Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mewtwo was getting annoyed. He had this perfect plan to get revenge on humanity after what Giovanni had put him through. He had executed it to perfection - inviting trainers from all over Kanto to New Island, then using a storm to make sure that only the best would arrive, before challenging them with his cloned Blastoise, Venasaur and Charizard. And yet, instead of his clones all defeating their originals, showing that the clones were superior to the originals, that one Charizard, who seemed to be ill-mannered towards their Trainer… That one Charizard somehow managed to force a draw against his cloned Charizard.

This wasn’t why he was annoyed though, as it didn’t change his plan. He had sent out his special balls to capture the other Pokemon, capturing all of them, but the trainer of the Charizard, who had tried to stop his Pikachu from being cloned, had somehow gone after the ball towards the cloning facility. He even offered the other humans a chance to leave - although it wasn’t out of the kindness of his own heart.

The explosion wasn’t what annoyed him. The fact that the trainer came back with the originals - after he got the clones together - wasn’t what annoyed him.

What annoyed him was the fact that this trainer - Ash - had decided to attack him! He didn’t need much effort to swat him away with Psychic, but then a pink bubble stopped Ash from crashing into a spire.

And then she appeared.

Mew.

Mewtwo was even more annoyed now. This he knew was the very Pokémon used as the basis for him. True, his own DNA wasn’t 100% Mew - from what little he remembered, he knew he did have the DNA of some powerful Psychic-Types - but still.

How dare she stop him! His plan was perfect! He would get rid of humanity and leave nothing more than the perfect clones who were superior in every way!

What happened next was a blur, as clones and originals fought against each other. But soon enough, Mewtwo was charging up a Psystrike, intending to end Mew's pitiful life once and for all…

…And then, just as he fired off his attack, and Mew fired off hers, it happened. A cry to stop, a body put between himself and Mew…

ASH!

…And a cry from the Mew as she gasped in shock as the trainer was hit by both his Psystrike and whatever she was using to try and stop him.

Delia was fuming.

Ever since the storm started, she felt it calling to her somehow. A call that was so strong, she stopped what she was doing and rushed towards it.

She hadn’t realised she had shifted until she saw that Pokémon tossing her son away. She had reacted on instinct, and used a Protect bubble to stop Ash from getting hurt.

Even then, her attention was fully on this ‘Mewtwo’, who claimed to be a superior clone of herself. She was doing everything she could to stop him, until Mewtwo was charging up a powerful attack.

Realising how dangerous the attack was, Delia charged up a Copycat of the move Mewtwo was using with the idea to cancel the attacks out. But just as she fired off the attack…

ASH!

She cried out, gasping in shock as her son was hit by the two attacks and fell to the ground, lifeless.

And now, she was fuming. That ‘clone’ has cost the life of her son! Her baby Ash! The star of her life! The reason why she had been happy as a human!

But before she could act on her rage, she saw Pikachu - the very same Pikachu who she knew was her son’s starter - try to revive him with some shocks. And when that failed, he cried.

Soon enough all of the other Pokémon - both normal and cloned - started to cry as well. And then, something happened. Something Delia remembered hearing in the past when she was talking to an Xerneas.

The tears of life are a powerful thing , they had said. When enough Pokémon cry at the loss of a single life, their very tears can act like a combination of Life Dew and Revival Blessing, bringing the one who was lost back to the land of the living. But there is always a cost to the one revived by the tears…

Delia would have no idea what the cost would be, but on seeing her Ash come back to life, she was happy. And on hearing Mewtwo admitting his past and saying that he would have a place in the world…

“You will have a place in our family as well, Mewtwo,” she declared. “I, Delia Mew Ketchum, do hereby adopt you as my brother, Mewtwo Ketchum.”

Even though everything I’ve done to you, you will still allow me to…? Mewtwo asked.

“Indeed… Oh, and by the way, you're grounded. As for you, Ash Satoshi Ketchum…”

“What is it, Mom?” Ash asked, before… “Wait, you’re…?!?”

She quickly shifted back to her human form through the use of Transform, before pointing at him, “You’re also grounded - until it’s time to go to the Indigo League, I will not be letting you out of my sight. And even afterwards, I expect weekly updates from you at the very least.”

“MOM!”

What transpired here I will always remember, but I think it’s best that these events are best for- Mewtwo would say just as he was ready to wipe the memories of all of the trainers and Pokémon there - barring that of himself, the clones and Delia, but then Delia would interrupt.

“Not so fast, Mewtwo - you are not going to wipe the memories of my son without my permission,” she would point out. “I suggest you leave that to me. Same with the memories of Brock and Misty - they’d need to know enough to understand what transpired here today. And the same with the others - besides, you’re grounded after all, and that means no using your powers unless I allow it”

…Do you really have to do that?

“Yes, of course. Now get all of your clones together… And hoo boy, this is going to be very complex to explain to the professor…”

Misty would glance at Ash, and quietly remark, “I don’t know about you, but your mom seems scary when she’s angry…”

Ash would just nod as he watched his mom - his Mew mom, in fact - boss about his new adopted uncle. “Yeah… Even before I knew what I now know, she was scary when I was in trouble…”

Chapter Text

“Mewtwo?”

It had been a few weeks since the New Island incident. Ash Ketchum - currently still grounded - was bored, and he had been looking over the photos that he had taken with Dexter. And while looking through them, he realised that there was one which was strange, so he decided to call for Mewtwo.

What is it? The originally self-claimed world’s Most Powerful Pokémon, now adopted uncle to Ash and just as grounded as he was, walked over. He was still a bit bitter about the fact that he still wasn’t allowed to use his psychic powers - with the exception of talking using them - but his time at Palett Town has made him realise why Delia was punishing him.

“Well, why is there a mural of you on Bill’s door?”

Who is this Bill, and why do you remember seeing a mural of me on it?

“Well, I remember seeing it on the way to his lighthouse, and I found it strange due to how it had all these rare Pokémon on it, so I took a picture of it using Dexter, hoping to show it to the professor, but I guess I never got around to doing so?” Ash chuckled.

Interesting… Can I see what this picture is?

Ash would show Mewtwo the screen of his Pokédex. “I know it’s kinda small, but… Well, right here,” Ash noted as he pointed it out. “It looks a lot like you, but it looks a little off… Do you know why?”

I don’t actually. And it’s not like either of us can go and ask him, what with the fact that we are both grounded…

“True, but… Wait, maybe mom might know more! I think I’ll upload it to the professor’s system as I was planning to, then ask her to have a look!”

“Have a look at what , exactly?”

Ash and Mewtwo would turn around and see Delia standing there. She was in her human form, having decided to remain in it for the time being, especially around Professor Oak. She didn’t feel it was time yet to tell him the truth - only that she had learned that Ash was in trouble, and had gone to get him, only to find the clones and Mewtwo having been hurt from a Team Rocket experiment. That wasn’t the whole truth, but it was true enough that the Professor accepted it, and now the clones were being looked after at the ranch.

“Well, uh… Mom, have you ever been to Bill’s place before?”

“No sweetie, I haven’t had a chance to. What about it do you want me to look at?”

“...I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t realise at the time that they were planning that, and by the time I did, they blackmailed me into finishing the work!”

After seeing the image, Delia resolved to talk to Bill about it, but at the same time, she was unwilling to let Ash or Mewtwo out of her sight. But now that Ash was at the Indigo League, and Mewtwo had finally been let off of the hook - before Delia suggested he find some place for the clones to live solely after one too many confrontations between some of the cloned Pokémon and the ones being looked after at Oak’s Ranch - she now was free to confront him about the mural. She expected Bill to lie and deny everything, proving that he was involved deeply and willingly, but instead she saw someone who had been fooled into helping with the creation - a man who was trapped by no fault of his own.

“Then why the mural? Why include a depiction of Mewtwo, as inaccurate as it is, to it?” Delia asked, doing her best to keep calm.

“...It was to remind me. I should have checked the sources they were giving me. I was fooled into believing they were…” Bill then sighed and shook his head. “...And I didn’t tell the whole truth about why I was stuck in that costume to your son - It was someone from Team Rocket who did it, as an attempt to silence me from talking. I was trapped in there for almost a week before your son and his friends saved me - any longer in there, and…”

Delia sighed. “Well, at least you can make amends for your actions. I’m going to give you a choice: I can either forgive you and forget your involvement in…”

Bill shuddered and shook his head. “...No, I don’t feel as if I deserve forgiveness, and I certainly don’t want to forget…”

“...Well, in that case, I will take you to Mewtwo,” Delia decided. “He will be the one who will determine if you should be punished, and if so, how that punishment might be. But know this - you will have to accept whatever he says you should do to repent for your actions. You are not blameless… But you are also not solely to blame for what you did.”

Bill sighed and nodded. “Anything would be better than that other option…”

Chapter Text

Delia was worried. It had been a few months since she had sent Bill over to Mewtwo’s new home, and while she was happy about how well Ash did in his first league, she was not happy about the ruling of the ref when they caused Ash to lose just because of his Charizard deciding to ignore Ash’s commands and falling asleep. She had sent a stern letter to Goodshow, knowing fully well that while the decision can’t be reversed, she could dang well make sure that such a mistake shouldn’t happen again.

But that was not why she was worried. No, she was worried due to the fact that another unnatural storm was brewing - this time in the Orange Islands, where her baby was currently taking part in the local League challenge. And last time he was in such a storm, it led to him almost dying. Not to mention the fact that many Pokémon were flocking towards where the storm was.

She wished she could just turn into her Mew form and fly off, but just before she could, none other than Professor Oak came nearby and… Well, she wasn’t willing to turn into her true form around him yet. He didn’t need to know her secret.

So instead, she had to beg for him to take her with the news crew, and join him on the helicopter as it took off and flew towards the Orange Islands.

As she waited, she suppressed the itch to transform by thinking over some of her memories which had been unsealed ever since she first returned to her true form. And as she does, she recites something she remembered hearing about related to the Orange Islands…

The harmony of Fire, Lightning and Ice.

A balance of pure causation.

If disturbed, the Beast will be angered,

And the world will face destruction.

