Finally - finals are done with, and now I have some free time.

Only problem is, I might not get as much time on a computer as I would like.


Author's Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.

I do, however, own my OC's.


A New Era, Chapter 7


The doors opened, allowing the group to peer inside. The first thing they noticed upon entering was that the room was just as beautiful and elegant as the room they had just left. The second thing they noticed was Katherine sitting down in a golden chair in front of them. Lily, upon seeing Katherine, rushed up to her.

"Katherine..." Lily said, "it's been too long."

"Indeed it has." Katherine said, as she stood up from her chair.

As the two of them reunited with each other, the rest of the group looked around the room for Ash and Pikachu. They didn't have to look for very long, for Ash and Pikachu ran up to them. Ash leaped up into his mother's arms, and began to cry.

"Oh, Ash..." Deliah said, as she brought him to her chest. "I'm glad you're all right. I don't care if you're a small yellow mouse, a large red lizard, or whatever; i'll love you just the same."

Ash just continued to cry into his mother's chest.

"It's nice to see you again, Ash." Brock said. "And you too, Pikachu."

"Pika pichu pikachu."

"Sorry to break up this little reunion," Katherine said, as she and Lily approached them, "but we've got a real emergency on our hands here."

"Excuse me?" Gary said. "What are you talking about?"

"Allow me to explain." said a voice.

Everyone looked up, and saw a pink blob approach them. Ash, Pikachu, Katherine and Curtis knew that it was Mew, but the others did not.

"What is that thing?" Dawn said.

"Isn't that the same blob that we saw at the stadium?" Max said. "The one that turned Ash into a Pikachu in the first place?"

"Hmm...indeed, it is. How curious." Professor Oak said.

"Now, if you'd allow me to explain..." the blob said.

"Why should we trust you?" Gary said.

"Because, if you're not going to trust me," Mew shed its disguise at this point, "then who else are you going to trust?"

Everyone except for Ash, Pikachu, Katherine and Curtis jumped back in surprise. Nobody spoke for a long time.

"What?" Mew said, after about thirty seconds of silence. "Surprised to see me?"

The group simply nodded their heads.

"Now, we do not have a lot of time to discuss matters, but we will tell you everything that we can."

Mew and Katherine then began to tell an abridged version of what they had revealed to Ash earlier. After they had finished, the group still appeared to be in a state of shock.

"Man, this is getting weirder and weirder." Misty said.

"Tell me about it." Ash replied.

"Hey, Katherine?" May said. "Where's Curtis?"

"I'm right here." Curtis said, from his position right next to Katherine.

"Wha? Your husband is a Pokémon?" Gary said.

"Yes..." Katherine said. "Last night, Mew turned him into a Raichu so that he could get Ash to come over here."

"Wait - YOU were the one who took Ash last night?" Dawn said. "Why?"

"Actually," Curtis said, "he came with me. He seemed depressed, and I told him that I would help explain his situation if he came."

"ASH, YOU LUNKHEAD!" Misty yelled. "WHY DID YOU DO THAT?"

"Um...he's right..." Ash said. "I couldn't sleep, I felt depressed, and he seemed friendly. That said, it took a long time to decide whether to go with him or not."

That explanation only seemed to make Misty even angrier. Ash backed up, but quickly ran out of room. Misty unsheathed her hammer, and was about to strike, when Mew intervened.

"STOP! We have to stop Katherine's boss from eradicating humankind, and we can't do that by POINTLESS BICKERING!"


As Mew and the others continued to squabble with each other, the mysterious man on the outside of the building continued to watch the group in silence. He seemed surprised when the mass array of people came into the room, and thus he didn't know exactly what to do. He thought about calling his boss again, but he reasoned against it.

At that moment, he slipped, nearly falling off the ledge he was standing on. Cursing to himself, he slowly pulled himself back up. Panting for air, he looked into the room again. To his astonishment, he realized that the room was now empty. He started to panic. After a while of thought, he decided to call his boss. He dialed the number, spoke the password, and waited.

"Who is it?" a voice on the other side of the line said.

