While carrying the fossilized form of Jocelyn Aced with them, Michael and Chris relied heavily on Piper to provide them with guidance about what to expect. She wasn't as heavy as they were expecting a stone form of a human girl to be, but it was enough to occupy most of their attention and require Piper to be an extra set of eyes for the two of them. At every bank and turn, she would inform them of what was coming while they hurried at the top speeds they could while carrying her.

"Remind me again why the Pokemon couldn't carry her?" Chris asked as he did his best to keep Jocelyn's legs from dragging.

Michael, who held the girl's upper half, struggled to lift her but remained committed in his decision. "And risk something happening to her?"

"What could possibly happen to her if your stinking Blastoise was holding her?"

"Do you really expect Mewtwo to simply lie around and wait for us to come to him?" Michael snapped. "Our Pokemon need to be ready for whatever lies ahead at this very moment. We let our guard down for one second and you and I could both end up in those pods you spent six months in!" He did everything he could to keep Jocelyn from slipping from his hands, prompting him and Chris to come to a halt while Piper kept her focus on whatever was in their pathway. The two gently lowered the fossilized woman's form down and stretched themselves out.

"You know, not for nothing, but we're not the spry kids we used to be" Chris replied as he grunted a bit.

"Time has a way of taking that from you" Michael agreed.

"The coast is clear, guys" Piper exclaimed. "Let's get a move on."

"I don't see you carrying a statue, Princess" her husband sighed as he wiped away sweat.

"We need to make a move before Mewtwo or one of his flunkies notices us" she reminded them.

Reluctantly, the two men resumed carrying Jocelyn's body down the dim pathways surrounding the Syndicate Base. The trio continued along until they found themselves in what had once been the Dream Harvesting Chamber, filled with people slumbering who's dreams had powered Mewtwo to these extraordinary new heights. Piper came to a stop in front of them, almost resulting in her husband and prodigal brother in-law nearly trampling her. When they finally stopped, they noticed Piper looking down a level of two from the stairs.

"What do you see?" Chris asked.

"The others are down below us" she explained.

Michael looked over the railing. Sure enough, the others had emerged from one of the lower chambers. Lucas, Dawn, Giselle, Julia and Professor Wong as well as what appeared to be Darkrai leading the way. He let out a whistle to the group. Dawn was the first to see them and got the other's attention. Within a minute, the entire group had reunited on the floor with the King, Piper and Chris. While many were eager to congratulate on jobs well done, a look on Helen's face informed Michael that their problem was still massive.

"Mewtwo is probably trying to bring those other clones to life" she warned. "He's taken them with him."

"Where, though?" Giselle asked. "It's not like there are more places with power to bring them to life."

"All he needs at this point is himself" Julia admitted worriedly. "If he is as powerful as we suspect, he might be able to harness the weather itself to make it do his bidding."

"What does weather have to-" Piper began.

"Have you ever seen those horror movies late at night?" Chris chimed in. "Lightning has enough power to jump start pretty much anything. Even reanimating the dead."

Michael frowned. "Then, we're basically right where we started?"

Lucas eyed the statue in the King and Chris's hands. "That woman looks familiar."

Julia gasped. "Jocelyn?!"

"This is what became of Elezar Aced's daughter?" Helen mourned sadly.

"How can we fix her?"

Michael was at a loss for words. "I wish I knew. Hopefully Mewtwo's powers aren't permanent. But at the very least, we can get this statue to Matt."

"What can Matt do?" Lucas asked.

"Hopefully he's the key to all of this if Addy isn't" Chris answered. "But for now, I think we're needed on the surface."

"How are we going to get there?" Dawn asked. "Fly?"

"What about Jocelyn?" Piper worried.

Chris thought for a moment, before calling out his Alakazam. "Hey, Jafar. Can you get this statue with you out of here? Meet us on the surface." His Alakazam nodded before concentrating much of his power and touching the statue with his spoon before both vanished out of sight. Once they were, Darkrai appeared to address the others, only speaking in the voice of Avery Frost.

"Is this all of you?" she asked. "Where are the others?"

"Addy and the others are going after Mewtwo" Julia explained.

Dawn thumbed through her Poke Gear before stopping on her most recent message. "We've got a few problems."

"Define problems" Giselle replied with brilliant deadpan.

"Giovanni went off on his own to capture Mewtwo" she explained. "Mark and Lizzie are going after him and Addison and the Black Knight had their big fight."

Darkrai flew in front of her. "And? Who won?" Avery's voice was full of intense panic.

"I would assume Addy" Dawn nervously spoke, trying to avert her gaze from Darkrai out of fear of what happened last time occurring again. "Especially since Holly didn't send any sad emotes or anything."

"Then what happened to Ryan?" Chris asked worriedly.

