AN: This chapter makes references to 'Lucario and the Mystery of Mew' Pokémon movie. You might want to read the Bulbapedia article on this movie if you haven't seen it—that will certainly help you get context. If you have a quick, straightforward question you can certainly leave that in reviews and/or PM me on this site or via Tumblr. My Tumblr username is 'chipotlepepperspokemonandother' or you can message Bri, who's still editing most of these chapters, her username on this site is 'It's-Bri-Again' and on Tumblr, it's 'paradoxinyourpantshorse'. As of May 31, 2019, the full movie is available for free and legally on pokeflix dot tv if you wanna watch. This movie is 10+ years old so I'm sure there are some changes in canon somewhere in here but for reference, I'm going off of what's canon in this film.
I hope you enjoy this next chapter. Please leave reviews if you can—that would make us very happy and motivated to edit this faster:)
Hiatus, Day 62
Ash hadn't visited his parents in over two months. Not that it was unusual for him to stay away for that long, but with so much going on with Team Rocket, Ash expected Giovanni to request his help sooner.
Maybe Jessie and James were right, and he did have a 'hero complex' he needed to overcome, but a bigger part of him was pulling him towards headquarters. He and Misty decided to go one day. Misty left the gym to Yasmine, who was training to become a water Pokémon master, and Ash closed down his Battle Arena for a few days so that they could go to Viridian City together along with a handful of their Pokémon. Assuming that headquarters would be chaotic, they decided to go to Delia's Pokémon hospital first.
"She should be here, right? I just realized that she might not even be at the hospital. We didn't even warn them to say that we were coming," Ash said to Misty.
"I called her," Misty responded. "She'll be there. I told her that we the only reason we didn't come sooner was because we didn't want to get in the way, but now it seems like they are getting desperate."
After a long drive, the two arrived on the outskirts of Viridian. They parked the car and then ran inside the building that was once the Morgan mansion but was now the location of Delia's hospital.
"It's nice to see you again," one of the workers said as they passed through the door. "Your mother is upstairs, you got here just in time. She plans on leaving soon."
"Thanks, Silva," they replied. "Jynx!"
Delia was in her office, cleaning and organizing, with Mr. Mime, Espurr, and Delcatty at her assistance. Ash knocked on the doorframe.
"Pikapi!"
"Azumarill!"
"Ash! Misty!" Delia exclaimed, looking up. "I missed you! Please come in."
"Nice to see you again," Misty said as they stepped inside. "How are you?"
"Personally, I'm doing quite well, but as you know that isn't the case for everyone. Please sit down."
"Everything okay, Mom?" Ash inquired.
"Well…"
Delia offered tea, which they declined. After some small talk, Misty shifted the subject to the reason they were really here.
"Things have been going south for Team Rocket lately," she sighed. "I don't even know where to begin."
"How about a recap?" said Ash. "We only got little chunks of the story. We heard things from Giovanni, Jessie and James, Amb, N, Cynthia…we're still lost."
"We want to know if there's anything we could do," said Misty.
"I'm not sure what you'll be able to help with, but it's nice to know you'll have our backs," said Delia.
"Some might call it compulsory," said Ash.
"That doesn't make it any less heroic, or helpful, or kind."
"Pikachupi pika," Pikachu told Ash, patting him and Misty on the shoulder.
"So…first you should know that that Mewtwo is out of reach, as are the Mew, Acorn and Aliyah—after Jessie and James sent them after Annastasia, they never returned. We think they might be with Lucario, Annastasia, and her Pokémon somewhere inside the Tree of Beginning, because that is where they all were supposed to be headed, and that is Annastasia and her team were last spotted. Rumika had them on the radar, but then the radar stopped working. We tried sending Pokémon inside the Tree, but for some reason the Tree attacked them. The Tree is starting to die, and if we send anyone else in there, Pokémon, person, or machine, it could end up killing the Tree entirely. It is already infected and might die as is, unless someone can save it. For some reason the Tree is attacking Pokémon now too, and the fusion is still in there, protecting itself with some kind of shield. All the other Pokémon that used to live in there have fled, meanwhile the other fusions are still loose, and Team Rocket agents are all over the place trying to tame them all."
