(11.1)

"Mew?"

The small pokémon jerked awake with a snort and flailed. "I'm awake! Was just resting my eyes!"

Arceus rolled its eyes and thumped a stack of papers in front of the mirage pokémon.

"I need you to deliver these to Regigigas."

"Which one?"

"All of them."

Mew let out a groan. "Fine. Out of curiosity, what am I delivering?"

"The next set of program instructions for the Regi trios they're in charge of."

"You do realize that by the time they finish the updates, odds are they'll be woefully out of date, right?" Mew asked sardonically.

"I'm well aware. But it's better than having them be centuries out of date. Much like the Rota Regis. Lucario chewed me out for that one something fierce."

Mew stared at the stack of papers three times its height and sighed. "Right, I'll get right on that then."

(11.2)

Mewtwo and Sasha were curled up together on the couch, the clone idly stroking over the eevee's fur as he read through a book.

Eventually, Mewtwo closed the book with a snap, causing the eevee to flick her ears and look at him curiously.

"Sasha, what's your limit when you're transformed?"

She blinked thoughtfully and glanced over at the dresser where her collar lay.

"You mean like endurance and how long I can spam moves before collapsing?" Sasha asked. Mewtwo nodded as he stroked over her scruff lightly.

"When I was battling Misty, using Overheat underwater drained me considerably. Then recently I've been able to use heavy-hitting moves like rock slide and stone edge in quick succession without collapsing."

"Have you tried using legendary moves? Aeroblast, sacred fire, roar of time and judgment?"

Sasha grimaced then blushed. "Not…really. I don't really feel like abusing Metronome to win my battles, especially not with what are basically one-hit knockout moves when used on regular pokémon."

Mewtwo chuckled and held out his hand. A shimmering blade of purple psychic energy formed around his hand like a sword. With a twist of his wrist, it snapped into a glowing blue sword.

"I can use and manipulate both psychic and aura energy, and thus took the time to learn things like sacred sword and based one of my own self-taught moves – psystrike – off of it. Other psychics can do something similar, of course, but they lack the hitting power of mine."

He turned to look at her closely and she met his gaze evenly.

"What, you think I should learn to use aura or something?" Sasha asked.

Mewtwo slowly shook his head. "That would take months of practice and focus, so for the League, it would be impractical. Metronome should – in theory – allow you to use the move regardless, but without the training, it wouldn't hit nearly as hard as it would if you were fighting a lucario or one of the unovan musketeers."

Mewtwo's voice then turned thoughtful.

"However, I have noticed something…strange about your transformation. When you change, you don't just become an umbreon; your overall strength, endurance, stamina and speed increase dramatically. You were able to knock out a vaporeon with a fire move while submerged, for one."

"So I get a power boost when transforming. Big whoop, I'm hardly the first pokémon able to do such a thing," Sasha replied dryly.

Mewtwo sighed and gave her a tap on the nose. "You'll need to master every aspect of your alternate form if you ever want to stand a chance in the League. You're going to be facing several strong pokémon raised by trainers who've bred them for that express purpose. I know you're mostly doing this to amuse yourself and that you don't care if you lose, but I doubt you want to make it too easy for them, correct?"

"I get what you're trying to say and I'll take it into consideration."

Mewtwo knew that was as good as he was going to get from the stubborn eevee.

(11.3)

Sasha woke up feeling thick-headed, as if she'd been eating too many special berries.

Blinking to focus her vision, she took a step forward-

-and slammed into a hard surface.

Recoiling in surprise, she touched her bruised nose and shook her head hard.

"Ah, you're awake."

Sasha froze, ears twitching. She didn't recognize that voice - it certainly wasn't Mewtwo, as it was spoken aloud.

"Splendid, I had thought for a moment I'd gotten the formula wrong or given you too big a dose, but now that you've recovered, we can begin."

Sasha closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again. Her vision sharpened and everything came into focus.

A chill crept down her spine as she gazed out of the translucent panel in front of her. A quick glance around filled in the rest of the details.

She appeared to be in some kind of lab; monitors and various equipment she couldn't identify lined the walls. She saw visual feeds of various scenes and the content of them made her queasy.

