There's not much action this chapter, unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you want to look at it. Also, I'm coming to the realisation that I will write almost anything into this story, if asked kindly enough. You'll most likely see what I mean in a few chapters, after Nacrene City.

Anyway, on with the chapter.

XxX

The wind gently tousled the grass round his head, a small giggling bubbling through his lips as various blades stroked his earlobes. The hill he'd found himself on felt so calm; a distant memory from his childhood, a small void in which the weight he'd always carried around was forgotten.

"…sage…"

Questions arose through his mind, as they were wont to do in every situation. Barely an echo through the murky depths of a sewer, he let his eyelids fall with a satisfied sigh, ignoring the clamouring of his brain for the first time in recent memory.

"Pan…ge…"

He heard it first, the faint whisper of displaced grass. It was a threat, that much was easy enough to ascertain through his addled senses, but what purpose would caring serve him? He was safe, buried amongst his element. Nothing could touch him he- why was his ear wet?

"PANSAGE!"

Cilan yelped, a hand flying up and connecting solidly with whatever had been settled beside him. The ceiling seemed vaguely familiar, a fact he didn't get the chance to process as he threw himself upright under his covers.

He wasn't exactly sure when he'd opened his eyes, only paying attention to the light assaulting his retinas once he realised he was no longer sleeping.

And that's when the pain hit.

The door to the room he'd found himself in swung open as Cilan let out a small whimper, his hand moving from his ear to his forehead and his hair hitting the pillow beneath him. The curtains to the room had been drawn, mercifully keeping the orange sunlight from reaching his aching eyes.

The door clicked shut, a lock of blue hair entering his self-restrained vision as his visitor approached the bed.

Oh, how thankful was he, for the simple fact that it wasn't purple.

"How's your head?" Dawn inquired softly, dragging a chair towards the bed , presumably to sit in it. Come to think of it, that chair seemed familiar, too. And so did the bed, and so did the scent of the pillow… and maybe even the room in general…

"Sore." Cilan answered honestly, his fingers ghosting over the large bruise they'd found above his eye. The memory came to him automatically, his lips twitching slightly. He'd missed the door in his bid to escape, and knocked himself out in the process.

How embarrassing.

"To be expected." Dawn nodded slowly, her eyes drifting to a distinctly nondescript corner of the room. What that his own face staring back at him? "How about your… other head?"

The door behind Dawn creaked open, the sound being the only thing keeping his brain from shutting down. The new arrival shuffled in backwards, curses he both did and did not understand spilling from her mouth as the object she was dragging caught itself on the doorframe.

Her long, purple hair was doing a spectacular job of keeping her face from view, but there was no mistaking it. His traveling companion losing all pretence of composure to allow a manic grin to spread across her face just made the dread flooding his system that much stronger.

He'd had a moment, just a small window, when he believed he'd gotten away with no loss. That faith was now shattered, disappeared into the wind and using the destruction of his trust to mask its exit.

She couldn't have… there was no way…!

"You bonded with her?" The dread in his system wavered, before bowing down to the overwhelming might of pure horror. This was a battle he'd been thrust into by circumstance beyond his control, and now he'd lost an ally to the opposite side! "How could you bond with her!?"

"Well, she couldn't exactly talk to you, could she, charmant?" Cilan blinked, and Burgundy was stretching across the foot of the bed, the bones in her arms cracking every time they were moved. "I took the chance to see what was in your bag, hope you don't mind."

"Ooh!" Damn leant forward, pulling Piplup into her lap from wherever he'd been previously, out of Cilan's eyesight. "What'd you find?"

Burgundy groaned, her arms reaching over the side of the bed and her back cracking. "At least five broken laws and two crying physicists."

Dawn drew back, slightly disappointed. "That's it?"

Burgundy shrugged, a difficult task when one's shoulders were numb and their back was to a squishy object, but she managed. "I stopped looking after falling in the third time."

Cilan blinked slowly, rolling onto his side as the two girls started a conversation on their own. He could afford to try to sleep some of the pin away. After all, he was still in possession of his clothes, and having Dawn here would at least work towards being a deterrent.

Just before he could close his eyes, a paw appeared on the edge of the bed, soon being joined by another. As Cilan watched, Pansage pulled himself onto the bed, his legs shaking slightly as his eyes crossed in a most peculiar fashion.

Then he fell over, snoring quietly into the blanket.

Maybe if he were in different circumstances, he would be worried. But right now, with Burgundy happily draped across his legs and recounting a remarkably inaccurate version of their first meeting, all he did was tap Pansage on the forehead with his Poké Ball and tell himself that he would run damage control when his brain wasn't aching quite as much.

