Alright, Mewtwo is done. Time to take a break- wait where did this come from?

"I don't understand this." Eve sniffed at the ground and flicked her ears. "Everything is dry. It's as though there was never a storm."

"Why are you questioning it?" Umbreontwo asked her with legitimate confusion. "Shouldn't we just be happy the storm didn't do anything?"

"Because that's not how weather works!" They were making their way back to Pallet Town, a bit dazed. The sun was just about reaching noon, it was almost like the events of the previous day had never happened.

Except for some very obvious proof they had with them.

"My Pokegear says it's yesterday." Misty shook her head. "I don't get it. Can Mew time travel? Or make other people time travel? Did she just hit the giant reset button and undo everything that happened?"

"Not everything." Karen pointedly looked at Zoruatwo. "So… I don't suppose you're looking for a trainer." She tried broaching the topic.

"I think I found one. Ash is a trainer right?" He checked and Ash gave him a nod of confirmation. "Then no, I'm not looking for a trainer!"

"That's not what she means but we can talk about it later," Selene told him, carrying a sleeping Sunny on her back and dozing Art in her arms. "We could try to figure out what happened but I somehow doubt we'll get a clear answer."

"We barely know anything about Mew," Brock spoke to Misty. "Who knows what the limits of their abilities are? Look what Mewtwo was able to do! I don't know how Mew could have made it so the storm never happened but…"

Morningstar had been circling overhead, (still enjoying her new speed and strength) she came down just in time to hear Brock's comment. "I wouldn't speak too soon. There's a storm forming on the horizon."

A chill struck everyone who understood her. "What?!" Pikachu shook off his drowsiness. "We need to turn back around!"

"We do have a better way to the island now." Storm acknowledged Morningstar's evolution. "But we're exhausted."

"What's going on?" Misty looked at the panicking Pokemon.

"Morningstar says another storm is forming," Ash explained, looking back toward the horizon himself. Sure enough distant clouds were gathering over the sea.

Karen shaded her eyes and narrowed them. "It's not the same."

"Not the same?" Brock asked.

"This one isn't glowing, it just looks like a normal storm." She announced and frowned. "Then again, I've never seen a normal storm with aura sight before."

"I…" Eve shook her head. "Let's just get back to Pallet Town. I don't think I ever want to hear the name "Mew" again. Two or otherwise."

"Five Pokedollars says you'll be singing a different tune tomorrow." Morningstar teased her and took to the sky again.

The Umbreon sighed. "Yeah, probably. But I can pretend."

Considering they'd gone out for a picnic, Delia was a bit surprised when her Zorua and his friends filed into her diner in various states of hunger and exhaustion.

Not that she was complaining, today hadn't been too busy especially once the storm had rolled in.

There might have been reason to complain when Ash ran up to her and hugged her, soaking her dress and apron but something about the hug gave her pause. It felt a lot more… relieved than just a hug hello.

Ash looked up at her. "You're okay right Mom?"

She blinked, "Of course I'm okay! Apart from the arm of course." She waved her casted limb. "Why wouldn't I be?"

He sagged a bit. "Good, that's good."

Delia shook her head and looked at the group. She wondered why Misty was wearing Ash's hat, and where was Pidgeotto? And why were Selene and Brock standing so close together? "What happened to you? I thought you were just going on a picnic!"

"We did," Brock confirmed and tapped his chin. "Miss Ketchum, did you get a call from Ash about going to a place called New Island?"

"New Island?" She tested the name. "I think I've heard of it, but it's just a deserted island off the coast. I think people used to go camping there when I was younger."

Karen threw her hands up. "I give up! I'm just gonna sit in a booth and drink chocolate milkshakes until I pass out."

"That's not healthy." Delia scolded but the teenager ignored her. Was she that bad when she was her age? "What are you giving up on?"

"Trying to figure out what happened yesterday." Misty sighed and joined Karen in the booth. She took off Ash's hat and stared at it. "And no, not the giants."

"What else happened yesterday?"

"Well today happened for starters," Ash admitted and Delia shot him a look. He held up his hands. "I'll explain!"

"Please start, you kids are beginning to scare me." She scolded.

"…it might be easier to show you them first," Ash muttered and nodded at Brock and Selene.

Before she could ask who he was talking about now, Brock and Selene stepped aside and she saw a group of Pokemon standing behind them.

Four to be exact.

A Zorua who looked almost exactly like Ash, another Umbreon with blue eyes like Eve, a Dratini that resembled Misty's, and Meowth she didn't recognize. All of them had a few markings to set them apart but for the first three, the resemblance to the other Pokemon was uncanny.

But Delia struggled to take her eyes off the Zorua. The way he looked at her, a mix of fear and curiosity. Not to mention his little shuffle of feet and how he had been sniffing at the furniture in the diner.

It was like something out of a memory.

"So, uh Mom, meet my brother! Zoruatwo! And Eve's sister, Umbreontwo, and Dratini's sister Dratinitwo." Ash grinned nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "And Meowthtwo would be Meowth's brother we think but you don't know Meowth."

She was still staring at the Zorua who not only looked like Ash but was acting like he did when she first got him ten years ago. "…how was this the easier way?"

Eve (that was Eve right? And not a different Umbreon that looked like her?) said something and Ash nodded, adding translation. "It's easier because now we have some proof. Which means you can't send us to the loony bin!"

"Ash if I was going to send you to the "loony bin," you and Pikachu would have gone years ago." She chuckled at him. "Now please explain how you three, or four, got new identical twins? Or mostly identical."

"Not just us." Ash looked at the booth. "Uh, can you close early? This might take a while."

"But first milkshakes!" Karen had set her head down on the table, but she lifted a hand to get their attention.

"I'll get on that if you don't mind Miss Ketchum." Brock volunteered. "I need to get my mind off things anyway."

"Thank you, Brock." She wasn't sure she wanted to make anything until she got the story. "Please explain, but first…"

She knelt down and looked at the four "twos." "Hi there, I'm Delia. I'm Ash's "Trainer-Mom" as he likes to put it. It's nice to meet you."

Zoruatwo stepped up to her first and sniffed at her. She slowly reached out and gave him a few scratches behind the ear in what she knew was Ash's favorite spot. He immediately nuzzled into her hand and she smiled.

"So then, where did you four come from, and how is today yesterday?" She looked at the others for answers.

For some odd reason, Delia insisted they all take the next day off.

"So Mewtwo was monologuing at us." Misty continued her retelling of what they missed to her Pokemon. "Actually I'm skipping a step. First, he opened the door to the sea and said we were free to leave. But we would not "escape our fate."

"As loathe as I am to give the homunculus any credit, that is a villainous ploy to remember." Staryu reluctantly admitted.

"Right?" She nodded, "It went hard, might not use it in a campaign but still. Anyway, I was near where Ash got grabbed, his hat had been left behind and all I was thinking was that I was never going to see any of you guys again."

Squirtle rubbed her back and she smiled a bit. "Glad I was wrong about that. But this is when Mewtwo started monologuing. Just complaining about humans and how pathetic we were. Reminding us how helpless we were and how we couldn't hope to stop him, that sort of thing."

"Well, I had just seen all of you disappear, and the only thing I had left of any of you was Ash's hat. So I got up and told him he was right."

Misty looked at the pond with a frown. "About humans, and me. We are nothing, at least compared to you guys. We can't use moves, we can't swim through a stormy ocean, we can't fly, or lift cars, or any of that stuff. But I told him it didn't matter."

"So what if I was nothing? I had to do something, so I marched toward him and he didn't even try to defend himself. I guess he thought a weak little human couldn't hurt him." She smirked a little. "I don't think he realized I was going to use my sword until the last second. I'm not sure if I imagined seeing him panic but I know I put a cut on that lumpy head of his."

She sighed and rested her head in her hand. "Of course, then I got blasted and I don't know what happened next. Apparently, Mew showed up to save us all. Then Team Rocket showed up to save us all. And then you guys showed up to save us all."

The girl leaned back with a frown. "Huh, there were a lot of people showing up to save us all now that I think about it."

