(24.1)

"Heya, Mewtwo."

The Psychic turned to see a mew hovering upside-down, looking at him.

"You are the Tree of Beginnings mew, are you not?" Mewtwo asked as he kept flying over the mountains.

"Probably," the feline replied, easily keeping pace. "Why didn't you answer Lord Arceus' summons?"

"He is no lord of mine," Mewtwo replied. "Nor do I count myself among your…pantheon."

"A pity. Arceus thinks your help would be greatly beneficial to fixing a few problems they're having with restoring timelines."

Mewtwo blinked in surprise. "That explains the gaps in my memory…" he mused.

Mew winced. "Yeah…those may be filled in, but since we can't really monitor what affects what when we fill in a blank space…"

"So I shouldn't be alarmed when I get new memories?" Mewtwo asked.

"Basically, yes. You're a lot calmer than I thought you'd be, knowing the possibility that some memories may not be…palatable."

"Psychics usually have to learn how to compartmentalize a lot of things. Otherwise we'd very likely go mad," Mewtwo pointed out.

He then went still as a new memory surfaced. "Who is Citlali and why do I have an urge to punch them in the face?"

"Not a clue. Good luck with that," Mew said cheerfully before vanishing.

(24.2)

Wes crept through the bowels of the Cipher hideout in the middle of Orre's expansive desert.

Blackie, his umbreon, carefully poked his head around the corner, rings glowing softly, indicating the way was clear.

"Good grief," Wes muttered. "You'd think after getting thrashed twice, Cipher would learn their lesson..."

Eifie, his espeon, shot him an amused glance as she gazed around the halls, wrinkling her nose.

"Some people never learn," she said.

"Sst!" Blackie said, pricking his ears, causing Wes and Eifie to drop into crouches as they approached another corner.

Voices reached their ears.

"-from the upper floors," said one.

"Probably the wires acting up again," another answered. "This place is a wreck, especially after the last time HG-001 got loose. It's a wonder anything works."

Wes placed his hands on Blackie and Eifie's backs, murmuring into their ears.

Blackie poked his head around the corner, tail ring flashing twice to indicate the number of people.

Eifie's gem glowed before she vanished. A few moments later, two thuds were heard and Wes walked around the corner to see two Cipher Peons slumped against the wall.

"You enjoy that, don't you?" Blackie said with an amused grin.

"A bit, yes," Eifie replied.

Wes took a keycard off one of the Peons and examined it. "Hm...let's see if we can't find this HG-001."

A frankly absurd amount of dungeon-crawling later found the trio standing outside an absurdly large door - almost twice Wes's height.

"Please don't let there be a Shadow Wishiwashi behind this door," Wes muttered before he slid the keycard past the reader.

The door groaned open and a bank of lights slowly clicked on.

Wes's breath caught in his throat.

In the center of the room stood a massive clear cylinder, housing a pokemon.

"Ho-Oh," Wes murmured, before looking around the room, taking in the various banks of machinery lining the walls and massive cables dangling from the ceiling.

The Rainbow Pokemon's plumage was pale, head resting on its chest, wings wrapped around itself.

"What were they doing here?" Eifie murmured, eyes darting around the room.

"Trying to Shadowify Ho-Oh?" Blackie guessed.

Wes walked up to a computer and stroked his chin before tapping on the keys, bringing up a set of logs.

"Activation...Termination...Activation...Termination...Subject's heart is too strong to close, suggested course of action to-"

Blackie and Eifie noted Wes's growl and trotted over to him.

"What is it?" Eifie asked.

"They've killed Ho-Oh multiple times to find the perfect moment to begin the process. There's years worth of reports here..." Wes said, curling his fingers into fists.

Blackie stared at the legendary in the tubeand frowned. "Did...they succeed?"

Wes turned back to the display, scrolling through the pages of logs. "Doesn't look like it. Last log was months ago."

"What? Did they just...leave him here?!" Eifie hissed angrily.

"He's in some kind of hibernation or stasis," Wes said, waving a hand at a screen of vitals, showing a slow steady heartbeat.

"Can we wake him up?" Blackie asked.

Wes was already flicking through screens. "Yes..."

Blackie glanced at him. "You don't seem so sure."

"The last people he saw were Cipher members," Wes said. "He might very well lash out without thinking and I'd rather not become a pile of ashes."

"So we hit the switch and teleport?" Eifie suggested.

"That means I'll have to be balled," Blackie grumbled. "There's times I hate being Dark."

Eifie giggled as Wes hid a smile.

"Alright, we've got ten seconds to clear out," he said, taking out a Luxury Ball and recalled Blackie.

Even as they vanished, Ho-Oh's wings twitched and a pair of red eyes snapped open.

Even seven miles away, the heat from Sacred Fire was enough to make Wes sweat.

"Well, that's that problem solved," he said, watching Ho-Oh fly away.

"Do you think he'll ever care who saved him?" Blackie asked.

"I'll be sure to bring it up next time we meet," Wes said, bringing out his phone as it rang. "And there's Rui, right on schedule."

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!" came the panicked voice as soon as he answered, causing Eifie and Blackie to cover their ears.

"Heya," Wes said soothingly. "I'm all right."