XxX

If Ash were being honest with himself, he would say that there was very little that could hope to faze him in life.

He wouldn't be very far from the truth, either. For every Pokémon that decided to go on a destructive rampage, he'd already faced and defeated one three times scarier. For every attack flying directly towards his body, he'd already taken and survived the same from his own team.

Even before his eleventh birthday, he'd been living a life fraught with danger. His thoughts would never have permission to drift to the disaster that had almost been the S.S Anne, and the only time he would bring up New Island would be when he was trying to guilt trip Mewtwo. He'd already accepted the fact by the time the Lily of the Valley conference had ended, his life's path had been decided for him before he'd even been born.

He couldn't exactly fault the universe, or Arceus for that matter. Someone had to be the Chosen One, protecting the innocent and making sure the balance of good and evil remained neutral, yada yada…

Of course, the position itself did some with some useful perks. He would never beseech the world for a normal life, one void of Aura and the powerful friends he had made, but every now and then, the abuse he would suffer in the line of duty would get annoying.

Mewtwo had been difficult enough in the beginning, painfully awkward at the best of times and accidentally homicidal at the worst. Still, he would never blame the Mon for the lack of social skills, he'd only been born a few years back, and you couldn't be expected to learn foreign conventions so quickly. The first time the Genetic Pokémon had teleported him, he'd ended up with his head halfway into a tree's trunk and confirmation for the fact that he could probably survive anything, at least until Arceus grew bored with him.

But he wouldn't hold that against Mewtwo, because it had been an accident. His current situation, however, would be held against Deoxys until his dying breath.

Ash crossed his arms as his face tore another cloud apart, adamantly refusing to react, despite the fact that he was moving more horizontally than vertically. He'd known exactly what to expect when Deoxys had offered to play the part of a captured Pokémon (he'd used the words prisoner and slave) and teleport him to his desired destination, so finding himself hurtling a few thousand feet above the ocean hadn't been all that surprising.

He was just glad he'd had the forethought to let Mewtwo teleport Pikachu,though sending Charizard back to the valley could have waited.

"This is your fault, you know!" Ash called above the roar of wind in his ears, his legs crossing along with his arms. Most people would say he looked childish with his current pose, but most people in his circumstances would have wet themselves and passed out, so they didn't get a say in the matter. "Maybe you should've been looking where you were driving!"

Deoxys didn't respond, telepathically because he'd receded from Ash's mind whilst echoing sinister laughter, nor verbally as he was currently trapped in Ash's new necklace. The shrunken, purple Poké Ball had a strange allure to it, and he could feel the power leaking from within its depths, even with it pressed against his chest.

He'd have to look into customising the chain Mewtwo had stolen-err, provided him with. It really wouldn't do well for it to be pilfered, after all. Aura could do some pretty cool things when it was imprinted into clothing, and he would probably be able to regenerate his reserves before ever depleting them.

Such was the advantage of having Arceus' own energy running through his body. Again, the whole constantly saving the world thing may have already been old before he had hit puberty, but he wouldn't give the benefits away for anything.

Except maybe to save his friends' lives, assuming of course that the benefits wouldn't allow him to do that regardless.

Ash didn't even bother turning his head as he rocketed past and subsequently scared the shit out of a flock of Pidove, instead focusing his attention on the rapidly approaching ground. He'd stopped seeing ocean a few minutes ago, the landscape below him bringing forth a mild case of déjà vu. He'd covered most of it in the previous week, after all. It would just be embarrassing if he didn't remember at least some of it.

If he were to hazard a guess, he would have said that Deoxys had listened to him. He'd asked, not demanded, that the alien deposit him wherever his traveling companions happened to be, with as little property damage as possible.

The second Deoxys' influence had entered his body to transport him between dimensions, warning bells had begun blaring in his head. The Aura had felt so familiar, so very similar to his own. Not even-

"Hey, I know that guy." Ash mumbled to himself, his eyes still on the ground beneath him. "Hi, Trip!"

…Ahem.

The Aura had felt so familiar, so very similar to his own. Not even his own Pokémon were so akin to him, and Pikachu had gotten pretty damn close over the years. There hadn't even felt like there was a difference of species between their energies, and Ash knew Deoxys had felt it too.

He had his own theories, and Deoxys not giving him a response just confirmed them, at least to an extent. He would be able to guilt trip Mewtwo into giving him the answer ("Remember that time you killed me?") the next time he saw his teacher, because there was very little chance he wouldn't know. Until then, he would be left with little, besides a sneaking suspicion that the asteroid's flight path shouldn't have crossed with Earth's.

