Waking up to an Adventure - Indigo League

by pigeonsaurus

Ten year old Ash Ketchum is starting his Pokémon journey in the town of Pallet. Determined to beat his rival, Gary Oak, his less-than-stellar sleeping schedule and overexcitement makes it so he doesn't end up sleeping at all the night before. Exhausted but exhilarated, his journey to become a Pokémon Master starts here! Updates on Tuesdays.

53. Mewtwo Strikes Back - Evolution

Chapter 53

The way that Mewtwo had chuckled sent a chill down Ash's spine, but he tried not to let this show. Even when the Genetic Pokémon's eyes started to glow purple. Like Fergus before him, Ash was half-expecting Mewtwo to use its powerful Psychic attack on him, but nothing happened. The glow quickly faded, and everyone in the room – even the Pokémon – seemed to hold their breath in anticipation. Even Mewtwo was quiet, but after what seemed like an eternity, a hole in the floor opened up in front of the Psychic-type Pokémon.

The first one to appear was a Grass-type Pokémon that Ash had encountered on his journey once before: Venusaur. However, the Pokémon had strange white markings on its face and body. "Venusaur..." the Pokémon growled.

Two more holes opened up beside it, one after the other, and two other Pokémon rose out. A Blastoise with similar markings and spiked cannons rose up, and then a Charizard with red stripes on its body. "Humans aspiring to become Pokémon Trainers first choose from three Pokémon anyone can get: Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander. These before you are their evolved forms; they are my copies."

"Copies?" Ash heard Thea mutter under her breath. While they were still processing the revelation, the lights in the room went out as they had when Mewtwo first appeared to them, but this time, the giant stain glass window parted behind them, and they realized it wasn't a window at all, but a doorway. They could see the stormy night sky, covered over by clouds, and one by one, large stadium lights bordering the area flickered on, revealing an enormous stadium that could rival even the one at the Indigo Plateau Conference.

All of the humans gathered together and looked with a mixture of confusion and surprise. It was a battle arena. "Are we being challenged to a battle?" Brock questioned aloud.

Despite his loss with his Rhyhorn, Corey was the first to speak up, his head whipping around to Mewtwo. "I choose to battle with... Bruteroot the Venusaur!" He waved his hand to gesture to his Grass Pokémon, and the bulky Grass Pokémon pawed the ground and stomped toward the newly unveiled battle arena.

"And I'll choose my starter Pokémon: Edmund!" Thea's voice had a fire in it as she gestured proudly to her Charizard. The Fire and Flying Pokémon threw its head back and confidently roared while beating its wings, and it began to follow Corey's Venusaur.

"Not wanting to be left out, Ash pulled out a Poké Ball and looked at it briefly. "Me, too! Blastoise, I choose you!" Throwing the ball high into the air, the bright light that came out of the inside of it illuminated the darkness momentarily, and when it faded, Blastoise appeared. Instantly, its eyes landed on Mewtwo, and it seemed to grimace slightly. It seemed the Shellfish Pokémon could sense the power emanating from Mewtwo without even seeing it in action as the rest of them had.

"Blast..."

"C'mon, Blastoise. Let's go," he said to his starter, and everyone aside from Fergus headed outside. Mewtwo floated behind everyone with its three cloned Pokémon close behind it.

As the humans took one side, Mewtwo took the other. "Which of you will oppose me first?" Unsurprisingly, Corey stepped forward with his Venusaur taking the lead and stomping ahead.

"I underestimated you once, but that won't happen again!"

"Saaauuuur!" Corey's Venusaur added gruffly.

As if they were connected, Mewtwo and its own cloned Venusaur locked eyes, and the Psychic Pokémon tilted its head toward the arena. "Vena!" the striped Venusaur – Venusaurtwo – stepped forth. This choice surprised Ash – he was sure that Mewtwo was going to go with Charizardtwo.

The two Venusaur stepped closer to the middle of the arena, facing each other while the others watched in anticipation. Eventually, they stopped, and it was Corey who made the first move. "Go, Bruteroot! Use Razor Leaf!" In contrast to its sluggish nature that they had seen so far, Bruteroot the Venusaur let out a growl right away and the leaves on its back turned upward. A barrage of glowing green leaves – each one made up of three leaves that met in the middle so it almost formed a disc – shot out at Mewtwo's Venusaur.

"Use Vine Whip," Mewtwo countered. Venusaurtwo let out a roar and two large vines reached out from underneath the plant on its back and raced out to the middle of the battlefield. Almost faster than the eye could see, the vines batted away the Razor Leaf attack, breaking them apart and causing them to fall harmlessly to the ground. But when the last leaf had fallen, the vines continued forward, and before Bruteroot knew it, the thick appendages had snatched it up by the sides of its body. It only had time to widen its eyes before it was taken off its feet and lifted into the air as though it were light as a feather.

Corey gasped and craned his neck as he followed his Venusaur being lifted high into the air, and with a flick from the vines, Venusaur came crashing into the ground where it landed heavily on its stomach. Covered in dust from the arena, the Seed Pokémon struggled to its feet and managed to steady itself with a shake of its head. "Venusaur..." it grumbled, and then as if to further prove itself, raised up on its hind legs and slammed the ground. "Ven... ASAUR!"

Corey smiled widely at the display his Pokémon put on, relieved to see that it was feeling well enough to continue, and his eyebrows came together as he cut his hand through the air. "Use Energy Ball!" Obeying the command, Venusaur opened its mouth and reared its head back. Just then, bright green energy formed in front of it and began to spin rapidly until it formed an orb of emerald light. Moments later, Venusaur let out a cry and fired the ball forward. It spun through the air, and it exploded with green smoke as it struck the cloned Venusaur. "Yes!" the Pokémon Trainer cheered, jabbing his fist with victory. But when the kick-up from the Grass-type move cleared, Venusaurtwo was shaking its head without a scratch on it, and it narrowed its eyes.

"Venu... saaauuurrr..." it growled. It seemed all the attack had done was make it mad. Corey looked on with his eyes the size of saucers. The confident look he had before was just a faint memory now.

"Use Leaf Storm," Mewtwo commanded with a narrowing of its eyes.

"Saaaaauuuuuurrrr!" As Corey's Venusaur had done, Venusaur let out a loud cry and raised the leaves hanging down from the sides of its body into the air. Unlike before, spiraling green energy appeared underneath them on either side of the Seed Pokémon's body, and two barrages of glowing yellow-green leaves shot out and started to spin around each other. The two separate barrages turned into a single double-cyclone, and the powerful Grass attack quickly enveloped Bruteroot. Though it tried its best to endure the attack, it didn't stand a chance of staying grounded despite its bulk, and was lifted off the ground. Following the trajectory of the Leaf Storm attack, Corey's Venusaur was quickly thrown and splat against the ceiling that hung over the challenger's box, and Corey looked back in horror as the attack stopped and his Pokémon crashed to the ground. This time, when it struggled, it did not find the energy to get back up.

"Bruteroot!" Corey cried, leaving the arena to run up to his Pokémon. "Are you okay?"

