Tree of Life

A young boy awoke for the first time in what felt like ages, but in actuality, it had only been a day. He also felt very strange. When his eyes fluttered open, the world seemed larger. He also awoke in an area he had never seen before. It was a flower garden at the edge of a small pond. It was more akin to a pool than a pond in size.

Still dizzy from the drowsiness of his slumber, the child made his way over to the pond to get a drink. He stopped in his tracks when he saw his reflection. What stared back up at the boy from the water's surface was not human. It was white and draped in rags, looking like it wore some kind of green helmet with spikes.

"A-aah!" Screamed the boy as he fell into his backside. He hastily shuffled across the ground to distance himself from the pond, then nearly fainted when he saw that his hands were as white as they looked in the pool. "Wh-what happened to me?!"

"Oh, Shaun!" Cried a familiar yet chilling voice. "You're finally awake!"

Shaun nearly jumped out of his skin. He dared to look at the source of the voice, finding none other than Mew. And upon laying eyes on her, he remembered what had transpired the night before. The men he'd known since the day he was born, including his father, killed by the Pokemon and monsters roaming the halls of the massive tree they invaded. This Pokemon was behind it all! She killed his dad!

Seeing how afraid he was, Mew was quick to lower herself to his level. "Aw, don't be scared!" She cooed, smiling at the boy brightly. "I won't hurt you!" Her face appeared to darken for a moment, and following it, the entire environment. Shaun felt his body become heavier, and his breathing became labored. She stared at him with red eyes that gleamed like the flames of damnation and hissed, "As long as you don't get on my bad side."

That horrific feeling of dread disappeared almost instantaneously as Mew reared her head back and giggled. "You should see the look on your face! You're pretty easy to scare, huh?"

Shaun felt like fainting or vomiting, but no longer had the mental fortitude to do either.

"I'm sure you're wondering why you're no longer human too," Said Mew. "I'm sorry that I didn't ask first, but…" She threw her head back, pretending to sob into her hands. "As I read into your memories, I saw that your life as a human was just too sad!" Quick as a bullet, Shaun found her face suddenly far too close to his own. "So I decided to turn you into a Pokemon! I figured making you into a Ralts would be easier for you to adjust to. We couldn't have much fun if you were fumbling around as an Eevee."

The young boy's breaths were only becoming more ragged. Again, his vision became more fuzzy, and the sound of Mew's voice sounded far away. His body felt extremely hot. He tried to clutch at his head on instinct, but the feeling of whatever the green thing on it was made him recoil. "H-help!" He whimpered, shuddering. It was all he could think to do.

Seeing this, Mew quickly went to his side, gently grasping his hands. "Hey, hey, easy," She cooed. "What's the matter? I'm here for you."

Shaun only found the strength to speak when it was accompanied by loosely-falling tears. "I-I want my dad!" He wailed, taking Mew aback.

"Y-your dad?" Repeated Mew, attempting to make sense of the sentence. "But he was terrible to you! He threw you to the ground, pushed you into a pit with sharp stones and tried to force you to capture Pokemon against your will!"

The boy didn't know what to say to that, and so he only continued to sob mindlessly. Mew frowned at the boy, letting go of his hands to float back into the air. Shaun did not look at her. Biting her lip, the goddess of all Pokemon mulled over how to go about consoling him in her head. In truth, she hadn't actually acted like a mother for several thousands of years. Not that the Legends would let her. And for some reason, the Pokemon here in the Tree of Life acted as if they were afraid of her. Some game perhaps?

"Oh!" Exclaimed Mew as an idea struck her. She disappeared all of a sudden, then returned with a large ball and set it by the boy's feet. "I know what can cheer you up! Let's play a game." When Shaun did not respond, she nudged the ball toward him. When it touched his foot, he remained motionless. Mew pouted, but she wasn't one to give up. "Come on!" She urged. "It'll be fun! Just...uh…" She returned to the ground, standing across from Shaun with her tiny arms readied to catch the ball.

She said, "Start by kicking it over here. Then, I'll push it back. Okay?"

Haphazardly, Shaun poked the ball with his tiny foot. It rolled for about an inch before stopping. It became encumbered by a pink glow, then flew into Mew's hands. "Good job!" Praised Mew. "Now it's my turn. Now catch!" She curved her arm back and threw the ball with little restraint. It smacked Shaun dead in the face, knocking him onto his back. It didn't take long for the boy to start wailing and run out of the room.

Mew's eyes went wide. "W-wait!" She exclaimed. "Where are you going?! You could have just caught it with…" She cut herself off and sighed when she saw that he'd already run out of the room. Under her breath, she muttered, "Kids these days," then gave chase.

"Heeeeey!" Called Mew. Shaun's blood ran cold at the sound. He dared to look back and was relieved to see he wasn't being pursued. His relief shattered when he turned back around and saw Mew's face. Shaun scarcely had the time to scream before running face first into something soft, elastic...and really terrible-tasting. He backed away from whatever it was, spitting out what tasted like soap. Before him floated a pink bubble so large that it blocked the hallway. When he turned around, he was face to face with Mew again.

The pink cat smiled at him brightly as if nothing was wrong, and then they were suddenly back in the room they were before. "H-huh?!" He cried in surprise, falling onto his backside yet again. He flinched when Mew flew down to his face.

