Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or any characters associated with the series. This is a purely recreational work.
Mewtwo found itself standing on a sort of clearing full of small, scrubby, alpine bushes, looking up at the silver mist that obscured the mountains peak. In front of it was a cliff with a near vertical drop, and behind it was sheer rock face. Mewtwo was almost depressed that it hadn't bothered to remember somewhere a little more…convenient…especially considering that Mew hadn't picked out the same place to teleport to, it seemed.
In fact, Mew, as it happened, was on the other side of the mountain. But where was that wayward super-clone? That was irritating, but expected. Actually, Mew would've been more shocked if they had shown up in the same place…which got it thinking…what were the odds of that, anyway? Ah well, there would be time for crunching the numbers and all that later. Now, to find Mewtwo…again.
Had Mew not the capacity to become invisible and fly, perhaps this take would have been difficult- ridiculously so, in fact. Well, maybe not, and that wasn't the case anyway, but in Mew's mind, that, at least, would have been a challenge. And who's to say it still wouldn't be? Then again, Arceus may be getting impatient, heaven forbid, and then the whole world surely would collapse…Well, darn, huh?
"Mewtwo where are you?" the New Specie Pokémon called out, first in singsong, but then in earnest. At some point, Mew simply tried reaching out its psychic "grasp" to any nearby Pokémon. Not too much, such as to leave them with some mental privacy, just enough to identify whether or not any of them were the mind she was looking for. At some point, she received a reply, faint, as though blocked by static, but it was promising…"That you, Mewtwo?"
The best that Mew could make out was, "…come…you…" Well, that was good enough for this psychic Pokémon. Mew and what it presumed to be Mewtwo kept up contact with one another, the sentence becoming less fragmented. Within a matter of minutes, Mew knew Mewtwo was close, maybe just over that rise…With a last burst of speed, Mew shot over the rise just as it could hear Mewtwo call, "Stay there, I'm coming for you." Of course by that, it was too late and the only reason the pair didn't crash and burn was because of their, well, cat-like reflexes. Mew and Mewtwo staggered around for a moment inside of their bubbles.
"Did you not hear me?" Mewtwo shouted into Mew's mind.
"Not until it was too late," Mew hissed back, "and why are you still using telepathy anyway?"
"Because I can and because I choose to. Cope. Now then, how far up to Spear Pillar?"
"Only a few minutes by flying...but in the caves the trip would be much, much warmer…well, comparatively."
"Wouldn't it be much easier just to teleport us there?"
"Yeah, but then you wouldn't get the scenic tour."
"I thought I was to be brought there in haste."
"Oh boo, you are no fun." Mew and Mewtwo teleported to Spear Pillar. "There, are you satisfied now, impatient one?
Mewtwo wrapped its cloak tighter around itself and peered over the ruins' edge. From here, the clouds did not seem like silver mist, but a steel blanket that obscured anything directly below. In the distance, however, one could see for miles upon miles on end. The scenery was really quite beautiful here, maybe, Mewtwo considered, it should've taken Mew up on its offer. This would be an excellent spot to meditate…
"Don't think about it," Mew floated over to Mewtwo and pulled on its arm, "You wanted to get here in a hurry, so here we are! Now let's go, I'm freezing!"
"I was just wondering about that," Mewtwo snorted. However, the Genetic Pokémon was not given much time to ponder this matter, as before long what looked like a staircase made of wide glass plates descended from the sky. "This is it?" Mew nodded, and floated up, the super-clone in tow. At the top of the stairs was a wide area consisting of the same glossy glass tiles the stairs had been made of. The way the floor reflected the sky was interesting, but… "Can this even hold every legendary Pokémon there is?"
"Of course it can!" Mew replied cheerfully, "This is just the…well, let's call it the foyer. To get farther, we need clearance; otherwise it would be very difficult to get in. But look! It doesn't seem we'll be waiting long." Indeed, a curious-looking Pokémon seemed to have materialized out of thin air. "Jirachi! How are you?" Mew briefly touched minds with the Wish Pokémon, who responded in kind.
"Fine, thank you. My, it feels like it's been ages since last we met."
"It probably has been."
