Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Most of the village had gone dark by the time Rosa had arrived. As she had expected, one place still had their lights on bright, even though midnight was fast approaching. Taking advantage of her cover, Rosa slipped over to a brightly lit window and peered inside. Not too far from the window, a figure stood in front of a worktable, working furiously on something that Rosa couldn't see.

Good, he's alone. Rosa moved to the front door of the building and slipped inside, careful not to make any noises in case she ended up accidentally disturbing the locals' sleep -- as if that were possible at this hour. Closing the door softly behind her, she called out, "Samuel?"

The figure jolted up in surprise at the sound of the voice, then turned slightly, his blue eyes locking with Rosa's identically colored spheres. "Rosa! What are you doing here? Have you come to check up on my project?"

Rosa shook her head. "It's something else. About three days ago, I felt another one, exactly like the last time."

Samuel gave Rosa a look of alarm, his eyes widening in shock. "Another one? Are you sure?"

"I'm certain." Rosa moved over to stand by Samuel. "Although, there is something...different."

Samuel looked down at what was on the worktable, then back at Rosa. "How different?"

"It seems to be developing at a faster rate than the first," Rosa admitted. "I doubt that it will take anything more than five years for it to complete."

Samuel frowned. "Five years.... There are a couple boys in town who are going to be heading out in five years -- one of them is my grandson. Do you think this group that is creating these things is going to cause trouble then?"

"Perhaps."

Samuel let out a sigh and closed what he had been working on with a an audible click. "Rosa, could you keep an eye on the boys when the time comes? Whatever those things are that you're sensing, we have to make sure that they don't cause any trouble."

"You can rely on me, Samuel." Rosa looked Samuel over. "You should go and get some rest. It is well past midnight, and there are many who would like you well-rested in the morning."

Samuel chuckled in agreement. "I'm sure they would." He backed away from the worktable and walked over to the stairs at the other end of the room. "Good night, Rosa."

"Good night, Samuel," Rosa replied. As soon as Samuel was out of her sight, she slipped out the front door -- locking it as she did -- then disappeared into the night.

Chapter Text

The darkness surrounded her like a blanket, giving her a comforting place to simply drift in nothingness. What it she or where she was, she cared not. All she did was enjoy the darkness.

Soon, she started to sense that there was something else nearby, but the presence was faint, and did not join her in her sleep, which she found...odd. Why did these other beings not which to join her in this comforting darkness? Instead, little balls made of not-darkness started to appear, which she found terrifying. Yet, whenever she tried to escape them, the little not-darkness things would follow her, always surrounding her. She disliked this immensely, and wished that they would go away and leave her be. What was it that the not-darkness spheres found so interesting about her?

Eventually, in an attempt to break the circle around her, she reached out and pushed on one of the not-darkness spheres. Much to her shock, she sees something that her dark place would not have shown her otherwise: strange, bright flashes of not-darkness and noises that hurt. Terrified, she retreated from the sphere and curled up in a ball, trying to get the pictures out of her head.

Deciding that the one ball of not-darkness was out to kill her with the noises, she reached out to a second sphere, to see if it was more friendly. To her surprise, she saw a wall of what appeared to be solid darkness, so solid that not even the not-darkness sphere could get through without pushing a section of it open. That was when she lost the sphere, however, and was forced back into her dark, comforting place. She wondered if the not-darkness spheres could only show her things when they wanted to.

Now with one less sphere, she hoped that the other not-darkness spheres would leave her alone, but that was not the case -- they continued to follow her around, terrifying her even further. Deciding to see what it was that the spheres seemed to want with her, she grabbed another of the not-darkness objects. What this one showed confused her to no end.

The not-darkness sphere seemed to be standing in a place surrounded by solid darkness, and was also filled with not-darkness. Strange figures were walking around, holding small objects and wearing strange clothes that seemed to be made of different shades of darkness. What confused her the most about this place, however, was the strange thing in the center of the room made of see-through not-darkness, and the figure that was suspended and curled up inside.

That is you, something whispered to her.

She felt her confusion rise, and felt a certainty in the strange words, but did not quite trust them. There was something about the figure's appearance that was familiar, yes, but it was not wearing the things the other figures were wearing.

If you come out, we can give you clothes. Pictures of things the figure called shirts and pants appeared in her mind, and she was satisfied with what she saw.

Retreating back to her dark home, she realized how she could have never seen herself in this place -- the not-darkness seemed to allow a creature to see themselves and the others about them, which seemed to be a fair trade to not being surrounded by something comforting all the time. At least, it seemed a fair trade to them. She didn't want to give up the darkness to come out and get the clothes. However, she was curious about this not-dark place. It seemed to have more figures, even if none of them were the not-dark spheres she had surrounding her. Maybe she ought to give this place a try....

She looked around one last time at the comforting darkness, then set to work on letting the not-darkness in.

Chapter Text

Blaine rubbed his goatee absently as he watched the scientists under him taking that morning's readings from the computers, to see if anything might have changed from their last shift. The man had taken to waking up early to watch the change of hands, and found himself slightly worried at how there had been no changed since the night before. He knew that a few of the scientists had been complaining about headaches and sudden blackouts, but most put that out of their minds as after-effects of fatigue. However, one person in particular -- a boy who had lived with a psychic older sister -- claimed that something had been contacting them using telepathy. He even stated that he had received a visit from the being, when Blaine had come in to check up on their progress.

"It's just curious," the young man had claimed. "It's trying to figure out where it is, and what's going on around it."

