Hey guys I am happy and sad to say that this is the final chapter of OMAA. This story was a lot of fun and gave me something to look forward to for the past two years. Now on to the reviews!
Caitou zzzzzz: I believe that you'll be happy with this chapter. Thank you so much for all the support you have shown for this story.
Glace2: Thanks for the review! I really hope that you like this final chapter! Thanks for your support. It really helps!
Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.
Winston Churchill
Chapter 52
Sam's POV
I threw myself to the ground as soon as the rumbling had started. Someone called out a warning for the others but it came too late as car sized boulders began to fall to the ground. Mew cackle madly as the storm of rock began to fall. As the maelstrom continued it began to get darker and darker. Soon the rocks began to pile around us, and it became difficult to move. All that happened took no more than five seconds, yet it felt like an eternity. Suddenly, everything went black.
"Samuel, Austin, you must get up. The battle is not yet over."
"Elweard? Where are you?" I mumbled numbly.
"I am trapped under some debris. I will be free momentarily." the Lucario replied.
"You say that like it's just an inconvenience." I heard another voice mutter.
"Austin? That you?" I asked.
"Sam? You ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's pretty dark though. Can't even see my hand in front of my face." I replied
"Same here. There isn't a lot of room to move either."
"What happened to the others?" I asked.
"I do not know. I saw Lawrence and Marik dive for cover by the arch. I also saw Katlyn break for a spot under a broken computer console. I did not see where the others went." Elweard said.
"They'll be fine. We just have to start digging our way out of here." a distant voice said to us.
"Charles! You're ok too?" I asked.
"For the most part. I am missing my leg from the knee down though." came his reply.
"What the crap! You call that ok?" I yelled.
"Sam, I was only kidding. I'm not that hurt." Charles replied with a small laugh.
"You are such an idiot!" I replied.
"I am almost free. I will free you next, Samuel." Elweard spoke.
"Nice to know that my best friend and partner doesn't even want to save me first."
"Do not mistake my actions for abandonment. You are quite a bit farther away than Samuel." Elweard replied.
"How far under are we buried?"
"Approximately five feet; give or take a few inches."
"That is less than I thought it would be." Austin said thoughtfully.
"If it were not for Basilisk, we all could have died. He used his Doom Blast to disintegrate a good bulk of the falling debris." Elweard stated. There was a small moment of silence before a very low rumble could be heard. "I am now free."
"Alright, just hurry. It's getting a little hard to breath here." I replied.
The ground began to shake above me. Dust began to shake itself loose from the low ceiling above me. I coughed a little as I inhaled the flying particles. Then the ground began to violently shake.
"I don't think you should do that."
"Mew!" I shouted as a gash in the rocks opened up just inches from my face.
Elweard's POV
I narrowly escaped the Psycho Cut that had been thrust at me. The move sliced through the ground I had just been digging in.
"Samuel! Are you alright, Samuel!" I shouted.
"I'm fine! Just kick that mangy cat's ass for nearly taking my head off!" Samuel replied. It was unsettling to hear him swear, but I could understand his frustration.
"It seems I missed. Pity." Mew said in a bored fashion.
"You will pay for that." I swore.
"I would like to see you try." Mew replied with a malicious grin.
I threw myself at the legendary as she floated in the air. I pulled back a fist and forced as much power into it as I could. I threw the punch as soon as it had enough power and I was in range.
"My, my, how rash of you, and how predictable." Mew yawned.
She easily countered me with only her tail. It cracked like a whip as it deflected my punch. I floated in the air a few seconds due to my earlier momentum, but it left me completely defenseless. She punched me in the gut with a Thunder Punch then she continued the attack with a Mega Kick. The force sent me crashing into the cave floor.
"Pathetic. When I created your race, I thought I had out done myself. Apparently I was wrong. You are weak." Mew taunted.
"And you are a twisted psychopath in Mew's form." I shot back.
"I can't deny it." Mew smiled sadistically.
