Author's Notes (8)

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Hey, hey! Dumbass-who-overestimated-himself speaking! We're finally in M01, yipee!

I sound like a broken record, but thank you all for reading this story! Means a lot to me.

Now, onto the plot of Fated!M01:

While I was planning for M01, I had two options to go for.

One, I could just copy M01 and add bits and pieces of Fated elements. Bing bang boom, call it a day.

Or two, the most difficult option being to use M01 only as a guideline and adding huge chunks of original Fated content in tandem with the original M01.

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...

So naturally, I went with 2.

And boy, was I a dumbass. Excluding the Author's Notes, this special chapter is 20k+ words long! This is way bigger than any chapter to date! And the worst part is?

I'm probably going to break this record in the future in exchange for my sanity.

However, I don't regret this at all. All in all, I think it turned out great. But you guys be the judge of that.

Fair warning that towards the end, we're leaning close to Fate/stay night since I'm using their elements to make this story. And without further ado, IKZ!

Chapter 52: [M01] Mewtwo Strikes Back!

Northern Kanto, nearby the kingdom of Rota…

This was an event that took place several years before.

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Expedition Log #001

The team has finally received permission from the reigning Rota royalty to enter the designated location after a whole week of negotiations. For the next few days, the team will begin exploring the Tree of Beginnings, codenamed [YGGDRASIL]. Hopefully, by the end of this, we will be able to obtain samples of the mythical Pokémon, Mew, who is said to live within the tree.

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Expedition Log #048

Unexpected situation arose for the team as entering [YGGDRASIL] has alerted the tree of our presence. Hypothesis is that the Tree of Beginnings is sentient or at the very least, semi-sentient. Shortly after our entrance, an unidentified creature manifested in front of us as if to keep us away from the roots of tree. Creature appeared to be serpent-like with a body of green and black. No other Pokémon coincide with the creature's appearance, but hypothesis suggests that it may not be sentient as it showed berserk-like aggression without any thought process.

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Expedition Log #086

We've finally managed to lose the unidentified creature and have entered the trunk. The Tree of Beginnings harbours its own ecosystem within as many Pokémon have been observed thriving. What's more, the Legendary Titans have been spotted around our vicinity. Theory is that they are aware of human presences and seek to get rid of us.

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Expedition Log #123

At long last, we have obtained a sample of Mew. The eyelashes, at least. But in exchange, we have lost a large number of our team to the Titans as well as the black and green creature of [YGGDRASIL]'s roots. Nevertheless, our task is completed. Experiments and trials are to commence.

-Signed, Dr. Fuji-

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Where am I?

Who am I?

Why am I here?

"This one's the same as the other copies."

I hear a faint voice.

"Why won't it wake up?"

Someone's talking about me.

"Theoretically, there shouldn't be any problems, but…"

Are they talking about me?

"Perhaps it needs something else to be born?"

I don't know.

What are they saying?

"Those are human words," a cheerful voice interrupted my thoughts.

I opened my eyes to find only the deep void surrounding me. Then, from where the voice boomed, I saw a bright light form into a shape I had never seen before.

"…Who are you?" I asked to the cluster of lights.

"Me? Well, I'm human!" the light answered.

"But I'm a lot like you."

As the voice added that last bit, the light disappeared and in its place was a being I had never seen before:

An immense bundle of silky pale blue strings covering the head with a pair of dark blue orbs on its front while a strange fabric of white covered the being's entire body.

"A human?" I echoed her answer.

If that is a 'human'…

"Am I a 'human' too?" I asked the entity before me.

"You can talk, so you might be human too," the 'human' answered with a curved opening on its front.

"Or… Maybe I'm a Pokémon!"

Another unfamiliar term…

"Human? Pokémon?" I tried verbalizing those two words.

"What're those? Which one am I?"

I desperately wished to know as I asked the being before me again.

Who am I?

But my question was met with an answer I never expected.

"It doesn't matter," the human replied.

"You and I are about the same, after all!"

The being's body twirled as if a gesture of playfulness while I was still stuck unknowing what I was. But before I could ponder, the human spoke to me again.

"There are a lot of others like us here!"

…What?

Then, from the darkness around us, new voices introduced themselves.

"Bul-ba!"

"Char!"

"Squirt!"

They were all different. Vastly different from the 'human' before me.

And yet, we're all the same?

"Mewtwo and Ambertwo are communicating with each other," a woman said as she monitored the wavelengths of two subjects on the screen.

"Not only that, the other test subjects have also begun communicating with Mewtwo."

"Is this… telepathy?" a man in a similar lab coat hypothesized.

"I can't confirm it, but there is plenty of basis for that possibility," the woman answered.

While the researchers in the room focused mainly on the other test subjects, one man was solely focused on the radiant light within a pod.

"…Amber."

"Everyone here, including me, are all copies!" the girl said to the small bipedal feline.

"That's why we're all not 'One', we're 'Two'!"

"Then, I'm also a 'Two'?" the bipedal feline asked.

"Well, I'm Ambertwo. But I'm actually Amber!"

"Bul-ba!" / "Char!" / "Squirt!"

The five spun around in a circle as if not weighted down by gravity as they enjoyed their time together, including Mewtwo.

Outside of that, the man gazing into the radiant light stood silently.

"…Amber. What are you talking about with the others?"

"My precious daughter… Amber."

Years ago…

"Dear…" a woman gasped in shock as she entered her husband's workspace.

"What do you think about this holograph?" the man asked his wife as he showed her the radiant light within the pod.

"Isn't it beautiful?"

"I've reproduced Amber's conscious patterns electronically."

BAM!

"And what will come out of doing this?" the woman asked as she gripped the stair's railings tight within her grasps.

"Amber… My Amber will never come back…"

"No! That's wrong. Just watch!" the man begged.

"I'll show you that I can bring her back."

"Amber's… within this light."

But the woman had enough. And soon after his daughter… his wife left his side as well.

What she left was her ring to him and a note that simply said:

"I don't want to live a life controlled by memories, Fuji. This is goodbye."

Right in front of a photograph of a happy family with a pale blue-haired girl in the middle. A family's happiness lost in the past.

Fuji could only sit in silence as he stare absently into the holograph before reaching a palm towards the glass case of the holograph's pod, as if caressing his own child's cheek only to be met with the disappointingly cold feel of the glass.

"I'll name this holograph Ambertwo."

Unnamed Island, Kanto Region

"They're what?" Fuji gasped in shock.

"The eyelashes we obtained from the Tree of Beginnings are rather recent, Dr Fuji. Compared to what little fossilized remains of Mew we had in the lab pales in comparison with the real thing!" a researcher said enthusiastically after recounting their findings.

"With the recency of the samples, I believe we can clone Mew's life force with a 100% accuracy. We can probably create an identical Mew clone that's on par with the real one!"

Dr Fuji nodded mutedly as he waved the man away.

'I don't care for the odds nor the specimen. That's something our research benefactors, the Rockets, want, not what I desire,' Fuji mused as he reached the pod holding Ambertwo.

"I just want my daughter to come back to me…"

Ambertwo and Mewtwo flew across their mental landscape with the three starter clones behind them, stopping when they reached a significant place of Ambertwo's.

"This is the place of my memories," she said.

"The place where Amber was born."

Mewtwo's eyes caught something blinding in their peripherals and scrunched them as they tried to look up in the sky. The bipedal feline saw a perfect circle of light where it emitted a radiant yellow in a world of gray.

"What's that?" Mewtwo asked as it shielded its eyes from the fiery ball.

"That's the Sun," Ambertwo kindly answered, making the memory world around begin to fill with colour.

Mewtwo widened its eyes at the colour swap of the world around it. The azure sky that stretched endlessly, the luscious green of the trees, all of them gave the young bipedal feline a sense of wonder as they took everything in for the first time.

"The… Sun?" it echoed its name.

"It gives us light and warmth," Ambertwo continued as she watched the three starter clones gladly taking in the warmness of the Sun.

Just as she finished, Mewtwo was met with an invisible force gently blowing onto its face, causing it to cross its arms at the unseen force.

"This is wind."

"Wind?"

The five resumed their flight as they oversee the place of Ambertwo's memories.

"Sometimes it's gentle, and sometimes it's harsh. It comforts us!" she explained.

The world shifted once more. This time, the azure sky changed its hue into a harsh orange and finally into the dark blue.

"The sunset. It means we'll meet again tomorrow."

The dark sky was now adorned with shining glimmers accompanied with a giant round luminous circle unlike the Sun.

"What are those?" Mewtwo asked curiously.

"The stars and the Moon," Ambertwo beamed at the moonlight.

"They're there so that you will never be lonely in the pitch darkness of night, telling you that you'll never be alone!"

'Alone…' Mewtwo pondered on that one word.

Suddenly, Charmandertwo began fading with its body turning into stardust. The orange lizard looked at his fading body helplessly as it vanished into the night sky.

"Charmandertwo's life signs are fading away."

"Has it begun?"

...

...

BEEP!

Squirtletwo and Bulbasaurtwo's body swiftly followed suit as they watched their bodies disintegrate into nothingness, joining the stars with Charmandertwo.

BEEP!

BEEP!

"Bulbasaurtwo and Squirtletwo are lost as well."

"So, it's another failure this time, huh?"

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Where are all these voices coming from?

I watched as my friends disappear one after another as they joined the numerous stars in the vast pitch-black sky. Confused, I looked to my companion for answers.

"Amber, where did everyone—"

My question was cut short as I turned to a sight that will forever etch itself to me. A sight that I'm very sure will accompany for the rest of my life:

The human girl stood silently as the luminous Moon shined brightly behind her. Her billowing pale blue hair sparkled into blue moots of light as she smiled towards me without flinching. The girl's dark blue eyes were shimmering brightly as small beads of tears rested within them.

But the girl continued smiling. She stood still, aware of what was happening unlike me. And yet, she smiled.

I fared no better. I couldn't move.

No, I was afraid to.

I was afraid that if I moved an inch…

This beautiful memory of mine would fade away into the stars.

"Ambertwo's life signals are fading…"

No… What does that mean?

I don't understand. But I don't like it.

"What's wrong, Amber?"

My voice quivered.

"What's happening?"

I was feigning ignorance. I just didn't want to accept that she's going.

"Looks like it's time to part ways," she said without ever losing that beautiful smile.

Please… Don't go.

I watched as her feet slowly burst into stardust as they eat Amber from bottom to top.

"Amber…"

The Moon fades.

The night sky disappears.

But my sight began to mist as the human girl before me slightly wobbled. I felt something within my eyes beginning to form, similarly to Amber.

"I feel something coming out from my eyes," I said as I wiped a strange substance from my eyes.

"What are these?"

I asked once more. But this time, Amber finally answered…

For one final time.

"Tears."

"Tears?"

"They appear when you're crying. All living things cry when they're in pain."

The city below us slowly burst into moots of light as it disintegrates.

"But sometimes… they cry because they're sad."

I don't know why…

But after hearing Amber's voice…

The tears won't stop.

But the human girl kept smiling.

"Thank you."

"Thank you for your tears."

"But please don't cry."

"You're still living. So, stay alive."

"I'm sure it'll be fun."

"And once in a while…"

"Remember that I was living too."

And the world went dark.

BEEEEEEEEEEEEP!

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"Amber, the tears won't stop."

"What should I do?"

…

But there was no answer.

"Amber!"

Mewtwo's body began emitting a pulsing aura surrounding its body. Meanwhile, the machines monitoring the bipedal feline went haywire at the unexpected awakening of the massive life force within Mewtwo.

"Mewtwo's life signs are going overlimit!" a female researcher exclaimed in fright.

A total opposite of the others. Mewtwo shared a similar genetic code to Mew.

It was this very reason that the bipedal feline survived and would continue to grow stronger in the future, rivalling that of the Mythical Pokémon itself.

"It's too dangerous to apply stimulants to it now! Use a tranquilizer!" Dr Fuji ordered his fellow researchers.

Hurriedly, the researchers injected doses of tranquilizer through the tubes that connected onto Mewtwo's body.

"10… 20… 30… 40… 50… 60… 70… 80… Brain waves are stabilizing."

"100. Tranquilizer injection complete."

"Brain waves are normal. Mewtwo has entered a deep-sleep state."

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A long time…

I've slept for a long time.

All the memories of the sky are gone.

The place where Amber lived. The mountains surrounding it. The Sun and the Moon. Everything slowly filtered out from my memories like water in a brook.

All… Except Amber.

My last sight of Amber in the moonlight, telling me to live on. That was the only memory I would never lose.

And then…

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…

A world surrounded by water. Unfamiliar and foreign.

These were not my memories. And yet, here I am, seeing them as if I had seen them myself.

Where am I?

Who am I?

I've been seeing a dream of this world. Memories which did not belong to me.

But always… Without fail…

I would see the same figure every time.

A small pink feline with a long tail.

Who are you?

It showed me so many things. Sights that I had never seen before. It was an experience I longed for myself.

I'll never forget that world where I saw that creature flying.

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The now grown bipedal feline opened its eyes for the first time.

It scoured its surroundings only to find itself surrounded by the unfamiliar faces of humans in a tank filled with water.

Where am I?

Who am I?

Who brought me here?

The questions that it sought the answers for ever since it 'woke' up circulated around its mind. But soon, it realized the one who would answer its questions was no longer with him. And so, it closed its eyes shut once more.

'Who am I?'

'Why am I here?'

'No… I simply am here.'

'I still haven't…'

Flashes of the world Mewtwo saw in it dreams went by as it realized.

'Been born into this world.'

The fact that it realized it had not been born into this world yet. The fact that the wondrous experience it had in its memories belonged to another. And the fact that it was merely alive and not 'living' like how Amber wished for it. It angered Mewtwo.

'WHO AM I?!'

With his fury, Mewtwo's eyes flashed bright blue as it activated its powers for the first time.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The tank burst open, allowing the fluids within to leak out as fragmented glass laid waste around the awoken creature. The researchers witnessing this unprecedented development erupted with hoorays as their precious research subject was a resounding success.

"It's awake!"

"Did it do that?"

"How wonderful!"

"Mewtwo has been completed!"

That familiar name struck a chord within the artificial creature's deepest psyche as it recalled a memory of its infancy.

"Mewtwo?" the now grown bipedal feline repeated as it communicated with telepathy.

"That's you," Dr Fuji answered as he stood in front of Mewtwo.

"Born from the genome of the predecessor of all Pokémon and the technology of mankind, that is you: Mewtwo."

Mewtwo glanced to the side of the facility and found a disoriented footage playing on one of the screen. The footage was blurry at best, but in one short second, a flying pink feline was clearly shown on the screen.

"Ah, that's who you were designed from," Dr Fuji continued as he noticed Mewtwo's staring.

"The predecessor of all Pokémon and the fabled symbiotic partner of the Tree of Beginnings: Mew."

"Mew?" the bipedal feline perked up as it recognized the similarity between their names.

"Is that my parent? My father? My mother?" Mewtwo questioned.

"On one hand, you could say they're both. On another, you can't say either."

"Regardless, you were created with Mew as a base and made even stronger," Dr Fuji continued.

"…Then who? If I have no mother nor father, then was it God?" Mewtwo inquired further.

"Are you saying God created me?"

"I'm not too big on Sinjohism but know this: Only God and Humans can create other beings like this."

"Humans? You people created me?" Mewtwo narrowed its eyes towards the researchers.

