IMP AN:
Hey there everyone. First I'd like to say I'm sorry for the lateness for this first chapter. It had started out as me wanting to enjoy the last days of my summer without any worry at all, but then like my AN had mentioned as a warning before, school got me good. I'm already swamped with a bazillion and one things.
So, in short, I can't promise a chapter every two weeks like I used to. I can only say the chapters will come when they come. I hope things will slow down closer to November when my internship will be over and I'll only have to worry about three classes. So until then, hopefully, I'll try to update every once in a while when I can.
I hope you all understand. My creative juices are all still there and I've been thinking about all kinds of stories I want to write after Master Challenge's parts and Pondus Omnium. It's simply my time table that's against me.
Until next chapter, best wishes, ~NoSignal.
Enjoy!
Normal Talk
Thoughts
Lucario talking unless stated otherwise
Zoroark talking unless stated otherwise
Mienshao talking unless stated otherwise
Let the journey continue...
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
For a moment, he could forget about the complexities his life threw at him these days, all because of a breath of salty sea air that to him seemed unique to Vermillion city. He'd been gone longer than a few months from his home region before, but for some reason it felt like it had been years.
"Pika!" Pikachu cried out as everyone walked down one of the planks the airplane had attached to the docks. Ellie became a bit more excited than Pikachu, seeing as she wasn't as used to travel as her peer and leapt to Ash's head to squeal out her own cry.
"It seems a bit busier here than normal. I wonder what's going on?" Misty asked glancing around and seeing large groups of trainers of all ranks and ages with their pokemon.
"According to my Pokenav, Vermillion's local news says its an evolution festival. Vendors have come from all over to sell items and stones," Max informed everyone.
"Huh wonder if Surge had anything to do with this? He was always so gung-ho on evolution…" Ash murmured under his breath, causing Pikachu to roll his eyes at his trainer.
The trainers planned to stock up on supplies at the mart before heading towards Cerulean. Their ultimate destinations were the Indigo Plateau to register that they'd finished their hunt for the tokens and then Pallet town, were they would all remain until time for the tournament.
The predictable choices headed towards the mart to gather food and other supplies to top off their stocks. The rest of the group decided to hang around the vendors and shop a little. After all, they needed to wait for the second group to arrive in Vermillion as well.
zzz-Ritchie-zzz
Ritchie could remember enjoying Vermillion the few times he had visited. Battling Surge had been one of the highlights during his own journey as it had been the first time Zippo had taken down a pokemon more evolved than him.
The activity in the city now was okay, but he had always been one for a more peaceful atmosphere. He was, however, interested in buying some things from the vendors. If he could get past the crowds.
"No prices greater than eight thousand poké!"
"Ha, over here no more than seven thousand five hundred poké, folks!"
"But our their wares authentic!?"
Ritchie glanced about and frowned. Of course there would be charlatans here trying to trick trainers… He looked over his shoulder and happened to spot Ash, Misty and Max nearby. "Hey Ash!"
Ash perked up along with his companions and walked over to Ritchie. "What cha need, Ritchie?"
Ritchie sighed and used his thumb to gesture to the crowds and the vendors nearest them. "Can you tell which of these items are fakes?"
Ash frowned, understanding what his friend was talking about. "Yeah."
"Ash was just talking to us about that," Max informed. "He's been memorizing which guys have fake merch. We're going to turn them in once he's down looking around."
Ash nodded to Ritchie. "It's kinda my job to inform the authorities of that kind of stuff. One time when I was training at Cameron, the G-men brought in a massive amount of contraband for me and Riley to look through. Talk about something taking forever!"
"Pikaaa!" Pikachu agreed, no doubt recalling the event.
"But you practically sat back with a cool drink more than half of the time," Ash responded slyly. Pikachu gasped in fake hurt. "You know it's true." Pikachu pouted slightly as Ash started to scan the booths. He then pointed to one of them. "That guy has completely genuine items, one has all fake and the last has only a couple, which means he might not know they're fakes himself."
Ritchie nodded his thanks before watching Ash, Misty and Max walk off. Then Ritchie patiently waited in line after releasing Edger. Eventually the two made it up to the front of the line. There, Ritchie pointed to a dusk stone and the man bagged it in a small satchel which made Honedge happy. Ritchie looked around the table once more; he noticed that there only seemed to be stones and a few other items that were mostly minerals, like metal coat.
"Do you have any other evolutionary items that aren't stones?"
The man nodded and pulled a few things from under the counter. "Any of these suit your fancy, son?" He placed a couple scales, one blue and one multicolored as well as a claw-like object.
Ritchie saw the Razor claw and hummed in thought. A smile crossed his face. "Perfect."
zzz-Misty-zzz
"This all kinda reminds me of all the pokemon evolving at the base of evolution mountain, you know with the Eevee brothers?" Misty remarked.
Ash nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I just hope no one's forcing their pokemon to evolve."
"Pikachu pi pika chu pi pikachu."
"Oh, I actually didn't know that…"
"What Ash?" Max asked.
"Pikachu says a trainer can't physically force a pokemon to evolve with an item since the pokemon has to use some of its aura to accept the stone or item's energy, usually it's peer-pressure that forces them to change against their wills."
Misty listened quietly as Ash talked a bit more to Max about evolution. She noticed him glance up every once in a while to lock eyes on a vendor or two as though taking mental notes of every con-man or woman.
The water trainer looked around herself and noticed a young girl with a couple of Togekiss floating around her and shooting into the air to fly from time to time. Misty carefully pulled Togetics poke ball from her backpack. Would Togetic want to evolve again?
"Yo, mist!"
Misty snapped her head up with she heard Ash's voice. Her boyfriend smiled a bit.
"You okay? You were in lala land."
Misty nodded. "Yeah I guess… I was just thinking."
Ash placed a hand on her shoulder when they neared a Officer Jenny's booth. "Take some time to sit somewhere and think. I'm sure you'll figure out whatever it is."
Misty smiled at Ash and then Max before walking off. She heard Max plead with Ash to allow him to follow him and Jenny's officers to arrest the crooks. She reached a small bluff that over looked the docks and most of the bay.
"It's a great place to sit and think."