I closed my eyes. I knew that it would take more strength than I had to defeat Mew. I used my aura vision search for anyone that could possible help my struggle. I was surprised to see that a good amount of our group was still in good health. They were just buried under quite a bit of rock. I could easily destroy enough of the rubble for them to escape, but I would have to be sneaky. Mew was in the air again floating around in circles as if she were a mere child.
"I need anyone who is still conscious to listen up. I am going destroy enough debris to allow you to escape. However, I don't want you to do so just yet. I want every one of you to use your most powerful special attack. When I give the signal, I want you all to fire you moves at the center of the room. It's a long shot, but it's all we have." I explained as I jumped into the air once again. This time I charge an Aura Sphere. I threw it a little wide to make it easy for Mew to dodge. She did so with a shift of her head. The Aura Sphere continued forward and smashed into the ground, creating a large crater directly above where Marik was.
"You have to do better than that, child" Mew cackled.
I repeated my attempts several times. The use of my aura vision helped tremendously, allowing for me to calculate just how much power to use. Soon everyone had been uncovered.
"Everyone do it now!" I yelled through my telepathy. Soon after, energy attacks of all types lashed out from the ground. Five pillars of light and heat all converged on Mew she had been completely engulfed in the assault. The was a screech of pain unlike any I had ever heard. The screeching turned to maniacal laughter.
"Did you fools really not think that I wouldn't catch on?"
Six beams of light fired back at us from within our own attack. They each hit the very spot where one of us had been confined, or, in my case, standing. Yelling and screaming once again filled the air as the beams did their jobs. I was forced to a single knee and could only imagine what the others were going through. Our attack completely dissipated and showed that it hadn't even hit Mew.
"Little child, you should have known that you were being played." Mew tutted as she floated mere inches from my face. "You have failed. Now be a good little puppy and run away!"
Mew shot both arms into the air and a large energy sphere instantly formed. She threw her hands down and the sphere came barreling at me. I closed my eyes, knowing that I wouldn't survive the impact.
"Elweard! You idiot! Are you really just going to sit there and take that?" a voice called. My head swung to my right to find that Austin was standing there. I closed my eyes again before jumping up to meet the sphere head on with the largest Aura Sphere I could muster.
"Alright guys attack!" Austin yelled.
A ball of fire erupted from my left. It flew directly at Mew. Mew, who was now trying to force her sphere forward couldn't dodge. She instead erected a force field around her.
"You stay out of this!" Mew roared.
"Sorry, but I can't allow you to hurt my friends! We put our lives on the line to save you and this is how you repay us?" Austin yelled back.
"One small attack won't stop me! I will obliterate everything!"
"How about two!" another voice yelled. A Shadow Ball then launched from somewhere behind me.
"You cursed my brother and I am not quitting until you fix him!" Katlyn, who had been the fire ball from earlier, yelled.
"Katlyn! Charles! Keep the pressure on her! Elweard! Try to beat her attack!" Sam yelled as he now stood next to Austin.
Another shadow ball fired from Charles and Katlyn charged again using Flame Charge.
"Stay away from me!" Mew yelled as the attacks impacted her shield.
I noticed that her attack had jumped back a few feet. By distracting, her with direct attacks, she couldn't keep the ball from falling back. I grinned as I poured more power into my paws. I shot it into my Aura Sphere. It began to push even harder. Charles and Katlyn's constant attacks were causing the desired effect.
"Stop!" she shouted, but it was too late.
Katlyn and Charles' attacks had weakened her defense and she was soon exposed to the outside once more. On top of that, her own attack began charging back at her. She didn't even have time to scream before hit her. There was a large explosion and then silence.
"Did we do it?" Katlyn chirped.
"I think so." Charles replied.
"You foolish pests! How dare you! How dare you do this to me!" Mew growled from the debris. "I will kill you all!"
