Guess who's back. It's a fairly large chapter and hopefully an enjoyable one.

He's dragging me back; I can feel it, yet know that there is nothing that I can do. That is the greater pain, the feeling of sheer helplessness. As though I travel through time I am not above its iron will.

No one is.

No one.

When I get to the other side I hope that the boy will be there. He was nice.

He smiled at me when everyone else saw a prize, made me remember what it was like to have someone enjoy your company, what it was like to have someone be your friend.

He helped me to remember to go and see Mew. I hadn't visited her in a long time, and for my next visit I chose not to cheat with some time travel to cover up my neglect of our friendship so that she too could realise how long it had been.

No one is above time. Some fall in love with it.

But now I am being dragged back. I know what he will do and will try to resist with all my might. But I am small and weak, and on my own, I will fail.

I am doomed to fail.

I hope that some one's there on the other side to help me.

Because he scares me. That dark man with his dark soul.

The hollow man who has everything from the affection of women, to the respect of men and the obedience of his Pokémon. Yet will never be happy.

He knows time in a way that few do. He does not know it well enough to avoid the damage he's causing, but well enough to be able to use it to his own advantage. Well enough to drag me back to him. Well enough to use me to release the power of eternity into him so that he may return to youth to the suffering of all those around him.

Please, I feel the grip on me growing stronger.

Please someone help me. I'm scared. I'm lonely.

Mew? Are you there?

Ash? I remember your name; I remember that you were that one boy smiled at me.

anyone?

Please… help me.

I don't want to be alone.

Ash groaned as another bump in the road sent a jagged shock through his jaw, as he tried his hardest not to move in a way that would suggest that there was a living thing under the blanket. Because even the slightest hint of something unusual could send their plans to heck.

The main reason for his enforced secrecy was due to the long line of people who wanted to help the 'young lady' in carrying her heavy burden. People who Zoroark either chose to placate by telling that the cart was full of pillows or something. Ash just found it all annoying, wanting to get out of his frustrating position sooner rather than later.

But for that he had to wait until they could get to somewhere secure and shaded like the forest so that the sun wouldn't fry his body to a crisp.

Then there was the city that they were travelling through. He could hear it, smell it in ways he hadn't felt before. It was like a kaleidoscope of sounds and smells had just been invented for the soul purpose of throwing his newly heightened hearing in every direction. The sounds were louder, sharper and filled with the shades of things he hadn't ever comprehended hearing before and the smells, a platter of scents that lay before him: rubber, sweat, fruits, and car exhaust all mixing together to form a rancid yet tempting odour that was only dwarfed by the occasional wafting aroma of perfume.

Gods, perfume. He already hated the stuff as a human, now however it just overwhelmed his senses in a way that made him want to throw up.

But even with all of this Ash kept in mind that he had a mission to complete. That man, whoever he was had captured him and Zoroark had shown himself to have no good intentions. That much was clear.

Yet at the same time Ash couldn't wait to get back to Pikachu, wherever Pikachu was, and Zorua. He couldn't forget her after she was so kind in teaching him how to speak… and the rest of his friends, they were all a sort of family to him as well, in the same way that Zoroark had bought him into her family.

But there was no way that he could shy away from the fact that he couldn't really convince them to join him without them at least trying to capture him. Ash rationalised that it was what he would have done if the situations were reversed. Pikachu had helped him realise that his friends would always stand by his side.

And the thing was that he wouldn't have begrudged them for that, it was just that by the point that he could tell them the truth the man would have... done something? What did he want to do that was so bad anyway?

But the wheels underneath him kept turning, a steady rhythm that continually brought Ash closer to his goal without pause for his internal queries.

"Excuse me" But then again the stream of guys wanting to help Zoroark was also something of a constant. "Do you need any help Mam? There's been a heightening of security with the recent news feed and we've been asked to escort civilians into their homes as quickly as possible."

"Oh, there's some danger?" Zoroark asked like an unassumingly.

"Yes" the person continued, having perked Ash's interest, "News feeds have released footage that suggests that the Zoroark that Kodai had 'supposedly' framed was actually working together with him. They've shown clips of her distracting the Machoke gaurds to help him get away all over the news." He finished.

The man's words took a moment to process, but when they did Ash's blood ran cold at the conclusion that his thoughts led him to.

Betrayal.

Zoroark had betrayed him. She was working for Kodai, even after all the things that the man did to Celebi, to the town and every single living creature around it. And Zorua, didn't she even care about her daughter? Gods, what kind of a heartless-

There was a thudding sound as something large and fairly heavy was dumped into the cart slightly above Ash.