"Welcome to Fleur-de-lis Labs, the leading expert in pokémon breeding. I will be your host for the foreseeable future. You may call me Lysandre." A tall man stepped out of the shadows. A wild mane of ginger hair framed a face Sasha would've called charming had it not been for the eyes.

She'd seen eyes like that before and she took a step back.

"So you recognize me, or have been around others like me," the man said. "I will admit, when Giovanni sent me your data, I was skeptical, but then I remembered one Ash Ketchum and his strange greninja."

"Never heard of him," Sasha said warily, which got a chuckle from the suited figure.

"Don't bother pleading ignorance. Your antics in the League have gotten the attention of some powerful people. You're lucky I got to you first."

"Why? What do you need me for?"

Lysandre gazed at her with an expression that brought back unpleasant memories for the eevee.

"I plan on making the world a beautiful place, purged of impurity. Usually, your kind would be eliminated due to your unstable genetics, but you're far too useful to destroy. Instead, you will become the mother of a new breed of pokémon. The eevee are well-known for their adaptive ability and it seems like Arceus took that aspect of you and removed the limiters."

"Limiter?" Sasha asked blankly. Lysandre sighed.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with. All I need from you is your cooperation."

"Sasha, down."

Sasha flattened herself at the sound of the familiar voice and the wall behind her exploded inwards.

Shaking herself, Sasha leaped backwards out of her container and briefly rubbed against Mewtwo's legs before settling on his shoulder.

"So, what've you gotten yourself into this time?" Mewtwo asked, flexing his digits.

"That guy," Sasha replied, nodding at a dumbfounded Lysandre, "Kidnapped me and planned on making me the mother of a new breed of pokémon. Something about a beautiful world too."

"Lysandre," Mewtwo said politely. "Last I heard of you was when you were annihilated by Zygarde."

"When Cyrus tampered with time, the effects were felt both in the past and in the future," Lysandre said smoothly. "Armed with the memories of that timeline, I was victorious in my battle with Ash and Alain. I made their power my power, but I once again lost it due to someone restoring time!"

He leveled a glare at the duo. "All of my hard work and effort, taken from me without my consent. How dare pokémon interfere with the lives of others without consequence! What makes them so special?"

"Ages ago, man and pokémon were indistinguishable from one another. They're not interfering with your life so much as guiding you towards something better. All this-" Mewtwo said, gesturing to the machines, "-has potential to be used for the betterment of mankind. Why are you using it for your own ambition?"

"Cyrus was on to something when he planned for a world without spirit. Ghetsis would've made a world of peace by removing pokémon from humans and I would've made it all beautiful. But every time we come close, you and others like you take it all away!"

Lysandre was trembling with rage.

"What gives you that right?!"

"Because...people like you don't understand the relationships between humans and pokémon. Yes, it's not perfect, but we care for and support one another and your world wouldn't have that. It'd be incredibly lonely," Sasha said softly.

Lysandre whipped his arm up, a device on his wrist expanding to wrap around his hand, which he pointed at them.

"Shut up!"

There was a flash of light and Sasha flinched.

"Relax, Sasha," Mewtwo replied, stroking her fur. "It's over."

Sasha opened her eyes and looked around. "Wha-?"

They were standing in a grandiose hall lined with pillars. Sasha glanced around and was startled to see that the floor appeared to be translucent. Below, a vast mountain range dominated the landscape.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I happened."

Arceus faded into view and dipped its head. "My apologies, Sasha. I only just got word of your predicament."

"It's...uh...fine?" Sasha replied shakily. "So, Lysandre?"

"Gone. An event in the past erased him from your present."

"So the restoration process is proceeding smoothly?" Mewtwo asked.

Sasha perked up. "I heard about that. But...in restoring time and space, you...some events never happen? But I've still got the memories."

Arceus shrugged. "We're not entirely sure why that happens. It's popped up before - Mewtwo also has memories of events that never happened. So do quite a few gym leaders, champions and other humans and pokémon. One thing they all have in common is that they were there when Cyrus destroyed time and space."

Sasha frowned. "But...I don't. I've only heard about that. So..."

"You were somehow involved in that event," Arceus replied. "However, we've not been able to get the details of exactly what happened that day and I wouldn't be able to get the information about that day from the memories of those involved because of how it was resolved."

"When everyone involved got the memories of their alternate selves," Sasha said in realization. "The details would become mixed up and unreliable."

