"Capture… Mew?" Ash said in a shuddering voice.

"Once she is brought to me, she will have no choice but to assist me in my goal of bringing the the two worlds together. Her powers are able to bend reality, to a far greater extent than mine or my assistants. Once the two worlds merge, it will be like the golden age of prosperity once again! But, the only way I can achieve this is with assistance from a certain son of mine…"

"I won't help you!" Ash snapped. "You aren't going to mess with the two worlds just for your own greedy purposes! You just want Mom to accept you! Well, guess what? She won't! She didn't kick you out because you're a Pokémon; she kicked you out because you're a greedy liar!"

Lucario drummed his fingers on the table in an expression of complete disinterest. "My, my, I never was this fiery. You must get this from your mother. Hmmm. If you will not agree to help me, then perhaps your friends could help you. Haven't you wondered why they've kept so quiet?" Lucario pulled something out of a pouch that hung around his waist. Three tiny circular devices, held to a length of chain by a silver clasp. "These necklaces are for more than just decoration. As of right now, they contain the memories of your dearest friends." Lucario turned one around in his hands. "It would be such a shame for one of them to shatter…"

Ash felt tears well up in his eyes as he looked across the table at the three Pokémon in front of him. They looked at him with a mixture of fear and confusion. Ash would have liked it if he was able to convince himself that those Pokémon weren't really his friends, it was just a trick, but he knew that wasn't the case. He could see it in their eyes.

"If you look at the document," Lucario pushed, "you will see that there is a device in this castle – in this very room, in fact – and the combination of you, a being of both worlds, and the device, a machine in both worlds, will summon Mew to this room, where she will be trapped. I can see in your eyes that you would struggle if I tried to force you to activate the machine, so I took a few precautions." He leaned in closer. "As I said, it's in this very room."

Ash yelped in terror as the floor of the room began to turn like an enormous gear in a clock. Before he knew what was happening, a brilliant light pierced the center of the room, snapping the table in half and sending the place settings crashing to the floor. The entire room was the machine!

The light began to spin around itself, sending streaks of lightning arching towards the ceiling. All of the room's inhabitants ran to the side of the room, eyes wide with fright. Only Lucario and Ash stayed in their seats – Lucario to watch the show unfolding, and Ash because he found himself unable to move from the seat.

Then, with a blinding flash of pink light, Mew appeared in the center of the room. She was held down by deep purple chains, and looked as though her power was being drained right into the machine itself. Ash watched helplessly as Mew was levitated over to Lucario's seat, where he licked his lips like a Houndour waiting for food.

"Let her go!" Ash gasped out, suddenly finding the energy to speak. Lucario ignored him, staring at Mew intently with his crimson eyes.

"Yes, you are mine…"

"I am no one's." The voice spoke in everyone's mind as clearly as if they had thought it themselves. Mew struggled against the chains, pain obvious in her eyes. "I am free. I am not bound to any human or Pokémon. I am a legend – a Pokémon that was only supposed to be seen by a select few people with pure hearts. How dare you think you have the authority to bring me here to this world you have created with power stolen from the gods!"

Lucario opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get a single word out, a Water Gun blasted him full force in the snout. It was quickly followed by a Shadow Ball, Flamethrower, and double Thunderbolt. The other Pokémon had started fighting Lucario! Temporarily forgetting about Mew, Lucario jumped out of his seat in rage, forming some sort of strange blue energy in his paws.

Without really knowing what he was doing, Ash jumped out of his chair onto the table, clambered up onto the table, and gulped. He hadn't practiced this very much, and he wasn't confident in his abilities, but Mew needed someone…

He concentrated on the chains and sent out a Thunder attack.

Mew winced as the attack washed over her, but seemed mostly unharmed. The chains glowed with a brilliant blue light before dissolving like sugar in water. Mew fell to the table with a dull thump, headfirst. At first, Ash thought that she had passed out from the strain of the machine.

Then her eyes began to glow.

Lucario, who was in the middle of attempting to kick Gary in the face with a flaming foot, suddenly stopped. Without warning, he was sent flying across the room, landing in front of a huge bookcase. Before anyone realized what was happening, Mew gathered a ball of pink light in her paws and aimed it straight at the Fighting-type. Lucario dashed at her, a mad look in his eyes…

And then she released the attack.

The resulting explosion released a huge cloud of dust and smoke, causing all of the others in the room to close their eyes and cover their ears. When the smoke cleared, a very lifelike stone state of a Lucario stood at the other end of the room.

"It is done," Mew said simply. "The worlds must be kept separate from the other, or there will be a terrible price to pay."

Ash suddenly realized that everything around him was fading, turning white, with the exception of Mew and Pikachu. "Hey!" he shouted. "What's going on?"

"You must return to your own world," Mew explained. "Things will go back to the way they were…

"And it will all be as if it were just a dream…"