"It's not true" Zoroark urgently whispered to him as his heart jumped at the soft and warm sensation of the object that was now on top of him. "You got to believe me. I was on the ship, and Machoke began to chase me. Then when that was happening, he got out. I don't know how but I didn't want it to happen."

There was a momentary pause, "Ash… please, believe me" but her words didn't faze the boy who had just realised that the object above him was the body of the man she was just talking to!

She waited for a response then noticed the prone form of the officer above Ash and covered him up as well, "don't worry about him, he's just asleep. We'll put him down when we find somewhere safer than here."

"Ash?" she asked panicking that she had just lost his trust. "Please, say something?

Silence prevailed, "anything?"

"Shush" he replied.

"I mean it" she begged "Ash I didn't do any-"

"Shush" he hissed, "just… listen."

Feeling a little unnerved by his answer she complied. Hearing nothing but the distant bustle of town life, as they were currently in a relatively quiet backstreet.

"PikaPi!" oh no.

"What's wrong with Pikachu?" they heard a person shout in the distance.

"It's Ash" a young girl replied, "poor guy probably misses him. Trouble is that he has to stay in the cage or he'll just hurt himself like that League guy said."

"PikaPi!" the distressed Pokémon called out again.

"Can't we just recall him back into his Pokéball?" a man suggested.

Ash wanted to get out but his world instantly shifted into a rumbling of rapid movement as the cart was dragged away from Pikachu if the quietening calls of his best friend were anything to go by.

Ash struggled with the sheets that covered him, trying his hardest to get out of his temporary prison to free Pikachu, but was forced to end his attempts when a heavy weight was thrown over his body that held him in place. Ash quickly sensed that the cart had stopped moving and realised that the weight on top of him was Zoroark pinning him down.

"Listen" she whispered with a hiss, "I'm sorry but we can't go back for Pikachu" Ash tried to struggle, "look, please just listen." She continued, clamping Ash's mouth shut when he tried to scream.

"Listen!" she screeched, forcing Ash into a shocked silence, "Your friends won't trust us. If they heard the news they'll think I'm helping Kodai. They'll try to stop us and we can't use even more enemies when we already have to deal with one evil psychopath… remember him? The guy that kidnapped and caged you? He was Kodai wearing a disguise to try and fool everyone! Do You Remember?"

She loosened her grip on him when she noticed that he wasn't struggling. "But Pikachu?" he wailed in anguish.

"I know."

"A cage!" he felt despair rise up inside of him once more. Raging at him to go and help his friend, to go and free him from his prison.

"I know." She seethed, "My Zorua was there as well in case you didn't notice! She saw me, she looked at me in the eyes and she saw me run away. How do you think I feel?" She took a moment to try and calm down.

"how do you think I feel?"

A moment of silence passed between the two as a faint, hope filled idea came to Ash, "why can't you disguise?"

"They'll know" Zoroark cut him off before he could finish his line of thought, "they know that I can imitate people and they will not trust me." Ash whimpered, feeling the tides of despair wash over him. "Please, please Ash, please, I need you to trust me, I can't survive if you don't trust me."

"Please let's get this scum first so that my name's cleared. You can't show your face to your friends right now, you can't even speak their language. Please, I'm sorry for dragging you into this, all of this. I'm so sorry that it breaks my heart to think that I may have hurt you. But please, I need you to trust me, even for just this day. You can go back to hating me tomorrow. But for today, I need you next to me..."

"Because if I don't have your trust" She whispered, "I don't have anything."

Ash couldn't help but feel his heart break at the sound of Zoroark's plea. The despair in her voice.

He couldn't ever remember seeing her like that. She was always strong, always. She was ready to fight, ready to protect her family. Never ever lowering herself for anyone apart from Zorua, for her family.

But now he was a part of her family. She had said those exact things to him earlier and what he was feeling to Pikachu, maybe she was feeling to him?

"okay" he answered meekly. Putting all of his faith into her with that one word.

"Thank you" she replied bringing with her a little spark of warmth to Ash's cold, guilt burdened heart.

He heard the sound of movement and felt the weight of the person lift off of the cart, the sound of him being put down somewhere and then felt the sensation of the cart moving once more.

He was still sad. Sad beyond words. He could still hear Pikachu's cries echo through his now empty heart, and no matter how hard he could try to deny it he couldn't run away from the truth.

He had just betrayed his best friend. Left him alone to rot as he ran away, safe and hidden from sight.

Ash looked at himself and felt disgusted.

Alone in the world with no one to blame but himself.

But before he could continue down that train of thought his mental companion spoke up, "Ash, I'm sorry… but some of the things she said… they just seem" she sounded grave, "Ash, I think, from what I've noticed… I think that Zoroark is the reason why you transformed."

Time froze.

Ash made no motion, no movement. He just waited as the cart was pulled ever forward. Waited as she took him to where they would face off against Kodai.

