Enter The Trainers

~*~

Ash and company were running towards a ferry that would take them to the New Island, each of them confused about what exactly had happened.

"How did they get all the way out to New Island?" Misty asked.

"Well, Tracey said it was complicated." Brock offered.

"That tells us a lot doesn't it?" Misty replied sarcastically.

Ash was oblivious to the conversation. He could somewhat remember what had taken place last time he had been to New Island. His thoughts were only interrupted when he heard his stomach growl.

"Uh…Guys?" ^_^()

"Let me guess, you want to get some food?" v_v()

"If you really want to, Mist!" He bounded off toward a snack stand. Misty and Brock face vaulted.

"Ash! When are you gonna stop thinking about your stomach?!" Misty yelled.

"Come on, Misty." Brock answered. "He's not going to be much help unless he gets some food in him. He'll just be complaining."

"Yah, I know." Misty grudgingly replied. She looked around. Brock was already gone. She looked toward the snack stand. He was drooling over the girl running it.

She sweat dropped. "Boys…" Togepi chirped happily.

~*~*~

Lynn was quite enjoying herself. Aback the fabled Latias, she held her face to the sky, letting the wind pull her hair away from her face and back into the wind like a lavender flag. She could hear Mew's laughter nearby, brought on by playing in the sea spray along the way. She had lost track of the three cats. She didn't think it mattered, anyway. Soon, a small island shaped like a crescent moon came into view.

She pointed and asked, "Is that it, Mew?" Mew followed her finger.

"Yup. That's Home. You can call it Legendary Isle if you want to." She smiled.

Lynn studied the island a moment. It had a small mountain range running down the center of it. The mountains had snow capped tops and plateaus near the bottom of them that lead to prairies just before the beach. "Every type of habitat…" she mused.

Latias dropped suddenly. "What's going on?" Lynn asked.

"Helicopter." Mew said, looking behind her. There was a white helicopter with a blue M on the back of it. Latias ducked low, almost into the water. The helicopter zoomed right on by, seemingly in too much of a hurry to be looking for Legendary Pokemon. They barely got back up into the air when another Copter came. This one was black with a red R on the side.

"They're looking for me." Lynn explained.

"It could have, and has been, any one of us." Latias replied.

Latias continued to fly at a high speed, seemingly toward a cliff wall. Lynn grabbed on tight and shut her eyes, sure that they were gonna crash. She opened them just in time to see Latias fly through the wall and into a large cavern. Scratch that, A lot of caverns. Each one had beautiful, seemingly carved, walls of crystal.

Latias landed in what seemed to be the largest chamber of crystal and let Lynn off. Lynn saw what looked like a chair and a monitor off to one side of the room. She turned around to Mew. "Where are Clay and Sandy?" she demanded softly.

As if on cue, the two young children raced out of one of the caverns, giggling and hid behind Lynn's legs. A little while behind them was a giggling Celebi. "Hi, Lynn!" They chorused.

Celebi flew up to Sandy and touched her on the nose. Sandy squealed. "I'm It!"

Clay scrambled away, laughing and she followed, Celebi not far ahead of her.

Lynn smiled and turned to the Pokemon behind her. "Okay, so what is it you want?"

Latias, Latios, and Mew had been joined by a few others, catching Lynn by surprise. There, before her, stood several legendaries, seemingly towering above her, each one looking curiously at her. Lugia, Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, and Ho-Oh were perched atop a ledge near the roof of the crystalline cave. The others were each sitting on crystal thrones or couches that Lynn hadn't noticed were there. She looked up, sensing that more were there. She was right. Above her, ever moving in their spherical formation, Unown floated like so many imaginary beings.

"Welcome to our island, Lynn." Came Articuno's welcome. The birds all murmured their welcome, crooning and cooing in their own way. She directed her eyes to a large purple cat in the center of the semi-circle of Pokemon. His eyes were closed and he was focusing on something.

"I'm glad to meet all of you, I think." Lynn stated as calmly as she could. At her response and hesitant words, Mewtwo's eyes flew open.

They were angry, harsh eyes but Lynn still found them beautiful. She let out a breath she wasn't aware she was holding. Something told her that this being, these beings, had no intention of hurting her or her friends. She relaxed considerably.

"How can you stand there so calmly, human?" Mewtwo asked.

Lynn stared at him for a minute. "If you were going to hurt me, or my friends, you would've done it by now."

