(A/N: Based on this chapter's title, I'm sure you'll get some idea of what's going to happen, unless you haven't seen the Lucario movie. And if you have, then you should know who's going to be appearing.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 9: The Tree of Beginning

"Hey, Mewtwo, I want to go somewhere."

He cracked open an eye to look at her, having been in the process of meditating. "So go, you do not need my permission."

She pouted. "But I want you to come with me."

He sighed. "Come with you where?"

Now she was smiling again. "To visit my great, great, great, great uncle."

He glanced at her. "Your uncle?"

She nodded. "Yeah, today is his 2,724th birthday, so I wanted to stop by."

Her statement hung in the air. Mewtwo blinked, certain he had heard wrong. Her uncle was turning 2,724? That wasn't possible. Legendary Pokémon may have had a much longer lifespan than humans and other Pokémon, but 2,724?

"Do you mean you are visiting his grave?"

She shook her head. "No, he's still alive."

"That is not possible."

"But it is!" she insisted. "He's not like other Mew. He formed a symbiotic relationship with the Tree of Beginning. He lives as long as the Tree lives."

He scoffed at this. "Preposterous."

"It's true. They have a special bond that intertwines their lives. Unfortunately, that means he can never be away from it for long or he'll die, but that's ok, cause we can go to him. Lets go!"

Without waiting for his consent, she grabbed him and teleported. They appeared above the giant tree overlooking the town of Rota.

Mewtwo glared at her. "I did not agree to accompany you."

"Aw, come on. Aren't you at least a little curious?"

"No."

She flew in front of him and batted her eyes. "We could go back and mate instead."

Mewtwo's eye twitched. "Fine, lets go see your uncle."

"Yay!" Mew cheered, though she was somewhat disappointed. "He lives inside the Tree. Just be careful inside. The Tree might think you're a germ and attack you. There's also the three Regis that protect it."

He raised an eyebrow. "The Regis? You mean the Legendary Golems? They are no match for me. Nor is a giant sentient tree." He looked down and frowned. "This isn't even a tree; it's a giant rock formation."

Mew giggled. "I know, it's just what everyone calls it since it's shaped like a tree. But really, the whole thing is made out of crystals." She floated down and patted the rocky surface. "Even though it's made of rock, it's still alive. My uncle and it depend on each other for life."

"So you've said," Mewtwo remarked. "And how did he bond to it in such a way?"

"Don't know," Mew admitted. "Never asked. Come one, lets go in."

Mewtwo followed her inside. It was almost like entering a cave that had large luminescent crystals growing out of the walls, ceiling, and floor. He didn't know how to describe it, but he did indeed feel life within the 'Tree'.

"Look, look, over there!" Mew called.

Mewtwo glanced at her. She was floating by the wall, upon which was what seemed to be a glowing green puddle. He raised an eyebrow at it, wondering how the liquid, if that was indeed what it was, didn't pour out.

"Watch this," said Mew before flying into the puddle.

Mewtwo floated over, leaning in to get a better look. Mew's hand suddenly shot out grabbed Mewtwo, and pulled him inside. He suddenly found himself flowing through a tube with what seemed to be giant droplets of water making their way through it.

"What is this?" he demanded.

Mew giggled. "It's the Tree's circulatory system. We can get to different parts of the Tree this way. Come on, lets get out of here."

She exited through a similar puddle-like portal. Mewtwo hesitated before following. Even though it seemed to be liquid, he didn't get wet, and came out into a large cavern covered in moss. There were other Pokémon inside, and they all seemed happy to see Mew.

"Hello, everyone!" she greeted enthusiastically. "Nice to see you again. Hi, hi!"

Mewtwo floated over. The other Pokémon looked at him and retreated. He raised an eyebrow at this. Why did they flee?

Mew just floated over and patted him on the back. "It's nothing personal; they're just weary of outsiders. The Tree is a very special place, so everyone is cautious of those that might harm it."

Mewtwo felt insulted. "I would not cause senseless destruction. Especially to a place like this." He looked around, feeling in awe of this miracle of nature. "This place is indeed very beautiful. I can see why it is so well protected."

Mew put some distance between herself and him. "Um, speaking of protection, you might want to duck."

She teleported away. Mewtwo sensed it coming and whirled around. A large rock came speeding towards him, and he stopped it with his psychic power. Looking up at its source, he saw three figures on the ledge of an upper layer. They leapt down, landing a distance away from him.

"Regirock," grunted the one that had attacked.

"Regice, Reg, Regice," agreed the second.

Mewtwo's eyes narrowed. "I am not an intruder. Why do you attack me?"

"Registeel," the third replied, and fired a Flash Cannon.

