow night. The feast begins at 7:00. Those of you that do not wish to come, are not required.

Arceus"

I smiled at my note and set it to the side. "So, Are you going mom?" I asked as she finished up reading her note.

"Mhm!" She nodded. "It sounds like fun."

"Oh… Oops." I said, realizing Rob can't come. "Terribly sor-" I cut off as another slip presented itself to me.

"Dear James,

I will allow your friend entrance to the hall ONCE. If he misbehaves he will be teleported home. If he shows signs of distrust, I will smite him down.

Arceus"

I felt happy when I read this, although a little scared at that last part. "Rob… You want to go to the Hall of Legends?"

"Are you serious?! I get to go there and meet legendaries?" He exclaimed in disbelief.

"It isn't as simple as that. You have to behave. This is a fun event, but you can't do anything stupid." I said.

"Ok. I promise." He said. I then focused and teleported all three of us to The Hall. I heard a gasp as Rob had seen the magnificence of where I lived.

"This way." I said, motioning for Rob to follow. While I lead him to my room I transformed into my human form and opened the door. He gasped and I sat down on my bed.

He was still standing looking in my room as I saw Arceus walk up behind us, still in her human form as well. "You must be Rob." She said, holding out her hand.

He had jumped and turned around quickly, seeing the goddess. "Wait… I thought humans were not allowed in The Hall of Legends. Only half humans."

"I am not human actually." She smiled. "You may call me Arceus."

He was utterly speechless as he shook her hand limply. "Y-you were the one that saved me?" He stuttered. She nodded and he looked as if he wouldn't be able to function anymore.

"Hey, sit down." I said. "You look like a car wreck." I smiled, pushing him onto my bed. "Hello Mother. Need anything else before everyone starts showing up?"

"Wait…" Rob said, coming out of his stupor. "You called her mother. I thought Mew was your mother."

"Mew is my mother. Biologically anyway. All the legends call Arceus mother." I explained.

"As for you, I don't have anything you need to do. Everything is set up and ready. In fact, most of the members are already here." She said.

The silence was broken by a frightened yelp. I didn't even have to turn around to know what happened, so I didn't. "Whats the word?" I asked, greeting Darkrai like usual.

"This human is... peculiar." He said sliding out of a shadow on the wall.

"Rob, this is my best friend up here, Darkrai. He usually runs around in Sinnoh."

"Nice to meet you." He said.

"Again… Very peculiar. Mother, did you condone this?" Darkrai asked Arceus.

"I did." She nodded.

"Hmm.." He said, sinking back into the floor and sliding away.

"As is my role, I am here to officially welcome you into The Hall. If your behavior is exemplary, you might gain the special privilege of being James' guest on more than a few legendary occasions. If you misbehave, you will be instantly removed from The Hall and never invited back." Arceus spoke to Rob in a serious tone.

"Yes Ma'am." He said, obviously overjoyed if the special privileges he was being given.

"The feast is being held in the kitchen. James will lead the way." She said, leaving to go to the main festivities.

"Ready for the best food you have ever had?" I asked Rob.

"Oh yea." He said.

"This way."

We made our way into the kitchen and I laughed as I heard Rob gasp at every legendary that passed by. "No way…" He said, racing up to Celebi.

"I knew it! I have seen you before." He said to the confused pokemon.

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

"I was five. I was wandering around in Viridian forest and you flew past me. I thought I was crazy but.." He trailed off.

"Wait a minute. I think I do remember…" She said thinking. She stroked her antenna and remembered. "You WERE there. Odd." She smiled.

"Sorry." I said behind Rob. "His first time here. Hey, snap out of it. Kitchen is this way." I said dragging him.

The initial shock of being in The Hall faded as he stopped being surprised at every legendary. "So dude. Arceus.. as a human." He said, elbowing me.

"Dude… She is basically my grandmother." I said defensively. "And besides. In all her years I have never heard of her ever choosing a mate."

"Oh.. Well then…" He cut short as he saw the massive amounts of food.

I was taken aback too because it didn't think Arceus could prepare all of this in the short time I was gone. "Mother, how did you do all of this?" I asked, approaching her.