"It was a team effort," Squirtle told her. "As much as I hate to give those bozzos credit, if they hadn't distracted Mewtwo he probably would have sensed us digging under the stadium."

"I wonder if that was Mew actually." Starmie mused. "I suppose we won't get a chance to ask."

"You know you're not right?" Staryu asked her, catching her by surprise by dropping his usual phrasing.

"Not what?"

"You're not nothing." He insisted, his gem focusing on her. "You're Misty, the best friend, trainer, swordswoman, princess, and dungeon master in the world."

She blinked at him and let a rueful smile show. "Thanks, Staryu but… I'm just human. Mewtwo was right about that, we're not all that tough. I guess we're not as worthless as he said we are but…" She shrugged helplessly.

"I mean you guys are pretty weak," Squirtle admitted without shame, getting glares from Goldeen, Starmie, and Staryu. "But saying you're worthless, even a little worthless, is completely wrong. If it weren't for you I'd still be digging holes as petty revenge. Admittedly Ash was part of that too but you were the one who offered me and the squad a place to go, and something to do. I didn't see any Pokemon doing that."

"Tiniii!" Dratini spoke up, glanced over her shoulder, and then wrapped around Misty's leg. Hugging it. "Ti dratin."

"Dratini wants to remind you that you saved her and her family. None of the Pokemon there knew what to do, and while you might not have had the cure you're the reason her Mom got it." Starmie explained since Misty still couldn't translate her.

"And where would I be?" Staryu asked her. "A loafing cretin? Performing princess shows, mermaid romances, and sea shanty operas? You gave me a dream my lady, and you offered me a path to greatness! I would not stand by anyone else's side!"

"I…" Misty rubbed her eyes, doing her best not to tear up. "I told Mewtwo that it didn't matter if I was nothing because you guys still cared about me."

"It's hard to care about nothing," Squirtle claimed. "You're something."

"Thank you." She whispered a little and let a real smile spread on her face. "I love you guys so much."

"It may go unspoken on most occasions." Staryu joined her on the stone bench and did his best to hug her. "But I love you, Misty."

More could have been said, but for the next while, Misty just sat and enjoyed spending time with her family. The one she had made, not the one she was born into.

"...and that is the full presentation on Pokemon Trainers, their origins, and what they do." Ash breathed a sigh of relief as Sunny flipped to a page that said "The End." He had been running out of things to say.

"Any questions?" He looked to the audience.

Dratinitwo was currently wrapped around Zoruatwo, but she had switched a few times during the presentation. Cranidos had his eyes crossed as he processed the information, Umbreontwo had been distracted by a loose piece of string and Meowthtwo had fallen asleep.

Why had Eve insisted they do this again?

"Eh, ehhhhh!" Dratinitwo tried to wave the tip of her tail without releasing Zoruatwo.

"Dratinitwo?" he saved her from abandoning the hug.

"Anyone can become a trainer right?" She asked and Ash nodded.

"Yeah, as long as they meet the requirements."

"Right, so why were all your examples humans?" She tilted her head

Eve (who had set up the presentation) took the initiative. "That's because we don't have many examples of Pokemon who became trainers. That we know of at least. But if you look to slide sixteen." She flipped half the pages over. "I listed Ash and Mina, who are a Zorua and Ditto respectively."

"That still doesn't seem like a lot." She pointed out. "And Master- no… Mewtwo?"

"Dad?" Zorutatwo tried but shook his head. "No that's not right either."

"Father." Meowthtwo didn't open his eyes but surprised them by proving he had been listening.

"Father, he was a trainer too. And he said humans were just using Pokemon to hide their weaknesses."

"Well, Mewtwo cheated and wasn't really a trainer," Pikachu told them. "He didn't have to go through all the trouble we had to. Which is probably part of why most Pokemon don't do it. If you want to battle and adventure it's easier to just go with a trainer."

He shot a look at Ash. "You know, instead of disguising yourself with an ability, learning a language, filling out a mountain of paperwork, and then waiting until you turn ten."

Dratinitwo nodded. "I get it now, it's just long and boring which is why humans are more likely to do it."

"I have a question," Zoruatwo spoke up next. "When your friend… Karen? Asked if I was looking for a trainer, did she want me to be her Pokemon?"

"Absolutely." "Yeah." "Oh yeah." "Honestly, I'm surprised she waited as long as she did."

Zoruatwo blinked at the answers from Ash and his teammates. "Oh… so should I?"

"That's up to you." Ash frowned at the three Pokemon who didn't seem to be paying attention. "Sunny could you?"

The Charmeleon thumped his tail and the less attentive students jumped. "Thanks. All of you listen because this is important."

"It was something I was going to talk about with you Cranidos but we got interrupted and you enjoyed the battle. But it's still important I let you know. None of you have to go with a trainer. Not if you don't want to. You don't even have to stay here if you don't want to. I'd like it if you stayed with me or any one of us but it's your choice. Not mine."

"So we don't have to join a trainer?" Umbreontwo seemed relieved. "Good, I don't think I want to deal with battles all the time."

"I do!" Cranidos declared. "Yesterday was awesome! I'm staying."

Ash had figured that for Cranidos already but it was good to have confirmation. As for Umbreontwo, he was a little disappointed but it was her choice.

That left the other three.

"Do we have to decide now?" Dratinitwo eventually asked, only after she switched from hugging Zoruatwo to hugging Umbreontwo. "There's a lot of things to consider, like how huggable potential teammates are."

"Yeah, you can take your time, as long as you want really!" Ash confirmed for her.

"You don't mind if I pick you, right?" Zoruatwo asked after Ash answered. "Cause I don't think I want to pick Karen even if she wants a Zorua."

"Of course, I don't mind!" Ash wondered how he could have given the impression he did.

"It's just you're already a Zorua and having another- and I'm literally you. Well, except I'm not but I am if you think about it." Zoruatwo shook his head as he spiraled. "Sorry."

"Something else you have in common." Pikachu mused.

"Zoruatwo, you're welcome to join my team," Ash promised him. "I was kind of hoping you would! As your older brother, I need to keep an eye on you!" He held his chin high and took on an air of authority.

"Aren't you sort of just twins?" Sunny asked.

"Yeah, but I'm older," Ash confirmed.

"And slightly evil." Pikachu snarked and Ash lazily swiped his paw at him.

"Good! I didn't want to be the evil twin!" Zoruatwo seemed pleased. "Adventuring sounds like a lot of fun!"

"It is. You learn a lot more traveling as opposed to staying in one place." Eve promised him. "I should try explaining that to Bill actually…"

"Who's Bill?" Cranidos asked.

"Technically my former trainer but I was really just there to help with his research."

"What about you Meowthtwo?" Umbreontwo asked the last clone. "Are you going to go feral with me or bind yourself to society?"

Dratinitwo snorted and both Zorua snickered as Meowthtwo picked up his head and blinked at her. "I don't know, training sounds like a lot of work and I don't think I have the energy for that."

He tilted his head and reconsidered. "Then again, Misty's bag was pretty comfy. Do you think she'll let me tag along?"

"You can ask her but I'm sure she wouldn't mind," Sunny told him. "But that's everyone! Cranidos, welcome again! I know I said it yesterday, or… the other yesterday? Just officially now! And Zoruatwo! Welcome too!"

"Thanks!" Zoruatwo stretched a bit now that the presentation was over. "So everyone else has a nickname, do I need one too?"

"Not me." Cranidos disputed. "I like being Cranidos."

"Me neither." Pikachu volunteered. "And that's just our team, most of the others don't use nicknames."

"The only reason I use one is because I miss being called Eevee." Eve pointed out. "Not to say I dislike being Umbreon."

"It's up to you if you want one or not," Ash told him.

"I don't think I want to be Zoruatwo forever…" He thought about it. "Could I pick my own? I need to think about it."

"Not picking Ashtwo then?" Umbreontwo joked. "Maybe I should pick one too."

"You got time today, enforced day off, and all that." Pikachu shrugged and grabbed Ash. "Anyway, the boring presentation is over! Fun time!"

