Liam and The Mastermind of Mirage Pokemon

Liam and The Mastermind of Mirage Pokemon is a special episode in the Liam's Adventures of Pokemon series.

Plot
Somewhere in Kanto, Ash and his friends are traveling through a forest. Ash reads out loud a letter from a researcher named Dr. Yung, who has invited Ash to his laboratory, the Mirage Mansion, for an exhibition and test of a new battle system Yung developed. When the group arrives at the laboratory castle, they are surprised to find Misty and Professor Oak already there, both of them having been invited by Dr. Yung as well. Yung arrives and introduces himself, then demonstrates his system to his guests — using numerous dome-shaped generators located all over his laboratory, Yung creates a number of holographic Pokémon, including Kabutops, Omastar and Armaldo. Identifying these as Mirage Pokémon, Yung explains that his Mirage System can generate any Pokémon using raw data, no matter if it is extinct or exceedingly rare. He then erases the Mirage Pokémon and rewrites the code into a Mirage Aggron, challenging Ash and Misty to battle against it. Team Rocket, who are covertly watching, decide to steal the Mirage System.

Misty challenges the Mirage Aggron first, sending her Staryu against it. As the battle gets underway, Pikachu spots a Mew watching from the castle walls, but Mew flees moments later. Misty has Staryu try a number of attacks on Aggron, but none of them have any effect, and Aggron defeats Staryu using unusual attacks including Thunder Wave and Bullet Seed. When Max comments on this, Yung reveals that the Mirage System can create Pokémon with the capability to use any move, no matter what limits usually exist. This only excites Ash for his battle with Aggron further, and he prepares to challenge the Mirage Pokémon with Pikachu. However, right as they get started, the system crashes and Aggron freezes mid-charge; when Yung tries to fix the problem, the controller for the system explodes in his hands and Aggron vanishes. The system suddenly reactivates and recreates the fossil Pokémon from earlier, with the addition of two Aerodactyl. A masked man calling himself "Mirage Master" appears on the balcony overlooking the battlefield and declares that he has taken control of the Mirage System before sending the Mirage Pokémon under his control after the group. Yung and Oak are captured by the Aerodactyl while Ash, Misty, May, Brock and Max escape the reach of the Mirage Pokémon, who cannot travel outside the Mirage Field inside the laboratory's walls.

With a group of Mirage Pokémon guarding the entrance, Ash and Misty hatch a plan to infiltrate the castle from beneath while May and Max stand watch. Brock, meanwhile, excitedly runs off to fetch Officer Jenny. Ash and Misty infiltrate the castle with the aid of Corphish and Staryu, only to encounter Team Rocket, who are sneaking around in the castle's basement. Meanwhile, the Mirage Master holds Oak hostage with a group of Mirage Pokémon. The masked villain explains that he is disgusted by the natural weaknesses all Pokémon possess, and intends to use the Mirage System to create a Pokémon that is free of these flaws. To this end, he demands the access password to Oak's research database, but Oak refuses to give it up. Mew appears in the room, much to Oak's excitement, but the Mirage Master attacks it in a rage using a Mirage Magnemite, deeming it a flawed specimen. The Mirage Master sees the confrontation between Ash, Misty and Team Rocket on a security camera and uses the system to transport his Mirage Pokémon to the basement, where Team Rocket ends up getting blasted off while Pikachu is defeated and captured, Ash is knocked out, and Misty is thrown over the side of a platform. Ash wakes up and finds Mew, but as he greets it, it is injured after landing on a damaged Mirage System generator. Ash frees it, realizing that it is a Mirage Pokémon, albeit one that is different from the other, mindless creations. Meanwhile, the brick Misty is hanging off of far below starts to fall, but she is saved by May, who entered the castle with Squirtle after seeing the explosion that blasted Team Rocket off earlier.

As an alternative to accessing Oak's database, the Mirage Master has Pikachu strapped to a machine that extracts Pikachu's memories. Oak reprimands the Mirage Master for this, as the process causes Pikachu great pain, but the Mirage Master refuses to stop until Oak finally breaks down and surrenders the password: REDGREEN. The Mirage Master expresses that he is impressed by Oak's work, but then reveals that he has hacked databases worldwide, with Tracey, Elm, Birch, and Joshua discovering the intrusions of their respective laboratories while Nurse Joy deals with the attack at a Pokémon Center. The Mirage Master declares that his ultimate Pokémon will soon be born, as energy begins flowing in a special machine designed for this purpose. Meanwhile, Brock confronts Officer Jenny and first demands a date with her before catching himself and telling her that something terrible is happening at Yung's laboratory. Nurse Joy contacts Jenny to reveal the compromising of the computer systems, prompting Jenny to take action.

