Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Pokémon: Sinnoh no Isekai
Chapter Two-hundred and seventy-five: Remnants of a dream gone horribly right, part one
Not a moment after they had just gotten off of ultimately failing to stop a Team Scorn Admin from getting his way, the reborn trainers who were met up by Ash were led to a video phone that had a call active. They were told it was a member of Team Scorn over in Kanto, and that he and some of his men had taken Professor Oak, Ash's mom Delia, and a man named Mr. Fuji hostage. The reborn trainers and Ash, accompanied by Cynthia and Reggie, all rushed to the video phone for the call.
To the surprise of the reborn trainers, the Team Scorn member wanting to speak is Admin Kyubi, the head of the Pocketwatch Sector which is the sector of Team Scorn that's native to Kanto. Kyubi stood with his Admin's assistant Kira, and in the background Captain Meyer along with his Captain's Assistant Inaho were standing guard over a caught and bound Oak, Delia, and some old man who the reborn trainers were going to assume is that Mr. Fuji fellow. There were also a few Scorn peons.
Seeing that the person he wanted audience with had arrived, Kyubi said, "Ah, I see that the people of Sinnoh know how to act when told to fetch their Champion. It's good to see you Dawn Berlitz, as I've got business with you."
Dawn scowled, giving an unamused frown. "What do you want?"
"Believe it or not," Kyubi began, "But I actually need the help of you and your companions with you. Just your brother, the idiot, and the idiot's girlfriend. I see that Ash Ketchum is with you as well, he ought to come to as, Kanto being his home region aside, I believe the lady hostage my men and I have taken is Ash Ketchum's mother."
"Yeah, I am not happy that you took my mom, Professor Oak, and someone who I assume is a friend of theirs hostage," Ash scowled.
"That man is Mr. Fuji, who has a connection to the reason why I have gone to such lengths to secure assistance from Dawn Berlitz," Kyubi said. His eyes shifting to look at Dawn, Kyubi asked, "I don't suppose that you remember our dear friend Project Mew, do you?"
Dawn's eyes widened a bit out of surprise. "...I do. I'm guessing you need my help to deal with something that Project Mew is up to?"
Kyubi nodded in the affirmative. "The long story made short here is that I was right about Project Mew. I was right about them, about Professor Amaranth, this whole time. Amaranth really is up to something, something that could potentially make all of Kanto fall into ruinous oblivion."
Hearing what Kyubi said about how Amaranth really is up to something, and that said something has a chance of leading Kanto to 'ruinous oblivion', might very well be the region wrecking threat that had been foretold, the threat that led the reborn trainers to ultimately get Arceus on their side in order to deal with it. Looking right at Kyubi, Dawn said, "Alright, we'll play your game for now. What do you want us to do?"
"Come to Kanto," Kyubi said, "I don't think it'll be hard to find Professor Oak's lab in Pallet Town. Oh, and I don't think I have to tell you on what'll happen to the hostages if anyone other than you five try anything. I'll start with the woman, doing to her what I did to the late Saffron City gym leader."
"So you're the one who killed Sabrina," Trip said.
Kyubi nodded once in the affirmative. "Why did you kill her?" Kenny asked, "What sort of reason or grudge did you have against her?"
"I had no grudge or personal reason against Sabrina," Kyubi answered, "I killed her solely due to it being on orders from higher up in the chain of Team Scorn command. Something about doing away with all persons known to have psychic powers so that they couldn't sus out Team Scorn intent." Giving the heroes a knowing look, Kyubi said, "I'll be waiting at Oak's lab in Pallet Town." Kyubi then ended the call.
When the screen on the video phone went black, the heroes turned to look at one another. "Well that sucks," Mina said, "Team Scorn Admins whenever they take a life have a notable reason for doing so. Even Pirate had reason for killing everyone we saw him snap the necks of, they were all part of the effort that ultimately ended in Pirate's brother's suicide. But it was Kyubi who killed Sabrina, and he did so solely because his bosses told him to? Where's the connection?"
