Author: The boy with Scorch's brother is actually from the anime, he's not an OC of mine. It's just he's only mentioned once in the anime and you only got a glimpse of him in one episode. That is Hypno's Lullaby in season 1. A lady mistook Ash for her missing son, and it turns out her son looks a lot like Ash, but with dark blue hair. No wonder she thought Ash was her son. Oh and finally we reveal something from the first book of Child of Mew. :D You guys will know what I'm talking about if you've read the first book. I hope you guys enjoy it! Also, I'm glad some of you guys noticed that Ash is growing as a character and a trainer, seeing that he was able to put trust in his Pokemon to make the right move without needing his input. And I'm also glad you guys remembered that Scorch actually have a brother, the Charmander from the canon universe.
Chapter 36: A Char Reunion
Ash was surprised that Scorch knew this Charmeleon, she had just called him her brother. He and the other boy decided to stay quiet and watch the scene unfold, though Ash felt a little sorry for the other boy since he couldn't understand Pokemon language, all he could do was guess what they're saying by their gestures and reactions.
The red Charmeleon didn't move from his lazy position, but he did speak up to Scorch, "Ah, sister, how long has it been? Looks like you evolved too."
"Yes, and I've been working hard to get stronger," Scorch said, the tension between the siblings not lowering one bit.
Charmeleon gave a lazy yawn before he said, "Why work hard when you're already so strong? The Trainer who caught me had me battle a lot, including a stampede of Exeggutors that were stupid enough to get hypnotized by each other. After evolving I realize that my Trainer is too weak and whiny. All the Pokemon I've faced are just little novice brats too, why bother fighting or training anymore?"
"What are you saying? You sound like you've lost your ambition and respect for your own Trainer. You're supposed to be a team, your Trainer counts on you, so why are you acting like this?" Scorch growled, not liking her brother's attitude.
The other Charmeleon sat up and grumbled, "Why should I have to listen to a whiny human brat? In fact why do you listen to yours? I only care about facing strong opponents, but all I've been getting are weak little Caterpie or Paras. Until I get a real challenge I'm not lifting a claw to fight, and even if I do it's not going to be by that brat's terms."
Hearing this made Scorch's tail flame flare in anger. As a Charmeleon herself, she took pride in her battle skills, but the fact that her brother is overconfident and is now a prick to his own Trainer infuriated her.
"You and your Trainer are supposed to be working together. I can't believe you would think of such a thing, you were always a sweet Charmander, did evolution change you that much?" Scorch growled at her lazy and cocky brother.
The red Charmeleon gave an annoyed growl, "Why are you making such a big deal out of it? You were always the oddball of our family. You went missing for a long time, then came back and your color was always off. Then we both end up captured by humans and evolved, and yet you still insist on being the nice mon? You can do what you like, but leave me out of it."
"No, you're ticking me off with this attitude of yours! Get up off your lazy fire tail and do something worthy for once in your life!" Scorch snapped, losing her patience with him.
"What are they saying? They seem pretty angry," the boy said in concern as he watched the exchange.
Ash sighed and said, "Well… I'm guessing they know each other, and Scorch is probably upset that your Charmeleon is being a hot head." the boy almost laughed at his own pun.
"Really? Um… what should we do then?" The boy asked.
Ash watched the two Charmeleon a little longer, wondering what they wanted to do.
Charmeleon was getting agitated with his sister's accusations, "Well then, if you think I'm so useless then why don't you and I have a battle, right here, right now?"
"Bring it on then, lazy bones!" Scorch challenged right back.
Ash frowned, he didn't like where this was going. Scorch just finished the battle with Blaine's Magmar, she hadn't checked out in the Pokemon Center yet, if she were to battle now she'll be at a big disadvantage.
"It looks like they want to battle each other," Ash said to the other boy.
"Wow, Charmeleon never had any motivation to battle since he evolved!" The boy smiled, thinking it was getting better.
"I think Charmeleons in general likes having a good fight," Ash said. "But yours in particular seems… really hard headed."
"Um… so should we try to battle then?" The kid asked.
"Well maybe it'll help," Ash said before he realized something and gave a sheepish chuckle. "Uh… by the way, my name is Ash, what's yours?"
"Huh? Oh, my name is Arnold. It's nice to meet you, Ash," The kid named Arnold said with a smile.
Ash looked over to Scorch, she looked just about ready to tear off her brother's skull and the fire on her tail flickered hotly.
"Uh… Charmeleon, let's battle them together, okay?" Arnold said to his Charmeleon.
Charmeleon responded by turning his head away from the kid, as if saying 'I don't need or want your help, brat!'
"Alright Scorch, let's give that Charmeleon a lesson about teamwork!" Ash said as Scorch gave a nod.
"Charmeleon, use Slash on that other Charmeleon!" Arnold commanded.
