Kagome and Sesshoumaru walked calmly up to the ferry departure building, apparently not bothered in the least by the storm. Their only concession to the weather was a single umbrella that they shared.
"- just waters which no one can survive," an elegant woman announced gravely as they entered the building at last.
"And that's why your ferry to New Island has been cancelled!" Officer Jenny informed the amassed trainers.
"Well I'm going anyway!" one trainer said firmly. "All my 'mon are water-type! We'll just swim over to that palace!"
Other trainers groaned behind him of how unfair that was – likely because they didn't have water-type 'mon to be able to do that for themselves.
"I warn you, the waves will be savage. You will never make it," the woman beside Officer Jenny warned. Likely the harbour-master, Kagome decided.
"And besides," Officer Jenny added, "if you tried that stunt and your 'mon got hurt, you'd be out of luck because we had to close down the 'Mon Centre."
"Uh, how come?" a familiar voice asked, and Kagome spotted a familiar Pikachu clinging to the head of his trainer. It looked like Ash had gotten an invitation as well, which probably meant that Misty and Brock were around here somewhere too.
"Because the nurse in charge of the Centre disappeared last month," Jenny answered with unhappy concern. "And if any of you see her, please contact me at once! That's her picture over there on the wall."
"I've seen her," Kagome spoke up.
"You have?" Officer Jenny asked, and the crowds parted to let Kagome step up.
Knowing where a lost Nurse Joy was, well, that was important to all of them.
"Every trainer here who received an invitation to the palace on New Island has seen her," Kagome said with a nod. "She was the person in the hologram inviting us."
Murmurs of realisation and agreement rippled around the room.
"Then I'm definitely still going!" insisted the guy who'd spoken up before, and ran for the doors.
He wasn't the only one, but on the other hand, most of the trainers in the building were confined there by either their lack of 'mon suitable for making such a crossing, or their desire to keep their 'mon safe in case the storm did indeed prove to be too much for their 'mon to handle.
Kagome wasn't in the first rush out the doors. She moved to stand by them, yes, but she took the time to go over which of her 'mon were rotated on, which also allowed time for Ash, Misty and Brock to reach her and Sesshoumaru where they waited.
"You got invited too, huh?" Ash asked.
Kagome nodded. "I did," she agreed, and walked out with them.
"We've just got to get to that island," Ash declared when they reached the end of the pier. "The world's greatest 'mon master is waiting for us."
"Ash, our 'mon aren't strong enough," Misty pointed out, concerned. "They can't handle giant waves like this."
"They should be," Kagome said frankly, "but if they're not, then don't make them have to worry about the waves," she advised more gently. "Go underwater, rather than along the surface."
"You want to cross maybe?" a new voice spoke up. A voice that belonged to a woman dressed in fur and standing in the bow of a boat. "We take you ja? We vikings are used to big waves. We get you to New Island faster than you can say 'farvig nugen'," she offered.
"Thanks, but we're fine," Kagome deferred as Sesshoumaru wrapped his arms around her and she released another pokeball.
Dragonair emerged from within, twice as long as was normal for a Dragonair, but then, as a Dratini, he'd been twice as long as he should have been as well.
"Oh my gosh," Misty breathed.
"Oh my goodness," Brock agreed.
"Oh my god," Ash finished, as all of them stared in awe at the rare dragon-type 'mon that seemed to have an oasis of calm around himself in the midst of this terrible storm.
But then, Dragonair were famous for being able to manipulate the weather.
Kagome climbed on first, and Sesshoumaru swung a leg over behind her.
"I advise you trust your 'mon, particularly your Squirtles, for the trip, but do as you please," Kagome bid them, and Dragonair took off into the air, the storm calming ahead of him before closing back in behind him.
"Let's go!" Ash yelled, and scrambled into the boat. "If we can keep up with Dragonair, then we shouldn't have too hard a time of it!"
Except that Dragonair didn't hear that quasi-plan, and rose up until he was above the storm and the clouds. Sesshoumaru then gathered his own cloud at his feet, and took Kagome into his arms to carry her himself. It would give Dragonair a chance to really stretch out and play for a while, though Kagome did recall him before they reached the eye of the storm. There, to keep up the appearance of a more 'normal' trainer, Kagome released Fearow to ride on down to the palace.
Fearow quickly understood Kagome's want for the illusion, and allowed Sesshoumary to sit on his back as well. Fiercely competitive about racing with the other he may have been, but he wasn't that selfish.
~oOo~
Kagome landed at the same time as another trainer who had flown through the storm on the back of his Pidgeot. She turned and looked out at the wall of dark, rolling clouds, a frown on her face.
"There is something not natural about that storm," she said firmly.
Sesshoumaru nodded at her side.
"It sure was nuts," the other trainer agreed.
"My master bids you welcome to New Island," greeted a voice blank of emotion. "Will you kindly present your invitation."
Sesshoumaru withdrew Kagome's invitation from where it had been kept within his armour and handed it to her, while the other trainer pulled his own invitation out of a pocket.
