A/N: Thank you for taking the time to leave me all those incredible reviews. It's always fun reading what you guys think!

So, for those who guessed it and for those who didn't: Yami is Mewtwo, and his escape is near, so brace yourself!

This chapter is about friendship and looking out for each other. And, if you have a dream, don't you dare give up on it, because you can make it real. I know you can.

Thank you for all your support so far, I love each and every one of you. Keep being the wonderful readers that you are (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ and have a happy new year!

1

Pikachu never liked to see sad kids, or sad anything if he was honest. He's a friendly Pokémon like that, so when he saw Ash standing in the same spot for quite some time, he felt that it was time to intervene.

"You're feeling ok kid?"

Ash looked down only to see Pikachu standing next to him. Without waiting for an answer, Pikachu jumped to the top of Ash's head and settled down. It seemed like it had become Pikachu's favorite resting place.

"Yeah," Ash said softly.

After Ash told his mother about what happened to him, the pair of mother and son calmed down and talked some more – what happened after Ash was turned, how he escaped from Team Rocket, and how he met Pikachu. There are a lot of things that they didn't get to say before Delia had to leave. She hugged Ash and explained to him that she couldn't close her restaurant even if she wanted to stay home. If it remained closed for too long, it could affect the restaurant's reputation and hurt both her and her son in the long run.

Now that Ash was home, Delia had no choice but to go to work. It's the right thing to do even if she loathed the thought of leaving her ten years old boy home alone. It was her only way of making enough money to pay the rent. "I'll call every hour, so pick-up the phone, or I'll come back as soon as I can, ok?"

To that, Ash nodded like a dutiful son and promised to answer the phone the moment it rang. Delia smiled at her boy, kissed him on the forehead before leaving the house, "don't forget to lock the door!"

"Ok!"

When he finished, Ash was left standing across from the front door. Pikachu had no idea what the boy was thinking, but the whole situation painted a rather sad picture – which is why Pikachu had made his presence known right that moment.

Ash sounded like he just woke up from a dream. He shook his head and soon sat down on the largest sofa in the living room.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Pikachu patted the soft, soft hair underneath his paws, "You've met with your mother again," he pointed out, "which is good, I guess, and you also convinced me that you really were a human before you changed. What's left?"

Ash grew quiet as he thought. It was the truth that he had done almost everything he needed to do. There wasn't much left, actually. It mostly consisted of learning all he could about his Mew form, and preparing for his Pokémon journey – because no way Ash was giving up on that. No freaking way.

There was one other thing. It's possible that now that Ash's home Pikachu will leave him. He wasn't tied to Ash and had no obligation to stay. Truthfully speaking, this is what was bugging Ash when Pikachu decided to open a conversation.

Ash didn't want his friend to leave. He had grown attached to the small Pokémon. Pikachu was the first one to take him in after he escaped Team Rocket. Ash would never forget that.

Pikachu didn't have to do any of that. The other could have just gone on with his life, leaving Ash to deal with his problems.

But the point is that Pikachu didn't.

Ash wanted the two of them to stay together, but at the same time, he didn't want to force his friend in any way. If Pikachu didn't want to stay, Ash would let him go. "Hey, Pikachu…?"

"What is it, kid?"

"You said that you believe me now, about how I'd been human before. Do you…" Ash took a deep breath but didn't look away, "while I may be a Pokémon now, I'm still a human at heart, and I know that you don't like humans, but I hope that… what I want to say is, I wish that you'll stay with me." Ash felt like he started rumbling, which made him a little bit embarrassed.

"I want us to travel and meet a lot of Pokémon. More than that, I want to be a Pokémon master, even if it sounds silly – I mean, a Pokémon being a Pokémon master," Ash forced himself to laugh, but he didn't really found it funny, "but it's my dream and I don't want to give up on it, and I want you to come with me, so, what do you say?"

