The Tree of Beginning...

Chapter 5 - The Tree of Beginning...

Ash and Mewtwo appeared out of thin air right in front of the cabin he was using to train at Mount Silver. While Ash put on his sweater's hood, Mewtwo again brought out his psychic shield against the cold and Pikachu opened Ash's backpack, slipping inside it and then closing it again. Ash looked around the area they were at.

"I don't see Riolu. Then again, it's kind of hard to see anything, even in this light snowfall. Should we split up?" asked Ash.

"No need for that. I will use my psychic senses to look for life forms near us."

"Hey, that reminds me, I can try using my aura senses too! It'll help me get better using it as well!"

"Might as well give it a shot. Alright then, let us both try."

Mewtwo's eyes glowed blue suddenly and started looking for anything nearby. Ash followed with his own detection as his aura outlined his body faintly in a blue glow and then sent out a transparent, yet light aura pulse around him. After a few minutes of trying to sense something, they got nothing. They both stopped with their actions, Ash breathing a little harder, which was noticed by the feline.

"Are you alright Ash?"

Ash glanced at him, a little surprised for the question of concern, even if it was made with no emotion.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just haven't had much practice. Anyway, I got nothing. How about you?"

"Nothing for me either it seems. Perhaps we should try at the base of the mountain."

"Okay, let's go."

Again they disappeared, and barely a second passed and they reappeared at the base of the mountain, in front of the cave entrance. They both tried sensing for Riolu again. After a minute or two, Mewtwo stopped what he was doing and grabbed Ash's arm, causing him to lose focus and leave his aura sense. Before the boy could say anything, Mewtwo raised his other arm and pointed towards their right side.

Understanding the gesture, Ash nodded as Mewtwo glanced at him and they both set off in that direction. Ash struggled a bit walking over the snow, while Mewtwo simply floated over the cold ground. After walking for about two hundred feet, they noticed a small black and blue figure leaning against a tree, with snow covering most of its body. Ash hurried past Mewtwo towards the figure and once he got close enough, he noticed it was the pokémon they were looking for, but in a very bad shape.

The small fighting canine looked to be unconscious. Ash brushed off most of the snow off of Riolu, and noticed some bruises and cuts on him, probably from battling some wild pokémon. What scared Ash the most was that he was hardly breathing and when he checked for a pulse, it was very weak.

"This is bad Mewtwo. He's very cold and he looks to be in pretty bad shop, probably caused from some fights with wild pokémon. We need to get him to a pokémon center quick."

Mewtwo looked at Ash, not responding for a moment, and then nodded. Ash gingerly picked up the pokémon, stood up and then gave a nod signaling he was ready. Mewtwo's eyes glowed and the next second, they vanished.

They appeared right in front of an extremely large tree, one that looked as huge as a mountain. As soon as Ash noticed where they were, he turned to Mewtwo, confused.

"Why are we here Mewtwo? We should be at a pokémon center instead!"

"Riolu's wounds are too severe. My sister Mew will be able to heal him much more quickly than any Nurse Joy. Plus, he can receive the aura knowledge. Kill two birds with one stone, no?"

Ash looked at Mewtwo for a moment before they set off. They walked towards the tree for a little bit, Riolu still cradled in Ash's arms, when the ground began to shake. Suddenly, three large golem pokémon appeared in front of them from under the ground. The guardians of the tree, Regirock, Regice and Registeel had emerged from underground and they blocked their path from going any further.

"Please we must see Mew! She can help us save Riolu!" cried out Ash.

The golem trio did not move or respond to his pleas.

"This is a waste of time," stated Mewtwo and his began glowing blue.

"No! Don't fight them! They're only doing their job! MEW! We need you!"

Before anything else happened, a pink bubble appeared in front of them suddenly, and then faded away, revealing the pink pokémon, floating a few feet above the ground.

"Hello there silly. My, you're here quick! Still, what took ya?" giggled Mew.

"Mew! Thank Arceus you're here. Please help Riolu!" pleaded Ash.

