Chapter 2

Ash's POV:

As his glass container rose up and out of the ground, Ash realized that he was in a forest. It kind of looked like Viridian Forest, honestly. Peaceful. The large trees were oaks, and bushes were sporadically placed here and there. The dirt was loose and soft beneath his shoes. He stepped out of the glass box, and it disappeared before his eyes. Must have been one of Mew's funky mind tricks. His eyes were wide in fear and curiosity.

"So... now what?" he asked to nobody in particular.

"Pika pika!" there was a loud noise by his ear, and Ash yelled in surprise as he tumbled to the ground. His Pikachu was staring, unimpressed, at him as he sat on his chest. He laughed a bit as he sat up, forcing the electric-type to move down into his trainer's lap. He stared at Ash worriedly.

"Piiiiii-ka," he whined a bit, looking around.

"I know, buddy. You heard what Mew said... we should get moving. Do you think Clemont or Serena might be here?" he jumped to his feet, and Pikachu perched himself on his shoulder.

"Chuuuu..." he looked around anxiously, yellow tail flicking about. Ash hurried off into the trees, looking for trouble. But as far as he could see, not a single person was around. Just monotonous trees as far as he could see in every direction. There was the twitter of a Pidgey nearby. Had Mew actually bothered to create an entire ecosystem?

"Clemont! Alain! Serena! Anybody?" he began to holler loudly.

"Pika!" Pikachu yelled, joining him in his raucous search for my friends. He'd only seen Alain in the crowd, but was positive they were all here somewhere. Almost fifteen minutes of yelling later, he and Pikachu were totally exhausted. It was a muggy day in this weird world of Mew's, and he finally slumped down against a tree to rest. Sweat coursed down his face. Pikachu was half asleep with his ears drooping.

"Y'know, I could hear you from a mile away. It's probably not smart to be hollering around here. Not all the trainers are going to be as nice as me, hmm?" a voice broke out from above. Both he and Pikachu flinched, then they both looked up into the branches of the large tree.

"Are you challenging me to a battle?" Ash asked suspiciously. Pikachu tensed up, a tiny growl escaping him as electricity shot out of his red pouches. The trainer shook his head.

"Definitely not. I've been following you for awhile now. Do you want to team up?" he asked. Ash looked at his yellow partner, who nodded his head in relief. They were both glad that they wouldn't be fighting for their lives... yet.

"Sure! What's your name? I'm Ash, and this is my buddy Pikachu!" he smiled as he stepped back from the tree. The new trainer climbed down with practiced ease and then stood to his full height, towering over him.

"Pika pika!" Pikachu added, waving cheerily.

"Nice to meet both of you. I'm Bucky, and this is my partner, Pachirisu," he smiled as a little blue and white squirrel bounded out of the trees and landed on his shoulder. It wore a pink bow and grinned brightly.

"A Pachirisu, huh?" Ash said curiously. Pikachu stared in awe at the small electric-type.

"Chu..." he said in a squeaky tone. The squirrel blushed slightly, giggled, and jumped to his other shoulder. She adjusted her bow and snuggled down a bit.

"I'm looking for my friends. Do you think you could help me?" he asked. Bucky thought about it for a moment and nodded.

"Sure. Alain, Clemont, and Serena, right? Did you see them all during that happy get-together?" he asked sarcastically as they set off together through the woods. Ash shook his head.

"I only saw Alain. But I'm hoping that Clemont and Serena are here too," he admitted. Bucky nodded again.

"What do they look like?" Bucky questioned. Ash smiled as he looked up a bit, remembering each of them.

"Well, Alain is pretty tall. He's got this cool blue scarf that kind of looks like Charizard X's mouth flames. Oh yeah! And his partner is a Charizard..." he began.

Tasha's POV:

"Arceus. If Mew expects us to battle each other, it could have made the arena smaller. How about that, Mew? At the very least, mind dumping some rain on this desolate forest?" the female trainer's voice rose as she stared angrily into the cloudless blue sky. Nothing happened. She groaned as she trudged through a meadow filled with tall grass.

"I can't believe I got stuck here. I've only been the champion of Roran for a few weeks, and now I need to defend that title with my LIFE? This is insane," she muttered to herself.

This particular trainer was the exact same girl who had defied Mew's rules in the beginning, in fact. Her name was Tasha Willowin. She wore the same red and white sports jacket and sweatpants from before, as well as a pair of black sneakers. She wiped some sweat from her face and huffed loudly. There was suddenly a crackling noise in the trees ahead. She stood to her full height and narrowed her eyes.

"Is anybody there?" she asked with a hard edge to her voice. The bushes parted, and a massive Ursaring thundered into the clearing with a vicious roar. Her eyes widened as she staggered backwards. Run? No way! She snatched her only remaining Pokeball from her belt and hurled it into the air.

"Aggron, I need you now! Let's go!" she called out eagerly as a bipedal steel-type smashed to the ground with a snarl. The two huge Pokemon surveyed each other, growling and stamping the ground.

"SARING!" the bear fell to all fours and charged forward, turning white. Tasha gritted her teeth as she swung out her hand.

"That's a Giga Impact attack... let's counter it with Stone Edge!" she ordered. Her Pokemon roared deafeningly, and sharp points of stone began to rip through the grassy earth and smash into the bear from underneath. There was a horrid splitting noise, and with a last gurgle of defeat, the Ursaring fell limp, impaled on a sharp stone. The point of it came out through its back, and foamy blood spewed from its mouth. Tasha nearly doubled over in pure horror of the sight.

"Oh Arceus..." she whispered. She hadn't meant to end it so brutally! Her Aggron, although a shrewd Pokemon, obviously seemed distressed by what it had done as well. It backed up, growling metallically. Tasha silently returned her partner and left the bloody scene, running in the opposite direction.

Mew stared down, invisible, from above. It could see of the trainers at once. Not one had found each other yet... perhaps the human whom had thrown a Pokeball at it was right. No matter, he couldn't make it smaller now... one of them had found the end of his little world, and was traveling against it. A smart strategy, he supposed. He was not very impressed by Tasha.

Better toughen up, champion. There's plenty of blood in war...

A/N: Wow, guys! I got 4 OC submissions (well, 5, but I didn't accept one) in one day!? You guys are the best! However, we still have 11 OC spots still open, so I can't wait to see who else will join. Thanks for submitting your unique OC's!