"The bearer of this invitation -"
"The bearers of this invitation -"
The two little gizmos said, slightly out of synchronisation with each other as they lit up, the holographic projection of the woman before them, tiny and translucent in their hands.
"-may be admitted to New Island," they finished, and then closed down again.
"Very good," the woman said, though without any feeling to her words to indicate if she actually was pleased or not. "Please, come this way," she bid, and turned to head inside. "My master awaits your arrival."
"Ladies first," the other trainer bid, bowing slightly in an effort to at least appear gallant.
Kagome's lips twitched in amusement, but took the lead all the same, with Sesshoumaru hovering at her shoulder as they followed their guide into the building.
"Sort of... space-age/gothic/organic," Kagome observed as she took in the architecture, a slight grimace on her features. "The windmills and the arena looked nice coming in though," she added.
The other trainer chuckled. "Yeah, I'm looking forward to a match with this guy," he agreed.
Their guide led them to a large hall, where a long table had been set with candles, goblets, a pitcher of water, and a couple of bowls full of fruit.
"Please release your 'mon from their balls and make yourselves comfortable," the woman said blankly. "I must go and greet other arrivals."
"Release my 'mon from their balls," Kagome repeated softly to Sesshoumaru when the doors had closed behind the woman after she had left them there. "The storm was suspicious, this place has an unpleasant aura..."
Sesshoumaru wrapped his arms around Kagome in an offer of comfort, even as she whipped out her 'dex and rotated her team again. While Sesshoumaru pulled her onto his lap to sit, Kagome released Fearow, Shippo and Kadabra. The fifth 'mon in her team was her final one, and it was Mew. Just in case something went horribly, horribly wrong, she wanted her oldest friend nearby – Mew was ridiculously powerful after all, for all that he didn't display it often, preferring to play rather than battle in any situation. Though, for him, any battle practically was play.
As for the final, empty slot, that was for Kagome to call up a 'mon appropriate to the situation, if she needed to. If she didn't have the situation covered with those 'mon she had with her already.
While the guy who'd arrived at the same time as her released a collection of 'mon what looked like he'd gone with them for their macho-points, even his Venusaur radiated macho, and that from a 'mon with a massive flower on his back. Next was a guy who released all water-type 'mon into one of the fountains in the room, well, except for a Nidoqueen, but she was still blue, if that counted for anything in the matter. Then a woman in a purple dress and yellow pants arrived with a whole lot of 'mon that she could have picked because they were pretty just as much as for how strong they were, well, except for the Blastoise, but he was almost certainly her starter.
Ash, Brock and Misty arrived at last, and were shortly thereafter proclaimed to be the last of the trainers who would be arriving.
The lights... dimmed wasn't the right word... were dramatically shut off, and a column of light lanced down through the centre of a large spiralling ramp.
"You are about to meet my master. The time has come for your encounter with the greatest 'mon master on earth," the hypnotised Nurse Joy declared, a little dramatically. Whoever her hypnotist was – and that was probably her 'master' – they probably felt strongly about this particular matter for it to leech over to be passion in her voice.
Around the room, the 'mon shifted. Sesshoumaru's arms pulled Kagome tighter against him, her 'mon moved to stand nearer to her, and Kagome felt the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck all stand up as a figure floated down through that shaft of light unassisted. The column of light being quite high, and Kagome being some distance from the spiralling ramp, she couldn't see clearly at first, but as the figure reached the bottom of the column of light, she saw them more clearly.
"Yes, the world's greatest 'mon master is also the most powerful 'mon on earth. This is the ruler of New Island and soon the whole world: Mewtwo," the hypnotised woman presented to them.
Mew... two? Kagome wondered to herself, and looked up sharply at Sesshoumaru, her eyes wide with concern, even as Ash wondered the same aloud, softly, but audible.
"A 'mon can't be a 'mon master! No way!" objected the guy who'd ridden over on his Gyarados.
"Quiet human. From now on, I am the one who makes the rules."
They all heard this twice at the same time: through the mouth of not-all-there Nurse Joy, and once in their own heads.
Mewtwo was clearly a psychic-type 'mon. He further demonstrated this by lifting the objecting trainer high off the ground with his powers, and tossing him into the fountain with his 'mon.
Foolishly, the trainer didn't take the hint, and sent his Gyarados to attack.
He must never have fought against a properly-trained psychic-type 'mon before, but it was standard for them to turn the attack of their opponent back. It was odd to Kagome, since the guy had a Golduck with his team, and surely the Golduck must know how to do that...?
"Gyarados!" the trainer called as he jumped back into the water to wade to his defeated 'mon.
"Child's play," they heard in double again. Then, only in the voice that they could hear in their heads, "Your usefulness has ended," Mewtwo said, and swiped his hand at Nurst Joy.
She swooned as the hypnotism was ended. Brock caught her before she hit the ground, but her hat came off, and if there had been any doubt to her identity before, it was gone when the hairstyle distinctive to Nurse Joys was revealed.
