"You did… what."

Ash winced. "Sorry, mom… but I had to, because, it was either I went or everyone on the planet got wiped out."

"Really?" Delia asked. "Really! And how do you know that, Ash?"

He's right, Dexter said. Even as untrained as he was, Mewtwo is incredibly powerful, and able to apply that power indiscriminately to cause enormous damage. The best case scenario is Legendary Pokémon collaborating to stop him, and even under those circumstances there would still have been huge numbers of-

Delia turned her gaze on Dexter, who collapsed his digital form back into his projector and let it drop to the floor.

Ash swallowed, then reached into his bag, and rummaged around for the drawstring bag.

"I checked," he said. "Most of this is still there. It's what brought me back, and… I guess it was what kept me safe, so I should be fine."

Delia closed her eyes or a long moment. "I'm not going to be able to convince you, am I?"

"I'm doing pretty well, I think?" Ash tried. "Apart from the property damage, at least…"

"It's who you are, I suppose," Delia admitted. "Just… be careful, Ash."

Late that evening, under a crystal clear sky, Ash sat and looked up into the heavens.

Mewtwo was out there, somewhere, and maybe he'd be able to heal. Let his heart and spirit go free.

"Hey," Misty said. "You all right?"

"Yeah," Ash agreed. "I guess my mind was wandering a bit."

He reached down, into his pocket, and took the Rainbow Wing out. "I got this a long time ago, this time around… I found it next to Ho-Oh's bag of Sacred Ash. And I was wondering… did he know this was going to happen? Did he guess?"

"With you?" Misty asked. "Ash, it'd be a safe bet something would."

Ash nodded, holding the Rainbow Wing up above him, then slowly twirled the feather. It glittered in the starlight and the light from Oak Labs, and he frowned slightly.

"It's weird, to think about what might have happened," he admitted.

"Huh?" Misty asked.

"If I hadn't been involved with… any of this," Ash clarified. "With the Legendary Pokémon, and whatever. If I'd just been a trainer who travelled around with Pikachu – or even my first choice, which was actually Squirtle."

"That's just a weird thought, you without Pikachu," Misty admitted. "But you mean… if you'd had a normal journey, right?"

"Right," Ash confirmed. "Most people on their Pokémon Journey spend a few years travelling around, meet a few good friends both human and Pokémon, challenge some gyms maybe… then they find what they want to do with their lives, and they do it. And I just… I don't know."

He shrugged. "It's sort of more like two things. What if I hadn't got mixed up in any of the Legendary Pokémon things, what would I have been like, and… what would it be like if I'd dropped out before the League?"

"Ash, if you'd dropped out before the League… unless it was for some weird reason anyway, like Sabrina or whatever, you wouldn't really be… you," Misty replied. "You're more determined than smart. That's Ash Ketchum right down to the ground."

Ash snorted. "Maybe, but… still."

"I think you'd still have been a great trainer, Ash," Misty said. "Sincerely. And… I sort of know what you mean, because my sisters all knew what they were going to do with their lives. And I did too, but I wanted to make sure I knew what a proper Gym was like. So after my Elite Four qualification run, I decided to journey around Kanto to see what other Gyms did, and maybe get Pokémon that were even close to as strong as the borrowed ones I'd used against the Elite Four. And then…"

"Then Pikachu and I blew your bike up," Ash summarized. "And your chance of a peaceful life, too."

"Don't be like that, but… yeah, completely accurate," Misty said.

"Story of my life," Ash agreed. "I sometimes wonder how the other two did, you know… Sammy, she dropped out after reaching her fifth gym? And she's just looking for a complete team of good friends, now. While Oscar didn't do more than about three gyms, same reason…"

Ash trailed off, turning the feather again and watching it shimmer.

"Maybe this is a metaphor?" he asked.

"For what?" Misty said.

"Dunno, but it'd be a good one," Ash said, which got them both chuckling. "But, uh… the colours are because it's made of tiny sheets of… something? And only one colour can bounce off all the sheets properly, but when you turn it the thickness changes so the bouncing colour changes. It's like with the colours you see on soap bubbles."

