6.1
Mewtwo stared around at the trees as he floated down the path, Sasha draped over his neck, heading towards Saffron from Cerulean.
"Alright, now we have some options. There's Sabrina in Saffron, Surge in Vermillion, Erika in Celadon, or we could take a break and go cry over the fact humans desecrated a graveyard to build a radio tower in Lavender Town," Mewtwo said, reading a sign on the side of the road.
Sasha blinked in surprise. "Take a break?"
"The League isn't for several months and we do have the ability to teleport," Mewtwo replied. "There's no rush." His gaze turned mischievous. "Unless you register days before the League, although I think they shut down registration a month before the League to prevent a crush of trainers."
"You think?" Sasha asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Contrary to popular belief, I am not omnipotent, omnipresent or omniscient," Mewtwo answered dryly.
"You're omnilinguistic."
"Not exactly what that word means, but I understand what you're trying to say."
Sasha smacked him lightly before pricking her ears as the undergrowth along the side of the road rustled and she nudged Mewtwo's head to get his attention. Jumping down from his shoulders, she called out.
"Is someone there?"
A pikachu wearing a cap poked its head out of the shrubbery and twitched its ears.
"Heya, Mewtwo," it said cheerfully. Mewtwo's eyebrows rose in surprise.
"Hello, Ash. It's nice to meet you again."
"Hold up, that's Ash Ketchum?" Sasha asked, confused. Mewtwo chuckled as the pikachu scratched its head.
"He gets like this from time to time," Mewtwo explained, crouching down. Another pikachu jumped out of the bushes and waved to Mewtwo before thumping Ash on the head.
"You can't just go running off whenever you pick up a potentially familiar scent," the rodent chastised the human-turned-pokémon. "It's dangerous to go running off alone, even if you're Ash Ketchum."
"Sorry, Pikachu," Ash said sheepishly.
"So is this a pleasure jaunt or are you helping someone?" Mewtwo asked.
"The latter," Ash replied, adjusting his hat. "I'm working on something with Bill and Oak."
"What does turning into a pikachu have to do with that?" Sasha asked.
"It's not really something I understand, but if I'm asked for help, I rarely ever say no," Ash replied.
Mewtwo shook his head in amusement. "Ash knows what he's doing, Sasha. Even if we don't understand why. I'm sure he's on a tight schedule and we shouldn't keep him. Besides, you have more gym battles to get ready for."
Ash perked up. "Oh? Once I finish this up, I'm also getting ready to take the League challenge again. It's been a while and I'm always eager to face new challenges."
"Sasha's taking the gym challenge herself. Maybe we'll see you at the League in a few months?" Mewtwo asked. Ash and Pikachu turned to face the eevee, whose ears heated up.
"I've got two badges and trying to figure out which to tackle next," she said, turning her scarf up to reveal the emblems. Ash grinned.
"Awesome. Even if you don't make it to the finals, maybe we'll be matched up before then. If not, we can always have a battle outside the League," he said.
"I'd like that," Sasha said, tail waving happily. "Good luck on your...uh...whatever it is."
"And you with your battles. Let's go, Pikachu!"
Mewtwo watched the duo zoom off as Sasha curled around his neck again.
"Well, that was certainly an interesting meeting. Wonder what problem required a transformation like that..."
Sasha shrugged. "Either way, I've made up my mind. Let's go give Surge a visit."
"As you wish."
6.2
"I found Ash," Celebi said as it materialized in the Hall of Origin.
"Where was he this time?" Arceus asked, glancing up from its newspaper.
"He was a pikachu, helping out Professor Oak and Bill with something."
Arceus' face went blank. "Why was he a - never mind, that's not important. Send him to Alola. Neo Team Magma is stirring up trouble..."
Arceus' eyes narrowed. "Why isn't Ash with you?"
Celebi twisted its hands together nervously. "He said he wanted to train for the upcoming League."
"...I see. Guess I can't fault him for that. Everyone needs a break now and again." Arceus sighed, turning its head towards a series of time bubbles that showed present and future events. "There's plenty of time before things become desperate...although..."
The Original One glanced at a bubble showing a young blonde haired woman with a pikachu thoughtfully. "I'm sure she'd enjoy a vacation. Celebi?"
"Can I tell her why she's being given a vacation? I'd be suspicious if you ever suddenly gave me a week off."
Arceus wore a look of wounded innocence. "How was I supposed to know Wes and Ash would meet during your week off and leave you with an extra six years of paperwork? I said I was sorry."
The Alpha Pokémon glanced at Ash's time bubbles and was glad to see they were functioning correctly again. Even nearly a decade later, Cyrus's tampering with time and space was still being fixed. Dialga, Palkia and Giratina had been working around the clock to piece everything back together. Arceus smiled slightly, proud of his children and their work ethic.
Speaking of which...
