Chapter 1: A Fresh Beginning
Unknown location, unknown time, and date
I awoke feeling cold, a shiver running down my spine. 'Where am I? What happened?' I asked myself as I remembered what had just happened. Mew was talking to Reshiram, each congratulating the other on their victory, when I saw Mewtwo emerge from the rubble and fire a Shadow Ball. As I opened my eyes, I noticed that my entire surroundings were pitch black, nothing as far as the eye could see, not only in front and behind me, but also above and below me.
I was floating in a massive black void, just me and my thoughts, but as if on cue, a small burst of light appeared in front of me, but it vanished as fast as it appeared. As my eyes readjusted to the darkness around me, I saw Mew floating in front of me… He did not look happy. I decided to speak up.
"Look, Mew, I don't know if you can hear me right now, but I am truly sorry for everything." I began to tremble a bit, angry with myself for how little I felt I did. "It was my fault that Mewtwo was captured, I have some of the blame for you being captured too, since I helped create the very machine that gave Team Genesis the confidence they needed that their plan would work, if I had just been braver from the start, and refused to work for them, let them kill me and stopped their plans in their tracks, at least given you more time, or something! And don't get me started on the fact that it also led to Arceus himself bein-" But I was cut off.
"Enough, please, just stop," Mew said, as I cocked my head in confusion. "I understand why you feel the way you do, but you're putting the blame on the wrong person, or rather, Pokemon." It was then that I noticed the look in his eyes, they weren't the eyes of someone who was angry, nor in grief. It was guilt. "What you just said, is as far from the truth as it could possibly be. Where you thought that by letting them kill you would slow them down or stop them? It would have delayed them by mere days, and I would have still been captured. Think about it, who was the one that risked her life, sneaking in areas she shouldn't have been? Who was the one that knocked out those guards, and freed me from those chains!?" Mew's voice began to tremble, as I saw a tear begin to form. "It was you! If you hadn't been brave and do as you were instructed, not only would you not have known what was going on, but you also wouldn't have been there to save my life!"
He began talking louder, letting his emotions take hold, "But you didn't stop there, mere days later, Mewtwo attacked me once again and nearly KILLED ME, but you stayed calm and used one of their own weapons against Mewtwo, so we could escape. You never once even considered leaving me behind, and immediately started running from it." More tears were forming now, starting to fall into the endless abyss below. "You ran for nearly four days straight, ignoring every one of your body's protests, just to allow ME to recover, and keep ME safe! His tears started falling faster and faster. "Even after all of that, you put your past, hatred towards Humans, and your safety aside, just to speak to your mother, to help me." I tried to approach him, but he simply floated back a little as I did. Was what he was saying true, had all of that really been my doing? Mew continued to cry, but also kept talking, maybe as a way of trying to get through to me?
"Not to mention that you, a Human, stuck by my side, no matter how tough things got, healing wounded Pokemon, and even more impressively, you saved the lives of at least a DOZEN Pokemon, if not more! And to top it all off, as I was celebrating an early victory, too caught up in the moment and too, COCKY, to see my own downfall, you stepped in and SAVED MY LIFE BY SACRIFICING YOURS!" And that was it, the flood gates had opened as Mew began to wale in sorrow and guilt, letting the reality of his actions hit him as hard as he deserved. I couldn't stop myself this time, as I ran over and hugged Mew, holding him close to my chest. After what felt like an hour, he began to slowly calm down. Wiping away a tear, I looked at him with sympathetic eyes, as he continued. "You spoke of wanting to earn forgiveness for what you did, well with what you've shown over the past week has more than made up for what little sins you had truly committed, and what did I do to show my thanks? I was weak, quite often helpless, requiring someone like you to save me when I should be strong enough to save you… Then I let a small potential victory blindsight me, and you paid the ultimate price…" His eyes looked distant, as he continued, likely not even knowing if I was still listening, too sorrowful to care.
"You are here because of me because I not only couldn't protect you, but I allowed you to sacrifice your life for me… Normally, this would be the part where I would decide whether you go to the afterlife, or become a slave in the distortion world, but in rare cases like these, where you are taken too soon, I can offer you another option." He focused on me to make sure I was still listening. "I can bring you back to life… The only issue is that I cannot make you a Human once more." It took me a few moments to realize what he was saying, my eyes widening.
"Are you saying you can bring me back… As a Pokemon?" Mew nodded, his eyes now filled with newfound determination.
