Most had already fled, but the feckless, chinless admin who had been left in charge of this sorry port remained cowering at her feet, his dress pants torn at the knees, caked in sand.

"Where is Mewtwo?!" Jessica's tone was sharp and thin. She sounded very much like the leader of Team Rocket in her own estimation. "What have you done with him?!"

He had a bushy mustache that had begun to grey with age. She wanted to yank it off so bad, like a broken fingernail. "Mewtwo? What the heck's a Mewtwo?"

She held up the picture of the last one Giovanni had kept, still in its incubation tube. You know damn well what I'm talking about. "This Pokémon right here. Don't lie to me, or I'll have Gengar use Dream Eater on you again."

The elderly man's bloodshot eyes cracked open like boiling eggs. "N-no… anything but that! Please, I beg you!"

"Tell me what you know, and we won't have to go there."

"Ooh, dear, you're so evil! I like it!" her father smirked.

A warm feeling built in her chest. Jessica had to bite her lip to stop herself from smiling. Not in front of him. I can't show any weakness when I'm so close… "Out with it, Dragon!"

The admin was trembling, staring at her Gengar, who was busy chasing flies on the shore, making tittering, excited noises as he did. "W-we… we never caught a Pokémon that looked like that… but a member of my deep sea recovery crew filed a report about encountering a Pokémon that looked similar to that one in that picture there… but I can't be certain. I wasn't there to see for myself."

"They found the beast in the Tanoby Ruins?"

"Just so."

"And…?"

"Hell if I know… they said it froze them all in place and it escaped in the blink of an eye! Hard to believe if you ask me."

"We weren't asking you," her mother snapped.

"Yeah, that's right," Dad butted in. "You better not be lying to my sweet little Jessica darling!"

"Dad, stop it!" She sighed, shaking her head, her hands on her hips, her eyes drifting to the waves crashing against the shore. Her fingers felt so restless she wanted to run. "When was this, exactly?"

"Oh, about six months ago, when we set up down here. It's one of the first reports I logged, come to think of it."

"Did you tell your bosses about it?"

His skin was yellowish; his brow was sweating profusely. "N-no… why would I? They'd just ask me a bunch of questions and probably send down someone to investigate… I didn't think it was worth the time or resources."

"Well, at least you've done one useful thing for me."

He donned a more hopeful expression then. "C-can I go now?"

"None of your men reported any further sightings of Mewtwo, did they?"

"No, ma'am, as I said, that was the only report on record 'bout any sort of Pokémon like that. Heck, I didn't even know it was a Pokémon in the first place. You sure about that? Never heard of a 'Mewtwo' before."

"Go back to your masters," she said. She noticed storm clouds gathering in the distance, far beyond shore. "And tell them that if I ever find even one Painted Dragon in Kanto again, I'll destroy your entire organization with my Legendary Pokémon."

"P-pardon, ma'am, but we've got Legendary Pokémon too!"

Even in his greatest moment of fear, that little three-chinned Weedle couldn't help but to get in a last prideful boast. It was too much for Jessica. Her veins flooded with fury, with resentment, with hate. "Gengar!" she roared. "Put this man to sleep and feast upon his dreams."

"N-no… please, not that again! Please, I'm sorry… I'll do anything… you can't… you can't… please…!"

He whined and begged and threw himself to the sand. Jessica folded her arms, closed her eyes, focused on the sound of the waves, and felt her anger sustain itself for two moments before coldly and suddenly slipping entirely away. They're on Six Island, Five Island, and One Island… soon, I'll have driven the Painted Dragons from this archipelago. And once I've scoured every island, I'll have found Mewtwo. He can't hide forever. I will find him, no matter which island he has run off to. It's only a matter of time.

Gengar landed softly beside her. The man sobbed out a scream, and Jessica finally allowed herself to smile.

The pink-grey and green creature jumped back, dodging an Ice Beam. Ryan attempted to move and found he couldn't. He tried to speak and found he couldn't. Katagiri was frozen to his neck. All he could do was move his head, and even then, he couldn't exactly see well out of the pink bubble he was in the middle of.

