New Island...

Chapter 6 - New Island...

Ash, Pikachu, Riolu and Mewtwo appeared out of thin air with a slight blue glow around them on the shores of their destination, New Island. No sooner had their feet touch the ground that the crystal given to the raven-haired trainer dissolved into blue sparkling particles before vanishing completely. The group walked on, away from the shore towards the center of the island and came upon a small dirt path and they followed it. The island seemed to be vastly different than when Mewtwo was using it for his base of operations when he wanted to rule the world.

"It's pretty different than the last time we were here huh Mewtwo?" asked Ash.

Mewtwo nodded. He was surprised that the island was completely changed than when he had last seen it. Of course when he left, he disabled all the electronic equipment on the island but left everything pretty much intact. Yet, his old fortress and battlefield were long gone, with no trace of them ever existing. It seemed to be more of a tropical island since all they saw was trees, bushes and the dirt path they were following. They hoped it would lead to the center of the island and find something.

They continued walking for about half an hour when they finally came upon a clearing and noticed a black spiked gate that was connected on both ends to white walls that extended pretty long on both sides. There was a design on the gate; it was a picture of the fully evolved forms of the Kanto starters in a group. Venusaur on the left, Blastoise on the right, and Charizard in the middle and a little behind the other two, with its wings spread out. They approached the gate, pushed it open and walked in. What they next saw made all of them gasp.

There was a small water fountain that had a statue of the same design as the gate, and just behind that was a large two story house that looked like a miniature mansion. Ash and Pikachu grinned and then sprinted towards the house, while Riolu and Mewtwo followed shortly after. The young guardian reached the door, grabbed the doorknob and turned it. He and Pikachu stepped inside the building after pushing open the door and their jaws dropped.

They were greeted with a huge living room with three large couches surrounding a decent sized coffee table in the shape and design of a common poke ball, with a large flat screen TV hanging against the wall in front of them. They saw two staircases on both sides of the living room, with door openings under them. The left door opening led to a large dining room, where a long black dining table with a dozen chairs around it was set in the middle of the room. The right door opening led to another living room that doubled as a den, with more couches and another coffee table, all in front of a large fire place.

In the main living room, the wall that had the hanging TV, also had two door openings on either side of the TV, however, they both led to a large kitchen, with many cupboards. There were several brand new appliances that included a refrigerator, dishwasher, electric stove and microwave. There was another door opening to the right that led to a laundry room with brand new washer and dryer. To the left, another door opening led to a pantry, with shelves lining the walls. The kitchen also had a single door in the middle of the back wall that led to the back yard. The backyard had a fairly large patio, with a larger oval pool a little away from the patio, along with a raised oval jacuzzi next to the pool on the other side facing the building. There was also a barbeque area in the patio. The pool also had a several lounge chairs surrounding it.

After checking out the backyard, they went upstairs and saw that there were five bedrooms and three bathrooms. Two bedrooms on the left with a bathroom in between them, with the same thing on the opposite side, and in the middle, a master bedroom, which was also over the main living room, with a master bathroom as well as a large walk in closet. Across the hall from the master bedroom they saw elevator doors. Curious to why it was there, they pushed the button and the elevator door's dinged open. They got in and noticed there were only three buttons next to three words; one next to "Office", one next to "Bedrooms" and the last one next to "Roof". They pushed the button for "Roof" first and felt the elevator go up.

As the elevator dinged and opened the doors, they stepped out. Ash and Pikachu smiled as they saw a good distance out over the island and ocean around them. The two quickly joined Mewtwo and Riolu looking around after. They noticed that on the roof were five large curved solar panels in the middle of the roof, as well as four windmills, one in each corner of the roof.

"That's great. Now we know how everything is powered and shouldn't have any worries about any electric bills, huh Pikachu?" joked Ash. Pikachu shook his head at the lame joke. "Oh alright fine it wasn't that good." He scratched the yellow mouse behind the ears and Pikachu cooed in happiness.

Riolu motioned them to go back to the elevator. "Let's see what's in the 'Office', shall we?"

"Yes, I am curious as to what it holds as well," added Mewtwo.

They got back inside the elevator and Ash pushed the button for "Office". They felt the elevator move down and dinged, opening the doors a second later. They stepped out and Ash let out a whistle.