"I am Arceus. I have my ways." She smiled and walked away.

I walked over to the fridge and pulled me out a soda. When I looked at Rob, he motioned for me to toss him one. I was about to until I was stopped. "I wouldn't do that." I was stopped by Uxie. "Those are quite toxic to humans." He said, putting it back.

"Sorry bro." I said, taking a sip out of my drink. I morphed into my lucario form and went to grab me a taco that Arceus had prepared. I handed Rob one and his eyes went wide as he tasted the delicious flavors. I didn't see mom anywhere and I was curious because many legendaries tease her for being too childish.

"Stay here and don't cause trouble please. I have to go find my mom." I said. I had a hunch where she was and headed down to the gardens. It was more of a small jungle instead of a garden, I was disheartened when I heard some sniffling and a whimper. I morphed into my mew form and hugged her from behind.

"Hi.." mom said sadly.

"Didn't I tell you not to listen to Kyogre? He is by far the rudest pokemon I have ever seen. What did he say this time?" I said as she turned around.

"H-he said I am the worst excuse of a legendary. All I do is play with toys in a big tree and act like a child."

"Shh." I said, petting her back. "And all he does is play with his water and yell at Groudon."

"You are so nice. It reminds me of your father. That was, until he left." She said, fresh tears flowing.

"Come on." I said, teleporting to my room. "Here." I went under my bed. I found what I was looking for and handed my mother a toy. It was a hitmontop top that spins when you pull the string.

"Thank you." She said smiling. I wiped away her tears and sat there with her and turned on the tv. A reporter was on the news about some Garry Oak completing one of his final regions. I didn't get to watch much as I was barged in on by Victini, who seemed rather out of it.

"Oops, sorry." He said in his medium pitched voice. "Wrong room." He said as he left.

"You know, the food is still there, you want me to grab you something?" I offered.

"No thanks. I am going to go out there and give Kyogre a piece of my mind here soon."

"Ok, well I have to go find Rob, hopefully he isn't getting himself into too much trouble." I said, floating out my door, with mom following me. I went to the kitchen to find Rob peacefully talking with Darkrai, even though he had scared the crap out of Rob when they first met.

Darkrai spotted me and waved me over. "Your human friend is quite interesting." He said. "He has never heard of the Unova region."

I laughed at this. "I have been there once or twice."

"You have?" Rob exclaimed.

"Yea, not much to see. Speaking of unova, where is Zecky?" I said, using Zekrom's nickname he hates.

"I don't think he is here, him and Reshiram are always so anti-social. Even worse than me." Darkrai said.

"Ehh. I guess I can live without them." I went to grab me another taco. I smiled to myself as Kyogre was nowhere to be seen. Good, go back to your bubbles. I thought. I floated my way back to mom, who was talking with Arceus. "Hi mom, Mother." I greeted them both.

"Hello James, how is your human friend enjoying the feast?" Arceus asked.

"He is over in the kitchen talking to Darkrai. He is really taking this all pretty well." I said. I finished my taco and put my paws on my now full belly. "That was incredible by the way, thank you Mother." I said happily.

"Mhm." She acknowledged. "You know.." She started.

"Hmm?" I asked.

"Your human has behaved quite well. I think he may be allowed in The Hall every now and then." She smiled.

I flew around in circles overjoyed. "Thank you mother. I promise we won't be a nuisance." I said laughing. "Erp… Too much moving." I said, beginning to feel sick a little. I floated down to my room and decided to take a quick cat nap, hoping to feel better.

I woke up and yawned, noticing that my bed was much stiffer than when I fell asleep. I opened my eyes to see that I was laying on Rob's chest. I didn't mind too much because neither of us ever really had a problem with it. Hmm… What do I want to be today? I asked myself. Ehh what the hell, whatever I transform into.

I transformed into a girl version of my human form. The differences weren't too obvious, a more feminine face, and white hair that would go down to my shoulders. In walked out of my room and realized I had done a whole lot more napping than I thought I did. The Hall was basically empty. I walked into the kitchen to find all the food from the feast had been put away, and still no one in sight.

"Hello?" I said.

No answer.