Too bad Arceus could be so damn lazy. All the problems in the universe could be solved with a blink, nobody would have to lift a finger. But not lifting a finger wasn't Ash's preferred style, so he could at least accept the Creator's choice of lifestyle, even if it included an unhealthy amount of interest in him.

So lost in his musings was he, that Ash barely realised he was now falling rather rapidly, picking up a dangerous amount of speed. If he were better at mathematics, he would have been able to calculate that his flight path was very quickly taking him towards an open window in the distance. But he wasn't that good at mathematics, so instead he just continued to fall in silence, his arms and legs crossed stubbornly and a pout on his lips.

He wasn't all that scared, and if a scream did leave his lips, it would probably be sarcastic. His head narrowly missed the sill as he passed through the open window, and funnily enough his crossed legs were the only thing that allowed him to fit through without damaging anything.

Suddenly, there was something soft beneath his bottom, the sensation lasting for all of a millisecond before he was zooming through a doorway and into what appeared to be a desk.

He left an indent as he came to a complete stop, upside down and with all his limbs still stubbornly crossed.

He stayed in that position for a few moments, watching as Dawn and a woman he didn't know stared at him from the doorway, before gravity managed to pry him from his hole. He rolled like a Voltorb after landing on his head, coming to a teetering halt at their feet.

He held their gaze for a moment, before his limbs unfurled. The small shop soon turned into an orchestra of cracks as Ash slowly made the journey to his feet, stopping every centimetre to allow another bone to fall back into place.

"…Didn't hurt." He finally rasped out, in a pained voice. Everyone in the shop, even Pikachu, gave the teenager a sceptical look, none of which lessened as he shook chips of wood out of his hair.

The purple haired woman shifted her wide-eyed stare to Dawn, letting out a slightly startled laugh. "How did you know?"

"You get used to it after a while." Dawn moved forth, wearing the same sort of expression an Officer Jenny would after someone walked into the Police Station covered in blood. Holding a sword. Made out of various guns.

Dawn reached a hand out to settle on Ash's shoulder, seeming to decide against it after the boy's legs trembled.

"…Should I even ask?"

Ash opened his mouth to reply, holding a finger up as his jaw cracked back into place. "Don't-" Crack. "No po-" Crunch. "…I'll tell you late-"

Creeeeeak.

XxX

It was the oddest feeling he'd ever experienced, at least in recent memory. The feeling of knowing that the headache he had now would be nothing, compared to what Ash would usually get up to.

Of course, his current headache could always be healed by his future headache. Knowing that his younger traveling companion could use attacks he'd considered reserved for Pokémon was one thing, but actually seeing some of the absurdity that Dawn had been hinting at over the past day had been… enlightening.

He wasn't exactly sure how to react. Smiling and nodding had gotten him thought most of his life so far, but that response now felt muted. It had been easy to pick up on in the last few days, the simple fact that Ash was spice. He was the definition of spice, and his Pokémon were exactly the same. It seemed to matter very little now, politeness and the standards of which he'd grown up to be expected to uphold.

His new situation demanded passion! A raw flavour suited more to Chili than himself. But he was the one in the situation, not Chili. He was completely out of his depth, with no idea what he would be getting into. And despite it all, he didn't want to turn back, because the prospect of traveling with this relatively odd duo was too exciting to pass up.

And thus: headache. One that had very little to do with the physical injury.

Sleeping had been a taller order than he'd originally thought. He stayed far away from the conversation happening in front of him, partly because he had no part in it, but mostly because he would never be ready to face Burgundy. Especially not after…after…

…Urk. He didn't even want to think about it.

Still, the woman had been polite enough to let him rest, and so he'd been left with every little to do other than listen to the girls as they spoke. He didn't agree with many of the things said (He hadn't been the one in possession of the blowtorch that night, she hadn't been the one wearing the tutu the morning after, and he would swear until the day he died that THEY WERE NOT IN LOVE!), but he kept himself quiet in favour of entertaining his own thoughts.

That was, until Pikachu had materialised next to his head, and Dawn had opened a window.

He was slightly glad he'd abandoned the bed in favour of using the bathroom, after he re-entered the room just in time to watch some…thing(?) slam against where he'd been resting, streaking through the open doorway a fraction of a second later to the calming melody of hysterically protesting bed springs.

He was curious, but he could question Ash later (because seriously, who else would enter the window Dawn had opened at what could easily have been Mach 1?). Right now, he wanted little more than to just leave, and he took the opportunity to put forth his suggestion as Ash was accepting his Poké Balls back from Dawn.

"So, time to hit the road?" He tried to keep the jovial tone under wraps, but it was quite hard to do, especially when he had to stop himself from skipping towards the door. Having the extra weight of Ash and Dawn to push seemed to help as well.