"My bad," She admitted. Even young Shaun could tell it wasn't genuine. "I kinda just assumed you would naturally use your powers."

The boy-turned-Ralts poked his head up at that, admittedly intrigued. "P-powers? What do you mean?"

Mew flashed a toothy grin. The ball previously used to bruise his face suddenly floated into their air by the goddess's side. "Your Psychic powers, you silly thing! That's another reason why I turned you into a Ralts: So we could have more in common!"

Something told Shaun having anything in common with his father's killer, regardless of the things he did, wasn't something he wanted. And though he was intrigued by Mew's prospect of giving him power, something about being a Pokemon simply felt...wrong to him. He loved Pokemon, no doubt. But to become one was an alien feeling. His body, inside and out, was changed into something that wasn't him.

Swallowing a lump in his throat, Shaun mustered his courage and asked, "C-can I just be human again?"

Mew raised an eyebrow at him. "Human? Why would you want that? You never had that many happy memories as a human from what I saw."

"Th-that's not true!" Claimed Shaun. Mew appeared surprised at his sudden bravado. "I was happy before…" Said the boy. He became quieter, returning to his more timid mannerisms. "With…" His mother. He recalled how happy his parents always looked together, and how often the three would revel in one another's company. Not a day went by without smiles in their house. That was...until that day...when Necrozma appeared. Then his mom…

"...My mom…"

Mew leaned forward intently, very interested to hear this. "Your mom? I only saw a few weeks of your memory and never saw her. What happened?"

Shaun balled his hands into fists. Or as much of a fist as his new body would allow. Wiping his eyes, he vehemently said, "Nothing."

The progenitor Pokemon's eyes drooped. "Suuuure, bud. You shouldn't be trying to keep secrets from me, you know. C'mon, I wanna know!" Shaun kept his lips sealed, irritating Mew. Furling her lip, she said, "I can just read your mind, you know. At any moment, I could just find out what I want to know in an instant, so it's better to just open up about it."

For some reason, Shaun felt unreasonably angry at that. This Pokemon...killed his dad, transformed him into a Pokemon against his will and stole him away from the only family he had left. But before Shaun could open his mouth to say it, Mew spoke up first. "But I won't. Now that I think about it, bringing up sad stuff like that won't be fun at all."

She smiled, nodding at her decision like she was praising herself for it. "Yep. We're here to have fun, you and I, so let's just let the past be in the past and forget all that." Once more, the ball was lifted into the air by a pink glow. Shaun instinctively tensed up at it and attempted to shield his face, but there was no impact. Instead, there was only the sound of Mew's laughter.

"Don't worry, young one," She cooed. Her attempt at acting motherly was not convincing in the slightest. "I won't hit you this time." True to her word, she simply dropped it and allowed it to bounce toward him. But he couldn't catch such a large thing with his tiny body, he quickly realized, and hastily moved out of the way, much to Mew's chagrin. "Oh, why didn't you-oh." She slapped herself on the forehead. "Duh! I forgot that you don't know how to control your powers yet."

The ball disappeared in a flash, replacing itself with Mew. A bewildered Shaun jumped back in surprise. He looked back and forth between the Mew floating before him and where she'd just been a second ago, earning a fit of amused giggling from her. "You are just adorable, you know that?" She asked. Mew waited for a response, expecting the young boy to blush, but only received his typical blank stare and silence.

For some reason that was beyond Shaun, she made a noise as if she were clearing her throat despite talking with telepathy. "Anyways, we can't properly have fun until you learn how to control your Psychic powers, so let's start with that." In the span of a single second, the room around them appeared to warp and stretch, shifting color as it changed around them before changing into a place Shaun recognized: the large chasm and lake his father told him to invade.

"Here we are!" Mew announced loudly. Immediately, the surrounding Pokemon's eyes went wide hearing her voice. Even the ones that looked scary to Shaun, such as Aerodactyl and Gyarados, were obviously utterly terrified of her. They all bolted without a second thought. Flying Pokemon took to the skies and escaped through the large gap in the ceiling. Water-dwelling Pokemon dunked down into the lake, retreating for the waterfall. Others simply ran as fast as their legs could take them.

Shaun watched this with utter horror. What in the world could terrify such fearsome Pokemon like that besides his dad and Necrozma? When he turned his horrified gaze on Mew, he found her looking at the fleeing Pokemon with disdain. "Phooey," She said with a childish pout. "Why do they keep playing this game without me? I'm the master at hide and seek, but it takes too long finding everyone."

She looked down at Shaun, making his blood run cold. "Oh, don't mind them," She said nonchalantly, literally waving them off. "They always get carried away with their games." Something told Shaun that there was no game to be played among them. "Anyways…" Mew forcibly turned his head toward the lake with Psychic. "This seems like a good spot to test out your Psychic powers."

A ball of pure water floated up from the lake, shimmering beautifully in the gleaming sunlight. It stretched into a variety of different shapes that Shaun had never seen before. It even imitated the shapes and mannerisms of Pokemon like Horsea and Magikarp. Alas, the mind of a child could not stay focused for long and the boy soon watched the water show before him intently. Seeing this, a smirking Mew decided to turn up the heat.