Mewtwo easily deflected it and held up his hand. The three Legendary Golems were lifted into the air. He slammed them together, then sent them crashing into the wall.

Mew chose that moment to reappear. "Oh, it's the Regis."

Mewtwo glared at her. "Do not call them 'the Regis'. They are Legendary Pokémon; show them the proper respect."

Mew cocked her head to the side. "But you just threw them into the wall."

"They attacked me first, I simply fought back."

She pointed. "Well, they're about to attack you again."

The Legendary Golems were on their feet. Facing Mewtwo, they each fired an attack, a Hyper Beam from Registeel, a Charge Beam from Regirock, and an Ice Beam from Regice. The three attacks swirled together, forming a more powerful beam. Mewtwo put up his psychic shield, and the attacks exploded harmlessly against it.

Cupping his hands together, he dropped his shield and fired a Psyshock. The psychic ball struck the ground by the Regis' feet, the blast sending them crashing into the wall again.

"Uh oh," Mew muttered.

Mewtwo glanced at her. "What?"

"Um, remember when I said not to cause trouble," she said nervously tapping her index fingers together. "Well…"

It came out of nowhere. A large glowing blob of orange came through the ground and attempted to encase Mewtwo. His eyes widened and he teleported away, the blob grabbing nothing but air.

"What was that?" he demanded.

"That's what I was trying to warn you about," Mew told him. "They act as antibodies or white blood cells to protect the Tree from infection. Since you're an outsider and you started attacking, the Tree thinks you're a threat."

Another blob came at him. He used Telekinesis and sent it crashing into the wall. Another dropped down from up above, and he threw a Shadow Ball at it, blasting it to pieces.

This accomplished nothing. Already being a shapeless mass, the one he threw at the wall just came at him again while the pieces of the one he blew apart came back together.

"How do you make them stop?" Mewtwo asked, not wanting to damage the Tree by using too much power.

"I don't know," Mew replied. "Only Uncle Mew can control them."

Another blob came up right beneath Mewtwo's feet, swallowing him whole. He used Psystrike, but kept the attack power low, and the blob was blown apart as he unleashed as explosion of psychic power.

"Then perhaps you should find your uncle and get him to make them stop," he suggested.

Mew smiled. "That's a good idea. I'll go look. I hope he's home."

Mewtwo's eye twitched. "You mean he may not even be here?!"

"He usually is," Mew assured him. "I told you he can't leave the Tree for long."

More blobs appeared and advanced on Mewtwo. He put up his psychic shield, and the blobs broke apart as they flowed over him, but immediately reformed and tried again.

"Then I suggest you start searching for him," he grumbled.

"Ok!" Mew replied cheerfully and took off down the tunnel as if she didn't have a care in the world.

Mewtwo sighed and crossed his arms, letting his shield protect him from the attacking blobs. The Legendary Golems had recovered at this point and were once again attacking, but he barely spared them a glance as his shield kept him safe.

He wasn't sure how long he waited, but eventually Mew reappeared with her uncle, and a Sudowoodo was with them as well.

"It's about time," he grumbled.

Uncle Mew cocked his head to the side as he studied Mewtwo. "Oh, he's a strong one." He looked to the Regis. "It's ok, you guys. This one's a friend of my niece."

The Legendaries ceased their attacks. They offered a single word of apology and departed.

Mewtwo scowled. "They were not the issue. Dispose of these things that are trying to eat me."

Uncle Mew giggled. "They're not trying to eat you, silly. Just dissolve you." Closing his eyes, he reached out telepathically to the Tree, his body glowing brightly. "Tree, he is not an enemy. He is a friend. Not an enemy. Friend… No, not a human, a Pokémon… Yes, a friend."

His body stopped glowing, and almost immediately the orange blobs stopped trying to consume the genetic Pokémon, and instead sank back into the Tree.

Mewtwo dropped his psychic shield. "You have my gratitude." He looked at the ground where the last remaining blob disappeared. "Does the Tree always attack intruders in such a way?"

Uncle Mew shook his head. "No, only humans and those that seek to harm it. The Regis though, they'll defend the Tree from anyone unfamiliar to them. And after you attacked them, the Tree determined that you were both."

Mewtwo raised an eyebrow. "Both?"

Ignoring him, Uncle Mew turned to his niece. "So are you going to introduce your friend?"

Mew beamed. "Oh, yes, Uncle Mew, this is-"

'Here it comes,' thought Mewtwo.

"-my mate, Mewtwo. He wanted to come wish you a happy birthday too."

Mewtwo glared. "I am not her mate, nor did I come to wish such pleasantries. I do admit though," he looked around the cavern, "I am curious about the Tree of Beginning."