His confusion was great, but it only grew when the flash of blue entered his vision, and he beheld again the mystical, time-rending, calming presence of Mew–the blue Mew he had met in Kanto. It's shiny. There can't be many Shiny Mew out there… but I can tell this is the same one I met before, just from how it looks. Its playful face, focused, yet all-seeing was like something out of his dreams. Goosebumps covered his body. He was, in an instant, transported back to Lavender Town, memory overwhelming his emotions. He didn't know whether to feel melancholic or elated.

Mew… you came back… you saved me from that faker…

The ground exploded in dark flames. The two traded Shadow Balls and took to the skies, moving faster than Ryan could keep track. Sonic booms erupted overhead, detonating hard, sending coconuts flying. Half the forest had seemingly gone up in flames.

That other Pokémon is no normal fighter… he can go toe-to-toe with Mew… he's gotta be a Legendary. But which one? Ryan knew all of the Kanto Pokémon by heart, but he did not know this one, indicating that it must be from another region. And yet… His face is so similar to Mew's. He looks like Mew's evolved form, but that's impossible. Mew doesn't have any evolutions!

The aggressor shot another Shadow Ball at Mew, who simply deflected it with another pink bubble cast about its body. Mew cut through the air as if it were swimming, dancing around its foe in naïvity. Ryan felt at once that he was no longer in danger. Mew's got this under control.

They traded another round of Shadow Balls, this time the purplish balls of energy hitting each other and canceling out in a brilliant flash in the sky. A flock of Pelippers screeched and took to the skies. Again, the faker attempted to attack Mew, and again Mew dodged the attack, replying with one of its own. The faker dodged that attack, too. He's impressive, whoever he is. I can't believe he's lasted this long.

The unknown Pokémon shot a Focus Blast at Mew, but the attack went sailing wide, which did not surprise Ryan in the slightest. That's the price you pay for using the most unreliable move in the history of Pokékind.

Mew's eyes glowed red, and in a flash, the other Pokémon went up in flames. He groaned loudly, flexing his arms, spinning in midair, quenching the flames, but to Ryan and Katagiri and the myriad of frightened wild Pokémon no doubt watching this with their sphincters clenched, he looked mighty burned. Holding his shoulder, the faker cried out and shot a third Shadow Ball at Mew, who casually deflected it with another bubble of energy.

Mew's foe let out a long, deep howl of frustration, rubbing his shoulder. He pointed tauntingly at Mew and then vanished, and the sky grew quiet again.

The bubble around Ryan popped, and he could feel his toes again. "Wait… Mew… don't leave!" he called to the blue-furred creature floating passively in the cloudless sky.

He blinked, and Mew was floating in front of him passively, cocking its head to the side. They stood silently for a moment, Ryan unsure what to say or what to do. He didn't want Mew to leave, but he didn't exactly know what to do make it stay, either.

It blinked three times in rapid succession and the burning forest quenched itself. Dust and ash floated through the air, tasting bitter in the boy's throat. His lip trembled. "I-I don't… I… thank you, Mew. You… you saved me."

Ryan had tears in his eyes. Mew floated around him in that same swim-like dance, and all his fear melted away. He remembered suddenly that his pocket was radiating with heat; he pulled the little stone out of it, holding it in his palm for Mew to see. The Legendary Pokémon stopped, staring at the pebble.

"It's a Mega Stone," he murmured. "Is it yours?"

The Mew giggled, covering its mouth in a cute expression. With every laugh, it bobbed up and down in the air, the wind running through its short blue fur.

"I-I'm sorry… I don't have my Key Stone with me… it was stolen from me by the Painted Dragons… You wouldn't happen to know where they are, would you?"

Mew stopped giggling, and looked behind it, towards the burnt forest. With a stubby hand, it pointed in that direction. He opened his mouth to speak, but in that same instant, his vision went to pink, and he tasted blueberries, and he had fallen to his hands and knees, and when his vision returned, Mew was gone.

"Wait… don't go!" Ryan's voice echoed in the silence.

Katagiri shifted comfortably on his shoulder. "Froah froah froakie!"

"Yeah, buddy. They're gone… But that's the Mew I met in Kanto, the one I saved from Team Rocket… and now it's returned and saved me… I don't know what to… what to…"

He was lost for words, the emotion mercilessly squeezing all coherency from his thoughts.

"Keeeee keee froa aahh!" Katagiri said to console him.