"I think that there's more important stuff here than complaining about Kyubi's lack of personal reason for taking Sabrina's life, babe," Kenny pointed out, "Mainly the fact that Kyubi and some of his goons have taken Ash's mom, Professor Oak, and some old bald dude hostage."
Trip nodded in agreement. "Yeah, because Kyubi wants Dawn and the rest of us to help him."
Dawn's eyes narrowed a bit in suspicion. "...Because of something that Project Mew is getting up to right now supposedly." Turning to look at Ash, Dawn asked, "Ash, I don't suppose you know where Goh is at the moment, do you?"
Ash gently shook his head in the negative. "Outside of hearing he's doing work for Project Mew over in Kanto the last time I spoke with him, I have no idea what he's up to right now."
"So he's in Kanto anyway," Dawn said, "Good. Hopefully we'll have a chance to speak with that idiot about his reckless stupidity." Gently shaking her head, Dawn went on, "I'm getting a gut feeling that Project Mew's actions ramping up here are directly connected to them finding out about Froot Loop because Goh told them."
After a long plane flight, the reborn trainers and Ash arrived in the Kanto region. Making a beeline for Pallet Town, the heroes made their way directly to Oak's lab, where it was Ash who knocked on the door. Curtains on the inside side of a window near the lab's front door parted, letting the reborn trainers and Ash see Captain's Assistant Inaho for a moment before she fell back and let go of the curtains, letting them block inside view again.
A few seconds after that, Admin's Assistant Kira answered the front door. "No-one else knows we're here, right?" was the first thing that Kira said, "This is a very important mission for Team Scorn, and we don't need more outside interference than we already need to include."
"As far as we're aware, no-one else in Kanto knows," Dawn said, "And those back in Sinnoh who are aware have agreed to keep quiet and let my friends and I do everything." Glaring at Kira, Dawn went on, "Because you took hostages while implying you'll kill at least one of them unless we let you guys hold all of the cards."
"Look, if it weren't for how Boss's Assistant Ayane is busy, we of Team Scorn would try to handle by ourselves what Admin Kyubi refers to as Amaranth's madness," Kira said.
"Amaranth," Ash said, "That's the name of the man who leads Project Mew." Briskly shaking his head, Ash said, "Before we continue, I need to know that my mom, Professor Oak, and their friend are all okay!"
Stepping to the side to let the heroes in, Kira said, "They're fine. We kind of have to make sure of that, especially for Oak's friend Mr. Fuji as he is key to explaining why the Pocketwatch Sector had to reach out to you would-be heroes for help in stopping Project Mew, stopping Amaranth." Dawn was curious as to what exactly the Pocketwatch Sector was up to, but given they have some rather important hostages, she and the others had to play along.
As the heroes entered Oak's lab, they hoped that the explanation was a good one.
...
Inside of Oak's lab, Kira who was joined by Inaho led the heroes to a main lab area, where a number of Team Scorn peons, led by Captain Meyer and Admin Kyubi, were standing around with Oak, Delia, and Mr. Fuji all tied to chairs with rope. "Let them go," Ash snarled at Kyubi, who was obviously the leader here.
"Firstly, there's something I want to ask you, Ash Ketchum," Kyubi began, "Where is your friend who, according to Team Scorn intelligence, is doing work for Project Mew?"
Ash looked mildly surprised by Kyubi's line of questioning. "You mean Goh? He broke away to do some work for Project Mew sometime shortly after Dawn became the Monarch in the current season of the World Coronation Series. Why do you ask?"
Kyubi was about to speak up, but stopped short when Delia said, "Wait, that's around the time that I called Ash and his friend Goh to tell them about how I saw Mew here at Oak's lab among the Pokémon that Ash's friend Dawn owns. I remember hearing from Ash that Goh was looking for Mew, so I figured that I'd tell Ash about it the next time I spoke to him."
"Delia, why did you do that?" Oak asked, "Dawn had stressed it to me to not let anyone know that she owns Mew, citing how she holds Project Mew in great suspicion and doesn't trust them. Oh, if only I had known that you found out about Dawn's Mew before you told others about it!"
