The Cave of Mirrors
Alec's POV
The group approached a series of mirror-like crystals by a cave that Serena identified as the Reflection Cave. This was something Alec hadn't gotten around to seeing before, so he felt that this would be interesting. When he entered the cave itself, Alec was in awe just by how beautiful the crystals were. "This place is amazing," Alec commented.
"Incredible! These aren't normal run of the mill crystals: their highly reflective surfaces really do act just like a mirror does," Clemont stated.
"Isn't it great? They're the perfect way to make sure you're looking your very best," Serena said.
[Figures a girl would think like that,] Ethan commented.
"For once I won't call you out on your sarcastic attitude," Alec told him.
"It keeps going on down there!" Ash called out and ran down one of the tunnels. Alec immediately ran after him with the rest of the group not far behind him. Ash then walked past a mirror as Alec caught up with him and the two noticed another Ash in the mirror but wasn't following his movements.
"Okay, what was that?" Alec asked.
"I wish I knew," Ash answered. Alec looked around and noticed that the others weren't with them.
"Oh great, now we're lost in here. Perfect," Alec said. Suddenly, one of the mirrors let off a glow and the two saw another Ash, but this one didn't have a Pikachu. The other Ash then stretched out his hand and grabbed Pikachu before running away.
"Give Pikachu back!" Ash demanded as he jumped through the mirror with Alec and Ethan right behind him. "Where'd he go?" Ash asked.
"I don't know, but we'd better head up to the surface, that's what I would do," Alec said and, luckily, they found the exit quickly. When they exited, Alec noticed that something was off. The trees were different colors and the sky was green. "What in the name of Arceus happened?" Alec asked no one.
"I don't know, but we can figure that out when we find Pikachu," Ash responded. The two then started calling out for Pikachu when a voice behind them got their attention. A familiar voice. The two turned around and they saw Serena, but something felt off about her.
"Well, well. Where have you been?" Serena asked, though it wasn't in her normal tone. "Just because I called you a cry baby."
"What is going on?" Alec asked, his mind spinning in circles as he tried to process all this.
"Do I need to add 'forgetful' to the list of things wrong with you, cowardly Alec," Serena mocked.
"Crybaby? Coward? What's gotten into you, Serena?" Ash asked. Alec then saw Bonnie.
"Look, it's Ash and Alec. Brother dear, I've located them," Bonnie called out.
"'Brother dear?'" Ash repeated. Clemont suddenly sprinted past the group then ran back.
"We've been searching all over for you two," Clemont said.
"Okay everyone stop doing everything! Serena's being rude, Bonnie sounds like a woman from olden times, and Clemont's a speed demon. What is happening?" Alec ranted. Those mentioned look at Alec with confusion.
"Nevermind that! So where's that Pikachu of yours?" Serena asked.
"Oh yeah, now get this: another me popped out from inside a mirror and grabbed Pikachu and ran off," Ash explained.
"What are you talking about?" Serena asked.
"Was it a dream perchance?" Bonnie continued.
"We were awake. So when followed that Ash and we wound up in this messed up world," Alec finished. The group glared at the two with suspicion and Serena stepped up to get a closer look.
"You two are different from the normal crybaby and cowardly Ash and Alec I know," Serena said slowly. Alec then noticed that Serena's skin was paler than normal. Looking at Clemont and Bonnie, they showed the same signs.
"Me, crybaby?" Ash asked.
"I am not a coward," Alec said at the same time.
"So maybe the culprit is our crybaby Ash," Bonnie realizes.
"Come to think of it, there is a legend about the cave right up ahead. The legend states that for every crystal mirror in the cave, there exists an alternate world. There's something else, but I can't remember at the moment," Clemont explained.
"Sounds stupid," Serena commented.
"Regardless, the Ash and Alec standing in front of us aren't the Ash and Alec we know," Clemont continues.
"You know, as weird as it might sound, I've gotta admit that the three of you aren't the Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie that we know," Ash stated.
"Hold on! I'm the only me and anyone who isn't me is not me! Now, what in the world did I just say?! Whatever! Here's the deal: if you can beat me in a battle, then I'll have to believe you," Serena said.