The steel-psychic type looked briefly at Mewtwo, and they, too, exchanged a sort of mental handshake. "Well, aren't you going to introduce me?"
"Ah, yes, Jirachi, this is Mewtwo, who was cloned after me…as you can see, the scientists that made it took a few…liberties. Mewtwo, this is Jirachi; Jirachi here has the power to grant most any wish."
Mewtwo nodded its head. "That sounds like an excellent talent."
"It is," Jirachi nodded, "but I try to limit the number and type I grant to strangers all the same- it can be quite tiring work." Jirachi shook its head. "Shouldn't keep you waiting though now, should I? Alright, here we go…" There was what Mewtwo perceived to be a blinding flash of light, and what the Pokémon saw next caused it to gasp- namely from pain; glass tiles here were more than just reflective, they were as blinding as staring into the surface of the Sun. However, once Mewtwo's eyes adjusted, they were able to take in the atmosphere of the place in their entirety.
For as far as the eye could see, the land was almost nothing but glass tiles, white marble pillars, and hinge-less doors that seemed to lead to nowhere; the pattern was only broken because wide banks of white mist rolled across the ground here and there, as though steam had risen from between the tiles. This, Mewtwo thought to itself, was more like it.
"Not bad, eh? Just wait until you see the landlord." Mew chimed.
"That reminds me! Are you for your match, Mewtwo?"
"Match?" Mewtwo glared at Mew. "Against who?"
"Why, against Arceus! Didn't Mew…" Mew looked at Jirachi made a slashing motion across its throat.
"No, Mew left that bit out. Conveniently." Mewtwo looked positively disgusted. It didn't mind battling- in fact, the prospect of a worthy competitor excited Mewtwo…but Mew could've at least had the decency to tell it!
"I didn't have the time to tell him," Mew squeaked to its defense, "I was…interrupted. Mewtwo can vouch for me, right?" Mewtwo seemed to be pondering how to answer, but before any answer could be given, Mew jerked up, as though suddenly prompted, "Which brings us to a rather urgent matter. We, Mewtwo and I, have come bearing grave news and must inform Arceus and the others as soon as possible."
"No time to waste then," Jirachi nodded, "but Arceus and the others are in the colosseum room already." Following Jirachi down the vast halls until they came upon a massive marble door embellished with gilded depictions of what Mewtwo guessed to be significant or memorable battles or the like. With a good psychic shove, the doors creaked open and revealed their contents.
The first thing Mewtwo noticed about the "room" was that it was not really a room at all, in the traditional sense. For about the first 300 yards of distance in front, the glass tiles were replaced with sandstone blocks. The distance of the blocks horizontally was endless, but as one went forward it could be seen that for about every 100 yards of distance there was a drop of about fifty feet, though a slope was placed for every eighty feet of horizontal distance.
Past the sandstone stands, there was a sheer drop, or, for lack of better words, a massive crater or pit. The crater was of a great size for an arena, if small for a crater…certainly, though, larger than any stadium Mewtwo had seen. The inside of the crater was just as curious as the size, though. The walls of the pit had placed in them bizarre, colorful plates placed equidistant from one another. Near the walls were rocks and boulders of various sizes. The floor of the crater had, at its center, a large pool, surrounded by sand. Mewtwo, though at a distance, spied that something floating over the center of the pit, however, was not part of the environment…
It was about at moment that Mewtwo noticed the crowd of Pokémon gathered near the edge of the pit. Most of the Pokémon were ones that Mewtwo was, if not familiar with, not out of its scope of knowledge, but amongst them the psychic feline noticed some that it had never seen before, and that common and rare alike were staring at Mew, Jirachi, and itself.
As the floating object from the pit drew nearer, Mewtwo realized it to be a Pokémon of no small power. Even from where it was, the Pokémon emanated an aura of power the like of which rivaled if not outright superseded that of the other Pokémon here that Mewtwo presumed to be legendary. As though it had picked up on this, a telepathic message directed solely at Mewtwo whispered, "Yes, it is I, Arceus." Then, more publicly, inquired, "Is this the one who has come to challenge me?"
Before Mewtwo could respond, Mew spoke up. "It would be, Arceus, but there are grim matters that need discussing. A terrible thing has happened and I'm afraid the match must be postponed for now."