Kyubi immediately turned to look right at Dawn. "So you and I are of a kind, as I too have no trust in Project Mew." His brows furrowing slightly, Kyubi went on, "And with the info that Captain Meyer here was able to collect via his Politoed using Mind Reader on Amaranth to find out what Amaranth really has cooking, my suspicion towards Amaranth has been validated."
"What do you mean?" Mina asked.
Gesturing to Mr. Fuji, Kyubi said, "Professor Oak's good friend here, Mr. Fuji, can explain, as both his cousin the late Dr. Fuji and Amaranth were two peas in a pod when it came to working at the behest of Team Rocket Boss Giovanni."
"Amaranth used to work for Team Rocket?!" the heroes exclaimed in unison; the heroes aside from Mina who had never fought Team Rocket remembered back when Team Rocket was still an active inter-regional criminal organization. The entirety of Team Rocket was done away with, wholly and for good, while Dawn, Kenny, Trip, and Ash were in Unova, capturing Giovanni and turning him over to inter-regional authorities.
That led to the sussing out of all Team Rocket members; all members of rank were apprehended, as were most grunt level members. The only Team Rocket members to the knowledge of the heroes to escape this round-up are Jessie, James, and Meowth, by virtue of them turning up later having all joined Team Scorn. Team Rocket is no longer a thing, although a few other criminal groups, mainly Team Scorn, ended up filling the void left behind by Team Rocket.
That said, it surprised the heroes greatly to learn that Amaranth was part of Team Rocket long ago; how he escaped the round-up was beyond the heroes. "Yes," Mr. Fuji said sadly, "Amaranth and my late cousin were both members of the same scientific team in Team Rocket. They were working with a fossilized sample of DNA from Mew, an eyelash I believe, in an attempt to create the world's strongest Pokémon via cloning and genetic manipulation."
Instantly, the reborn trainers knew right away what Mr. Fuji was talking about. Even Ash had an idea on what Mr. Fuji was talking about. "...So... so that's what Professor Amaranth is after, that's why he had started up Project Mew," Ash said, "It was never really about learning the truth of the origins of Pokémon at all." Ash, a worried look on his face, gently shook his head.
"Professor Amaranth is after Mewtwo."
Right away, Mr. Fuji let out a guilty sigh as the reborn trainers, not that anyone else was able to pick up on it, tensed up out of worry. "...Yes, I was afraid that Giovanni's evil that my cousin was a part of might be in play here," Mr. Fuji said, "Given that I heard that Amaranth was leading an organization with a primary goal of finding Mew. But I dismissed it as me being paranoid, I prayed that I was just being paranoid to the point it was comparable to the paranoia expressed by Hisuian historical figure Commander Kamado." Gently shaking his head, Mr. Fuji went on, "But it would seem my paranoia ended up being justified."
Stepping forward, Kyubi said, "Yeah. Thanks to Meyer having his Politoed use Mind Reader, we were able to learn that Amaranth has been developing his own Mewtwo since around the time the one being developed for the late Giovanni was started. Although started at around the same time as the one for Giovanni, Amaranth's Mewtwo took far longer to develop, mostly due to Amaranth needing to be careful to not let anyone outside of those he explicitly trusts know about it."
"You don't say," Dawn remarked.
Kyubi nodded once in the affirmative. "He was also slowed down by the lack of proper tech for the process of creating a Mewtwo of his own, he only had the bare bones to begin with. But he was able to start anyway, mostly because he was able to sneak away a portion of the fossilized eyelash from Mew that was used as the base for Giovanni's Mewtwo." His brows furrowing, Kyubi went on, "But in recent times, according to the info Meyer and his Politoed were able to get, Amaranth is close to the completion of his goal."
Hearing that worried the heroes and the hostages. "What do you mean?" Mina asked.