He heard Rui breath a sigh of relief and then flinched as she chewed him out for being reckless.

"Was that Ho-Oh that flew away from that wreckage?" she asked once she'd run out of things to call him.

"Yeah," Wes said.

"Hm...word on the grape vine is that he was missing for the past ten years."

"There were...logs going back several years. Wasn't really paying attention to specific dates - I was more horrified by what they were doing to him."

Wes explained the details of the logs as Eifie and Blackie placed their heads together, murmuring affectionately to one another.

"So, before I head back, there's a few more Shadow Pokemon left to find and the ones I have on me are almost ready to be purified," Wes said.

"Good luck. Try to stay out of trouble for at least the next month, alright?" Rui said, a smile in her voice.

"Of course. Seeya later," Wes said before he hung up.

He then froze.

"My bike was at the base, wasn't it?"

His pokemon shared a look before doubling over in laughter as Wes swore.

(24.3)

Arceus tapped a pencil against the front of its face as it contemplated the latest crossword puzzle.

After a moment, it turned to scowl at the Lake Trio, who were loudly goofing off.

"Don't you three have responsibilities to take care of?"

What're those? Are they contagious?" Uxie asked.

"Are you coming down with Responsibilities?" Azelf asked in horror.

"That's a sickness I'm not down with," Mesprit said.

Her brothers stared at her blankly and she rolled her eyes.

Arceus' cold stare sent the trio fleeing back to their assigned work spaces.

With a sigh, Arceus turned back to its crossword.

"Eight letter word meaning to embitter or irritate...Celebi!"

"I am not time-traveling into next week to give you the answers," the tiny pokemon said, not looking up from her sudoku.

Grumbling, Arceus turned its attention back to its puzzle. "Can't be urticate...nor fantigue...fractious is too long..."

"Acerbate," Meloetta said as it walked by holding several tea cups.

Arceus checked the other words and nodded. "That fits and that means quantophrenia is 16 across. Thank you."

"Of course," Meloetta said with a curtsy.

(24.4)

Mewtwo sat in front of his computer, eyes closed as he used his psychic abilities to manipulate the keyboard in front of him.

Entire paragraphs were typed out in seconds as he focused on translating his thoughts into words.

He heard the door open behind him and he came to a stop before opening his eyes and turning.

Sasha glanced around his office before flattening her ears sheepishly.

"Oh, you're busy. Sorry. I can come back-"

"Never mind that. What is it?" Mewtwo asked.

"Well, I was reading your published books and had a thought..."

The eevee hesitated a moment before continuing on.

"Are the stories you write based on your memories of alternate timelines?"

Mewtwo rested his chin on a hand and observed the eevee shrewdly. "I'm surprised you came to that conclusion."

Sasha smiled slightly. "The main character felt a lot like you, especially in his manner of speech and attention to detail. Plus, there were far too many paragraphs describing him in a way that felt...vain? Prideful? Anyone who knew you would easily be able to come to the same conclusion."

Mewtwo nodded slowly. "You are correct," he said ruefully. "I assure you I tone that back sharply in later works."

"That's good," Sasha said. "It got rather tiring to hear, yet again, how the handsome, mysterious, Yuki would get ready to spend the day with the love of his life-"

Sasha blinked as she abruptly found herself on the roof of the building.

"Hey!"

Clouds formed above her and started emptying themselves on the small fox pokémon.

"I'm telling Lugia on you!"

(24.5)

Sasha stood on the bow of the speedboat, braced against the bouncing motion as it cut through the waves.

The black-colored, skull-emblazoned boat hit a particularly rough wave and Sasha went flying backwards.

A psychic grip caught the eevee effortlessly less than three inches from the water's surface and placed her back on the boat.

"My nerves would be grateful if you'd get inside," Mewtwo grumbled.

"Never," Sasha said with a flick of her tail. "This is so cool!"

"Just my luck I get stuck with a human who can't tolerate teleporting or heights, on the way to a place with a psychic jammer," Mewtwo griped.

Gladion steered the boat through the waters toward the artificial island with a steady hand, eyes running over the instruments before he shook his head.

"Sorry for the inconvenience," he said. "The Foundation is not fond of...uninvited guests."

"Can't imagine why," Sasha muttered, leaning over the edge of the boat to stare at the water.

Mewtwo took a firm grip on the eevee, eyes locked on the place they were headed.

"Oh, I'm sure all their businesses are legitimate and in no way unethical, dangerous, or have the ability to potentially tear the planet a new orifice," he said.

"Why else would they be on an island far away from civilization?" Sasha replied.

"Alright, I get it," Gladion said with a roll of his eyes. "There's no real reason for you to come, anyway."

"I'd like to see Null again," Sasha said, tail wagging. "I think he's cute."

Mewtwo and Gladion stared at her oddly.

"Not exactly the impression I got from Gladion's description of him," Mewtwo said.

"That's funny, coming from you," Sasha said, sticking her tongue out at him.

Mewtwo dropped her over the edge of the boat.

After a few seconds, he teleported her back and she retaliated by shaking herself dry all over Mewtwo.

"I honestly can't tell if you hate each other or love each other," Gladion said.