Mew giggled again. "She's a sharp one, Mewtwo! Even if she isn't all Pokemon yet!" Mewtwo turned it's gaze to the small pink cat and they had a silent conversation. Lynn looked down and focused on being as polite and inconspicuous as possible. She could see Unown's reflection in the crystal floor. The harder she concentrated, the clearer the image got… and the bigger the glowing energy in the middle of them got.

Staring into the energy as if it would give her an answer, Lynn voiced her question. "What do you mean, Not all Pokemon yet? I was created, I know, but wouldn't that make me All Pokemon to begin with?"

The energy increased in size as Lugia answered her. "Yes, Lynn, you were created by humans. But to give you life, to be certain that you could be born, they had to give you the baby form of a human. This is simply your pre-evolution form, you could say. Eventually, you will change into something else."

"When I have enough experience?" Lynn questioned, still staring at the energy. Her entire being was focused on that energy, as if she were connected to it the same as the Unown.

"That is one theory." Ho-Oh replied. "There are several evolutions that require certain items or experiences."

"Like the stones for an Eevee?" Lynn replied, though it was more of a statement. "Or a Moon Stone for a Clefairy."

"Yes, but others must be loyal to evolve. Espeon must have been loyal to it's master as an Eevee before it could become an Espeon. The same with Umbreon." Mew interjected.

Mewtwo let out a "huff" like noise. "Whether we like it or not." Mew finished at him.

"Some Pokemon also evolve through experiencing feelings or circumstances they have never experienced before." Moltres added. "There are many possibilities on , one, how you might evolve, two, what you'll evolve into."

Lynn's head was spinning, but she wasn't sure why. The information seemed incomplete somehow. "Does that mean, you don't know what I am either?" She digested this. Unown's energy ball got bigger the more she concentrated on a subject. "How do I know if I even want to evolve if I don't know what I'll evolve into?"

"That's the trouble, Lynn." Suicune began. "There is only a few who know what it takes for you to evolve and what you will become…"

"Unfortunately," Entei continued, "All of those who might possibly know are a part of Team Meteor. You would have to go into their ranks and get the information from under their nose. Not only is that suicide, it would put your successor or successors in danger."

"Successors? More like me?" her attention jerked from the energy.

"Yes. Once the humans have the technology in hand to create creatures, they tend not to let it go easily." Mewtwo replied. "I destroyed any memory of how or where I was created, so I will have no successors." He looked kind of wistful at that. "I was not brought into this world like most humans or Pokemon. I am different. As are you. The odds are that I will not evolve, but you were made to and if handed over to your creators, you no doubt would forced to serve your purpose to them."

"Then there's only one thing for me to do." Lynn said, bent down and picked up her discarded bag. "But first I have to take care of a few important matters." She looked towards the cavern where Sandy and Clay had disappeared into the darkness.

"They may stay here. They will be safe." Mew chirped.

"Then there is one other matter. Would I be too bold to ask one of you to help me towards Team Meteor's head quarters. I'm sure all my information would be there."

"Are You Insane?" Mew asked. "Didn't you hear the part about suicide mission?"

"Be that as it may, I don't want anyone else to have to go through the same things I am. Besides, all my evolution information is in there. I need that information to decide on my ultimate future. So who's going to help me?"

Lugia lent forward. "I believe I can help you. The Team Meteor Base is parallel with Team Rocket's. I think I know where it is if that is true. Though if it is just a rumor, we would only be chasing a shadow." Lugia turned it's head to look up. "I think that the information is correct though."

"Then what are we waiting for. Every second they could be getting closer." Lugia had a quick conversation with a smaller version of itself that had flew out of the room Sandy and Clay were in. Lugia crooned at it something that sounded very much like, "Stay here and play with the humans till I get back." Then they were off, back the way they had started.

~*~*~

Giovanni was past insane… long past. He stalked around Laboratory H and prodded them to work faster. They had taken an unborn baby from it's mother and were using it for gene testing. The embryo hung in a ceiling-to-floor test tube while the Legendary Genes were spliced into it's unformed body. Then Giovanni added another gene.

"But, sir," a scientist objected, "are you sure that gene is safe. Ditto's genes are fairly unstable and if you give them to this project it stands 15% more of a chance of failing than the already hazardous 30%."