Once again he was alone in the world, with no one to blame.

Alone with no one to blame but her.

The sun was beginning to set and with its descent it bought a warm orange tint to the forests that surrounded Ash and Zoroark. He had watched as she sniffed out the man's scent after having found it, moving around like a tracking hound. Going forward, stopping, checking her surroundings for possible ambushes, checking Ash to see if he was still following, then forward again. It was like she was a machine. Moving ahead like clockwork.

Ash didn't know what to think about her, but in the mix of emotions a sense of loathing permeated through him. If only because he couldn't bring it within himself to hate her, either from his love of all Pokémon or his appreciation of her taking care of him.

Though even after taking that into consideration, loathing was a good word to use to express his bitter feelings towards her.

Pikachu was in a cage somewhere and so was Zorua and now, because of what she did, so was he. A cage of flesh and shadow that ripped him away from his life. Trapping him in this new one where he was doomed to forever hide in the shadows.

Family?

Ha!

She forced him into this.

Threw him like he was some toy to be played around with.

Yet even with all of this staring Ash in the face he knew that he had no option but to follow her, he had to. She was the only one who would stop Kodai, and as wrong as she was in all the things that she did, letting that man carry on was even worse (probably).

Ash realised that if he was going to stop the criminal he was going to need her help, even if he didn't want to help her.

"Ash come on, we have to keep moving" the Voice said softly when she noticed Ash failing to move with Zoroark having been caught up in his own thoughts. His attention returned to the real world and he took chase to catch up with her, all the while taking special care to remain as quiet as Zoroark was being in case someone unsavoury could spot them.

He realised for a brief moment that he was moving just like her and quickly pushed back the unsavoury comparison into the recesses of his mind. Choosing instead to try and think of something else.

His thoughts were quickly drawn to the Voice in his head that had just spoken up. She occasionally popped up with advice that was somewhat helpful, when it wasn't too distracting.

She seemed to be friendly and Ash wouldn't deny that it was nice. Nice to know that someone had his back, regardless of how annoying they were. Especially after… Pikachu.

Zoroark held up her paw in a manner that seemed to say 'stop' and lowered her body even more to make it appear as if she was half of her actual size. Ash moved over and tried to mimic her actions with limited success and gazed forward through the gaps in the bushes before them.

A machine stood in a clearing. It's large and thick, grey metal hull dominating the space. It was connected to several other devices. The most notable of which was something that looked like a series of mechanical claws which jutted out into the air. Inside of which hovered a faint green light that seemed to be suspended in mid-air.

It took a moment but Ash quickly recognised the sight of the time ripple that Kodai had attempted to use earlier.

A series of footsteps echoed through the clearing as Kodai, now unmasked emerged from behind the machine and into view.

The sun had lowered even further and the machine was bathed in a blood red light.

He heard Zoroark's breathing stiffen as she locked her foe into her sights. Her eyes turning into the eyes of a predator.

She waited until he drew closer… and closer.

Then she burst forth with wild abandon tearing the ground out from underneath her as she rushed towards her target.

But as she rushed across the open ground she was smashed into by a bright red blur that sent her flying away from the kidnapper. She growled, rolled and corrected her form into something battle ready. Immediately assessing the field and spotting where the bright red form of the insectoid Scizor that stood vigil between her and her target.

Ash wasn't there, she briefly looked to the bushes to see if he too was ambushed and noticed that he wasn't.

What was he doing?

He stumbled out of his cover as if thrown, followed by a red blur that stopped besides the Scizor, revealing itself to be another member of the same species.

She noticed that Kodai wasn't even paying attention to the battle, instead engrossed with his metal machine. She growled, prompting the red insects to raise their crab like claws in a display of dominance. Snapping them like a pair of castanets.

She hated castanets. She hated bugs and this pair was promptly added to the list of things she wanted to throw into the sun.

She paced forward, memories of traditional open field battles returning to her from her days as a youth. The two Scizor moved forward as one, mimicking one another's others actions in a bizarre dance that succeeded in fuelling the growing irritation in the dark type's belly.

Bug types, always acting like some mindless swarm. Unfortunately she couldn't defeat them decisively in this manner, so she would have to-

Ash rushed forward like a mad man, a shadow claw forming in one arm, but before it could land a hit he tripped and crashed into the Scizor instead. Sending it to the ground.

The fallen Scizor's partner immediately retaliated by smashing a glowing pincer into the boy's head that threw him off to the side as if he was nothing.

Zoroark responded in turn and she struck the Scizor with a Shadow claw to the chest that sent him flying back. But the bug on the floor saw his opportunity and clamped onto her legs with his pincer.

