Pokémon Trix: Tales of Soot and Ash

by Ohirume

Imagine a version of the Pokémon world where Ash Ketchum came into possession of the most powerful device in the world of Ben 10. Now imagine that written by some psycho. Yeah... Pokémon/Ben 10 crossover, sort of. Weird censoring. Tell me what you think. Due to this websites regular glitches/breakdowns, chapters and status updates will be posted on DeviantArt. Username: Ohirume1

70. Mewtwo Part 4: Strike Back

**To switch to Reader View and (possibly) get rid of the google ads– go to the URL and replace the 'www' with an 'm'

It's less detailed, so navigation is more annoying. But that's the fault of the website for letting the ads start appearing**

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From RocKHord (Trix chapter 50 /Jun 1, 2020):

You must put some EPIC BATTLE to Ash,but not as trainer and watch how he fight but they cant help him.

Even Soot can't,he cant do anything for his dad.

Need something EPIC,he should be on the brink of he must save everyone.

Seishin: *Tomodachi Game's Manabu's jagged grin; mouth not moving* Let's see if this will suffice.

Ohirume: Also, get comfy because this is the single longest chapter I have ever written.

Want the exact count? Just ask.

I don't own Pokémon or Ben 10.

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The next comment response will be posted on "Random-ish stuff on the side" on 02/21/2023 at approximately 11:00 p.m. Central Standard Time.

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The Answers

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Everyone just stared blankly as another explosion rang out from the battlefield; barely muffled by the glass.

"So, uh …" Corey said in a daze, "Anyone keeping track of how many moves he's used, so far?"

Neesha blinked while staring ahead, "I lost count after twenty."

"Arceus…" Joy said, "I've heard that The Phantom Pokémon was able to use all attacks, but I never would've guessed it was so literal."

Brock and Misty sweat dropped, 'Freaking Yvel…' They shared an unsure glance.

"But I don't get it!" Fergus blurted out, "If it can use every attack, why does it keep using weak ones?! It should just fire off the strong ones and get this over with!"

"It's not that simple." Brock said; making everyone else -except Misty and Togepi- jerk and look at him in shock. He looked around, "Have any of you ever heard of the 3P theorem?"

Joy, Gary, and Corey perked up in surprise.

Neesha raised a brow, "The what?"

Gary looked at her, "The Power Point Percentage Theorem. 3P, for short. It was an old study of the Alola region's Professor Kukui." He held a hand to the side, "His hypothesis was that the amount of stamina Pokémon spend on moves is based on what moves the Pokémon has in its move set and how many."

He deadpanned, "What he found is that Pokémon expend one divided by 'the number of moves in their move set' of their stamina by using only one move to its fullest. So, all his work got simplified to the formula 100 over 'the Pokémon's number of moves' multiplied by 'the natural number of times the Pokémon can use the move'. I.e. their Power Points."

Yukiro: *off screen* To clarify- *arms pop up holding a white board with
100/(number of moves * move's current total PP)
written on it* Rob spent over three days overthinking this concept and ended up with that! HA! *arms drop down* … *reaches back up and pulls the white board down*

Neesha and Fergus stared blankly.

Gary deadpanned, "He had an idea, did a lot of work, and just ended up stating the obvious."

"Oh." The confused pair said with a nod.

Gary rolled his eyes before looking at Brock, "What does 3P have to do with anything? It's considered obsolete since you can just count backwards from the total number of times your Pokémon can use a move. And for ones that use Power Point Transference, like Soot, it's rarely worth the effort to count the percentages."

Fergus looked at Gary in confusion, 'Power Point Transference?'

"Maybe you're right." Brock said before pointing ahead, "But what if a single Pokémon has multiple move sets and thinks like a trainer?"

Gary raised a brow, "So you're saying all of Ash's attacks are drawing from the same stamina pool. Wasn't that obvi-" He stopped and jerked as his eyes widened upon realizing what he meant. He looked at the battle as a silver light shined, "Wait…"

"You mean," He looked at the gym leaders again, "Ash has been counting his own stamina this whole time?" The other trainers, Joy, and Dragonite perked up in surprise.

Gary looked down in a daze, "That's why he's not going overboard with attacks." He looked at Ash again, "He knew this would be a long battle and is trying to reserve his energy."

The Cerulean Gym Leader smirked and looked at the professor's grandson, "More or less." She frowned, "But I don't think we should say anything more than that, right now."

Brock nodded, "We can't risk it if Mewtwo's listening. I think the most we can say is that he memorized the percentages for every move he has using the 3P theorem."

Corey stared in shock, "Arceus…" He looked back at the battlefield, "The Phantom Pokémon really is something else."

Misty and Brock tensed up before groaning. But then they and everyone else perked up at what happened next.

Fergus stared in surprise before glancing at Brock and pointing ahead, "Was that normal?"

Brock and Misty stared in surprise, shared a look, and looked back at the dining table. Brock glared and ran over to it with Misty following close behind with Togepi still in her arms. Gary stared in surprise before hurrying after them.

Brock got up to the table, opened Ash's bag, and felt around before pulling out the Change Lens case. He opened it and was about to say something before perking up and staring in surprise.

"Lilium! Prodigy! Sweetie!" Misty shouted as she ran over. She got up behind Brock and looked at the devices before frowning in frustration, "Crag." She immediately perked up in surprise as well. Togepi blinked in surprise.

Gary hurried up to them and stared at the five objects in the case in confusion, "Are those camera lenses? What the Yvel do you plan to do with those?"

Neither responded.

"Brock…" Misty asked slowly, "did you…" She trailed off.

"It was like this when I opened it…" Brock said before frowning, "but" He looked back at the battlefield, "Why would Ash need a Change Lens?"

Gary just stared blankly, "Need a what?"

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*Minutes earlier

Ohirume: The following is the exact reason I decided on the 4-move limit concept and part of why this took so ******* long to post.

The mightyena's eyes widened as the cluster of green energy spheres shot forward. But before they could move as much as an inch, the pikachu swung out a paw as a swarm of light blue energy spheres formed to join the green ones.

Next, the butterfree pointed his antenna ahead with a white ball of energy glowing between them. The ball exploded into a beam of energy and shot towards the Psychic-type.

The swarm of Dark-type and Grass-type Hidden Power flew towards Mewtwo with the beam following close behind.

Mewtwo's eyes widened slightly, 'Three styles?!' Their eyes widened further, and they tensed up as they felt something wrap around their feet and glanced down to find large blades of grass tangling them to the ground. They looked ahead to find a chansey glaring with his hands together and eyes glowing light green.

Mewtwo glared back and crossed their arms as a purple barrier formed around them. As they did, they noticed Ash hold his hands forward as a purple sheen went over his eyes and then hold his hands to the sides.

Mewtwo's eyes widened as a purple energy dome formed around Ash and a translucent, orange wall formed in front of him. Both faded from view as the Hidden Power cluster crashed into Mewtwo's barrier and kicked up a cloud of smoke around them.

The Psychic-type tensed up when they heard what sounded like a drum being hit followed by a deep grunt, a vaporeon cry, and then a wing beat. They hastily flung out their arms and blew away the smoke.

On the other side of the field, the clefairy stared at Mewtwo calmly with three rings made of water droplets hovering around his body, a slowly fading scuff mark on his gut, and what seemed to be a harsh breeze blowing at his back.

Mewtwo stared in shock, 'Grass Knot, Light Screen, Reflect, Belly Drum, Aqua Ring, and Tailwind… Five stat related moves executed within seconds … multiple kinds of Hidden Power … and not counting his acts in human form and counting the battle with Dragonitetwo, I've already counted thirteen unique moves.' They glared, 'This will not be easy.'

Ash moved to sit down, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and took on a light blue outline.

Mewtwo grimaced, 'Calm Mind!' They glared and flared from psychic energy; destroying Grass Knot in the process, 'Don't get overwhelmed!' They held out a hand, 'This is what you've been training for!' Mewtwo used Psystrike.

The purple dome reappeared in the powerful Psychic-type attack's path. Ash slightly opened one eye to peak at which barrier activated and closed it again, 'So it really is Spec-'

The attack connected and Ash perked up, 'Physical? No, it just feels like it. Not feeling any other effects… So, it might just be like a more powerful Psyshock.' He frowned as Light Screen disappeared again, 'But I can't rule out a side-effect, yet. It could be chance-based.'

Ash took a deep breath and stood back up, '82.2916 repeated.' He fell to all fours and the pikachu shot towards Mewtwo with Agility.

Mewtwo took on a light blue outline and their arms flared from Drain Punch as they shot towards Ash. They threw a punch down at the Electric-type. Before the orange wall could reappear, the banette jumped up and through the Fighting-type attack, and threw a glowing, purple jab at Mewtwo's primary neck.

Mewtwo grimaced and lurched to the side to dodge Throat Chop. But Ash spun to throw a kick, switched to Braviary, and managed a glancing blow to Mewtwo's shoulder with Crush Claw.

Mewtwo grimaced in pain and flared from Psystrike before firing at point blank. Light Screen formed as Ash switched to Butterfree and flapped an Ominous Wind into the Psychic-type attack. The attacks exploded violently against each other and formed a cloud of smoke around the combatants.

Everyone watching flinched and all but Brock, Misty, and Togepi grimaced. No one noticed what happened in the background.

Mewtwo shot back out of the smoke cloud with a grimace on their face as a mightyena followed mid-pounce with his mouth wide open.

Ash used Bite. But Mewtwo evaded by lurching to the side. Ash landed on his forepaws and spun on them to swing into position before the rapidash launched a Double Kick. Mewtwo crossed their arms and threw up another barrier to block the consecutive attack.

Ash switched back to pikachu, detonated a Hidden Power against the ground to propel towards Mewtwo, and spun to swing a Brick Break into the barrier; shattering it instantly. Mewtwo stared in shock.

Ash's eyes narrowed, 'Good. That works even though it's not a move.'

Mewtwo glared and shoved their hand forward as their eyes flashed light blue in an attempt to telekinetically launch Ash back. But it had no effect on the mightyena.

Ash inhaled and screamed a point-blank, Ice Fang boosted Hyper Voice into Mewtwo's face. Mewtwo gritted their teeth in pain as the freezing sound waves tore away at them but then crossed their arms to form a barrier again. At the same time, a mixed swarm of Hidden Power and Shadow Ball formed around them and flew towards Ash.

Ash glared, cut off his attack, shifted to rapidash, and Bounced high into the air before Light Screen could form. The Ghost-type and pseudo-Fairy-type spheres shot through the empty space and exploded the wall further back. Mewtwo watched as Ash sprang up higher before lifting off and flying after him.

Ash noticed and gritted his teeth, '54.9305 repeated.' He lit up green as he transformed again.

Mewtwo's eyes widened in pure shock at seeing the Virtual Pokémon hovering above them and glaring.

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*.

Eyes widen. Jaw drops, 'What the-'

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*Battle

Mewtwo stared in pure shock, '-Yvel is-' They stopped and flinched when a Signal Beam shot from the tip of the -what seemed to be- blocky Pokémon's face and swerved out of the way to dodge before swinging out a hand to throw another swarm of Shadow Balls. As they did, their eyes widened, 'Pressure?!'

Ash pointed the tips of his wings and face at Mewtwo as an orange energy sphere appeared on his face, a light blue one formed on his right wing, and a yellow one came up on his left wing before a white line connected the spheres.

The Ghost-type spheres passed through Ash harmlessly and the triangle shot towards Mewtwo.

Mewtwo formed a barrier around just their arm and swatted away the Tri Attack, 'It's Normal-type!' They gestured and unleashed a Hidden Power swarm.

Ash looked around the spheres rapidly as a crosshair appeared in his line of sight. Light Screen reappeared and Ash lit up white right as the spheres crashed into him and exploded.

Mewtwo smirked but flinched and stared in shock when the Virtual Pokémon appeared from the smoke cloud; this time with a silver coating completely covering his body, 'What-'

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*.

Presses face and hands; eye shining, '-was that?!'

Ash fired another Tri Attack -which Mewtwo dodged- and then shot after them.

'He changed his own type to Steel, so that wasn't Trick-Or-Treat, Soak, Forest's Curse, or Reflect Type. And Camouflage shouldn't have a reason to turn him Steel-type. His last move before that was Tri Attack so that rules out Protean-'

Mewtwo swung a Drain Punch at the now-Steel-type. Their eyes narrowed in frustration as they did so.

Ash glanced at the fist and lit up white again as Reflect formed. Mewtwo's attack followed through and hit. This time, Ash had purple replacing the blue coloration and a white eye outline on his forehead. Though, the green symbol cut off half of it.

Eyes widen and blip blue, 'Psychic-type?! Is he changing to a type that's resistant to the attack?! But he didn't turn into a Ghost-type. Is it random?' Rapid head shake, 'No, wait!'

Ash switched to a darmanitan with the watch's symbol on its forehead and wrapped his arms around Mewtwo; making the Psychic-type stare in shock. Ash looked them in the eye as his eyes lit-up purple from Psychic. Mewtwo jerked as a matching outline attempted to form around them but ended up shattering along with their own.

Mewtwo grimaced as they and Ash fell back to the earth at high speed.

'No known move, ability, or item should be able to do that! And it looks like he has to focus to do it, so…' Eyes widened and grins excitedly, 'Another … new move?'

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*Battle

The darmanitan and the mewtwo crashed into the field and kicked up a thick dust cloud. About a second later, the darmanitan was hurled back out of the cloud with a light blue outline around him.

Ash switched to Mightyena, the outline shattered away, and he fell to the ground and skidded back to a halt; panting lightly. He moved up to his hind paws and switched back to human. Aqua Ring was still present around him.

The dust settled to reveal Mewtwo kneeling while holding out a hand to the human and panting lightly as well. They stood back up and brushed off the water from the Fire-type's Aqua Ring.

Ash and Mewtwo stared each other down for a moment; both still panting. Ash perked up as the breeze against his back stopped and glanced back to find his Tailwind had ceased. Mewtwo noticed and smirked.

Ash glared at the Psychic-type before taking a deep breath. The pikachu fell to all fours and kicked off into Agility.

Mewtwo lifted off and hovered towards their opponent at high speed. They formed a swarm of Shadow Balls and fired them ahead as they advanced.

Ash rapidly glanced around at the spheres as his cheeks crackled. Light Screen reappeared as Ash let out a Thunderbolt into the Aqua Ring. Electricity flared out in all directions; destroying the oncoming swarm instantly.

Mewtwo stared in mild surprise before smirking, 'Clever.'

After the assault stopped, Reflect appeared alongside Light Screen before both shattered out of existence.

Once he got close enough, Ash jumped to his hind paws, shifted to his blastoise form, and threw an Ice Punch. Mewtwo lurched to the side to dodge and aimed a Drain Punch at Ash's head. But the Fighting-type attack passed high above the clefairy.

Mewtwo glanced down at Ash as he jumped toward their gut with light blue energy shrouding his head. They gestured to throw up another barrier as Zen Headbutt approached it. Ash immediately cut off his attack, switched to Pikachu's form, and back-pawed the shield with Brick Break; shattering it immediately.

Mewtwo gritted their teeth, 'Tch.'

Ash switched to Nidoking and threw a Poison Jab at his opponent's chest. Mewtwo formed a barrier across their arm again and parried the Poison-type attack before forming a Shadow Ball in their hand and thrusting it towards Ash's chest.

Ash changed to kangaskhan as the sphere phased into his chest and retaliated with a pair of Shadow Claw. Mewtwo formed a Shadow Ball in each hand and shoved them at the oncoming attacks to hold them back. The Psychic-type and adult Normal-type fell into a power struggle; neither gaining the upper hand.

Ash glared in frustration before glancing at the spectators and blurting out, "GUYS, NOW!"

Mewtwo flinched and glanced over in alarm. They grimaced in pain as something slashed at their gut and glanced down to find the infant kangaskhan standing at their feet and glaring up at them with a faded purple glow around his claws.

Mewtwo gritted their teeth as their eyes glowed light blue. Both Ash took on a matching outline before being thrown back. The infant hastily slapped a hand over his mouth as he and the adult skidded back to a halt.

Mewtwo perked up in surprise while looking at the adult, 'He didn't negate it that time?' They perked up again -this time in realization- and looked at the infant, 'Wait a second-'

Ashs' eyes widened in fearful realization before the pair broke into a sprint towards each other. The infant put a paw on the adult as a mightyena took their place.

'They need to be touching for him to change!' Mewtwo smirked.

Ash gritted his teeth in frustration, 'So much for that form…' He switched to Monger's form and swung his hand out as a swarm of light blue flames appeared around him and shot forward.

Mewtwo's smirk faded, and they jerked while grimacing, 'Will-O-Wisp!' They immediately swung out an arm to fire a Hidden Power swarm into the Burning ghost flames.

The spheres and flames crashed only inches in front of Mewtwo and exploded against each other; forming a cloud of smoke in front of them.

The next thing Mewtwo knew, a large cannon containing a bright white ball of energy appeared from the smoke; aimed directly at their face. The blastoise glared as Flash Cannon fired.

But, in an instant, Mewtwo's hands shot up to push the cannon upward. Flash Cannon erupted outward and crashed into the stands in the upper row.

Ash's eyes widened, 'What the-' He shook it off and threw Ice Punch at the Psychic-type.

Mewtwo ducked under the punch and unleashed a Psystrike that erupted high above the braviary. They then threw a Drain Punch down onto him. Ash's wings lit up white before he used them to parry the Fighting-type attack.

He cut off Steel Wing as his talons lit up red from Crush Claw and threw a kick at Mewtwo. Mewtwo shot back to dodge.

Ash's eyes narrowed, 'Crag.' He jumped back with a flap -much to Mewtwo's confusion-, switched to Butterfree's form, and flapped a Sleep Powder boosted Whirlwind at Mewtwo.

Mewtwo grimaced and held out their hand to form a barrier all around them as the spores pelted and covered the shield. After it stopped, Mewtwo dispelled the barrier and glared ahead. They perked up and stared in surprise when Ash was nowhere to be seen.

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*Ash on a flood light as a Porygon

Ash stared down at Mewtwo intently, 'Assuming they rested off the battle against Dragonite and Tracing Pressure really did work, 12 Drain Punch activations, 10 Shadow Balls, 7 Hidden Power, and 4 Psystrikes. They're definitely over base. Might even be safe to assume they're Maxed, and I can't rule out Power Point Transference, yet.'

He shook it off and stared intently again, 'So, that adds up to… Ugh. Just work with what you know for an estimate.' Numbers ran wildly across his eyes. After they stopped, his eyes narrowed, 'Max estimate is as much as 63.5416 repeated. Maybe around 55 if my guess on Psystrike is close.'

He glared in annoyance, 'And I'm only 1up and already down to 3.4027 repeated. Freaking Yvel. I hoped they were already weak from battling Soot and I could just overwhelm them. But it's possible their stamina's less than half spent.'

The nanosecond that thought process happened during passed as Ash switched back to human and took a deep breath to calm himself, 'I guess I did need that precaution.'

Ash transformed to the pair of kangaskhan forms before the infant raised his head and spat up a pair of Leppa berries that the adult caught by the leaves. He then opened his mouth as wide as he could -revealing the Oran berry- and bit down on it.

Ash tossed the berries up before the porygon held out and sharpened his wings, 'I can't just wing it like the last one.' He swung wildly at the berries.

The human swept his hands to catch all twenty evenly-sized pieces, 'I'll have to be as efficient as possible.' He then frowned in annoyance and looked down at the Leppa berry pieces, 'Really starting to wish I had more than two of these left.' He shook it off, took a few steps back, pocketed eighteen of them, and tossed the other two into the air.

He jumped up and the rapidash bit down on one of them, 'Bounce.'

The butterfree fluttered up to catch the other and started eating, 'Ominous Wind.'

He landed gently before switching back to human, taking out three more pieces, and flicking them upward.