"I didn't know that," Misty said, then looked vaguely suspicious. "And I'm surprised you do, really."

"I asked Dexter," Ash explained.

"Mm," Misty responded. "Maybe that's a metaphor, how everyone looks at it from a different place, so everyone sees something different. A different rainbow, or something."

"Could be," Ash agreed, then closed his eyes. "...huh. This still has Aura."

He inhaled, held it deeply for a long moment, then exhaled, and a tiny rose flame danced for a second at the tip of the feather.

"Do you think that's that Rainbow Hero thing?" Misty asked.

"Don't know, but maybe," Ash replied. "And maybe… well, Ho-Oh is about regrowth and renewal, like… after a storm. Like now. So for something to keep burning, that's… it could work."

"It's hopeful," Misty said.

Ash just nodded.

"Are you okay?"

Gary looked around. "Huh? Oh, Brock, right… yeah, I'm fine, I was just processing."

The older trainer nodded. "Yeah, I was going to see how Ash was doing, but he and Misty are having a talk and I don't want to interrupt either of them."

He stretched. "We've been through a lot together, and right now just going up and saying hi would be intruding… just a feeling you get from looking at a conversation, sometimes."

Brock looked Gary up and down. "So… how are you doing?"

Gary shrugged, and Brock sat down next to him.

"Gary," he began. "I don't know how much of my past you know, but I used to parent all my siblings at once. It's okay to admit it to yourself if you're overwhelmed… and I'd be surprised if you weren't."

He shrugged. "If you're really fine, that's fine, I'm not going to make you say you did struggle. But I don't think you ran into much of this in the last timeline."

"Yeah," Gary admitted. "It's… last time I faced Mewtwo in Viridian Gym, and he was so powerful, but I didn't know how powerful. So I was scared. And then… at the end, I was there at the Spear Pillar, and there were the Dragons of Creation, but they were mostly just… there."

He shivered. "It's one thing to know how powerful a Legendary Pokémon is in the abstract, it's something completely different when he's blowing a castle apart right in front of you. And when I saw Ash just… jumping around and playing the hero, it made me scared for him as well and I didn't want him to get hurt and-"

Brock's hand landed on Gary's shoulder, helping break the runaway his breathing was starting to take. "Calm down. It's over, you're safe now."

"I…" Gary said, swallowing. "I think I'm okay now. Thank you."

"No problem," Brock replied. "Take as long as you want to spend to calm down."

Gary nodded, and just focused on breathing.

After a few minutes of deep, slow, even breaths, Gary resumed.

"I think I'd have felt better about it if I had Umbreon along," he decided. "Both because she's a Dark type, and because… well, I really got used to relying on her after she evolved. More than Blastoise, if anything."

"It can happen," Brock said. "Steelix is my starter, and I tend to reach for Crobat a lot, but when I went to Hoenn and Sinnoh I left both of them and Geodude back at Pewter. The Pokémon that you end up using are just… it's how it works out. But that's why people go on Pokémon Journeys, to give it time to work out."

Gary snorted. "Ash could have retired with the perfect Pokémon for him on day one. He and Pikachu… as far back as I've known, they've had an amazing rapport."

That made Brock grin. "Fortunately for you, and unfortunately for Ash, I've known the two of them together for longer than you have. Let me tell you about what happened when he came to my gym the first time around…"

Gary frowned. "Huh?"

"Well, by that point they were already friends, but he didn't understand types at all," Brock said. "He tried beating Geodude and Onix by using Pikachu to do it… and, when that didn't work, he just charged Pikachu up more and came back again."

"Ouch," Gary winced. "How did he beat you, anyway?"

"...well, it worked, but that's beside the point," Brock admitted. "Actually, I may as well take the chance to tell you about some of the other things Ash got involved with. Like how he left Pallet Town with a pair of rubber gloves and Pikachu on a leash…"

The stories went on for a while, and Gary only noticed how long they were taking when the lab lights went out.