She froze in shock, almost tripping over, but the Pokémon's intentions for Zoroark turned as it let go , lifted itself up and smashed it's glowing claw into her chest, sending her flying into Ash's prone form.

Her head rushed with the sound of blood as she struggled to remember the technique that the Scizor had just used. Mega crab? Hammer claw? Bah! Who cares?

Zoroark got up shakily, frustrated at being on the losing side of a battle. Looked up at her reformed opponents on the other side of the clearing. Working together in perfect harmony, battle ready.

Ash on the other hand was not ready as he got up from the floor, still feeling the effects of the powerful strike. His mind drawn away from the guilt of leaving Pikachu behind to suffer by the battle and the sheer amount pain that it threw at him.

He had no business here. He had just learned how to attack and had been a Pokémon for a day. At his best he was little more than a lead weight to Zoroark, his memories of battling telling him this. A fact that Zoroark probably didn't know, being a Pokémon.

But he wasn't supposed to be a Pokémon, he was a trainer! He was the one who made plans and thought up strategies. Not the one who went out onto the field!

Ash glanced briefly at the Scizor and their unshakable presence, at Zoroark who looked as deep in worry as he felt, at Kodai who wasn't even bothering to take notice of the battle.

Like he didn't even need to act like a trainer… or maybe didn't know?

But Ash was a trainer…

He grinned. Days of sweat and toil and hundreds of battles and impossible tactics rushing back to him. Hopeless situations that he overturned with little more than his iron will. He thought of Pikachu, Pikachu wouldn't want him to give up, no. He could never redeem himself in his best friend's eyes if he did something as crazy as giving up.

He moved forward, seeing the Scizor stiffen at his aggressive action. Good.

"Zor" Zoroark let out an unintelligible sound of worry at his advance, but did nothing to stop him.

He continued forward and as he advanced he noticed that whilst they kept their eyes on him they didn't move. He began to circle them when he moved to just beyond the edge of their reach. Zoroark began to follow and he made a motion with his paw in the opposite direction, hoping that she would understand.

She did and eventually they stood on either side of the Scizor, with a direct line of sight to the machine. He looked over to her and gave a brief nod that she returned to show that she understood his plan and agreed to follow it.

Then leapt with all the strength in his legs at the two red Pokémon, sending them both tumbling to the floor from the force of his leap.

They quickly found themselves in a pile with Ash on top. But the Scizor responded, screaming and struggling with all their might to force him off of them.

Eventually succeeding and getting up in a swift and fluid motion.

Moving to Ash who was still on all fours and striking him in the chest with repeated blows.

The anger that they felt at his assault clouding their vision in a red mist that caused them to strike again and again and again. Even as he lay helpless on the floor.

Pain wrapped around the young boy as he tried to isolate and cut off the feeling of being beaten. Forgetting everything but the desire for the pain to stop.

But then he took a pause when he noticed that the blows had stopped altogether.

He opened his eyes saw Zoroark battling with both of the Scizor fighting them off singled handedly, with a fury that wrapped around her like an endless inferno.

She moved with a deadly grace, ripping past their guards with lethal efficiency and by throwing two Shadow claws to their chests she force a gap in between the Scizor that was big enough for her to rush past them to get to Ash, above whom she stood protectively.

Ash looked up at her; her actions filled with a righteous fury that lifted his heart with affection. His loathing of her turning into a distant memory in light of the battle.

Then he felt his hopes rise even higher at the thought that she had broken the machine. He looked over and saw several scratch marks on the metal structure, but nothing that seemed to penetrate its thick skin to his dread. The black claws around the time ripple were left untouched.

The Scizor reformed, a little shaken by Zoroark's onslaught, but bearing very little lasting damage.

He was a trainer. Ash racked his memory about advantages that could be had against Scizor but came up empty. Tried to recall any Scizor he had faced off against in the past, only to fail.

Then the Voice spoke up to answer his unasked question, "They have a metallic alloy infused with their shells that make them tough to beat. So unless you got fire you'll find that you can throw them around a lot, but they'll keep on coming back for more."

Ash heard a groan and saw Kodai getting up off of the ground from near the machine. He was clutching his face in his hands. Which he then lowered to show three bleeding lines stretching from side to side. It took a moment for Ash to realise what had happened and he looked at Zoroark in shock at the thought of what she had just done.

She was grinning, and his heart shrunk in fear of her fury.

Kodai on the other hand struggled forward and let out an angry grunting sound. He lifted himself up, no longer willing to leave the beasts to their own devices, no longer willing to discuss or negotiate or ignore. He would have a direct hand in removing these… pests.

Then, a bright flash of yellow streaked across the field reaching the machine and letting loose a loud 'Boom!' when it made contact in the form of a loud explosion.