"Oh right!" Ash eagerly followed Pikachu out. They had to meet up with Morningstar! "See you guys when we get back!"

"Where are they going?" Umbreontwo asked as Dratinitwo finally moved on to the next hug target.

"Well Morningstar just evolved, and she wants to test the new limits of her speed. So Ash and Pikachu are going to jump on her back and they're going to fly around for a bit. I'm a bit curious myself and at first it was just going to be Ash, but of course Pikachu wanted to go too." Eve explained and got a thoughtful look.

"I wonder how comparable it will be to when Ash would ride with her as a Pidgeotto. Once they worked out the balance she didn't have too much trouble carrying him. But she's much larger now so his human illusion can sit comfortably on her back."

Umbreontwo was staring at her with wide eyes. "Uh… I'm sorry I didn't quite get all that. You didn't need to explain it all."

"Oh." Eve looked at her, not quite hurt but a little put-off. "I suppose I'm sorry, I tend to overly go into detail."

"No I get that, I just… I don't know what to do with all that?" Umbreontwo tried, not wanting to hurt her "older sister's" feelings.

"...I'll try to remember that," Eve told her.

Sunny decided to diffuse the awkward situation. "Who wants to meet everyone else! Properly now! I can introduce you guys but then I gotta go for a walk!"

"A walk? Where?" Eve asked him. "I need to talk to Cleavon so I don't have long either."

"Not far, just need to be alone for a bit."

"Who's Cleavon?" Zoruatwo.

Sunny and Eve shared a look and grinned. "Who wants to learn what movies are?"

"Woooooooooooooooooo!" Ash cheered from her back as Morningstar soared over the forests near Pallet Town. "This is amazing!"

"It's not like this is our first time flying together!" She reminded him but shared his enthusiasm for her new speed.

"I don't know, it feels different when I'm in my illusion." He rubbed her side. "Besides! This is Pikachu's first time!"

"Why are we slowing down!?" The electric rat demanded. "Faster!"

"I knew you were a speed freak too!" She laughed at him and with another flap, they covered entire leagues of forest.

"Which part tipped you off? Quick Attack or Volt Tackle?" He asked her.

"I think that's Viridian City!" Ash pointed ahead. The trees thinned and buildings rose on the horizon. Morningstar banked up a bit, aiming for the top of one of the skyscrapers.

With a few flaps to slow them down, they landed on top and looked out over the city. "I am so much faster it's not even funny." She shook her head. "All that work to be the fastest when I was a Pidgeotto, now it feels kind of moot."

"I wouldn't say that." Ash comforted her, enjoying the view of not just the city but the landscape around it. "I'm willing to bet if you hadn't worked so hard as a Pidgeotto you wouldn't be this fast as a Pidgeot."

"That sounds right to me." Pikachu agreed. "I know we were just here like two weeks ago but it feels like forever. Since we first came here at least."

"Right before we met you." Ash nodded looking at Morningstar. "Literally, we met you the same day we left the Pokemon Center here."

She remembered that day. "You know, I didn't think that much of you two at first. The other trainers coming through got my attention, but you two didn't seem much different."

Morningstar chuckled a little. "Or you three I guess. Remember when I thought Misty was your trainer?"

"I was still getting used to using my illusion for long periods of time," Ash recalled. "But even if you didn't think much of us, I'm glad you gave us a chance."

"To kick your butt." Pikachu reminded her, sticking out his tongue. She smirked a little and jerked forward, giving him a tumble off Ash's shoulder. "That was just petty."

"You're one to talk." She teased him.

"I don't know what you mean." Pikachu crossed his arms. "I have never done anything petty in my life!"

Ash started counting on his fingers and Pikachu shoved his hand down before he could start listing them out loud.

They sat in silence for a moment, enjoying the view and the company. "What did you guys think?" Ash asked them after a few minutes. "About Mewtwo's whole thing with humans."

"Obviously destroying the world and any Pokemon who was "tainted" by humans was a step too far." Morningstar rolled her eyes. "Not to mention hypocritical."

"Only I'm allowed to be tainted, and that doesn't count!" Pikachu mocked the wannabe destroyer. "But I'm guessing you mean the rest of it. About how we don't need humans?"

"Yeah." Ash frowned. "I… I mean he was right that humans aren't as strong as Pokemon. But I feel like he missed the point? It's not about how strong they are, it's about how they can help us grow."

"But you're second-guessing yourself again." Morningstar caught on. "Ash, what have we told you about that?"

"I know, I know, just listen." He held his hands up. "I wouldn't be half the Pokemon I am without Mom. I wouldn't even be here if it weren't for her. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for my first trainer! And I love Misty! She's practically part of the team!"

"It's just… I'm not a human. And look how far you guys came. It's dumb. I shouldn't be thinking about it." Ash shook his head, clearly wanting to dismiss this line of thought. But it was also obvious he wanted an answer. "Was he right? Do we not need humans?"

"You know." Pikachu mused, oddly serious. "it's funny. Even a year ago I would have loved for you to start talking like this. Heck, I would have loved it if you had walking out of Viridian months ago."

"But I also think you have an answer already." He pointed out.

"I do." Ash nodded. "But it doesn't feel like an answer that would convince anyone except for me."

"Try us," Morningstar told him.

"Like I said, Mewtwo missed the point." Ash sighed. "It doesn't matter what species you are. You can't grow on your own. No matter how hard you try. Remember how we convinced you to join us Morningstar? You said you were pretty strong and we told you that you could be stronger if you joined us."

"And not to toot our own horn but we were absolutely right." Pikachu nodded and Morningstar couldn't bring herself to dispute him.

"Like, yeah humans aren't the strongest people in the world. But they are people. That means there are good ones and bad ones, but it also means they can bond with us like we can bond with each other. It shouldn't matter if I'm human or just pretending to be one. I can still help you guys grow, and you can help me grow."

"You're right it probably wouldn't hold up to scientific peer evaluation," Morningstar admitted. "But it's more than good enough for us."

"He was right about something though." Ash frowned and looked down at the city. "That something needs to be done about the bad stuff in the world. Not everyone is a bad person, and not every bad person is trying to be one, but it doesn't change the fact that something needs to change."

Ash elaborated, listing a few examples, not limiting himself to humans either. "Look how big Team Rocket was, look how much they got away with. Look at AJ and Damian. Look at Sabrina and the Fanatics!"

"I thought we were already doing our best to help people and stop bad guys?" Pikachu checked, cleaning out his ear as though he misheard.

"We are, but I think we could do more." Ash grinned a little. "Look how much attention Mewtwo got just by saying he was the World's Greatest Pokemon Trainer. Imagine how much attention we could get if we actually were."

"If you were you mean." Morningstar corrected but he shook his head.

"Not a chance. I refuse to call myself the best trainer if you guys aren't included. But that's beside the point. Pikachu when you said you wanted to be the best, I agreed because it sounded like the best goal we could have. And good goals are good motivators."

"Except once we reach the goal we don't have anywhere to go, like when I became a trainer. That was the goal and we just started going through the motions of what we were "supposed" to do. So I say none of that! When we become the best in the world we don't do what we're supposed to! We do what we should do! We make it a better place! For everyone!"

"That sounds nice but it is going to be a lot more complicated than that," Morningstar warned him. "There will be people who fight you against whatever you try to change. Even good people who think you're doing it wrong."

"Then we find out if we are doing it wrong," Pikachu answered for him. "And if we are we fix it, and if not, we keep going!"

She shook her head at her boys. "I love you two so much."

Ash wrapped his arms around her neck. "Love you right back."

"As hard as you make it sometimes." Pikachu agreed, perching on her head.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked him, smirking a little.

"Alright, answer me this. What the heck does Morningstar mean?" Pikachu asked. "It sounds cool but you spent months trying to pick a nickname."

"Actually I picked this one just before Surge." She claimed. "As for why-"

She was cut off as the door to the rooftop stairs clanged open and a man with broad shoulders in a blue shirt and a tie gasped for breath. He recovered and glared at them.