The water’s great guardian will appear,

And will try to avert disaster.

But alone, their song will fail

Without the help of a Master.

From Fire to Ice and Lighting too,

The spheres of Aura await,

Take them to the Shrine that sees them all,

And a difference they shall make.

O Chosen One, Master of them all,

Set right what was made wrong.

Restore the balance, stop the Beast,

And sing the Guardian’s Song…

By the time Delia and Oak had made it to Shamounti, it was almost already all over. She wasn't happy that her Ash had been chosen to play the role of the Chosen One, but given that he had already brought two of the three spheres back, and was riding Lugia to recover the final one, she felt proud for her baby boy. Although she knew she would be having some… choice words with someone later.

She had hoped that the prophecy was talking about another great Trainer, like maybe Lance… Or, Arceus forbid, Leon, who recently claimed the World Monarch crown. She still had no idea how someone who could get so lost so easily could become a Champion, much less World Monarch. And as such, she hadn’t paid much attention to it… Until today that is.

She couldn’t do much to help her son - not while Oak was around - and she couldn’t bear to watch when that flying fortress made a last attempt on trying to capture Lugia. But thankfully, she didn’t need to do anything as eventually the fortress was downed, and Lugia was coming back with Ash, the Treasure of Lightning in hand.

While she knew her son needed to return the Treasure to the shrine, she couldn’t help but hug Ash, and then she would hear him say, “Thanks for being there, mom… Dad.”

Dad? Who are you…? Lugia would ask.

Ash turned to Lugia. “...I can understand why you had to go, Dad - Mom was still human, and thus you couldn’t raise me. Besides, the song she sang - that was yours, right?”

“...Swetie… You’re not exactly right about one thing,” Delia cut in. “Yes, I did sing you his Song while you were young - but I didn’t remember it was his. Back then, I still thought I was human, and that a friend of mine was the one who taught me that.”

“...Then who was it? Who was my father?” Ash asked.

“...I will admit, he was… He wasn’t ready to have a child, and so he made an excuse that he wanted to return to being a Trainer in his home region of Orre… I never heard from him again,” Delia noted.

…I don’t think we have much time left - the Beast is growing stronger, Lugia pointed out. Go, Ash - place the last treasure, and then my song will tame the Beast of the Sea.

Ash nodded before running off, his Pikachu following shortly behind.

…Well, I never thought I’d see you again, Lugia would then remark. How long has it been? Thirty years? Or was it more like fourty?

“...About that long, indeed. But you know me - unlike my siblings and parents, I wanted to experience things from their side. Although I think I know just what favor Azlef took in return…” Delia shook her head and sighed. “...Still, if you’d want to be a father figure for him, I don’t mind if you adopt him as your son.”

Lugia chuckled at that. Silver has always been begging me and my partner to have another sibling - I’m sure he would love to have your son as an adopted bro-

You really mean it? I’m going to have a brother?

Lugia and Delia sighed as they turned towards Silver, the young Lugia not being as subtle as he was hoping to be. …Of course, but I suggest you wait until he’s finished with what he has to do before you greet him. Still, until then… You can stay with us as we watch the Beast being tamed. And pay attention - even though it may had been somewhat fulfilled this time, sometimes these things happen in cycles. Who knows, maybe you’d be the one showing your children how the Beast can be tamed…

After all was said and done - and while Oak was distracted by Ash, Lugia and Silver - Delia could finally shift back into her Mew form. She had three things she needed to make sure was done.

First, she wanted to make sure that whomever endangered her child - and the world - would be punished for their crimes. Of course, that depended on if they were ignorant of the prophecy or not - if they were, then they would have no way of knowing that what they were doing was wrong. But if they weren’t… Well, she may be one to forgive and forget, but maybe something more would need to be done about them.

Second, she needed to get the ruined fortress out of the water, and get it somewhere safe. Perhaps it could be something for Mewtwo to work on, she mused to herself.

And finally, she needed to confront a certain bird-brained trio. They should have known better, as they were the ones responsible for the nexus, but no, their in-fighting and the like had made it easier for the one who endangered the world to do so. They were going to be so grounded when she’d finished with them…

She decided to check out the fortress first, as the one who caused this to happen might still be in there. But after a bunch of searching…

“...What.”

Delia had never seen it before - the item which, unknown to her, started the collection of Laurence the Third. An Ancient Mew Plate, only one of 30 known to have ever existed, in pristine condition. A card which was so valuable, the last time one was sold, even in dubious condition, it sold for over ten million PokéDollars.

She then saw out of the corner of her eye someone approaching, and so she hid herself, before watching as Laurence III entered the room and was about to take the card - but a little bit of Psychic stopped him in his tracks.

She could tell he was the one behind the incident. And having seen that he had an inscription of the first two verses of the prophecy on the ship, she knew he wasn’t ignorant. He knew about it.

…She decided to just tie him up before teleporting him in front of Lugia’s mate along with a note, deciding that she would be best to decide what happens to him. She would then store the plate in a pocket dimension, before calling in a favor she had from Palkia from before she was human - a favor which would bring the Hikokyu to Mount Queena, and thus to Mewtwo’s paws.

With the idiot who was behind this hopefully learning his lesson, and the fortress no longer troubling the ocean, Delia made her way to where the Shamounti Bird Trio were recovering. .. And bickering between each other, claiming that the other two were the reason why they get wiped.

The Mew sighed and shook her head, before clearing her throat loudly. And when that didn’t get their attention, a small Psywave to each of them did the trick.

“...Okay, that’s enough. All three of you are now grounded - you all are equally to blame for this from what I heard.”

“You can’t ground us! You’re not our guardian!” Moltress fired back.

“Oh, but haven't you heard? Lugia just adopted my son as his own - that means, in the eyes of Arceus, I count as a guardian-in-law to the three of you,” Delia countered.

“That doesn't give you the-!” Articuno tried to object, but Delia would quickly Glare at them, causing them to shut up.

“...I think it does…” Zapdos meekly pointed out.

“Indeed - but as I can’t be supervising the three of you, I think I’ll let your guardian’s mate look after you.”

“No, wait! Anything but her!” Articuno pleaded, but it fell on deaf ears. Besides, Delia mused as she left, maybe the trio might end up helping her with Laurence the Third’s punishment indirectly…?

Chapter Text

When Delia saw the news about the strange happenings in Greenfield, she was worried about the Hale family. And when Oak said that he was going to go over there to assist, Delia said that she would be coming as well - but that Oak could go on ahead without her while she got ready.

This gave her time to prepare, especially given who was at her home at the time whom she didn't want to leave unsupervised - the last time she did so, they caused a bit of a mess that she had to ground them for. But it didn't take long for her to make her way towards Greenfield, with a few Pokeballs on hand.

…Unfortunately, just as she was about to arrive at the Greenfield Pokémon Center an hour later, she would see a Suicune leap out of there, with two familiar faces currently asleep on their back… And Ash running out of the center with his Pikachu, calling for the Beast to give his friends back.

Delia sighed, and then she shouted, “Ash Satoshi Ketchum, you will stop right now before you make a fool of yourself!”

Her shout did the trick, causing Ash to pause, and for Pikachu, who was almost about to try using a Thunderbolt to try and stop the Beast, to realise that he might have harmed Brock and Misty if he had gone through with the attack. True, it meant the Suicune did get away with the friends, but Delia was sure they would be able to take care of themselves.

A few minutes later, Ash and Delia were in the Pokémon Center, talking to Oak and Schuyler about what was going on. And when Ash asked what Pokémon it was who kidnapped his friends, Delia remarked, “Well, I think it might possibly be a Suicune who did it.” But it couldn't be the Suicune she knew of - the one who had been tasked to check in on Ash from time to time. She wouldn't kidnap his friends, right? And besides… “...But she looked a bit… off. As if she came out of the pages of a storybook…”

“...I believe this might have something to do with the Unown,” Schuyler remarked - and the moment he mentioned about the Unown, Delia lost her composure for the briefest of moments as she almost panicked, before doing her best to hide her panic. As Delia, she hardly knew about the Unown, only that Professor Hale had been researching them… but as Mew, she knew just how dangerous the Unown could be if they weren't serving one of the Big Four. And this was far from Sinnoh…

It didn't take long before an email arrived from Molly Hale - but the wording was off, along with the contents. She was claiming she had her mother, father and sister, and she didn't want to be disturbed, but that couldn't be right. Besides, Molly's mother was unwell, her father apparently had disappeared, and she never had a sister to begin with…

…And then it clicked for Delia. Schuyler was right - there was an Unown Gestalt behind this. It may have been that they were the reason Professor Hale was missing - possibly trapped in the Unown Plane, if not one of the Big Four's - and if that was the case… they may be seeing Molly as a replacement to one of the Big Four. And that spelled trouble, especially if they used to belong to the Original One…

She wasn't surprised that Ash was planning to sneak out, because she knew he wanted to save his friends. But she put a hand on his shoulder and told him to wait, because she's going to come with him.

“But you might be in danger, Mom - and I don't…”

“Ash… Who was it who helped you when your adopted uncle was raging?” She reminded him. “And besides, I do have some help, remember - I still have Mimey and Cyndi you gave me,” she added as she showed the four Pokéballs she had on hand.

On seeing what they were, Ash sighed. “...Okay, mom, but promise me-”

“I should be saying the same to you,” Delia cut Ash off, knowing exactly what he was thinking of saying. “And trust me - I think this won't be worse than that time on New Island…”

“...Okay, I take that back - this is indeed worse than the New Island incident.”

Delia was not happy, because getting to the mansion was a lot harder than she had hoped, and it didn't help that a news crew had their helicopter nearby and possibly filming her and her son as they were about to get in. Well, so much for stealth or turning into a Mew to make it more easily get into there. But thanks to Ash's two grass-types, along with his Totadile and her Cyndi, they were now inside and she could see just what the Unown were doing.

“I dunno, at least we haven't been attacked yet like when I was helping Lugia-Dad,” Ash replied. “And while I still don't know why those orbs glowed brighter once I had picked them up, I guess it was all part of the festival?”

