Zoroarks are Broken

by DSWriting

I died and I owe my new life to a drunk Mew. I'm not sure what I did to have such a thing happen to me, but I'm not about to waste this opportunity. Time to explore the world, become a Pokémon Trainer while being a Pokémon, and mess with some people along the way. With that loose plan in place I just got to find a way to civilization cause I am lost as fuck. OC power fantasy-ish

4. Mew, the Best Deus Ex Machina

*Splash!*

I bolt up as I feel the shock of cold water being splashed over my face. A gasp of breath fills my chest as the water mats down my fur and begins to drip down my shoulders. Already I can feel it snaking through my mane and I resist the urge to shake the moisture free.

"Told you that'd work." a voice I don't recognize says to my right.

My eyes adjust to the light of the cave I seem to be in and look to the owner of the voice. An Espeon with glowing white pupils was staring at me, the red gem in her head glowing softly and a bucket is hovering beside her, "Rise and shine, you need to leave."

"Be nice, Espeon. The lad did just level a mountain last night." another, older voice stated. I turned my head away from Espeon to see the rest of the room I was in.

Brown rocks and gray stone dominated the scenery. A dome ceiling was above us and there was a small tunnel with a packed dirt floor leading out into a light beyond. It seemed like daylight, but my mind was still in the process of waking up. My eyes squinted at the light and I brought my paws up to rub them.

After opening my eyes again I could see the new Pokémon that talked was a Marowak. In their grip was the bone they always had and he seemed to be using it like a cane as he leaned forward to look at me.

"What happened?" I asked as I started to sit up.

"You got into a bit of a fight and leveled the top half of a mountain." Marowak's chipper tone almost made me think he was joking until the memories of before I was knocked out came back. He must have seen the worry that spread across my face as he held up a hand and smiled, "You won it though boy, all of your friends are safe."

A sigh left me and the aching muscles along my shoulders relaxed. My whole body felt like I'd gone ten rounds with Muhammad Ali, but still I began to pull my legs towards me to stand up. A few sharp pains flared at first, but they turned to dull aches as I moved.

"Thank you, for your hospitality." The words came out a bit more raspy than I intended, but they made Espeon smile.

"See, sore as all could be but fine." Espeon said as she turned to Marowak, "Now he needs to get his group and get out of here before the League Investigators get here and start asking their questions."

As I processed what she said Marowak let out a dissatisfied hum, "I'm sorry to cut your visit so short, but she's right. The League arrived not even ten minutes after your fight and have been snooping around all morning long."

Slowly my legs get underneath me and I stand to my full height, "They're not causing any trouble, are they?"

"No, they're just annoying with how many questions they ask. If we wanted to live under their scrutiny we wouldn't be here in a reserve outside the human regions." Marowak answered, "It's simpler out here without the government's overreaching policies that-"

"We don't have all day Marowak, the kid needs to get moving before the League stumbles across him." Espeon interrupted, causing Marowak to roll his eyes, "The rest of your group is over at the Lucario Den, with their scent all over the area they were the first to be questioned."

My back popped as I stretched it out. The pains in my muscles flared, but settled down quickly enough. With how badly my body ached all I wanted to do was lay down, but I'd rather not have to talk to the authorities, not unless it was on my terms, "Alright, just point me to where they are and I'll head out." Despite my pain I still stretched a few times to try and assuage the worst of them.

"Don't forget your bag now." Marowak said as he pointed to a backpack in the corner. It was the one Lucas' brother had given me just before the King attacked, "You also might want to start suppressing your energy here soon. You drained it last night, but it's been steadily refilling as you rested."

A grimace flashed across my face, "Sorry." I began to pull back the dark type energy and found it very easy to do so. The feeling of my core felt like a shock when I began stowing all my energy away. I could feel the process of my body pulling in the neutral energy around my body to fill in the amount of energy that I'd used. I was still in the recovery stage it seemed and my barrier had yet to recover, but I was awake somehow.

Without a barrier there was no chance I could fight like this at all.

"No need for sorries." Marowak said as I had this revelation, "Taking out that pompous asshole Dragonite makes us more than even. Just don't let the League get a hold of ya or that's a charge of excessive destructive force at minimum. They'll make you jump through hoops and sign away your soul to make sure it doesn't happen again."

I picked up the bag off the ground, "They'll never find me now that I'm awake." my arms slipped into the straps of the backpack and I pulled my mane out from between it and my back. I let out a small illusion field and felt it sluggishly form a sphere of influence around me, 'Looks like I can't move too fast or make the sphere too large with my body still recovering.'

Marowak looked me up and down before nodding his head, "You look like shit, but good considering the circumstances. The Lucario Den is straight across the valley on the third level."

"If you can't scent them, look for the cave with all the metal spikes at the entrance." Espeon added as she stood, "Also avoid any humans or Pokémon with bright green vests, those are the League Investigators."

"Got it." I nodded my head and turned invisible on the spot. A small pain popped up in the back of my mind and I dreaded to think of how much that would hurt making a solid illusion. I'll make my way to the Lucario Den the slow and steady way instead of trying it out.

"Oh!" Espeon was shocked at my sudden disappearance, "Strange..." She leaned in closer to where I had been and I saw her eyes and the gem on her head light up a light blue color, "I can't sense you at all. No wonder you were able to walk right into the Dragon's Den."

"Scent is starting to fade too." Marowak added as he shook his head, "Some Pokémon just get all the luck with abilities."

I moved towards the cave entrance and turned back around to address them one more time, "Thank you again." my voice made them turn to the cave entrance, "Hopefully if we meet again it will be under better circumstances."

Espeon let her power fade as she smiled towards me, "Don't mention it, just take good care of your team and be sure to eat plenty of Oran and Sitrus berries when you have the chance."

"I will." and with that I stepped out into the open air and let myself be bathed in the light of the sun.

The cave was located inside a long, rocky valley with a mountainous ridgeline on either side. Winding paths of dirt and rock stretched up the side of the rocky ridge across from me, making a long, winding road that had access to a great number of cave entrances. There were some larger entrances where I could see a few Pokémon of different species coming and going, probably leading to the underground caverns that Lucas talked about. The other caves had small decorations by their entrances, much like the cave I currently was standing in front of. Those had to be homes, or at least a sign of ownership.

'Almost like the Mystery Dungeon games, small one or two roomed dwellings. Oh I would love to stay here and look around a bit.' I thought as I started walking down the path. Already I could see Lucas' family den across the way. There were silver spikes similar to the spikes on a Lucario on either side of its entrance, but it was going to take me an hour to walk there at my current pace. An annoyance, but my body refused to go faster than a simple walking speed without flaring up in pain. I was in for a very long walk.

The sun was high overhead as I walked along the slight slope downwards into the valley below. It wasn't directly overhead so it wasn't quite noon yet, but it was getting close. I was thankful that the heat of the sun was being suppressed by the cool wind that blew through the mountains around me. High overhead I could see the shadowy shapes of Pokémon flying in the sky, casting shadows on the ground below. My eyes couldn't catch what Pokémon they were, but there were multiple species so it wouldn't have really mattered if I could.

Off to my side I passed the entrances to multiple homes, or dens as Pokémon called them, that had some form of life in them. There were some decorated with painted rocks mimicking parts of a Pokémon while others were just plain rock with a tunnel carved in it. It made me wonder how they all stayed dry when it rained, but I suppose it wasn't impossible that the entrances just sloped upwards slightly and I just couldn't tell. My mind wasn't all there right now really. It was still longing to fall asleep and I was hard pressed to even keep myself upright.

The one saving grace was my illusion seemed completely stable as long as I kept my pace slow and even, not easy when it was a path on the edge of a steep cliff. If I were to fall it would be a good twenty foot drop and without that barrier us Pokémon have I don't know if that would seriously injure me or not.

'This fucking sucks.' I so eloquently thought as I stayed as far to the side of the path as I could. A trio of Sneasle walked past me talking up a storm faster than I could understand with a Weavile behind them looking bored as could be. I'd recognize the look of an unwilling chaperone anywhere, I'd been that myself for most of my teenage years.

They passed me by, never once even catching a whiff of me, so I assume my sphere of influence was solid enough to fully block out my scent like Marowak said. I still had no idea if it contained it fully, or if I left small traces where my paws struck the ground, but I was content with this small amount of evidence that tracking me would, at the very least, be super annoying.

A full fucking hour later and I finally arrived at the bottom of the valley. There were some bushes, a scant few trees, but mostly sand and gravel with small patches of dirt. The uneven nature of the ground slowed me down but it wasn't too far to the ramp that went up the other side. My steps left prints that I couldn't hide as it shifted around the sand and gravel. There was a surprising lack of prints down here, but I suppose most Pokémon could jump from one side to the other fairly easily. If I was in better shape I would have been able to make the jump easily, but I'm not the best one to rate normalcy off of.

After a few steps on the gravel something shifted and I froze. I could feel an energy in the area that hadn't been there a moment ago. The very ground I was on vibrated with it, not in a physical sense but a mystical one. I could feel through my energy sensing that the ground I walked on was charged with something, it was either Rock or Ground type in nature and it was searching for something.

