Despite the helpless situation they were in, Austin half-remembered a conversation, one that he had had, with the researcher, in the dead of the night back on the shores of Cerulean Sea, rose in front of his mind.

"What is this… big deal about true names, anyway?" Austin asked a somewhat annoyed researcher, who wanted nothing better than to dispose of the topic.

Bill frowned. "You realize this is under the contract, right? Under no conditions, is this information to be revealed to anyone. If you do, you will lose your mind forever."

"I… understand."

Bill scowled. "I don't think you do. However, you are my associate and I owe you. So, against my better judgment, I will share the details with you. See Ash, just like you and me, every pokémon in the world, have names, and names, have power."

"I don't understand." Austin frowned in confusion.

"Knowing someone's name gives us a form of… power over that person. Of course, we humans lack that much spiritual essence to use the power of names, but pokémon, whose essences are far deeper, stronger, and pure, can do so. Like Dragonite for example, there are so dozens of them out there, but every one of them has a unique name."

"But… names are recurring. I bet there are lots of Ash's and Bill's around."

Bill laughed. "True, but if you notice, every person utters his name in his unique way. Not too Bill's will say their name the same way, there is always a difference, no matter how insignificant, but there is. Nevertheless, as I said, we lack the spiritual essences to be tied to the concept of names, though some… people do, although they are quite… rare in human history."

"Who are they?"

"They are called, Aura Guardians. Practitioners of the Aura. It is said that an Aura Guardian can reshape his aura to imitate a 'pokémon move' at will."

Austin nodded as his mind went blank for a second.

"Pokémon, however, have their unique names, and for the betterment of everyone, such names are usually… hidden from humankind. I have been…extremely lucky to come across an ancient scripture that contained the true name of the last of the fallen dragon kings."

Austin sat agape, still unsure if what he was hearing was truth or mere fiction.

"It is believed, that calling out the name of a pokémon, the true name that is, will make that pokémon appear before you. However, beware, that for anyone to know a pokémon's name is a grievous insult to said pokémon, since it means you… hold power over it. Under most conditions, using a pokémon's true name will often result in the pokémon getting summoned, and then killing you for the mere transgression alone."

Austin's eyes were wide as saucers.

"I should not need to tell you why not to speak the King's name aloud."

Austin could only bob his head in reply.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"Cyn...." Austin whispered as Cynthia immediately perked up.

" What is it, Ash ?"

" If I die here, can you please take care of my Pokémon?"

Cynthia couldn't even process what was said to her.

A thin smile spread on Austin's face, as he slowly uncoiled his arm from Cynthia's shoulder, and before the girl could even realize, to her horror, what had just happened, Austin slid off from his position, a foot away from the waters.

Austin gazed down to the sea and then looked forward.

The fear of heights had developed in him when he accidentally fell down a flight of stairs when he was 7 but now for the first time, it wasn't scary at all.

Maybe it was the moment of knowing well that your decision could mean the life or death of everyone here.

He, his friends, and his partners.

Austin closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and as he opened his eyes, his eyes began to glow crimson red as he jumped.

"Ash!" Cynthia screamed.

There was no reply. Only the dark waters reflected Cynthia's shocked face at her.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Mewtwo stood floating in his position in the sky waiting for the Draco Meteors to finish their upward trajectory. There was no hurry, and if it were up to him, he would stop Time itself to savor this moment to the fullest. So many people, so many… Elite trainers, so many pokémon, powerful and weak… so many hopes, so many fears…

All of them unanswered, as if like the omnipotent Creator simply didn't care about their fate.

Mewtwo smiled.

' Sometimes I think… maybe I am the Creator myself.'

The thought interested him. Mew. The guardian of Kanto was closer to the concept of the Creator since all pokémon were supposedly created from Mew, including… himself.

Mewtwo frowned. He would have to arrange a meeting between himself and his creator. It would be… interesting.

He looked down at the ship, his eyes observing the little child he had met before, back at the power plant. Just like back then, the child's inner essence glowed with bravery, despite being in the presence of his doom, the child did not run.

But wait.

Why am I getting the feeling of… resignation from him? Did I judge him wrong? Is he also like those countless worms… who appear brave in the beginning, but then reveal their true selves when the pain begins?

A feeling of disappointment rushed through his very being.

Mewtwo decided he didn't like it.

The kid slid into the water, sinking into its very depths.

' Little kid? Did he… give up? I didn't think he had it in him.'

The herd of Tauros had given up. The psi pokémon had given up. The ghosts would soon follow the trend. Champion Lance had given up. The ship's population had given up.

' Did you just join up with them, little one? I thought you were ..... Different.'

Mewtwo had been rather… impressed with the kid. Not because of his bravery. Bravery had little interest in him. Nor did his diligence, his hope, or his aptitude to battling concern Mewtwo in the slightest.

No. There was something else in the kid. Something that… endeared, for lack of a better word, Mewtwo to him.

He was an anomaly. A walking, talking, breathing…. Living source of something that shouldn't exist.

The aura that rivals Legendary Pokémon.

A presence that is a catalyst for causality.

The boy intrigued Mewtwo as he was something similar to him.

An Anomaly.

He looked down at the dark waters. It had been three seconds since the boy had sunk into the depths.

Is Ash Ketchum… gone?

Mewtwo decided he didn't like it. He wanted the boy back, if solely for curiosity's sake.

He hindered his power. It was, as unfortunate as it was, too great to pull the boy from the water, without literally tearing him into two halves. Power was, after all, a brute tool, one that had to be honed and shaped into focus and precision.

' Someday I will master my power.'

He concentrated on an infinitesimally small fragment of his psychic awareness, one that was still under his absolute command, to get the boy back.

It was unnecessary.

The entire area was engulfed in some kind of draconic mist. Mewtwo felt that he would succumb to it for a moment. It was like Charizard's power, only magnified several hundred-fold. Only if he could harvest this power in this state….

' Wishes… they never come true. They have to be made to come true.'

An immensely powerful tectonic wave shocked the sea, shattering several of the submarines into pieces, as well as some parts of the already tattered SS. Anne. With a sudden force, something lifted Austin upwards, literally throwing him off from the waters as his body hit the deck, sprouting water from his mouth, as the boy, still somewhat conscious, looked up with something like…

Hope?

The sea parted, as a titan of antiquity rose from its depths. Its body was draconic, its height larger than anything anyone had ever comprehended, its power more than what Mewtwo could have imagined anyone, even his self, to ever have, rose from the depths of the sea.

' Is that a… a Dragonite?'

The mythical creature of antiquity let out an angry roar.

Mewtwo looked back at the boy lying on the deck.

' Did you summon that ferocious creature to battle me ?'