Delia sighed a little bit at this, knowing what exactly it meant - but before she could ask anything, the two of them were in what looked like a massive plain.

“...If there's one thing I dislike about rogue Unown, it's when they bend reality and create micro dimensions that they blend into reality,” the Mew in human form noted. “We need to-”

Whatever it was she was about to say was interrupted when Suicune arrived with… that clearly wasn't the real Molly, Delia knew. The Unown could bend reality, but they couldn't transform life, not create real life. This was possibly an Unown construct which might be linked to them.

She asked if they were trainers - and her son, being the dense fool he could be at times, said that yes, he is one. But before he could accept the offer for a fight, Delia stopped him.

“Sweetie… I think it'll be best if you go ahead without me - and look after Silver while I'm busy, okay?” She noted, handing over one of the Pokéballs she had on hand.

“Mom…” Ash complained quietly, but he nodded and accepted the ball, before handing a couple others over to her. “You might need them to help out.”

Delia nodded before turning to Molly. “I will accept your challenge, and I would like to suggest that we have five single 1-on-1 matches, where at the end, neither the winner nor the loser can be used again.”

The adult Molly nodded and agreed to the terms, so Delia nodded to her son and told him to go on without her and get to his friends. She then expended one of the Pokéballs that Ash lent her, ready to battle against the Unown constructed Pokémon she suspected the adult Molly would use.

The battle was close, but it looked like Molly was enjoying the battle. True, there was one time that the Unown Pokémon that Molly used caused a double knockout, and two more of them had defeated the Pokémon Delia had chosen to use, but Delia looked like she was about to cause the match to end with a draw, all thanks to Heracross.

However, Delia was a little worried that Ash might not have made it to where the real Molly possibly was by now, and she couldn't stall much longer like she had tried to do with Mimey, especially considering that she could tell the Unown Pokémon didn't abide by the standard movepool.

She was racking her brain as to how to give Ash more time, but it looked like she had none left, as the Unown Pokémon Molly had been using was taken out by a Horn Attack. But as she returned Heracross, Molly asked something.

“That was so much fun, but… why didn't you use all of your Pokémon?”

Delia mused about how to deal with this. Should she show her true self to the Unown? At least here, there were no film crews around, just her, her son… and those thieves who she spotted in the corner of her eye who decided to head up after Ash. She knew of them, but she still had no idea why they were so fixated on her son and his Pikachu. But they were possibly already out of sight, so she knew she should be safe to do what she needed to do.

“That's because I don't think it would be fair for me to use a Mythical against you for your first battle,” she replied.

“Well, I wanna face them! That way we could have a definitive answer as to who wins this battle! And… Mom, you don't mind fighting for me?” Molly then asked Suicune.

Anything for you, my daughter, the Suicune replied before stepping ahead… before blinking as Delia lightly chuckled under her breath.

“...Sorry, it just amused me that one mother would be going off against another,” Delia remarked… before she transformed back into her true form.

Molly had no idea how to react.

The Unown had no idea how to react.

How could she be a Pokémon yet appear hu-?

The older Molly vanished, which told Delia that Ash had found, and possibly woken up, the real Molly. The Suicune was heading back up, so after reapplying her human form - partly because she didn't want the trio to see her true self - she decided to follow after them.

By the time Delia made it to where Ash was, she sighed when a certain trio were trying to capture his Pikachu, even though there was a young Lugia and a Suicune out there. She muttered something about single target fixation under her breath - she had heard how this trio had been focusing practically only on Pikachu whenever their paths crossed with Ash's - before telling Silver to use the “Stop-Being-Stupid” beam.

One Blast Off later, induced by an Aeroblast, she turned her attention to Molly. “Sweetie… I know you miss your mother, but the Unown aren't helping you. They're hurting you - they're hindering your development by giving you power which you are too young to understand and too inexperienced to know how to use correctly. You clearly needed help, but the Unown decided to help you without asking if you wanted the help, or otherwise misinterpreted what you were doing as asking for help. This reality they're trying to make for you isn't real - but I promise you that, if you want my help and ask for it, I can help fix this. Even if it means adopting you for the time being.”

Molly was about to reply, but then the crystals turned red, and Delia knew that the Unown was not happy. And they were telling the Suicune that the two of them were trying to take away Molly's ‘father and sister’ and that they had to be stopped at all costs.

She saw the Suicune try to use Hydro Pump on her son, and she had to act fast. Shifting back into being a Mew, she Teleported and used a Protect to stop the attack from hurting her baby boy…

Unfortunately for her, physics ended up not helping, and Ash was flung out of the mansion. And this was the last straw for her. 

“...Brock? Can I borrow one of your wooden spoons?” She asked one of Ash's friends, fully intending to use it to her advantage…

Thankfully for the Unown, Ash wasn’t hurt - his Charizard had come and saved him from going splat. However, that didn’t stop Delia from showing her disappointment and maternal disapproval with her actions, thanks to the wooden spoon enhanced with said disapproval. And she was using it with super effectiveness against the Unown Gestalt, who didn’t expect for her to Teleport past the shield and wack them with it.

“You took away her father!” WHACK. “You gave her a false mother without asking!” WHACK. “You kidnapped two of my son’s best friends, and made them believe they were her father and sister!” WHACK. “You altered reality to fit her dream-like wants, when those wouldn’t be healthy for her!” WHACK. “And worst of all… You almost made me lose my son again!” WHACK-WHACK-WHACK! “You WILL undo the damage you’ve done, and then you lot can consider yourself grounded! And if I catch you trying anything , I will make you WISH you were banished to the Reverse World!”

Delia gave the Gestalt one last whack with the spoon - which unfortunately was too much for it as it split in half - before giving them the glare of motherly disapproval. And the Unown, realising they were beaten, decided to undo everything. But Delia then stopped them.

“No, you are not going to do that as well! You need to take responsibility for your actions - yes, I know she isn’t real, but I know someone who will make sure she would be real - that way she does have a mother figure until her actual mother is able to recover!”

And then she had a brainwave. “In fact… You'll stay here, and don’t do anything - I’m going to get some help right now.”

One quick trip later, along with a small detour, followed with some healing flames and a favour traded, and now there were three Suicunes in front of Delia. Or rather, two Sucunes - one normal, and one who used to be her mother but now was Shiny - and one Walking Wake which used to be the Unown Suicune. It wasn’t perfect, but at least…

“Yay! I now have three moms and an aunt now!” Molly cheered.

Indeed. I’ll be helping my new ‘sister’ out to get used to her new form, so you’ll be seeing a lot of me, Molly, the normal Suicune replied using Aura.

“Thanks, auntie… But what about papa?”

Just as she asked that, a portal opened up… And out dropped a Shiny Entei, who looked very confused. But then both the shiny Suicune and Molly realised who he was, and the three of them hugged each other.

Delia would then look at the single Unown she decided to catch, and noted, “Well, at least Spencer is back… But due to what your old gestalt did, which is most likely why he’s how he is now, you’ll have to make it up big time. And by that… Well, you have just under six years to work out how to best help Molly become a Trainer, and to write it down - along with the phrase ‘We must not mess with reality’ a million times - so no pressure~"

Chapter Text

Delia had been keeping tabs on how Mewtwo had been doing, as well as Ash’s journey so far through Johto after the Greenfield Incident. As such, she was able to tell when Ash and company made it to Purity Canyon, which was in theory the closest they would get to the reserve Mewtwo had picked out for himself and the clones.

She wasn’t expecting the weather there to get bad, but at first she saw nothing that she needed to worry about… That was until she received a concerning message from Bill.

Making a few excuses to make sure she could be alone, she would quickly get her things before turning Mew and teleporting to Mount Queena, just in time to see Team Rocket try to use their Rocket Balls to capture the clones.

Thankfully though, most of the clones already had balls of their own, so the balls just bounced off with no effect. And the only two which didn’t - Pikachutwo and Meowthtwo - she saw being helped out by their originals.

This Delia knew meant that both Ash and a certain Trio could possibly be nearby, but she couldn’t see them yet. What she could see though was a Team Rocket helicopter trying to capture the clones - although now that the balls obviously didn’t work, they needed to figure out another way to do so - before dodging from a Shadow Ball fired off from Mewtwo.

And then… The leader of Team Rocket made his first appearance. And Delia knew exactly who he was - Giovanni, Gym Leader of Viridian City, and supposedly a legitimate business owner. Someone who had shown interest in Delia when she was a human, but she had gently turned him down - and she was glad for that, because having him as a father wouldn’t be healthy for Ash’s mental state.

Delia knew she had but one chance for this. So far, it seemed like she hadn’t been noticed by him or the rest of Team Rocket - possibly because they were so focused on the clones. And a perfect distraction helped get her into position, where she reverted to being human, and then… she flicked her right foot upwards.

SMACK!

The leader of Team Rocket was cut off mid-rant as a sandal struck home on his cheek. It stung a little, but it was enough to stop his current train of thought before turning towards…

“...What are you doing here?” Giovanni asked.

“I could ask the same thing about you - trying to harm my family! And I should have known you’re the one behind this - so I suggest you go back to your gym and give up on trying to reclaim your toy,” Delia pointed out, the other sandals in her hand ready to toss at him at a moment’s notice… But she would then throw it in another direction without looking, beaning Domino on the forehead just before she could use her tulips to try and attack. “Besides, you wouldn’t want your secret as the leader of Team Rocket to be exposed now, would you?”

It seems I need to thank you for stopping him, Mewtwo remarked. I did not want to return to being his tool like he was making me be before I broke free and tried to execute that plan which you and your son stopped.

“Well, we are family, and threats to one member of the family is a threat to all of them,” Delia pointed out as she watched Mewtwo alter the memories of the members of Team Rocket to make them forget who they encountered, only that they had tried to make a base in Mount Queena only for a powerful force, too strong for them to face, repelled them. “At least we didn’t need to test if that water would help you out.”