I was very fortunate that I was still standing on two paws when I froze as I could feel the energy zipping around the field of gravel, sand and dirt looking for whatever it wanted, but not finding it. This was the act of a Pokémon, something that Espeon and Marowak would have warned me about if it was normal. That meant this was new and most likely the work of a League Pokémon.

And the thing it was looking for was me.

'Oh this is gonna suck.' I started to form a solid platform in front of me. I felt the building pressure in my skull, but I built the platform as slowly as I could to keep it from turning into a spike of pain. If that pain happened I would collapse and my illusion would fall leaving me at the League's mercy.

Whatever was doing the ground scanning faded away and I took in a breath of relief. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that it would flare back up the moment I moved, but it was a relief nonetheless.

The platform was changed as I thought about it. I really only needed two small, stable disks to stand on. The size shrunk down and I felt a very small bit of relief. The thing that was taking the most out of me was the invisibility. After that it was making these two disks able to support my weight.

I positioned either disk right beside my paws and braced myself for the scary part of this. A small jump shifted the ground and I slipped the disks under me. A jolt of minor panic shot through me when I almost lost balance, but I kept myself from falling.

Then the ground a dozen feet to my right exploded in a shower of sand and gravel.

Multiple bits of stone and grains of sand landed on me, but I closed my eyes and forced myself to focus entirely on my illusion. As slowly as pouring honey out of a bottle I began to rise above the area.

"What?" A female voice to my side said as I continued to not look, "I was sure there was something here, I felt it." the loud steps of whatever Pokémon it was crunched the gravel underneath us like it was in a hydraulic press.

'She must have been suppressing her power, that's the only reason I wouldn't have felt it.' Now that I could, a cold sweat was forming on my brow. She was strong, almost as strong as the King had been. She had a dual core of Rock and Dark Type energy that left little to the imagination of what species it was.

The Tyranitar growled and it sounded like rocks getting thrown into a grinder, "I know you're here. Come out now and I won't beat ya to a pulp for wasting my time."

'Fuck you lady.' I thought as I slowly lifted up and away from her, heading towards the opposite cliffside. The disks under my paws were moving at a few inches a second, but I'd get there eventually. At least I was well above her reach at this point and-

"I'm about to coat this place in a sandstorm if you don't come out!" I could feel the pressure of her energy begin to weigh on the area around us and I knew she wasn't bluffing.

'... well fuck me then.' headache be damned I began to push the speed of my illusion to its current limit. It sadly wasn't that much faster. With all the speed of a zamboni the two disks under my paws move me away and further into the air. The mounting headache was quite the annoyance, but the slow get away I was making from the scene wasn't doing great things for my pounding heart rate.

"I'll find you with the sand then!" the Tyranitar shouted and I felt the energy around us begin to shift and change. I could see the particles of sand form in the air from her energy that had thoroughly saturated the area around us.

"Tyranitar, what are you doing?" a new voice called out, saving me from the coming sandstorm. I kept my eyes shut and put all of my concentration on keeping my illusion moving and myself hidden.

"There's something here but I can't see it." She called up to the other voice who must be a Flying type in the air above, though I didn't feel any wind or hear the sound of flapping wings. Whatever Pokémon it was they too were suppressing their power so I couldn't sense them.

A few seconds passed in silence before the voice spoke again, "You can't just shroud the whole valley in a sandstorm, make it local, no taller than where I am." The voice was unmistakably male and sounded a little tense, "We can't risk an incident with the reserve pokemon here."

"Fine." the Tyranitar grumbled before I felt the energy around us become more condensed in shape and feel.

A wind began to pick up that brushed through my fur. Through my energy sensing I could almost see the edge of her attack just in front of me. It was only a few feet before the edge, but the wind was ramping up quickly. Already I felt a few grains of sand bounce off my fur and in a few seconds they would be doing enough damage to break my illusion. Normally such indirect damage would be a nonissue, but as weak as I was right now that wouldn't be the case.

There was no choice in this situation. My headache was growing and the sandstorm was picking up. My disks froze in place and I crouched down low, preparing for the burning muscles that were about to flare up. With all the energy I could muster, I jumped from my two disks. A small spike of pain went through my head at the increased stress I put on the disks before it was overshadowed by the pain of my legs feeling like they were put in a vice and lit on fire.

My illusion faltered but barely held as the disks were immediately outside my sphere of influence and thus disappeared, taking a large strain off my mind. Still with the pain from my legs my eyes were screwed shut as I slammed into a rock wall. My shoulder struck the rock wall first and the lance of pain that racked my body broke my illusion. Through the sound of breaking glass the pain became secondary as my panicked mind immediately scrambled to make another illusion. With watery eyes I focused my powers and I became invisible once more.

I looked back towards where I had jumped from and saw the back of a human male, wearing a different colored ranger uniform from the games. The bright green jacket with its yellow accents were easily visible as he hovered in mid air. A slim outline of blue around him showed the use of a Psychic type move being used by the Natu on his shoulder to keep them afloat. If he had been observing Tyranitar from any other angle he might have seen my illusion waver when I was in the air. Then if he'd been closer to where I landed he would have heard the glass shattering sound of my illusion breaking.

I got insanely lucky.

My jump had brought me to the second level so I wasn't far from the Lucario den, it was only one more level up. As I slowly rose and got my paws under me a small smile stretched across my muzzle, 'Someone must be looking out for me.' I thought as I began my climb up this ridgeline.

~POV shift~

'Damn, how lucky can a guy get?' Mew thought to herself as she watched her 'champion' avoid getting caught by the skin of his teeth. She'd found the cave he was resting in relatively quickly, but found herself fighting her own nerves for the first time in centuries. She didn't like talking to other Pokémon, it usually just led to conflict and drama she didn't want or need to engage in. That said, she knew if she didn't talk to him at least a little then her dad would force the issue again.

Mew shook her head and followed alongside Chase, or Boss as the little Riolu called him, and scanned his body with her senses. Rough shape doesn't even begin to describe how hurt he is. Bruising covered a good portion of his chest and stomach as a result of unmitigated recoil from the attack he used the previous night. He had a number of torn muscles and the jump he just made definitely made it worse, tearing the hamstring of his right leg. Soon enough he wouldn't be able to walk, let alone get out of this net the Indigo League had cast over the entire mountain range.

She was going to help him, it was just a question of how involved did she get in helping him?

Normally she would just teleport them far away and call it a day. The League would eventually give up on the search after not finding anything, probably thinking Darkrai or one of his betas were the cause of the attack. They wouldn't be able to piece together that it was a simple Zoroark, not unless they caught him here or in the surrounding area. The odds of finding him after the first day were slim to none, Mew knew that and the League knew that. She's been on the receiving end of these searches more than enough times to pick out their play book. She's also stolen and read that play book, though she was drunk at the time so she doesn't remember most of it.

'Heal, quick explanation and get out.' Mew thought to herself as she tried to work up the courage to talk to the Pokémon, 'He'll probably be so shocked I won't even have to hear a single question... which means dad will send me back to answer all of his questions.' a quiet groan left the mew that wasn't heard by the Zoroark she was right beside. The bubble around her both blocked her from every sense possible and didn't allow for anything to affect her either. It was a warp in reality that she could perfectly control and she used it to avoid any kind of social interaction she could.

"Sss." Mew listened as her champion sharply inhaled beside her, seeming to realize the growing burning sensation in his leg was a bad sign.

'Better now then when he's with his team. One on one is better than a group.'

The world around the two of them shifted subtly at first as Mew flexed her powers. Not a soul outside the two of them would notice anything she did, she's been manipulating the fabric of reality before most modern Pokémon or any humans existed. A sphere of space-time, similar to her own bubble formed around them and the time inside was sped up, making the outside world appear to still and grow quiet.

She watched as Chase froze and his eyes widened at feeling what was happening, the amount of power that was trapped inside the bubble was probably more than he would ever feel again.

Mew let herself be seen and his eyes locked on to hers, "Don't panic-"

"That's what they say when you most definitely should panic." Chase interrupted her and Mew shot him a deadpan look, "I am right though."

"Not in this case and please don't interrupt me." Mew said with an annoyed tone, "After your showing last night I've been told I have to come deal with you-not in that way." Mew quickly added as she saw his muscles tense, "I'm not here to kill you, I'm here to help."

"Is that actual help or is it 'I'm from the government' type help?"

Despite her annoyance at the situation Mew gave a sharp exhale of mirth at the joke, "Actual help." She raised her paw and a green orb appeared between the two of them. A transparent wall of green energy drifted out of the ball and rippled like water. As it passed over Chase's form it felt like nothing he'd ever felt before. Relaxation and warmth on a level that surpassed anything he'd ever experienced. All over his body green spots glew with a bright shine for only a few moments before fading away.

"There, you're all healed up." Mew said as her Heal Pulse ended, "I've been thinking about how to explain this for a few hours so please, don't interrupt me with questions."

Chase stood straight up for the first time since he'd woken up and his back let out a satisfying series of pops, "Oh my god that feels good." he began stretching with a smile on his muzzle, "I'll keep quiet, promise."

