(23.1)
Arceus, Giratina, Dialga, Palkia and the Lake Trio stared at the Sinnoh time stream silently.
"If this at all salvageable, you think?" Dialga asked.
"We've managed to restore and shore up the others well enough," Mesprit said, tails twitching anxiously.
"Sinnoh is...difficult. It has ties to several other streams and messing with them may undo everything we've already restored," Arceus said as it followed several thin streams connecting Johto and Kanto to a black snarl - the Time Crash - situated at the peak of the stream.
"And we couldn't start with it due to not having enough information," Uxie said with a sigh. "Either way you look at it, Sinnoh may be unrecoverable."
"But we all have memories of the event," Azelf pointed out. "Couldn't we go through them and use the parts that match to get a picture?"
"When did it take place?" Arceus asked.
"Sunday," Palkia said.
"Tuesday - it was also raining," Dialga said.
"Thursday, some time during the summer," Uxie said.
The three exchanged surprised glances with one another and turned to Arceus, who tilted its head in amusement.
"I see what you mean," Mesprit said, gaze thoughtful. "But surely there's some consistency within our memories?"
"There were dozens of other versions of us involved in that clash; that much we've agreed on. And once we started restoring the timeline, we picked up memories of their experiences, which makes it even more unreliable..." Giratina said.
"What of Cyrus?" Arceus asked.
"The only thing in his mind is his obsession with a world without spirit," Azelf said bitterly. "It's...honestly amazing how focused he is."
"So there's nothing we can do at this time," Arceus said, getting to its feet. "Very well. Back to your previous missions. Celebi?"
A pink celebi popped into view with a giggle. "Yes, my dear?"
"I need you to find Citlali for me. Or Mewtwo, if possible."
Celebi pouted. "They're ridiculously gifted at being hard to track down when they don't want to be found, but I'll do my best and send them to you."
"Thank you."
The Hall of Origin hummed with activity as the Legendaries got back to work.
(23.2)
"That's a cute pokémon. Mine's cute too! Eevee!"
Sasha fell through a kaleidoscope of color before her paws touched down on solid ground.
She gazed around, taking in the crystals jutting out of the walls, floor and ceiling. Something about them felt off and she sensed...
"What is all this?" she murmured to herself as she started walking down the hall that opened up before her.
As she walked, the walls grew lighter and for some reason, she felt happy. A warmth blossomed in her chest and she felt...an unfamiliar feeling she couldn't put a name to.
Her paws carried her without thinking up a flight of stairs and she found herself standing in front of a door with a simple sign with a word on it she couldn't read.
But whatever in that room was the source of her happiness.
Pushing it open, she saw two boys talking to-
"Molly!"
The name tore itself out of Sasha's throat and without a second thought, she ran forward and glomped the young girl.
"Eevee?" the girl said in surprise. "But...how...?"
"Why didn't she go away like the others?" Sasha heard one of the boys say faintly.
"I like her," Molly's warm voice muttered into Sasha's ear. "I don't want her to go away, not one bit!"
"Molly," Sasha said gently, "I love you. But – I don't mind going."
"What?" Molly asked. "Really? But-"
"I never existed before," Sasha said. "I wish I could have more time with you, but if I have to go away when you're healthy... then I really don't mind. You being healthy matters more."
Sasha had no idea where the words were coming from, but they made sense to her.
"Eevee," Molly murmured into Sasha's fur.
"Molly, you need to wake up."
Sasha stared into Molly Hale's tear-filled eyes and smiled at her.
She silently spoke three words and the world dissolved into white.
(23.3)
Sasha squirmed as her mother groomed her fur with long licks.
The umbreon chuckled at her daughter's feeble protests before nuzzling her.
"There, now you're all set for your date with that eevee friend of yours."
"It's not a date, mom," Sasha said, flicking her ears.
"Give it a few years," came the amused reply she'd heard many times before.
Sasha gave her mother a final nuzzle before she ducked out of the den and stretched her limbs one at a time in the early morning sunlight.
She then let out a yelp as something tackled her from the side. Reacting swiftly, Sasha twisted herself around so that her assailant took the majority of the impact with the ground.
Disengaging, she stared down at the grinning green-eyed eevee and kicked dirt at him.
"Jerk," she said with a half-smile.
"Good to see you too," he said, getting his paws under him. "Up for a bit of foraging?"
Sasha perked up. "You found something?"
The eevee nodded. "A whole lot of berry trees with quite a few other fruits and vegetables nearby-"
"You don't mean a farm, do you?" Sasha asked. "You know we're not allowed near them."
The eevee rolled his eyes. "It's not like the humans there could catch us if they tried."
"No, but their pokémon could certainly kill us for taking their trainers' food," Sasha pointed out.
"...Fair enough," the eevee sighed, ears drooping.
"Relax," Sasha said, nudging him. "There's plenty other places to search for food. Come on."
Umbreon watched her daughter head off with her friend before she pricked her ears. A jolteon appeared in a bright flash of light and stumbled as got its paws under itself.
Umbreon caught the male eeveelution with a paw and gave him a friendly nuzzle.
"Welcome home, love," she said, eyes sparkling with affection. The jolteon smiled and returned the nuzzle.
"Where's Sasha?" he asked, shaking himself.
"She just left with her friend to go foraging."
Jolteon frowned before shaking his head with a snort. His wife nudged him lightly.
"For someone calling himself the Yellow Flash, you have the worst sense of timing," she teased.
He snorted, rolling his purple eyes. "Yeah, yeah, so you keep telling me. Not my fault the elders kept me so long – apparently there's been sightings of Team Rocket members in the area."
