Mew, where are you going? Aries tried. What's going on?

Again, he had no response, even though he could feel its presence not too far ahead. Whatever was going on was serious for it to not communicate with him. He suddenly hit something hard, both of them tumbling to the ground.

"Get offa me," Denise wheezed, flat on her stomach. He moved from on top of her, offering a hand; she pointedly ignored it, getting to her feet and dusting herself off. Henry wanted to laugh but held himself back, checking to ensure she was all right.

"Why did you stop, Denise?"

"Because she did." She pointed at Mew, who had halted in the mouth of the exit. Outside, an expanse of grass and scattered pines laid beneath the night sky. Mew was hovering inches away from the first blade of grass, its tail curling in a way he had long since learned to interpret as anxiety.

"Mew?" Aries asked.

It's there, Mew said to no one in particular, its voice fearful.

"Who is—"

"I'm there," a low voice said ahead of them. Aries blinked; it took him a few seconds to realize that it was verbal, not mental. Something was standing far ahead into the outside, its figure a blur against the night sky, but he was pretty sure it wasn't human.

"Arceus," Denise whispered, pale. He stared at her, confused, until it occurred to him she was referring to the Pokémon in the distance. He couldn't read its mind from so far away, however he could sense its aura. Opening his mind to the energy, he immediately gasped; the Pokémon had such a strong, bellicose aura that it dug up all primal feelings of fear in his mind. It was so strong that he was fully certain that Denise could feel it, too, and Mew, in how scared it looked. Henry was the only one that appeared unaffected, looking between them in confusion.

"Don't be so rude; come to my face," the Pokémon continued. Aries felt something tighten around his navel area and then they were being pulled forward psychically, Denise and Henry behind him. Mew moved forward of its own accord, a tense expression on its face.

Mew, who is that? Aries wondered, staring as the Pokémon in the distance grew closer and more distinguished. It was tall—five or six feet—and had light purple skin and a long, violet tail. Its eyes were as red as blood and glowed with psychic energy. Mew looked older than it ever had before.

That, it said, is Mewtwo.

Mewtwo? Suddenly the three of them came to a stop, tripping over each other and falling to the ground. Denise was the first to get up, moving as far away from Mewtwo as she could, followed by Aries and Mew, leaving only Henry within breathing distance of it. Mewtwo smirked at him.

"Why don't you flee as well? Oh, I see," it muttered in realization. "Inverted Psychic-type abilities. How cute, a defective Lucario."

"Lu, Lucario," Henry growled, clenching his fists.

"Who am I? I am the better version of that." It pointed a finger at Mew, who scrambled into Aries' cloak with a surprised yelp. "Hence my given name, Mewtwo."

"Lucario, lu lu cario, lu? Luca, Lucario?" Aries managed enough wits to slide into Henry's mind, clearing up his speech. 'And who gave you that name? Where the hell did you drag your sorry self out of, in other words?'

"Pod and nutrient solution," Mewtwo answered blandly.

'Hilarious,' Henry snorted. 'Now, what the hell are you trying to do, scaring Denise?'

"Denise," he repeated, staring at her. She cringed, which Aries sensed more than saw; luckily, she wasn't in her right mind enough to reprimand him for peeking into her mind. "Denise, hmm…eighteen years old, born in Pewter, raised in Pewter…" Mewtwo smirked. "Owns a collection of My Little Ponyta: Pokémon is Magic DVDs."

"Shut up!" Denise's voice rang out from the darkness.

"Has a temper," it added before its eyes set on Mew still squirming in Aries' cloak. "And how have you been all these years, Mew? Although for us immortals, it has not been that long."

Your presence never means anything but bad news, Mewtwo, Mew said.

"Cruel, but accurate, at least." Mewtwo was silent for a moment, looking around at the trees waving in the cool night air and the dark sky barely lit by the crescent moon. "This space…this time…I should be the one in control of it, yet Cyrus beat me to the punch," it muttered.