He leapt again before the darmanitan switched to Zen Mode and positioned himself to catch two of the pieces in his mouth, 'Psychic.' He repositioned himself and caught the third, 'Belly Drum.'

He hovered back down to the fixture and reverted to human again before reaching into his pocket. He tossed six more upward, switched to Porygon, and flew up to four of them. His face split down the middle and widened before clamping down on four of the pieces, 'Tri Attack.'

He then switched to blastoise and ate the other two, 'Flash Cannon.'

He returned to Porygon, landed, took out six, placed them at his feet, and the mightyena then picked up and ate two, 'Hyper Voice.'

The braviary then gathered up the last four and swallowed, 'And finally, Crush Claw. That should bring me up to 42.9861 repeated.' Ash switched back to human and put a hand on his pocket, 'No other moves are worth it, right now. Guess I'll save these for something big.'

Ash leapt up and returned to his porygon form as his literal-computer mind accelerated again.

'Now that just leaves the question, will it help…' Ash shook his head rapidly before glaring at Mewtwo 'Just do a rundown and maybe something will come to you.'

'Type: seemingly pure-Psychic. Ability: Pressure. Move set: light-blue sphere-style Hidden Power -Fairy-type-, sparking-pitch-style Shadow Ball, green glow full basic-style Drain Punch and Psystrike. Techniques: fully-realized telekinesis, fully-realized barrier manifestation, and fully-realized omnidirectional levitation… but something's off…'

He thought back to Mewtwo redirecting the blastoise's cannon less than a second before they would have gotten a face-full of Flash Cannon.

'Mewtwo's reaction time is good, but that seemed like something different from what we've seen so far. Normally, I'd assume they were moving before I showed myself to pull that off. But Soot and I have managed to surprise them from blind spots. Landing hits on an experienced psychic when they're distracted or surprised is expected but attacking from behind isn't. Meaning it isn't extrasensory perception.'

'I am the one who made and controls the storm surrounding my island. Monitoring it was no less difficult.'

'Or, more likely, it's not at a level that allows them to quickly detect a being's presence. So, if that wasn't because of a sixth sense, then what?'

He focused on the tube extending from the back of Mewtwo's head to the upper part of their spine, 'It's probably a safe assumption that that's a second brain stem or something similar. An increase in blood flow could explain their high-power output, but … would that enhance their motor functions?' He perked up.

'Or rather, improved versions.'

'Unless … that isn't what's happening…'

'Now that I think about it, almost every time they use a psychic ability other than telepathy or self-levitation, they make some kind of hand gesture or their outline flares up. Normally the style would be to blame for both, but their telekinesis and barrier manifestation aren't moves. I thought it might be a way for them to focus due to inexperience, but what if those movements are completely necessary for their species?'

'In other words,' His eyes narrowed apprehensively, 'Psionic-neural infusion… Their psychic output isn't just from their brain. It's coming from their entire body.' He focused on their bulbed fingers and toes, 'And it's likely the shape of their digits isn't actually a genetic mutation like the markings on the other clones, but actually a dense cluster of nerve endings meant to increase their output or improve prowess.'

'I was designed to be the world's most powerful Pokémon. To be a superior version of Mew.'

'They weren't exaggerating. Their creators really went all out. Successfully overlapping telekinetic signals with neural ones… honed correctly, that would almost completely void the neural delay for motor functions. The fact that they can painlessly do that on reflex is beyond incredi- no, more like horrifying.'

'A being moving their body like that can not only void the neural delay, but all bodily limits. The possibility of them harming themself beyond repair is so high that it's psychotic to even train that technique. Especially with that high of a power output. The fact that they can do it so seamlessly, like it's part of their form, is-'

Ash snapped out of it and his eyes widened, 'Their … form…' He stared in silence for a few minutes -mentally- before shaking his head rapidly, 'No. NO! Think rationally, Ketchum! If their actually a clone of Mew, that would make them a Legendary! Maybe even Mythical!'

'A- And if I'm right about their nervous system, that means their unnaturally high power is biological! They're too powerful! I- I shouldn't… I can't! It isn't fair!'

'Not fair. Not fair! NOT-'

'DA-'

Ash flinched and his eyes widened in shock. An actual second passed before he switched back to human and looked down at Mewtwo; eyes shaded over. He took a deep breath ending in a quiet sigh. "Fine."

He switched to Clefairy's form, sat down, and closed his eyes.

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*ground

Mewtwo stood in the center of the arena and glared around it warily, 'Where the Yvel is he?!' They flinched when a loud scream rang out and looked up at one of the flood lights to find a beam of pink hearts shooting down towards them.

They glared and held out a hand to the Disarming Voice as they threw up a barrier. The undodgeable Fairy-type attack crashed into and pushed against the barrier. Mewtwo flinched and stared in shock before quickly putting out their other hand to push back against the move.

Disarming Voice exploded violently, and smoke covered Mewtwo. They immediately shot back out of the cloud and looked up at the light in shock, 'What the Yvel?! His attacks weren't this strong before!'

They glared angrily and took on a light blue outline before shooting up to the massive fixture. They made it up to the light but flinched when they saw the human charging them with a breeze against his back and then throw a right hook. Mewtwo ducked under and watched as the boy passed overhead.

Ash glanced down at Mewtwo coldly as he passed over. The Zen Mode darmanitan stopped himself in midair and spun to face Mewtwo. As he did, a cluster of large rocks burst into existence and flew towards Mewtwo.

Mewtwo swung out an arm to fire off a handful of Hidden Power into the oncoming Rock Tomb. The Fairy and Rock attacks crashed into each other exploded; shattering the latter and sending pebbles towards the ground.

A pair of Hidden Power slipped through and flew towards Ash. But before they hit, a translucent orange wall appeared before the darmanitan; buffering the damage from the not very effective attack even more.

Mewtwo's eyes widened, 'He reset the barriers!' They smirked slyly, 'However, that form is in Zen Mode.' They formed a Shadow Ball in each hand and shot towards Ash, 'Meaning he's gotten weaker.' They thrust one of the Ghost-type attacks towards the Fire/Psychic-type's forehead.

Ash hurriedly ducked under the attack and spread his arms. Mewtwo stared in shock and glanced down at the pure Fire-type as he wrapped his arms around their body again.

The Psychic-type stared in shock, 'What?! How did he-' Their glare returned, 'Later!' They thought back to Ash's levitation-negating stunt before their eyes lit up, 'I can't let him repeat-'

"Tan!" Ash called out as his mouth opened wide and he bit down on Mewtwo's shoulder … and a large portion of their upper torso. Mewtwo stared blankly before a plume of flames blasted out from either side of the Blazing Pokémon's mouth.

"MAH!" Mewtwo screamed in pain as Fire Fang tore away at their stamina. Ash's eyes then lit up as he repeated his levitation-negating stunt.

The pair crashed into the earth and a large cloud of dust covered them once again. The spectators watched intently -expecting one of them to launch out of it again- but some perked up in surprise when nothing happened.

The dust slowly began to fade. Everyone jerked in surprise when they saw Mewtwo lying on their front and Ash -human again- kneeling next to them with the psychic's second neck between two fingers on his left hand.

'W-' Mewtwo's telepathy rang out distortedly as they stared in the human in shock with one eye, 'wha- y-'

"Looks like I was right." Ash said apathetically, "This really is a second brain stem." Mewtwo's eyes widened further as he continued, "Let me guess, your creators needed to include this to make you as powerful as you are."

Brock, Misty, Gary, and Corey perked up in realization.

'Mewtwo's definitely powerful -scarily so-, but it seems like they're still working on refining themselves.'

Mewtwo just continued staring.

Ash blinked before glancing over the rest of the limp Pokémon's body, "I didn't expect you to be this helpless. I'm barely even squeezing. I guess they prioritized your psychic abilities and put most of the motor skills in this neck, huh? Not like your psychic abilities will help you, though. It's obvious you already know that I'm immune to psychic influence."

Mewtwo's eyes widened slightly.

Ash noticed, looked at them again, and sighed, "Hey, you don't have to worry. I'm not going to do any permanent damage." He raised his right hand and clenched it into a fist, "I'm only doing this to keep you in place." A plume of flames covered his hand, "I promise I'll make it quick." He threw the fake Fire Punch towards Mewtwo's back.

Right before the fist could connect, Mewtwo glared as their eyes lit up a solid light blue. Their arms immediately spread out and Mewtwo gritted their teeth as a series of pops sounded out. Both then bent back unnaturally to simultaneously shove away both of Ash's hands.

Ash just stared with his eyes shaded over. Everyone else flinched and stared in pure shock; some grimacing. Neesha and Joy each had a hand over their mouth and Misty hurriedly covered Togepi's eyes.

Mewtwo gasped as the neck was released, immediately fixed their arms, and pushed off the ground and back to their feet. Ash stumbled back as result with his right arm held out. Mewtwo glared back furiously, reached back to grab the outstretched wrist, and threw Ash over their shoulder and across the field.

Ash managed to switch to mightyena and detonate a Hidden Power to right himself in the air. He skidded back to a halt and changed back to human form before falling to a knee; eyes still shaded. He looked at the watch.

Brock and Misty flinched and stared in pure shock upon noticing something. Gary noticed their reactions and looked at Ash in confusion. He squinted, 'Wait, why is-'

"AHH!' Mewtwo shouted hoarsely and telepathically as they shot their hands forward. A massive swarm of Hidden Power and Shadow Ball hurled towards Ash with a pair of Psystrike tailing them.

Ash looked ahead as Light Screen formed. He threw out something from his pocket and flashed green as the massive barrage crashed into his barriers and exploded violently. A smoke cloud completely covered the boy.

.

*.

Eyes blip blue and perks up.

.

*battlefield

Mewtwo panted heavily and trembled terribly while staring ahead erratically, 'That- Was- That CANNOT happen again!' They took a deep breath to steady themself and glared ahead intently.

Suddenly an unstable looking stream of psychic energy blasted a hole in the smoke and flew towards the Psychic-type. Mewtwo's eyes widened in pure shock as the attack approached. They didn't even set up a barrier as Psystrike crashed into them.

'Gah!' Mewtwo coughed as they were thrown back and crashed to the ground. They shakily pushed themself to sit up and looked ahead in shock, 'That was- H-how did- Copycat? Mirror Move? Or-' Their eyes widened, 'You can't mean-'

'Huh.' Everyone flinched at suddenly hearing Ash's voice, 'Same stamina cost as Drain Punch. Good to know.' A purplish-gray blur rocketed forward from the cloud and flew towards Mewtwo.

Mewtwo's eyes widened as another mewtwo stopped just above them with a green glow, full basic-style Drain Punch reeled back.

Mewtwo grimaced and their eyes blipped as they threw themself to the side; causing Ash to punch the ground. Mewtwo managed to recover from the self-toss and stopped themself in midair; standing upright.

They looked ahead in shock as Ash stood back up. Three small pieces of Leppa berry were hovering next to the 'Phantom'.

The trainer looked down at his hand in surprise, 'Woah … I didn't expect your Drain Punch's style to be part of your biology. I didn't even know that was possible.' He opened his mouth as all three Leppa pieces flew into it and started chewing, 'I'll definitely have to learn something new as Kangaskhan.' He swallowed and glanced upward thoughtfully, 'Though, Shadow Ball… Banette does have STAB, so…' He looked at Mewtwo, 'Hey, do you happen to know if you're able to learn X-Scis-'

He found Mewtwo already in front of him and swinging Drain Punch. Reflect appeared right before Ash launched to the side to avoid the Fighting-type attack. Mewtwo's eyes narrowed.

Ash set himself down and raised a brow, 'So that's a "no" to X-Scissor?'

Mewtwo glared and swung out a hand to fire off a Shadow Ball swarm. Ash's Light Screen formed as his arms lit up from Drain Punch. He swung his arm around wildly to bat away the weakened attack.

'That's a shame.' Ash said calmly while frowning, 'I was thinking Nincada might like to learn that.' Reflect replaced Light Screen as he held out a still-active Drain Punch to catch Mewtwo's. Both combatants lit up light green as the healing effect took place. Though neither of them actually healed due to the attacks looping their energy.

Ash raised a brow, 'You seem upset.' 'Pressure should put this at sixteen.' He shot a quick glance to Mewtwo's other hand; seeing it also glowing from the Fighting-type attack, 'Guess I'll find out soon.'

Mewtwo glared furiously, 'Do you think this is a joke?!' They threw their other Drain Punch. Ash caught it like the first. 'You'd resort to this…' Mewtwo flared up from Psystrike, 'To stealing my power!' Ash glared and flared up as well. Both attacks crashed into each other at point blank and exploded violently.

Both mewtwo shot back from the dust cloud. Mewtwo stopped in midair on the other side of the field and set themselves down, and Ash skidded back to a halt. Reflect and the glow from his Drain Punches vanished.

Mewtwo glared at Ash, 'Do you have no shame?! No honor?!' They perked up in realization, 'Or' A smirk crawled onto their face, 'have you finally realized it?' They put a hand to their chest and held the other to the side, 'You've realized that I was right from the beginning. That you're no match for me. That I am your superior!'

'Pretty much.' Ash said without hesitation. Mewtwo flinched and stared in shock. 'You're right. My Pokémon forms are no match for you. Not anymore. You're too powerful for them.' He looked down at the mewtwo form's hand, 'All I could think of was scanning you to try and even the playing field a little.'

'Scan?' Mewtwo glared again, 'And you believe this will give you an advantage? Even if you've copied my power completely- even if you've seen some of what I'm capable of,' They swept out a hand, 'it will be of no help to you!'

'Right again.' Ash agreed; making Mewtwo tense up, 'I don't have your experience with these powers. Not to mention, I'm low on stamina and I don't have access to anymore Leppa berries. This form can't beat you.' His eyes narrowed, 'Neither can any of my Pokémon forms.'

Brock and Misty flinched and stared in shock. Gary noticed and looked at them in surprise.

Mewtwo's eyes narrowed, 'What are you getting at?'

Ash remained silent for a moment then took a deep breath ending in a sigh; voice unhindered unlike the original. He glanced down at and put a hand on the watch's symbol on his chest, 'There's something that I swore on a long time ago. More like a vow, really…'

Mewtwo glared, 'And that is?'

Ash frowned, '"When battling a Pokémon, never-' He lit up light green.

.

*.

Spits Mud Bomb. Hastily wipes it away and stares in pure, awestruck shock.

.

*Spectator Area

"Woah!" Neesha blurted out as she jumped back.

Fergus and Corey were slack jawed. Joy and Dragonite stared in pure shock.

Gary stared in pure shock, "What" He looked at Brock and Misty, "Is" He pointed at Ash forcefully, "That?!"

Misty smiled nervously while sweat dropping, "Good question."

Brock scratched the back of his head, "Ash and Soot don't know what any of them are, either."

Gary stared blankly, "… … … them?"

.

*Battlefield

"use these … things.'" Quick Attack finished in an uncomfortable tone.

Mewtwo just stared at the creature in absolute shock.

The blue and black reptile sighed, "Yeah, that's the usual reaction."

'what-' Mewtwo stuttered telepathically, 'what … is that?'

"Yvel if I know." Ash said casually, "The most I know about this thing is that it's" He vanished with a blur. "fast." He finished while standing behind Mewtwo.

The Psychic-type gasped and jerked to look back. By the time they did, Quick Attack was already back in his original spot. Mewtwo turned to look at the creature again and stared in pure shock. Everyone watching -except Brock, Misty, and Togepi- stared in shock as well.

Mewtwo gulped before glaring again and smirking, 'I'll admit that feat. was impressive. But appearance aside, I fail to see why you would blacklist this creature.'

"Oh, it's not just this one." Ash said before flashing green again. Everyone flinched as Stone Edge appeared and held a hand to the side.

Joy's eyes widened in shock, 'That crystal! Infinite-style Stone Edge?!'

"It's all of these things." A cluster of jagged spikes took the place of Ash's outstretched hand, "They're too powerful." Three shards fired from the cluster and struck the metal door. The first two imbedded themselves into the door; one just by the tip and the other was most of the way through. There was just a hole where the third one struck. "It isn't safe."

Mewtwo stared at the door in surprise before looking at Ash and smirking again; albeit while sweating nervously, 'And yet you've decided to use them against me. Should I be honored that you view me as strong enough to face them?'

"Not exactly." Ash said as his hand returned to normal, "Even now, I don't want to hurt you too bad."

Mewtwo gritted their teeth as the crystal lifeform lit up green.

"I'm just using them for soil-port." Frenzy Plant said before raising a hand.

Mewtwo visibly flinched and blinked while staring blankly, 'Come again?'

The plant creature shoved his hand into the ground. Mewtwo perked up when they felt the ground start to rumble and glanced down in alarm. Right as they did, a swarm of vines exploded out of the ground all around them.

Mewtwo grimaced and immediately shot into the air as the vines closed around where they were standing. They quickly untangled and stretched further upward to chase the psychic.

Mewtwo shot away with the vines still tailing them. They glanced back, 'What the Yvel?! Frenzy Plant?!' Their eyes narrowed, 'No. It looks too small for that. But also, too big for Grass Kno-' They jerked when they noticed something out of the corner of their eye. They spun to face it while swinging out a hand to create a barrier around themself.

They perked up in confusion upon seeing two large black pods outside the shield, 'Seeds?'

The seeds exploded as a thick cloud of white smoke formed around the Psychic-type.

Mewtwo looked around in surprise, 'Smoke bo-' They jerked when they heard a thump and looked over to find the vines that were chasing them pressed against their barrier. They blinked before shaking it off and shooting forward to escape the cloud. They were met with two more of the large seeds.

Mewtwo's eyes narrowed, 'Useless. I already know that they're-' The seeds split open as a cluster of vines erupted and wrapped around the barrier. The psychic's jaw dropped, 'WHAT?! Is there more than one kind?!' They shook it off again, 'I can't keep getting overwhelmed like this.'

They looked around to find no light shining through the vine cage, 'These vines came directly from that pod. Meaning I'm not likely tethered to any-' They perked up slightly and glanced downward, 'No, right. The ones chasing me. They've probably already latched onto this.'

They looked around and twitched a finger as the forcefield shrunk slightly. The vines all moved as they tightened around the barrier, 'They're still constricting. If the barrier comes down, I'll be restrained. So, I need to destroy all of them the instant I remove the barrier.'

They took a deep breath, 'Very well.' Their eyes lit up as a small cluster of the black pokéballs appeared around them.

Mewtwo held up a hand and clenched it into a fist. Every one of the pokéballs shattered in an instant and the shards hovered around the psychic. Mewtwo crossed their arms as the shards surrounded them.

Their eyes blipped and they quickly spread their arms. The barrier faded and the pokéball shards shot outward at high speed; shredding everything around them.

'Childs pla-' Mewtwo stopped, and their eyes widened at what they saw before them.

Frenzy Plant was tossed back by the swarm. But his entire left arm, the three left-most of the five vine legs, the left flytrap, and his head from the neck up were missing. His right arm was reduced to an elbow. All of the severed parts were falling back and down to the stadium.

Mewtwo stared in slack jawed shock. Every pokéball shard stopped levitating and plummeted to the earth.

'He was … he was … that close? Crag…' Mewtwo grimaced fearfully, 'CRAG!' They looked down in a panic with a hand on their face, 'This is bad… I messed up! This wasn't how this was supposed to-'

"Mah!" Mewtwo blurted out as their arms were suddenly brought down and pinned against their body by vines, 'What?!' They stared in shock and followed the vines to the source.

What they found was that they were wrapped in the creature's once-again-complete right arm. The left arm was up to an elbow, the flytrap mouth was half-rebuilt, only one 'leg' was now missing, and a jaw and mouth were now protruding from the neck. And all of it was still growing.

"Well, I didn't see that cumin." Ash said as his head fully grew back, "Good thing I managed to switch in thyme." The rest of his body regenerated in a second and he reeled himself in towards the bound mewtwo.