Charmeleon ignored Arnold completely and instead shot out Flamethrower at his sister.
"C-Charmeleon, that wasn't what I wanted you to do!" Arnold frowned.
Scorch easily jumped away to dodge the Flamethrower.
"Use Smokescreen," Ash said.
Scorch is pretty weak from her battle with Blaine, so evasiveness will work better than being all out offensive. Ash thought to himself as the shiny Charmeleon shot out black smoke from her mouth, covering the field.
"C-calm down and try to find the other Charmeleon!" Arnold called.
Charmeleon seem to be ignoring him and instead was yelling, "THIS IS A COWARDLY MOVE AND YOU KNOW IT! COME OUT AND FIGHT ME LIKE A TRUE CHAR!"
Then suddenly a voice whispered right behind him, "As you wish, brother."
"Use Slash!" Ash called out.
Charmeleon gave a pained filled roar as his sister's claws came down on his back.
"Charmeleon!" Arnold called out in concern.
Charmeleon let out a low growl as he stood back up, glaring at his sister as the smoke began to clear. "So you're fighting dirty now, huh? Or maybe it's your pathetic Trainer telling you to fight this way. You've become pathetic."
"No, it's you who's become pathetic. A battle is a battle, if you're going to whine or cry because you were caught off guard by your opponent, then you have no reason to be on the battlefield," Scorch hissed back.
Before the battle could escalate, a black hole appeared in the sky. Everyone dropped what they were doing as they looked up at the hole.
"What is that?" Arnold asked in shock.
"I don't know… but I have a bad feeling…" Ash frowned.
The hole expanded as something came out of it. Ash watched in curiosity as a small creature came out of the hole, before it turned into a golden ring and went around the creature's arm.
"Wh-what is that?" Arnold asked in shock.
"I think that's a Pokemon…" Ash answered, but it wasn't one he was familiar with. Must've been one of those new Pokemon his Memma had yet to show him.
The Pokemon looked around the two boys and their Charmeleon. It settled on Ash before it moved around him.
"You… are you the Child of Mew I've been hearing about?" The voice was distinctly feminine, carrying with it an aggravated tone. Clearly, she was here looking for a fight.
"What is it saying? It seems pretty mad about something," Arnold said nervously.
"H-how should I know? I don't speak Pokemon," Ash lied, not wanting to reveal his true nature to a total stranger. Why is this Pokemon looking for Mew's child? She might be an enemy.
"Hey you, get away from my Trainer!" Scorch demanded.
The Pokemon was glaring angrily as she floated back a bit. "I received information that Mew and her child were on this island, and that they owned a Charmeleon and a Pikachu. I see both of you have a Charmeleon, so that must mean one of you is the Child of Mew!"
"You can't come to such conclusions like that just because these Trainers happen to own a Charmeleon!" Scorch snapped.
The Pokemon didn't seem to care about what Scorch said, instead it was preparing an attack. "I must fulfill my duty and take the child, conscious or not!"
"Arnold! Run!" Ash yelled at the other boy.
Not even a second after Ash yelled that did the Pokemon shot out a powerful Psychic attack. Ash couldn't even see what hit him, but he felt his mind growing dizzy and his body hitting the wall of the Pokemon Center.
"S-Scorch…" Ash called out weakly.
The golden Charmeleon jumped at the smaller Pokemon and used Fire Fang to sink her hot teeth into its arm. To Ash's surprise, Arnold's Charmeleon joined in on the attack and was slashing the Pokemon from behind.
The Pokemon let out a terrifying roar as it used some kind of Psychic pulse to shove both Charmeleons down, and flew up into the sky.
"Very well. You want to make this difficult? Then I won't hold anything back!" The Pokemon growled as its body began to glow.
Ash could only lift his head and watch in awe and horror as the Pokemon grew in size. It was almost like it was evolving, but this didn't seem like evolution to Ash. The Pokemon was huge, it became the size of a building, its form was intimidating to say the least.
"NOW YOU WILL FACE THE WRATH OF UNBOUND HOOPA!" It announced loudly as its six arms floated beside it.
Ash tried to get back to his feet. He had to get away. This Pokemon that called itself Hoopa was too dangerous. Ash didn't know where Mew was and all his Pokemon were still in the Pokemon Center, and his Charmeleon wasn't at 100% either.
As the giant Hoopa was about to grab him with one of its floating arms, something green flew by and slashed it. The Hoopa growled as its arm floated back from the sudden attack. Ash narrowed his eyes to see what hit it.
"Blue?"
Indeed, it seems Blue was in his Latios form and was fighting back. Yellow, in her Latias form, joined her brother in attack. The two Lati hybrids shot out a double Dragon Pulse attack at its face.
"Wh-what's going on!?" Ash heard Arnold yelling in confusion.
