Last Time On Hia:

Gary has turned against the party. He is determined to capture Mewtwo in order to protect everyone else. Can Ash and the others change his mind before it is too late?

Quote: "If the stakes are as high as Mew implied, I don't think so. I was chosen to do this."


Chapter Twenty: In-Fighting

Tell me does it take a war to start a revolution
I see the look in your eye...
-Runaground

Ash didn't think he had ever faced a morning worse than this one. There were a few that had to be worse. But at the moment, they didn't come to mind. He laid awake most of the night, nursing a sore jaw from Gary's blow. Ash slept only in a light undershirt and jeans, but tonight, they felt ill-fitting and tight. They rubbed at all his scars, chasing away the fog of sleep with discomfort. He scratched at the itchy knife wound in his shoulder and then tried to stretch his arms to reach various scabbed over wounds on his back. The old wounds burned and continued to itch, distracting him only momentarily from the true source of his sleeplessness. He tossed and turned, fit to bursting with emotion. It was hard to know how Ash could feel so mixed up inside.

He felt the deep ache that came from losing Mew. Then the light airy flutter he had whenever he thought of Misty and their potential relationship. The raw terror raised its head whenever he considered what he still needed to do to finish what Mew started. And then there was Gary.

He didn't even know where to begin with Gary. Ash had spent so much of his time being jealous of his friend for one thing or other but it was hard not to think of the fellow without some flicker of envy. Gary was a competent trainer, extremely talented and smart without even trying, and for a while, he even had Misty. Ash would have to come to terms with that someday. But Ash trusted Misty more than his insecurities when it came to his old rival. She said she liked him and that she was not dating Gary. That was good enough for Ash, it had to be.

This latest act from Gary had gone beyond the pale. Gary had always been the most pragmatic of their group. He was like Brock in the way he could see all the blind spots in whatever hair-brained schemes Ash had cooked up on their journey for more gym badges. The same was true in this instance as well, although Ash was loath to admit it.

There was no way that Ash could defend Mewtwo, not in the way that Gary needed. And not enough to convince him to back down. In truth, Gary had acted true to his principles. Mewtwo was an insanely dangerous pokemon. And in the past several days, that fact hadn't changed. If anything, everything Ash had experienced with Mewtwo just proved Gary's point.

But Ash knew that capturing Mewtwo was the wrong move. Through their conversations with both him and Mew, Ash had pieced together much of what had happened in the past. He understood where Mewtwo had come from and why he had appeared so evil. They weren't mistaken. Mewtwo had had ill intentions, but his experiences with humans had warped them.

Although Gary wouldn't believe it and Ash could think of no way to convince him, Ash knew Mewtwo was not the same pokemon they had met when they were children. The anger he had harbored against humans had long since been spent. But aside from forcing Gary to have a heart to heart with pokemon in question himself, Ash did not know how to deter him. And now, Ash didn't think there was anything he could do to stop Gary from his current path.

For one, the man had disappeared into the night. Ash kept hoping that he might return but as the night stretched on, the more the realization sunk in. Gary was set on capturing Mewtwo and there would be no stopping him without interfering with him directly. And Ash didn't know if he had the strength to do so.

In the sleeping bag next to him, Misty moaned and rolled over. Ash glanced her way guiltily. Just what on earth was he supposed to say to her? She would want to go after Gary immediately. And she would be able to snap him out of this silly escapade far easier than Ash could. Another rush of shame fell over Ash as he stared back up at the ceiling.

He should have told her what was going on when he first suspected Gary's intentions. He should have had her come with him when he confronted Gary. Then things wouldn't have ended up this way.

But then again, Ash was afraid. He was afraid that if they staged an intervention together, Gary would react badly. Ash had never asked Gary about his feelings regarding Misty. Misty said that he still flirted with her. Was it possible that he still cared about her? And how would it look if Ash and Misty made a united front against him?

Ash thought back hard to when Gary had asked about their relationship. Gary must have noticed something. Ash had been very careful not to broadcast his feelings. They rarely held hands or made any other public displays of affection. But he had danced with her… and Gary had probably been somewhere nearby at the time.

Ash bit down on his lip. He knew how that felt. He hadn't wanted to contribute to anyone else's heartbreak. And much as he wanted to continue his relationship with Misty, was it possible that he was making a mistake? Was it selfish? Would Misty actually be better off with someone like Gary? Someone who didn't have all this supernatural life-threatening shit to deal with all the time?

Yes, this definitely was chalking up to be one of the world's worst mornings. As the white morning light had stretched its way across the ceiling, Ash realized he had spent little of the night sleeping.

He heard Misty roll over again. But when he turned his head, this time he saw Misty's soft sea-green eyes staring right back at him. When his eyes met her own, a smile slipped across her face.

"Morning."

Ash tried but found it difficult to return her smile. Sensing trouble, Misty propped herself up by her elbow, "What's wrong?"

"Ugh. What isn't?" Ash grumbled, covering his face with his hands.