Both Ash and Thea's eyes followed Corey until he kneeled down beside his Pokémon, and then they exchanged a look, silently asking each other who would battle next. But, still angry from how Mewtwo treated Charmeleon, Ash was the first one to break the eye contact and turned to the stadium. He saw that Mewtwo's Venusaur quickly overpowered the original, but that also gave him the advantage. He could see the start of a strategy. And with a confident smirk, him and Blastoise walked forward.

"None of those attacks can hurt you as long as they don't hit you," he said to his Pokémon.

"Blast," his Pokémon agreed, and the partners exchanged smirks before Blastoise headed out onto the battlefield.

On the other side of the stadium, Venusaur was trotting back to its original position beside its creator. "Go, Blastoise! Use Skull Bash!" Ash ordered. A silver aura appeared around the Water Pokémon's body and it shot itself like a rocket straight at the opponent, but Mewtwo didn't even look at Venusaur, and instead turned to its own Blastoise.

"Use Skull Bash," it countered. The same silvery aura cloaked itself around Blastoisetwo and it mimicked the other's trajectory as well. The two met in the center of the stage right above the white line, and pushed each other in a fight of dominance. The struggle only lasted for a few moments before Mewtwo's Blastoise gave a hard push, and Ash's Blastoise flew through the air with its eyes closed in pain. Luckily, it recovered quickly and landed on its feet.

Ash frowned and tried to think. Since it was physically stronger than his, he would attack from a distance. "Blastoise, use Hydro Pump!" Ash called. Blastoise lowered its arms and head and with a loud cry, it sent a powerful torrent of water from its cannons out at the striped Blastoise.

However, instead of looking to dodge it, Blastoisetwo ran toward the Water-type attack. At the last moment, it pulled itself into its shell and spun like a Frisbee. The Rapid Spin made the water repel off its shell, and at the same time brought it closer and closer to Blastoise until it drove itself deep into Ash's starter Pokémon's stomach. Blastoise didn't stop soaring backwards until it hit the doorway from which they had entered through. The Shellfish Pokémon landed on its feet and stumbled forward, but its vision quickly faded, and it collapsed. "Blastoise!" Now it was Ash's turn to run up to his collapsed Pokémon. They weren't far from Corey, who was still nursing his fallen Venusaur, and Brock joined them as well.

Now Thea's eyes danced between Venusaur and Blastoise, and finally, she swallowed and turned ahead. She quickly covered up the worry in her eyes and glared ahead as Blastoise was walking away from the arena. "I'm battling you now!" she announced. Beside her, her Charizard spit a small ember from its mouth and stomped forward.

Seeing its final opponent, Mewtwo looked at the last Pokémon it hadn't used as well and gave its own Charizardtwo a small nod. The cloned Pokémon spread its wings and let out a roar that echoed through the night sky and trotted forward confidently.

Thea had clearly been paying attention to the previous two battles, and though they were quick, it was still a lot of information on how the cloned Pokémon battled. "'Kay, Edmund. Let's win this as fast as we can! Flamethrower!" Her Charizard began to flap its wings and it slowly rose off the ground, and when it did, a slight fiery glow appeared in the Fire-type's long neck as it threw its head back. With a roar, Charizard let loose a powerful stream of flames from its mouth at Mewtwo's Charizard, but the cloned Pokémon quickly took off into the air, and the fire simply scorched the floor it had stood just moments before.

Mewtwo only watched carefully, watching as Charizardtwo climbed higher and higher into the air, and Edmund the Charizard quickly chased after it. It was now an aerial battle, which was a whole different ball game from the last two battles with Venusaur and Blastoise. Edmund tried to catch up to its counterpart, but it was easily outclassed in terms of speed, so it opted for a Flamethrower attack. A quick wing maneuver and Charizardtwo was able to spin out of the way of the Fire-type attack. Before it knew it, Edmund looked up to see the cloned Charizard descending upon it, and it stomped hard on its head.

Thea's breath escaped her mouth for a moment, but her partner quickly recovered feet above the ground and steadied itself before shooting back up. "Edmund, use Flamethrower and then go into ThunderPunch!" she instructed.

Edmund's growl could be heard coming from above, hinting that it understood its Trainer's command, and it rose into the air with its wings flapping as hard as it could to gain speed. Pulling in a deep breath of night air through its nostrils, Charizard opened its maw and fired a stream of fire from its mouth up at its opponent. As expected, Charizardtwo barrel rolled around it, and when it spread its wings, it looked up to see Thea's Charizard quickly closing in. But it had one of its fists pulled back and yellow electricity was lighting up the darkness like a star.

Thea smirked, thinking that they had it, but at the last minute, the cloned Charizard flipped in the air, and with its tail glowing orange, it hit Edmund in the face. "They're too fast!" Brock grumbled loudly, a bead of sweat pouring from the side of his face as his neck was craned up toward the sky.

Thea's Charizard plummeted through the air, but it was clear that it was trained a lot more than the normal Charizard, and it quickly shook the pain away and steadied itself in the air once again. A fiery determination burned in its eyes and it snarled. The opposing Charizard watched for its opportunity, and Edmund rotated between Flamethrower and ThunderPunch attacks at random intervals, but with each stream of fire and strike of electricity, the cloned Pokémon seemed to continue to be one step ahead of the original. And, Ash quickly realized, that Mewtwo's Charizard hadn't even used a single attack since the earlier Dragon Tail attack. It was simply trying to tire out the other Charizard with its seemingly unlimited stamina.

But Ash had figured this out too late, and when Edmund stopped in mid air to take a breath, Charizardtwo saw its opportunity and swooped in on it. Snatching it from behind in a full nelson, Charizardtwo rose higher into the air before curling in the air and quickly descending toward the ground. The whole time that the pair were descending in the aerial piledriver, Edmund struggled to get out of its opponent's grip, but couldn't. "EDMUND!" Thea screamed as everyone around her gasped.

"Use Seismic Toss," Mewtwo commanded. And as its Charizard neared the ground, it let go of Edmund and curled upward, bring itself to safety while Thea's Pokémon crashed into the ground, shaking the whole island in the process.

Miraculously, Edmund stood almost immediately as Charizardtwo roared in the air in celebration, and it too let out a roar, but mostly of frustration. No one dared make a sound as all eyes fell on Thea's Charizard, and it looked around momentarily and swayed in an attempt to steady itself and try and shake off the pain. But like the last two before it, it too had failed, and it fell onto its stomach in defeat. "Edmund!" Thea yelled again, and ran out onto the arena after it. Meanwhile, Charizardtwo landed in its original spot beside Blastoise on Mewtwo's side of the arena.

"It seems you lack both speed... and power," Mewtwo stated, and the whole room began to darken as it raised its hands into the air. As it lowered them again, three strange orbs appeared above its head. They were black and had a purple band across the middle of them. They would almost resemble Poké Balls, if it weren't for the strange eye-like design across the front where the capture button was. They had barely processed this information before Mewtwo drew its hands forward, and the balls flew at them. The first ball hit Thea's fainted Charizard, and it opened up and turned it into purple energy before drawing it inside. Thea's mouth dropped in complete and utter shock, and lunged at the ball to try and grab it, but it floated out of her grasp and higher into the air.