Darkrai floated to address the entire group again and once more spoke in Avery's voice. "No. Let me take care of him. There is a deep chasm of hatred inside of him. If Addison wasn't able to help him see, then someone has to help open his eyes. Someone who knows him...in deeper ways." She glanced upwards towards the ceiling. "You need to get to Mewtwo. I suspect he's gone to the Temple of Dreams. Please, make sure Addy is safe." With that, she vanished into the shadows.

"I hope she gets there in time" Michael remarked sadly.

"Assuming there's anything left of Ryan in there after what Mewtwo did to him is bold" Professor Wong commented.

"That's all we can do. Let's get a move on." The groups joined together to mount their Flying Pokemon. Giselle took Professor Wong with her on the back of her Aerodactyl. Dawn and Lucas both went astride Dawn's powerful Staraptor. And both wedded couples in Chris and Piper, as well as the King and Queen, mounted the husband's Dragon Pokemon in Spyro the Charizard and Rhaegar the Dragonite. As Michael took Julia up behind him, he found himself feeling worried about Ryan and the others. "There needs to be something to hope for."

Julia placed her hand on his shoulder. "There will be. We may need to do a bit of elbow grease to prime it forward, but we will get there." With that, all four Flying Pokemon took off towards the hole in the sky and out into the open air of Mirage Island. The group would have collided with Lizzie's Salamence had Rhaegar not barked a warning at the other Pokemon. Upon realizing that the group sent to dispatch Mewtwo was now basically separated, Julia frowned deeply. "What happened?"

"Giovanni is going after Mewtwo on his own" Mark warned. "For his own nefarious purposes!"

"I figured as much" Chris growled. "We shouldn't have-"

"No" Michael countered. "We needed to."

Julia nodded. "Giovanni has to have some kind of role to play. Maybe he will succeed in capturing Mewtwo and save us a headache or two."

"And use him against us to assert his dominance?" Lizzie shrieked. "He's too dangerous to-"

"Giovanni's fate will be decided soon enough" Michael answered angrily. "Right now, we need to make sure the others are okay."

"But what about Giovanni?" Mark argued.

"If you're so gung ho to face Mewtwo and Giovanni, Markie Boy" Giselle taunted, "then by all means go on ahead. The rest of us levelheaded people need to find the others."

Realizing that no one agreed with them, Mark and Lizzie relented and agreed to follow the others in pursuit of their friends, wherever on the island they had ended up.

{}

The mood surrounding what was left of Matthew's group was definitely several different shades of grief, melancholy and an assortment of various sorrowful synonyms. Jeremy had taken it upon himself to be the voice of hope or optimism in their group, trying hard to mask how much he was hurting to realize a friend and rival would forever be enshrined in the bowels of darkness. Annette was also somewhat holding together, but only just. His feelings for her would certainly be put on the back burner for now, especially with how badly Addison needed him. He had to assume he was somewhere in the middle, his grief over losing his own brother not comparable to how bad he felt for Addison, who was literally despondent. She didn't say a word to anyone, keeping her focus solely on what was left to be done, almost as if destroying Mewtwo would be the only way for her to smile again.

Who really surprised him with how they were feeling was Holly. He didn't exactly remember Ryan and Holly being too close until their war with Claude, but apparently the two had become extremely close during that time. If Matthew didn't know any better, he could assume Holly actually loved Ryan on the same level she did Jeremy. But he wouldn't press that issue either. He was just emotionally and physically exhausted. He began to drop back a bit in the group as he tried to find a coherent way to organize his thoughts. This did not go unnoticed by the others, but Jeremy was the only one to come by and speak to him.

"I know you've probably heard this a lot" he spoke kindly, "but your brother-"

"I know he was a great guy" Matthew glumly replied. "He was someone anyone could befriend and stuff like that."

"I was going to say something else, actually. Your brother never gave up on you."

Matthew raised his head. "Huh?"

"During that time between his ascension to Champion and the World Tournament, we used to hang out a lot. The five of us, sometimes six if Tommy would insist on coming along. I used to always egg him on for a battle to see if I was up to snuff with him, but he used to always say that I needed to prove it in the Championships at the end of each season. Holly commented once that we sounded a lot like you two did. I asked a bit about you, as I knew only that you were one of the Syndicate's Administrators. He told me everything, but he especially talked about how you were with someone in Johto, trying to figure out who you were. I asked him if he still harbored any anger for you, but he just told me that he had hope. Hope that one day you might come to your senses and come back. Maybe you just needed some time away from the pressures of Arcana. He even said that it had helped the King in his own exile, so it should help you as well."

Matthew stared blankly. "So...he really never gave up on me?"

Jeremy shook his head. "No. And that's precisely why I think we can't give up on him. He's in a dark place right now. But maybe all we need to do is show him a bit of light."

"Addy's the only one I thought could knock some sense into him. But even she failed."

"It's not the strength of the light that matters. But it's the amount of it. One strong light can illuminate an area, but several smaller lights might brighten everything."

"You really think there's a chance?"

"It will only be too late if we don't try to help him. He's a good friend of mine, Matt. He made me strive to be a better person. And he never made me feel like I wasn't a friend or anything, just because I'm considered lower class."