The Psychic-type gritted their teeth while staring in panicked shock, 'What on earth is this thing?!' They glared, 'That doesn't matter, right now. I've learnt something vital about it.' Their eyes flashed as four of their Pokéballs appeared. Ash perked up slightly as they did.

'I don't need to hold back against it!' Mewtwo clenched a fist and the pokéballs shattered on the spot. The shards then twirled around them at high speed; shredding the extended arm in an instant and freeing them.

Ash immediately regrew his arm while Mewtwo shot forward with a Drain Punch at the ready.

The eye on Ash's face narrowed in annoyance. He lit up green as Mewtwo swung.

The Psychic-type's eyes widened as Ash seemed to vanish in the flash and canceled Drain Punch, 'What?! Wasn't that the light from his transforma-' They stopped and flinched when they felt something touch their foot and hurriedly looked down at it. They found nothing but noticed a green flash from behind.

Mewtwo glanced back to find Ash throwing a Drain Punch at them. Mewtwo lit up their arms with the matching attack and caught the fist. Mewtwo immediately threw the other Drain Punch.

Ash flash green again as Reflect appeared. Mewtwo's eyes widened as Calm Mind just barely ducked back under the attack.

They gritted their teeth, 'Seriously?!'

Calm Mind positioned himself to kick off the arm and plummeted towards the ground. Mewtwo glared and shot downward to chase after him.

Ash stared at Mewtwo in mild annoyance as he fell, 'Definitely Maxed. By my count, they should be down to 28.64583 repeated.' His eyes narrowed, 'And I'm already down to 9.6527 repeated. And regular fatigue is starting to catch up.'

"This predicament's severity may be more advanced than anticipated." He muttered to himself, "Perhaps I require an alternative approach." His mind raced for the next few seconds as he approached the ground.

After those few seconds, he moved himself upright in the air, switched to Stone Edge, and crash landed on the field; feet first. He then quickly switched to Overheat and unleashed a massive fire geyser towards Mewtwo.

Mewtwo grimaced and threw themself to the side to dodge. They glared at Ash, held a hand to him, and closed their fingers.

Ash's eyes widened and he quickly switched back to Frenzy Plant. Right as he emerged, all of the surrounding pokéball shards shot toward him; taking off his arms and legs.

Ash immediately started regrowing them as he fell back, but they were shredded as well. His remaining eye narrowed as he hit the ground.

Mewtwo panted lightly as they descended; arm still aimed at Ash, 'I was right.' They thought back to the clefairy's Aqua Ring healing the damage from what they assumed was the darmanitan's Belly Drum, 'Damage him at all and it damages the other forms in the same way.'

They swept a hand to sever the newly-growing parts, 'And this plant thing might be only one I can do this to without inflicting permanent damage.' They smirked, 'He shouldn't be able to change anymore.' They held out their other hand as a swarm of Hidden Power and Shadow Ball appeared above Ash.

Ash glanced around at the attacks. His eye narrowed, "Tch."

'Checkmate!' Mewtwo announced as they brought their hand down. The sphere swarms shot down towards the grounded plant creature.

Ash closed his eye as the attacks crashed into him and exploded violently. Mewtwo immediately swept away the smoke to reveal a pile of plant scraps where the creature was and smirked triumphantly, 'A few more of those and it should be over.' They raised their hand as the conjoined swarm of attacks formed again.

After a few seconds, Mewtwo's smirk faded and they stared warily, 'Why isn't he regenerating?'

They jerked when they heard a series of smashes and glanced back to find five vine clusters protruding from the ground and shooting towards them.

Mewtwo gritted their teeth, 'He tunneled!' They canceled the Hidden Power and Shadow Ball and swung a hand forward. All of the pokéball shards shot outward to shred the oncoming vines. The Psychic-type then repositioned their hand and swung it upward.

The vines took on a matching outline before bursting out of the hole. Mewtwo's eyes widened when all they saw was one of Frenzy Plant's pods at the end of each vine. A green flash erupted from behind them, and they looked back to find Overheat holding a hand towards them as plant scraps flew away from him.

Ash's eyes narrowed as his hand started glowing. Mewtwo's eyes widened fearfully, and they spun around while swing a hand to throw up a barrier. Right as they did, a sea of flames exploded from the charcoal-skinned creature's hand and washed over the shield.

Mewtwo grimaced and crossed their arms in an attempt to stand their ground against the flames. But they failed and were hurled back and crashed into a stadium wall. Though their shield still held strong.

Mewtwo gritted their teeth as the flames pushed at their shield, 'It's too strong!' They glanced back at the wall to find it slowly cracking from the pressure, 'If I try to move and he follows, I'll be launched out to sea!' They glared ahead in frustration, 'Crag! What do I-'

Mewtwo perked up when the flames suddenly stopped and stared in confusion; surrounded by smoke. Their eyes narrowed and blipped as their tail swung to the side to blow away the smoke.

On the other side of the battlefield stood a green human-shaped slime creature with black and purple specks littering its body, yellow eyes, and a small metal top hovering over its … 'head'.

'No doubt, that's him.' Mewtwo dispelled the shield and brought up their hands to recall the pokéball fragments, 'Slime-based and human-shaped. This one could be trick-' They stopped and flinched when they realized none of the shards came to them and shot darting glances around the field.

The battlefield was completely cleared of debris. Neither their pokéball fragments nor Frenzy Plant's foliage were anywhere to be seen. Even the green crystals embedded in the door were gone.

Mewtwo perked up in realization and looked at Ash again. Looking closer, they found that the 'specks' in the creature were actually the pokéball shards. And they were slowly disappearing. What's more, the Tailwind at his back had ceased.

Mewtwo stared in shock as the fragments dissolved, 'He's… That was just a diversion?! And how did he gather them up so quickly?! That reptile?!' They composed themself and glared, 'No. It doesn't matter. I still have more pokéballs.' They moved into their fighting stance, 'But I can't risk them being dissolved as well. I'll have to be patient.'

Ash's eyes narrowed as the last of the shards dissolved completely. He lit up and reemerged in the Mewtwo form again. Mewtwo glared and activated Drain Punch yet again. Ash glared in mild annoyance and tensed up as his Reflect and Light Screen reappeared.

Ash glanced around right as the barriers shattered away. He sighed and held up his hands.

Mewtwo flinched and stared in shock; dispelling Drain Punch in the process. Everyone spectating stared in shock as well.

'You- are you-' Mewtwo glared furiously, 'After all of that?! Are you seriously giving up after everything that's happened?!'

'No.' Ash said as he put his hands back down, 'I'm just getting your attention.'

Mewtwo stared blankly before flinching and looking around in alarm.

'Not as a distraction.' Ash said quickly; causing Mewtwo to glance at him again, 'I just want to ask you something.'

Mewtwo stared in shock before glaring, 'And you think now is the best time?'

'Is there a good time?' Ash asked.

'…' Mewtwo's eye twitched, 'just say it already.'

'Earlier I asked what your response would be if I claimed to not be the Phantom. You said you didn't believe me. But-' Ash frowned and glanced at everyone behind the glass, 'But if I came clean-' Brock and Misty flinched as he looked at Mewtwo again, 'If I explained everything. My ability to transform. My abilities as a human. The truth about Soot and inheritance.'

Gary perked up in surprise.

'What would your answer be?' Ash asked.

Mewtwo glared in annoyance, 'That you've wasted my time.'

Ash stared calmly before letting out a small chuckle and looking down tiredly, 'Yeah.' He smiled at the psychic tiredly, 'I thought that'd be your answer.' Ash lit up to return to human, put two fingers on his right wrist, and pulled out a black-rimmed lens from the cuff of his red glove. A small red splotch could be seen on the face of it, "Guess I'll need proof."

Mewtwo stared in surprise as Ash hit the button on the watch, rotated the dial, and placed the Lens on the face. He held it up to reveal a silhouette that Mewtwo recognized all too well.

Mewtwo stared in shock, 'What the Yvel?!' They glared, 'That can't be good!' They reached out a hand as their eyes lit up and swept the hand away. They flinched and stared in shock when nothing happened.

"I thought you might try that." Ash said without looking; dialing the watch again. He stopped dialing and held up the watch and Lens. The dial showed Quick Attack's silhouette and the Lens had Mewtwo's. He glanced at the spectators to find Brock and Misty staring intently and Togepi standing on the ground between them. Gary and everyone else stared in confusion.

Ash smiled softly before turning to look at his friends, "Sorry, guys. This isn't what you think." He placed the Lens on his forehead. The Gym Leaders visibly flinched and stared in shock. Gary looked at the two of them in alarm before looking at Ash again.

The boy glared at Mewtwo and took a deep breath to calm himself. He held out his right hand before swinging it up and towards the Lens on his forehead. The watch and disk made contact as the former was pushed down.

"CROSSNIZE!"

A pillar of green light erupted into the night sky. Everyone in the area was forced to shy away and shield themselves from the overwhelming light.

Mewtwo managed to barely open one eye to squint at the light that Ash was in, 'W- WHAT THE-'

Everyone perked up as the light died away and looked. Their eyes all widened.

A figure sat on its knees with its head hanging; eyes covered. It seemed to resemble a costumed mewtwo in a mildly darker gray coloration.

Its elbows had sharp spikes protruding from them and the bulbed digits on its hands each had a short, black, cone-shaped claw poking from the tips. The tail was the same bulbous shape, but had blue, black, and purple stripes spiraling around it from the tip to the base on its abdomen.

Its face was the same as Mewtwo's, but the entire rest of its head was covered in what looked like a black helmet that pointed back. Solid straps made of the same material as the helmet stretched under its chin and its horns protruded through the top of the 'helmet'. Its second neck was colored a spiral of blue and gray -similar to its tail- and seemed to dig into the 'helmet'.

Its legs were the same build as Mewtwo's except its feet measured half the natural length, it had no carpal toe, and it had a pitch-black sphere imbedded into its heels.

Its chest retained the chest plate shape but was now pitch black with a pair of short, thick spikes acting as shoulder pads. A solid green disk was sitting on its forehead and an hourglass-like one was on its chest.

Everyone -even Mewtwo and Ash's friends- did nothing except stare at the creature in absolute shock. Most tensed up when it slowly started moving.

It stood up to full height -showing that it was only slightly shorter than Mewtwo and still stood on the balls of its feet- and opened its eyes to glare at Mewtwo; revealing purple pupils on green sclera. Mewtwo did nothing but stare in shock.

They took a deep breath. "Now then." It said in a monotone, gravely, and overlapping version of Quick Attack's voice and a vocal version of Mewtwo's telepathy.

A translucent purple visor extended from the sides of Ash's face and his 'heel' touched the ground. Before Mewtwo could realize it, Ash's open hand approached their face. Mewtwo's eyes barely had time to widen as the hand made contact.

Next thing they knew, Mewtwo found themself in a forest in the middle of a storm. They flinched and started looking around frantically, 'What?! How did- What did that thing just do?!' They perked up when they heard sobbing and looked towards a tree with a hole at the base.

They blinked in surprise before hovering closer and kneeling down to look into the entrance. What they found was a child with black hair sitting in the tree in a fetal position. He wore a yellow and red shirt and cuffed jean shorts. A green backpack sat next to him.

The boy looked ahead with tears in his eyes. Mewtwo's eyes widened at seeing Ketchum's eyes, 'What? What is-'

The boy sniffled, 'I just wanted to meet some Pokémon.' Mewtwo flinched and put a hand to their head. 'How could it have gotten this bad?' He laid his head on his arms, "I just wanna go home."

Mewtwo looked at the boy blankly.

"Rat?"

Mewtwo jerked and looked towards the source of the voice. What they found was a rattata head and forepaw jutting from their arm.

"MAH!" Mewtwo shouted as they jumped back and started feeling spot the rattata was in. They perked up and stared in surprise at seeing nothing out of the ordinary.

They looked back at the tree, down at their hand, and back at the tree before levitating upright. They moved closer and reached out to touch the tree. It was unnaturally smooth.

The Psychic-type stared blankly before glancing down at the rattata. They knelt down and attempted to grab the Normal-type. But their hand went straight through it. The rattata didn't even notice.

Mewtwo stared in pure shock, 'What-' They perked up in realization and looked up into the sky still dark from the storm. They stared blankly before reaching out a hand to catch a raindrop. But they felt nothing as it passed through and hit the ground.

Mewtwo stared at their hand in shock 'What the Yvel is this?'

.

*Three days earlier

The Viridian Leader cleared his throat; catching everyone's attention, "Everyone, I apologize for the abrupt subject change but there's something I need to bring up. Two things, actually. First, something I lied to most of you about."

"I knew it!" Daisy blurted out excitedly as she jumped out of her seat. She grinned excitedly and pointed at Giovanni, "You-"

"Woah, wait!" Sabrina said with a held-out hand, "Just in case." She got up, hurried over to the man, and whispered, "she thinks you have a secret girlfriend."

Giovanni's eye twitched before he sighed in annoyance, "No, Miss Waterflower, it is not that. I lied about only having two inhibitors." He looked at the entryway, "That's your cue, Lance."

Everyone perked up and looked over as the region's champion walked into the room with an umbreon in his arms. Another of Giovanni's inhibitors was on his wrist.

Daisy blushed from embarrassment and sat back down, "oh…" She looked at Sabrina, 'Thank you!'

Sabrina gave a thumbs up and smiled.

Lance looked at the psychic in confusion before shrugging it off. He smiled and raised a hand, "Hello, everyone."

The umbreon in his arms bowed their head, 'Greetings.'

Almost everyone in the room perked up again from hearing the Moonlight Pokémon's voice.

Daisy stared in awe, "Woah." She smiled, "Just like Misty's psyduck!"

Umbreon flinched and glared at her, 'Never compare me to a psyduck again.'

Daisy tensed up and blinked in surprise.

Blaine raised a brow, "What's with the talking umbreon?"

Umbreon glared at him, 'It's telepathy, nimrod.'

Blaine deadpanned, "Okay, what's with the snarky talking umbreon?"

"The second thing. A fact that I was hiding." Giovanni held up his arm and pulled back his sleeve to reveal his bracelet, "The inhibitors have a flaw that I've been considering be repurposed into a feature. While they block mental probing and hypnotism, they are unable to prevent the wearer from receiving a telepathic message."

Sabrina frowned and her eyes widened.

Surge nodded while smiling, "Oh, okay … still don't get what that has to do with the umbreon."

The Ground user sighed, "I asked Lance to arrange for it to attend the meeting. After thinking it over and finding out that Umbreon could use multi-target telepathy in addition to broadcast, I deviated from the original plan a little."

"In other words," Koga said before glancing at Sabrina, "Umbreon had been verifying your translations for us." His eyes narrowed, "As well as translating for Haunter."

Haunter's eyes widened.

Sabrina blinked in surprise, "Cool … why?"

Lance chuckled sheepishly, "It's nothing. I think Giovanni just wanted a second opinion on your translations. But according to Umbreon, you were correct, word-for-word."

Umbreon looked at Giovanni; deadpanned, 'Yeah, thanks. You brought me here for nothing.'

Everyone sweat dropped.

Lance glanced down at him, "Alright, keep that up and you're going back in the pokéball."

The Dark-type flinched and looked down anxiously, 'sorry…'

"W- well," Sabrina stuttered while smiling nervously, "I'm happy we were able to clear up any misunderstandings."

"Were we now?" Giovanni asked. Sabrina and Haunter tensed up and everyone else -except Koga- looked at him in surprise. Giovanni looked at the inspector, "Could I see the remote?"

Joy nodded and slid the remote across the table to him. Giovanni took it and started rewinding the video. As he did, Haunter and Sabrina shared an anxious look.

.

*Three Days Later

It didn't take long for Mewtwo to realize this was one of Ash's memories. Whatever Ketchum did to trap them in it, it seemed as though it was blocking their powers. The most they could do was levitate and even that just seemed to be a feature of this … "experience".

All of their attempts to disrupt it had failed, so they resigned to sitting back against one of the trees while staring intently at the hollowed one the human and various Pokémon were taking shelter in.

In addition to the rattata, an oddish, weedle, caterpie, and butterfree entered the tree to crowd around the previously-scared kid. The rattata, oddish, weedle, and caterpie were gathered in his lap and nuzzling up against his chest and the butterfree stood behind him.

Mewtwo watched in annoyance as they saw the younger version of Ash drift off to sleep. This was immediately followed by a near-heart attack when the world around immediately changed. They were in the same spot but the storm was nowhere to be seen and they could see stars in the sky.

They flinched when they heard movement and found the young Ash wide awake and exiting the tree while wearing his backpack; trying to be quiet. The rest of the Pokémon were nuzzled together in a pile; still in the tree.

Mewtwo composed themself and glared in annoyance, 'He just fell asleep. Of course, he wouldn't have a memory of his surroundings during that time.'

Ash then stepped on a stick. The Mouse Pokémon in the tree jerked awake and they looked around frantically. They noticed Ash and the broken stick under his foot and then glared at him; deadpanned.

Ash chuckled nervously, "Sorry."

Rattata rolled their eyes, yawned, and laid down again.

Ash sighed in relief before looking around the inside of the tree again with a soft smile, 'So this is what Pokémon are like.' Mewtwo jerked slightly at hearing the boy's thoughts again. His smile brightened, 'I can't wait to become a trainer!'

Suddenly, a flash in the sky caused Ash and Mewtwo to flinch. The clone jumped to their feet and both of them looked up in surprise to find a shooting star.

Ash's eyes lit up and he smiled brightly, "Woah!" Mewtwo blinked in surprise.

The boy continued watching as the star fell into the distance. He flinched and stared in shock when the star crashed into the ground deeper into the forest.

"Wha- what the-" The young Ash asked in a daze. He flinched and stared fearfully, 'Oh no! What if it's a hurt Pokémon?!'

The young boy immediately broke into a sprint towards the crash site.

Mewtwo stared in surprise before deadpanning and glancing back in boredom, 'What's the point of showing me thi-' They flinched and stared in shock as the scene behind them rapidly began fading into a white void. They grimaced, 'Woah!' and turned to chase after Ash.

Once they caught up and flew alongside the boy, Mewtwo glanced back once to find the void moving at the same pace as them. They glared in annoyance before looking ahead toward the crash site, 'I guess I don't have a choice…'

Ash ran up to the crash and stared in shock. In the middle of a crater laid a metal, smoking sphere. Mewtwo stopped right next to him and stared at the object in surprise.

Ash grimaced and ran down into the hole, "Hey! Are you alright?!"

Mewtwo tensed up and glanced back. They relaxed upon seeing the scenery unchanged by the movement.

'Is it not a Pokémon?' Mewtwo looked back down at Ash to find him looking at the sphere in confusion.

Ash flinched when the top of the sphere split open. He looked inside and found a black and white watch with a green hourglass-looking symbol for a face. Mewtwo perked up upon recognizing it as the one the current Ash wore.

Before Ash could blink, the watch sprang to life and latched itself on to his right arm.

"AHH!" Ash cried out as he fell back and shook his arm frightenedly, "Let go of me!"

He began to panic and fought to remove the watch; failing with every attempt. Mewtwo just stared blankly as he did so. After about three minutes of this, they frowned, 'Okay, this is just getting sad…'

After a total of five minutes of struggling, Ash tired himself out and laid on the ground while panting.

He got back up and ran back the way he came, "MOMMY!"

Mewtwo just watched before flinching and looked back at the crater, 'Right!' They sped after Ash.

Ash ran through the forest as fast as he could in a panic. Mewtwo flew alongside him while warily glancing back every so often.

.

**"Time Skip"**

The pair exited the forest, Ash climbed through a white fence, and ran out into an open field.

Mewtwo looked around the area in surprise before hurrying after Ash, 'Where is he going?'

After a few more minutes of running through the field, the pair heard a growl. Ash froze in his tracks and shakily turned to look. Mewtwo looked over as well and stared in shock as they found a mightyena glaring at the boy. What shocked them was the fact that he was identical to the mightyena Ash turned into earlier.