…You sure it’s a wise idea letting him stay to research the water’s effects? Humans might ruin the purity of the spring…

“Well, that’s why I’m here,” Bill replied, taking off the headpiece of a very realistic looking Mewtwo costume which he had worn - something he got on arriving at the planned reserve for reasons only he and Mewtwo knew - thus confusing Giovanni earlier as to which one was the real Mewtwo. “If they stay, it would be to help me out on my project, one which obviously is being kept a secret so that the clones have time to adjust to things. And besides, I might be able to replicate the water’s effects with the Transfer System, so that when a caught Pokémon over the usual catch limit is sent to the ranch, they’d get healed up from any battle wounds they got. Plus… You know I can’t take care of all of you on my own, but I have been trying my best.”

“Indeed… And at least he’s been warned. Besides, I was bluffing when I threatened to expose him - the only proof I have right now is stuff I can’t reveal after all. But if he messes with my family again, that sandal would only be the beginning…”

…Humanity does have those who are rotten, that much is true. But there are others who make up for it - such as your son’s friends, Mewtwo mused after a short think.

“Don’t forget my baby,” Delia added.

…I thought that because he was your son, that…

“...He was born and raised as a human, so he counts as well.”

Chapter Text

Years in the past, but not too many…

Mew had made her mind up. After everything she had witnessed, and despite not being the Prime, she was going to make the trip to Sinnoh, to request a life-changing favour from both Uxie and Palkia.

True, it meant leaving behind who she once was, but Mew was ready for this. And she wanted to let a friend of hers know what she was going to do.

However, just as she was about to reach the forest that her friend would be living in, she could feel a pulse of time travel energy - and from the feel of it, she knew that it meant her friend had jumped through time, and thus she would be too late 

Sighing, Mew - who would eventually call herself Delia after the favour - would head off, not realising just how important the time jump would be to her in the future…

The Present Day…

Delia was spending some time at Oak Labs, after the professor wanted to give Silver a checkup, when the phone rang in the main lab.

The disguised Mew wondered what it could be - it could be Gary checking up on his Gramps and informing him about his progress, or it could be Ash possibly asking to rotate some of his team. But she didn't pry just in case it was private.

As such, she didn't hear her son talking to Oak about a strange Pokémon he saw which looked a lot like a Suicune, and Oak reminiscing about a memory he had when he met a Suicune a long time ago. And by the time she got up, Ash had hung up in a hurry.

She did however hear Oak sigh as he took out some sort of notebook which looked very old, before he remarked, “I wonder if I should have told him more about it before he hung up…”

Delia didn’t pry into what Oak was on about, and decided to finish what she was doing and returned back to her home. And she stayed there for a while, using the time to relax and care for Silver.

During this, she felt a slight twinge, but it was hardly noticeable. She just put it down to the fact that Silver had a sneeze around the same time and her having a bit of a reaction to it.

As such, she had no idea that the twinge was one of her extra senses picking up on the fact that her motherly instincts were picking up a potential danger to her son. If she had realised this, then perhaps she would have done something sooner… But at the same time, her being there early might had destabilized something else.

It wasn’t until the next day that the feeling came back, and this time even stronger. A feeling she realised she had gotten before - the feeling that her son was in danger, and he needed her again.

On realising their child is in grave danger, all parents, especially mothers, suddenly gain the ability to Teleport to their child to protect them.

A phrase she had been told when she was younger came to her mind, and she realised that for her, that was something she could do, due to being a Mew. And with no-one around to notice her… She didn’t have time to bring any Pokéballs with her, as the feeling was growing stronger. If she didn’t teleport very soon , something very bad would happen to her son.

So, focusing on her son, Delia shed her human guise, and Teleported to where he was, before instinctively pulling up a Protect shield due to an attack heading her way.

Samual ‘Sammy’ Oak blinked.

The young trainer had been having a very strange few days. First, there was the fact that when he tried to protect that one Pokémon from poachers, said Pokémon flung themselves along with him through time. Second, there was this bad guy who had captured the Pokémon who had brought him here in a ball which didn’t feel right to him, and when they were let out, they looked all… Wrong, their green body having turned purple. And now, the construct of vines and such had fired an attack he didn’t recognize at both him and a trainer from whatever time period he had ended up in… When three things happened.

First, a strange pink kitten suddenly popped in front of them.

Second, said kitten pulled up some kind of Protect shield to stop the attack from hitting them.

Third, independent of what the kitten was doing, a strange being which looked like Suicune had quickly moved to get him and the other trainer onto their back before moving them out of the way of the attack.

Due to how sudden things were, his mind didn’t realise that a Mew had saved him and the Trainer he was with… But said trainer sighed. However, he didn’t say anything, because right now they had to focus on trying to save Celebi from the Iron Masked Marauder.

The next few minutes for Sammy Oak were a blur. The strange Suicune-alike was doing what they could to try and stop the vine monster, only to be caught in the vines. And in a way, both himself and the trainer - his name being Ash - did also end up caught in the vines, but they were close enough to the Shadow Celebi to try and appeal to them.

And it worked. Unlike whatever methods those in Orre would possibly use to corrupt a Pokémon, the Dark Balls only boosted certain emotions while drowning out ‘good’ ones, so enough emotional pleading would be enough to restore the emotional balance and open up Celebi’s heart.

However, Celebi was drained from everything they had done while under the control of the Marauder, and their skin shriveled up. And to make matters worse, the lake they had used earlier to heal Celebi was tainted due to the vine construct.

Sammy wondered if this meant Celebi was about to die, but then Ash had a realisation. And he talked to the psychic kitten and the Suicune-alike, asking if they could grab some water from a certain spring that he had never heard of before. The Mew nodded, and then teleported away with the Suicune-alike.

Sammy had many questions in his mind - but right now, he was more worried about Celebi not making it, thereby stranding him in this part of the timeline. But thankfully, he didn’t have to worry for too long, as after only a few minutes, the kitten and the Suicune-alike arrived, and they bathed Celebi in a large bucket of water.

This water - fetched from Mount Queena - ended up doing the job, healing Celebi back to full health, and causing Sammy to sigh. Finally, everything should be sorted out, and he could-

The Iron Masked Marauder saw what was possibly his final chance. If the Dark Ball was able to be defeated, he’d just have to use another method to capture Celebi - and he resolved himself that when he had Celebi, the first thing he would do would be to make it so that those meddlesome Trainers and Pokémon never existed in the first place.

He fired off a claw towards Celebi while they were distracted, hoping the element of surprise would work in his favor…

“You will not harm my adopted child!”

It happened so suddenly. One moment, the claw was about to grab Celebi, the next, it was cut off by a very pissed off Mew.

Thanks, but you already had adopted me in your future but my past, the Celebi remarked, which confused the Marauder. And that moment of confusion was all the Mew needed.

“I see… Well, I know of a lot of Pokémon who aren’t happy with what he did,” the Mew remarked, and suddenly the Marauder was surrounded by a lot of Pokémon. Way too many for him to even really even think about trying to use his Dark Balls on. And then the Mew turned towards him. “I don’t know who you are, but I know what you did, and as such, you are grounded. Guys and girls? Sic him. ”

And then the Marauder would know nothing more than pain and suffering, and maybe a bit of regret.

I think it’s about time I get this young Trainer back to his own time, Celebi noted, but I think I’m forgetting something…

“...You are indeed,” Delta noted, having realised what had happened. “There’s three things left to do before you can do that. First… Samual Oak, I hereby adopt you into my family.”

Ash was about to say something, but the Mew gave him a Look which caused him to keep what he was about to say to himself.

“Second… I’m sorry about this,” Delia apologised, before starting to use Psychic to seal away Samual’s memories, and altering the ones which weren’t sealed away. “You can’t know about the Walking Wake, and I can’t let you get obsessed about my kind like some others have been known to be. I don’t want to have to hide under a truck or the like. But when the time is right, I will restore your memories to how they were.”

And then she turned to Ash. “Ash, honey… When the professor calls you next, you’ll need to tell him that Suicune helped, not Walking Wake. And that you only saw them and Celebi here. He doesn’t need to know yet about the other bits.”

After Ash nodded at that, she turned back to Oak. “Finally… Sammy Oak, I know you’re going to remember the trainer and his Pikachu…”

…So to keep the timeline stable, we ask of you to, even if there would be a spare starter, to make sure he starts with Pikachu, Celebi finished. You’ll know why when the time comes.

Delia nodded at this. “Well, until we see each other again,” she noted before waving as Celebi took the Trainer who would eventually become Professor Oak and transported him back to his present time.

Professor Oak looked at the journal which was a lot older than he was, but only because of the time travel. He just finished talking to Ash about what happened, and how he had met the past self of the Professor - although he only just realised it.

He just couldn’t help but think that there might be more to it, because now that he had another look at the sketch of the Suicune, it looked a bit off. Almost like it was more like Suicune which the Unown created earlier… But that was possibly just a coincidence, right…?

Chapter Text

The Mystery is History

Ever since hearing from her son about his encounter with a Lugia (although at the time he hadn't realised it was a Lugia due to not seeing them directly, only their shadow) on his way to the Whirl Islands, Delia was thinking about maybe heading over there to pay a certain Lugia she knew about a visit.

And after learning that Ash had obtained a Silver Feather Badge from the elders of Diglett Village - and knowing exactly what it meant, but deciding to leave it a secret for Ash to learn for himself - the Mew in disguise decided now was the perfect time to make her way to the Whirl Islands. Of course, she made sure to bring Silver with her - well, more like Silver had demanded that he comes with her to visit her mother.

Just a short while after arriving on one of the Whirl Islands, Delia saw a familiar sight - her son Ash, his friends Brock and Misty, and even one of the trainers which Ash had befriended during the Indigo League, only to have to face him in the Round of 16… And leading to Ash being disqualified just because of his Charizard falling asleep of his own volition.

When she learned that Richie was searching for sightings of a mysterious Pokémon in the area, and Ash telling him about the time he saw a shadow which looked familiar but which he couldn't place at the time… Well, Silver made the choice for her, releasing himself from his ball before glomping Ash in a wing-hug.