"I wonder where it went. I wish it didn't go… but I guess it's impossible to actually tame Legendary Pokémon. Maybe I shouldn't even try…"

"Froakie!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Well, come on buddy. Let's see if we can find a way off this rock."

Before leaving, he glanced once more at the stones to get a better look at those pictographs that had been carved into their sides. The stone at the head of the pattern contained two pictures–one of a tall man in a suit holding a cigar, his hair short and trimmed neatly. Directly beneath his figure was carved the visage of that same Pokémon that had fought Mew–and there was another one of these same Pokémon on each of the other four slabs, though on three of them, no human had been etched into the rock above them. On the fifth, however, was the carved image of a boy who was meek and smiling sadly.

His emotions again overcame Ryan. He was just glad Alex and Rahul weren't there to see. That's the same boy that Pokémon was pretending to be… but why? The boy was only eleven or twelve, or perhaps younger. It was hard to tell with only a carving.

His eyes rose to the sky again, the feelings in his brain too heavy to be rendered into thought. Without thinking, he jumped, his hand just reaching the tip of the stone slab. In one motion, he pulled himself up, climbing on top of it.

Katagiri puffed out his chest and sang audaciously, "Froaaaah!"

But why did he attack me? I didn't even know he was there… I didn't want to hurt him… He tasted salt on the wind. And yet, as Ryan stared off down the path, past the burnt tree line, he could see, beyond the shore of the other side of the island, five ships at dock, and he could tell instantly which one was his.

I just wish Mew was still here… how am I going to take on all those guys with just Shenlong and Katagiri?

He recalled then the look of fear and shame in the Mew's eyes the first time he had come face-to-face with it the day Jessica had captured it. That look had roused in him a righteous fury that had not been quenched until he had found where she took it, fought Jessica to the bitter end, and set Mew free.

Here again he felt a righteous fury building in his bones, not just for his stolen Pokémon, but for the one who had never forgotten what he'd done and who had come back for him in this lowest of moments. Everything goes away, he thought, but not yet. Rahul and Kelly may have left me… but I'm not done yet.

"Come on, buddy," he whispered, jumping back to the ground, Katagiri clutching wildly to his neck, his claws digging into Ryan's skin. "Let's remind those Painted Dragons just who we are… We're not goin' down without a fight, are we?"

"Froakie!"

His veins burst with adrenaline, and he found himself running, Shenlong's Poké Ball in hand.

Officer Jenny had surrounded Mount Ember with more police boats than Logan thought would have been harbored in the entirety of the Sevii Islands. Nothing's getting in or out without them knowing. That thought, at least, gave him some modicum of comfort.

There were no Painted Dragons on the beach, as Alex had predicted. "We're going to have to defeat all of them," he told Logan. "If all of your Pokémon get knocked out, just return to the beach and one of Jenny's boats will pick you up, okay?"

"What about you?"

"They aren't knocking out any of my Pokémon."

"Are you sure about that?"

Alex ignored him, returning Tsunami to his Poké Ball and heading for the entrance to the volcano. "Anyways, we're looking for Lieutenant Miyazaki. He's the guy in charge of this whole debacle."

Great… just ignore me. This guy doesn't think much of me, does he? "And what exactly does he look like?"

Alex shrugged.

"Well that's great. Good job with the intel, Alex!"

"You'll be able to tell, trust me. You're going to be a Pokémon Breeder, right? You should be able to tell who the alpha is from a mile away."

Well… if that's the case, then who's the alpha in our group? It's definitely not Rahul or Alex… despite them both being way better trainers than Ryan… and it's not Ryan either. I'm definitely not the alpha, either, but when I'm with Ryan…

"Y-yeah, of course."

"Let's do this."

"Yo, let's smash 'em up!"

Inside, they were met by two Painted Dragon enforcers, guarding the path up towards the peak of Mount Ember. Each wore a bandana with the insignia of their gang plastered upon it, and their sleeves were rolled up, not only because it was cookin' up real good in there, but because they obviously wanted to show off their tattoos of all of the Pokémon they had stolen from people over the years. Logan spotted a Clefable on one of their biceps. What a maroon. I'll destroy him for Granddaddy Clefable's sake!

"Halt! Who goes there?"