'What the hell are you blabbering about?' Henry demanded. Mewtwo looked at him like he was a child that just couldn't learn.

"I'm saying that with the Adamant Orb and the Lustrous Orb, Team Galactic Leader Cyrus can reform Dialga and Palkia, only under his command."

'Reform?' he repeated, confused. It looked amused now.

"Did Aries and Mew not tell you what happened to the Legendaries of the world?"

"What about the Legendaries?" Denise asked, but her voice was very low. Mewtwo laughed like a child, clapping its hands together.

"Oh, this will be very amusing!"

"Aries?" she asked. He sighed, turning to her.

"Denise—"

Aries, you can't tell her, Mew interrupted, putting its little paws on her shoulder. Denise, it's not that I don't trust you—I honestly believe you can keep the secret—but bringing you further into this puts you at high risk of Silver's ire.

"I'm not afraid of Silver. Aries, tell me."

"Silver killed the Legendaries, Denise," he whispered, remembering the bone-crushing fear he felt that day eleven years ago. "He used Team Rocket's technology to kill them, all of them except for Mew."

Denise stared at him for a long time with a slightly-twisted expression, waiting, as it appeared from her thoughts, for the punchline to his very unamusing joke. After a few seconds she realized he was completely serious and her shoulders fell. "You can't be for real," she said. "He looked strong, yeah, but all of the Legendaries…"

I never did see everything that happened, Mew whispered, shaking its head.

I did, Aries said, taking a step forward. Denise started to speak but he interrupted, I know you don't like me in your mind, Denise, but this is better seen than heard. And so, he showed her and Henry exactly what he saw eleven years ago. He could hear her mental commentary on it followed by some sort of facial reaction, from partial amusement to complete open-mouthed shock. When it was over, she was as pale as he was. She obviously had questions, her and Henry, but, anxious to answer them, Aries turned back to Mewtwo.

Why have you come? Mew demanded, also shaken from the memory. You never come to visit without something relevant to say.

"I can't just visit my other for genial purposes?" it asked innocently. Mew shook its head, its large eyes hard. Mewtwo sighed. "Alright, alright. First, let me explain something for her benefit." It raised a hand and crooked its index finger; Denise was pulled forward from the shadows, her feet skidding in the dirt until she was next to Aries and Mew. Henry's jaw tensed but he made no moves against Mewtwo. "The Legendaries were created in the first place by the humans' wishes for change," it said to her dazed face. "Like for example, Articuno was made to calm blizzards, and Groudon to rein in the rampant volcanoes."

"So?" she said reluctantly.

"Although they're physically dead, their energy remains in the world—well, more specifically, the astral plane, but because our worlds have psychic links like Psychic-types such as myself and Mew or psychics like Aries there, the energy drains here, so the stronger psychics sense it—don't worry; the parapsychological is a hard concept to swallow," Mewtwo said patiently as she stared back, perplexed. "What I'm saying is that the Legendaries don't have bodies, but they're—what should I say?—their spirits are here, but spirits can't hold the world together. That's where my little kitten Mew comes in, to handle all of that big stuff, but as the Legendaries become more solid and sentient, they're becoming more like the beings that they were, except at this stage, they're easy to control, like a child that doesn't know anything better than to listen to their parents."

"I…get it," she said, the information swirling in her mind, although she did grasp the main part of it. "And… And Cyrus wants Dialga and Palkia, right? While they can still be controlled? So they can do his dirty work?"

"Exactly," Aries said quietly.

"But then why do they need you…I mean, a psychic?"

"The Legendaries are still too incorporeal for an average—and I use the term loosely—person like Cyrus to interact with, which is why he needs a psychic as a medium. On the other hand, an Alakazam would work just as fine as a human psychic," he muttered as a side note.

"Which leads me to what I wanted to say in the beginning," Mewtwo said, putting its hands together. "Team Galactic is a problem, but not at the moment, because, well, they're pretty clueless. On the other hand, Team Rocket—" it grimaced when it said their name, "—isn't."

