“ Hey, Gary, wait for us!” Ash called as he, Misty, Brock and Tracy ran to the professor’s grandon.
He turned. “ Yes?”
Ash panted slightly. “ Where….. Are you off to  now?”
“ I… I don’t know, exactly.”
Ash grinned brightly. “ Great!”
Without a second thought he grabbed Gary and Misty’s hands and dragged them behind him, happily humming.
Gary exchanged a look with Misty. “ Where are we going?” He whispered.
Misty shrugged and yelped as she almost tripped over a rock. “ Ash, you have to be more careful!”
“ Sorry, Misty! I’m just so excited!”
“ About what?” Gary asked.
Ash turned and took a deep breath. “ You know the legendary Pokemon Mewtwo?”
Brock and Misty froze. Gary, on the other hand, furrowed his brow. “ Who?”
Ash sighed. “ You know that Pokemon you never saw in that earth badge gym? The one where I almost died and stuff?”
Gary nodded. “ Yeah, I remember. You had to wake me up. And that talking Meowth…..”
Then he looked at the other two. “ What’s with them?”
Ash sheepishly scratched his head. “ Well, uh….. We once had an…. ENCOUNTER…. With both Mew and Mewtwo.”
Gary cocked his head. “ Does Goh know you saw Mew? You must have been excited!”
Then he saw Brock and Misty’s faces and furrowed his brow. “ Or not……..”
HE turned to Ash. “ What’s going on?” HE asked suspiciously.
Ash sighed. “ Goh saw a sighting of a larger Mew. LIke, way larger.”
Misty snapped her gaze to Ash. “ You’re not telling me…….”
Ash sighed. “ I’m going to see it.”
There was chaos.
“ WHAT?!” Misty yelled. “ REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME?!”
“ Yeah, that’s just crazy! No way!” Brock agreed.
Ash sighed. “ I wanted to ask you three to come with me.”
“ I’m going.” Misty said firmly. “ You’d better not do what you did last time!”
“ I’m also coming.” Brock said.
They turned to Gary.
“ Sure, I’ll come too, but… what’s the big deal over Mewtwo?” I mean, ‘ last time’?
“ I’ll explain when we get there.” Ash said firmly as he turned to leave.

( INsert Imange here)

“ Squirtle!”
“ Bulba1 Saur, Bulbasaur!”
“ Char, Charmander!”
“ Chu! Pikachu!”
Ash looked at his four Pokemon and laughed. “ It’s amazing, isn’t it?”
“ Togapriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii”!
Misty laughed. “ Yes, Togepi.”
Brock studied the map in hand. “ Hmmm…… the closest baggage claim is a few minutes away.”
Ash raised a brow. “ Is that where our luggage is coming out from?”
Everyone stared at him. He stared back. “ What?”
Gary sighed. “ Yes, Ash. There's only one baggage claim and that’s where our luggage will come out from.”
“ Then let’s go!”
Gary grabbed his arm. “ Hold up.” He said. “ They’re not gonna unload the stuff for a few more minutes.”
“ So what should we do instead?” Ash asked.
Gary smirked. “ Tell me the whole deal with you and Mewtwo.”
Ash sighed. “ If you insist.”
They sat down, and Ash took a deep breath.
“ Me, Brock, and Misty were on New Island when we were delivered a letter from the princess. She wanted to meet the best Pokemon Trainers, and she invited me. Unfortunately it was a trap set by Team Rocket. They unleashed their powerfullest Pokemon, Mewtwo. They took all the Pokemon, but I saved them. Th-”
“ Wah, woah, woah, hold on!” Gary exclaimed as he shook his head. “ They had a Pokemon called MEWTWO?!”
Ash nodded. “ Yep. Team Rocket created Mewtwo from the DNA of Mew. Then they unleashed it on any Pokemon trainer that came their way.”
“ One of which was me.” Gary muttered. “ Continue.”
“ Mewtwo was infuriated, and unleashed his team of clones. Then Mew suddenly appeared and they battled. They were going to unleash their powerfulest attack when I stopped them.”
Gary raised a brow. “ How?” He pressed.
Ash cleared his throat awkwardly. “ Better we don’t say.”
“ He turned to stone.” Misty said flatley.
Ash shot her a look. “ Why didn’t you go with Brock?”
“ For this reason.”
“ You know we could have kept this quiet!”
“ He needs to know the truth!”
“ What truth?!”
“ The truth is you risked your life for two Pokemon!”
“ If I didnt the world would have ended!”
Misty sighed. “ I get that. Fine. Just don’t do it alone next time.”
Ash rolled his eyes. “ I won’t.”
“ How did you turn back?”
“ Tears of sorrow.”
“ Pardon?”
Misty sighed. “ You see, when Pikachu found Ash, he tried to wake Ash up. But Ash was stone. He couldn’t. Then all the Pokemon realized he had saved their lives and….. Cried.” She cleared her throat, and Ash wrapped her in a hug. “ Actually, everyone did. Then those tears were so powerful, Mew decided to repay Ash by using those tears to turn him back into a boy.”
“ The first thing I did after waking up was hug all my Pokemon. I owed it to them.”
“ And Mew.” Gary reminded.
“ Yeah. Mew too.”

Gary blinked in astonishment, processing what Ash had just shared. "Wait, so you're telling me... all the Pokémon cried, and their tears brought you back to life?" His voice was incredulous, and he leaned forward, waiting for Ash to confirm.

Ash nodded sheepishly. "Yeah, it sounds crazy, but it's the truth."

Misty folded her arms, looking at Gary. "It wasn’t just the Pokémon. We all thought we lost him that day." Her voice softened. "We were devastated."

Gary rubbed the back of his neck, the weight of the story sinking in. "I had no idea it was that serious." He looked down for a moment before meeting Ash's gaze again. "But now you're going back? After all that?"

Ash stood up, his expression resolute. "Mewtwo is still out there. Goh's sighting of Mew might mean something bigger is going on. I have to find out."

Gary sighed. "And you can't just let it go, can you?"

Ash grinned. "Nope."

Brock glanced at his map, breaking the tension. "Well, the baggage claim should be open now. We can head there and prepare for whatever comes next."

Gary shook his head, a small smile creeping onto his face. "You never change, Ash."

As they gathered their belongings and made their way to baggage claim, Gary couldn't help but think about the journey ahead. He didn't fully understand Mewtwo's power or the bond Ash had with his Pokémon, but he knew one thing: wherever Ash led, adventure — and trouble — followed.

Misty caught Gary's eye and shrugged. "This is our life now. You either get used to it or get left behind."

Gary smirked. "Oh, I’m not going anywhere."

Ash, walking ahead with Pikachu on his shoulder, turned and flashed a thumbs-up. "Good, because this is going to be one wild ride!"