'What?!' They looked at Ash, 'What the Yvel is going on here?!'

Ash fell back to sit down and trembled, "W-wait! P-p-please! I need to-"

"GRENA!" The mightyena called out before charging the boy.

"AH!" Ash screamed before covering his face with his arms and closing his eyes. As he did, the world around Mewtwo faded to a black void.

The Psychic-type looked around in alarm as they heard the mightyena growling still, the sound of metal being scraped, and then … a pained yelp?

The scenery was rebuilt and Mewtwo looked over to find Ash looking ahead in surprise with a hand covering the watch. A female mightyena stood in front of him defensively as she and the male growled at each other.

The male barked at the female angrily. The female did the same. After she did, the male tensed up slightly and looked at Ash; making the boy flinch. The male grumbled and glanced to the side. The female sighed before turning to look at Ash; making him flinch again.

Mewtwo stared in shock, 'Why didn't I understand any of that?' They jerked slightly upon realizing they didn't understand any of the Pokémon that comforted Ash earlier.

Ash sniffled and held out his hand, "I- I just need to see Professor-" He stopped and perked up when the female pushed her head into the hand. The boy stared in surprise and started petting her. She smiled at him kindly and Ash smiled brightly.

The female then shot a glare back at the male. He tensed up and turned away sourly.

"ASH!"

Mewtwo flinched from the new voice and turned to find a brown-haired woman and gray-haired man running towards them.

Ash looked over as well, quickly got back to his feet, and ran up to hug the woman, "Mom!"

Delia knelt down to hug him back.

The older man ran up behind her and looked at Ash, "Ash, what's going-" He stopped and flinched while staring in surprise.

Mewtwo looked at him in confusion.

Ash's mother then pulled her son back from the hug, "Sweetie, are you okay?! Where on earth did you go?!" She asked in a panic, "Do you have any idea how worried I was?!"

Ash flinched and looked down shamefully, "Um…"

"Ash." Professor Oak said; catching the Ketchums' attention. He stared intently at the device on Ash's right wrist, "That's a rather … intriguing watch. Where did you find it?"

Delia perked up and looked at the device on her son's wrist. She grabbed his hand, brought it up, and her eyes narrowed, "What in the-" She looked Ash in the eye, "Ashton, what is this? You didn't take this from somewhere, did you?"

Ash flinched and shook his head rapidly, "No! I swear it's nothing like that!" He frowned unsurely and looked at the watch, "I think?"

The adults perked up and shared a confused look.

Ash's mother looked at him again, "Ash, explain."

The next few minutes consisted of a poor retelling of the events earlier that night that contained the … 'phrases' "bang", "whap", and "Ah!" Mewtwo nearly got a headache from it. The most they managed to pull from that is that the kid snuck away during a visit to Oak's lab to meet Pokémon and got lost … in a fenced-off field.

Samuel blinked in surprise before looking down thoughtfully with a hand to his chin. He muttered something that Mewtwo didn't hear. Namely because Ash didn't hear it back then.

Ash's mother stared with her eyes shaded over before letting out a sigh, "Ashton, you and I are going to have a very long talk about this" Ash flinched slightly but stared in surprise as his mother hugged him again, "later. Right now, I'm just happy you're safe."

Ash frowned guiltily and hugged her back, "I'm sorry."

"That's a start." His mother said.

The two mightyena watched before the female glared at the male again. He glared back in annoyance and loudly barked … something at her. The humans all jerked and looked at them.

Oak looked over the canines, glanced down for a moment, and looked at Ash, "And what of these mightyena?"

Ash perked up, "Oh, um," He pointed at the male, "well, that Pokémon-" He stopped and pointed at the female, "Or-" He frowned unsurely, "um…"

"Guraena." The female said while pointing a paw at the male. The male flinched and snarled at her.

"Thanks." Ash pointed at the male, "That Pokémon attacked me" He brought up and looked at the device on his wrist, "and scratched this, I think." He then pointed at the female, "But that nice one protected me."

The female smiled and the male grumbled again.

"Oh, did it now?"

The pair looked at the woman and subsequently flinched at seeing her smile at them kindly with her eyes closed. Mewtwo shivered uncomfortably.

Delia stood up and spoke in a kind tone, "I wonder why it might have done that."

The male yelped, turned, and ran off. The female glanced at where he was and looked at Delia warily again. Ash watched in confusion.

Oak watched as the male ran off and sighed, "I have an idea as to why they did that, but I'll look into it to be sure."

Delia sighed and looked at him anxiously, "Please do."

Everyone perked up when they heard rolling thunder and looked up to find dark clouds approaching.

The professor frowned, "I suppose we're not past the storm, yet." He looked off into the distance before smiling at the Ketchums, "Ash, Delia, if you'd like, you could stay the night in my guest room."

Delia smiled softly, "Thank you, Professor."

Ash blinked in surprise and held up the watch, "Wait, what about this thing?" He pointed back, "And that big thing I found it in."

Oak smiled kindly and knelt down, "We can look into all of that in the morning so long as the storm has passed. I think there's been enough excitement for one day."

.

**"Time Skip"**

Mewtwo pinched the bridge of their nose, 'How long is he planning to keep me in here?'

Ash, Delia, Professor Oak, and the female mightyena made their way towards the lab with Mewtwo following close behind. Hardly even a moment after they got inside, it started pouring outside. The Ketchums made their way to the guest bedroom and got situated for the night.

Mewtwo resigned to leaning back against the wall of the bedroom. They already considered leaving but didn't want to risk it after trying to look at the storm through a window. Emphasis on 'trying.'

Ash closed his eyes and Mewtwo perked up slightly as the scene suddenly faded into darkness like before. They looked around the void warily, 'Wait a minute. This didn't happen last ti-' They then flinched when Delia's scream erupted from the void and looked at where the bed was in alarm.

The scene returned to what it was in an instant. The differences were that the younger version of Ash was sitting on the ground with the blanket next to him and Delia was kneeling on the bed and staring at him in shock while trembling.

"Mom?! What's wrong?!" Ash cried out worriedly. Mewtwo stared at him blankly and looked at the woman.

"Where's-" Delia mumbled. She looked around the room in a panic, "Ash!" She called out worriedly, "Ashton! Where are you?!"

Mewtwo's eyes widened in surprise, 'What?' They looked at Ash again.

"Wha-" Ash stuttered worriedly. He held out a hand, "Mom, I'm right-" He stopped and stared in shock as a mightyena paw suddenly took the place of his outstretched hand. Mewtwo's eyes widened in shock as it happened.

Ash stared in shock, shakily turned the paw over, and flexed the claws. His eyes widened and he reached his other hand to grab the paw. Right as he did, the same thing happened to it, "Ah!" He started looking over himself.

Mewtwo just stared in shock as every body part Ash's eyes went over shifted to that of a mightyena's. Ash reached up to grab his head and felt over it rapidly; changing it to a mightyena's head.

His eyes widened fearfully as a mightyena's fearful howl a sounded out from him. Delia flinched and looked at him in alarm.

Then the door slammed open, "What's going-" The professor shouted before stopping abruptly.

Ash, Delia, and Mewtwo flinched and looked at the door to find Oak standing in the doorway and staring in shock. The female mightyena was standing next to him and staring as well.

She glared furiously and ran up to Ash, "You again?!" Ash's eyes widened in shock and Mewtwo looked at her in surprise. "I thought I told you to leave that kid alone! What the Yvel did you do with him?!"

Ash stared in pure shock, "You-" The female flinched and stared in shock at hearing his voice. "You … can talk?"

The female stared in pure shock and looked over him. Her eyes widened in shock and she looked him in the eye, "What the ever-loving Yvel?"

Delia looked at her in shock before looking at Ash and glaring, "You! You're that one from before, aren't you?!" She pointed at him accusingly, "What did you do with my son?!" She jumped off the bed and glared; making Ash flinch, "If you hurt him, I swear to Arceus, I'll-"

"Wait!" The female blurted out as she moved between Ash and his mother. Oak's eyes widened in surprise before he looked at the male.

Delia stared in surprise before glaring at her, "What do you think you're doing?! My son's missing and-"

"Delia, wait a moment!" Oak blurted out while holding out a hand; making Delia flinch and glance back at him, "Remember that this mightyena was trying to protect Ash from-"

"Ash!" The female barked; making everyone look at her, "Ash! Ash!" She pointed a claw back at the mightyena behind her, "Ash!"

Ash looked at her in confusion.

Delia stared in confusion before looking at her son. She looked at Mightyena again, "W- what are you-"

"Ash!" The female barked again. She hurried over to stand next to him, looked at Delia, and pointed a claw at Ash's chest, "Ash!"

Ash looked at her in confusion before he and Mewtwo looked at what the claw was pointing at. They both perked up as the green symbol from the watch appeared on the Dark-type's chest.

Delia followed the claw as well and her eyes widened slightly upon seeing the same green symbol from the watch her son found on the chest of the Dark-type. She stared at him in pure shock before walking closer and kneeling down in front of him. Mightyena moved out of the way as she did.

Delia looked the canine in the eye, "Ashton?"

Ash frowned worriedly, started trembling, and nodded.

Delia flinched and her eyes widened fearfully. He immediately pulled him into a hug, "Ash!" Ash jerked and stared in surprise as she started trembling. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry mommy yelled like that! I didn't- I-" She sniffled and hugged him tighter, "sweetie…"

Ash stared in surprise before tearing up and hugging her back, "Mom…"

Oak and Mightyena just stared; not wanting to intervene or really knowing what happened. Mewtwo just stared blankly.

.

**"Short Skip"**

After things calmed down … enough, everyone moved to the laboratory to try and get to the bottom of … whatever the Yvel happened.

Delia and Ash were sitting on the couch as the woman held the Dark-type tightly. The female mightyena was sitting on the ground next to the couch and Professor Oak was typing away at a computer.

Mewtwo was leaning back against one of the walls while looking around the area curiously; shooting glances at Ash every so often.

Ash looked over his paws curiously before looking at the female mightyena, "Hey, how come you can talk now?" Mewtwo jerked and looked at him blankly. Delia perked up and looked at her son.

Mightyena looked at him with a raised brow, "What? I've known how to talk since I hatched."

Ash blinked in surprise, "But you weren't talking before when you got mad at that other Pokémon."

"Of course I-" Mightyena stopped and perked up in realization, "Oh. Oh wait, you mean 'talking' as in speaking human, aren't you? Yeah, I don't know how to talk like that."

Ash blinked in confusion, "What? But you're talking right now."

Mightyena stared blankly, looked over Ash's form, and looked him in the eye; deadpanned, "And are you sure there's no other explanation as to why you understand what I'm saying?"

Ash looked at her for a moment before holding up and looking at one of his paws. After about a minute, he gasped and looked at her excitedly, "I can understand what Pokémon are saying because I'm a Pokémon now!"

Mightyena stared blankly, "… yeah."

Mewtwo just stared at Ash incredulously, 'Is this actually the same being I was battling before?'

Mightyena sighed and shook her head, "I guess you really aren't that jerk doing an unnaturally good impression."

Ash perked up and blinked in confusion, "Huh? What do you mean?"

The natural Dark-type looked at him with a deadpanned expression before perking up, "Oh, wait, right. That question's actually valid." She pointed at him, "So, I don't know why or how, but you look exactly like the mightyena who attacked you for trespassing."

Ash perked up, "Wait, is that why it attacked me?"

Mightyena tensed up slightly but shook it off, "Yeah. He said you were an intruder and that he was trying to chase you off." She then deadpanned, "And then I got through his thick skull that you are a child."

Ash blinked in surprise, "Oh." He looked down nervously, 'I guess going through the fence was a bad idea…'

Delia looked at Ash in confusion before looking back and forth between him and Mightyena. The Professor glanced back before going back to focusing on the monitor.

After a few more minutes, the symbol on Ash's chest started beeping and flashing red. Everyone -including Mewtwo- flinched and looked at him in alarm.

"What's going on?!" Ash blurted out in a panic. He looked at Mightyena, "What is that?!"

"How the Yvel should I know?!" She blurted out.

Ash's eyes widened and he looked down at the flashing symbol again. He grimaced and closed his eyes.

Mewtwo flinched and gritted their teeth as the void took over again, 'Seriously?!'

"Ash…" Delia muttered.

The area returned as Ash slowly opened his eyes and saw his human hands. His eyes widened and he looked up at his mother right as she jumped him and pulled him into a hug, "You're you again!" She pulled him back and looked over him, "You're not hurt, right?! Nothing feels weird?!"

Ash shook his head.

"Delia. Ash." Samuel said quickly; catching their attention. He pointed at Ash's wrist, "The watch…" He trailed off.

The Ketchums and Mewtwo quickly looked at the device. When they did, the green face instantly turned red.

Ash stared in confusion, "It was green before, right?"

Delia nodded slowly, "Y- yeah … I could have sworn."

Oak stared curiously with a hand to his chin, "Perhaps it's gone into a dormant state?"

Delia looked at him in confusion, "Dorma-" She jerked and frowned anxiously, "Are you saying this weird watch is what turned Ash into a mightyena?"

Oak looked at her with an unsure frown, "I'm having trouble believing it as well but it's the only thing I can think of that's even remotely plausible." He started counting on his fingers, "The timing of this happening right after he found it. The same symbol from the face being on his chest as a mightyena. And the fact that said symbol started beeping and flashing before he returned to normal."

He looked at the watch, "Everything ties back to this device." He looked down with a hand to his chin, "And, aside from how it's able to do this, the only other thing I can't figure out is why he became a mightyena, of all things."

"Um," Ash said; catching the adults attention, "I don't know if this helps, but" He pointed at the mightyena, "she said that I looked just like that mean mightyena from before." The adults' eyes widened.

"She 'said'?" The professor asked before perking up in realization, "Wait, you can tell that this mightyena is a girl?"

Ash smiled excitedly, "Yeah! It sounded like she was talking like a person! It was so cool!"

Oak's eyes widened in shock before he looked at the Dark-type, "Mightyena, say something."

"Grena." Mightyena said. Ash and Mewtwo looked at her in surprise.

Oak looked at Ash, "Did you understand her, that time?"

Ash looked at him in wide eyed shock, "N- no. Her voice didn't even sound the same." Mightyena raised a brow in confusion.

Oak blinked in shock before looking down and putting a hand to his chin, "Fascinating…"

"Professor!" Delia said while glaring.

Oak flinched and looked at her while raising a hand, "Yes, sorry." He looked down thoughtfully again. After a few seconds, he perked up, gestured to Mightyena, and looked at Ash again, "Ash, you said before that that other mightyena may have scratched this device before she jumped in to save you, correct?"

Ash blinked in surprise before looking at the watch, "I think so? I had my eyes closed, but it kind of felt and sounded like that happened."

Oak looked at the device warily before looking back and forth between the Ketchums, "Did either of you happen to notice a difference when that happened?" Ash and Delia shook their heads.

Mightyena perked up and got back to her feet, "Na! Guraena!" The humans and Mewtwo all perked up and looked at her as she pointed a claw at the device, "Gurena-na grena."

Everyone stared in confusion. Oak glanced at Ash but the boy just shrugged.

Mightyena grumbled and started looking around the room. She then ran over to a bookshelf and put a claw on a yellow book.

Oak stared in surprise, "You believe there's an answer in that book?"

Mightyena shook her head and tapped the book. She then pointed at Ash.

Delia just frowned in confusion and Ash stared curiously before looking at the watch. After a few seconds, he perked up, "Oh!" He held up the device, "Are you saying it turned yellow, before? Like how it's red now?"

Mightyena smiled and nodded. She then started twirling her outstretched claw in a circle.

The professor stared in surprise, glanced at the watch, and looked at her again, "The face turned yellow and began rotating?"

Mightyena pointed at him, "Gra."

Delia blinked in surprise before looking at the professor, "So what does that mean?"

Oak looked down with a hand to his chin, "Well, for now, I believe we have a means of replicating this."

"Wha- replicate?!" Delia blurted out before pulling Ash closer, "You want to make that happen again?! We are not experimenting on my son!"

Oak frowned, "Delia, you know me well enough to know that isn't what I mean." He held a hand to the side, "I simply think narrowing down a cause and effect would be wise."

"This might be the most we're able to do, on short notice. What's more, I'm not even sure I have equipment capable of analyzing something like this. Trying anything drastic might do more harm than good." Delia tensed up.

Oak sighed, "For now, I think learning as much as we can about this device may be the best course of action." His frown saddened, "Just in case."

Delia stared worriedly before looking back at Ash. He looked back at her in confusion.

His mother smiled kindly and nodded, "Okay." She put a hand on his head, "Let's try to figure this out."

Ash smiled, "Okay." He looked down at the watch, "So, what now?"

"For now, I think we wait." The professor said as he looked at the watch again, "If my theory of this red coloration being a dormant state and green being active is true, then I think we should look into time constraints." He smiled at the mother and son again, "But, while we wait, I have something in mind that might be worth trying. I'll be back in a moment." He turned and left through the doorway.

Mewtwo looked over in surprise and tried to follow him. They went through the doorway and subsequently flinched when they saw Oak vanish into the white void that was just beyond what was visible from the lobby. They shivered, went back to a wall in the lobby, and leaned against it again.

A few minutes passed before Ash, Delia, Mightyena, and Mewtwo flinched when they heard a ding. They all looked at the watch to find it green again.

Ash's eyes widened before he looked at the doorway and called out, "Professor! It's green again!"

"Thank you!" The professor called back, "I'll just be a moment longer!"

After another few minutes, Oak reappeared in the doorway. A male banette walked up behind him and looked into the room curiously. Mewtwo's eyes widened slightly upon recognizing him.

Ash looked at the Marionette Pokémon in surprise, "Who's that Pokémon?"

The professor smiled and gestured to the Ghost-type, "This Pokémon is called banette. They're Ghost-types native to Hoenn, much like mightyena. Though this one in particular was named 'Monger' by their trainer."

Monger raised a hand, "Banette."

Ash blinked in surprise, 'Named?'

Oak smiled, "I was thinking they could be the one to help with this test."

Delia frowned unsurely, "But why a banette?"

Oak looked down at Monger, "Mostly because of the physique and Typing of the species. If this works, this could give us more insight into this device. That and-" He looked at Ash, "Ash, it seemed like you were having trouble walking before, as a mightyena."

Monger perked up and looked up at Oak blankly.

Ash pouted and nodded, "yeah…"

Oak smiled, "Precisely. So, I thought a human-statured Pokémon may make this test a little easier."

The banette stared at the old professor blankly before staring at Ash. He pointed at the boy and looked at the mightyena in the room, "Bane?"

Mightyena shrugged, "Guraena Guraena."

Oak looked down at him before smiling, "It's nothing complicated, Monger." He pointed it Ash, "We just need you to touch the face of the watch Ash is wearing."

The banette glanced up at the old professor warily before looking at the couch. He then walked over to the table, jumped up to it, and looked at the device warily. He slowly touched the face of the watch.

He flinched and everyone in the room perked up in surprise as the device suddenly turned yellow and the face started rotating.

Oak quickly looked at Mightyena, "This is the same as before, correct?!" Mightyena nodded rapidly.

The watch stopped spinning and turned green again before springing up to about an inch above its original height. Green circuitry could be seen around a black cylinder extending above the device. Delia perked up slightly.

Ash stared in bright eyed awe as the sides of the face moved inward and crossed, and a silhouette resembling the Ghost-type appeared between the lines, "Cool!"

Monger just stared in shock before looking down at his hands. He looked around the room rapidly, hovered up to a clock, and started tapping it. Mightyena snorted.

Ash watched in awe, 'That Pokémon can fly?!'

Oak watched him and chuckled softly, "I'm fairly certain that was the work of this device, Monger."

Monger looked at him, "Bane?"