Misty waited surprisingly patiently while Ash tried to think of how to sum up everything that had occurred. And while he was thinking, she suddenly noticed the bruise on his cheek.

"You're hurt," said Misty, reaching out for his face. Ash flinched but didn't pull away from her touch. Misty frowned at him and added a sardonic, "Again… What did you do this time?"

"Gary punched me."

"What?"

"It's not what you think."

"You have no idea what I think."

That was true. But Ash could tell that she was getting mad. And she probably wasn't getting mad for the right reason. Misty climbed up to her knees and looked around their room. Her eyes roved over the various sleeping forms in their lumpy sleeping bags, not seeing the one she was searching for.

"Where's Gary?"

Ash sighed.

"Ash… you need to start talking."

"I know, I know. I'm just trying to keep from getting punched again."

"Talk. I make no promises."

Ash sighed again. That was the best he could hope for.


They had been going most of the night. Abandoning camp had not been a popular idea and the small army they had amassed were exhausted after spending all evening continuing their press on the mountain. But just as Clark had suspected, the winds had died down once they had stopped their obvious assent. Almost as if the mountain were trying to give them the chance to retreat should they so wish. So Clark ordered what he figured would be something the mountain itself could little predict: an onward press throughout the night.

Mountains and their ill-weather did not usually sleep. But Clark was willing to bet this one would.

It would exhaust their agents to force an entire day and night of climbing. But Clark didn't care if they were tired. It was their pokemon that needed to be alert and ready. As far as the agents were concerned, they were little better than cannon fodder. If they ended up passing out in the snow, it would be a small loss. That is if they could snag the big prize.

Clark was pretty sure of it now. This mountain had to be hiding Mewtwo. The weather phenomenon and the odd disappearance and reappearance of Ash Ketchum and his friends screamed of the pokemon's involvement.

Andromeda ducked out of the nearby tent, shivering as she stepped out into the frigid temperatures. Unlike her underlings, Andromeda had spared no expense for her own tent, if they could really call it such. It was more of a small yurt, complete with heating and running electricity. Something that no one else in her camp had.

She rubbed her well-covered arms, insulated in a heavy woolen jacket. She had unzipped her coat just enough to show off her collarbones. Clark only offered the briefest of glances, knowing that she wanted him to look. If he didn't, she might dare to unzip even further and that just wouldn't be wise in this weather. She acknowledged the look with a pleased smile, rocking back on her heels to examine the skies.

The flakes were falling thick and fat, spinning in dizzying swirls across the snow-swept mountain. Andromeda reached out to catch a few on her hand. The flakes were nearly the same shade as her pale fingers, melting away into her warm palms.

"So far the weather has held," Andromeda said as if picking up on a conversation they had already been having. "Your instinct seems to have been correct."

"As it will continue to be," replied Clark, nodding up the mountainside. "I am certain we will find where our mystery pokemon is hiding, right beyond those clouds."

"Hope so. I'm so tired of being disappointed." Andromeda rubbed her bare hands together and breathed into them. It seemed more a show than an actual attempt at getting warm. Clark doubted that the ice queen ever felt the cold. "What is the status on the search for the fugitives?" She asked, almost casually. But there was a definite frigid edge to her tone, letting Clark know she wouldn't be so forgiving of unfavorable news.

"The hunting party managed to follow their trail into a cavern opening at the base of the peak. From there, it was impossible to track where they had gone."

Clark braced for the outburst he suspected would come. Andromeda didn't disappoint. She stamped hard into the snow, the action stressed by a misplaced branch splintering underfoot. It was a sudden and violent sound. But she proceeded it with no further fits of anger. Clark was quick to fill the following silence with more information. "Logic follows that upon taking into consideration the location of the caverns, the party in question must be on the peak or somewhere inside it. If we continue to track down Mewtwo, we will most likely encounter Ash Ketchum again as well."

Andromeda was silent for a long moment. Then, after a deep calming breath, she seemed to regain her composure. She turned about and glared up at the peak still foggy and obscured by the heavy snowfall.

"He is as hard to kill as his mother."

"But not immortal," said Clark.

Andromeda smiled. It was a sticky sweet smile that gave the young man the chills. He looked away as she answered, "No, certainly not. Not if I have any say."


"So you only felt it necessary to tell us about this now?" Misty snapped, shuffling frantically through her opened pack. She tossed out random bits and ends, anything that she didn't see as imperative for the task at hand. Her frenzied scramble had woken up the other room's occupants. They gazed over at the pair in various stages of waking, curiously taking in what was happening with what little they could glean from the two's ongoing argument.

Pikachu shuffled his way out of Ash's sleeping bag, sleeping little better than his trainer had, watching the events unfold through half-lidded eyes.

"I didn't think I needed to wake everyone up. It could wait till a decent hour at least," Ash said, trying to defend himself. Misty just gave him a sour look.

"Really? Gary's gone rogue and you thought, oh. This probably isn't that important."

"Wait… who has gone rogue?" Jessie asked while yawning. The two glanced her way, bothered by the interruption. Neither cared to answer her.