"They just vanished inside the Tree?" Misty asked. "Does that mean they're gone?"
"According to N, the auras of Annastasia and her Pikachu are still alive, we don't know if that is because the Tree or fusion absorbed them or because they are moving around inside the Tree."
"So, if caught by those antibodies, the Tree would've absorbed them, the way it almost absorbed my friends and Jessie and James the last time we were there," said Ash.
"That is what everyone seems to believe…but perhaps even more unsettling is this infection, nor do we understand why the Tree is now attacking Pokémon when it never did that before. I wish I could offer you better guidance but I can only go off what others have said."
"What you're telling us is helpful," said Misty. "We were really confused before. Amber just told us that Jessie and James don't appear to be telling the others anything, and it seemed unclear if they knew where their daughter was."
"N thinks she's alive and I don't think there's a soul we have access to who could make that judgment better than he."
"Because this is his field of study. This is what he lives and breathes."
"Exactly. Additionally, he believes that if the antibodies of the Tree did get them, then the aura of the Tree would've changed. The current understanding is that she and her team are there and for some reason, hasn't been able to—or hasn't wanted to—come out."
"What if the trackers somehow got removed, and they aren't even in the Tree anymore?" Misty asked. "They could be lost in the woods—we know that the move Teleport has a distance limit, so if they are too far out, they'd be stuck. Are they searching there?"
"Quite of the chunk of that land is not only under near-constant surveillance, but there are teams looking."
"Gio's really pulling out all the stops…" Ash murmured.
"He would've don't the same for you. He cares in his own way."
"It's awfully sad", Misty responded. "If that was Amber, I don't know what I'd do. I might go to the Tree myself and try to rescue her, even though I know it would be crazy to try and do that, especially when there is a possibility she isn't even there."
"Annastasia's immediate family has tried, only to make things slightly worse by aggravating the Tree's apparent infection," said Delia.
"Has anyone been hurt trying to wrangle those fusions?" Ash inquired.
"No serious injuries have been reporting. Thanks to your suggestions and those training techniques you and James shared a while back, the fusion population has been calming down. The problem is that there are so many of them, and more keep coming out of nowhere it seems."
"I hope no one hurts them. They're living, breathing Pokémon—even if they don't look like it."
"Our advice to the general public and to our agents is that any unusual Pokémon are to be reported to the local police, regardless of their disposition. Because of their potential, they need to be contained—as we wouldn't allow a hoard of crazed Charizard to roam, we will not allow these unpredictable fusions to. I don't know if you have been following the news, but there have been many reports of the fusion Pokémon violently attacking other Pokémon. They generally don't go after humans unless seriously provoked, but that doesn't mean they can't change. Plus, they do a lot of property damage and kill animals as well. The more we can convert the better, though the ultimate goal is to reach that big one, who seems to have some kind of hypnosis ability that can control all the fusions at once. If we rub that one the wrong way, then chaos could overtake this world."
"I get it. Don't like it at all, but I get it."
"A and Scarlett are not only important because they exist, but because nearly everything we know is at stake," said Misty. "And as far as we know, those two might not even realize this."
"Yeah, I don't think there are TVs in that Tree."
Delia and Misty smiled briefly, then Delia continued her briefing with a morose and ominous disposition:
"Unless something changes, someone would have to sacrifice their aura in order to save the Tree. And since the aura is their life energy, that person would die."
"Just as Lucario and Sir Aaron did over twenty years ago," Misty sighed.
"But you said the Tree is symbiotic with the Mew that lives there. So as long as the Mew is healthy, wouldn't the Tree be healthy as well?" said Ash. "I think a solution to saving the Tree can be saving that Mew. Maybe the Tree is only attacking the Pokémon because it somehow knows it's on the verge of dying…if we can find that Mew and make it healthy, I bet the Tree will become healthy too."