"Wow," he said. "It's already midnight… thanks, Brock. For taking my mind off it."

"Not a problem, Gary," Brock said. "I've had far too long dealing with younger siblings to leave someone miserable like that."

Silence fell, but this time it was calmer. More contemplative.

Eventually, Gary pushed himself back upright, then went back to his house without a word.

Pikachu lay back on the grass, staring up at the heavens.

"I've seen them different," he mused. "Funny to think about."

For a long moment, he just lay there.

"I know you're there, by the way," he said, without turning.

Meowth tripped.

"What gave it away?" he asked. "I'm pretty sure I got hearing at least as good as yours, and I wasn't hearin' anything. I'm downwind of you and all, too."

"Electromagnetism," Pikachu replied. "You're not able to feel it, so you don't know what to fake."

"Ah well," Meowth said, then flopped down next to Pikachu. "You know, it's kinda strange for us to just be talkin'. It's happened now and then that we have a kinda truce, but this one's longer than most."

"I hope it lasts," Pikachu replied. "You'd never hear me say this normally, but there's a lot to like about you. All of you, I mean."

He flicked an ear. "A lot to not like, as well, let's not go crazy. But your team is… surprisingly functional… and you've got an astonishing determination, it's just, you mostly use it to try to steal me personally."

"Hey, think of it as a compliment!" Meowth invited. "And it's just business."

"There's an old saying."

Both Meowth and Pikachu looked around at that, and saw Riolu walking up to them.

"I destroy my enemy, when I make him my friend," Riolu quoted. "It's certainly appropriate for Ash… sorry if I'm interrupting, I just didn't want to be alone tonight. Not after… that."

"It's never a problem, Riolu," Pikachu assured him. "I'd say your first one is the hardest, but I don't know if that's true… they're all hard, though, that much is certain."

He turned over, stretching, then returned to looking up at the sky. "And I like the saying."

"It's a weird one, though," Riolu frowned. "Because it sort of means that your old self is destroyed when anything happens to it, since it's changed…"

He shrugged.

Meowth nodded, then blinked. "Wait, didn't ya say you saw the stars different? Like… from Unova or something?"

"No, it's when Ash and I went back in time thousands of years," Pikachu explained. "I don't think we've travelled in time further than then, though, obviously one like this is the one that's the longest and most impactful. Anyway… there was an eclipse, and I looked out for the stars, and they were different."

He pointed. "The stars move in different directions, over time, it takes thousands of years but they do. Those five stars near the centre of the Dragonair…"

Little sparks flickered overhead as Pikachu pointed out which ones he meant. "They used to be the wings of a constellation called the Dragonite. That's the only one I remembered well enough to look up, once."

A light breeze ruffled their fur, and Meowth made an approving noise. "Huh, yeah, I guess dat makes sense."

"That Slowbro was new, right?" Pikachu checked. "I don't remember you having one before."

"Yeah, good thing they were along," Meowth agreed. "Without them and Cubone's reality-marble whatchamacallit and all the other stuff, I don't think we'd still be here."

"So, new team member?"

"Nope," Meowth shook his head. "I asked, and they said no."

He paused. "For, about fifteen, twenty minutes constantly, just so's we knew that was the question that was bein' answered. Then made a rude gesture a lot."

"It happens," Pikachu decided.

He glanced over at Riolu, who was shivering. "Cold?"

"Battle shock," Riolu denied. "I recognize it, but… I've never been in such a stressful situation before and I think it's setting in."

He shuddered, paws balling into fists. "Even with Hunter J, I was able to help, or I could see what you were doing to help, or – or I was just not aware of anything. But staring into that cloud of dust, hearing the blasts and feeling the ground shake… Ash spent his life like water to fight, and I couldn't do a thing."

Pikachu offered his tail, and the Fighting-type gave it a squeeze.