Matthew shook his head. "Nor should you ever feel that way. If there's one thing I've always felt, higher class and bloodlines don't make a great person. If they did, everyone in my family would be as good as my brother or Michael. But they're not. It would also mean people like Simon Seissuon or Claude Jacques were worth more than people like you or Queen Julia." He patted Jeremy on the shoulder. "No. I'd rather know a hundred people like you than those two cretins ever again."

"Good to see you're feeling a bit better" his friend admitted, before hurrying back to catch up to Holly.

Matthew followed suit, until he realized that the others had also come to a stop. Addison had halted the procession and was concentrating on something, her scepter making that bright glow he noticed it had. He kept himself silent, as did the others. No one made any sudden movements or noises until Addison finally stopped tensing up.

"We're not going to beat Giovanni there on foot" she lamented. "That battle with the Black Knight took up too much of our time."

"We should run, then" Annette pointed out. "We might be able to-"

"That won't make enough of a difference, though" Holly pointed out. "Maybe we should fly there?"

Matthew shook his head. "The answer is obvious. Addison needs to go ahead without us."

"What?" the others asked simultaneously, though Addison seemed to understand his thinking before he even stated it.

"We're not the ones who have to make it to stop Mewtwo right away" he explained. "We're basically just glorified cheerleaders at this point. She's the one that has to be there to confront Mewtwo and maybe stop Giovanni. I'm sure the others are on their way, too. So, in reality, Addy should just use her magic teleporting powers and head towards the Temple of Dreams on her own. We'll catch up in a jiffy."

Addison nodded. "It needs to be done."

"But Addy" Holly desperately pleaded. "We're supposed to do this together."

"And we will" she assured her friend. "I highly doubt either of those two blowhards will let this be easy on us. Probably go off on a monologue about power and all that. That will give you guys more than enough time to catch up. One ego alone should be enough, but two is almost an eternity." She took a deep breath. "I have a lot I need to prepare for and some things to clear my mind about. And I can't do that surrounded by so many people I care about." She hugged Holly first, then Annette and Jeremy. She then stopped in front of Matthew. "But I know you guys won't let me down."

"Never again" he promised her.

The two friends then hugged it out for several long seconds before Addison pulled apart, winked and then vanished into thin air.

"I will never get used to that" Holly admitted.

"So she can just teleport now?" Annette gasped.

"Basically" Matthew replied. "We need to keep going." The quartet now began the long trek to make it towards the Temple of Dreams on Mirage Island before the entire island disintegrated into nothingness. To his surprise and amusement, Holly and Jeremy took the lead in their group, comforting one another over the idea of Ryan and Addison possibly not making it to the end together, thus unintentionally leaving him with a bit of alone time with Annette. He had hoped that his budding feelings for her might subside for a bit due to the extreme circumstances they were in, but they only seemed to be intensifying every moment he was in her presence. He did his best not to look at her or pretend he was, but he could not help himself. Fortunately, she seemed to be distracted by the urgency of the moment.

He was about to muster up the courage to say something to her, but naturally now was the time one of his friends had to butt in. Jeremy glanced backwards at the two and innocently asked a question that Matthew was dreading someone would. "So Matt, how did things end up with Jasmine?"

"Jasmine?" Annette wondered curiously. Matthew's hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

"Jasmine Augustine" Holly replied. "She and Matt used to-"

"We agreed to just be friends" Matthew replied curtly. "We went to Jon and Annie's wedding together, but she kinda helped me see something about myself. And I couldn't really bring myself to lead her into another relationship with me again." He recalled how crushed he had been when she turned him down at the wedding and how much it hurt him to have to turn her down after their confrontation with Simon at Titanio Park. A part of him would always care for her, but he had to tell himself, not just for Annette's sake, that this was indeed the end. "I've done too much to her to deserve another chance."

Jeremy, realizing he had soured the mood, sheepishly turned away and let Holly lead him a bit further away. But someone else was not keen to let the issue drop.

"Does she know you've changed?" Annette asked.

Matthew nodded. "Yeah. She even acknowledged that I was better than when she met me. But I did really bad things. Truly, despicable and evil things, not only to her but to all of the people in my life. All because I couldn't stand being in my brother's shadow anymore." He kept his head low, knowing he was likely souring any chances he might have with Annette by saying it, but it needed to be said. "I don't deserve anyone's love or kindness, if we're being honest."

"If you've changed, then why don't you deserve a chance?"

"You can't change the past, no matter how much I want to."

She shrugged. "But you can change your future. And you have. Addison trusts you and I think that's enough for the rest of us. And who knows, some girl might find it in her heart to give you a chance." Her voice was dripping with innocence and complete obliviousness to his feelings, which both elated and depressed Matthew.

