Misty, Brock, and Pikachu sat in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Misty 
still had Ash's head cradled in her lap, his dark hair splayed across her jean 
clad legs. Brock sat with his head in his hands. Pikachu sat on his haunches, 
his shoulders slumped, looking sadly at Ash's lifeless body.

"I don't believe it," Brock muttered.

Misty looked up at him, her crystal blue eyes filled with sorrow, her red hair 
hanging over most of her face. She said nothing as Brock continued.

"Gary didn't get him, and neither did Mewtwo. It was Lindham," he said softly.

"It's my fault," she whispered. "He was pushing me out of the way."

He could see where she was going with this. "Don't do this to yourself Misty."

"At least the other way there was hope," she said, her voice cracking. "We 
thought he was dead, but their was always that glimmer of hope."

"Pi," Pikachu said softly, pointing behind them.

They both turned to see what he was looking at. "Oh no," Brock said.

Mewtwo had regained consciousness and was heading towards them. Brock leapt to 
his feet crying, "He's already dead! You can't kill him again!"

Misty bent over Ash protectively. "Leave him alone!"

Mewtwo only ignored their pleas and continued forward, his glowing eyes fixed on 
Ash. Pikachu appeared to have lost his will to live, for he simply sat next to 
Ash, saying and doing nothing.

"I wont let you!" Brock said, lunging at Mewtwo. Either he was very brave or 
very stupid, for trying to attack a pokemon that powerful could result in 
instant death.

Mewtwo simply looked at him as if he were a bug, and with a flick of his three 
fingered hand, Brock flew across the room, landing on his rear. Misty looked up 
at Mewtwo, her expression contorted in anger. "Stay away from him!"

Mewtwo raised his right arm, and to Misty's surprise, she found herself rising 
into the air. He flicked his hand again, sending her flying into Brock, who 
promptly fell over again.

"Ash!" Misty cried, trying to get back to him, but Brock held her back.

"Mewtwo is too powerful. It took everything Ash had to stop him, and that only 
knocked him out," he reminded her. She stopped struggling, and the two watched 
in defeat, waiting to see what Mewtwo was going to do to Ash.

Mewtwo didn't bother to remove Pikachu from his position, most likely because he 
wasn't putting up any resistance. Mewtwo stopped floating and landed next to 
Ash's body. He knelt down and placed both of his hands over the fatal wound. 
Mewtwo began to glow as he built up his psychic energy.

"What's he doing?" Misty hissed.

Brocks eyes widened as he realized what he was seeing. "I think that's Mewtwo's 
recover."

Brock and Misty watched in amazement as the wound began to heal. Even Pikachu 
was watching, curious as to what the large pokemon was doing. Then, as quickly 
as he has started, Mewtwo stopped.

Misty looked uncertainly at Mewtwo, then rushed back to Ash's side. Brock 
kneeled next to her, and Pikachu stood on his tip toes to see better. Misty felt 
her heart leap when Ash's hand moved. She reached out and grabbed his hand, and 
he squeezed it.

His eyes slowly opened, and he looked up to see four blurry figures hovering 
over him. The figures swam into view and Ash could make out their faces. Brock 
was slightly pale, Misty's eyes were shining and she was smiling, Pikachu's 
expression was pure joy, and... Mewtwo.

He sat up quickly and immediately regretted the action. A wave of dizziness 
overtook him and he closed his eyes. Misty almost tackled him when she hugged 
him, and Pikachu jumped into his lap crying, "Pikapi!"

Ash opened his eyes, confused, until it dawned on him. "Oh, no. Did I die 
again?"

Misty smiled, and Brock laughed lightly. Ash was still looking at Mewtwo, who 
was hovering a few feet away from them. "You remember me, Mewtwo, old friend?" 
Ash asked, as the others turned to face the catlike pokemon.

"Yes. When you hit me with that huge electric attack, you freed me from the 
control Team Rocket had on me." He smiled, or made a face that was as close to a 
smile as Mewtwo's feline face would ever get.

"I take it you are the reason I am alive?" Ash inquired.

"I used recover on you." He looked at Misty and Brock. "You have good friends. 
They were willing to protect you even in death."

Misty and Brock both blushed, not only because of the comment, but because they 
were under the stare of such a powerful pokemon. Misty suddenly began looking 
around wildly, as though there was something she had forgotten. Everyone stared 
at her until she said, "Where's Gary?"

They all looked to the spot Gary had been slain, seeing nothing but the bow that 
had killed him. Ash  stood up slowly as Brock went to examine the bow. Ash 
looked at Mewtwo. "What happened? He was dead."

"Some of my recover may have affected him," Mewtwo explained.

"He must have snuck out when we were busy with Ash," Brock said.

Mewtwo was still for a moment, then he quickly locked eyes with Ash. "I used my 
psychic powers to locate him." Everyone stared at him expectantly as he 
continued. "He's going after the Crystal of Nine."

Misty and Brock watched as Ash's expression became aghast. "What!" he cried.

Mewtwo nodded. "Ash, you have to stop him."

