So yeah, Ashy-boi got revived by Mew and not by the magical tears of everybody. Felt more logical to me, kinda. I never understood how the first Ash revival worked, so I made the change myself in this fanfic, but enough of this, back to the story.

NOTICE: This is the latest re-write chapter, reading any further WILL result in inconsistencies as new things were added.

AS OF RIGHT NOW CHAPTER 3 IS NOT UPDATED, IF YOU PROCEED, YOU WILL BE CONFUSED!

Also, I have a discord server dedicated to my fanfictions. Check the end of the chapter for details.

(Chapter 2: Battle For The Badge)

From the middle of a small motorboat, Ash stared longingly at the empty ocean that surrounded him. The blazing sunlight that came from the cloudless sky above him produced a beautiful shine as it swept across the perpetuating waves of the ocean in front of him. He watched in silence as small waves of seawater flowed towards him, bouncing back when hitting the boat, each time producing a small splash, flinging water in different directions while producing a salty smell that filled the surrounding air. The feeling that surrounded him intrigued him but did not comfort him. Comfort comes from the things that make you feel safe, and Ash had fears deep down inside of him that flared up from the waters below. The incident on New Island only hours behind him, could no longer allow him to mask these fears.

He sighed. His extremely significant experience at New Island was something that nobody could have prepared him for. It was an enlightening experience in many ways as it taught him fear of the legends, an unfortunately important lesson in humility and it mostly taught him that not everything will always turn out okay. His death was a very stark reminder to the fact that in the grand scheme of things he was severely underprepared, severely outmatched and ultimately a mortal being.

Of course in this particular situation, being severely outmatched was perfectly acceptable of course, a clone of Mew could take out basically any trainer on a whim, especially outside the confines of regulated battling. It wouldn't matter if it was the champion or a rookie fresh out of Pallet, Mewtwo could overcome any of them if he really wanted to. Being mortal was also something he really couldn't change, that was simply how he was born and destined to die as. But being severely underprepared was something he could have done about. Thinking back on his adventure, he had been in severe danger many times, sometimes because of his stupidity, sometimes because of the failures of others and sometimes because of the 3 (not very competent) members of the infamous Team Rocket that basically assaulted him and his friends on a daily basis. All of that amounted to many alarm bells ringing in his head about preparation that should have been obvious before. Yet despite his many experiences in his first year as a trainer, he learned nothing from each of those past problems. Mewtwo may have been a disaster beyond his abilities, but falling rubble, injuries and attacks from stray Pokemon were things he could have made prior preparations for. Simple additions to his supplies like a first aid kit, simple tools and even repel spray could have been useful not only at New Island, but in any disaster scenario.

Staring at his lone reflection in the sea below, Ash suddenly realized how very lucky he was that Brock and Misty decided to join him on his journey. They may not have been prepared for the horror show that happened at New Island, but they were definitely prepared for other disasters. Compared to Brock's supply of outdoor tools and fully stocked medical kit and Misty's emergency rations and repellent spray (which he idly noted was heavily applied whenever they entered a bug infested forest), he was sorely under-packed. What did he own besides the things he received on his journey? When he left Pallet, all he had was the supplies to sustain Pikachu (those stupid rubber gloves were still at the bottom of his pack), Pokeballs, one set of extra clothing and some food.

Repel would have been very useful when he was being bombarded by Spearow.

He grimaced at that thought. Hindsight sucked.

Wanting the view of the ocean out of his head, he instead looked down at Pikachu, who was sleeping soundly on his lap. He gave the adorable starter a few tender strokes, eliciting a few soft squeaks from him. However, the itching feeling of fear was still stuck in the back of his mind. Turning to look back towards the ocean, he grimaced. He wasn't a terribly superstitious person, however, throughout his journey he began to see the ocean as a harbinger of doom towards him, often leading him to some of his worst life experiences. New Island, including the disaster before it, was no different. He was honestly lucky that he survived arriving at New Island amidst the deadly storm Mewtwo had conjured and was even luckier that he managed to cheat death itself. "But how much longer would that luck last?" he asked himself, before memories of the past flooded in his head.

