THE BLUE SPIRIT
CHAPTER 003 – MOUNT SILVER
Laughter echoed in the mountainous forest as a purple haired girl dashed through the area while occasionally using the tree's lower branches to swing herself towards her destination faster. She always relished the feeling of being out and about in the world, especially out in the wilderness where she loved being in. The wondrous smells of exotic flowers that one could sniff. The gorgeous views that one could see at the top of mountains and plateaus. The rare pokemon that one could cross paths with on their journey to become stronger. All of that and more were the reasons why she enjoyed being outside compared to being cooped up inside. One of the biggest reasons was because she felt free whenever she was outside. That freedom allowed her to be who she wanted to be and also allowed her to think without anything or anyone bothering her.
Though she would take almost any reason to be outside, this particular time was because she had returned back to her hometown, a small settlement called the Village of Dragons and decided to go on patrol for one of the guards who had become ill from food poisoning. Volunteering to do the patrol without a second thought, it allowed her to escape her elders who had wanted to speak with her about her future and her responsibilities. She didn't want to think about it as she had other goals and plans in mind instead and one of them was to become one of, if not the, greatest dragon trainer in the world. How was she supposed to accomplish that if she stayed stuck in her hometown? Plus, she was barely an adult, in her late teens. She wanted to bring that up but didn't know how to say so just yet and because of that, took any opportunity to avoid it altogether.
After continuing on a little bit longer and going up a path on the side of a mountain, she finally arrived to her destination as she reached its peak. Slowing down to a walk, the purple haired girl took in a few deep breaths as she moved closer to the edge of the mountain cliff. Once at the end of it, she lifted her hand to use as cover for her eyes from the strong sunlight and took in the sight before her. "Wow. Every time I come here, it always looks so beautiful," she spoke to herself and she wasn't lying. The entirety of the forest lay before her in the valley with the winding river flowing through it from one side to the other. And in the far distance she could see her village at the base of the mountainous region behind it. Smiling wide, the girl took a seat right there with her legs crossed, being careful to not fall over.
She stayed there for a while, thinking about everything she had gone through so far in her life. She always did whenever she came to this particular spot since it was peaceful and no one bothered her while there. One particular memory came up and it brought a large smile on her face. "Man, I can't believe it's been a couple months already. It was fun seeing everyone again…" The memory that came to mind was the group reunion she went to recently that was hosted by a certain raven haired trainer's mother when he had come back from the Kalos region. "I wonder what everyone's up to…"
Deciding to call some of her friends to see how they're doing, she took out her Poketch and attempted to call some of them. However, after a few failed attempts, she let out an annoyed grumble before she crossed her arms after realizing the reason why. "Damn it, of course. Weak signal." Letting out a huff because of it, she wondered if any of her friends missed her and if any of them tried to contact her. "Yeah right, they probably have better things to do than try to call me while I'm here in the middle of nowhere." Even though Iris loved her hometown and culture, there were a few things she hated about it. And one of them was how they had horrible reception. Only a few places in the village had good service, which were the pokemon center, the council building for the village elders and some of the villagers' homes. Luckily for her, her residence was one of them but that didn't help her at the moment.
Letting out a huff, she brought her legs up and close to her chest while placing her crossed arms over her knees. As she thought about her friends and her inability to contact them whenever she or they wanted, a certain person's image appeared in her head. "And like hell that dumbass kid would call since he even forgets to call his own mother even after promising her he would. Stupid kid." Her previous cheerful attitude soured as more and more negative thoughts entered her head.
Dwelling on that for longer than she intended, she was about to get lost in it when her Poketch started ringing, catching her by surprise. "What the hell?! A call went through?!" Hurriedly answering it, she spoke into it, a little louder than intended. "H-Hello?!"
"Iris…how…you?"
Her eyes widened, hearing who it was. She didn't expect her to call. Even with the signal weak and the other's voice being broken up, she still knew who it was, having met before a few times and became friends. "Misty, hey, I'm good and you?"
"…to hear…wanted…catch…breaking up…where…"
Standing up, she spoke a little slower but also louder into the Poketch while raising it higher into the air, hoping it would help with the signal. Iris tried her best to communicate while making assumptions of what her friend was possibly saying. "Sorry, I'm up in the mountains right now doing a patrol of the area. If I was in the village, it would be better."
"Okay…"
"Thanks for the call. How are you doing?"
"…goo…any…new?"
"Good to hear and nope, all the same. With you?" she replied back.
"…ame…talk…others?"
"No, not since the reunion. Have you?"