They stepped into a large room that had a computer and three monitors in a half circle on a large desk with a computer chair in front of them, about ten feet from the elevator doors. Against both side walls were a row of cupboards on the ground, followed with rows of books above them reaching the ceiling. There was a large open area in the middle of the room, and then on the opposite wall, there was again a row of cupboards on the ground, followed with large detailed maps of all the regions hanging on the wall above the row of cupboards.

Riolu and Mewtwo checked out the book shelves, while Pikachu opened each cupboard to see if there was anything inside them. Ash turned on the computer to see if there was anything on it. It was basically a brand new computer that had several useful programs pre-installed, such as a pokémon battle simulator, Sliph Office Works for typing documents, making computer presentations and other things, a CD burning program, an internet browser, as well as many others. He also noticed that the computer had a wireless internet connection, he assumed via satellite, since he saw one set up on the roof. After they finished checking out the room a little, Ash turned off the computer and they decided to head back up. Once they reached the bedroom level, they went back downstairs and relaxed onto the couches in the main living room.

"Ah! This feels good!" said Ash as he dropped onto the couch, taking up the whole thing.

"Chaaa!" agreed Pikachu while he curled up into a ball on the left couch.

"These will be good to relax on after a good day's training," added Riolu as he too sat and relaxed on the couch where Pikachu was curled up on.

"I must agree. These aren't half bad," finished up Mewtwo as he used his psychic powers to lie down on the last couch on the right, his long purple tail grazing the floor as it swished back and forth.

"We should figure out where to put the large aura crystal that Mew told us to bring," said Riolu after a few silent minutes.

"Hmm, that's a good point," said the raven-haired trainer, still on his back, with his hands behind his head and his eyes closed. His hat was lowered over his face a little. They all thought in silence. Then,

"Pika pika chu chu pi chu pika pi pikachu pi kachu pi pika."

"Huh, why didn't I think of that? You're right; we should put it in the office, in the middle of the large open area. Nicely done buddy!" said Ash.

"I'm impressed Pikachu. Good work comrade," said Riolu. Mewtwo merely nodded when he sensed Pikachu glance in his direction.

"Alright, let's get that taken cared of now, and then we can call it a night for today. I'll bond with the crystal tomorrow, we'll explore the rest of the island as well and then figure out how to let my family and friends know I'm going to be gone for while."

The pokémon murmured in agreement and Mewtwo told them he'll go get the crystal and be back quickly since he could use his psychic powers to lift the crystal and teleport back with no problem. The others agreed and watched the purple feline disappear before going back to their resting positions. About five minutes later, they sensed Mewtwo teleport back into the room. Ash opened his eyes a little and saw Mewtwo lying back down onto the couch with a smile on his face.

"Why are you smiling Mewtwo?" Ash asked.

Mewtwo glanced at him. "When I went to pick up the crystal, Mew was there. You know how she is. She kept flying all over the place in her pink ball of energy so…"A smirk appeared on his face.

"You didn't…"

Mewtwo chuckled. "I told her to stop being such an annoying pink pin ball again. She grew furious at that remark as you know she would and launched an Aura Sphere at me this time. At the last second I called her a 'slowpoke' and teleported back here. I can still see her furious glare," Mewtwo finished with a laugh.

Ash laughed out loud. He couldn't believe what he just heard, but what surprised him even more was that Mewtwo was having some fun as well. He's slowly relaxing and having fun. This is good.

"So you put the crystal in the office and came here I take it?" asked Ash after finishing his thoughts.

"Yes. I made a stand with my psychic powers and placed the crystal on top of it," answered Mewtwo.

"Good," Riolu muttered. "We should get some rest. We have a lot of work to do tomorrow." The group agreed and muttered good night before they all fell asleep right there on the couches.

The group woke up in the morning one by one, first one being Riolu, who promptly woke up Pikachu, then Ash and finally Mewtwo. They all stretched a bit and then agreed to go check out the aura crystal that Mewtwo brought and placed in the office. When they got down to the office level, they grouped around the large blue crystal and except for Mewtwo (who saw it already), were astonished as to how beautiful and big the aura crystal is. It was sitting on top of a pure white stand, which looked like it was made of metal, lifting up the crystal into the air by a few feet, making the crystal about a foot taller than Ash. Riolu faced Ash and then asked him if he was ready to channel his aura into the crystal.

"I don't really know how to do that. Mew didn't tell me. Do you know?" Ash asked the aura pokémon.

Riolu nodded. "Of course. All that knowledge being transferred wasn't for nothing you know."

Mewtwo scoffed. Riolu glared at him before continuing.

"Anyway, just place your hand on the crystal and then focus on your Aura."