The giant Hoopa gave a roar as it used its tail to slam at the two Latis. Yellow was unable to get out of the way and was slammed into the ground. Blue twisted around the tail and used Dragon Claw to slash Hoopa's tail, before he let out a concerned roar to his sister.
"This thing is too powerful…" Ash said as he struggled to get on his feet.
The giant Hoopa sent out a Dark Pulse, and Blue was unable to dodge it. The Latios hybrid gave a pained filled moan before he fell to the ground.
"Weaklings! No weak hybrid is a match for HOOPA! Now for the brat."
Hoopa turned back to Arnold and Ash, obviously not knowing nor caring which of the boys was the true Child of Mew, it reached for both of them.
Ash braced himself for the worst. Is this really going to be it for me? Memma… where are you?
"Ion, Wild Charge!"
Out of nowhere, a quadruped Pokemon with blue and black fur charged at the large genie Pokemon, electricity sparking wildly off of it as it tackled the giant, a resounding crack of thunder accompanying the impact.
As the Luxray leapt away, panting from the recoil, someone ran up beside Ash. "Looks like we got here just in time," the boy said, looking down at Ash. "Are you alright?"
"I-I'm okay… just can't walk…" Ash said weakly, his body had taken quite some damage earlier. "Who… who are you?"
The boy smiled. "The name's Andreas. My friends all call me Andy." He looked back up at Hoopa, scanning his opponent for any weaknesses to be exploited. "Looks like you've got yourself in quite a mess here," he said to Ash.
"Trouble seems to find me…" Ash gave a weak chuckle.
Arnold didn't look like he was in bad shape like Ash was, but he did have some scrapes on him.
"We have to get out of here, that Pokemon is too strong!"
"Don't be such a wimp!" Arnold's Charmeleon hissed. But despite his attitude, Ash could see the Charmeleon was trembling.
"What are you doing attacking these trainers?" Andy shouted suddenly at Hoopa.
"I have a duty to capture the Child of Mew! And I know one of these two boys is her child! Now get out of HOOPA'S way or suffer my wrath!" Hoopa said loudly back.
Ash looked at Andreas and said, "Can you… understand what it's saying?"
"Yeah I can," he said, looking down and smiling at Ash. "And that only confirmed my suspicions."
He looked back up to Hoopa. "If you want these two, you're gonna have to go through me. And I'm afraid that won't be too easy."
Ash looked at Andreas in wonder. He can understand Pokemon… is he a hybrid child too?
"Why must you stand in Hoopa's way? Why must you interfere with Hoopa's duty!? It's Hoopa's job to take the Child of Mew! Surely you understand the importance to this duty I am bearing!" Hoopa growled in irritation at the boy.
"Are you gonna refer to yourself in the third person, or the first person? Because honestly, if you don't pick one, you'll just sound like you're crazy."
Hoopa just roared as it prepared a Psychic attack. Ash shut his eyes to brace himself for another harsh impact.
"Stop her with Fire Fang!"
The Luxray charged forward as soon as the words left his mouth, fire lining his snarling teeth as he leapt and bit deep into one of Hoopa's arms.
Hoopa let out a roar before punching the Luxray off its arm with another one of its several arms.
"S-Scorch… think you can help out?" Ash asked his Charmeleon.
"Ash, you're hurt, I can't just leave your side."
"I'll be okay… just help drive that Hoopa away."
Scorch looked at her Trainer in concern before nodding. She turned to the giant Hoopa.
"Use Smokescreen at its face," Ash said.
Scorch shot out black smoke from her mouth and at the Hoopa's face, causing it to cough and growl.
Luxray winced and let go, landing beside Scorch and giving her a grateful nod.
"You sure your Charmeleon can handle this?" Andy asked. "She looks like she's already taken a beating."
"Scorch is tough, and she's the only one I have with me right now," Ash answered.
Hoopa used Dark Pulse, trying to hit everyone in the area. Scorch stayed in front of Ash to keep him from getting hit again.
"Take the hit, Ion, and return it with Ice Fang!"
The Luxray, apparently called Ion, leapt in front of Scorch and Ash, gritting his teeth the the powerful Dark Pulse. The moment it ended, he rushed forward and bit down on another of Hoopa's arms, a bone-chilling cold spreading from the area of the bite.
"Use Flamethrower!" Ash said to Scorch.
Scorch shot out a jet of streaming fire from her mouth and at the Hoopa's chest.
"Irritating… all of you are so IRRITATING!" Hoopa swung its tail at the group.
Ash felt some kind of invisible force lifting his body, as well as the others around him. They barely dodged the tail. What had saved them?
Blue and Yellow were flying back into the sky, both of them had used Psychic to move them out of harm's way.
Hoopa growled when it saw it was being surrounded. "So many bugs, so annoying. Hoopa will return for the child another day!"