"It's Fred, sir." the man said. "And I have news. I've lost them! They appeared to have teleported somewhere, but I don't know where!"

"Hold your horses there, number 3. I know that they disappeared."

"You did? But how?"

"Don't ask questions. I also know where they ended up. They went to Pallet Town in the northwest. Now, go. And when you reach the town, come find me."

"Yes, sir." Fred said.

The man hung up the phone, smiled, and slowly began climbing back down to ground level. Then, after consulting a map and taking out a compass, he jumped into his boat and sped off towards Pallet Town...


...where Ash, Pikachu and the others found themselves.

"Hey, Mew," Ash said. "Thanks for allowing us to come here."

"No problem. It was clear that you needed a rest. Don't make yourself too comfortable, however - we don't know where or when Katherine's boss will strike next."

Ash and Pikachu went over to Professor Oak's laboratory. There, they saw some of Ash's old Pokémon from his previous journeys. Two of these Pokémon approached them - his Ivysaur and his Squirtle.

"Hey, Pikachu," Ivysaur said. "Who's the other Pikachu with you?"

"He looks kind of familiar, in a way." Squirtle said.

"You're not going to believe this, but..." Pikachu said.

"But what?" Ivysaur said.

"Um..."

"Hey guys." Ash said.

Ivysaur and Squirtle backed up a bit.

"What the...ASH?" Squirtle said.

"Yes...it's me."

"What's this I hear about Ash?" said a voice from not too far off. The others looked around, and saw Bayleef come into view.

"Why is Pikachu wearing Ash's hat? Wait...why are there two Pikachus?" Bayleef said.

"Um, Bayleef?" Ivysaur said.

"Yes?"

"This Pikachu is Ash."

"No way. You must be joking."

"Um, Bayleef, he's telling the truth." Ash said.

Bayleef backed up a little bit, and then studied the Pikachu in front of her that somehow knew the human language. As she came to the face, she immediately recognized the eyes.

"Ash?"

Ash nodded. A big smile came across Bayleef's face. She then promptly body slammed on top of Ash, nearly crushing him.

"Ash! It's you! It's really you! I'm really glad to see you!"

"Yes...Bayleef...oof...I'm glad...to see...you too. Now would you...oof...please get...off of me..."

"Oh, sorry." She got off.

"It's fine...only my internal organs were crushed to bits, no big deal."

Everyone laughed.

"How did you turn into a Pikachu, Ash?" Squirtle said.

"It's a long story..."


Fred approached the shoreline of Pallet Town later that afternoon. He parked his boat in a secluded area, and got out.

'All right...now all I have to do is find the boss...shouldn't be too hard, right?'

At that moment, he realized something.

'Crap...I don't even know what he looks like...'

Regardless, he began searching around the town. As he approached a small house near the edge of the forest, however, he noticed a man and a woman meditating a ways into the forest. He would have dismissed it as ordinary had he not noticed the shadowy auras that seemed to be surrounding the two of them. Fred approached them carefully.

"B-Boss?" he said.

The man opened an eye. "Ah, number 3, you've made it."

"Sir...my name is not number 3; it's -"

The boss's aura intensified. Fred took a step back.

"I...uh...number 3 it is, then."

"Good." the boss said, as his aura returned to normal intensity. "Now, the reason as to why we've called you here. We want you to keep an eye on the occupants of that house over there, especially the two Pikachus. Remember what I told you about the Pikachu with the hat?"

Fred nodded.

"Once you see something like that, return to us."

"But sir..."

"Yes?"

"Why can't you two go after him?"

"Because that damn cat will sense our presence if we get any closer!"

"A-And why can't I-I just capture the two Pikachus and bring them to you?"

"Patience, number 3, patience. Everything will be revealed in due time."

Fred grumbled to himself, low enough so that neither the boss nor the woman would notice.

"Now, go." the boss said. "Do this, and we will let you read the tablet."

"Yes sir! Right away."


Inside the house, Deliah had cooked dinner for everyone inside. Ash had received some of Brock's Pokémon food, which he eyed in curiosity.