"What do you think you're doing up here?! This is private property!" He started marching toward them.

"Time to go." Pikachu climbed down and up to Ash's shoulder.

"Think we can make it to Mount Moon and back before dinner?" Morningstar asked.

"One way to find out!" The trio took off from the roof, leaving the security guard to shake his fist at them as they soared over the Kanto region.

Sunny hummed as he walked around Route One. Art had easily taken up the mantle of guiding the new Pokemon and introducing them to everyone. Maybe he could have waited a bit longer but he was a bit curious himself.

He had to go a bit more far afield than he'd normally travel but he figured he'd need some proper distance before…

"I'd like explanations."

"Finally!" he turned with a small grin. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd show up."

Diglett cocked a brow at him. "You were looking for me?"

"I mean yeah? We're friends now right?"

"Don't push your luck heathen." Diglett glared but there wasn't a lot of fire behind it. "Is this just a "social call" or did you come to explain what happened."

"Uh, sort of. Quick question, what did it look like from the outside?" Sunny tapped his chin.

The ground-type seemed confused by the question. "It looked like you all sat down for your goofy meal, and then suddenly there was a flash of light. The next moment there were more of you, that bird was ten times the size, and you were all acting like something had just happened."

"Huh." Sunny shrugged. "So you didn't notice any time passing? Or a Dragonite wrecking our picnic?"

"…I feel like it would have been hard to miss that."

"Yeah, he knocked us into the air," Sunny remembered. "I guess the easiest way to say it is time travel."

"Not possible."

"We also got cloned."

"What?"

"And we met another Mew!"

"This is not helping."

The next day they slowly allowed themselves to get back to training, Ash let the others go off on their own a bit at first, he had to get Zoruatwo started with something first. That way he could work on it while he helped everyone else.

"Did it work?" Zoruatwo opened his eyes and blinked, glancing down at his new yellow shape. "It worked!"

"Eh, mostly." Pikachu inspected the illusion. "You got a few minor stuff wrong but considering this is your first time using it? Pretty good."

"Yeah, once you know how to do it you can use it without too many issues," Ash explained and walked behind Zoruatwo, smirking a little when he saw his tail instead of Pikachu's. "It's perfecting it that takes time."

He gave his brother's tail a quick jab and the illusion burst with a shudder. "That felt weird." Zoruatwo declared, looking at his tail.

"Yeah, something about having your actual body touched while using an illusion messes with it." Ash shrugged, he'd never quite worked out the reason for that. "So make sure not to let your tail or ears show while disguised. Not to mention it would give you away."

"Got it." Zoruatwo nodded. "Can I try the human disguise next?"

"That might take a while," Pikachu noted, glancing at Ash. He'd been there when Ash had struggled with perfecting it.

"We can get started at least," Ash claimed. "But later okay? I want to check in with everyone else. Then I want to ask Karen about something. I'm wondering if I'm doing dark-type moves wrong."

"Fine." Zoruatwo grumped, eager to continue experimenting. Ash didn't need to be a genius to know he was going to try it on his own before Ash could help him with it.

"Doing them wrong?" Pikachu didn't understand.

"I've explained how I do them to you right? I think of bad memories and use the emotions to fuel the attack. But I don't know after Mewtwo barely flinched…"

"Ash, he did flinch. You hit what was essentially a newborn god with your most powerful attack and made him flinch. The lesson you should learn from that is not "I'm not hitting hard enough."

"What are you talking about!?" Art joined them, evidently he'd been searching for them. "That's exactly when you think you're not hitting hard enough! Speaking of, Dash can I ask you something?"

"What's up?"

"Remember all those moves Mewtwo did? Like the wave of force, and that really strong psychic attack?"

"Psystrike." Meowthtwo supplied from the tree branch over their heads.

"It even has a cool name?" Art gasped. "Anyway, where do moves come from? Did Mewtwo invent them? And what about that fiery flower thing Bruteroot did?"

"That's… tricky," Ash admitted, not having a very good answer. "I guess new moves are invented when a Pokemon or trainer figures out how to do them. I don't know how Mewtwo learned those attacks, or even if they were all attacks, but he must have either invented them or been taught."

"Or was born with the knowledge." Zoruatwo reminded them and Ash nodded, that was a possibility too.

"Why are you asking?" Pikachu's eyes were full of suspicion.

"…I want to learn Mewtwo's moves." Art admitted a bit sheepishly. "I mean, yeah he was a bad guy, but his moves were really cool!"

"I don't think it's that simple," Ash warned him. "There are ways to learn moves you can't typically learn or combine moves to create something similar. But it's not easy."

"Yet you know Quick Attack and Bite." Pikachu prodded and Ash ignored him.

"If you'd like we could add that to your training," Ash suggested. "I think we can ease up on the damage training, that'll give us more time to work on your stamina, and we can try inventing or recreating Mewtwo's moves if you want."

"Does that mean you want to fly around in a glowing psychic ball of death too?" Zoruatwo asked, a little nervous.

"Do you not?"

"Hi, Karen-" Ash started.

"No."

"I didn't even ask anything yet!" He protested.

"I am very mad at you." She didn't meet his gaze. But her tone implied that she wasn't as upset as she was acting. It was probably more about the principle than anything else.

"Wow, I'm glad I picked you. She seems mean." Zoruatwo shifted next to him.

"Yeah, but she's a good person, and a good friend!" Ash promised and turned back to Karen. "Please?"

"What do you want?" Umbreon stalked up and Ash blinked at him.

"Hey Umbreon! When did you get back?"

"Today. Evidently, it's a good thing she waited, otherwise, I'd have a twin of my own running around." His ears twitched with distaste. "Bad enough your smart aleck Eevee decided to evolve into Umbreon and then get herself cloned."

"Umbreontwo is great though!" He liked Umbreontwo, and she got along with Pikachu which was a nice change of pace from his relationship with Eve. "Oh, she doesn't want a trainer by the way."

"I wasn't going to ask but thanks for the warning I guess." Karen sighed. "Alright, what do you need my help with? You're still my student I guess, betrayals aside."

"Well I was going to get started on teaching Zoruatwo how to use Illusion," Ash explained himself. "But I also started thinking about moves. It seems like he knows all the moves I do, but he's not as good with them as I am."

Karen pinched her brow as his spiraling thoughts unfurled and he continued. "Like, his Dark Pulse is a lot weaker than mine. Which also got me thinking. Remember when I hit Mewtwo with Night Daze?"

"Yes, that was a nice shot by the way, shame it didn't work." She shook her head.

"That's just it." Ash got to one of his points. "Why didn't it work? I hit him with everything I had and while he flinched it didn't seem like it did much damage."

"If you're worrying about firepower I wouldn't sweat it." She told him. "You saw better than I did what kind of attacks he could take. Even a super effective Night Daze wasn't going to bring him down."

"That sounds cool though," Zoruatwo claimed. "I wish I had seen it! Night Daze was really cool when you showed me!"

"I know Mewtwo was a special case, but is there a way for my dark-type moves to hit harder?" Ash asked her. "If I'm going to be teaching Zoruatwo how to use them, I want to do it right."

Karen tapped her arm. "When you use your dark-type moves how do you do it?"

"I dig into bad memories," Ash claimed. "Thinking about stuff that hurts to think about. It's not fun but happy memories don't do it."

"I think that might be your problem." Karen guessed. "Admittedly you might know better than me, but from what I've seen the moves are powered by emotions, not memories."

"Yeah, but I need to think about bad stuff to feel bad, right?" Ash started catching onto the train of thought.

"Hardly." Umbreon picked up the slack. "If I took the time to think about the day we ran away from home, or the time we lost the league, or whatever every time I wanted to use a dark-type move I doubt I'd be a good fighter."

"Yeah, but that's because you're always miserable." Ash waved off and the other Pokemon sputtered. "I get what you mean though. It's just that I have to be careful not to let my emotions control me in battle. That's why I think about bad memories, they hurt but they're not happening now."