"Hmm. Allwell. Breakfast it is then, now where is the cereal? I know Arceus always keeps some somewhere." I talked to myself. "Ah-ha!" I said, grabbing the bag of a cheap knockoff of Honey Nut Cheerios. I poured my bowl and noticed Rob come out of my room, heading for the kitchen himself.

"James?" He said still half asleep as he walked into the kitchen.

"Nope. Do I look like a James? No." I said, playfully hitting him on the chest with a spoon. "Jamie."

"I am sorry. 'Jamie' then." He laughed. "I am not even going to bother getting you to try and change."

"Probably wouldn't work." I said, spooning cereal into my mouth. I finished that mouthful and made a point. "You know, you probably shouldn't always think of me as a guy, because I know I have said before that I am neither and both… I guess." I said with a giggle.

"I guess I can try." He said. "The milk isn't poisonous is it? I was stopped from eating a lot of things last night." He chuckled.

"No you are fine. Cheerios?" I offered.

"No, I can't digest cardboard." He joked.

"No… Regular cheerios are cardboard. These are good."

"Whatever bro… I mean… pokemon.. girl thing." He stumbled over his words.

"You can still call me bro." I laughed. "It doesn't matter what I look like, call me bro, it will be fine."

"Ok." He said, still looking confused.

Hmm… I wonder what's going through his mind right now. I thought to myself. Being a psychic pokemon, it wouldn't be too hard to figure out. I focused on Rob and I could soon hear whispers in his mind.

'God… He is getting pretty comfortable being a girl. He even answers to Jamie! I wonder if I can get used to something like this. Wait… Why is she staring at me?'

When I heard the last part I realized I was, in fact, staring. I quickly averted my gaze and went back to eating my cereal.

Breakfast went by rather quickly and we had teleported back to town. "Hide me!" I said, remembering I was still a girl. I shifted back to being a guy and walked out from behind him. "Forgot everyone here knows me by James."

"You mean there are places that know you by other names?"

"Duh, I am a mew. It would be ridiculous to have the powers to make as many alter egos as you can think of and NOT use it." I laughed.

"Mhm… But your main home is here. Where else do you go?"

"Ehh, here and there."

"Ugh… legendaries." He laughed and walked home.

I figured he was tired from the party last night and I teleported back to the Tree of Beginning. I looked around for mom, but I didn't see her. Must be still at the hall. I thought. I teleported there next, hoping to find mom. I knocked on her door and entered when given permission. She was sitting on her bed talking to Celebi.

"Hi James." Both of them greeted me.

"Hi, whats going on?" I asked.

"Girl talk." Celebi said with a smile.

"Easy fix." I said, turning into my female human form. "Better?" I asked.

"I don't know.." Mom said smiling. "Do you think we can trust her?" She joked.

"Well, she IS a girl now." Celebi smiled.

"Oh geez, what's the worst you two can be talking about? Heat cycles?" I joked.

"Nope. Fruit." Mom laughed.

"Fruit… My mother is insane." I smiled. "But, I have nothing to do, so I can sit here and talk." I said, transforming back into a mew. I spent the next hour commenting and listening to a conversation about various fruits and berries as Celebi was excited to share all of her forest encounters across time.

I eventually got too bored to continue and made an excuse to leave. "Have fun with your fruit." I smiled as I teleported an apple in front of them. "Heres one right now." I laughed.

I floated out of her room and stopped dead in my tracks as a giant red, black, and grey snake like pokemon floated by. It was heading towards Arceus' door. What is Giratina doing here? Shouldn't he be governing the distortion world? I thought. Whatever it is, it will be good.

I followed Giratina and he finally noticed me. "Greetings." He said in the deepest voice I have ever heard.

I felt insignificant towards the pokemon with powers that would almost rival Arceus'. "Hi." I squeaked. I couldn't say I wasn't nervous. This guy was huge and I have only seen him twice (not including this time) and so I didn't know much about him. We made it to Arceus' doors and Giratina floated in. I tried to follow, but I literally ran face first into an invisible force field. I rubbed my nose with a sigh and went back to my room and basically played with my tail for the next hour. I walked out of my room to sate my growling stomach when I saw Arceus walking to her garden. Wow… Must have gone badly. I thought to myself. She would always go to the garden when she is upset, because being near her plants always cheered her up. I floated beside her.