Gesturing to the heroes, Kyubi said, "First off, there was tech recovered from the ruins of the Pokémon Mansion, where development for Giovanni's Mewtwo was done at least to some extent. Using that technology to upgrade the setup Amaranth has going already helped to speed up the process of his Mewtwo's development. Speeding it up and helping to make things more firmly solid and stable."
"Additionally," Meyer said as he and his Politoed stepped forward, "My Politoed was able to pick up that Amaranth not only got a much fresher sample of Mew DNA than the fossilized eyelash, but said fresher sample helped to further speed up the development, helped to further make things more firmly solid and stable."
Dawn's eyes widened at a certain implication. She immediately turned to look at Oak, Delia, and even Mr. Fuji. "Where is Froot Loop?"
Before Oak could speak, Meyer said, "My Politoed was able to get it from reading Amaranth's mind with Mind Reader that the real Mew itself was caught by a trainer and kept at Professor Oak's lab here. Apparently an excitable new member of Project Mew learned of Mew being kept here due to the mother of his friend telling him."
More than a few pairs of eyes turned to look at Delia before turning back to look at Meyer. "The info Politoed and I were able to get further goes on to tell us that Amaranth had a member of Project Mew known as Danika sneak into Oak's Lab, find Mew, and recall it to its ball while it was asleep so as to be able to sneak away with Mew in tow," Meyer said.
"Additionally," Kyubi went on, "Danika acting on the word of fellow Project Mew member Quillon snuck into a room on Cinnibar Island where you Dawn Berlitz were staying with your companions here and steal one of the Master Balls you guys have. Apparently Danika stole a Master Ball from that Mina girl. We've also confirmed that neither Quillon nor Danika are aware of the truth of what Amaranth is up to."
"So..." Dawn said, "...So you're telling me that Danika kidnapped one of my Pokémon." It was blatantly clear that Dawn, Champion of Sinnoh and current Monarch of the World Coronation Series, was beyond pissed, was now more than ready to march to war.
"As well as steal one of my spare Master Balls," Mina said, "That would explain why I noticed that I was missing one despite not having used any."
Turning to look at Kyubi and Meyer, Trip asked, "Do you guys have any idea how long it's been since Project Mew learned of my sister owning Mew?"
"According to the timing that we've figured out, we'd say Project Mew learned about it roughly a day after your sister became the Monarch of the World Coronation Series," Kyubi said.
Oak's eyes widened out of surprise. "The battle where Dawn had as many of her awesome legendary Pokémon in her party as she could fit. She had to send Mew to my lab here to make room in her party for one of her other Pokémon, that's when I first learned she had Mew, when she had stressed to me to not let anyone, Project Mew especially so, know about her Mew."
Turning to look at Kyubi and Meyer, Kenny asked, "How long do you think it'll be until Amaranth has his Mewtwo?"
"If our estimates are correct, then it could be any day now due to Project Mew's success over on Cinnibar Island," Kyubi replied, "Given the threat level that Amaranth's scheming can pose, especially if he decides to take a completed Mewtwo for a test drive, I immediately tried to call in a request for help from Boss's Assistant Ayane, she's the only one in Team Scorn strong enough to be able to contend against the Mewtwo that Amaranth has cooking."
"...But you called my friends and I in instead," Dawn said.
"Boss's Assistant Ayane is busy right now with various schemes for Team Scorn I refuse to go into detail with you would-be heroes about," Kyubi said, "But regardless, you guys are the only ones who I could think of who has the strength to stand up to Amaranth's madness." The Admin who leads the Pocketwatch Sector gave the heroes a grim and serious but mildly pleading look.
"...Please," Kyubi said, "Please help us to stop Amaran-"
"Are you serious about Professor Amaranth being evil?!"
"Great going, Goh! You blew our cover!"
Everyone perked up when they heard the familiar voices of Goh and Gary call out. At Kyubi's gesture, Kira moved behind where Delia was seated and bound, then held a knife to her throat, eliciting an extremely alarmed and worried look out of Ash himself. "Whoever it is that is hiding," Kyubi called out, "Come out of hiding right now or the woman that Ash Ketchum had identified as his mom dies!"