She jumped and looked behind her to see a old man and a Machop. "Don't mind us. We're just trying to flatten this land for a construction project of ours."
"Oh I'm sorry. I can move."
"No need, miss. Take all the time you need. Besides We've practically flattened all the land already, I just don't have enough money to start building."
"Oh, thanks." Misty watched as the man walked off and Machop started attacking certain boulders on the other edge. She turned back towards her view of the bay and started to think. Ultimately she decided that she needed to talk with Togetic and released him.
"Toge?"
Misty smiled brightly at her dear friend. "Togetic, have you ever-have you ever wanted to evolve again?"
Togetic perked up in surprise before floating down to roost on his trainer's shoulder. The fairy type's face scrunched up in thought.
"Yeah, that's about how I feel."
Togetic nodded slowly before looking over at the Wingull that were flying high above the bay, but were almost level with them. This was the second time Misty had talked with him about this and they both had still not come to a decision; at first it hadn't been much of a big deal and they'd forgotten about it. His eyes continued following the Wingulls; he could fly as he was, but could he soar?
As the silence drug on, both wondered if they'd ever truly come to a decision one way or another or if they'd keep putting it off.
zz
The old man wandered back towards where the young girl had been sitting to notice a wad of bills with a card. He reached down and picked them both up, noticing the wad was a good sum of poke'. He then blinked in concern before reading the card.
Thanks for letting me sit and think. Here's a donation for that project of yours.
~Misty Waterflower of Cerulean Gym
The old man smiled happily and showed Machop, who cheered.
zzz-Everyone-zzz
A large group had formed around one of the machines that had been placed outside of the pokemon center. Strangers as well as everyone from the two groups had brought themselves back together to see Brock and Gary facing each other. Brock's Rhydon was standing over his trainer with a Protector in his hands and Gary's Dusclops was standing beside his, wearing a Reaper cloth over his shoulders.
"Ready?" Gary asked.
"Yeah, what about you, Rhydon?"
"Rhydoooh!"
"And you. Duslcops?"
"Clopsss…"
With that, the two veterans returned their pokemon and placed them on the slots in the trading machine. After pressing a few buttons and watching the balls of light travel between the wires, trade places and then trade back, both trainers picked up their pokemon and released a Rhyperior and a Dusknoir.
"You look great, Rhyperior," Brock stated as everyone backed up a bit for the pokemon to roar happily.
"Noir…"
Gary grinned at his ghost type, who glanced over at him with his one glowing eye before giving a thumbs up. The rest of the trainers in the group congratulated Brock and Gary as well as their pokemon before they started to group up and prepare to head out of Vermillion. The second group had gotten of their plane a couple hours after Ash's group and had met up with them.
"Finally! All the energy coming from the pokemon evolving all over the place was giving me a headache," Ash sighed happily as they crossed the entrance of the city as trees started to appear. Pikachu nodded in agreement.
"Always so impatient Ashy-boy," Gary chimed, making Ash give him a annoyed pout.
"It will be nice to get to Pallet town," Clemont spoke up. "A good place to train and rest before the tournament."
"Yeah a little less craziness for some time," Serena agreed.
"I wonder if the League has found any other leads on Team Rocket," Kenny offered.
"No way to know for now," Brock replied.
"So we just wait around until something happens?" Barry asked in shock.
Trip gave the hyper boy a sidelong glance. "We don't have many other options. We still don't know where their main base is. Until then, we just have to react to everything they throw at us."
"Cowards is what they are," Georgia added haughtily.
Ash listened to his friends talk more about what Team Rocket could be planning as he felt his headache fade away. He noticed a slight bit of worry coming from Misty and knew she hadn't figured out her problem yet. He then noticed Togetic on her shoulder and realized whatever it was, he was having trouble too.
Ash was sure things would be better when they got to Pallet. It was a safe and peaceful place after all.
zzz-Unknown Location-zzz
"I don't know guys… I'm already out seven of my nine lives," Meowth murmured worriedly as he and his partners crept along in the seemingly empty corridors.
"This is the only way we can get an idea of what the boss is actually planning," Jessie replied somewhat emotionlessly. There was no flamboyance, no excitement, just business.
James didn't even answer, because he was too busy thinking. Being thieves as they were, they'd snuck into many places and usually had ended up stealing something inside more often than not. As they crept through the steel halls which only offered the occasional rattle from air vents, he couldn't help but feel like something was different. Something felt, right. The three knew that they weren't exactly the best Team Rocket agents, they weren't blind to their countless failures, but they had always merely ignored the bad and focused on the positive, otherwise they would've never been able to motivate themselves ever again; they had done this even if it had made them seem borderline moronic. Now though, this was something they couldn't fail, this was something more than trying to force himself to break the law even though he'd never truly felt good doing it, sure maybe the thrill or the moment of jubilee when they had temporarily outsmarted someone was nice, but nothing more than that. This was different and James just couldn't quite figure out why.
"Here," Jessie motioned and pointed to a dead-end.
"Uh, Jess?" Meowth paused. "There's nothing there-"
"The air vent, you dolt!"
"Sssh!" James worriedly reminded and the fiery haired young woman calmed down.
She huffed. "Meowth is going to go through that to reach that room that practically no one is allowed in, got it? Me and James will keep look out."
Meowth blanched. "Say what?"
"Use your cat-like instincts or something," Jessie replied.
"What if someone comes by, Jess?" James asked, knowing that people did use these corridors, even if it was merely for patrol.
"We'll distract them," Jessie answered simply.
After a bit more arguing and a few colorful words from Jessie, Meowth found himself crawling into the opened vent. All sorts of thoughts went through Meowth's mind as he walked quietly forward on his four feet, something he hadn't done in ages. He had helped the scientists develop the dark serum which could control pokemon, by telling them when a pokemon was no longer even able to communicate as well as giving them a few bits of info about how pokemon bodies worked. After that, they'd kicked him out just in time for James and Jessie to return from a mission in Unova and tell them they were thinking of betraying the boss. To say Meowth had been surprised was an understatement. Since then, they'd tried to gain info about what the boss was planning; they wanted to know what they were truly fighting for. Jessie had been quiet and anti-social since their decision and James had been broody and constantly staring off into the distance and him? He had been a bit lost. That was until Meowth had figured something important out.