"Some…awn…May…rock…"
It took Iris a moment to understand who she was talking about until she got it. "Ah, okay, cool. I should call them too and see how they're doing." She heard something on the other line that she assumed was an agreement of some sort. Deciding to go with that, Iris asked a question that came up then. "What about that kid? Have you talked or heard from him?"
"No. Was…sk you."
"Oh. No, not me. That kid's probably off in the middle of nowhere. Probably lost while chasing after some pokemon, being chased himself or some other thing," she remarked with a chuckle.
"Prob…" came Misty's voice but what sounded like chuckles came afterwards.
Sudden beeping caught Iris's attention and she glanced at her Poketch's screen. A warning was flashing that it was losing connection and her eyes widened. "Misty, I'm losing service. I'll call you when I can okay? Don't think that I hung up on you. And if I find out about the kid, I'll let you know, alright?"
"…anks Iris. Take…re and…" *BEEP*
"Misty? Misty?!" Glancing at her Poketch, she saw that the signal was lost completely. "Damn it." Letting out a sigh, she lowered the Poketch before looking towards the view once more. The sun was beginning to set and she decided to make her way back to the village before it got dark.
She hurried back, not wanting to be out in the forest at night since she didn't prepare for it. She arrived back to her village right as the night sky took over and updated the guards of the night shift on her patrol before she quickly made her way to her residence. Entering her home, she closed the door and locked up before heading to her bathroom to clean up after her little excursion. Taking off her dirtied clothes and just letting them fall onto the floor, she got in the shower and took her time under the hot water, relishing in feeling its warmth. Ah, that feels great. Hot showers are the best.
She took a little longer than necessary to shower as she became lost in some thoughts before finishing her shower. Once done with that, she got out, dried herself and put on new clothes before picking up her dirty clothes and dumping them into her laundry basket. Going into the kitchen, she made herself a quick meal before settling down and eating it. Having moved out from her family's place, Iris had been living on her own for a while now. It had its benefits, such as being able to do as she wanted and no one to force her on how to live her life. But, one of the major drawbacks was that she did feel lonely at times and after the conversation she barely had with Misty, it hit her a little harder at this moment.
Dwelling on that while she ate, Iris once again started drifting closer to the rabbit's hole of dark thoughts. But she was able to snap out of it and finished her meal. Cleaning up and putting everything away, she was about to go to her bedroom when she glanced at the video phone in the corner of the living room. She wondered if she should call Misty back as well as her other friends and catch up. She went to it, intending to call them but then noticed the time on it. Damn, it's that late already? I'll just call them tomorrow. Walking away from it, she went to her bedroom and looked at the right wall after entering it. Many different pictures of different places were pinned up on the wall. Mount Coronet. Meteor Falls. Cerulean Cave. Those were just a few of the many locations Iris had put pictures of on her bedroom's wall. It was her goal to visit each place on that wall and to experience what they held.
Her gaze went over them as she thought about what she would do in each area. "One day. Hopefully sooner than later. I'll go to each place and see for myself why they call them so special. And then I'll…" She stopped her outspoken thoughts as her sight landed on one of the pictures. She shook slightly as an imaginary chill went over her body. "Probably leave that one for last. But why did it have to be so cold?!" whined the purple haired girl as she continued looking at the picture of the intimidating mountain covered in snow with a howling blizzard going on around it. Letting out a sigh, she moved away from her wall of pictures and changed into her pajamas. Getting into bed and pulling her covers up to her neck, the purple haired looked at the picture of Johto's infamous mountain once more. "Or maybe not. Who the hell will go there willingly when there are so many better places to go?! And they won't freeze to death! Only crazy people will go there, I swear!" Shaking her head, the purple haired girl looked away from the picture and made herself comfortable so she could go to sleep.
As Iris kept her eyes closed and waited for sleep to embrace her, her thoughts began whirling around in her head once more. She thought of her travels throughout Unova and a few other places. She thought of the experiences she went through, both good and bad. She thought of what her elders wanted from her. She thought of her goal of becoming a master dragon trainer. She thought of the places she still wanted to visit and see all they have to experience. She thought of the friendships and rivalries she made with people that she met throughout her journeys. And she also thought of the other things she wanted in her life. She thought about all of those things, with some appearing in her mind more than others, as she slowly fell asleep…
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A tall bipedal purple feline appeared out of nowhere in front of a massive mountain. Mewtwo appeared and right as he did, he instantly brought forth a psychic barrier against his skin to protect against the harsh cold and the howling blizzard of the mountainous area. The barrier also allowed him to see and hear things normally and used that to locate the one he was searching for. Glancing around the immediate area he was in, he saw nothing but a few withered and dead snow covered trees along with some ice covered rocks and boulders strewn about around him. Another thing he noticed was the cave entrance at the base of the infamous mountain a short distance in front of him. Raising his gaze up to view the mountain, he noticed the extremely rocky ridges that littered the mountain along with heavy snow and ice covered patches all over it. Continuing his gaze upwards, he saw dark clouds that covered the top half from view.