Ash backed away in fear on top of the shaking lighthouse. He couldn't see the form of the beast that lay before him, shrouded in the ocean's mist, but the eyes of the ancient dragon told him everything. He wasn't sure why the others hadn't shown any signs of fear. Was this something only he could feel or were they all blinded by awe? He wasn't sure but that was the least of his concerns at the moment. The massive dragon was beginning to approach the lighthouse, it's piercing gaze that he swore had already begun to burn him to cinders, the massive claws that would render skyscrapers into crumbled ruins, let alone the small lighthouse that provided the only shelter he could depend on. Ash knew that whatever this creature was, it meant for their demise. He could feel it in what he best described at the time as a powerful murderous aura the massive creature displayed for all to witness. That was obvious even though he couldn't fully understand it. Looking back towards his friends, they were still struck with awe, and the man he just met, Bill, was even calling out towards it. What were they thinking? He closed his eyes and held Pikachu, who himself was shaking in fear in his arms, nothing he had would save him. None of his friends could stand up to the beast, they were safe in their balls.

He heard an explosion and braced himself.

Yet, he felt nothing. No gruesome death, no infinitesimal pain, not even a relatively weak shockwave. He slowly opened one eye, and then the other snapped open. He gaped in silent shock as he saw Team Rocket out of all people, attacking the dragon. What in the hell was wrong with them? Not that he was complaining of course, for once, he was actually thankful to the trio of thieves that had popped out of nowhere, again. Though he felt a pang of regret as the dragon turned it's head towards them, ready to reveal its true power in retaliation…

…

…

Ash gasped and ran, running through the halls of the once proud and mighty St. Anne, now rocking dangerously back and forth, with a force that nearly threw him off his feet every step he took. But he couldn't stop running, his Butterfree's Pokeball was just within arms reach! He could hear the panicked cries of his friends behind him but he ignored them. The first Pokemon he ever caught was definitely not going to be left behind on this sinking ship, and he was ready to lose an arm or a leg to make sure of it. He reached his arms out and lunged, catching the ball in mid-air. He gasped in glee as he quickly pulled his arms back to cradle the ball, not watching where his feet were landing. His rush of excitement turned to dread as his foot landed at the wrong angle on the polished wooden floor. He let out a scream as the largest shockwave he ever felt ran throughout the boat, throwing him off of his feet. As everything around him shifted into a blur, the last thing he heard was a yell from his starter and the panicked cries of his friends, as he felt pain and everything went black…

…

…

Did that idiot of a woman just kick a Magikarp? … yes, she did. He turned to his left to see Misty and Brock pale in fear as the white flash of evolution burst into the air, and Ash knew exactly why. Even an idiot knew what Magikarp evolves into. Gyarados. Gyarados, powerful creatures filled to the brim with rage and viciousness, a trait that made travelling by sea impossible for eons, until Electric-Type Pokemon became partners and allies with humans. Without those Electric Types, simply warding off the wrath of these legendary sea creatures was difficult in those ancient times and even still on occasion it would not deter them, with a probability of failure every time. They were simply too powerful for most Pokemon to compete against. It was part of that reason that despite being a Dragon Master, Lance of the Elite Four had one of these beasts on his team. It was so powerful, it might as well have been a dragon. Now, he would face the wrath of one firsthand.

The creature grew and grew and grew, still basked in the white light of evolution. Its body became snake-like and fins and fangs grew out of it. Then, the light burst and it roared the loudest roar Ash had ever heard, nearly knocking him off the small, dingy raft he and his companions had scavenged together with the sheer force of its roar. With no land in sight, Ash knew this was the end. There was no possible way that his unusually powerful luck would get them out of this situation unscathed. He watched on in horror as the idiots began yelling at the Gyarados, he wasn't focused enough to hear what they said, he was focused on the jaws of the beast which were glowing amber red. It was ready to fire Dragon Rage. Ash hugged his starter, who hugged him back, squirming in his chest. The amber light danced around them as the attack struck them dead on…