But they were in a world of their own as they were over the moon at the remarkable outcome that was Mewtwo.

"With this, we can prove our work!"

"This is a victory for science!"

"We can continue our research!"

"Our benefactors would be pleased to hear about this!"

But while the humans in lab coats celebrated, the bipedal feline turned its attention towards its bulbous hands.

Mewtwo stared at its three bulbous fingers and began contemplating about what it had just heard. Dr Fuji's answers were enlightening but at the same time, they did not answer the questions that defined Mewtwo from its awakening.

Where am I?

Who am I?

Enraged at the constant evasion of those questions, pale blue Psychic energy flared up around Mewtwo. The potent power within the artificial Pokémon was extremely immense that just by outputting it around its body, the Psychic energy was dense enough to be seen by the naked eye.

"WHY WAS I BORN?!"

The rage. The hatred. Mewtwo embraced both as its eyes turned pale blue as it activated its powers for the first time. Without missing a beat, a large force field expanded from the bipedal feline and repelled everything in its wake.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The extreme pressure from the Psychic energy was more than enough to crumble the machinery and tear apart every last bit of the facility. The remaining researchers activated the countermeasures to apprehend the enraged Mewtwo, but it was hopeless.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The irony was not lost on the last flickering thoughts of the humans. In their pursuit of creating the strongest Pokémon, it was fitting that nothing was able to stop its rampage. And with their next breath came complete darkness.

And in the end, one man remained.

"We've created the strongest Pokémon in the world…" Dr Fuji breathed out as he awaited the condensing pale blue energy building around Mewtwo.

And as Mewtwo completed its charge, it unleashed it with full force upon its surroundings without any hesitation.

"Ah… Amber. Daddy's coming…"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A large tower of smoke from the island made its presence known to an incoming helicopter. A helicopter with an 'R' painted on it and a man smiling viciously at the wreckage.

Flames ran amok around Mewtwo as it took in the destruction around it.

"Is this my power?" Mewtwo monologued.

"I'm the strongest Pokémon in the world?"

The bipedal feline looked upon the ever-stretching azure sky for the first time in its life, remembering the flashes of memories within its genome.

"Mew… Am I stronger than you?"

Just then, Mewtwo picked up on an unfamiliar buzzing sound behind it. A strange contraption to the newly born Pokémon but what got its attention was the man that stepped out from it. Mewtwo could not tell whether it was instincts or his new powers, but it knew from the air around the human that he was not to be trifled with.

"You just might be the strongest Pokémon here," Giovanni inputted without any signs of fear.

"But as we humans always say: 'There's always a bigger fish'."

Mewtwo was not aware of the proverb the man was speaking but nevertheless, it understood its message. Coupled with the feeling that Giovanni was currently the strongest entity besides itself at this point, the bipedal feline hypothesized its answer in the form of a question:

"Humans?"

Giovanni nodded at the excellent response.

"If you combine your powers with humans, the world will be ours," Giovanni held his hand as if grasping something.

"The world will be ours?" Mewtwo repeated the strange goal.

"But if you let that power of yours run wild, you'll only end up destroying the world. You must learn to control it."

"Control?"

Sensing that the artificial Pokémon saw no problems decimating everything, Giovanni elaborated.

"Are you alright with leaving everything you touch torched to embers and soot? Burning everything down until there's nothing left just like this island?"

With that, Mewtwo saw reasoning in Giovanni's words. To the bipedal feline's mind, there was no question the man was strong but what caught Mewtwo's interest was that the human before him was not only fearless, but coherent and sensible in his explanation. Something Dr Fuji was not able to provide…

And would not be able to in the future.

"Then, what should I do?" Mewtwo asked.

Mewtwo's question had Giovanni smirking with elation.

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I followed the man named Giovanni back to his base of operations. There, I found myself wearing an unfamiliar suit of armour that cut my optimal powers by half. What's more, my vision was slightly obscured by the text on my helmet's visor.

[ ALL SYSTEMS OPERATIONAL. USER IS NOW OPERATING AT 50% ]

[ ENERGY OUTPUT HAS BEEN REDIRECTED INTO ARMOUR. ]

[ ARMOUR SUIT DURABILITY HAS DOUBLED. ]

"So, this armour limits my powers, but it also protects my body," Mewtwo inferred from the metallic bracers on its arms.

"What do you intend to have me do with this?"

"It's simple," Giovanni smirked.

"Just get rid of anyone that gets in our way. As time goes on, you'll slowly be able to control and adjust the amount of output needed without any unnecessary destruction."

"Anyone?" I parroted back.

As always, the man made it clear for me to understand.

"Fight, destroy and plunder."

"The strong ones win."

"That's the truth of this world."

I understood the man's logic and that it made a lot of sense. But…

"And once in a while…"

"Remember that I was living too."

I feel like I'm forgetting something.

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A long time passed as Mewtwo continued fighting for Giovanni.

It used its powers to overpower its opponents without any difficulty despite its powers halved. It used [Psychic] on large groups of Pokémon to make it easier for Team Rocket to capture them with ease. During those times, Mewtwo learned a lot about its overwhelming strength and how to control it just as Giovanni said.

'But who am I?'

'Where am I?'

'For what am I fighting for?'

Those burning questions lingered in its mind.

Then, one day, while its armour was charging, Mewtwo blurted out telepathically to itself.

"Why am I living?"

Just then, footsteps approached and caused Mewtwo to look up at the balcony where Giovanni entered.

"You're a Pokémon. Pokémon live to be used by humans; they live for humans," Giovanni gleefully answered.

"Are you saying I'm fighting for you?" Mewtwo growled at that answer.

"That I'm fighting for humans on this planet?!"

"Hmph. You're a Pokémon of humanity. Being used by humans is what you're good for."

"Otherwise, what values do you have?"

"My value?" Mewtwo repeated.

"…Who am I?"

"Why am I alive?"

The thick wires connected to the armoured suit broke apart one by one, causing static electricity to run haywire around Mewtwo's platform.

"What are you doing?" Giovanni demanded.

"I was created by humans…"

"But I'm not human!"

The machinery around Mewtwo disintegrated into dust.

"I was made to be a Pokémon…"

"Yet, I'm not just a Pokémon either!"

"Tch!" Giovanni clicked his tongue as he escaped the building without a moment's waste.

What Giovanni did not account for was Mewtwo's ever-growing powers that had eclipsed the limiter's capabilities. Now with more fine controlling and an even larger reserve of Psychic energy within it, Mewtwo unleashed an even larger Psychic explosion upon the building, larger and more potent than the one it created during its escape.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A gigantic mushroom cloud was left in the wake of the building and a beam of pale blue light shot out from the mushroom cloud. Mewtwo redirected the Psychic energy into its feet, propelling itself into the sky while simultaneously getting rid of the armour it wore, piece by piece.

Before long, Mewtwo hovered above the crater where it blowed up its birthplace with only the helmet remaining. Finally, the helmet fell from its head and thumped on the ground.

The bipedal feline felt the wind on its face as it remembered the view of a snowy capped mountain with misty clouds on its base. But in front of it was not that view but a never-ending sheet of water that sparkled in the sunlight.

"Who am I?"

"Where am I?"

"Who wanted me here?"

"Who wished for me to be created?"

But there was no answer. Because the human girl who always answered Mewtwo…

Was no longer here.

…

"I curse everything I was born upon."

"That's why…"

"Not as an attack nor a proclamation of war…"

"Against all of you responsible for my birth…"

"I'll strike back!"

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FATED

SPECIAL CHAPTER (M01)

MEWTWO STRIKES BACK!

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Pallet Town, Kanto Region

"Red! Are you seriously still going to wear that?" Blue chided as she saw that the raven-haired boy had continued wearing the battered red and black themed clothes from the Grand League.

"Hey, I'll have you know that I'm not a girl! I don't have any other clothes anymore unlike your 50 different combinations," Ash countered with Pikachu snickering on his shoulder.

"Haaah… Why did the shipment hafta to be the day after this thing?" Blue sighed.

"Calm down, Blue," Gary chuckled as he placed a hand on her head.

"You guys ready?" Daisy asked as she looked excitedly towards the children at the back.

Apparently, Daisy was the one driving the Pallet trio to Vermillion Harbour for the unexpected invitation to New Island. While the older Oak sibling was excited, the trio were holding onto each other for dear life since they were aware of the woman's… lacklustre driving skills.

"Can't believe Bill bailed on us…" Ash groaned as he recalled Bill apologizing and saying that he would make it up to him later.

"Well, think of it as a trial of maybe catching a new Pokémon," Gary said.

After their return to Pallet Town, Ash held the end of his deal and released Butterfree once again with his mate, parting with each other for the second time. But not before Ash promised to see Butterfree and his eventual family once more in the future.

"What's with you and releasing Pokémon?" Blue asked genuinely.

"I just want Butterfree and Pidgeot to be happy. Is that wrong?"

With that, Ash silenced the two but an engine roaring to life brought them into a shivering mess.

"You kids ready?" Daisy grinned.

"Are you sure you have a driver's license?" the raven-haired asked with a pale face.

"Relax. I took my driver's test in Hoenn with a Contest buddy of mine. The instructor was so amazed by our skills that he was speechless in the end," she giggled.

'Oi! Someone stop her!' Ash internally screamed for help.

Vrooooooooooooooooooom!

"Pikaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Pikachu wailed as he grabbed onto Ash's vest.

"Gyaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!" the trio cried in terror.

Vermillion Harbour, Kanto Region

"Here we are!" Daisy exclaimed happily.

"Haaaah… Haaah…" Gary, Ash and Pikachu wheezed for dear life as the former carried the chestnut-haired girl out of the vehicle.

Blue had passed out halfway through the ride but was quickly awoken when she stepped on land. The two boys glanced at each other, silently agreeing to ride their Pokémon next time.

"Take care, you three, okay?" Daisy waved while stressing the message towards the raven-haired boy.

"What're you looking at me for?" Ash peeved with annoyance.

"If you get yourself into any sort of trouble and almost die again, I'll straighten you out for your neck, got it?" Daisy asked with a dangerous smile on her face.

'Scary…' Ash nodded vigorously at her promise.

"Uwaaah… These are long…" Ash deadpanned as he read the book that Riley gave him as the Pallet trio waited in the dock for their ship to New Island.

The raven-haired boy recalled the small talk they had in his room alone.

…

"What do you mean when you said my AURA conditioning is irreversible?" Ash asked the man.

"There are two ways to train AURA. The main one which all modern AURA Wielders use is called AURA Tempering," Riley explained.

"AURA is like a muscle. For example, imagine doing push-ups as a beginner. At first, you may only be able to do 20. But as you go on, that number increases until even 100 is no big deal for you. AURA works the same way."

"By pushing yourself little by little, your AURA reserves, quality, and control increase without any harm to your body. Which brings me to you, Ash Ketchum. You unknowingly did the second method."

"If the first one's which modern users practice, the second one's an old-timey one?" Ash guessed.

To his surprise, Riley nodded.

"You're rather clever. That's right, the second method's the complete opposite. It's an old method that improves one's AURA unnaturally quickly since during those times, wars were everywhere so the old Guardians had no choice."

"But in exchange, their bodies were pushed to their utmost limits and sometimes, permanently damaged. In the lucky instances, their appearance might change slightly from the overuse of AURA and in the worst cases, death."

Ash gulped at the man's shocking revelation.

"That's the second practice: AURA Exceeding. A high risk, high reward method for AURA practitioners. And that's what your body has locked into with no way back. As a result of your battles in the Grand League, I can sense your AURA reserves already large enough to rival mine. Seriously, I've been practicing for a decade and a child already caught up," Riley laughed at that last part.

"Umm… Sorry," the raven-haired boy apologized, feeling it was obligated.

"So… what can I do with AURA?" Ash asked.

"For now, I strongly advise against using AURA since there's a chance you might empty your tank and damaging your body due to a lack of control, another drawback from AURA Exceeding. Though it can be rectify if you can practice by doing this," Riley answered while putting his palm up for the boy.

Suddenly, a ball of AURA manifested from the Guardian's palm, causing Ash's bloodred eyes to widen in surprise as they began glowing unconsciously as they took in every detail of the sphere.

The AURA sphere was stable and constantly supplied by Riley's reserves.

"This is AURA Projection. Now you try since you've already activated your own," Riley chuckled at the glowing eyes.

"Ah, right. Here goes…" Ash stuttered as he put his palm up in a similar fashion.

The raven-haired boy flooded the AURA channels or 'circuits' as he liked to call them and directed them into his palm, causing a midnight blue energy to manifest.

"So, this is your AURA's colour. It's rather dense," Riley observed.

But once Ash began to form it into a shape, the mass of midnight blue energy started to waver erratically as if it was static.

Bzzt! Bzzt!

And faded away into nothingness.

"…Wat?"

"It appears you're, for a lack of better term, inept in AURA manipulation," Riley said bluntly, causing Ash to crash down in shock.

"Oh man…" the raven-haired boy groaned.

'…How strange…' the man pondered.

"—Trigger off."

'During that battle with Marowak, there was clearly AURA projecting within his hand and yet, he can't form an [AURA Sphere], despite his large pool of AURA. If that's the case…'

'What in the world was he creating at that time?'

"Sucks to suck," Ash said to himself, annoyed that he had no talent in AURA as he continued reading the book.

"Let's see, the most basic application for AURA is Enhancement. By coating one part of the body with AURA, that part gets enhanced adjacent to the user's AURA quality," he read silently with Pikachu digging for a ketchup bottle in his Trainer's bag.

But another problem arose for the raven-haired boy after Riley left. Ash was unable to activate AURA willingly, stomping on his desire to train AURA.

"AURA, on!" Ash cried out with an arm stretched out.

…

But nothing happened.

"Trigger, off!"

…

But nothing happened.

"Seriously?" Ash scratched his head in annoyance and embarrassment.

"Chaaaa~" Pikachu cooed as he rubbed his cheek against Ash.

"At least you got something outta this, right buddy?" Ash said as he scratched his partner's chin.

The raven-haired boy recalled that at the height of his newfound AURA abilities, he managed to break Pikachu's limits by flooding AURA into him that caused the electric mouse to blast past his species' known capabilities to new levels. Right now, if he were to compare it using tiers, Pikachu was now equivalent to a mid-Elite Four level Pokémon compared to the mid-Gym Leader level before, and the electric mouse was still able to grow stronger. Though, Ash was uncertain if he could ever do it again since his AURA was refusing to activate much to his chagrin.

"Fancy meeting you here, Ash," a familiar voice startled the raven-haired boy.

Ash turned to find the voice belonging to a face he recognized: A redhead tomboy.

"Oh, Misty! You've got the invitation as well?"

"Sure did. But more importantly, are you alright? Ya' sure you're not pushing yourself?" the redhead pressed her questions to Ash.

"Yep. I'm hospital-free," the boy answered while glancing within his bag towards a certain rusted sword inside.

'That sword saved me,' he added silently.

"And I kinda have to. Otherwise, how am I gonna enjoy battling my rival when we travel together?" Ash grinned in response.

"Eh? You don't know?" the redhead widened her eyes.

"Know what?"

"So Blue didn't tell you?"

Ash and Pikachu tilted their heads in confusion at the strange implications.

Rumble!

Suddenly, a heavy storm brewed outside and raindrops with the weight of iron fell from the darkened sky.

"Ehhhh?! The weather was just fine just now," Misty groaned.