There was a blur of pink that flashed past me. It was headed straight toward Charles! I tried to stand up but my legs had given out; unable to take anymore abuse. Mew raked back her paws to unleash an attack but she was swatted down before she could follow through.
"Just give up! You lost! Deal with it!" Austin shouted as he regained his composure.
To my shock, Mew did not get back up. Instead, she was lying on the ground, unable to move. While on the ground, a purple and black beam of energy shot out of her. When I tried to focus on Mew, it was clear to me that the influences of the Distortion World had disappeared. We had finally won the battle.
Sam's POV
Charles managed to find a few first-aid kits and potions that had survived the cave-in. Those of us that could stand went about digging the rest of our friends out of the rubble. It was fairly easy since they had destroyed most of the dirt and rock beforehand, but it also meant that we had to see all of the carnage. Not a single one of our friends escaped unscathed. Everyone had terrible burns over their entire bodies. Zan had the least amount of problems due to the nanobots, but he was still in rough shape.
"Guys, we need to get them to a Pokémon Center. If we don't, they could die." I muttered softly.
"I know, but we have no way out. Everyone is down for the count. We are lucky that we survived at all." Austin replied.
"Hey! Can anyone hear me? I'm stuck under this computer console!" a new voice called out.
"We forgot about Dr. Mitchel!" Austin and I yelled at the same time.
We ran to the noise and began digging. It didn't take long to find the console but we didn't have the strength to lift it up. Charles walked over after seeing our plight and lent us a hand. After a ridiculous amount of effort, we managed to remove the console; setting Mitchel free.
"Thank you all for the help. I don't think I would have lasted much longer." Mitchel said as he attempted to dust himself off.
"Don't mention it." Charles replied.
"Alright guys, we still need to get out of here. Any ideas?" Austin asked.
"Well, you could try healing Mew and having her teleport us out. That is if she is back to her right mind." Mitchel suggested. Our mouths dropped open at the sheer simplicity of Mitchel's idea.
"Don't use anymore potions!" we yelled at Elweard and Katlyn.
Maggie's POV
Emily, Devin, and Caleb had been having a good time the past week, but I was beginning to worry. There hadn't been a word from Katlyn or the others since they had left. Mr. and Mrs. Ward were acting as if nothing was happening, but I could tell they were worried sick. Truthfully, I was worried as well. Lawrence may have been on many adventures, but he was still my little kit. I prayed that they would be alright, but I still felt sick to my stomach when I saw the news. There had been a massive cave-in out in the Viridian forest. There was a hidden facility there and rescue personnel were still pulling people out from the debris. I knew deep in my heart that that was were Katlyn had gone. Mr. and Mrs. Ward knew as well.
"She has to be ok! She's our little girl!" I heard Mrs. Ward cry from the other room.
"Hun, she's ok. They are all ok." Mr. Ward comforted quietly.
I turned back to the image of the sink hole. There were choppers flying over it and what looked to be a small army of paramedics and police officers swarming the area. Though I knew I wouldn't be able to see Katlyn and the others, I tried anyways. Hoping beyond hope that I would see a sign.
"What are you watching?"
"I'm looking for Katlyn and Sam. I'm sure that's where they went." I replied morosely.
"Well, seeing as we are right here, I don't think you'll find us there." Katlyn said with a giggle.
I spun around to fine that Katlyn, Lawrence, Sam, Austin, and MK had been behind me the whole time. I backed up at first out of fear. I felt that they could all have been ghost. Then I smelled each ones scent, I heard them all breathing, their hearts beating, and the squeaking of their shoes as they nervously shuffled in place.
"Lawrence!" I cried as I lunged at my son. He had no time to react as I tackled him to the ground.
"Mom, it's really me! I'm ok. I am really here!" Lawrence yelped as tears followed down his face. My own tears began mix with his.
"What is all the commotion ab… Katlyn? Is that really you?" Mrs. Ward asked as she and Mr. Ward entered the room.
"Hey Mom, Dad." Katlyn said with a small smile.