For certain he wouldn't be all the way up there. Deciding not to bother in trying to see past the clouds with his psychic powers, he lowered his gaze back towards the cave entrance. Hmmm….most would take shelter inside the mountain to escape the blizzard. He probably did so as well. But on the off chance he didn't, let's be thorough and check outside first. Let me see if I can sense him out here somehwere before going inside. Mewtwo's eyes glowed a bright blue and then he sent out a faint wave of psychic energy around him that acted like radar so he can try to sense if there were any life forms nearby. He sensed a couple Sneasal and Weavile making their way across the rocky cliffs towards his left side. He sensed some Ursaring picking some frozen berries some ways behind him. And he also sensed a few Larvitar and Pupitar hibernating underneath the soil around him.
Not finding the target of his search, the psychic feline decided to expand the area he was checking. He increased power to his psychic wave and checked farther away. Finally, he sensed that there was a human on the mountain itself, close to the half way point. Surprised over that, Mewtwo quickly teleported to the location, careful to arrive at least a little ways away so as to not startle the human male. He didn't want to cause an accident in such a dangerous location. Even though he could probably take care of it, he'd rather not deal with it. He slowly moved forward while floating above the ground towards his target. As he drew closer, the harsh blizzard died down a bit and he was able to see clearly in front of him even without the aid of his psychic powers. What he saw however, made his brow go up as he witnessed something the male doing something he hadn't seen him do before.
A teenage human male was sitting cross legged on the cold, snow covered ground with his hands on his knees. He was also only wearing a short sleeve black shirt, along with black shorts and black and blue shoes. The state of his attire was a surprise to the psychic feline since most would want to wear better clothes to combat the freezing environment. But what really shocked Mewtwo was the blue glow outlining the boy's body, from the tips of his dark-colored hair down to his shoes. What also caught his attention was the small yellow pokemon to his side. The teenager's ever loyal companion, Pikachu, was right next to him, also sitting down on the snow floor with a blue glow around him as well. They were sitting perfectly still and it seemed that the harsh weather was not affecting them at all.
Silent and unmoving over what he was seeing, the psychic feline began thinking. They must be meditating, thought Mewtwo. I'm impressed he's able to withstand the cold dressed like that but what is that blue glow around them? Why do I have a feeling that I should know about something like this? That I should know what it is? After a moment of observing their meditation, Mewtwo decided he had seen enough. However, before he began to move, both the boy and pokemon got up suddenly and walked away, the sound of snow crunching beneath their feet, while still outlined by the blue glow.
Mewtwo didn't stop them but instead looked on, wanting to see what they would do as he was somewhat curious. He saw the two walked towards a small, snow covered cabin that was part way built into the side of the mountain, which he just noticed. The teenager opened the door and both he and his pokemon walked in as he closed the door behind them. Their blue glow shined out the small window for a moment before it faded away only to be replaced by faint yellow lights that were turned on both inside and outside the cabin.
After several seconds, Mewtwo decided he had waited enough and moved towards the cabin. Right as he neared the door, it opened before he could do anything. There stood the one he was looking for, sporting his trademark goofy grin that was spread across his face along with his faithful pokemon standing on his shoulder. "About time you decided to show yourself Mewtwo."
Mewtwo had a surprised expression on his face for a moment that he immediately replaced with his usual stoic one. "Hello Ash. I'm surprised you noticed I was here. And…you actually remember me?" he asked him.
Ash titled his head in confusion. "Well, yeah. How could I forget the legendary psychic who tried to take over the world, erased my and my friends' memories, ran into him again after some time, helped him out and then he restored my memories of what happened back on New Island?" The young man said all of that with a slight sarcastic tone before smiling at the end. Mewtwo said nothing but a flash of recognition passed through his eyes that Ash caught. "So you coming in or do you want to freeze your tail off first?" joked the teenager.
Mewtwo let out a scoff. "Hmph. I should've known. You always seem to surprise me, Ash Ketchum. And it's not that cold," shot back Mewtwo, as he stepped inside and was greeted by the small yellow mouse with an enthusiastic 'pika'. "Hello Pikachu. And can you explain how did you know I was here?"