"He hasn't gone rogue," Ash cried, his heart throbbing in his chest at the thought. "He's just… having a hard time accepting Mewtwo is all."

"Ash," Misty huffed, shoving some of her clothes down deep into the pack. She glanced up at the exasperated young man with some pity. "I appreciate what you are trying to do. You don't want us to all jump all over one of our friends. But this is serious. You should have told us about this as soon as you suspected what he was planning."

"I thought I could talk him out of it," Ash mumbled.

"And I appreciate you trying but you should have told me or someone or anyone else. Cause now Gary is out there, planning some ridiculous kamikaze run on Mewtwo. And here we are trying to avoid being raided by White Ice. The jackass is probably going to get himself captured again somehow."

"He can't do anything. I told you, the pokeball is broken."

"Gary's smart. His grandpa created the pokedexter."

"That's Professor Oak, not Gary."

"Look, you kind of have been AWOL the last couple of years so I don't blame you for not knowing. But Gary is just as smart. He likes to take pokeballs apart and put them back together again. Used to do that all the time while we were dating, drove me crazy. Guy could probably be a scientist if he just applied himself."

The implication of what Misty was suggesting sunk in. Ash stared at her, his face white.

"You mean, he could put it back together?"

"If he got the pieces and he understood how it was made, yeah probably."

"I had Professor Oak examine it," Ash said faintly, weakly touching his forehead. "Oh no, no… Gary probably watched. He knows. He knows how to rebuild it."

Misty snapped her own pokeballs onto her bracelet. "Yeah, and the dumbass is going to get himself killed in the process."

"We need to warn Mewtwo right away."

Misty nodded and climbed to her feet. The others in the room looked on with some mix of confusion and concern. Giovanni, in particular, seemed intrigued by this turn of events.

"You mean to say that there is a pokeball that could contain Mewtwo? That's insane, if true."

"White Ice had hundreds of them," Ash hastily explained, not wanting to spend more time in this room than necessary now that he realized how much time he had already wasted. He didn't bother with collecting his own things. He already had his full set of pokeballs attached to his belt and didn't need anything else. "I snagged one from them since Mew explained it had been used to capture her. I was hoping Professor Oak might figure out what it was but… Gary was hellbent on using it on Mewtwo."

"Why not?"

The pair paused, staring at the middle-aged man in shock.

"What do you mean, why not?" Misty hissed dangerously.

"Why not just let Gary catch Mewtwo? If he really is on our side, what could be the issue with having a failsafe? Once captured, Mewtwo wouldn't be able to harm us. We could confine him to the pokeball the instant he proved too violent. I don't see an issue with Gary's plan. Maybe we should help him?"

Ash glanced over at the other Team Rocket members who shied away from his gaze. They didn't want to get involved in such a tense moral quandary. That and Misty looked as if she were about to shoot lasers from her eyes.

"Because that would rob Mewtwo of his freedom," Ash answered before Misty had to. "That's the one thing Mewtwo cares about, more than anything. If we took that away from him... we'd be no better than White Ice."

"If we captured Mewtwo, wouldn't that keep White Ice from doing so first? You said that they had hundreds of these pokeballs…"

Ash shook his head. Giovanni wasn't wrong about the facts but Ash couldn't agree to such a scheme. Even if it were to prevent White Ice from getting the upper hand, it would still be doing something reprehensible for the sake of a small potential good. Ash couldn't justify it which was what had stayed his hand before. Before he even knew what Mewtwo was actually like.

Thankfully, Misty agreed with him. And she was much better at debating their position. "If we capture Mewtwo, that wouldn't prevent them from taking the pokeball that we kept Mewtwo in. As the former Team Rocket leader, surely you would be familiar with such tactics. After all, you never shied away from stealing pokemon that were already owned by pokemon trainers."

Jessie and James looked appropriately shamed by her implication. Although they were hardly the top offenders. The two could barely steal their way out of a paper bag.

Pikachu, who had observed the argument silently until this point, decided that now would be the best time to interrupt. He let out a big exaggerated yawn before making his lazy way up Ash's leg and up onto his favorite shoulder perch.

"Some pokemon don't appreciate pokeballs," said the pokemon, his speech unintelligible to all but two occupants in the room. "If you humans decide to capture Mewtwo in one, you would be declaring war against him and all of his followers."

Although Ash didn't need another reason to be against such a plan, Pikachu's words nevertheless surprised him. His eyes widened as he considered how such an action would be interpreted by his small army of clones. Mewtwo was their protector, their resolute guardian. If a human were to capture him, no matter who that human was, it would be seen as an act of war.

If Gary somehow managed to get near Mewtwo with that pokeball, he might unwittingly bring down a whole dangerous horde of pokemon on their heads.

Ash quickly relayed Pikachu's words to the rest of the party, adding his own summation based on what he had seen in the palace so far. This seemed to be enough for Misty. She slung on her newly sorted pack and headed for the door. Ash had no choice but to follow. Not that he cared about continuing this argument with his father.

