Taking care of a human was much like taking care of an injured Pokémon—if Pokémon were more complex than amino acid chains. They had different needs to attend to, different resistances, different aversions. Aries woke up exactly three hundred and sixty-two minutes later and requested something to eat. Evidently, that one request was more than both of them could handle.

Mew started off with some Berries; they were basic Pokémon food, and it had seen humans eat them on occasion. Aries rejected them instantly, stating that he was allergic to one but unsure of the exact Berry and didn't want to risk it. A little irritated, it tried Magikarp, but Aries also rejected it, saying he couldn't eat raw fish. An attempt to cook it failed miserably, a second attempt failing even worse when Moltres failed to understand the word "overcooked." Finally, Mew decided to get scientific with it, combining glucose, glycerol, and fat-soluble vitamins into a chalky paste, offering it to Aries with assurances of it quickly allowing him to heal. Dubious, he tasted it, only to end up horrifically bilious moments later. Mew was still trying to figure out what went wrong with its formula.

The second confusing instance was his body's way of expelling waste. Mew requested that he do it in a bag so that it may dispose of it, which he seemed fine with at first, but simply stood there as Mew hovered in its spot, appearing more and more anguished by the second. Mew repeatedly asked him what the problem was but he simply shook his head, which was when Mew finally decided to take its leave. It returned five minutes later and Aries shoved the bag in its direction, an odd expression on his face. Humans are strange, was Mew's only thought on the matter.

Though he remained peculiar in his ways, he was a very avid learner, Mew discovered. Four hours out of the day it took him aside to teach him basic human skills such as arithmetic and history, come to find he already had the knowledge of a full-grown man. Mew decided to instead teach him the ways of the Legendary—meditation, arbitration, and divine intervention, which included their godly abilities. He was most dubious about his ability to learn them, where Mew convinced him that even a commonplace human could learn rudimentary Psychic abilities, such as Gym Leader Sabrina.

Time passed much slower in the Legendaries' dimensions than it did on Earth, but Mew measured three days of Earth time before Aries' body finally reached its limit. One day Mew returned from an excursion to the human world-they chalked up the destruction of Pallet Town to "foreign intervention," which seemed to be their description of Deoxys; suffice it to say, there was still a lot of mystery surrounding the event for them, as well as a severe amount of grief-and didn't find him in his usual chair reading. It searched a bit before hearing his cry, the same cry he made when he was in pain from Deoxys' attack. It found him curled up beneath a toppled tower of books, which were so large they almost dwarfed his small body.

It quickly made work of the mess, tossing the books out of his way and attempting to help him to his feet; however, he cried out again, refusing to straighten up or move a single millimeter. It occurred to Mew that he had been in its dimension for three days, which was an extraordinary amount of time for him to have been completely at ease. It would've congratulated him, but judging by the extreme pain caused by the abnormal pressure of the dimension, he would most likely be unwelcoming.

Arceus warned you of this, it said. A single tear streaked down his splotchy face and his lips twisted into a contorted line.

"It hurts," he moaned. "Ten times worse than Joey and his friends. A hundred times worse than the chimney. It really hurts, mum."

He had a tendency to slur his Mew into mum, which Mew would have usually protested, but at the moment his health was its main concern. It tried to soothe him, humming lullabies it had often heard in the human world and wiping away each tear he shed, however he continued to writhe in pain. It was painful how useless Mew was; if only I could heal him, it thought miserably. Then, I shouldn't be lamenting over this. I should be trying to find an answer.

It took a while, but Mew managed to coerce him into a sitting position. Meditate, it said. Aries ignored it the first time, grimacing. Meditate, Mew repeated, sitting opposite to him. It will help, I promise. Just close your eyes and slip back into your mind; it shouldn't be hard, especially since you do this every time you fall into a book.

Aries exhaled slowly but closed his eyes. Almost immediately the tension left his body and he was completely still. Mew silently hovered around him, touching him in several places on his body and failing to cause him to even flinch. It smiled, clapping his hands; he mastered meditation very quickly for a human, though the extreme pain was probably a very good motivation.