Little did she know at the time, a few members of Team Rocket were scouting the area due to the same rumours, and they would notice Silver. And while they didn't notice that Silver had a trainer - instead thinking that they were a wild Lugia which was friendly with an 11-year-old kid - Dr. Namba, the leader of the Rocket cell, ordered for them to capture the young Lugia.

It wasn't until a little later, when Cassity and Biff decided to show up on a submarine, demanding they hand over the young Lugia or that they'd take it by force. Obviously, Delia wasn't going to let that happen, and thanks to Cyndi - who had evolved into a Quilava under Delia's care - alongside Ash's Bayleaf and Ritchie's Pupitar who was nicknamed Cruise, the duo were held back long enough for a ship to ram into their sub, allowing Cruise to use a Sandstorm to drive them away.

The owner of the ship - a girl named Luka which Ash and co had met before - would then come ashore and show off her Silver Feather, saying that she was looking to find out about it. And before Brock could try and chat up Luka, Delia decided to slap him on the back of his head, before explaining that the Silver Feathers are gifts from Lugia, while Ash finally realising what the shadow was and recounting how he knows another Lugia because he met them in the Orange Islands… And that Silver is his son. Thankfully for Delia, he didn't say anything about how Silver was basically his adopted brother, only that his mom looks after Silver.

Just then, Silver's mother would burst out of the water, not happy one bit. Delia could understand why though - her temper was legendary, as she knew the Birds of Shamounti learned about first hand, along with a now very traumatized Laurance the 3rd, who last she heard was in a secure mental facility for criminals who had lost their minds alongside a certain Marauder who was the most recent inmate.

Thankfully though, Ash and company were able to talk her down - especially when Ash told her that he wasn't a stranger to Silver as they first met back on Shamounti - and Delia let Silver have time with her mother, with Ash and his friends allowed to use scuba gear to watch.

The enjoyment lasted for a good hour or so before Silver's mother decided to leave - most likely to check on her nest, Delia thought. And a short while after that, Luka left as well to restock on supplies, leaving just Ash, Brock, Misty, Richie and Delia together.

Just as Ask was about to ask his mom if it would be okay to tell Richie about something, a strange Lugia appeared in the water. Delia quickly realised that it wasn't a real Lugia, but before she could call out to Silver to stay away, the young Lugia got a bit too close… Allowing for him to be caught in a cage before Cassity and Buff would once more surface their submarine and claim their catch.

Delia was about to try and return him, but before she could even do so, the TRio which had been known to stalk Ash's Pikachu would show up, and the two Team Rocket groups would start fighting over the cage Silver was in. This made it all but impossible for her to get a return beam to return Silver, but then a Smog from Cassity's Houndoom, along with a large wave caused by their sub sinking the Magikarp sub of the TRio, was enough to cause them to escape with Silver!

That was the last straw, and Delia wasn't thinking straight. As such, she transformed back into her Mew form, then into a Floatzel, before swimming after the submarine that Silver was being taken in, not realising that Richie would notice her doing so, thereby exposing the secret Ash had planned to ask if he could tell Richie about.

A Parent Trapped!

Unaware of what was happening back with her son, Delia swam after the submarine before finding an underwater Team Rocket base which the sub drove into a dock connected to it. But because hardly any Pokémon got nearby, partly due to some defenses it had, the Mew-turned-Floatzel kept her distance and watched the base for anything she could possibly use to rescue Silver from the clutches of Team Rocket.

Eventually, she could feel a storm raging above, which she feared was possibly the mother getting very angry due to her child going missing. But just as she was about to swim up, the storm started to subside - unknown to Delia, Ash had mad a promise to Silver's mother to save her child from Team Rocket.

She waited some more, even overnight, and eventually her waiting paid off as the Magikarp sub of the TRio was making its way towards the base. And unknown to her at the time, Ash and his friends were not too far behind.

She decided to stealth herself as she swam close enough to the sub to not be detected, but just as she was about to make her way out when the coast was clear, she noticed partitions closing, and then an announcement being plated that the base was being raised.

The rising of the base was a little bumpy, but once it settled down, another announcement started mentioning that Capture Plan D was being initiated. Which, unknown to her at the time, would be where Silver would be used as bait to lure in his mother.

Eventually, the partition finally came down, but Delia quickly hid herself as Cassity and Butthead would head into the dock, carrying some very familiar-looking balls which made her blood ran cold when she saw them.

She thought she'd never see another Dark Ball again, but this duo had what looked like modified versions of them. Could it be that this base was responsible for the Dark Balls being made in the first place, or at the very least they were researching the use of them…?!?

In any case, Delia didn't follow them as they boarded a sub to head to shore to help capture the adult Lugia. Instead, she waited until they had gone before disguising herself as a black-uniformed Team Rocket grunt. It was time for her to go undercover to find out just why they had the Dark Balls…

Unfortunately for Delia, she didn't get much time to look before, after the base was sunk back into the ocean, she was pulled aside and asked to help with the intake of some prisoners.

And when she saw who they were, her blood ran colder. They not only took Silver, but they now had knocked out and captured her son?!?

It took everything she could to keep herself from trying to free them there and then, but because the Pokéballs of the prisoners had to be taken from them, she volunteered to take the balls of one of the prisoners, allowing her to pocket Ash's Pokéballs without any of the other grunts being any wiser…

A Promice is a Promice

When Delia saw Dr. Namba heading to where Ash and company were being kept, she decided to offer to keep watch, which the doctor accepted. As such, she was able to listen in as Namba bragged about this being his command center, and that with the help of the Dark Balls from a certain Marauder, he was able to perfect what originally he called Rocket Balls, but now he was going to call them Namba Balls because his intent was to split off from Team Rocket - an intent which started from the failed attack on Mount Queena which caused him to lose trust in the leader of Team Rocket - and he planned to use the parent Lugia as the start of an army of corrupted Pokémon fueled by one thing alone: greed.

Greed for power, greed for control, greed for the entire world. And all controlled by the doctor and him alone.

But when the doctor decided to use Ash's Pikachu and Richie's Sparky to demonstrate his Namba Balls, Delia decided that enough was enough. There was no way he was going to corrupt her son's Pikachu!

She rushed in, not bothering to take off her disguise, and with Namba being shocked, she punched him in the gut, knocking him out for a while with a single blow.

"Mom? Why are you-?" Ash asked, but Delia quickly unlocked the cage before handing Ash his Pokéballs.

"No time sweetie - I'm worried about Silver and his mom," the Mew in disguise replied, while helping Brock, Misty and Richie to recover their Pokéballs from the safes they were stored in.

And then they started to leave, but just as they did, the doctor would wake up and trigger an alarm.

Due to this alarm, Castity and Bit-

"It's Butch, you idiot!"

…Well, they caught up with the group, and saw right through Delia's disguise, knowing that she wasn't a member of Team Rocket at all. And the two of them used their Namba Balls to release their Houndoom and Hitmontop to try and stop them.

As Ash and Richie used their Pikachus to fight the duo, Delia released Mimey to create some Light Screen barriers while the Rocket Grunts were distracted, using them to hide the fact that instead of changing outfits, she transformed back into her normal human disguise. And then she watched as the two Pikachus broke the Namba Balls that acted as an outer shell of the Pokéballs, undoing most of the corruption.

Just then, Dr. Namba called through the intercom mentioning that someone was trying to steal the Lugia from the main room. And Castity and Buff broke away before telling the other grunts to try and slow the intruders down.

She acted fast, and before the grunts could react, she chased after the duo, getting Mimey to pull up one final Barrier to stop the grunts from following her.

She eventually arrived at the main room just in time to see the TRio start fighting against the duo she had been chasing after, Realising they were distracted with fighting each other, she chose to use the distraction to her advantage, hoping to free the mother Lugia from the force field she was currently trapped in.

And eventually, with the help of a Reflected Flamethrower damaging part of the generator from the battle, the forcefield was dropped, freeing the mother Lugia and scaring the pants off of the members of Team Rocket… but not her.

"Aeroblast!" Delia would command, and Silver's mom obliged - as the Rocket members turned to ber, that was all the distraction for the mother to use the attack to both blast open a hole in the base and cause the Rocket members to Blast Off Again.

Now with no-one to see her change barring the mother, Delia transformed back into her true Mew form before calming down the mother and promising that she would help get her back to Silver. But if she wanted to get some payback on the Rocket Cell by destroying more of the base, she could be her guest.

And so, for a few minutes, the Rocket grunts would see a very angry Lugia rampaging through their base, being followed by a pink psychic kitten, working together to wreck the base. Although for them, evacuating the base was a higher priority.

It wouldn't be long before they would meet up with Ash and company, who had saved Silver - with Ash saying that they fulfilled the promise they made to rescue her child. But then…

"Uh… Is that your Mom, who's also some kind of mythical Pokémon?" Richie asked, pointing at the Mew in her true form.

Delia sighed before turning back to her true form and nodding. "...Yes, I am a Mew - but you need to keep it a-"

"Oh, don't worry, I will keep it a secret! My mom's just like you after all!"

That caused everyone else to do a double-take, but soon the fact the base was starting to fall apart brought them back to their senses.

One escape later, along with a phone call to the local Jenny, and the group was about to go their separate ways.

On one side, Richie was going to stay around the Whirl Islands to do some more looking into Legendary and Mythical Pokémon. The reveal that his mother was a Celebi - not the same Celebi which Ash and co saved a short while ago, but a Shiny Celebi who took a human form after retiring from helping Dialga and the other Celebi from maintaining the timelines - was a bit of a shock, but he admitted that he never knew his father, only that he was a Trainer who left his mother to return to his home region of Unova. Or at least, that's what he claimed, and his mother had refused to travel through time to check on him - she was retired from that life, at least for the time being.

On another side, Ash and his friends were heading back to Olivine City so that Ash could finally challenge the Gym Leader there for the Mineral Badge.

And finally, Delia, along with Silver and her mother, was going to take a trip back to Shamounti so that Silver's father could have his worries put at ease. But not before making sure that those Namba Balls were destroyed, the research about them was deleted, and that the doctor was now in custody. The last thing the world needed was more Shadow Pokémon of any kind…

Chapter Text

“...And so I say to him, sorry, but you’re not my Type. And he was fuming at being rejected like that!”