"Get out of my way," Alex replied.

"No tourists allowed. Get out of here before we make you."

Logan was none too pleased by that man's tone. "Just fight us already… we're not leaving!"

"Suit yourself, kid. But if we win, we're takin' your Pokémon."

"Fat chance," Alex retorted.

"No, no, no," Logan interjected with glee, "Fat Chansey! Go get 'em girl!"

His Chansey came flying out of her ball with gusto. Logan's opponent revealed a floating Glalie. This guy reminds me of that Minior Ryan's Froakie fought yesterday. "Alright, Chansey, Seismic Toss!"

"Chansey!"

Alex was busy engaging the other enforcer, but Logan liked to focus on himself, and he didn't like to think about other people or look at them when he didn't have to, which was very convenient in this case.

"Double-Edge!"

"Soft-Boiled, girl!"

There was a lot of bustling around, and the Glalie flung itself a few times at Chansey, but Chansey was as resolute as she was obese and she just kept healing herself like it was magic. Logan loved that about Chansey; it was a pity he couldn't do the same, himself.

"Seismic Toss!" he ordered her after several more rounds of this, and finally, with this latest body slamming technique, the ground shook and cracked and Glalie didn't get up.

"Yer cheatin'," the Painted Dragon scoffed. "How dare ya. I'm tellin' the Lieutenant!"

His fellow had already run off, it seemed, for Alex was standing alone at the far end of the room with his arms folded, an impatient look in his eyes. "You done?"

"What's it look like, homeboy?"

"Let's go then."

Off they went up the mountain, but for some reason, there were Painted Dragons all along the path. They weren't facing down towards anyone coming up to greet them–rather, they were facing in towards the path, their backs against the rocky walls on either side. Rahul told me that an Onix carved this path over three hundred years ago. I wonder if it ever imagined all these Painted Dragons lined up like this inside.

It was really hot, and sweat was running into his eyes, stinging them. As they approached the first Painted Dragon, he suddenly grew shocked, as if he hadn't seen them coming until they were in his line of sight. "Halt right there… I'm Enforcer Gunther, welcome to Mount Ember!"

He threw a Poké Ball, revealing a Clawitzer, and an ugly shrimpy-looking one at that.

"You got this," Alex said in an unconvincing monotone. "I've gotta text Xiao Bao about wavedashing brb."

"Alright, Echo, your turn!"

"Heh, you ain't even evolved that into a Scizor yet? What the heck?"

Scizors didn't exist until we left Kanto, Mr. Speedbump McGee. "Aerial Ace, Echo!"

"Scyther!"

Echo looked particularly eager to destroy his opponent this time. He sharpened his claws against each other, then took to the air. In the confined space, he didn't have much room to gain momentum, but it was still easy for Echo to outspeed his opponent and come crashing down upon him with such force that Logan just knew that was a crit. Brings a tear to my eye… he's so beautiful when he crits!

"That was only luck, hah, haha!" The Enforcer looked like he was going to throw up before running past them down the path to Arceus knows where.

"Alright, I'm back," Alex said. "Anyways, there's a lot more of these noobs ahead. You good?"

"Yeah, man. Echo one-shotted that guy's Clawitzer!"

"Oh, okay."

"Hey, you should be happy for me! Praise me, Alex. Do it! Do it now!"

"Well, you didn't do as poorly as I expected, and anyways, the most important thing is that Xiao Bao can wavedash semi-regularly now, even with Blaziken. So he's getting pretty good is all I'm trying to say."

This guy needs to spend a few hours in a locked room with Granddaddy Clefable, I swear. "Thanks Alex, I appreciate it!"

Together, they ran up the sweltering path, eager to challenge those Dragons who remained standing in their way. Logan wondered if the rumors about Xiao Bao being a spammer were true, and he thought they probably were, given that Alex was his brother.

"Alright Katagiri, we gotta be real slick."

"Geeeaaah geaaah."

"Pretend you're a ninja or something and you'll do fine."

The ship at dock was the very same fishing boat he had jumped onto a few hours ago, and that was probably one of the worst decisions of his life, but Ryan wasn't about to get hung up on the past. There was only one direction forward, and it was up the ramp to that boat, retrieving his bag, and beating every one of the Painted Dragons who remained.