"What did he want?" I asked, curiously. I hoped that her talking about it would help, and it would also satisfy my own desire for information.

"Nothing… It is far beyond you." She said turning her massive head away.

"Would you like the company?"

"If you want." She turned back to me. "Thank you." She smiled as she realized I was staying.

I returned the smile and continued floating down to the lush garden. It didn't take long for the plants to put her in a cheerier mood and she left, going back to the matters of the world. I teleported back down to earth to Rob's room. The sound of the warp scared him as he was sitting on his bed drawing something (He was a very skilled artist) and he immediately covered it up, clearly not wanting me to see.

"That's not strange." I said laughing as I floated over to him.

"I-it's nothing." He stuttered. Over the years I have learned it better to not ask and just let it go.

"Mhm… Anyway, the past three hours has felt like a week, I NEED to do something stupid, fun, or just downright crazy."

"Well you could start your own pokemon adventure." He said.

"I have told you this a hundred times. I AM a pokemon, it would be weird for me to have a pokemon team." I laughed.

"Well you are only HALF pokemon actually." He said, starting a new drawing.

"Well I am still not going to." I said as I floated over to him to see what he was drawing. I could see him start a rough outline of the head already. It was in the general shape of my head and I could see him start on the outline.

"Hey, would you mind moving back please? Hold the end of your tail, it would make an awesome drawing." He said, looking up from his drawing. I actually liked the idea and did as I was asked. I didn't have to wait long until he finished the outline and I was amazed. To me it already looked finished and I saw him adding in quite a bit of detail.

"Wow… I never thought you could draw that good…" I trailed off.

"What?" He laughed. "You have seen a ton of my drawings, why are you amazed NOW?"

"Because, just look at me." I said, putting my paw on the paper. "This is better than a photograph." I floated down beside him as he finished filling in detail and I began to think hard about what he had said about a pokemon adventure. It would be fun and it wasn't a bad idea, running around and challenging people and their pokemon. On the other hand, I was a pokemon and I would feel too uncomfortable about giving other pokemon orders. It would make me feel like a hypocritical tyrant. Slowly, an insane idea began worming its way into my mind. "Rob…" I said, getting his attention.

"Yea?"

"You know how you said I could go on a pokemon adventure?" I said slowly.

"Yea. Changed your mind?" He asked excitedly.

"Maybe… In a weird sort of way."

"Weird how?"

"I was thinking… Maybe I wouldn't be a trainer."

"No way…. You are thinking of becoming a trainer's pokemon?" He said astonished.

"Maybe…" I said, still uncomfortable with the idea.

"Who would your trainer be?" He asked. He sat up, putting his drawing to the side as he said this.

"I think you probably know the answer to that one. You may not use your common sense a lot but you are a genious." I laughed. "But don't get your hopes up. I am still too uneasy with the whole thing. Besides… I don't want Arceus throwing a fit if I do."

"Well… What can she do?"

"Well I don't know. Probably use her powers as god or something like that?" I said sarcastically. All the talk of being a trainer and pokemon had reminded me of my father and I suddenly got an urge to actually see him. To see his face for the first time and see what he was like. "Hey, I gotta go do something real quick."

"What's that?" He asked curiously.

"It's.. personal." I said, teleporting back to the hall. I found my way back to my moms room, hoping Celebi was still there. I knocked on the door and proceeded into the room where I was let down by the sight of only my mom snacking on some leftovers from last night.

"Hi sweetie." She said in her sing song voice. "What is the matter?" She asked as she saw my frown.

"Nothing… I need to find celebi. Would you know where she went?"

"She had just left to find food in the kitchen." She said, floating over to me and hugging me. I hugged her back and thanked her as I left for the gigantic kitchen. Sure enough I heard clattering coming from the fridge.

I announced my arrival by clearing my throat and she peeked her head over the door of the fridge. "Oh, hi James. How are you?" She smiled.

"I need to ask you a favor." I said, lowering my head and fiddling with my paws.

"What kind of favor?"