Gary and Blue emerged from the sudden protesting crowd to get Ash. The latter was silently smirking at the two holding hands as they approached.

"Misty? Glad you're here but it's terrible!" Blue huffed irritably.

"What's up?" Ash asked.

"Apparently, the ship's not gonna take off due to the storm so we're stuck here," Gary explained, patting the chestnut-haired girl's head to appease her.

"This is the worst coincidence of all time," Misty sighed.

But while the three were trying to figure out their next move, the raven-haired boy suddenly glared upon the darkened sky with flickering bloodred.

'…Is it really a coincidence?' Ash wondered as he felt an unpleasantness in the weather.

With no other choice, the four of them decided to wait for the storm to pass. But not before another familiar voice erupted for the crowd of Trainers to be silenced.

"All of you, calm down," a gruff authoritative voice commanded.

Ash's ears perked up at the familiar voice and shot up from his seat. The raven-haired boy raced to the source of that voice and beamed at the familiar carmine-haired man.

"Lance!" he and Pikachu waved hello.

The Elite Four turned towards the boy and softened his expression at the sight of Ash. The man was happy to see the boy well.

"Ash. So you've been invited to New Island, I presume?" the Elite Four asked.

"Yeah. Are ya' going as well?"

"Unfortunately, no. I'm here for a different reason," Lance gestured to a missing poster.

"Apparently the Nurse Joy of Vermillion City's Pokémon Centre has gone missing. She was last seen here."

Then an Officer Jenny joined the two to explain further.

"That's why it's dangerous for Trainers to go out in this weather. Nurse Joy's not here so there's no one to heal the Pokémon if they get hurt," she said aloud for the crowd to hear.

But obviously, there had to be one person.

"Go, Fearow!" a Trainer summoned his Pokémon as he prepared to embark on his flight to New Island.

Then another.

"Go, Golduck!"

"Stop right there! Hey!" Officer Jenny yelled out in the pouring rain.

"Haaaah… There's no point trying to stop them," Lance patted the officer's shoulder.

"They're Pokémon Trainers. And the ones gathered here…" he took a sideway glance at the Pallet trio.

"Are Trainers you cannot stop."

Misty sent out Starmie into the ocean and got on it. But instead of leaving immediately, she waited for the Pallet trio.

"C'mon! What're you guys waiting for?" she called out to the three.

Ash, Gary and Blue looked at each other before grinning as they sent out their respective Pokémon.

"Lapras, I choose you!"

"Blastoise, in!"

"Come, Omi!"

Lapras, Blastoise and Omastar materialized next to Misty's Starmie and their Trainers got on them.

"Misty, take care of them! That's your job!" Lance reminded the redhead.

"Yessir! Though I'm on vacation now…" she trailed off at the last part.

With that, the four sped off towards New Island.

The large rambunctious waves crashed onto the four Pokémon and their Trainers. Misty and the Water types were a little exhausted at the unnaturally large waves but still, it was a mere inconvenience for them as they were used to it.

But the Pallet trio were struggling against the rising tides and falling waves. Their mouths filled with saltwater and spat back out to the ocean, only to repeat the process all over again. Not only that, Gary and Blue were visibly shivering from the cold water pouring over them. But to everyone's surprise, Ash was physically okay and was shielding a shivering Pikachu from the pouring rain and unforgiving tides.

"You alright, Ash?" Misty asked, worried that he might be pushing himself again as the raven-haired boy was not shivering at all.

"Yeah. I'm actually weirdly good with cold," Ash nodded before frowning at the state of his childhood friends.

'They're not doing too good…' he bit his lips at frustration towards himself.

The raven-haired boy was frustrated that he was not doing anything to help his friends. Then, as they approached closer to New Island, one final but gigantic wave akin to a tsunami was threatening above them. Though the Pokémon may be fine, the human Trainers minus Ash and Misty would be likely to slip into the ocean from the impending force.

Unable to sit idly, Ash acted without hesitation.

"Partner, I need your help," he gritted his teeth at the sight of the pale-faced Gary and Blue.

"Pikachu!"

Electricity began building within the electric mouse as he awaited his partner's instructions to fire it off.

"[Thunderbolt]!" Ash called out.

"Pika-CHIIIIIIIIII!"

It was the first time Pikachu had unleashed his strength since the Grand League. Unconsciously, the electric mouse was wired to go all out with his attacks since he knew his base stats were significantly lower than his teammates due to being a middle evolution. That was why, it was such a huge shock for Pikachu and his Trainer that his usual [Thunderbolt] blew a gaping hole through the once large tsunami wave and zipped to the nearby beach of New Island, exploding into a dust cloud the size of a lighthouse.

"…"

"…"

"You think the strongest Trainer's gonna be mad at their beach?" Ash scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Pikachu…" the electric mouse squeaked, mimicking his Trainer.

And they all made it to shore.

As the trio plus Misty landed on the now-destroyed beach, Ash began taking off his clothes nonchalantly in front of them.

"Gyah! What're you doing, idiot?!" Misty yelled out towards a confused Ash.

"Ah… sorry. I'll go dry them somewhere else then," he apologized with his friends understanding his actions and gestured to a covered spot nearby with Charizard ready to ignite the clothes with lukewarm flames.

"Geez, is he shameless or what?" Misty muttered before noticing some light scars on his lean torso.

The badges of his battles against Team Rocket.

"Nope. That's a Red thing," Blue sighed.

"Red's never been sick before. So, Daisy got really scared that his immune system's gonna break down one day and he might actually die from a simple cold. And that idiot didn't want to worry her, so he'd just change his clothes immediately if he got wet or anything. Not that he was scared of being sick, he just didn't want Daisy to be sad," Gary explained as he sighed in resignation at his rival's incorrigible mindset.

Then, Ash emerged again with his now dried clothes, comfy and warm thanks to Charizard. But the raven-haired boy went on guard when he saw a woman in a dress approaching them with a lighted lantern.

'This person…' the bloodred eyes analysed the woman as they noticed something was off about her.

'She looks familiar…'

"You did well coming here, Trainers," she spoke plainly.

"Please show your invitation."

Without a word, the four took out the similar black envelopes to the woman.

"Invitation confirmed. Please follow me, the others are waiting."

Her speech and mannerism were robotic, and it unnerved Misty a lot. But to Gary and Blue, they were reminded of a younger Ash. The raven-haired boy, on the other hand, whispered to his partner on his shoulder.

"Pikachu, that woman's…" he narrowed his eyes at the woman.

"Pika…" the electric mouse nodded in agreement.

But in the end, the four followed the mysterious woman to the main venue.

Unbeknownst to them, something invisible followed them from behind.

"Mew..."

The four marvelled at the castle where it stood on New Island. It had a mechanical windmill at the top and its walls layered with cobblestone. But as they arrived at the entrance, the exterior began changing into more of a technological theme.

The massive doors parted open as they allowed the visitors to enter its dazzling and marbled floors and walls. In the middle, where a large table stood, were three Trainers that arrived earlier than them.

"Only three?" Gary raised a brow.

"Those who have overcome the storm and have the invitation are the only worthy Trainers that have been accepted," the woman explained to the orange-haired boy.

"That storm was a test? You were the one behind it," Gary glared at the woman.

"Please let out your Pokémon and take a seat," she continued without acknowledging Gary's accusation.

"You are the chosen Trainers."

And the massive doors behind them slammed shut.

After letting out all their Pokémon, the four reached the table where the other Trainers were.

"Oh, if it isn't the famous Red of Pallet Town!" a man with his Pidgeot exclaimed in surprise.

Ash had to do a double take as he wondered why did the man know his identity.

"From the Grand League? And there's the famous Pikachu on his shoulder!" a burly man added.

"And there's Green and Blue as well! And Gym Leader Misty!" the last one, a woman gasped.

Ash was slightly uncomfortable at the attention he was receiving and scratched his nose in response.

"How does it feel to be famous, Red of Pallet Town?" Gary smirked knowingly.

"It's weird, Green of Pallet Town," Ash shot back.

Observing their surroundings, Ash saw the many Pokémon owned by the three Trainers.

For the first man: Pidgeot, Scyther, Sandshrew, Hitmonlee, Rhyhorn.

For the burly man: Gyarados, Vaporeon, Tentacruel, Golduck, Nidoqueen and Seadra.

For the woman: Rapidash, Ninetales, Wigglytuff, Dewgong and Vileplume.

All three were clearly strong Trainers.

Introductions finished and then, the lights went out.

On the other side of the large castle room was a spiral staircase leading up to a tall tower that seemed to have no entrance. But the ceiling then opened with a beam of blue light descending onto the floor below.

"Everyone, thank you for waiting. The strongest Pokémon Trainer is now arriving," the woman announced plainly.

All of a sudden, the pokemon suddenly felt apprehensive of whatever was descending as they went on guard, growling at the incoming figure.

Danger blared rapidly within Ash's head as he felt his eyes flickering slightly.

'AURA's activating on its own… What's going on?' Ash thought as he readied himself for battle.

What came down in front of the Trainers was a shocking reveal of the so-called 'strongest Pokémon Trainer in the world'.

A bipedal feline with a large purple tail descended with glowing pale blue eyes, earning confused and shocked looks from both humans and Pokémon alike.

"This is the strongest Pokémon Trainer, and also the strongest Pokémon:" the woman introduced.

"The great Mewtwo."

The lights turned back on after its introduction and its eyes returned to normal.

"Mew…two?" Ash echoed silently.

An outburst from the burly man was made known as he slammed his fist on the table.

"A Pokémon is a Pokémon Trainer? Get real!"

"Is it wrong?"

"Is it wrong?"

The woman's and Mewtwo's voice overlapped, their words exactly the same.

"I'll decide my own rules."

"I'll decide my own rules."

"What the?! Telepathy?" Gary narrowed his eyes at the artificial creature as he recognized the Pokémon's ability to speak.

Then, as if to make an example, Mewtwo's bulbous hands glowed a pale blue as it used [Psychic] on the burly man, sending him several feet off the ground.

"Gaaaahhhh!" he screamed as he felt the unseen force crushing him.

The others watched in horror as the man screamed while covered in pale blue energy. Meanwhile, Ash's eyes were flickering as well, analysing every detail of the powers of Mewtwo.

Smirking to itself, Mewtwo finally flung the man into a nearby fountain to break his fall.

Splash!

"You little—!" the burly man snapped in anger.

"Go, Gyarados! [Hyper Beam]!"

The enormous sea serpent charged a powerful beam in its mouth before launching the accumulated power towards Mewtwo.

But instead of damaging Mewtwo, the latter merely conjured a Psychic barrier that halted the attack before sending it back to the sea serpent.

Booooom!

Gyarados was instantly defeated. A powerful Pokémon that Ash thought was on par with the Prelim opponents was immediately defeated in one hit.

"How cruel…" Blue covered her mouth at the sheer power of the bipedal feline.

"How trifling."

"How trifling."

"I don't have any more use for you," Mewtwo waved its hand to release its hold on the woman.

The woman finally came back to her senses and was about to be dropped to the ground when the bipedal feline noticed a rushing raven-haired boy sliding towards the unconscious woman, breaking her fall with his body.

"I knew it," Ash clicked his tongue.

He removed her hat to reveal the iconic hairstyle of pink hair.

"She's the Nurse Joy of Vermillion City," Ash confirmed aloud.

"Eh?!" Blue and Misty gasped.

"The timing coincides," Gary nodded.

"Where am I?" an awoken Nurse Joy asked.

"What am I doing in a place like this?"

"In order to aid me, I brought you from the Pokémon Centre," Mewtwo answered the nurse.

"A doctor knowledgeable in treating Pokémon is convenient. You were quite useful. But as insurance, I've erased your memories of your time here."

"If humans had my power, they would control and plunder everything without a second thought."

Mewtwo continued further. Whether it was from a lack of interaction or not, it was rather willing to indulge the humans of its story.

"I once shared an ambition with another human."

"But I was greatly disappointed. Humans are the worst existence for Pokémon."

"Just like humans do, I once tried to mercilessly control those weaker than me."

"Fight, destroy and plunder."

"The strong ones win."

"If that is the truth of this planet..."

"Then this planet… is no good."

Unable to hold back his anger, Gary spoke up.

"Then what? Are you saying Pokémon should rule the world?!" the orange-haired boy roared with gritted teeth.

"Oh, Green of Pallet Town. Your ideology in the Grand League aside, I'm not surprised you're against it."

"But Pokémon are no good either."

"As long as humans control this world, Pokémon that live for humans will also exist."

Hearing that, Pikachu climbed down from Ash's shoulder and made his disagreement known.

"Pika, Pika-pika!"

"What?"

"You say you're not under their command?"

Mewtwo turned to the raven-haired boy next to the electric mouse, who placed Nurse Joy gently on the ground.

"You're with your Trainer because you love him?"

"Pika!" Pikachu nodded readily.

"Fool. Just by being with them is your main mistake."

Mewtwo activated his Psychic power upon Pikachu by covering him with pale blue energy and prepared to send him flying back.

But to its surprise, the human boy immediately intercepted the electric mouse and sent himself propelling backwards into the ground, protecting Pikachu in the process.

"Oof," Ash grunted in pain.

"Pikapi!"

"Pikachu. You alright?" he smiled at his partner.

Right then, Pikachu had half a mind to smack his Trainer after not caring about himself. Pokémon were far sturdier than humans, yet Ash did not seem to understand this. Although, the raven-haired boy more likely knew but he could not help but act when possible.

"Weak Pokémon find attachment in people."

"Ash, are you okay?" Misty asked as she kneeled next to him.

"Stop doing crazy stunts, idiot!" Blue chided at her friend.

"Yeah…" Ash's voice trailed off before suddenly…

The raven-haired boy lifted his cap to reveal the furious expression worn on his face, startling the girls as they had never seen him this angry before.

"No matter what Pokémon it is, as long as it's a Pokémon, it can be caught!" Gary growled in anger towards the bipedal feline that hurt his friend.

"Rhydon, in!"

The stone-plated beast roared as it got ready for battle.

"How pointless," Mewtwo sent [Psychic] blasting towards Rhydon.

"Now! [Stone Edge]!" Gary commanded.

A pillar of stone emerged from the floor in front of the stone-plated beast. Although Mewtwo intended for [Psychic] to hit Rhydon, it was surprised to find the attack had grasped onto [Stone Edge] instead.

"You evaded my attack?" Mewtwo narrowed in on the orange-haired boy.

"[Psychic] requires you to know the location of the subject," Gary explained, recalling his thoughts during Blue's battle against Skyla.

"If I can misdirect your attention just for a moment, it's not gonna hit. [Psychic] is indeed a strong move…"

Rhydon loaded its fist and throttled it into the floating [Stone Edge].

Boom!

"But it's not invincible!"

Mewtwo immediately conjured a forcefield around itself after Rhydon used [Rock Blast]. It was still in a state of surprise as its experiences in battling always ended with one shot. But now, Gary managed to counter the bipedal feline effortlessly and even launch a counterattack back at Mewtwo.

"Impressive tactics, human. Your performance in that tournament do you no justice, Green of Pallet Town," Mewtwo praised begrudgingly.

"It's Gary Oak. I only let two others call me that," the orange-haired boy darkened his expression.

Blue scanned Mewtwo with her PokéDex, only for [NO DATA] to show up on the screen.

