20. Mystery island

Arceus sensed his Chosen One's feelings and knew what he was thinking.

"I understand how you feel Ash and I know what you're thinking. You don't want to endanger them, but also don't want to lie or keep secrets from the ones you love and care about."

"How about this then? You can tell them to train, as if to battle you, but don't mention the tournament or the coming war, or anything related to the darkness coming. It may cause unforeseen consequences. You, your Pokémon and Mewtwo are the only ones who should be training together as it will be grueling and I fear that if they're with you while training, it may hinder your progress and growth."

Mewtwo, Pikachu and even Dialga, Palkia and Giratina looked at Ash and waited for him as he thought long and hard about Arceus's explanation.

The young man knew that the Alpha Pokemon was right, but still didn't like what he had to do. Lie to his friends and family…and not see them for a much longer time than usual? The raven haired trainer let out a heavy sigh before talking.

"Arceus…I won't tell them or anyone else anything about this. But I will drop by them to tell them I will be gone for a while and for them to train."

The Alpha pokemon thought that was reasonable enough.

"That's fine by me. So we are decided then? We have a plan of sorts. I will leave you two to come up with the more intricate, finer details and items of your agenda, but I believe those main points I advised will help you both greatly. If there's nothing else, I suggest we start as soon as possible," said Arceus.

"Father, you haven't forgotten have you?" spoke up Giratina suddenly.

The dragon's question reminded Arceus of the other thing he was supposed to mention and give.

"Ah, no, of course not. Also, I have one final gift for the both of you. You may use it or not, up to you. But I have prepared an island specifically for your training endeavors, and you may even set it up for what you need, away from prying eyes and hidden from any and all things, thanks to the Dragon trio here. You both remember New Island correct?" Ash and Mewtwo both nodded.

"Good, that makes things easier. Well, I have made several changes to it and I believe it will help immensely for what we are trying to do. You could also use it as your headquarters during the war as well."

"If you say it is hidden from all, then how are we supposed to reach it?" asked Ash with Mewtwo thinking the same thing.

"Ah, you're getting ahead of me Chosen One. Mew, come my daughter!" called out Arceus into the hall.

A pink energy bubble suddenly appeared out of nowhere above them. It started moving around rapidly in a zigzag motion across the room and then hurtled towards the Alpha Pokémon. It stopped at the last second right in front of Arceus' face that caused a burst of wind to flow over the hall and the pink bubble vanished, revealing the small, but powerful pink legendary, Mew.

"Hi Daddy! How are you? I've been having so much fun back home!" giggled Mew. She didn't even wait for his response as she turned around and greeted everyone with Ash and Pikachu waving hello.

Arceus chuckled over her antics. "Thank you for coming so quickly, my daughter."

"No problem Daddy!"

Arceus smiled. "Did you bring what I asked of you?"

"Of course! Here it is!"

Another pink energy bubble appeared but this one was smaller. The bubble disappeared, and before the inside item fell, Mew caught it. She then held it up in front of Arceus, whose eyes glowed a pure white, causing the item to glow a bright white. After a couple seconds, the glowing stopped.

"Thank you daughter. Would you kindly hand that to Ash please?"

"Sure thing!" Mew zipped towards Ash with such speed, he flinched, thinking she'd run him over. But she stopped instantly, right in front of him.

"BOO! I gotcha good!" she said, giggling while handing the item to Ash who saw what it was; it was a small blue flower crystal hanging from a black leather necklace.

"That crystal will allow you to see and get to the island. Otherwise, it is invisible to all else," explained Arceus.

"If that's the case, wouldn't we require more crystals then? Wouldn't I and the other pokémon require one of their own?" asked Mewtwo as Ash put the crystal necklace around his neck, letting it rest against his chest.

"No, you will not need another one as it will only be necessary for the first time you go to the island. After that, the crystal will disappear and only you, Ash and his pokémon, because of their bond, regardless if they are old or new captures, will be able to see the island and get to it unless Ash desires to bring in someone to the island."

"I'm impressed," replied Mewtwo.

"Wow, that's cool. I guess that could work," said Ash.

"It will work. But only until the darkness emerges. I don't know if my children will be able to keep it that way, while being confined in their own dimensions once everything starts or when they are staying here. Until then, they will be able to keep it up since they can roam around back and forth between your world and their own dimensions until everything starts. That's why I advised multiple bases and locations in case one gets overflowed. The island should be easy enough to defend and be used as your headquarters. But it may be a good idea to have a backup made somewhere that is easily defendable."

Ash and Mewtwo agreed with that reasoning since it made a lot of sense. They would definitely do as he suggested and set those up.

"Good. Alright, you two should get going. If you have any questions, please, visit my daughter Mew. She'll probably know the answer you seek, and it will be good for her to have visitors once in a while, since she cannot leave the Tree of Beginning for too long, unless she comes here. Also, she knows almost everything there is to know about Aura abilities and training. Once you find Riolu, you should visit Mew so she can grant her wisdom to him for your aura training."

Ash and Mewtwo nodded and Mew squeaked happily at the thought of them visiting. "If there is something she doesn't know, or you must absolutely speak with me, contact me or come here. But only do so if it is a must. I will be busy as well, preparing in my own ways for the coming evils."