Another beam ripped past the clearing and struck the Scizor with an explosive force that sent them flying from the force.

Then, as the sound dissipated a small yellow dot rushed onto the field towards Zoroark and Ash. Then it stopped and quickly took the shape of Pikachu who stood grinning at them with a wide smile.

"Miss me?" Ash leapt forward, and brought his friend into a bone crushing hug. The two of them spinning around and laughing at the sheer joy of being reunited. Eventually stopping and grinning at each other in congratulations for thwarting destinies plan to split them apart.

Then Ash felt the faint pang of guilt for leaving Pikachu alone to fend for himself in the first place.

"Pikachu?" Zoroark spoke up, interrupting the moment between the two friends, "Where's Zorua?"

Pikachu quickly explained, "Zorua told me that she noticed you, and maybe Ash going to the forest and she worked up a plan." Ash blinked at the thought that Pikachu already knew and had accepted his mistake, "We were trapped in cages and quickly figured out that some crazy person was probably going to try and do something stupid, keeping us locked up to stop us from saving the day!" He turned to the machine, "Didn't realise that it was same bad guy as before."

Ash turned around and took stock of the damage that Pikachu had caused as a result of his surprise attack, with the two Scizor and Kodai, only now managing to lift themselves off of the ground. But then again the machine still only showed superficial signs of damage.

The voice of doubt inside of him castigated Ash for not rushing to attack the machine when he had his opening. But he looked at the disorientated Scizor and realised that there was still time-

"But where is Zorua?" Zoroark asked, momentarily stopping Ash's attempt to call for an attack.

"She's gotten the gang to run around and chase her so that we won't be disturbed." Pikachu responded wasting ever more precious time that their enemies could use to get themselves together again. But Ash was still confident, they now had numerical superiority, the battle was theirs to win.

A bright red light burst forth from Kodai's stumbling form. Slowly forming the imposing figures of two muscle bound Machoke.

The Scizor reformed on either side of them, and Ash realised that they were doomed once again.

"Looks like fun" Pikachu commented before leaping out of Ash's arms and onto the ground, grinning at his trainer as he landed. "I mean, an epic battle with my trainer turned into a Pokémon. This is gonna be awesome!" Ash gave a shaky nod to placate his best friend, but the Pokémon saw through the rouse and told Ash "Don't worry about it, the first battle's always the hardest and we might lose, but that's never stopped us before!" Pikachu grinned at Ash and then turned his attention to their foes.

Ash hardened his heart, knowing that Pikachu was absolutely right. Just because they might lose didn't mean that they should lose heart. What in the world was he thinking about? This was a bad guy who needed to be stopped at all costs. The thought of losing never stopped him before when he was in the safety of the trainer box, why should it stop him now?

Where did this sudden shift in emotions come from?

Then Ash heard Kodai scream, "Attack!"

And turned his head to see the man's Pokémon rush forward, the Scizor quickly flanking the group on either side as the Machoke lunged forward, grappling with Ash and Zoroark.

Ash quickly fell and was subdued by the Machoke's superior strength, but Zoroark broke free.

Pikachu quickly peppered the two Scizor with lightning bolts that kept them at bay, but was then struck from behind by the Machoke.

Zoroark weaved in and out of the Scizor who had found their opening when Pikachu stopped firing but was being constantly pushed back.

And just like that the fight stopped as quickly as it began.

Zoroark was left facing off against the two Scizor as she did at the beginning, Ash was being held down by a Machoke along with Pikachu who tried to shock the fighting type, only to have his strikes grounded the moment he released them.

"Well" Kodai began, revelling in his assured victory, "this is how the world works. Last time you had the help of a bunch of brats. Now you have nothing. Not even one trainer to help organise your mindless rabble."

But that wasn't true… was it?

"You don't stand a chance, do you? But then again, you never did. Your little friends either hate you all, and even if they didn't." He directed his demented gaze at Zoroark "One as stubborn and full of pride as you would never let yourself be dictated by mere humans, would you?" He laughed again as Zoroark snarled.

But Ash was lost in thought. After all despite all the things that Kodai said he knew that he was still a trainer deep down, and there was no reason that he had to stop acting like one. Yes he was a Pokémon now, but still, that didn't mean that he couldn't come up with a plan. There had to be something, some plan or attack that could get the immense weight of the Machoke off of him and help to turn this battle around.

All he had to do was think. Somewhere inside of his head was the answer to this problem, all he had to do was…

A bright green glow filled the dark field with its eerie glow and stopping his thoughts in their tracks.

It began to glow brighter and brighter and soon everyone's attention turned to the source green light. The time ripple that was still contained within the dark mechanical claws of Kodai's monstrosity.