Katagiri would find his stuff for him. Shenlong would be his shield and his sword. They hadn't bothered to set any guards on the beach, which was very convenient for Ryan's plan to work. Without such an oversight, no doubt he would have been unable to succeed in this venture.

There was a dude leaning over the railing who was probably pouring out a cup of cold coffee into the ocean. Ryan ran up to him, and without pausing to say hello (which was kind of rude of him, but not everyone likes to say hello all the time), he took Shenlong, gripping him by the tail, and swung him hard into the back of the man's head.

The guy let out half a scream before he fell face-first into the water.

"When in doubt, try hitting it!" Ryan exhaled between his teeth.

That's one. I wonder if this will give Shenlong any experience. Aren't humans just like Pokémon? Would a peabrain like him be able to tell if he's fighting humans or Pokémon? The answer was clearly no. He ran towards the bridge, where old beardy had thrown his bag when he ran into a second Painted Dragon, this guy standing outside the door, leaning against the railing, talking all cool on the phone to his baby mama.

He received a face full of fish, which was probably a familiar sensation to a man of his calibre–falling backwards off the railing into the ocean less so. "Now that's what a concussion feels like!" Ryan shouted after him.

Inside the bridge, they were all playing checkers while the fancy commander guy was playing chess. Katagiri saw his chance and leapt from Ryan's shoulder, disappearing in a burst of bubbles. The commander wore a splendid feathered cap of emerald and gold, while everyone else looked relatively normal and ugly and just in general not the best representatives of the human gene pool.

"Who goes there?" a checkers prodigy quipped lightly.

He didn't really feel like telling them his real name in case any of them ever met him again in three to five years, which would be a very awkward reunion at best. "It's ya boy, Poonflip… the flippiest poon this side of Unova!" Ryan declared, stepping into the bridge, Shenlong unsheathed like a sword.

"Where's dat poon?" the captain man grunted, standing up. He hasn't gotten any for a long while, poor seadog. "My name is Lieutenant Mifune, and I demand you make yourself known, poon-purveyor!"

"I'm right here, man."

"Who the hell are you?"

"One time I won the Indigo League and that was pretty cool. And this other time your stupid friends tried to steal my Dragonair, but that didn't end so well for them."

"Thems fightin' words!" one of the unnamed Painted Dragon minions roared, standing up from his table and flipping it, sending checkers pieces flying all over the place.

"You dithyrambic Salamence!"

"Shankers, what did I tell you about using a thesaurus to make yourself look smarter?" Lieutenant Mifune roared. "Let me at him, I say!"

He was good at distracting pirates. They weren't particularly bright, but at the same time, he was losing patience, so Ryan simply slapped the nearest man in the face with Shenlong.

"Karp karp!" Shenlong wheezed.

The men just stood there in stunned silence for a moment as Ryan rushed them and smacked two or three of them in the face with his wonderful Magikarp. Then, their survival instincts kicked in and they tried to swing a few punches back, but Ryan was too fast for them. Half of them were already drunk off extra virgin lemon juice, it seemed.

"Get that little runt! He's making me angry!" Mifune bellowed. "I'm gettin' real riled up! Where's dat poon when I need it?!"

He never saw Katagiri move in and out, but a moment later, the little guy was standing at the door, chirping, "Froah!". Ryan's backpack was in his hand, and it was a marvelous feat for such a small froggy boy to carry such a huge sack. There's really no way to explain it rationally, except maybe to believe that Katagiri was insanely strong for his size, but that is just speculation.

"Alright, line up, you buncha Sudowoodo-looking jabronis! After today I'll never see any of you again."

"Thems fightin' words again, Lieutenant! We gotta smack this kid senseless and string him up like a fine Sharpedo catch, alright?"

"Alright my useless lackeys, go ahead."

"I am the Sword of the Morning, and good day to you sirs!" Ryan screamed, taking this moment to not grab Thurnax's ball from his backpack, but to instead rush the cretins whom he very much despised and who made him do reckless things simply because he hated them so much. Shenlong was a very sturdy fish and he did well to angle his body into their faces each time Ryan swung.

One after another, the pirates dropped like frozen turkey. Dang, Shenlong could serve as a proper replacement for Dawn if he keeps this up!