Mew came closer to take a look at Riolu after Ash placed him on the ground carefully. After a moment of looking at the weakened and battered pokémon, Mew's eyes glowed blue. Riolu began glowing as well and after a little while, the glowing stopped and Mew's eyes returned to their original color. A few seconds later, Riolu groaned a little, then slowly opened his eyes and blinked a few times, trying to focus his vision. He saw three figures standing over him, two of them pokémon and the other a human. Riolu realized who two of them were and instantly shot up, surprising the three.

"I guess you're feeling better, huh, Riolu?" asked the boy. Riolu turned towards the boy.

"Yes…thank you. And I remember where I was before. If it wasn't for you, I would've been gone from this world. Looks like you saved my life again. Thank you, Master Ash," replied Riolu, as he got up and gave a low bow to Ash.

Ash sweat dropped and hurriedly told the pokémon to not call him master, while also pointing out that Mewtwo and Mew were also involved in saving his life. Riolu thanked both of them but the aura pokémon wouldn't listen to Ash's request.

"As my ancestors have done before me, whenever we are partnered to an Aura Guardian, or we have our lives saved in any form, we show our respect by calling them our Master, even if they are our friend. It is tradition and a sign of respect. I will not break such a thing. But I must ask, how did you find me?"

Ash began explaining to Riolu while Mew kept flying around above them, glad to have visitors and Mewtwo was leaning against a tree, with his arms crossed, observing everything. Ash told Riolu everything from his training on Mount Silver, to meeting with Arceus, the vision, what they were advised to do, and that they were supposed to find him and come to Mew, so she can pass on the sacred knowledge of Aura. Riolu took in everything quite well and quickly understood what must be done.

"So, will you come with us?"

Riolu looked at Ash for a moment, and then answered.

"I'm surprised you even asked me that Ash. You have helped me twice already, and you knew I was looking for you. I will be honored to be fighting beside a kind and brave soul such as you."

Ash smiled and took out a luxury ball from his backpack.

"I always ask first, even if I kind of know already. Regardless, welcome to the team buddy!"

Ash held out the luxury ball and Riolu tapped the button with his paw. A flash of light later, he was captured and the ball instantly dinged. Ash quickly let him back out and both of them faced up towards Mew to call her down since she was still zipping around excitedly but was pretending to not have heard their calls.

"Mew! You pink pinball! Get down here and pass on the knowledge to Riolu already so we can leave!" called out Mewtwo suddenly.

Ash's and Riolu's jaws dropped at what they just heard. Mew teleported right in front of the purple feline and there was an angry look on her face, one that none of them had ever seen.

"What did you just call me, little brother?"

Mewtwo scoffed. "I think you have to get your facts checked. You're the one who's smaller. And I called you a pink pinball cause that's what you are, constantly zigzagging all over the place. Don't you ever get tired of annoying everyone?"

Mew glared. The raven-haired trainer and the small aura pokémon glanced nervously at each other, while Pikachu shook his head as he got out of the backpack when he heard their argument. He had been taking a nap since entering the backpack and just woke up.

"Hmph! I may be smaller, but I am older than you, and more powerful, so don't push it!"

"Is that a challenge? Well then, let's go another round," Mewtwo replied as he stepped away from the tree and got into a battle stance with a smile on his face.

"That's it! I'm gonna flatten you like a pancake then I'm gonna serve you to the three Regis!"

"Stop it, both of you!" Riolu roared suddenly. For a small pokémon, he sure did have a loud voice.

Mew and Mewtwo turned their heads with stunned expressions on their faces, surprised to hear the loud voice coming from him.

"You should be ashamed of yourselves! We are on a noble and important mission and you two are fighting for no reason like a pair of children! Now, let's get back on track and focus on what needs to be done before my master and I leave you here and call your father to let him know you two are playing games when we should be starting on our goal!"

Riolu glared at the two legendary psychic pokémon, who both sweat dropped. Ash's eyebrows were raised and his eyes were widened in shock at what his pokémon just said.

Wow, he must really have no fear, thought Ash. He just scolded those two as if they were children, not caring that they both are powerful legendaries. Arceus was right. Riolu will be a great addition to the team.