Umbreon's fur rippled in alarm. "They wouldn't dare-"
"They don't care," Jolteon said grimly.
"Sasha-"
"She's…safer out there. I don't like it, but out there, she at least has places to hide. If Team Rocket shows up here, we'll drive them off," Jolteon said, fur sparking.
Umbreon nodded slowly, leaning against her husband's side for comfort before they went back into their den.
(23.4)
Rei and Mewtwo were curled up together on the couch watching the credits of a movie roll by.
The door to the apartment creaked open and Sasha wandered in, kicking the door closed behind her before glancing at the duo and chirped a tired greeting.
"Welcome home, Sasha," Mewtwo said. Rei shifted, getting off of him. She met his inquisitive gaze with a mischievous one of her own and leaned down to kiss his cheek.
She bid the duo farewell before teleporting away.
"Did I interrupt something?" Sasha asked.
"What? Oh, no. No, you didn't…" Mewtwo said absently, turning off the television.
Sasha jumped onto the arm of the couch. "What were you watching, anyway?"
"A film featuring Mega Evolution," Mewtwo said, straightening the furniture with a thought.
"Do you have a Mega Evolution?" Sasha asked.
"I do, but I do not have the means to access it at the moment," Mewtwo replied.
"What's it like?" Sasha asked, pricking her ears attentively.
"It takes what I already have and makes it even worse," Mewtwo answered. He met Sasha's blank stare with an amused one of his own. "It's…bulky, to say the least."
"You make it sound inconvenient," Sasha said as she sank into the couch cushion. She idly sniffed the couch, taking comfort in Mewtwo's scent before she shook her head with a frown.
"It's mainly based around boosting my physical attacks and offers a minor boost to defensive capabilities," Mewtwo explained. "Rei, on the other hand, has a form that boosts special attacks and speed."
"Do I detect a hint of jealousy?" Sasha asked in disbelief.
Mewtwo turned on her, eyes blazing, teeth bared. "I am not-!"
He stopped himself and took a deep breath, running a trembling hand down his face with an exasperated sigh.
"Hardly," he said after a moment.
"So I take it you're helping her get a handle on that form, and her powers in general?" Sasha said.
"Not…really, no. She's already well-trained in using both. She's not as strong as me," he added with a touch of pride; Sasha rolled her eyes and he went on. "But the potential is there. Especially with that X form of hers…"
"X form? That's…not really creative," Sasha said with a twitch of her tail.
"It's based around the fact Charizard has two forms that are classified as X and Y, with X adding dragon to the mix whereas Y just accentuates the traits already present in its base form," Mewtwo said, sitting on the couch beside Sasha.
The two lapsed into a comfortable silence before Sasha eventually moved to curl up on Mewtwo's lap. The clone brushed a hand through her fur and let his mind wander as the eevee drifted off to sleep.
(23.5)
Citlali woke up at the bottom of the sea and frowned.
Turning her head this way and that, she took stock of her watery surroundings.
"What-"
She choked as a slightly deeper voice than she was used to forced its way out of her throat and she did a quick scan of her body.
"Huh...male now. Odd. Wonder why. But where-"
The mew took a deep breath, organizing its thoughts.
It had been fighting Cyrus, alongside its friends and family.
Then Cyrus had pulled reality apart, causing several other legendaries to join the fray.
Some had sided with Cyrus - usually the ones with a grudge against humans and/or pokémon, which had made everything impossible to follow.
Before Citlali could delve deeper into its memories, it felt a massive surge of power - one the mew recognized as an urgent summons from Arceus.
Focusing its power, Citlali teleported.
Reappearing in the Hall of Origin, it looked around to see other familiar faces popping into view.
Some were haunted, others were curious and quiet murmurings soon filled the Hall.
Citlali hovered above it all, searching for a familiar presence, but couldn't find it.
Ho-Oh was also conspicuously absent and Citlali saw Raikou, Suicune and Entei talking with Lugia, who looked exceptionally haggard.
Citlali perked up as Arceus appeared and the entire room went quiet.
The Creator scanned the room silently for a moment before speaking.
"As you are no doubt aware, there's been a massive upheaval with reality, once again with Cyrus' hand behind it. The first time, he was stopped, the second time he succeeded, which led to me sending Ash back to stop him. And now as a result of that conflict, we're in the middle of yet another crisis."
"Oh, come on!" Moltres spat. "It's the same song and dance every year. Some schmuck thinks he can harness the power of a legendary and almost causes the apocalypse and is stopped. Then we have maybe a month's respite before the next problem-"
Lugia buffeted the fiery bird into silence and Arceus nodded.
"I am well aware of the frequency of attacks and I apologize for that. It's why I have my Chosen and Blessed out there. But as you can see, it's not always effective. However, there's a slightly more pressing matter we need to talk about."
A series of black strands popped into view, twisted in and around one another in an incomprehensible mess.
"Time itself has been affected by this...Time Crash and if we don't work fast, we will lose everything. For now, I have moved the Hall of Origin outside time and space to give ourselves some breathing room to get things properly organized before we begin. Please sort yourselves by region and stand by for further instruction."
The pokémon in the room swiftly shuffled around, getting situated. The Johto beasts looked around blankly before Lugia called them over.
Citlali watched the proceedings disinterestedly before hovering over to Arceus.
"So Mewtwo has ignored my summons?" Arceus mused.
"He could be dead. Or in hiding. Or unconscious. Or...any number of things, really. Never was one for crowds and often only showed up to clean up the mess after the crisis was over," Citlali said.
"Find him," Arceus said.
"By your command," Citlali said, vanishing.
Arceus stared at where the diminutive legendary had been curiously. "Could've sworn they were female last time we met..."