"I don't have a lot of memories though." Zoruatwo realized, "Is that why my dark-type moves aren't really strong?"

"Yes and no. I think you're just not used to channeling your emotions. A lot of types have a trick to them, some are emotional triggers, like dark-type moves or dragon-type moves. Others are just tensing or bracing in a certain way like steel-type or rock-type." Ash explained a bit for him.

"I think I see your problem." Karen looked thoughtful. "And I don't have a good answer for you other than "control your emotions" because it seems like you've been doing that. Maybe there's a way to tie the emotions into the move itself."

"What do you mean?"

"That was my point." Umbreon swiped his tail across Ash's nose and he sneezed. "Your memories give you the trigger but they aren't connected to the battle. Even a battle you lost, your feelings are directed inward instead of at your opponent. I wasn't there but when you hit Mewtwo, were you thinking about how much you hated him and wanted to hurt him or were you thinking about all the bad stuff you've experienced to try and power up?"

Ash furrowed his brow as he thought. "I did want to hurt him… but I wasn't focusing on that, I was focusing on all the stuff that made me upset."

"Maybe give it a try." Karen shrugged. "Find something that upsets you and use those feelings to hurt it."

"What would that be?" Zoruatwo asked, visibly confused. "I'm still a bit new to… everything. But I doubt he can just get really mad at a rock."

"You'd be surprised actually." Ash had an idea. "Come on let's put it to the test. Thanks, Karen!"

"How about you thank me with a trade?" She called as they trotted away. "Or maybe take a trip to a Daycare- actually forget that." She looked disgusted with herself. "Can't believe… never mind."

"I don't think he knows what that means yet." Umbreon comforted her.

"The fact I thought about it is the problem." She shook her head. "Even if he's not old enouuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhh…" Karen stared at Umbreon.

"What?"

"…Tower be danged."

Ash had to put his idea for dark-type move training to the side for now, first, he had to check in with the rest of his team. They may have been taking it easy but he wanted to hop right back into training the next day.

Zoruatwo had wandered off as he was doing that, and Ash's earlier prediction proved correct.

He was using Ash's human disguise, or "Human-Ash" as he called it. And like Ash had years before, he was running into the nightmare that was balancing on two legs.

Ash quickly discovered why Pikachu had been so entertained years ago.

"Do you want me to tell you what you're doing wrong yet?" Ash watched Zoruatwo flail his arms and fall forward.

"No! I got this!" He put the illusion back up while sitting and tried to climb to his feet. He misjudged the weight and pitched toward the ground headfirst.

"Sure you do." Ash snickered a little.

"Stop laughing at me! I bet it wasn't funny when you were doing it!" Zoruatwo huffed at him.

"You're right!" Ash grinned, lazily waving his paw over the side of the wall. "But it is funny now!"

"I changed my mind, I'm the evil twin, that means I get to destroy you, right?" Zoruatwo glared at him before trying again.

"Maybe once you get your legs under you." Once again, his brother fell, and the illusion burst. "Finally willing to admit you need help?"

"I don't need help!" Zoruatwo insisted. "You didn't need help when you figured it out! I don't either!"

Looked like he needed to set the record straight. "I absolutely needed help!" He applied his own disguise and jumped to his feet. "There was just no one around to help me."

That was a tiny fib, sort of at least. He had no one to help him with his illusions but there had been plenty of people who could have helped him learn to use two legs. But he'd stubbornly refused to get help.

Just like his little brother was doing now.

Zoruatwo didn't meet his gaze for a moment before turning. "…really?"

"Really," Ash promised. "It took me years to figure out how to do illusions that walked on two legs. I spent a lot of time practicing, and just as much falling."

His brother frowned, "I don't want to wait years. Fine, how'd you do it?"

"Well first, let's fix what you're getting wrong right now. Put the illusion back up." After he did so Ash helped him up. When he started falling forward Ash held him steady. "Yeah, it's what I thought. You're putting your weight on the wrong part of your feet."

"They're feet! It shouldn't matter where I put the weight."

"I remember thinking the same thing!" Ash laughed. "And don't just let your tail sneak in, I know that's tempting to help balance."

"I could have done that?" Oops, probably shouldn't have given him the idea. "I was so focused on making sure I didn't forget to hide it that I didn't think to use it!"

"You could, but like I said, don't. It's a bad habit and a dead giveaway for your disguise." Ash cautioned him.

It took a minute for Zoruatwo to get used to putting more of his weight on his heels instead of the balls of his feet. But with a bit of patience, Ash was able to step back and let Zoruatwo stand on his own.

"I'm doing it?" He checked and grinned. "I'm doing it!"

Taking the initiative, he tried taking a few shaky steps forward. He managed three before he started tumbling again but Ash caught him before he hit the ground this time.

"It'll take some getting used to. But you've taken the first steps. Literally!" Ash congratulated him.

"I beat your time then?" Zoruatwo smirked at him. Ash rolled his eyes and let him fall. "Oof!"

"Yeah, you beat my time." He still admitted. "I never wanted to ask for help either. If I hadn't been set on surprising Mom with a human illusion she probably would have helped me out. With standing at least."

"So you could have had help. But I guess it makes sense…" Zoruatwo trailed off. "Am I really just a copy of you? I mean, I'm thinking the same things you did and making the same mistakes."

Ash thought about how to word it. "Think of it like this, you're a copy of who I used to be. You have more context for the world than I did but you don't have any of the experiences that made me who I am now. You're going to get your own experiences, and those will shape the person you become."

"Hm." Zoruatwo thought about it. "I think I like that. Although if I was just a copy I guess there are worse people to be copies of."

"Well duh! Look how Pikachutwo turned out!" They both dissolved into snickers.

"Right, I'd guess that Ash is the one in the hat but I also wouldn't put it past him, and maybe you too Zoruatwo, to switch to trick me." Misty guessed that night, looking between the two versions of her friend.

They slumped a little and Ash took his hat back. "I'm getting too predictable." He grumbled.

"No, I just know you." Misty rolled her eyes. "Although I'm sure Zoruatwo will come up with his own brand of mischief I'll need to figure out."

The other apparently human boy folded his hands together and looked at her; the picture of innocence.

She didn't buy it for a second. "Karen is still inconsolable by the way."

"Pika pichu,"Pikachu added to the conversation, which as usual she couldn't understand but it did spark a thought.

"You know, I can understand multiple versions of it but I still don't understand a thing about Pokemon language," Misty admitted, changing the subject.

"What do you mean?" Delia came into the room, carrying a blanket and a book under her good arm.

"It's just, all Pokemon can understand each other, no matter what species." She gestured to Ash and Zoruatwo, then to Pikachu, and then to Selene. "And they can all automatically understand humans. But humans normally can't understand them."

"When you put it in such terms it sounds as though it is part of a greater conspiracy." Staryu mused and hummed. "Perhaps there is some secret within humanity's past that could explain such a fate?"

"Given the myths and legends we keep running into it's not impossible," Misty admitted. "But I was wondering if there was a more scientific answer. Miss Ketchum, you were one of Professor Oak's students for a while, right? Did he ever say anything?"

"I told you dear, call me Delia." She reminded her and sat down in an armchair. "And to be honest I don't remember him researching Pokemon communication, at least not while I was studying with him."

"Huh, I never actually thought about the why or how of it." Ash thought about it. "I mean, I knew I had to figure out how to sound like other Pokemon, it was important for my disguises. But the fact we could understand each other anyway didn't seem important."

"It seems like it should be though." Misty hummed to herself. "Like, you didn't have any humans around when you were born right? How did you learn to understand us?"

Ash blinked at her and furrowed his brow. "I didn't. I just always knew what you guys were saying."

"And then Zoruatwo, Dratinitwo, and all the others. They were able to understand language perfectly from the moment they came out of the machine! All languages, is it some weird genetic memory?"

"Zor," Zoruatwo spoke up and elaborated a bit. Ash translated for the two humans in the room.

"He says that Riolutwo guessed there was something to the machine that gave them the basics of how to function. They knew as soon as they were born they were clones, even without Mewtwo being able to give them commands."