"You want this one Ash?" Alec asked him.
"Sure, you're on," Ash told Serena.
"I like the kind of Ash that would accept a challenge from Serena," Bonnie commented.
[Me too,] Dedenne added. Clemont called for the match to start and Serena threw out Fennekin.
"She's going with Fennekin, in that case, Froakie I choose you!" Ash called out.
"Fennekin: use Flamethrower!" Serena commanded. Froakie countered with Water Pulse and destroyed the Flamethrower. Fennekin followed up with Scratch and Froakie used Double Team in response. The Froakies then all used Bubble and Fennekin fainted.
"Thanks, Froakie. Return," Ash said.
[Your welcome,] Froakie said. Serena then returned Fennekin and Ash and Alec stepped up to her.
"Serena, now do you believe us?" Ash asked.
"I would never lose to the Ash I know so I have to. I guess you two are from another world," Serena said.
"Glad that settles it. So where's the crybaby Ash and cowardly Alec that we're familiar with?" Clemont asked.
"Here we are," a low voice said and the other Ash stepped from behind a tree with the other Alec and Ethan behind him. Pikachu then broke free of this world's Ash's arms and ran up to Ash.
"Oh no," said Alec. "Okay, I'm going to call you Ash II and you Other Alec," he added, gesturing the Ash and Alec from the parallel world respectively.
"Why am I Ash II?" asked the parallel universe's Ash nervously.
"D-don't argue with him," stammered Other Alec.
"Hey Ash, can you tell us what happened?" Clemont asked.
"Sure. It was after my battle with Serena," Ash II starts.
Other Alec's POV
"Froakie is unable to battle. So the winner is Serena," Clemont declared.
"Told ya, now you see how strong I am?" Serena asked as Ash returned his Froakie. "You're not crying again, are you?" Serena asked on seeing Ash's tears.
"No, I'm not crying," Ash answered.
"Yes, you are. CHECK IT OUT, LOOK AT CRYBABY ASH!" Serena shouted.
"You're mean. That's it. From now on I'm going to travel alone," Ash said and ran off.
"Ash! I was just messing with you!" Serena called out. She then turned to Alec, who was minding his own business. "What do you think you're doing?" Serena asked, her tone unforgiving.
"W-What did I do this time?" Alec asked.
"Maybe you should have tried to stop Ash!" Serena suddenly screamed. Alec then scrambled to his feet and ran after Ash with Ethan right behind him. Alec followed Ash and saw him run into a cave.
"W-We don't have to follow him, r-r-right?" Alec asked.
[Oh quit being such a coward. Come on!] Ethan said as he used Psychic to bring Alec in. The two eventually found Ash, but without Pikachu and was calling out for him.
"Alec, I can't find Pikachu. Do you know where he is?" Ash asked.
"I j-j-just want to get out of here," Alec said, shivering with fear. Ash then looked at the mirror they were standing by when they saw another Ash with Pikachu. Ash then grabbed Pikachu and ran off. "Wait for me!" Alec shouted as he ran after him.
Alec's POV
"But after that, I realized he wasn't my Pikachu. I'm really really sorry," Ash II finished.
"No prob. I got my Pikachu back and that's what counts," Ash responded. "So, what's your Pikachu like?"
"To tell the truth, my Pikachu's tough, wild and aggressive," Ash II responded.
"Well, not like we're going anywhere soon, so we might as well help out," Alec stated.
"Y-you will?" Other Alec asked. Before Alec could answer, Serena spoke up looking annoyed.
"Can you say a sentence without stuttering?" she asked. Other Alec flinched back and Alec stepped up.
"Just leave him alone Serena, what has he ever done to you?" Alec asked. Serena looked speechless for a moment before regaining her composure.
"Whatever, let's just find Pikachu and get this over with," Serena said.
"But how are we going to conduct the search for Pikachu?" Bonnie asked. Clemont then took off the stick on his bag and drew a circle with a lightning bolt in the center on the dirt.
"I thought we'd encountered a situation like this so I prepared this magic spell. I call it, My Magical Direction Finder," Clemont stated.
"Wait, magic's a thing?" Alec asked. Ash shrugged as Clemont continued.