…

…

Ash jumped out of the way as a concrete beam nearly crushed him. He scowled as he pulled a Pokeball off of his belt, staring intently at the absolutely gigantic Tentacruel that stood before him. Normally, he wouldn't follow any of that bastard Nastina's words, the Tentacruel and Tentacool were surprisingly peaceful Pokemon, that only attacked viciously upon provocation, or when hunting. However, he wasn't really given much of a choice right now, as this particular Tentacruel was a bit too gigantic to ignore. How the hell did it even get to that size, and why did he feel like Team Rocket was behind this? He stepped back and released all of his partners. Behind him, he could hear Misty and Brock doing the same. He looked around at the once beautiful beach, now covered head to toe in Tentacool. At this point, all he was seeing around him was ruins that once contained many people, working, playing and living. His childish mind recoiled at the sight of blood, and more importantly the many bodies that littered the city, some unmoving, others screaming and limping away from their aquatic attackers. He racked his brain and saw the air was the only place clear of the jellyfish Pokemon. Seeing this, he quickly formulated a plan. His Pokemon were still in their younger stages, making them quite light, light enough for their few fliers to carry them. It was a stretch, but he knew an aerial attack was his best bet. He looked back at his friends, Brock who had probably also realized Ash's plan, and surprisingly Misty who seemed to be ready to do something of her own. He let it go, Misty was a water Pokemon trainer, so he trusted that whatever she had planned would be effective. He took a quick look at the ocean and grimaced. It seemed every time he was near it, something bad would happen… was he cursed? … Whatever, there was no time for idle pondering at the moment, now was the time for action…

…

…

His memories were vivid and now that he was out on the ocean, they felt real. He involuntarily shuddered as memory after memory, made themselves known in his mind. If he wasn't awake, he would have sworn he was in a nightmare. A few noises of discomfort brought him out of his musings. He looked down and noticed that he had unconsciously begun to hold Pikachu in his arms tightly, waking him up. He quickly let go and gave the small rodent an apologetic smile.

Pikachu looked back at his trainer and sat down in his lap, comfortable. "Pika Pi?" Pikachu squeaked towards Ash in a worried tone. Ever since his temporary death, Pikachu had constantly been worried about Ash, opting to always be at his side, instead of exploring and playing around on the boat. Ash replied with a few head pats, earning a few squeals of comfort from his starter but otherwise he remained off.

Mew, who was navigating the small motorboat, watched the entire scene from the front of the boat. She frowned. Ash's mental state still concerned her. The poor boy had literally died mere minutes ago, and for most people that would cause massive mental damage to them, possibly even causing a mental breakdown that no therapy could even try to mitigate the effects of. Plus, considering what had happened earlier, she expected that even the strongest psychic therapies available would simply have no effect on him. His mind had a shield of unknown origin, one that she could not dare trespass whether she wanted to or not.

Suppressing her usual hyperactive self, she pressed into the issue. "Ash? Is something wrong? You're making a weird face." she asked him, using a calm and serene voice in contrast to her usual cheerful and squeaky voice that she normally used for psychic communication.

Hearing her telepathic voice, Ash turned away from giving Pikachu attention and faced her with a slight smile, though Mew could tell it was forced. "Oh, am I? Sorry, I guess this is just the first time I really reflected on how often I ran into danger on my journey… It's not what I expected from something like this. I feel overwhelmed… I feel guilty for being unprepared… so many emotions are swirling in my head." Ash replied, slightly somberly.

Mew looked at Ash and gave him a warm smile, reverting back to her cheerful mannerisms. "Well, don't sweat it boy-o, it happens. Usually, when there are lots and lots of Legendaries in the same area, things tend to go BOOM and BAM and KABLOOIE and control tends to get thrown out of the window in favour of overwhelming power." she said, waving her arms dramatically. "Sometimes dimensions can even completely collapse and be obliterated forever… I think… I wouldn't know since ours is currently intact!"

She performed a quick backflip and continued. "So, I guess every journey comes with danger, but don't forget that it also comes with thrill and adventure too heh~, besides, death and near death are almost always a cause for reflection. This is something you just need to power through! SO GO AND POWER RIGHT THROUGH THAT SOMBER DOOEY!" she concluded cheerfully.

