Ash’s Pidgeot and a Charizard landed on the Sky Pillar. Jen felt her heartbeat race as Ash, Pikachu, and Misty hopped off of Pidgeot. Her gaze quickly turned to Charizard and the trainer on its back.
“R-Red?” She said softly. Her hope was quickly rising.
The trainer hopped off of his Pokemon and walked into view.
“RRREEEEEEDDDDDDD!!!” Jen screamed.
Red didn’t have time to react as Jen slammed into him and his Charizard, pulling him into a tight hug. The sky seemed to clear up around them.
“You…you jerk! You frigg’n jerk!” She cried as she hugged him tighter.
Red smiled and hugged her back.
“It’s as if she doesn’t even know we’re here.” Ash remarked in a teasing voice.
“Just give her a moment, Ash. She hasn’t seen him in a very long time.”
“This is the same Red who you wanted to have resurrected?” Arceus asked.
Jen turned towards Arceus with tears of joy in her eyes. “Uh, huh.” She then stiffened when she saw all the other Legendries staring at Mewtwo.
“Did you bring him back to life, Mewtwo?” Cresselia asked.
Mewtwo shook his head. “I only found empty graves when I arrived at the Pokemon Tower.”
“So…did you do something, Ash…wait, no? You didn’t know that he was dead, did you?” Jen asked.
“I knew my brother was dead years ago, Jen.” Ash said as he helped Red and Jen to their feet. “The only thing that still puzzles me now is how he has returned. He won’t tell us.”
Red smirked and signed for Jen’s folder. Jen quickly handed it over and Red flipped it open to her drawings.
“Who drew these and when?” Ash asked. “All of these drawings are…”
“Of your adventures, Ash.” Misty said, finishing his sentence.
Jen’s lips formed a thin line. “I only drew those because I thought they would help Ash wake up. They weren’t supposed to be based off of real, or future, events.”
“Mewtwo, you were the last one at the Tower. Only you could have brought the boy back to life.” Zapdos stated.
“Just because I was there last, doesn’t mean I was the one who brought him to life. Remember, I found two empty graves.”
Red quickly began to sign, but none of the Legendries paid him any mind. And even if they did, they probably wouldn’t be able to understand him.
“Can you repeat that, Red? I didn’t see you sign.” Jen said, looking up from the drawings.
Red’s shoulders sagged, but he proceeded to sign again.
“There is no need. I saw what he said.” All the Legendries and humans turned towards Arceus. “I also believe that he is correct in his theories.”
“What do you mean by that? What is the boy saying?” Celebi asked curiously.
Arceus slowly turned his gaze towards Jen, again, who shrank away from his stare.
“Master.” Gastly said, nudging her shoulder.
“What were you doing when you found out that Red was no longer living?” Arceus asked. The Sky Pillar was silent as everyone waited for Jen’s response.
“I-I was mourning his death…like anyone would.” She replied.
“How so?”
Jen frowned. “How? I cried for him.”
“Where?”
Jen glanced up at the gigantic Legendary. “What kind of a question is that?” “At his grave.”
“At his grave.” Arceus repeated. “And how exactly did you feel when you found out that he was dead?”
“Extremely sad. Why?” Jen asked quickly. She looked to Misty, her cousins, and her Pokemon for help, but they too, with the exception of Red, who was grinning rather oddly, looked just as confused.
Arceus and the rest of the Legendries were silent. “Where were you on the night of the blackout and what were you doing?”
“I was at home.”
“Doing what?”
“Good grief, does he want my whole life story?” She mentally groaned. “I was arguing with my mom about not being able to become a Pokemon trainer.”
“And you were greatly angered by her denying you the privilege to become a trainer?”
Jen nodded, slightly irked by the memory. “Why wouldn’t I be? She’s promised me ever since I was young that I could become a trainer at eighteen, and then she tries to go back on her promise!”
Arceus sighed. “Ash…do you mind using your Pokedex on your cousin?”
“What?” Everyone seemed to say in unison.
Jen spun towards Ash and frowned. “What?”
“You didn’t see everything in the folder, did you, Jen?” Red signed as Ash took out his Pokedex.
“No. I just looked at some of my drawings I had done for Ash.” She replied, stealing glances at Ash who was scanning her. “Why does he need to scan me? I’m not a Pokemon.”