Blaine doubted that this was true, but something deep within thought that the boy was right. After all, there was a psychic in the ranks of Gym Leaders, and she had spoken of the strange ways Psychic Pokemon could gather intelligence -- including poking into others' minds without permission.

A loud beeping noise caught the bald scientist's attention as it sent his subordinates scurrying for the different machines that lay around the room.

"What's happening?" he demanded, striding over to one of the scientists.

"It's her!" Blaine turned to see a young man pointing at the project. "She's waking up!"

"She?" Blaine gave the boy a curious look. "Since when are we giving it a gender?"

"Since it felt like a girl when it entered my head." The young man's brown eyes flashed with determination, and Blaine remembered that this was the boy who had a psychic for an older sister. "She looks like one, too, or have you noticed?"

Indeed, Blaine had noticed. The project, although it had certainly taken its time before it had tried to come out, had been developing almost in the same manner as a normal human. The scientists turned to have a better look at the figure inside the glass chamber.

The girl -- for lack of a better word -- had certainly started to stir in her sleep. The pink, cat-like ears that were on top of her head were twitching, and the long, pink tail that grown out of her lower back was moving, as well. The oxygen mask they had placed inside the chamber tower her nose and mouth began to fog up as she took in deeper breaths -- a sure sign that she was certainly joining the land of the living.

"Are you ready to open the chamber?" Blaine asked as he looked back at a dark-haired man sitting behind one of the biggest machines in the lab.

The man's glasses flashed as they reflected the fluorescent light. "I'm ready, sir."

Blaine nodded. "Good." He turned back to face the chamber, watching for what he considered to be the signal that meant the girl could be released.

The girl in the chamber continued to stir as her face tightened into a frown. The movement in the lab seemed to almost cease as the girl's eyes slowly opened, revealing blue eyes. Had it not been for the cat-like ears that were poking out of the girl's blond hair (and the pink tail that wrapped around her form), Blaine could have sworn they had just cloned a human.

Feeling his heart suddenly jump, Blaine gripped his chest as his eyes widened. The next thing he felt caused him to glance back at the other scientists, who were looking around in confusion. Looking back at the girl and seeing the look on her face, Blaine realized that the girl was somehow capable of sending her emotions to others.

"Sir, do you want me to release her?" Blaine looked back at the dark-haired man, who had stood up to look at the head scientist.

Blaine nodded once. "Do it."

As the scientist sat back down, Blaine felt the project's eyes drill into the back of his head, but he ignored it. "Cassie, get something so that we can cover it before any of the younger ones get any ideas."

A black-haired woman with green eyes nodded. "Right." She dashed out of the lab, the metal door slamming shut behind her. Inside her chamber, the girl visibly flinched at the loud noise as the nutrient-filled liquid started to drain. When she was left sitting on the base of the chamber, looking around with the curiosity of a newborn, the girl's eyes widened as the glass around her began to lower, as well.

"Calm down." Blaine looked to his right and saw the brown-eyed, cobalt-haired boy. "We're just going to let you out so that you can interact with the rest of us."

The girl cocked her head in confusion, sending out another wave of the same emotion.

"She can't understand us," Blaine said. "Her mind probably hasn't fully developed yet."

"It's fully developed if she can use a basic form of telepathy." The boy's green eyes flashed. "She just hasn't been taught how to speak in a more advanced level, most likely because we haven't exposed her to Psychic Pokemon."

"Connor, we can't be sure about that." Blaine gave the young man a look of annoyance as Cassie returned with a dusty blue blanket, which she wrapped around the girl's shoulders, seeing as the glass chamber was now fully gone.

"Her telepathic ability, although weak as she is a newborn, can increase if we expose her to others," Connor stated sourly. Turning to look back at the girl, he continued, "Mewthree is only a few minutes old. It's going to take some time for her to learn everything you might want her to."

There was another telepathic wave of confusion, to which Blaine responded with mental pictures portraying Mewthree's name in letters and connecting the project to that specific title. He then added another with him standing shouting orders at the other scientists.

Connor blinked in surprise as another wave of emotion came out. "She...understood that? It seems that Mewthree's going to be learning at a faster pace then I had thought."

"It is to be expected," Blaine replied. He walked over to the door and opened it slightly to converse with the guard outside. "Tell him that the side-project is active."

The figure in black uniform nodded, then dashed off down the hall as Blaine closed the door.

"I still don't see why we have to work with that guy." Cassie crossed her arms over her chest in annoyance. "There are plenty of other people who would be more than happy to provide us with the funds we needed."

"You're just saying that because you're not bound here by family ties," Connor snapped in reply. Mewthree, who was watching the two interact, gained a terrified look on her face as the two circled each other a little. "Besides, what does a girl like you need in this business?"

"I came here because you needed someone who could work with DNA. If I wasn't here, you wouldn't have her."

"Stop it, you two," Blaine said. "I'm not going to have everything go to waste just because of a cat fight. Get her up on her feet."

Cassie and Connor glared at each other, then walked over to Mewthree and helped her up to stand on her own two feet. The girl was clumsy -- she ended up leaning against one of the two for a small amount of time, and whenever either Connor or Cassie tried to get her to stand on her own, Mewthree would end up leaning against the other after almost collapsing.

"You should just get rid of it." The scientists' heads turned to see the guard from outside the room entering. "The Boss says that there's no point in keeping it around. All we needed it for was to prove that we could combine Pokemon and human DNA."

"I'm not done with it yet," Blaine replied, his glasses flashing in the light. "We still have to make sure that what we wanted to happen took place, and nothing else. The project won't be done until we can figure out everything we can about it."