"By dropping the staff in the center, it will then allow us to determine which direction to search," Clemont said. He then said the magic words and let the stick go.
"Excellent brother dear," Bonnie said. The group then set off in the direction the stick pointed to.
"Um, Alec? How could you stand up to Serena like that?" Other Alec asked.
"What'd you mean?" Alec asked.
"Well, you seem to be a lot more confident than me. So I was wondering how you do it," Other Alec stated.
"Look, we both come from different worlds, and I guess that things we experienced worked differently for us. But if you want tips, try telling Ethan off," Alec advised.
"T-tell Ethan off?! I'd be lucky not to be attacked by him," Other Alec explained.
"What's your Ethan like?" Alec asked.
"Well, he's got a big attitude and doesn't listen to anyone. If I didn't have his Poké Ball, he'd probably leave me for good. But he's the only Pokémon I can somewhat rely on. All my others just don't seem to like me," Other Alec explained.
"You just need to build up some confidence. Next time Serena gets mad at you, just tell her to leave you alone and don't stutter," Alec advised.
"I've tried that, but she doesn't listen."
"Then you keep trying. And don't stop till you succeed."
"I guess I can try." The group then stopped when they noticed that they had gone right to a cliff.
"It's a dead-end," Ash stated.
"Now where in the world is that Pikachu?" Serena asked impatiently.
"Wish I knew," Clemont stated.
"Even brother dear makes mistakes," Bonnie reassured.
"What do I do? I can't stand the thought of never seeing Pikachu. I'll… I'll… never be the same," Ash II started as he started to cry.
"Oh, perfect, here we go," Serena commented.
"Can you for once not make a smart remark?" Other Alec asked, which surprised Alec. Serena looked at Other Alec shocked but didn't say anything else.
"Come on Ash, don't cry," Ash told his crying counterpart. "You wanna find Pikachu, don't you?" Ash II nodded. "Okay, don't give up." Ash II wiped away his tears when a device grabbed Pikachu and the two Ethan's. Alec turned and saw Team Rocket standing not too far from them with what Alec assumed to be Ash II's Pikachu in a similar device.
"You people again?! Why can't you just go into space and stay there!?" Alec asked.
"W-Wait, who are they?" Other Alec asked.
"They're bad guys who try to steal other peoples' Pokémon," Ash explained.
"Huh, our Team Rocket call themselves 'Heroes of Justice'," Serena explained.
"Can we swap Team Rocket's?" Alec asked.
"Give us back our Pokémon!" Ash demanded.
"Sure, as soon as you grow up," Meowth stated. Jessie and James then threw out Pumpkaboo and Inkay.
"Alec, you wanna get Ethan back?" Alec asked.
"Y-Yeah," Other Alec answered.
"Then get ready," Alec told him.
"Let's go," the two shouted and two Torch's appeared. Alec's Torch looked at the two Ethan's scornfully while Other Alec's looked like he just lost his best friend. "You went with Torch too?" the two asked in sync. Looking over, Ash was having a similar moment with his counterpart and their Hawlucha's. While Ash's looked ready to battle, Ash II's looked like he wanted to crawl into a big hole and not come out.
[Why I'm I the one who has to rescue that guy?] Alec's Torch asked him. Alec expected him to ask that and knew how to get Torch to go through with rescuing Ethan.
"It's what Flame would have done," Alec explained. Torch considered that for a moment and took a glance at Ethan.
[I really hate it when you pull that card,] Torch stated.
"I know, now use Burn Up on Pumpkaboo!" Alec commanded.
"Use Burn Up on Inkay!" Other Ash commanded. Torch's attack hit Pumpkaboo head-on while Hawlucha II's Karate Chop attack missed. Inkay managed to dodge Other Torch but was hit by Hawlucha. Inkay and Pumpkaboo then hit the counterpart Pokémon and sent them back.
"Inkay, Psybeam!" James commanded. Inkay aimed the attack at the counterparts Pokémon and the originals took the hit, both becoming confused.
"Torch! Return!" Alec shouted.
"Hawlucha! Return!" Ash shouted in sync with Alec.