At first he'd considered splitting from the two, because the idea of leaving Team Rocket was bizarre. Sure he'd done it temporarily before, but he'd always come back. This was where he belonged, right? It was only after greater thought that he'd come to a more likely and slightly enlightening answer. He'd never returned for Team Rocket, he'd returned to Jessie and James. His pride had stung a bit from his revelation, but the truth was that he somewhat saw them as not only his friends but his trainers. He could sometimes be more intelligent than them and often times he preferred his space, but he could remember many of the twerps' pokemon having varied relationships with their trainers. The point was, poke ball or not, he was attached to Jimmy and Jess.
"You think this is a good idea?"
"Of course!"
Meowth tensed, feeling his claws rake slightly against the steel under his pads. He looked down through a grated opening and saw two scientists standing in something like a locker room.
"I'm just saying that that pokemon has the power to absorb life from things. I almost wish Lawrence had just failed to catch it."
"You dare wish ill will on the boss' plans?"
"No of course not, but… never mind. Let's get something to eat."
"Whatever."
Meowth watched the two men disappear through a side door. "A pokemon? What did that nut with da flying fortress, catch?" He whispered to himself before walking further down the vent. Eventually, he found himself at the end and after making sure no one was in the dark room, Meowth opened the vent and landed softly on the ground. The feline stretched and stood on two feet again. "Much betta."
Mostly the room looked like most of the rooms the Rocket scientists used. Nothing really stood out until he saw two things that made his fur stand on end. In one large tube, there was a pokemon suspended in liquid. After looking all over, he found a button to the lights and lit up the pokemon's pod. It was Yvetal.
Memories of being turned to stone made the cat shiver. Why would the boss need such a purely destructive pokemon? Other pokemon could threaten pokemon and hurt them, and most times it took a good deal of abuse from a pokemon to actually kill a human, but with Yvetal it was just getting touched by that light…
Looking over, he saw a strange bottle that seemed familiar. Then he recalled that it was one of the bottles that could be used to turn Hoopa into its Unbound form or more often take the Unbound energy away. They were called Prison bottles and supposedly they could trap spirits, energy, and a number of other things. They were mysterious items that many believed to be occult in nature simply because you could lock almost anyone or anything in them if you had the power to.
Meowth crept towards the bottle a little bit and noticed the bottle seemed completely empty for some reason. "Huh?"
He flinched when he heard something like a door open and turned to scurry towards the vent. In a couple of bounds he was inside it again, letting the vent down to cover up any hint of tampering. Feeling both disturbed by what he'd seen and proud for not being caught, he made his way back to his friends, never knowing that an evil man and his Zoroark were watching the entire thing.
zz
"I wonder what's taking so long…" Jessie grumbled.
"You think he got spotted?" James asked.
"No, we would've been caught by now too if that was true," Jessie replied leaning back against one of the walls.
James frowned and looked back up at the vent. "I'm starting to get nervous about what they're really hid-"
"Ssh." Jessie suddenly interrupted.
Both then heard the sounds of a few people coming, laughing and joking about something, probably some grunts.
James looked at Jessie in slight panic as if asking her what they should do. She heard the grunts getting closer and lunged at James.
"And I said, 'you know what? I don't give a damn!' You shoulda seen the look his face got."
"Sounds like he deserved it, not taking Team Rocket seriously…"
"What the-"
One of the three guys to pass by a dead end noticed other people, alerting his pals to the problem. Jessie was making out with James, who seemed to be trying to act like he wasn't gobsmacked.
"Eeh, whatever…"
"Nice…"
They started walking away and after they were out of sight the third one spoke, "I'm confused. I always thought that guy was gay…"
At that, James' whipped his head to the side, dislodging Jessie from him temporarily. "Excuse me? Just because I'm in touch with my feminine side and have a sense of fashion-mmphfphm…" Before James could start ranting, Jessie had clasped her hand over his mouth.
"Are you an idiot?"
"Mphmh?"
Jessie grumbled and let him go before stepping away. The two briefly locked eyes and then looked away, flustered.
"Uh, quick thinking there Jess."
"Thanks. Only downfall is that Cassidy will find out and tease me."
James glanced over at Jessie, who still wasn't looking at him. Did that mean she would feel ashamed to be with him? Whoa wait, where did that come from?
"Welp."
James and Jessie both jumped at the new voice. When they saw it was Meowth, James put a hand over his heart and Jessie hissed in annoyance.
"Easy youse guys, no need to bite my head off. Hey Jimmy, why's your face so red?"
James coughed. "The air conditioner doesn't cool this part of the base very well. I'm just a bit hot…"
"Oh… well…"
"What's the news?" Jessie asked.
"I'm getting to dat," Meowth replied with a huff before he grew more somber. "I've kinda got some bad news-"
zzz-Indigo Plateau-zzz
It had been few days getting there, but they had finally made it to the road leading to the Plateau. Their stops in Cerulean and Pewter had been peaceful enough; Misty's sisters had been excited to hear they had found all their tokens and Brock's family had been both happy and worried concerning all the Team Rocket activity. Brock had even gotten an update about Forrest and Clara. Since the other League events had been postponed, the two had been traveling and training, waiting for the time when Clara could challenge gym leaders again. Forrest had even captured his own Larvitar while Clara had caught several pokemon, one being a Vulpix.
With that good news helping boost their general morale, they all made their way towards the building which held the League HQ for Kanto, or at least the HQ that was open to the public, and where battles against the Elite Four and Champion took place for the winners of the normal Leagues. A young woman was at the counter when everyone walked up to it.
"Hello there, can I help you?"
"Yes miss, we were wanting to register for the Master Challenge third section. Both of our groups have collected the six tokens," Brock informed.
The young woman made an O shape with her mouth and indicated to them to give her a moment. She clicked a button on the phone next to her, making a light glow on her headset.
"Yes, hello. This is Jessica. We have a couple groups from the Master Challenge here. I was just calling because I know I need a supervisor's signature. Okay, thanks."
Jessica smiled brightly at them. "She'll be down in a minute."
