*Author sits in front of laptop, typing the last few sentences of this chapter. Once finished,* BLAUGH! I hope you're all happy. I worked hard on this one and honestly I had to butcher a few moments. No offense to you, DarkFoxKit, but the war zone chapters were VERY hard to follow. One minute They're at the tower, the next thing I know they're on the beach, and finally Ash just runs off into the cave. *Author sighs in mental exhaustion.* The chapter is finished, so let's get this over with. Oh yeah, and this story is now officially T rated (just to be on the safe side).

As always, R&R, PM, and Enjoy!

Chapter 23

(Jason's POV)

I was now a member of Team Rocket. I hated every moment of it as I tried looking around. The two bosses, Bill and Cassidy, allowed me to look around as long as I was accompanied by a guard. Luckily for me, I was able to knock him out and Meema controlled him using Psychic. Meema and Mew told me where to go and we did some digging around.

There was a small commotion at one point and Mew had to temporarily leave to take care of something. While she was gone, we found some kind of lab with Pokemon inside chambers, suspended in green liquid with tubes and wires connected to them. Meema told me they had an odd energy about them, and after some digging we found out that these were cloned Pokemon. It was sick to look at them, knowing that they weren't natural Pokemon, and we left.

After Mew finished and she came back, we went back to business. "So Jason," Mew asked. I looked to her and she continued, "Has Celebi mentioned that I have my own child?"} I looked at her curiously and she told me a very long story about her "little Ashie".

As I listened, I began comparing our lives, and found that we weren't that different; in fact it seemed like the start of our lives were paralleled and then they took two separate paths. Mew would pause and resume her story every now and then, but I wasn't listening for most of it. I was more focused on gathering information for the Water Warriors, and it wasn't long before I found something more interesting. Meema got Mew to shut up and we found a man standing next to a woman.

"That's Yamato," Mew said, "Ashie and his friends were working with him when he got captured by Team Rocket." Mew looked around and said, "And there's Ashie!" I looked around and I saw the boy Mew was talking about, moving amongst the crowd. I moved around closer to where he was moving, and I overheard two of the guards talking.

"It's just a Ghastly, so what if it can talk?"

"Meema, any idea what they're talking about?"

Mew answered instead, "I do. They're referring to Ashie's Ghastly, Spooks."

"That sounds like an appropriate nickname," I said.

"It sure was, but what makes Spooks so special and the reason why he can talk is because he's not even from our world."

"Mew, what did you do?" Meema asked, the anger evident in her voice.

"Oh, nothing, I just...um, brought Ashie into the Spirit World for a Mew Game?" I could tell Meema was angry at Mew for some reason, but I told them to hold it until later. We continued to look around for a while longer, looking for anything that could give us an advantage. Once I felt we had all we needed, it was time that we left. Meema, Mew and I exited the tower easily and after leaving the town I removed the Rocket uniform. "I'd keep that if I were you," Mew said in a sing song voice.

I was about to toss it when she suggested that and Meema said, "I agree, it could come in handy." I figured it was worth keeping and stuffed it into my bag. "Okay, Jason. This is where we must leave you for now."

"What?"

"Don't worry, Jacie," Mew said. Both Meema and I glared at Mew, and she continued, "We'll meet up again soon. But for now, we have to go." Before we could say anything, Mew disappeared and Celebi groaned in annoyance.

"Meema," I said, bringing her out of her state of anger, "When all of this is done, I think we need to talk more about Mew."

"Yes, we should. Until then." Meema disappeared and I let Typhon out of his Poke Ball, and we began making my way back to the lake. I kept a constant watch, both physically and psychically, making sure we were not followed, and we entered the Water Warrior's base.

I could hear voices downstairs, "...we sent a spy to infiltrate the tower. Here he comes." Once I reached the bottom of the stairs, I noticed Drifty speaking with another boy and a Pikachu. The boy had raven hair and I instantly recognized him as the one Mew pointed out. "Jason, did you find anything yet?" Drifty asked me.

I nodded, "They've captured the mainlander's captain, a man named Yamato. I also learned that they've locked up a very rare Ghastly." I thought up a way to explain it to her instead of saying, 'Mew told me so'.

"Judging by its aura and the guards claiming he can speak to humans, I'd be willing to bet it's from the Spirit World." That's when my attention turned to Ash. I could sense three auras: his Pikachu's which was a combination of red and yellow; Ash's which seemed to be blue with a bit of pink mixed in; and a third aura coming from within Ash.