The lake practically exploded. Mew sent up several geysers of swirling water, twisting them in every possible way. Drops of water danced around the two. Shaun saw them turn into a multitude of shapes like before, only now they surrounded him at every turn. Pokemon of all kind… Poliwrath pumping its fists, Beedrill poking the air with its signature drills, a Tyranitar roaring and more. Shaun had never seen something so grandiose before, and all of it had come from mere water.

Before he knew it, the show had ended and the water returned to its rightful spot in the lake. "You see?" Asked Mew. "A human couldn't do that. With the powers I gave you, you could do something like that too."

Shaun looked to her incredulously. "But...I don't know how."

"Yes, I suspected as much," Said Mew. "Now that I think about it, Pokemon normally have years to figure out what they can do. Suddenly turning from a powerless human to a Pokemon probably would take some getting used to." Ignoring the look Shaun gave her for it, Mew continued. "Luckily for you…" She proudly placed her hands on her hips, smirking down at Shaun. "You couldn't find a better teacher than yours truly."

She lowered herself to Shaun's level, pointing a finger to her forehead. "The key to using Psychic powers is the same as just thinking: using your mind. If you imagine yourself moving something with your mind, then you will do it." Mew turned her sights on a large boulder at the lake's edge, her eyes glimmering pink. It flew toward her and dropped itself right behind her. Evidently, it was heavy enough to briefly lift Shaun off the ground upon its falling. He shrieked in surprise before finding that he himself was surrounded in the same glow.

"Now then," Said Mew, setting him back onto the ground, "Let's try it for yourself." Mew's tail whipped against the boulder behind her and split it in two. Shaun's jaw dropped just as fast as each half did. Turning around, Mew scanned the split pieces intently. She tossed all manner of rocks aside, forcing Shaun to shield his head from a few small stray ones, then whipped around with a proud smile when she found what she was apparently looking for.

Another tail slap sent the rubble around Shaun's feet flying. She then proudly set beneath him a pebble so tiny that he had trouble even seeing it. Mew laid herself down beside it, hovering her hand over it and said, "Just start by thinking real hard about it levitating. Once you get the hang of it, we can have some real fun."

Shaun wasn't sure about any sort of fun Mew had in mind being fun for him if their first game was anything to go by. Still...as he looked down at the pebble, then to his new, unfamiliar white hands, he couldn't deny that having Psychic powers was a prospect that intrigued him. Taking a deep breath, the boy stared intently at the tiny stone. Nothing happened. So, he focused harder. And harder. So much so that his face had started to redden.

The boy let out a gasp of air and broke his focus. "Awww, you almost had it!" Cried Mew. Excitedly, she patted her hands on the grass and said, "Come on, you've got this! Just keep trying!"

Gritting his teeth, Shaun took in another breath and focused on the stone again. He tried, and tried, and tried until his eyes looked as if they would pop out of their sockets. Yet still, the pebble would not budge. Even if he was mostly doing this to humor Mew, he couldn't help but to feel frustrated about his failure. He soon grew sick of the inanimate object's refusal to obey his command, picked it up with his hand instead of his mind, and threw it into the lake.

Yet he could not escape it. The pebble re-emerged from the water, now coated in Mew's signature pink glow, before floating back to where it had been. Mew placed a hand on Shaun's shoulder from behind, making him gasp in shock. When did she get behind him?!

"Don't give up if you get mad," She chided gently, accompanied by a small chuckle. "I mean, we're not exactly on a time limit or anything."

She placed the pebble in his hand, urging him to try again. Shaun sighed, attempting to focus on the rock. But now, he was too tired, and found it hard to even stare at the thing. He growled in frustration, again throwing the stone away and burying his head in his arms. "I don't want Psychic powers!" He whimpered. "I...I just wanna go home… I want my mom...and my dad… I just want everything to be like it was before!"

Mew pitifully looked down at the boy as he cried into his arms. The transition from human to Pokemon wouldn't be easy for him. That much was certain. "I'm sorry," She said with a questionable level of sincerity, "But...that's just not possible anymore. This is your home now, Shaun. From what I've seen of your memory, there isn't one for you out there anymore."

Plopping down in front of the boy, Mew said, "That's exactly why we should make the most of our time here, even if it's unlimited." When Shaun did not respond to her, she bit back the slight irritation she felt at the back of her mind. Then, she thought of another idea. "Here," She said, imbuing herself with a bright light, "Watch this."

A teary-eyed Shaun obeyed, looking up at her for a brief moment before being forced to shield his eyes from the light emitted from her. When the light faded, he looked back, and his eyes went wide. What now stood before him was not Mew, but rather, another Ralts like him. "Check it out!" Spoke the Ralts in Mew's voice. "We're like twins!"

"Wh-whoa!" Exclaimed an intrigued Shaun. "How did you do that?!"

Mew inwardly smirked, praising herself for her ability to change his attitude so quickly. 'Ah, kids. So easy to entertain.'

"I have the DNA of every Pokemon within me," Explained Mew. She decided she would leave the explanation at that for now. Telling a child that she was the progenitor Pokemon may be a bit much to take in all at once, especially on the first day of his new life. "And because of that, I can transform into anything."

Shaun gaped at her in awe. "Anything?! So...can you transform into a big mountain, or a volcano, or…" He stopped suddenly, looking down at his new body with disdain. "...Can you turn into a human?"