"Perhaps you could ask the most esteemed professor tomorrow?" Staryu suggested to her.

"It's a good idea. Maybe he has an explanation. But I do wonder, what if someone was speaking gibberish? What if they made up some words, never told anyone, and started talking, would you know what they said?"

"Pika," Pikachu mentioned, Misty huffed.

"Seriously, it's unfair."

"You're not missing much. At least not from him." Ash grinned and had his illusion destroyed by an Iron Tail for his trouble.

"He said all phrases are fabrications from one place or another." Staryu translated for her.

That was true, words meant something, and sometimes meanings changed or new things were invented and words were created to describe them. A thought did pop into her head though, and she tapped her fingers.

"I'll ask Professor Oak about it tomorrow if he has time. But I want to try something first. An experiment of my own." She stood up and pulled out her Pokegear. "I gotta look something up."

"If she comes back speaking fluent Pikachu I claim partial credit," Ash announced and she shook her head. Goofballs the lot of them.

The next morning Misty approached Ash with a slightly confused Brock.

"Experiment time." She explained to him and Eve perked up. "Don't get too excited, I'm not documenting this, I just want to test something."

"I'd still like to know what's being tested," Eve claimed and watched the proceedings.

Ash quirked an eyebrow at Brock but he didn't have any more of an answer. "I don't know what's going on."

"Just do what I told you." He shrugged and made a gesture with his hand. Ash looked at his hand, and then at Misty.

"I don't get it?" He glanced at Eve in case she might have some insight but got a similar look of befuddlement.

"Not yet, let me know if that changes." Misty made the same gesture.

'Hello.' The word popped into Ash's head as soon as he looked at her hand. He blinked rapidly a few times, rubbed his eyes, and looked again. 'Hello.'

"You had my curiosity, now you have my attention." Eve stood up, also staring at the talking hand. "Why does your hand say hello?"

"Misty, what did you do to my brain?" Ash narrowed his eyes at her.

She laughed. "It worked! Wow! I… I don't know what to do with this information." She sobered and rubbed her chin as she thought.

"I still don't know how hands can talk." Zoruatwo volunteered. "But that's cool. The more I learn about hands the cooler they are."

"Apposable thumbs are great." Ash agreed but didn't take his gaze off Misty. "Could you please explain?

"Right, sorry." She shook her head. "So last night I looked up sign language. I thought, it seems like Pokemon naturally understand all languages, so does that include sign language?"

"That's interesting!" Eve decided, her tail waving. "I never considered that being possible."

"Sign language means you talk with your hands right? That's why her hand said hello?" Zoruatwo checked and used his illusion to look like Ash. He made the same gesture as Misty.

'Hello.'

"It works," Ash told him.

"I think we don't need to worry about the talking lessons so much, this seems way easier!" Zoruatwo claimed and Eve shook her head.

"Not exactly, but we'll get to that." She turned to the humans. "Why did you have Brock make the gesture too? And why couldn't we understand it?"

Ash translated the questions and Misty explained the full experiment. "Remember how I asked about understanding "made-up" words? That got me thinking, what if someone said something without knowing what it meant? Would you still understand it? So if Brock signed "Hello" but didn't know it meant hello…"

"Then he wouldn't say anything!" Eve squealed and jumped off the chair and started nudging Misty's shins with her head. "Come on! We need to go to Professor Oak right now! I need to know more!"

"I don't know how I feel about being used in an experiment without my knowledge," Brock claimed as Misty was driven to the lab by Ash's resident brainiac.

"It wasn't exactly a bad experiment. I kind of wonder what it means though." Ash mused and glanced away, catching sight of Zoruatwo.

'Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello.'

He groaned and covered his eyes. "Zoruatwo stop saying hello."

"Make me!" He snickered and Ash grabbed for him but he jumped out of the way. "I'm gonna show everyone else!"

Zoruatwo ran out of the room snickering and Ash sighed. "Why did I teach him how to stand on two legs?"

"I bet he'd still move pretty fast on all fours." Brock reminded him. "Getting used to having a sibling?"

"I mean, it's not like this is anything new." Ash pointed out, ticking off similar parties on his fingers. "Pikachu, Shelldon, Gary, Morningstar…" He shrugged.

"It's not exactly the same I guess, well except Shelldon. But from what I've seen from other siblings they all fit the bill."

"True." Brock leaned back. "But now you have an actual blood relative. Family is what you make of it but something about having the same genes as someone seems to give them an advantage in getting under your skin."

"What about your family?" Ash asked him. "You've got a ton of siblings."

"Yeah, and they annoy me sometimes." He admitted. "Forrest and Yolanda more than the others though. I know the youngest ones like the twins aren't actually trying to annoy me, they're just being kids."

"Hm." Ash thought about it. "I mean he's not annoying me much, and if he thinks he said something that will upset me he backtracks."

"You're in a weird case here," Brock told him. "You have a new younger brother who somehow is just as developed as you but nowhere near as experienced or mature."

"I think I should talk to Shelldon." Ash decided, "I look up to him a lot but it's a lot of fun to annoy him. It's really funny."

"When he's not pummeling you into the dirt you mean?" His friend chuckled at him.

"Eh, he beats me into the dirt during training, I annoy him until he starts shooting Hydro Pumps and Mom yells at him. I think it's a fair trade." Ash shrugged, speaking honestly.

"…I might have been wrong about it just being blood relatives with a special talent for it."

It wasn't often, but sometimes Ash and Misty found themselves facing a threat that left them shaking in their boots. Or it would if either of them wore boots. But Misty wore sneakers and Ash's shoes did not actually exist.

Today they faced one such trial.

"Can't you do it?"

"She likes you more!"

"How do you know that?"

"You're the Pokemon!"

"Why would that- never mind that might be true." Ash reconsidered and sighed. "I mean, she seems like a nice person?"

"I'm sure she is but also I can't imagine she has the luxury given what we pointed her way." Misty reminded him and he winced. There was a reason they were making the call.

Ash swallowed his nervousness and dialed Melanie's number.

It took several rings for her to pick up, and based on her tone, their fears were confirmed. "Who are you and how did you get this number? Mom is that you? I told you not to call me at work!"

"Don't you live in the Hidden Village?" Ash asked wondering when she could ever be "off" the clock.

"Exactly, I'm always at work, also you're not Mom." She paused for a moment. "Wait, Ash is that you?"

"Hi, Melanie." He waved and then put his hand down, it wasn't like she could see him. "Misty is here too."

"Sorry, I'm a bit… stressed at the moment. If you found some Pokemon you think should come to the village could you keep an eye on them for… let's say a little while longer?" She requested.

"About that…" Ash trailed off. "You wouldn't happen to have a mythical Pokemon, her "baby brother", and maybe two dozen emotionally stunted Pokemon with weird markings?"

"…" Melanie was silent and for a moment Ash was worried he'd lost connection. "What did you do?"

"Uh, technically it was Selene and Mew liked the idea." Ash tried to shift the blame with a wince.

"They showed up two days ago," Melanie claimed. "Bulbasaur is going insane trying to keep them all orderly."

"Sorry." Ash shrunk in on himself.

"…but." Melanie sighed. "They do need help. All of them. So sending them my way wasn't the worst thing to do."

Ash sighed and let himself relax a little. That was a relief.

"I still would have liked a bit more notice though. I told you to call if you were trying to send Pokemon here."

"Things were a little confusing at the time," Ash explained. "We would have called sooner but we were getting settled and recovering too. Also, I don't think you'd remember if we did call you about it."

"Does this have to do with "Mew Rule #11?" Melanie asked. Ash blinked and looked at Misty. They shrugged at each other.

"What's Mew Rule #11?" Ash asked.

"Uh, so I'm getting this like, second or third hand. But if a "Mew Fight" causes too much damage, call the Forest's Voice. I don't know what that means but it might be some sort of cosmic reset button. I'm told the Hidden Village looks nice when it isn't flooded."

"I'm glad it's not flooded," Ash told her honestly. "Do you need any help? Because we might be able to figure something out."