"I wish" he replied sadly. His thoughts lingered on the two people who never gave up on him. Ryan, who had always thought that he could one day come back and set things right. And Jocelyn, the only person who never saw him as a beast. The person who had saved him from ending up as one of Mewtwo's stooges. The only person in his universe who had always had faith in his ability to do the right thing, even if it could be distracted by pride and greed. The person who he was afraid he would never be able to do right by, having not seen a trace of her in months and...

Wait a minute. Is she here?

She had to be. This was the last place he had seen her. When he swore to her he would come back for her. When he told her she was a part of his family that he was terrified to lose. When she kissed his head and promised that she, as his family, needed to protect him and sent him back to Arcana while she fended off Mewtwo to her last Pokemon. Could he possibly do right by her?

He blinked himself out of his deep thought and realized Annette was still talking. He tried to gauge what she was talking about, when out of nowhere, an Alakazam appeared in the air above them, falling rapidly. Matthew lunged at Annette and threw her to the ground as the Alakazam and whatever else was with him crashed hard into the ground. Annette gasped at the realization that she had nearly been crushed and looked up at Matthew in surprise.

"I guess that's two I owe you" she replied, this time with a twinge of nervousness.

Matthew could not immediately recall if her cheeks were naturally as red as they were now or if she was perhaps beginning to feel something for him, but he decided to play if evenly. "I'm sure you'd do the same for me" he replied. Realizing he was still on top of her, he rolled off of her and got up quickly, taking her hand and pulling her up alongside him. "What in the world was that?"

The Alakazam was Christopher's no doubt. He was winded from constantly teleporting, but it also had something to do with what he was with. He hurried over to the Alakzam, but skidded to a stop when he saw what he had transported with him. His heart stopped. He knew those features. Those eyes, which had both been stern and gentle with him on many an occasion. Her physique, which was surprisingly strong to carry her worn out and anger filled protege along with her from battle site to Pokemon Center every day. Even down to her clothing, which she hadn't changed since they had departed for Mirage Island after he had tricked her into thinking they had been called in by Lance to be a part of his team. Here she was, bound in chains and suspended by the sheer hatred of Mewtwo. Now little more than a fossil, the same as Addison's father and Daniel.

He choked on whatever words he was saying. He found himself breathing heavily as he fell to his knees in front of the fossilized Jocelyn and he squeezed his eyes shut. Annette came over to check on him, but was equally startled when he threw himself at Jocelyn's legs, hugging her statue.

Holly and Jeremy, upon noticing the situation, hurried over to them. Holly gasped at the sight. "Oh no...poor Jocelyn."

"What's going on?" Jeremy asked. "Who is that woman?"

"Yeah and why is Matt so hurt by her?" Annette wondered.

While Holly went into a lengthy explanation about who Jocelyn was, Matthew felt like he was losing his mind. Now, his failure was complete. He had failed in every conceivable way. He had gone home to rescue his mother and reunite his family, only for his father and brother to be struck down. He had sought to make right by Jasmine and the others he had wronged, only for life to throw his pain back in his face. He had sought to protect and help Addison by any means and he knew he would only get in her way at this point. And he had sworn an oath to come back for Jocelyn, the only friend he had known for nearly three years and someone who he thought of as family the same as Ryan and Kayleigh. But she was now as irretrievable as the others who had been fossilized were. He clung to her as his heart shattered inside of him. Tears poured out of his eyes like never before. The only words he could possibly mutter being..."I failed you. I'm so sorry."

He heard the conversation around him, but it was of no matter to him now. Annette was speaking of him with respect, admiration and even pity. Jeremy was speaking kindly of Jocelyn. Holly's words were of nothing but how kind, heroic and loving she had been. But none of them dared to move. In fact, they all seemed to be distracted by something around them, but Matthew didn't move or react. He couldn't bring himself to. He continued to bawl his eyes out and cling to her frozen form is if he could somehow will life into her.

His brain could only form those same six words over and over again. "I failed you. I'm so sorry."

A hand fell on his shoulder. He would have chewed anyone else out for daring to try and speak to him, but the hand was a familiar one to him. Even with her soothing hand on him, he couldn't stop himself from shaking. He could feel his body rocking back and forth as he only found those same six words to repeat, over and over again until it was a broken reprise.

"I failed you. I'm so sorry."

"We're going to get her back" his cousin's wife promised him. "I don't know how, Matt, but we will. Even if we have to have Addy pry the answer out of that monstrosity, we are going to save her."

He finally looked away from Jocelyn and up to the woman who had always been a sister or secondary mother to him and Ryan. The same woman who had helped him start his journey. The same woman whom he had failed when he betrayed them all. Her eyes weren't judgmental or angry. Well, they may have had some anger, but they weren't angry at him. She felt almost as much pain as he did. And any anger was geared for Mewtwo.

He recalled how Jocelyn had been the reason Julia didn't lose hope when Michael and the others were thought dead. Jocelyn had touched so many people's lives, not even those who hadn't known her, like Jeremy and Annette, could avoid feeling anything but admiration for her. Everyone felt his pain and was doing their best to give him his time.