So they waited as the young woman started listing their names on the right forms as well as scanning each of their pokedexes to prove they had the tokens. She signed something herself before looking up at them. "Okay now, could you tell me your Team names?"
"Veteran Victors," Clemont stated for the sake of his group and then the girl looked over at Ash's team, whom had all started to stare at Drew.
"WHAT!?" Drew shouted. "How was I supposed to know they actually expected us to come up with a Team name?"
"The Flames?" Chili said.
"No Team Aquarius," Cress sighed.
"Heh. Oh boy. Not again," Cilan said nervously.
"Oh! Adventurers of the Unknown?" May said sweetly.
Paul covered his face with a hand.
Ash then smiled slowly and spoke up over his friends. "The Chosen."
Everyone grew quiet and then started up again, thinking the name was fitting. The receptionist of course didn't understand the unspoken joke and wrote down both names. At that moment, the nearby elevator opened. Karen walked out.
"Hello everyone. I hear you guys got all your tokens. That's really great."
"I heard we were two of a few select that actually got here faster than most of the competition. Is that also true?" Paul asked, masking his emotions like he most often did.
Karen looked over at the young man coyly. "You aren't shy, huh?"
"We aren't the type to let it get to our heads if that's what you're concerned about," Trip seconded, only for Karen to laugh.
"Never crossed my mind, besides, I know all of you. That's not only because of recent events with unsavory fellows, but also because most if not all of you have popped up at least once on a Champion's radar. You're all very talented trainers."
Max smiled brightly.
"Tells us something we don't know," Harley replied only for Solidad to smack him in the back of the head, very hard.
"I can't believe you."
Trip only let his eye twitch slightly and Ash sweat dropped a bit.
Karen smirked. "Right then. How about this Mister Ranellis?" She walked over and signed the papers. "You're now ready to enter the third portion of the Master Challenge. See you hot shots in a few months." With that said, she turned and disappeared in the elevator.
"Miss Karen always has a flare about her," Jessica laughed.
"She does seem a bit mysterious," Iris murmured.
"Matches her type preference for dark pokemon," Gary added.
The group thanked Jessica and left the Plateau. They needed to head through Viridian and then they'd be in Pallet. Ash was excited to see his mom again as well as taste her cooking. As they walked though, Ash couldn't help but feel something was wrong. He subconsciously touched his pendant.
zzz-Cerulean Cave / A day and a half later-zzz
Mewtwo Y gathered her brown cloak around her body as she looked at the crystals that glittered in the ceiling above them. "This place is very peaceful and quiet."
Mewtwo X perked up and glanced at her. "It is. I don't which to live here forever though."
She turned to look at him. "Where do you wish to live?"
Mewtwo X closed his eyes. "I want to return to New Island and rebuild something there. With our powers, we could make it into a island protected by a mirage. Any pokemon that needed sanctuary could come there, much like the other clones found Peace under Mount Quena."
Mewtwo nodded slowly before closing her eyes halfway. "I… I like the sound of that. A place were others who are lost can come, others out there that do not know their purpose, like the clones, like the Genesect, others that need to learn that they control their own destiny."
Mewtwo X and Y glanced at each other for a moment before the ends of their long tails entertained and started to glow a bit. They stopped and let go when they both heard a noise.
Mewtwo X nodded to Y and focused to Teleport only to find out he couldn't. "What?"
"I'm afraid, you will not be escaping me again."
A dark mass flashed between both Mewtwo and Mewtwo X felt his crystal break away and then he heard it shatter against the ground. The black mass stopped and turned to show itself as a Houndoom. Mewtwo X growled and whipped his head to look in the other direction.
A mound of dirt showed where a pokemon was hiding, but that wasn't what he was focused on.
"Thanks to Dugtrio, you're stuck here," Giovanni muttered as he walked out of the shadows. Archer as well as Vane and around a hundred grunts with various weapons emerged as well. An Umbreon with blue rings and yellow eyes sat near Vane.
"You believe you can catch us? Not even your fortress could do the job." Mewtwo Y spat.
"Ah yes, the fortress did fail, but that's not such a problem." Giovanni snapped his fingers.
Out of the water of a nearby pool of water, a massive shape popped out and grabbed Mewtwo Y in its jaws. Mewtwo stumbled backwards in shock as he watched Giratina, or what looked like Giratina toss his partner into the back wall.
Giratina's normally gray skin was black now. His red portions were a ominous purple and his gold claws and face mask were a bone white. The now seemingly mindless creature turned to Mewtwo X and roared.
Mewtwo focused and in a flash turned into Mega Mewtwo X and used Barrier. Giratina's Dragonbreath slammed against the shield a moment later as Mewtwo simultaneously used Miracle eye and Psychic to toss the Houndoom towards another pool of water and levitate a stunned Mewtwo Y into the protection of his shield.
The dark hound cried out in shock as his body was submerged in water, prompting Archer to return his pet. He made no other move though and stood ridged with his son and boss. The grunts had started to fire green blasts of energy from their weapons at the shield, trying to help break it down.
Mewtwo Y shook off her daze before transforming into Mega Mewtwo Y. She then made an inner Barrier within her partner's before lashing Giratina with couple Psycho cuts. The ghostly dragon wailed in pain before his eyes glowed a deep purple.
"Draco meteor." Giovanni stated simply. Giratina built up the attack in his throat and both psychic types could see a strange purplish red energy circling around the attack. The bullet of explosive draconic energy smashed through the double Barrier like glass, exploding in the psychics' faces.
"Enough!" Mewtwo growled out using some psychic energy to dissipate the smoke. Both he and Mewtwo Y were a bit burnt and damaged. Mewtwo X then let white light fill his eyes and Giratina flailed backwards as though invisibly struck. Giratina could no longer use Draco meteor, at least for a while.
Both Mewtwos then Recovered as Giratina was trying to regain focus. They both readied their hands in front of them, forming a small ball of pink energy in their hands each. They then rose their hands and the spheres above their heads.
"Psystrike!" Both of them screamed. Pink spears of light shot through Giratina's body, causing inner damage to his aura reserves and cutting his flesh some. Blackish colored blood oozed out and Giratina cried out in rage.