"Mew, stop playing solitaire and get back to work!"
6.3
Sasha stared around the opulent accommodations, trying to take it all in.
“So…this is all for us?” she asked, jumping onto the bed and floundered as she sunk into the plush covers.
Mewtwo chuckled, carefully extricating the eevee from the bed. “I contacted a friend of mine and she was kind enough to set us up with…I suppose you could call it a base of operations or something.”
Sasha wrinkled her nose. “Sounds rather technical if it’s just a place for us to relax between badges or whatever. Why didn’t you do this earlier?”
“You mean when I first found you? Eh…I have my reasons,” Mewtwo said evasively. Sasha’s eyebrows rose.
“Let’s see if I can’t puzzle it out…” The eevee looked around the room slowly. “We’re in Saffron, home to the psychic Sabrina. If I remember correctly, you said she helped you during your early years, getting a handle on your powers, right?”
Mewtwo nodded warily.
“So, she set aside a place for you to come to if you ever needed it, in a place where she holds a lot of sway, so people wouldn’t pester her about it, especially given her temperament.”
Mewtwo sighed, rubbing his temples. “You should open up a detective agency.”
Sasha snorted, shaking her head. “No thanks. Now then, I’d like to take a look around. Would you like to join me?”
Now it was Mewtwo’s turn to shake his head. “I’ve still got some business to take care of. Should be done with it by the time you get back. Go, explore. There’s plenty to see and do in Saffron, whether you’re human or pokémon.”
Sasha frowned before nodding. “Very well. I’ll see you tonight then.”
6.4
Arceus paced around the Hall of Origin, deep in thought.
It stopped when it heard the familiar sound of a dimensional hole opening and turned to see a thoroughly exhausted celebi come through.
"What news?"
"We've stabilized the time around groudon and kyogre while managing to weave rayquaza's actions into the narrative. It's now thanks to rayquaza's interference that groudon and kyogre's feud was ended," the celebi replied.
"So you couldn't recover Ash's involvement?" Arceus asked, causing the celebi to shake its head. "So that's another changed scenario."
"Well, if Cyrus wanted Ash to lose his fame and be able to live a relatively normal life, he succeeded," celebi said, going over a stack of notes. "Those Time Crashes he pulled off were...mind-boggling. Even Dialga is unsure of its ability to repair them and in ten years we've restored, what, maybe a quarter of the damage?"
"Were it not for parallel dimensions, we'd probably be in a lot more trouble," Arceus agreed. "Still, the progress you've made is wonderful."
Celebi sighed and rubbed its antenna tiredly. "Guess I better go tell Ash about this so he doesn't accidentally tell someone he saved Hoenn."
With a pop, the time traveling onion fairy vanished and Arceus was once again alone.
6.5
Mewtwo stirred the pot of soup a few times before turning the stove off. Leaving the kitchen, he approached the couch and stared at the pile of blankets that occupied one of end of it.
"Your soup will be ready in a few minutes, your highness," he announced. A red nose poked itself out of the blankets shortly followed by the rest of the head of a grumpy eevee.
"I hate the cold," Sasha muttered. Mewtwo crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame.
"Not surprising, given what you've gone through," Mewtwo replied. "Seems like you're not comfortable around either end of the temperature spectrum."
Sasha blinked and shook her head slowly. "Usually I'd berate you for making fun of someone's traumatic experiences, but I'm too tired to think of a comeback at the moment."
Mewtwo winced, rubbing his arm. "Right...sorry."
Sasha sneezed and Mewtwo closed the distance between them, snagging a box of tissues along the way. Dabbing at the eevee's face, he cupped her face and kissed her forehead lightly, causing Sasha's ears to warm and she squirmed.
"The perks of you being sick is that you can't escape my attention," Mewtwo said with a grin. Sasha stuck her tongue out at him.
With a thought, Mewtwo poured the soup into a bowl, fetched a spoon and guided it into the room. Taking the bowl and spoon, he fed Sasha small sips and she relaxed, eyes half-closed in contentment.
"Seriously, your ability to cook is something else," she murmured drowsily. Mewtwo stared into the broth for a moment and shrugged. Sasha nibbled on the noodles and quietly drank the rest of the bowl before settling back.
"You're welcome, Sasha," Mewtwo said quietly as the eevee swiftly fell asleep. He watched her for a few minutes before retreating to the privacy of his own rooms.
He hadn’t expected the eevee to stick around after recovering and he found himself having mixed feelings about the prospect of her leaving. The clone ran a hand over his face with an irritated growl and stared at the various things he’d picked up over the years, pictures and souvenirs from his many adventures.
Mewtwo stared at a picture of a dark haired woman for a moment before his eyes fell to the simple necklace arrayed in front of it.
Turning his back on the old memories, Mewtwo curled up on his bed and drifted off to sleep.