"Mew are not easy to find. Our own Mew, Acorn and Aliyah, are MIA and the one that's symbiotic with this Tree has been missing for over a decade. It could've been twenty years or even longer since the last time someone saw it. Jessie's own mother died trying to look for that same Mew—and she wasn't the only one."
"But with the technology we have today, these special fusion Pokémon, and with all of us working together, I think we can do this. If we find them, we can save them."
"We should tell your father about this right away because if he hasn't thought about this than he should've. I'm heading to HQ now and can deliver the message in person."
"We'll come with you," said Misty. "We want to be involved."
"I've been out of this loop for too long," said Ash. "This stuff is important to me too."
"Pikachu Pika," Pikachu agreed.
"Then let's hurry," said Delia. "Gio doesn't have all day."
XO
TR's HQ was nearly empty. Not even Giovanni's secretary was present. Delia, Ash, Misty, and their Pokémon went straight to his office and knocked on the closed wooden door.
"Come in," called a gruff, frustrated voice.
Delia pushed open the door. They were surprised to see that Jessie, James, Meowth, Lucy, Rumika, Butch, Cassidy, N, White, and several other agents whose names Ash was not sure of were also there. Persian greeted them and they stood in the corner, as Gio had run out of seats.
"I don't recall you ever meeting these other agents," said Gio. "Tim, Louise, Bonnie, and Clyde." Giovanni turned to his agents. "This is my son and daughter-in-law I told you about."
"Ah, nice to meet ya," said Ash.
"Uh, yes, ditto," said Misty. "Are you sure you want us to be here? We don't mean to interrupt."
"It is probably better that you came," Gio responded. "But why are you here?"
"Ash and Misty were visiting me," said Delia. "We discussed the Mew that lived in the Tree of Beginning. We think that because the Tree is sick, the Mew must be as well. If we can find the Mew and heal it, then the Tree itself will be restored to full health."
"That is what we are discussing as well," said N.
"Specifically, though, Scarlett," said James. "Some of us here think that Scarlett could possibly be a Mew."
"Whoa, really?" said Ash. "That'd be awesome."
Gio stood and paced the room, as was typical for him to do during serious meetings.
"The evidence is there but we do not yet find it sufficient," he said.
"What evidence do you have?" Misty inquired.
"De kids got some video footage of dat Pikachu really killing it during dem gym battles," said Meowth. "She was super powerful, more powerful den yer Pikachu even. And she didn't even look like she was tryin. Annastasia has been keepin' a close eye on her, day and night, de whole time she was at camp, so she knows dat she wasn't bein givin anything funny, ya dig?"
"You mean performance-enhancing drugs. You say she's naturally like that."
"That seems to be the case," said Giovanni.
"Professor Oak runs blood tests on all his starter Pokémon," said James. "And what he found in Scarlett was…"
"…interesting," Cassidy said when James stopped talking, much to Jessie's discomfort.
"Yes, very interesting," Jessie said to spite her.
"How?" said Ash.
"An unidentifiable mutation," said Delia. "I learned of this too, when Oak first received the results. He retested, achieved the same result. But it isn't unusual for new mutations to spring in Pokémon, particularly common Pokémon—they evolve so quickly, individually—as does the whole of their species. It is only relatively recently that Mega-Evolution was normalized. Scarlett showed little aggression, only some stubbornness and above-average power, so Oak found it safe for her to be distributed, especially with Annastasia in the vicinity and her trainer experienced, and her level was only five. How difficult could a level five Pokémon be?"
"Did Annastasia and Michio know about this?"
"Sorta. We did tell her that Scarlett was special…as I said, random mutations are rare but not unheard of. Like albino shiny Pokémon—very rare, not impossible."
"I looked into her allergy medicine that Oak prescribed, just in case," said Giovanni. "Found that it actually has nearly a guaranteed side effect of drowsiness. Did that Pikachu ever seem drowsy to you?"
"The opposite," said Ash.