"Oh, c'mon! We just upgraded the Dex to the National one and the first Pokémon it scanned on is useless!" Blue grumbled at the offending device.

Mewtwo wasted no time as it sent a [Shadow Ball] towards Rhydon. But before the attack could reach, another challenger entered the battle.

"Espy, don't let it! [Psychic]: Aias Form!" Blue called out with her ace leaping in front of Gary and Rhydon.

The red gem on her forehead shone brightly as the purple feline conjured a large lilac flower with 4 circular shields. The [Shadow Ball] smashed through 3 of them in an instant before halting by the fourth.

"Blue of Pallet Town… Your multitude of [Psychic] applications intrigued me. And to be able to stop my attack is something I've never seen before," Mewtwo praised again.

"Kyaah!" Espeon hissed at the fellow Psychic type.

"Protection is Espy's strong suit. But believe me, we can be VERY dangerous when it comes to our treasure," Blue threatened, making Gary shiver in terror yet falling even harder for the chestnut-haired girl at the same time.

'Yes, except for Giovanni, these two human children are far stronger than any Trainer I've faced before. But…' the bipedal feline focused on the fiery bloodred eyes of the third member of the trio.

'My instincts tell me that one is far more dangerous…'

Then, Mewtwo raised its bulbous hand, signalling the back wall of the castle to come undone to reveal a large battlefield like the one in the Grand League, though not as grand or big.

Just as the thunderous boom of the wall came, three holes beside the bipedal feline gaped open and revealed three Pokémon that were familiar to the three children.

However, the copies were slightly different from their own Pokémon as they had strange markings on their body resembling scars. Whether it was for differentiation or some hidden meaning, the human Trainers did not know.

"Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur."

"These are the final evolutions of the three starters of Kanto."

"Or rather, copies of them."

"Copies… Are you telling us to battle? Against your copies?" Blue inferred.

"Fine by me. The thought of a Blastoise mirror match has been on my mind for some time," Gary accepted Mewtwo's implied challenge.

"Venny isn't going to lose to some mere copy!" the chestnut-haired girl declared.

Ash, on the other hand, was silent. Unlike his fellow Pallet Town friends, he was on high alert against the copied Pokémon. He took a deep breath and joined his friends with an orange dragon behind him.

"Charizard, I choose you!"

With the challengers chosen, everyone took their places in the battlefield.

"Who will be my first opponent?" Mewtwo asked.

Without hesitation, Venny rose to the challenge as he made his way to the battlefield with a huff.

"Looks like it's us," Blue grinned.

With a head gesture from Mewtwo, Venusaurtwo complied to its orders and stood against its opponent with a bellowing roar.

While Blue prepared herself for the incoming battle, Gary and Ash assessed the situation while wishing the girl for victory silently.

As the bipedal stood silently, Blue took it as its permission for her to go first.

"Venny, [Razor Leaf]!" she called out first.

From the large amphibian's leaves on his back came sharp leaves that twirled towards Venusaurtwo at high speed. But Mewtwo had already anticipated her move.

"[Vine Whip]," it simply commanded.

Two green whips emerged from the leaves of the copy Pokémon and instantly swiped at the barrage of [Razor Leaf], destroying them with equal speed. But it was not over yet as the [Vine Whips] shot even further until it reached Venny. And with great strength, the thin whips unexpectedly carried Blue's starter, much to her horror. Venusaurtwo carried the green amphibian to the air and threw him across the battlefield, crashing him in front of a shocked Blue as if it was throwing a sack of light feathers.

Boom!

"Venny!" the chestnut-haired girl snapped out of her daze as she checked on her starter.

While the scenario where she lost was probable to Blue herself, what she could not fathom was how easily they were defeated. Her being top 8 in the Grand League was the confidence she wore entering this battle and she came out of it with said confidence in tatters.

Next up was Gary as the orange-haired boy was going to protect the girl's honour. He and Blastoise stepped up to the battlefield next with an angry look in their eyes.

"Blastoise, in!" Gary growled with his starter sharing his anger.

Mewtwo stretched out its hand, gesturing Blastoisetwo to enter the battle.

"Overwhelm it with [Hydro Pump]!" Gary called out.

From the cannon turtle's signature cannons, twin jets of high pressure water came barrelling out towards the copy. Gary started a pre-emptive strike at Blastoisetwo and waited to respond back at Mewtwo's command.

But it never came.

Instead, Blastoisetwo ran towards Gary and his starter at full speed while using [Rapid Spin] to deflect [Hydro Pump] with ease, surprising Gary.

'It didn't issue a command?!' the orange-haired boy gritted his teeth in frustration.

But he had no time to think, or rather, he was already out of time as Blastoisetwo never stopped its [Rapid Spin] rush towards Blastoise and with the accumulated kinetic energy from the running and centrifugal force from its attack, the copy used all of its power to blast the starter back, causing the latter to black out at the unexpectedly powerful blow.

Boom!

"Damnit! Blastoise!" Gary cried out as he ran back to his starter.

As he found Blastoise unable to battle, he reluctantly accepted his defeat.

"Red, don't be stupid and rush in! That bastard's been holding back since the start!" Gary warned his rival since he was the next to go.

"Yeah…" the raven-haired boy strutted to the battlefield.

'I know,' his thoughts finished that sentence.

"Red of Pallet Town. Or rather, Ash Ketchum," Mewtwo recognized from the Grand League's broadcast with a ghost of a smirk.

Both Charizards flew to the battlefield, roaring at each other as a show of dominance.

"Show me your strength!"

"Let's go, Charizard!" Ash declared.

The orange dragon took to the skies as he let out a stream of flames towards the scarred dragon, who answered with the exact attack.

Both Flame Pokémon danced in the darkened sky with their flames illuminating the sombre clouds. Charizardtwo sped towards Charizard and threw a punch at the starter as its first connected hit.

"So that's how you wanna go? Two can play at that game!" Ash twitched his brow.

"Charizard, let's do that!"

"Roar!" the orange dragon nodded as he flew above the copy.

"[Close Combat (Fake)]!"

Charizard huffed a breath of flames as he instantly pummelled the copy with a combined attack of [Thunder Punch] and [Fire Punch] with [Flame Burst] enhancing its power.

Bam! Pam! Wham! Bam! Pam! Wham! Bam! Pam! Wham!

"This is…" Mewtwo uncharacteristically widened its eyes.

"Finish it off with [Dragon Tail]!" Ash called out.

A deep purple energy encroached around the Flame Pokémon's tail, gathering strength before Charizard spun 360 degrees to deliver the final blow. But Charizardtwo had enough. It evaded to the side with a surprised Charizard descending forward due to the heavy attack.

The copy zipped to the back of the orange dragon and with great haste, blasted towards the ground as if ignoring the backward magnitude.

"[Seismic Toss]," Mewtwo commanded.

Boom!

An injured Charizard tried to get up but ultimately succumbed to defeat. The last thing he heard was his Trainer running towards him in a panic.

"Hang in there, Charizard!" Ash tried to shake his starter awake.

"Hmph, so the faker was defeated as well," the bipedal feline observed before shaking its head.

Mewtwo was incredibly disappointed at its opponent's Pokémon's performance.

"But no matter how much you try, the truth remains that all of you lacked the strength and speed. That is something even your fakery cannot mask."

With a wave of its hand, three black PokéBalls with an ominous eye in place of where the button was manifested and levitated to the three defeated Pokémon.

Then, to the Pallet trio's bewilderment, the black Balls captured the fallen starters. Something that was impossible.

"Hang on!" Ash reached towards the accursed Ball's escape from his clutches.

"Venny!" Blue cried out.

"How in the…?!" Gary uttered in shock.

"These are Clone Balls. Something I've engineered from the blueprints of something called a Master Ball. Unlike that Ball that guarantees a 100% catch rate on wild Pokémon, I've managed to invert its designated use by guaranteeing a 100% catch rate on owned Pokémon," Mewtwo explained to Gary.

'Is that even possible?!' the orange-haired boy was stunned at the impossibility of the artificial creature's exposition as well as the existence of an all-powerful item like a Master Ball.

"Are you stealing other people's Pokémon like Team Rocket?!" Misty accused with rage.

"Stealing?" the bipedal feline stared incredulously at the redhead.

"No. I'll forgive that last insult comparing me to the likes of Giovanni," it continued.

Hearing that name, Ash felt his blood boil in baleful hatred.

"But my goal is to create copies of the Pokémon that you're so proud of. And we'll see who truly are the strongest!"

Suddenly, a dense cloud of Clone Balls manifested around Mewtwo. Ready and waiting to fulfil their purpose as the eyes seemed to lock onto the remaining Trainer-owned Pokémon.

"That's against the rules!" Ash roared indignantly.

But Mewtwo had enough as its eyes glowed pale blue.

"I am the rules!"

Psychic energy covered the raven-haired boy as Mewtwo prepared to fling him across the battlefield; but to its surprise, Ash did not budge a single inch.

As if on cue, Ash's bloodred eyes glowed with the bright blue in his pupils. It was as if AURA was acting as a defense mechanism to outside interference.

'It activated now? What the hell are the conditions?!' Ash complained internally.

The raven-haired boy was trying to activate his AURA in the middle of the Charizards' clash, and his miserable failure to do so resulted in his defeat. Although thankful it finally activated, Ash was slightly peeved.

Mewtwo, on the other hand, was slightly alarmed at the thought of a human unaffected by its powers but immediately shook it off as it commanded the Clone Balls to begin their hunt.

"They're coming!" the burly Trainer warned.

"Everyone, run!" Ash cried out as he began running back towards Pikachu and the others.

.

Chaos ensued as the Pokémon ran for their lives from the spherical hunters. Their Trainers were doing everything in their power to stop the unending armies of Clone Balls to no avail.

"What kind of G*meSh*rk codes is that guy using?!" Gary swiped away an incoming Clone Ball.

"Never thought that video game we played as kids would come back to haunt us like this!" Ash agreed with his rival's sentiment as he kicked away a Clone Ball levitating towards Pikachu.

Within a short span of time, most of the Pokémon were caught with their Trainers unable to do anything. All the while, Mewtwo smirked ominously at the despair of the humans.

Ash saw that the captured Pokémon were sent to a small opening underneath the pillars of the castle. Then, he got an idea.

"I know. Everyone, return your Pokémon!" Ash told his friends.

Seeing that the raven-haired boy's logic made sense, everyone proceeded to return their Pokémon into their respective Balls. But that small glimmer of hope was robbed instantaneously as the Clone Ball captured the Trainer's Balls instead.

"It's useless," the artificial creature muttered to itself.

"Seriously?!" Ash facepalmed at the thought that he inadvertently made the Mewtwo's job easier.

And then, only three Pokémon remained.

They were the fastest and most evasive of the bunch: Pikachu, Arcanine and Espeon.

"Pika-chu!" Pikachu squeaked out to his fellow aces, to which the two nodded at his suggestion.

Yellow, red and purple split off from each other, causing a slight pause in the Clone Balls' movements before adjusting to the speed of the three powerhouses.

[Volt Tackle], [ExtremeSpeed] and [Quick Attack] were used at max power and yet, the Balls kept up, much to the three aces' surprise.

Eventually, the Clone Balls managed to trap Espeon with no way out and caused Arcanine to leap towards the purple feline hastily. [Psychic] and [Flamethrower] destroyed a large amount of the Clone Balls but alas, one touch was all it took.

Arcanine and Espeon vanished into the Balls, which then escaped into the hole underneath the pillars.

Finally, only Pikachu remained. The electric mouse found himself climbing the spiral staircase that pointed to the night sky while dodging all the Clone Balls with nimble movements. Eventually, he knew that simply evading was not enough and proceeded to use [Thunderbolt] at the surrounding Clone Balls without prejudice.

"Pika-chi!"

…

"Pika-chi!"

…

"Pika-chi!"

But the Clone Balls kept coming while Pikachu got slower and weaker from overexertion. Unbeknownst to the electric mouse, his partner was below him, also climbing up the slippery spiral staircase.

'Whoever designed these stairs must be a third-rate clown!' Ash unknowingly insulted Mewtwo as he had no choice but to crawl up due to how frictionless the stairs were.

But the raven-haired boy turned his attention to a panicking squeak from above and saw that his partner had fallen off the stairs due to the overwhelming number of Clone Balls assaulting him. Ash glanced down and saw that Pikachu was heading to a small pond underneath and his suicidal tendencies kicked into high gear.

"Pikachu!" he kicked off into the air as he descended rapidly towards his falling aprnter with outstretched arms.

"RED!" Gary and Blue shouted in terror.

"Ash!" Misty did so similarly.

As they fell, one of the Clone Ball finally captured Pikachu as the electric mouse vanished into the Ball… which was promptly caught by the falling raven-haired Trainer.

"As if I'll let you go!" Ash clenched his teeth as he approached the pool of water.

Splash!

The raven-haired boy struggled to breathe in the sudden change of his environment and regrettably lost his grip on the Clone Ball that held Pikachu. The boy swam up to the surface with his signature red cap falling from his soaked raven black hair and saw the Ball entering the hole underneath the pillar. With the last Pokémon captured, the pillars whirred downwards, closing the hole.

But Ash was undeterred as he got out of the pond and sprinted into action, unknowingly using AURA again in the process.

This time, his desire to go faster flooded the channels within his legs similarly to the time during the Grand League and burst into a blur towards the small opening, leaving behind a miniature crater in his wake as well as his yellow bag that had its shoulder straps torn from the sudden force its owner exerted.

With a resounding clamp, Ash disappeared into the opening along with his echoing roars.

"PIKACHU!"

I tumbled out of the water, unbothered by the freezing air that brushed my skin. My focus was solely on that accursed Clone Ball that held my partner captive.

That was not permissible in my eyes. And so, I ran as fast as my legs could towards the escape hole where the Ball was headed. Unconsciously, I felt AURA welling up within my legs as my desire to reach Pikachu got stronger.

Without anything holding me back, I burst forward into the hole.

"PIKACHU!"

I fell into the black with only the smallest hue of red as light due to AURA's activation in my eyes. But the fall was not endless.

"Oof!"

I crashed onto a hard surface with a small hiss of pain escaping my lips. It was harder than I thought.

As I sat on the throbbing pain, I realized that my legs were not part of the throbbing. In fact, they were perfectly fine.

This is weird. I'm pretty sure it was the same as that time in the Grand League…

I secretly wished Riley was here to explain, but this was something I had to figure out myself.

I can't keep relying on others.

I remembered the part Riley talked about regarding AURA users, or AURA Wielders as the general term. Or more specifically, the analogy about their capacity:

Everyone's core started off the same. A sphere with the same diameter, no exception. By exhausting the contents, AURA in this case, the sphere would turn into a balloon. AURA Tempering would expand the balloon little by little while AURA Exceeding pumped the balloon larger quicker. Both achieved the same result as the balloon would revert into a normal sphere but bigger after the conditioning. That was how an AURA Wielder increased their capacity.

In my case, my accidental lock into AURA Exceeding probably expanded my capacity to even Riley's level despite using it for the first time accidentally.

I see… My body adapted to my core, resulting in little to no damage when I use AURA unlike last time.

Shaking away that thought as a reminder for later, I recomposed to find Pikachu.

"…elp …y f…nd…"

A fading whisper behind my ear as I turned back to the source. But there was nothing. Just a pit of darkness harbouring nothing but emptiness.

"What was that?" I asked into the darkness.