"It's fine. I think. Just a bit messy and complicated. Thank you for checking in at least, and thanks for trying to help them, or thank Selene for me." There was a bang on her end of the line. "I think I need to go."

"Good luck, sorry, bye Melanie." It sounded like she dropped the phone without hanging up. He heard some shouting about conservation before he hung up himself.

"I think that went well." Misty hoped.

"Could have been worse. At least Mewtwo isn't killing anyone."

Zoruatwo frowned in the mirror.

So far he had used Ash's illusion as his own human disguise too. He'd tried the other humans he'd been introduced to as well but using Ash's form made sense all things considered.

Except…

This was Ash's disguise, not his. Except he liked the way it looked, he had already started becoming used to it. He both did want to change it, and he didn't.

Why didn't feelings just make sense?

"Whatcha doing?" A sing-song voice asked from the door. He glanced at Selene, waving her arms at her sides as she watched him.

"Thinking about stuff." He admitted and sat on the side of the tub.

"In the bathroom?" She checked, "With the door open?"

He grimaced a little, "Maybe not the best place."

"I wouldn't say that. Any place can be a good place to think about stuff. But some places can be better than others. If you're thinking about what type of soap you want, I'd think the bathroom is a pretty good place to think about it." She reasoned out.

"I wasn't thinking about soap though." He confessed and she joined him, leaning against the cabinet opposite him. "I was thinking about… me."

"I do that too sometimes." Selene nodded. "Just some moments I catch my reflection and think, "is that really me? I actually exist?"

She looked at her hands. "Been thinking that a bit more since I evolved."

"It's just… it's dumb." He claimed rubbing the back of his head. "I like being Ash's brother, I like him, and I like the rest of you! But when I asked him if I really was just a copy he mentioned how I'm a copy of who he used to be, before he had experiences that made him, himself, and that I'd have my own experiences that shape who I am."

"And I've been thinking, if I just keep following his footsteps then won't that mean I'll stay a copy of him? Shouldn't I try to be as different as possible so I become someone unique?"

Selene hummed as she mulled his words over. "I think you're missing a key point there. And it sounds like Ash missed it too."

"What's that?"

"Everyone else." She pointed at herself and then out the door to the rest of the house. "Let's say you did everything Ash did growing up to become who he is now. Even if you did everything he did, learned to talk, created a new disguise, and became a Pokemon trainer, you'd still be someone different because the people who influenced Ash have changed too. Even if you went to Mount Moon and met a Clefairy who joined you, that Clefairy wouldn't be me."

He listened intently as she continued. "I followed Ash, Pikachu, and Pidgeotto because they inspired me. They came out of nowhere and saved the day with Misty! I wanted to be heroes like them. And now I've done heroic things but I don't feel much like a hero, and I realized that they don't either. But even though we don't feel like heroes we are to some people."

"My point is, even with the same starting point as Ash, no matter what you do you're going to be your own person. You're going to change and come to different conclusions. So don't force yourself to change things if you don't want to. Those will come with time and be more natural. Be who you want to be."

Zoruatwo looked down and thought for a moment. Then he looked back at the mirror and stood up. He leaned on the counter for a second and concentrated on his reflection.

His face didn't change, neither did his hair. He liked the way he looked. But in place of Ash's blue shirt, his turned red. He leaned back with a small smile and looked at a curious Selene. "I like red more than blue."

She smiled back at him and chuckled. "Whatever you say "Red."

"Red." He ran the nickname through his head. "I think I like that."

"Really?" Selene blinked in surprise. "I didn't mean to give you a name like that, you said you wanted to pick your own."

"I just did!" Red decided and looked at his hand. He flexed his fingers, marveling to himself at how real they seemed, and gave her a thumbs up. "And I pick the one you came up with!"

She returned the gesture. "I said it before, I'll say it again. Welcome to the family."

When Misty got a call from Lizbeth she wasn't too surprised. While it was uncommon, her traveling friend had called a few times on her own. It tended to coincide with them stopping in a town.

What did surprise her was the news.

"Hey Misty, you guys are in Pallet Town right?" Lizbeth greeted her.

"Straight to it?" Misty stepped out of the way of a Bubble Beam and waved off Squirtle's apology. "Yeah, it's Ash's hometown and he's preparing for the league. Also, I think I live here too now technically."

"You mentioned that last week, settling in alright?"

"Mostly, still trying to work out how to get some of my stuff moved here," Misty admitted. She'd been making do so far but she missed her bed. And while she wasn't as attached to the rest of her furniture she did have a weird nostalgia for the set.

"Well, good news for you! The Marina Group can help you with that!" Liz sounded pleased with herself.

Misty smirked a little as she checked on Psyduck. Brock had suggested teaching him Calm Mind to help with his headaches but he seemed to be having trouble "calming" his thoughts. "Starting a moving company?"

"I mean we are a moving company. Technically." Liz claimed. "The Marina Group is technically a business. Even if we're show business."

"Clever." Misty allowed. "But really? You could bring my furniture here? I don't want to trouble you too much."

"It's fine, we're in Cerulean City now, and that's why I was calling you! We were going to be aiming for Indigo Plateau, with the conference coming up we figured it would be a good spot for a show!" She explained her family's plan.

"Makes sense, there's going to be a lot of people there, trainers, workers, families, all that." A part of Misty wondered what it would look like this year. There were probably going to be fewer competitors overall with the so-called Purge happening.

"Yeah, but I remembered you mentioning Pallet Town last time we talked. So I suggested we make a quick detour. You guys never even got to meet my parents!"

"Yeah, they were in Pewter at the time right?" Misty remembered and decided to return Psyduck. He seemed to be at his limit. "Well, I'm looking forward to seeing you."

"Same! But! While I wanted to tell you that, I also wanted to give you a warning ahead of time." Liz specified and Misty frowned.

"What kind of warning?"

"Remember those "performers" you pointed us toward?" Liz asked and Misty began to catch on. "Well, they've been quite the help actually. They needed some training but they know how to work a crowd and tell a story."

"…I die by my own sword," Misty complained, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Why do my past decisions keep coming back to bite me?"

"Yeah, so I can't say I know everything that happened between you guys. Or why you didn't tell us they were your sisters. But I figured out enough to let you know we were coming, and if you wanted us not to."

They'd change their route? Admittedly Pallet Town was already a detour and they hadn't left yet, but Misty still appreciated it. "Can I call you back tomorrow? I need to think about it."

"That's fine, we won't be leaving for a couple of days. Either way, we'd still see you at the league." Liz explained and Misty frowned. No matter what happened she'd still probably run into her sisters, or they'd run into her.

"Thanks, Liz, I'll let you know." Misty sighed. "But I'm guessing you wouldn't bring the furniture if you didn't come through Pallet Town."

"We could, but then you'd need to carry it back from Indigo Plateau." Liz chuckled. "Talk to you tomorrow!"

Misty said goodbye and hung up. Looking at her Pokemon. "I don't want to deal with them." She said to herself out loud. "It's their fault not mine, why should I have to build the bridge?"

Then again, maybe she didn't have to.

She continued to debate with herself. It would be nice to see Lizbeth in person again, and a part of her was genuinely curious how her sisters had influenced the Marina Group's shows. But she really didn't want to talk to her sisters or try to make up with them.

But what if they wanted to make up with her?

A part of her wanted to throw it off. That was their issue, not hers. Maybe though. Misty wouldn't be the one to reach out. If they were around she'd ignore them unless they came to her with an actual apology. Then she'd at least hear them out.

She'd think about it a bit more, but she wasn't taking responsibility for them or their actions. Whether they would have any sort of relationship moving forward was up to them, and that was fine by Misty.

She didn't need them, she had her own family.

But maybe they could have a place in it.

"Any idea why your Mom started laughing when she found out about Red's name?" Pikachu sat down next to Ash on the island in the pond.

Today the Marina Group was supposed to be arriving so they decided to take the day off, they'd need to move some of Misty's stuff anyway. Even though the addition hadn't been finished yet.