Ash closed the door before moving towards the meal he was preparing while Pikachu jumped onto the single bed in the studio cabin. "I had a feeling that someone was watching me and Pikachu before sensing you," he answered while bringing out some more ingredients from a small fridge. He went to add the extra pieces into the pot to make sure there was enough for his guest as well.
Mewtwo was surprised to hear that and wanted to know how exactly he sensed him. But before he could, Ash spoke again, unintentionally cutting him off. "So what brings you here?" he asked while looking over the food being prepared under a small propane tank. Seeing everything was going well, he began putting on more appropriate clothing over his short sleeve shirt and shorts that consisted of a sweater and long thick pants.
"I have come to find you," replied Mewtwo as he decided to get his answer later while he glanced around the small cabin. It had the basic necessities and a few extra items that consisted of a small fridge, small dresser, a small propane tank and the single person bed that Pikachu was currently curled up on at the foot of the bed but still awake, with his eyes locked onto the pot. The psychic feline figured the small mouse was obviously tired but was waiting for some food before going to sleep. Looking around some more, it was then that something caught Mewtwo's eye on the right wall, right in the middle of it. Moving closer to it, he saw what it was. It was a certified document that was laminated and framed, bearing the following words;
INDIGO POKEMON LEAGUE
KANTO & JOHTO JURISDICTION
MT. SILVER
APPROVED TRAINING AREA
CABIN # 1003
So, the league has outposts here too? They're all over the place, he thought after he read the document in his mind.
After Ash finished putting on better clothes to keep him warm he turned to face the psychic before speaking. "Looking for me? How come? Not that I don't enjoy the company."
Mewtwo didn't immediately reply as he turned around to face Ash before doing so. "I've come here to get you as Arceus would like to meet with you."
"Arceus?!" Ash's eyes widened in surprise hearing that the Alpha Pokemon wanted to see him with even Pikachu shifting his gaze from the pot to the psychic feline with a curious look. "Are you serious? Well, if it's that important that it made you personally show up on his behalf, it must be important. Give me a minute to get ready." Right before he could start getting ready, his stomach gave a loud growl as if angry he would miss dinner. Mewtwo raised his brow hearing such a loud sound while Ash chuckled a bit while rubbing the back of his head. "Ah…heh heh….sorry about that. My stomach has a mind of its own sometimes. Do you think we have some time to get a quick bite? I made some extra for you as well if you'd like. It'll help me stay focused as well since I won't be thinking about food when meeting with Arceus," suggested Ash with a sheepish smile.
"You're not kidding are you?" Mewtwo asked as he stared at him and Ash shook his head, making the psychic let out a sigh. "Fine, just hurry up." He did not know what made him do it, to agree to his request and be patient. Maybe it was because this human, this young man, was the only one who treated him with kindness and respect. Maybe that's why he let him eat before they left.
Ash quickly went to the steaming pot and poured the food, which was chicken vegetable soup, into three separate bowls that were on top of the small fridge. He placed two normal sized spoons in two of the bowls, while the third bowl was simply placed in front of Pikachu on the bed. He knew that Pikachu wouldn't spill any on the bed since he was too careful for that to happen. Grabbing the second bowl, he offered it to the purple feline, who was still standing and watching him do all that
Mewtwo looked down at the bowl before looking up at Ash again. "I'm alright."
Ash tilted his head as he spoke. "You sure? I'm not an excellent cook like my friends Brock or Cilan and his brothers, but I manage alright. Isn't that right Pikachu?"
"Chaa!" cooed Pikachu, obviously enjoying it and Ash chuckled a bit.
"Alright, I'll try it." Mewtwo took the bowl and brought up a full spoon of soup to his mouth.
"Careful, it might be a little hot," warned Ash.
"Don't worry." Mewtwo opened his mouth, placed the spoon inside and then swallowed the soup. It was a little warm, but very tasty. "This isn't too bad."
"Thanks. I'll take that as a compliment," replied Ash with a small smile while rubbing the back of his head.
And with that the three ate their soup quickly as it was pretty good. It wasn't extraordinary, but with the cold weather around them, it seemed to just hit the spot. All three of them got seconds as there was still half left in the pot and they wanted some more. After finishing their meals, with none of the soup being leftover, Ash quickly cleaned up the bowls and spoons before placing them back in the cupboard with the other bowls and utensils next to the dresser. Ash gathered up his belongings afterwards, packing them up into his large backpack and when done, he put on his trademark red hat. Pikachu jumped to his usual spot on his shoulder after seeing his best friend ready to go with his hand hovering over the light switch in the cabin. "Alright, we're ready. Let's go!"
"Very well." The cabin's lights were turned off and a split second later, the party of three inside vanished into thin air as they teleported away.