Uncle Mew giggled. "Well, then I'll give you the grand tour. By the way, I'm Mew-"

'I can see that,' Mewtwo thought.

"-and this is Sudowoodo, my BFF."

Mewtwo glanced at the Pokémon that resembled a tree. "Your BFF?"

"Best friend forever!" the two Mews declared happily.

"We met when he was just a Bonsly," Uncle Mew added.

"Sudowoodo!" the imitation Pokémon said with a smile.

Uncle Mew tapped his chin. "Now that I think about it, that was the day the Tree and I almost died. Phew, that was a close call."

Mewtwo's eyes twitched. He'd said it like it was no big deal. How could Mews be so carefree about everything?

"Hey, Uncle Mew, did you get any new toys?" Mew asked.

The older Mew's face lit up. "Yes! I just got a new one! Look!" He teleported away, but reappeared a moment later holding a toy Squirtle. "Ta-da! The Squirtle-squirter!"

Mew got in close. "Ooh, what's it do?"

"Watch."

He pulled on the toy's tail, and bubbles blew out of its mouth. Both Mews laughed while Mewtwo looked on with a raised eyebrow. "You stole that, didn't you?"

Floating over to him, Uncle Mew held the toy up to Mewtwo's face. "And watch this."

He squeezed it, and the toy sprayed water into Mewtwo's face. As the others laughed, he reached up and wiped away the water, fixing Uncle Mew with a glare.

"Oh my," the Mew said at the look on Mewtwo's face, "you're a Mr. Grumpykins, aren't you?"

"Yup, he's always grump," Mew insisted. She floated over. "Hey, Uncle Mew, when Mewtwo and I have kids, can we bring them here to play?"

"We are not having children!"

Uncle Mew smiled happily. "Of course. Come over whenever you want."

"Are you listening to me?" Mewtwo demanded.

"Hey, I know, let's play find Sudowoodo," Uncle Mew suggested.

"Sudowoodo!" the Pokémon in question agreed.

"Ok," Mew agreed. "How do you play?"

"Well, Sudowoodo hides, and we have to find him. But no sensing where he is, and no teleporting is allowed."

"Sounds fun."

"Sudo."

Mewtwo was looking back and forth between the three of them, wondering how the conversation had changed so fast. Mews really couldn't stay focused on one thing.

"Ready, go hide," Uncle Mew told the Rock type Pokémon.

"Sudowoodo," Sudowoodo replied, and hurried off.

Smiling, Uncle Mew tugged on his niece's tail. "Now we go fly around the outside of the Tree before we go find him. Whoever finds him first is the winner."

"Ok, but I'm going to beat you," Mew replied, and took off down a tunnel.

"Oh, no you're not," Uncle Mew shot back, and took off.

Mewtwo's eye twitched again; a habit he realized he had started ever since he met Mew. Yet while his patience had been tested time and time again, nothing seemed to bother her, or it seemed her uncle for that matter. It was like Mews literally had no worries. And wherever a situation occurred that actually required them to get serious, the moment it was over, they went right back to their happy carefree selves, as if nothing had happened.

He just didn't get it. Sometimes, he really wondered how he could have come from the DNA of a Mew. Their personalities and nature were just so different.

This made him think about what Mew's uncle had said about the Tree thinking he was both a threat and a human. He could understand that the Tree would think he was an intruder or a hostile life form coming to hurt it, but how could it mistake him for a human?

He intended to find out.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Uncle Mew had an advantage over his niece. Being part of the Tree, he knew every nook and cranny like the back of his hand. And though he wasn't cheating by using his connection to find where Sudowoodo was hiding, he did know where the rock Pokémon would most likely be hiding.

On route down the tunnel, he entered a cavern with the most vegetation. The room contained a lot of greenery, including trees. And even though Sudowoodo was a Rock type Pokémon, it still resembled a tree, and was well-known for gathering up leaves and branches and pretending to be one. If Sudowoodo was going to hide anywhere, it would probably be here.

It looked like he was right. Only Sudowoodo wasn't hiding amongst trees, but was floating in the air with a blue psychic aura surrounding it. Mewtwo was hovering beside it, bringing it over to Uncle Mew.

"I believe this belongs to you," the genetic Pokémon said mockingly.

Uncle Mew pouted. "You cheated. You didn't follow the rules."

"I was not playing," Mewtwo replied, setting Sudowoodo down. "I had a question for you."

Uncle Mew cocked his head to the side. "'K."

Mewtwo crossed his arms. "Why would the Tree mistake me for a human? Even if it did determine that I was a threat, I am clearly a Pokémon."

"True," Uncle Mew agreed, "but it had never encountered a Pokémon like you before, and the human part of you confused it."

Mewtwo's eyes narrowed. "The human part of me? What is this non-sense you speak of?"