He spent five human hours and twenty-one minutes in a meditative state; Mew took advantage of the time, checking in on the human world while he couldn't ask it about it. Though it would love to take him there, it would have too many repercussions; he was the lone survivor of Pallet Town, meaning that too much attention would be drawn to him, too many questions would be asked, and one of the things Mew learned about him was whatever the situation, he never lied. For him to speak about the Legendary Pokémon and the several entrances into their dimensions would spell out their destruction—not that Mew believed that humans were destructive like the others, but it did believe that most ruined things that they touched, and it loved its junk collection.

Mew returned with something the humans called "ice cream," which was frozen Moomoo Milk congealed into a thick slush and colored with artificial flavors. For all of its fallacy, it did taste very nice, and it wanted to share it with Aries, come to find out that he had come out of his meditative state somewhere on its excursion and had fallen asleep. It landed next to him and nudged his face; he moaned softly, rolling onto his back.

Aries, I have something incredibly fascinating I want you to see, it promised. Aries' eyelids slid back a bit.

"Wha's it?" he slurred groggily. Mew held out the ice cream cone; he half-sat up, looking at it in mild interest.

They call it 'ice cream.'

"I know, Mew. I had it in Pallet Town."

Oh. Mew's shoulders slumped. It had wanted to surprise Aries, but again fell flat on its face; having read more books than the average man did in his lifetime, he knew everything that was on Earth, meaning he was nearly impossible to impress.

"I don't like sweet things anyway," he said. Mew suspended it in the air with Psychic, keeping the bubble of energy cool so it didn't melt.

You're feeling better?

"Yeah; I mean, it still kinda hurts, but not nearly as badly."

That's very good. You're the first human to have learned the art of meditation so quickly and fluently, but it does help that you already do it.

"You can learn a lot if you're always alone." He didn't say it lugubriously; he said it in a more matter-of-fact manner.

You can't possibly always be alone, Aries. You have to have some sort of company—

"I do," he said. "But it doesn't mean it's the company that I want."

Joey and his friends came to mind. Why do they assault you as they do? You said that it is because you're always reading, but that certainly can't be the case for all the times.

"Yet, it is." This time, a bit of sorrow trickled into his tone. Mew prodded the ice cream's bubble, watching it quiver and bob in the air.

So who gives you the books?

"Professor Oak," he answered. "He thinks of me as a prodigious scientist, so he gives me all these books on Pokémon and academics."

What did you read about me? Mew asked inquisitively.

"Um…" He thought for a moment. "You're the Ancient Pokémon, said to be the ancestor of all existing Pokémon. You can learn any and every move and you are invisible to anyone with an impure heart. Did I get it right?"

You forgot one thing. His crestfallen expression was akin to a kicked Growlithe's. I'm a collector of human items.

"Oh." He looked around at Mew's extensive collection. "I just like the books. Oak only had ones from Kanto; you have them from all the regions. Did you really travel everywhere?"

In every time period, Mew added.

"Astounding," he breathed. Then he sobered up. "Why did you choose me, Mew? Out of all the people in the world, the Pokémon Champions and adventurers and such, you chose me, a lonely little orphan brat in miniscule Pallet Town."

I've noticed that you have an inferiority complex, which is completely ludicrous when you've such an unprecedented, astonishing intelligence quotient and potential as a human.

"You noticed?" He appeared bemused then. "You mean you read my mind, right?"

Mew shook its head. I cannot use any Psychic abilities on you for reasons unknown to me.

"You…can't?"

No.

An indecipherable expression passed over his face. It vanished too quickly for Mew to question, only to be replaced by abstraction. "I miss Pallet Town," he murmured. Then, "Could you…take me to my world? Please? Just for tonight?"

Aries, I can't. Arceus—

"He doesn't have to know!"

He knows all.

"You don't even have to take me near Pallet Town! Just anywhere, please!" He bowed his head. "Please…"

The longing in his voice was very clear. It touched his head. Arceus' reasons for you to stay and mine are completely different. He believes that you will die because of this atmosphere and does not want your body to remain in the human world where they can discover the abnormalities in it, correlating it with us Legendary Pokémon; mine are that it would be too problematic for your body to constantly adjust to our world's atmosphere and Earth's, and that your organs and skeleton would eventually suffer from the fluctuating pressure.

"Just once, Mew…" He put his arms around it, pulling it close. Even for a five-year-old, Aries was small; Mew was a little bigger than his whole upper half, which made it awkward as he hugged her like a stuffed animal. "Please. Please."