A few seconds later, Goh and Gary came walking down some stairs from a floor above the room that everyone else was in. Both boys, at Gary's suggestion to Goh, came down with their hands in the air in a gesture of surrender. "We yield, we yield," Gary said, "Just please don't kill Mrs. Ketchum."
At Kyubi's relieving nod, Kira removed the knife from Delia's throat and backed off. "You two are some of Amaranth's minions in Project Mew," Kyubi said accusingly at Goh and Gary, "Explain why the both of you are here spying on the private meeting I'm having."
"...Professor Amaranth heard talk that some of you guys in Team Scorn had snuck over to Pallet Town and took Professor Oak and a few others hostage," Goh began, both he and Gary keeping their hands up the entire time, "He asked Gary here to go check things out and try to deal with it, having me accompany Gary to back him up. We snuck our way in via an old hidden entrance that Gary said he had active long before he actually became a Pokémon trainer, saying that Professor Oak being his grandpa gave him some flexibility in working here."
"We were planning to go in once we saw your guard was lowered enough," Gary admitted, "But we had to hold back when Goh and I saw that one of your hostages was Mrs. Ketchum. We further had to bide our time when we saw that Ash and a few friends of his came in to talk to you."
Kyubi glared unamused at Gary and Goh. "Yeah, because Team Scorn efforts not only learned that Amaranth really WAS keeping secrets as I've always suspected, but also learned what said secrets were. Were it not for Boss's Assistant Ayane being busy with other work, we of Team Scorn would have tried dealing with Amaranth and his madness on our own."
Gary gulped nervously. "...Yeah, the fact that Professor Amaranth was part of some old evil cooked up by the now long defunct Team Rocket, and he's been working on replicating said evil for his own use pretty much since Team Rocket had done theirs."
"Are..." Goh began, a worried look on his face as he gently shook his head, "...Are you serious about Professor Amaranth working on developing his own Mewtwo?"
"It... it does make sense now that I think about it," Gary said, "The fact that Project Mew had the goal of finding Mew itself, getting some abandoned tech from the Pokémon Mansion which I heard was connected to the story of Team Rocket developing their Mewtwo, the fact Professor Amaranth has been rather secretive concerning what direction Project Mew was heading in now that we got a hold of Mew at last-"
"Oh, that reminds me," Dawn said as she cut Gary off. Dawn then walked up to Goh and punched him hard in the face, sending him sprawling over. She had even broken his nose, making it bleed a moderate amount.
"Gaahh," Goh coughed as he picked himself up. Looking at Dawn, Goh asked, "What was that fo-"
"You got my Mew kidnapped," Dawn scowled, cutting Goh off, "Kidnapped by the very people who I did NOT want to have know about me having Mew in the first place! I had no trust in such a group who didn't go into real detail about why they were up to what they were up to, and what all that I've just found out occurred, stuff that had occurred because YOU found out and told them all about it, justified my distrust!"
Goh, as he kept his bleeding nose covered, said, "Given... given what we just found out about is going on right now, I can't blame you for being upset."
"But we can't just stand around and do nothing," Kyubi said, "We need to stop Amaranth before he can unleash his Mewtwo. He plans to unleash oblivion untold upon Kanto with his Mewtwo, in some manner of mad scheme for revenge. If he's not stopped, then I fear Amaranth in his mad quest for revenge will rack up a death toll that makes even the worst act any criminal organization had ever carried out look like a mere slap on the wrist."
"I dunno," Kenny said, "Your fellow Team Scorn pals did screw with Blackthorn City in the Johto region quite a bit. And let's not forget how you screwed with the Manalo Conference back in Alola."
Kyubi glared dryly at Kenny. "We of Team Scorn fight to claim all that there is for ourselves," Kyubi said, "We do NOT fight to cast all that there is into the depths of oblivion, which is what Amaranth has cooked up for Kanto at least unless a stop is brought to his madness."