"I may not be able to give you back your old life, even though by the sounds of it you'd reject it anyway, I can at least give you a second chance, a new life, as a Pokemon." His eyes seemed to be begging me to accept, but I wasn't sure if I should take his offer. "It will give me, and I know this sounds selfish of me, it will give me a second chance to repay you for everything you've done for me the past week, if you're thinking that you don't deserve it, you're wrong, I have never met anyone that has been more worthy of this. Please, accept my offer, I implore you, no I BEG YOU… Please… If you won't accept it for yourself…" He collapsed onto an invisible floor. "Accept it for me, to give me some way to at least begin repaying you, and atone for my own sins." He couldn't hold back his sobs anymore, he began crying once more, clearly broken from losing Arceus and forcing me to sacrifice myself for him. I thought about the option for a moment, then kneeled down next to him, bringing his head up so his eyes met mine, a gentle sympathy once again portrayed on my face.
"Alright, I accept your offer." Mew looked into my eyes, new tears forming, but not of sorrow and guilt, instead of happiness and joy. The little pink Mythical Pokemon began crying once more, tackling my chest in a large hug as I almost fell backward.
"Thank you! I promise you won't regret it!
"I do have one question though," Mew tilted his head, still watery as nodded. "When I am reborn, what species will I be?"
"Hmm, well what kind do you want to be?" I shrugged.
"I've never really thought about it, maybe if you give me your suggestion, that could help me?" Mew looked thoughtful, as he recalled something.
"I remember you said that the only friend you had growing up was a young boy who turned out to be a Zorua, correct? I nodded, wondering where this was going. "Then that's what I'll do! Since I cannot make you a second Mew, and Ditto is a failed copy of me, that only leaves one Pokemon line that can become any Pokemon species they want, since you can't decide." My eyes lit up at the realization of what he was getting at, as I nodded quickly. "Then it's settled, you will become a Zorua!" His last words echoed out across the void, as the last thing I saw was Mew hugging me before everything went black once more.
New unknown location, unknown date and time
I awoke once more, looking around me and noticing that while it was still dark, I appeared to be in some form of room. I heard muffled noises outside the room, which sounded like voices. I took this time to clear my head and assess my situation. Looking down, I noticed that I no longer had hands, instead of being replaced by red paws, with retractable claws that were attached to a black leg. Looking further down, I noticed that my skin now had a layer of black fur, and my legs looked almost exactly like my arms, I guessed now they were my forelegs and hind legs. I peered behind me as I noticed a medium-sized black fluffy tail. I attempted to move it from side to side, but it was too difficult in this tight space. I noticed one of the voices get closer to my little room when I noticed a little gooey substance just above my right forepaw and realized that my little confined space was not in fact a small room, but an egg. I remembered what Mew had said to me in that deep void, "Wow, I guess he really followed through with hi-" Then I stopped, as I listened to my own voice. I could understand what I was saying perfectly, however, I kept saying Zorua, or some variation thereof, which I found adorable given my now young sounding voice… I could get used to it.
"Is she almost ready to hatch Mew?" A scary, yet caring voice asked.
"Yes, she should be just about ready any moment now!" I noticed that this voice was right next to me, even though it was still muffled somewhat. "Hey, Auran? When you're ready to come out, just break through the egg's shell, ok?" I realized then that this most likely meant that I was with Mew and the other legendaries, in the forest just north of the old base. I did as Mew suggested, and began by poking the egg with a paw, it giving way quite a bit as though just a mere push would destroy the wall. I pushed once more, this time using both of my forepaws and pushing a bit harder, as the wall gave way, and a waft of fresh cool breeze hit my fur. I continued pushing until I managed to break free of the egg, and immediately felt very cold due to some of the goo still remaining in my fur, and the cool breeze sending a chill down my fragile spine.
"Oh right, sorry, could you help warm her up Magmar?" I turned to see a rather large, and intimidating Magmar, but he simply walked over to me, close enough to warm me up but not close enough to scare me, as Mew wiped me over with a towel I assumed they had taken from the rubble. Mew looked at me with a smile, guilt still on his face. "Alright, Auran I'd like you to properly meet Reshiram, Articuno, and Suicune. They are the ones that helped me defeat Mewtwo." Reshiram looked proud of himself, while Articuno was floating there, as majestic as I had imagined her, while Suicune was standing guard, making sure no one else came to attack us. I sheepishly grin and waved at all three of them, and to my surprise, they waved back.
"As Mew said, my name is Reshiram, and I am the legendary Pokemon of Truth, and hail from the Unova region, as I'm sure you're already aware!" Reshiram then gains a much softer, more sympathetic gaze as he leans down towards me. "It was very brave and noble of you to not only risk your life numerous times for Mew's safety but also to sacrifice yourself for his sake. I have never met a Human-like you before, aside from a young man named N who I met a few centuries ago… I wonder if you're his relative in some way?" His gaze became distant as if remembering better times.