Arceus nodded.

Silence reigned before Sasha asked, "What happens now?"

"Nothing. You're free to go back to your life. If anything about you comes up, I'll contact you, alright?"

Sasha glanced at Mewtwo who gave her ears a rub and she relaxed.

"Thank you, Lord Arceus. I hope the restoration continues smoothly."

With a flash of light, the duo vanished.

(11.4)

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Mewtwo asked as he stretched his limbs.

Sasha flicked her tail and pawed at the ground.

"Of course. We've got a few weeks before the League and I'd like to get some training in. Not to mention if I can hold my own against you, I should be able to face six pokémon in a row no problem."

Mewtwo raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You're not interested in beating me?"

Sasha grinned and shook her head. "I am well aware you outclass me in every way imaginable. I'll just have to be a little more creative to survive against you."

Mewtwo nodded. "Whenever you are ready then."

Sasha was still for a moment, then she darted forward. Mewtwo watched her approach carefully, fingers twitching in anticipation as she neared. When she was a few yards away, Mewtwo extended his hand, telekinesis reaching for the eevee, but she skidded to a halt, throwing sand in the air to obscure the clone's vision.

"Clever little vixen. But..."

A wave of his hand cleared the dust and he wasn't surprised to see she'd vanished.

"Hm..."

He reached out with his power and didn't feel the eevee around or below him, so that left...

Looking up, Mewtwo saw her dropping towards him. Grinning, Mewtwo again reached out with his telekinesis to grab her.

With a flash of light, she changed forms, slipping through the psychic field and collided with his face.

Sasha landed on her paws and stumbled, holding her forehead. "Ow...your head is harder than it looks," she hissed, eyes watering.

Mewtwo touched his own head and winced. "Not gonna lie, I didn't expect that. Nice usage of the fact Dark is immune to Psychic. Unfortunately, most psychic-types have access to things like Focus Blast, so even if you evade one type, they can still hit you with another counter."

Sasha's body glowed briefly as she called on her power to heal herself. "Thanks for the lesson," she said, reverting back to her eevee form.

Mewtwo chuckled and scooped her up, rubbing her belly. "Don't worry, I've got plenty more to teach you before you go up against the best of the best."

Sasha nuzzled his hand and purred warmly, tail wagging happily.

(11.5)

Arceus' eyes darted over the newly restored timeline and he frowned.

"So Team Flare was much less ambitious this time around and merely launched the ancient superweapon from a base in Geosenge Town rather than level most of Lumiose City with a giant evil rock."

"At least it's stable," Dialga replied while Celebi napped on its back.

"I'm not disappointed in you," Arceus said.

Mew frowned and crossed its arms. "And Ash is once again not involved in the events at all. Red and Gold defeated Team Rocket. Diamond, Platinum and Pearl defeated Team Galactic, Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald defeated Teams Magma and Aqua...now we've got five different trainers who took down Team Flare? I dread to think what Ash will lose when we untangle Unova."

"Not much, I suspect," Palkia said.

Giratina snorted into its berry juice, the sound waking Celebi, who flailed around a bit before taking stock of its surroundings.

Sniffing the air, the time traveler narrowed its eyes. "Giratina, why do I smell Niniku berries?"

Arceus chuckled as the tiny legendary chased the larger one around angrily.

"Anyway, I suppose this explains why Ash no longer has the bond phenomenon with greninja, since it wasn't crucial to saving the planet. Seems like Cyrus' goal truly was to undo all of Ash's hard work."

"And now we're stuck shoring up our reality with bits and pieces from other timelines," Mew murmured. "Guess we should count ourselves lucky Cyrus was kind enough to attempt to wipe out all of existence. If he'd focused his efforts just to this dimension..."

Arceus nodded. "I'd have to start over. Which...I guess wouldn't be too bad, since I'd be able to streamline the process a bit."

Arceus took note of Mew's horrified expression and rolled its eyes.

"Joking, of course."

Mew shook its head. "You really need to work on that."

"I'll keep that in mind. Now if you need me, I shall go find Ash and tell him about this latest development."

"What about Mewtwo?" the mirage pokémon asked.

"I'd rather not trouble him. He's got his own work cut out for him and I don't want to distract him."

"Very well."