One thing that should be noted about this story is that it won't only revolve around Ash and his companions. This chapter, for example, doesn't even feature Ash at all. Enjoy anyways!
Oh yeah, character ages: Dravven is 17, Alain is 17, and Mairin is 15.
Alain hated himself.
Lysandre had lied to him. His "peaceful purposes" turned out to be a hoax, and Team Flare was yet another terrorist organization who wanted to rule the world. He had unknowingly hurt many people, and this was the price he had to pay.
Exile.
On the bright side, his Charizard was stronger than ever, even without using Mega Evolution. Alain's other Pokémon had also grown, but Alain's strongest bond was still with Charizard. The two were inseparable at this point.
Other than Alain and his Pokémon, not many sentient beings lived on the island. It was a peaceful place, with colorful foliage and beautiful scenery. The quiet helped Alain meditate without interruption, allowing him to wash away his worries under a waterfall that dotted the landscape. He had mimicked the practice from a Mewtwo, with whom he shared the island with.
Mewtwo, it seemed, had lived on the island for a long time. It kept to itself mostly, only emerging from its cave to pick berries or, as Alain had noticed, to mediate. Alain had attempted to communicate with Mewtwo once, to which it had turned its head and spoke telepathically: "Those who listen to the quiet are more attuned to this world."
On this day, it seemed, one who was not attuned to the world was approaching over the horizon on the back of Lapras.
Alain stood up quickly, running to the shore of the island as the Transport Pokémon and the girl riding him approached. Mewtwo glanced over at the man, then straightened itself and resumed meditating. Alain crossed his arms, annoyed by the girl's arrival. It wasn't that he didn't like her; in fact, he cared about her quite a bit. But he knew why she had come, and his response would be one that he knew she wouldn't accept.
The Lapras stopped a few meters from shore, the girl on his back staring at Alain. The two locked eyes for a few seconds, then the girl flung herself off of Lapras and into the water. She swam to shore, and, upon reaching it, sprinted towards Charizard's trainer, flinging her arms around him and bursting into tears.
"Don't you ever leave me again!" Her speech was mixed with sobs and sniffs.
"You know that's a promise I can't make, Mairin." Nevertheless, Alain returned her hug.
Mairin pulled away. "Why? Why did you leave?"
"I hurt too many people. I hurt...you."
"You hurt me more by abandoning me."
Alain sighed. "It was for your own good." When Mairin didn't offer up a response, he continued. "How did you find us?"
Mairin sniffed once more. "Chespie remembered your scent. Chespin tend to have a strong sense of smell."
"Ah." Alain looked past the girl, setting his eyes on the Lapras. "When did you catch a Lapras?"
"About two hours ago." Alain looked back to Mairin, whose eyes were pleading. "When are you coming back?"
"I don't know, Mairin. But...why did you come here? The ocean is dangerous, and I wouldn't be able to bear it if-"
"I had to see you, Alain. I had to know if you were okay. I missed you." Mairin blinked back more tears, then set her gaze on Mewtwo. The Genetic Pokémon had finished meditating and was returning to its cave. "What is that?!"
Mewtwo glanced over at the two, thought about saying something, then continued its trek towards the caves.
"Mewtwo. It was here long before me." Alain scratched his chin. "I've thought about asking where it came from, but I'm pretty sure it's antisocial."
"I have my reasons for not conversing with your kind, human, the Mewtwo spoke. And trust me when I tell you, they aren't very pleasant."
"Where do you come from?" Mairin asked.
"It comes from a place called Cinnabar Island."
Alain and Mairin turned to find a strange fellow reclining in the shade of a nearby palm tree. He wore a black jacket over a midnight blue shirt, the latter of which showcased a large, purple S. His jeans were ripped in a couple of places, and he wore sunglasses as to conceal his identity. He smirked at the trio.
"Who are you, and how did you find this island?" Alain demanded, his tone accusatory.
"I sense his intentions are misplaced," Mewtwo noted, its hands burning with blue energy.
"Now, now, we're all friends here!" the man started, striding forward. He stopped and outstretched his hand. "I'm Keith. I found this island because I was tracking that." Keith pointed to Mewtwo, who didn't move.
It was clear that Alain had no intention of shaking Keith's hand, so the latter awkwardly swung it back to his side.
"Why are you tracking Mewtwo?" Mairin asked, suspicious.
"Simple, really," Keith continued. "Boss man would pay quite a bit for a Pokémon like that. Now!"
A Mismagius shimmered into existence and launched a Shadow Ball at Mewtwo, who managed to evade in the nick of time. A split second afterwards, a Mightyena hopped out of the bushes, clamping its jaws around Mewtwo, who howled in pain. Retaliating, Mewtwo finished charging his Aura Sphere and slammed it onto the Mightyena, who fainted instantly.