Ash gave a genuine smile in return. "Yeah, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, thanks for the encouragement Mew." he replied.

Mew gave a slight nod towards Ash. "Well, it's only natural you would be shaken up. Just don't think too much about it." she said, satisfied with his response.

Ash fell back into his seat and leaned back, bringing his attention back to Pikachu, who eagerly ate up the attention. Mew turned back around to check on where they were. The boat they were on was just a standard motorboat that was being propelled by Mew's psychic powers, which pushed it through the waves at a constant velocity. Due to this, fuel was not an issue, but if they hit land or any other solid obstacle, Mew calculated that they would most likely go straight through it due to her powers. Due to this, Mew had to be constantly aware of their surroundings, lest they ram straight through a random out of place Pokemon or island in their way.

When Mew turned around back to the helm, she saw that they were already pretty close to land, as she could see the peaks of Mount Moon in the distance. She sighed in relief, despite her old age, she was so used to flying and teleportation that she considered the hour-long journey as a "long" journey, and now it was almost over.

However, that thought lingered in her head. Those words, "Almost Over… Almost Over…" began repeating inside of her head. She turned her head back to Ash, who had stopped staring at the ocean and was lightly playing with Pikachu, scratching his back, rubbing his ears, and just giving him a bunch of attention. She stared at them in silence, watching them play around and goof off in the small boat as if nothing had even happened. She had only been with them for maybe an hour, yet she was feeling a sense of belonging as if Ash and Pikachu projected an aura of acceptance. It reminded her of something… no, someone. It was in a distant memory, a memory of a man she knew centuries in the past. A man named Sir Aaron, one of her only human friends. Without even realizing it, tears began to slowly trickle down from the pink cat's eyes, falling silently to the floor of the boat, disappearing amongst the damp floor.

It had been a long time since Mew felt such feelings for another being, let alone another human being. She had many friendships over the decades, born from the relationships she experienced as a Legendary Pokemon encountering the odd Pokemon or human, however aside from a few select individuals who were usually busy, most of her relationships with the other Legendary Pokemon were strictly professional, or less than desirable. Other relationships were lost to time, a burden she carried as an immortal. With so many relationships being born and killed, Mew, much like many of her peers, lost interest in pursuing active relationships and lived in solitude instead. However, it seemed that recent events had shaken her far more than she thought, as old wounds from lost relationships of the past began to reawaken within her.

Was this a result of exposing herself to whatever Ash had become? Or was she already close to the breaking point of her solidarity? Mew had no answers to these questions, only tears.

Loneliness.

It was such a dirty emotion. Yet Mew couldn't help but feel it envelop her.

It only took a few seconds but Ash, having not heard any movement from Mew for a bit, looked up. In front of him, he saw the crying Mew, staring off distantly with glossy eyes. She was looking back onto her own memories, with sadness clear in her eyes. Though he didn't know why she was crying, he reached out his right hand and began to gently stroke her head.

Though normally an impulsive and fun-loving child, taking care of several small Pokemon for more or less a year had taught him many things, one of which was that stroking them on the head was one of the best ways of calming them down, as most Pokemon enjoyed it.

When they made contact, Mew snapped out of her trance, but instead of flinching and floating away, she closed her eyes and stood still. Ash, seeing no negative reaction, continued to stroke her, earning a few purrs of content. The boat began to slow down and Mew started to float towards Ash's lap beside Pikachu.

The boat slowed down to a stop in silence, still far away from the shoreline. Mew looked up towards Ash and gave him a small smile. Ash smiled back. "Feeling better?" he softly asked.

Mew nodded and wiped some remaining tears out of her eyes with a swipe of her paw. With a quick motion, she flew out of Ash's arms and reconcentrated her psychic powers, taking control of the boat once more, making it move at a slow velocity forwards. When the ship was back on course for land, she spoke up. "Sorry about that… It's just been a while since I've been around humans…" she divulged.