With that said, Hoopa threw one of its rings into the sky and it expanded into a large black hole, big enough for a building to fit through. Hoopa went through it before it disappeared without a trace. Despite everything, one thought went through Ash's head.
Looks like Cinnabar Island is going to be on the news soon… The boy thought before he blacked out.
The next thing Ash knew, was that he was waking up in a bed, with a familiar Pikachu on his chest.
"Huh?"
The Pikachu gave a relieved smile when it saw Ash opened his eyes.
"Ash, you're finally awake! You had me worried when they brought you in unconscious! I knew I shouldn't have left your side!" Storm said frantically.
"Looks like that Pokemon gave us quite the beating," Blue spoke up as he put a new bandaid on his arm, he and Yellow got a few scraps as well.
"Blue! Where's… that boy who was helping us?" Ash asked.
"You mean Andreas?" Yellow asked. "He's in the lobby, talking to a Meowth that came in a while ago."
"Wait… a Meowth?" Ash quickly got up from his bed, but groaned in pain from the soreness.
"H-hey, don't get up too fast now! That boy said he wanted to talk to you, so I don't think he'll be going anywhere any time soon," Storm said.
"Where's Scorch? Is she okay?" Ash asked.
"When we brought you in, we gave Scorch to Nurse Joy to treat her after that battle, she should be just fine," Blue answered.
Ash gave a sigh of relief. "I'm glad… Well… I guess I better talk to Andreas, there must've been a reason why he came here."
"Do you suspect he might be a hybrid too?" Blue asked.
"Another hybrid?" Yellow frowned.
"You're kidding, right? I've had enough of hybrids!" Storm groaned.
"It's possible, he can understand Pokemon after all. If he is, we need to know which side he's on," Ash said. "After all, that Hoopa Pokemon might've been a Legendary Pokemon, and it sounds like she's not on our side."
Ash, Storm, Blue and Yellow head for the lobby to find Andreas sitting on a table with a Meowth in front of him, the two seemed to be having a conversation. Other people just looked at them awkwardly while moving on.
"Did you also come looking for Mew and her child?" The Meowth gave a guarded hiss.
"Yeah, but I have my own reasons for that. Not harmful, though."
"After what happened with Hoopa, I can't say that I trust you."
Andy shrugged. "And there's not really anything I can do to convince you otherwise."
"Well you're wasting your time. Mew and her child aren't here, so go find them somewhere else."
Andy shook his head. "They're here somewhere. And according to Hoopa, it's one of the two kids that was attacked. And ever since I've come to this island, there's been a very strong Psychic presence. If that's not Mew, I don't know what it is."
"Then what about those two Latis you saw earlier? They're half Psychic type Legendaries after all, I'm sure both of them combined is what you were feeling."
Ash was hesitant on approaching. Mew seemed uneasy with the guy and she's normally very welcoming even to potential enemies. Perhaps the incident with Hoopa really shook her up.
Yellow and Blue didn't seem to rush Ash either, both of them just watched the conversation quietly. Storm was surprisingly patient as he climbed on on Ash's head.
Arnold came out of another room and was the first to approach Andreas, cutting off the conversation he had with the Meowth.
"Andreas, I'm here. You said you wanted to talk to me?" Arnold questioned as he sat on the chair.
Andy nodded. "You and the other kid that was attacked. One of you two is the one I'm looking for, the other was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. So I'd rather wait until he's here before we start talking." He turned back to Mew-in-disguise. "That's definitely a possibility, but it doesn't change the fact that Hoopa was certain that the Child of Mew was here, and a Mythical Pokemon like her doesn't usually just jump to conclusions."
"That was a Mythical Pokemon?" Arnold said as awe came to his eyes. "I think Trainers are going to start flooding this tourist attraction once the news get out of what happened here."
"Well Ash? Are you going to go talk to the guy?" Blue asked. "It's better to just get it over with."
"Yeah, and this place is going to get even more crowded once news of Hoopa gets out. I'd rather we leave as soon as possible," Yellow said nervously.
Ash sighed and said, "Alright, I'll go have a chat with him. He may not be a bad guy. He did save our hides after all."
"Well if he does anything funny, I'll be sure to paralyze him if you need me to," The Pikachu on his hat reassured him.
Ash approached the table and said, "Hey Andreas, I haven't been out too long, right?"
Andy looked over. "Only a couple of hours, Ash. But I'm glad you're here now. I need to talk with you and Arnold."
Ash was surprised Andreas knew his name, but perhaps Arnold or one of his friends told him while he was out. Ash took his seat next to Arnold.
"So… what did you want to talk to us about?" Ash asked. Meowth jumped up to the table next to him.
"The thing is, one of you two is the person I'm looking for. I have something that the one I'm looking for could probably help me with, and in turn, I can offer my own assistance with his plight."
"You'll have to be more specific than that," Ash said.
