"Onix, I choose you!" Ash said.
Onix appeared on the field, its crystalline body reflecting the light.
The stadium reacted.
"THAT ONIX… ISN'T NORMAL!" Carl said.
"IT'S NOT SHINY… BUT IT'S DIFFERENT!" Bob added.
Verity and Ash, focused on their battle, didn't even hear the comments from Bob and Carl, who continued talking about how impressive Ash's Onix looked.
"Flare Blitz!" Verity shouted.
"Water Pulse!" Ash ordered.
The clash generated steam. Talonflame staggered slightly in the air and was temporarily blinded.
Seeing this, Ash took advantage of the opportunity in front of him to attack.
"Again, Water Pulse!" Ash said.
Blastoise hurried to strike Talonflame, which, despite Verity's orders, couldn't dodge in time due to the temporary blindness Talonflame was suffering.
Direct hit.
"Recover and use Brave Bird, finish it with one blow!" Verity said.
Talonflame quickly recovered and charged toward Blastoise at full speed while its body began to emit a brilliant white light behind it.
"Counter with Iron Tail!" Ash said.
Brutal clash. The impact sent Talonflame flying due to Onix's great strength, but that doesn't mean Onix came out unscathed. In fact, Talonflame's blow hurt it quite a bit, since we must remember that this Onix is not Rock-type, therefore Flying is not ineffective against it.
"Use Rock Throw!" Ash said.
Luckily, Onix didn't recoil as much as Talonflame and had time to recover quickly and obey Ash. Then it struck its huge crystalline tail against the ground and numerous rock fragments flew out, and as if by magic, all the rock fragments headed toward Talonflame.
"Dodge it and use Steel Wing!" Verity said.
She had already more or less guessed the types of that strange Onix. Now it was just a matter of Talonflame dodging the rocks to be able to attack.
"Flame!" Talonflame said.
With impressive agility, Talonflame dodged the rocks one by one, but there was a problem: there were too many, and in the end it couldn't dodge one… and after that, several more followed.
"Talonflame!" Verity said, somewhat worried.
After falling to the ground, Talonflame didn't get up again.
"Talonflame is unable to continue!" the referee said.
"FIRST POKÉMON OF PARTICIPANT VERITY OUT!" Bob shouted.
Verity didn't get discouraged. This wasn't over yet. There was still a lot of battle left. Nothing was lost. So she recalled Talonflame to its Poké Ball, thanked it for its good work, and decided to send out one of her strongest Pokémon. Ash had proven to be an impressive trainer, and only by using strong Pokémon could she defeat him.
"Lucario, I choose you!" Verity said.
A very intimidating Lucario appeared on the battlefield.
The atmosphere changed.
Ash frowned. Lucario was a Fighting/Steel-type Pokémon, the counterpart to his Onix, but… it also seemed to be one of Verity's strongest Pokémon, if not the strongest. If he sent out Onix now, his other Pokémon could take damage and wear him down. Regretfully, the best strategy was to wear down Lucario as much as possible using Onix, so he decided to continue fighting.
"Bullet Punch!" Verity said.
"Counter with Ice Beam!" Ash said.
Lucario dodged with incredible ease and landed its Bullet Punch on Onix, but that wasn't the end.
"Finish it with Close Combat!" Verity said.
She didn't even give Ash the chance to switch, which was what he was about to do, and attacked directly, hitting Onix so hard that, despite its enormous size and weight, it was sent flying several meters. After this blow, Onix fell after resisting as much as possible.
"Onix is unable to continue!" the referee said.
"TIE ON THE SCOREBOARD!" Carl said.
Ash frowned. Verity didn't even give him the chance to withdraw his Onix and went all out.
"You want to play? Let's see who has more raw power!" Ash thought.
He then took out his next Poké Ball and threw it.
"Charizard, I choose you!" Ash said.
Charizard appeared with a powerful roar. The battle became faster, more technical, with constant exchanges between both Pokémon.
While Charizard made its spectacular entrance, Ash noticed something. On Lucario's left arm there was a bracelet, and in it a Mega Stone.
But he wasn't the only one who noticed something strange, because Verity also saw the pendant that Charizard wore around its neck.
Silence.
Both understood. It wasn't time yet.
"Charizard, return!" Ash said.
As soon as he sent out Charizard he decided to recall it to its Poké Ball. Charizard was his trump card in this battle. If it suffered even the slightest damage it wouldn't perform the same as if it were completely healthy.
"CURIOUS! PARTICIPANT ASH JUST WITHDREW HIS CHARIZARD RIGHT AFTER SENDING IT OUT! WHAT COULD HE BE PLANNING?" Bob said.
"I DON'T KNOW. HE PROBABLY NOTICED SOMETHING WE COULDN'T!" Carl said.
"Good work. Rest. I'll need you at full strength soon," Ash said.
He then took out another Poké Ball. The moment had arrived — the moment we all knew would come sooner or later.
"Mew, it's your turn!" Ash said.
The Poké Ball opened.
Mew appeared. At that moment it was as if the whole world had agreed to fall silent. For a few seconds everyone looked at the battlefield in surprise, unable to believe what they were seeing. It was a Mew!
And then…
Explosion.
"IT'S MEW!" Bob shouted.
"A MYTHICAL POKÉMON!" Carl added.
The stadium went wild.
"This I really wasn't expecting…" Verity murmured.
But she wasn't the only one shocked. Not only the spectators were losing their minds, but in other parts of the world different people were stunned to see a Mew there. A Mew! The most sought-after and elusive Mythical Pokémon of all! It is said that Mew contains the DNA of all existing Pokémon and that's why it can learn any move no matter what it is. It also possesses high intelligence and the ability to become invisible and transform into any Pokémon better than a Ditto. Simply a Pokémon sought after not only by trainers, but also by other types of people or organizations!