Burgundy seemed slightly miffed, whether by his haste or by the fact that Ash hadn't even had the chance to introduce himself, he didn't know. He didn't care.

"So soon? Well then, au revoir." Burgundy waved a hand lazily, before shooting a glance over her shoulder. Cilan felt his blood freeze at the look in her eyes, an impressive feat, considering he wasn't even facing her. "Try not to asphyxiate yourself on the reception desk on your way out."

He couldn't help it, he spluttered and turned around. They were so close to the door, one good shove and Ash would be in the street, but did she really just bring up…?

"That was one time!" He'd thought she didn't remember. He'd prayed! "And I only came close!"

"Oh, chéri." He'd seen that shine in her eyes before. It was never a good thing. "You came, all right."

The bedroom door clicked shut behind her as what felt like every drop of blood in his body flooded to his face.

Ash and Pikachu glanced at one another, after the former managed to recover from the frantic shove that nearly sent him out of the building.

"…Did I miss something?"

Dawn dropped Piplup again.

XxX

For a being of infinite power and time on his legs, one would think that Arceus would have a better grasp on home decoration.

Mewtwo let the portal dissolve behind him as he ascended to the ground, his eyes narrowing slightly at the sight that greeted him. A Palkia was stomping away into the darkness that made up Arceus' little dimension, seeming rather incensed, if the small disturbances in the empty space around its body were anything to go by.

As for Arceus…

"I'm not sorry!" The grand creator of the universe stuck his tongue out as Palkia whirled around, a pink plate that Mewtwo wasn't familiar with floating up to rest on Arceus' head. "I've never been sorry for anything in my life!"

Mewtwo decided against getting involved, instead choosing to remain floating above what he could now identify as an argument.

"You can't just make new Types!" Palkia shouted, throwing its arms above its head as something rumbled in the distance. Nobody else seemed to be paying attention to it, so Mewtwo wrote it off as unimportant. "The universe doesn't work that way!"

"My universe, my rules!" An invisible force plucked the pink plate from Arceus' head, sending it forth to poke the Spatial Dragon on the forehead. "Does this upset you? Huh, Mr. Single Weakness?"

"Get that filthy thing away from me!" Mewtwo glanced around awkwardly as Palkia windmilled its arms and stomped its foot. "You almost sent an entire planet into a black hole of your own creation! Do you have any idea how difficult this will be to fix!?"

Arceus shook his head condescendingly, quickly turning around when Palkia leveled a glare in his direction. "No. Why would I? I have complete faith in you."

"You- Oh, don't tell me-!" Palkia's entire body twitched, the gems on his shoulders flashing momentarily. "…You weren't even trying to make a new Type, were you!?"

Hesitantly, the Pixie Plate was reeled back to Arceus' side, the Alpha Pokémon tucking it into his side protectively. "Maybe! You don't know that."

Palkia looked like it seriously wanted to hit something. "You made me so I could regulate space without you having to do anything. Making sure the planet keeps spinning after this will be difficult enough. The outwards force was great enough to rip a hole between dimensions. What. Did. You. DO!?"

Being in the presence of a livid Legendary, Mewtwo soon found, was not enjoyable in the slightest. Arceus didn't look bothered in the slightest, but the raw power leaking from Palkia's hunched form was enough to make Mewtwo sweat.

Mewtwo didn't sweat, No matter the situation. He did, however, know the reasons behind Arceus' actions, but the little voice in the back of his head was telling him that maybe, keeping his mouth shut was for the-

"Alright, fine! I wanted to see how the mission I gave Mewtwo would go. Can you blame me? I've been here for centuries, it's so boring!"

…What.

Mewtwo drifted down, touching upon what could probably be the considered the ground. His eyes were narrowed, his mood shifting from nervous to incredulous in the amount of time it would take to blink.

"What about making sure I could breathe?"

Arceus turned to face him, his head cocked to one side. He didn't seem very surprised by Mewtwo's abrupt appearance, not that Mewtwo was expecting him to be.

"…You have to breathe?"

If one listened very closely, they may have juuust been able to make out the sound of Mewtwo's faith in the universe draining away.

XxX

Will this have lasting effects on the planet? You bet it will. In fact, this is the catalyst for another future member of Ash's team joining him. I'll just say it, I'll be impressed if anyone can guess it, but then again, the addition is so common that maybe it'll be easier than I'm thinking.

I shouldn't be writing right now, I should be sleeping. I would tack an omake to the end of this, but that can wait till next chapter. Maybe. I probably should know what's going on here, but I never do.

Unedited, mostly, because I'm too tired to care. See y'all next time.

X