"Yeah, what do you mean one of us is the person you're looking for? Just who are you looking for?" Arnold asked.
"The Child of Mew," he said bluntly.
The room suddenly felt deathly quiet. Ash felt his blood run cold at this, and Storm tensed up on his head.
Arnold looked clueless however. "What? Are you talking about a person or do you mean the actual phantom Pokemon Mew?"
Andy shrugged. "It depends on how you look at it. Long story short, Mew has a son, and I'm looking for him. And where he is, Mew is usually close by. She's pretty protective of him, from what I've heard."
"But no human had ever seen Mew! How could she have a son?" Ash asked, trying to remain cool, though he didn't realize his slip. People normally refer Legendary Pokemon as 'it' instead of 'she' or 'he'.
"Rumor has it, certain Mythical and Legendary Pokemon have been adopting orphaned humans. Victini's already been sighted with an oddly colored child, so the rumor also claims that they are turning said humans into Shiny versions of themselves, though I find that less believable. But then again, these are myths and legends of the Pokemon world. We don't really know what they're capable of. Especially Mew."
"Shiny Legendary Pokemon?" Arnold raised an eyebrow. "What're those?"
"You ever heard of a Shiny Pokemon?" Ash asked. "My Charmeleon is a Shiny Pokemon, it's what people call a Pokemon that has a different color from the original, and they are said to sparkle when they come out of their Poke Balls."
"Oh wow, that's so cool!" Arnold smiled. "I want to get a Shiny Pokemon!"
Ash then said to Andreas, "But who are saying these rumors? I can't imagine a lot of people knowing about this stuff, I mean it sounds like something straight out of a fairytale."
Andreas nodded. "Let's just say I have reason to trust these 'rumors'."
"Well… I've never seen Mew before, so I'm probably not the person you're looking for," Arnold confirmed.
"I doubt either of us had," Ash added. "Mew is known to be the rarest Pokemon of all for a reason."
Andy shook his head. "I know for a fact that one of you two is the one I'm looking for. So one of you is lying. And the longer we sit here, the greater chance I'm gonna find out which one of you it is if you don't just come forward. I have a knack for telling when I've been lied to."
"Well… that Hoopa creature just kinda attacked us out of nowhere. You're saying it attacked us because it thinks one of us is the child of this elusive rare Pokemon called Mew. Isn't that kind of… I don't know… stupid to be pinning that one of us could be this special child because of an angry Pokemon?" Arnold asked while frowning.
"Besides, even if one of us is a child of Mew, I doubt we'd tell someone we hardly know," Ash said.
Andy sighed. "Hoopa isn't an idiot. She doesn't directly involve herself into something just because of a rumor. She attacked the two of you because she was absolutely sure that one of you is the Child of Mew. As for why they would reveal themselves to me… Well, from what I know, he could use as many allies as he can get, what with so many Mythical and Legendary Pokemon out for his head. And his mother's, for that matter."
"Whoa, seriously?" Arnold frowned. "But why?"
Ash sighed before he said, "Hey Arnold, why don't you go check on how your Charmeleon is doing? I heard he got beat up pretty bad."
Arnold blinked before he nodded, "O-oh, right. I'll be right back and see if he's okay."
Arnold stood up from his chair and head over to Nurse Joy. With Arnold out of earshot, Ash turned to Andreas with a serious look on his face.
"Are you saying that you're willing to help Mew in this upcoming war?" Ash whispered.
Andy nodded. "I just have a favor of my own to ask. If you agree, you'll have my full support."
Ash crossed his arms and raised his eyebrow, "And what is this favor?"
"My brother," Andy said. "He's been missing for… a while, now. He was last seen at the Orre region. But I've searched everywhere, and I can't find him."
"Your brother, huh? … First, I want to know… are you a Child of a Legendary? And if so, which one are you?" Ash asked quietly.
Andy nodded. "I'm Lugia's child. He found me amidst a bunch of driftwood from a boat wreck. I was the only survivor."
"Lugia? … I remember back when I rode the St. Anne… I ran into a Lugia family, one of them was a shiny… was that you?" Ash asked.
Andy smiled and nodded. "I was visiting my Memma after traveling for a while. We were a bit surprised to find the a cruise ship had ventured so far into our part of the sea."
"Wow, I didn't even know we met before," Ash chuckled.
"So you guys played with the ship and almost drowned us all, thanks a lot for that," Storm said dryly.
Meowth chuckled, "Gotta admit that it was thrilling."
Ash rolled his eyes, "Anyways, who's your brother? Is he a hybrid too?"
Andy scratched his head. "Yeah, sorry, we can get a bit… carried away. And… yeah. He's a hybrid too."
Meowth gave an uneasy look as she spoke up, "Your brother… he wouldn't happen to be a Lugia hybrid too, right? Is he older than you? Like maybe an adult age?"
