(21.1)

Mewtwo jerked awake as something warm, soft and wet abruptly burrowed into his chest in the middle of the night.

Months of living with Sasha kept him from flinging the intruder off of himself and he gently touched the trembling bundle of fur, tracing over the familiar contours of the eevee's small body.

"Another nightmare?"

He felt her mind brush against his own and he embraced it tenderly, taking in her recent memories.

Sitting up, he wrapped Sasha in his arms and gently kissed her head as her body twitched, likely from her attempts not to sob aloud.

"Hush now, little one. That will never come to pass. I will not leave you as others have before."

Even as he said the words, he wondered if he could keep that promise. It wasn't the first time he had made such a claim.

But he had been younger then; naive, unsure. Now, with over twenty years to hone his ability, he wondered if he'd finally be able to keep it.

His tender touches eventually calmed the terrified eevee and she spent the rest of the night nestled against him.

(21.2)

Ash Ketchum scaled Memorial Pillar alone.

It was called such to honor those that had fallen during the battle to keep Cyrus from destroying reality and even now, Ash had to wonder if they had truly succeeded in doing so.

Yes, Cyrus had been stopped, but it had been exceptionally costly to do so. Even with several different versions of some of the most powerful trainers and pokémon from all over the multiverse, they had struggled against the leader of Team Galactic and his dream.

Reaching the top of the pillar, Ash took a moment to catch his breath and looked around.

The top of the pillar had walls to keep the wind out and on those walls were etched countless names of pokémon and humans.

Reaching into his backpack, Ash took out a wrapped package and opened it as he walked to a section of the wall. Reading over the names, he gently traced them with his fingers.

"Sorry I'm late," he said quietly. "I've been busy this past month with the League."

He smiled. "But I met some amazing new friends in the process. I'm sure you'd have gotten along with them."

For the next several hours, Ash talked to the dead, telling them about his latest adventures.

Sometimes, he felt like he wasn't alone, that the ghosts of the departed were there with him, also sharing their own stories with him. Not with words, but in their own way.

As the sun started to set, he set the package he had brought with him down at the base of the wall.

"Thank you for everything," he murmured before rising to his feet. Casting one last glance around the room, he took his leave.

The dark flower he had placed stirred in a non-existent wind before dissolving into ash and blowing away.

(21.3)

Red and Green walked down one of Pallet Town's roads towards their homes, swapping stories of their adventures.

Green was doing most of the talking while Red was a little more conservative with his words; a habit he'd picked up as a child where he had spent more time with pokémon than with humans, learning how to convey more through gestures and body movements than speaking.

Green stretched his arms above his head and dropped them with a sigh.

"Another day, another battle. Well, several of them, actually," he said. "While I don't mind having several leaders for Viridian's gym, having to cover when someone is sick is always a pain."

Red arched an eyebrow inquisitively.

"I was covering for Seth, the Dark-type leader. Someone came in with a team specifically designed to negate that type and apparently that type only, which meant a lot of Bug and Fighting types."

Red winced and Green nodded.

"Didn't even have moves to counter their own weaknesses so none of them were able to lay a hit on pidgeot. I offered to switch pokémon to something they could at least have a chance of taking out, but some sense of pride kept them from accepting."

Red snorted and Green blushed.

"Oh come on, I was never too prideful to accept when I was in over my head!"

Red then proceeded to flail his arms, mouth open in a silent scream, eyes wide with mock fright and Green scowled at him.

"Lavender Town doesn't count," he said stiffly. "Besides, didn't you react similarly when that girl noticed that hand on your shoulder?"

Red dipped his head sheepishly, conceding the point.

The duo came to a fork in the path.

"Take care, Red," Green said. "See you later. I'll tell my sister you said hi."

Red rolled his eyes and the two trainers parted ways.

(21.4)

Deep within Cerulean Cave, a few years after the cataclysm at Spear Pillar, Mewtwo opened his eyes.

Someone had entered the cave system.

He had chosen the cave due to the League declaring it off-limits to anyone without at least eight badges and made it to the top sixty-four or its equivalent in a League, which meant he rarely ever got visitors and the labyrinthine nature of the cave system meant he could meditate and organize his thoughts in peace.

Taking a shortcut, Mewtwo soon found himself staring down at a trainer who, from a casual glance, seemed woefully unprepared to venture beyond the entrance.

Mewtwo kept to the shadows, watching carefully. The pokémon here usually avoided humans, but there were always exceptions. On top of that, some humans chased down pokémon relentlessly, not realizing some pokémon did not want to be caught and by doing so could set the entire population of the cave against themselves.

Mewtwo watched dispassionately as the human stumbled into one of the psychic's many traps, which promptly turned the human around and sent him right back out of the cave.

Renewing the trap, he went to check on the rest before disappearing back into the depths.

(21.5)

"Have you ever considered learning how to dance?"

Sasha looked up from her steamed dumplings at Mewtwo's question before looking away, ears warming with embarrassment.

"I used to dance for a friend of mine before Team Rocket ruined my life," she said. "He was the one who taught me, actually."

"That green-eyed eevee friend?" Mewtwo asked.

Sasha twitched in surprise, eyebrows rising before she nodded and nibbled on her food so she wouldn't have to look at him.

"Any particular reason you haven't picked it up again?"

"Never found the time," Sasha replied.

"You and I both know that isn't the case," Mewtwo countered neutrally.

"What use would being able to cavort around like a loon?" Sasha asked, bitterness coloring her words.

"Throwing off your opponents in battle, for one," Mewtwo said. "It's also a good way to relieve stress and refocus yourself."

"Speaking from experience?" Sasha asked dryly.

Mewtwo placed his silverware down, wiped his mouth with a napkin and stood up.

He then proceeded to flow through a series of moves that involved his entire body that had Sasha's jaw hanging open in disbelief.

Mewtwo finished with a slightly mocking bow before resuming his meal.

"I'm sure you'll find some use for dancing if you feel so inclined," the clone said. "I'll be happy to help you find a teacher as well."

"Couldn't you teach me?" Sasha asked.

"Bipedal doesn't translate well to quadruped and you'd look quite silly if you tried," Mewtwo pointed out.

"Isn't one of the sayings 'Dance like nobody is watching'?" Sasha asked. "Most dancing looks quite silly anyway so whether it's on two paws or four shouldn't matter. Besides, I could probably adapt it to four legs if I wanted to."

Mewtwo stroked his chin thoughtfully before inclining his head. "Very well. I will teach you the basics and your homework will be adapting them to your own style. Eventually, we'll incorporate actual attack moves and move on from there."

"You've been planning this," Sasha accused.

"I have," Mewtwo said.

"...Why?"

"Because I was bored and thought it'd be an interesting idea."

"You'd make a dangerous mad scientist."

"You forget who created me."