The professor looked at the watch and smiled, "Well, I am happy to see that worked." He put a hand to his chin, "Now to find how it changed you." He glanced away curiously, "Perhaps we could try-"

"What about this button?" Ash said as he hit the button on the side. The face returned to its original design and dropped back to its original state. Delia's eyes widened as it did, and she looked at Ash warily. Oak, Mightyena, Monger, and Mewtwo stared in surprise.

Ash blinked in surprise before looking over himself. He pouted, "It didn't work…"

Oak put a hand to his chin, "But that was something worth noting." He looked at Ash, "Try that button again."

Ash looked at him in surprise before complying. He smiled excitedly as the dial sprang back and a silhouette appeared, "It worked!" He looked at the image, blinked in confusion, and then held up the watch to Oak, "Hey, who's this Pokémon?"

Oak smiled and looked at the silhouette, "Oh, it's-" He immediately tensed up and his eyes widened in shock.

Mewtwo perked up in surprise and hovered over to look at the device. They flinched and backed away upon recognizing the silhouette as that of the green crystal … thing.

Ash blinked in surprise, "Professor?"

Oak tensed up and looked at him before looking at the silhouette again, "It's um…" He frowned unsurely, "I'm sorry, but I can't say I've ever seen a Pokémon like that before."

Delia flinched and looked at him in shock.

Ash gasped and smiled brightly, "That must mean it's super rare, right?!"

"That's one possibility." Oak said; still frowning. He shook it off and smiled at Ash, "For now let's focus on banette." He looked down thoughtfully with a hand to his chin, "Perhaps… it spins when something touches it …" He looked at Ash again, "try rotating the face of it like a dial."

Ash nodded and grabbed the dial and twisted. It changed and he smiled brightly. He stared in surprise again, "Woah. I don't recognize this Pokémon either…" He twisted again, "Or this one."

Oak just stared at the images in shock. Mewtwo recognized the small grey lifeform and the plant creature as Ash spun the device.

"Oh! Mightyena!" Ash blurted out upon recognizing the Dark-type silhouette. Oak calmed down and just watched curiously as the banette silhouette appeared next, "And Banette!" He looked at the professor, "What now?"

Oak smiled, "Perhaps-"

"Wait." Delia jumped in, "Ash, could you move it up and down again?"

Ash and Oak looked at her in surprise. The child nodded and pressed the button again to bring the dial back down. Oak's eyes widened as he hit it again to spring it back up. The silhouette shown this time was the plant creature.

The adults stared blankly before sharing a look.

Mewtwo's eyes widened in realization, 'Wait a minute. Where is the rest of it going when-'

The professor looked at the boy, "Ash, that doesn't feel uncomfortable in any way, does it?"

Ash looked at him and shook his head, "No."

Oak stared in surprise before frowning, "And what about when it first clung to your wrist? Was there any … pain?"

Ash raised a brow, "Um … it happened really fast and scared me, but it didn't hurt."

Delia stared blankly before looking at the professor. Oak frowned unsurely and shrugged.

He cleared his throat and looked at the boy, "W- well, anyway, let's move on with the banette plan."

Ash smiled, "Okay." He started dialing again and quickly found banette. He looked at Oak.

Oak put a hand to his chin, "Now … see if you're able to push it back down without using that button. But don't try to force it."

Ash nodded and pressed down the face of the watch effortlessly. His eyes widened and closed, Mewtwo groaned from the void again, and then Ash opened his eyes to see banette hands.

He stared in awe and jumped up to his feet and looked over himself, "Woah!"

Monger stared in wide eyed shock and looked back at Mightyena.

Mightyena looked back at him; also wide eyed, "This is actually the first time I've seen him change from a human."

Ash perked up, looked at her, and pointed, "Hey, I can understand you again."

Mightyena smirked while sweat dropping, "I'm pretty sure that's normal no matter what you turn into."

Monger stared at her blankly, looked at Ash, and looked at her again while gesturing to Ash, "What part of this is normal?! That was a human a second ago!"

Ash smiled at him, "Hey, you sound different too."

Monger jerked and looked at him in confusion, "What?"

"I don't get what he means either." Mightyena said.

"Ash?" Delia asked while staring warily.

Ash smiled up at her and waved, "Hi mom."

His mother tensed up slightly and smiled nervously while waving back.

Oak smiled, "Well, it seems that … test … woooooooo-"

Mewtwo perked up and looked at him in alarm, 'What?' They looked around frantically to find everything and everyone frozen in place, 'What the- what's going-'

They stopped and perked up when they saw cracks forming all around them. The scenery shattered away to reveal the arena as a Psystrike erupted from them.

The hybrid vanished in a blur the instant the attack fired. Ash reappeared on the opposite end of the battlefield. His visor folded away, and he stared at Mewtwo in surprise.

Mewtwo stared in pure shock, 'What? What just-' They perked up, 'Did I fire on reflex?!' They glared while sweating nervously, 'But … if a reflex took that long… does that mean no time has passed? Was all of that instantaneous?!'

Ash glared as well before his visor formed again. Mewtwo's eyes widened as Ash vanished in a blur. The hybrid immediately reappeared in front of them with a hand on the forcefield just around Mewtwo's head. The creature glared in mild annoyance.

Mewtwo's eyes widened, 'He really did try it again!' They swung Drain Punch.

Ash zipped back to the other side of the field the instant the hand would have made contact. Mewtwo immediately cancelled their attack and extended their barrier to a full-body one.

Mewtwo smirked, 'He needs to touch my head to repeat that! And I definitely felt Pressure, there. Good, I'm learning more about this thing.' They frowned, 'But… that memory…'

'But if I came clean- If I explained everything. My ability to transform. My abilities as a human. The truth about Soot and inheritance.'

'Guess I'll need proof.'

'That's what he meant.' Mewtwo stared at the hybrid intently, 'At least now I know what he meant about scanning me. Still, that hardly explains this form.'

Their eyes narrowed, 'But, when did I-' They flinched, and their eyes widened in shock as they thought back to when Ash grabbed them by the neck and their subsequent shoulder-throwing of the human. Using his outstretched right arm. Mewtwo gritted their teeth angrily, 'He tricked me! That son of a- he was after my power the whole ti-'

They snapped out of it and stared curiously, 'No, hold on a moment.' They thought back to the first hit Ash got on them before this battle even started. With a punch from his left. They stared at the hybrid warily, 'He intentionally avoided gaining my form before. So, why did he change his mind?'

'Whatever the reason,' Mewtwo glared, 'he's revealed another weakness of his.' 'I see. So, you were serious.' 'His transformations have a time limit. Or at least, the dial-method ones seem to. Meaning this thing.' 'But it was in vain.' They pointed at Ash, 'I might be able to win if I can drag this out.' 'If you thought for even a second that what you've shown me changes anything, especially after all of-'

They were cut off when Ash appeared in front of them. His arms, alone, seemed to vanish in a blur and a flurry of impacts resonated across Mewtwo's forcefield. Mewtwo's eyes widened in shock as the hybrid's arms reappeared and the barrier shattered out of existence.

Ash's fingers were constricted into tubes with a long, thick claw extending from the tips of each finger. The claws retracted to their smaller form -reinflating the fingers- and Ash grabbed Mewtwo by the forehead before they could react.

Mewtwo just stared in slack jawed shock as they found themselves standing next to Professor Oak's laboratory. This time, during the day.

'That-' Mewtwo looked down at their hands, 'That was … He destroyed my barrier through force?! I-it felt like he hit over fifty– No! Over a hundred times!' They gulped, 'How am I supposed to wait out-'

'Why does it hurt this bad?' Mewtwo jerked when they heard Ash's thoughts again and looked towards the corner. 'I just thought it be fun to try… so, why?'

Mewtwo blinked in surprise, lifted up, and hovered around the corner. They found Ash in mightyena form sitting against the building and looking down uncomfortably. He was covered in scuff marks.

The psychic stared in surprise, 'Was he attacked?'

"Are you okay, Ash?"

Mewtwo perked up and looked down to see the female mightyena's head protruding from their stomach. They grimaced, hovered away, and shivered, 'Never getting used to that.'

Ash looked at her in surprise before frowning and looking down uncomfortably. "It hurts." He muttered.

Mightyena blinked in surprise before walking closer and sitting down next to him, "I mean … yeah? We may be resistant to Ghost-types but Shadow Ball's still gonna do some damage." Ash flinched as she frowned worriedly; ears flat, "Or, wait, did you land on something the wrong way? If it's something serious, I can go get-"

"W- what?" Ash muttered as he turned to look at her in shock; eyes wide, "Is this- Do attacks always hurt this bad? Even the weak ones?" Mightyena perked up in surprise.

Mewtwo jerked as the scene immediately changed. They found a somewhat younger-looking Ash sitting on a couch and staring ahead in bright-eyed awe. They looked back to find a television with what looked like a League battle between a golem and cloyster. They jumped when the golem cried out in pain from the cloyster's Hydro Pump. The shout was louder than it should have been.

The scene reverted to what it was as Ash started trembling, "This- Do Pokémon always feel like this when they battle? Because-" He flinched, and his eyes widened further.

"Cloyster!" Mewtwo flinched and looked back in alarm as the voice erupted from nowhere, "Nail it with Hydro Pump!"

"Because … of trainers?" Ash muttered fearfully. Mewtwo looked at him again. "Does that mean … if I became a trainer… I'd-" His eyes widened fearfully, and he started tearing up, "I'd … hurt Pokémon too…"

Mewtwo perked up as the scene changed again. This one was of Ash being comforted by the wild Pokémon in the hollowed tree. It reverted again within the second.

"Why-" Ash mumbled fearfully as he laid down and covered his eyes with his paws; blacking out the world again. "Why did I want to be a trainer?" Ash's voice rang out, "Why would I want to hurt Pokémon? Why would anyone?"

It was silent for a moment. Mewtwo looked at where Ketchum was in mild surprise.

After a moment, the female mightyena's voice sounded out, "Ash, why do you think Pokémon battle?"

Ash sniffled, "Because trainers force-"

"No." Mightyena cut him off quickly, "It's because we- because Pokémon are violent. Naturally, instinctually violent."

The area returned as Ash flinched and looked at her in pure shock; finding her sitting next to him and staring down at him calmly, "What?!" He scrambled back to all fours and looked at her worriedly "No, you're not! Maybe that guy who attacked me wasn't that nice, but you are! And so are a ton of other Pokémon! You're not violent!"

"What do you think it means to be violent?" She asked calmly.

Ash jerked and looked down sadly, "It means being mean and wanting to hurt people."

"You're half right." Mightyena said; catching Ash's attention, "To be violent is to want to hurt or damage a being. To want to fight. In other words, to battle." Ash's eyes widened slightly as she held up a paw and looked at it, "Battling is an urge that all Pokémon are born with. Something most of us can't ignore."

"Most?" Ash asked.

Mightyena chuckled softly, "I've met some who aren't interested. Mostly chansey." She looked at Ash calmly, "But, Ash, we don't battle because trainers force us to. It's something that just comes naturally to us."

She held a claw to the side and frowned in annoyance, "Yvel, it comes so naturally that I never even thought about this stuff until my trainer and I got harassed by these nutjobs who kept rambling about…" She groaned, "Ugh. It gives me a headache just thinking about it."

She shook it off, smiled, and put the claw on her chest, "But, it is thanks to them that I realized … my trainer is not the reason I battle. Or even want to, for that matter. I wanted to battle before I even knew what a human was. I hatched wanting to battle. Just like most of the poochyena from my old pack. Not because we were angry or mean but because-"

She smiled kindly and shrugged, "well, we don't know why. It's just how we come into the world. Our instinct. Our fun. Our … 'normal.' Battling is our way of life, Ash. It's not something anyone forces onto us." She smiled softly, "I think that's one of the biggest reasons Pokémon join trainers."

Ash flinched and his eyes widened, "What?!"

Mightyena smirked and raised a brow, "Well, yeah. You didn't think this stuff happened against our will, did you?"

Ash frowned worriedly, "B- but people say that the best way to catch a Pokémon is to battle and weaken them. Doesn't that mean we're taking you away by force?"

Mightyena's smirk faded, "…" She glanced away awkwardly, "Okay, I can understand why you'd see it that way…" Ash frowned uncomfortably as she shook it off and looked at him again, "But when a trainer uses their Pokémon to battle a wild Pokémon, why do you think that Pokémon would fight back instead of running away immediately? Better yet, why not attack the trainer?"

Ash's eyes widened in surprise, "Um…"

"It's to test the trainer." She said, "For some Pokémon, their reason for joining a trainer can be as simple as 'are they good enough to defeat me' or 'do they care about their other Pokémon'." She smiled, "And then there are some who just meet a trainer they like and don't even need to battle them, but that still want to battle for them."

Ash stared in awe before smiling, "Is that how you joined your trainer?"

Mightyena snorted, "Nah. I was one of the 'has to be good enough' kind. I was a real prideful brat as a hatchling." She smiled at him, "But, do you see what I mean? Trainers aren't the ones who hurt Pokémon by having us battle. We do that to ourselves. Trainers are the ones that make the battles safer."

Ash stared in surprise before frowning unsurely, "What do you mean?"

"Well, think about it." Mightyena said, "Do you think there's anyone who tells us when to stop battling, like a referee, in the wild?" Ash's eyes widened as she continued, "And where do you think wild Pokémon get the things they need to survive? Like food? How do they get healed after losing a rough battle if they don't have someone like Nurse Joy?"

Ash blinked in surprise before raising a brow, "Um … berries, right?"

"And where would they get them?" She asked.

"… a tree?"

"And what if another Pokémon has claimed that tree and they say 'no, they're mine'?" Mightyena argued, "Or 'beat me in a battle if you want some'."

Ash's eyes widened, "That happens?"

She smiled sadly and shrugged, "Sometimes. The wild can be rough and unforgiving. Especially if you don't have a pack or tribe."

Ash stared at her in surprise before looking down thoughtfully, "So… trainers make life easier and more fun for you?" He looked at her unsurely, "But aren't their still bad people like poachers?"

Mightyena smirked and raised a brow, "Are you saying you're considering becoming a poacher?"

Ash jumped and looked at her frantically, "What?! No! Of course not!"

"Then why bring them up?" She asked while smiling kindly.

Ash frowned as his ears drooped, "Because …" He frowned shamefully, "I don't want to be a bad trainer like those kinds of people."

Mightyena blinked in surprise before frowning sympathetically, "What makes you think you would?"

"Because when I imagined being a trainer, I only thought about having strong Pokémon and winning battles…" Ash looked down to avoid eye contact, "But … I never thought about those Pokémon. About what they would want, or how they'd feel."

"Then just do that."

Ash flinched and looked over to see her smiling kindly. He frowned, "B- but, I don't think it's that simple-"

"Isn't it?" Mightyena asked as she let out a chuckle, "Ash, you aren't a trainer yet and won't be for years. You haven't made the mistakes you're so worried about. In fact, I doubt you would make those mistakes, now."

Ash stared in surprise before frowning, "But-"

"Would you force a Pokémon to battle if they didn't want to?" Mightyena interrupted, "Or force one not to battle if they want to?"

Ash flinched, "Wha-" He glared at her, " No way!"

"Would you force a Pokémon to join your team if they don't want to?"

"Of course not!"

"Would you think that a Pokémon mattered less than you? Or abandon them when things get tense?"

"Not a chance!"

"Exactly." Mightyena put a paw on Ash's head; making him flinch, "You would never do those things. Maybe this new perspective is what's making you think about these things for the first time, but it does not change how you feel about them." She smiled kindly, "And the way you feel is why I know you'll become an incredible trainer. One that so many-" She shook her head and smiled again, "that any Pokémon would want to join."

Ash stared in shock for a moment before looking down thoughtfully. Mightyena put her paw back down as he did. After a few seconds, Ash smiled at her softly, "Thanks, Yena. I think I needed that."

Mightyena smiled, "You're wel-" She then perked up and blinked in surprise, "Wait, 'Yena'?"

Ash tensed up and smiled at her sheepishly, "Oh, uh, yeah. Monger has a nickname, so I thought maybe I should call you something other than 'Mightyena' to tell you apart from others." He smiled nervously, "Are you okay with me calling you that?"

The female mightyena stared in surprise and glanced down thoughtfully, "Yena…" After a moment, she smiled at Ash softly, "Yeah. I like it."

"Awesome." Ash exclaimed before jumping back to all fours and glaring ahead, "Now, let's get back to training!"

Yena flinched and looked at him in shock, " Wait, what?" She got back to all fours, "Ash, I only said all that stuff so you wouldn't be discouraged about becoming a trainer. You don't have to force yourself to keep battling if you don't want to."

Ash smiled at her determinedly, "But if I'm really gonna be the kind of trainer any Pokémon would want, then I need to know as much as I can to help everyone who joins me!" He grinned, "That includes dealing with battles! All the good stuff and the bad!"

Yena stared in surprise before smiling, "Alright then." She looked over him with a raised brow, "Though, how about we get you healed up, first? I can use this opportunity to show you some helpful berries."

Ash blinked in surprise before looking back and over himself. He sweat dropped, "Good idea…" He grinned at her, "Race ya!" He ran past her and around the corner of the building.

Yena flinched and ran after him, "Wait, do you know where you're going?!"

Mewtwo stared at where they were; eyes shaded over, '… fun?'

They quickly snapped out of it, shook it off, and hurried around the corner. They stopped and tensed up when the canines were nowhere to be seen, 'What the-' They flinched when they heard a scream and looked over to see Yena dodging a Hyper Voice from Ash.

Mewtwo stared blankly, 'How did they get over there so fast?' They perked up, 'Wait, weren't they going to-'

Ash glared as a trio of Hidden Power formed around him. He swung his head forward and the green spheres shot at the Dark-type. Yena smirked and her eyes narrowed as a large swarm of Shadow Balls immediately formed around her and fired.

Ash flinched as his attack was effortlessly overpowered by the Ghost attack and jumped out of the way to dodge. Yena capitalized and charged him.

Ash skidded to a halt, turned to face his opponent, and opened his jaw to prep another Hyper Voice. He stopped and his eyes widened when he saw Yena inches away and lunging at him with Bite at the ready. Her eyes widened as well.

The female rammed right into the male and then the world went dark.

Ash opened his eyes to find Yena lying on top of him with their muzzles locked together. Her eyes opened as well before they widened with panic. Mewtwo's jaw dropped, and their eyes widened in shock.

Yena scrambled to try and get back to her feet. Ash tried to bring up his paws to help but, in her panic, Yena batted both paws inward. The right paw hit the symbol on Ash's chest, and he was changed from Mightyena to Banette. The left hand hit the symbol on Ash's stomach, and he returned to being a mightyena.

Yena stared in shock before flinching and jumping back.

'That- he-' Mewtwo flinched.

'The truth about Soot and inheritance.'

They looked at Yena, 'You can't mean-'

"Woah!" Ash blurted out after hurrying to sit up. He looked over his paws, "I was just Banette for a second, right?!" He looked down at the watch's symbol, "How'd I do that?!"

He looked at Yena to find her panting heavily and staring at the ground in pure shock. She hastily brought up a claw to feel her throat.

Ash blinked in surprise, "Yena?!" She flinched and looked at him, "Is something-"

"Training's over for the day!" Yena shouted before turning and running off.

Ash stared blankly, "…okay?"

Mewtwo stared in the direction Yena went in shock, 'She's-'

'How did I do that?' Mewtwo flinched and looked back to find Ash looking at his paws curiously. He looked down at the watch's symbol on his chest, cocked his head, and then slapped it. The world blipped away for a split second and Ash was human again.

The child flinched and looked at himself, "Woah!" He jumped back to his feet and smiled brightly, "I can change back whenever I want?! That's-" He noticed the watch and his eyes widened, "It's still green!?" He stared in bright eyed awe before pressing the button to spring up the dial. He smiled excitedly and ran inside the building while shouting, "MOM! PROFESSOR! SOMETHING COOL HAPPENED!"

