{Pewter City}
Brock was taking care of things for his siblings, now that he was back he wanted to make a surprise for them, and with Abra helping him he went and bought a bunch of gifts for when the holidays came, the only question was where to hide them.
The days went by normally besides the new Aerodactyl he was trying to tame, unsurprisingly they never received any Aerodactyl to be part of the Gym.
But he was managing, especially with support from Flint, if he was being honest it still feels weird having him around, back when Flint first came back he had to hold himself back and not let his emotions take control.
If his siblings were not around he might have actually done something he would have regretted like Uncle Curator said, after everything he has mellowed down but he still sometimes needs to calm himself.
He doesn't hate his dad or his mom, it's just that things could have been done differently, he actually went on some adventures of his own, but due to the responsibilities he never really got farther than a quick trip to Johto.
But thankfully something was coming up that would take his mind off things, another Breeding competition, one that would be held right here in Pewter, he just needed 1 more than he could qualify for the breeding competition.
He had to get ready for anything, but when he did that just made him wonder as he brushed Vulpix's fur, what happened with Suzie and Yui?
—-
Misty was back at her house, not the Gym but her actual house, both her parents were actually relatively rich so the family home was a mansion with tons of maids.
That treatment was probably why her sisters turned out the way they did but that's beside the point at the moment, after she came back and gave out all the Water Pokemon she caught including all the Squirtle, she went to her parents.
When she did she released her Lapras that was as aggressive as ever to try and get some advice from them on what to do.
Kai inspected the small Lapras, "This is a very particular case, I've never seen a Lapras be aggressive, I didn't even know they could be aggressive."
Marigold looked at the angry baby, "Aww, it's so cute yet it's like this, Misty what did you do to him?"
"Wha- why is that your first thought, I don't treat my Pokemon badly!" Misty yelled as Psyduck walked in from another room holding a sponge and a towel.
Misty immediately turned to Psyduck, "You go back to your Pokeball!"
Kai and Marigold looked at each other, "Right, couldn't imagine."
Misty flinched, "Hey I didn't come here to be insulted, so do you think we can do something?"
"Oh yeah there's a bunch we can do," Marigold said casually.
"Yeah, an aggressive Pokemon isn't anything new," Kai said
"Great so when can you start!" Misty said shamelessly
A moment of silence passed through the mansion, "Well we're not going to do it for you," Kai said bluntly.
"Wh-but why!"
"Because you're doing it yourself," Marigold said poking Misty's nose
"But that sounds like a lot of effort and I'm tired after what I've been through,"
"Come on don't whine, it will be fun, we can teach you and you can do it!" Marigold said happily as she dragged her daughter away.
Psyduck looked around at everything and just looked confused, Kai looked at him, "Yeah I don't get her either,"
"Psy?"
"Good point, I guess it is part of what makes her Misty."
"Psy–sy-sy~"
"Yeah, any way you wanna go to the pond and see if there are any female Psyduck that catch your eye?"
"Psy-duck!"
—
Almost a Month passed, and since then Ash has been training in Pallet Town and helping out along with hanging out with his friends whenever he had time.
Eventually Green came back from the Sevii Islands and a bit later Gary also came back after finishing his challenge.
The holidays were coming up soon which meant the Semester for everyone else was almost over, the thing was that due to the fact that a lot of kids came from different regions with different time zones and school years Oak made a compromise.
School would have fewer breaks in between the year but it would end before the holidays so that everyone could celebrate with their families and be done with school until next year. Leaving them about an extra month and a half along with the break in between.
Ash, Green, and Gary went to the end-of-year party with everyone to celebrate that Silver was going to graduate and go be a trainer next, and like always Paul was a no-show.
And Just like that it was the day before everyone went back home to have the break, Ash, Green, and Gary were hanging out near the outskirts of town training together.
Ash's Victreebel went down as Green's Nidoqueen was standing across from him, "Oh yeah, it's my victory!"
Ash returned Victreebel, "Yeah yeah, anyway what's that put our score?"
Gary was sitting by a tree, "7:5 in Ash's favor."
Green smugly raised her nose, "So what, at least I won this match, last time I checked you had 9 losses on record!"
"What, well that's because unlike you when we fight it's serious and we don't use our weaker Pokemon, unlike you who only uses the same 6."
"Oh yeah rich boy, you wanna go again," Green said smiling
Gary smiled back, "Yeah it will be nice to warm up before I have my rematch"
Suddenly before either Green or Gary could release their Pokemon a strong gust of wind blew across them almost making Pikachu fall off Ash's shoulder.
Gary stood up, "Hey watch it!"
Green looked over, "What's a Dragonite doing here? You think it's Oak's?"
"Nah, this one's smaller, though maybe it would be a good catch, dibs!" Gary said pulling out a Pokeball
But before he could throw it Dragonite reached into its bag and held out a disk and 3 letters before passing them around to them and giving Ash the disk that once he grabbed turned into a hologram of a woman in a very covering dress resembling a nun.