Mew frowned at that. Of course he would ask such a thing. "Well," She started, "I could, yes. Though I consider myself to be the mother of all Pokemon, I suppose that saying I just have Pokemon DNA would be wrong." She mulled over her next choice of words slowly and carefully. "I...actually have the DNA of every living thing. Here on Earth, anyways. That does include stuff like plants and humans. So...yes, I could turn into a human."

"Is that why you could turn me into a Pokemon?" Asked Shaun, to which Mew bit her lip, but nodded. He then asked, "Could you change me back?" Mew did not respond at first, so Shaun stood back up and insisted, "Please! If you can change me back, you gotta!"

This certainly threw a wrench into Mew's plans. She hadn't expected the boy to be so attached to his former life. From what she had seen of his memories, his mother was completely absent from his life and his father was nothing short of a monster. Said father had mentioned that a Pokemon had done something to his mother. But that raised the question: Why had Shaun been so nice to Pokemon where his father acted so cruelly?

She had half a mind to read the rest of his memories all at once, but didn't want to resort to that yet. A bond between mother and child should be handled with complete trust. Maybe he didn't trust her now since, for some reason, he clung to his past life despite what it comprised of, but that could change in time. He would fold in time...and then, they would play together. They would have fun with toys, gifts, and all manner of games. Just like it always should have been.

But for now, she would have to lie.

A pang of guilt surged through her heart seeing the look on Shaun's face when she shook her head. "I'm sorry," She said, "But my transformations on others are permanent. I can only turn back because of my special DNA." Shaun's face began to wrinkle, but before the waterworks could open again, Mew quickly spoke up. "B-but it's not all bad being a Pokemon, you know! You can become much stronger as a Pokemon than you ever could as a human."

To demonstrate this, she transformed into a Kirlia. "I'm sure you already know what Evolution is. Through age or training, most Pokemon can turn into a more powerful form. The form I'm in now is called Kirlia, and in time, you could become one." Mew's form became imbued with light yet again as she demonstrated the final evolution for a Ralts: the elegant Gardevoir. "And when you become even more powerful, you'll turn into this!"

Shaun was not pleased by what he saw, evidenced by the cringe on his face. Mew looked at him oddly, but soon realized what the problem was. "Oh, duhh. You're a boy, so this look doesn't really suit you." Again, she shifted forms, now becoming something that awed the child: A Gallade. "How's this?" She asked, swinging the form's bladed arm through the air. "This form looks cooler, right? It's called Gallade, and they're renowned warrior Pokemon that are tough as nails."

Admittedly, the form before him did look cool. If there was any good thing to come out of his time with his father after the war, it was that it allowed him to see many Pokemon. Evidently, there were many more left to see.

He asked, "How do you have everyone's…" He attempted to remember the sequence of letters from her earlier explanation, then looked back up to Mew and asked, "...DNA?"

Mew nodded to confirm his suspicions, then answered, "That's a bit of a secret right now. But you could say I'm like a...mother to most things."

Shaun gaped at her. "Like a mom? To...almost everything? How old are you?!"

The question was innocent enough, coming from such a young child, but Mew couldn't help but to giggle at it. "It's rude to ask a lady's age, you know," She said with a false sternness, "But you're right to be surprised. I am quite old, after all. Especially in comparison to children such as yourself."

The boy looked down, letting out some sort of mixture between a sigh and an awed gasp as he tried to fathom Mew's words. "...Hey," He said eventually, looking back up at the Pokemon Goddess. "You said you're a mom, right?"

Mew giggled and nodded. "Yes, I did. Is it that hard to imagine?" She looked over her own body, twirling through the air as she did. "I must admit; my true form is pretty small."

Believing that he had offended her somehow, Shaun was quick to reiterate what he meant. "N-no, it's not that! I was just wondering if you had any...kids."

"Well," Spoke Mew, ceasing her midair dance, "Like I said before, I consider myself a mother to most living things. That would mean that I also consider most living things as my children, including you."

Shaun shook his head. "I mean like...real kids. Why keep me here if you have them?"

Mew frowned at that, making Shaun pale slightly. She looked away from the boy and to the lake solemnly, then said, "I had many. A long time ago…" As she spoke, water began to rise from the lake once more. Like before, it split and twisted into many different shapes. Shaun gasped upon recognizing some of them.

Dialga, Lugia, Rayquaza and many others. He had seen them all while watching what he could of the battle against Necrozma on television before the footage was cut off. "...we all used to live here together in the tree. We played games, had fun and...were as close as a family could be."

She growled under her breath angrily. "Then one day, they all grew up, became big and acted like they didn't need me anymore." She turned her head toward Shaun, instead finding the visage of Giratina she had accidentally created. Her eyes went wide and she immediately dropped the water, unintentionally drenching Shaun in the process.

"W-wow, I talk way too much, huh?" Said Mew, rubbing the back of her head and laughing nervously. Shaun was enveloped in Mew's glow and the water on him was scoured in an instant. "A-anyways, that's enough talk about that. After all, I have you now, so who needs those killjoys, right? We can have fun without them!"

Shaun didn't like the sound of that.