Like me, Katlyn threw herself at her mother. They hugged for several minutes before she switched off and hugged her father.
Our touching moment was interrupted by a stampede of footsteps however as Devin and Emily reached the bottom of the stairs.
"It's about time you got back here, you jerk!" Devin yelled as he punched his brother in the arm. "When they heard about the sinkhole they began talking about the future. They were going to put me in Kindergarten!"
"You do look the part." Austin laughed as he pulled his brother into a playful headlock.
"Yeah, yeah, I was worried for you." Devin said quietly.
"We both were." Emily added before she pulled both boys into a hug.
"It takes more than a few Rockets to take me down." Austin laughed.
"Um, guys? Where is Caleb?" Katlyn asked.
Caleb's POV
'I swear when I can move on my own again, I'm going to kill them all!' I thought as I sat in the stupid crib. Emily and Devin heard shouting downstairs and took off. Teresa, stayed with me, but she had fallen asleep was now currently assaulting my eardrums with her snoring. The noise was quickly becoming unbearable as it sounded like two semi trucks making love.
Just before my ears began to rupture, the door opened. Teresa immediately awoke from her slumber and stared incredulously at the intruder.
"Hey Teresa, sorry to wake you. I just came to get my brother. There is someone here to see him."
"Katlyn, by all means take him. I'm sure that he's ready to talk again." Teresa said quickly.
"Thanks. Alright Caleb, I think you know what time it is." Katlyn said with a smile.
'Are you kidding me? I am so ready for this!' I thought.
Katlyn picked me up and carried me down the stairs. She then had Sam open the front door for her. Outside were four individuals. An older man dressed in a torn dress shirt and slacks with a torn lab coat, A younger man with some distinctly canine features and dressed in a battered uniform, Ember, and Mew.
"Mom, Dad, these two men helped us while we were in the base. They made it possible to find Mew." Katlyn said.
"I am Doctor Julius Mitchel. I was one of the lead scientist that led to the capture of Mew. I am so sorry for what I have put your family through. I was wrong of me, and I see that now. If you call the authorities, I understand." Mitchel said as he bowed his head. I could see that Dad's eyes had hardened and he was about to step forward, but mom refrained him from moving.
"You have done a terrible thing Doctor, but you tried to make up for it by setting Mew free. For that, we thank you." Mom said with a soft smile.
"Thank you Madam." Mitchel whispered before stepping back.
"I am Special Agent Charles Leonard of the Kanto Deep Intelligence Agency. I was apart of the operation to bring Team Rocket to the ground. Your daughter played a pivotal role in getting the information I had gathered out to my people." Everyone, including Katlyn, looked like they were going to pass out.
"You were a spy the entire time?" Mitchel asked.
"I prefer being called an undercover cop, but yes. When Katlyn stormed the base, she shut down the jammer that was not allowing my information to be sent. Even though she didn't bring the reinforcements that I needed. She still managed to send every bit of data I collected over the past six years." Mitchel explained.
"Wait a second. How did I shut down the jammer? I didn't even touch a computer.
"You didn't but your Porygon did. We rigged tournament you entered so that you would receive the Porygon. Everyone you fought, lost on purpose." Charles said with a smile.
"Crap! Then you know about the plane tickets!" Katlyn yelped.
"Ha ha, the money came from an account that we set up. Don't worry, you aren't in any trouble." Charles laughed.
"You put my daughter in danger for the sack of some mission? How dare you, sir!" Dad exploded. Despite her effort, Mom couldn't hold him back this time. Dad quickly took a swing at Charles, but Charles easily sidestepped it.
"Dad, stop!" Katlyn yelled. "I may not look it, but I am an adult! Even if Charles didn't do what he did, I still would have gone to that base! Even if it had killed me! That Porygon helped me get my brother's hope back!"
Dad stopped in his tracks and looked down at the ground. Tears began to fall from his eyes. Katlyn walked up to him and gave him a hug.