The guard's eyes narrowed. "The Boss said that if you were going to do that, you had to give up some of your DNA for the weapon. You remember what happened to our original source."

Blaine let out an involuntary shudder as the memory appeared in his mind of a bubbling pile of purple goo, which had once been a woman's corpse. "I know. But I am not going to change my mind about this. Mewthree needs to be analyzed and tested."

The guard rolled his eyes. "It's your funeral. Not that we'll give you one." He turned and started to walk out, only to stop and go to stand in front of Mewthree, who had finally managed to stand upright, but was still gripping to Cassie's and Connor's arms. "You had better be worth what we're paying him." Balling his right hand into a fist, he hit the girl in the side of her head, causing her to collapse on Connor's shoulder, tears starting to come out of her eyes.

As the guard left, Blaine grimly noted that it wasn't the start of a very good situation with Team Rocket.

Chapter Text

"C'mon, Red! We gotta hurry! You know what the Prof said about us being late!"

The black-haired boy looked at the creature on his left shoulder with his strange red eyes and made a couple signs with his fingers.

"Got up earlier, my foot! You don't know the difference between your clock's alarm and your mom's yelling!" Cheeks sparked in annoyance. "I just about ready to zap you when you finally got out."

Red waved away his friend's outburst, causing the Pokemon to become even more annoyed. "Red, come on! If we're going to do everything we want to do out there, you have to get up earlier!"

The ten-year-old shrugged as they reached the door of the building they were running towards. As he opened the door and went inside, the Pokemon's ranting continued.

"Just because you have a talking Pikachu doesn't mean you have the opportunity to sleep in," the Pokemon continued. "How are you going to beat Brock and the other Gym Leaders? By sleeping?"

"Good morning Red, Riley." An old man with kind blue eyes and white hair watched them approach from where he stood beside a worktable. "I suppose you slept well?"

"Oh, he slept well, all right, Professor Oak." Riley sent a glare at Red, but the boy ignored it. "His mom was almost ready to dump a bucket of cold water on him by the time he finally got up."

Red shrugged, then began to make signs with his hands quickly. Riley let out annoyed sigh, then translated.

"Apparently, he stayed up all night watching old recorded videos of Pokemon battles he saw on TV. After I went to bed!"

"Didn't your mom warn you against doing that, Red?" A cocky, brown-haired boy came down the stairs from the second floor, his sharp blue eyes glimmering with mischief. "Daisy made sure I went to bed early."

Red rolled his eyes while Riley looked the boy over.

"Careful, Blue," the Pikachu warned. "In case you haven't noticed, your shirt's on backwards." While Blue was fixing his shirt, the Pikachu added, "And if you try to get even more cocky then you already are, I can and will ThunderShock you."

Blue's face paled, and he stumbled down the stairs as he tried to get his arms back into the shirtsleeves. "Gramps, why did you have to let him here today?"

"He turned ten a few days ago, like you did," Professor Oak replied. "Are you two ready?"

Red nodded vigorously, Riley grinning on his shoulder, while Blue adopted a bored expression.

"Let's just get this over with," Blue stated. "Gramps, where's that Pokemon you promised me?"

Prof. Oak jumped a little at this, then looked at the work table. "Let's see...." He dove through a pile of papers covered in sketches of various Pokemon that lived in the area, as well as orders for multiple mechanical parts. "Aha! Here she is." Oak came up with a PokeBall and handed it to Blue. "Go ahead. Let her out."

Blue accepted the PokeBall, then tossed it into the air. It burst open with a pop!, releasing a small, four-legged brown creature with a white fur collar and a fluffy tail.

"Eevee!" the Pokemon exclaimed. It looked up at Blue, then rubbed against his legs, purring as it did.

"Huh." Blue bent down and started to pet the Pokemon. "What Type is this?"

"Eevee is a Normal-Type," Oak explained. "According to some of the research I've done, the Pokemon's DNA is unstable, and it can evolve according to different environment conditions."

"So, it can become a Ground-Type?"

"Perhaps." Oak went back to his worktable and returned a moment later with ten PokeBalls. "These are empty, and you can use them to capture other Pokemon to fill out your team." Handing Blue and Red five each, he asked, "Red, do you have Riley's PokeBall with you?"

Red nodded and dug into a pants pocket, removing a miniaturized red-and-white sphere.

"We're all good to go," Riley said. "Red's mom made it a point to give us a whole lot of Potions and other healing items before we went to -- or should have gone to -- bed last night." He shot another glare at his Trainer. "Where we're going, you won't be able to watch those shows all the time."

Red shrugged again, and motioned carelessly.

"One more thing." Red and Riley looked back at Oak as he showed the two boys a pair of red devices. "These are a new invention of mine, called the Pokemon Encyclopedia, or PokeDex for short. I want you two to go out and collect data on all the Pokemon living in the Kanto region."

"A Pokemon hunt and the Pokemon League to think about?" Riley's lightning-bolt tail wagged -- whether out of excitement or annoyance, no one was truly sure. "You sure do know how to make things interesting, Prof."

Oak's eyes sparked with amusement, but that soon passed. "Be careful out there -- the both of you. There has been suspicious activity going on in certain areas of the region, and there have been Trainers who have come back claiming to have been beaten by men in black uniforms."

Riley gave Oak a surprised look. "If you don't want us to go out, why didn't you say so? Prof, you could probably hold us back until the problem's taken care of."

"WHAT?!" Blue looked from Riley to Oak. "But I've been waiting for this for my whole life? I'm not going to give up on my journey now!"