Ignoring that, my ears picked up on mechanical whirring in front of me. There was no time to think about what it could be…

I'm gonna save my Pokémon!

I rushed towards the sound and found myself staring into a dimly lit room full of monitors and experimental equipment. If I didn't know any better, it looked like a scene out of that one mad scientist movie Blue made me watch with her.

"Pikachu!" I called out as I pinpointed the Ball that held my partner prisoner.

The surface I ran on was now revealed to be a conveyor belt that headed straight towards a menacing looking machine.

Oh, I really don't like that…

As the Clone Ball holding Pikachu reached the entrance, a large number of mechanical arms popped outta nowhere with their objective being to fend off the intruder before them: me.

Oh, I REALLY don't like that!

AURA was still active, thankfully. From where I crouched, my body propelled itself towards the Ball with my gloved hand grasping it, not wanting to let go. All the while, the mechanical arms tried their very hardest to pry me off.

"Get off me!" I shouted at the arms as I hugged the Clone Ball into my chest while struggling to break free.

Alarms blared around me as I could smell smoke and hear crackling electric. The tell-tale signs of something about to—

Oi! This thing's about to explode!

Finally, with another round of adrenaline, I managed to tear myself off the mechanical arms with the only casualty being my tattered red vest. Silently, I saluted the vest that had my literal back since the Grand League.

Poof!

Pikachu was materialized from the Clone Ball with his paws covering his eyes.

"Hey, partner. I'm here, don't worry," I comforted as I hugged him close.

"Pikapi!" I heard my partner squeaked happily as I felt his little face bury deep into my black T-shirt.

I made Pikachu go through such a terrible experience…

Remembering the horrid memories of Pikachu's past made me loathe myself as I let that happen to him.

Damnit, if only AURA would just activate when I need it to…

Suddenly, an explosion echoed above our heads as the machine could not handle my excessive meddling, ruining its systems in the process.

From the machine's entrance, Clone Balls were spat out and each one materialized all our Pokémon that were unfortunate enough to be captured.

"Lapras! Marowak! Snorlax! Charizard!" I happily exclaimed.

My team crowded around me, happy to be reunited again.

From the corners of my eyes, I recognized Blue, Misty and Green's team and called out to them.

"Hey. You guys alright?" I asked them.

All nodded their heads while Pikachu was apologizing to Espy and Arcanine for his botched plan. Luckily for him, they didn't blame him since nobody knew what they were facing against.

I picked up a Clone Ball and scrutinized it with a scowl.

"Mewtwo…"

I'll pay you back for this…

CRACK!

Unconsciously, I flooded AURA into my arm and crushed the Ball with ease.

"Hmm? Was that Enhancement…?" I questioned aloud.

No… I didn't even coat my arm with AURA at all. Hell, I can't even do that if I tried.

Being told that I'm talentless in AURA stung a little, but this was a new technique that I didn't think was possible. I remembered the book explicitly saying that flowing AURA within the circu- umm, channels in a limb was incredibly dangerous and might cause the limb to explode from the internal pressure.

Been there, done that.

Strangely enough, my body could do it. Rather, it felt eerily natural for me to use AURA like this. AURA Wielders used Enhancement like armour for their bodies.

But by condensing AURA into my body… I become a weapon.

"This has to be the coolest thing I've ever done…" I felt my eyes twinkle in excitement.

Wonder what I should call this technique?

"Can you hear me?"

A girl's whispery question sounded behind me, making me skid to the other side in fright. Call me a coward, but I'm pretty sure anyone would jump at any sudden noise behind them.

As I looked to the source, I widened my eyes in surprise at what I was beholding:

A little girl with pale blue hair and three scarred Kanto starters.

"Wha… Who are you?" I asked with as much stability in my voice as I could conjure.

The Pokémon around me were staring at me weirdly, as if I was demanding answers to the air to my confusion.

Can they not see them?

Then, from the destroyed machine's back, many Pokémon popped out and were moving up to the surface, probably back to Mewtwo. Worse part was, they were the same group as the ones I'm surrounded by.

"Don't tell me… They're copies?" I chuckled weakly.

"Yep. They're like us."

The girl answered my questions with a beaming smile on her face.

This is too weird…

"Espy, can ya' see what I'm seeing with Synchronize?" I asked my friend's ace.

She nodded at my request but ultimately gave a sad look, mewing apologetically at me.

"You can't use psychic powers on me?" I interpreted her mews.

…

…

…Ding!

OH! That's right! AURA Wielders have an innate resistance to Espers!

But now was not the time to settle on that. Right now, I had to—

Bzzt!

What the…?!

Bzzt! Bzzt!

As soon as my eyes laid upon the girl again, bits and pieces of her memories came flooding into me.

Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt!

Static overran my vision as it switched perspectives in a flash.

BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT!

"Urgh!" I grunted at the glitching details flooding into my head.

BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT!

And then, I saw them. Or rather, I analysed their histories… All of them.

This girl's name. Her companions.

Mewtwo's past. Its partnership with Giovanni.

They never leave Mewtwo. They were saddened at what it had become.

"Huff… huff…" I tried to breathe.

It's similar to how I learnt Nine Strikes… Only a lot more information to process.

"Pikapi!" / "Kyaah." / "Grrr…"

Pikachu, Espy and Arcanine looked at my crouched state with worried looks. Instinctively, I patted them gently to calm them down.

Pikachu's memories weren't as extensive as theirs…

"Amber, was it?" I asked to confirm while wiping the sweat on my face.

"Wow, how did you know my name, big brother?" she smiled again.

"Name's Ash, and I don't really know but never mind that."

"Mewtwo, is it…"

"Him. Mewtwo's my friend," Amber corrected.

Huh, figures. It… Er, he did sound masculine.

"Ashy, please help him. Help him remember me."

"Thank you."

"Thank you for your tears."

"But please don't cry."

"You're still living. So, stay alive."

"I'm sure it'll be fun."

"And once in a while…"

"Remember that I was living too."

…It's different. And yet, it's the same.

"You guys are ghosts. You don't owe that guy anything," I told the spirits, not caring to correct my name.

"There's no need for you to go outta your way for him. You guys can just pass on peacefully."

I saw Amber frown at my words. But that was exactly what I expected.

"So, tell me. Why are you going so far for him?"

Without hesitation, Amber immediately replied with a girly shriek.

"Is it wrong to help others?! I just want Mewtwo to be happy! He deserves it!"

A small smile crept up on my face. It was my wish as well.

Helping others and everyone to be happy. That was the only way I could repay my late mother who sacrificed herself for me.

"Understood, little missy. I promise you this…"

There's no going back now.

"I'll save Mewtwo."

Now that that's settled, I turned to the Pokémon around me with one thing in mind.

"Everyone…"

"Let's get outta here."

Gary was too late as he tried to enter the secret escape of the Clone Balls, only to be beaten by poor timing and the rocketing figure of his rival. Clicking his tongue in frustration, he instead opted to grab Ash's bag and cap before making his way back to the others.

"Why did that idiot have to be so reckless?!" the orange-haired boy muttered in annoyance at Ash's antics.

"That brat just got out of medical treatment and here he goes, running into troubles again!" Misty grumbled in agreement with the younger Oak.

"Let's just hope Red's safe with our Pokémon…" Blue sighed with resignation in her voice as she gave up on reprimanding Ash for the umpteenth time.

The humans had all gathered in one side of the stadium, herded by the newly-arrived clone army as well as the main three fully evolved starters. Mewtwo levitated above them with an air of arrogance around him.

"Hmm, it looks like the clones of your Pokémon have turned out nicely," he began with a pleased expression.

"Don't count on that, copycat," Gary insulted with a pun, his expression unreadable.

As the boy expected, his body was flung towards Mewtwo by a pale blue energy, which he deduced was Mewtwo's [Psychic]. Although struggling to break free, Gary nevertheless maintained eye contact with the artificial creature.

The rumbling storm over them heightened Blue's desire to scream and beg for Gary's return.

"I was willing to spare all of you and yet, you dare to insult me, human?" Mewtwo threatened.

"As… if you'll do that," Gary smirked much to Blue's horror as she trembled in fear of Gary's fate.

"Hoh? And how would you know?"

"Doesn't take a genius to figure out how much of a sadist you are. You're probably gonna say something like 'I'll spare you but the storm's a different story' or something along those lines."

Hearing that, the bipedal feline shot an impressed look towards Gary.

"You're quite sharp and quick on the uptake, Gary Oak," Mewtwo praised with a hint of sarcasm.

"You're not the first to say that, you discount sphinx."

Normally, Mewtwo would have immediately destroyed the boy in front of him, but the expectant look on Gary's face made him suspicious.

"…You're stalling for time," the bipedal feline concluded.

And just as he said that, the castle entrance blasted open with a cloud of smoke in its wake.

"Damn right I am," the orange-haired boy replied defiantly as he threw his rival's cap in front of Mewtwo.

That small delay and break of Mewtwo's concentration caused [Psychic]'s hold on Gary to disappear, making him fall towards the battlefield. Luckily for the boy, a large serpentine body of red slithered quickly to him and had him safely land on its massive head.

"Graaaah!" a familiar yet different coloured sea serpent roared at the bipedal feline.

"Took you long enough, Lance," Gary greeted.

"I didn't think you'd be that reckless to goad that thing. Guess your rival rubbed off on you," Lance replied.

The Elite Four had already planned to storm into New Island as all the clues towards the disappearance of the Nurse Joy in Vermillion City pointed to New Island. Gary caught onto that but was not sure how long Lance would come. In short, it was a huge gamble that the old him would not have taken.

'…Heh. Guess he did,' Gary chuckled to himself.

"Give me the rundown," Lance ordered.

"Artificial Pokémon, Mewtwo. Most likely, Psychic monotype. Plans to conquer the world with our cloned Pokémon, indicating high intelligence," the boy briefed with a condensed report of his current knowledge on Mewtwo.

"Thanks."

"Hurry and leave for the entrance, Trainers! Evacuate the premise and do not worry about your Pokémon!" the carmine-haired man commanded on his red Gyarados as he steeled his eyes onto the glaring Mewtwo.

"I am Lance of Kanto's Elite Four and the Champion of Johto! Let us do battle, Pokémon!"

"A Champion?" Mewtwo widened his eyes at Lance's title.

While Lance prepared to battle, the three unnamed Trainers were led to a small boat outside with Officer Jenny holding Nurse Joy for the latter's support. To the policewoman's surprise, Gary, Blue and Misty stayed behind. But when she was about to call out for them, Lance made the first move.

"Gyarados, [Flamethrower]!" the Elite Four commanded.

From the red sea serpent's gaping mouth spew a vortex of white-hot flames towards Mewtwo, who managed to block it with a forcefield around him.

Crack!

But to the bipedal feline's shock, his forcefield fractured from the sheer force of the flames and shortly after, destroying it into dissipating shards.

Boom!

A cloud of smoke exploded with Mewtwo retreating back with some burns on his gray body.

'The usual amount of my powers wasn't enough to defend against that?' Mewtwo pondered as he used [Recover] on himself.

He was stunned at the fact that Lance's red Gyarados was holding back since it did not use Water Type attacks, meaning a non-STAB attack was enough to break through.

'This… This is a Champion?'

"Don't get cocky, human! [Shadow Ball]!"

A gigantic sphere of malicious energy discharged from Mewtwo's palms and advanced towards a now-serious Lance and Gyarados.

"Slam it into the ground, [Aqua Tail]!" Lance ordered.

Gyarados obliged as it swung its heavy tail with torrents of water overlaying it at the incoming sphere of darkness.

BOOM!

The resulting explosion was a tie in power. Both from Mewtwo and Lance.

"To be strong enough to equal Gyarados in strength alone… The only ones capable of such destruction in Kanto are only the Winged Mirages," Lance narrowed at the highly dangerous threat.

"Those birds?! That guy's on par with a Legendary?!" Gary exclaimed in shock.

'How did these kids even get into such a situation? And where's Ash?' Lance thought as he noticed the raven-haired boy was missing.

Unbeknownst to the others, Mewtwo had one final trump card.

"You are strong, Champion. But now, you'll wish you weren't."

Suddenly, Mewtwo raised an arm to the sky. The pale blue energy from its palm beckoned something into it. And from the depths of the castle, a metallic object throttled above, leaving untamed destruction in its wake.

BOOM!

A sizeable pit tore open in the middle of the battlefield and the metallic blur zipped its way into Mewtwo's hand, revealing itself to everyone with the cloned Pokémon army crying out for their leader.

It was a spoon. A comically large metallic spoon.

But instead of giggles and silliness, it exuded a terrifying air as it stood as tall as its wielder. Lance watched in stunned surprise at the sight of a Pokémon wielding a weapon to fight.

"This weapon was made from the remains of the contraptions that held my powers back. But now, it amplifies my prowess instead," Mewtwo explained as he brandished the spoon like a spear, ready to attack.

"I wonder if this is what you humans call 'irony'."

But the bipedal feline digressed. He had enough of this.

The Johto Champion's arrival was a surprise to him, but ultimately, it was of no consequence since he was now leagues stronger with his weapon.

"And now, humans! For the sin of creating me, for using me!"

"I WILL STRIKE BACK!"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A large explosion set off behind.

Its demanding burst of noise silenced everyone with a cloud of obscuring black smoke as its companion. The now-designated Legendary Pokémon grew curious at the unexpected development.

"…Who are you?"

The Trainers as well as the clones watched as the enormous smoke began to clear, making way for the deafening steps of a pair of sneakers.

And from the retreating smoke, a pair of glowing bloodred eyes shone bright as they locked onto the spoon wielding Mewtwo.

"Mewtwo…" Ash narrowed in on the artificial Pokémon.

The raven-haired boy emerged from the smoke with an army of the original Pokémon stolen by Mewtwo at his side.

"Pika, Pikachu…" his partner snarked from his shoulder.

"Stop saying I got lost. I knew where we were going."

"Pika…"

"Shut up."

Gary, Blue and Misty lit up at the appearance of their friend while Lance gave a smile towards the boy he had come to respect since the Grand League.

With one last heavy stomp, Ash Ketchum stopped across the landed Mewtwo. Ash turned back to Lance with a serious gaze and a request close to begging.

"Lance, let me handle this."

The carmine-haired man did not know why Ash was insistent on fighting against the bipedal feline that was at the level of a Legendary, but after seeing the determination of his eyes, the man reluctantly obliged.

"Did you release them all?" Mewtwo demanded.

"Who knows? Could be anyone," Ash replied as he focused back on his target.

"Impudent human…" Mewtwo growled as he prepared to use [Psychic] on the boy.

However, Mewtwo did not know that he was outnumbered.

"Ashy! Mewtwo's coming!" the floating figure of Amber warned the raven-haired boy.

'Roger!' he relayed his thanks to the girl.

To everyone's shock, Ash dug his feet into the earth and rocketed towards Mewtwo, causing the latter to widen his eyes in stunned surprise at the pair of red streaks in his face.

From the bipedal feline's vision, he saw the boy preparing to throw a punch and immediately guarded with a layer of forcefield to shield himself.

Crackle! Crackle! Crackle!

"What…?!"

Then, a blinding yellow sparked from his incoming fist as it drove Ash's arm into the psychic shield, obliterating it into fragments and connecting the powerful fist into Mewtwo's face.

POW!