Zoroark had left it unharmed because it was never a good idea to play with something that may drag you a thousand years into the past. But the light, the light began to fluctuate in intensity like a beating heart. They could feel its power wash over the clearing as time itself was slowly ripped asunder before them.

"Ding" The sound of bells echoed throughout the clearing.

"Ding!" it roared once more, the wind picking up with a ghostly wail.

"Ding!" the light shook violently, as if it too protested at being violated.

"Dang!" roared the off key note, a sound of discord, forcing the light to brighten to a painful degree. Then dim in an instant. Leaving only the ringing of bells and the mesmerising presence of Celebi before it.

Then, as if acting on some unseen signal the claws began to turn alive, grabbing the green fairy tightly in its talons with one violent motion as she screamed and struggled to try and get out.

Kodai laughed the more she struggled, her little legs flying hopelessly above the ground.

Ash tried to move at the desperate sight before them and so did the others, only to find their efforts blocked by the man's Pokémon.

All hope seemed lost.

"No" someone exclaimed.

No one around seemed to have said anything as the girl spoke again, "no"

Ash recognised the Voice as that of the person in his head and realised that no one else could hear her.

"Ash you have to help her, you have to" she begged, "just look at her!" and he did, knowing that he was in an impossible situation.

"Please Ash…please." She sobbed and the boy felt his heart harden in resolve. She was right. What did he say to himself earlier about not giving up and doing the right thing? He couldn't give up now.

He wouldn't give up now.

He took a moment to calm his body and having done that he tried to look at the situation as if it was any impossible battles he had fought before. Pikachu was trapped, he was trapped, Zoroark couldn't get past the Scizor. But all they needed to do to free Celebi was to get to the machine, so how?

How?

He calmed himself down once more and emptied his mind of all distractions. Letting a familiar warmth run through his body, just like it did when he used his first attack.

Then suddenly it all became clear.

He shifted his weight to the slide slightly and kicked the Machoke's leg with his free foot, sending the Fighting type off balance.

Now free he instantly roared into action, rushing forward with all the determination of a sprinter, his legs burning with acid at every stride he made.

Then in a flash one of the Scizor was suddenly by his side and rammed into him then flew through him and into the dirt, Ash's form vanishing in a burst of purple light.

There was a crack and every one turned to the green light to witness a well-placed shadow claw rip through the claws to let Celebi, who was no very weak tumbling into Ash's arms. He smiled at her as she looked up and she smiled back.

It took an instant for Zoroark to realise that Ash had somehow learned how to cast illusions, an instant in which she lunged forward to strike the distracted Scizor who still blocked her path.

Likewise, Pikachu having felt Machoke's weight on him lessen at the distraction leapt forth and freed himself, reengaging in the battle with his former captor.

But Ash was ripped away from the glow of victory by a violent shove to his side. Something black grabbed Celebi and violent barks ripped through the air. Ash was quick to collapse into a roll and bring himself back up to his feet. Alien instincts once again taking hold of the exhausted boy's body.

He reoriented himself and looked forward to meet the dark sight of two black and red dogs with curved silver horns above their heads glaring back at him. Houndoom. They snarled at him, barking curses at him that kept his instincts on edge. He noticed one of them holding something underneath its paws.

Celebi. The dogs picked up on Ash's gaze at the Legendary and took advantage of his concern for her, "Back off now ugly or I swear I'm havin' a bleedin' fairy for dinner tonight!" and acting without hesitation Ash took a step back.

"Back!" They barked once again "Back off into the trees ya hairy slice of piss!" they roared at Ash, dissolving their words into a series of barks that shook Ash to his core.

But he couldn't give in to fear, "Back or your little pixie turns into fertiliser!" their claws gleamed a menacing green in the ethereal light. Ash's heart quivered for Celebi and he dashed into the foliage without question.

But the silence of the forest did nothing to put him at ease. He could feel it, his heart pounding like the tribal drums of war. Pikachu screaming in fury in the distance as the sounds of explosions peppered the air with the sound of his best friends unending wrath.

Then he heard the order, "go after him" and rushed away across a river, to behind a small boulder where he would hopefully remain hidden from any that would attempt to track him. The river perfect to hide his scent from the Houndoom.

He sat down in his little hideaway, letting the exhaustion of battle slowly wash away from him, surprised for a moment that he had managed to last this long in such intense fighting. But then the adrenalin that ran through his system also began to dissipate and the pain that he felt all over his body began to feel more pronounced. From his arms to his chest to his legs dragging him down to near collapse.

But he couldn't let that stop him, he had to help in the battle, he had to find a way to free Celebi.

The odds didn't look too good though. It was six against three, and two of the enemy were completely fresh. Whilst neither Ash nor Zoroark had any clear type advantage against any of their attackers.