Mewtwo winced slightly from the volume and glared in annoyance before hovering after him, 'How can this be the same human?' They hovered through the closed front door, 'Does he actually not realize-' They immediately froze and stared in shock when they found themselves looking out into a field, 'What?!' They looked back to find the lab's patio door behind them, 'What the Yvel just-'

They heard running and turned to find Mightyena-Ash running out into the field as fast as he could. Mewtwo stared in surprise before chasing after him. They came up next to him and looked the canine in the eye to find him staring ahead intently as he charged.

Mewtwo blinked in surprise before looking ahead curiously.

After a few seconds they came to a tree with Yena lying under it and-

Mewtwo stopped on the spot and their eyes widened in shock, 'Wait, what?! But it should have taken at least three months for-' They perked up in realization and looked at Ash, 'Is this a different memory? He skipped ahead?' They looked back in the direction of where the Dark-types were battling, 'Is that what happened before?'

Ash slowed to a halt and stared in a mixture of shock and awe. Yena noticed him and smiled softly. The poochyena sitting in front of her perked up and looked back at him curiously.

Ash just stared at them for a moment before looking at Yena. Yena nodded. Ash's eyes widened further, and he looked at the hatchling again.

The hatchling stared at him curiously before looking at Yena. Yena noticed and nodded.

The poochyena blinked and looked at Ash again before standing up and walking over to him. She looked up at the male mightyena curiously and cocked her head, "Meema?"

Ash flinched slightly and stared in shock. He smiled softly and laid down, "Yeah… Hi there…"

The poochyena smiled excitedly as her tail wagged. She jumped onto Ash's face to hug him, "Meema!"

Ash stared in surprise before chuckling softly and reaching up to pet her.

Mewtwo stared curiously before flinching and bringing up an arm when a strong wind suddenly assaulted them. They managed to glance at the trio of Dark-types but found them unaffected by it. They gritted their teeth and closed their eyes.

The wind stopped as soon as they did, and they hurriedly looked ahead again to find Ash now in banette form and sitting in front of Yena. The hatchling was nuzzled up against her, fast asleep.

Mewtwo stared in confusion, 'He changed it again? For what reason?'

Yena looked at the sleeping poochyena for a moment before looking at the banette and whispering, "Ash, could I get your opinion on something?" Ash looked at her curiously. Yena frowned as she looked down at the poochyena, "I- I want to give her a name."

The Ghost-type perked up in surprise, "Really? But you said-"

"I know I said Pokémon don't normally do that." Yena interrupted before looking at the poochyena again, "But … it feels right." She looked at him, "I have a name in mind, and I want to know what you think of it."

Ash smiled and nodded, "Sure."

Yena smiled back before taking a deep breath, "You based my name after my species. So … I wanted to base her name …" She blushed a bit, "after yours."

Ash stared blankly, "You want to name her 'Hue'?"

Yena flinched, glared at him, and whispered harshly, "No! I didn't mean the word 'human'!" She sighed, "I meant your name. You're named 'Ash', right? Like what's left behind after a fire?"

Ash perked up, "Oh." He looked up thoughtfully, "Huh. I never realized that before."

Yena flinched and stared at him blankly. As did Mewtwo.

She cleared her throat, "Anyway-" She stopped for a second before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, "Soot."

Ash looked at her.

"I want to name her 'Soot'." Yena said before looking down sheepishly; ears flat, "I- I know it's a little basic, but I've never named anyone before. S-so if you have a better idea then-"

"I like it."

Yena perked up and looked at him in surprise. She smiled hopefully, "Really?"

"Yeah." Ash reached over to pet Soot, "Soot. It's perfect."

Yena's eyes widened slightly. She smiled softly and nuzzled her hatchling, "Thank you…"

She and Ash flinched when they heard a familiar beeping and looked at the banette's stomach to see the symbol flashing red.

Soot stirred awake from the beeping and looked towards the source. She found a human sitting on the ground in front of her and her female meema and stared curiously.

"U- um-" Ash said nervously before smiling awkwardly, "I-"

"Poochy!" Soot cried out excitedly as she jumped into his arms. Ash scrambled to catch her and stared in surprise. Soot nuzzled up to him. Yena stared in shock before saying something.

Soot looked back at her in confusion, "Na?"

Ash looked at Yena in surprise, "W- wait, does she know it's still me?" Soot looked up at him in confusion.

Yena just stared in shock and nodded rapidly.

Soot looked back and forth between them in confusion before cocking her head, "Chy?"

Mewtwo suddenly felt a pain in their head and the area shattered away again. The pebble that hit their head fell to the ground and Ash's eyes widened slightly.

Mewtwo's eyes widened, 'It worked!'

They glared and their eyes blipped as one of their pokéballs appeared next to their head and shattered before the shards fired at Ash. But Ash was gone by the time the shards started moving. The shards hit the wall in the distance.

Mewtwo formed a barrier around their head again and glanced around to find Ash standing off to the side and glaring back.

'Good.' They thought as they crossed their arms, 'I can snap myself out of it like that, too.' They spread their arms as a massive swarm of pokéballs appeared around them and immediately shattered. They gestured ahead as most of the shards shot towards Ash. The rest stayed close and hovered around Mewtwo defensively.

Ash blurred away as the shards tore through the spot he was standing in. He reappeared only for the shards to change their course and fly at him again. This repeated as such.

Mewtwo shot darting glances around the arena intently for signs of the creature; changing the trajectory of the shards at the slightest hint of movement. Mewtwo glared, 'But … I still don't understand why he's doing this. Does he still think he can pacify me with-'

They perked up as Ash reappeared across the field with a red vial between his fingers, 'Wait, what is that?!' They shot a quick glance at the spectators, 'Where did he-' They stopped and their eyes widened before glancing at the spectator area.

The stained glass and metal railing keeping the seven humans and two Pokémon out of the arena was nowhere to be seen. What's more, the front door was missing. All of the spectators were looking back at the entrance in shock.

Had they looked closer, they'd find a side pocket in Ash's backpack wide open.

'When did-' Mewtwo flinched when they heard glass shattering and looked at Ash to find his sprouted claws coated in red fluid. They grimaced and held out a hand to send the attacking shards at him. Ash looked around quickly as the shards approached.

The hybrid's form became shaky as he started walking forward. The first few shards shot towards him, his drenched claws raised and blipped out of sight, and the shards seemingly phased through him. Ash moved his claw towards the next few and the same happened. Mewtwo's eyes just widened as this repeated.

Ash stopped on the other side of the swarm and every shard fell to the ground behind him. His claws had noticeably less of the liquid on it.

Mewtwo stared in shock before glaring and holding out a hand to lift up the shards behind Ash. But they immediately flinched and stared in shock as nothing happened, 'What?' They twitched their hand, but they still wouldn't move.

'What the Yvel did he-' Mewtwo perked up when Ash appeared before the shards protecting them for an instant before fading away. They glanced around frantically as the sound of a claw tapping metal rang out all around.

Ash reappeared before them as every last shard suddenly fell to the ground. As they fell, Mewtwo caught a glimpse of red in the form of a scratch or a small splotch on the shards. Ash's claws were clean.

Mewtwo's eyes widened, 'The fluid…' They thought back to when they tried to throw away the Change Lens with the red dot on its face, 'it negates telekinesis? How is that-' They flinched when Ash's claw-retracted hand smacked against their shield.

Mewtwo stared in pure shock before shakily putting on a sly smirk, 'Di- did you really think I'd make that mistake again? The more focused the shield, the stronger-' They suddenly found themselves facing the ground and felt a jabbing pain in their gut. Literally.

Ash followed through with his Drain Punch and launched Mewtwo straight up into the night sky.

Mewtwo managed to stop themselves in midair just before getting past the top of the floodlights. But they slowly and shakily moved their hands down to hold their stomach. They were slack jawed and staring off into space in pure shock. They coughed hoarsely and slapped a hand over their mouth, 'What just-' They flinched when a shadow appeared from behind and shakily glanced back.

Ash followed through with a roundhouse kick and rocketed Mewtwo back towards the battlefield. He raced down to where they were going to land and intercepted them with another kick to send them towards the stands. In the stands, he intercepted them again and sent them into the air with Drain Punch. He then intercepted them once again to axe kick them to the earth.

The spectators just saw a greyish purple blur crash into the center of the field and kick up a massive dust cloud.

It faded and Mewtwo struggled to cough as they laid back in the crater. They stared off into the blurry night sky in pure shock; still processing what all happened within the last second. The forcefield around their head was long gone.

The spectators all stared in pure shock as Ash touched down next to the crater. Though, a small smirk crept onto the face of one. They and everyone else flinched when the hybrid turned their attention to them.

Ash turned and started walking towards the group.

Dragonite grabbed Joy and held her closely while glaring at Ash warily.

Fergus stared in fearful shock, glanced back at the entrance, and took a step back. Neesha stared fearfully but perked up when Corey stepped in front of her defensively.

Gary clenched his teeth and stared worriedly before looking at Brock and Misty for any kind of reassurance. But both of them just stared at their friend warily; unsure what to think. The redhead's togepi looked worried. The professor's grandson looked at Ash in shock before clenching a trembling fist.

Ash came up to the group but stopped and perked up when Gary ran in front of him while pointing Soot's claw at his face. Everyone else looked at him in pure shock.

"Ash." Gary said angrily, "Tell me right. Now. That you are still in there."

Ash stared blankly before looking down at himself and then back at Mewtwo. He blinked before sighing and looking at Gary with a frown, "Okay, I can see why you'd be wary."

Brock and Misty immediately perked up and sighed in relief. Everyone else just stared blankly.

Gary just stared in shock. His legs gave out and he fell to sit on them while panting heavily. He perked up and looked ahead to see Ash kneeling in front of him and smiling kindly.

"Thank you for keeping it safe." Ash said before glancing at Soot's leg still in Gary's grip.

Gary panted while staring in surprise before following his gaze. He let out a chuckle and smirked at him, "Eh. Gotta make you owe me one, somehow."

Ash let out a chuckle and stood back up, "We'll work something out. But you're not getting any of my teammates."

Gary grinned, "I'm not an idiot, Ashy-boy."

Brock and Misty ran up to Ash. He looked at them and smiled sadly, "Hey…" He reached over and petted Togepi, "sorry for the scare."

Togepi smiled happily.

Misty smiled kindly, "Hey, don't worry about it." She then glared while smirking, "You'll make it up to us by explaining whatever the Yvel this is and how you were able to switch between forms without touching the watch."

Ash tensed up and rubbed the back of his main neck while chuckling nervously, "Fair enough." He frowned, "But, not right now." Misty perked up as he looked at the breeder, "Brock, I need the strongest potion you have."

Brock perked up, pulled off his backpack, and started rummaging through it, "Sure. Just a second."

Misty looked over Ash curiously, "So…" He looked at her as she continued, "you call this guy … Crossnize?"

Ash let out a soft chuckle, "Nah. It's what I decided to call the…" He frowned unsurely, "Uh, I guess 'process' of" He gestured to himself, "combining forms."

Misty nodded, "Ah." She then jerked upon realizing something and looked at Ash in shock, "Wait, can you do different combinations?!"

Ash tensed up and glanced away, "technically…"

Brock pulled out and held out a spray bottle, "Here. It's a Max Potion." He perked up and frowned unsurely, "Wait… you don't seem that hurt."

Ash took the bottle, "I'm not. Thank you." He turned and started walking towards the crater.

Corey, Neesha, and Fergus flinched and stared in shock as he did. Brock, Misty, Togepi, and Gary perked up in surprise. Joy and Dragonite just stared in confusion.

Ash stopped and stood over Mewtwo before looking down at the bottle. He twisted off the spray top and tossed it back before flinging the entire contents of the bottle onto Mewtwo.

Ash's friends stared in surprise and everyone else stared in shock.

Fergus grimaced and blurted out, "What the Yvel is it doing?!"

Mewtwo's eyes shot open, they sat up, and looked down at themselves; not seeing so much as a scuff mark. They looked up at Ash to find him holding an empty Max Potion bottle and then toss it away.

They stared at the bottle in pure shock before looking Ash in the eye, 'W- why would-' They were cut off by Ash appearing right in front of them and placing a hand on their forehead.

Mewtwo didn't even pay the change in scenery any mind as they stared off into space, 'He could've done that … whenever he wanted… I was helpless against him… Yet he…' They gritted their teeth angrily.

Mewtwo got back to their feet, glared up at the metal ceiling, and telepathically screamed, 'FINE! You win, alright?! Just show me whatever the Yvel it is this ti-' They were cut off and subsequently flinched when a massive scream and erratic light erupted out from behind them.

They looked back and their eyes widened in shock.

Ash screamed in pain as the electricity coursed across him. The panicked shouts of his mother, Soot, Professor Oak, and a man in a lab coat wearing spiral-lensed glasses were inaudible. The world quickly went black.

Mewtwo stared in pure shock, 'What. The. Ever-loving. Yvel.'

The area switched to a blurry white void that was slowly becoming clearer. Ash groaned and sat up.

Almost as soon as he did, his mother jumped him and pulled him into a hug, "SWEETIE!"

"POOCHY!" Soot cried out as she jumped him too.

Mewtwo stared in shock upon finding the boy lying in a hospital bed. They looked around to find Oak and the other scientist standing on the other side of the room and staring in surprise.

Delia let go, held his shoulders, and looked him in the eye in a panic, "You're okay, right?! Does anything hurt?! Burn?! Feel uneasy in the-"

"Chyyyy…" Came a whine.

The human Ketchums flinched and looked to find Soot staring at Ash with a sad frown and tears in her eyes.

Ash's eyes widened as he hurriedly picked up and hugged her while petting her back, "Hey, hey. It's okay, Soot. It's okay. Meema's just fine. He's not going anywhere."

The poochyena sniffled and nuzzled up to the boy. Delia smiled softly and stood back up.

"Well," The scientist who wasn't Oak said with a smile, "happy to see you're feeling better."

Delia shot the man a death glare.

The man flinched, "Okay, I deserved that." He looked at Ash worriedly, "But, really Ash, does anything feel out of the ordinary? Anything?"

Ash stared in surprise before looking over himself and then at the watch, "Um … I don't think so?" He perked up and looked at the man, "Wait, what about the-" He stopped and looked around the room warily.

Oak chuckled softly, "We're alone, Ash. Don't worry." He frowned, "We canceled the examination and brought you straight here. We decided to not try checking for fear of…" His frown saddened, "Repeating that…"

The other man bowed shamefully and blurted out, "I'm sorry again! I really don't know what happened!" He looked at the Ketchums guiltily and had a hand to his chest, "Of course, I'll be paying for this visit and anything that might result from the test. You have my word."

Delia glared harshly, "That's a start, Schaffer."

Mewtwo's eyes widened, and they looked at the man, 'Schaffer? As in Franz Kogami Schaffer?' They perked up and thought back to the rigid blue, pink, and white Pokémon Ash turned into before, 'Was that a porygon?'

"But, what about the non-Pokémon?" Ash asked. Mewtwo jerked and looked at him in surprise.

Oak held a hand to the side, "Well, like I said, we canceled the test and haven't tried anything since. We weren't sure it'd be safe."

Ash brought up the watch and sprang up the dial, "Then, let's check." He started dialing quickly.

Delia tensed up and held out a hand, "W- wait, sweetie, you really don't-"

"It's gone…" Ash muttered in confusion as he continued dialing.

Mewtwo hovered over as the silhouettes appeared and changed. Mightyena, Banette, the crystal thing, the gray one, a braviary that surprised Mewtwo a little upon seeing, and the plant creature appeared one-by-one as Ash rotated the device. This repeated as such.

Delia and Soot looked at the device in surprise. Oak frowned and hurried to the side of the bed, "What? Go through it again. Slowly."

Ash nodded and kept dialing. The adults all stared in shock as the device cycled through the six forms again. The poochyena stared in confusion. After two more cycles, Delia and Oak looked at each other in shock.

Ash looked back and forth between them before frowning worriedly, "What does that mean?"

They jerked and looked at him before sharing another look.

Oak cleared his throat, "Um … I think this means that it's been a long day and we could all use some rest. I'll check with the doctor to see how soon you can be dismissed." He turned and walked out of the room.

Franz watched as he did, looked at the Ketchums, and flinched again it seeing Delia's glare, "And I'll go with him." He hurried out the door.

Delia sighed and smiled at Ash, "And, in light of today, how about we stop for ice cream on the way home?"

Ash smiled excitedly, "Really?!"

"Yay!"

Ash and Mewtwo perked up and looked to Ash's side. Soot smiled up at her grandmother excitedly with her tongue out and tail wagging.

Ash blinked in surprise, "Soot?" She looked at him. "Did you say something?"

Soot blinked in confusion and cocked her head, "Na?"

Ash frowned in confusion. Delia noticed and looked at him, "Is everything okay, Ash?"

Ash snapped out of it and looked at her, "Uh, yeah." He scooped up Soot and smiled, "Let's go now!" He jumped off the bed and ran out the door.

Delia flinched and ran after him, "Ash, wait! We don't know if you're dismissed yet!"

Mewtwo followed them through the door and found themselves in a child's bedroom.

They deadpanned, 'Yep…' They sighed and looked around, 'Alright, where is he?' They spotted Soot standing on the floor in front of the elevated bed.

"Poochy, wake up." She barked, "Chy na to wake up."

Mewtwo's eyes widened.

Ash groaned from under the covers, "Soot, stop that. I get I transformed in my sleep again, but that doesn't mean you have to talk like that."

"What?" Soot said, "Poochy still human."

Ash groaned and threw the blanket off himself, "Sweetie, this is a really weird pra-" He stopped and his eyes widened before he slowly turned to look at his hand. He turned it over a few times before blinking in shock, 'Huh?'

"Don't poochy sweetie." Soot said while pouting sourly.

Ash jerked and looked at her in wide eyed shock, "S- say that again…"

Soot raised a brow, "Don't call me poochy?"

Ash jumped, "Woah!"

Soot flinched and looked around the room in alarm before looking at Ash again, "Na?! Poo is it?!"

Ash pointed at her, "I can hear some of what you're saying!"

Soot raised a brow in confusion before perking up and staring in shock, "Huh?" She ran up the steps and onto the bed, "Seriouschy?"

Ash pointed at her again, "You just said 'seriously', right?" Soot's jaw dropped. Ash picked her up, "We have to tell mom!" He jumped out of bed and ran out the door.

Mewtwo watched as he did, deadpanned, and sighed in annoyance before hovering through the doorway. They perked up in surprise when they found themselves outside. But not at Oak's ranch … or anywhere they recognized for that matter.

They didn't have to look around to see the kids running around the area. They looked to the side to find a large building not too far from them.

Mewtwo glanced back at where they came from and just saw open space. They looked ahead and spotted Ash throwing around a disk as Soot chased it, 'Okay?' They lifted up and hovered over to Ash before touching down next to him.

Soot jumped up to catch the disk, landed, and ran back over to Ash. Ash just smiled and knelt down as she approached but flinched when she suddenly took a soccer ball to the side.

"Soot!" Ash cried out before he ran over to her and kneeled down to nudge her, "Soot! Are you okay?! Say something!"

Soot stirred and groaned, "Where'd that Shadow Ball come from?"

Mewtwo's eyes widened slightly, 'I understood her fully that time?' They glanced at Ash as three kids ran up behind him.

"Hey, is it okay?!" One of the kids asked worriedly.

"I'm really sorry!" Another kid blurted out, "It was an accident! I kicked the ball too hard!"

"No, it's my fault!" Another said, "He was just passing it to me and I missed-" He immediately stopped.

Ash glared back at them angrily, "Well be more careful, next-" But he stopped glaring and stared in shock when he saw all of them staring at him in fearful shock. He looked around and saw everyone else on the playground in the same state. Some were trembling.

Mewtwo looked around the playground in confusion.

Soot stood back up and shook it off before looking at Ash. She perked up and looked around in confusion, "What's happening?"