Ash suspected it was over with. Jon Giovanni hadn't seemed to have the spirit left to defend his point. At Ash's hurried explanation, he had crossed his arms and turned away. Ash looked back to him now, one final time. He paused at the doorway, leaning against its frame as a sudden thought came to him.

"You were planning on hunting him down someday, weren't you?"

Jessie, Jessie, and Meowth looked expectantly at their boss, following this conversation with rapt attention. They knew better than to interrupt, even if Giovanni wasn't a boss of anything anymore. Giovanni ignored their pointed stares, continuing to look out the far window, now white with morning sunlight.

"He was a menace that I unleashed upon the world. My responsibility. My mess to clean up. Of course, I planned to come back for him."

"But you didn't plan to capture him."

Giovanni looked back over at his son but Ash refused to meet the man's gaze. "I didn't think it would be possible."

"I see…"

Ash didn't know why he expected anything different. He knew what his father had to be. What he was capable of as the leader of Team Rocket. But it still hurt to hear it spoken out loud.

It made him feel cold.

Ash said nothing as he left. He knew he would run into Team Rocket again soon enough.

And Ash had nothing more to say to his father.


In a few hours, Gary had manufactured a small handful of miracles, at least. He fished the crushed pokeball pieces from several piles, easily able to find them up by their unnatural otherness. They and all their tiny shards shone like gemstones, winking out of the filth as if waiting for him.

So far, Gary had reassembled most of it from memory. There were still parts that didn't quite match up the average make-up of a standard pokeball. He shoved filmy pieces together, hoping that he was close enough for the object to keep its function. Although, Gary certainly wouldn't risk any of his pokemon to such a makeshift contraption.

His fingers were thick and clumsy from a lack of sleep. The odor of the place was giving him a migraine. He could feel his nasal passages swelling, desperate to breathe in some clean air. But he was too afraid of both discovery and accidentally leaving a crucial piece amongst the rubbish piles.

"Almost, almost," he whispered under his breath.

Like a man possessed, he dove into the task with increasing fervor. He had little plan beyond just the job at hand. Gary figured he would figure out the next step once he completed the first one. He would know what to do once it was safe at hand.

He slipped in another cog with a smile.

"Just a little bit more," he breathed.


Ash slid into the room behind Misty, almost unable to catch himself on the icy floor. Pikachu slid in obediently right after him. Just like the others before this one, it was empty. Misty whirled back on Ash, confusion and a clear growing panic on her face. Ash couldn't make sense of it himself. He had always been able to follow the thread of Mewtwo's presence before. Mewtwo always waited patiently at the end of it.

But now Ash was wondering if someone was playing a trick on him.

It wasn't just the loosened grip he had over his powers. Maybe it was just the adrenaline of the situation causing his head to spin, but all the identical rooms were blending together.

"I feel like we are going around in circles. What's going on, Ash?"

Ash gripped his head. The more he tried to focus on Mewtwo's energy, the more he felt like his brain was going to pop. Why couldn't he just follow the path like before? Why did it feel as if this icy castle kept going on for miles?

"Ash?"

"Pikapi?"

Ash shook his head. He recoiled from Misty's touch, sure that it would break his concentration. He knew he could still feel Mewtwo. But he just couldn't figure out why he couldn't find him.

"I was hoping your powers would help us out. If Mewtwo decided to play hide and seek in this place, we'll be searching for weeks." Misty frowned. She stepped forward to examine a nearby ice pillar, finding nothing on its polished surface. She started hard into her own distorted reflection before continuing, "We should find Gary first. Maybe he hasn't left Mewtwo's palace."

Ash tried to shake himself free from the grip of his growing headache. But the gesture only made him feel seasick. He kept a steadying grip on his head as he said, "Gary doesn't want to be found. Mewtwo should be faster and easier to find. And he should be able to find Gary."

"Should be. But he isn't. We are losing daylight, Ash," Misty snapped gesturing to the arched windows just south of them, still bright with morning sun. "How long do you want to keep looking for Mewtwo? Maybe we should start with non-psychic creatures first?"

Ash cast his weary eyes about the empty room. He wasn't searching for anything in particular. It wasn't as if he expected Mewtwo to materialize in front of them after all. But the longer he stared, the more he took in the strange slope to the room. Ash slid his worn sneakers forward, almost stumbling with the floor's odd tilt. Was it just his piercing headache or was this room really so shoddily designed?

Misty noticed Ash's stumble and quickly rushed forward to brace him. She gripped his arm but Ash gently pushed her back. Her extra weight was unbalancing him, doing nothing for his sudden rush of vertigo.

"What's wrong?"

"This room…" Ash said, cautiously walking forward. He kept his eyes on the floor, pausing at the far end of the room where the slope seemed to taper off. He stomped his foot on the floor and an odd hollow sound came back. "There is something below the ice."

He felt something here, tugging at the end of the thread. And though he knew that it was impossible for Mewtwo to be hiding under such a thick layer of ice- he couldn't help but feel something was calling him. There was something down there, softly calling his name.