"I knew you were going to say that." Oak let out a sigh. "I wasn't planning on stopping you, but if things become to tough for you, you must come home immediately. I don't see that happening quite yet, however, seeing as the suspicious activity is still a long way from here. I know you two can probably take care of yourselves, but...be careful, all right?"

Red nodded, a determined look on his face. Clipping Riley's PokeBall to his belt and dropping the empty ones -- as well as the PokeDex -- into a pants pocket, he turned to go, only for Blue to stop him by grabbing the back of his red jacket.

"I want a Pokemon Battle," Blue stated.

Red turned to look back at Oak's grandson, Riley giving the blue-eyed boy a look of surprise.

"You sure?" Riley asked. "Cause you've said plenty of times how much you've wanted to get a Ground-Type first."

Blue bit his lower lip, then nodded. "I'm sure. I want to know what an actual battle is like."

"All right, then." Riley jumped off Red's shoulder as Blue's Eevee jumped in front of her Trainer. "Prof, you want to referee?"

"Not in here, I won't. If you two want to have a Pokemon Battle, we aren't going to risk having this place destroyed by a misplaced attack." Oak began to usher the two boys out, continuing, "The last time that happened, I had to call Red's mother in for a week in order to get the place cleaned up, and even then I was still on my toes in case a support fell because it had been weakened."

"Who caused all that?" Riley gave the professor a curious look.

"I'm not going to say. I was only using their battle as an example." Oak smiled ruefully. "Maybe they'll tell you who they are later." As the group stopped on Professor Oak's front lawn, he said, "Before you two battle, I'm going to have to go over a few things."

"What kind of things?" Blue asked.

"Turn on your PokeDexes, first." As the two boys did as they were told, Oak continued, "Not only does my invention collect data on Pokemon, but it also can inform you of the skills the creatures on your team have. Now, Red, I know that you already know Riley's attacks, but when you run into other Pokemon, this will make it much easier for you to battle without using Riley as a translator all the time." Oak pointed to a switch on the side of Red's PokeDex. "This will turn on Speaker Mode -- go ahead, try it."

Red gave the switch a curious look, then flipped it.

"The main menu screen should have a submenu that allows you to access your Pokemon Team," Oak continued as Red continued to look at the PokeDex. "Once there, you can initiate a battle sequence, or simply look at how your Pokemon is doing."

"That's helpful," Riley remarked. "But I could have just told him that stuff anyway."

"Riley, Battling when your Trainer is a mute is going to be a little bit different. For one, you weren't registered as a helper Pokemon, so you have to compete in Battles when Red says so--"

"I'm okay with that."

"And you would have to increase your speed tenfold in order to turn and see the signs Red would be making as commands."

Riley's grin faded. "I get it. That would leave me wide open!"

Red nodded in agreement, then sent a look in Blue's and Eevee's direction, a smirk on his face. Blue understood what Red was getting at.

"Alright, Eevee." Blue grinned at his rival. "Let's go! Tackle!"

Red pushed a button on the PokeDex, and it responded in monotone, "ThunderShock!"

Riley shuddered at the tone of the voice, but zapped the Normal-Type before it slammed into him.

"Ow!" Riley yelped. "That stings!"

"Eev vee!" Eevee growled in response.

"Tackle again!" Blue ordered.

"ThunderShock!" Red shuddered at the voice of the PokeDex, Riley catching sight of it out of the corner of his eye.

"We'll either have to get used to it, or find a way around it," Riley muttered. Eevee slammed into him while he was distracted with his thoughts, only for the Normal-Type to get zapped a second time.

"Vee!" Eevee yelped, static sparking from her fur. She stumbled around, trying to regain whatever footing she had lost, only to collapse in the grass.

"What? No!" Blue glared at Eevee. "Get up!"

"Blue, that's enough." Oak placed a hand on Blue's shoulder. "Eevee is exhausted. He needs to rest and regain her energy."

Blue clenched his fists and teeth in annoyance, then let out a sigh. "Fine." He pointed at Red accusingly. "But I will beat you! You can bet on it!"

"We'll see about that!" Riley retorted as Blue went back inside Oak's lab. "Hey, Red, we should probably tell your Mom that we're officially heading out now."

Red nodded in agreement, then turned and walked back to his house, which was among the closest to the sea.

"We'll have to move quickly, though," the Pikachu continued. "We wanted to get to Viridian City before dark -- preferably right around dinner...."

As the two friends continued to walk into town, Oak watched them from his front door. "I hope that what she saw won't come into being," the professor murmured before going inside.

Chapter Text

"All right, Mewthree, I'm losing my patience with you." The Rocket grunt pointed at the Raticate. "Use Focus Blast on that! Now!"

Mewthree, now wearing jeans and a pink short-sleeve shirt, but with no footwear, got up from the linoleum floor unsteadily, panting from when a nearby Alakazam's demonstration hit her. Taking on a defensive stance with her hands out in front of her chest, she closed her eyes as orange energy began to gather between her palms. The grunt watched with a bored expression, arms crossed over his chest, as the energy ball grew. However, this didn't last long -- the orange energy dissipated as soon as it had reached the appropriate size for the attack.

"You idiot!" The Rocket grunt glared at the Alakazam. "You said she was ready."

"I said that she could learn it, not that she was at the proper level to control it." The Psychic-Type lifted up the Raticate and started to make it fly around the room in lazy patterns, causing the creature to squeak in alarm. "She is still a mere child, despite her physical form. An actual teenager in her situation would most likely learn how to control these attacks much more quickly." Alakazam's eyes flashed as the Raticate slammed into one of the four white walls, fainting it. "Had she and I been introduced sooner, you would not be in this situation."