"No! Please don't tell daddy! I promise I'll behave! See, I'll go get some stuff for you guys so you can enter the Tree of Beginning okay? Just give me a quick minute!"

With that statement, Mew disappeared. Mewtwo however, quickly composed himself and then spoke.

"I admit I may have gone a little overboard. However, speak to me like that again, and I will not let it go so easily, even if you are Ash's pokémon. Understood?"

Riolu neither spoke nor moved, just continued to glare at Mewtwo. Ash and Pikachu looked at each other and both shook their heads.

"This is going to be rough."

"Pika Pika…" agreed Pikachu.

A second later, Mew appeared again in their midst while carrying two aura crystals shaped as poke balls hanging from a necklace. She gave one to Ash and another to Mewtwo.

"These aura crystals will let you go into the Tree of Beginning. The Regis will not attack and neither will the other defenses the Tree has. As for your pokémon Ash, they don't need one since they are bonded with you. Your aura crystal is enough for you and all your pokémon. Since Mewtwo is not really your pokémon, he needed his own. Now follow me while we head inside!" after Mew spoke she began leading the way and the three Regis cleared the path. Ash, Pikachu, Riolu and Mewtwo followed.

"Why must we go inside? Can you not pass the knowledge to Riolu so we may leave without going inside the Tree?" asked Mewtwo.

"I could, but it will take longer. The Tree has many Aura crystals inside of it that will help me transfer the knowledge quicker since Riolu and I must connect with our Auras to pass the knowledge over," answered Mew.

After walking a few minutes through the Tree's passages, they finally reached the center of the tree. Ash and Pikachu smiled as they were greeted with a beautiful area, as Riolu gasped in surprise to the beauty, while Mewtwo kept his calm demeanor even though he was impressed by the sight.

The inside of the tree had a fairly large lake in the center of it, with a waterfall as well, about a hundred feet up in the air, against the north side of them. There were many aura crystals embedded in the walls of the tree as well as in the ground and lake, from small ones able to fit in one's pocket, to some as large as cars. There was also a circular path to their right that was connected to the walls as well, spiraling up towards the top of the tree, with several different passage openings along the path.

"Follow me Riolu. Ash, you and my brother can wait here while I transfer the knowledge. Please feel free to relax and take a swim if you'd like!"

Ash nodded and Riolu followed after Mew. Ash set his backpack down and sat down near the lake, enjoying the view of everything. Meanwhile, Pikachu was running around and gazing at the crystals, making funny faces with his reflections and laughing. Ash chuckled at his pokémon's antics. Mewtwo tilted his head in slight annoyance.

"What's the matter Mewtwo?" the boy asked.

"Nothing is wrong Ash. I'm merely annoyed at what Pikachu is doing and want to leave as soon as possible."

Pikachu stuck his tongue out at Mewtwo and continued his antics. Ash chuckled.

"You know, there's nothing wrong in having a little fun. You should try it sometime."

Mewtwo glared at the raven-haired trainer, which caused him to sweat a little.

"Or maybe not. Okay, if you don't want to just stand around then how about we start making plans on what we should do?" Ash reached into his bag and took out a notebook and a pen.

Mewtwo replaced the glare he had on before with his usual stoic expression.

"Alright, let's go over what Arceus told us and see what we can come up with."

Ash and Mewtwo then discussed the advice the Alpha Pokémon told them and Ash quickly jotted them down. They then discussed the island that was prepared for their training, the tournament, letting Ash's friends and family know what they were allowed to tell them, which pokémon they should look for and in what locations, what sort of training regiments they should incorporate, what kinds of diets they and the pokémon should be on, what to do about weaknesses, and so on.

As they discussed these topics and many others, Ash was filling up his notebook quite rapidly and Mewtwo was beginning to be more comfortable around him, actually letting his guard down and taking a seat beside the boy. They talked a little more while Ash took down some notes, trying hard to not forget anything as he wrote them down. Mewtwo finished speaking and looked around the area, this time actually taking in what he saw, appreciating the view, while Ash caught up in his notes. Pikachu had curled up next to Ash a little while ago, sleeping, after tiring himself out at making funny faces.