Now, their whole group was reunited, with the lone exceptions of Addison and Giovanni. Michael and Chris stood nearby, their heads down in respect for Matthew's grieving. Piper had her head leaning on Chris's shoulder. Giselle and Professor Wong looked on with long, soulful stares. Dawn and Lucas had arms wrapped around one another to comfort each other. Mark and Lizzie, who had just realized who this was, stood guard by the statue alongside Chris's fatigued Alakazam. Everyone was in a kind of circle around him and Jocelyn. And though Matthew would have not too long ago spurned it all and declared he didn't need it, he truly needed them all right now.

He fell into Julia's lap as she stroked his back. "You're going to be okay, sweetheart. And so will she."

"I failed her."

"No, you didn't" she told him. "She did what she needed to do and protected you all. Now, we're going to fight to return the favor." She leaned down and hugged him, kissing the top of his head. "You understand, sweetheart? Jocelyn is loved. And so are you. We're going to help you through this. And her. But right now, we need to keep moving. Addison needs us." She picked up his drooped head and smiled at him. "You're strong, Matty. You've been strong for so long. And she'll be back before long. But we need to use some of that strength for Addy. She needs you too."

Matthew did his best to wipe away his tears. "Ye-yeah."

"Come on, Matt" Holly added lovingly. "We're with you through this. We all are."

"One big, incredibly dysfunctional family" Chris joked.

Michael nodded. "We're not leaving this island without her."

Matthew took a deep breath and began to calm himself. "We need to keep going. I want to stay here and keep her safe, but..."

"Oh that won't be a problem" Julia giggled. "The boys will be carrying her."

"Signing us up for grunt work again?" Chris grumbled.

"Come on" Michael replied. "And don't snicker, Mark. You count as one of us, too."

Matthew did everything he could to form a smile on his face, but it didn't come out evenly. He just nodded and gave the Queen of Arcana a heartfelt hug. "Thank you, Julia."

She rubbed his head. "Anytime, sweetheart. Never forget, before James and Arya were born, you two were the only sons we expected to have in our lives. And we will always love you." She kissed his head and helped him back to his feet as Michael, Mark and Chris took up a part of Jocelyn's frozen form and began to walk the remainder of the way towards the Temple of Dreams.

His friends and loved ones past him, one by one, to give him their own support. Helen Wong gave him a genuine smile and nod. Giselle a surprisingly meaningful smirk. Dawn patted him on the back and Lucas fist-bumped him. Lizzie patted him on the shoulder and Piper gave him an affectionate hug. Jeremy gave him a knowing nod and Holly surprised him by giving him a kiss on the cheek. He mustered all of the courage he could to keep going, knowing that he had all of this support around him giving him the smallest bit of hope.

The last bit came from Annette, who made her way to his side last. "You gonna be okay?"

Trying his hardest to be brave, he brushed off his emotions and nodded. "Of course."

Annette smiled and gave him a soft yet playful punch in the arm. "You know something? Despite all of the things you've done and been through, I think you've always been a good guy in heart, Matt." The two then continued walking along after the others. This time, rather than focused on all of the issues surrounding them and walking at her own pace, she walked at his. She was basically right by his side, within only a foot or so of where he stood. And despite the pain in his heart, his feelings for this red-haired angel in his life only seemed to be growing stronger.

{}

The storm clouds continued to gather around Mirage Island. It made navigating the island all the more challenging for Avery, but she was determined to find where her friend had been left behind. She wished she had waited to see if someone would tell her exactly where the confrontation between Addison and Ryan had taken place, but the catastrophic damage done throughout Mirage Island by Mewtwo's horrid experimentation was making it a bit more obvious the places she shouldn't be looking. Any place where the landscape was broken by battle and not a complete geological rampage was where she began to look. So despite all of her fears, all of the elemental forces destroying the island she had called home for these last eleven years or so, she pressed on.

She burst through bushes, raced alongside the drying up waterways and scaled cliffs (well, she soared over them in the form of Darkrai) in a desperate attempt to find him. If Mewtwo was going to be defeated, at least one of his latest victims wouldn't have to suffer as he did.

She finally found him, pinned against a slanted rock face, struggling to free himself. The iron mask and helmet Mewtwo had forced him to don were to the side, likely where they had been tossed by Addison after she bested him. He did not immediately acknowledge her presence, instead focused on trying to squirm out of his trap. She could not help but pity him as she reverted into her human form in front of him. She sighed as she stood only a few inches away from him.

"What has Mewtwo done to you, Ryan?"

"This was not done by my master!" he retorted coldly. "By that treacherous Addison!"

"Addison never betrayed you!" she argued. "She loved you and only you!"

"More lies!"

"You're truly willing to let go of her? Of everything you two have accomplished? And for what? To serve someone who only looks at you as a means to an end? What about all of the other people you've turned your back on? Holly? Chris? Michael? Julia? All of your friends and loved ones who-"

"They chose her over me! I do not care what happens to them!"