"All I wanted to do was to make sure my family never got hurt. I failed as a husband, as a father, and as a man." he cried.
"I would say that you didn't fail. You raised two wonderful children that are bold, persevering, and full of heart. If you were any other kind of man, these children would have given up a long time ago." Mitchel said with a knowing smile.
"I really hate to interrupt, but I think Caleb would really like to get back to normal." Mew interrupted
"I can't believe we forgot after everything we have been through." Austin muttered.
'I can't either.' I thought.
Katlyn's POV
"So what do we have to do?" I asked.
"Originally, I was going to borrow some of Samuel's years and place them within Caleb. However, now that his parent's are here. We can use their years instead." Mew replied
"Wait, so that mirror that showed me as a kid was what was going to happen to me?" Sam asked in horror.
"Well, yes. It was a scare tactic I created. Unfortunately it did not have the desired effect." Mew replied coolly.
"That's just screwed up on some many levels!" Sam yelled.
"I would like to begin immediately. With your permission of course, Mr. Ward."
"Caleb would want this." Mr. Ward said solemnly.
"Stop acting like you are being forced into this. You know the idea of being a little younger is attractive. After all you are in your forties." Mrs. Ward laughed.
"Are you going to return him to his actual age?" I asked nervously.
"That is completely up to Caleb. What do you say, Caleb" Mew asked.
"I think being older than Katlyn is going to be awesome!" Caleb's thoughts rang out. I could feel the blood flowing out of my face. Then I heard a laugh. "That's priceless! Katlyn, you should see the look on your face!"
"I'm sorry that I went out and risked my life to get you back to normal!" I yelled.
"Katlyn, I really don't want you to go through this all alone. You sacrificed a great deal to make this happen for me." Caleb said seriously as he looked at me with his blue eyes. He then turned his head toward Mew. "I think I want to be about her age. Maybe a tad older." he said with smirk, while I glared at my little brother.
Mom and dad seemed slightly disappointed. I think they wanted a few more years taken off, but it wasn't their choice. Mew smiled softly and placed her hands on my mother and father. The three of them began to glow a bright blue. The light was transparent so I could see everything that happened. Mom's hair seemed to regain some of its former glow. Several of the forming wrinkles disappeared from her face and she seemed to slim down a little. Dad's changes were more subtle. Some of the muscle he had returned and his graying hair reverted back its original deep brown. His back also seemed to straighten a little bit. When the light faded from them the looked younger and healthier.
Mew held the ball of energy in her hands as she floated to me. I placed Caleb on the ground on a blanket we already prepared. She manipulated the ball with her paws before she pushed the ball ever so gently into Caleb. Before my eyes, Caleb began to grow. He quickly passed the toddler years and was almost instantly the same age as me. Before the light faded however, there was another bright flash. I had to cover my eyes because of the brightness. When the light faded a fully dressed Caleb was standing on his own two legs.
"What was with that final flash?" I asked as I rubbed my eyes.
"I had to protect what little dignity Caleb had left. After all, none of you brought any clothes out for him." Mew replied. All of us, nearly passed out. "Now, before I depart, I have a few things to do. If everyone would release their Pokémon for me please."
We quickly did as we were told. All of our Pokémon now stood with us as Mew began to float to and fro. She looked at each Pokémon diligently before moving on to the next one.
"For your bravery in your attempt to rescue me. I will grant you each a gift. It is the least I can do for all you have done." Mew stated as if it were from a speech. "Elweard, you have fought bravely and defended your friends even if you knew you would lose. Zan and Jack, you both taught Katlyn what it meant to be friends with Pokémon. Basilisk, you were loyal to the trainer that captured you and always gave it your all no matter what the cost was. Lawrence, you never gave up on your friend and brother. Teresa cared for everyone. There are too many things that every one of you have done to count. Your gift will be the strength to pursue what you deem as right. I will heal you of all previous scars and bless you that you will never lose the wars that each of you will face in the future."