Kagome watched silently, surrounded by her 'mon, as Mewtwo told Nurse Joy how she had come to be where she was, and then declared himself the new ruler of the world – of human and 'mon alike.
"You're just a bully!" Misty snapped.
"You humans are a dangerous species," Mewtwo informed them. "You brought me into your world with no purpose but to be your slave, but now I have my own purpose."
"Woah woah woah!" Kagome said, speaking up for the first time. "That's a very blanket 'you' that you're casting out there," she stated, wide-eyed. "I know for a fact that I had nothing to do with your inception, conception, birth or creation. Though I do congratulate you for finding a purpose, I'm still looking for mine."
"What are you babbling about?" Mewtwo demanded disdainfully, though with a hint of confusion. He had been slightly thrown by the interruption, but he shook his head dismissively before Kagome could answer. "Not that it matters. My storm will wipe out your world and bring about the creation of my own."
"So you hate all humans, and you're going to destroy us to protect 'mon. Is that it?" Brock demanded.
"No," Mewtwo answered, shaking his head again. "Your 'mon will not be spared. They have disgraced themselves by serving humans. Those 'mon are nothing but slaves."
Kagome's 'mon (and Kagome) all burst out laughing at that.
"You laugh?" Mewtwo demanded angrily.
"Pika!" Pikachu added fiercely, and jumped down from Ash's shoulder. "Pika, pika pika!"
"You say I am wrong?" Mewtwo asked Pikachu. "You say you are not this human's servant, you are his friend?"
"Pika!"
"You are as pathetic as the rest," Mewtwo dismissed, and flung Pikachu back with his psychic powers.
Ash caught Pikachu before he hit the floor, and put himself between Pikachu and the floor when they kept going.
"Humans and 'mon can never be friends," Mewtwo stated coldly.
That sent Kagome's 'mon, who had calmed down at the attack on Pikachu, into roaring gales of laughter again.
"Why do you laugh?" Mewtwo demanded.
"We laugh," Sesshoumaru answered, the calmest of Kagome's 'mon, and tucked his chin over Kagome's shoulder, his arms still wrapped around her stomach as she sat on his lap. "Because my lady does not hold 'mon in bondage, but rather holds herself in bondage to 'mon."
"To most people, I'd be 'her Shippo'," Shippo said as he wiped tears of mirth from his eyes. "But Kagome is just as much 'my human'."
"After all, is it the master, or the servant, who sees to all the needs of the others?" Kagome pointed out with a smile. "But you're right, in a way. We aren't friends. We've been together so long, been through so much together, it's much more accurate to say that we're family."
"Lies and foolishness," Mewtwo dismissed angrily.
"If you're really a 'mon, then there's no reason I can't capture you!" declared the trainer who had flown in on his Pidgeot. They hadn't one of them actually introduced themselves properly yet. "Go Rhyhorn!"
Rhyhorn charged, and was repulsed.
"Fools," Mewtwo scoffed proudly. "The attacks of your 'mon cannot weaken me. My powers are too great. No trainer can conquer me."
"Then you won't mind proving it in a real match," Ash called out.
"Is that a challenge?" Mewtwo asked, just about purred happily.
"You bet it is," Ash answered.
Mewtwo inclined his head, as though acquiescing, and his eyes glowed brightly – a clear and recognisable sign of the use by a 'mon of psychic powers. Holes opened up in the floor near him, three holes, in fact, and easily recognisable 'mon rose out of those holes as on personal elevators.
"Like most 'mon trainers, I too began with Squirtle, Charmander, and Bulbasaur – but their evolved forms, and I used their genetic material to clone even more powerful copies," Mewtwo stated with pride.
Then behind him a great doorway opened onto a battling arena. It was quite dramatic really, very sci-fi movie and more than mildly disconcerting.
"Your fake Venusaur can't beat my real one!" insisted the guy who'd flown in on his Pidgeot. "Right Brute-Root?"
"Saur!" the 'mon agreed.
"We'll blow away that Blastoise, won't we Shell-Shocker?" the young woman in the purple dress demanded of her 'mon.
"Blast!" he agreed.
"Hey Kagome, I don't suppose your Charmeleon has evolved into Charizard yet?" Ash asked. "You know, to round it all out?"
Kagome shook her head. "He hasn't," she answered, and cast an analytically assessing eye over the Charizard that stood behind Mewtwo. "And truthfully even if he had, I really see no point in such a battle."
"No point?!" demanded the other two trainers who had already put their 'mon forward.
Kagome shrugged. "A Charmeleon, albeit a strong Charmeleon, against a genetically enhanced Charizard? No. I won't do it. Against a similarly enhanced Venusaur maybe, but not against a Charizard," she answered plainly.
Mewtwo narrowed his eyes at Kagome, but those willing to battle were still more than ready to move out to the stadium, and the others with them to watch.
Kagome, with help from Kadabra, took a seat in the stands with her 'mon sitting around her while the other trainers and their 'mon waited at the battle-line, waiting their turn even if they wouldn't be battling.