Mew inhaled and let out a short breath, "Alright, firstly when I brought you here it was by accident." According to her father it wasn't but she wasn't going to even entertain that thought, "All Legendaries are able to give someone, human or Pokémon, a second chance as their 'Champion'." Mew added air quotes with her small paws, "Most champions will do some tasks for their Legendary or fulfill some prophecy or whatever, you don't have to worry about any of that. I have my betas managing things very well and so I've never really needed a champion."

Chase raised his paw like a kid asking a question in a classroom, but Mew ignored it and continued on, "Secondly, you were not supposed to be as strong as you are, but it's too late to change that. I also apologize for the isolation that power led to in your first few months." Mew bowed her head as she said the apology, but continued on before Chase could get a word in, "Third, being my champion gives a few benefits, the main one being you can learn a very wide variety of moves that your species would not normally be able to use. That will not extend to your team, before you ask."

Chase nodded his head and stayed silent.

"Lastly, I can't remember if I wiped your memory or not, did I?" Chase shook his head at her question and Mew groaned, "Damn it. Celebi is going to be mad."

A lull in the conversation happened as Mew didn't continue speaking. Chase opened his mouth, "May I ask a few questions?" Mew nodded her head, "What's a beta?"

"They're the descendants of the original Legendaries, so basically my kids." Mew gave a 'so-so' hand gesture, "They were made to take up roles that I couldn't be bothered to care for as time went on."

Chase's face scratched up, "Do they get a choice?"

Mew realized what he was thinking, "Yes, yes, they have a choice. We're very big on anti-slavery around here."

"How wide is the variety of the moves I'll be able to use?"

"Nothing like Frenzy Plant or Blast Burn or moves specific to a species, you'll just have to experiment to find out."

Chase nodded his head, "The move Gravity was what I was really thinking about. Can I learn that one?" Mew nodded her head, "Yes." Chase did a fist pump with his paw.

"I'll give you a few more minutes, I'm too sober to talk for this long." Mew said to hurry up the conversation. She didn't want to actually start answering a slew of yes or no questions.

"I'd be happy to continue this over a cider, I've been stuck in the woods for so long I could use a good drink." Chase smiled and Mew nodded her head in understanding.

"Cider though? Months without liquor and you want cider?" Mew's look turned to one of disappointment.

"What's wrong with some cider? Don't tell me you're the type to look down on wines, they're practically the drink of the gods back home." Chase rolled his eyes, but he had a smile on his muzzle.

"Wine people are stuck up arrogant jackasses who look down on other alcoholic beverage enjoyers." Mew crossed her arms.

"Like you're doing right now?"

"Well I'm right, so there's a difference." Mew's completely straight face as she says that makes Chase chuckle, "Besides, nothing will ever top a good malt liquor or some smooth whiskey."

Chase shook his head, "As long as you're not one of those people who say Tequila is the best I can live with that."

"Tequila is a knock off vodka that makes everything worse. Even vodka I need to be in a particular mood to drink." Mew relaxed as she kept talking, "If I'm drinking vodka then someone has annoyed me to my wit's end."

"You know what would really hit the spot, besides cider, a good twelve pack of Yuengling. It's a lager from back home."

Mew licked her lips at the thought, "There's this bar in Hoenn, it has a lager flavor for every type of berry." a hum left Mew as she thought about it, "Their rainbow berry mix is one of the best lagers I've ever had."

Chase ignored the growl in his stomach as he asked, "What's the name of the place? I'll probably swing by it at some point."

"The Silver Seviper. It's in Slateport, but if you want the best bar there's the Wet Bitch in Cherrygrove City, Johto. That place has the widest variety of drinks and the best barkeeps in the world." Mew smiled as she thought of getting her usual rum bucket. The bartenders there don't even panic when she pops in and orders anymore.

Chase mouthed the name to himself as a confused look passed over his face. Mew saw the look and started to chuckle, "Dad may have been a bit prudish setting up this universe, but nature is still nature. Sex sells and all that, though Pokémon are definitely more open about that than humans."

"Lovely." Chase groaned out as a small blush started to appear across his muzzle.

Mew's smile turned evil, "Oh, don't lie. Even drunk I wouldn't have chosen a stick in the mud as my champion. I am the caretaker of life so my champion shouldn't be blushing up a storm like you are now."

"Isn't that supposed to be Xerneas?" Chase asked quickly hoping for a topic change, "They're part of the life and death duo."

"Aura trio or ecosystem trio actually." Mew corrected him, "And he handles things with broader strokes, including plant life and regular animals. I'm the one that makes sure Pokémon species don't go extinct if it can be prevented, but humans have been helping out with that a lot in recent times."

"How do you do-" Chase cut himself off as Mew transformed on the spot to another Zororark, "..." Her champion's eyes widened and he began blushing brightly as his nose caught the scent that just manifested in the air.

Mew crossed her new arms and gave him a smug smile, "One of my betas helped out Zoroarks in the past so I know a thing or two about the species." Chase averted his eyes as he became very aware of his body not being of human instincts any longer. To any outside observer Mew didn't look any different from Chase aside from the minor difference in how they were standing. To Chase's mind though it was the equivalent of a supermodel suddenly appearing in front of him and he couldn't explain why for the life of himself. Mew just began to laugh as she transformed back into herself, "To answer your next question I changed my scent and Pokémon are naturally attracted to strength too. You'll have to be on the watch for the scent thing, most male Pokémon can ignore it easily because of a long life of exposure."

Chase cleared his throat and purposefully stopped breathing through his nose, "Well, thanks for that warning at least. Are there any other quirks about being a Pokémon I should know about?"

"Compared to your last world? Yeah, there's a lot." Mew smiled, but stopped right there. Upon seeing Chase's face droop she laughed again, "Okay, first off to get the embarrassing stuff out of the way, Pokémon can't conceive an egg unless both parties want one. It takes a very strong bond but Pokémon and humans can have children too, species depends on the mother like always." Chase is as red as a tomato and looks like he wants to be anywhere else but here.

"Next, Pokémon never eat each other, ever." Chase nodded his head along, happy of the topic change, "Those that do will go insane and their mana core will fluctuate wildly. If you want meat just head to the zones between the ley lines and hunt there. Humans eat quite a bit of meat from factories they have set up in these areas."

"I'm surprised there's still animals around if they had to evolve beside Pokémon."

"These areas are small and usually isolated. They only cover about twenty-five percent of the planet's livable landmass. They also feel awful for a Pokémon to be in as the magical pressure of the energy in the air is no longer pressing down on their cores. It leads to feelings of lethargy, numbness, dizziness, pain in the muscles and joints plus a few other things. Weak and strong Pokémon have an easier time, but the middle of the pack, those with power but no tight control, will experience the breadth of the symptoms over their exposure time."

Chase blinked a few times as he tried to commit the small lecture to memory as Mew continued on, "That's the biggest thing, the rest are small stuff. For Pokémon, society is more of an opt in thing so there's a large number that simply live in their habitats off instinct and passed down knowledge. If a Pokémon is around a route in a human region, nine times out of ten they are looking for a trainer to take them in and make them stronger or are trying to steal food. It's not really hard to avoid humans if you want to."

Mew's stomach growled and she was surprised by it, "Wow, I've been here way longer than I thought I would be. Any last questions before I go?"

Chase's eyes widened, "Yes, a lot of questions-"

"You get one." Mew said with a teasing voice. The serious look that spread across Chase's face took the joy out of Mew and she had an idea of what he was going to ask.

"Can I bring my family here?"

Wasn't exactly the question she expected but the answer was the same, "No, I'm sorry for your loss, but pulling you away from your universe was already an overreach. Most gods, even the hands off kind, don't like other universes tampering with what's theirs. With how integrated your soul has become with magic you can't return either."

Mew watched as Chase closed his eyes and gave a small nod of his head. He took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds and then released it, "I figured that was the case, but I had nothing to lose for asking."

"Barring extreme circumstances we'll probably never speak again for years at a time. I'll have to check up on you every now and then or dad will throw a fit, but beyond that just live your new life as you see fit." As Mew finished talking the sound of the world outside their bubble in reality began to fade back in.

"I will." Chase said with a sad smile before his brow scratched up, "What kind of extreme circumstances? Aren't Gods supposed to be omnipotent?"

"We're big on free will here so none of the Legendaries or dad are omnipotent." Mew answered before a thought struck here, "Oh, and don't worry about any abusing any future knowledge you might think you know. If Celebi did his job then nothing should be one to one with what you've seen out of safety to the timelines."

"Well gosh, there goes all my plans of abusing my future knowledge." Chase smiled at his own joke, "Whatever am I to do now?"

"Yes, whatever is the overpowered and blessed Pokémon to do?" Mew shot back with a jovial tone, "I think you'll live. Good luck with getting out of here."

"And good luck to your liver." Chase smiled as the world around them resumed.

"And a final good luck to the bars I'm about to steal from." With her final words spoken, Mew font flipped in the air, her tail bopping Chase on the nose as she did so, and disappeared from his sight.