She could hear his Pokedex read out Gastly and Vulpix’s bios, and then…
Pokemon Unknown
The Sky Pillar went silent again.
“So I guess that’s what happens if you scan a human.” Misty kidded. “Here, scan me. I’m sure it’ll have the same results.”
Ash turned to Misty and let his Pokedex scan her. It beeped and said…
No Pokemon Found
All of the Legendries erupted into loud squabbles.
Jen’s eyes were wide with shock. “P-Pokemon…unknown?”
She felt a pair of hands on her shoulders spin her around. It was Red. “You need to stay calm, Jen.” He signed.
“What?!”
“Jen, please, I know this may be a bit much to take in, especially as suddenly as this, but you must stay calm and focused.” Red signed.
“Red, I’m sure my Pokedex just glitched or something. I can try scanning her again.”
“You will only receive the same results.” Arceus boomed over the chaotic chatter. “We have all heard what was needed to be heard. Your cousin is not completely human, but a human hybrid Pokemon.”
Gastly and Vulpix’s jaws dropped as Jen slowly began to sway backwards. “Huh?!”
“Whoa, easy, Jen.” Ash said uneasily as both he and Misty kept Jen from falling backwards.
“How can she be one of us?” Mewtwo asked. He didn’t sound angry or upset, but rather concerned.
“No! No! She cannot be one of us. She is a human.” Ho-Oh cried.
“Are you mad that she was able to bring her cousin and his Pokemon back to life with her tears?” Enti asked Ho-Oh curtly.
Ho-Oh glared at him.
“So…does that mean that she is the behind all the freak events?” Celebi asked.
“Hey!” Gastly cried. “No need to blame her.”
“Yeah, it’s not like she intentionally caused any of…what is she being accused of doing again?” Vulpix asked Arceus.
“We believe that she is responsible for creating the regional blackout and the massive storm.” Giratina replied.
Jen slowly shook her head. She was still very stunned by the news. “I didn’t…I couldn’t have done any of that. I would never do such a thing.”
Arceus studied her as the other Legendries began to converse with one another. “Mew.” He called.
The pink Legendary rushed over to his side. “Uh, huh?”
“I want you to try something for me.”
A few minutes later
Jen sat with her Pokemon resting beside her. She had her head buried in her knees as she listened to the Legendries conversations.
“What should we do with her?”
“Will she be able to control herself?”
“She’s not looking to good right now. She’s not going to get sick, is she?”
“Oh, hell, no! If she does, I will throw her off the edge. I like to keep my territory nice.”
“Rayquaza, shut up.”
Gastly growled at Rayquaza. “If you dare lay a claw on my master, I’ll make you pay.”
Rayquaza didn’t seem to hear Gastly.
“Seriously…what are we going to do with her?”
“Her abilities seem to be electrical and weather based, so perhaps the Kami Trio will take her on and train her?”
“But how will she understand them?”
Mewtwo stared at the Legendries and shook his head. “A couple days ago, everyone here was blaming Mew and me for creating this mess due to our powers, and abilities to do so. Now that they have found the one responsible, they dare try to relate her power to the Trio’s?” He looked over at Jen, who still had her face buried in her knees. Ash and the others were sitting behind her, studying the contents of Jen’s/Red’s folder.
“Hey, Arceus wants me to try something weird.” Mew said as she zipped up from behind him.
“And what is that, if I may ask?”
Mew giggled. “Sorry! I can’t tell you that. Just don’t let her know that I’m behind her…kay?”
Mewtwo stared up at Mew oddly. “Sometimes I wonder how I could have possibly been cloned from you.”
Mew shrugged and quickly flew behind Jen before either she or her Pokemon could notice. Mewtwo watched on in curiosity.
“Hey, how are you doing?” Mew asked in her best Misty imitating voice…or so she thought.
Jen shrugged.
Mew flinched and looked at Mewtwo.
“Coincidental?” He thought telepathically to her. “Try again.”
“It’s okay if you want to talk about it. Are you…scared by all of this?” Mew asked.
Jen didn’t respond, and Mew shook her head at both Mewtwo and Arceus before speaking to them telepathically. “She can’t understand us. This is where she is still human--”
“I guess I’m a little scared.” Jen finally replied.
Both Mews’ eyes widened, and Arceus smirked.
“Sabrina had suggested that I was a psychic, but I didn’t believe her. I didn’t want to believe her, but now…I kind of wish I was just psychic.”