Ash nodded and did as he was told. He placed his hand on the crystal and then closed his eyes to focus on his aura. Pikachu jumped down onto the floor so as to not bother his friend while he tried to do so. A minute passed, then two. Ash was beginning to get nervous and Riolu sensed his Master's aura spike in distress.

"You must relax Master. Do not get anxious or inpatient. Just concentrate on your aura. There is no reason for you to feel any kind of distress."

Ash nodded at the encouragement. He shook his head a little, as if to clear it and refocused. A few minutes passed and then slowly, Ash began having a faint glowing blue outline on his body. Several seconds later, his hand that was placed on the crystal began pulsing out blue energy into the crystal, causing said crystal to glow brighter and brighter as more energy poured to it. Ash soon became tired and stopped the aura pulsing out as he couldn't go on, barely able to keep standing. The large crystal glowed a bright light blue for a moment, and then the glow went away, leaving the crystal the same normal blue color it was originally.

"Do you guys think that did it?" asked a weary Ash.

"Yes it did. The bond has been completed," answered Riolu.

"Let's test it. Ash, hold out Riolu's ball and place it against the crystal," said Mewtwo.

Ash took out Riolu's luxury ball and held it up against the large aura crystal and then gently had them touch. The ball instantly glowed blue for a second, and then vanished. The group was surprised. Mew hadn't told them about that happening.

"Was that supposed to happen?" asked Ash while scratching the back of his head.

"Perhaps. Let's give it a shot. Master, try to summon my poke ball."

Ash began focusing his aura again after telling Riolu to stop calling him Master, who didn't hear him. It was harder now, since he was pretty exhausted already. A small ball of blue energy appeared in his right hand. He raised his hand and focused more energy into making the poke ball appear. The blue energy ball grew larger and the ball of energy faded away to reveal Riolu's luxury ball.

"Pika pikapi!" Pikachu congratulated Ash on being able to do it. Riolu and Mewtwo smiled, glad that he was able to do it, especially on his first try.

"Thanks buddy. Yea, I did it!" Ash yelled out in joy while pumping his fist. "Wow, that's cool! With a little more practice I should be able to summon them much more quickly and easily." Ash tapped the ball with his finger, causing it to shrink into its minimized form and it vanished quickly after. "Alright guys, I'm afraid that was the easy part. We need to think up of a way to tell my friends and family that I'm going to be gone for a while. Let's go see if there's any food here, make ourselves some breakfast while we think this over." The others nodded in agreement and the group went back up, moving towards the kitchen to see if they could find any food.

Unfortunately for the hungry group, there was no food to be found. Arceus and the reality Dragons may have set up the island well for their training needs, but it looks like they had to get the basic necessities on their own. Ash sighed as his stomach growled pretty loudly, enough for the others to hear it even though they were at opposite ends of the kitchen. This caused the rest to grin; they know how Ash is when it comes to food.

"Damn, there's no food here. And I'm pretty sure none of you came up with a way to tell them huh?" asked the hungry teenager. The others shook their heads. "Well, let's go check out the rest of the island while we think of a way to tell my friends." The others nodded and they stepped into the backyard. Mewtwo suggested that he use his psychic powers to levitate everyone into the air so they can check out the island quicker, which they agreed to.

As they rose up into the air, they noticed another building behind the mini mansion and went towards it. They quickly found out that it was a large pokémon tournament field that doubled as a training stadium. Ash commented on how it would help them when they start their training, since they could set up many different regiments for the pokémon. After exploring the rest of the island, they only found a few dozen fruit trees scattered throughout the island, a small mountainous region to the north and that the island was high up from the sea floor, with the only shore the one to the south, the very same one they saw the first time they arrived at the island.

Because of Mewtwo using his psychic powers to have everyone fly over the island while they explored it, it didn't take too long for them to see what was there and soon went back home. They landed back in the back yard and they stepped back into the living room and dropped onto the couches again. Many thoughts began racing around in Ash's head.

How am I going to tell everyone? How am I going to just leave them and not see them for so long? Should I meet them in person individually and tell them? Or should I see them in a group? Wait, I know, I'll mail them a letter! No, that won't work. I'll email them! No, they'll definitely kill me for that. Damn it, what am I going to do…..

"I got it!" yelled Ash and he shot up from the couch suddenly, while calling out to the group; "Guys, I got it, listen up!"

Pikachu, Riolu and Mewtwo glanced at the teenager from their relaxed positions.