The immense force from the punch sent Mewtwo staggering backwards as he reeled in the unforeseen pain on his face. The artificial Pokémon turned back to the boy and discovered the reason for his shield's destruction.

Pikachu had held onto Ash's arm to support himself from the sudden acceleration from his partner as well as provided additional force for his Trainer's punch with [Thunderbolt] as thrust.

For a moment, when Ash's fist connected, Mewtwo swore he saw a familiar figure behind the boy. But the anger welling in him exploded into the surface instead.

"Ash Ketchum!" Mewtwo shouted in indignation.

But his shouts were replied with more punches from the human child. Within a short exchange, Ash had already dealt more damage to the Legendary Pokémon than even Lance's Gyarados.

'Agh! Kuh! How is he not affected by my powers?!' Mewtwo grunted in pain between thoughts as he felt a resistance from Ash's body towards his psychic powers.

But the raven-haired boy was not slowing down. In fact, he was getting faster.

Ash continued his flurry of blows onto Mewtwo, the experiences from brawling in his hometown to protect his friends resurfacing as his only guide to defeat the Pokémon before him.

Pam! Bam! Pow! Kapow!

'Use my body as a weapon. Don't think, just punch!' Ash told himself as he pumped AURA into my arms, strengthening them to the point where even Mewtwo was taking damage.

The boy had done the opposite of what the book Riley gave him advised to do. Instead of coating AURA around his body, Ash concentrated his AURA internally with zero backlash thanks to his conditioning. By doing this, his body's parameters skyrocketed proportional to the amount he was pumping into it via his core.

And with this new discovery, Ash had created his unique version of AURA Enhancement:

"Reinforcement!"

Blue circuits lit up on the boy's fist as they drove themselves into Mewtwo's body. The artificial Pokémon could not respond back to the human's fists and instinctively, he begrudgingly let his spoon down in favour of his arms guarding against the berserk punches coming his way. Responding to Mewtwo's stance, he let Pikachu down with a maniacal grin while the two continued their fistfight.

Nobody could believe what they were witnessing. All were afraid to breathe at the sheer absurdity of the fight.

The sudden return of Ash and their Pokémon gave them hope. But now, they were baffled at the sight of the boy initiating a brawl against a Legendary Pokémon.

"Hey… I'm not seeing things, right?" Blue muttered in unmoving quietness.

"Red's turned the fight into a slugfest…"

A human brawling with power on par with a Pokémon. It went against everything the world's common sense. And yet, Ash threw that into the proverbial trash can and swung his fists at Mewtwo as hard as he could while bobbing and weaving around the Pokémon.

'What in the world is happening…?' Lance could not tear his eyes off from the exchange of blows by Mewtwo and Ash with the former retaliating back.

The raven-haired boy was finally taking damage from Mewtwo's punches and was visibly bruised and bleeding, but he kept going nonetheless like a machine.

"It's those eyes again…" Gary clicked his tongue as he recognized the lifeless and coldness exuding from Ash as the ones before he met Serena.

In the corner of his eyes, he saw a shining object within Ash's bag. And Gary went into action.

But they could not do anything. A Pokémon vs Pokémon battle or a scuffle between people were easy to break, but a showdown between a human and a Pokémon was a situation no one was prepared for.

Meanwhile, Ash was beginning to feel the exhaustion as he recklessly used AURA to near depletion with disregard. Not only that, he was also feeling the pounding from Mewtwo as the bipedal feline was already adept in street brawling, courtesy of Ash himself to his dismay.

'For a Psychic type, this guy's punches hurt like hell!' he mused after jabbing Mewtwo in the stomach.

Psychic Types were mostly Special Attackers since their prowess is of the mind. But Mewtwo displayed strength on even the physical level, leaving Ash behind as he got used to the fighting.

"Who… Who are you?!" Mewtwo cried out in a panic.

'Finally,' Ash spat out some blood in his mouth.

"I… wasn't socking you… for the hell of it," the boy grinned weakly due to the numbness on his face.

'Maybe a little…'

"Can… you see her now?"

A bruised Mewtwo stared in shock at the girl floating behind Ash.

Pale blue hair. A smile he did not know he yearned for.

"Amber…" the bipedal feline recognized as the scribbled faces of his earliest memories were returning.

"Long time no see, silly," the spirit chortled slightly.

Ash learnt that AURA Wielders could commune with spirits similarly to Espers like Sabrina. Unlike the latter, AURA was able to allow the dead to interact with the physical world through touch. This was why Ash was not as fazed when he saw Amber, though he was questioning his atrocious luck since ghosts appeared before him right after he learnt that they were real.

The raven-haired boy deduced that if AURA allowed one to see spirits and interact with them, he could transfer his own AURA to Mewtwo in order for Amber and her starters to appear in front of him in a similar fashion to his own way of powering up his Pokémon via AURA in the Grand League.

"Amber… I'm sorry," Mewtwo apologized.

"I forgot all about you. All of you."

"It's okay. Even if you forgot, we've never left you," Amber shook her head as she held Mewtwo's bulbous hands.

"Everything you've been through. You were never alone. We're always with you."

"Char!" / "Squirt!" / "Bulba!"

Eyeing the pale blue-haired spirit and a forlorn Mewtwo, Ash unconsciously imagined how his reunion with Serena would look like. A tender smile spread on his face as he thought more about it.

"Thank you, Ashy," Amber thanked the boy, snapping him from his thoughts.

Not wanting to interrupt Mewtwo, the raven-haired boy opted to communicate with AURA instead.

'I promised you, didn't I? I don't break them.'

.

.

.

But things never were that easy.

"Mew!" a new voice mewed out from above.

Everyone spun to the soft voice in the air and saw a completely new Pokémon that they had never seen before.

"Mew…"

"Mew."

"Mew!"

As if something within Mewtwo had snapped, the once sorrowful Legendary Pokémon reverted back into a wrathful force of nature upon seeing the pink feline above.

Luckily, Amber and the three starters were incorporeal so none of Mewtwo's sudden outrage affected them. Ash, on the other hand, was not lucky.

"Ashy!" Amber screamed in fear as the raven-haired boy was blown back by the harsh winds conjured by the psychic powers of Mewtwo. Now far more powerful than ever as if he had removed a mental block.

Feeling the bloody cuts on his T-shirt and arms, Ash widened his eyes in a panic as his brain recognized a dire realization:

AURA Wielders were resistant to Espers. Not immune.

'…Crap.'

His final thoughts before getting blown away by the Psychic-infused winds.

Mewtwo hovered in front of Mew with furious glowing eyes of pale blue. Every fibre of his being cried out to defeat the Mythical Pokémon before him.

Unfortunately for the artificial Pokémon, Mew instead zoomed towards a flung Ash that was heading straight for the sturdy wall at top speed. Mewtwo silently watched as the Mythical Pokémon conjured a small bubble made of pure [Psychic] that gently bounced the boy, saving him in the process.

"Mew!" the pink feline cooed as it rubbed against Ash's face.

"Thanks, but… aren't you a bit too close?" Ash sighed in relief while patting the Pokémon, not realizing its identity as a Mythical.

"It's like you know me or something. Haha…"

Mew held its mouth as it chuckled like it thought of something funny about Ash's words before returning to Mewtwo…

Before a [Shadow Ball] shot straight for it at blinding speed.

"Watch out!" Ash grabbed the pink feline into his arm while stopping the ghostly bullet with his left hand.

"Reinforcement!"

Boom!

.

.

.

Splat, splat.

Warm blood spluttered onto the ground as the raven-haired boy waited for a mind-numbing second to feel his hand. His bloodred eyes trailed to his hand…

Or rather, where his hand should have been.

"Aaargggh!" Ash screamed out in visceral pain, unable to hold back the sizzling heat emitting from his severed hand.

The hand that failed to stop the [Shadow Ball] but saved Mew had been cleanly ripped clean off with no traces of severed fingers nor palm. Heated blood poured slightly due to the instantaneous cauterization of the wound. What was left on Ash's left arm were his radius and ulna bones, broken off into a shrapnel of calcium.

"RED!" Gary and Blue wailed in terror at the gruesome sight of bloody puddles.

Misty dropped to the floor on her knees, unable to pry away from Ash's suffering while tears accumulated in her eyes.

However,…

Even after that…

Despite his hand reduced to nothing, he gently caressed Mew's head with his remaining hand. All the while, giving a strained smile towards the stunned Mythical Pokémon.

"Mew… was it? Ergh…! You alright?" Ash winced while trying his best to hold his crooked smile.

'Even Reinforcement wasn't strong enough to stop that?' he tried to steady his breathing.

The pink feline in the boy's arm wriggled free as it immediately whizzed to Mewtwo, surprising the latter before unleashing a gigantic orb of concentrated pink energy onto him. Mewtwo had no escape as he was piledriven into the battlefield by Mew.

"No way… That's an [AURA Sphere]?" Ash's eyes blinked upon identifying the attack.

Suddenly, the boy was tackled by his childhood friends, holding the former down while Misty applied a wet cloth onto his dismembered limb, trying to stop the blood flow. Although it stung a lot, Ash's absurdly high pain tolerance was doing its job overtime as well as the adrenaline flowing in his body.

"You absolute moron! What the hell were you trying to do?!" Gary scolded with tears in his eyes.

"Are you suicidal?! Why do you keep doing this, you idiot?!" Blue shouted angrily at her friend, already fed up of Ash's antics.

Misty also wanted to vent but held her tongue as it was not her place for the moment. All three were extremely furious with Ash's tendencies, but was glad that at least he was breathing.

"Pikapi! Pikachu!" the electric mouse wept next to his Trainer's dismembered hand as he looked upon it with pained eyes.

"This isn't important…" Ash shrugged off his friends as he stood up again, completely unaware of the terrified looks on their faces.

"I've gotta… do something first."

Link established.

After transferring some of his AURA into Mewtwo through some cathartic punches, Ash managed to create a link between them and received the memories from even before his meeting with Amber. It was a stroke of luck that his AURA had been active for so long.

And that luck ran out as soon as he began analysing Mewtwo. The horrendous experience was nothing short of agonizing pain multiplied by a thousandfold.

"GGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

His brain short-circuited and restarted, only to repeat the process all over again. Mewtwo's memories were not the only ones in his head for Ash had unknowingly analysed even Mew's dormant genetic memories, causing him to barely hang onto consciousness due to the gigantic size of Mew's history as one of the first Pokémon ever to exist on Earth.

The raven-haired boy could not think. He was not capable of coherence anymore. His mind was trying its hardest to compress the overflowing history of Mew, but it seemed that the boy was about to head into self-destruction first before he could finish.

"Mew. Mew! MEW!" the artificial Pokémon cried out with unabated fury.

Mewtwo's composure melted away as soon as he laid eyes upon the pink feline. His progenitor, the reason for his birth.

And even then, Mewtwo was no closer to the questions that defined his existence.

"WHO AM I?! WHERE AM I?! WHY AM I HERE?!"

Giovanni's words echoed within him.

Fight, destroy, plunder.

Will that tell me who I am? Defeating Mew will give me my answer?

Such thoughts raced around Mewtwo's mind, and using his unleashed powers, he sought for his answer.

"COME, MEW! I'LL DEFEAT YOU!"

Mew had no visible expression on its face, but anyone could tell it was angered slightly due to the small crease on its forehead.

"Mew!" the pink feline mewed out as it launched itself within a [Psychic] barrier, similar to Capsule Form, towards Mewtwo, who responded in kind.

Pink clashed with pale blue. The two spherical shields bashed into each other, signalling Mewtwo's army to engage into combat.

"I'll show you! All of you! Us copies can surpass you originals!" Mewtwo roared angrily.

Seeing the army of copies headed their way, the original Pokémon were forced to engage as well, regardless of whether they wanted to or not.

And so began the war between originals and copies.

Schwing! Schwing! Schwing!

'Give! Endure! Don't! Up!'

Schwing! Schwing! Schwing!

After a couple of times rebooting his frayed mind, Ash went on autopilot as he let his body do the work while focusing on his only job of enduring with only willpower.

Schwing! Schwing! Schwing!

Within the world of blades, every single memory of Mew, be it large of small, was converted into swords that joined the others in the mental landscape of Ash Ketchum. Truly, the swords did not stop coming.

"Grrh! Sword… Gimme!" Ash spoke through clenched teeth as he tried to convey what he was asking for.

He finally returned to coherency with his first request being the rusted sword within his bag which Gary hurriedly gave since he had it.

Suddenly, a torrent of yellow blasted towards the trio but was swiftly slashed off by Pikachu's [Iron Tail].

"Pikachu?!" the electric mouse squeaked out in confusion.

"Pika, Pikachu!" an identical Pikachu pointed at the original with hateful eyes.

"The clones! They're attacking our Pokémon!" Blue gasped in shock at the mayhem the war was causing. Mewtwo and Mew's battle in the sky was not helping the imagery.

Twitching at the word 'clone', Pikachutwo attacked Pikachu with an angry squeak. Ash was extremely laboured from processing Mew's genetic memories by accident, but he was aware of what was happening.

Although they looked identical, he noticed that Pikachutwo's ears were patterned similarly to a Pichu. But the most glaring difference was the scar on Pikachu's ear, a remainder of their battle against Gary and Arcanine.

"Go! Them help! Fine be I will!" the raven-haired boy slurred his words with urgency.

Apparently, his speech was still temporarily strained from the excess analysis.

Gary, Blue and Misty were reluctant to leave Ash by himself and his lost hand was not helping his case. But the resolute bloodred eyes of his conveyed everything to them:

Leave this to me. I'll catch up soon.

And so, with heavy hearts, they three went to help their Pokémon.

"Do you need help, Ash?" Lance appeared behind him.

"Don't… hurt them… Please," the boy heaved out.

"Even if they're just copies?"

The raven-haired boy glared at the man with a severe look, as if daring him to call them that again.

"…Sorry. I'll do my best," Lance apologized as he signalled Gyarados to disable the clones.

'Scary kid,' he chuckled to himself.

.

"Pika-chu!" Pikachutwo squeaked out to his original, goading him to fight.

But instead of fighting, Pikachu merely shook his head.

Angered by this show of passiveness, Pikachutwo attacked Pikachu with [Quick Attack].

"Pika!"

The electric mouse tumbled backwards on the ground, landing in front of Ash, who was holding the earth-stabbed rusted sword and watching his partner's battle.

Pikachutwo laid his eyes upon the exhausted and injured Ash, causing him to become even more furious at Pikachu.

"Pika-chu! Pika-pi! Pika!" Pikachutwo punched consecutively at Pikachu without missing a beat.

"Pi! Pi! Pi! Pi!" Pikachu grunted in pain as bruises accumulated on his face.

All the while, Ash was stuck as the slightest movement he did was forcing his creaking body to snap. He watched with sorrow as Pikachutwo slapped in desperation while Pikachu refused to retaliate.

"'Why didn't you protect him?'" Amber interpreted for the raven-haired boy.

"He's hurting inside. Pikachutwo feels…"

"Regret," Ash finished her words with shimmering bloodred orbs.

"He regrets not being able to save me in time. He blames Pikachu for being weak."

The raven-haired boy was not going to let this stand. And so, he pushed himself to the limit once more.

"Errrrggggghhhhh!" he tried to scream as the muscles over his body begged him to stop.

Anaemia kicked in for the second time in his life. But the boy was undeterred. He had no plans to give up nor rolling over and die.

'Someone's still waiting for me. But…' Ash pondered.