“O.0”
“Misty? What’s wrong?” Jen asked, turning around slightly.
“Did you say something, Jen?” Misty asked from where she sat with the others.
Jen frowned and turned all the way around to see Ash, Pikachu, and Misty had their backs turned to her. Red, on the other hand, was silently snickering at something…or someone. Probably her.
Jen looked away. “You guys heard Misty talking, right?” She asked her Pokemon.
Her Pokemon didn’t respond.
“Guys?” She glanced over at her Pokemon.
They were both staring at her in complete shock with Mew right beside them. She was on the ground with her mouth hanging wide open, stunned.
“I wasn’t talking to Misty just now, was I?” She asked.
Her Pokemon and Mew shook their heads in unison.
“They were bound to find out eventually.” She thought to herself.
Gastly slowly drifted over to Jen, and swallowed nervously. “Can…can you understand us, master?”
Jen placed her hands on either side of Gastly’s face and smiled softly. “Call me Jen. I am not your master, but your friend.” A small giggle escaped her lips. “You two do not know how long I have been wanting to say that!”
Neither Gastly nor Vulpix knew how to react. Nothing like this had ever occurred to them, let alone to anyone else for that matter.
Jen bit her bottom lip as Gastly floated out of her hands. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you two earlier. I didn’t exactly know how…or how you would react.”
Vulpix’s ears suddenly twitched. “Hang on one flipp’n minute, master! Do you mean to tell us that you could understand us this whole entire time?”
Jen nodded.
“So each time we told you to eat…MASTER!!”
“It’s Jen…”
“Why would you pretend not to understand us?” Gastly asked. He sounded hurt.
Jen hesitated before answering. “I was worried about how you would react. Plus, I liked listening to the conversations you two had with each other.”
This answer seemed to please Vulpix and Gastly.
“So when we were leaving Pewter gym, and you were being absolutely silent, you were just listening to us? You weren’t upset or anything?”
“I would never be upset with any of you.”
“And you can understand all Pokemon?” Vulpix asked.
Jen nodded. “I wasn’t very pleased with the way Raichu spoke to you two. I know there is and will be smack talk in every battle, but he went a bit too far.”
“You should have said something to him. He would have been scared shitless.” Vulpix cackled.
“That can be the first thing we do when we get back to Kanto.”
Vulpix grinned mischievously.
“Would you like a test run?” Mew asked, motioning towards Rayquaza. “We have a…slightly willing volunteer.”
Jen looked at Gastly. He looked a bit uneasy about the prank, but nodded anyway. “I can’t wait to see this, but what are you going to say to him?”
The four gathered closer together, making sure that no one could eavesdrop. Mewtwo tried to listen in, but they were talking too softly for him to hear. He wanted to move closer, but he knew that if he tried, Mew and the others would know that he was snooping.
“This could end badly.” He thought.
Jen stood up and boldly walked over to where Rayquaza was hovering. With him were the Legendries, Meloetta, the three Lake Guardians, and Moltres. Rayquaza towered over Jen, but she wouldn’t let his size or dark stare discourage her.
“Hello!” Meloetta sang cheerfully.
Jen waved at Meloetta and gave her a smile before turning back towards Rayquaza.
“What does she want? Why is she staring at me?” Rayquaza asked. He sounded both annoyed and slightly creeped out.
Jen continued to stare while her Pokemon, the Mews, and Arceus watched on secretly.
“Arceus, I think something is wrong with the human.” Moltres cried out. The firebird looked for Arceus and saw him staring back with a ‘no-duh!’ glare.
“And she’s shaking.” Rayquaza added.
Jen was just about ready to start laughing. The way Rayquaza was already freaking out was causing her to shake with suppressed laughter.
“Perhaps she is scared of a certain Legendary who attacked her awhile back?” Uxie suggested, directing the statement at Moltres.
“I didn’t mean to chase her off a cliff. I didn’t even know it was there! I just wanted to scare her back towards one of the human’s paths.”
“You should have paid more attention to where she was running. She could have died.” Mesprit scowled.
“I thought you guys promised that we wouldn’t talk about this ever again.” Moltres growled.
“She’s still staring…” Rayquaza muttered. “Latias! Mew! Someone come and get her!”
Jen giggled as she tried to speak. “L-Latias! *Giggle* Me-Mew! Heh! I’m sorry…haha!”