"Can it," the grunt snarled. He looked at Mewthree, then let out a roar and pounced, punching and kicking her. "You stupid freak!"

While the Rocket grunt was beating up Mewthree -- who was trying to create a Protect shield -- a purple-haired man came up next to Blaine, who was watching these events on the other side of a hidden window.

"She isn't what we needed," the man said.

"I am aware of that, Petrel," Blaine replied, not bothering to look at the Rocket executive. "However, Sabrina's Alakazam has given us some insight into possibly working with the other one. The scientists you previously hired was trying to clone his daughter, correct?"

"Not that it did him any good." Petrel's dark eyes glinted. "He was much too sentimental. You, however, are much more scientifically minded, which is why we hired you in the first place." He looked into the room, where the Rocket grunt had retreated to revive his Raticate while Alakazam watched the proceedings with a bored expression. "So, how has it been going?"

"Mewthree has been unable -- or unwilling -- to learn any useful attacks, despite the fact that, as she is part Mew, she should be able to learn every move in existence," Blaine responded, his hand moving to rub his goatee absently. "We have given her multiple exams, and have deemed her completely formed, yet she refuses to use her vocal cords for one reason or another -- it is possible that we have a mute on our hands."

"That shouldn't be a problem," Petrel responded carelessly. "It can use telepathy, correct?"

"It can, but not all that often. It only answers when asked." Blaine had long ago dropped all pretense of a gender for Mewthree when he spoke with the Rocket executive. The scientist had also not bothered to mention what the project could do with its emotions, seeing as that was only a different use for telepathy. "Despite having formed much more quickly than the other project, it seems that it is not as strong as what you are hoping for."

"Yes, about that." Petrel leaned against the wall next to the window. "The Boss wants you to speed things up. He wants that monster sooner, not later."

"We're doing all we can to work with him," Blaine replied. "The human DNA has been added. All we can hope for now is that it forms properly."

"Did you get the DNA from the source you were asked to get it from?"

In answer, Blaine raised his right arm, revealing a small patch of purple on the back of his right hand. "Project Mewtwo is most likely taking more time because it has more Pokemon DNA than Mewthree does. It appears that the human/Pokemon DNA ratio affects the creature's growth...."

"You'll be able to look into that later, Blaine," Petrel responded. "Just get the weapon ready, and then you can mess around with your experiments to your heart's content." As Petrel turned and walked away, he added, "Who knows -- we just might be able to use some of those experiments of yours."

As Blaine watched the Rocket executive leave, the scientist frowned slightly, considering what Petrel had said. He wondered what it was that the Rockets truly had in mind for the project....

Break

Blaine awoke with a gasp and in a cold sweat. It had been a few hours since Petrel had left, and the scientist had gone to his sleeping quarters for rest...only to wake up feeling like he had bruises all over his body. Worried by this, Blaine quickly looked himself over, only to find that there were no physical markings to even suggest that he even had bruises.

"Hmm. Strange." Blaine put his left hand to his chin as he tried to think up an explanation for the strange phenomenon. "Just a nightmare. But what sort of nightmare would cause pain like this?" He frowned, his more analytical part of his mind starting to get to work on finding the solution. "This is too vivid for a nightmare. Why would this sort of sensation be taking place? There must be something else at work, here."

Break

Blaine jumped with a slight start as he felt a familiar sensation come over him. For the past few days, he kept feeling odd emotions being sent to him at odd times. For the most part, he had been able to keep them locked away, but what he could not he was forced to release. Luckily, that was only when he was alone in his sleeping quarters or in other areas of the building....

The scientist shook off the feeling of confusion that had come over him, turning to look back at the computer screen. He had been looking through Mewthree's records, to see if there might be anything that could help to forward the other project's development. So far, other than adding more human DNA, he had found nothing of much help to him. It didn't help much that Mewthree had also pretty much fallen silent -- the creature had refused to respond to ordinary, everyday questions from even some of the more gentle people Team Rocket had picked up (why people like that had even joined, Blaine didn't even know).

"They were forced into it." Blaine looked up, then looked around in confusion as he tried to find the source of the voice, taking note that none of the other scientists were reacting as he was. "Team Rocket threatened them in some way."

Blaine blinked in surprise. Who was speaking to him through telepathy? None of the Psychic Pokemon ever dared to speak on a private channel. And if a human was ever capable of telepathy, it was only between them and their Pokemon. Curious, Blaine started to look around again for the source of the voice.

"Master Blaine, it is only me."

Blaine stopped short at this, and his eyes widened. Only one person or Pokemon in this building called him that. Mewthree? he asked mentally.

"Yes?"

Why are you contacting me like this?

"I sensed your...confusion? Is that it? I simply answered a few of your questions."

Blaine frowned slightly, then started to look into the data files in front of him a little more carefully. You haven't contacted anyone like this in some time. Why?

"I have not...felt the reason to. Is that how you say it?"

A slight smile came across Blaine's face at the girl's statement. Yes, that is correct. Is there any other reason you contacted me?

"...I am not sure, Master Blaine. I just felt this strange...need...to speak with someone. I cannot truly explain it. Do you know?"

I cannot look into someone's heart and tell them what they are feeling. Blaine's eyes widened slightly in surprise. He had not expected himself to say that, and he wondered if Mewthree might be doing something to him.

"Why do you think I am doing something to you, Master? I would never do anything without your permission."

Blaine flinched a little. It's nothing, Mewthree. I probably haven't received as much sleep as I need.