The world around the two shifted suddenly, returning the two of them back to the room where Shaun first awoke. "Let's forget about training for now," Said Mew. She snapped her fingers, ushering in a multitude of portals. From them, toys, dolls, stuffed Pokemon and other such trinkets rained down, nearly burying the boy. "We can try again later. There's no rush after all. For now, let's just focus on having fun, you know? We'll make the best outta what we got."

Gasping for air upon re-surfacing from the crushing pile of fur and plastic on top of him, Shaun asked, "Why? I thought you said I needed to learn Psychic powers first!" In truth, he didn't care about the powers as much as he did his freedom. Not that it didn't interest him, but he wanted to be as far away from her "playtime" as possible if the bruise on his face was anything to go by. Not to mention that even he could feel there was something off about her. And he was just a child.

"Shouldn't we do that first?" He asked, forcing a smile. "It would be safer. Y-you don't want to hurt me, do you?"

He had hoped the appeal to guilt would have made her reconsider. Maybe his proposition would return them to the lake and he could frustrate himself over the inability to move the pebble again. It was better than getting pelted in the face with a ball again. The time he spent with his dad made him careful with his words. The best case scenario would have been for Mew to simply go somewhere else on her own to figure out how to speed up his learning process and allowing time for him to escape, but that hope was quickly dashed.

Mew nonchalantly replied, "Nah, we can figure that out later. We have all the time in the world."

She kept saying that, and Shaun didn't like it. Did she really want to keep him here forever? He couldn't deny that living with his father was hell in its own right, but none of this felt natural. He needed to get back to his mother no matter what. "What...what do you mean?"

She smiled at him brightly as if there was nothing wrong with what she was about to say. "Well, you don't have anywhere to go, do you? There's lots of room here in the tree, so there's really no reason for you to leave."

Shaun's blood went cold at that. Mew realized this and asked, "What? What is it?" She went silent for a moment, narrowing her eyes at the boy for an uncomfortably long time, "...Ah, I see," She said. "Still worried about your mom?"

He had forgotten that she could read minds. "...Y-yeah," Stammered the boy. "Without my dad, she's all I have left."

"That's not true!" Protested Mew, flopping onto the toy pile by his side. She stared into his eyes with that same shimmering smile that she always seemed to adorn on her face, but it did nothing to calm Shaun's nerves. If anything, it only made them worse. He could feel a chill run down his spine just looking at her for all of her games and pleasantries. "You have me!"

Shaun could not possibly fathom any way that could have made him feel better. Her sudden dour expression told him that she had yet again read his mind. When he lived with his dad, he often had to provide lip service to get away with certain things. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he attempted to do so here.

"Y-yeah, you're right!" He chirped. "But...I don't think we can really have much fun if you keep reading my mind." He glanced over to his side, thanking Aura or Arceus or whoever was to thank for his fortune when he spotted and subsequently plucked a playing card up from the pile. "Like, if we played cards and you always knew what I had, you'd always beat me. Would that be fun?"

Mew placed a hand to her chin, humming in thought. "Yes, you're right." She nodded. "Alright then. From here on out, I will never read your mind again." She crossed her fingers over where Shaun assumed her heart was, then giggled. "Boys do need their privacy after all. But anyways, yes, I promise." Just as an elated Shaun was about to thank her, she raised her tiny index finger. "On one condition."

Shaun winced. "Y-yes?"

She floated closer to the boy, taking his trembling hands into her own and staring into his eyes. "Please don't try to leave," She pleaded. Shaun could see right into her deep blue, mystifying eyes and found himself lost in them. "I promise that I'm not a bad person, and this isn't a bad place. I brought you here so that you could have a happier life than you could out there."

What did she know of a happier life for him? All he wanted was to go back to his mother and retain any semblance of a family with her that was left. She already took part of that away. But nevertheless, he nodded and replied, "Yes. I won't try to leave." For now, all he could do was bend to Mew's will anyways.

Yet still...as he looked into her eyes, he couldn't help but to feel there was some truth to her words.

"Great!" Exclaimed an ecstatic Mew, characteristically throwing her hands up and dragging herself into the air with the momentum of the action. "Let's not delay for even a moment! Oh, I've been waiting for this moment for such a long time!" With wide, excited eyes, she began to dig into the toy pile, throwing things to the wind as she continued to ramble.

To Shaun's own chagrin, he found it cute.

Eventually, Mew managed to withhold her excitement long enough to pick up a domino. "Let's start with this!"

Shaun smiled at the sight. Before Necrozma, he and his family would often stack them all around the house and follow them as they fell. It was nostalgic. "Okay!" He answered brightly. It seemed like she had learned from the earlier ball incident and chose a game less inclined to injury. Maybe this whole ordeal wouldn't be so bad after all.

He soon came to regret that assumption when he found himself hanging on for dear life on a giant domino, literally surfing across a sea of smaller ones. Mew sat on another one nearby, laughing it up all the while like it was no big deal. And why did he feel like he had seen this in a movie before?

Before he knew it, the domino sailed over a cliff and threw him off. Air caught in his throat when he saw the pool of lava that laid at the bottom. Yet before he could even scream, a geyser of steam blew him up onto a giant leaf. The scenery around him had somehow completely changed yet again. Now, he was overlooking a giant jungle from atop a cliff.