Giovanni merely continued to sit still, not seemingly bothered at all. All the grunts had stopped firing.
"Again, you fail to stop me." Mewtwo X stated defiantly. As Giratina slowly slumped to the ground in exhaustion. Though the serum was making him want to do nothing but fight and obey, his body simply couldn't follow through.
Giovanni slowly smiled in an arrogant fashion. "You maybe one of the worlds strongest psychic pokemon, but no pokemon can ever match the intelligence of a human. Even the great Arceus has lost his touch through the ages. We have the means to rule over everything."
"We will not let you succeed." Mewtwo Y retorted angrily.
"That's no longer up to you to decide."
Mewtwo X glanced over at Giratina and saw a black glow leave his eyes right before the titan fainted. "No!" In a moment, both Mewtwos felt a severe drain of energy and reverted to their normal forms against their will, before collapsing.
"You could say we're bonded, my friend. Bonded by destiny."
That was the last thing Mewtwo X heard before darkness took over.
zzz-Pallet Town-zzz
"Well I'm glad you all made it here okay. I can't wait to get a chance to look over all your pokemon and see how they've grown!" Professor Oak exclaimed excitedly.
Tracey laughed nervously at the professor's excitement while the rest of the group smiled.
"It's good to be back!" Ash declared happily.
"I'm certain Pallet town will get excited to see so many talented trainers training here for the Challenge. You've visited your mother, haven't you my dear boy?"
At that Ash's face started turning blue. "Oh sh-"
"Ashton Ketchum!"
Everyone backed off as Mrs. Ketchum came through the lab doors and marched up to her now sweating son.
"Hey, mom… Look I really did mean to come by there first but it must've slipped my mind-"
"I do not want to learn my son's in town because of a neighbor next time, young man."
Ash deflated. "Sorry mom."
Delia sighed and gave him a smile before looking about and saying hello to everyone else. After talking for a bit longer, everyone walked out into the lab's ranch area. It was then that everyone released all their pokemon; Ash even brought over all his through his pendant from the Tree.
Everyone greeted their pokemon while Ash's greeted him by doing their traditional dog pile.
Ash twitched underneath the pile and deadpanned when some of Goodra's slime splatted on his face. "Yep, glad to see everybody."
"Incredible, everyone!" Oak exclaimed before walking over to Dawn's Bulbasaur and carefully rubbing her bulb. He was rewarded by a surprise puff of Stun spore. He collapsed backwards as everyone gasped in shock; Oak twitched as Gary sweat dropped with a deadpanned expression. "Ah yes, her thigmotropic response is working just fine."
"Muuuuuk."
"Oh no please, Muk." Ash's Muk then covered the professor, acting a bit put out that the professor was giving another pokemon attention.
Tracey coughed. "I'll help the professor while you guys start training."
"And I'll cook something special to celebrate your finding of all your tokens!" Delia exclaimed.
"That's very kind of you Mrs. Ketchum," Solidad said politely.
"Indeed. Thank you." Nando nodded.
Barry grew excited and dashed up in front of Mrs. Ketchum. "Can we have those butter cookies shaped like pokemon!? I haven't had those in forever! My dad said Kanto and Johto make the best!"
Delia blinked and then smiled. "Of course! I'll head to the market right away." Ash's Houndoom ran over to her and barked. "You want to come with me?" She asked politely.
"Dooh!" Houndoom barked.
Ash smiled and nodded. "Take care of mom, okay Houndoom?"
Delia okay laughed. "It's just the market, Ash. I've been a million and one times." She turned and walked back into the lab with Houndoom at her heels.
zzz-Ash and Paul-zzz
"I don't want you to even consider half-assing anything with me."
"Of course not. I owe you more than that, don't I?" Ash replied.
Paul gave the smallest of smiles. "Good. Gastrodon, ready?"
Gastrodon gurgled and eyed Tyrantrum steadily. The large dragon huffed.
"Now, Tyrantrum. You can't keep underestimating other people's pokemon. Should I have you battle Goodra again?" Ash asked.
Tyrantrum had a small storm cloud form over his head.
"So pay attention. Bigger doesn't always mean stronger, pal."
Tyrantrum turned his large head and nodded at Ash before widening his stance and letting out a roar meant to frighten opponents. Gastrodon's body merely jiggled.
"Let's start." Paul stated simply.
Ash nodded before Paul saw the blue light fill his friend's eyes.
Tyrantrum roared as rocks started to float in the air while surrounded by white light. Paul waited only a moment before countering. "Use multiple Water pulse."
Gastrodon focused a small sphere of energy near his mouth before firing off several shots, striking each rock and sending dust and debris everywhere. If there was one thing different about battling someone like Ash that didn't have to use verbal commands, it was being forced to practice one's ability to identify attacks and moves by sight alone.
However, the one downside was that unlike psychics or empaths, Ash could see through objects. In a breath, Tyrantrum rushed right through the dust cloud, mouth open. Paul had no chance to tell Gastrodon to dodge before a Crunch had captured his pokemon in Tyrantrum's jaws. The giant fossil pokemon then rose a foot with blue glowing claws a slammed it down on the rest of Gastrodon's body, making it cry out.
"Muddy water!"
Tyrantrum screeched when the muddy water swirled around both pokemon's forms and washed the dragon away.
When everything settled, Tyrantrum swished his tail and snorted while Gastrodon stared straight ahead.
Ash smiled and Paul could swear he could feel Ash's excitement pulsing across their battlefield. Tyrantrum grunted before crouching and leaping into the air. He came back down shortly making some of the earth buckle and a crack run across the ground.
zz
Professor Oak looked out of his window when he heard a loud noise echo across his fields. A smile came to his face as he finished signing some document or another. "Good thing I have several Diglett and Dugtrio handy, else my ranch would look like a battlefield more often than not."
"You can just tell how excited everyone is," Tracey expressed, carrying a few books.
"No doubt about that," Oak replied with a laugh as Tracey walked out. A small frown came to his face for a brief moment when he noticed a note on his desk talking about some of the bad weather going on in the Archipelago and East Johto. They couldn't really forget entirely about the danger that still loomed over their heads, not yet anyways.
zzz-Drew, Gary, and Brock-zzz
"Use Fire spin!"