Ash's eyes widened upon seeing this. So they were Poké Balls, just ones designed to catch Pokémon that were already caught! He didn't have time to let this sink in before he realized a Mewtwo Ball was flying toward his Blastoise. He lunged at it to try and bat it away, but like a pesky fly, it evaded his wave and curved around it. His blood ran cold when he turned around just in time to see the ball's eye tap against Blastoise's shell and converted it to energy. Within seconds, Blastoise was gone. "BLASTOISE!" he screamed, and bounced into the air to try and grab the Poké Ball in his gloved hand, but, like Thea before, it floated out of his reach and then sped off to some unknown destination. But he wasn't about to let it get away, and chased after it as one of the balls slipped past Corey and drew his Pokémon into it as well.

"BRUTEROOT!"

"You're stealing our Pokémon?!" Thea shouted angrily, having lost where her Charizard's Poké Ball went.

"Steal? No," Mewtwo answered with a brisk shake of its head. "I am only making more useful, stronger clones from these Pokémon, of which you are so proud." As before, Mewtwo raised its hands and copied its movements from before. But instead of three, many more Mewtwo Balls appeared above his head.

"Making clones..?" Brock repeated quickly with furrowed brows, but he was drowned out by Ash. He too had lost where his Blastoise's Poké Ball had disappeared to, and was now glaring at Mewtwo with hatred.

"Stop it! You can't do that!" he screamed.

"Do not attempt to defy me!" Mewtwo said boldly, and its eyes shimmered amethyst brightly. The anger quickly disappeared from Ash's face as he felt his body lift off the ground slightly, and soon his stomach almost flew out of his mouth as he was sent soaring backwards. Before he knew it, he collided with a person, and from the way the grunt sounded under him, Mewtwo had sent him straight into Brock. The two collapsed on the ground in a heap, and as they stood once again, Mewtwo pushed its hands forward. "I make my own rules."

"Here they come!" Thea warned loudly.

"Run, everybody!" Nurse Joy called back, and Corey, Thea, Brock and his Vulpix and Psyduck, along with Nurse Joy, all ran as fast as their legs could take them into the foyer they met Mewtwo in. From here, mass chaos ensued.

The black and purple Poké Balls soared through the air over their heads and headed to where the rest of their Pokémon were waiting. Ash's eyes first fell upon Fergus, who had been too busy trying to help his Gyarados to wake up, looked up just in time to see the Poké Balls raining down upon them. Having absolutely no idea what was going on, he watched with a mask of confusion as one of the strange Poké Balls tapped Gyarados between the eyes, and this quickly turned into shock when it converted it to energy and drew it inside. "Gyarados!" he exclaimed, and ran out to try and bat away the other Poké Balls that were swarming the rest of his team. Unfortunately, there was five of them and one of him, and one after the other, his Pokémon disappeared, captured within the confines of the Poké Balls.

Corey's team was just as stubborn as their Trainer, and they all hacked, slashed, and kicked away at the barrage of Mewtwo Balls, but they only succeeded in repelling a few before being sucked in while Corey looked on helplessly.

Thea was quick on her feet and tried her best to bat away the balls from her Pokémon like pesky flies, but like the others before, they all disappeared in purple light one by one. The only one that remained was Fearow, and she held her arms out protectively in front of it, and struck the custom capture devices with open-handed slaps. Try as she might, however, one managed to duck under her swing and tapped her Pokémon on the chest. The Pokémon's eyes widened before it was pulled inside, and she let out a shriek and lunged to try and grab it, but it was already flying high into the air.

As Corey's Pidgeot tried to out-speed the Poké Balls overhead, Ash quickly ran for his own Pokémon. Charmeleon and Bulbasaur were standing with their backs to the wall, and were repelling the strange devices with Flamethrower and Vine Whip, respectively. And as he ran, foreign movement grabbed Ash's attention, and he saw through his peripheral vision that the light fixtures that outlined the middle of the room rose into the air, revealing tunnels underneath them that the black and purple Poké Balls disappeared into. Suddenly, it all clicked together in his head. This was why Mewtwo wanted everyone to let their Pokémon out of their Poké Balls. This is been its plan all along.

"We just gotta get them into their Poké Balls!" Ash proclaimed to himself, retrieving his Pokémon's balls from their belt and holding one in each hand.

"A waste of time..." he heard Mewtwo's voice echo in his head, but he ignored the Genetic Pokémon and held them up when he reached them.

"Bulbasaur, Charmeleon, return!" A pair of red beams of energy shot out from the silver buttons on the face and enveloped his Pokémon, and he let out a sigh of relief as they were converted to energy and safely drawn back into their Poké Balls. "Got 'em!"

Much to his surprise, however, the Mewtwo Balls didn't stop their assault, only changed direction – toward him. He looked on with silent horror as two of the Poké Balls that resembled eyes flew down and tapped the Poké Balls in his hands. The sound of metal upon metal reverberated in his ears as he watched them part in the center, and with a purple flash of light, converted the Poké Balls to energy before drawing them inside. He tried to reach out and grab them, but it was in vain and they quickly got away from him. "That's not possible...!"

"Anything is possible with the Poké Balls I make!"

The statement only infuriated Ash, and he kept his eyes glued on his Bulbasaur's Poké Ball. He had already lost Charmeleon's in the chaos, but he couldn't lose Bulbasaur's. Hurrying after it, he saw it disappear beneath a light fixture, and saw that they were beginning to close. Logic wasn't resonating in his head, and it seemed like his legs had a mind of their own as he rushed at them, and then dove like a baseball player sliding into home. He was swallowed by the darkness and felt his stomach drop as he fell too.

He landed on metal fairly quickly, and his grunts and pants echoed through the metal tube as the wind whistled loudly in his ears at how fast he was sliding. "B-Bulbasaur!" he cried as if the Pokémon could hear him through two Poké Balls.

But like a slide at an amusement park, it was over fairly quickly, and though he was dropped into darkness once again, he only fell a few feet before landing roughly on his backside. The Pallet Town Trainer groaned in pain, and felt the platform underneath him shift. "Ow... owowowowowow..." he murmured, holding his throbbing head where he had hit it just before the tube deposited him, but reality soon set in and he quickly got to his feet. But when he did, the platform under him still continued to move which made him stumble to regain his balance, and from the lights around him, he could see he was on a conveyor belt of some kind.

The Pokémon Trainer barely registered the complicated and strange-looking machinery built around him and when he finally steadied himself, his tunnel vision drew in a single Poké Ball closest to him lying on its side with its yellow and red eye staring up at him. That was Bulbasaur! But as quickly as he saw it, it soon disappeared in the darkness where the conveyor belt was leading into, and he ran and dove into the small opening. Crawling forward hurriedly, his fingers wrapped around the black and purple Poké Ball, a series of metal machinery and rods inside tried to grab it at the same time as well. Sensing the resistance, metal rods came down and pinched and grabbed Ash's body as well, trying to pry him off the Poké Ball as it was lifted into the air.