Ash snapped out of it and picked her up to hug her, "Soot!" He held her out and stared worriedly, "Are you hurt?"

"Nah, I'm good." Soot said casually, "Just stung a little for a sec."

Ash sighed in relief.

"AHH!" One of the kids screamed.

The Ketchums flinched and looked to see all three of the kids running away from them. As did many of the other kids around the field. A few kids even fell to their knees and started crying. Ash just stared in fearful shock.

Mewtwo stared in shock, 'What in the-'

"What's going on over there?!"

Ash, Soot, and Mewtwo flinched and looked over to see a teacher running over to them. He stopped and stared around the playground in shock before looking at Ash. Ash just stared back in fearful confusion while holding Soot tightly.

The man stared in surprise, glanced around, and turned while gesturing for Ash to follow, "Come with me." He hurried back towards the building.

Ash scrambled to his feet and ran after him. Mewtwo shot after them as well.

The boy glanced back once; still in shock, 'W- what did I just do?'

.

**"Short Skip"**

Ash sat in a chair near the school entrance with Soot in his lap. The teacher left for just a moment earlier; saying he needed to check something. Delia barged through the front door not long after he returned, ran up to them worriedly, and pulled her son into a hug before asking the teacher what happened.

Mewtwo leaned against the wall and watched.

The teacher kneeled down, "Ash, could you please tell us what happened?"

Ash looked at him worriedly and blurted out, "I didn't hurt any-"

"We know you didn't hurt anyone, Ash." The teacher interrupted calmly, "Please. Just try and describe what did happen."

Ash looked at him worriedly before looking up at his mother. Delia smiled kindly and nodded.

The six-year-old looked down anxiously, "u- um … Soot and I were just playing and there were some other kids who were kicking a ball around kinda close. One of them kicked it too hard and another missed and …" He looked down at the poochyena in his arms, "it hit Soot."

Soot looked up at him with a frown as her ears drooped, "meema…"

"They said sorry and said it was an accident," Ash continued, "but I still got angry. Then I felt something weird and I glared at them. But … they all just …" His eyes widened, "stared at me." He started trembling slightly, "Like- like I was gonna hurt them… everyone was. And then that weird feeling went away and they all ran. S- someone even started crying and- and-"

Delia hurried up and put her hands on his shoulders, "Ash. Ash, sweetie, it's okay." She smiled softly, "It's okay. I'm not mad or anything. Promise."

Ash sniffled and pulled her into a hug; still trembling. Delia hugged him back.

"Air!" Soot barked.

Ash and Delia flinched and separated. Soot panted now that she could breathe again. The human Ketchum's chuckled.

"Miss Ketchum," The teacher said; catching her attention. He gestured back.

Delia smiled at Ash, "I'll be right back, sweetie." She petted Soot, "We'll all go home right after, okay?"

Ash nodded, "Okay."

"Kay." Soot said in agreement.

Delia and the teacher walked around a corner.

After they left, Ash frowned worriedly and looked down anxiously. Soot looked up at him, propped herself up against his chest, and licked his cheek.

Ash looked at her in surprise before smiling softly and petting her, "Thanks, sweetie."

Soot flinched and glared while pouting sourly, "Don't call me sweetie."

Ash chuckled softly.

.

*Oak's lab; later

Mewtwo leaned against the wall again as-

Ash flinched and his eyes widened fearfully, "What?!"

Sam smiled kindly and waved his hands, "It's okay, Ash. We just need to see what this is."

Ash frowned worriedly, "B- but, I don't wanna scare you guys, too." He looked at the banette in the room, "Or Monger."

Monger grinned and waved a hand, "Bane worry banette me. Bane be fine."

Ash perked up and stared in surprise. He smiled, "Hey, I think I understood some of that, this time."

Monger perked up in surprise before smiling excitedly, "Bane, seriously?!"

The boy grinned. Soot smiled happily as her tail wagged.

Oak smiled and waved a hand, "We can check that in a moment." He perked up in realization before reaching back, "But, that does bring something to mind."

Everyone looked at him again as he pulled out a pokéball and held it out. The ball burst open as a large charizard with a white line across their snout appeared. They looked down at the Ketchums curiously as Ash and Soot looked up at him in awe.

Oak smiled, "If you're starting to understand the shuppet line as well, let's see if whatever this is can affect a Pokémon you can't turn into."

Charizard looked at his trainer and cocked his head in confusion.

The professor noticed and looked at him with a smile, "Right, I suppose I should introduce you, first." He gestured to the boy, "Charizard, this is Delia's son, Ash, and his poochyena, Soot."

The Fire/Flying-type perked up slightly before glancing down at the boy and Bite Pokémon.

Monger deadpanned, "Bane for that…"

Oak looked at him and chuckled sheepishly, "Yes. My apologies, Monger." He looked at Charizard again, "Charizard, we need to test something that might be a form of psychic influence. I hope you don't mind."

Charizard blinked while staring at him curiously. He smiled and nodded.

Delia kneeled down in front of her son, "You remember what to do?"

Ash smiled anxiously, "Focus on the weird feeling and see if I can do it again."

Delia smiled softly and put a hand on his shoulder, "It'll be okay, sweetie. The professor and I will just be in the other room if you need anything."

Ash's smile brightened and he nodded. Delia stood back up as she and Oak left the room.

After a moment, the professor's voice came from the loudspeaker, "Go ahead, Ash."

Ash nodded, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. Soot, Monger, and Charizard watched curiously.

After a moment, Ash perked up and open his eyes before looking around at the Pokémon in the room.

Monger perked up in surprise. He smiled and pointed to his own eyes, "Hey, banette bane-mine."

Ash blinked before frowning, "I didn't get a lot of that."

Soot smiled, "He said, 'hey, they look like mine'."

Ash perked up in surprise, "Really?" He looked towards the one-way glass and stared in surprise to see his hair being blown upward slightly and his pupils constricted into slits.

He smiled, "Woah, my eyes really do look like yours, Monger." He perked up and looked at Charizard. The professor's Pokémon looked down at Ash in surprise before tilting his head curiously.

Ash smiled hopefully, "You're not afraid either?"

The Fire/Flying-type shook his head.

Ash smiled brightly. He perked up, closed his eyes again, and took a deep breath. Ash opened his eyes and looked at his reflection again to see his hair and eyes back to normal.

Mewtwo blinked in surprise. They and Ash then perked up when they heard the door open and looked over to find Ash's mother standing in the doorway with her eyes shaded over.

Ash looked at her in surprise and, after a moment, his eyes widened in fearful realization, "M- mom?" He took a step back, "did I-"

Delia cut him off by charging him, dropping to her knees, and pulling him into a hug, "No. You didn't." She said; tone unreadable, "Ashton." She hugged him tighter, "There is nothing you could ever do to make your mother afraid of you."

Ash just stared off into space before hugging her back.

Mewtwo saw him shoot a glance at the watch, 'This thing… made me scare mom…' He frowned and glared, 'Why would I get a power like this…' He clenched his right hand into a fist, 'It's not fair…'

Mewtwo perked up as the lights in the lab went out and came back on. As a result, Mewtwo found themself in a daylit forest. They looked around before flinching when a pained yelp erupted out and looked towards a clearing. Their eyes widened in shock.

The mightyena landed on her side; twitching slightly and with her eyes vacant. Ash just stared in absolute shock before turning to look at the scyther.

The Mantis Pokémon swayed where they stood and panted shakily. They were covered in bruises and their eyes were erratic. They visibly jumped when a twig snapped and turned to swing their blades wildly at the air behind them. They stopped after a moment, panted again, and fumbled before regaining their footing.

Mewtwo stared in shock, 'What the Yvel happened to them?'

"You…"

Scyther spun and slashed at the empty space between them and Ash. They kept going despite the boy being nowhere close to them.

Ash shot forward and grabbed both of Scyther's blades; Intimidate in full effect. Ash stared them in the eye with no emotion present, "You … hurt Soot."

Scyther's gaze didn't change. Not even after the headbutt.

Mewtwo just stared in shock as, for the next five minutes, the seven-year-old wailed away at the helpless scyther. It eventually ended with the boy knocking them out with headlock. Soot woke up not long after to see that.

The world went back to the void, but Mewtwo still just stared, 'I- uh…'

Mewtwo flinched and looked over when a deep, shaky breath sounded out. Their eyes widened in shock when they found the present-day Ash looking at them sadly.

"Part of me hoped I wouldn't have to resort to this."

Mewtwo charged Ash, 'Wait!' But he vanished right as they got close. They glared up, 'Why are you doing this?! What the Yvel is the point?! Answer me!'

The world rebuilt and Mewtwo found themselves in a living room at night. Ash and his poochyena were on the couch watching TV. They perked up when they heard footsteps and looked back to find Delia in a nightgown and looking at them tiredly.

"Ash?" The boy's mother muttered while rubbing an eye, "Soot? What are you still doing up? I told you to go to bed."

"But we're not tiirrred." Ash whined.

"Na poochyenaaaaa." Soot mimicked.

Mewtwo looked at Soot in surprise, 'What the- Was this before that incident? Why wait until now to show me this?'

'Part of me hoped I wouldn't have to resort to this.'

Mewtwo frowned uncomfortably, 'What the Yvel's about to happen?'

Delia deadpanned and sighed before glancing at the TV. She looked at her son, "Alright, but just until this is over, got it?"

Ash raised a fist, "Yes!"

Soot mimicked Ash again, "Chy!"

Delia smiled softly before yawning and turning towards the kitchen, "I'm gonna heat up some milk."

"Okay!" Ash said happily. After his mother left, he grinned at Soot slyly and whispered, "Now, how about we find a movie to watch so we can stay up longer?"

Soot grinned back and snickered. Ash grabbed the remote and started messing with the channel buttons.

Mewtwo deadpanned while watching the child, 'Seriously?' They looked at the TV as Ash settled on a program.

After about a minute, the screen suddenly changed to a man in a suit sitting at a desk.

"We interrupt our scheduled program for a breaking news report. Parents, be advised-"

The young Ash frowned, "Aw, what?"

"Believed to be connected to the recent string of poaching cases, a wild rampaging rhydon presumed to have escaped the poachers has been apprehended with the help of-"

The poochyena pouted angrily, jumped down from the couch, and propped herself up against the television to bark at it.

"We take you now to the scene of the incident."

Soot stopped and her eyes widened in shock as the image changed.

Mewtwo's eyes widened in shock as they saw the new scene. It depicted a road on the outskirts of a forest. An ambulance was present with a trainer sitting in the back of it with a weighted blanket on them. An unconscious rhyhorn was lying next to the road with a handful of other Pokémon being treated around it. A knocked over tree was also visible.

What had everyone's attention, was the one Pokémon mostly hidden by a white tarp. While the rest of the body was covered, the revealed head was undoubtedly-

"P-" The young Soot stuttered while staring in horror, "poo … chy?"

"… Yena?" Ash muttered.

Delia ran back into the room, looked at the TV, and gasped while covering her mouth. She ran up to it and hit the power button.

Soot jumped as the screen went blank and started panting shakily. She stepped back while shaking her head slowly; breathing getting faster as tears formed. She looked back at Ash desperately.

Ash just kept staring at the blank screen, "Ye … na?"

Soot's eyes widened fearfully. Her mouth opened as tears started falling from her face. She ran straight for the staircase and disappeared to the second floor.

Delia ran to her son, "A-" She froze on the spot.

Mewtwo just stared at the blank screen in shock.

'D… c… M-'

Mewtwo shivered as their eyes widened.

'A… t… gr…'

Mewtwo grabbed their head and gritted their teeth.

'Y… sh… b. ha…'

"MAAAAH!" Mewtwo screamed as the scenery shattered away.

Ash jumped back as Psystrike erupted out in three directions. Mewtwo glared at him, hurried back to their feet, and charged Ash with Drain Punch.

"L… i. W-"

Mewtwo grimaced, their attack faded, and they crashed to the ground in front of the hybrid with a hand to their head. They glared up at Ash furiously, 'What did you do to me?!' They formed and threw a Shadow Ball.

Ash's claws burst out and he slashed the attack out of existence; expression unchanging, "Nothing." The claws retracted to their smaller form, "This is all you."

Mewtwo gritted their teeth; still glaring, 'Don't toy with me, you-'

"I mean literally." Ash said calmly. Mewtwo stopped and stared in confusion as he continued, "I didn't attack your mind. The barrier in it is fighting back." Mewtwo's eyes widened.

"At first, I just wanted to prove I wasn't the Phantom by showing you where my powers come from. I was hoping I'd get lucky, and you'd lose your motivation to fight me. But then I found something."

His eyes narrowed, "That one of your memories have been sealed."

Mewtwo stared in mild surprise before glaring again and shakily standing back up, 'Do you think I don't know that?! They were memories sealed off by my creators!' They glanced downward in frustration; in the general direction of the cloning room, 'But most of the data was destroyed. Even now, I don't know anything about them. Not even why they were taken away.'

Ash stared calmly, "Then would you like to remove the seal?"

The Psychic-type flinched and looked at him in pure shock, 'What?!'

"I didn't keep pumping my memories into you for nothing, Mewtwo." Ash said, "The first memory, the night I found the watch, the feelings of curiosity, confusion, and joy resonated with the seal. It's how I found it."

Mewtwo's eyes widened even more as the image of Ash comforted by wild Pokémon came to mind. Followed by him staring at the watch's capsule curiously.

"I then started probing the seal to see if other emotions reacted and see if there was one or more that might be strong enough to break it." Ash continued, "In the second run the feeling of being taught and guided got added to the list."

Yena's talk with him about trainers and battling came to mind.

"The third run just reinforced fear and confusion until the end."

The young boy looking around the playground in shock came to mind.

"But the strongest reaction out of everything" Ash frowned, "… was the pain from loss."

The boy stared at the television in pure shock as the small Bite Pokémon cried and ran.

'Am-'

Mewtwo grimaced and held their head again. They looked at Ash harshly, 'Even if you are telling the truth, I've tried breaking the seal before. It's impossible.'

"Only because you didn't know how to aggravate it." Ash said, "And because you, alone, aren't powerful enough to tamper with something in your own mind." He held out a hand, "But, this time, you won't be doing it alone."

Mewtwo stared down at the clawed mewtwo hand in shock before glaring at the hybrid again, 'Are you seriously-'

"Can you say without a hint of doubt that I can't be trusted?" Ash interrupted, "After everything I've shown you?"

Mewtwo just continued glaring, '…' Their glare intensified, 'If you try anything…' They trailed off.

Ash took on a small smile, "By all means."

Mewtwo grumbled, took the hand, and everything went white. They looked and found the human Ash standing before them.

Ash turned to look at the empty space ahead and held out a hand, "Ready?"

Mewtwo glanced at him before doing the same, 'Yes.'

"Good." Ash said as his pupils lit up purple, "Focus on the emotions I mentioned."

Mewtwo's eyes lit up as well and the pair glared ahead. The pair strained and pushed their hands ahead as they pushed back at the barrier.

Suddenly, the void violently shattered and threw shrapnel at them; forcing the pair to shield themselves.

They opened their eyes and found themselves suspended in a black void.

Ash looked around fearfully, "What?! I-" He grimaced fearfully, "This- this was supposed to work!"

'It did.' Mewtwo said in shock; making Ash look at them in shock, 'This place … I know it.' They looked down in confusion, 'But … why-'

"It's just like all the other clones, doctor." The pair flinched and looked up into the void. "It hasn't gained consciousness."

"I just don't understand it." A different voice said, "It's other vital signs are strong."

Mewtwo's eyes widened in pure shock, 'F- Fuji?'

Ash looked at them in confusion.

"We're measuring brain activi-"

'I hear things…' A young voice cut off the second.

Ash and Mewtwo flinched and turned towards the source. Their eyes widened at the sight of a small mewtwo sitting in the void with their eyes closed, arms crossed, and feet tucked in.

'What is that?' The infant continued, 'What are those sounds?' They opened their eyes slightly.

Ash stared in shock before looking at the adult Mewtwo, "The sealed memory was your childhood?"

Mewtwo just stared at the younger one in shock, 'But- I thought I wasn't conscious back-'

"Those are words. They're talking."

The young Mewtwo immediately looked towards the source. Ash and the adult Mewtwo flinched and turned around again. Mewtwo's eyes widened in further shock at seeing a little girl with green hair and blue eyes in a white gown suddenly take form out of nowhere.

Ash stared in shock, "Who…" He trailed off.

Mewtwo stared in shock and shook their head, 'I … I don't-'

'What are you?' The young Mewtwo asked.

"What do you mean?" She asked back with a smile, "I'm a girl. A human."

The young Mewtwo cocked their head, "Girl? Human? Is that what I am?"

The girl hovered closer and looked at them, "Well, you look like a Pokémon and sound like a boy."

'Boy? Pokémon?' The young Mewtwo asked curiously, 'What are those? Which one am I?'

Ash perked up, glanced at Mewtwo, and whispered, "Wait, are you actually male?"

Mewtwo glanced back at him, 'Biologically, no. Mentally, yes.'

"Maybe it makes a difference to you what you are, but not to me." The girl said; catching Ash and Mewtwo's attention. She giggled, did a twirl in place, and held out her hands, "If you're in this place, I guess you must be the same as the rest of us."

The adult Mewtwo's eyes narrowed warily, 'Rest?' He and Ash perked up when a bulbasaur, charmander, and squirtle appeared one-by-one around the young Mewtwo and the girl. All of which had familiar looking markings.

"Hi." "Hey." "Hello." The new trio called out happily as they appeared.

The adult Mewtwo looked around at them in surprise. He then perked up as his eyes widened, 'They're markings…'

Ash looked at him in surprise before looking at the starters again. His eyes widened in realization, "They're-"

"Everyone here's a copy." The girl said casually. Ash and Mewtwo perked up as the starters and the girl hovered in a circle. The young Mewtwo joined in while staring curiously, "That's why there's a 'two' at the end of all of our names."

The young Mewtwo blinked, 'Then I'm also a "two"?'

The girl smiled, "They call me 'Ambertwo'. But I'm still really 'Amber'."

Ash's eyes widened, 'They were cloning humans, too?'

'Amber…' Mewtwo muttered while staring in surprise.

Charmandertwo then let out a puff of flame as the quintet spun around each other. Amber, Squirtletwo, and Bulbasaurtwo started laughing playfully. The young Mewtwo watched curiously before joining in the laughter.

The adult perked up and looked at his younger self in surprise.

.

**"Time Skip"**

The quintet flew through a cloud and looked over a large neighborhood in black and white. Ash and Mewtwo watched from a distance.

"This is a place from my memories." Amber said, "Where I was born."

A light shone from above and the young Mewtwo looked up at the source curiously, 'What's that?'

Amber looked as well; still smiling, "That's the sun."

'The sun?' He asked.

"It makes the whole world bright and keeps us warm all day." Amber said as the starter clones basked in the warmth.

The young Mewtwo reached up at the sun curiously, 'Oh- ah!' He flinched and shielded himself as a breeze hit him.

Amber turned to look back; still smiling, "And that's the wind."

Mewtwo looked at her curiously, 'Wind?'

Amber soared up higher as she flew along the breeze. Charmandertwo, Squirtletwo, and Bulbasaurtwo immediately followed and Mewtwo stared curiously before following their lead.

Ash and Mewtwo followed suit.

"The wind helps us along." Amber said, "Sometimes it's soft and sometimes it's very strong."

Ash and Mewtwo looked down to find the group over a large city and perked up as the sky quickly turned orange. The young clones all stopped and looked.

"And that's the sunset." Amber explained, "It's when the sun says 'goodnight, see you tomorrow'."

The young Mewtwo stared in awe at the sight. He perked up as the sky suddenly turned dark, save for the light in the city below and the new light in the sky. He pointed, 'Is that a sun?'

"No, that's the moon." Amber said.

The young Mewtwo perked up and stared in awe as countless more lights surrounded the moon.