"I didn't know her well," said Misty, "but Amber did say that Scarlett often trained at night with Michio, joined Annastasia in her morning workouts, and that if put in her ball she'd fight her way out. Once, back when Michio had the lock on it, she broke right out—a Pokémon under level twenty breaking out of a regular Pokémon ball is uncommon, let alone one that was supposedly locked. I suppose we overlooked all of this and chalked most of it up to a ten-year-old's exaggeration and potential misperceptions. I should've paid more attention, trusted Amber more…"
"That's irrelevant," said Gio. "Always was; what Amber noticed or reported has little to do with what we could have prevented."
"No guilt required," James said in an attempt to make her feel better.
"And the thing's not a fusion either," said Butch.
"Scans indicate that neither her brain chemistry nor her DNA matches anything relating to the fusions," said Delia. "Gary did a full examination on her before he gave her away as a starter. Professor Oak Sr and a peer, as well as myself, did a cross-examination."
"And unlike Ditto, Mew can transform entirely, leaving no trace that they are a Mew. Even with the most sophisticated technology, we would not be able to differentiate," said Gio.
"The evidence suggests she's not a standard Pikachu nor a fusion, so the default is that she's a Mew?" said Misty. "What if she's some other type of experiment or work of nature that humanity has not yet discovered?"
"All legendary Pokémon were new to humans at some point," said Jessie. "The twerpette makes a good point."
Senior TR agent Bonnie spoke up for the first time that meeting. She moved to the front of the room with charts, all stats and research results.
"Mew is the only Pokémon that is symbiotic with the Tree of Beginning," she announced. "Not even Mewtwo is. It's not Celebi, not Arceus, but Mew. Ever since this Pikachu went MIA, the Tree's gotten worse."
There was not a hint of despair in her voice; maybe it was good to have a few people on their side with no emotional attachments. This woman had never even met Ash, Misty, nor the Morgans, including Annastasia, who was practically a myth in her eyes.
"We should make finding this Mew a priority," said Tim, another unfamiliar agent. "And if we are wrong, finding a Mew is never bad."
"Just extremely difficult," his partner Louise added.
"But there is no real proof that she is the Mew," Misty insisted.
"I already told you that the evidence is inconclusive and right now this is our only lead," Giovanni asserted. "That Mew is our priority."
"Anna-chan and Scarlett too," said James.
"But mostly the Mew," said Cassidy.
Both James and Jessie were pissed.
"Annastasia's important to everyone here, and regardless, she's ours, she's our priority, and you will be nowhere without our constant help," James said angrily, addressing the entire room, even his intimidating former boss.
"And when we find her, making her safe and healthy will be more important than this Mew," Jessie added.
"Settle down," Cassidy grumbled.
There was more arguing, not just between the Morgans and Cassidy, but among all the agents, until Delia whistled and made them all cease mid-sentence.
"Emotions are high, but everyone here and those under your headship are to follow direct orders," Delia asserted. "Those orders are to find Annastasia, Scarlett, and the Mew and to not come back to HQ until you do."
"Precisely," said Giovanni. "Is that unclear to anyone?"
The room was silent for ten long seconds. Just as Gio was about to dismiss them, Ash stood and called for everyone to listen.
"I get the mission, and I'll do whatever you say," he began. "But are you sure there aren't any other leads? What about Jessie and James' Mew? Can't they help?"
Everyone turned to look at Jessie and James.
"I-I w-when Annastasia didn't come back to the spot where we said we would meet, we sent Acorn and Aliyah after them," James said nervously. "And we haven't seen them since."
"I already scolded him and informed him that it was a really dumb thing to do," said Rumika.
"As did I," said Gio.
"We did what any person, sane or not, would've done for their child," said Jessie. "We'll let everyone know when the Mew return. End of discussion."
"Wait!" Misty said suddenly. "Did the Mew the Tree get sick before or after you sent them out?"
Jessie and James thought about it for a moment. It hadn't occurred to them before.
"After," James said hesitantly.
"Twerp, what makes you think that one of our Mew is the same Mew that used to live in the Tree of Beginning?" said Jessie. "Don't you think we would've realized it? They've been with us for eighteen years. Nearly constant contact and total trust and confidentiality."