The Poké Ball was lifted off the conveyor belt with Ash to follow, and he was poked, prodded, and pulled at from every angle from the mechanical arms as the machine enclosed around the eye that acted as the control button on the artificially-created Poké Ball. But as determined as the skinny silver arms were to get the Poké Ball, Ash was equally – if not more – determined to get his Pokémon back at all cost. As he was lifted into the air and suspended from the rods, he flailed his body around, flopping like a Magikarp out of water to get out of their grip. Soon, the rods' grip was their downfall, and one came loose, breaking apart and hanging off his jacket with blue sparks of electricity lighting up the small area. This gave Ash hope, and he did everything he could to cause more damage, from pulling and jerking his limbs to even going as far as biting them.

Red lasers lit up the small area, and finally, with a few of the rods breaking, he was able to have his sneakers make contact with the floor. Though he met resistance from both the conveyor belt and the rods, he held the Poké Ball tightly around his fingers to the point that he felt as though he would crush it, and he continued toward the light being generated from outside.

Finally, he broke free of their grip and leaped forward, landing on his stomach while the giant machine behind him started to fizzle. Detecting an error, the conveyor belt stopped as Ash landed, and immediately, the ball in his hand opened, releasing a lilac colored light. The light condensed into another Poké Ball – a normal red and white one – before that too opened up.

"Bulba..." the Grass-type Pokémon muttered sleepily.

"Bulbasaur!" Ash exclaimed happily. Hearing its Trainer's voice, the Seed Pokémon turned around to face him and grinned widely.

"Bulba! Bulbasaur!" it said excitedly, and Ash opened his arms wide as it jumped into them.

But they didn't celebrate for very long before movement and hissing caught his eye. His eyes slowly turned not toward the machine, but from a series of tubes that led out of the machine. They were filled with a teal liquid, but it wasn't the liquid that Ash was staring at. Instead, he was watching with eyelids that widened by the millisecond as the base opened up. The grunt of a Nidoqueen; the hiss of a Sandslash, the serene silence of a Vaporeon. He watched as one by one, more Pokémon came out of the hissing teal smoke from each base. The Pokémon didn't pay him any attention, but he couldn't take his brown eyes off of them. Somehow, he knew. Despite lacking the markings that Venusaurtwo, Charizardtwo, and Blastoisetwo had etched onto their bodies, he knew that these weren't the original Pokémon that were stolen from them. "Those are... clones?"

"Bulba...?" Bulbasaur grumbled, worry coloring the red hues of its eyes. The last of the clones emerged from the tubes, and they all marched, slithered, and flew out of the only exit in the giant lab.

The sparkling of electricity originating from the cloning machine behind him pulled him out of his thoughts and back into reality. The results of the machine attempting to fix its damaged insides was now sizzling from a system overload. A blinding white light shimmered through the machine, and Ash blocked his eyes with his forearm just in time for an explosion to rock the laboratory. He steadied himself on the unmoving conveyor belt under his knees, and looked up to see a storm of Mewtwo's Poké Balls raining down from the inside of the machine.

As they clattered to the floor, they opened, releasing a purple burst of light and letting loose the Pokémon inside. The first to emerge was Fergus's Golduck, and the blue bipedal Water-type looked around in confusion. Its eyes focused next on the Poké Ball that burst open beside it, and formed into its team member Vaporeon. Its fins were spread as it appeared, and it kneeled down close to the ground. It was still thinking chaos was ensuing.

Like the clones, the originals emerged from inside the black and purple Poké Balls, though their faces donned masks of confusion. But what drew Ash's eye was the Poké Ball that opened and released another Poké Ball to his left. A smile slowly spread across his lips as the Poké Ball opened much like how it had when he had freed Bulbasaur, and this time, his Charmeleon appeared. Panic filled eyes glanced around and took in its surroundings before Ash called out to it. "Charmeleon!"

"Bulba bulba!"

The Flame Pokémon perked up instantly at the familiar voices, and its neck craned around and its vision fell upon the pair up on the higher level. A toothy grin spread instantly and the Fire-type rushed up and jumped into Ash's arms while the boy chuckled and hugged his Pokémon back.

He was still rubbing the Fire-type's crimson scales when a much larger flash of purple light expanded beside him, and he looked over to see his Blastoise form from the light. The Pokémon's hydro cannons was at the ready, and its head swung back and forth while its eyes were on red alert, but its vision fell on Ash and his Pokémon, and it softened easily as Ash let out a sigh of relief. All of his Pokémon were back. That was one thing solved.

Finally, his eyebrows clashed together above his nose angrily. Mewtwo wasn't going to get away with this.

All of the original Pokémon were now out of their temporary prisons, and drew in the sights around them. The more timid Pokémon seemed terrified even to move, while the more ill-tempered Pokémon glared to and fro, but none of them seemed keen to move a step. Standing up on his feet, he called out to them. "Everyone!" Hearing the human voice, they all turned their attention to Ash, but lowered their guard when they realized he was friend and not foe. "We can't let Mewtwo go on with his plans! We don't know exactly what it's planning, but we know this: we have to stop the clones!" The crowd of Pokémon all let out shrills and cries of agreement, and with Ash, Blastoise, Charmeleon, and Bulbasaur leading them, they marched out of the room, following the path the clones had taken just moments before.

o 0 o

A gaping hole at the end of the hallway that led to a higher level was an easy way of figuring out which way the cloned Pokémon had gone. In fact, the path leading up with soot and debris lingering in the air had given away the fact that the clones had just managed to get through as well. Letting his anger push him forward, Ash felt courage guide him up the path and through the rubble. He was the first one up, and he could feel all eyes on him.

"You can't do this..." he stated, his voice echoing through the battlefield that him, Thea, and Corey had just all been defeated at. "I won't let you." Bulbasaur and Charmeleon were on either side of him, and Blastoise took up the rear to protect him from all sides, but that was nothing compared to the army of Pokémon at his six. All of them had the same fire burning in their eyes as Ash did.

"It's Ash!" Brock announced, a relieved smile appearing on his face. It seemed that Mewtwo had gathered all the humans in front of an open door that led out to the sea. Mewtwo's purple eyes watched him curiously, and narrowed the slightest at his words. Behind the Psychic Pokémon, all of its clones stood, and they too watched with interest.

He could hear a roar behind him, and a bright light told him Thea's Charizard had let out a Flamethrower in an attempt to intimidate them. And further behind Charmeleon and Bulbasaur, Brock's Psyduck tripped on a rock and stumbled, letting out a cry as its arms flailed and managed to catch itself with the help of Vulpix. "It's Psyduck! And Vulpix!" Brock cried, grinning from ear to ear.

The group continued walking until they reached the white line at the outer edge of the arena, and planting his feet firmly on the ground, his fingers tightened around themselves. "You set them free?" Mewtwo questioned.

