Riley blinked and looked around. Around him was lush green foliage and a beautiful spring. "Wasn't I just at the palace?" he asked no one in particular. He looked down at the Riolu. "Did…did you bring me here?" The Riolu smiled and nodded. Riley frowned. "But…how? Riolu can't…" But he stopped when the Riolu jumped out of his arms and transformed.

Instead of the blue fox-like creature it was, the creature that hovered in front of Riley was pink. It had big blue eyes and a long tail. Riley stared at it in shock, and the next thing he knew, it was flipping and spinning and flying in circles around him, purring.

"Wait, hold on a second!" said Riley. The Pokemon stopped in front of him, getting up in his face and watching him curiously. Riley backed up a step, not afraid, just a little disconcerted. The pink creature cocked it's head to the side, not understanding.

Riley took a breath to calm himself. "You're Mew, aren't you?" he asked.

"Myuu!" it said excitedly. It began flying in circles around him again. "Myuu! Myuu myuu!"

Riley couldn't help but chuckle. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you," he said. Mew purred in response. Riley's smile faded slightly. "But…why did you bring me to this place?" Mew looked at him, puzzled. Riley sighed.

Mew watched him for a second, then suddenly seemed to have an idea. "Myuu!" It flew off, leaving Riley alone.

"Wait, don't go!" Riley called after it. It didn't come back. He sighed. "What now?" he asked out loud. "I don't know where I am, let alone how to get back… And I don't have my Pokemon with me… Huh?" He looked up to see Mew flying toward him with a colorful ball in it's hands.

"Myuu! Myuu myuu myuu!" It threw the ball at him.

Riley caught the ball instinctively, and Mew flipped over several times, then flew backwards, waving it's arms up. "You want me to play with you?" he asked, and Mew flipped over again.

Riley sighed. This wasn't really the time for games. Mew was starting to get impatient. It cooed, trying to get Riley's attention. Riley looked at it only to drop his gaze. "Listen, Mew…I don't really think that now is a good time," he said. Mew's face fell. "I need to get back to the palace… or Team Galactic might hurt my Pokemon."

Mew flew closer and watched Riley's worried expression. After a moment, it seemed to understand. It Teleported away, once again leaving Riley alone. Riley sighed. Great.

Cyrus paced back and forth impatiently as his henchmen searched the room for Sir Aaron's staff. So far they were having no luck. Soon Saturn came up to him. "Sir, I've just heard from Jupiter. They've searched the entire town and haven't found him."

"Hmph. To be honest, I'd be surprised if they had," said Cyrus. He turned to look out the high window and a thought occurred to him. "Of course…I should have realized before."

"What are you talking about, Boss?" asked Saturn.

"I know where Riley is."

"Where-" But Saturn was cut off when his communicator went off. "Saturn, this is Mars. We have trouble!"

Mars looked at the metal bands scattered across the ground in fury. Riley's Pokemon were gone. She turned to the grunts who were stationed there and roared, "How could you let this happen?!"

"W-we tried to stop it, but we c…couldn't…" stuttered one of the grunts. "It used T-T-Teleport…"

"What used Teleport?!"

"M…Mew..."

Riley was now leaning against a large rock sitting by the water. He had left Mew's ball sitting beside him and was staring up at the sky. Mew hadn't been gone long, but Riley was already beginning to feel lonely.

Why did it even bring me here? he thought. I wish I knew…

Suddenly he sensed something coming, and the next thing he knew, Mew reappeared. But it wasn't alone. It had six other Pokemon with it. Riley felt tears come to eyes when he saw them. Lucario, Absol, Dragonite, Gallade, Gyarados, and Metagross all lay on the ground dazed and confused.

Lucario was the first to get its bearings. It carefully pushed itself off the ground and looked around. When it spotted its master, it sprang up suddenly, and tears came to its eyes, too. It flung itself at Riley, wrapping it's arms around his waist. You're okay! They said you had disappeared! I'm so relieved! it said through telepathy.

Riley smiled, hugging his most loyal partner. "I was worried about you, too," he said. Lucario finally released him, but he didn't get a chance to move because the next the he knew, Gyarados had come and wrapped it's scaly body around him in what was the closest thing it could do to a hug. Riley chuckled. "Of course I was worried about you, too, Gyarados. I was worried about all of you. I'm so glad you're safe…Whoa!" Dragonite had tackled him with a hug next, knocking itself, Riley, and Gyarados into the water.

Gyarados released Riley to let Dragonite have it's turn. When Dragonite was satisfied, it let go. Riley climbed out of the water and was greeted by Gallade and Metagross, who tried to hug him at the same time and almost crushed him.

Absol stood of to the side looking a bit forlorn. Riley freed himself from the Psychic-types' "embrace" and held it's arms out to Absol. "I'm glad to see you're safe. I was worried." Absol didn't move right away. "Come on, buddy," Riley said. Absol sulkily moved forward. When it got close enough, Riley put his arms around it and pulled it into a tight hug. Absol whimpered, tears in its eyes. It was prideful and ashamed of itself for crying, but it was glad to see Riley was okay.

After a moment, Riley released Absol and turned to Mew, who looked happy with itself. "You freed them from Team Galactic's clutches," he said. Mew flipped over once, smiling. "Well, I want to thank you," Riley went on. "Now they're out of harm's way… and now I'm out from under Team Galactic's thumb. So thank you."

"Myuu!" said Mew, as if to say "you're welcome".

Lucario walked up and put it's paw on Riley's arm. What are we going to do now? it asked telepathically.

"I don't know," said Riley. "I'd like to find out why Mew brought me here…"

"Myuu! Myuu, myuu myuu!" said Mew, getting up in Riley's face again. It grabbed his hand and tried to pull him toward a tunnel in the rock wall behind them. It was having trouble because it was much smaller than Riley.

"You want me to go with you?" asked Riley, and Mew nodded, tugging harder. "Okay, lead the way then." He turned to his Pokemon and beckoned them to follow as he walked behind Mew, who led them into the tunnel.

Mars was incredulous. "Did…did you hear what he just said, Saturn?"

"Hmm, yes. Very interesting," said Saturn through the communicator.

"Well, what are we going to do now? Even if we find Riley, we've lost our leverage!"

"I know. But for now, you, Jupiter, and your team needs to come back here. It seems Boss has a plan."

"Tch…Fine. Jupiter! Round up the search party and let's go!"

"So what is it that you're planning, Boss?" asked Saturn.

Cyrus chuckled. "We're going to the Tree of Life. We will recapture our lost prisoner as well as securing some…heavy artillery." And with that, he began to laugh sinisterly.