Delia chuckled a bit as the Mew, in her true form, had paid a visit to Mount Tensei to have a chat with Ho-Oh and Marshadow. It was nice to get out for a while like this and chat with some of the local Legendaries who she hadn’t adopted yet.

“ It sounds like that was a wise thing to do in the end, ” the Storm’s End remarked. “ Given that, had your true self been exposed back then… ”

“Yeah, but at least he hasn’t caused any trouble since Mount Queena, when he went after my adopted brother. In fact, he even contacted me indirectly to apologise and say that the doctor wasn’t working for his interests after hearing about what happened in the Whirl Islands. He was glad to cut all ties with him and leave him to the authorities.”

Delia then sighed. “Anyways, you said that you saw my son on his first day as a Trainer?” she then asked Ho-Oh.

“ Indeed. I was considering dropping a Rainbow Feather for him, but a certain someone stopped me from doing so, saying that if I had dropped it, it could have been a disaster. ”

“Given what happened the last time a Rainbow Hero was chosen by you and how another trainer tried to take the feather, only to corrupt it almost like those Shadow Pokémon? I’m so glad my son did-” Delia started, before blinking as she felt a strange psychic twinge.

“...Excuse me, I need to see what my son got into this time,” she excused herself, before focusing on the link she had with her actual son. And then, she teleported over to where he was and…

“...What?!?”

“...And so I drank the potion, hoping to be able to better understand Pikachu better, only to end up like this!”

Delia rubbed her head with her tail as the young blue-furred Mew, with brown eyes and wearing the Pokémon League Expo cap which she knew was Ash’s, explained what had happened while his Pikachu was nearby.

“So, let me get this right. You met this ‘witch’ who used a potion to give her smoother skin, and asked if there was one which would allow you to read the minds of your Pokémon, so to speak…”

“Yeah…”

“You helped gather the ingredients, no thanks to a certain trio who caused trouble like normal…”

“I know, mom…”

“And you tested it yourself not knowing that the potion was incomplete?!?”

“I didn’t know that until after you arrived! I thought it would had worked!”

Delia sighed. “Oh, Ash…”

“...Actually, mom, could I ask you something?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“Do you think Dexter would be able to scan me?”

“ Only one way to find out! ” Pikachu would remark as he would grab the Pokédex and would use it to scan Ash.

Unknown. There are still many Pokémon yet to be discovered. However, this Pokémon has the following Moves: Pound and Reflect Type; as well as the Egg Moves: Transform and Aura Sphere.

“Well, I guess he wouldn’t know about our species…Wait. Egg moves?!?”

“Egg moves?” Brock would remark on hearing this. “That’s a word used for moves that a Pokémon knows because of their parents - normally the father.”

A quick scan later on Delia didn’t help much, as Dexter could only tell that she had Transform, Psychic, Life Dew and Nasty Plot as the moves she knew.

In any case, with Lily saying that the potion should wear off after a while, Delia would leave… Although not before teaching Ash how to use Transform to appear his normal human self just on the rare case that the potion doesn’t wear off.

And then she teleported back to her home before using Transform herself to return to her normal human form, before sighing. Hopefully this was just a one-off, and that Ash would return to normal and wouldn’t have his Mew abilities unlocked and that the Pokédex would not register him as-

Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard a knock on the door. “Coming!” she’d note as she got up and made her way to the front door, opening it to see…

“...Wait, why are you here? You’re going to give the game away if anyone notices you!”

Chapter Text

"Okay, so tell me what the last chapter is about, Oakley?"

After stealing a book from a mansion, two females escaped into their car before driving off into the moonlight.

"It talks about how to control a machine - something called the Defense Mechanism of Altomare," the blue-haired female told her golden-haired partner as she drove the car off of a cliff, before pressing a button and transforming the car into a fighter jet. "It's amazing - according to that book, it's the most powerful weapon ever built."

"I don't really care much about that - what I care more about is that beautiful jewel the book mentions about," the golden-haired girl noted as she hugged the book.

"Well, it turns out that you need to use the Soul Dew to power the DMA," Oakley pointed out. "They say it contains the soul of a Latios, and it looks like a giant dew drop…. Oh, and speaking of them, we need to capture Latios and Latias so that we can bring them to Giovanni so that he would have no choice but to let us join his group, bypassing us being Grunts for him."

"Yeah, you're right - once we give him the duo, as well as control over the DMA, he would have no choice but to accept us as high ranking members of Team Rocket!"

The two wannabe Rocket Agents laughed as they made their way towards the city of Altomare, plotting about what they would do when they get there…

A stay in Altomare was the perfect vacation for someone like Delia. Especially when she was able to watch the famous Tour de Altomare, a yearly race where Water Pokémon pull their trainers on special round surfboards around one full lap of the main waterways of the City of Water.

Delia remembered the last time she was here, which was possibly close to 26 years ago while she was trying to be a Trainer. It turned out to be the first time she met Ash's future father, and the two of them took part in the race that year, with Delia just barely losing by about a tenth of a second. But the future father, on hearing that the race fell on her claimed birthday, decided to give the prize to her - an act which led to them having a long-distance relationship for over a decade, eventually leading to Ash being born.

And now, here she was, back in Altomare, but not as a competitor of the Tour. No, this time she was here to watch, partly as her son - who had very recently won his last gym badge and, thankfully for her, had reverted back to being a human a short while after the gym fight - was taking part, alongside Misty and the winner of the last four Tour de Altomare races in a row. At least, she thought to herself, Ash wasn't rash and decided he'd try and fight in the last Gym Battle himself… despite how inexperienced he was.

This was just going to be a relaxing vacation for her on her 'birthday' - otherwise known as the anniversary of her transforming into being a human and staying like that until maybe a year or two ago. And nothing would go wrong, she thought to herself as the countdown started.

"Are you seeing these readings here, Annie?"

Unknown to the Mew-in-disguise, the race was also being watched by the wannabe Rocket Agents as they looked over something.

"Yes… From the looks of things, this scanner is picking up four potential targets in the area after filtering out those who aren't as powerful. Although we'd possibly need to make visual on them to make sur the readings are right and they're indeed coming from a Lati and not a powerful Psychic-type," the golden-haired thief noted.

"Yeah - and when we grab them, we can get them to bring us to the Soul Dew so that we can get what we came here for! …But with what's going on right now, we better lay low…"

Delia sighed and shook her head when she noticed that Ash somehow ended up seemingly getting lost, causing him to drop out from the close race that was for th lead. He should had kept on going straight, and not suddenly turned off to the left!

Of course, she was just as unaware of what caused Ash to go off-course as she was as unaware of the ones who'd be hunting the being which did the deed.

For now though, Delia resolved to find Ash later after the race was over. For now, she was watching how close it was between Misty and the prior winner who was hoping to make it five straight wins in a row. A streak Delia had a funny feeling would be broken today…

"Are you seeing this?"

Back with the terrible sisters a little while after the race ended - with Misty taking the win with just a tenth of a second between her and the runner up - they were cruising along the canals, scanning for any signs of the Pokémon the scanner had picked up. And it just so happened that a young girl walking along the sides of the canal just happened to be giving off a strong enough psychic reading to potentially be one of the Latis.

"Indeed… We might have found ourselves a Latias," Oakley noted with a grin. "We'll have to confirm it is indeed her first though, so…"

Annie nodded as the two of them reached for a Pokéball each, before releasing an Espeon and an Ariados from them - before Oakley commands for the Araidos to stop the girl by using String Shot to trap her in a web.

While this worked, suddenly a Pikachu would run from a nearby alleyway, with his trainer quickly in tow, who would free the girl from the web.

Oakley realised that this 'trainer' was one of the other readings they had picked up, and she instantly jumped to the conclusion that she was right - that girl was a Latias, and the 'trainer' who saved her and was shouting at them for what they were trying to do to her must be her Latios brother. And given how he took Espeon's Psybeam before getting the Pikachu - most likely a wild one who helped the Latios, she thought - to Thunderbolt them and their Pokémon.

This led to the disguised Lati duo being able to make their escape - no thanks to Annie making a fuss about how the subsequent dunking in the water ruined her outfit and her hair - and despite the best efforts of Espeon and Ariados, they were able to get away.

However, Oakley smirked to herself. Of the four psychic signatures which were detected, one of them was weaker than the others - and that one just happened to come from that disguised Latios. So as the duo went back to where they had set up camp so that Annie could change her outfit and fix her hair, she suggested that they grab that Latios first, and use him as a way to get the Soul Dew and that Latias…

"Where have you been, Ash Ketchum?!?" Delia had finally found Ash after looking around with Misty and Brock, but she wasn't a happy Mew.

"I'm sorry, mom! I was trying to follow the main route, but then this invisible force dragged me away from the race! And then when I was trying to make my way back to where the race started, this girl was in trouble and needed my help!"

"...A likely story,," Delia noted.

"But it happened! I mean-" Ash started, before turning around to… Well, he couldn't see anyone there, and neither could Delia. "...Where did she go…?"

Delia sighed. "Ash… If you're going to make an excuse, make it more believable. Anyways, come on young man - while you were distracted and missed the rest of the race, I collected the participation prize of tickets to the local museum."

"But mom, museums can be boring!" Ash whined.

"I heard it had an exhibition on the Legendary Pokémon who had been said to had helped transform Altomare into the City of Water it is known to be today," Delia remarked, and with that, Ash's mood took a complete 180, causing her to chuckle. Even before she knew she was a Mew, Ash was so into Pokémon, that somewhere he would think would be boring to him would suddenly become interesting if it involved Pokémon…

Some time later, the terrible duo were monitoring the feed from a drone they had sent out to scout where the DMA was. Thanks to that drone, not only were they able to tell that one of the signals they had picked up - the strongest one of the lot - came from a 'human' who acted as if she was the mother of the disguised Latios they came across, but after said Latios went off and they followed him with the drone, they discovered the location of the Soul Dew, along with the final signal which came from a Latios.