Mew appeared beside him, plopping down on the leaf and terrorizing poor Shaun even more by making it dip. "Having fun?" She asked innocently, unperturbed by the glare Shaun gave her for it. If he wasn't too scared of the height to speak, and of Mew, there would have been much more he gave her than a dirty stare.

She giggled at him. "Oh don't be such a baby. Isn't seeing all this cool stuff fun?"

Shaun desperately wanted to tell her exactly what he thought of her games. Yet this ordeal quickly reminded him of the earlier ball incident. Something told him he didn't want to see what she was like when angry if this was her meaning of playtime. She murdered his father after all. Would she really be above doing the same to him?

Eventually, Mew let out a sigh. "Fine," She conceded. "We'll go back. But for the record, I wouldn't have let you get hurt during all this."

It had to be nearly a dozen times now that he was reminded of the ball.

The world shifted again, returning to the room. Only, they were returned above ground and only one of them could fly. When Shaun planted into the ground face-first, for a time, he wondered if getting up was worth it. Maybe if he pretended to have passed out on the impact, Mew would leave him alone.

"Wake up, silly!"

Of course not.

She picked him up with her psychic grip and flipped him over. Apparently, she couldn't have been bothered to do that to begin with. After gently placing him down on the toy pile, she said, "Since you don't like my games so far, I think you may be right in saying that we should toughen you up before we go through with anything else."

Shaun definitely did not remember saying that.

"So," She continued, "I have an idea. You're not a human anymore. You're a Pokemon and need to get used to it!" She backed away from him and planted herself on the ground. "Pokemon become stronger through battling. So…" She stretched her arms outward, welcoming Shaun to attack. "Come on! I won't even fight back."

As if he believed her for a second. "...What?" He asked innocently. "B-but I don't…"

"Want to fight?" Finished Mew, dropping her arms back to her side. "Like I said, Pokemon can only grow stronger through battle. If you get stronger, maybe you'll get tough enough to take playtime."

He growled under his breath. He wasn't stupid. If he dared to attack her, if he even could with this useless body, would she even hold up her end of the deal? What was with her? She murders his dad, turns him into a Pokemon and had done nothing but taunt and abuse him since. Honestly, was it much different from his own father?

...No. His father was a monster. Mew was terrible, but he didn't think her capable of doing what his father did. He brutalized, captured and killed for his own ends and had no problem attacking his own son. But...somewhere deep down, he was still Shaun's dad. They had been on their last job. The nightmare was almost over.

Yet Mew stole away any hope of their family returning to what it was like before Necrozma invaded. And he could never forgive her for no longer cared if attacking her was hopeless. She wanted him to, and he would oblige. If she did turn on him and attack him for it...maybe, at this point, it would be for the best.

He glanced down at a small rock near his feet, picked it up, and then hurled it at Mew. It looked like it was actually going to hit her, but a barrier appeared around her and made it bounce off. "Throwing rocks probably won't help a Psychic Type like you get stronger," Said Mew, completely unaware of Shaun's ire. Did she expect him to just...throw punches? With his stubby arms?

It was no secret that Shaun was pacifistic by nature. In all his life, he had never once felt the need to throw a punch before, and he had only ever shown kindness to people and Pokemon. And though Mew infuriated him to no end, he wasn't sure if he could break that streak now. Not for a lack of wanting to.

After what seemed to him like hours of silence, Mew rolled her eyes and pulled the boy toward him. "Look," She said, "Just throw a punch or something. Work with me here. It's been a while since I've trained anyone, so I'm a bit rusty on it myself." She pretended to punch herself in the head. "If you're worried about hurting me, that's sweet of you, but don't." She chuckled confidently, smirking at Shaun. "I'll have you know that I can handle anything you throw at me."

Still, Shaun appeared unsure. "I...um…" He timidly raised his arm, looking at her unsurely. "I...don't like fighting. And I've never done it before…"

Mew narrowed her eyes at him, chilling him. "Yeah," She said, "That is a bit of a problem. As a Pokemon, fighting is kind of a necessity." Her eyes widened and she snapped her fingers as an idea suddenly struck her. "I've got it!"

She slapped her tail into the ground, sending up three consecutive waves of eerie red mist and blowing them onto Shaun. The boy shielded his face from the sudden bombardment to no avail. He let out a sudden gasp as a strange feeling washed over him. His face felt hot, his breath became ragged and labored, and though it might have just been the mist in the way, but he could have sworn that the world was becoming redder and hazier. Along with that, he felt...angry. Angrier than he had ever felt in his life.

"What did you do to me?!" He growled with a force he didn't even know he was capable of. He tried blocking the dizzying feeling out by closing his eyes and facing the ground to no avail. In mere moments, he started foaming at the mouth, violently shaking his head to rid himself of the unpleasant, alien feeling of raw rage. Yet it did not cease. In fact, his efforts only seemed to make it worse, and each breath became more akin to a growl.

Mew snapped her fingers in front of his eyes and raised head by the chin. "I used Swagger," She explained. Her smile was unbearable to look at. It made him want to.. Want to… "By using it, I make my target angrier and increase their strength. But it also confuses them, and, well…" She snapped her fingers, and suddenly the dizziness stopped. But...the rage did not. It only seemed to somehow increase even further now that he could actually think with a semblance of clarity.