"I know how to let everyone know and what to tell them. But first, we visit my mom back home in Pallet Town to have some breakfast and grab some supplies. After we'll go to Professor Oak's lab to get my pokémon who are there and I'll make a group phone call to my friends. Then we'll go visit the pokémon I left to train or to take care of other business."

"Pika pi chu pika pi pi," said Pikachu, his eyes shining as drool slipped out from the corner of his mouth. Riolu glanced at Pikachu, a little confused at what the electric mouse just said while Mewtwo had a look of disgust on his face. Ash laughed at what his starter pokémon just said and how he's acting.

"If you stop drooling and behave yourself, then maybe I will tell mom to give you some ketchup."

Pikachu snapped out of his dazed look and jumped onto Ash's shoulder and nuzzled his cheek against Ash's in happiness. Riolu chuckled and Mewtwo's look of disgust faded away and was replaced with one of annoyance.

"Alright, we have a plan. Let's get going. I don't want to risk staying so long here that it causes Pikachu to start seeing ketchup everywhere," teased the legendary pokémon.

"Pika…" Pikachu's ears dropped and his normally red cheeks flushed pink a little in embarrassment.

"Hey, c'mon Mewtwo, be nice," said Ash while he chuckled slightly in amusement. "Okay, let's hit the road. Mewtwo, you know where Pallet Town is right?" Mewtwo nodded. "Great. Whenever you're ready buddy." Soon as he finished talking, the psychic pokémon's eyes glowed blue and they vanished.

They appeared right in front of Pallet Town's entrance from Route 1.

"Ah, it's great to be home again, right Pikachu?" Ash asked while spreading out his arms and breathing in the air deeply.

"Chaaa!" Pikachu answered happily, mimicking his friend's movements.

Riolu and Mewtwo looked at the town ahead of them. It wasn't a large town, but it was peaceful and very beautiful. They walked down the path in front of them, passing the professor's lab on the right shortly after and soon found themselves in front of Ash's home, with nobody around to see them surprisingly. It was a small and simple house, but Ash loved everything about it. He walked up the couple steps in front of the house and rang the door bell. The door opened almost immediately and Ash was quickly pulled inside and crushed in a hug given by his loving mother, Delia Ketchum.

"Oh, my baby is back home! Oh, how I missed you Ash!" said Delia, while smothering her son in her hug, preventing him from breathing properly. Pikachu had dropped down onto the ground before the crushing hug took place and sniggered at his predicament. Riolu and Mewtwo sweat dropped.

"Mom…can't….breathe….Pikachu...tell…..pokémon….love…..them…" Ash said with great difficulty in between gasping for air. His mom finally let him go, although reluctantly and the trainer took heaving breaths trying to get air back into his lungs. His mom giggled.

"Oh stop acting like a drama queen! Oh, and who are your friends?" inquired Delia as she spotted Riolu and Mewtwo, who had stunned expressions on their faces still over what happened.

"This is Riolu," said Ash after catching his breath again, pointing to the aura pokémon. "And this is Mewtwo" he added, moving his hand to point at the legendary. "They're my new friends. We dropped by to visit before we head on out again." His stomach made one of his infamous growls which made the group stare at him. Ash sweat dropped.

"Looks like you're hungry as well," said his mom sweetly. "Come on in, and you two as well. Any friend or pokémon of Ash's is welcome here anytime. Give me a few minutes and Mimey and I will have breakfast ready." She moved inside and the rest followed, saying hello to the Mr. Mime who lived with Ash's mom, taking care of most of the chores around the house and almost always will prevent others from doing them.

Once breakfast was made, everyone gathered around the dining table and ate the delicious food that Delia cooked, commenting on how great it tasted. She was a little shocked to hear Riolu and Mewtwo speak, even though it was with telepathy, but quickly got over it. She asked what her son has been up to and he responded with quick short answers since he was trying to talk and eat at the same time. After everyone ate heartily (taking second helpings of everything), Ash told his mom that they needed to go to Professor Oak's before heading out again.

"Oh you're leaving already?" his mom asked, with noticeable sadness in her voice.

"Yea, sorry mom, but we can't stay. I found out I need to take care of some stuff. Oh and mom, we need to get some supplies. Do you think you can help us out with that?"

"Of course sweetie. Come back from the Professor's and I'll have everything ready for you."

"Cool, thanks Mom. C'mon guys, let's go." The four got up and left the house, their destination, the famous laboratory of Professor Oak.