“What did she say?” Azelf asked. His face scrunched up into one that displayed confusion.
“I don’t know. I can’t hear her. She’s laughing too much.” Mesprit shrugged.
“Someone get rid of her before I do.” Rayquaza said as he tried to ignore Jen’s gaze.
Jen’s jaw dropped open. She wanted to cry out, “What the heck do you mean by that?!”, but was stopped when Ho-Oh landed next to Rayquaza. Jen went still as she and Ho-Oh attempted to stare each other down.
“You don’t even have to be psychic to sense the tension between these two.” Uxie mumbled to his siblings.
“You can say that again.” Mesprit muttered.
“Ho-Oh, leave her alone.” Azelf said to the gigantic bird.
Neither Ho-Oh nor Jen broke from their stare-down.
“This could get really bad. Ho-Oh is not thinking nice things.” Mew groaned as she and Jen’s Pokemon watched on.
Vulpix shrugged. “At least they’re not fighting. This could be much worse.”
“It looks like it might get worse.” Gastly grimaced. “Master!”
“Jen, what are you doing?” Misty asked.
Ash and Red climbed to their feet when they noticed how close Jen was to Ho-Oh and Rayquaza. “Jen. Slowly. Walk. Away.” Ash said cautiously.
“I’m fine.” Jen said calmly.
“You should listen to your cousin, girl.” Ho-Oh muttered, not knowing that she could understand him.
Jen was about to speak, but felt someone pull her by the arm and drag her back towards her cousins. “I am fine. You guys don’t need to--”
It was Mewtwo who had pulled her away from Ho-Oh.
“You are only partially Pokemon. You are not invincible and you are still somewhat human too.” Mewtwo scolded. “You should be more careful.”
Jen didn’t respond to him. She was still a bit upset with Mewtwo for leaving her at the Pokemon Tower, but she was more surprised by his…concern?
She pulled away from him and walked back to her Red and the others. Once she made it over to her cousins, Ash held out an old journal to her. “Jen, you might want to read this.”
Jen flipped it open to the saved pages that Ash and the other marked. Everything was written in her mom’s handwriting.
Five days after Jen woke up
John sent me a cure for my baby. Finally, after a two-year struggle, I get to see my baby’s eyes again. Though, they are not the color I remember they were…they used to be green, and her hair, we had to cut it short earlier, has grown back as white.
John, what the Hell did you send to me?
Two weeks later
Jen has been doing fine, and the other children in town have been quite welcoming and have accepted her into their little groups. I would like to say nothing is wrong, but that is not the case.
A couple days ago, my Pokemon, who used to sit with me late at night watching Jen while she was ill, now try to attack her. It’s as if they feel threatened by her. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them act so violently towards anyone, especially Sneasel.
There are other Pokemon in my PokeDatabase, but I will not take the risk of them hurting Jen. I believe it’s time to let my old friends, all of my Pokemon, go.
Two months later
The other day, all four children (Ash, Rory, Libby, and Gary) had to be rushed to the hospital because they ate berries that only edible to Pokemon. Jen said that she ate some and feels fine.
Three months later
I have received word from John’s work…he was killed by a freak explosion a while back. How will I be able to protect Jen if that…whatever it was that held her in a coma—comes back? John gave me a vial, and said that they had tested it out on all different types of Pokemon. I haven’t really questioned, or fully worried about it until now. What was it that I injected into Jen?
Jen just about ripped her mom’s journal in half as she finished reading it aloud. “She did something to me without even considering the consequences, and this John guy had to pay with his life!”
Red grimaced at her anger.
“How long ago were those written?” Arceus asked. He had overheard Jen reading the entries aloud.
“About fifteen years ago. Why?” Ash replied.
The god-like Legendary turned towards Dialga and Palkia. “Find the event in which this John sends her mother the vial. I want to know of its origins and creators.”
The two nodded and focused on the space in front of them. The air shimmered for a bit before two rifts opened. One showed Jen’s mom, fifteen years younger, sitting in front of a tele-computer. The other showed a man dressed as a professor, perhaps John, examining a small vial of purple liquid. He looked to be in his mid-30’s.
His tele-computer rang, waking him from his crying. He immediately picked up his phone and Lucy appeared on the other end.
“John…what did the doctors say?” Lucy asked slowly.