"That's Silver's father's team," Aries said, eyes wide. Mewtwo nodded.

"Wherever you lot stored Deoxys, you did a poor job; Giovanni had it captured and is using its unique DNA/RNA mix as a template for Pokémon manipulation. As quickly as possible, get to his base in the souvenir shop. If you guys thought it was powerful, you should see whatever else Giovanni's scientists can dish out when he's in a bad mood."

Like? Mew asked. Mewtwo narrowed its scarlet eyes.

Like me, it snapped telepathically. It Teleported away moments after. Aries stared at the spot where it was, confused.

"Why did it seem so offended?" he wondered. Mew appeared tense.

I'm…sorry. My thoughts were most likely what offended it. I just thought that, after Deoxys, nothing good could come of Team Rocket, and, well, there was more to it that Mewtwo took to heart—

"Deoxys?" Denise repeated. "The thing that destroyed Pallet Town years ago? Team Rocket made that?"

It was accidental, but yes; it was their radio waves that went into space and mutated it.

"It was them," Aries repeated, his voice flat. Denise looked at him oddly; she was smarter than he gave her credit for, detecting the edge in his voice.

"Aries… With the thing in Pallet Town, were you…?"

"Lu!" Henry suddenly barked in warning, his eyes appearing almost psychically bright in the moonlight. Aries peered into his mind.

"What is it? What's coming?" he asked, confused. Mew gasped, sensing it too, although Aries still couldn't sense anything.

It's a Dark-type, it explained. Henry senses it by power alone; I can feel its presence, but your powers still aren't honed enough for it, although I have no idea what Pokémon it is. Assume the worst.

There was a crash far off into the distance, although nothing was visible. Denise and Henry looked at Aries and Mew expectantly but he had no answers—it didn't either. They listened as the crash repeated itself, closer this time; Henry tensed for a fight and Mew formed a Shadow Ball on top of its head, ready to fire at the first sign of danger. Denise took a fighting stance that would've been cool if she didn't look like she was just dragged through two miles of bedrock. Suddenly, the space before them opened up like one of Palkia's portals. Mew held its breath, hope scrawled all over its small face, but instead of the large magenta dragon, a red and grey lump spilled out and onto the ground. Mew's smile fell as fast as it did.

Oh, it breathed.

"Oh?" Denise repeated, perplexed.

"Oh!" Aries exclaimed as the lump moved, rolling around like a great wet fur-ball. Actually, on second thought—it was a great wet fur-ball. Disconcerted, Mew picked it up and spun it clockwise quickly enough that centrifugal force dried it off, although Aries did pick up a few scattered, profane thoughts from it in the process. Mew dropped it on the ground, where it threw up and rolled over.

"Sho—" Aries couldn't tell because its dark fur blended with the nighttime, but it looked like a male. "Roro—shoro—" Everything he said came out as one large slur.

"The hell is it saying?" Denise said, and Aries actually agreed.

"I think he just needs a PokéCenter," he said slowly, borrowing a PokeBall from Denise's pocket. He captured him easily. "What's the closest city? Cerulean?"

"For you, it's close. For us—" she indicated herself and Henry, "—it's three miles."

"I'd imagine that someone of your upbringing is used to physical feats," he said dryly.

"Yeah, well…" She cut herself off, looking at Henry helplessly, who looked at Aries.

"Lucario, lu lu, cario," he said, shrugging. Aries looked into his mind; he said something along the lines of her admitting she might be too weak-kneed to make it.

"You're still scared, Denise?" he chuckled. He couldn't help being amused; he needed some humor after everything that had happened. Her thoughts became acidic enough to make him wince. "I'm not laughing at you—it's just—"

"It's just shut up before I break your face."

Denise, Mew said warningly, not quite as amused as he was. She gritted her teeth but didn't say anything else. Aries looked up at the moon.

"Well, we have a long night ahead of us; let us make the most of it."