What Kyubi said just now, about Amaranth gearing up to use Mewtwo to wreck Kanto, it reminded Dawn of how she and the other reborn trainers quested to acquire all of Sinnoh's legendary and mythical Pokémon, ultimately culminating in Dawn catching Arceus. The reason for it is because a region wrecking threat had been foretold, and Arceus's power was going to be needed if said threat was to be stopped.
Was... was this it? Was Amaranth's madness the threat that had been foretold? The threat that Arceus itself had made itself available for capture in order to combat? Dawn, as she looked at Kyubi and his fellows, said, "Give my friends and I a moment to prepare our respective parties, then we'll be ready to help fight Amaranth." The reborn trainers, plus Ash, Gary, and Goh, were able to bargain for Oak to be freed, as they (aside from Goh) needed him to help with party rotations.
Once all of them were ready, Dawn said, "Alright. Now then, Gary and Goh. You two both work with Project Mew, you two have both built a rapport with Amaranth. Do either of you have any idea where Amaranth can be found?"
"Amaranth told me that he and a few Chasers were planning to go to some abandoned lab located near Saffron City," Gary said as he raised a hand, "He told me it was for a mission for Project Mew, similar to the one at the Pokémon Mansion on Cinnibar Island where they were just going to take out some old tech. However..."
Dawn could tell something was up. "What is it?"
"...The lab in question has been worked with by Project Mew for quite some time," Gary said, "Long before I had signed up with Project Mew."
Kyubi's eyes narrowed out of suspicion. "Sounds to me like the location of where Amaranth is having his Mewtwo cooked up." To the heroes, Kyubi said, "You would-be heroes, in addition to the fact that you all are in all honesty a lot stronger than what all Team Scorn can field here in Kanto, are the only ones among those against Amaranth fast enough to rush to Saffron City to confront the madman. I shall lead my men in Team Scorn after you as backup, but it's highly likely you lot will be fighting Amaranth before we show up."
The heroes all nodded in understanding before they moved out to go confront Amaranth over in Saffron City. Ash rode on his Dragonite, Gary rode on his Skarmory, the reborn trainers rode on their respective Creation Trio dragons, Mina rode on her Dragonite, and Goh rode on his Flygon as they all made a beeline for Saffron City, ready to go to war against a man who had looked kindly and able to be trusted, but in truth it was all just an act.
An act that was ultimately all part of a 'mad scheme for revenge'. But revenge for what, really?
In an underground lab located somewhere in the area of Saffron City, some lab workers were standing around, working with the technology in the lab to make it work and do its job. Dawn's Mew Froot Loop, tired and hurting, was laying in a cage nearby, shockers regularly paining it so as to keep it from using any powers to escape. Meanwhile, Amaranth stood in front of something, a pod with a glass cover which let Amaranth see what was inside.
There was something inside, that's for sure.
"Sir," one of the lab workers said, making Amaranth perk up a bit, "Everything has been completed. It... it is ready."
"Do it," was Amaranth's simple command. The lab worker pressed a button, and then the strange orange liquid that was in the pod Amaranth was looking at drained away, allowing what was floating in the liquid to land on the bottom of the pod. When the liquid had finished draining, the pod was lifted away, the things attached to what was growing inside popping off and away, allowing for the being inside the pod to move freely.
The instant that it was free and ready to go, Amaranth wasted zero time in chucking a Master Ball at it, the very same Master Ball that Danika stole from Mina back on Cinnibar Island. Speaking of, both Danika and Quillon stood in the lab room, but both wore techy-looking circlets on their heads, both Chasers had dry, spacy looks on their respective faces. It was as if nothing at all would be able to phase either of them.
Once the Master Ball was done working its magic, catching what it was thrown at without fail, Amaranth with a darkly amused sneering smirk on his face walked up and collected the Master Ball. He tossed it up, calling out what was inside, the Pokémon that he now had at his command, to do with as he pleased. The Pokémon that had such power, that Amaranth felt assured that nothing had the ability to stand in his way now.
"Come on out," Amaranth said, "Mewtwo!"