~POV Shift~

I scrunched up my muzzle as the strike from Mew's tail hit my nose. My eyes involuntarily close and when I open them again she's gone. I blinked a few times and still she was gone, vanished completely without a trace. No hint of energy, no sound, but there was something left behind. A glint caught my eye and brought my vision down to the ground.

There, sat on the rocky path, was a shot glass of amber liquid. A smile split my face as I picked it up and looked at it. Along the rim of the top was the name 'Wet Bitch' repeating with the playing card spades between them. On the glass were the black outlines of two canine Pokémon, both Houndoom and the silhouette art was like what he was used to, provocative but showed nothing. Their two tipped tails were twisted together and formed a heart between them.

'Probably shouldn't drink this early in the day or on an empty stomach, but Rob taught me to never turn down the first drink between new friends.' I thought to myself before downing what I was expecting to be whisky, but the taste of cider was a welcome surprise. A small shiver went through me as the drink was nice and cold, 'I gotta hide this glass so the kids don't find it. That isn't a conversation I'm having ever again.'

I pulled the backpack off my back and set the empty glass on top of the berries inside.

It was also at this moment I realized I had berries I could have been munching on this entire time. They seemed a little old, but after the first bite I concluded that they were still good and ate an Oran berry as I flexed my illusion around me. After Mew healed me my strength returned to full and there were a million small things I hadn't even noticed were annoying me that were now gone. I hadn't felt this good since the day I evolved.

Returning the backpack to my back, I illusioned up my nimbus and stood on top of it. The strain was almost nonexistent and this tense situation I'd been in since I'd woken up was finally over. Push comes to shove, I could now run if need be, I just needed my team first.

A small flight up and I was in front of the Lucario den with the large metal spikes on either side of its entrance. The spikes glared in the sunlight, but I ignored it as I dismissed my nimbus and walked inside. Almost immediately I could see Cobalt leaning against the wall waiting for me. She was looking directly at me with a concerned look on her face.

I was about to speak when she brought a paw up by her side and minorly shook her head, the gesture so small I almost missed it. Cobalt's eyes darted to the side and she motioned into the room beyond. Then she motioned with her paw to move to the side and stay. I followed her instructions and almost immediately a Pokémon walked around a corner and out of the room behind her.

"What is that idiot doing out there?" a large Arcanine wearing a green ranger vest grumbled as it moved along the path to outside, "Stay here." he barked out an order to Cobalt before moving onwards. He passed me without a glance or sniff as my illusion was just that broken, and I was quick to move opposite of him and into the den.

"Damn League Pokémon." Cobalt grumbled as she moved into her den with me not far behind.

Once I entered the room I could see there were two dugout doorways that led to two other rooms, but I couldn't see into them with the angle I was at. Sitting to the side of the room was Lucas in a meditative stance with his two paws bunched into fists and connected at the knuckles. Astrid was asleep right beside him, her slightly red tinted coat was a little dirty and she was pushed up against Lucas' side. On the ceiling above them our most recent addition, Noibat, hung upside down and snored lightly with his wings wrapped around his body.

A weight I hadn't realized was on my shoulders disappeared as I saw they were all alright. It also reminded me I needed to think of a name for Noibat in the near future.

"We don't have much time before the jackass gets back." Cobalt said quietly right beside me, "I won't ask how you got healed, I expected you to still be half dead, but you need to leave soon. The rangers from Sinnoh will be here soon to search the area and I guarantee there will be at least one Lucario with them."

"Why Sinnoh?"

"The leading theory is some Pokémon pissed off a Darkrai so Sinnoh rangers were asked to come check it out." Her explanation is quick and to the point.

"Fuck." I muttered, "We'll leave immediately then. Will Lucas be alright with that?"

"He'll be fine. Espeon unlocked his aura this morning and I gave him a few quick lessons under the ever watchful eye of Arcanine." a growl rose in her throat but none of the kids responded to the sound.

"Will you be alright being left here with the League?"

Cobalt smugly smiled, "I was knocked out by the King after getting too close to him fighting some dark type. I didn't see anything of the fight or have any part in the destruction. The only witnesses for the fight will be leaving with you, so they'll have nothing and eventually drop the case."

"Won't you get in trouble for letting them leave?" I seriously doubted they would let the three who know what's going on just up and disappear without consequences.

"No, not any lasting punishment anyway. They're free Pokémon and are able to leave whenever they want. If the League can't follow them when they walk right out the door then that's there issue." her smile stays glued to her face as she explains, "The only one I might get in trouble for is Astrid as she's clearly to young to be let out on her own, but she's also not my pup. So again, they got nothing."

"What about Riolu?" I ask about Lucas' brother but her smirk doesn't falter.

"They got the scent of a Riolu but they couldn't tell there were two. As far as anyone is concerned Lucas was the only Riolu there last night."

I nod my head, "How long do you think they're going to look for us?"

"A few months at least. I'd wait that long to capture them in pokeballs. The information from captures are sent straight to the league to ensure no one is capturing endangered species or some other crap." Cobalt shook her head, "They like to feel in control, but they have enough to deal with without chasing down every destructive Pokémon out in the wilds."

"Aren't you a League Pokémon technically?" I remember Lucas saying something like that.

She shook her head as her smile dropped, "No, my trainer is classified as an elite, but he doesn't work for the league in any capacity beyond disaster relief if we're close by. Not everyone likes being either locked to a region or told what to do."

"Have they even questioned the kids yet?" I asked, glancing over to the three Pokémon on the other side of the room.

"No, they need a parent or guardian's approval for any Pokémon under the age of five." She saw my confused face and clarified, "That's when a Pokémon is considered an adult by the law, but all Pokémon are fully mature by then."

"I'm going to have so much stuff to look up when I get to a library." I muttered and scratched the back of my head, "Let them know to stay silent and I'll get them under my illusion afterwards."

She nodded and moved over towards them, her steps light as ever and damn near silent on the stone floor. When Cobalt was right in front of them she used one of her paw digits to brush over the top of Noibat's head, rousing the sleeping bat where he hung, "Wake up." she said quietly as she crouched down to Lucas and Astrid's height, "Hey, wake up you three." Astrid started to stir and Lucas' eyes lazily fluttered open, having apparently fallen asleep instead of meditating. I should have known that as his aura sensing dreads weren't hovering.

"What-" Lucas was cut off by his mom placing a paw against his mouth.

"I need you three-" she glanced up to make sure Noibat was paying attention, "-to stay completely silent. Nod if you understand." Lucas nodded and Astrid did as well as she slowly got her paws under her. Above Noibat looked grim and also nodded before falling down and Lucas' head, "It's time for you three to leave, he'll answer questions when you're safe."

I enveloped all of us in my sphere of influence and gave them a two clawed salute as I crouched down low. They all turned to see me and their eyes lit up, mostly Astrid and Lucas but Noibat also seemed happy to see me. I moved my paw and gave them a two claw salute, "Hey kids, ready to run from the cops?" my tone, though quiet, was jovial.

Astrid must have learned Quick Attack as she immediately slammed into my chest floof and almost knocked me back. I was quick to grab on to her as she wrapped her forelegs around my neck and nuzzled into my fur, "You're alright." she quietly said.

A small chuckle left me, "Was there any doubt?" Lucas stopped just before me and Noibat flew off his head and onto my own.

"Never any doubt here, just good to see you up and movin Boss." Lucas said with a smile across his muzzle. I took the opportunity to put a paw on his head and ruffled the fur there. He grabbed hold of my arm and I lifted him up to my shoulder where he sat down.

"He almost fought Cobalt to stay with you." Noibat whispered into my ear and I could hear the smile on his face as he spoke.

"Well then let's hit the road before Arcanine gets back." I stood and looked at Cobalt, "Thanks for looking after me after I passed out."

Cobalt chuckled, "Wasn't me, I really was out cold until this morning. You'll have to get the story from them. Now get going, and good luck." I nodded and Lucas and his mother shared a look before nodding to each other. I'm glad they were able to reconcile before we left this mountain range.

I walked out of the cave with my family around me and illusioned up a nimbus to ride on. Down in the valley I could see Arcanine and Tyranitar arguing over something and the trainer was trying to calm the two of them down. We had a clear exit and clear skies overhead. I sat down on the golden cloud and Lucas slid down my side to sit on my thigh. Astrid seemed content in her spot and Noibat leapt down to join Lucas on the cloud.

"They said your illusions were solid, but this is so weird." he stated as he poked at the fluff of the nimbus cloud.

We began to rise off the ground and I started to talk, "Well, my illusions are completely busted if a Zoroark knows how to use them right."

"Until you fight a Pokémon that can see through them." Lucas chimed in.

"I was still tricking your mom with them last night during our fight." I said as I used my paw to ruffle the fur on top of his head.

"What all can your illusions do?" Noibat asks as we rise above the ridgeline and begin our journey to the south-east.

"I'll tell you if you three tell me what happened after I passed out last night." I say as I glance out across the sky and spot a few different rangers off in the distance looking around the sky for any movement. Looking the other way I could see there were more, 'They seemed to have set up some kind of perimeter around the air space.'