"You should put me in a home or put me down," Ryan declared boldly after the last minion fell, leaving only him and Mifune standing.

"Look, I'm merely trying to checkmate myself, kid. I've no idea why you're here or why you're so angry, but can't you just go away so I don't have to expend any more energy today?"

It was at this moment that Lieutenant Mifune threw his Poké Ball all sneaky, and out came a Leafeon onto the table, knocking over half of the pieces on his chess board. "What the Deoxys, Leafeon? Couldn't you have landed anywhere else?"

"Leaf!"

"Razor Leaf that kid… what are you waiting for you slow fool?!"

That's the worst of all the Eeveelutions right there. Bad move, man. Bad move. That's disrespectful to Shenlong. That's blasphemous! Oh, it's on. Imma make you pay now. But nonetheless, Mifune's Pokémon attacked Ryan with the aforementioned Razor Leaf. Just then, we had a certified Anime Moment™ as Ryan's Shenlong decided to play the hero and throw himself in front of the Razor Leaf attack, shielding his noble master. It was really emotional and brought a tear to everyone's eye and Ryan didn't get cut once.

"Aw, Shenlong, you're the best!"

"Karp karp!" cried the Magikarp, who probably had no clue what he had just done and was only trying to break free of Ryan's grip.

But in that moment, at least one of the Razor Leafs deflected off Shenlong's armored shell, bouncing back and hitting Leafeon in the face. Instantly, the Verdant Pokémon collapsed, unconscious. There are plenty of explanations for how this could have happened, but none of them are not at least extremely convenient and extremely unlikely, so we'll sidestep that issue by pretending it never happened.

But lo and behold, in that instant, Shenlong's whole body was covered in light. Katagiri began jumping up and down, squealing at Ryan excitedly, but he couldn't speak Froakie, so he didn't know what the heck the little guy was on about.

"Bloody Pinsir! How dare you?!" Lieutenant Mifune grunted. "You have brought immense dishonor to the Painted Dragons!"

Ryan didn't understand what was going on because he was an idiot. "Yeah, but what's happening? Did you pull a sneaky trick on my Shenlong?!"

Katagiri pulled Lil Dexy out from his backpack and ran over to Ryan, handing the boy the wonderful machine that he had barely survived without these past few chapters. "Froa gree!"

"Okay, okay, okay, lemme see buddy." He pointed his Pokédex at the glowing Magikarp. "Yo, Dexy, what's going on?"

"Magikarp is evolving. I would have thought that having witnessed similar events at least a half-dozen times already, you would have realized this by now, oh wise master!"

"Yay, he's going to be a Gyarados!" Ryan punched the sky. "Alright! You're screwed now, sir."

"No, get it out of here!" Mifune screamed, kicking the Magikarp out the door. Shenlong went sailing over the railing, muttering, "Magikarp karp karp!" as he glowed bright as a star.

With a decent splash, he landed in the ocean, and not two seconds later, the water began to ripple and bubble and then spread, and up from the hole torn out of it, the elongated neck of a red-scaled Gyarados came furiously into view.

"Magikarp has evolved into Gyarados. Congratulations, master. Now you should run."

Shenlong paused, mouth agape, looking down upon them all like they were peasants kneeling before Arceus himself. He roared mightily, enough to make Katagiri descend into a shaking fit before jumping onto Ryan's shoulder for protection.

"Nah, Shenlong remembers me. I'm good. But you," he said, pocketing the Pokédex and gesturing to Lieutenant Mifune, "you're not going to like this next part!"

"At least let me get by unscathed for another chapter… please! Just one more… that's all I'm asking! Can't you do that for me, kid?!" The man was shaking like a baby Froakie; Ryan admired the nakedness with which he had laid bare his emotions. He's a scaredy Meowth. Well tough luck. Now it's my turn.

"No, that's unreasonable. And if there's one thing I can't stand, it's unreasonable people and unreasonable situations!" Ryan stepped back, leaving only the Painted Dragons in the bridge. "Yo, Shenlong! Waste that wannabe ganglord!"

The newly-evolved Gyarados roared, and it was only at that moment that Ryan realized how dark the skies had become. A storm was approaching, and it didn't seem to be his Shenlong's doing.