"Will-o-wisp!" Gary snapped.
Brock's Ninetales allowed flames to spiral around it's tails before aiming and firing them at Dusknoir, while the ghost rose his arms and shot off several balls of ghostly flame. The two attacks met and erupted into a burst of smoke.
Drew watched carefully with a hand placed on his Girafarig's back. He heard his pokemon scratch its hoof against the earth in impatience. He gave it a smile. "Easy there. We'll get our chance soon. We're taking turns, so we just have to be patient." Girafarig snorted in response.
"Hex!"
"Noooir!" Dusknoir cried out, while gripping its head, when Ninetales's eyes turned purple.
Drew smirked. "Professor or Doctor, they still are two great trainers…"
"Masque!" Masquerain chirped in agreement.
Drew gave the bug a side-long look. "By the way, when were you going to tell me about May's Beautifly?"
Masquerain turned quickly and started making some strange whistling noise, which only made Drew snort with a smile.
"Like trainer like pokemon, Eeey Grass-stain!?"
Drew tensed and growled at Gary who was grinning like the ass he was.
"Oh well that makes a lot more sense as to why your pokemon are all single for so long!"
Gary paled and then grumbled while Dusknoir seemed to be entirely unamused and merely shrugged. Gary glanced at him. "You aren't supposed to act like he's right."
Dusknoir scratched the back of his head with one of his large hands.
zzz-Cress and Misty-zzz
"Mud shot!" Omastar drew his arms towards his mouth before flailing them out as several shots of mud fired out of his maw. The mud struck the Electroball that had been sent towards him and they both exploded.
"Eerie impulse!"
Misty watched as small almost unnoticed pulses of electric energy echoed across the field and made Omastar, of all pokemon, shiver a bit.
"Spike cannon!"
"Discharge!"
Spines coated in energy flew like missiles, leaving curves of light through the air, only to be deflected one after another by arcs of electricity. The remaining charge was able to course through the air and strike Omastar, who retracted back into his shell from the force of the blow and was spun rapidly backwards.
"If there was any question before, you are an excellent water type user, Misty!" Cress declared as Omastar slowly exited his shell and pulled himself upright again.
"Thanks, Cress! You're really great too you know?"
"I appreciate you're complements, however I do believe you have a bit more natural talent compared to me. Age isn't everything, but you've shown more skill for being younger than me."
Misty blinked and then smiled brightly. "Thanks."
Cress nodded. "You're welcome, but don't forget the battle isn't over of course…"
"Of course."
zzz-Ritchie, Stephan, and Cameron-zzz
Cameron grinned in pure excitement as he watched his Samurott spar against Kraken as Ritchie and Stephan battled with two other choices. Cameron's Espeon curled around his legs and never let it's gaze fall away from the action before it.
"Rollout!"
"Ice shard, quickly!" Ritchie snapped at his Sneasel, Aisu. The ice type strafed to the right before stopping and using Ice shard, knocking Donphan off course.
Cameron laughed in joy as the battle got more and more intense. Donphan was forced to abandon using Rollout since he wasn't fast enough. Sneasel was able to block each Horn attack his opponent tried with Ice punches, ice coating his arms to the elbow.
It was during this intense close combat situation that the claw on Sneasel's neck started to glow with the rest of his body. Aisu was now a Weavile.
Ritchie's eyes lit up and Sparky cheered.
zzz-May, Dawn, Solidad, and Zoey-zzz
"Fire fang and Faint attack!" Zoey nodded. Her Houndoom shot forward as black fog followed him; his mouth burst into flames as he neared Litleo.
"Dig!" Litleo made a yipping noise before obeying Solidad and diving into the earth, avoiding the combo move. Combo moves looked great and could be a very important part of a coordinator's arsenal, but they mattered not if they couldn't hit.
Zoey grit her teeth and then looked at Solidad. "You never let your guard down huh, Solidad?"
Solidad smiled. "You bet."
"Dodge that Ice beam and use Aura sphere!" Dawn's voice called out. Her Togekiss twittered and spun under the beam that lanced through the air. May's Glaceon automatically used Ice shard to stop Aura sphere from hitting her.
May nodded. "Okay, Blizzard!" She watched her ice type aim and fire the wave of snow and icy cold winds before she felt someone tug on her pants. She ignored it the first time but by the fourth she glanced down. Munchlax was there tugging silently on her. "Quit it, Munchlax."
"Munch."
"Munchlax, stop."
"Munch."
"Munchlax…"
"Munch…"
By this time the four girls had stopped training, noticing Munchlax and May interact. May pouted in annoyance until Munchlax pointed towards the woods.
"Hm?"
Munclax then walked in that direction and the girls followed until they saw Munchlax staring up into a tree. Surskit popped her head out from the leaves before disappearing. May hummed before she walked up to the tree and tried to get a good look. She gasped as the others came closer.
"What is it?" Zoey asked quietly.
"I think. I think Beautifly had her eggs," May replied.
They watched as Liepard appeared from the brush with several berries in her mouth. She walked towards the tree and leapt into it gracefully.
They waited a few minutes before Liepard leapt down with an egg carefully held in her mouth. Beautifly fluttered down afterwards with a second egg and Surskit right behind.
"Wow, congratulations, Beautifly!" May said joyfully.
The others all said similar things as Munchlax only sighed, amused.
zzz-Kenny and Harley-zzz
"Needle arm!"
Harley's Cacturne bashed Alakazam's cheek with the move, only causing Kenny to smile. "Focus blast!" Cacturne wailed in pain when he forced back from the fighting energy attack.
"Hmph." Harley pouted.
"Don't tell me you're giving up already?" Kenny asked with a small smirk.
Harley grumbled. "Pfft, as if. Just get ready to be creeped out…" He gave a wry smile as Cacturne stood while his eyes and body glowed dark. In a flash, he was in front of Alakazam and double punched him with a Payback attack. Kenny gasped in slight shock. "Don't underestimate me, hun. You could say I've found a better reason to fight. I'm the new and improved, Harley."