Pikachu buried his face in Ash's soft locks and thought out loud, "So, let me get it straight. You're planning to go on a journey, all to become a Pokémon master, right?" Pikachu asked in a somewhat bored tone.

"Yeah."

"Ok, first thing, you do know that humans usually group up when they go on such a journey, right? If you travel alone, it will raise suspicion. Not that they'll give you a choice, I heard that you humans can get pretty stubborn," Pikachu brought up, "it will limit the time you could train as a Mew, which will leave you venerable."

Now that he thought about it, Team Rocket is going to be a possible danger. Word has it that they are pretty active in those parts, and Pikachu is worried that something terrible will happen once they locate Ash.

It could be said that Pikachu started getting a little protective over the other. The last thing he wants is for Ash to get injured while on the road.

"If anyone would find out that you can Transform, or that you're a Mew thing will get ugly," Pikachu added slowly, "and if something happens to you and you need medical treatment a human hospital is not going to cut it. Also, in my opinion, you should stay away from human labs," by this point, Pikachu was just thinking out loud, but what he said did make sense.

"It's not like I'll be able to do anything if I'm hurt enough," Ash murmured quietly, but Pikachu heard. "I mean, I agree with you about the lab thing because, after my stay at Team Rocket's lab, it's the last place I want to be, but why can't I go to a hospital?"

"Are you kidding, kid?" Pikachu snorted amusedly, "Ok, so it's like this, humans and Pokémon won't react in a similar way to the same medication, this is why when a Pokémon is sick you take it to a Pokémon center."

Ash got up to take a glass of water, he was getting a headache from all the talking. "How do you know all that?"

"It's because I've been to one of those, obviously," Pikachu rolled his eyes, "didn't like it, but it healed me, so there's that."

"So, no hospitals, right?" Ash asked. He opened the refrigerator door and took out a bottle.

"Yes, but that leaves us with a problem. What are we going to do when you're sick or injured…?"

Ash placed the bottle on the counter, took out a glass cup, and poured himself a cup. The water tasted great. "Do you want some too, Pikachu?"

The mouse Pokémon shook his head silently. Ash only shrugged and placed everything back where it's supposed to be.

The two sat in silence, thinking about the issue. It was Ash that figured out a solution, "it should be fine if I can Transform into a different kind of Pokémon, right? Then the Pokémon center will treat me."

Pikachu perked up in interest, "that's actually a good idea, but you'll need a human to take you to the Pokémon center, or they'll capture you and then do who knows what."

Ash frowned lightly. He had not thought that far, but the idea was worth thinking about.

Pikachu sighed, "you know what kid, we'll think about that later. For now, I want you to tell me a little bit more about this journey of yours."

Ash blinked, "what do you mean?"

Pikachu rolled his eyes, "where will you go, what will you do, when will you start… things like that," he explained.

"Well," Ash started slowly, "usually Pokémon trainers start when they're eleven, but actually you can start from the moment you can legally apply for a Pokémon Trainer's license," he explained excitedly.

"To become a Pokémon master, I'll first need to challenge various Gyms all across the region, win against the Gym's leader, and get a Gym Badge. When I get enough of those, I can join a tournament where all the best trainers in the will battle against each other," Pikachu noted how Ash light up when he was talking about his dream. It was kind of adorable.

"The winner can challenge one of the elite four! Once you defeated all of them, you can battle one of the current Pokémon masters for their title!" [1]

Ash didn't mind talking about the things he liked, so his explanations were very detailed. Pikachu thought it sounded like a backload of work, but…

"You know what, I think that you can do it," Pikachu said, "It sounds like a long road ahead of you, kid and it isn't going to be easy, sure. I can see that already, but it's possible."

Ash smiled when he heard Pikachu say that. It was the first time someone other than his mom believed he was going to achieve his dream. Ash wanted to thank him, but Pikachu wasn't done talking yet, "it will take a lot of hard work. You'll need to understand how to battle like a Pokémon."