Misty made a face, looking both intrigued and annoyed by Ash's discovery. She gave a haughty shrug, "Well, that can't possibly have anything to do with Mewtwo or Gary."

Ash ignored her. He had already retrieved Charizard's pokeball and with a single button press, released the dragon into the small room. Misty's protests went unheard over the sound of Charizard's flamethrower sluicing through the thick floor.

Realizing that there was hardly any stopping the young man now, Misty rolled her eyes and reluctantly wandered over to his side. She made sure to give the hole he was forming a wide berth- not wanting to slip through the softening floor. Once at his side, Misty could see what Ash had seen. There was a stone staircase leading into the shadows beneath them. It looked unlike any of the icy architecture that Mewtwo had stacked upon its head. This stairway looked carved from the very mountain itself, the steps uneven and crumbling.

Once Charizard had effectively exposed the whole odd artifact, both trainers could see that the stairs ended in an archway and the remains of a heavy stone door. The two reverently approached, with Pikachu close behind, being sure to take small ginger steps down the recently excavated stairs.

The staircase was damp but the rock must have been porous as it wasn't as slick as they might have feared. And as they came upon the door, Ash became uncomfortably aware of how crude the structure appeared compared to Mewtwo's ice palace. It lacked any hint of decoration, existing only through pure function. There was no way this was created by the same creature and yet Ash felt an odd familiarity with it. As if he had climbed down such steps before, a long time before he could remember.

They were both sure that the doors would be iced shut. Ash had expected to need Charizard's assistance again. But he was pleasantly surprised when the doors gave way to Misty's firm push.

The air inside the room beyond was unnaturally warm and thick. Ash nearly gagged, breathing in the soup. It was the stale air of many years untasted. Ignoring the musty flavor, the trainers pushed their way inside. A dark circular chamber greeted them. Ash's hair brushed the low ceiling forcing the young man to have to bat off low hanging webs. Misty was lucky to be a few inches shorter. Pikachu, of course, had no issues. Charizard, poor giant dragon that he was, resorted to crawling in after them snorting in disapproval.

It was good that the dragon decided to follow. There were no shafts to let in natural light and small alcoves where torches might have once burned had long since hung empty. Cramped as the pokemon was, his tail remained their only source of illumination in the ancient chamber.

Once fully inside, Charizard curled up in the center of the room, the light shed from his tail bouncing light and shadow across richly decorated walls. Misty, Pikachu and Ash marveled at the artwork, the work of centuries past. It wasn't just paint splashed against these walls but carvings too. Carvings were painstakingly painted over to give them vibrant life even in the low lighting.

"What is this place?" Misty breathed, at last, unable to resist running her fingers over the delicate carving of a staryu.

"I've seen a place like this before," said Ash, glancing briefly in Charizard's direction. "In a temple created by Mew hunters."

Misty sent him a look of alarm. Ash waved off her concern, "It would take too long to explain. I didn't find any Mews back then, I promise. It was just an old ruin in the mountains… Kinda like this old ruin… in the mountains."

Ash carefully avoided any mention of what he had actually found in such a temple. And Charizard, stoic as he often was, felt no need to elaborate. Pikachu, however, glared knowingly in Ash's direction.

"So then… these were created by Mew hunters too?" Misty asked, somewhat distastefully.

Ash ran his hand over the wall himself, frowning. Some of the grit came off in his hands. The walls weren't just covered in pictures but in writing too. Very old writing that ran in a border alongside the carvings. The letters almost looked like pokemon themselves, their meaning dancing teasingly in front of his eyes. He could almost understand them. Almost.

"I don't think so," said Ash quietly. "These are older. And I'm not entirely sure they are human-made."

"What do you mean- not human-made. Of course, they are human-made." Misty's chuckle sounded high and false in the enclosed space. "What else could they be? What pokemon could make something like this?"

Ash raised an eyebrow at her. "Mewtwo made an ice castle."

"...Touche."

Ash dusted off one particular piece of the stone tapestry. There was a part that seemed unlucky enough to have faced some weathering over time. The pokemon carved here resembled little more than an assemblage of empty boxes. Ash could feel nothing in the carving to indicate appendages or normal pokemon like features. His fingers slid off the deformed portrait and across the alien text beneath.

Ash could make out a single word.

"Missing," Ash whispered.

Oddly appropriate.

"What is it?" Misty asked, coming up alongside him at last. It was clear by the way she squinted at the deteriorated carvings, she thought far less of those on this side of the wall than Ash had.

"I'm not sure." Ash stepped back trying to take in the whole picture in the hopes it might shine some light on the damaged pieces. He saw an occasional mention of Mew darting in and out of the text but there were no concrete visuals to back up his gut feelings. And still that word, 'missing' rang through his thoughts like the peals of a distant bell. Where had he heard that before? He was sure he had heard of a pokemon with such a name.

Ash pressed his knuckles against his forehead, wishing he could knock the memory free from his mind.

"Missing, missing. Why is that so familiar?"