She could tell he was in anguish. Addison had reached out to him. She had tried in earnest to free him from Mewtwo's hold, but Ryan was not strong enough to fight it on his own. But deep down, despite all of the harsh words he had and the venom he spat out, she knew he was fighting. The conviction could be felt in his words, but his eyes were painting a far more compelling tale. Sometimes, they would be dulled to the point of being in a hypnotic state. Other times, they were the lively emerald shade that she and Addison had fallen in love with. He had the will to fight, but not the strength. If Addison couldn't reach through to him, maybe she could...

"You know in your heart that's not true" she responded gently. "You would be devastated if anything happened to them. Same with Addison or me."

"You-you act as if your opinion matters to me!"

"To part of you, it does" she explained. "The part that truly matters. Mewtwo will not hold control over you for much longer, Ryan!"

"We'll see about that!"

"No, we won't!" Avery responded. She put her hands on his shoulders and took a deep breath. "I'm a wayward spirit. I lost my way and allowed dark forces to corrupt my goals and dreams. But I will not let anyone else fall down the same path I did. In the name of the friendship we had, the love we might have had and the future you and Addison will have, I am going to do something I should have done the minute I found out what befell you!" Her body began to glow brightly. Her hands flew up to his cheeks and she thrust forward, kissing him. She could feel her body disappearing, it's essence leaving Darkrai's for what could be the final time. But she knew her spirit would be going to the right place. It would be forcing itself deep into the recesses of her dearest friend's mind to help him fight off this nightmare deep inside of him. He tried to argue, but their lips remained pressed together until Avery's existence ended and she transferred her entire soul into Ryan's body.

{}

Addison, having left her friends a few seconds ago, blinked her eyes open and found herself at the base of the Temple of Dreams. The denseness of Mewtwo's power was overwhelming. He was there, alright. She took a moment to prepare herself mentally and emotionally to what was about to commence, before beginning the long and arduous task of climbing the massive staircase that led up to the Temple's summit. Some of the steps were almost as tall as she was, prompting her to fling her scepter up first and pull herself over immediately after.

One by one, she ascended each step, her motivation to end this before more people were lost intensifying inside of her. Too many had been lost already. Too many had suffered already. This needed to end, one way or another. Either she needed to muster the strength to destroy Mewtwo as Countess Rosemary assured her she was capable of doing, or Mewtwo would end her and thus wipe out mankind and the Pokemon who adore them as he had swore. Galatea was deep in thought inside of her, their Bond Phenomenon remaining as strong as ever. She was either unintentionally or purposefully (she could not directly tell) concentrating her energies and restoring her own internal levels. She would be at full strength for this fight, provided Giovanni gave her an opportunity to at least do so.

She approached the main levels of the Temple. Giovanni was just ahead of her, walking up a final, much smaller flight of stairs to lead to the roof of the Temple, where Matthew had claimed to battle Ryan while he was losing memories in the plot to keep him on Mirage Island. He did not acknowledge her and simply moved higher up the stairs towards what the poor old man had to be deluding himself as his destiny. Though she wanted nothing more than to warp ahead and get this over with, she knew she would need every moment to replenish her energy reserves and slowly made her way up the stairs.

It became clear the two were conversing as she began to climb the stairs. She slowed herself down to listen in.

Who are you? And how did you get to Mirage Island?

"Oh, how I have waited years for this!" Giovanni retorted.

Mewtwo seemed amused by this. And? What do you hope to accomplish here?

"That's a rather rude way to treat your true father!"

My what?!

"Surely you realized that those fools Professor Urbine and Tyrus Wong could not have possibly orchestrated your creation without some financial backing, correct?"

So you are the one called Giovanni?

"Indeed I am. I must admit, those two did an extraordinary amount of work on you. You are everything I envisioned you would be. I must thank Helen Wong in some way, seeing as how you viciously slaughtered her father and the other scientists at my lab!"

Urbine was the one who killed my friend! Your grunts were trying to rush my creation!

"You were ready" the Rocket Boss sneered. "Wong wanted to baby you. I saw much greater use for you."

Why would I ever want to be aligned with a human?

"And what would you call your little alliance with Elezar Aced and the Syndicate?"

I used foolish humans to further along my own plans. My destiny runs on a course with which I have set it! I will not be a puppet to any human, least of all one as vile as yourself.

"You call me vile, yet look at the things you've done. Orchestrating political turmoil to seize power? Torturing children? Destroying families? Unleashing the likes of Hunter and Courtney onto the world? You claim that you want nothing to do with humans, yet you consistently act like the worst of our race. You are more like me than you ever were Tyrus Wong. Wong was weak. You are strong."

My father was stronger than you could ever know!

"Then why is he dead? Why does someone like him meet such a gruesome end, while people like myself live on?"

I'll be amending that momentarily, I can assure you.

"No. You won't. For you see, I have more important plans for you. Your purpose in life. The reason you were created. Why I even thought using the DNA of Mew to clone you would be so important to my aims."