"That's right! I had to!" Ash responded, pinching the brim of his hat and twisting it back. "I'll protect all my friends!" And with a battle cry, he charged forward with a raised fist rearing back to gain momentum and power. Mewtwo didn't flinch in the slightest, and Ash closed the distance between them and threw his clenched hand aiming at Mewtwo's stomach, but a blue barrier that resembled broken glass appeared and blocked the strike, and even repelled it, sending Ash off his feet and onto his back. He skidded for a moment, but quickly leapt back up onto his feet and charged again. This time, when he threw a fist, he stood frozen as a blue light shimmered around his body. His brown eyes glanced up in confusion and saw that Mewtwo's own eyes were amethyst with psychic power, and it lifted its paw, taking Ash into the air with it.

"STOP IT NOW!" he could hear Brock's voice reverberate through the area, but Mewtwo ignored him, and with a wave of its arm, Ash was thrown high into the air upward toward the roof. His stomach threatened to escape through his stomach, and his voice screamed out involuntarily as he soared backward. Now he could only wait for the hard impact of stone.

But that impact never came. Instead, what he felt was something soft and squishy catch him, like he was a baseball in a mitt. He felt himself go inward to whatever had caught him slightly, and then it snapped back like rubber and bounced him inches into the air above before letting him land steadily on it. Looking down at his savior, he saw that it was a... bright pink bubble of some kind. Like someone had blown a giant piece of bubble gum underneath him. "What is this?" he heard Mewtwo question in his head.

"Mew, mew!" a small voice squeaked, and Ash looked up to see a small kitten-like Pokémon with a very long tail float through the air and pull up beside him. Its bright teal eyes blinked at him, and with a small, stubby hand, it poked the bubble and it popped underneath him. The boy barely had time to let out a cry before he fell just a few feet to the platform below him. It was a much more rougher landing than he had with the bubble, enough to knock his hat off his head, but at least a bruise was better than a broken bone. Or many.

Ash grimaced in pain as the small cat-like Pokémon glided serenely through the air and picked up his hat. The red and white cap was almost as large as it, but it flipped it and placed it back over his black locks. "Mew! Mew," the Pokémon said, dipping in close to Ash's face as the Pokémon Trainer adjusted his hat, and it giggled adorably before its hands. He could barely believe his eyes, but he smiled. This was the Pokémon that saved his life.

"Mew..." Mewtwo's voice echoed in his head, almost in disbelief at the sight of the small Psychic-type. The New Species Pokémon orbited around in place, and a bubble similar to the one it had conjured to save Ash appeared. It seemed that it, too, wanted to bounce in place like Ash did, and it threw itself onto the top of the bubble and bounced on it like a trampoline, squealing playfully with each jump. It did this a few times before suddenly, the bubble burst as something blasted through it, sending pink particles – and most importantly Mew – flying away. The Psychic Pokémon rolled in the air for a moment before turning down to look and see who had ruined its fun. Ash followed its gaze and saw Mewtwo, and it was pulling its paws together again. A black and purple ball of energy formed between its fingers, and upon pushing its hands forward, the ball was sent shooting toward Mew. This time, Mew was prepared, and in a pink flash, disappeared instantly as the Shadow Ball disappeared harmlessly in the wall of clouds beyond the palace.

It reappeared closer to the stadium, and Mewtwo drew its hands together and thrust them out as another Shadow Ball formed. Like before, Mew used Teleport and disappeared out of harm's way as the ball of dark energy crashed into the structure behind it. Mew appeared with a cry, and cocked its head curiously, but another cry from Mewtwo made it disappear again, dodging its third consecutive Shadow Ball.

It reappeared, and disappeared instantly, as Mewtwo was prepared and had already formed another Shadow Ball between its digits, though this ball also missed. The mystical Pokémon appeared a bit higher up, and floated downward like a mermaid through water before pulling up and giggling. It seemed to have thought it was a game. "Mew. Said to be the only one of its kind," Mewtwo spoke up, now giving up on being able to catch it. "And the strongest Pokémon alive..." Ash blinked, looking down at the small pink Pokémon. He had certainly heard of Mew, but it was hard to believe that little Pokémon was the strongest Pokémon alive.

"However, I am the strongest Pokémon!" Mewtwo continued. Mew seemed not to be listening, and it danced through the air as it spoke. "I may have been made from part of you, but now, I will prove that Mewtwo is better than the original – superior to Mew!"

"Mew?" The smaller Pokémon cocked its head curiously as a blue glow appeared around Mewtwo's outline and it raised into the air.

"This world is too small for two of us!" Mew turned and darted into the air, and Mewtwo gave chase, pulling its hands back once again to form another Shadow Ball. Within seconds, it threw its hands forward, and with it the attack. Mew curled around this, and flew near Ash before dodging another Shadow Ball that the Pokémon Trainer felt breeze past him. Quickly, the Psychic Pokémon dove down and hid behind one of the thick pillars before peeking its head out. "Why do you flee from me?!" Mewtwo asked.

"Mew?"

"Are you afraid to find out which of us is greater?"

"Meeew!" The original Pokémon did not answer its modified clone, and instead turned and glided through the air, and Mewtwo gave chase. They flew away and out of sight, and Ash had to force his eyes away from where they had just disappeared to and looked down. Everyone was just little specks from all the way up here, and while Mew had indeed saved his life, it would have been nice if it had let him down on the ground.

He was on a pillar that made up the outer ring of the arena, teetering on the edge of falling into the ocean below. He took in his surroundings and was trying to gauge his best method of getting down onto solid ground when Mewtwo went shooting around the corner like a blue shooting star. Now that Mew was around, it seemed as though it had completely forgotten everyone else and only had eyes for its target.

Floating above the stadium almost level with Ash, it tucked its hands to its right and brought its wrists together. Moments later, black and light blue energy gathered and formed a ball, and it sat patiently for a few long seconds. Mew then came around the corner and skidded to a stop when it saw Mewtwo. Unsure of how it had gotten in front of it, it reacted slowly as Mewtwo threw the Ghost-type attack forward. Ash could only see the whites of its eyes widen slightly before it was hit by the attack and sent flying into the clouds.

The Pokémon Trainer gasped, and his own eyes widened when a flash of blue light shimmered behind the clouds. Had the attack exploded and defeated Mew? Mewtwo had certainly thought so, as its smirk and chuckle could be heard in all of their minds. Suddenly, a pink ball of energy burst from the clouds that had parted already once before, and rocketed at Mewtwo. Not even the Genetic Pokémon had time to react, and the orb of energy hit it directly in the stomach like a bag of bricks. It knocked it out of the air, but didn't explode upon impact. Instead of carried Mewtwo and forced it backward where it crashed into the stands of the arena. Seconds later, Mew came gliding down from the skies. It didn't look the least bit hurt from Mewtwo's earlier attack.

The dust parted around Mewtwo, and the Psychic Pokémon had put up a Barrier attack, the shimmering blue force field cracked in front of it and making the Psychic-type's face unreadable, but its arms were wide out, showing it had to put forth more energy than normal. "So, you do have some fight in you," Mewtwo said, rising into the air with its psychic powers. It lowered its arms, and the barrier faded, and it too was unharmed from the attack.