Andy nodded. "I never really knew him well. He left to explore the world on his own while I was young. But Memma's been really worried about him and asked me to look into it."
Ash looked at his Memma and frowned as he remembered that Shadow Lugia from her story.
"You don't think…?"
Meowth gave her child a glum look and sighed, "I don't know for sure yet, but… it's very likely…"
"Should we… tell him?" Ash asked, feeling uneasy.
Meowth hesitated before she said, "He may have the right to know."
"Andreas, we're not entirely sure, but we think we may know what happened to your brother, assuming it's the same one," Ash said to Andreas. "And you're not going to like it."
Andy frowned and sighed. "Yeah, I was afraid this road of inquiry might lead to bad news. What happened?"
"Memma went to the Orre region eight years ago. She wanted to take a break from the rebellion lately and thought Orre would be a good place to do so since Pokemon rarely go there," Ash started.
"But instead of peace, I found this," Meowth said as she conjured a mental orb that showed a dark purple Lugia, with red eyes and silvery white parts. Its teeth and feet seemed sharper than normal. "An organization called Cipher created this Shadow Lugia, said to have closed its heart and can't be purified. No other Shadow Pokemon's color ever changed before, but this one did. I also heard from their Master that it was originally part human as well."
Andy sighed and held his head in his hands. "That's him," he said softly. "I didn't know him long, but… even like that, I recognize him." He took a deep breath. "So what happened to him?"
"Cipher happened. They were trying to create Shadow Pokemon, and they came dangerously close doing the same with me." Meowth frowned with a look of dread.
Andy nodded. "Was he ever… purified? I'd heard that they'd developed a method on Orre for freeing Shadow Pokemon. Did they ever use it on my brother?"
"Last time I heard, Michael was still working on a way to purify him after he snagged him away from that evil Greevil," Meowth hissed at that name.
"Michael is the guy who used something called a Snag Machine to snag Shadow Pokemon away from their abusive Trainers to purify them," Ash explained. "I'm sure he'll find a way to purify your brother too."
Andy sighed and nodded. "Well, at least I won't have all bad news for Memma." He sat in silence for a bit before taking another deep breath and nodding again. "Well, you did your part, so I suppose you can consider me your ally now."
"Really? It's that easy?" Storm said in surprise.
"Memma and I thank you for being our ally," Ash said gratefully.
"Anytime," Andy said. "You gave me and Memma the first news we've had in years as to the whereabouts and status of my brother. I owe you for that."
"So now what will you do?" Ash asked. "We're going to go find Moltres and his child on One Island's volcano and see if we can recruit them."
Andy shrugged. "Well, since I've gotten what I came here for, I don't really have any other plans. Perhaps I could join you?"
"Oh, wait a minute, that gives me an idea." Meowth smirked. "You're the Child of Lugia, right? Lugia is the leader of the three Legendary Birds, which means you could convince Moltres and Zapdos to join our side."
Andy frowned in thought. "I'm not so sure. I'm only his child. I might not hold as much sway as Memma does. But I'll see what I can do. Maybe seeing me supporting you is all they'll need to be convinced."
"Here's my idea; we need to cover a lot of ground in little time. You know how to fly, right? Perhaps you can go to the Kanto's abandoned Power Plant to try and convince Zapdos and his child to join our side," Meowth suggested.
Andy nodded. "I can do that. You want to give me your number so I can call you when it's done?"
"Yeah, that'll make it easier to keep track. Tyra, the Child of Rayquaza, is also doing her best to recruit hybrids and their Memmas to help," Ash said as he took out his Pokegear.
While they were exchanging numbers, Arnold came back from the emergency room. "I'm back, sorry it took so long, Charmeleon was still being a stubborn Ponyta."
"I guess it'll take some time before your Charmeleon respects you as a Trainer," Ash said.
Andy nodded. "The key to gaining the respect of a strong Pokemon like that is proving your own strength. Show him you aren't as weak as he thinks you are, and he should start seeing you in a different light."
Arnold nodded, "I'll try my best. I just hope Charmeleon will start to cooperate with me someday."
"I'm sure he will," Ash said. "You're a good Trainer from what I can see."
"Thanks. So are we still trying to figure out who's the 'child of Mew' here?" Arnold asked.
"Yeah, we're done. It's just a cosplay thing, turns out, nothing more," Ash waved off with a nervous chuckle.
"Oh, really? That was it? Then what was all that talk about Legendary Pokemon adopting humans and stuff?" Arnold asked.
"It was for a convention and a play they're doing. He just wanted to know which one of us was playing as Mew's child," Ash answered.
"What about that Hoopa Pokemon?" Arnold asked. "Why would it attack us just for that?"
"Uh…" Ash looked at Andreas for help.
"That was just a mech that one of our sponsors made," Andy said, smiling. "Pretty convincing, huh?"