"Let's do our story first." Lucas drew my attention back to them, "The moment Boss starts talking about his illusions he won't shut up for a few hours."

"He is right." I say with a smile. Astrid nuzzles into my neck again and I begin to pet the fur on her head. She'd surprisingly didn't shed any tears and relaxed at my touch.

Noibat nodded, "After you traded knock outs with Dragonite, Lucas was the first to react."

"Yep, after that attack of yours everyone was shocked at how strong it was." Lucas started his tale.

~Scene Break~

The Night Before

Lucas watched with shocked eyes as light and detail returned to the world around them. Whatever attack Boss had hit the King with faded away and revealed the clear night sky no longer filled with dark storm clouds. All of them, Lucas, Astrid, Riolu, and Noibat, looked on in awe at the power that had been displayed before them.

"So strong..." Astrid muttered to herself.

The two words snapped Lucas out of his stupor and he looked back to Boss to see him no longer moving, "I think he knocked himself out with that attack." He moved from his mother's side where she was pulled under some slight shrubbery that lined the valley floor. Noibat held on to Lucas' head as the little Riolu ran out of their hiding spot and bee lined it for his friend. Astrid was quick to follow them as she saw them move. Lucas' brother, Riolu, wanted to chase after his brother, but stayed by his mother's side instead.

They worked their way quickly down the mountain side and to where the fight had concluded. When they got to the crater that had been made around Boss the three of them slid down into it. Lucas rushed ahead, his longer legs allowing him to cover more ground quicker than Astrid could. As he came upon Boss he winced at the damage that was obvious on his body, even with his dark fur the large purple splotches of fresh bruises covered most of his midsection. Along his arms and legs muscles were still minorly spasming with the recoil from his attack, something Lucas had been warned of happening when Hyper Beam was used by a weak Pokémon.

"Really? Does Hyper Beam cause recoil damage like Double Edge or Takedown?"

Noibat is about to explain, but Lucas cuts him off, "Save all your questions for after the story otherwise we'll be here for hours."

"Fine, fine, continue."

When Astrid caught up the little shiny immediately tried licking Boss' face to try and wake him up.

"Aww."

"Shh."

"He's alive Astrid, just knocked out." Lucas explained as he got behind the boss and started to pick him up, his paws hooking under his armpits. He had to stop and then move aside the mass of hair that Boss had and then tried again. Lucas grit his teeth as he began to pull Boss up the crater's side. Astrid, not really able to help, stayed beside him with Noibat walking beside her.

More than once Lucas slipped and fell to a knee, Astrid was quick to bite into the fur of Boss' chest fluff to try and help stop him from sliding back down the rocky slope. She eventually ended up biting into the end of his mane and pulling it to the side, keeping it out of Lucas' way while he pulled the unconscious Zoroark out of the crater his impact had made. Noibat during this time was just staying out of the way as he didn't have any energy and everyone was surprised he was even up and moving.

While Lucas was strong enough to carry the weight easily, the wet and uneven terrain was the biggest obstacle and the reason he kept losing his grip.

"..."

"It was."

Chase chuckles, "I said nothing."

After pulling Boss up and laying him next to Cobalt Lucas spoke up, "We have to get them to the den. We don't want to be here when a dragon decides to come see what happened."

"They might celebrate that the King is gone for good... at least, I don't think he could have survived that attack. I'd never seen something so powerful." Noibat added on as Riolu and Lucas grabbed Cobalt and Boss respectively.

"Mew must have made him a Legendary." Astrid said quietly from between the two unconscious adults as the two Riolu's pulled them along.

"No, he's just stupid strong." Lucas corrected, "Whatever that final move was, I've never heard of anything like it."

Three pairs of eyes looked to the Zoroark on the cloud for an explanation.

"Oh no, if I have to wait to ask questions, so do you."

"Ahh." Astrid pouted from her spot beside Lucas as he nodded his head and continued.

The group dragged the two Pokémon for over an hour, something that quickly wore out the two Riolu. Above them the moon was descending and the lack of light was casting the valley in dark shadows. Astrid, being a dark type, took the lead and led them along the clearest path through the valley.

It was around this time the group heard the sounds of wings above them, freezing them in place. A Pokémon, some dragon they were sure, flew overhead towards the battlefield far behind them. They stayed silent and frozen for a few minutes until Lucas said they were good to move again.

Only another ten minutes or so passed before another set of wings sounded in the night above them. Again they froze and waited for the Pokémon to pass. This time they caught sight of a Pidgeot with a dark shape on their back scouring the ground below them.

"The League was already there? Well, I guess the Indigo Plateau isn't too far away."

"Yeah, we thought we were going to get caught but then-"

"Shh, I'm getting to that part."

"Sorry."

The group was silent and staring with wide eyes as both silhouettes of the Pokémon and human above them. Lucas watched with wide eyes as the glint in the bird's eyes seemed to zero in on him, but then just passed right on over them. He assumed it was a trick of the light as the duo flew on by without any signs of having seen them.

The group decided to move quickly after that, pulling the two unconscious adults as fast as they could. They were still miles away from the den and it would only be a few more hours until the sun rose.

Noibat saw their doom first. He'd been sitting on Cobalt's chest, something he'd been asked to do as he was still recovering himself, when he saw the bright light behind them flash and illuminate the valley around the battlefield. All of them turned to see the bright light separate into four as the lights moved away from the battlefield, lighting up the mountains all around them. With a rising panic they could see one of them heading straight for them.

It was bad luck they were in an area that lacked any kind of greenery to hide in, it was nothing but rock for another hundred feet in either direction and only a few bushes even then. Lucas gave up pulling Boss and started trying to wake him, knowing their only chance was his illusions. Riolu also stopped pulling his mother along, but he got between the group and the approaching light before crouching down into a fighting stance. Astrid joined Lucas in trying to wake up Boss while Noibat was simply starting to panic as his head whipped from the approaching light to the Zoroark and back again.

This went on for only a minute before the light reached them. All the Pokémon grit their teeth and looked up into the bright light, expecting a cry of alarm or something like it. This close they could see it was a Togekiss channeling the move Flash as they flew their human rider down the valley. Seconds seemed to stretch on forever as the Pokémon flew over them and then flew past them, never once faltering in their flight.

Panicked looks turned into confusion as they flew past.

"Did... did they not see us?" Astrid asked quietly as her head tilted while looking at the fleeting form of the Togekiss.

"No way, we're standing out in the open with nothing but gravel and rocks all around us." Riolu chimed in as he walked up beside his brother.

Lucas shook his head, "It doesn't matter, we need to get moving. We have to reach the den before morning comes."

Riolu nodded and mirrored his brother in picking up the two unconscious Pokémon. They only made it a few steps when the sounds of barking began to echo in the valley. This time they didn't turn around or stop, the two aura Pokémon carried their charges as quickly as they could. The sounds of canine cries got close enough the group could understand the Pokémon speaking. Cries of 'This way!' and a few things regarding their scent were heard and the group thought they were caught for sure.

They'd just made it to a few bushes at the ending tip of the rocky ridgeline when the sound of paws striking rock could be heard. All four of them turned to see an Arcanine with a human on its back leading a pack of various canine Pokémon. They were closing fast and if the group could see them then they could see the group.

"You got cau-"

"Shh, this is the weird part."

Lucas joined his brother in a mirrored fighting stance, his face showing nothing but grit and determination in the mounting odds against them.

"*cough*Liar*cough*"

Lucas shot Noibat a glare but he just grinned back.

As the two Riolus were going to stand their ground a small pop sounded out, like a balloon bursting, but not as loud. One moment they were staring down the approaching group from the League and the next they were in a den, more specifically the home of Cobalt and her family.

Espeon, who had been worriedly pacing while looking after Cobalts children, let out a shriek of shock as the group suddenly appeared in the middle of the room. The group of four, who were still tense expecting to fight the League, turned to her and started screaming themselves.

~Scene Break~

"After we appeared in the den we told Espeon what happened and she used her powers to carry you to her den as quickly as she could while her neighbor, Marowak, tended to mom." Lucas finished, "We still don't know how we teleported into the den though."

"It was Mew I bet." I say as I look out over the mountain range we were in. Off in the distance to the north I could barely make out some structures and I think there was more at the base of the mountain, "Oh, looks like we're just south of the Indigo Plateau."

"Why Mew?" Noibat asked first, but still turned his head to look off in the direction I was.

The others joined him as I started to explain, "When I woke up I felt like crap. I barely had the energy to make myself invisible and my muscles were crying out in pain just walking. It took me an hour just to walk all the way down the one side of the mountain to the bottom where I got my own little nasty surprise."

Astrid gasped and looked back to me, "Did someone from the League see you?"

"Thankfully no, but they had a Tyranitar guarding the stretch of gravel between the two walkways. She was suppressing her power too, so I didn't know she was there until she started moving energy through the ground." The mention of a Tyranitar brought all their attention back to me as we began to fly over a large bay area, "She popped up out of the dirt the next time I moved and then started a damn sandstorm that I'm certain I hurt badly myself jumping away from."

"Then why do you seem just fine?" Lucas asks with a tilt of his head.