"I'm sure N would be proud if she was, and even if not, he'd be happy that there was another Human as selfless as he was," Articuno reassured, as Reshiram let a tear fall.
"He was taken from us too soon for my liking, but sadly, it was his time." Articuno wrapped her wings around Reshiram as he began to lightly cry.
"N lived a long and happy life, only dying last year," Articuno stated, still hugging the large Dragon.
"But I heard he was born a few hundred years ago, how did he live so long?" I asked, confused as to how it was possible.
"He made a wish to Jirachi to only die once he had done everything he could, and it seemed his time had come last year, and since he had been with Reshiram that entire time, they were very close, so it was hard on the poor dear." Articuno let go of the hug once he had calmed down.
"Thanks, Articuno, I needed that. I don't know how long it will take to get past this."
"It takes time since you've never really been close to anyone, including Zekrom, you became very attached to N, so we understand if you have little moments like that," Articuno reassured him.
At that moment, Suicune walked over to Mew, "All looks clear Mew, I scanned the area and found no one from that group anywhere near the rubble." Mew sighed in relief.
"That's good, while I hate having to kill people, they left us no choice, I just hope the scientists weren't near the building, since by the sounds of it they were also innocent in this" Mew looked over at me as I shook my head.
"Not all of them, I think there were maybe three of us that were captives, the other five willingly joined their group, especially the leader Rex who was basically treating us like slaves."
Mew's clenched his paws. "How could anyone see another being as a slave, I never understood that about Humans."
"Why do you think I wanted to be away from my parents? I never shared that part before… Mewtwo attacked again."
Even to this day, I feel disgusted, hurt, humiliated and more just thinking about what had happened, so Mew told me to only mention it when I needed to or felt comfortable to do so… That was around 25 years ago, and it still haunts me to this day. Suffice to say, Mew and the other Legendaries' jaws dropped when they heard what had happened, as I let out a small whimper while trying to hold back tears. Articuno is the first to respond.
"I've heard of Humans doing that to each other, but never to family, and especially not to their kids." She had a thoughtful face.
"Well I for one am not impressed in the slightest, N would never in a million years even consider doing anything so horrible to anyone, even if his life depended on it, that's just disgraceful"
The duo turned to Mew, who was simply looking at me in horror. He didn't need to say anything, his reaction said everything it needed, but he managed to say, "I'm sorry, it must have been horrible." I nodded as we, and by we I mean Reshiram, decided to change the subject.
"Alright, I think that's enough bringing up the past, for now, it seems to be getting to Mew and Auran." I nodded, thankful for his interjection. "The next order of business is to figure out what to do with young Auran." I cocked my head to the side in confusion, then realized what he meant.
"Agreed. I think it would be best if she stayed with me, at least for now, since all of this was my fault." Mew then came over to me. "It's going to take some time for you to get used to this new body since you'll need to get used to walking on all fours, learn how to use moves, and your illusions, get used to your new taste buds…" Reshiram then started to chuckle.
"Mew, I don't think we need to get that far into it, let it be more natural."
"I suppose, sorry." Mew chuckled to himself as well, "Well there is one other main reason that she'll need my help." Articuno sighed, realizing where Mew was going, but Reshiram was just as confused as I was.
"You see, most young Pokemon spend the first few months to a year, others even more, with their mothers. This is because a young Pokemon, like a young Human child, needs to drink the milk from their mother since they cannot eat solid foods, and since your body was technically just hatched…" I realized what she was saying, I needed Mew since I needed milk in order to survive the first couple of months until my teeth became developed enough. I sighed.
"I need Mew to treat me like a newborn, or I guess here, newly hatched Zorua, I understand."
Articuno nodded as she began to fly up a little bit, looking towards the sun. "It's getting late, Reshiram and Suicune should start making their way back to their home regions, while Mew and I should head back to our nests." Everyone else agreed as they began leaving the forest, while Mew and I stayed back and waved goodbye.
"My cave isn't too far from here, so it should only take us around ten minutes by flight to get there." Mew looked at me with a comforting smile. "Don't worry, everything will get better from here, I know it!"
Hello all, hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my new fic, this story is a part of the Cariwayverse (Name is still a WIP) which also includes my other two, non Percentverse stories (The newly named PMD: Cariway Rescuers and Starset). The verse is still relatively new but I've already made a bit of law around it, including a brief (and when I say brief, I mean information-wise, but it spans more than 1500 years) timeline, that includes a time where only Humans existed, to a time where Pokemon began to appear, etc. I also have a Discord for this verse. If you're interested in it, please DM your Discord username including the number to me on FanFiction. I also have one other story currently in the works since most likely I won't be continuing PMD: Cariway Rescuers until the RP starts up once more, if it ever does. Thanks again for reading, and as always, stay frosty!