"What? You mean this?" Misty asked, still squinting at the damaged carving. "Yeah, it definitely looks like something is missing here." She ran her hand over the wall, feeling the wound that had been inflicted. "Seems like someone was trying to hide whatever this was."

Suddenly Ash could remember who had mentioned it. Lucario. Years ago, standing amongst the crystalline branches of the Tree of Beginning, Lucario had given him a warning. He warned him about a pokemon- a powerful one.

Beware of the Missing… Missing… Missing something… Beware of...

"The Missing Number!" Ash exclaimed, the pieces of his memory finally aligning. And as soon as the words left his lips, the atmosphere in the small chamber changed. The temperature rapidly dropped several degrees. And a sudden gust of air rose up around Ash, ruffling his clothes and hair.

"Ah, what the hell!" Misty fell back against the wall.

"I didn't-" do anything, Ash meant to say. But his words caught up in his throat when he spotted the odd light circle drawing itself out around his feet. The light, as if traveling along invisible wires, spun up onto the carvings- filling the entire chamber with a neon-like light. Pikachu cried out, dancing about in place as useless as the humans in his shock. Only Charizard watched the whole progression with little interest.

Once every carving was alight, they pulsed with a heartbeat. Ash spun about on the spot, the glowing text encircling him like a discordant magic spell. He both understood and misunderstood the language. He could see words pulse in and out but not enough to string together a sentence or even a phrase.

Realizing that he had indeed caused this, Ash knew he also needed to stop it somehow. He threw out his hands and shouted, "Stop!"

Nothing happened. If anything, the pulsing continued with renewed vigor.

"It's not working!" Pikachu cried, leaping up onto Ash's shoulder at last.

"I can see that, Pikachu. Thank you!"

Ash glanced back at Misty for some assurance but she just shook her head. Her face looked eerily pale in the strobing light. At another errant flash, Misty latched onto Ash's arm. Her tight grip was almost enough to make his hand go numb. As the flashing grew brighter and brighter, Ash, Misty, and Pikachu hugged each other tighter. Misty hid her face into Ash's shoulder and Ash squeezed his eyes shut. The trio sunk to their knees, waiting for the light show to stop.

And finally, after a flash that seemed to burn through their very eyelids, the chamber dimmed. Ash and the others blinked the spots from their eyes and slowly climbed back to their feet.

"Is it over?" Misty asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"I- I think so."

"What was it?"

"I have no idea."

The only light now seemed to be from Charizard's tail. The dragon remained unphased in the center of the room, looking at them with a certain amusement.

"That didn't bother you at all, Charizard?"

The pokemon snorted. Ash was left to assume that as his answer. It was about as good an answer as he ever got from the dragon.

The three hustled out of the chamber as quickly as they could manage. To save Charizard from the indignity of crawling back out, Ash returned the pokemon before leaving. He was careful to seal the doors behind him.

Ash had no idea what the chamber had done. Or rather what the words he had uttered managed to do. The chamber, which before had felt warm and hummed with purpose, was now abandoned with all the cold dead atmosphere one would expect from a long-forgotten secret room. Almost as if they had flipped off a light switch…

Ash climbed to the top of the stairs and paused- catching his breath. He dusted some of the cobwebs from his hair and asked, "How are you doing? Are you guys still okay?"

"Fine," Misty muttered.

"In one piece," Pikachu chimed.

"Well," Ash spared one last look down at the sealed doorway. "Mewtwo wasn't down there."

"No kidding!"

"Shall we try again then?" Ash asked, holding out his hand to Misty.

Misty wasn't too keen to write off what they had just experienced. She knew Ash was putting on a brave face for her sake and possibly Pikachu's. Her heart had long since returned to its natural rhythm. But she still felt shaky and sick. Whatever that was, for a moment there, Misty was afraid it was going to take Ash away. It encircled him in coils, spreading out like a magic circle underneath his feet.

Magic circles like that usually made things disappear.

Misty hesitated. Then she took his hand, weaving her fingers through his own. Ash's smile made her heart jump. Once again, Misty had to remind herself of what was at stake and what they were doing.

So much for their relationship not being a distraction.


Ash didn't want to say anything to the others. They had already been at this search for hours and he didn't want to claim expertise where there might no longer be any. However, ever since they had exited the creepy underground chamber, Ash's muddled senses suddenly felt incredibly clear.

The thread had returned. Ash clamped onto it and allowed it to lead him forward. They transverse further into the castle and down into the mountain proper. Once they re-entered the caverns, Ash took it upon himself to call on his inherited powers to light their way.

The group wasn't exactly thrilled to be underground again so soon. After several repeated appeals for confirmation from Ash on whether or not they were going the right direction, they fell into an uneasy silence. It was particularly unnerving when accompanied by the stagnant cave air. It reminded them all a bit too much of the dead ambiance of the secret chamber.

"So does it ever feel weird?" Misty asked, mostly to break the silence.

"What?"

"That magic stuff."