Kenny smiled as Alakazam steadied himself. "Is that so? Then show me!"
zzz-Max and Iris-zzz
"Dragons are powerful and hard to battle in almost all situations…" Max murmured as Iris released her Flygon and Garchomp. He adjusted his glasses.
"You bet they are," Iris nodded.
Max pulled out two pokeballs. "There are still many things I need to learn and more pokemon I need to capture someday, but like Ash used to say, 'this is just another step.' Go Sceptile! Go Whimsicott!"
Iris blinked. "Huh? Whimsicott?"
Max smirked. "I used one of the sun stones we still had." Sceptile prepared himself and let his leaves on his arms stiffen. Whimsicott leapt into the air and started to float idly.
Iris smiled. "Okay then, Flygon, Dragonbreath on Sceptile! Garchomp, Poison jab on Whimsicott!"
Max gasped. "Whimsicott, dodge it and use Fairy wind! Sceptile, run right through that attack using Dual chop!"
zzz-Cilan and Chili-zzz
"Rock slide, Torterra!"
"Extremespeed!" Chili snapped. Arcanine dashed past the spot the Rock slide were supposed to hit and slammed into Torterra. "Now Fire fang!" The canine bit down hard with his flaming fangs and Torterra grunted in pain.
"Torterra, use Hidden power," Cilan returned calmly. The spheres of energy formed and started to circle Torterra before smashing into the side of Arcanine's head several times. The normal type move dislodged the fire type and he leapt back for his next command. "Use Earthquake, now!"
"Don't let that hit you, Extremespeed, into the air!" Chili shouted. Arcanine launched himself into the air using his speed alone. "Use Flamethrower!"
"Stone edge!"
Both attacks passed each other and hit their targets. Torterra was surrounded in flames and Arcanine was knocked out of the sky by the stones. Both pokemon pulled themselves up and though they were a bit dirty and tired, they still had plenty of fight in them left.
"You've got much sharper in battle, Chili."
"Thanks! I learned a lot from you and Cress and from everyone else too. I'm… really thankful."
Cilan smiled in a competitive way. "Let's continue then. Show me how grateful you are! Show me the bond between you and your pokemon and we will show you ours!"
Torterrrrrrrrraaah!"
Chili grinned and saw Arcanine turn his head and grin back with his sharp teeth. "You're going to wish you hadn't asked!"
"Don't get presumptuous!" Cilan called out. "Torterra, Sandstorm."
Their field was then covered in a storm of ranging winds and sand.
zzz-Clemont, Serena, Barry and Bianca-zzz
"You guys against us?" Serena asked in slight surprise.
"Yeah! Don't you think it would be super fun!?" Bianca replied, giddy.
Barry leaned forward and gave Clemont a sly look. "Unless you're chicken?"
Clemont nervously coughed. "Of course not."
Serena blinked and then smiled determinedly. "Yeah, okay."
The two pairs then moved to opposite ends of the arena they'd chosen to battle in. Barry and Bianca released Staraptor and Emboar before Barry wrapped an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders. "You're going to have a hard time, guys!"
"Yeah!" Bianca cheered.
Serena looked over at Clemont, who seemed a bit nervous. They both blushed slightly before Clemont shook his head and released his choice.
"Ampharos, let's go!" His electric type appeared and shook itself, making a few white sparkles appear.
Serena saw the determination in Clemont's face and nodded before releasing Delphox.
"Aerial ace!" Barry shouted and pointed at Ampharos.
"Dodge and use Thunder punch!" Ampharos dodged to the left as Staraptor passed and punched the raptor in the side with an electric coated fist.
"Delphox, Psychic!" Serena yelled and gestured towards Emboar.
Bianca blinked. "Huh-oh!" She watched Emboar get tossed backwards.
Serena smiled as Clemont shifted his glasses up to catch the light. "We might not have as hard of a time as you might think."
Barry pulled his arms down and then pumped them in the air. "Yeah! Now I'm super-quadruply pumped!"
Serena and Clemont exchanged glances and chuckled.
zzz-Nando, Trip, Burgundy and Georgia-zzz
Burgundy and Georgia watched briefly as Trip's Hitmonchan fought against Nando's Lopunny, which was surprising the other three present, by dodging Hitmonchan's attacks almost without effort.
"Huh. I guess there's really all kinds of ways to battle. Nando really has his own style," Georgia murmured.
"Yes indeed," Burgundy replied, seemingly down. Georgia turned and looked at her friend.
"Hey what's with the long face?"
Burgundy hummed. "I suppose I feel as though I haven't grown as much as the others…"
Georgia's Slyveon chimed slightly and wrapped her ribbons around Burgundy's arm.
"I think you have," Georgia replied and nodded. "The first step to anything is to understand your faults."
"De-de!" Dewott chirped at Burgundy's heels.
Burgundy smiled until they all looked up to see Hitmonchan finally land an attack.
"I have to say, using dancing as a method to confuse trainers and overwhelm them is an interesting tactic," Trip spoke up.
Nando bowed. "I thank you for your words. You need to be aware however, that that is not my only strategy."
Trip nodded. "Bring it on."
zzz-Everyone-zzz
"Oh Ash…" Misty sighed as her boyfriend stuffed himself to the brim.
"But it's my mom's food, Mist."
Misty smiled and let out a sigh. "I know."
"You're the best, Mrs. Ketchum!" Barry shouted and reached for a cookie. Only for Delia to swat his hand away. "Not until after supper."
Kenny started laughing which only caused Barry to round on him.
"Keeping Weavile from getting hit is the most important when directing him in battle. Especially against larger and more powerful opponents," Paul explained to Ritchie, who was listening carefully.
"Yeah, Sneasel was much the same."
"It's not too different. Weavile now just has a speed and attack."
"Dad said Bonnie and Lyn have been restless. Since they couldn't even try battling a gym or entering any kind of competition, they've been training a bit with him," Clemont reported to Serena and Brock.
"I can imagine they are upset. Hopefully things will get better sooner rather than later and they can go back to business," Brock stated.
"There is a difference between making moves fancier and making moves more efficient or atypical. I don't need flare really, but changing the use of a move to suit the situation is fine by me," Gary chatted.