*BWOOSH*
Standing in the lab room now was a fully developed Mewtwo, just as complete and fully solid as the one that was made by the now long defunct Team Rocket to serve the late Giovanni's will. But this new Mewtwo would answer only to Amaranth, he was the one who caught it. Mewtwo blinked a few times, its eyes adjusting to being out of the pod, and now having been called out of the ball which had been used to capture it.
Mewtwo turned its attention to Amaranth before it began to speak. Mewtwo was able to speak the human tongue, albeit via telepathy and not by moving its mouth and tongue; Mewtwo's voice sounded like that of a certain sorcerer supreme, or a certain dragon guarding the treasures that were left abandoned in a dwarven mountain home, or a certain genetically modified human who was awoken from a long slumber to do secret work for a certain interstellar Federation.
"What is it that you seek of me?" Mewtwo asked as it addressed Amaranth.
"You are here at all to serve but one purpose, Mewtwo," Amaranth said, "To serve my will. And we will be starting our special kind of partnership by me getting the revenge I seek to get against those here in Kanto who would torment and revile me for something that I by no means are responsible for, something I had no say in especially as it occurred before I was even conceived."
Mewtwo nodded once, more out of obedience than understanding. "Very well, sir. Where do we begin your quest for revenge?"
"We shall begin with Kanto's government," Amaranth said, "Do away with what all fat cat politicians are there who would deem themselves as the betters of the common folk. I also have a short list of specific persons who need to be dragged to the chopping block to be done away with."
The look in Mewtwo's eyes, although showing it would follow Amaranth's word, had a certain kind of uncertainty to them. "We won't be harming any innocents, will we?"
"We won't be harming anyone who doesn't have it coming," Amaranth answered. Like what all that he had done when he was answering questions posed to him about what Project Mew was truly up to, Amaranth was deliberately being as vague as he could get away with. Mewtwo, as it couldn't take any manner of action against Amaranth to discern his true intentions, had to take the words he spoke at face value.
Mewtwo nodded once in understanding. "Very well, I am ready to begin when you are, sir."
Amaranth smirked in dark amusement, already imagining the revenge he was going to get on all of those who had tormented him. However, before he could move, Amaranth perked up when one of the scientists he had working for him said, "Sir, a number of trainers are flying on Pokémon, making their way to Saffron City! Judging by the path they're flying, they're coming straight here to the lab!"
"On screen," Amaranth scowled, and seconds later he saw visual of Dawn, Kenny, Trip, Mina, Ash, Gary, and Goh all flying. The professor scowled once more, clearly pissed. "Damn it, they must have found out."
"We're also getting word that a portion of members of Kanto's native sector of Team Scorn are also on their way here," the same scientist went on, "Team Scorn on their own outnumber the lot of the forces that we can boast."
"If it was just Team Scorn, when we'd be able to deal with them no problem," Amaranth said, "Despite our lower numbers compared to them, we have quality Pokémon. Me having Mewtwo here aside, Quillon and Danika each have some elite Pokémon. And with the brainwashing circlets on the both of them, they can't disobey my word."
Amaranth turned back to look at the screen as it showed the heroes coming in. "But Dawn Berlitz and her companions..." Amaranth went on, "...If they're going to help Team Scorn against us like how I fear they will, then accomplishing my goals had just become infinitely more difficult. Even Mewtwo, as mighty as it is, cannot win a three versus one where it faces those awesome dragons that Dawn, Kenny, and Trip are riding."
Mewtwo looked to the screen, saw Palkia, Giratina, and Dialga. "Could I win if I am able to take them on one at a time?"
"Potentially," Amaranth replied, "But I doubt that Dawn and her friends will let those awesome dragons fight without having them team up, especially if they know about you. And even if we can fight those three one at a time, I doubt that those awesome dragons will be the only quality Pokémon that they will bring, I was able to get it from Goh who got it from Ash that Dawn, Kenny, and Trip each own multiple awesome Pokémon."
"So what's the plan, sir?" Mewtwo asked.
Turning to the scientists, Amaranth asked, "How long before they arrive?"
"We're estimating they will get here in about five minutes," said the first scientist.