And judging from their interactions, they concluded that the girl they had gone after was indeed a Latias, thanks to her dropping her human illusion, and that she, the Latios who they found in the strange garden, and the Latios disguised as a human who clearly didn't know how to drop his human disguise must be siblings, with the undisguised Latios picking on his weaker brother, while the person acting as the mother to the Latios in human form must be their Latias mother.

It was then that Oakley revealed to Annie her plan. The weaker Latios would be their main target, and thus they would grab him. Then, they'd use him as bait to try and draw out his siblings who were guarding the Soul Dew so that they could grab it. Then they'd secure the DMA, and hopefully capture the stronger siblings so that they can present them to the leader of Team Rocket in an attempt to join the team and bypass being a low-level grunt. If the mother tried to stop them, they'd stop and capture her as well.

There was no way the plan would fail!

Delia sighed as she rested in her hotel room, shaking her head.

After the visit to the museum led to Ash being distracted once again and getting lost, he was brought back with the curator, who she could tell had just asked Ash to keep a secret - a secret that he had pleaded he could tell her about, but only because he knew she could b trusted with the secret.

As such, while Brock and Misty made their way back to their hotel, the curator - an old man by the name of Lorenzo - told her about the Secret Garden, and the Eon Duo who lived there, one of which was the 'girl' that Ash had claimed he had saved.

Delia had sighed at that, resigning herself to the fact that again, her son was a Legendary Trouble Magnet. Then again, she only knew of two human kids who had a Legendary parent - Ritchie and Ash - and from the brief time she knew Ritchie, she could tell he was also a bit of a Legendary Trouble Magnet. It was possibly something which was innate to those who had a Legendary parent, she had mused to herself, but she kept that fact to herself, instead thanking Lorenzo for the information and that she would keep it a secret, and would make sure Ash tells no-one else, not even his friends.

After that, she brought Ash back to his hotel, before making her way to the hotel she was staying - which did have a good view of where Ash was staying.

She sighed and got ready to get some rest, when all of a sudden, a commotion could be heard from outside.

Shifting into her Mew form and turning mostly invisible, she flew out of the window and quickly located why the commotion was happening - the alarms from the hotel Ash was in had been triggered… And he, along with Brock and Misty, had been kidnapped!

Delia was fuming at this, but with no Pokémon on hand - she had come without any of her balls because this was meant to be a vacation just for herself originally - she knew she needed some help. And as such, unaware that she was indirectly playing into the plans of the duo who had kidnapped her son, she made her way to the Secret Garden to get the Latias and Latios there to help her find her son and stop whomever had caught him.

The terrible siblings couldn't believe the plan worked! After snagging the Latios in human disguise - along with his 'friends' he was sleeping with and the wild Pikachu who he acted as a trainer for - they had made their way to their hideout, and soon enough, their drone reported that the Latias and Latios were no longer guarding the Soul Dew.

This made it all too easy for them to get to the Secret Garden and take the Soul Dew from its resting place.

Oakley then noticed some tiles etched on the ground of the Secret which seemed to had been laid in a random order, and by using a computer program, she was able to unscramble and decode what the tiles were hiding: an operation manual for the DMA, which claims that to power it, both a Lati - either Latios or Latias - and the Soul Dew would be needed. Of course, it warns that using the DMA would weaken the Soul Dew and the Lati used for power, but Oakley brushed that aside, thinking that it was just something added to try and stop people from abusing the DMA like they were planning to.

The next stop for them, after collecting the Latios in human guise from their hideout, was the museum where the DMA was located so they could finally test it out.

…Of course, just as they tossed the disguised Latios into a marked area so a swirling cage can rise up around him and opening up the gates leading to the control station and where the Dew needs to go, the two humans they caught woke up and asked what they were doing.

"Why, we're using your Latios friend here to power the DMA," Annie told them.

"Ash isn't a Latios!" the dark skinned male whose eyes were constantly closed like an Uxie in a way objected.

"Oh, but he is - he's fooled you into thinking he's human, and he himself even believes that. But now-"

What Annie was about to saw was interrupted by the arrival of the curator and the girl who Latias based her appearance on, but Annie knew it wasn't Latias - neither of them had the psychic potential. And without any Pokémon on hand, it was easy for Ariados to trap them in a web alongside the other two humans and the Pikachu that they had caught, before Oakley slots the Soul Dew into the designated holder for it.

So far, the trio of Delia, Latias and Latios had zero luck at finding where Ash was. For a while, all three of them had been looking, but a short while ago, Latias - worn out from everything she had been through so far - had decided to make her way back to the Secret Garden to rest for a bit. But as the Mew and Latios were about to start searching another area, Delia suddenly felt through the bond she had with Ash that her son was in pain, and that the source of the feeling was the museum.

Just then, Latios suddenly stopped, and quickly sight shared, allowing Delia to see Latias panicking - the Soul Dew from the Secret Garden was missing!

While Delia didn't have all the information on hand, she knew enough to make an educated guess as to what had happened. The kidnapping of Ash, the missing Soul Dew, and the fact that she could tell that Ash was in the museum in pain… It had to do with the Defense Mechanism located in the museum, and whoever was possibly trying to use it believed that Ash and the Soul Dew would help power it.

There was no time for Latias to rest. Delia asked Latios to tell her to meet them outside the museum, as they possibly only had one chance at saving her son from whatever fate might befall him.

And she swore that whomever was harming her son would pay under her breath…

"WHY! AREN'T! YOU! WORKING?!? You have a Latios and the Dew to power yourself, so revive those fossils, you Arceus-damned pile of scrap!"

Oakley slammed a fist against the controls, annoyed at how it wasn't responding to her commands. She had enough of this - enough of the whining of the humans who had been caught, which had led to her ordering Ariados to use String Shot to gag them; and enough of this piece of junk that wasn't allowing her to revive the Aerodactyl and Kabutops fossils! At least she was able to trigger the city-wide lockdown, which should prevent anyone else from trying to stop-

Suddenly, her attention - as well as the attention of her partner - was brought to the entrance of the museum, as a Latias in human disguise, a normal Latios… and the Latias who had chosen not to take the guise of the human they had caught came in.

Oakley then had a realisation. "Ariados! Strong Shot that Latios! We need him to-!" she ordered, but then a sudden pressure could be felt from the disguised Latias.

"Oh no you don't," the disguised Latias replied before she revealed her true self…

Delia smirked at the sudden reaction of the duo at the sight of her Transformation. They clearly thought that her son was a Latios, and given that of the two Eons with her, the Latios had more experience, she decided to reinforce that… by transforming into a Latios herself.

The transformation hadn't affected her gender, but they didn't need to know that. And before either of them could react, she used Psychic on Annie and the two Pokémon that were out there, not only stunning the wannabe Rocket Agent while slamming the Espeon into the DMA.

This caused the pod Oakley was in to close and for the DMA to start to go a little haywire - which Delia realised possibly wasn't helping her son as he cried out in pain some more while the Soul Dew started to darken - but with both of the terrible duo currently unable to stop her, she was able to work together with Latias and Latios to free both the humans and Pikachu from the webbing, and then, with the help of said Pikachu, her son from the cage - which in turn disabled the DMA once he was freed.

Of course, this meant that the pod Oakley was in would open up, revealing that she was knocked out from all the chaos the pod moved in, and at the same time Annie was also recovering from being stunned.

"That's weird… I guess without a Lati, it stops…" Annie would remark as the humans, Delia and the Latis would check on Ash - and Delia sighed as Ash was a bit drained from what the DMA did to him, but the child of a Mew would survive. She didn't bother correcting the wannabe Agent, but she wasn't amused by how Latias was nuzzling her son…

While this was happening, Annie decided to head to the pod and wake up her partner in crime. And once Oakley was awake, Annie suggested that they should cut their losses and just take the Soul Dew with them. But as she made her way to the Dew, she noticed it was darkened and weird looking, and mentioned as much before reaching towards it…

"DON'T TOUCH THAT!"

Despite Lorenzo's warning, it was already too late, as Annie laid her hand on the Soul Dew, before suddenly it started to glow and radiate power, knocking her into the pod with Oakley before it closed down.

Delia could see that the Dew was straining, and that if nothing was done, it'd break and cause a greater disaster than what was going on. And the only way to stop it was to turn to her real self, fly up to the Soul Dew, and channel as much Life Dew as she could into it to stop it from breaking.

It didn't help that the DMA was going haywire, and a glow was starting to form from the core of it, but Delia had to focus on saving the Soul Dew. She couldn't let anything distract her, lest it destroy the Dew and cause a disaster to befall Altomare.

She had to save the soul of the Latios in the Soul Dew as the flow from the DMA blinded everyone in the museum...

After a tense situation, the Mew was finally able to take out the restored Soul Dew, worn out from just how much she had to use Life Dew.

She then looked around and saw that the Latias and Latios were still fine, the humans were also fine, her son was asleep in his Mew form but was otherwise fine…

Delia took a double take at this. Why was her son back to being a…

She then noticed Brock putting away a Potion bottle which was marked with a Pokéball symbol, and she realised what he had done. The best way for Ash to heal would be to become a Mew for a little while so that Pokémon medicine could be used to help him heal - one of the few benefits of the potion for him.

Finally, she turned her attention to the DMA, and the pod the terrible duo had ended up in, as it finally opened up and out of it fell…

…Well, that no-one expected, not even her. Because instead of two humans coming out, there were two Latias who fell out, both looking younger than Latias was and both with different colorations - one with white and blond down feathers with a silver-blue delta on her chest, and the other with white and silver-blue down feathers with a blond delta on her chest.

It was ironic, Delia thought. The terrible duo - who were sisters - had tried to steal the Latis… And through some cosmic irony, now they were the very species they had tried to capture in the first place!

Before the two new Latis could wake up, she noticed a Celebi popping in for a brief moment just to apply a pair of bracers around one arm of each of the Latis, which she realised was possibly something her future self would had asked them to do. Possibly something to limit their powers until they potentially redeem themselves, the Mew thought.

But anyways, now they were waking up and… Having a poor reaction to finding out they were both Latias now. The look on their faces Delia would remember for a while, but she'd clear her throat and draw their attention to her.