It descended downward and hovered behind its newly-cloned Pokémon. Likewise, Mew copied its movements, but only above the Pokémon that were real. "But I have no time for games; destiny is at hand. Who will rule? My super Pokémon, or your pathetic group of inferior Pokémon?"

"Mew?" Once again, the small pink Pokémon simply cocked its head.

"We were created with powers far stronger than the originals!"

"Mew! Mew mew mew. Mew mew mew mew!" The New Species Pokémon danced and bounced through the air as it spoke, continuing on for some time while Mewtwo listened silently and without interruption. But whatever it said had angered it.

"A Pokémon's real strength, you say?!" it growled, raised its arm and forming an energy ball between its fingers before chucking it forward. The ball soared at Mew, but the Pokémon quickly dodged, and unfortunately for Ash, the ball now flew towards him.

The Pokémon Trainer let out a cry of horror and turned on his heel to run as the ball connected with the concrete. Where he stood just seconds before crumbled from the impact, and both sides of the pillar began to follow suit. The cracks were faster than he was, despite running as fast as he could, and soon the support left his feet. Thinking quickly, he leapt forward before it crumbled away completely, and held his arms out hoping he would make it. His fingers caught the edge of the concrete, and even though his digits were slippery from sweat, he used all of his might to hold on for dear life.

"Very well. My clones don't need moves to prove their worth!" Mewtwo stated, and waved its arm. "Now we shall see who triumphs!" A loud commotion down below followed the declaration from the telepath, but Ash instead focused on pulling himself up. With sweat pouring down from his bangs and his heart beating a powerful drum solo in his chest, he threw his other hand up and gripped the concrete tightly. His biceps screamed in agony as he bent his elbows, pulling all of his weight up against gravity. Lips peeled away from teeth and he clenched his eyelids so hard he could see stars, but soon, his neck made it past the obstacle, and soon he was able to hoist himself up onto his knees. The wind caressed his spiky hair as he breathed heavily against the ground.

A collection of grunts, roars, and clashes grabbed the boy's attention, and now that the concrete wall was starting to move downward, he couldn't stand on his feet without losing his balance. So he crawled forward slowly until he was able to peer down at the stadium.

What he saw made his heart shatter to pieces.

Every Pokémon were fighting their respective clones. And fighting was the correct word; not battling.

As Mewtwo has said, there was no moves being used. Each pair were scattered throughout the arena, and they were simply beating each other senseless. Claws raked against skin, horns drove into sensitive spots, sharp teeth were tearing into flesh. Kicks being jabbed, bodies being slammed, and punches being thrown. His scanning eyes fell upon Blastoise. His starter Pokémon had its fingers interlocked with Blastoisetwo, and the two were battling for dominance, but same as the battle they had against Mewtwo, the clone was overpowering it.

He continued looking for his Pokémon, and saw his Charmeleon. Charmeleon and its clone were hacking at each other with their claws, but as Ash's brown eyes fell upon them, the clone Charmeleon whipped around and struck the original with its tail, and as Ash's Pokémon fell, it leapt up and brought its entire weight down on it. Ash's heart cried out once again as he saw his Pokémon in pain.

Some distance away, Bulbasaur was clashing with its own clone. Unlike the other clones that made it hard to tell which one was real or fake, Ash could instantly tell which Bulbasaur was the fake clone because of the dark green markings that were spotted all over its body. It was a similar flaw to the three fully evolved starters that Mewtwo had first created, and Ash wondered if the reason that Bulbasaurtwo looked like that was because he had interrupted the DNA extraction process. Either way, he frowned when the two Bulbasaur collided heads and recoiled off each other, only to repeat the process again and again.

A loud shriek of a Pidgeot snapped Ash out of his stupor, and he turned to the night sky to see Corey's Flying Pokémon and the clone both circling around each other before colliding together and intertwining their claws while pecking at the other's face. Shaking his head and closing his eyes, he realized he needed to get down to the ground to stop it.

Moving a slowly and carefully as he could but still trying to move with urgency, Ash followed the only path he could, which happened to lead to a closed window jutting out of the palace's roof. Bending at the knees, he let out a grunt as he jumped, and instantly wrapped his fingers around the metal that outlined it. The wind was fierce, but it was nothing compared to the battle Mew and Mewtwo were having. Both were outlined in pink and blue auras, respectively, and were orbiting around each other. Every once in a while, the two would collide, which would result in a blinding flash of light, similar to lightning, and they would recoil and the cycle would start again.

Noting that they were getting closer and closer to him, he told himself he needed to get down faster. It was only a matter of time before he would be hit by a stray strike from the two Psychic Pokémon, or by Pidgeot and Fearow fights happening in the air. Not to mention the pair of Dodrio that were jumping so high it seemed like they were flying.

The roof was comprised of strange, jagged tiles, which made for perfect footholds. The hardest part was trying to get from the actual roof down to the wall itself. He clutched the roof hard and lowered himself while telling himself not to look down, and slowly swung himself onto the side. The metal had been constructed to look like vines, so it was essentially like a big giant rock-climbing wall. At least, that's what Ash had to tell himself to give himself the courage to go down. He still had what seemed like forever to get down.

Stopping in a particularly large gap, Ash waited a moment to catch his breath, and looked down at the arena. It was still so far away, it seemed like, but that thought didn't cross his mind at all. Instead, he looked down in horror as the Pokémon began to finally succumb to their wounds and collapse. And it wasn't just the originals that were falling as well. The clone Pokémon were exhausted, too. But what really made his breath escape his lungs was seeing his Blastoise and Blastoisetwo crash their faces into each other, not even having the energy to lift their arms. Soon, they simply just slumped to the ground, their noses touching as though magnetized.

"Blastoise!" he breathed. This was all the motivation he needed to continue down. Now the walls came together into pillars as he got toward the bottom, and his heart was beating a mile a minute. His body struggled to find footholds more and more, but he wasn't thinking about that. All he was thinking about was getting down to save his Pokémon. This was soon his downfall, as he put his foot down, and his sneaker slid on the gleaming surface just as he let go. He let out a scream as he fell the rest of the way, and landed on the stone bleachers that outlined the rim of the stadium square on his back. All of the air was forced out of his lungs upon impact, and from the height he fell, he bounced the rest of the way down.

He managed to catch himself on his hands and knees, but soon the pain caught up to him, and he flopped over on his back and grimaced, struggling to stay conscious. He had hurt himself worse than he thought. Bruised but not broken yet, he peeled himself off the floor and forced himself onto one knee. One of his eyes was forced closed and the whole world seemed to be spinning and darkening.

Biting his lip to try and get himself to focus on that instead, he refilled his deflated lungs with air and stretched his legs so he would stand. Running along the bleachers clockwise, his eyes found Blastoise and he ran around the circumference of the arena along the bleachers until he got closer to his starter. Even with all of their energy depleted, the two Pokémon were still trying to strike each other with their claws, and even going as far as hitting the other with their hydro cannons.

"Stop! Please! Knock it off!" Ash begged, and jumped over the barrier of the stands, only for his body to punish him for doing such a task, and he fell onto his stomach once again.