Ash leaned back in his seat, "So… in other words, you're lonely?" he proposed. He wasn't completely sure that was the reason, but he had a gut feeling that he had hit the problem spot on.

Mew chuckled lightly. For a suicidal idiot like Ash, he was quite perceptive. "I… I guess so," she said. It was at this moment, an idea popped into her head, a concept that until today she had considered taboo. However, she reasoned that given the current circumstances, it was something that she had reason to do from both an emotional standpoint and a logical standpoint. She quickly turned away from Ash to look at the shoreline, which was rapidly approaching their boat. The shoreline was surprisingly empty, and for some reason, nobody populated the pier in the broad sunlight. With no witnesses present, besides the Pidgey's in the sky and the Goldeen in the sea, she made her request.

"Ash… these past few hours were the first time in a long time that I had to do anything serious. Normally, I prefer the quiet life ya know, floating around, hanging out with the occasional Pokemon… I guess ya wouldn't know, considering ya can't float but still," she said in a solemn and serious voice, catching the attention of the young trainer. "I think I need a change in scenery, considering what just happened… like a… I dunno, vacation? Permanently? I mean like, guzzling down my personal soda hot springs is fun and all, but when the next issue comes up, cuz these things happen in chain reactions… or something like that-"

Ash listened closely as Mew's explanation quickly turned into intelligible muttering. He couldn't make much out of it but what he did manage to hear confused him. "Uh… wait did you just say soda hot springs?" Ash replied, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

Mew tensed up for a bit, realizing that she was deviating from what she was trying to say. She quickly shook her head, in an attempt to clear it before floating back towards Ash. "Oh forget it, that was just me getting off the tracks, what I mean to ask is that after all of this random psychic fixing is done..." Mew said, speaking quietly to conceal her last words, her tail spazzing in the background.

Ash hesitated as he looked around at the ocean. "Uh… what was that last part? Couldn't hear it." Ash asked, a part of him inside knowing that whatever Mew said would possibly impact the rest of his life, but the rest of him was still unsure of what was going on.

Mew smiled in glee. She did a backflip mid-air and then took a deep breath, calming down her nerves. "So yeah, what I'm basically trying to explain is that I'm asking you if wanna potentially be the technical caretaker of a Legendary Pokemon for a potentially long period of time?" she said bluntly.

In the background, several of the previously mentioned Pidgey fell out of the air in shock, and below them, some of the Goldeen began to smack into each other, no longer paying attention to whatever they were doing before, and instead focusing on the boat.

For a moment, the boat was silent, despite the surroundings being quite loud. Ash blinked several times as his jawline began to descend comically towards the floor. Pikachu abruptly took a page out of the Pidgeys books and fell off of Ash's lap in shock. The weight of Mew's request reverberated amongst the group.

Mew floated closer, waving her paw in front of Ash's face in an attempt to break the boy's stupor. "Uh… hello there? Anyone home? I just asked if you wanted to own a Legendary Pokemon. Hello?" she telepathically said while comically knocking on his head, as if it was an oddly human-shaped door.

It would be an understatement to say that Ash was utterly flabbergasted.

It took a few seconds for Ash to find his voice, shock still clouding his brain. This was something he could have only imagined in his deepest dreams and was now a possible reality. Was he even strong enough to train a Legendary Pokemon? What would happen to the world if he stopped Mew from doing important things? What if Team Rocket got their grubby little hands on her? Questions upon questions flooded his mind as he struggled to respond. "Y-yeah… b-but… why me?" Ash managed to shakily respond.

"Why not? It's not like anyone else we know can even remember me!" Mew replied in her usual giggly voice.

At the end of her backflip, she flew back down to Ash's face. She gave the shocked boy a cheerful smile, before dashing forwards and tapping the Pokeball in Ash's hand before he could even register what had happened. The ball opened and she dissolved into a red light that entered the ball as it closed.

The ball rolled out of Ash's shocked hand and fell to the floor of the boat. It shook once, then twice, then three times. Then for some inexplicable reason, it began smashing into the wall of the boat at a methodical and repeating pace before being flung into the air. When it came back down, it landed into Ash's lap, rolled off again, landed in a random escape rope in the corner of the boat, got stuck and finally dinged, signalling a successful capture.