She raised her paws into the air and a ball of pure light began to take shape. Mew took the light and began to tenderly shape it into seven different pieces. Then with a wave of her paws, the lights floated gently into each Pokémon. They all began to glow brightly with the warm light. Each one began to look slightly different, as if they had a good night's sleep. Zan, however, was the most drastic change. All except the most prominent of scars on his body had disappeared. He seemed to smile as if something had changed on the inside. He then opened his eyes. To my surprise, both eyes were now a brilliant amethyst.
"It is strange to be able to hear my voice again. Thank you Mew." Zan said simply in a raw, whispering voice.
"You are quite welcome." Mew replied with a smile before turning to me, Austin, Sam, Devin, Caleb, and Emily. "I have prepared something for you six as well."
Mew snapped and a small portal opened and she reached inside. She pulled out six small medallions. Each one held a symbol of an element with a Pokémon surrounding it in a way that made them seemingly chase after their tails. Three of them had lightning bolts in them. Two of those had Pikachu on them while the third had a Pichu. Two more had flames surrounded by a Vulpix and a Fletchinder. The last one had a Shinx surrounding a small spark.
Mew floated up to Austin first and gave him one of the Pikachu medals. Then, she gave the other one to Emily. She gave Devin the Pichu one while me and Caleb got the Fletchinder and the Vulpix ones. Finally Sam was given the Shinx one.
"Each of your medals will allow you to understand any Pokémon that you come into contact with. It will also allow you to become the Pokémon that is symbolized. Do not misuse this gift. You all have done me a great service. I am proud to be able to call you all my friends. Until we meet again. Come along, son."
"Um, mom?" MK asked timidly. "I want to stay here with Sam."
"MK, are you sure you want to be with that trainer?" Mew said with a suddenly serious face. MK only nodded. "Very well. You may stay, but only on one condition."
"What's that?" MK asked.
"That you come and visit me and your father. We are your parents and we do care for you." Mew replied with a small smile.
"I can do that!" MK shouted in agreement.
"You better." Mew replied before she disappeared from view.
"Sam! Isn't this great? I get to be with you and Marik!" MK shouted as he tackled the pouting Sam.
"Great, just great." mumbled Sam.
"So what are we going to do now?" Caleb asked.
"We are going to begin the journey home. We will have to find Celebi, so that means we have to head for Johto." Austin said.
"I think I'm going to resume my league challenge, but I think I'm going to do it in Johto, just to keep you company." Sam said with a wink.
"Wherever Sam goes, I can go too." I said
"Well then, I guess all six of us are going then, because I can't let my sister be all by herself!" Caleb smiled brightly.
"You two aren't going anywhere! You are going to stay home where its safe!" Mom yelped. She looked like she aged about ten years in five seconds.
"You can't catch us when we have these!" Caleb and I sang as we held up our medals. There was a flash of light and then I was flying through the air while Caleb ran.
Third Person's POV
"Those children will never learn." Mrs. Ward said with tears streaking down her face. She turned toward the house to see Mr. Ward was carrying two large backpacks. "What are those?"
"Well they are going to be gone for a while so I grabbed their bags. Luckily they were both still packed." Mr. Ward replied before turning to Sam and the others. "Make sure they get these."
"We sure will, Mr. Ward." Austin said. "Come on guys! The world's awaiting!"
"Will they be ok?" Mrs. Ward asked as the rest of them took off.
"I think they will be fine." Mr. Ward replied with a smile as he joined his wife in silent tears. "They have an entire future ahead of them."
I truly want to thank all of my readers for putting up with my terrible grammar and spelling! I would like to give a special thanks to Caitou zzzzzz, Average Pichu, Monpoke, an Rayrudan for all of the support they have shown me over the years. I also want to thank all of you who smashed that that favorite/follow button. I couldn't have done it without you. This is shieldliger001 saying thank you and be on the lookout for my newest story "Magic of the Soul". It will be my first Bleach fanfiction! I will see y'all next!
