26. Mew! You pinkball

A small group appeared right in front of an extremely large tree, similar in size to that of a mountain. As soon as Ash realized where they were, he turned to Mewtwo with a confused expression. "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 couldn't disagree since it made a lot of sense and he chose to trust Mewtwo. They walked towards the tree for a little bit with Riolu still cradled in Ash's arms when the ground began to shake suddenly. Three large golem like pokémon burst up from beneath the ground right in front of them. The guardians of the tree, Regirock who was made entirely from rock, Regice who was made up of ice and Registeel who was completely metal, had emerged from underground and blocked the newly arrived group's path from going any further towards the tree.

Seeing the three titans of earth towering over them as they stood in their way, the young trainer spoke up. "Please let us pass. We must see Mew so she can help us save Riolu!" said Ash, trying to reason with them.

But the golem trio did not move or respond to his pleas and that made the psychic feline huff. "This is a waste of time," stated Mewtwo and his eyes began glowing blue.

Seeing his new friend ready himself for battle, Ash quickly moved to stop him. "Don't fight them. They're only doing their job!" Mewtwo glanced at him and Ash took that opportunity to look back at the mountain like tree and yelled as loudly as he could. "MEW! WE NEED YOU!" shouted Ash, hoping to get the legendary pokemon's attention.

Luckily his shouting was heard as a pink bubble the size of the young man appeared in front of them suddenly. It remained for a second before it started fading away only to reveal the powerful pink legendary pokemon. The smaller feline psychic was floating a few feet above the ground with pink eyes locked onto her guests. "Hello there silly. My, you're here quick! Still, what took ya?" giggled Mew with a playful grin on her face.

"Mew! Thank Arceus you're here. Please, help Riolu!" pleaded Ash, showing the unconscious pokemon in his arms.

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 had a pink glow appear around him as well. After a little while, the glowing stopped as she finished healing 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 recognized who two of them were and instantly sat up, surprising the three.

"I guess you're feeling better, huh, Riolu?" asked the young man.

Riolu turned towards him before replying back. "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," replied Riolu as he got up. "Thank you, Master Ash," he added with a bow.

Ash chuckled lightly while rubbing the back of his head while becoming nervous. "You're welcome. But…" He hurriedly told the jackal pokémon to not call him master and that Mewtwo and Mew were also involved in saving his life.

Riolu thanked both psychic pokemon for helping him. Afterwards he turned his gaze back towards the raven haired trainer. "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," explained the aura pokemon, making Ash let out a sigh but didn't say anything back. "But I must ask, how did you find me?" questioned the black and blue jackal.

Ash began explaining to Riolu while Mew kept flying around above them, glad to have visitors. Mewtwo was leaning against a tree with his arms crossed, observing everything. The two waited while Ash told Riolu everything. His training on Mount Silver. The meeting with Arceus. The vision that was seen and mentioned. What they were advised to do. How they were supposed to find him and come to Mew, so she can pass on the sacred knowledge of Aura. After he finished explaining, Ash took a breather while Riolu thought about what he learned. "So, will you join us?" asked the young man.

Riolu looked at Ash for a moment. "I'm surprised you even asked me that. 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, Master."

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 red light later, he was captured and the ball instantly dinged. Riolu was quickly let back out. Both trainer and pokemon faced up towards Mew to call her down since she was still zipping around excitedly but was pretending to not have heard their calls, giggling all the while.

Her behavior was grating on someone's nerves however. "Mew! You pink pinball! Get down here and pass on the knowledge to Riolu so we can leave!" called out Mewtwo suddenly with an annoyed tone that made Ash's and Riolu's jaws dropped at what they just heard.