"And those are the stars." Amber said, "They're little lights that twinkle all night. Just so we won't be lonely."

The young Mewtwo stared in bright eyed awe at the sight of it all. The adult Mewtwo just stared at himself curiously.

Ash smiled softly, "It looks like you're enjoying yourself."

'Which only makes me more concerned.' Mewtwo said; making Ash perk up and look at him in surprise. He looked at Ash worriedly, 'If I was this happy, why would my creators take that away? I'm not even sure how that would've benefitted them.'

He looked ahead again, 'And for that matter, where are all of them now? I didn't even know they existed until this.'

Ash looked at him in surprise before looking down thoughtfully. After a moment, his eyes widened fearfully, "Mewtwo."

The fully grown clone Pokémon perked up and looked at him.

Ash slowly turned to look at him with a look of fear plastered on his face, "The emotions we used to unseal this. Curiosity, joy, being taught and guided…"

Mewtwo raised a brow before his eyes widened in fearful realization, 'confusion … and fear-'

'What's happening?'

The pair flinched and looked ahead. Mewtwo's eyes widened in horror as Squirtletwo and Bulbasaur slowly faded away with sparkles rising up from them. Charmandertwo was nowhere to be seen.

The younger Mewtwo hovered around where they were before looking at Amber, 'Where did they go?'

Amber just smiled sadly as the same lights started flying up from her. The adult Mewtwo's eyes widened in fearful shock.

Ash's eyes widened, "pain from loss…"

The young Mewtwo stared in confusion, 'Amber? What's happening?'

"It feels…" Amber said slowly, "like it's time for me to say goodbye."

Mewtwo frowned, 'Goodbye?'

The moon flickered away. The stars and city slowly faded away as well. But the young Mewtwo only focused on Amber.

Mewtwo flinched, wiped liquid from his face, and stared down at the droplets on his hand in shock, 'Wh- what-'

'What are these?'

Mewtwo tensed up and looked at his younger self; seeing them looking at the drops on his hands curiously.

"They're tears." Amber said, "You're crying."

Mewtwo looked at her and frowned, 'Crying?'

"It's what happens when you're sad or hurt." Amber said kindly.

'Sad? Hurt?' Mewtwo repeated as his tears flew away, 'I don't understand…'

Amber's smile saddened, "I have to go."

Mewtwo flinched and stared fearfully, 'Why?!'

"I don't know." Amber said as she hovered closer, "But it's alright. Thank you for caring about me." She pulled Mewtwo into a hug; making him stare in shock, "And don't cry Mewtwo. You should be happy. You're alive." Her hug loosened, "And life is wonderful."

Mewtwo's eyes widened as he looked at Amber. But he found nothing.

'Amber?' Mewtwo started looking around, 'Amber?' He started hovering around the black void while looking around fearfully, "Amber!" He grimaced, "Amber, please, come back!" His eyes lit up light blue, "Please, Amber!"

"Doctor! Mewtwo's brainwaves are out of control!"

'Amber!' Mewtwo yelled.

"It's getting too upset! It mustn't remember this!"

'Amber!' The psychic's body flared with energy.

"Administer the serum! Do it immediately!"

'Amb-' The young Mewtwo gasped and his eyes widened in shock. The glow in his eyes and around his body slowly faded before his eyes slowly went vacant. He closed his eyes and pulled his legs in while crossing his arms as his tail wrapped around him; taking the same position he woke up in.

"It's brainwaves are going back to-"

The shrapnel flew in from behind Ash and Mewtwo and rebuilt the white void around them.

Mewtwo just stared in pure shock as tears fell from his face. He fell to his knees and started breathing heavily as his eyes widened further. He then gasped and stared in shock when Ash quickly got in front of him and pulled him into a hug.

"It's okay." Ash said softly, "You don't have to hold anything back. Let it all out."

Mewtwo stared off into space as tears continued to fall. He grimaced and looked down. The Psychic-type wept in the void as the trainer held him close.

.

**"Time Skip"**

Ash and Mewtwo sat back-to-back in the void. Mewtwo had his legs pulled close and tail wrapped around himself.

"Are you okay?" Ash asked without looking back.

Mewtwo stayed silent for a moment before saying, 'I don't know.'

"Yeah…" Ash said softly. He took a deep breath, "I'm sorry you had to see that."

'Don't be.' Mewtwo said. He glanced back at Ash, 'What happens now?'

"That depends." Ash said, "Are we going to continue the battle?"

'… no.' Mewtwo responded slowly, 'I'm not in the mood anymore.'

"And all of our Pokémon?" Ash asked, "Are you going to release everyone?"

Mewtwo nodded, 'Yes. They'll all be freed. They would have regardless of the battle's outcome.'

Ash jerked, looked back at him for a second, and then looked down thoughtfully. After a second, he perked up, "Oh. You only said that you'd free them if I won. Not that you wouldn't if I lost."

Mewtwo let out a broken chuckle, 'I needed to get you to agree somehow. I didn't want you to hold back.' He frowned and laid his head on his arms, 'I really messed up, didn't I.'

Ash frowned sympathetically, "Well-"

'Don't.' Mewtwo interrupted; head still down, 'You can say whatever you want. It's irrefutable that I'm in the wrong.'

Ash stayed silent for a moment before asking, "Is anyone you took hurt?"

'No.' Mewtwo said without looking back, 'The cloning process is harmless. Even if a pokéball wasn't involved, the most severe thing the machine could take was a microbial skin sample. And that's only if hair or a scale weren't an option.'

"Do you regret what you've done?" Ash asked, "And are you going to make up for it?"

'Yes.' Mewtwo said, 'To both.'

Ash turned away and sat back against him again, "Then we're good."

Mewtwo flinched and looked back at him in shock, 'What?! How the Yvel can you forgive me that easily?!'

"I haven't." Ash said; making Mewtwo perk up in surprise, "But you said no one's hurt, that you regret what you've done, and that you'll make up for all of this. So long as you're telling the truth and you keep your promises, that'll be enough for me."

Mewtwo stared in surprise before letting out a sad chuckle, 'You really are too much.'

Ash smiled somberly, "I try. It's part of how I honor Yena's memory."

Mewtwo perked up before looking down. 'Yena…' He muttered after a moment; causing Ash to glance back at him, 'how did you get over losing her?'

Ash stared for a moment before looking down, "It's not that simple." Mewtwo looked at him in mild surprise as he looked ahead, "That isn't how grief works. You don't get over the loss of a loved one. You have to learn to accept it and live with it."

Mewtwo blinked in surprise before frowning unsurely, 'Then how did you learn to live with it?'

Ash smiled sadly and stood back up, "I think it'd be easier to show you."

Mewtwo looked up at him in surprise before standing up as well. He nodded.

Ash took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Mewtwo looked around as the void started changing. He frowned anxiously upon recognizing the living room and the crying poochyena, 'Y- you don't need to show me this again.'

"Just watch." Ash said as he opened his eyes, "Until the end, this time." Mewtwo looked at him in surprise before looking again as Soot ran upstairs.

Delia ran to her son. "Ash!" She grabbed his shoulder and shook him lightly, "Ash, snap out of it!"

Ash flinched and looked at his mother in shock. He started tearing up and pointed a trembling finger at the TV, "M- mom, Yena is-"

"Ash, please listen." Delia blurted out, "You need to go to Soot. She needs you now more than ever, Ash."

Ash sniffled, "B- but- Yena-"

"Ashton." Delia said before taking a deep breath, "I know it hurts. But Soot's hurting too. Right now, you need to help her through this." She swallowed forcefully and took a deep, shaky breath before looking her son in the eye, "You're all she has left, sweetie."

Ash tensed up and stared in shock. He sniffled before looking back at the stairs and then at the TV again. He took a deep breath, looked at his mom, and nodded, "A- alright, mom." He hurried off the couch and ran upstairs.

Mewtwo stared blankly, 'Who the Yvel says that to a six-year-old?'

"I was still five, actually." Ash said. Mewtwo jerked and looked at him in alarm as he started walking over to the front door, "Besides, that isn't actually what she said."

Mewtwo relaxed, 'Oh.' He then flinched and his eyes widened in shock, 'Wait! You've been altering your memories?!'

Ash looked back at him with a sheepish smile and waved a hand, "No, sorry, I could've worded that better." He put his hand down and smiled tiredly, "That's just how I've come to remember this lesson overtime."

Mewtwo stared unsurely before glancing at Delia and then looking at Ash, 'Then what did she say?'

"She said, 'you need to help her through this'." Ash smiled sadly as the front door swung open, "'You're the only one who can.'" He turned and walked through the door.

Mewtwo perked up and hurried after Ash and found themselves in the boy's bedroom. He quickly spotted the male mightyena lying on Ash's bed with the crying poochyena nuzzled close to him and trembling; her tears staining his fur.

Ash just frowned sadly, licked her head, and nuzzled her back; his own tears falling to the bed.

Mewtwo stared in surprise before frowning, 'I don't understand. You're just comforting her. Are you sure this is the right memory?'

"It is." Ash reassured, "And I'm not only comforting Soot. We are grieving." He took a deep breath, "I've heard that everyone processes grief differently. That some prefer to be alone to process it all," He gestured ahead, "that some need the company of their loved ones to help them through it," He put his hand back down, "and that some need some kind of mix. But I've also heard that it's never easy." He put on a small, sad smile, "We were like this for almost a week."

Mewtwo's eyes widened, and he looked at Ash as the trainer continued, "Mom brought us food, called the school and told them I was sick, and checked on us constantly. I used Lockdown mode-" He stopped upon realizing he didn't show Mewtwo that before continuing, "The watch's form locking function three times to keep Soot company. That's why the symbol on my chest is blue, right now."

Mewtwo perked up and looked at the grieving canines again; spotting a small patch of blue where Ash said. He frowned unsurely, 'And that worked? You came to live with it after that?'

"It's not that easy, either." Ash said somberly, "I can't give you a cure-all, Mewtwo. Just examples and ideas. You have to decide, yourself, what to do."

Mewtwo stared unsurely before looking down.

Ash frowned sympathetically before turning to face him, "But how about I give you a question to help you along?" Mewtwo looked at him. "Do you want me to leave you here, alone, so you can have some time to yourself? Or do you want to go back right now? To Charizardtwo, Blastoisetwo, Venusaurtwo, Dragonitetwo, and everyone else who still needs to wake up?"

Mewtwo perked up and his eyes widened slightly, 'You're right!' He put a hand to their chest, 'I need to-'

"And answer selfishly." Ash said quickly; making Mewtwo perk up in surprise, "I'm sure you've noticed that time moves differently in here. Barely a full second has passed in the real world, since we got here. You can stay in here for as long as you need and no one on the outside will be affected by your choice."

Mewtwo stared in surprise and put his hand down before looking down thoughtfully. After a moment, he frowned and looked at the mightyena and poochyena again. His frown saddened, 'I don't want to be alone.' He looked at Ash, 'I want to go to them. I'm sure of it.'

Ash smiled softly and held out a hand to the clone, "Then let's get you back to your family."

Mewtwo stared in surprise again before smiling softly and taking his hand.

.

*stadium

Mewtwo stared down at the clawed mewtwo hand in shock before glaring at the hybrid again, 'Are you seriously-'

"Can you say without a hint of doubt that I can't be trusted?" Ash interrupted, "After everything I've shown you?"

Mewtwo just continued glaring, '…' Their glare intensified, 'If you try anything…' They trailed off.

Ash took on a small smile, "By all means."

Mewtwo grumbled and took the hand.

After about a second, Mewtwo jerked and his eyes widened. He let go and slowly put his hand down. His legs trembled for a second before he dropped to his knees.

Gary, Corey, and Neesha's jaws dropped in shock. Brock, Misty, Togepi, Joy, and Dragonite stared blankly.

Ash frowned sympathetically while looking down at Mewtwo. He knelt down and put a hand on his shoulder. Mewtwo looked at him and smiled softly.

Everyone flinched when a loud explosion erupted from the dining area and looked over to find a large dust cloud near one of the walls.

Ash's eyes widened as a canine silhouette limped from within the cloud on all threes.

Soot emerged from the cloud and looked at Ash in wide-eyed shock. She smiled hopefully, "Da-" She was immediately cut off by the hybrid appearing in front of her and pulling her into a hug; making her flinch slightly.

"Soot…" Ash said quietly before freeing her from the hug and holding her by her shoulder; smiling softly, "You're okay."

Soot grinned, "And you're…" She looked over him and chuckled while raising a brow, "What … are you?"

Ash chuckled, "I still have to come up with a name."

Following Soot, everyone else's Pokémon emerged from the cloud, spotted their trainers and darted towards them.

Neesha smiled happily and ran over to her rapidash, ninetales, dewgong, wigglytuff, and vileplume. Corey smiled and waved as his pidgeot, scyther, rhyhorn, and sandslash hurried towards him.

Psyduck ran over to Misty with Basculin in a telekinetic grip. Vulpix and Geodude were close behind them. The Gym Leaders smiled happily and hurried over to their respective Pokémon as well and pulled them into a group hug. Gary grinned and hurried over to reunite with Arcanine, Nidoking, and Dodrio as well.

Fergus's nidoqueen, kingdra, tentacruel, vaporeon, and golduck rushed towards him with Golduck psychically bringing along Gyarados. Fergus stared in mild confusion.

Ash looked around and his eyes widened before he looked at Soot, "Where are Squirtle and Arbok?"

Soot smiled tiredly, "Don't worry, they're safe. They're keeping Blastoisetwo company as part of a deal."

Ash frowned in confusion. Charizardtwo, Venusaurtwo, and Dragonitetwo appeared next; making the trainers, Dragonite, and Togepi flinch. The three of them quickly spotted Mewtwo and ran/flew over to him.

Charizardtwo and Dragonitetwo landed in front of Mewtwo and knelt down as they looked at him worriedly. Venusaurtwo shoved himself between the pair and looked at the Psychic-type worriedly as well.

Mewtwo looked up at them tiredly. His eyes widened slightly as a visage of a smiling Charmandertwo and Bulbasaurtwo seemed to overlap the Seed and Flame Pokémon for a moment.

He started tearing up before pulling the pair into a hug by the head; making them flinched, 'I'm sorry…' He muttered slowly, 'I'm sorry…'

Charizardtwo and Venusaurtwo just stared ahead in shock, glanced at Mewtwo, and then shared a confused glance. Dragonitetwo just stared at the scene blankly.

Soot stared blankly before leaning closer to Ash and whispering, "What the Yvel happened?"

Ash smiled sympathetically, "Enough. Don't worry, he won't hurt anyone."

Soot perked up slightly, glanced at the hybrid, and looked at Mewtwo again, 'So they're male.'

Ash flinched and his eyes widened when he heard the watch and the Lens on his head beeping in synchronicity. Everyone noticed and looked at him. Those in the loop stared in mild surprise and everyone else stared in confusion.

.

*Three days prior

"There." Giovanni said as he hit play.

Everyone looked again to find Ash smirking at Soot. Most recognized it as the moment before Soot's brief battle with Nidoking.

"You ready for your first Gym Battle?" Ash asked.

Soot snickered and started walking, "I'd hardly consider this a battle."

Everyone else's eyes widened in realization; except for Daisy. The Cerulean Gym Leader blinked in confusion as everyone else -except Giovanni and Koga- looked at Sabrina in shock. Koga glanced at the psychic warily.

"Remind me, Ms. Esper." Giovanni said before glancing at her, "What did you say happened in your Gym Battle?"

Sabrina stared in wide eyed shock, "um…"

.

*Three days later

A red flash covered Ash as he returned to his human self. Everyone out of the loop looked at him in surprise. Ash stared off into space with a vacant, wide-eyed look as the Lens stuck to his forehead.

Misty stood up, "Well then," Everyone -except Ash- looked at her as she walked over to Ash, "now that things have finally calmed down," She glared, put a finger in front of his face, and shouted, "you have a lot of explaining to do, Ketchum! Let's start with your switching forms without touching the watch!" Soot flinched and looked at the Cerulean Gym Leader in shock, "And then we'll move on to when, exactly, you came up with that Crossnize-thing! Start talking!"

Ash didn't respond. His expression didn't even change. Brock as well as his, Misty's, and Ash's Pokémon, and Gary looked at him in alarm.

Misty stopped glaring and stared in confusion. She frowned worriedly and waved a hand in front of his face, "Ash?"

Ash still remained silent.

Soot's eyes narrowed apprehensively, "Dad?" She hopped up to her hind legs and shook his shoulder, "Hey, say something."

Ash lurched forward slightly as Soot shook him and the Lens fell off his head.

Ash started trembling, his eyes widened, and his mouth fell open as nothing but a forced, hoarse breath came out. He fell back and started writhing on the ground; hands moving erratically.

Misty jumped back and Soot fell forward to lay next to him as they stared in pure shock. Everyone else flinched and stared fearfully.

Gary glared at the Psychic-type furiously, "What the Yvel did you do to him?!"

Mewtwo grimaced fearfully and held out a hand, 'This isn't me! I swear!'

Soot hurriedly sat up and looked at Gary frantically, "Who cares whose fault it is?!" She looked at the nurse, "Joy, get over here, n-"

"S-Soo-S-S-S-Soo-" Ash stuttered hoarsely.

Soot flinched and looked to find Ash holding a trembling hand towards her desperately. She turned to face him, laid down, and took his hand, "It's okay, dad! I'm right here! Everything will be-"

"N-n-kno-"

"What?" Soot asked worriedly, "Please, just hold on! Nurse Joy is-"

"Kn-kno…c-ck" Ash begged, "Ou-ou…t."

Soot's eyes widened in shock, "W-what? What are you-"

"Kno…ck… ou…t" Ash begged as he started tearing up, "P-p-plea-"

Soot stared in fearful shock. She gritted her teeth, tore her paw away from Ash's grip, and raised it as her eyes shifted to their inherent state. She plunged her claw into Ash's neck.

Ash blacked out.

.

.

*clock ticks*
*rock-like beat starts*

*Cruel Clocks instrumental*

Soot: Sounds reverberate;
smash through air and space
Full of fragments bathed in
black and white

Trix: Gears from up above
rain down to the ground,
I tread on them; they seem
to laugh at me

Both: My attached right arm
usually creaks but somehow
now, the sound has disappeared
into silence

A stream of light is blocking
the symbol of the world,
and so it starts to
break and crumble away

Soot: I have no tears left to shed,
as much as I cry out
Trix: So I scream, with the voice I thought I'd…
Both: lost.

Hey,
I remember, in the past, your everlasting smile
Soot: As you patiently taught me everything I would need in life
Both: Like the happy things, and all the things that would bring me sorrow, And
Trix: The fact that I can't die.

*instrumental*

Trix: Please, just tell me why
Why has my time halted in its tracks, before
I'm ready?

Both: I cannot comprehend this;
this strange and agonizing pain I feel
piercing into my heart.

Trix: A mirage, fantasy,
is all that it would ever be
But I still let myself
believe...

Both: Hey,
I remember in the past, that day you smiled at me,
Soot: And held me in a close embrace between your arms, so tenderly.
Even in my cold, unfeeling body, with no blood flowing through,
I somehow felt the warmth exuding from you

Both: But by the time I came to realize what happened next,
You were already magnetized, like a clock, inside your head
Trix: So in my frustration, I decided to make a wish instead
For the whole world to stop

*instrumental*

But the truth, that I knew deep down;
painfully clear to see
That the world could never stop
Turni - ing!

Both: Hey,
I remember, in the past, your everlasting smile
I'll keep that smile for days to come, and remember all those times
All the happy times, and all the times that had brought me sorrow, and..
Somehow I'm still alive myself, in your place

I can't contain the happiness I feel, but not sure why
These drops trickling down from my eyes are they 'tears' I'm meant to cry?
Then I feel, on the other side of this vast, eternal sky,
Trix: In time, we'll meet again.

…

Trix and Soot will be joining in the next Comment Response.