"Would you mind taking me back to the time when my uncle tried taking over the world? I want to see the final moments before he wiped my father's memory. I just want to see him before I labelled him as a cruel person that left me and my mother." I said.

She immediately left the fridge and put her hands on my shoulders. "I am positive he had a really good reason. You can ask around even here. Ash has had a positive effect on almost all of us here. He saved my life, he changed Mewtwo's heart, he saved the Lati's. Hell, he even managed to save Arceus herself. I am pretty sure there was one heck of a reason that he didn't stay and care for you."

"But.. will you still take me back in time?" I asked.

"Of course I will." She said as a bright light began to engulf us. We were in a green orb above a stadium on an island as a terrible storm howled around the island. I could see my mom and my uncle battling fiercely as several pokemon fought what looked like exact replicas of themselves. "There." Celebi pointed at a boy about the age of 11. He was dressed in a blue vest with a white shirt underneath and in blue jeans with a red and white hat on. He was up on the roof of the large pokemon stadium.

"So young." I mumbled

"PIKACHU!" He yelled as his faithful mouse pokemon got slapped hard by it's double. He climbed down off of the roof and jumped off about 10 feet from the ground and his friends ran to help him. At that moment it looked like the battle between my mom and my uncle reached its zenith. They were both glowing with their own color and without warning, Ash shot out from the sidelines. "You have got to stop right now!" He yelled. At that moment Mom and Mewtwo shot their powers at each other and he was caught right in the middle.

I couldn't help but feel a little sad as I saw him turn to stone and I even shed a tear. Pikachu, who had ran up to him, began shocking him to try and wake him up. All the pokemon had began to cry, even me, over the death of one so young. Their tears magically went into my father's lifeless stone body and with a flash of light, he got up. As he did, the storm had dissipated within moments.

At that time, I could sense there was a mutual understanding between all of them. "A human sacrificed himself to save the pokemon. I pitted them against each other, but not until they set aside their differences did I see the true power they all shared deep inside." Mewtwo said as he overlooked the touching scene.

"Yes." My mom agreed.

"I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant. It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are." Mewtwo said.

"That is wise." Mom said with a nod. At that moment all the clones began levitating because of the his psychic abilities and were flying away.

"Mewtwo, where are you going?" Ash said looking up.

"Where my heart can learn what yours knows so well. What transpired here I will always remember, but perhaps for you, these events are best forgotten." Mewtwo said, flying off into the horizon with all of his clones, causing a blinding light to consume all of New Island. When the light faded it was a lush island paradise without any signs of former habitation and nobody was to be seen except a man with blue hair and a woman with red and a meowth.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and I jumped because I had been focusing on the scene with my small family. "That's it." Celebi said softly as I turned to her. I was still recovering from the fact that I had my ideas about my father all wrong as he not only saved my mother, but the entire world. I turned around and pulled Celebi into a hug as I cried into her shoulder and she patted my back kindly.

"It's all right." She cooed as she teleported us back to the present time and place. We appeared right as my mom was coming out of her room and she saw me crying into Celebi's shoulder.

"What happened?" she asked worried.

"New island." Was celebi's short reply. My mom got the idea in an instant. "He wanted to see Ash."

"Oh." She said looking down.

When I finally was able to control myself I wiped my face and apologized to Celebi. "Come with me." My mom motioned to me. She had brought me to her room and asked Celebi to wait outside. "I know this is going to be hard for you, but know this. Ash has saved the world and destroyed a lot of criminal organizations. Things like that gets a man a lot of enemies that would do anything to get back at him. He didn't leave because he didn't care. He left because he cared more than anything in the world. He didn't want either of us to become targets because of his good deeds." She said, putting her paw on my furry cheek.

I nodded in silent acceptance and thought long and hard. "I will find him though." I said with a smile.

I know this is a rather long chapter. I don't want to get into the main plot too soon because i like this story and want to see how far it goes X). To all those pokemon fans that recognized the best scene in pokemon history, no i didn't get that all from memory sadly. I just thought it would be the best scenario to show ash as a caring person willing to sacrifice everything for others. Anyway i know this took a while but i ran out of data on my phone and now I have to get my laptop repaired so updates will come even slower :(, not to mention how fanfic keeps messing up my files i try to put in.