"And there. Done. Okay, that's the final thing we talked about. Whoa, that's a lot of things we just came up with," Ask remarked as he flipped through the filled up pages. "Once Riolu gets back we'll talk to him as well and try to prioritize this stuff into something that will make sense and help us."

"Agreed. It's been a while. How much longer do you think it's going to take?"

"I'm not sure Mewtwo. When I had some beginner's training as an Aura Guardian in the Kingdom of Rota with Master Riley that took a couple weeks. This may take a while. Let's rest until they're done."

"I suppose you're right. I'm going to explore a bit before I take a rest."

"Alright. I'm gonna take a few winks. I'll be here if you need anything buddy."

Mewtwo nodded and left. Ash got his sleeping bag out of his large backpack and set it up away from the lake and then picked up Pikachu and carefully placed him beside his sleeping bag. He then got in and went to sleep.

While Ash was sleeping, Mewtwo merely stood in front of the lake, going over what they had discussed in his head. He was actually quite surprised as to how the boy was able to come up with such good ideas. He glanced back at the sleeping trainer.

Hmmm….he's much more than just a typical trainer. He may seem oblivious to everything else around him, but when it comes to pokémon and battling, he's a natural. I wonder where he gets it from. Perhaps there is something I can learn from him.

Mewtwo face towards the lake again, his arms crossed. He decided to meditate for a while. No sooner had he decided to do so, that he sensed there was something coming. He looked above him and saw Riolu and Mew floating down in a pink bubble.

"About time. Are you finally finished?" asked an inpatient Mewtwo.

"Of course silly! If we weren't, then we wouldn't be here, would we? Geez, and you say nothing gets past you. Yea right!" teased Mew.

"Alright enough!" interrupted Riolu. He sensed Mewtwo getting angry again and didn't want it escalated. "We have more important things to do. Where's Ash? Ah there he is!"

The aura pokémon moved towards Ash after reaching the ground. When he passed Mewtwo, the canine pokémon put up an aura shield to stop a small Shadow Ball launched at him from the psychic feline. After the attack, Riolu went on guard, his aura flaring around him powerfully.

"What was that for?!" growled Riolu.

"I was merely testing you. I wanted to see the results of Mew's knowledge transfer," replied Mewtwo.

"Hmph. Stick around. I promise you'll see more."

The aura pokémon relaxed and the aura around him faded away. Riolu went to Ash and woke him up by shaking him a bit. Finally Ash woke up and as soon as he saw his pokémon, asked him how the transfer went.

"It went smoothly. I have all the knowledge about aura. Now let us get going."

"That's awesome Riolu! Before we go, I want to tell you some things that Mewtwo and I discussed about what we should do next. You should join us Mewtwo."

The three then discussed the ideas that the guardian and feline came up with and also the advice that Arceus gave them. After about an hour they prioritized what they needed to do. Their objectives were lined up, in a general idea of which to tackle first before the others. Of course they would adjust accordingly if they could do something quicker or had to leave something for later. The list went as follows;

Go to New Island and check it out; figure out what they need to add, what to discard and what to change.

Figure out how to tell his family and friends that he will be gone for a while.

Find the pokémon he let go for the time being and see if they wanted to come back

Move all of his pokémon who wanted to come from Professor Oak's lab to the island

Figure out how to have new pokémon that he captured or befriended on his journey go automatically to the island.

Figure out a way to bypass the maximum 6 pokémon on him rule

Research perfect diet and training regiment for each pokémon and figure out how to combat their weaknesses, while enhancing their strengths naturally

Come up with island defenses for when the darkness comes

Find good locations for secondary bases and secret supply stashes.

"Okay, this looks like a good plan. We'll follow this outline and we'll make adjustments when and if it's needed. Any questions guys?"

Riolu and Mewtwo shook their head and stood up, ready to leave. Before anything else happened, Mew squeaked above them and bobbed up and down in the air excitedly.

"Oh! Oh! Oh! I can help you with a couple of those! Please let me help! Oh! Oh!" squeaked Mew.