"hey" Ash froze, battle senses kicking in at the thought that Houndoom had found him already, "wait, it's just me" came the familiar sound of The Voice.

He took a moment to calm down as she spoke, "listen, I think I know something that can help, do you wanna hear me out?" Ash nodded, "right, well we can guess that the puppy's gonna be somewhere around the river. But we can't do much damage to him, so… if we push him we can just let the river carry him off!"

Ash felt disgusted and it showed on his face, "What! It's a good plan! I even know of a way to distract him." The expression on Ash's face didn't change, "pff, alright. How about we use a distraction, then you hit him from behind." He nodded, liking this plan much better.

Simple but effective. "You know I was being sarcastic right? Hitting someone in the back of the head is the worst idea in all of history!" Ash glared into empty space, unwilling to go for the alternative.

"You're impossible you know that?" He continued to glare. "Fine! We'll do it your way."

"Now, about this distraction." She began to explain, "I'm going to need your consent to do something, but if it works, we'll hopefully get an added bonus." Ash cocked his head in puzzlement but then nodded to show his agreement to her request. "Great! Now, I need you to try and remember that feeling you had when you rescued Celebi, okay?" Ash closed his eyes and focused.

Fortunately it wasn't that hard to remember, the sensation still permeating through his being like a friend that had never left him. If she had asked him to describe it he would have said that it was like he was being wrapped up by a warm blanket. Like he was growing bigger and bigger by the second and that as long as he had this warmth around him, he would one day grow to be as tall as a mountain.

"Good, now just take a hold of that feeling for a second… annnd, do you feel that?" Ash nodded feeling something shift inside of him, draining him slightly, but not by much, "good. Now, open your eyes."

Ash did so and instantly inhaled through reflex at the sight that bore witness to.

There before him was a… familiar face. A face that almost everyone around the world would recognise from some painting or drawing somewhere. Levitating above the ground with Pink fur and blue eyes adorning a cat like body. "Mew" he breathed out in astonishment.

She giggled, "Yep! Your resident stalking kitten, at your service!" She levitated up and did a loop-de-loop. "Wellll I'm not exactly a Mew. But that's a story for another time." Ash nodded in awe, having not heard a single word that she said "Wow, you're actually looking at me as I talk; this is sooo much better than being stuck as the ghost of Christmas past. But where was I? Oh yeah! Distraction." And just like that, she rushed out to meet the Houndoom.

Ash took a moment to catch up but when he did he leapt to his feet and peered around the rock to see Mew seizing the Houndoom's attention.

"Oooh look, a puppy! Hello there puppy, do you want to see me pout?"

He recognised his cue as the dark type turned his back to him to focus on Mew's dangling tail. Ash felt his heart beat wildly in anticipation and took his opportunity to rush towards the Houndoom with a quiet and speed that made Ash feel like he was a ninja as he extended his arm whilst pushing a torrent of energy into it. Then striking the Pokémon in the back of the head with his shadow claw; knocking it out cold in one hit.

Mew circled around in the air, excited beyond words before she came to a stop before Ash. "That- was- Amazing!" she began to spin around in midair, grinning from cheek to cheek.

But then she stopped.

Her look of joy mellowed down and turned to an expression of worry, "right, Celebi." Her bright blue eyes stared intently at Ash. "You ready for part two? cos this is going to be hard." Ash nodded resolutely and Mew sighed. "Right, I'll distract the man and the other puppy because right now, I'm just an illusion. I can't touch anything or strike anyone with my non-existent powers."

"But the problem is that you can't do much damage either, so we're going to try something… different." Ash's eyebrow twitched at the mention of the word 'different'. "Don't worry it's not something life changing… well that's not true, it is life changing. But hopefully it'll also provide you with a route back to being a human." Ash's heart leapt at this possibility.

"We can't change you now but… look, just listen to me and hopefully we'll pull through this." Ash nodded to show his consent.

"Right, I just need you to think back into the past and…" She rushed forward into Ash, screaming "Breakdancingpenguins!" before stopping inches in front of him with a curious expression upon her face.

Nothing happened for a moment.

Then like a strike of lightning Ash felt pain erupt from all over his body. He felt himself burn, every corner of his body rip apart with the terrible feeling of an intense fire lapping up at him, gnawing at him, tearing him asunder.

His mind felt as if it was engulfed in a never ending storm, tearing into places that he never knew existed. With every strike of lightning an image, a feeling. A face.

Fire.

Then suddenly, violently, he was expelled out of the world of pain that had devoured him and gasped, his breathing feeling very dry.

He looked at his arms and saw, instead of the furry paws that he was beginning to grow accustomed to, a pair of silver blades. He looked up to Mew who gazed back at him concernedly.