"You must be Ash," I said, pretending like I had never seen him before. "I've heard about you from a...very special friend."

"Uh, wow," he replied, rubbing the back of his head. "It's a pleasure to meet you Jason."

I saw his Pikachu look at me oddly and it asked me, "You smell like a Pokemon. Are you even human?"

I almost thought I was found out when Typhon answered, "Jason is a very...special kind of person." He smiled up at me and I returned it, silently thanking him for the save.

"So what's the plan here?" Ash asked. "They're about to attack."

"I believe I found the ones who are working behind the scenes," I said, stepping in. "The ones who call themselves Team Rocket, they're the ones providing the advanced technology that the warriors are using to their advantage. If we take care of them, then the rest will fall."

"Team Rocket's not exactly easy to take down," Ash said, "what do you suggest we do then?"

"Simple," I replied, turning to face him completely. "We take them down from the inside." I could see that Ash didn't understand entirely, so I explained, "We get in as one of them, we find the leader, and we take them down." I knew it would be easy for me, since I already did it, but Ash wasn't looking so sure about this. "What's the matter, Ash? Worried?"

I smirked as he looked at me, and he replied, "Can't blame me for worrying. Something's bound to go wrong."

I tapped his shoulder and said, "Then quit being so negative."

"Okay Jason," Drifty said. I turned to her and away from Ash as she said, "Is anyone else coming with you on this mission?"

"Just one other person, Drifty." I placed an arm around Ash and said, "Ashie boy here."

Ash pulled away from me and glared at me, "Don't call me that."

"I figured you have had some undercover experience before, so this should be easy for you." I smirked and pulled out the Rocket uniform from my bag. He looked about my age, so that meant it should fit him. I tossed it to him and he looked at me like I knew he would be here. Well, someone knew he would be here apparently. Drifty handed me a couple walkie-talkies as Ash put the Rocket uniform over his regular clothes.

"Here, use these in case things get ugly and you need back-up. I'll gather the rest of the resistance in case we need to go for an all out attack."

I gave her a knowing wink and said, "We're counting on you Drifty."

She blushed a little and I led Ash and his Pikachu out of the base. As we made our way to the tower, it was silent between the four of us until Ash asked, "So...your Quilava is nicknamed Typhon?"

"Yeah," I replied.

"Where'd you get him?"

'What is this, 20 Questions?'

"I hatched him from an egg. Back then he was a very energetic Cyndaquil."

Typhon scoffed, "I'm still energetic."

It was silent for a while again before Ash asked, "So who's this friend that mentioned me?"

I shook my head, 'He's really getting on my nerves with all these questions.'

"I can't tell you, I made a promise that I intend to keep."

"Fine, then where's Team Rocket? Neither I nor Storm saw them since we got here."

"Oh, they hid themselves well," I replied, glad that the questions were off me for now. "While they give them their tech, the warriors treat them like kings and do all the dirty work for them."

"So they sit around like fat, happy kings while they make the warriors fight for them? That's a new low, even for them."

"That's not true or all of them, though," I said, pretending like I didn't hear his Pikachu. "Their scientists have been mutating and experimenting on Pokemon, trying to enhance them. It's sick and unnatural."

"Yeah, I know how that is," Ash replied. Before I could ask what he meant, we arrived at the town, the tower looming in front of us. "So what's the plan?"

I looked to Ash and said, "Just follow my lead." We got past the guards at the town gate easily enough, but when we came to the tower the guards stopped us.

"State your business," the guard said.

I stared him straight in the eye and said, "Can't you see the uniform?" I pointed to Ash wearing the uniform and continued, "We are members of Team Rocket and we're about to tell the information we gathered about the enemy to the boss. If you won't let us pass, I'll make sure they know that it was you who prevented us from entering because of your stubbornness." The guard paled and he stepped aside, apologizing and letting us in.

I smirked as we went in and Ash said, "Wow, that was pretty cool."

"You just need to know the right words." We passed through the crowd and went straight for the basement. There were several members of Team Rocket down there, but many of them were out of uniform and were lounging about. Some of them were talking about the war, but we pressed on.

"So do you know who their boss is?" Ash asked quietly.

I nodded, "Yeah, I've seen them. There are two of them in charge: a woman with bright blonde hair named Cassidy and a man with raven-blue hair named Beef. No, wait, was it Ben? No, no, Butch. That's his name, Butch."

"Did they have any strong Pokemon with them?"

"They better not have that Charizard and Dragonite again," his Pikachu said. Knowing that they could be owning such powerful Pokemon made me feel a little less sure of myself.