"Wow… that was crazy. You should work on that mech though, it could've seriously hurt us." Arnold frowned.
"Yeah, there were a few bugs in the system that the creators overlooked before launching it. They'll probably get an earful from the other sponsors, though."
"And what about the Latios and Latias?"
"Hard-light Holograms. Those in particular were a pain to program, but the results are definitely satisfactory."
"Well, if that's all it is, then I guess we'll continue our journey. I need to get a badge soon, the Indigo League starts in about two months or so," Arnold said with a child-like smile on his face.
"Two months? That's not much time…" Ash frowned. It had taken him almost a year to collect the seven badges he had now, he's not sure if two months is enough time to recruit Pokemon and get his last badge.
I guess this is one of those times when shortcuts are needed. Ash thought to himself.
"Yeah, so I'm going to find Blaine's Gym and see if I can win a Volcano Badge! What are you going to do?" Arnold asked.
"I only need one more badge to get the required eight," Ash said.
"Oh, you already have seven badges? That's cool! What Gym are you going to aim for next for your final badge?" Arnold asked curiously.
"Probably the Viridian Gym, I heard it's the toughest Gym in the Kanto region," Ash said. "It'll be nice to see how far I've come in my journey, to test myself against the strongest Pokemon Gym of this region."
Andy smiled. "You know, I've been collecting badges too. Perhaps I'll see you at the Plateau."
"You're collecting badges too?" Ash said, looking at him. "Awesome, so I guess that means we're rivals!" Then something occurred to him. "Wait… you're not from this region, are you? You used a Luxray, and they're not found anywhere in Kanto."
Andy nodded. "I started my exploration of the world in Unova. I moved to Sinnoh from there. But here in Kanto is where I'll be participating in my first League."
"That's cool, Trainers from other regions are free to participate in any League, as long as they register for it," Arnold said. "So I guess I'll be seeing you two in the Indigo Plateau when it starts, right?"
"You can count on it! I've come this far and I'm not backing down now," Ash said with a confident smile.
"I'd be incredibly insulted if you DID back down now, especially after all we've been through," Storm commented.
Andy chuckled at Storms comment. "I think after so much hard work, anyone would be disappointed at backing down."
"Right, good point. Well then, until we meet again, see you guys later at the big leagues!" Arnold said as he waved to them.
Once Arnold left, Blue and Yellow joined the two boys.
"So, everything worked out?" Blue asked.
"Yeah, Andreas here is going to help us recruit Zapdos while we go for Moltres," Ash said.
"But One Island is pretty far from here. You'll have a hard time finding a boat or a ship to get there by sea," Blue said.
"Yeah, and with the Indigo Plateau only two months away, I can't afford to waste too much time. Blue, Yellow, think we should just fly there ourselves to save time?" Ash asked the two.
Yellow smiled, "I'd much rather fly in my Lati form than walk or sail there as human."
"Honestly, if I didn't know Andy here was half Lugia, I'd be freaking out that you just said that, Yellow," Blue grumbled.
Andy chuckled. "I take it she's less than subtle."
"You have no idea," Blue grumbled. "Yellow here is used to living in a place where she lives as her Pokemon self rather than her human self, so she's not that… knowledgable with modern life."
"Hey! I'm learning! No need to be so mean, Green," Yellow huffed.
"Stop calling me Green!" Blue grumbled.
Andy laughed aloud at this. "Wait, wait, let me get this straight. Your sister, Yellow, is a Latias hybrid, which makes her form yellow. Your name is Blue, which is the color of a normal Latios, but your form is green, which she just so happens to call you?"
"She calls me that BECAUSE I'm green as a Latios," Blue grumbled. "Besides, she's not my biological sister, she's only my sister by transformation. Still, I do care for her like a real sister."
Andy smiled. "Good. Never let the lack of a blood bond keep you from being her brother. Family, even non-blood related, is the most important thing we have in this world. Even if we have to sacrifice such things as our names for them."
"Well then, I think I'll just ride on Blue or Yellow to get to One Island, then get back to Viridian City for my last Gym Badge," Ash said.
Andy frowned. "Why don't you just teleport? Or transform and fly there yourself?"
"Huh?" Ash blinked. "Do you think I'm a Mew hybrid?"
"Well, I distinctly remember seeing a Shiny Mew when Memma and I got carried away with that ship."
"Oh right…" Ash blushed a bit as he remembered his predicament. "Well… how do I put this…"
"My child is still 100% human. I did not make him a hybrid, he was only a Shiny Mew temporarily for a game I was playing," His Memma in disguise answered for him.
Andy chuckled. "Yeah, Memma told me about your infamous 'games'. So why haven't you converted him yet?"
"Oh several reasons, but I suppose the biggest one was being traumatized by your brother. It scared me how… vulnerable hybrids were to succumb to such evil power. And I wanted my child to know what being human, being powerless is like before I convert him. I realize that it's foolish of me to keep him as human since he's not strong enough to protect himself should a Legendary or their child target him, but I have my reasons," Mew explained in a serious tone.