Addison took a few steps up the stairs. She could see the roof just out of her eyesight. From her viewpoint, only the head of Giovanni and much of Mewtwo's upper torso were visible. Neither looked too pleased with this situation, but Mewtwo was holding in far more rage than Giovanni was. Giovanni seemed to be thinking of this entire ordeal as a game where he made the rules. Mewtwo, she could sense, was drawing in energy to wipe Giovanni off the face of the earth. She clutched at the scepter Countess Rosemary had left her and listened in more intently.

And what might that be? Mewtwo demanded.

"You exist to be my ultimate weapon" Giovanni revealed. "That was your purpose. A bio-engineered super weapon I could use to single-handedly conquer the world in my own image. Your powers would allow me to enter the minds of my enemies and exploit their weaknesses, to shield me from any reprisals, to acquire for me anything that I desire for myself. I feared when Urbine's lab was destroyed that all traces of my work were gone and thus I returned to being a lowly criminal boss. Children had the nerve to interfere in my plans and humiliated me. I was forced into exile, where I abandoned everything to understand where and why it all went wrong for me. All the while, you went between Kanto and Arcana, sewing seeds of doubt and mistrust. Your actions on New Island did not go unnoticed by my spies, but I chose to ignore them. It could not be true. Even the deaths of Balthazar Aced and James Kingston warranted curiosity, but little more."

He pointed his finger at Mewtwo and laughed. "But then I heard of you. Of a supreme being known as The Grand Master. Someone who thought they were above all things, especially humans. He had great power, both mental and physical. But when I heard he was defeated by a twelve year old boy, I knew it had to be a Pokemon. My creation, bested boy child. You were more like me than you could possibly know."

You and I are nothing alike!

"Aren't we? You were bested, humiliated and captured! You wanted to gain so much power that you could not hope to be stopped. And by Arceus above, you did it! You became more powerful than I could have dreamed. Now, you can possess people's minds, enter their dreams and make them squirm. You command the very elements. Your mind has grown so great that you possess the power to wield every single solitary move a Pokemon can learn, all at once! I was more of an impact on you than you will ever know."

My ambitions are my own! Not having anything to do with a witless human!

"I decided to bide my time" Giovanni continued, ignoring Mewtwo's anger. "Wait to see what developed. Nothing did immediately and so I retreated back to my hidden home in Johto. Which was when I got wind of mysterious events unfolding around the world and chiefly in Arcana. Of a Pokemon World Tournament, hosted by a mysterious benefactor. Of the reemergence of Claude Jacques and many other Syndicate Administrators, including my former lieutenant Archer. But it was only when the world's Pokemon, some of which belonged to me, were mysteriously stolen from every PC in the world that I knew you had returned. You covered your tracks well and fled here where I couldn't snare you, but your allies were much easier to exploit. I killed Archer and took from him what was most important. The one, slight yet oh so crucial mistake you made in your quest for revenge." He tossed his bag aside when he revealed the Master Ball in his hands. "Remember this?"

Mewtwo recoiled. That's not-

"Your old home" Giovanni snickered. "You should have made Claude destroy this. He held onto it in the hopes that if he needed to, he could undermine you. He held no loyalty to you. You were right to celebrate his demise, if you did. I know I did, as it left one less roadblock in the way of our reunion. But in the end, it only delayed the inevitable."

I will NOT be enslaved by that device again! Mewtwo sent a Shadow Ball directly at the Master Ball, but it veered away, crashing into the Temple Roof. Lightning exploded in the air above them as the winds whipped at their faces. Addison needed to grab hold of one of the steps not to be pushed downward.

"This is your home" Giovanni snarled. "Accept it! Pokemon! Return!" He clicked the button on the Master Ball, causing it to open.

Addison gasped as Mewtwo became surrounded in a red glow that dragged him towards the Master Ball, ultimately sucking him inside. Deciding now was her time to move, she rushed up the stairway. "Giovanni!"

"I'm impressed to see you made it all the way here, Miss Tenton" Giovanni hissed. "Truly, I am."

"This can all end right now" she warned him. "Leave the Master Ball here and no one will ever be able to use Mewtwo or his power to cause trouble ever again. He has more power than you can possibly imagine! You won't be able to control him."

"Don't be naive, Mage!" he growled. "Pokemon exist to serve humans! They always have. No one Pokemon is susceptible to this! I am Mewtwo's master and he shall obey me as all of my other Pokemon do!"

"You're a fool to believe that!"

Giovanni snorted. "So many rude words for someone who is about to make you a generous proposition."

"Proposition?"

The Rocket Boss turned to face her and smirked. "You see, Miss Tenton, I crave power above all else. Political, financial, physical, mental, every single facet of life where power comes, I need to acquire it for my own use." He tossed the Master Ball in his hand casually, almost as if he were baiting her to try and take it from him, though Addison knew he would call out Mewtwo before she could try. "You possess intriguing gifts, my dear. Raw power like yours, when tuned finely, can be just the kind of asset I find valuable to my new empire!"