"...Then why don't you rest?"

I have a job to do. I don't have as much time to rest as I would like.

Mewthree didn't respond to this for a moment. Blaine thought she had decided to leave him alone, only for the project to say something unexpected.

"Then why don't you take breaks and short naps when you get tired?"

Blaine almost burst into laughter at the suggestion. It doesn't work that way, Mewthree. I need sleep in long amounts of time in order to be fully energized.

"Oh.... So, you need to use Rest?"

Something like that. Blaine smiled in amusement at the project's suggestion. Although, humans can't use Pokemon abilities.

"Oh...."

"Blaine!"

"Hm?" Blaine looked up in order to see Petrel looking down at him suspiciously. "What is it?"

"You seemed to be a little too deep in your thoughts," the Rocket executive warned. "You had better been thinking about ways to improve Mewtwo."

"I've been seeing if anything might work in what your boss is hoping for, but I'm coming up with nothing." Blaine felt oddly cold toward the purple-haired man. "Other than adding more human DNA -- which might weaken his power -- I have come up with nothing."

"Humph. Well, try harder. We need that weapon."

As Petrel walked off, Blaine frowned, then slammed his left hand on his desk in frustration.

The Rocket boss seemed to be becoming more eager for the weapon -- most likely because Mewthree had awoken first. Her development had started some time after the biological weapon, but if the experiment had developed at almost the exact level of a human -- it took her a little over ten months in order to completely develop physically, and perhaps a few more months in order to completely develop her mind's possible psychic tendencies.

If the Rocket boss wanted the weapon, he would have to wait, because Blaine was not going to try to speed up nature's course at this point.

Break

Mewthree awoke to the sound of her cell door rattling as someone worked at unlocking the front door. She cocked her head in confusion upon seeing Blaine burst through the door.

"Hurry!" The scientist dashed forward and grabbed Mewthree's left wrist. "We don't have much time."

The girl blinked in bewilderment. "What do you mean?"

Blaine pulled her off the bed and stopped at the door. "I'm going to get you out of here." He then dashed out of the room, still holding onto Mewthree's wrist as they ran through a corridor.

Mewthree's eyes widened. "W-why do you want to do that, Master Blaine?"

Blaine glanced back. "I would appreciate it if you dropped the 'Master' title, Mewthree." He picked p his speed, running around corners and avoiding the other rooms that connected to the hallway.

"You still haven't answered my question," Mewthree piped up, feeling slightly emboldened.

"Team Rocket."

These two words forced an involuntary shudder out of Mewthree, and she let out an emotional wave of panic.

"Exactly my point. I've seen how they treat you. Even though I'm not the kind of person to get involved with things like this, I can tell you're not the kind of child who is capable of standing against someone from that group. You must get out of here." Blaine's glasses flashed, reflecting the lights above them. "And I'm going to help you escape."

"Not on my watch."

The two stopped short, only to see Petrel standing with his arms crossed in front of him. Perched on his shoulder was a black bird that appeared to be wearing a hat made out of its own feathers. "You two are going back to your cells and are going to stay there until the boss decides on what to do with you."

"Not a chance." Blaine started to reach for something under his lab coat, only for Mewthree to reach forward and stop him.

"Same them for another time," she murmured quietly. Looking at Petrel, she added, "Close your eyes."

Blaine gave the girl a suspicious look, only to do as he was told, covering his glasses-covered eyes with his now-freed right arm as Mewthree started to glow brightly. There was a bright flash, and Petrel let out a cry of surprise. When Blaine lowered his arm, he found the Rocket executive kneeling on the floor, holding his face with both hands.

"He is only momentarily blinded," Mewthree warned, much to Blaine's surprise.

Blaine nodded shakily. "Right. Let's get you out of here." He led Mewthree around Petrel quickly, then turned a corner and dashed for a steel-plated door at the end of the hall. As the scientist started to work with the locks, he told Mewthree, "When you get out of here, I want you to start running as fast as you can, and don't look back or try to come back and rescue me."

Mewthree gave him a concerned look. "Why not, Blaine?"

"I'll be fine." Blaine finished unlocking the door, then gripped Mewthree by her shoulders. "When you get out of here, I want you to ask the Pokemon in the area for directions to Pallet Town. An old friend of mine lives there -- he will be more than happy to take you in and care for you."

"But what about you?"

"I'll see if I can make it to the same place. If I can't, well, I'll find another way to get to you." Blaine released Mewthree and pushed the door open. "Now go!"

Mewthree looked outside into the dark, observing the strange forest beyond, then looked back at Blaine. When the scientist nodded, she turned back to the doorway, then dashed out into the night. Just as she disappeared into the darkness, a group of Rocket grunts ran up to the doorway and surrounded Blaine, their Raticate showing off their teeth and growling to show that they meant business.

"Don't bother with threatening him, he's not going anywhere," Petrel said as he approached the group, fully covered from Mewthree's Flash attack. "We will be needing the Houndoom in order to track it down, however."

"Sir!" Four of the grunts saluted Petrel, then unclipped a PokeBall from each of their belts, releasing a black-and-red dog-like creature with horns from within.

"Find that Mewthree project," Petrel told the Pokemon.

The strange Pokemon looked at each other, nodded, then let out a simultaneous howl before turning and dashing out.

The Rocket executive turned and looked at Blaine, whose glasses seemed to be flashing defiantly. "And you, Blaine, and all your work, are now under Team Rocket custody." A sneer appeared on his face. "Perhaps next time you plan an escape, you can do it without the dead weight."