"Ash!" he heard Brock yell, and within moments, he could feel the Pokémon Breeder's hands on his back and shoulder and attempting to help him up. Nurse Joy was also close by, looking at the boy with worry in her eyes. But Ash only had eyes for Blastoise.

"I've got to stop this..." he panted in between breaths.

"You can't," Brock said, and looked up into the sky. "Until Mew and Mewtwo stop, the fighting goes on." All eyes now looked up, and Ash could see the Mew duo were still colliding in midair.

"Living things won't give up their territory to other members of their own species," Nurse Joy commented with her hands anxiously folded around each other. "They'll battle 'til one is defeated... 'Til only one remains."

"That's how living things are?" Brock questioned, looking out as Thea's Charizard and Charizardtwo bit each other on the neck. "But Mewtwo was created by humans."

"They're alive, all right. Both Mew and Mewtwo... and Blastoise!" Ash slowly stood up and looked out at the arena. "And the other Blastoise, too!"

Before Ash could finish gathering the strength to go out and help his Pokémon, Mew and Mewtwo descended from the skies and collided into each other once again, but this time, it was much more powerful. So powerful, in fact, that when their Barrier attacks collided, a blast of wind shot out in all directions, knocking everything back that was around it and clearing the stadium of Pokémon and lights. On either side of the arena, the only thing that everyone's attention drew to was the glowing bodies of the two Mews. Mew's body glowed pink, its eyes burning fiercely and angrily. Mewtwo's body did the same as well, though its aura was blue.

The hairs on the back of Ash's neck rose and prickled from the sheer force of power the two were letting out, and they both shot out a small beam of energy to test the other, and like the same sides of magnets, the attacks forced the other all the way back to the opposite side of the stadium.

Ash, Brock, and Nurse Joy pulled themselves up, and while the other two stared at the Psychic Pokémon in fright, Ash looked around at all of the Pokémon. They were all injured and exhausted, and couldn't even lift their heads. The only ones fighting now were Mew and Mewtwo.

Again, the powerful glow appeared again around them both, preparing for their powerful Psychic attacks to collide once again. The first one was just a taste of their power – now they would attack for real. But what kind of damage would it do? The Pokémon were already exhausted, and couldn't defend themselves if it got worse. It had to be him. It had to be Ash.

Ignoring his body screaming out in pain, adrenaline numbed the pain and he ran out into the middle of the stadium. "WILL YOU GUYS STOP?!" he screamed, but the sound of his yell could barely be heard over the sound of the two Psychic attacks firing forward. "KNOCK IT OOOOOOOOFF!"

The two attacks collided... with Ash in the middle. And suddenly, he knew no pain. He knew nothing.

o 0 o

Everyone watched the two Psychic attacks collide as if it were going in slow motion. In a massive explosion of blue and pink, those with arms could only shield their eyes from the blinding attack. Some didn't understand why others were staring out, but Brock and Nurse Joy did, and their blood ran cold while their breath hitched in their throats. It had all happened too quickly; they didn't have enough time to stop him.

A bright light shimmered from Ash's figure in the center of the blasts, radiating from his chest like a crystal. "What happened?!" Brock proclaimed after finally finding his voice, and on the other side, Ash's Blastoise was attempting to pull itself up off its stomach.

"Blastoise-Bla..."

The attacks from the Mew duo faded, and the two Psychic Pokémon stared as the giant pearl of energy encased Ash while his body hung in the air, as if paused in time. Finally, it was cast away and the boy's limp figure fell onto his stomach in slow motion, shimmering like a diamond. "Foolishness! A human would actually attempt to stop our battle?" Mewtwo uttered in disbelief. Mew only looked quietly ahead with a tilted head, but its eyes drew away from Ash and at the fully-evolved Shellfish Pokémon that was dragging itself as fast as it could toward its Trainer.

The light faded just in time for Blastoise to crawl up next to its Trainer, and in its place, Ash's body had been hardened into a onyx statue of his former self. He had been petrified from the attacks. "Blast... Blastoise-Bla..." It looked at Ash with a cocked head, and when the Pokémon Trainer didn't respond, Blastoise shook his head, though the whole body rocked with it. "Blastoise-bla...!" This didn't work – he didn't wake up. So Blastoise blinked in disbelief and tilted its head yet again.

This time, it tried pushing on his stomach. He was solid and his whole body rocked, but this didn't work either – he didn't even blink. "Blastoise-bla!" Bulbasaur and Charmeleon stood frozen, unable to move and staring in disbelief as Blastoise attempted to wake up Ash to no avail. Even Brock didn't say anything, and only let out the breath he had no idea he was holding.

The Water Pokémon tapped Ash's head once again, resulting in a hard sound that wasn't like knocking on human skin. Seeing no other option, Blastoise aimed its cannons at its Trainer and fired a light Hydro Pump at him. The water enveloped it, and it quickly stopped, but nothing had changed. Blastoise fired again, and water pooled around and dripped off the petrified figure. As before, nothing happened. But Blastoise had gained some of Ash's stubbornness, and continued blasting over and over again with Hydro Pumps, not giving in despite its exhausted state.

Everyone – both originals and clones, and humans – looked at the scene sadly, but not a single sound dared to destroy the silence that was occasionally filled with water being released from Blastoise's silver cannons. The water started to slow down as Blastoise became overwhelmed with exhaustion and sadness, water falling from its eyes instead of its hydro cannons until nothing more came out of them but a small trickle. "Blastoise-bla..."

Seeing Blastoise shed the first tears and cry out for its Trainer, the rest followed suit. All Pokémon began to tear up, and the silence was finally broken by the pair of Dodrio letting out a wail. Each of its three heads had tears brimming where eye and feather met. Fergus's Gyarados threw its head back and let out a roar of sadness, and it was strange seeing such a powerful, intimidating Pokémon tearing up. Charmeleon's tears were the first to fall, dropping involuntarily when it sniffed through its nose. The clone did the same, and though it went unnoticed through grief, a strange blue light shimmering like a star floated out of the falling tear and drifted slowly toward Ash.

Blastoise sobbed, its head down against the ground and one arm on its Trainer's arm, so it didn't notice the light flooding from all the tears being dropped from the Pokémon around it, nor did it notice the light coming from all directions and floating toward Ash so brightly it lit up the darkened stadium. It was when Blastoise noticed the glowing of Ash's core that it lifted its head. "Bla... Blastoise?" it questioned, and slowly looked around to see the other Pokémon grieving as well. The tears that were even pouring from its own eyes had a bright light cascading from them.

Brock and Nurse Joy saw this as well, but neither of the knowledgeable experts had any idea as to what was going on. Corey, Fergus, and Thea stood on the other side of the room mystified as well. The only dry eyes in the huge space was Mew's and Mewtwo's, and they, too, were looking around at the glittering tears hovering through the air and gathering at Ash in unexplained shock, but while the New Species Pokémon bounced around playfully at the light drifting past it, its modified clone let its eyes follow their destination, and they narrowed upon reaching Ash.