"Well, I'd only taken a few steps after that jump and Mew appeared in front of me. She put us in this bubble that froze the world around us and explained to me a few things. After we talked she also healed me and sent me on my way. I have to say it went much better than our first meeting." Thinking back to Mew I remembered I still had a backpack full of berries and other trainer supplies, "The backpack still has berries in it if you three are hungry."

After three confirmations of being hungry, I unslung the backpack and brought it around in front of me. The three members of my team were sitting in front of me after they moved around a bit during Lucas' retelling of events. I stealthily moved the shot glass Mew had given me to a different pocket in the backpack as I was listing the berries I had, "We got Oran, Chesto, Cherri, Pecha, Rawst, and a few Lum berries too. I'd like to save those Lum though, they should be able to help out if any of us get any kind of status condition."

"What's a status condition?" Astrid asks while Lucas frowns at the berry selection.

"Is that really all that's in there?" Lucas asks as Noibat crawls up to my shoulder to look into the bag.

"One second Astrid and no, but the rest I don't know the names for." I say before looking at Noibat, "Do you know what the rest of these are?" he nods, "Do you know which ones are sweet?"

"That one right there is sweet. It's called a Custap berry." He points to a berry that's red and orange in color and slightly smaller than an apple. Its surface was smooth as I picked it up, but it looked like it should feel like scales with how it has large splotches of red with lines of orange running between them. It had a little yellow stem at the top and at first glance I would guess the thing tasted spicy from its very warm coloration.

I picked up the berry and was glad to find a second one underneath it, "Here, two berries for you two." I illusion up a floating plate for Astrid's berry as Lucas takes his own into his paws, "There you two go, which one do you want Noibat, also would you like a name?"

Noibat looked from the bag to me, "Why? Aren't humans the ones who do that?"

It was then I remembered that Noibat didn't know, "Well Noibat, allow me to tell you-"

"He used to be a human before Mew drunkenly turned him into a Pokémon so he likes to use names." Lucas interrupted before taking the first bite of his berry. His eyes widened and he started to devour the thing with gusto.

"Cool." Noibat seemed nonplussed by this, "Can my name sound cool please?"

"You don't want to ask any questions?" I ask and Noibat shakes his head, "Alright, how does Nightfury sound, we'll call you Night for short." he was a dragon and a bat so I was really hoping he liked the name. It was something I'd named the Noivern that was on my championship team for the gen six games.

"Nightfury... I like it." he excitedly nodded his head, "I am Nightfury." he spread his wings and the passing wing caught them. He flew off my shoulder and into the air behind us. I brought the nimbus to a stop and watched as he flew back to us with a flushed face.

Lucas chuckled but didn't comment but Astrid voiced her worry, "Are you alright Noibat, uh, I mean, Night?"

"I'm okay." he sets back down on my shoulder and I resume the nimbus' slow march forward. We were almost over the center of the bay now and it would be another ten or so minutes until we were in Kanto proper, "Can I have that red berry right there, it's called a Haban and it's my favorite. They're bitter with a sweet aftertaste."

I pull out the red berry a little bigger than a pinecone, "Here you go, now Astrid-" I look to see the little shiny Absol look up from her berry with yellow berry juice running down her jaw and staining her two paws that held the berry, "-you wanted to know what a status effect was, right?" She nods her head and keeps looking up to me as she takes another bite of the berry.

It took me a few minutes to list the status effects that I remembered and Lucas had to remind me about confusion, but Astrid nodded her head along as I listed them out. I didn't go into too much detail as none of us here had actually been hit with all of the status effect moves so descriptions were lacking. Just like myself, my team still has to experience a lot of this world we live in.

I was getting excited about where we were heading now and a smile stretched across my muzzle, "Now then, something that I've been questioning since last night, who was it that used Helping Hand when I used my attack?"

Lucas looked to Astrid and then to Night and both of them shook their heads, "Wasn't any of us, my brother might have been the one to do it, but I don't think it was him either."

"Hmm, well could have been a random Pokémon, but I don't like that as an answer." I say as I bring a claw up to scratch my chin.

"What was the name of your attack?" Astrid asks quickly as she sets her forepaws on my leg and looks up to me with her bright teal eyes.

"Well, when I simply use two Night Daze attacks to make a beam, like I did in the fight with Cobalt, I call that Oblivion. That final attack on the Dragonite was something I've been thinking of doing for a long time. I added a Dark Pulse that I fired from my mouth to give it that extra bit of power, so it's called Perfect Oblivion." As I say the name I could feel the energy in my core twist a little before returning to normal, 'Huh, that's weird.'

I shake off the weird feeling and see that we're finally flying over land again. We must be getting close to our destination now.

"What was it like fighting the King?" Lucas looks up to me from his spot on the cloud with his eyes practically gleaming.

"It was both the scariest and the most exhilarating thing I've ever experienced." I answer honestly, "That was the first time I've ever let loose my entire pool of energy and I can tell you it's an addicting feeling."

"I can't wait till I'm that strong." Lucas grins, showing off his teeth as he balls his paws into fists.

"I'll get that strong too, right?" Astrid asks from beside him looking between the two of us.

"Of course you will Astrid. My main goal may be to travel and see the world, but that doesn't mean we're not going to become as strong as we can be while we're doing that." I could feel the air warm up slightly as we traveled further inland and the trees passed by below us.

"And me?" Night asks from my shoulder while pointing a clawed wing at himself.

I nod my head, "Anyone a part of this family is going to become strong enough to take on the likes of the King without any trouble." My words have a sense of confidence that leaves no room for doubt.

The three children looked up to me with a sparkle in their eyes and I knew then my plans of just traveling were going to be filled with gym battles galore, 'Oh well, I would have done them anyway at some point.'

"How did the King heal so quickly during the fight?" Astrid speaks up after a few minutes of nice quiet traveling, "One second he was running scared from you then he was fine and standing over you."

A groan escapes me before I could stop it, "I was an idiot and chasing a substitute the whole time while the real king healed up in the clouds above us." Astrid's head tilts in confusion so I explain the thing I think she's confused about, "Substitute is a move that will let you make a copy of yourself, but it disappears after only a small bit of damage and it cant use moves. The moment I finally caught the thing and was worn out the King came out of the clouds and hit me with Extreme Speed."

"What's Extreme Speed?" Lucas asks this time.

"Oh, it's like Quick Attack but a whole lot faster and hits harder." Night takes the opportunity to answer. At my nod to him the little bat smiles wide, happy to have helped.

"Can you explain everything from the beginning of the fight to the end?" Astrid looks up to me with her big teal eyes and I nod my head.

"And tell me how your illusions work?" Night chimes in quickly.

I nod my head and begin, "Let's start with the illusions since you asked earlier." Lucas groans, "I'll try to make it brief."

~Scene Break~

About an hour or two later, after a quick explanation of my illusions and a breakdown of the fight from my perspective, we touched down outside of a small town with less than a hundred buildings. All of them look to be modern homes, like something you'd see in the country rather than the cookie cutter houses in a city. No two homes were exactly the same and the colors were all present in some way making the sight fairly unique and beautiful. No building extended over two stories with the exception of one that looked like a town hall.

After everyone got off the nimbus we did a few stretches as we looked out over the town. Night settled in on top of my head and was well on his way to falling back to sleep like he had been since half way through my fight breakdown. Astrid stretched like she was a cat before sitting down at the edge of the little grass hill we were on. Lucas had already finished his stretches and was eagerly bouncing from one paw to the other.

"So who are we fighting first boss?" he asks as we all look out across the town.

"A former champion of the Pokémon League." I say without hesitation and smirk as it makes Lucas freeze in place.

It had the opposite of my intended effect though as he looked up at me with a happy and hopeful look, his eyes practically sparkling with excitement, "Really!?"

I opened my mouth to say no, but then thought about it for a few seconds, 'Oak probably has a few of his team around still...' A single claw is lifted towards Lucas, "Maybe, it depends on if Professor Oak will let you fight them or not."

Lucas returned to his bouncing from one paw to the other with a gleeful look on his face and muttering under his breath, "I'm going to fight a champion."

Astrid looks from Lucas to me, "Is a champion strong?" At my nod a cute determined look crosses her face, "Then I want to fight too."

"You're still a bit young Astrid and we haven't even trained together yet." I kneel down and place a paw on her back, "There's no rush to get stronger, the journey is only just starting after all."

She nods her head and I see her relax at the news as a voice shouts out from the forest nearby.

"Got ya finally!" the sounds of a young kid shouts out into the wind.

I quickly scan the forest's edge, but don't see the owner of the voice. After a few seconds pass I relax again and feel my curiosity beginning to rise, 'Curiosity killed the cat, but thankfully I'm not a cat.'

"Come one, let's go see who's yelling." I begin walking towards the woodline and the two children stick close beside me. An idea comes to mind but I quickly dismiss it. I really should have tested already if I transform into a human if I speak like one, but a first meeting with someone near Pallet Town, a kid and possible hero no less, is not a good time to test that.

After a few seconds of thought I came to the realization I don't know if humans can't understand Pokémon in this universe, "Hey Lucas." The little Riolu looks up at me, "Can humans understand Pokémon normally?"