"Unfortunately I wasn't able to find that out," I replied. "They like to keep a low profile, but I'd be willing to bet they have some strong Pokemon since they're heading this thing."

"Well whatever we're doing Jason, we'd better hurry. It won't be long before the war begins." We reached a control room, which had a perfect view outside. Unfortunately, that view showed us the warriors outside already preparing for battle. "We're going to be in a war zone ourselves if we battle them here." I began to think of something and snapped my fingers as a light bulb went off in my head.

"Do you have any Flying-type Pokemon with you?"

"I have Gale the Pidgeotto. You got a plan?"

I nodded, smiling. "I think it's time we perform a little sky diversion. I hope Gale's fast." I explained the plan to Ash after he let Gale out, and they seemed to understand the plan. He flew into the room and began blowing up a storm. We both heard Cassidy scream and order to attack Gale, and they left the room. Fortunately, that meant we were the only ones here and we went to work.

"I might not be linked to my Pokemon like those warriors, but we have our own bond that we can count on." I smiled at that and Ash released a Rattata. "Remi, Storm, get inside and chew up the wires."

"Got it!" the Rattata said, saluting as his two rodent Pokemon went into the air ducts.

"Smart, using rodents to mess up their system."

"We'll need every advantage we can get, can Typhon burn some of the bigger machines here?" I looked to Typhon, who was smiling.

"I think I can manage," he said proudly.

"Okay, I'll have Scorch help out just in case." Ash pulled out another odd looking Poke Ball, more odd than the one Darren kept his own Meema in. He opened the Poke Ball and an oddly colored Charmander was let out. I could hardly believe it myself, but I guessed this was its shiny form.

"Scorch, help Typhon burn these machines, okay?"

"You've got it!" Scorch said with a salute, and Ash looked out the window.

"We'd better do this fast," he said, worry in his voice, "I'm not sure how long Gale can last out there." I reassured him and we got to work. Typhon, Scorch and I all went to where the cloning machines were, and I ordered Typhon to use Flamethrower and Scorch to use his most powerful Fire-type move. They both began to shoot out their attacks and the machines began to heat up before exploding.

"WARNING! WARNING! SEVERE DAMAGE TO THE SYSTEM!" A red light began to flash as an alarm and computerized voice blared around us. "WA-WA-WARNING! WARN-ER-ING! ERROR! I AM ERROR! SYSTEM SHUtting dooowwwnnn..."

The voice slowed and deepened to a halt, and Ash and I high-fived at our momentary success. "We did it!" Ash said, a big smile on his face.

I looked out to the window and said, "And not a moment too soon. Quick, call Gale back!" Ash looked out and gasped in surprise when he saw his Pidgeotto dodging these odd electric devices. By the looks of them they were meant to subdue Flying-types because they kept following Gale. Ash pulled out Gale's Poke Ball and recalled him, but I figured out too late that it was a bad idea. I looked down to the beach, where Bronk and Cassidy were, and they seemed to notice Gale getting recalled and Cassidy pointed up to the control room.

"I hope you're ready to fight Ash," I said to him as Remi and Storm came out of the vents. "Because here they come!" Some of the grunts began rushing towards the tower and Ash returned Remi and Scorch. "Let's get out of here, otherwise we'll be taken down along with the building."

Storm jumped onto Ash's shoulder and we began to make our way out of the building. As we climbed back up to ground level, the tower began crumbling around us and it gave way just as we got out.

"Get those boys!" We heard Cassidy scream. Looking up, she was pointing a finger at us and directing a horde of armored Pokemon towards us.

"Alright, time to fight. You ready Typhon?"

"I always am."

"Then let's do what we do best." I ordered him to use Flame Wheel, and I could feel the power in Typhon growing. Typhon curled up into a wheel and raced for the armored Pokemon, turning into a large, wheel of fire and crashed into them with great power. Typhon returned to my side and stopped the attack, and I felt a bit drained. Ash asked if I was okay, but I shrugged it off.

"Come on, let's go!" Typhon began using Flame Wheel again, and we raced down towards the battlefield. If any Rocket grunts tried to attack us, Typhon would attack them with Flame Wheel or Storm would jump off of Ash's shoulder and unleash an powerful Electric-type attack. I looked up and I saw Drifty flying on her Swanna, and she flew down beside us.

"Looks like you woke up the hive," she shouted to us, the battle growing louder as we approached. "I've already gathered what resistance we have, so we'll assist the best we can."