"You won't find her," Blaine stated. "None of those creatures will."

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure. Houndoom are part of a new Type block, you see. A Type that can easily mop the floor with Sabrina's Alakazam." Petrel grinned wickedly. "Even if Mewthree is mostly human, a Psychic-Type like that doesn't stand a chance against our Dark-Types."

Spacial Break

Deep within the recess of a dark and dangerous cave which no Trainer dared to enter, a creature which had been slumbering stirred and awoke.

"Hmmm.... I sense...something new. Something...with power." The creature shook off what sleep remained and moved to the cave's entrance. "Look into this, I must."

Chapter Text

"We shouldn't have stayed in Viridian for as long as we did. The old man said that the Gym Leader was a no-show, and you wanted to see if you could prove him wrong anyway!"

Red rolled his eyes at his Pikachu's ranting, while the Bulbasaur walking along at his feet looked up in confusion.

"How is it that you can speak human, Riley?" the Grass/Poison-Type inquired.

Riley looked down from Red's left shoulder. "Well, Ivy, I'm not really sure as to how. The first few words I remember saying were in the human tongue. I can still speak Pokemon, though."

"Is that pretty much when you first met Red?" A Pidgey on Red's right shoulder asked.

"That's right, Peter," Riley confirmed. "I met Blue, Red's rival sometime later."

"The kid with the Eevee? He did look a little scared when your cheeks sparked."

"That's because I ThunderShocked him a few years ago." Riley smirked at the memory, and Red smiled as well. "He was starting to get on my nerves, going on and on about how he was the grandson of a famous Pokemon Professor and Red wasn't. So I sparked him." The smirk became a sheepish grin. "He's had a phobia of Electric-Types ever since."

Red shook in silent mirth at the memory as Riley laughed.

"But...what about Red?" Riley looked back down at Ivy. "Why can't he talk?"

Riley looked at the Trainer, who shrugged. "Honestly, we're not really sure." Riley looked back down at Ivy. "I mean, he hasn't been able to speak for as long as he can remember, meaning he's mute, but a few doctors have claimed that he should be able to. Like that matters. There's a whole lot of stuff that the humans still don't know about -- and I'm including me in that, 'cause I've lived with humans ever since I was hatched."

Red nodded in agreement, then suddenly stopped short, his eyes widening.

"Hm? What is it, Red?" Riley gave his Trainer a curious look. "Something wrong?"

Red pointed to a clump of rustling bushes on the left side of the path, then made hand signals, one of which was a clawed hand.

Riley's eyes widened. "You think it might be another Pokemon?" He sniffed the air. "I don't smell anything that might hint at a Pokemon...." The Pikachu frowned slightly. "Then again, there is this really weird scent in the air...."

"I'll check it out." Ivy trotted over to the bushes, slowing to cautious movements as she got closer to the whatever-it-was. Vines grew out from around the base of her bulb, and Ivy reached out with them toward the bushes, starting to pry them apart. Once they had been pried apart enough to let Ivy see what was causing them to move, she let out a gasp of surprise and released the bushes, causing the shrubbery to snap back into place.

"What did you see?" Riley asked, jumping off Red's shoulder.

Ivy shook her head in disbelief. "It's impossible."

"What is?" Peter flew off Red's shoulder and landed beside the two other Pokemon. "Is something wrong with the thing that's on the other side?"

"Show us, Ivy," Riley ordered. "Whatever it is, it isn't going to attack us."

Ivy swallowed. "All right. I don't know how it's going to react to seeing you guys, though. It looked pretty surprised when it saw me." She reached out and grabbed the bushes again, pulling them apart more slowly than she had the first time. Red and the others looked through the gap in the bushes, and their eyes widened in surprise.

On the other side of the bushes was...a girl. And not just your average human girl -- this one had a pink tail and cat-like ears.

She was also unconscious and looked badly hurt.

Quickly, Red dashed forward and got down next to the girl, inspecting the injuries that covered her form. Turning to look back at Riley, he made a few quick motions, each with a different look of pain on his face.

Riley's eyes widened. "Oh, man. That's bad!" Quickly, he dashed over to the girl. "But we probably won't be able to make it to the Pokemon Center in time! We're in the middle of the Viridian Forest, for Moltres' sake!"

"I can help." The group look up in surprise at the sound of the voice, looking around for its source. "Over here, Red, Riley."

Red's eyes widened, and he looked over to a nearby tree. Sitting on one of the branches was a small, pink cat-like creature with kind blue eyes.

Riley looked up at the Pokemon. "Who are you? And how do you know out names?"

"That isn't important right now." The Pokemon flew off the branch and stopped above the girl's body. "I can Teleport you and her to a place where she can be cared for in safety: Professor Oak's lab in Pallet Town."

"All the way back in Pallet Town?" Riley repeated, shocked. "But we left there three days ago, and we're heading over to Pewter City! Why can't you drop us off there?"

"Do you not see what this child is?" The Pokemon's long tail moved over the girl's form. "If anyone you don't fully trust sees her, who knows what would happen? Are you going to go with her to Pallet Town or not?"

Red looked over at his Pokemon for a moment, observing the looks they had on their faces, either of shock, surprise, or annoyance. After a moment, he looked back at the pink Pokemon and nodded, a determined look on his face.

"Very well. Red, pick up the child. Everyone else, grab onto his legs or get on his shoulders." The Pokemon raised its arms as a pink bubble appeared around them. "Teleport!"