When he looked at Mew—the Pokemon that killed his father and stole away any hope of returning to his life—he realized something: He wanted to hurt her. He wanted to wipe that accursed smile from her face. He wanted...to attack. To fight. To kill.

"There you go," Said Mew, blissfully unaware of the murderous thoughts she had implanted in the once-pacifistic child. "Now you won't just attack at rando-"

She leaned her head to the side nonchalantly as Shaun's small fist sailed past her head. "There you go!" Cheered Mew as she floated away from him. "Keep at it! See if you can get a hit in!"

Shaun gave chase, sprinting after her as far as his stubby legs could carry him. Pressing down against the ground, he launched himself at Mew, intending to throw another hook her way. Mew giggled and disappeared in a flash of pink, letting Shaun sail past her harmlessly. He whirled around with a save growl, frantically searching for the object of his anger until, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted her tail. She was darting around the room, flipping and twisting through the air as she was all while giggling insufferably.

He leapt at her again, and again, she effortlessly moved out of the way. He ended up landing on a bubble like the one that prevented him from running away before. "Gotta be faster!" Taunted Mew from behind. Unable to contain his anger, he beat his fist against the bubble and popped it, making him fall to the ground flat on his face. From above, Mew's echoing voice said, "That looked like it hurt. Better be careful."

Beating his fist into the ground, he whipped around and threw the ensuing debris and dust toward her. Mew responded in turn by creating a barrier that erased them on touch. Again, Shaun threw himself at her, and she responded with a light flick to his face before teleporting out of the way and allowing him to sail face-first back into the ground. But before he could touch it, a pink portal opened up underneath him and swallowed him whole. The next thing he knew, he was shooting back up into the air.

Mew rose up from beneath him, taking his hands into her own. She giggled at him, then whirled around and threw him back down. Expecting the feeling of cold hard ground, Shaun winced and prepared for the worst. But he was definitely not prepared for the splash when he sailed straight into another bubble filled with water. When he tried to swim out of it, it burst, raining water and Shaun himself onto the ground. But before the boy could hit the ground, Mew dove to catch him and tossed him higher into the air before flying after him.

Seeing Mew rising toward him, Shaun threw a sudden jab at her when she came close enough, but of course, she dodged with blinding speed. "Ooh, nice one!" She commended. "Still not fast enough, though." To irritate him further, she lightly flicked his nose. When his response was another punch, she teleported behind him and did it again to the back of his head.

A savage, beast-like growl surged from the boy when he whipped his arm around. Just like every other time he had tried to land a blow on Mew, his fist only caught empty air. Unable to contain his anger, the seething boy screamed between his teeth.

"Aw, c'mon," Said Mew from behind. "You won't get anywhere just by being mad."

Shaun immediately turned on his heel, digging his foot into the ground and kicking a large rock up at her before giving chase from behind it. Unaware that the boy was close behind it, Mew slapped her tail against the rock to shatter it. The ensuing shockwave sent the boy flying back until he slammed against a wall and fell flat onto his face.

He heard Mew snicker and growled under his breath, but when he pushed himself up to glare at her, he found that the red clouding his vision was gone. As was the strength dragging him along through the fight. Yet his frustration remained.

"Y-you okay over there?" Asked Mew. It was hard for Shaun to believe she was actually concerned for his wellbeing considering she was obviously failing to hold back laughter.

The boy could not stand it any longer. He could not stand her. "You…" He seethed. "You're...you're awful! I hate you!"

Mew rolled her eyes. "Yeah, mhm. Anyways, you wanna go for round two?"

Snarling at her, Shaun vehemently cried, "NO! Don't get near me!" He didn't want anything to do with her or that power again. He felt as if he wasn't himself, but someone else. Was that what happened to his father? "You're...evil! I bet this is why none of the other Pokemon like you! They're not playing a game; they're afraid of you!"

"Watch it," Warned Mew sternly. "I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that this is Swagger talking and not you, but even so, you shouldn't be saying such mean things. Especially when they aren't true."

Shaun stomped his foot angrily. "Yeah, right! Why do you need me, then?! Why not just play with any of them?!"

"I told you to stop-"

But Shaun did not. "It's because they won't, isn't it?! I bet they always run from you like they did before because you do stuff like throw them into walls and kill their dads!"

"ENOUGH!"

Mew's roar was forceful enough to not only scare the boy into silence, but also to shake the room where they dwelled. Her fearsome glare easily overpowered his own, and he was paralyzed with terror. "I don't care if this is just because of Swagger, but I will not take such disrespect from you, child." Shaun's instincts screamed at him to look away, but he was frozen in place and not because of any Psychic power.

Her irate gaze was colder than a blizzard and the sheer pressure she exuded was like being crushed by a boulder. "All I wanted to do was have some fun with you and help you get accustomed to your new body, but if you're going to throw a fit, I won't deal with it." Shaun's body became coated with a pink light. "Maybe a time out will cool you off."

The best thing Shaun knew, he was dropped into a small, dark room. It was similar to the caves he remembered traveling through earlier, only completely isolated where they were open. There was nary a hole nor crevice. The only source of light in the room was something that nearly made the boy faint.