"But there can't be that many Mew in existence," said Misty. "They can't breed, and it is considered a miracle to even see one, let alone multiple. Secondly, the Mew that lived in the Tree disappeared over a decade ago. Perhaps seventeen, eighteen years ago? And who is to say there was more than one Mew living there the whole time? What if there were two that were symbiotic with the Tree. Has that been considered?"
"Come to tink of it, somethin bout dose Mew seemed familiar," said Meowth.
"They did help us without us asking," James reminded Ash and Misty. "Surely, you recall that as well."
"As if they knew us from somewhere," Jessie said blankly.
"Pikachu pika pika pi Pikachuuu," said Pikachu.
"Translate," Gio demanded as he looked to Lucy and Meowth.
"What me and Pikachu wanna say is dat Acorn and Aliyah were always very playful, just like de Mew from dat Tree, you know, de one dat kidnapped us dat one time," said Meowth. "Anyways, I was wonderin if anyone here knows if de Tree was eva sick before, cuz when weeze first came across dem Mew, de were on de verge of death."
"Why are we just receiving this info now?" Bonnie inquired.
"Yous didn't ask."
"My Nanny and Pop-pop found Acorn and Aliyah when they were very sick. After we nursed them back to health, they decided they wanted to become our Pokémon," James explained.
As they were speaking, Rumika was researching. She pulled up a page on her laptop and showed it to the group.
"According to a report but out by the WHO, the Tree was sick in the Winter of 2014. Then it was healed, but there doesn't seem to be any explanation as to why. This was also the last time the Mew was recorded to be present in the Tree."
"When did those Mew first approach you?" Tim inquired.
"It was about a year before Anna-chan was born," said James. "Late in 2014."
"And what's the last month of the year?" Cassidy capriciously asked.
"Fuck off," said Jessie. "As if you know any better than we do what the hell is going on here."
"I'm a genius," Ash said smugly.
Jessie scowled. "It wasn't all your idea."
"Most of it—"
"Enough arguing," Rumika interrupted.
"Thank you, Rumika," Gio replied. "We need to connect this theory to that Pikachu."
"It seems coincidental, Sir," said Bonnie. "Because according to Professor Oak Sr., that Pikachu came from a breeder who raised Pokémon near the Tree of Beginning. That Pikachu was also sick around that same time and healed, so it can be either one of them."
"That's right", said Rumika. "We have looked into this. It's just a guessing game, which one is the correct Pokémon? But we need to find all of them regardless."
They talked for a little while longer but didn't get any further. The meeting concluded with little progress having been made.
The Morgans had closed the Pallet House hotel and restaurant in order to stay at the Toka base and planned on returning to Toka that evening. Misty only found herself pitying Jessie on very rare occasions, and this was one of those times. She approached Jessie, James, Lucy, and Meowth before they departed.
"I can lead you to Articuno, who could help you find her," she began. "There's also that Suicune that Annastasia and I captured together. While it isn't in a Pokéball or at HQ, I know where to find it. Though it roams free, it is still loyal to both of us. It would require time, patience and for me to go on a mission of my own, but I'll do it."
"That'd be appreciated," James responded, his voice weary from tiredness and distress.
"We're tyin a knot at de end of our rope," Meowth sighed. "And dat means we're takin handouts like weeze neva taken handouts before."
"Wobbbufffet!"
"Another legendary can only help at this point," said Jessie.
"I know you'd do the same fore me," Misty replied.
"I've heard you say that before," said James.
"And an eighteen-year alliance has only made it truer."
"Thank you for offering, but if Suicune is loyal to Annastasia, then it will likely be loyal to us as long as we stress the seriousness of the situation. We'll find it."
"Well…we actually could really benefit from Ash's help…Suicune's a shy Pokémon and might not come out of hiding unless we have an Aura Guardian with us, and James, since you never met Suicune, we can't know for sure if you'd be enough for this."
"We'll discuss this more later," Ash suggested. "Then we'll make a plan…but it's late and we really need to eat and sleep before we go on any more missions."