"Greetings Pokémon trainers, I bring you an invitation, you have been chosen to join a select group of Pokémon trainers in a party, organized by my Master, the Strongest Pokémon trainer in the world, in his New Island Palace, a special ferry will leave from a pier in Vermilion City to take you to the island this afternoon, only trainers who present this invitation, will be admitted, if you decide to attend, you must answer immediately, my Master is waiting for you." said the woman.
They looked confused as the hologram disappeared, then they looked at the letter that had a Yes and a No, Dragonite looked at them expectantly.
"The Strongest Pokémon trainer in the world, quite the bold claim," Gary said
"You think we should go?" Green asked.
"Well obviously, I want to see who this so-called strongest trainer can do," Gary said smugly.
Ash was quiet considering his options, he knew what this was, Mewtwo was starting his plan, he really didn't want to go since he wasn't sure if plot armor would save him from not dying, but at the same time if he didn't go then the world might be doomed.
Ash gave a reluctant sigh as he bit his tongue, "Yeah, let's go!" Ash said as he nodded his invitation.
Ash, Green, and Gary went back to grab their supplies and tell people they were leaving and would be back soon, then Abra took them back to Vermilion. They went to the port, but it seemed like there was a big storm as they went inside.
When they went inside they saw that a lot of people, around 10 were trapped and complaining as the storm wasn't allowing people to leave, a lot of people were around but there was one person that caught their interest, it was Yellow with Chuchu on her lap.
Green quickly approached and pulled Yellow into a surprise hug, "Hey Yellow what are you doing here?"
Yellow flinched before noticing it was Green and seeing Ash and Gary walking forward, "O-oh hi guys, I-I got an invitation from a Dragonite inviting me to come to an island,"
"Well what a coincidence we got the same thing, but it looks like we might not be able to go," Ash said looking into the storm.
Pier master Miranda and Officer Jenny were standing there trying to keep the peace as much as they could, "Please everyone calm down, all forms of transportation have been shut down due to the storm."
"So what, I can go by myself, all my Pokemon are water types, it will be a piece of cake!" one brown-haired boy said.
"Yeah we can just fly over with my Pokemon!" another boy said as people started shouting and pushing.
As everything was happening, a Ferrow flying high in the sky with a camera attached to its neck looked down as on the other side a black figure watched and noticed everyone, including Ash, Green, Gary, and Yellow.
The figure recognized and took a breath as he noticed that they did arrive, so he would make a change as he waved his arm in the opposite direction.
Back to the Pier people were just about to break through the makeshift guardrail that Pier master Miranda and Officer Jenny made, when suddenly out of nowhere the storm just seemed to stop.
While everyone looked confused they suddenly heard a horn from a ship approaching, looking at it it looked like a ship that you found and restored. On top stood that woman heavily dressed in robes.
Everyone recognized the woman as the one from the hologram as she spoke up, "Hello trainers, my master has instructed me to pick everyone up, just hand me your invitations and we will go."
Miranda and Jenny could only look at each other with a complicated expression, since there was no storm they technically didn't have the authority to stop people from going, so they could only wish them well as everyone started jumping onto the ship.
The gang looked at each other and Gary shrugged, "Well, that's convenient isn't it,"
"Yeah, I guess," Green said looking at the ship, "I'm not the only one who finds that suspicious right?"
"Nope"
"Nah"
"I don't think so"
"Alright, just making sure I'm not on something," Green said as she marched forward to board the ship.
Gary and Yellow followed but Ash looked at everything, this was different, if he remembers correctly only 3-4 other people got to New Island because of the storm, there were even 2 that also went out but were not seen again.
But now 2 main things, just from a rough estimate from what he can remember from the first movie and the remake, there should have been roughly 20-30 people invited, now there were only 10 and all of them were going to go.
It's not weird enough that Gary is going with him since he never appeared in the movie but that could just be reasoned that he said no or that Mewtwo saw him as weak after he lost.
But that's beside the point, what was Mewtwo planning, he knows that apparently he was still Shadow but that didn't give him anything to work on, especially with the sudden change.
As Ash was lost in thought he heard the sound of the ship and the other 3 yelled out to him as the ship started sailing away without him.
Ash snapped out and took a running start before jumping over and onto the boat, the others looked impressed but the 'servant' just looked at him, "Your Ticket?"
Ash gave her his ticket and she walked away as he rejoined the other 3 just to see what was about to happen.
—
{Unknown Island}
Mew awoke from its sleep, looked up, and gestured while emitting a small scream.
"Mew?" the small Pokemon said as it looked into the sky and sensed a strange energy.
"Mew!" Mew seemed to giggle playfully understanding the situation somewhat better.
Then the small Mew flew out and started flying out to find the disturbance it had felt.
—
A few hours later the ship arrived on the so-called New Island, the 'servant' didn't waste any time and told everyone to follow her as she started walking.
Everyone followed and the gang of 4 was no exception, the pathway seemed somewhat sinister and creepy, like comically creepy.
The large door at the end didn't help, but when the 'servant' opened the door, revealing a huge hall with numerous rather expensive decorations, in the center, there was a table set up for everyone to take a seat.
The 'servant' continued walking, "Now that you are all here we can start, please release your Pokemon, and soon my master will greet you all with his presence."