Finally, the last of the tears stopped, and merged with Ash's petrified core. A bright light shimmered inside him, lighting up his onyx complex, and with a new hope, Blastoise let out one last call of its Trainer's name and blinked. One final tear fell from its eye and drifted to its Trainer's body, where it merged with it and rippled like rainwater on a lake's surface.

Just in time for the sun's rays to shine through the clouds above, Ash's body began to glow brightly as it had when this had first happened, and as the sunlight touched the petrified human, the glow dissolved off him, along with the onyx stone that covered his body. Ash's figure lay on its stomach, but he was no longer petrified.

A groan escaped his mouth, and his fingers pulled together. They were sore for some reason, but he couldn't quite remember why. He blinked as his vision came back to him, and he let out a breath that he felt like he had been holding for quite some time. There wasn't a single part of his body that wasn't sore, but his muscles seemed to thank him for the movement. Pulling himself onto his knees, he looked forward to see Blastoise staring at him. The whites of its eyes were red, but he couldn't explain this, either. Instead, he smiled at the Water-type, and his starter summoned all of its strength and swooped up its Trainer in a tight embrace. Ash tried not to grimace at the pain, and only hugged his Pokémon back as he was lifted off his feet. "Blastoise!"

A relieved smile passed through the arena, starting with Brock and Nurse Joy, and the Pokémon Breeder even let out a small chuckle at the display of affection. The Pokémon began to celebrate amongst themselves, smiling at each other as though they had never been fighting. The marked Charizard even leaned forward and cleaned the wounds on Thea's Charizard's neck.

Mew and Mewtwo hovered higher into the air, choosing to look down on the scene. Instead of fighting like they had moments before, they seemed to be... harmonizing. Though no one paid any attention to them, they seemed to be having a telepathic conversation with each other before both of them began to glow gold. One by one, the cloned Pokémon began to glow the same, and the slowly lifted off the ground.

The humans all gathered around Ash, a smile spreading across their faces as the Pokémon all flew through the air. There wasn't a sad look on any of their faces either. Bulbasaur, Charmeleon, Vulpix, and Psyduck all ran up to join their Trainers as well, and they exchanged smiles with them before turning their attention back to the flying cloned Pokémon. In a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, Ash could have sworn he saw Blastoisetwo give a small wave to his own Blastoise.

"Mewtwo... where will you go?" Ash asked. He didn't say it loud, but he knew the Psychic Pokémon would hear him. And he was correct.

"Where my heart can learn what yours knows so well..." it responded as both it and Mew flew higher into the air with the cloned Pokémon in tow. "What transpired here, I will always remember. But perhaps for you... these events are best forgotten..." None of them questioned aloud what Mewtwo meant, but as the cloned army disappeared into the sun's rays, a strange light shimmered at their feet. It was small at first, but when Ash looked down and saw it, it quickly expanded outward until it covered the whole stadium's floor. They let out a cry as the light began to let out a powerful but light breeze that lifted them off their feet. Everyone looked down in confusion, but soon, the light glowed brighter and brighter until they could not see any longer.

o 0 o

They stared at a gathering of people. They were heavy with disappointment, and rain could be heard pounding on the metal roof over their heads. Officer Jenny and another blue-haired woman who had introduced herself as Miranda, were telling the group that it was much too stormy for the boats to leave the harbor.

Then, Nurse Joy of the neighboring Pokémon Center that they saw briefly upon arrival came through the front doors, wearing a pink and white-spotted raincoat and approached the group of travelers. "Please remain calm, and I'll do my best to help," she said with a calming voice. "The Pokémon Center will function as a shelter, open to anyone! Come with me if you wish to use it." Ash and Brock watched as Nurse Joy led the group to the entrance of the harbor from where she had just emerged from, and his eyes fell upon a boy with messy dark hair wearing an orange jumpsuit. He recognized him from last year's Indigo League finals, but couldn't quite remember his name.

Brock was focused on someone else, however. "Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny, Miranda, too! The rainwater hardly blurs their radiant beauty!" Ash turned his attention to his traveling companion and rolled his eyes with a playful smirk on his face, but then the smile quickly faded and he furrowed his brows as he looked up at the roof.

"Huh? Why are we here in the first place?" he asked, looking around. "It doesn't make any sense..." Brock opened his mouth to answer as though it were on the tip of his tongue, but before he could speak, he realized he couldn't answer as well. Why were they here? But then, his narrow eyes focused on something, which made Ash look in the direction as well. But it wasn't what they saw, but what they heard. Silence.

Standing up from their seated position, Ash and Brock hurried out of the entrance and when the doors opened, they smiled. The sun was starting to break through the thick clouds, and beams were shining radiantly through them. The rain that had been coming down in sheets before, had quickly stopped and gave way to calmer weather, much how the morning had been.

They walked all the way down the pier to where it ended and the ocean began, and took in the beautiful view. It was the calm after a storm, and the gentle salty breeze filled their nostrils and seemed to put them at ease.

Movement suddenly caught Ash's eye, and he looked up to see a small creature with a long tail flip in the air, but the sunlight was so bright that he couldn't tell the shape or color of it. "What's that?" the Pallet Town boy asked, narrowing his eyes to try and get a better view. Brock followed his line of sight, but as he did, the creature disappeared up into the clouds. "You see that? Just up there!"

"Nothing but clouds..." Brock replied.

Ash's eyes kept on where he had seen the creature disappear, but despite Brock not having seen it, the boy chuckled as he clutched his backpack straps. "On the day I set out and decided to become a Pokémon Master, I saw a really rare Pokémon, just like I did now."

"Well, maybe you'll see it again sometime," his traveling companion assured him. "That really rare Pokémon." Ash smiled back at him and nodded.

"One day for sure."

-end-

Ash:

Party:

Blastoise (Poké Ball)

Moves: Skull Bash, Dig, Hydro Pump, BubbleBeam

Pidgeotto (Poké Ball)

Moves: Gust, Quick Attack, Whirlwind, Double-Edge

Bulbasaur (Poké Ball)

Moves: SolarBeam, Vine Whip, Razor Leaf, Leech Seed

Charmeleon (Poké Ball)

Moves: Flamethrower, Fire Spin, Skull Bash, Slash

Tauros (Safari Ball)

Moves: Fissure, Horn Attack, Take Down

Primeape (Poké Ball)

Moves: Thrash, Mega Kick, Scratch, Seismic Toss

At Professor Oak's Lab:

Muk (Poké Ball)

Moves:

Tauros (Safari Ball)

Moves:

Krabby (Poké Ball)

Moves: ViceGrip

Badges:

Boulder Badge

Cascade Badge

Thunder Badge

Marsh Badge

Rainbow Badge

Soul Badge

Volcano Badge

Earth Badge

Brock:

Party:

Onix (Poké Ball)

Moves: Tackle, Bind, Dig

Geodude (Poké Ball)

Moves: Seismic Toss, Tackle

Zubat (Poké Ball)

Moves: Whirlwind, Supersonic

Psyduck (Poké Ball)

Moves: Tail Whip, Water Gun, Disable, Confusion

Vulpix (Poké Ball)

Moves: Fire Spin, Flamethrower, Agility