Everyone went their separate ways; Ash and misty to Cerulean City, Rumika to her mansion nearby, Butch, Cassidy, and the other Team Rocket agents to their dorms, and James, Jessie, Meowth and Lucy back to the Toka base.
XO
When Jessie, James, Meowth, Lucy, and their Pokémon companions returned to their shared quarters, they crashed into their beds, physically, mentally, and emotionally drained.
"Meowth, do you truly think that Acorn or/and Aliyah are the Mew that kidnapped you and Pikachu all those years ago?" Jessie asked after a while.
"I dunno, Jess. It was a long time ago, and I was sorta freaked out at de time," he replied.
"Chiiiimecho, Chiiiime," said James' Chimecho.
"Tuuurrrnnnn," said Cacturne.
"What are they saying?" James inquired.
"De said dere sorry dat dey can't be a bigger help," Meowth explained.
"It wasn't your fault."
"Acorn and Aliyah were very responsive to you," said Lucy. "Before I joined your squad, you said your grandparents found them sick and as they recovered, they followed you everywhere."
"What's your point?"
"Maybe they were looking for you."
"Why would dey be looking fer us?" Meowth asked.
"They could've known that your grandparents took care of Pokémon and when they saw you, they decided it would be fun to tag along. Maybe they even knew about your Mom."
Lucy watched Jessie as she spoke. She nodded, though unsure if Lucy's idea made sense.
"Mew don't let themselves be captured by anyone," James noted. "But why wouldn't they tell us? We have trust among us. They have telepathic abilities and could've explained themselves at any time."
"Dose two gots a lot of Pokémon pride," said Meowth. "Dey don't like speakin human; dey like being Pokémon."
"But you're a Pokémon," said Jessie. "They could've told you or Lucy."
"Weeze neva asked dem. De maybe dought it wasn't relevant to anythin."
"I don't think they would lie or withhold information, but we never discussed this subject. Or perhaps they assumed that we recongize them as much as they recongize us," James replied.
"I want to believe that right now that they are out there protecting her," said Jessie. "Honest or not, confused or not, misinformed or not, those Mew loved us—and her."
"That's something we can all agree on," said Lucy.
"The last time we went to the Tree, it looked like a horror movie," James said despondently. "I can't imagine anything could be living inside there now."
Jessie walked over to the window and looked outside. It was dark minus the stars; the only thing nice about Toka was the brilliant view of nature. James joined her and together they watched snowflakes fall and disappear into the snow-covered ground. Despite their exhaustion, Lucy, Meowth, and the rest of the Pokémon slipped away.
"Why do Pokémon have to be so fucking mysterious?" said Jessie. "And why do we have to be the ones to deal with this? There are worse people in this world than us."
"I don't know, Jess. I wish more than anything that we can make it better," he responded.
Jessie stared blankly into the sky for a moment and blinked, taken aback. James followed her eyes, and they both looked at one another curiously once they realized what they were seeing.
"What are those doing all the way up here?" James wondered aloud. "Aren't they cold? They're usually in the southernmost parts of the Orange Islands by now."
"Volllllbeat," several of the Pokémon buzzed as they zoomed past.
"Illuu!" The leader exclaimed as it waved at Jessie and James. They waved back in confusion.
"Those Illumise seemed to have recognized us," said James.
"Why would they come to Toka?" Jessie asked.
"The poor things must be confused—they're already far away from home and looks like they're going even further."
"They're heading right for the Tree of Beginning. They must be sick. There's nothing for them there."
As the firefly Pokémon continued to pass, they chirped and whistled loudly, but said nothing that the humans could understand.
"Too bad Lucy and Meowth left, then we could understand," James sighed.
"And if they weren't in such a rush, they could write us a message. Oh well. It probably has nothing to do with us anyway. I need food. Let's get something to eat."
Before he turned to join her, he gave the distant Volbeat and Illumise one last glance.
'I wonder why they are in such a rush.'
XO
IN THE NEXT CHAPTER:
· Hiatus, Day 77
· Soledad gets a few surprises
· Michio learns some things about the people he thought he knew everything about