Shelldon might have been making things more complicated than they needed to be but at least it looked cool. Who didn't want to have a waterslide in their room?

"Not sure." Ash had asked her the same question and she said she'd tell him later. "But I'm guessing it's some sort of inside joke between her and Professor Oak."

"She did seem excited to tell him." Pikachu looked at Cranidos trying to get through Selene's Protect. He wasn't sure if using moves broke the rules of Tag. At least watching Cranidos run in place was kind of funny.

"We did it," Ash said bluntly and Pikachu ears pricked and his brow rose. "This time next week we'll be at the league."

"Kind of crazy to think about," Pikachu admitted. "But it figures you'd be the one to put it like that. "We did it." So dramatic."

"Hey!" Ash poked at Pikachu's side. "What's that supposed to mean."

"Just that you're a mix of too introspective and a drama queen. Although you used to be less introspective." Pikachu thought back. "A little at least."

"Yeah, but I don't think it's a bad thing," Ash claimed. "But I think some things could have been worse if I hadn't thought about everything."

"Yeah, probably." Pikachu leaned back, enjoying the sun's warmth. "You're right though. In one week we'll be taking down the league. Think we're ready?"

Ash hummed. "Nah."

"Nah?" Pikachu sat back up. "Nah?"

"Nah. Nah. Nah."

"Nanananah." They dissolved into childish giggles.

Pikachu recovered a bit. "You seriously don't think we're ready?"

"I mean, I don't think we'd ever be completely ready." Ash elaborated. "Between Mega Evolution, and Terastalization, and Z-Moves, who knows what else is out there?"

"Alright, that's fair." Pikachu allowed. "But still."

"I think we're in pretty good shape at least," Ash added, looking at their team. "Everyone battling is at the top of their game, but we weren't able to get Cranidos and Red anywhere near ready."

"Yeah, we didn't have much time." Still, they'd been making strides. Cranidos had picked up a few more moves and Red had been mastering his existing ones.

"I hope we win." Ash thought about it some more. "I think we can. It won't be easy though."

"Then let's not go easy on anyone else." Pikachu declared.

"Of course not!" They sat in silence for a minute. "World's Best Trainer… how about Pokemon Masters?"

"Pokemon Masters?" Pikachu snickered. "Still trying to think of something that applies to all of us?"

"I like that one."

"It sounds goofy. Not to mention might freak some people out. Might as well say Pokemon Rulers."

"Doesn't feel right."

"Legendary Pokemon."

"That one's taken!"

Regardless of what they'd call themselves, the title of champion was waiting for them to claim it.

Remember when I said I was going to take a break?

Well, that didn't happen. At least not yet.

Literally the day after I posted chapter 50 I started getting all these character interaction ideas, and started getting a concrete idea of what the end of Indigo and the start of Orange looked like and I just had to start writing it down and…

Suddenly chapter.

I don't regret it. But it was literally impossible for me to start planning properly for anything else while I was thinking about new dynamics and character arcs.

Let's run down the list a bit.

The end of the movie is a little weird. Because for all intents and purposes, it seems like things got reset? I mean the movie had them back at the boathouse but I decided to send them back to where they got the invitation.

The reasoning for this mostly involves the current state of Kanto and how messy everything already is. And if a storm that bad rolled in right before the league? Yeah…

However, the humans and Pokemon involved remember, and the consequences of that are going to last.

But before we get to the more negative consequences, I wanted to take some time to focus on the more light-hearted ones.

After the last six chapters, the gang needed a proper break. Not a break and then giants but a full break where nothing goes seriously wrong. I did have a few arcs I was tempted to include here, Misty was going to be angsting more about the "I'm nothing" thing and Eve was going to have an arc around Umbreontwo and how different they are.

Now, Misty has enough going on right now (including her sisters showing up again), so I decided to not go that road. For now at least.

The same applies to Eve, there's some stuff I want to explore with her and Umbreontwo is the way to do that but I don't want to focus on it quite yet.

And in the end, I felt some of the emotional stuff in those two mini-plots was a bit contrived, at least in the version I wrote. I'll need to go over it again to get the result I want.

Also got to have a moment with Ash, Pikachu, and Morningstar. A part of me misses that early dynamic of the three of them smack-talking and working things out together. As the team grew there became less space for it.

Now Zoruatwo! As I mentioned in my rundown last chapter I have been waiting for him for a long time. There's a lot of development there and I've already started some of it. I want him and Ash to have a proper sibling dynamic, kind of like he has with Pikachu but Zoruatwo looks up to him more than Pikachu. So that means while they get along and have each other's back, they're also gonna bicker and poke fun at each other.

And yes, I was thinking about calling him Red before I wrote BattleNET. I may have tested a few ideas there.

Anyway, I didn't do reviews last chapter (I did not have the brainpower left after 40k words) but I will this time!

WriternotAuthor: Good news! The gang remembers! Everyone who was not on the island not so much.

Carrot on a bike: Honestly yeah, I wanted to bring more attention to it here but the characters don't have the same context the audience does. They know Misty took a swing at Mewtwo and it was impressive but they don't realize how she literally saved them all by doing that. Mew would have loafed around a bit more if Mewtwo hadn't tried to break the Mew Rules. If I did break the chapter that would have been an end point.

Skullkingvon: Wait no longer! It's here! I'm glad you like my goofy ZoruAsh au!

Tsukihime95: Thank you!

Pecan Crisp: Afraid no Zorua for Karen, yet. Interesting perspective on the TRio but there are some moments that seem to disprove this. Where they choose to play "the bad guys" despite getting attention and even fame for doing good. But Pokemon Trainer Meowth? Now there's an idea… Also you hit the nail on the head for that little Cranidox (Cranidos-Paradox).

Pegasus Sword Master: I'm honestly amazed I was able to do it.

Dustellion: Not at all! As I said there were a few scenes I cut to give the characters a break and room to breathe though. But there will be consequences.

LEGOBRICK13: Lot's of references! Mostly internal to Pokemon this time, although that's not quite the trainer with a level 88 Pikachu. Mega Evolved Sunny would have been awesome but sadly a voice told me "Now's not the time to use that!" The clones were fun and something I had been looking forward to. Art just terrifying his clone was a lot of fun in a morbid kind of way. Mew is an interesting character to write, any Mew actually, Aaron was fun in his own way when I wrote him. But this is a Mew who's not holding back or playing pretend. She's playing alright, but her level of play is a bit advanced. That's an interesting comparison between Mr. Incredible and Syndrome, although I feel the dynamic is slightly different, as there was never a time Ash was more powerful than Mewtwo. Mewtwo wants validation alright, just not from an "idol" but from a Pokemon that almost manages his ideals.

Bin4rym4ge: I may have contrived a bit there but I couldn't think of one I liked more. I'm glad you liked the chapter.

Strike Wyvern: I'm glad you enjoyed it so much!

Pocketlizard: That is an omake waiting to happen. Everyone stares in horror at Misty's body and a Honedge floats over. "Guys, what are you looking- is that me?" I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter so much!

Vivicreader16579: I find these reviews a tad confusing. I mean, you did skip half the story I guess but yeah. And yes, dealing with the fact the story is so freaking long, I don't know how to process it.

Pawswarrior2: No break yet! Well, I'm gonna force it on myself because I really do need to step back and work out some details and look at other stuff. And I'm glad you like the way I portrayed the movie!

Pokemonever1994: Look the world is nearly destroyed in Pokemon all the time. For example, yesterday! I'm happy you liked the clone interactions, I had a lot of fun writing those. Brock has betrayed Karen. Heartbreaking, relationship over. (Not really)

ArchDuke-1: I got a few, but they're still in development.

That covers it. Now I'm going to do my best to focus on my other stories. I am hoping to get a chapter of Legends of Ash out next week. I make no promises but that is my goal.

Until then, have a good one!

Discord: discord gg kESdTfhAwG

TVTropes: tvtropes org / pmwiki / pmwiki php / Fanfic / ZoruaTrainer

~FriTik

R&R