John shook his head. His eyes were becoming glassy again. “I’m sorry, Lucy. They still don’t know what’s wrong…we have about two weeks left.”
Lucy covered her mouth as tears came to her eyes. “John, what are we going to do? Have you not found anything during your travels that could help our child?”
“Our child?!” Jen thought, shocked. She had been told that her dad had left them years ago by her mom, and Jen believed her. Now…
John looked at the vial that was still clutched in his hand before looking up at Lucy, who stared back at him with a glint of hope in her eyes. He sighed and held up the vial for Lucy to see. “This…this should help, but we’ve only been testing it on Pokemon. There have never been any human test subjects, Lucy. Please understand the risks.”
“But it could save our child’s life!”
“It…it could, or it might not.”
“John Marx, you listen to me! My baby needs that vial to live! Please act like a father this one time and send me the vial.”
“But, Lucy-”
“DAMN IT, JOHN, JUST DO IT!”
“Don’t, John. Don’t listen to her.” Jen mentally cried.
He bit his bottom lip and placed the vial on the transporter. The vial was scanned and instantly transported to Lucy.
Lucy smiled as the vial appeared on her side. “Thank you, John.” She said with a soft smile.
“Don’t let me regret this, Lucy.”
She nodded and the screen went blank, but Jen and the others could still see Lucy. She smiled at the vial, not bothering to question its contents, before walking upstairs to Jen’s room.
She opened the door and Jen gasped. Lying in her bed was a younger version of herself, but instead of having platinum blonde hair, she had small fluffs of brown hair and she looked very pale.
Her mom walked over to the IV that was attached to the younger Jen’s arm and injected the contains of the vial into the IV. The serum didn’t take long to flow through the tube and into Jen’s arm.
“Don’t worry, baby. This will make you better. I promise.” Lucy said as she caressed Jen’s pale cheek.
“Mewtwo…” Mew said worriedly.
Jen looked over at the Mews and saw that Mew was holding Mewtwo back. He looked mad, no, scratch that, he looked furious. She glanced over at Ash and the others and saw that they too looked bothered by the scene taking place in John’s rift.
Jen directed her attention towards the second rift and saw a well-dressed man talking to John. “Who is he?”
“Giovanni.” Mewtwo growled darkly.
“Leader of Team Rocket.” Ash added grimly.
Jen’s head swirled around towards him in disbelief.
Ash quickly looked away when he realized what his statement meant for Jen. Her dad was a Team Rocket scientist. “Sorry.”
She slowly turned back to John’s rift to see him scrambling to collect all of his work into a cardboard box. After a while of watching him gather his things together, John ran out of his office to where the rest of his colleagues were and froze. They were all banging and pulling at the doors, but they were all locked.
John dropped the box and fell to his knees. The sound of explosions quickly filled the room.
“Forgive me, Lucy…forgive me my poor child…I’m so…so very sorry.” He cried.
Before the room erupted into flames, Red ran at the rift and pulled John’s box through. Everyone either flinched or turned away as flames consumed everything in the room. Jen forced herself to look away, only to see her younger self staring at the ceiling with her blue eyes. She lifted a small hand up and waved goodbye to an unseen being.
A soft hand landed on her shoulder. She turned to see Red with his arms open for her, but she turned away. “I’m fine, Red.” She said numbly.
“Did you find what you were looking for?” Misty asked Arceus icily.
“Yes.” He replied grimly. “Red, what have you found?”
Ash and Red quickly skimmed through the papers. Their eyes slowly began to widen as read John’s research.
“What does it say?” Misty asked. “Does it say what was in the vial?”
Ash stared at her, open mouthed. “Uh…”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Mewtwo groaned. He had read Ash's mind.
He and Mew both looked stunned.
“What was in the vial?” Jen asked a little more aggressively.
“The serum was a combination of the Mews’ DNA. Team Rocket’s goal was to use it in order to strengthen the power of different types of Pokemon, both natural and cloned. None of the Pokemon they had tried the serum on survived.” Ash read.
“Except for Jen…” Red signed.
“Every bit of remaining serum was destroyed during the explosion, with the exception of the one given to Jen.” Misty said. She looked at Jen with concern. “What are you thinking, Jen?”
Jen was speechless.
“We at least now know who will be training her.” Arceus stated. “Mew and Mewtwo, she is now your responsibility.”