Andy nodded. "Yeah, that's probably smart. Too many hybrids out there have ended up power mad just because they don't know what it's like not to have any."
"I can name a few," Blue grumbled. "I had a few run-ins with hybrids like that, and they drove me crazy. I'm just thankful Yellow here isn't power hungry like they were, if anything she's more humble about it."
Yellow blushed a bit, "Well I never had interest in power… I just wanted to make my friends happy."
Andy smiled. "That's an admirable trait. I was never interested in power either. I just want to see the world."
"Me too! I want to meet all kinds of Pokemon and people and learn about them," Yellow said happily. "Green, isn't that what you're doing too?"
Blue sighed when she called him Green again, but decided to ignore it this time, "Well, my reasons are a bit different than that."
"Uh… guys…" Ash looked up at a big yacht that just pulled into the port, and it was filled with Pokemon Trainers. "I think the news of Hoopa just spread through Kanto. We might want to take our leave soon."
Andy nodded. "Which reminds me." He gave Ash a pointed look. "Cosplay? Really?"
"Oh, like you had a better idea!" Ash grumbles.
Andy chuckled. "Relax, I'm just giving you a hard time. It was a decent idea, all things considered."
"Hey, so Andreas is going to the abandoned power plant to recruit Zapdos all by himself?" Yellow asked. "What if he gets attacked or something? Or what if Zapdos tries to zap him? He's part Flying type, that would hurt. Maybe one of us should go with him to make sure he'll be okay?"
"Who then?" Ash asked. "I already promised to go meet with Moltres."
Blue put his hands in his jacket pocket before he said, "Yellow… maybe you should go with him."
"What? Why me?" Yellow asked, frowning. "I don't want to leave your side, Green."
"Because I want to know I can trust you out there without me, Yellow. You said you wanted to travel the world to meet new Pokemon and people, right? I can't always be by your side," Blue said. "And besides, if anything happens, I'm sure Andreas here can keep you safe, he's a strong Pokemon and Trainer, and he's got a good heart."
"I appreciate your trust, but why extend so much of it to someone you've only just met?" Andy asked.
Blue gave a small smirk, "Well, for most people it's hard trusting anyone these days, but for Latis and hybrid Latis, it's not that hard. We can sense a person's soul, so it's easy to tell if they're good or bad people, and you hold no malice or ill intentions from what I can tell. That's why I know I can trust my sister to you."
Andreas nodded. "I'd heard something like that before, but I was never sure whether or not it was just conjecture." He smiled and turned to Yellow. "Very well. Looks like you'll be with me then."
"Hee hee. It's all true. Why do you think our species hold the Soul Dew?" Yellow chuckled. "Alright, I'll stick with you until we meet up with Ash and Green again in Viridian City."
"You sure you guys will be okay?" Ash asked.
"They're both fast flyers, I think they'll get there faster than we would," Storm said with a nod.
"Then we better get going soon, this island is going to be flooded with Trainers, and we don't want them to see legendary Pokemon taking off into the sky," Meowth said.
After Ash made sure all of his Poke Balls were safely tucked under his belt, they went outside to the outskirts of town.
"This place looks safe enough," Ash said.
And with that, all three hybrids began to transform. Their bodies glowed brightly as if they were Pokemon evolving into their next stage. When the glow faded, Ash, Storm and Meowth were able to look at them. Andreas was a little bigger than the young baby Lugia they saw a while back, but still not big enough to be considered an adult Lugia.
"Those red scales on you look fabulous," Blue teased a little.
Andy rolled his eyes. "Another comment like that, and I'll eat you."
"Don't mind my brother, he's quite harmless," Yellow giggled. "You look pretty cute this way."
Andy actually blushed a bit at the compliment. "Thanks, I guess."He shook his head a bit. "But we should get going. I can already feel more boats encroaching on the sea around the island."
Blue lowered himself to the ground to let Ash climb onto his back. Storm jumped onto his neck and sighed.
"I'm no good with flying…"
Meowth herself released her transformation and showed her true pink, cat-like self as she floated beside Ash.
"Memma, there's something I want to ask you when we start flying," Ash said to her. "It involves some diaries I found in an old mansion."
Mew frowned and sighed, "I… had a feeling you would have some questions… but we'll discuss it later when we get out of here."
The three Legendary hybrids soon began lifting off into the air, and began going their separate ways.
"We'll see you guys in Viridian City! Take care of yourselves!" Ash called to Yellow and Andreas.
Andy looked back and smiled. "Try to stay alive. I want the pleasure of facing you in the Plateau." With that, he flapped his powerful wings, sending a small gale outward from his figure as he rose into the air and flew off toward the main continent.