"No, not until the bond between them is strong enough, but mom says that can take years."

"Can you tell the difference between a human speaking and a Pokémon?" I hadn't realized it at the time, but when the trainer back in the reserve was talking to the Tyranatar I couldn't tell any difference in how they were speaking to each other.

"I've never heard a human talk." Lucas answers and I let out a sigh.

"I have." Night speaks up.

"Oh, I thought you were sleeping Night." I cross my eyes to try and look up at the Noibat, "Can you tell the difference between a human and Pokémon talking?"

"Nope."

I let out another sigh, "Damn, I'm going to need to find a human to make sure I can speak like a human when I'm transformed, otherwise our adventure is going to be a bit sketchy."

"I've heard of Pokémon learning to talk like humans." Noibat adds and I perk up at the thought, "It supposedly really hard to do though."

My mind immediately goes to Meowth from Team Rocket, but I hold my questions as another cry from the same kid sounds out through the woods, "How did that not catch it!?"

"You gotta weaken a Pokémon before you catch it idiot, you know that." A second boy's voice says.

"Oh yeah? If you're so good at it then you try."

I finally can see a little stream between the trees and catch sight of the two boys. One is obviously Gary wearing the same shirt I remember him having at the start of the anime, a dark blue that bordered on a purple long sleeve. He also had some black pants and reddish brown boots. His brown hair hung in spikes over his eyes in a fashion that could only exist in an anime.

The boy beside him was a little harder to place. It wasn't Ash, that much was obvious even without the iconic hat. The boy's hair was just as spikey as Gary's only with more upward facing spikes. He had on a red and white vest over a black short sleeved shirt with some blue jeans along with two toned red and black shoes. He looked familiar so it might be Red from the games, but the fact he's speaking means that might be wrong too.

Both boys were standing on one side of the stream looking to the other side of the stream where a Pikachu was staring at the two boys with an unimpressed look. Beside the electric mouse were the two broken halves of a destroyed pokeball and in the mouse's mouth was a simple red baseball cap.

It wasn't Ash's hat so that was still ruled out, but I was getting a chilling sensation as I continued to look at it. I ignored it as Gary spoke up, "I already have Scyther, I don't need another Pokémon until my journey starts." the boy takes a hand out of his pockets and gestures to the Pikachu, "So this fight is all yours."

The no named boy rolls his eyes, "Let's try a different approach then." the boy kneels down and pulls off his backpack. He pulls out of it a small metal box with a clasp on the front. Opening that box reveals the leftover pieces of a lunch that included one intact rice ball. He sets the metal lunch box aside, "Are you hungry?"

"Can we fight them?" Lucas asks quietly while pointing at the group.

I kneel down on the spot and shake my head, "Not until I'm sure I can talk like a human with my illusions, but we probably will before we leave town." What I wasn't telling him was my plan to be in this town reading from the professor's library for at least a few weeks. That should be plenty of time to either figure out how to talk or figure out a work around, like posing as a mute person.

He smiles and nods his head as I turn back to the scene playing out in front of us. The few seconds I was turned away the Pikachu had come to the very edge of the stream and I could see the small nose of the mouse twitch as he smelled the food. With the hat still held in his mouth he jumped the small stream and stood in front of the boy holding out the rice ball.

"How about I trade you this for that hat?" the boy says with a smile as he places the food down on the loose gravel that made the shore of the stream.

"Fine." I could hear Pikachu mumble as he dropped the hat and started to munch happily on the food, "Better than just eating berries again." He takes a bite and freezes for a moment before digging into the rice ball as if he was starving.

The boy grabs his hat and puts it on but positions it more on the back of his head. With the hat on and the white underside of the visor on full display my mind connected the dots and I realized just who this boy was.

"Come on Red, gramps said you can come by for dinner tonight."

The boy, now without a doubt named Red but most definitely not the one from the games, stood and rolled his eyes, "Your gramps always lets me eat dinner with you guys Blue."

"And I'm keeping track of how much you owe us."

"Sure ya are."

'Fuck I'm in a manga universe.' The thought bounces around my head as Red puts away his lunchbox in his backpack and returns the bag to his back, 'I only read the damn thing once over a decade ago, I don't remember shit about it!'

Red and Blue begin to walk out of the forest and Pikachu jumps up onto Red's backpack holding the remainder of the rice ball in his mouth. The boy looks back and smiles but doesn't say anything as they continue onwards.

"That was nice." Astrid says as she happily swishes her tail back and forth, completely oblivious to my inner turmoil, "Does that mean that human is Pikachu's trainer?"

"Kind of." I start off as my hopes of any kind of future knowledge abuse slip away. Even if I could remember the manga this is still messed up. Red's first Pokémon should have been Poli and Blue should be the asshole rival but he certainly didn't sound like it. I put the thoughts out of my head and focused on what I know, "Technically he still has to catch the Pikachu in a pokeball, but that will come in time just like us."

"What's a pokeball?" she asks next as I start to move towards the stream.

Astrid and Lucas follow me as I start to talk, "Well they left behind that broken pokeball so we can check that out." It only takes me a few strides to reach the stream and I begin to lap up the water greedily. If it weren't for how resilient Pokémon are I'm sure I'd have chapped lips from how long we spent flying through the air to get here. The cool sensation of feeling the water hit my stomach felt amazing as Noibat hops off my head to also get a drink himself.

Astrid and Lucas both get a quick drink, but their attention zeros in on the broken pokeball. I'm also kinda surprised the two kids left it, but kids will be kids I guess. They both hop across the stream and get a closer look at the broken device. I extend my illusion sphere to keep them hidden while they do so.

They poke and mess with the broken ball as I sit down on the edge of the stream and put my feet in the water. I can feel the water slightly slide off the fur at first before saturating it down to my skin. It brings back some good memories for me, sitting in the woods, listening to the water burble as it travels. When I was younger I always rode a little Yamaha four wheeler back into the woods on our property and I'd play in the creek that was back there. This was back in the days when kids did dangerous shit all the time, I was just always told to stay away from the areas where the ground extended over the water because of snakes. General rule of thumb back then, if you can't see the bottom of the water, get out of the water.

'Can my illusions make a realistic spa?' I think to myself as Astrid watches Lucas fit the two halves together in his paws, 'I've never been able to mess with the temperature in an area beyond making it ever so slightly hotter or colder. Would that extend to water though?'

I couldn't think of a reason why it wouldn't extend to water, but better to double check. Beside me I illusion up a pot of boiling water. It's a simple black pot with no handles and I can feel the strain on my mind increase incredibly high, 'Water is always a bitch to make illusions of.' That was one of the things I discovered during my week training with Lucas before everything happened.

I stick a claw in the water and I can feel Night on my head tense up, probably expecting me to hurt myself. As I expected though I can't feel any heat beyond 'this is slightly warmer than the air'. I want it to stop boiling and the water flattens out. I move my claw through the water, watching as my illusion simulates the ripples it makes. With every bit of movement there's a spike of strain on my illusion. Comparing it to the stream running over my paws and there's a long list of things wrong with it, how it feels being the most prominent.

'I'll have to remember water being such a bitch to fake in the future. There'll also be no escaping a hot day by illusioning up an air conditioner. At least I can make a fan.' I let the pot and water fade away and return my attention to Astrid and Lucas as Night relaxes again on my head.

They've taken both halves of the pokeball, stuck them together and Lucas was holding it in one paw. I see the smirk on his face before he looks to a tree only a few feet away, "Go pokeball!" He throws it at a tree and the thing comes apart in the air, sailing on either side of the tree and into the forest beyond.

Astrid brings a paw to her muzzle as she giggles at the complete miss. Though I can't see his face, I can only assume he looks as embarrassed as he could be. I saved him a small bit by speaking up, "Lucas, can you please go pick that trash back up?" He doesn't turn, but nods his head and runs behind the tree to grab the ball.

I stand up as Astrid jumps back across the stream. My wet paws dig into the gravel and sand along the shore as I stretch out my arms above my head. I could stay here for a while and be content with this day, but I'd rather figure out if I can speak human when I'm transformed. I don't really need it yet, but it won't be that hard to find out. I'll just need to disguise myself as a traveler and ask someone a question. If they can't understand me I'll just walk away and they'll only remember me as some weird encounter. If they can, awesome, problem solved.

As Lucas comes back across the stream with the ball I take it from his paws and explain my plan, "Alright, since my body illusion stops me from making regular ones, I need to find somewhere for you three to hunker down while I do some testing."

"You're leaving us behind?" Astrid quickly asks and her tone almost made me rethink the plan entirely.

"No no." I quickly say as I crouch down and pat her on the head, "You can be at the edge of the forest watching me the entire time. It is pretty hilly around here so I'm sure we can find a good vantage point for you to watch from."

"We'll keep an eye out for him from the forest and rush in if he gets into trouble." Lucas fist pumps with his paw and his wagging tail tells me he really believes that. I've really got to get him into a few battles at some point to burn off that energy. Astrid takes his word for it and nods her head.

My plan falls apart when Night asks, "Can't you just transform and feel your lips to see if they make human sounds?"