"Good, we'll meet you there." Drifty nodded and I thought to myself, 'Be safe.'

As we neared the beach, I heard Storm say, "I can't believe it, we're about to fight in an actual war! What if we don't make it!?"

"Don't think like that, Storm, we'll make it," Ash said to his Pikachu. This was no surprise to me, considering I already knew who he was. "There must be a reason why we were sent back here, and maybe it has more than just me simply being Mew's child."

"I believe you may be right," I said to Ash, surprising him as he realized he said that out loud.

'For a Child of Mew, he's pretty absent-minded,' I thought to myself. 'Oh well, I guess he'll eventually learn over time.' We finally reached the beach and we looked on in awe and horror. Pokemon and humans clashed against one another, and I realized that we were at a very big disadvantage. Unless Ash had a Pokemon I haven't seen yet, we would be in big trouble fighting off half of these Pokemon.

"Alright, here we go," Ash said pulling out four Poke Balls. "Let's fight, everybody!" The four Pokemon were let out to show his Rattata, Pidgeotto, Charmander, and an Eevee. They all gave battle cries, and I could sense that they all had faith in their trainer. I smiled at that and I asked Typhon if he was ready. He gave a silent nod and the battle began.

Typhon began using Flame Wheel, adding in Flamethrowers to boost its power, to charge into foes repeatedly, while Ash attempted to command all five of his Pokemon at once. I could tell he was struggling, so I had Typhon also protect some of his Pokemon. Ash found me and he shouted over the chaos, "Jason! I need to find Yamato! Can you keep the others safe?"

I shouted a yes in response as he ran off, his Pikachu and Shiny Charmander in tow. Quilava kept using his attacks to protect Ash's smaller Pokemon while Gale attacked from above. With each attack, I felt weakened, almost drained of my energy. "Jason!"

I looked up and I saw Drifty approaching me on her Swanna. She landed next to me and she handed me a staff weapon with a blade at the end. "Your Pokemon can only protect you so much," she said as we began fighting off both human and Pokemon. I had to admit I was handling myself pretty well with the weapon she gave me, although there were a few close calls.

"Drifty, you said my bond with Typhon is strong. Is there any way to make it stronger?"

She couldn't answer me, but I heard Meema speak to me, "Just focus on your bond with Typhon. The rest will come naturally."

I didn't understand what she meant, but I asked Drifty to cover me. I focused on sensing our bond, but it was hard to find. I could sense everyone else's bonds with their own Pokemon as well. Some were strong, but others were becoming severed, a sign that either the human or Pokemon had died. I soon found Typhon among them and I focused on him. I could feel the bond between us, it was strong, but I could sense that there was more to it. All of a sudden, I felt a surge of energy and felt it extend towards Typhon. It was sent back to me and it continued in this cycle until I was overflowing with energy.

I opened my eyes and shouted, "Eruption!" Typhon shouted as well, and he unleashed his most devastating attack. It was stronger than every Eruption he previously used combined, and I could feel our bond reach its peak. Molten rocks and crimson flames spread across the field as the attack grew and grew in size. Once it was over, I felt severely drained of energy.

I almost fell over, but Drifty caught me. I looked up to her and I saw her smile. I returned the smile, weakly, but she suddenly gasped and fell forward. As she fell I held out a hand to support her, and found that she was shot by an arrow. I saw the archer that delivered the blow and he reached for another arrow. My mind suddenly went numb, I could hear my heartbeat, and I suddenly felt another surge of energy.

But this energy wasn't like the energy Typhon and I shared, it was...greater, more powerful. Darker.

I lost all control of my body as I extended my hand towards the archer. His body was suddenly wracked with pain, and he cried out as his limbs bent in ways that should never be physically possible.

I wanted him to hurt.

I wanted him to suffer.

A blue aura surrounded him as I clenched my hand tighter. He cried out for mercy, and I suddenly realized what I was doing. I released him and he gasped in relief. I couldn't believe that I almost killed him, but my thoughts shifted to Drifty as I dropped to her side and attempted to wake her up.

"Drifty, come on! This battle isn't over yet. You can still make it." I turned her over, snapping the arrow close to where it had entered her body, and I tried to get her to wake up. "Drifty, wake up. You can't die, not now." Her eyes fluttered open and she gave me a soft smile.

"Jason..." she weakly said. I leaned in closer to try and hear her, "I'm glad I met you. You've shown me the truth, that not all people are bad. If there really are people like you, those who have the courage to stand up against evil, then I know that there will always be light in the darkness." She let out one final breath and she died in my arms.