Ash blinked.

After a moment of silence, he turned towards his starter. "Uh, Pikachu? Did one of the rarest Pokemon in existence that nobody had seen in the Kanto region for more than 3 seconds, that happens to be the ancestor of all non-Legendary Pokemon and has untold potential for overpowered Psychic attacks and will most likely be extremely useful in almost any situation, just enter one of my Pokeballs by their own volition?"

Pikachu turned to face Ash and nodded, before darting back to look at the single Pokeball on the floor. Eyes zoned in on the ball that now lay on the floor unmoving.

Ash's shocked face quickly turned into pure happiness. He quickly got up from his seat and stepped forwards towards the Pokeball. Crouching down, he picked up the ball and stared at it for a quick second. Realizing what Ash was about to do, Pikachu quickly jumped across the boat in a few short leaps, landing on Ash's shoulder. Ash looked at his partner with a face of pure joy. Unable to hold back any longer he jumped up into the air dramatically raising the ball into the air, "Alright! I caught Mew!" he cried out in a prolonged shout.

"Pi Pikachu!" Pikachu cried out on Ash's side, holding out two fingers in a "V" shape.

With the excitement now over, Ash sat back down on the side of the unmoving boat. He looked at the Pokeball for a few seconds more before tapping the release mechanism. In an instant Mew flew out of the ball and landed on Ash's unoccupied shoulder. She smiled at him. "Well, that whole Pokeball capture thing was interesting, kind of dizzying if ya ask me. Buuuut as much as I wanna have some cool, quirky and awesome times with ya, I still need to do some things before I stay with you Ashy~!" she said before jumping off Ash's shoulder and performing a mid-air backflip.

In Ash's mind, this was acceptable. A Legendary Pokemon had duties, and even if Mew had a clone now, she still needed to sort out many of the uprising issues that were created from the Mewtwo incident. He could barely imagine the psychic disturbances, the damage to the weather patterns and… wait did she just call him Ashy?

"Uh Ashy?" Ash absentmindedly said. Confusion evident in his voice.

Mew's cheery face turned into an exaggerated and clearly sarcastic smirk. "What don't you like the nickname I gave you?" she telepathically said, while waving her finger at him back and forth.

Ash frowned. That was exactly what Gary called him… kind of. "Uh yeah can we not do it please?" Ash asked.

Mew pouted and flew up close to Ash's face. "No. I don't care, I'm calling you Ashy!" she telepathically said, before immediately disappearing with a small pop.

"But-" Ash began, but since Mew had left, there was no point in rebutting. He sighed in annoyance at the no longer present pink cat. For some reason, he knew that his life wasn't gonna be the same after this. Though his annoyance changed into a smile at the thought of new adventures he would have in the future. A turning point in his life where he would change from a rookie to a fully fledged Pokemon Master, ready to take the world by storm.

He was interrupted from his musing by a bunch of cries from his starter. "Pika! Pika!" Ash turned his head around towards Pikachu, who had bounded up to the helm of the boat. Just in time to see that they were about to hit the shoreline. The horrific war he had witnessed was past his mind, all of his fears and panic, gone like the wind. All that was left was excitement for adventure, afterall, he still had plenty of that to occupy his life.

Ash slowly got up and snatched his backpack from the ground. "Let's get back on our journey, shall we buddy?" he said, as he got ready to step back onto dry land and rid himself of his terrible sea legs.

Pikachu jumped on his shoulder and pointed forwards with a fierce and ready look on his face. "Pika Pi!"

"Alright then, first we find our friends and then… well, I think it's about time we got my last gym badge, don't you agree?!" Ash said, in which Pikachu replied with a quick nod and a fist pump. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Ash yelled, as he and Pikachu jumped off the boat, and headed back to their adventure.