While this was happening, another person, who wore a dark blue dress and a necklace that shared the purple S symbol, strode to Keith's side. Her eyes latched greedily onto Mewtwo, and she barked, "Mismagius, Double Team!"
The Magical Pokémon obliged, creating fake copies of itself and spreading them across the battlefield. Mewtwo was about to attack whom it deemed was the true Mismagius, but it was too late. It fell to the ground, the impact of multiple Shadow Balls too much for it to bear.
"And I save your ass once again, Keith," the new arrival said, rolling her eyes.
"I had it under control," Keith replied somewhat hesitantly. "Plus, you could've showed up sooner…"
"Enough!" Alain shouted, startling the two grunts. Mairin, on the other hand, had run to Mewtwo's side. "Now then, I don't know who you think you are, but you can't just come to this island and attack an innocent Pokémon!"
"Innocent?" The girl laughed. "That Mewtwo has killed more times than you could imagine. It protects its kind, and by that it means that nothing can stand in its way. It killed the scientists that created it, without mercy!"
"It caused me no harm."
Keith rolled his eyes. "Kiara?"
"Yes?" the female grunt replied.
"Can we kill them yet?"
"Oh, yes." Kiara cracked her knuckles. "Yes indeed."
Before either of them could follow through on their threat, an object blocked the sun, casting a shadow over the island. Alain looked up to see a Meowth-headed hot air balloon descending from the sky. Two people and a Pokémon hopped out, ready for battle.
"Please no," Mairin whimpered.
"Prepare for trouble, you Team Rocket rejects!"
"And make it-"
"Never mind," Kiara growled. "Let's kill these failures first."
Alain frowned. He had only met Jessie, James, and Meowth on one occasion, and they appeared to be good people with bad ideals. Another thing he noted was that they weren't attacking him or Mairin, and instead were going after Kiara and Keith. Was it possible that they knew something about Mewtwo that no one else did?
Mismagius shimmered into existence in front of Kiara, while Jessie and James released a Gourgeist and a Malamar, respectively. All eyes looked to Keith, expectant, but he shuddered. "Mightyena is my only Pokémon."
"Why did I have to get partnered with you?" Kiara rolled her eyes. "Go to Mewtwo and use the Injector."
Keith nodded, then ran towards where Mewtwo had fallen. Alain and Mairin gave pursuit, while Team Rocket stayed behind to take care of Kiara. Reaching Mewtwo's side, Keith pulled out a strange device that looked like a medicine syringe filled with crimson liquid. Grimacing, he plunged the needle into Mewtwo's chest, and the Pokémon howled in pain. Alain held Mairin back as the Genetic Pokémon rose to its feet.
Keith smirked. "Now would be a good time to show us that Charizard of yours."
Alain pulled a Poké Ball from his belt and flung it onto the battlefield. A Charizard wearing a collar embedded with a Charizardite X warped into existence, and, using his Mega Ring, Alain engulfed his Pokémon in a flash of brilliant violet light. When the dust settled, a menacing black dragon stood tall, blue flames erupting from its jaws. Mewtwo got to its feet and faced the Flame Pokémon, its eyes glowing red.
"What did you do to it?" Mairin asked Keith, stammering.
"Simple. I changed its Aura or its life force, which in turn altered its intentions and its drive. Now it works for Team Shade."
"I'll defeat it either way," Alain growled. "Charizard, use Flamethrower!"
"Do what you do best, Mewtwo, because I have no clue what moves you can use!"
Mewtwo made no indication that it had heard Keith and let loose a Hyper Beam attack, which tore through the Flamethrower and slammed into Charizard. The dragon type was pushed backwards, but stood its ground nevertheless. Then, taking flight, Charizard surged towards Mewtwo with a Dragon Rush attack at Alain's command. Mewtwo raised its hands, preparing for a Counter attack, then grabbed Charizard's head and slammed it to the ground. Afterwards, jumping into the air, Mewtwo charged and launched an Aura Sphere at its fallen opponent, who rolled out of the way in the nick of time.
Recovering quickly, Charizard unleashed a Dragon Claw without needing to listen to Alain's command. Even though the move landed as a critical hit, it did little damage. Pushing the Flame Pokémon back, Mewtwo put its hands to its temples, flinging Charizard into the air with Psychic. Then, while the dragon struggled to recover, Mewtwo shot stars of pure energy towards it. Seeing the Swift attack, Charizard combined its Dragon Claw and Dragon Rush attacks (Alain smiled; he had taught his Pokémon that combination recently), then shot forward and sliced through the glowing stars. This time, Dragon Rush connected and sent Mewtwo flying. The Genetic Pokémon still managed to land on its feet, but it was definitely weakened by Charizard's attack. Alain's Pokémon stood at the ready.
"Charizard, Blast Burn, now!"