One confused and disappointed crowd later, Mewtwo found itself in a room with even more glass tiles, but, more interestingly, a massive slab of black onyx etched with beautiful gilded runes. Arceus took its place at the far end of the slab, while the other legendary Pokémon in attendance found for themselves suitable places to sit. Mew had chosen to sit at Arceus's left hand, so Mewtwo chose the right side- albeit, at a distance from the Alpha Pokémon.
"I suppose introductions are in order," Arceus said promptly, "I suppose I'll start and we'll just sort of go counterclockwise?" The other legendaries nodded. "Very well then. I am Arceus. I was first of all Pokémon to be made; I was formed from chaos. What you see here is my home."
"Oh, you already know me!" Mew giggled.
"And I guess you met me already, too…But, umm, yeah, Jirachi here," the Wish Pokémon smiled with a shrug.
"I am Celebi. I'm a time traveler, so I guess you could you could say I'm on the road a lot!"
"I'm Azelf. I sense you have a strong will…don't show it much, do you though?"
"Mesprit…I deal primarily with emotions."
Uxie had been yawning as it spoke, making understanding it a bit more difficult than its brethren, nevertheless, Mewtwo heard, "Uxie…It is refreshing to meet another strong mind."
"Darkrai," the Pitch Black Pokémon gruffly remarked, "Charmed."
As though to make up for Darkrai's lack of hospitality, Cresselia gave a warm and hearty "Cresselia. Greetings!"
So the beat went on. "I am Giratina," came from the gray dragon opposite of Arceus.
From there five remained, all on Mewtwo's side. The first down the line stated in monotone, "I am Regigigas."
"I'm Heatran."
"I am Deoxys…a…a visitor to the planet you're from."
"I am Lugia," declared a great white bird.
"…and I am Ho-Oh. Glad to meet you."
"I am even more glad to make yours," Mewtwo spoke with genuine humility- never had it been in the presence of so many strong Pokémon, "It is truly an honor to be among you."
"Now, I suppose I should state for the record," Arceus began, "that these you see here are the senior representatives for their kind- many you see here are indeed the first of their species- but unfortunately not all of the representatives are here. Also-"
"Also," Lugia interrupted, "there has been an outbreak of a horrid plague, as of late. It is killing off many legendary Pokémon…Heatran here, for example...he was among the first of his kind, now he shall also be the last and-"
Arceus stamped its foot. "That interruption was quite unnecessary Lugia. I feel for your loss, I really do, but I will have order." Arceus looked at Mewtwo. "Still, what Lugia speaks is true. While many legendaries do not need a mate to reproduce, some do, and in any case, with so many good Pokémon dropping like flies without enough to replace them…we have reason for concern, to say the least." Arceus turned its gaze towards Mew. "Now, I'm hoping this news you've got can perhaps enlighten us?"
Mew looked around, looking for the right way to phrase its response. "Well, kinda. It's sort of a good news/ bad news deal. The good news is that Groudon is alive and kicking! The bad news is that it's kicking the world to pieces. When I went to go get Mewtwo, I came in practically right when the city it was in was being invaded by Groudon- and not just that hot-head, either- it had a whole army behind it! And Groudon's translator kept spewing on something about protecting ground and rock-types from some oncoming enemy, and that the city belonged to Groudon and so forth…Groudon itself wasn't in a real, err, "chatty" mood, so I can't say what exactly that all means."
"It's likely just Groudon and Kyogre going at it again," Darkrai commented casually.
"But why would they involve so many in their struggle this time? They hadn't before, I don't see why this time should be so different," Cresselia quipped, which agitated Darkrai immensely- critical thinking could be very inconvenient, at times.
"The matter needs more investigation before conclusions can be drawn. I'm sending down scouts to investigate the matter. Now then," Arceus then withdrew to a more informal tone, "I will, so help me, have my match with Mewtwo." Arceus turned to face the super-clone, "However, since matters have been delayed this long, and it seems that Mew was unable to inform you that we would be battling in the first place, I ask that you rest and prepare yourself in whatever manner you deem fit. I want to fight an opponent that is able to give its all!"
Mewtwo nodded back to Arceus. "Then that is what you shall have."