"Your new empire?"

"Your childish look on the world reminds me of my son" Giovanni replied. "He looked at the world as if it were Black and White, good and evil. He tried, downright implored me to see it his way, but I left that whelp with his mother where a child belongs! He tried to emulate me. Become a thug and rise through the ranks in Johto, only to be quashed at every turn. He even began hunting down Team Rocket in a vain attempt to find me. But he never did. He never understood that this world is made of many people. Those at the top, those who meddle in the middle and those who make up the bottom. I have always been destined to be the one at the top in the end. But I am not going to be in charge forever. Years of setbacks have hindered progress and left me with much left to do to ensure my line reigns forever!"

Addison was disgusted. "And your plans?"

"Your power would be put to much better use on my side" he concluded. "One way or another, I will have the White Mage serving me. Perhaps as my heir, to succeed me as the supreme overlord of the world! Perhaps as a slave, just like Mewtwo. Perhaps as a valuable hostage to make the King of Arcana surrender. But you will bow down before me. Because I have your ultimate weakness now."

She scoffed at this. "You think I'm afraid of Mewtwo?!"

He laughed. "No. You're not. I can see that. I was talking about someone else."

"Who?"

"The Black Knight!"

Addison froze. "What?"

"You didn't think I wasn't prepared for you to be as powerful as you are, did you?" he grinned evilly. "When I took control of Mewtwo, I also retained control of those underneath him, including your precious Ryan. I can make him love you again, if you so desire. Or, I can make him fight you until you have no choice but to destroy him." He chuckled to himself. "Emotional dominance and all that."

She did everything in her power to remain calm. Could she really explain away serving a newer more dangerous person over taking it upon her destiny...just for Ryan? Or, more importantly to her at the moment, could she truly tell herself relinquishing her freedoms for Ryan would be worth it? She looked at the scepter in her hands and to all of Countess Rosemary's teachings. With Rosemary's voice echoing in her head, she pointed her scepter at Giovanni.

"You will never control anyone with hatred!" she replied. "In fact, I'm so confident you can't help me, that I'm sure you don't even control Mewtwo at this moment!"

This made Giovanni's face grow dark. "You will regret challenging me!" He reached onto his belt and dispatched two Pokemon to serve him: his Persian and a Golem. Before either of them could prepare to attack her, Addison simply used a Psychic attack to level both of them and launch Giovanni backwards several feet.

"You are no match for me!" Addison warned.

"Perhaps it's the other way around?!" he roared as he pushed himself back to his feet. A Kangaskhan and a Nidoking appeared, primed and ready for battle. In two quick moves, Addison used Psychic to toss the Nidoking aside like it was nothing and sent a Moonblast at the Kangaskhan that overpowered it and forced Giovanni backwards again, though this time he stood his ground. Realizing he was outclassed, he reached for the Master Ball. "Mewtwo! Heed my words and listen to my call! DESTROY THIS MAGE ONCE AND FOR ALL!"

Addison braced herself for the worst. She watched as Giovanni clicked the Master Ball open to call out his newest Pokemon.

As you wish, Master!

Two bolts of lightning struck the ground just by Giovanni's feet, startling him into dropping the Master Ball. The ball landed hard on the roof, breaking in half. As the Rocket Boss frantically rushed to try and salvage the pieces of his plan, but Mewtwo emerged from the darkness, hatred in his eyes. Giovanni attempted to flee, but was snared in his creation's telekinetic grasp.

"Let me go this instant!"

Tell me something, Giovanni. Do you feel you have power now? Mewtwo glanced over at Addison, but dismissed her for the moment. Do you have any real command at this moment? Or are you just another human sticking his nose in the business of Pokemon?!

"I AM YOUR MAKER AND YOU SHALL DO AS I COMMAND!" Giovanni snarled, but Addison could tell his nerve had all but abandoned him.

For being a maker, you truly are inept at your job. Your money and infrastructure were important in helping me see what kind of world we needed to build. And I will be forever grateful that you used those resources to assist in my creation. But that importance no longer matters. I do not need you anymore.

Giovanni squirmed in the grasp until his eyes were forced open and he let out horrified gasp. "What...what are you?!"

The reckoning of mankind! He lifted Giovanni into the air and sealed him inside of a wall of Psychic energy. You will not be the first or last human I erase from existence, Giovanni. That should prove how truly worthless you are! His eyes flashed sapphire. Giovanni roared in unfathomable pain, until the wall of energy closed in all around him. Addison recoiled when she thought she could hear a crunching sound, but the wall of energy soon condensed completely, vanishing into thin air. She held the scepter in front of her to defend herself, but Mewtwo made no movement to attack her immediately.

"He's...gone?!"

How ironic. The very man who financed my existence, was erased from his own by me.

"For once" Addison replied nervously, "I think we can agree that he was a human worth stopping."

Mewtwo turned to her and strangely smiled. Indeed.