Charizard jumped forward, slamming his fist into the ground as Mewtwo charged up another Aura Sphere. Blue bolts of fiery energy erupted from the ground and launched towards Mewtwo. Upon reaching max power, Mew's clone launched its Aura Sphere, and the two attacks collided, creating an explosion. Not waiting to see whether Mewtwo was still up, Alain's Pokémon jumped through the smoke and unleashed a flurry of Dragon Claw attacks. Mewtwo, however, had survived, and was expecting an attack. It Countered, threw Charizard back, then let loose a Hyper Beam. Charizard took the attack head-on and fell to the ground, unable to battle.
"To hold your own against a Legendary Pokémon, especially one as powerful as Mewtwo," Keith clicked his tongue. "Sadly, your Charizard was no match for the power of Team Shade."
Kiara entered the clearing, out of breath. "Maybe we were wrong not to invite those Team Rocket guys," she panted. "They can really put up a fight."
"Shadow!" Keith called. "Can you and your Hoopa get us out of here yet? Mewtwo can't take much more battling!" In response to his call, a swirling mass of dark energy surrounded by a yellow ring appeared. Kiara, Keith, and Mewtwo hopped into the wormhole, and it closed behind them before Alain or Mairin could give chase.
Sighing, Alain recalled his Charizard. Jessie, James, and Meowth soon entered the clearing, all huffing and puffing. James glanced around. "Did they escape? Did they get Mewtwo?"
"FOOLS!" Jessie shouted into thin air. "YOU WILL REGRET NOT INVITING TEAM ROCKET INTO YOUR GANG! YOU WILL REGRET IT!"
"That's nice," Meowth noted.
"In response to your questions, James, yes and yes." Alain frowned. "You guys mind telling us what's going on?"
"Our boss is the one who oversaw the creation of Mewtwo," James explained. "There's this new group of villains...called 'Team Shade,' terrible name...whose goal is to build an army of Legendary Pokémon in order to rule the world. I guess Mewtwo was on their list."
"How did Mewtwo get here in the first place?" Mairin asked.
"Long story, involving two twerps, a twerpette, a Pikachu, a Mew, and an army of clones," Meowth replied, waving his hand.
"A Pikachu…" Alain noted. He shook his head. "And you guys are fighting this 'Team Shade' because they didn't invite you to join?"
"Exactly," Jessie said, flipping her hair. "All of the other big gangs got invited. Team Plasma, Team Galactic, Team Flare..."
Alain clenched his fists at the last group Jessie mentioned. "You mind if I help you guys out? Anything to get back at Lysandre…"
"Sure," James said. He turned to his comrades. "We should go report to the boss. He could probably give us and the new twerps some help."
As Team Rocket headed back to the beach, Mairin stood in front of Alain. She put her hands on her hips. "This isn't about what I think it's about, is it?"
"You know it is."
"I don't like this…" Keith stammered. "Boss man can be so...intimidating."
"I actually agree with you on this one," Kiara muttered back. "But he gave us this job, we have to report it."
Keith sighed, then knocked three times on the cherry wood door, making sure not to touch the Haxorus mask that was hanging on it.. After a second, the door creaked open, and Heidayū, Kagetomo's former partner-turned butler, poked his head into the hallway. Upon seeing the two grunts, he opened the door wider and gestured for the two to enter, which they did.
"Leave us, Heidayū," came a voice from the other side of the room. Heidayū nodded quickly and exited.
The room was dimly lit, and mostly barren. On the far side of the room, a dome-shaped, frost-covered window took the place of a wall and allowed for a view of the blizzard that was transpiring outside. A desk, made of the same material as the door, sat in front of the window. Behind this desk sat a man.
Kagetomo had messy black hair and a goatee. A frown lined his face, and his hands, which were folded on top of the desk, were covered in scars. He wore an outfit reminiscent of the time he was a part of the Ninja Village. He raised his eyebrows as Kiara and Keith stood awkwardly.
"Well?"
"We managed to capture Mewtwo...sir," Kiara started.
"We had some resistance from Team Rocket and two other trainers, but they weren't much of a problem," Keith added.
"Good," Kagetomo smiled sinisterly. He swiveled around in his chair, staring out the window. "You shall be rewarded." Kagetomo closed his eyes. "Have I ever told you that I hate snow?"
"No...sir," Keith replied nervously.
"I do. I hate it with a passion." Kagetomo opened his eyes. "Tell Archie and Maxie that it's time for a change in forecast."
You may have noticed that I uploaded another story to this site a couple of days ago, and that it's gone now. The prologue of Minecraft Origins: Forever Flames was completely unsatisfactory in my opinion, and so that story might not be up until the next chapter of this is finished and uploaded. Anyways, thanks again to my beta reader, Subject666, and thank you for reading!
Also, I've decided that there will be a sequel to this story in the form of Pokémon Orange and Purple. This story will not include Pokémon from Sun and Moon, however, the sequel will. I'm equally excited to be writing that story as I am to be writing this one, so stay tuned!