"What? This?" Ash asked, lowering his glowing hand just a little. Misty stared straight into the orb of light. Despite being so bright, it somehow didn't seem to hurt her eyes. As if the light itself were as passive an energy as Mew herself had been. Ash gave a little shrug, the light bouncing like a thing alive in his hands. "Not really. Kind of warm. It used to hurt but lately, it just tingles."

"I guess that's because it belongs to you now."

Ash made a face.

"You don't agree?" Misty guessed.

"I'm not so sure they belong to me yet actually. It's hard to explain. But they feel the same way they did… before. Like I'm just borrowing something. "

Ash fell quiet, not quite able to bring himself to look at the light himself. It cast shadows across his solemn face. And for just a moment, the shine was just enough to make his eyes appear a different shade.

"Yeah well," Misty said uneasily. "Pink isn't exactly your color, is it?"

Ash cracked a small smile at that. "Not really, no."

She gave his hand a friendly squeeze. "You looked handsome with blue eyes."

"Did I?"

"Mm-hm," Misty nodded.

"I always kind of wanted different colored eyes. But maybe hazel or green. I always liked green eyes." He looked at Misty as he said so. And Misty would have had to be blind to miss the compliment aimed her way. She ducked her head shyly but said nothing.

Pikachu, perched on Ash's opposite shoulder, playfully gagged into the proceeding silence and Ash rewarded him with a light smack upside the head.

Ash let out a sigh. And without even looking, Misty knew he had to be thinking about Mew. She glanced over, unsurprised by the glassy look his eyes had taken. He blinked rapidly, trying to focus on the path ahead.

"You miss her."

"Is pointing out the obvious supposed to make me feel better?" His voice cracked a little though he tried to pretend it didn't. Still hiding behind a smile after all this time.

"You probably knew her better than anyone ever did," Misty continued softly. "When she talked about you… through your voice, it was the oddest thing. She always sounded so fond of you."

Ash rubbed at his eyes. Misty leaned into him, hoping to lend him some comfort. "I'm sorry, Ash. If there were anything I could say to help you, you know I would say it."

"You could say that the pain goes away… That life goes on. That it was meant to be. You know, all that stuff people say without meaning it." He laughed but there was a distinct tremble to it. Misty hugged his arm, unable to keep her distance.

"It's going to hurt for a while. Maybe always," Misty whispered, staring off at some distant memories that only she could see. "But you'll eventually be alright."

"Promise?"

"No," Misty shook her head. "I can't promise anything. That's up to you."

Ash was quiet for a moment. The sound of their footsteps echoed in the corridor around them but after a while, he responded with a soft, "Fair enough."


For the second time in the past few days, Mewtwo found himself snuck up on. The first time he had chalked up to a momentary lapse in attention. But after this second occurrence, Mewtwo had to admit that his fortress wasn't nearly as impregnable as he originally assumed.

Ash and Misty marched right into the enormous cavern and straight up to where Mewtwo hovered. No one should have been able to do such a thing. If… it was still in place. Mewtwo felt out with his mind and was startled to discover that the wall was no longer there.

He couldn't quite vocalize his thoughts, as shocked as he still was. Instead, he lowered down to where the humans stood waiting, looking up at him.

The open cavern that Mewtwo had picked as his hideout was not too far from the castle. Shafts of light and fresh air still tumbled in from holes cut into the domed ceiling. Small pools of snow pocketed the cave, evidence of the shafts. Mewtwo picked the location so that he could make a hasty escape should he ever need to. That and the deep darkness of caves were not all that pleasant.

"How is this possible? How did you find me?" Mewtwo asked, unable to shake the horror from his thoughts. Other thoughts slipped out, those he hadn't wanted the humans to hear. Impossible. If they could find me. Is the castle safe? Compromised! Are we compromised? No, that's impossible! It's not possible…

"I'm sorry, Mewtwo. We needed to find you right away."

"Ash, you did this?"

The hurt in the pokemon's voice brought tears to Ash's eyes. The trainer wiped them away in surprise.

"What? Mewtwo, I don't understand."

"It's not good. You shouldn't have done so," Mewtwo said gravely. "Those wards kept this mountain safe."

"Wards?"

"Why did you remove them? How did you remove them? It shouldn't be possible and yet…"

"Mewtwo, I don't know what you are talking about."

Mewtwo looked off into the distance, his eyes clouded and fearful. "Could it have been someone else? No. No, it's not possible."

A sudden thought struck Misty. "Wait, Ash," She said. "Could Mewtwo be talking about that room we found?"

Mewtwo's eyes flashed in their direction again. "What room?"

Ash told him. Although he had no intention of keeping the chamber a secret, Ash also realized he had little choice in this matter. He had the distinct impression that if he didn't fess up that Mewtwo would find the answers in other ways. And by the current murderous tint on the pokemon's normally stony face, Ash didn't relish whatever creative method that might end up being.

"You disabled the ancient wards," Mewtwo breathed, looking just as astonished as the two trainers in his audience.

"Ancient wards?"