"Will you cut that out?!" snapped an annoyed purple feline.

Ash shook his head in amusement then looked at Mew.

"What can you help us with Mew?"

"I know how you can have all your pokémon with you and how you can have them automatically transport to the island instead of your professor's lab!" Mew spoke very fast and sounded like she was trying to say everything in one breath.

The trio raised their eyebrows in surprise. Pikachu gave a short squeak as well as few sparks shot out from his cheeks, as if to signify for them to be quiet so he can continue his nap.

"That sounds good. Please tell us, how we can do that?" asked Ash.

"Simple silly. All you have to do, is take one of these large aura crystals from here," Mew pointed at an aura crystal a short distance away from them, which was the size of a small car. "And set it on the island. Then, channel your aura into it. This will cause that aura crystal to be connected to you, and you alone. After that, just have all of your poke balls, whether empty or filled, touch the crystal once and it will bond as well. That way, any new pokémon caught with the bonded balls will automatically transfer to the island and whenever you switch out pokémon they'll go there instead!"

"Wow, that sounds cool! But wait, you didn't say anything about how I can have all of my pokémon with me?" Ash asked while scratching the back of his head, confused.

"Well, you didn't let me finish Ash! Wow, he's almost as inpatient as you brother!"

Mewtwo scowled.

"Alright, this is how you can do that. You see that crystal around your neck I gave you?"

Ash glanced down at the crystal and grabbed it.

"Yes that one. Have that crystal also touch the giant crystal after you channel your aura into it. Keep that smaller one with you at all times for now. Then you will be able to call any pokémon to your side from the island by using your aura alone by willing them to your side! Their poke ball will appear in your hand and your chosen pokémon will automatically come! It will work over any distance! It will also over ride the rule where you can only have a maximum of 6 pokémon with you at a time, so you can call as many as you wish! Also, you will only need the small crystal until your aura powers become much stronger. Then you can do so without the crystal. Neat huh?"

"Neat? That sounds incredible! That's perfect!" Ash said happily. Riolu and Mewtwo nodded their heads in agreement. Pikachu sent out a Thundershock that hit Ash.

"Pika!"

"Sorry Pikachu. I guess I just got a little too excited. Might as well get up. We're about to leave soon."

"Pika…" Pikachu replied grumpily and slowly stretched then got up. Ash chuckled while the other pokémon stared at the duo's antics.

"However, I must warn you. Don't use that to your advantage in official matches or battles Ash. I know you won't, but I had to mention it anyways. Of course in unofficial battles, helping others or when you're training go crazy, but don't break any rules when it's official. We don't want anyone knowing about how you can do such a thing. Everyone will go crazy for these things. Of course they wouldn't be able to do it since they are not Aura Guardians, but people don't listen do they?"

"No worries Mew. I won't tell anyone, and I won't abuse these special gifts you're giving me." Ash then turned to the other pokémon. "Looks like we can scratch off a couple things already huh guys? Alright, let's go check out the island and then we'll come back for the large crystal." He turned to face Mew again. "Thanks again for everything Mew! You truly are an amazing pokémon."

"And don't you forget it buddy boy!" giggled Mew.

Ash smiled his trademark goofy grin. He packed up his stuff and Pikachu jumped onto his usual spot on the raven-haired trainer's shoulder and waved goodbye to the pink legendary.

"Pika pi chu!"

"Goodbye to you too Pikachu! Hope to see you soon!"

"Thank you for everything Lady Mew. You're help is much appreciated," said Riolu with a deep bow. Mew giggled at his proper send off.

"Thank you." Mewtwo said after a long pause, and with Mew glaring at him. She then smiled and nodded in acceptance of the thanks, even if it was said half heartedly.

Ash, Pikachu, Riolu and Mewtwo glanced at each other and nodded. Ash took out the small flower crystal that Arceus bestowed on him and placed it in his hand. Riolu and Mewtwo placed their hands onto the crystal as well. A second later, Mewtwo's eyes glowed blue and they all vanished, heading towards the island, which would soon become their new home for a long, long time.