"You're lucky you two ended up like this, because otherwise I was considering letting Officer Jenny arrest you both for your crimes against Altomare and their Legendaries," the Mew remarked. "And to answer the questions on your minds… No, I don't know how you ended up like that; Yes, this is my actual real form; No, you can't use your powers until you prove you have reformed… And both of you are grounded. However, what that means, I'll leave to the duo you tried to catch, as well as those you kidnapped."

"Hmm… Maybe they should help out by repairing whatever damage they caused to our home?" Latios suggested - and while the humans couldn't understand what he was saying, both of the new Latias, along with Delia and Ash, could.

"And they need to help heal my l- I mean, the boy who helped save me from them when they first encountered me!" Latias added, quickly correcting herself after seeing a Look from Delia.

Delia relayed that to Bianaca and Lorenzo, and while the girl Latias based her human guise on had nothing she'd want to suggest, the curator nodded. "That sounds like a good start - and then afterwards, I'd have you both working your feathers off to help the city, cleaning up the waterways and protecting the Dew your old selves tried to steal."

"Well, you heard them. Looks like that's what you'll need to do for the rest of you - now very long - lives." Delia noted as she turned to the new Latis, who realised they were about to face a punishment worse than being executed… community service to the city they almost destroyed for what may seem like an eternity.

"And as for you…" Delia turned her attention to the Latias of Altomare. "If you hadn't done what you did during that race, my son wouldn't have ended up as badly hurt as he was, so you're grounded. But it's also clear you and your brother need a proper mother figure - so I'm adopting the two of you into my family… And as such, I'm going to give you a choice. Either you accept being grounded and stay here for the foreseeable future… Or, if your brother agrees with it, I can catch the two of you and would help train you both to be better battlers so that if anyone else tries to steal the Soul Dew, you'd be able to defend it better…"

Latias looked to her brother, hoping that he would accept the offer - because then she might be able to see Ash more often, because she was starting to crush on him. She had heard about love at first sight… And this was it…

It was time for Delia, Ash, Misty and Brock to head back to Johto as they started to board the boat which would take them back to New Bark Town, so that Ash - now back to being human after recovering from his injuries caused by the DMA - could finally register for the Silver League Conference.

But just as they were about to depart, what looked like Bianaca ran up towards them, causing Ash to ask for them to wait a minute so that he could say goodbye.

He then hopped onto the pier as Bianaca ran up to him and handing over a wrapped sketch… before kissing him on the cheek, stunning everyone.

She then turned to run back, but then she felt the gaze of Delia on her, as she gave her a Look. She turned back, and would blush a little before rubbing the back of her neck.

Sorry, I just wanted to give him a kiss before he leaves…

Delia's Look intensified for a brief moment, telling the disguised Latias just with said Look that she better not do it again - besides, her son is not old enough to have a girlfriend. That, and he was clearly unaware of her affection towards him.

Once he's old enough, then maybe the two of you can have a relationship, but only when he's ready, Delia would telepath back to Latias before breaking the Look and turning her attention to the sky as Ash, who had now boarded the boat, looked over the sketch Latias gave him: a drawing of himself in his Mew form, his Pikachu and Delia in her Mew form.

And as the boat departed, starting the journey back to mainland Johto, she saw a Latias and two Latios flying in the sky, heading towards the city they were now leaving.

"Pi…" She wasn't the only one who saw it, as Pikachu was also looking up, and his voice drew Ash's, Brock's and Misty's attention, who would look up and also see the Latis in the sky, causing them to smile.

"I still can't believe she forced us to do this…"

Annie complained as she and Oakley had to help Lorenzo with repairing the museum, and especially the DMA which somehow turned them both into Latias.

"And we can't steal anything at all! She took away what was our lives' work!" Oakley was also upset.

"Well, at least we didn't have to deal with those bumbling idiots we heard were working for Team Rocket: having them steal our prize from us - or, Arceus forbid, what we are now! - would be so embarrassing…"

"HEY! I don't know what the two of you are saying, but you better get back to work!" Lorenzo remarked, adjusting his belt just enough to show the new Eons the shiny new Pokéballs that they were new registered to as a reminder.

"...Fine… At least the food we get tastes better than what I heard prisoners are fed…" Oakley remarked as she got back to work.

"And at least I look good as a Latias, don't I? I almost look like one of those Shiny variants!"

"...Can you stop postering and help me out, sis?"

Annie sweatdropped at this, and even more so when she saw Latias - still in her human illusion - return from her brief outing to say goodbye to Ash. That sweet smile she had when she looked at them…

Chapter Text

Delia sighed to herself as she closed up Pallet House for the night. Close to two years had passed since her baby Ash left on his Pokémon Journey, and so much had happened since… Although the one thing that stuck with her the most, barring the recent Altomare incident (which the news was calling the Altomare Crisis despite the fact that it wasn’t anything like one), was that one day she remembered her true self.

…Although the day she got her First Partner was a close second. Due to the fact that four Trainers were starting then, the professor had to source an additional First Partner outside of the original three - and Delia chose to bite the bullet and accept the one which wasn’t part of the normal trio.

Her musings were broken when she saw Ash returning back to Pallet Town after competing in the Silver League. She hadn’t had the time to watch it directly, but the Mew in human form had been keeping tabs of the tournament results - so she knew that her son had beaten Gary Oak in the Round of 16, and then lost in the Quarter Finals to the eventual 3rd place finisher, Harrison, putting him in the top 8. But that wasn’t bad for his second major league, and Delia was proud that he managed to do better than she had ever done, because of the two Leagues she did, the best she got was the Top 16 - but both times, she was defeated by the eventual winner of the whole thing. 

As Ash talked about his plans for heading on to Hoenn in the future, Delia couldn’t help but think about her journey she had when she was a Trainer… And when she mentioned that she had spent some time being a Trainer herself, Ash wanted to know more.

“...And so after the race, he wanted to challenge me to a battle before we left. It was three on three, and no substitutions on either side. I don’t fully remember how the battle went, but I do remember my Espeon, Vee, and my Kangaskhan, Kanga, giving it their all, and I didn’t need to use my third Pokémon - although thinking about it, it might had been a little overkill had I used them…”

“Who was it? Can I see them?” Ash asked… Only for Delia to shake her head.

“Sadly, no. I wish you could had seen Vee while you were a child, but she gave her life protecting the ranch from some poachers. As for Kanga, before I had you, I left her at the Safari Zone. You possibly wouldn’t miss her if you saw her - she has a notch in her ear, and her skin and scales-”

“...Let me guess, she’s the one who looks like she never fully grew out of the colors baby Kangaskhans have?” Ash asked.

Delia blinked before nodding.

“...Then I’ve met her before! It was when I was visiting the Safari Zone for the first time - although I still wish that warden wouldn’t have been so hostile to me,” Ash remarked.

And then Pikachu spoke up. “Her? Wait, she’s the one who raised me as a Pichu before I evolved and decided to cut it out on my own! …Although then I was caught in that ball which was way too cramped for me…”

Delia chuckled as Ash - who could understand what Pikachu was saying - was a little shocked. Who would have thought that one of her Pokémon would have raised what would have been Ash’s starter. Although that would explain why she briefly saw Celebi before she met and caught Kanga.

“...Anyways, he was also doing the same League I was, and turns out, we met in the Round of 32. Or we would have, but just as the match was about to start, he had to forfeit due to the fact that an emergency required him to return to his home region. But I was able to squeeze out a promise for us to have a full battle when he came back.”

A while later, Delia decided to ask Ash about some of the stuff he hadn’t told her about during the early days of his journey. She had a feeling back when he had been doing it that he was keeping things from her, but this was before she knew she was a Mew, and she hadn’t pressed for details back then. But now, with plenty of time on their hands, she could do so.

“...So something fell on me and Pikachu, knocking us out before giving us this strange out-of-body experience or something?” Ash admitted.

Delia sighed. “That was possibly them trying to do something, but from the sounds of things, the best they were able to do was to force you to do what some Psychics are able to do - a so-called Spirit Walk. I don’t know all the details, but what you’re saying sounds a lot like it. Anyways, I take it this is where you got that Haunter which has become an Emotional Support Pokémon for that Gym Leader?”

“Yeah, although I still wish she hadn’t turned us into dolls…”

“...I actually checked out Mount Tensei once. I knew there weren’t any Gyms nearby, but I had heard that the Pokémon I saw on my first day were sometimes sighted there. Although I ran into Damien while I was there… I did tell you about him, right? About how he abandoned the Charmander who I rescued?”

“...Tell me he’s no longer allowed to be a Trainer,” Delia noted with a bit of fire in her eyes.

“About that… On seeing Charizard, he tried to force him to come back. But this was while he was still rather… Temperamental.”

“And rude - I’m glad you didn’t understand him back then, as his language… Possibly not suited for young human ears, as Kanga always told me,” Pikachu chipped in.

“Yeah… Anyways, I did warn him, but he just wouldn’t listen. It’s his own fault that what happened, happened - and the local Jenny agreed with me that it was mostly his fault, although she did caution me to try and reign in my Charizard,” Ash admitted. “It would be a while before I could get him to fully trust me though…”

“...I think I’m going to do what Gary is doing, and start afresh with just Pikachu here,” Ash finished, after telling Delia everything she wanted to hear. “But… Mom, do you mind looking after Panaphy for me?”

“Of course I can, sweetie - I don’t mind caring for some of your Pokémon after all. And speaking of, I do think Cyndi might be close to being able to evolve.”

“Oh, good for him! I’m glad you were able to care for him - I thought you’d be better to help with his flaming problems.”

“Well, he’s been such a good helper along with Mimey. Anyways, before you go, there’s three things you’ll need.”

Those being a few sets of some new clothes, a new hat to go alongside it, and…

“...Mom, why are you giving me this?” Ash asked as he held the pink-lidded Pokéball.

“...If you’re ever in trouble, you know what to do with it,” Delia noted.

“But… This is yours! Are you sure…?”

“Ash… Knowing your luck, you’ll need it. That, and maybe an Absol as well…”