"I've felt helpless before," Pikachu said. "But I made myself a private promise."

"Huh?" Meowth tilted his head. "What kind'a private promise?"

"Not a very private one, apparently," Pikachu decided. "If Ash dies, properly, I'm breaking into the afterlife and bringing him out myself."

His cheeks sparked momentarily. "Starting by going to New Moon island in Sinnoh and asking Darkrai nicely whether they can sort it out or who I should address my next complaints to."

"And if he don't answer?" Meowth asked.

"I stop asking nicely. And before you ask, Worry Seed."

Riolu let go of Pikachu's tail, and his paws flickered. "If you ever have to, Pikachu, I'm coming with you."

"Got room for more?" Meowth asked. "Oh, don't give me dat look, if Ash was gone there wouldn't be anyone to steal ya from!"

"This is too depressing to think about," Pikachu decided. "Let's talk about something else."

"Well, I wouldn't mind getting a quick update," Meowth confessed. "What's happenin' next?"

"Hmm… let's see… you've not been selling fake Leaf Stones, have you?"

"No, but we got a pretty good line in cut price real ones," Meowth answered. "It ain't smugglin' if you do it right."

"Right… and after that is… oh, I think we're about to get to that guy who wanted us to help make a movie," Pikachu brightened. "Now that should be interesting."

Sir Aaron caressed the hilts of his Sacred Swords, and looked out over the grassy plain before them.

Next to him was Dialga, who was either technically recruited into Sir Aaron's army or vice versa, with Ieyasu stood arms-crossed on his back.

"So, who do we fight here, again?" Sir Aaron asked.

Ieyasu jumped down, landing in a crouch. "This is the territory of the One-Eyed Dragon of Osshu."

Aaron paused. "Did you say dragon? Because I have a terrible feeling about this."

"Like what?" Dialga asked.

Suddenly, a shout echoed over the crest of the nearest hill. "ARE YOU READY GUYS?"

The accent was terrible.

Ieyasu clenched his fists, Dialga's gem pulsed as he gathered power, and Sir Aaron contemplated the virtues of alcohol.

And then, Palkia rode over the crest of a nearby hill, on top of a visibly straining Rapidash and followed by a horde of mounted samurai.

"Let's go!" Dialga called. "Charge!"

Sir Aaron shrugged, threw his Sacred Swords, and followed. They arced in a series of looping trajectories, flashing back and forth across his path, and he appropriated a Rapidash from one of the Osshu men with a quick Mach Punch before swinging up into the saddle.

"Okay, Palkia!" he demanded, catching both swords out of the air and turning his new mount to face the Dragon-type. "Since when could you speak like that? As in, not in Palkia, but yes in a terrible accent?"

Palkia looked guilty. "I didn't say anything."

His horse finally collapsed with a wheeze, and Palkia landed with a thump on the ground. "It must have been your imagination."

"And, one eyed dragon?" Sir Aaron pressed. "You've got both eyes, you're just wearing an eyepatch. I saw you switch it around just a moment ago."

He frowned. "Admittedly your helmet is very nice, but why?"

"Image," Palkia replied, then extended two sets of three claws each. "LETS PARTY!"

AN:

More of a breather chapter than anything

I think Pikachu's plan is pretty much what Ash's Pokémon would do, really.

The Rainbow wing's description is based off the real-world mechanism of iridescence. It's the same reason why butterfly scales or Peacock feathers shimmer different colours, and how that special car paint that changes colour works. CDs produce rainbow effects by a different but related phenomenon. It's one of those things where knowing how it works only makes it more beautiful.

The idea of the phoenix feather still burning after it has been shed is one I first encountered in Carpe Jugulum, by Terry Pratchett. It may not be the origin of the legend, but I can't track it back further. In the Discworld book, it's specifically stated they burn in the presence of evil - but I decided not to carry that part forward.

Oh, yeah, and Palkia is Date Masamune - who did not in reality speak Engrish. Or have a motor horse. The Sengoku Basara one does, though.