Mew realized that it wasn't childish desire in his voice but pure, agonized longing. It wished more than ever that it could connect with him psychically and feel the pain he felt, but it was left in the dark as he pressed it as tightly as possible against his body, his hair tickling its face. Aries—Aries, please—you're too—Aries—I can't— He didn't relent in the least; if anything, he held it tighter. Aries—Aristotle, release me—you don't understand—I—I—I'll take you.

He stood up so quickly it was almost inhuman, holding Mew away from him. "You will?" he sniffed.

I will. In return, I'd like that you refrain from telling Arceus. I will attempt to hide this excursion from him as long as possible.

"Of course!" Mew noticed that he was looking a little to its left instead of directly at it, but ignored it for the time being. It was going back to the human world, this time with a guest.


"Where are we?" Aries asked, his breath freezing into a cloud of grey mist. He appeared to be freezing, which was understandable when they were one of the polar regions on Earth, which were renowned for their extreme temperatures, and he was wearing a simple shirt and pants.

Far north, Mew answered, plopping down into the blanket of snow. It always amazed it how it was so plush, like nature's carpeting. It made a mental note to thank Articuno later. I want to show you something.

"Can I get a sweater first?" Mew had a hard time understanding him with his teeth chattering so hard.

Are you cold, Aries?

"No, I'm just shaking because I like the feeling." He rolled his eyes with a frozen sigh. It stared inquisitively; it had heard of the emotion, but it was the first time it heard Aries being 'sarcastic.'

Why are you being sarcastic?

"Because the answer is obvious."

Mew stared at him for a few seconds more before letting its eyes fall to the snow. It had forgotten how fragile humans were; he could very well freeze to death in temperatures like that ill-equipped. It used Protect to create a bubble around them, pushing the snow outside until their little space was just smooth dirt. Then it used a weak Heat Wave, warming the space until Aries relaxed and fell to the ground.

"Warm," he exhaled. "Why did you take me here? I could've died; unless you were planning that." His face didn't change but something in his tone did.

No! Mew looked up at the sky; it was late in the night, perhaps a few hours after the midnight hour, and it was very dark, the three-quarter moon and its few stars barely lighting the area. Around them, some Jynx and Delibird shuffled through the snow, returning to their homes. I assumed that maybe, after experiencing such pain, you would like to enjoy something. Also, I know you read about this—you read about everything, it seems—but there are tremendously low chances of you having seen it in person.

"Seen what?"

It waited until the last Pokémon disappeared and the area grew quiet. Subsequently, a lone crimson light fluttered through the sky. They watched as it faded, overwhelmed by the darkness, then returned, this time accompanied by a golden spark. The sparks mingled, tested each other, before separating, drifting apart in the endless sky. Soon, trails of aqua and emerald swam into view, looping and twirling and spinning in the same wavy path. They grew in size, intensifying until their light shone through the murk and towards the moon. Other colors appeared, blue and purple and orange, and joined the others, merging until they all formed a long iridescent stream burning through the night sky. Aries gasped, his face glowing with its effervescence.

"The aurora borealis!" he said. "The northern lights!" He watched in awe as the lights glittered and gleamed, admiration for nature's beauty clear in his features.

I have been observing them since they first appeared and the glory never dulls, Mew said, though it doubted he heard him as he appeared completely consumed in watching the lights flash and wiggle. It reclined in their little bubble and watched them with him, content to let him enjoy his moment of humanity in silence. The Legendaries' dimensions had its fair share of visual spectacles; however, none could amount to the naturally-made things on Earth. Aries deserved something normal for that night, before things truly became hard for him.

The northern lights remained in the sky for sixty-seven minutes before they began to wane, lights dulling and fading until they were no more than scratches of color in the blackness of the arctic. It turned to Aries and found him curled up on the dirt, fast asleep. As mature as he acted, he did fall asleep quickly like the child he was. It sighed, pulling his hair and tugging his arm, but he refused to wake up. It slumped against his body resignedly, exhaling.

You seem very content, Mew.

It snapped to attention, eyes raised to the sky. Arceus didn't grace it with its physical presence but its voice was still crystal-clear. Arceus, I'm sorry—

If you've taken him back, you should be prepared to leave him, it said impassively.

No, Arceus—

What, Mew? it snapped. It was your decision to keep him in our world, yet you brought him back! You disregarded our agreement; it's time to face the repercussions.

No, Arceus, I don't want to bring him back!