'I'll be damned if I don't save them!'

The sword in his hand pulsed in agreement.

"Pika…chu…" Pikachutwo began to sob as his original refused to fight him.

He knew he was merely taking out his anger on the original, but his existence as a copy was what kept him fighting out of pure hatred.

Jealous that Pikachu got to be with Ash while he was merely a copy that no one would spare a second glance at. But even then, Pikachu would not attack.

The bruised mouse only stared at his copy with pitiful eyes, eliciting some tears from Pikachutwo.

"Pi-ka… Pi-ka… Pi-ka… Pi-ka…" Pikachutwo's slaps reduced to light taps as he was reduced to tears.

"Pika…chu," a groan came behind them.

The two electric mice turned to the voice and found a weakly grinning Ash kneeling before them.

"Pikapi!" / "Pika-pi!"

Pikachutwo tried to jump into Ash's chest before remembering what he was:

A clone. A mere imitation of the original.

He watched in jealous tears as his original buried his face into Ash's black T-shirt, extinguishing his will to fight.

"…Pikachutwo?" Ash called out to the copy.

"Pika-pi?"

"Yeah, you."

"Pika-chu, Pika-pika!"

"…So what? You think I don't care about you just because you're a copy?"

And the raven-haired boy hugged Pikachutwo with the arm of his severed hand. The blood trailed on the back of the copy, causing a series of panicked squeaks from the clone.

But Ash needed to say it. He could care less about bleeding out. The last thing he wanted was abandoning Pikachutwo.

"You're not Pikachu."

"But you're not a copy as well."

"You're you. And I love you all the same."

The tender words whispered by the raven-haired boy choked Pikachutwo into a sobbing mess, the latter desperately grabbing hold onto Ash's T-shirt and burying his crying face into it.

"He's Pikachu, and you're Pikachutwo."

"You guys are already different. But I still love you both."

He continued to drive the message into Pikachutwo. Ash wanted the copy to know that even if his life was an imitation of his original, the fact that Pikachutwo was living in the present already makes him genuine in his eyes.

'Well, that's one crisis ave—' Ash's thought cut short as his senses went into high gear.

He sensed AURA above, unlike his own nor Mew's. And it felt dangerous.

'Don't tell me…?!' he spun upwards to see Mewtwo charging an [AURA Sphere], preparing to blast it into Mew.

"Disappear, Mew! [AURA Sphere]!" Mewtwo continued to roar at the pink feline.

A large sphere of pale blue shot from Mewtwo's bulbous hands, locking onto Mew as a move that never had never missed.

BOOM!

Thankfully, Mew managed to block it with its [Psychic] barrier, but in exchange, said barrier collapsed after a single [AURA Sphere] from Mewtwo. The two resumed their battle with Mewtwo gaining an unexpected addition to his arsenal.

"Crap… It's my fault," Ash scolded himself.

The AURA he transferred into Mewtwo was only supposed to let him sense Amber, but in his awakened rampage, he had become sensitive to AURA and thus, was able to use [AURA Sphere] with no difficulty.

'Come on! Even an artificial Pokémon has more talent than me!'

Ash was still bitter at the fact that he was apparently inept in AURA Projection while Mewtwo, who was exposed to AURA for the first time just an hour ago, was already leagues ahead of him in projecting [AURA Sphere].

But he had no time to think as Amber was urging the boy to move away as Mewtwo had brought the fight close to him and the Pikachus.

"Hold on, you two!" Ash grunted as he pumped AURA into his legs.

'Reinforcement!'

With his newly-Reinforced legs, he managed to evade every single blast of [AURA Sphere] with an injured Mew periodically shielding the boy from stray attacks by the bipedal feline while enduring some of them. The two Pikachu also provided some cover fire for Mew as they used [Thunderbolt] repeatedly at the incoming attacks.

"Thank you, Mew!" Ash called out as he ran towards the other side of the battlefield with unnatural speed.

"You dare look away from me, Mew?!" Mewtwo screamed in rage as he willed his large spoon to his side.

Vwoom…

Vwoom.

Vwoom!

VWOOM!

VWOOM!

Mewtwo pointed his spoon towards Mew as the tip began charging an incredibly high level of condensed energy, causing Ash to shudder at the sight. It was powered by AURA, and yet what was about to blast out was [Psychic] of high density.

Mewtwo had used the spoon as a conduit for AURA while converting that energy into the strongest [Psychic] he had never unleashed. Right then and there, it could no longer be called [Psychic]. It was an entirely new move that could destroy anything in its path.

The obstacles of said path were Mew and its helpers, the two Pikachus.

'Did they wriggle out to help Mew?!' Ash widened his eyes as his heart sank at what was about to happen.

"Evaporate into nothingness…"

"AURA, ON!" Ash panicked as he rocketed towards the Pikachus.

0.15 seconds.

"STOP!"

Ash's Mind's Eye reacted as he charged before Mewtwo could move.

"[Psystrike]!"

Mew and the two Pikachus froze as they watched a condensed laser of deep purple beamed out towards them.

Shhooooooooommmmmm!

But the three Pokémon felt a push on their side as they tumbled away from the laser-like [Psystrike].

Thud!

From where they were previously frozen, only a single person remained there. With his feet dug into the earth and his severed hand bleeding profusely, Ash stood there unmoving…

With a gaping hole in his chest.

An instantaneous reaction to save Mew and the Pikachus was rewarded with an instantaneous death. The clones and originals watched in silence as Ash's legs began to falter. The humans present held their breaths, trying their hardest to delude themselves from what they were seeing. But time waited for no one. The slowest second passed and the raven-haired boy fell to the ground with a resounding thud.

…Ash Ketchum had died.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

"..d! ..ed! Red!" a soft voice cried out to me.

I squinted my eyes open as I scanned for the voice calling for me.

"Red?"

Immediately, I shot up from the grass as I saw the owner of that voice.

…Grass?

"Geez, you can't surprise me like that, dummy!"

A little girl with honey blonde hair. A white dress and a straw hat.

…

…

"Sorry about that…"

"Yellow."

Vaniville Town, Kalos Region.

Crack!

"Serena! What happened?!" Grace asked worryingly at her daughter's bleeding finger.

"Did the cup shatter? I knew I should've bought the new set… Serena?"

The honey blonde was staring into space for a moment before turning her gaze to the night sky outside the window.

"…Red?"

The screams flooded the castle. High pitched squeaks desperately cried out for the lifeless Trainer on the ground. Gary and Blue were trying to shake their friend awake while Misty was in denial of what had become of Ash.

"RED! THIS ISN'T FUNNY! WAKE UP!" Gary cried as his trembling hands grabbed onto Ash's T-shirt.

"DON'T DO THIS! SHE'S STILL WAITING FOR YOU! YOU CAN'T DO THIS!" Blue desperately tried to look for solutions.

The boy's Pokémon gathered to their fallen Trainer with tears and heartbreak. Not only the originals, but their own copies as well. Their feelings towards the boy were the same and were about to suffer the tragic passing of Ash Ketchum.

"Mew!" the pink feline cried out, attracting the attention of the humans.

It pointed to the rusted sword left behind by Ash when he propelled himself to save it and the two Pikachus.

"The sword…!" the chestnut-haired girl immediately got up and ran for it.

While she ran, Mew was attacked by Mewtwo again. This time, Mew had conjured an even stronger barrier against the bipedal feline.

"Foolish human. To put oneself against me… Is truly the height of arrogance!" Mewtwo spat out.

Amber and her starters watched in sorrow at the beast that was once her friend. And now, because of one little girl's wish, Ash lost his life. The guilt racking in her heart was overflowing as she wept. The three starters gathered around her as they tried to comfort the girl.

"Do you see now, Mew? I was created from you, but I'm stronger!"

"I'M the real one!"

Mew had enough. It was going all out.

"…Pitiful child of mine."

"And then, Chloe said that Goh kept going on about seeing a Pokémon that can transform!" Serena exaggerated with a big smile.

"Woah… A Pokémon that can transform? Must be strong," Ash replied as the two children sat underneath a tree at the outskirts of Pallet Town.

"…Hey, Yellow?" the boy suddenly asked.

"Remember the promise I made you about seeing the ocean?"

"Yep."

"Sorry, that's selfish of me. Because of me, I kinda forced you to never see it until I've come for you."

"Nuh-uh. That's fine! I wanna see it with you after all!"

Ash twitched slightly as he finally got his answer.

"Alrighty…"

The raven-haired boy got up and glared at the honey blonde with a menacing gaze.

"Who are you?"

The honey blonde yelped at the sight of the angered Ash as she tried to move away from him.

"Red? What's wrong, Re—"

"Cut it out. Don't you dare use her face!" he growled at the girl.

…

…

"Haah… Mine apologies, Ash," a familiar voice apologized from behind.

Serena and the surroundings changed as they reverted back into the beautiful meadow where a long-eared woman stood.

"Nimue… What was that?" he eyed the woman cautiously.

"Just something to alleviate you from the shock of death," she said nonchalantly.

"Do I look shocked to you? I mean, I took a laser to the heart after all," Ash raised a brow.

Nimue chuckled as she beckoned the boy to sit next to her. Reluctantly, the boy obliged.

"Not to worry, the Sword is healing you now. Not only that, how did you find out that girl was not real?" Nimue asked quizzically.

'She dropped the formal speech, huh?' Ash snickered internally.

"Yellow isn't a pushover. Hell, if anything that was my role."

The raven-haired boy recalled the time where he told Serena that she did not need a bodyguard outside the restroom at night, to which she responded by refusing to go until Ash relented. He was extremely weak to her pouts and neediness.

"Wait, did you just say the Sword's healing me?" Ash did a double take.

"Yes. That is one of its properties. The Sword will always protect its wielder, even from the clutches of Death," Nimue nodded before sternly looking at the boy.

"However, this isn't a 'go ahead' for you to recklessly risk your life. I'm still very crossed with your actions. Seriously, there was no need for you to protect Ratatoskr from that Mewtwo."

"Erk… I'll try my best," the boy stuttered as she read his mind.

"They're gonna be so mad when I wake up…"

"That is of your doing. A man must be responsible for his actions, no?" the long-eared woman scolded.

Ash sighed in agreement at that.

"I sense something is bothering you still," Nimue observed with a glance at the raven-haired boy.

"Ah… It's just… Riley said I'm extremely bad at AURA. I can't even project a simple [AURA Sphere], no matter how hard I try."

"Indeed, I've observed your… Reinforcement, was it? It's a double-edged sword for normal Wielders but it seems there are no adverse effects on you," the woman praised.

"As for Projection, I must say that even the most unskilled Wielders in the past was able to conjure even a small one. So, shouldn't it be the other way around?"

"...Eh?"

"There's no need to fixate yourself with a sphere, right?" Nimue smiled knowingly, giving Ash an epiphany.

'…No way…'

And then, time was up. Ash was beginning to wake.

"Thank you, Nimue!" the boy exclaimed as he hugged the long-eared woman, taking her by surprise.

"You're welcome, dear," she hugged back as Ash began to fade back to reality.

"Come visit me in the real world someday, okay?"

But before Ash could ask where the woman was, he had already returned back.

"…Really now. He reminds me a lot of him…"

"My dear boy, Lancelot…"

As soon as the bloodred eyes shot open, Ash immediately got up in a hurry, shocking everyone around him, including the Pokémon.

He looked at his chest and found that his body had regenerated his heart with only a small X-mark due to the incomplete healing, his torn T-shirt excluded. The raven-haired boy was also glad his hand had returned to its normal state, though the missing glove was a shame.

"Re… Re… Red…" Blue's jaw hanged open as the girl thought she was seeing a ghost.

His AURA reserves were low due to Reinforcement and regenerating via the Sword, but otherwise, he was fine. Right now though, he had to keep his promise to Amber.

"You…!" a vein on Gary's forehead popped as he saw the nonchalant look on Ash's face.

"Oh, would you look at that! I've got a Pokémon to calm down!" Ash swam his eyes away from the ticking time bombs.

"Gotta bounce!"

"REEEEEEEDDDDDDDD!"

As Ash ran towards the spoon wielding Mewtwo while equipped with the now golden sword in his hands, he felt two passengers on his shoulders. Pikachu and Pikachutwo smacked the boy's head with their tails and pinched his cheeks with angry squeaks.

"Owowowow! Sowwy! I'll apologize later, but right now, I need you guys' help," Ash yelped as he caressed his reddened cheeks.

"Pika-chu!" / "Pikachu!"

"Let's go, Pikachu, Pikachutwo!"

The raven-haired boy's eyes whirred to life.

Mewtwo and Mew were in a deadlock as they were not able to finish the other off. The former growled in anger as he begrudgingly had to admit that Mew had been holding back. The death of the human boy was enough to make the pink feline snap and match Mewtwo.

What bothered him immensely was the fact that Mewtwo could tell that Mew was still holding back. It enraged him as he gripped his large spoon tighter. But as Mewtwo was about to attack again, a speeding anomaly rushed towards him, causing him to block something metallic in a panic.

CLANG!

'What in the…?!'

"You?!" Mewtwo widened his eyes in disbelief at his new opponent.

"Me!" Ash grinned as he swung his sword with all his might, pushing Mewtwo backwards.

'How is he alive?!' Mewtwo tried to ponder.

"Sorry, but I can't die just yet. There's someone who'll yell at me if I did," Ash took a two-handed sword stance, pointed towards Mewtwo.

"Not to mention, I still haven't kept my promise to Amber."

"Amber…" the bipedal feline repeated the girl's name with said girl overseeing the fight, still in shock at Ash's revival.

"Now then…"

"Square up, world's strongest Pokémon."

"I'll keep you company till you calm down!"

"Ash Ketchum!" Mewtwo roared as he teleported behind Ash and swung his spoon down on the boy.

0.15 seconds.

Ash's Mind's Eye reacted quickly and immediately counterattacked the descending weapon with his golden sword while reinforcing his arms.

CLANG!

'Heavy…' Ash grunted.

But unfortunately for Mewtwo, it was not a 1v1.

"Now, you guys! [Thunderbolt]!" Ash called out to the electric mice on his shoulders.

"PikaCHI!" / "Pika-CHI!"

Twin bolts of lightning hit cleanly onto the bipedal feline, causing him to reel back in shock.

"Pikachutwo… Why do you side with your original?!" Mewtwo demanded to know.

"We are stronger than them! We're the real ones!"

But Ash dashed with reinforced speed and locked his blade with Mewtwo's spoon.

"Who gives a crap about that?!" the boy yelled out.

"What?!"

"Real or fake, it doesn't matter!" Ash disengaged and the Pikachus assisted with [Thunderbolt].

The raven-haired boy wasted no time as he bolted towards Mewtwo at several directions, never stopping his slashes and swings. Lightning streaks of red danced around the bipedal feline, followed by the ghostly blue in the boy's pupils.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

"So what if you're a copy? Does that mean your entire existence is fake?"

Clang! Clang! Clang!

"Hell no! You're not a fake!"

A series of lightning-fast cuts plastered themselves on Mewtwo's body. The bipedal feline and raven-haired boy shifted into a clashing of weapons.

Midnight blue AURA spiralled against pale blue [Psychic]. Neither were backing down as the battle between human and Pokémon ramped up even higher. The sounds of steel sung high notes with inhumane levels of tempo. Ash and Mewtwo glared at each other at every chance they get as they continued their dance of steel.