"Just eat it already, Ash." Pikachu said.

Ash popped a little pellet in his mouth. Almost immediately, his eyes widened.

"Wow...this is AMAZING!"

Ash then began to shove handfuls of the food down his throat, which almost caused him to choke several times. Brock eventually had to take the food away so that Ash could not choke on it again. After dinner was finished, everyone got around and started a conversation. It was mainly focused around Lily and Katherine, as they reminisced about their past adventures and their childhood. However, Ash did not feel in participating, so he went out of the house. He went up a nearby hill and lay down in the tall grass. He remained there for about ten minutes or so, until Pikachu came by.

"Hey, Ash." Pikachu said.

"Huh? Oh, hey, Pikachu." Ash replied.

"Something bothering you?"

"In a way, yeah."

"What is it?"

"Well..."

At that moment, Ash remembered about his dreams. He then began to cry again.

"Pikachu...these last couple of days have been nothing but hell to me."

"How so?"

"Well, the guy that captured me wanted to keep me as a pet and then fix me; Team Rocket captured me just as I escaped from him; I get confronted by a Raichu which happens to be another human-turned-Pokémon like myself - but he happens to be the wife of the trainer who challenged me in the championship battle, which she got to without defeating the Elite Four; then Mew appears and tells me that I am part of yet another prophecy - and this one is projected to bring doom to the entire human race even if I succeed in defeating this new evil; and to top it off, I have been having several dreams in which I am not just participating in a Pokémon revolt against humankind, but where I am actually LEADING it..."

Pikachu, who had been absorbing all of this information, just remained quiet for a period of time. He brought a paw on top of Ash's back. After about a minute of two, Pikachu spoke up.

"Come on, Ash. I'll train you."

"Train me?"

"Yeah. You know...to help you with some of your attacks. You'll need the practice. And you heard what Mew said."

"Hmm...I guess you're right. It's weird, though..."

"What is?"

"A Pokémon training its trainer. Seems kinda...different."

The two of them looked over the area and tried to find a spot decent enough for training. They found one not too far from their current location.

"All right. So," Pikachu said, "the first and most important part of successful battling as a Pikachu is the stance. It allows us to quickly attack, dodge or whatever is needed at a moment's notice. Let me demonstrate."

Pikachu then got into his fighting stance.

"Now, you try."

Ash attempted to get into the same stance that Pikachu was in.

"No, no..." Pikachu said. "Not like that."

Pikachu then walked over to Ash and began to correct Ash's stance - adjusting his paws, his weight distribution, his legs, every single bit - until Pikachu seemed satisfied.

"There. That's the position I want to see. Now, do it again."

It took a couple of tries, but eventually, Ash was able to get into the stance Pikachu wanted without the mouse having to interfere.

"Good. Now, for actual moves. Quick Attack is one of the simplest of moves to learn - all you have to do is shift your weight to your hind legs, concentrate on a target, and dash off. It's like this."

Pikachu got into his stance, quickly ran off towards a nearby tree, and then ran back.

"All right - your turn."

Ash, having already done the move earlier, knew what he had to do. Still, it took a little bit of tweaking to satisfy Pikachu, but he soon was able to run to the tree, quickly stop, and then run back without assistance.

"Very good, Ash." Pikachu said. "I'm impressed with your progress thus far. In fact, it seems as though you already did that move before."

"Actually, Pikachu, I did use Quick Attack and Thundershock earlier, when I had to escape from the guy that captured me."

"By the way, How did you get away from him?"

"It was actually fairly easy..."

After Ash told Pikachu about how he managed to escape from Thomas, Pikachu looked up into the sky, and noticed that it was getting dark.

"It's getting late. Let's head in."

Ash and Pikachu returned to the house. Not long after their return, they, along with everyone else, fell asleep.


Later that night, in the nearby forest, the boss opened his eyes. He turned to his female counterpart.

"Let's kick things up a notch, shall we?" he said.

The woman opened her eyes, looked at him and smiled wickedly.

"With pleasure."