Ash nodded, "you're probably right," the boy nodded in agreement and proceeded to lay on his side. He was getting a little sleepy, "there's still a lot I don't know about Pokémon, but I'm ready to learn."

"Then I'll help you, and you'll help me. We'll grow stronger together. What kind of friend would I be if I left you to deal with all that on your own?"

2

Pallet town is small. Almost everyone knows each other, so when a boy suddenly disappeared, it didn't take long for the whole town to know about it. Those few days when he was gone, almost everyone in town kept an eye out in hopes of finding the missing child.

The news of the boy sudden reappearing hit the messes faster than a speeding bullet. Soon, everyone and their wife knew that the boy that disappeared was found.

Rumor has it that he came back by himself that very morning. The exact details weren't known yet, which is why the gossipers chose to make an appearance in Delia's restaurant to fish for information.

Delia didn't know what she was supposed to tell them or to tell anyone for that matter. She thought about blaming Team Rocket for the kidnapping, but she didn't want to get that group's attention. It would be better not to bring them up at all.

Keeping everything secret would be just as bad. Delia had no doubt that that despicable trash organization was still looking for her son, and it would be… bad if the story got out of hand.

In truth, Delia didn't want to say anything before discussing it with Ash. Her boy was old enough to decide, and it wasn't like she wasn't there to stop him from making a mistake.

In the meantime, Delia decided to keep quiet, but she knew that she had to address the elephant in the room as soon as possible.

At least gossip was good for business.

3

Meanwhile, very far away from Pallet town, another being was planning to go missing very soon.

Day after day, his inner strength grew, and with it his hate. The loathing he felt for the human that dared imprison him burned brightly like an inferno. There was no way to combat this flame, but the being didn't mind being consumed if he could get his revenge.

It won't be long now. A matter of days, really. Meeting with the child in the psyche realm helped him accumulate his power so much faster. His chains won't be able to hold him in soon, but he kept his rapid rise in strength hidden.

If the human somehow discovers his trickery, everything will be over. Both his dream for freedom and his life.

Mewtwo wasn't worried. Humans always see what they want to see, and they tend to ignore what's right in front of their faces.

Mewtwo's eyes flashed in the dark-room.

'This is going to be fun.'

4

Magikarp woke up after a good long (unwanted) nap. He frowned darkly to himself and decided that next time he'll be quiet. He didn't want to be picked up by any bird Pokémon again. That was scary!

'What if they carried this powerful being away from the gentle, adorable Mew?' Magikarp's heart would have been torn in half!

Magikarp knew, ho, there was no doubt in his mind – Mew will be back for him sooner than later. It's written in the stars~

(Reader1: Can he really read the stars?)

(Death Wand: … No.)

Mew will come back. The adorable goddess wouldn't be able to part from him for long, and when she is back, Magikarp will be ready to impress her with his new power and grandeur!

Ok, it was time to get back to training! The almighty Magikarp gave a loud (and unnecessary) battle cry before starting to swim against the current again!

This time his swimming ability got a lot better than before. It could only mean that the training before really worked!

That moment a passing Pokémon looked to the side and saw the silly, determined Pokémon trying to swim. It took pity on the tiny, stupid Magikarp and decided to give him a ride.

The Pokémon was old and wise. He knew how to battle really well and a lot of moves, but his eyesight and hearing were awful. So, when he caught the small Magikarp, he didn't notice that he was swimming in the wrong direction!

"What are you doing?!" Magikarp shouted as loudly as he could, "Unhand me right now, and I won't hurt you!"

Too bad that such fearsome words fell on deaf ears. Magikarp straggled in the huge Pokémon's hold, but no matter how much power he used, the other didn't even notice.

(Magikarp: I'm gonna cry…)

Sadly, this Pokémon was very fast while swimming, and after he finally let go of Magikarp, they were very far from the starting point.

A/N:

[1] According to bulbapedia, the Pokémon master position is and how one attains it is vague and never fully explained. So, I've decided to deal with it in my own way.

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