"That's... actually a really good idea." I illusion up a full length mirror and take a moment to look at myself. It's the first time I've seen my reflection beyond when I would get a drink of water back in the forest. It must be a first time for Night as the little Noibat on my head starts to tilt his head every which way in wonder. Then he stands and opens his wings, looking them over too.

Astrid and Lucas walk in front of the mirror and start to look themselves over. Astrid leans forward to look into one of her bright teal eyes as closely as she can. Lucas meanwhile starts to mess with the two little dreadlock-like aura sensors on either side of his head. I start to work my jaw and look at all the sharp teeth inside it. It really was surprising Pokémon were mostly omnivores and never ate each other, but magic world and all that.

"Alright, now my mouth is moving like how I expect it too." As I say the words I can see my mouth making the correct movements for the words I'm saying. It looks a little weird coming from a muzzle that isn't animated but it still looks like I'm making the correct sounds, "I honestly might already be speaking human as I've always noticed Pokémon's mouths not lining up with what I'm hearing them say and just assumed mine was too."

"Really?" all three of them ask me at the same time.

"Look at my mouth as I'm talking, does it look like the sounds I'm making line up with what I'm saying?" I stayed still and was looking into the mirror as I said that to confirm that I am speaking English.

"Wow, it looks really weird now that you mention it." Night says as he switches from watchin my mouth to his own when he talks.

"So you've been speaking like a human this whole time? Wouldn't mom have noticed?" Lucas asks next as he looks up to me.

"This makes my head hurt." Astrid pouts and her shoulders droop.

"Sorry Astrid, but no Lucas, if we didn't notice I don't know how she would have noticed." I shrug my shoulders, "Hey hop off me for a second Night."

The little bat hops off and flies down to the ground. I extend my sphere to its maximum size to double check there's nothing around before letting it fade completely. It's like a small splash of cold water in my mind as I let the illusion fade away entirely. Healed I may be, but I should probably take a rest from using my illusions after this. We'll just walk around the edge of the forest and look for Oak's place from there.

I channel my Body Illusion and picture the human I was going to pose as. The image of Big Boss from MGS3 (Metal Gear Solid Three) comes to my mind, but I don't want to be wearing a military outfit as it might be a bit intimidating. I don't need to think of every small detail as I swap out his clothes for some simpler travel attire. A form fitting olive shirt, a pair of dark jeans, and some boots. I also mentally threw on some gloves as an afterthought.

I jump into the air and flip as I feel my energy core shift. My real body shrinks down to my core and the thousands of threads coming off it shift into the rough shape of the body I envisioned. A second later the illusions solidifies and two boots land on the ground, the feeling is so fucking weird as I can feel the grass against the rubber soles. I open my eyes to see the view is almost exactly the same as before, maybe slightly narrower, but not enough to notice. I bring my hands up in front of me and clench them into fists, feeling phantom sensations of the muscles I expected. Just like the boots though my sense of feeling was both muted and weird. It would take some getting used to but I could live with it.

"You look weird." Lucas is the first to speak up.

"I feel weird." I'm slightly surprised as the voice of David Hayter comes out of my mouth, "Gonna have to get used to the new voice too."

"I think you sound better than you used to." Night says happily. When I shoot him a deadpan look he blinks a few times before continuing, "That was insulting wasn't it? My bad."

I smile and wave him off, "It's no problem." I bring my hand up to the corner of my mouth since the mirror's gone, "Huh, now I just need to figure out if my lips are still moving the same way." As the words leave my mouth I can tell that all the sounds are being made properly, "I think I'm good." as I nod my head I look down at the others, "You three ready to go?"

I get two nods but Astrid shakes her head, "Can you please change back? I like you as you." unintentionally she's giving me the cutest puppy dog eyes I've ever seen so I fold immediately.

My illusioned body shines with energy and fades away before my body uncompressed from my core in the same instance. My two paws land on the ground and I smile down at the little shiny Absol, "That better?" She looks up to me with a smile and a wagging tail and nods her head.

"That was supposed to be an illusion?" Night asks with a tilt of his head.

"My Body Illusion is basically a weak transformation." I tell him as I never fully explained it, "Basically my real body shrinks down to my core, not too dissimilar from a pokeball now that I think of it, and then my illusion powers make a new, some-what solid one. I've done a little testing and as long as the body isn't struck hard, like a punch, it'll hold. I'm supposedly able to hold it while in inclimate weather like a Pokémon's Hail or Sandstorm, but I've never tested that."

"That isn't an illusion at all." he narrows his eyes, "Are you sure it's a part of your illusion stuff?"

"Yes Night, I'm sure." I nod my head but he still looks skeptical, "Alright let's get going. It's time to go meet Professor Oak."

"Where does he live?" Night asks as he returns to the top of my head.

I cross my eyes to look up at him, "A ranch home on the outskirts of town, it's got a windmill next to it." I then look down at the other two, "You two wanna walk or be carried?"

"Carried."

"I'll walk."

Astrid and Lucas answered respectively. I picked up Astrid and held her against my chest before leading Lucas through the forest back towards town.

~Scene Break~

Red walked back into the clearing with his hands inside his vest pockets. When the duo had returned Professor Oak had given him a new ball to catch his pal Pika and asked what happened to the last one. After a short explanation the Professor told him to go get it, talking about how it was their duty as trainers to leave the area as you found it and bla bla bla littering is bad.

As they took in the small stream in the clearing though, there was no sign of the broken pokeball to be found, "Huh?" Red questioned out loud as Pika jumped down off his shoulder. The little electric mouse darts across the stream and looks around while Red follows after him, "We left the thing right here, where did it go?" Both him and his Pikachu look around the tree and in the nearby bushes but find no sight of the missing ball.

"Pi pikachu." Pika states as he starts sniffing the air. Red watches as he jumps back across the water. The little mouse starts to sniff along the gravel and sand, following his nose towards the trees. His ears perk up and he looks back to Red while pointing at the ground, "Pi pika!"

Red walks over and crouches down to his Pokémon's level, looking at a small depression in the soft ground. It looks like the paw print of a larger Pokémon, "So the ball already got taken, damn." Red scratches the back of his head as he thinks of the lecture Professor Oak is going to give him this time, "Well, we're not going back to the lab without it, think you can follow the trail Pika?"

"Pikachu..." Pika has a mischievous look as he shrugs before he looks like he's thinking, "Pika pika." he pats his stomach and Red slightly understands.

"You're already hungry again? You ate everything left in my lunchbox earlier, how are you hungry?" the boy questions with clear confusion on his face.

"Pika." he shrugs.

"How about after we find the Pokémon we'll get some ice cream from the Professor's freezer. He's got a lock on it, but Green showed me how to get past it."

"Pi pika?" Pika tilts his head in a questioning way.

This one Red was able to get perfectly as there was no way a wild Pokémon could know what ice cream was, "It's a frozen treat that has all kinds of different flavors and tastes really good, I promise."

A moment passes as Pika considers the offer before he nods his head, "Pikachu."

"Great, then let's find that Pokémon." As Pika bounds into the bushes Red twists his hat around and quickly follows the quick form of his Pikachu on the hunt.

---

Author's Notes: Yeah I could've had this out earlier, but I put off the proofreading and editing out of pure laziness. Besides that there was no fighting this chapter, but I did try something different with the flashback scene. I feel like the characters throwing in a comment or two added a lot to the scene than it simply being another info dump which is what a good chunk of this chapter turned into. I also might bump up the rating at some point just to be on the safe side. I consider everything I write here to be alright for a teenage audience, but again, might just play it safe. I'll see how the future Mew scenes play out first.

Onto other news, did you guys see the fuckin leaks? I've been rolling with laughter at everyone collectively losing there shit for what are essentially folktales only they have Pokémon instead of animals. The Typhlosion memes have been the best easily. It'll always be a favorite of mine, but damn is it fucking funny how people are throwing it in the same boat as Hypno and Vaporeon now. I fucking love people taking things on the internet too seriously.

With that said, remember to laugh and don't let people ruin your favorite Pokémon simply because there's a bad story about it. Use it as motivation to write your own story, it's what I did. Let me tell you, nothing will motivate you more than reading a bad fanfiction and thinking, 'I could do this so much better and I suck at writing.' Those were my exact thoughts that I've had circling in my head since high school, and I graduated a long time ago.

Current Team Roster:

Chase 'Big Boss' Blake (Zoroark)
Level: Fuckin High
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Illusions
Moves: Scratch, Fury Swipes, Hone Claws, Pursuit, Night Daze, *Flashbang, Night Slash, Dark Pulse, *Oblivion, *Perfect Oblivion

Lucas (Riolu)
Level: 14
Nature: Hasty
Ability: Inner Focus
Moves: Quick Attack, Foresight, Counter, Iron Defense, Force Palm

Astrid (Absol)
Level: 3
Nature: Timid
Ability: ?
Moves: ?

Nightfury (Noibat)
Level: 20
Nature: Gentle
Ability: ?
Moves: ?

* means the move is either only found in this fic or an altered move that is distinctly different from its base move.