Ash's eyes became wide and he shook his head, saying, "Mewtwo, I swore I would 
never go back there."

Misty and Brock exchanged confused looks, niether having a clue about what Ash 
was talking about.

Pikachu jumped onto Ash's shoulder while Mewtwo said, "Ash, Gary can't get the 
crystal, you can only imagine what he would do with the power. You have to get 
it before he does."

"What about the guardian?" Ash asked.

"The guardian is still there, but you are living proof she can be defeated."

Ash lowered his head and closed his eyes. He remained like that for a while, 
obviously thinking. He raised his head and sighed, running his fingers through 
his hair. "I'll go."

"I can't come with you," Mewtwo told him. "The guardian and I have an... 
understanding."

Ash nodded. "Thank you for everything Mewtwo." He turned and headed towards the 
door.

Brock and Misty followed, completely perplexed.

They walked outside, surprising the Team Rocket guards. The guards were about to 
tell them to "Freeze!" when Mewtwo floated out, causing them to drop their guns 
and run in fear.

Ash shook his head at the cowards, before turning and facing Team Rocket 
headquarters. "Mewtwo, can you destroy it?" he asked, glancing at the pokemon, 
who was hovering next to him.

Mewtwo nodded in reply. His eyes began to glow as he powered up to use psychic. 
The three humans took a step back as Mewtwo became surrounded by psychic energy. 
The glow lit up the darkness. He released the attack and they all ducked as the 
building was torn apart.

When Ash looked up, the building had been reduced to a smoking pile of ruins. 
Mewtwo turned to face him, his expression as impassive as ever. "This is where 
we part, Ash."

Ash stood up, Misty and Brock doing the same. "I hope I'll see you soon my 
friend," Ash said.

"Just don't get yourself killed." As an afterthought Mewtwo added, "Again."

Ash smiled and turned. He walked away, his trench coat trailing behind him.

Misty and Brock said quick good-byes to Mewtwo, before running to catch up with 
Ash.

They walked along the deserted roads in silence until Ash said, "Go home."

"What's the Crystal of Nine?" Brock asked, completely ignoring the command.

Ash looked at him increduosly before repeating, "Go. Home." He made sure to 
punctuate each word.

Brock looked at him skeptically. "No way."

"Brock," Ash said, stopping short. "This has nothing to do with you. I let you 
come last time because you could help, now there is nothing you can do."

"Ash," Misty said, speaking up for the first time. "We're your friends. We want 
to help."

Ash threw up his arms in exasperation almost knocking Pikachu off his shoulder. 
"There is nothing you can do!"

Brock looked him in the eye and said, "That never stopped us before."

*I don't know why you argue with them,* Pikachu thought. *They're only going to 
follow you anyway.*

Ash sighed, knowing Pikachu was right. "Fine." He began to walk again. Misty and 
Brock grinned at one another before running to catch up with him.

"So," Brock said as they walked. "What's the Crystal of Nine?"

Ash shot him a sideways glance before saying, "The Crystal of Nine allows anyone 
who touches it to gain elemental powers."

"So that's how you-" he stopped when Ash gave him a look that clearly said he 
didn't want to talk about it.

"Who is the guardian Mewtwo was talking about?" Misty asked. She was being 
considerably warmer to him since they left Team Rocket headquarters.

Ash, on the other hand, was still being his cold unfriendly self, despite 
Misty's efforts to be nice. "A pokemon guards the crystal from humans," he said, 
casting her an annoyed look.

Both Misty and Brock considered him for a moment, wondering what type of pokemon 
and how Ash had managed to get past him. Ash didn't seem to have any intention 
to elaborate though, so Brock changed the subject. "Where are we going?"

"Cinnabar Island," was the terse reply.

Noting his irritation, Misty and Brock stopped asking questions. After Ash had 
short circuited the city gate, they exited Pewter. Ash stopped abruptly, saying, 
"We'll never beat Gary there by walking." He reached into his trench coat, and 
extracted a pokeball, surprising Misty and Brock.

"You still have some of your pokemon?" Brock asked.

Ash enlarged the pokeball before saying, "All my old ones are still with 
Professor Oak. I never retrieved them because of that whole, everyone thinking 
I'm dead thing."

"So, you caught a new one?" Misty asked, looking from the pokeball in his hand 
to his face.

"No, actually, he followed me. I helped him out about a year ago, then he 
wouldn't leave me alone. He followed me everywhere. He's kind of annoying, but 
useful in times like these." Ash threw the pokeball and it opened with a crack. 
Misty and Brock's jaws dropped as a Zapdos appeared in front of them. Ash 
climbed on his back, then turned to them.

"Are you coming?" he asked. They stood in shock for a moment before slowly 
approaching the yellow legendary pokemon.



A/N: I was all set to end this, I even started the chapter. But, I had a dream 
and thought it was kind of neat. I decided to incorporate it into the story, so 
now the story just gained some more chapters. I hope that's good news. ;)

Please review, it helps with the writing.


Disclaimer: See other chapters.