…
In Kalos.
Serena and her mother, Grace, were also impressed by what they were seeing. They simply couldn't believe it.
"Did you see that, Mom? Ash has a Mythical Pokémon! A Mew!" Serena said with a smile.
"Yes… I have to admit it's impressive," Grace nodded.
Despite never having been a Pokémon trainer or ever having battled, Grace knew perfectly well which Pokémon were the most sought after by trainers. Quasi-legendary Pokémon like Dragonite, Tyranitar, Dragapult — those were some of them, difficult to obtain but common in a certain sense. But even she knew that the most sought-after Pokémon were Legendary and Mythical ones — scarce Pokémon with great power. Some are capable of creating continents, seas, killing Pokémon and humans instantly. There are dozens of them. There are also Mythical Pokémon, also highly sought after and that no one has ever managed to find, but among all of them, at the top of them all is Mew, said to be the ancestor of all Pokémon.
"My Ash is amazing! My fiancé is awesome, I told you so!" Serena said proudly.
Forget the promise? She had been wanting to travel with him ever since they separated that summer seven years ago! She was looking forward to turning 15 so she could travel with him, and there was very little time left! In two more years she could travel with Ash and be his companion! Traveling together, seeing many places, doing things together and flirting. Just thinking about it, Serena couldn't wait to turn 15!
…
On the other hand, in Johto.
At her house, Lisa, who had not managed to qualify to enter the Kanto-Johto Pokémon League due to lack of time, was sitting on her couch eating popcorn while watching this year's Pokémon League battles, but she only focused 100% when Ash appeared — the boy who had made such a good impression on her. To be honest, she felt sad when they separated after what happened in Greenfield… but what could she do? She was traveling through Johto and Ash through Kanto. She simply couldn't join his group or vice versa.
"After the Pokémon League ends I'll call him to meet up. Anyway, I was thinking of taking a short vacation," Lisa said.
Luckily, she had Ash's phone number and they had talked a few times, so Ash wasn't surprised not to see Lisa at the Pokémon League because he already knew. And why didn't she go? Several people were to blame for that: Ash for not telling Spencer they would need one more ticket, and Spencer for not asking if anyone else was coming. In fact, getting tickets for Naria and her grandfather was already the most he could do.
"It'll be interesting to see him in person after so long. That way we can talk… about different matters," Lisa said.
Her face blushed a little but she soon came back to herself and continued eating popcorn.
"Ahhh! What's wrong with me? I'm not like this!" Lisa told herself.
Ever since she separated from Ash she had started feeling lonely. Until that moment she had traveled alone and had never liked the idea of traveling with company, but after experiencing what she experienced with Ash… she started feeling lonely. That's why she tried to find companions, but every time she tried, Ash's image appeared in her mind and in the end she couldn't find any.
While Lisa was sorting out her feelings, eating popcorn and at the same time watching Ash's battle…
"A Mew! Incredible!" Lisa said suddenly.
A few seconds ago she had been in conflict with herself, but when she saw Ash send out Mew, her popcorn almost fell to the floor. Luckily she managed to catch it in time.
"Oh my god, a Mew… this Ash never stops surprising me… Now I definitely have to go to Kanto to visit him! I need to know everything!" Lisa said.
Lisa didn't seem that surprised. In her mind, Ash was amazing, so having a Legendary or Mythical Pokémon was normal. But this was only because Lisa was what we would call "an airhead."
…
At the same time in Paldea.
Hana, as mentioned before, had taken a few days off work — something unusual — to watch Ash.
Ever since she was promoted to head of the central post office in Paldea, she had been extremely busy. Just getting used to her position as boss had taken months of hard work and effort! She barely even had time to rest! But despite everything, despite all the work and overtime… everything, she had never forgotten Ash and how he helped her.
They had barely known each other for a few minutes and the story he told her was only to vent. She hadn't expected anything more, but she never imagined that from a small position such a great responsibility would be born. Now, having just turned 18, she had fulfilled her dream and all thanks to a letter.
"Now… now that I'm used to this position… I should go to Pallet Town to visit him and thank him for everything," Hana said.
During these months she had never forgotten Ash and had always wanted to thank him, but because she had been so busy these months, she hadn't even had time to take a day off… until a few days ago when she took a month off — a month she was entitled to by law. Besides, she took the vacation on purpose at this time because she knew for sure that Ash would participate, and indeed she was right. In fact, Ash was the first to battle in the Top 16 and won with ease.
"Ash…" Hana said, blushing as she looked at the television that was focusing on Ash's image.
She didn't even care about the Mew appearing on screen. Her gaze was fixed on Ash's face. Under normal circumstances this wouldn't have been a problem, but… she was watching the Pokémon League with her mother, so her mother heard everything she said.
"Oh, what a shame I can't go back to my youth and be in love like that," her mother said.
From the expression on her face and the dozens of times she had mentioned Ash during these months, her mother knew that her daughter had fallen in love with Ash but was too shy to go spend time with him, much less confess her feelings. Besides, ever since she took the position of boss she had even less time, but from her previous words and the lovestruck maiden expression written all over her face… it seemed she had made a decision, and as a mother, she was happy for her daughter. That Ash guy wasn't only handsome and a good trainer (from what she had seen on TV), but he was also kind and good-hearted. Otherwise, why would he have helped her daughter after knowing her for just a few minutes? Out of pure kindness? Out of pity? Unfortunately life isn't that simple. Otherwise there would be more rich people and fewer poor people. It seems that this Ash guy also took a liking to Hana or maybe… he also fell in love with her at first sight. Either way, Ash helped her daughter fulfill her dream and even became her first love. Although knowing Hana, it was probably her only one because when Hana set her mind to something, she definitely accomplished it.