"Alright, Shadow Ball!" Jessie commanded. Pumpkaboo fired the attack into the counterparts Pokémon, taking them both out of the fight.
"T-This isn't good! We can't beat them!" Other Alec said in a panic.
"Get that nonsense out of your skull! You can't help Ethan by standing around and waiting for others to do the job for you!" Alec told him. "Remember what I said about confidence?" Other Alec nodded. "Then build some up, and let's take these idiot's down." Other Alec seemed to be reassured by this and put on his best confident face. Alec turned to look at Team Rocket and noticed Clemont sneaking behind them. He was fortunate enough to grab the devices that held the Pokémon. Meowth followed his gaze and turned to see Clemont.
"Look, twerp, what are you doing?" Meowth asked and Clemont responded by putting his foot on Meowth's face. Jessie and James both tried to tackle him, but Clemont dodged them and threw the devices.
"Leave the rest to me. Fennekin, your turn!" Serena shouted as she released her Pokémon. Fennekin then used Hidden Power on the four devices, releasing the Pokémon inside them.
"Okay, I'll admit, that was impressive," Alec commented.
[Shall we show them how it's done?] Ethan asked.
"We shall," Alec answered.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt let's go!" Ash I and II shouted in unison.
"Ethan, Dark Pulse!" Alec and Other Alec shouted at the same time. The four attacks hit and the resulting explosion sends Team Rocket blasting off, again.
"You two were amazing," Serena said to Other Alec and Ash II.
"I was completely impressed," Bonnie commented.
"I do hope you two will consider continuing your journey with us," Clemont offered.
"Good work," Alec told his counterpart.
"Well, I had a good role model," Other Alec responded.
[Don't flatter him, his ego is hard to contain as it is.] Alec's Ethan commented.
"What ego?" Alec teased, knowing Ethan was trolling.
"Well, we'd better get off to the Pokémon Center. It's going to be dark soon," Serena pointed out.
"'Dark soon?' How could I forget!? According to the legend, people from another world can't go back once the sun sets," Clemont realized. Everyone was startled and immediately ran toward Reflection Cave and the mirror that Ash and Alec came through.
"When the mirror started to waver, that's when we were able to pass through," Ash explained.
"Let me see, I'd say the instability of the wavering mirror is functioning as something like a gate between worlds," Clemont stated.
"That's great and all, but how do we get through?" Alec asked.
"I'm not sure, right before it started to waver… That's it! I really wanted to find Pikachu, once I started wishing for that, the mirror wavered," Ash II explained.
"Then that's how we get through. Ready Ash?" Alec asked.
"Ready," Ash answered.
"You two help as well," Alec told Ethan and Pikachu. The four then concentrated on getting back and after a few moments that felt like hours, the mirror started to waver. Alec then saw their Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie on the other side, but Alec also noticed the gap between the portals that wasn't there before.
"There's no time to explain. Our worlds are starting to drift apart," Ash II explained.
"Serena, you need to concentrate on how much you want to keep journeying with Ash," Serena's counterpart explained. Everyone then concentrated as hard as they could and the worlds started to drift closer together, but then started to drift apart again.
"We'll have to jump for it. Hop on Ethan," Alec said and Ethan got on Alec's shoulder. Alec and Ash then jumped as far as they could. Alec managed to land on the other side, but Ash wasn't that lucky. His landing was unstable and he started to fall, but the group grabbed onto him.
"Hold on," Serena told Ash.
"Psychic!" Alec shouted. Ethan used the move to bring Ash and Pikachu onto their side and the group looked at their counterparts. The group said their goodbyes as the portal closed, becoming a solid crystal.
"You knew, I can still hardly believe it," Serena stated.
"And that other Bonnie said 'I do hope we meet again,'" Bonnie pointed out, mimicking her counterpart's voice.
"There is a possibility that the portal will open up again sometime, to prepare for that I'll invent a—" Clemont started.
"They said they will continue their journey as friends, so let's do that too," Ash interrupted.
"I don't know about you, but I hope I never go back there, that place was so weird," Alec commented.
"Dare I ask?" Serena questioned.
"I wouldn't," Alec responded. The group then exited the cave and continued on their way to Shalour City.