Nodding once in understanding, Amaranth said, "Good. Now, here's how we will handle things here..."
The heroes just landed in Saffron City, recalling the Pokémon they rode there after landing, with the lab that is their destination a quick jog a head. "I'm thinking that if what was said about Amaranth developing his own Mewtwo is true, then he still ought to have Dawn's Mew here," Gary said as he and the other heroes made a beeline for the lab.
As the heroes rushed for the lab, they stopped short when a large number of persons came running out. Most of them were scientists, but a few were Chasers for Project Mew. Gary even recognized both Quillon and Danika, both wearing techy looking circlets while having spacy looks on their faces. The people who rushed out soon had the heroes surrounded before sending out Pokémon to battle; both Quillon and Danika sent out an Urshifu each, Quillon's being Single Strike while Danika's was Rapid Strike.
As the heroes realized that they were going to have to fight their way out of this one, a streak of light shot out from the lab as it flew away; Dawn was able to see Amaranth floating next to a Mewtwo, which further confirmed that Project Mew really was up to something after all. "Great, there goes the madman himself," Dawn scowled.
"No doubt we won't be able to go after him as these guys here won't let us," Kenny said, "At least without a fight." Turning to look at the minions sent out to occupy his time and the time of the others, Kenny said, "So how are we gonna do this?"
Pointing at Danika's and Quillon's respective Urshifus, Gary said, "Those two Pokémon, they're called Urshifu. We cannot afford to take either of them lightly." The heroes all took up Pokéballs and tossed them up, calling out Pokémon to battle the minions of Amaranth that were sent out to keep their time occupied so as to let Amaranth himself get away.
...
Amaranth and Mewtwo flew through the air, surrounded by the psychic aura of Mewtwo's power. "My men ought to give us enough time to get to Kanto's main government building and do as much damage there as possible," Amaranth said, "Then after that we ought to look into teaching those would-be heroes better than to act against me."
"Teach them better than to act against you?" Mewtwo asked, the look on its face and the hint in its tone showing it wasn't entirely sure it was going to like the path things were taking here.
Nodding once, Amaranth said, "Well the closest hometown to the government building we'll be going to is Pallet Town..."
END, CHAPTER TWO-HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE
Author's notes;
This chapter kicks off how I'm running the resolution of the Project Mew arc here. I know this isn't how the Project Mew arc is resolved for real, but none of the reborn trainers lived in their past lives long enough to see how things really resolve, so I'm taking creative liberties. Also, I really WAS expecting something sinister to be cooking in the background and was a bit disappointed with how Project Mew, for lack of a better term, turned out to be wholly good all along; things would have been more entertaining if Amaranth really was up to something less than good.
Anyway, the reborn trainers and Ash, joined by Gary and Goh, agree to help the Pocketwatch Sector of Team Scorn deal with Amaranth's madness. But when they arrive to confront Amaranth, a bunch of minions, among which are Quillon and Danika who are both heavily implied to be under some sort of brainwashing, rush out to occupy the time of the heroes so as to permit Amaranth and his Mewtwo to make an escape so they can wrought oblivion upon a government building in Kanto, and Amaranth implies that Pallet Town is next after the government building.
Things will be continuing from here in the next chapter, so until then take care.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Tsukune (Palkia), Odin (Arceus), Argent (male Arcanine; alpha; Hisuian), Germany (male Garchomp), Leni (female Lucario)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Cell (male Siczor; shiny), Godzilla (male Tyranitar), Hoodini (male Noctowl), Android 21 (female Weavile; shiny), Black (Giratina; Origin Forme)
Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Myde (male Emploeon), Deelia (Dialga), Natalya (female Copperajah), Akibot 966 (Golurk), Alfred (male Marowak; Alolan; totem), Mr. Popo (male Magmortar)
Mina's Pokémon: (on hand) Scar (male Eevee; scared over one eye), Dragonite (male), Gardevoir (male), Espeon (male; shiny), Jolteon (male; shiny), Flareon (male; shiny)