Trip nodded and Professor Oak chuckled. "Always been to the point haven't you?"
Gary snorted. "Ya know me best, gramps."
Everyone continued to chat into the night, enjoying each other's company.
zz
He tossed for the fifth time that night before opening his eyes. He sensed Pikachu and Ellie at his feet and Lucario resting in the corner of his room. After dinner, most everyone had gone to the lab to find beds and while it had enough space to hold one group, it didn't have the room to hold two groups. Ash, Misty, Dawn, and Brock had ended up taking the extra places in his house to sleep. Misty and Dawn got the two guest beds and Brock had taken the couch. Ash was having trouble sleeping though.
Hey Lucario?
Yes? Lucario asked mentally.
I can't sleep. Let's go outside.
As you wish.
Ash carefully picked up Pikachu while Lucario held the sleeping Ellie. After a walk across the street, with Ash wearing a white shirt and pajama pants, they ended up in the ranch area. Within moments, Ash used his aura to find all his pokemon sleeping near each other.
A smile came to his face as he moved through the masses of bodies on the ground, taking note of the birds in the trees and the water pokemon near a lake. Ash found a place near Salamance and laid down against the dragon, who cracked open an eye and gave a smile. Lucario placed Ellie next to Pikachu and walked over to rest under a tree. Ash felt the grass under his fingers and felt himself relax.
While he had been training, this was how he had slept with all his pokemon many nights. For some reason, he felt the need to do it again. Typholsion walked over and laid down on Ash's lap, making the trainer gasp at the weight before the warmth of the pokemon's fur became worth it. Slowly Ash closed his eyes, listening to the breathing and snoring of his sleeping pokemon.
This would be the first of many days of training. His last thoughts were on how far he'd come and how many friends he'd made since he'd first broken his alarm clock all those years ago.
zzz-Unknown Location-zzz
"Lawrence accepted the payment and actually left?" Vane asked in surprise.
Giovanni snorted. "He's fairly reasonable. He was a little put out that we didn't have him capture Mew or Mewtwo, but he's wise enough to know when not to fight something."
"Either that or he expects us to fail."
There was quiet. "Perhaps, but that's none of my concern."
Vane shifted his weight as he watched his boss stare at the stationary Mewtwos trapped in steel restraints.
"Why do you care much about these two? We have so many other legendaries that are stronger…"
"No we don't. There are perhaps a few… but when these two mega evolve- Besides, I created the one known as Mewtwo X. I created him to be the world's strongest pokemon."
Vane flicked his gaze back towards the felines. "Of course."
Giovanni glanced over his shoulder. "Is there a particular reason you are still here?"
Vane flinched slightly, aggravated. "I was just wondering what you plan to do about getting the other orbs that aren't in our possession. That Guardian has them no doubt. We need them to-"
"Don't tell me what I already know."
Vane had to stop himself from growling.
"I already have a plan in place. You can leave, Vane."
Vane saluted and then left the room.
"Your serum will become perfected with those orbs."
Giovanni didn't move as Robles pulled away from a shadowed wall and came to stand beside him.
Giovanni looked over with hidden suspicion. "At this point in time, I'm not sure if using the orbs is the best action. We wouldn't want the corruption to be set free accidentally."
"Oh so you know about it?"
Giovanni now gave Robles a cold look. "Of course. I am no fool."
"I wasn't suggesting such a thing."
"We made the deal that as soon as the world was mine, you and Sird would be free to eradicate all signs of the Guardian race from the planet, starting with that Ketchum boy."
"Yes and we are glad. The Guardians' reign needs to come to an end." Robles was quiet. "However, I suggest you at least keep them from the boy entirely… and your serum won't be anything more than temporary-"
"I have my scientists looking into it. Leave me now."
Robles wordlessly turned and walked out, leaving the room the way Vane had. Giovanni pulled out a tablet and started to look through his financial accounts' notes. Everything from his money to his operations were in order. He was starting to believe Silver had escaped, but that didn't matter much.
Giovanni put the device away and looked up at Mewtwo again. "None of them can ever understand what I hope to achieve."
I feel, as the Master Challenge comes closer and closer to an end, that there are many things I could've done better with this story. At the same time, it makes me kinda happy, which is something that suprises me. I'm kinda a perfectionist with some things, so feeling okay about a story not being better is weird. I think it's because I can see clearly how I've grown in my writing abilities over time, that and just the general sense of accomplishment from getting so far along with the series.
Anyways,
Incase you were confused, Giratina used Destiny Bond. That's what caused both Mewtwos to faint.
Answers to Questions:
UCCM: Just pointing out the Pokemon list is long...really long.
NoSignal: Yeah it has a lot of info. I probably wouldn't even have it if I felt it was too easy to forget who has what and various things like that. I plan to try to better organize info like that for my future Pokemon stories.
Guest: Didn't Brock's Magnemite and Cress' Clamperl evolve into Magneton and Huntail, respectively?
NoSignal: Yes! Thank you! I believe I've fixed that now. I have a bazillion saved files and some accidental copies around so sometimes I accidentally don't update it perfectly. Thanks again for the help!
doglover500: How many chapters are there going to be? Are we going to see more of Reggie? I seriously hope we do. I saw on your profile that your a Christian what Christian movies have you seen? I'm a Christian too.
NoSignal: I can't say exactly how many as I only know what events need to take place, and not how many chapters it will take to cover those events. Reggie will appear again, even if it isn't a ton of screen time. I've seen a few, but I can't remember their names. It's been a while since I watched them. :)
Guest: But you put down on the list that both Ash and Misty's Kingdra are male. Did you mean to make one female?
NoSignal: Oops! My bad. That was an accident. I was trying to recall all the pokemon couples and the easiest way of doing that at first was to remember which two trainers had the same pokemon. I fixed that and removed them from the list I believe. Thanks!
Thanks everyone for the support! I hope I'll be able to update more often that I think I will. So many things school's asking of me... Anyways, thanks again for everything!
If you ever need a list of all the pokemon the main characters have captured, check out the reference list at the beginning of the Arc.
Follow, Fav, Review, and most importantly, Enjoy! :D
NoSignal, out!