"Hmm…" Uncle Mew muttered. "Let me see something. Just hold still."

Confused, but still willing to cooperate, Mewtwo did as he was told. From out of the ground, tendrils that seemed to belong to the blobs that had attacked him earlier emerged. They began running along Mewtwo's body, leaving a strange tingling feeling behind.

"Got it," Uncle Mew declared, and the tendrils sank back into the ground. "So, you're a modified clone, huh? Interesting. You're quite the miracle of nature."

Mewtwo raised an eyebrow. "You can tell that?"

"The Tree studied your genetic structure and relayed the information to me. It seems that the cells from the Mew the scientists created you from weren't quite enough to complete your body since the source was fossilized, so they added a few human cells to your genetic makeup."

Mewtwo's eyes widened. "You lie! That can't be true!"

Uncle Mew shook his head. "No, it's true. Cells have a type of memory that the Tree can read. It seems that a few of your cells came from a man named Blaine. Hey, that's the same Blaine who was the leader of the Gym on Cinnabar Island!"

But Mewtwo had stopped listening. He couldn't believe what he had just been told. Human. He was part human. The very creatures that caused him so much pain, for whom he held in such disdain, he was genetically related to them. No matter how small, even if it was practically non-existent, there was a part of him that was human. It made him feel like he was going to be sick.

"Human," he grumbled, grabbing his head. "I have human in me."

Uncle Mew just shrugged. "So what? Some actually say that humans descended from Pokémon, so humans and Pokémon were always connected in some way."

"Not me!" Mewtwo insisted, refusing to believe it. "I can't possibly be related to those vile creatures!"

Uncle Mew frowned. "Hey now, being human isn't so bad. I have several human friends. Why, about a thousand years ago, there was even a human named Sir Aaron who gave up his life to stop a war."

"Sudowoodo, Sudo, Sudowoodo, Sudo, Sudo" the imitation Pokémon added.

Through his cloud of denial, Mewtwo heard a single name in Sudowoodo's words that snapped him out of his stupor. "Did you say Ash? Ash who?"

Uncle Mew blinked. "Um, Ash. He's a Pokémon Trainer I befriended a few months ago after I… uh, borrowed his Pikachu for playtime."

Mewtwo's was stunned. "It can't be. Not that Ash. The odds of it… It can't be him."

Uncle Mew smiled. "Want to see? Follow me."

Mewtwo hesitated. He wasn't in the mood for games. Finding out he was part human, which he was still skeptical about, had really gotten to him. But still, his curiosity had been sparked. He just… needed to know if this was really the boy he knew.

So he followed Uncle Mew. He was led over to a strange plant that he had never seen before. And as Uncle Mew sat down beside it, he raised an eyebrow. "You wish to show me a flower?"

"A time flower," Uncle Mew elaborated. "They're very rare flowers that only grow in this region. They're called such because they record images of what happened around them and can project those recordings. Watch."

He tapped the flower, and it seemed to unfold. They were suddenly surrounded by an illusion, revealing the events of the flower's recording. Mewtwo's eyes widened when he saw it was indeed the boy he knew. He was with a different group of friends yet again, but it was still him. He really had been here.

How was it that this boy kept appearing? It was incredibly rare for a human to run into even a single Legendary Pokémon in their life, but not only had this boy managed to run into several off them, and more than once, he also seemed to share in a fantastical adventure with them.

'He must have befriended Arceus, who blessed him with an amazing destiny,' he thought sarcastically, completely unaware of how close to home his words were. 'Or perhaps he was gifted with happiness by a Ho-Oh.'

The vision ended, and the time flower curled up again. Uncle Mew floated up to Mewtwo, smiling. "See, not all humans are bad. So you shouldn't be concerned about having some human in you."

"Perhaps…" he relented, thinking of the boy, "it depends on who the human is."

The moment was ruined by Mew arriving, levitating Sudowoodo behind her, having found it wandering around on its own. "I win!"

Mewtwo scowled at her. "You have impeccable timing."

Uncle Mew chuckled. "You two really do make a lovely couple."

Mewtwo rounded on him. "We are not a couple. Do you not listen?"

Apparently, he didn't. "She's a good girl. Be sure to treat her right. She deserves someone worthy of her."

A spark of inspiration hit Mewtwo. He now knew how to solve all their problems. Why hadn't he thought of it before?

(A/N: Quite the revelation for Mewtwo. Yes, some of Blaine's cells were used in Mewtwo's cloning, which is probably why he looks so different from Mew. That's not something I made up, but something that was revealed in the manga. It made me wonder how Mewtwo would react to the news. And speaking of his reaction, what is this inspiration he seems to have had that would solve all their problems? Find out next time.)