"Are you alright?" she asked softly.

"I remember" he gasped out in his new, raspier language.

"I know"

"I remember… everything."

"I know. I had to free your brain up to help you to reaccess your abilities. You had a lot of dirty laundry in there. Never did figure out how your Amnesia managed to pop up so often."

"I forgot… so much." He gasped as another wave of images rushed by him.

"I know"

"I forgot… Gods. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" he wept, "I'm so sorry for forgetting you, all of you."

"Shuush, it's alright."

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright, come on." Mew soothed, then instead chose to wait for a moment to let Ash weep, despairing at the fact that she was just an illusion. Unable to hold him, or touch him. But quietly glad that he now knew that she was there for him and not just some figment of his imagination. "We still have to save Celebi, come on. We can worry about all that stuff later."

Ash sighed, and tried to compose himself. To take this onslaught on his sanity, the hundreds and hundreds of questions that had been thrown at him by the countless hidden memories he had just unearthed from the deepest recesses of his mind and place them in somewhere where they could lay dormant, but not forgotten. Waiting patiently until Celebi was free.

With an audible sigh he stood and began to walk forward, feeling stronger than before, now that all of the distractions that had plagued him had been put to rest. All that mattered was helping Celebi. Zoroark was on his side, Pikachu was on his side and so were all of his friends and Mew. Now was not the time to question any of that. Not when greater things were at stake.

The forest was bathed in moonlight, but in the distance, away from the river behind him was the green glow of the battle field from where echoed the sounds of thunder.

Ash began to run, awkwardly at first, but he quickly remembered the lessons that Scyther had taught him and he angled himself to pick up some acceleration until he was able to watch the clearing clearly from a distance.

The battle had toned down in tempo. The two sides now more reliant on dodging and outmanoeuvring their foes as opposed to before when they made use of as much force as possible.

Pikachu had the task of trying to keep the two Machoke busy, his smaller frame easily weaving in and out of the two behemoths as they tried to catch him. Zoroark on the other hand was tied in what looked like an intricate dance with the two Scizor, effortlessly parrying and dodging their blows with the elegance of a dancer.

He turned his gaze towards Kodai whose scars had stopped bleeding, looking on at the battle with frustration, not saying a single word to command his Pokémon as Ash had expected him to. Then over to Houndoom who was still holding the whimpering Celebi under its paws.

"I figured that he'd need Houndoom to hold Celebi since we broke his machine." Mew remarked.

But something was still off about the scene, something important… was Houndoom a bit bigger than the last one? He looked down at himself.

oh no.

He was a child again. Dread returned as the endeavour he had to overcome seemed to grow even larger in scale.

Mew just turned to him and grinned before rushing out. He panicked and moved himself to a good ambush position as all the combatants turned their attention to the intruder.

"Mew!" Kodai shouted. "What are you doing here?"

"No!" Celebi screamed, "Run away before he gets you! Getout getout getout!"

Ash readied himself and reached deep down like he did when he was a Zoroark. In one swift, almost unnoticeable motion his abdomen lowered, his wings became primed and his legs shifted.

He felt the power flow to his blade. He crouched, jumped and sent a jolt of energy to his wings, sending him rocketing forward in a flash.

When it was over he turned back to see that Houndoom had collapsed from the force of his slash.

He rushed towards Celebi who struggled to get back up into the air and held her close to his chest with the flats of his blades.

Ash turned to Pikachu and Zoroark, letting out a brief smile as they looked on in shock. Having taken out their opponents during Mew's distraction.

"Hi guys" he said. Their widening eyes telling him that they realised just who he was.

"No." He heard someone growl.

Ash turned his head to see Kodai angrily marching forward, his face twisted in rage as he roared, "NO!" not willing to let this little brat tear his victory away from him.

Ash held Celebi tightly in fear of the demonic visage Kodai's face took on.

He charged into Ash who then stumbled backward from the force of the man's strike. The three of them suddenly lost their footing and stumbled backwards, falling into the time ripple with a scream.

They vanished into nothingness, along with the green glow of the time ripple and in their wake the clearing was filled with the sound of bells.

.

Well congratulations, you've made it to the end! Have some cake. :)

As you've guessed this is the end of the ark and a fairly big one if I do say so myself.

I tried to get some semblance of a deeper plot what with the parallels drawn between Kodai and Zoroark and the the folly of obsession. Did you see any of that?

no…

Oh, well I tried anyway.

As always I'd love to read your reviews. My glass of meme juice is starting to run out so I may be stuck taking longer when releasing (mainly in the planning department). Or I might just Let loose shorter chapters. As always you guys hold some sway over the stuff I'm indifferent on. So review and hopefully I'll see you guys in the next chapter.