"I didn't fully understand them myself. They predate me. They may even predate Mew. But I used them to hide my home here. They keep the castle and everyone inside hidden." Mewtwo fixed his piercing gaze on Ash again, blaming him. "Without them, I can no longer protect my palace."

"Mewtwo I- I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to."

"I don't understand," Misty interrupted. "We were just trying to find you, not undo the wards. Why couldn't we find you?"

"I do not know. You found me well enough before," The psychic pokemon snapped with particular venom. "I wish you hadn't taken the trouble this time as certainly now anyone can happen upon me and this place."

"The wards work in reverse then. Or they are supposed to…" Misty mused, somehow managing to ignore the bite in Mewtwo's tone. Ash certainly couldn't. He teetered nervously at Misty's side, resisting the urge to duck behind her. "We couldn't find you once you left the castle. And you shouldn't have been able to get back in…"

"I can enter and leave the castle- I know the entrance," Mewtwo cast a wary look Ash's way again. "Evidently so did Mew."

"I'll turn them back on," Ash offered desperately.

Mewtwo shook his head. "I didn't even think they could be disabled. Do you even know how you turned them off?"

Ash opened his mouth but then slowly thought better of it. One word was hardly an answer to reinstating ancient protection wards. Some part of him knew what Mewtwo also must know. Wards were far easier to collapse than they were to repair. Especially ancient ones that had gone centuries without any sort of magical maintenance.

"We really need to stop poking around ancient ruins," said Pikachu rather unhelpfully.

Ash dropped his face into his hands. "God, I made everything worse."

Pikachu gently pat his trainer on the head but it didn't really make Ash feel better.

"We are terribly sorry for the problems we caused, Mewtwo," said Misty, graciously taking point. "And we will certainly try to fix it as soon as possible. But first, we have a possibly bigger situation. Well… potentially bigger, politically speaking."

Mewtwo didn't interrupt but it was clear from the expression on the pokemon's face he was not following the human's conversation. Ash looked back up at Mewtwo and said, "Our friend intends to capture you."

"He isn't evil," Misty chimed in urgently. "Just misguided. Please forgive him."

"He believes you are a dangerous pokemon and by capturing you, he will protect the rest of us."

"And this man is your friend?" Mewtwo asked skeptically. "You are talking of Giovanni, yes?"

"No… although his intentions are certainly suspect, no," Ash shook his head again. "We are talking about our friend, Gary."

"Gary," Mewtwo repeated dully, struggling to place a face to the name. There hadn't exactly been time for introductions before. Mewtwo looked between the two humans as if he expected this fellow to be hiding behind them somehow. "Where is this Gary?"

"You can't tell?" Ash asked in sudden alarm. "We were counting on you to find him. We need to find him- stop him!"

"You dispelled my wards. Even with them intact, it wasn't as such that I had tabs on everyone who entered the web. I meant to use them to keep me invisible not to track interlopers."

"We could just wait for Gary to find us," Misty offered. Ash vigorously shook his head.

"If he finishes that pokeball, how well do you think he'd listen to us? He already punched me once. I can't imagine a second round would go any better. We'd have to fight him to protect Mewtwo. I don't want it to come to that…

"Mewtwo! You were able to find Pikachu and the others before…"

"I can use pokemon, especially those I have encountered before, to see through their minds."

"What about humans?"

Mewtwo shook his head. "I can sometimes control humans but… it is harmful… to them. And I have to have direct physical contact. I cannot see through them. I am not human. But you, Ash, you are."

"What?"

Ash stumbled back, treading on Misty's foot. Thankfully, the blow was barely felt through her thick boots. She stepped back, catching Ash's arm before he completely fell over.

"What do you mean?" Misty asked for her friend. "Could Ash find Gary?"

"Theoretically, yes. I believe he could. Although you are more than human now, your brain is still functionally human and as thus could connect to other human minds."

"Sabrina could do it too," Misty interjected. "She could speak with her mind and see through her doll. Ash," She gave the boy's arm a gentle shake. "You could do it! You could find Gary for us."

Ash looked a little green but he didn't argue. Instead, he turned to Mewtwo.

"You could show me how?"

"We could try."

Reluctantly, Ash stepped out of Misty's arms. He closed the distance between him and Mewtwo. With a deep breath, he nodded at the pokemon.

"I'm ready. Let's try it."


To Be Continued...
Please Read and Review!

Hey! Hope everyone enjoyed this latest chapter. Sorry, it took a bit longer. I had to change several scenes to make it work with the new vision I had. The next chapter is the last pre-written chapter. I will probably be up in about a week so stay tuned.

Special thanks to our reviewers: AshKetchumForever, DragonMissionary, YumeTakato, juaniu1994, Shaveza and our guest reviewer! I appreciate the comments from each and everyone of you. It motivates me to continue the story, knowing you guys want to know what happens next as much as I do.

Please stay safe. Wear a mask and wash your hands! I'll see you all for the next chapter in about a week!

Next time, on HIA, the crew attempts to rescue Gary. See you then!