I never thought about it before, but now I realized what it truly meant to die: it meant leaving those who loved you behind, leaving them alone. Her Swanna flew down to me and she looked at me. I shook my head and the Swanna mourned for Drifty. The battle was still going on around us, but no one was attacking us. I shed a few tears, which fell on her face and rolled down her cheek, and I looked up to the sky.

"Please," I said, "If there's someone, anyone out there...please. Help us. Stop this madness, stop this insanity. Stop the fighting."

I lowered my head before I felt another strong presence. I looked around, and some of the warriors began to notice too, as light shown down from the sky. The water erupted into a water spout as everyone gasped in surprise. The clouds parted, letting in more light that illuminated the water spout and revealed a shadow inside. The water spout exploded to reveal Lugia, the Legendary Pokemon himself. He let out a call that sounded like a song, and everyone stopped what they were doing to gaze in awe at the magnificent Pokemon.

"People of the Ransei region," he spoke to everyone, "This fighting must stop, for you have been deceived. The ones known as Team Rocket have lied to you since this war started." Murmurs began to spread through the crowd, "Team Rocket intended to divide you and turn you against one another, and the ones you thought were invaders instead wanted to bring peace to your nation."

All of a sudden, there was a large flash of light that blinded everyone, and I covered my eyes before I started to see spots. Once the light died down, everyone was talking at once, and people were shouting that Team Rocket had gone missing. I sighed, both relieved and disappointed. I looked back up to Lugia and I saw him fly down to me. Everyone else noticed this and they all stared at me and Lugia in awe.

"You have called for me, and I have answered," he said to me. He noticed Drifty in my arms and he prodded her arm with his snout. He lifted his head up and gave out his call once more, possibly mourning as well. All of a sudden, Drifty began glowing with a soft green light and I held her up. The arrow in her back slid out easily and her wound began closing. Lugia lowered his head to hers and he exhaled into her face. Her eyes began to twitch and her eyes opened. I smiled in disbelief and she noticed me.

"Jason?" I hugged her gently, and she soon returned it. I looked to Lugia and thanked him.

"I did not do this." When I asked him what he meant, he didn't respond.

"Jason," Drifty said. I looked to her and she kissed me. This one was an actual kiss, and now I was really glad Janice wasn't here to see this. She pulled back and smiled at me before she gasped in surprise. "Your hand." I looked to it and I saw that I was fading away. "What's happening?" I looked to Lugia and he nodded. I lowered my head, smiling a bit.

"It's time for me to say goodbye." I saw Typhon race over to me and he was disappearing as well.

"What do you mean goodbye?" Drifty asked, trying to grab my hand but failing as hers passed through mine.

"I don't belong here. Now I have to go back."

"Go back where?" She was in tears and so was I.

"Home." Typhon was almost completely gone, and so was I.

"Please, don't go." I looked to her with tear stained eyes and I smiled.

"I'm sorry, goodbye." I faded away completely as Drifty attempted to grab me, but I was already gone.

I opened my eyes to see myself...actually I wasn't sure where I was. "You did it Jason." Meema suddenly appeared in front of me, as well as Mew.

"Thanks. What exactly did I do?"

Mew giggled, "Thanks to you and Ashie, the past is now safe and so is your future."

I was still lost and Meema said, "What Mew is trying to say is that you and Ash were somehow sent back in time, 2000 years ago, to the Ransei region. But thanks to you, the people have made peace with the mainlanders and a major conflict was avoided."

"So where's Ash now? Will I see him again?"

Mew smiled, and replied, "Maybe, maybe not. But there might be a chance that you'll see us again."

"I've already spoken with him," Meema said, "I disguised myself as you and told him that everything is fine, then helped him return to his own time."

I nodded and Mew said, "I think it's time you two go back as well."

Meema nodded and said, "Goodbye, Mew. Remember, I'll always be a friend to you."

Mew nodded before disappearing and Meema looked to me, "Ready to go back?" I was about to nod, when a thought crossed my mind.

"Meema, I think we need to have another talk. A big one." Meema nodded and we left the place we were once in.

Again, BLAUGH! This chapter took a lot out of me, seriously. I've been under a lot of mental stress lately, with things that are happening in my family, at college-I'm graduating next week! And don't get me started on Five Night's at Freddy's. I've never played it, I don't want to, but now I'm caught up in the hype. I keep seeing Bonnie with his torn off face outside my door and I always expect Foxy to jump out of nowhere and scare me.

As always, R&R, PM, and I'll see you guys next time.