Misty, May and later Ash arrive in the room where the Mirage Master is holding Oak hostage. The Mirage Master welcomes them and tells them that they will witness the birth of the strongest Pokémon the world has ever seen before turning around and calling for it to awaken. The energy from the Mirage System comes together in the machine, creating a Mirage Mewtwo. The Mirage Master explains that this is not the same Mewtwo as the one they are familiar with, then demonstrates its power by having it destroy all of the other Mirage Pokémon in a single attack. He then turns Mewtwo against his enemies, but Oak sends out a Dragonite to defend the group. Resigning himself to not being able to save Yung, Oak urges Ash, May, Misty, and Mew to flee, which they do.

The group reunites with Max outside of the castle gate, but moments later, dozens of rockets shoot out of the castle's towers and land all over the surrounding area before opening up to activate Mirage System generators. This spreads the Mirage Field to the outside world, and the Mirage Master steps out with Mewtwo at his side. Declaring that it is time for the world to bow down to him, he summons forth a Mirage Entei, Zapdos and Articuno, catching the attention of Team Rocket, who have returned and are hiding in a nearby bush. When the Mirage Master mentions that these creations are the result of all his years of hard work, Oak realizes his true identity: Dr. Yung. Laughing, Yung discards his mask and confirms Oak's accusations that the first appearance of the Mirage Master was itself a mirage, and that his motive is revenge on the Pokémon Institute for expelling him after it deemed his Mirage System experiments cruel to Pokémon. Yung activates Entei, Articuno, and Zapdos and sends them after the group. Misty and May send out Gyarados and Combusken to assist Pikachu and Dragonite in battling the Mirage Pokémon, but they are easily outmatched. Oak has Dragonite shoot a Hyper Beam at Mewtwo, but Mewtwo catches it and smacks Dragonite to the ground with its tail. Yung then says goodbye to Oak, and Mewtwo's hand morphs into the shape of an Arcanine's head, allowing it to shoot a Flamethrower at the professor. Pikachu saves Oak by trying to intercept the Flamethrower with Thunderbolt, only to end up badly injured instead. Yung calls for a Hyper Beam of his own, which Mewtwo fires by morphing its hand into a Rayquaza's head. However, Mew blocks the attack and saves Pikachu, causing Yung to fly into a rage and order Mewtwo to destroy it. Mewtwo batters Mew with its tail, then throws it up into the air with the force of its Mega Punch before morphing both of its hands into Tropius heads to hit Mew with a double Solar Beam. Mew dissolves back into raw code and returns to the Mirage System, horrifying Ash and the others.

Yung smugly repeats his view of Mew as a "flawed specimen" as he says good riddance to it, angering Ash. Ash's harsh words do not move him; instead, Yung decides that Ash merely needs to be taught a lesson and activates another function of the Mirage System. Entei, Articuno, and Zapdos dissolve into code, which is absorbed into Mewtwo's body along with the code of the entire Mirage System database. Now having reached the height of its power, Mewtwo screams out as the heads of numerous Pokémon morph and emerge from its body. Using them, Mewtwo carries out multiple simultaneous attacks, an act that the combined effort of all the group's Pokémon is unable to counter. Gyarados lands near Team Rocket, sending them blasting off once again. As a desperate, last-ditch effort to turn the tide of the battle in Mew's memory, Ash has Pikachu use Quick Attack, but Mewtwo mimics this move and headbutts Pikachu back before Yung orders it to finish Pikachu off with Mega Punch. Mewtwo is suddenly seized by an unseen force as it tries to carry out Yung's order, and Mew reappears, having resurfaced from the data inside Mewtwo's body in order to save Pikachu. Oak realizes that Mew's return from within the Mirage System means that it and its soul were a part of the Mirage System all along. Yung rejects this, still deeming Mew a flawed specimen as he considers its soul a weakness, and tries to force Mewtwo to attack Mew again, only for the Mirage System to freeze up and lock out his commands. Oak tells Ash that the only way to stop Mewtwo is to attack it while Mew still has a hold over it, even though this act will cause Mew to die. Ash hesitates, but when he sees Mewtwo beginning to free itself, he finally orders Pikachu to use Volt Tackle. The explosion that results when Pikachu strikes Mewtwo destroys it. Mew fades away shortly thereafter, but not before sharing a tearful farewell with its friends. Yung watches in horror as the Mirage System generators explode all around him and inside his laboratory, causing his castle to erupt into flames.

With Yung's plans ruined, Oak tries to convince him to surrender and turn himself into the police. Much to Oak's surprise, Yung refuses and states that he has much work still to do on his Mirage System. Yung walks into the burning castle, but when Oak pursues him, rubble falls and blocks the way. Several hours later, Officer Jenny and a team of firefighters search the castle's remains, but are unable to find any sign of Yung. The group talk about how Mew had a true soul despite seemingly being just data from the Mirage System, and Ash decides that one day, he will see Mew again.

Major events

 * Misty's Staryu is revealed to know Bubble Beam.
 * Professor Oak is revealed to own a Dragonite.

Trivia

 * This special takes place between The Symbol Life (LAoPtS) and Hooked on Onix, according to https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Timeline_of_events_in_the_anime