A blue crystal stretched up from the floor in front of him, slightly illuminating the room. His vision flashed back to the previous day, seeing men that worked under his dad being devoured by the slime that crawled out from the crystals without mercy.

"Aahh-!"

His breath catching in his throat, the boy crawled away from the crystal and huddled near the corner farthest from it. He covered his eyes in an attempt to rid himself of the imagery that flashed before his eyes, though to little effect.

"Don't ever forget this! This is what all Pokemon are really like! This is why we hunt!"

With his father's words ringing in his mind, the boy-turned-Ralts curled himself into a ball and sobbed himself to sleep.

Author's Note

Pokextinction Fact of the Day: Shaun was originally supposed to be a 15 year old with roughly the same personality. He still would have tried and failed to rebel against his dad but would be more open about leaving the Hell Hunters after their mission in the Tree of Life. His original purpose would have merely been to show how ruthless Mew can be, as well as how impossible it is to invade the Tree of Life and get away with it. In the original story, he would have watched Mew kill his dad and she would wipe his mind clean afterwards, then leave him somewhere far away with no memories so he could make a new life for himself.

Then we came up with the idea of him sticking around to help with Mew's own character development. She isn't supposed to be a heartless monster, but rather wildly prideful and misguided. To that end, we downsized Shaun's age to make him more dependent. He can be smart when he wants to. He needed to be in order to survive living with his father. But at his heart, he's still a child and believes that his father could have gone back to the way he was. Mew still considers herself the mother of all Pokemon and life on Earth.

Their dichotomy is thus meant to be that of parent and child, though neither side is quite good at it. Perhaps together they might come to terms with their situations and learn from them. Or perhaps their relationship is doomed to go down in flames.

Creator: I hope you enjoyed the more brief break between chapters this time around. This was due to it being the first chapter completely done in the summer.

I'm going to have to ask you all to suspend your disdain toward Mew for now. Her character is not malicious by any means unless it's toward truly despicable individuals. Instead, she has a very glossy world view where everything is perfect in her eyes. Why exactly this is and how it came to be have been partially explained in this chapter and some previous ones, but will also be expanded upon further in the future. I swear she's far from evil even if she sometimes acts like it.

Hydra: I'm totally enjoying this summer, my goodness I've been staying up till like 6 am almost everyday playing video games and I'm enjoying every bit of it! Anyways I doubt you guys were expecting Shaun to be turned into a Ralts were ya? To be honest, considering Mew would do anything to get a playmate, it's not unrealistic that she'd turn a human into a pokemon as long as she gets what she wants.

Today's reviews are a bit odd, but…

Amourshipper35: "I hope they can stop this and make the world safe again."

Creator: Sticking with the classics, I see.

Hydra: I yes I sure hope they are successful in their endeavors.

DarkPugLord23: "Ayy Team Rocket! Specifically James, Jessie and Meowth. Despite their obvious villainous status, I can't help but love these guys! I can't wait to see what you have planned for them."

Creator: No matter how villainous the actual Team Rocket is, the infamous trio will always have a place in our hearts. Especially James. Don't worry, we'll be seeing them again. At least twice.

Hydra: I can just never forget about the Team Rocket trio, they bring the lightheartedness to the movies and anime. Honestly Pokemon wouldn't be the same without em.

Nick: "Here are my questions, concerning the fanfic. 1. I saw the summary for the fanfic. But there must be more to the plot, right? 2. What locations are being used in the fanfic? 3. Could you be specific about when it takes place? 4. Who all is in the fanfic? 5. How old is everyone that's in it? 6. What Pokémon are owned by the main anime characters in the fanfic? 7. How long have they owned those Pokémon for in this fanfic? 8. In fact, how did they get those Pokémon? 9. What was going on, when the fanfic began? Be sure to answer these questions."

Creator: What is this, a survey? Well, we'll see what we can do.

Yes. You would know this if you read the first chapter.

Many. They start by traversing Kanto but leave for Johto once they reach Saffron City for...certain reasons. After that, they go all over the world.

It starts off immediately after Lysandre's death. However, for the sake of a slightly more mature setting, Ash and Serena are both 15 instead of 10.

Ash, Serena and a certain Aura Guardian are the main focus of the first arc. The Legendary Pokemon become more involved as the story goes. There are also some OCs, but most are villainous and few last for more than ten chapters. The main villain is obviously Necrozma and you'll see more of him and how we portrayed him by reading.

Answered previously.

Mostly the same as the XYZ anime with some changes seen in Chapter 3. Every very important trainer's full team is shown eventually.

Hydra, would you take it from here?

Hydra: Sure thing.

They've owned their Pokemon for as long as they did in the anime leading up to where the fic began at Lysandre's death.

If you watch the XYZ anime you can see how Ash and his friends caught and met all their Pokemon.

Lysandre was defeated when the fic began.

Creator: That's all for now. Next time, we'll be visiting a place filled to the brim with unpleasant memories for Ash and Serena: Celadon City's game corner. If you were bummed with a lack of Serena at the forefront recently, you need not worry. She will play a large role in this chapter and put her development on full display.

Hydra: Well guys I hope you enjoyed this goofy chapter Mew is certainly hell bent on making Shaun be her friend, lets just hope that he doesn't lose his humanity in the process. I hope you all have a good weekend and we'll see you soon.