At the same time on New Island…

Mew quickly popped out in front of the destroyed castle, shaking off the bitter feeling that surrounded the place. She looked around, curious about the progress of the ongoing clean-up project. Looking around, she noticed several other Legendary Pokemon had already begun congregating around the place, including Rayquaza, the Queen of the Sky, the Atmosphere and also known to the other Legendaries as the almost always Angry Space Mom. Mew cringed when she thought of that specific title. It came from the fact that she had to constantly deviate from her original purpose and basically had to break up the two gigantic Legendary children, Groudon and Kyogre, for literally all of her life. Mew would never have been able to do that, with her carefree attitude, so she respected Rayquaza for being able to put up with all of that Tauros crap. On her left and right and also above her, were some of her kindred spirits, beings that had existed for as long as she did. Azelf, Mesprit and Uxie. From what she could tell, they were busy doing their thing to make sure that New Island was a forgotten story with minimal collateral damage. They were there for a few seconds, then gone for the next, each rhythmically teleporting back, tails glowing with their powers to erase emotional damage to the minds, erase memories of the experience completely and building up the willpower of those involved to move past the experience they forgot. Lastly, directly in front of her, Mew saw her clone and Arceus in what appeared to be some form of size comparison… wait what? Nevermind, they were just doing some playful banter. She floated up towards the two carefreely.

"Uh Arcy?" she began, prompting the majestic centaur to turn towards her.

Arceus looked at Mew with an odd look, as if the powers of judgment were churning inside of him, but he didn't have any disdain in his eyes. Though all sense of regalness and power was lost as Arceus yawned loudly. "Ah Mew, I was wondering when you would show up. We have some interesting things to discuss about your new companion." he said in his serene, and clearly strained voice. Arceus turned to Mewtwo and nodded.

Mewtwo nodded back. "Yes, as I was just told by our Lord Arceus here, that boy we cannot touch has piqued his interest. He is also disappointed that you screwed up his revival."

Mew frowned. "So I forgot… give me a break would ya, It's been like… I dunno, 4 bajillion years since I had to do it? I'm old and I'm somewhat maybe not very proud to admit it!"

Arceus chuckled to himself. "If only you acted like it." he declared, placing himself on the receiving end of Mew's pout. Mewtwo chuckled a bit in the background in response.

Arceus then took over for Mewtwo. "What happened has happened, but what I am concerned about is that he has a problem that will outlive him." he said, tone changing from calm to serious in a heartbeat.

A bead of sweat fell down Mew's cheek. "W.. what do you mean?"

"It means I'm tasking you with being with him when we're done here so that I can have the information I need to either fix the problem… or end it, as the time for my slumber approaches rapidly. Since I'll be leaving the mortal realm for a while to regenerate my energies, I've arranged that Mewtwo will take over your role as creator of life, until that task is done. When I wake up in a few years, I'll be expecting a report on the human, so that I can place them back into their natural state if it is possible. It will only be an extremely short power nap of course, 4-5 years I expect."

Mew gulped to herself. If Arceus needed a power-nap to even begin to fix this problem, then it meant something was wrong. Very wrong. She knew well that Arceus could move continents without rest, but now he needed rest in order to fix one random human that happened to get nuked by impossible levels of origin-level psychic energy. Big contrast. And while the issue remained a mystery to all of them, she knew that in the worst case scenario, Arceus wanted her to do something she really wouldn't want. If she had screwed up beyond fixing, the only thing that awaited her new friend… was execution.

… If that was even possible. If it wasn't possible, then that just opened an even bigger can of cosmic worms that the world could drown in.

Welp, it's been how many years since I started this? And I finally have a written version of Chapter 2. Sorry for the multi-year wait, but Chapter 3 is already partly done in the works and hopefully will be finished soon. As most of the major changes also happen in the beginning, I'm also working on the real chapter 10, so watch out for that too.

Also, for updates and also to give me peace of mind to keep writing, as mentioned at the beginning of the chapter, I have a discord server.

Because of FF's dislike of links, only the very end of the link has been provided. [zaHGsbVsPZ]

REMINDER FOR OLD/NEW FF READERS, Chapter 3 will feel off for y'all because the beginning section of the combat scene was originally in Chapter 2, but it will be moved into Chapter 3. I will remove this warning when Chapter 3 is released.