Finally, the waltz of weapons stopped for a moment with a deafening screech. The artificial Pokémon aimed two miniature [Shadow Balls] towards the two Pikachus on Ash's shoulders and shot them down.

"Pika!" / "Pi-ka!"

"Pikachu!" Ash cried out before a whizzing sound aimed for his head.

0.15 seconds.

Ash barely dodged the horizontal swing of the large spoon and defended against the long handle by stopping it with the golden blade.

'It's like a spear…!' Ash groaned as exhaustion was setting in.

To the boy's relief, both Pikachus were safe as a battered Mew managed to absorb most of the damage via its barriers on the electric mice.

"All my life, I've only wanted to know who I am!" Mewtwo growled at Ash.

Right now, the bipedal feline's attention was solely on the boy, completely forgetting about Mew. He was dedicated to crushing the human in front of him.

"For what purpose am I here?! Who am I?!"

Suddenly, Mewtwo twirled his large spoon, hooking it onto the golden sword.

'…?!'

Then with a powerful swing, the Legendary managed to disarm the boy, causing his sword to spin away across the battlefield. And as much as Ash wanted to retreat and take back his weapon, Mewtwo's spoon was already brandished high above him, its target primed only at Ash.

Not only that, he could not move since Mew and the Pikachus were behind him. One wrong move and the Pokémon would suffer Mewtwo's attack.

And Ash would never let that happen.

'It's now or never!' Ash prepared himself as he played his final trump card.

"Begone, Ash Ketchum!" Mewtwo sank his spoon down into a descent slash upon the unmoving boy with everything he had.

"Red, move!" Gary and Blue begged as they silently readied themselves for their friend's fate.

"Ash!" Misty and Lance cried out as they saw Ash's silent figure.

One downward swing was all it would have taken. One swing and Ash Ketchum was finished…

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

"Projection, start."

The world of blades made itself known.

"Search, select, analyse."

"There's no need to fixate yourself with a sphere, right?"

'That's right… This is what suits me more…'

"My body is made of swords!"

AURA gathered in the boy's hands.

'Visualize something you can win with!'

The World did not object.

The image in his mind was vivid.

The boy of flaming eyes was intimate with it.

The motes of blue turned golden as the AURA in his hands took shape.

A powerful howl empowered the child.

"AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The Legendary fell silent as he gazed upon what the boy had projected:

An exact image of his golden sword.

'He created a copy of his disarmed sword?!' Mewtwo exclaimed internally.

Ash pointed the blade towards Mewtwo. His movements were faster than before. Pain wrecked his system but after filtering Mew's memories in his head, this was almost child's play compared to it.

Golden motes of radiant light gathered on the blade as Ash gave his all into his first projection. His opponent froze at the beautiful sight of radiant gold. It was a beauty he had never seen before and warmness he never felt before.

Sword of Selection, grant me strength!

Release the First Form.

Cleave the wicked!

Unleash the True Name.

Caliburn!

|Golden Sword of the Victorious|

And a beam of golden light blasted onto Mewtwo.

Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom!

"This… This isn't enough to stop me!" Mewtwo roared as he desperately defended against Caliburn with his most powerful forcefields.

But Ash was not done yet.

Twin towers of black lightning blasted into the sky as the electric mice behind the boy charged up simultaneously. The humans recognized it as the move Pikachu used in the Grand League.

"Come to think of it, I didn't have a name for this…" Ash grinned.

Link established. / Link established.

Mewtwo could not defend against that. Caliburn was already too much for him and now, the dual avatars of pitch black lightning exploded towards the bipedal feline.

"PIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKA PIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKA!"

A variant of [Volt Tackle], imbued with AURA:

"[Railgun]!"

Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom!

.

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.

"Have… have I lost?" Mewtwo asked rhetorically to himself as he laid in a crater in a wall.

"Yeah…" Ash hobbled towards Mewtwo with his childhood friends leaning on him.

"We look like a hot mess right now," the raven-haired boy chuckled, trying to lighten up the mood.

Mewtwo grew silent as he stared up into the shining stars, the storm long gone.

"I wished to know."

"Who am I? What is my purpose?"

"But it didn't matter. I am still a fake."

"All I've ever known was to fight. I wanted to be real."

"Even if I defeated Mew… It wasn't going to change anything…"

Mewtwo's eyes began to water as his clarity returned.

Sympathetic to the Legendary, Ash walked towards Mewtwo with his exhausted Pikachus on his shoulders. And he placed a hand on the bipedal feline.

"There's no rule stating that a fake can't surpass the original," Ash started.

"…What?" Mewtwo turned to the boy.

"There's no reason a fake can't do what the real thing would. And it's possible for a fake to be more real than the real thing."

"I'm the best example. I managed to turn the tables on you with an imitation of my sword."

"You're Mewtwo. That's who you are."

Ash smiled at the two Pikachus on his shoulders while Amber gazed forlornly at Mewtwo.

"I'm not the one who beat you, Mewtwo. These guys did."

"Both the original and copy. They worked together to defeat you."

Mewtwo widened his eyes at the raven-haired boy who caressed the two mice lovingly.

"They're different. But their bond with me is genuine. And that's all that matters."

"…You don't care that Pikachutwo is a copy?" Mewtwo asked.

"Why would I? I love my Pokémon equally," the boy tilted his head in confusion as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Hearing the genuine truth from Ash, Mewtwo finally let go.

"…You're really not like Giovanni, Ash."

"Ugh. Don't compare me to that geezer."

"But… I get it now," Mewtwo breathed out with relief.

"Your bonds with your Pokémon are real. It doesn't matter whether they're the original or copy. You'll save them without prejudice."

"I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant; it is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are."

Amber smiled tenderly at the bipedal feline, tearing up as she witnessed her friend finally accepting who he was.

"Amber, I've kept my promise to you," Ash closed his eyes with a smile.

"Thank you so much, Ashy…" the pale blue-haired girl thanked as she hugged Mewtwo, feeling him with Mewtwo's own AURA.

"I'm so sorry, Amber. But now, let's live," Mewtwo gave a sincere smile to the spirit of his friend.

"Yep!"

Suddenly, all the copied Pokémon levitated into the sky as they were carried by Mewtwo. Pikachutwo waved goodbye at Ash with the latter responding in kind.

"We'll meet again someday, Pikachutwo," the boy promised.

"Ash Ketchum. I thank you for opening my eyes," Mewtwo bowed to the human boy.

"Well… what're friends for, right?" Ash shrugged.

"Friends? Even though I… killed you?" Mewtwo guiltily asked.

"Meh. Water under the bridge," Ash tried to laugh it off and started sensing some furious people behind him, prompting the boy to sweat in fear.

"Then… I hope to see you again, friend."

"Yeah!"

Mewtwo spared a glance towards Mew and bowed as an apology to the Mythical. But the pink feline chuckled into its hands as it playfully twirled around Mewtwo.

With that, Mewtwo, the spirits, and the clone Pokémon all flew off into the rising sun.

"Phew. That's all done with…" Ash stretched a little.

"Not yet."

The raven-haired boy felt a deathly chill down his spine as he turned to see the angry faces of his friends and Pokémon, including Pikachu.

"You mind telling us what happened?" Misty was ready to murder.

"Um… um…" Ash tried to find a satisfactory answer.

"I got better?"

And Mewtwo's story on New Island ended with the whimpering screams of a certain raven-haired boy.

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Vermillion Harbour, Kanto Region. (Three days later…)

The Pallet trio had returned to Pallet Town with a worried Oak and Daisy clamouring around them anxiously. Silently, they decided to omit the fact that Ash had died, otherwise Oak would have a heart attack.

Ash was preparing to leave with a new look as he waited for Gary and Blue on the dock of Vermillion Harbour.

He now wore a red cap with a green L with a blue and white vest. However, most of the time, he just let Pikachu wear the cap.

He then checked his new bag. A completely identical bag to his previous one with one main difference, courtesy of Bill. As the pioneer of the Pokémon Storage System, Bill created Ash's Bag to be able to store and digitalized items into the Item Storage System so that he could carry heavy objects like cooking utensils and foldable tables without breaking a sweat.

'I love this Bag…' Ash grinned to himself as he imagined the number of utensils he could fit in the Bag's digital space.

The raven-haired boy was prepared to travel to the Orange Islands that Misty told him about. A place where strong Trainers can be challenged and to take part of the Orange League.

Interrupting his thoughts was the footsteps of Gary and Blue who were strangely smiling at Ash, confusing the latter.

"C'mon, let's go… Why are you guys looking at me like that?" the raven-haired boy's excitement trailed away.

"Red…" Blue started but could not continue.

"Red, we're not going with you," Gary continued.

"…Wat?"

The two then took out their letters to show Ash. The latter recognized them as the ones he did not open that day.

"So… what's your plan?" Ash asked.

"I'm aiming to be a Researcher like Gramps," Gary smiled apologetically.

"I wanna be a movie star! Like those Unovan movies Skyla showed me!" Blue squealed at the memories of the movies she saw.

Ash widened his eyes as he had overlooked something simple.

His friends had dreams of their own. They were not going to be with him forever. Sooner or later, all of them had to spread their wings.

"I see… I'm really happy for you guys," Ash grinned, accepting their reasons.

"Shame we couldn't travel together," Blue sighed.

"But don't slack off, Red. I'm not going to stop training, y'know?" Gary smirked at his rival.

"Right back at you, Green! We're gonna get stronger, just you wait!"

The Pallet trio laughed and hugged together with mostly Gary and Blue saying their farewells to Ash.

"Don't you dare get into trouble again! Or I'll come after you, Red!" the orange-haired boy warned his rival with a stern look.

"I'll personally kill you if pull anything like that ever again!" the chestnut-haired girl huffed similarly.

'What are they, my parents?' Ash deadpanned.

Soon, the ship Ash got on had left the docks, leaving the two children behind.

"I'm really worried about him," Gary sighed.

"Yeah…" the girl agreed.

"…Ah. Come to think of it, we didn't tell him where we're going," the orange-haired boy realized.

Meanwhile, the raven-haired boy was enjoying the ocean and the fresh smell of the open sea with Pikachu playing with some Pidgeys on the rails.

'That battle with Mewtwo made me realize something,' Ash mused absentmindedly.

'I'm still not strong enough to protect my friends. And I died as well.'

Ash was a little shaken that the fact that he died for a short while was not bothering him. And that bothered him ironically.

"Pikachaaaaa~," Pikachu cooed on his shoulder.

"We'll get stronger together, partner. The very best, like no one ever was!" Ash hyped himself again.

…

"Eh? Come to think of it, those two didn't tell me where they were headed," Ash realized.

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Pokémon Academy, Kalos Region

Serena found her seat near the window as she started a new year in her school. The honey blonde was prim and proper, garnering a lot of attention from her fellow classmates. However, her reputation as the Ice Queen had thawed somewhat since her passionate cheering for the raven-haired boy did not went unnoticed.

After the news of Ash's recovery, many students felt the air around her had lightened and her aloof personality brighter.

Now, while seated next to the window, Serena overheard some students talking about some new students attending their class.

"Hey, didja hear? Apparently, we're getting some new classmates!" Calem cheered.

"I hope they're friendly…" Trevor gulped timidly.

"Did the teacher say where they're from?" Shauna asked to which Tierno shrugged.

Serena was not paying attention to her friends as she was still unsettled at the uncomfortable feeling a few days ago. Though it subsided, she wondered if it was going to be a common occurrence.

Ring, ring!

The school bell chimed, and everyone took their seats.

"Now then, class. We have some new and prestigious students joining our school. Four very prestigious students," the teacher announced.

"First off, we have the princess of the Azoth Kingdom, Kimia Azoth."

"Azoth?!" the whole class exclaimed.

The class went wild at the sight of a blonde girl wearing a royal blue dress that exuded aristocracy. The blonde princess bowed respectfully to her classmates.

"I'm Kimia Azoth, descendant of the great Nikola Azoth. Pleased to be your acquaintance. Hope we can get along," Kimia greeted with an air of nobility.

'…There's another Queen in this class now,' everyone collectively thought.

"Next, we have a senior student, Alain," the teacher continued.

A boy wearing a blue scarf and black clothes bowed to the class.

"Alain. Nice to meet you," he introduced simply.

The girls squealed in excitement at the handsome boy attending their class while the boys clicked their tongues.

"Alain will be attending as a part time student since he's also the Professor's aide. Seeing how this is the only class he could attend, please respect him as his juniors."

"Yes!" the class nodded.

When the teacher was about to resume the next two introductions, voices could be heard as they entered without waiting for the introductions.

"We look fine. The uniforms aren't coming till next week anyways."

"You say that, but we need to make a good impression."

Hearing their familiar voices, Serena jolted up as she stared at the next two students, catching everyone's attention.

"Fashion isn't needed for studying, Blue," Gary sighed to himself.

"Bold words for a genius, Green," Blue huffed.

After their little banter, the two caught sight of a lone student with honey blonde hair staring at them with wide blue eyes. Serena and the two Pallet children locked their eyes onto each other as they processed what was happening.

"…"

Fake vs Real.

"…"

Projection, start.

"…"

A new chapter begins.

…Ding!

Chapter 52: [M01] Mewtwo Strikes Back!

"EH?! WHY ARE YOU…?!" / "AH! YOU'RE…!"

Author's Notes (8.5)

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Now that we're at the end, lemme give some explanation to some revisions on M01:

First off, South America is completely written off in Fated and instead, Fuji's team went to the Tree of Beginnings what guards the Tree is something completely different in Fated. Instead of only the Regi bros, a serpent of green and black guards the base of the overgrown thing. You guys already know what it is. But just to clarify, its not any of the 2. It's a mindless cluster.

Mew is the only one of its kind in Fated so its an open secret that Mew's at the Tree. Also it has another name in Fated, which is casually namedropped so keep your eyes peeled.

Mewtwo is a mixture of Anime!Mewtwo and Adventures!Mewtwo. His large spoon being his staple weapon and his physical prowess hints at a certain something in the future.

Amber and the starters are ghosts because they were alive once, even if it was a short one. Therefore, they are able to exist as ghosts.

Ash's death is actually necessary in Fated!M01 since Nimue's the one who gave him the idea of projecting swords instead of [AURA Spheres].

And the big elephant in the room:

...Yep. Gary and Blue are in Pokémon Academy as supporting roles for Serena! Not only that, Kimia from M19 and Alain will be joining them.

And now, we're in Orange Islands with Ash, where he's gonna be alone for quite some time before Johto rolls around. And the guy has no idea his friends had met Serena.

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Plus, there are some explanations for AURA this chapter that will shape Ash's abilities in the future.

Ash biting the dust and reviving without a care in the world is actually plot-relevant in the future.

There are some hints throughout that his AURA isn't working for him, and that's actually a 'him' problem, not the plot working against him like SpiderMan 2. (Just an example)

Overall, until he solves that problem, Ash is going to develop more as a battler without AURA... Unless shit hits the fan... (AHEM! M02... AHEM!)

Pikachu's black lightning is a reference to the Masters 8 and can only be used when empowered by AURA. I've decided to just call it [Railgun] since it fits, but if there are any names you guys would like, let me know. I'll pick it if it's something I like.

Caliburn finally gets name dropped, thank god! If y'all are wondering why isn't it Excalibur...

Without giving any spoilers, the most I can say is it is and it isn't at the same time.

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And that's about it! Until next time!