"I don't pay you to give me statistics! I pay for results!" He pushed the genes into the mixture, causing the embryo to shudder. "Now! Amplify the procedure!" He commanded.

Cassidy and Domino had taken over the controls for a large ray that sent microwaves into the embryo to make it's growth rate much, much faster. They all now were wearing tinted protective goggles and Cassidy pulled the lever slowly. Domino typed in some orders for the main computer to keep it from frying and signaled to take the ray up a notch. Cassidy obeyed and the room lit up in a huge, blinding flash, followed by instant and complete darkness.

"BUTCH!" Cassidy called. "Activate the back up generators!" No sooner had it come out of her mouth than the lights came back on.

"Done!" Butch called.

"AH HA HAHA!" Came Giovanni's triumphant call as he caught sight of his creation in the final stages of being grown in the tube.

It's eyes were glowing and through the liquid in the tank the glow looked green. It looked to already be 4 years old and was staring at everything around it. It reached up with it's quickly aging hands and pulled the air tube off of it's mouth and nose. It slammed itself against the glass, clawing at it with cat like talons and baring it's fang like teeth in effort to move anything in it's path.

It swum up from the glass and began glowing. The tube filled with the green light and was soon followed by a cracking sound as the creature shattered it's prison and sat hunched, exhausted from it's accomplishment of coming into a world that was simply not ready for him.

Giovanni walked towards the creature, smiling evilly. "Hello, Sly. How are you? Tired from your great birth?"

The creature now looked to be 14 years old but when it spoke telepathically, it seemed no more than 8.

Sly? Is that who I am? It's crimson eyes darted around the room, taking in every detail and analyzing it. Where am I?

"This is where you were born, Sly. And I am the one who created you."

Sly considered this. Then… are you my father? He looked to Domino who had come up behind him. And who are these people?

"These are my assistants. And I am not your father, but believe you me, I'm going to take care of you, Sly." his shady smiled grew shadier.

Then my name is Sly? I am one being? He looked down and his white/greenish-yellow hair fell into his eyes. Why am I here, then? I feel like there is something missing in me. Like I have many parts and they each want me to go into different places.

"It will pass." Giovanni waved his hand. "Now, Sly, I'm going to teach you all you need to know about the world, but I need you to trust me and obey me unconditionally. I'll keep you safe, but I need you to do exactly as I tell you, no questions asked."

Sly looked into the first eyes he had seen in his short lifespan. Yes, father.

~*~*~

Ash and company had been joined on their wait for a ferry by several other trainers. Pikachu noticed one in particular and dashed towards him. Ash turned around and saw a red head topped by a green and blue hat not far away.

"Hey, Ritchie!" Ash waved.

"Ash!" He called back. "How are you guys? Are you here about the strange happenings too?"

"Yah." Misty replied. "Something weird is going on."

"You're telling me," came a cheerful voice behind them.

"Melody!" Misty cried.

"Yup. It's me! How are you and Ash doing, Misty?" she winked. Misty blushed.

"We're okay I guess."

"Well I hope so. You guys haven't been doing any more stupid things, have you Ash Ketchem? Running into crystal houses and stuff?" A black haired girl in a red hat with cat ear looking things on top called.

"LISA!" Brock called. "I knew we'd meet again!" He was going to continue, but Misty had grabbed the back of his vest in warning and he clamped his mouth tighter than a Cloyster's shell.

(AN: Melody was in the second movie and Lisa was in the third, for those of you who don't know.)

They all got in the line to go out to the dock and the ferry when Ash noticed two boys and a girl get in line right behind them to go to New Island. This was strange, because they were the only ones going to the island.

(AN: If you didn't see the first movie, you don't know who those people that just got on are. {hint hint})

Ash ran to the bow of the ferry to see New Island the minute they got there. After some chatting, the others joined him.

"It's been a long time since we've been to this island, hasn't it?" He asked no one in particular.

"You've been here before?" Lisa asked.

"Yes. A long time ago. Just after the first League Tournament Ash was in." Misty answered.

"Wow, that was a long time ago." Ritchie laughed.

"It feels that way." Brock replied. "And Ash really has improved a lot since those days."

"He must have," Lisa commented, "He beat me!"

~*~

The end of another chapter guys! I don't own pokemon and I'm loosing inspiration for this story. I hope a good size block of inspiration is chucked at me soon or I won't have up the next chappie for a good while!