There was a loud boom!; it was astounding that no Pokémon rushed outside to find its source. You must remember, Mew, that it was I who created all humans as living organisms and I who gave them autonomy; they are not to be coveted and captured and held like trinkets.

I know, Arceus! Do you think I am unaware of what I am doing? Mew wrapped its tail around him before Arceus could continue, shattering their protective bubble. He shuddered once in his sleep, a grimace twisting his features as he was reintroduced to the painful cold. It floated up, visibly straining to lift a person triple its weight; it quivered and shook in the air, nearly falling back to earth several times as it sped across the snow. It put a block over its mind, shutting out Arceus and any other potential obstructions. It had no idea how it was going to manage a passage home by itself, but it was going to—the only question was if it was going alone, or with Aries.

It wasn't sure how far it got—it couldn't have been more than sixty feet, not with the extra weight—but soon it was unable to support itself even by Psychic, falling to the ground near a loping rock formation that was structured similar to a cave. It managed to drag Aries beneath it, pushing the snow away before it was completely drained of mental energy. It fell to its side, curling into Aries' body. While its mind was clear, its ears were full of the sounds of a forming blizzard, strong winds whirling and shoving snow around and pelting them with it. It wanted to tell Articuno to cease and desist, but opening its mind would make it victim to Arceus' haranguing, and it wasn't worth it. Aries' life, on the other hand, was.

No more than five minutes had passed, but tremors wracked his small body even though he was curled up into as tight a ball as possible. His fingertips and toes were very white and his jaw was clenched so tightly the muscles were like steel. If they stayed like that, he would die of hypothermia before the night had even partly elapsed, and the fault would be for Mew's own egocentricity.

I should've just left him in another town, like Arceus said, it thought dejectedly.

Ah, yes; yet another show of your idiocy.

Mew sat ramrod straight, searching through the thick sheet of snow falling from the sky for the source of the unfamiliar voice. At first, it couldn't see anything, but quickly sensed an approaching presence to the northeast. Who are you? it demanded, fearful of Deoxys' return.

Not that virus, Deoxys, the voice answered calmly. It gasped; it could read its thoughts too? And yes, I can read your thoughts perfectly. You really do love that human, don't you? I don't see why; humans are so weak, so fragile. He'll be dead within the hour.

Show yourself.

Is it my fault it's snowing so hard?

Show yourself, it repeated.

Fine, fine, the other sighed. The snow parted and curved around a bubble of psychic energy, revealing the figure of the stranger. Mew's first action was to gasp, broken and scattered thoughts racing in its mind. 'It looks like me?' That's the basis of those illogical thoughts, am I right?

Who are you? Mew demanded again, baffled. The other Pokémon did look like it, however marginally; it had the same skeletal structure and apparently the same mental capabilities, yet whereas Mew's presence was jovial and happy-go-lucky, this one's was foreboding and menacing.

The name they gave me is 'Mewtwo,' it replied concisely. It stepped closer, snow easily bending to its will as it grew within spitting distance of them. Though it is not the name I'd prefer, it does describe me very well. Second to Mew, the Ancient Pokémon. Ha! Its laugh, though mental, was very clear, as if it did produce tangible sound.

Why did you approach me? It tried to hover protectively over Aries but failed in its powerless state.

I'm not here to fight, if that's what you're frightened of, Mewtwo stated. I am actually quite exhausted and not in the mood for conflict. I approached you to offer a bit of advice.

Advice? it repeated lamely.

Yes, advice. I am acutely aware of your self-indulgent want to avoid Arceus and the facts that it's sure to throw at you, so I recommend that you take that dying human to the nearest city, Snowpoint, unless you want your toy to be a Popsicle.

Popsicle?

Oh, just take him. Well, my job is done. It turned back into the blizzard, taking slow purposeful steps until it was just a dot on the horizon.

How did you find me? Mew thought as loudly as possible. Mewtwo's laugh returned in its skull.

Only you, Mew, could have so much compassion lying atop so much resentment.

That chilled Mew down to its skeleton. How could it possibly know, it thought, a weak whine escaping its dry mouth. It heard Aries moan, too, and remembered that he was slipping into critical condition. Discarding its questions, it forced its form to change into that of a Fearow and, taking Aries in its claws, it soared up into the sky, above the freezing clouds, and raced for Snowpoint City.