There was a flash of light around the group, forcing Red to close his eyes for fear of becoming momentarily blinded. When the boy opened them, he found himself standing not too far away from Professor Oak's home, Ivy gripping his left leg and Peter and Riley on his shoulders. Looking down at the girl in his arms, he nodded once, a determined look on his face. The Trainer then dashed for the Professor's lab, Peter taking off from his right shoulder as he did.

"Hey, Professor!" Riley shouted, taking note that Oak was standing on his front lawn. "This girl needs medical attention -- pronto!"

Oak looked over at the group in surprise, his eyes widening in shock upon seeing who Red was carrying. "Hurry! Get inside!" He threw open his front door and Red and his Pokemon dashed inside. The Pokemon Professor then shut the front door and let the Trainer upstairs to the second floor.

"Put her in here." Oak opened up a door at the end of the hall. "It's a spare bedroom, so one should disturb her here." After Red had done so, careful not to do anything that might hurt her further, he and Oak walked back down to the main floor. "Now, Red, Riley, where did you find her?"

"We were going through Viridian Forest when we saw these bushes moving," Riley explained. "Ivy found her knocked of and badly damaged, then this pink Pokemon with blue eyes and a long tail appeared out of nowhere and offered to teleport us here. It said something about it being safer than in the Pokemon Center in Pewter."

Oak frowned slightly. "Really?" His eyes widened. "Wait! You saw a pink Pokemon with a long tail and blue eyes?!"

Red gave Oak a strange look and nodded slowly. This sent Oak dashing for one of his many bookshelves, from which he removed a well-worn leather bound book with strange symbols.

"Did it look like this?" Oak asked, showing them a picture. It looked like it had been carved into rock, and was extremely old.

"Yeah," Riley replied. "Do you know what it is?"

"It is the most rare Pokemon, and has been considered extinct by many," Oak replied, cloaking the book and putting it back on its shelf. "The Pokemon itself is called Mew, and it is considered to be the ancestor of all Pokemon."

Red's eyes widened in shock while Riley repeated, "The ancestor of all Pokemon?"

Oak nodded. "It's been said that it can also use every single attack in existence -- it's power is limitless! If you four have seen one, then that means something is going to happen -- whether it is good or bad, I have no clue. Be careful out there."

Riley nodded, then frowned slightly. "Wait a sec...you didn't look too surprised when we brought in that kid. Shoot, you were probably a whole lot more calm than either Red or I were! So, spill the beans, Prof! What do you know?"

Oak gave Riley a slightly amused look. "I won't not tell you right now. Knowing your curious nature, however, you will learn soon enough. You had better get going if you want to make up for lost time."

Red's and Riley's eyes widened at this. They looked at each other, nodded, then dashed out, Peter and Ivy following at their heels.

"Say, hang on a sec!" Riley caused Red to come screeching to a halt in front of the entrance to the Route. "Where do you think that kid came from? She didn't look like she was out camping."

"Humans normally don't have ears and a tail like she did, either," Ivy pointed out. "What do you think could have happened to her?"

Red shrugged, while Riley said, "Beats me." The Pikachu cocked his head for a moment, frowning as he did. "You don't think she could have been one of those humans who can turn into Pokemon? The ones we heard in those fairy tales?"

Ivy snorted. "That's impossible. No human could turn into a Pokemon! And the only way for a Pokemon to turn into a human is to create an illusion of a human appearance. At least, that's what my dad used to tell me."

Red frowned slightly. He started walking again, then his eyes widened and his hands started to move about at high speed.

"Whoa! Slow down!" Riley watched Red's hands as they slowed down and repeated what they had been motioning earlier. "How does that make any sense? There's no way that someone would try something like that!"

"Want to try what?" Peter asked, curious.

"He's suggesting that some idiot decided to combine two things that aren't supposed to be combined," Riley explained. "I think he just watched too many sci-fi movies." He bopped Red on the head. "Maybe we can get that out of you before the end of this journey!"

"That probably will never happen," Ivy agreed. "Although, we could probably get some information on that girl's past. I mean, there's probably something in the forest that can tell us where she came from."

Riley's eyes widened, and he nodded, a grin on his face. "Good idea! Come on, Red! Let's hurry back to Viridian Forest!"

Red nodded in agreement, then took off at a dash, his other Pokemon following behind -- except for Riley, who made a point of staying on his Trainer's shoulder.

The group came to a screeching halt when they arrived in Viridian, eyes widening upon seeing a sight they had not expected.

"Hey, what's going on?" Riley asked as Red dashed over to a male teenager Trainer with a blue and white mouse-like Pokemon.

"Some idiot set a building in the Viridian Forest on fire," the cobalt-haired boy explained. "Azumaril and I were called in to put it out before it affected the rest of the forest. We only just finished taking care of it." With that the Trainer walked off, leaving Red with a surprised look on his face.

"Someone is covering their tracks," Ivy noted thoughtfully. Everyone gave her a weird look. "What? Dad said that his old Trainer liked to read lots of detective stories, and I picked up the habit. Something's going on here."

"Yeah..." Riley's ears went straight up. "Hang on a sec! Didn't Professor Oak sat something about suspicious activity going on in Kanto? This fire could have been done by the same group that's been causing all those incidents!" Red nodded in agreement. "Come on! We might be able to find something still in the forest!" He leapt off Red's shoulder and took off, his Trainer and the other two Pokemon pursuing him.

Chapter Text

Mewthree's eyes opened slowly, the girl feeling groggy after such a long time knocked out. She was jolted awake, however, upon finding herself staring at a soft orange-shaded ceiling. It was a color the girl wasn't familiar with -- having been only surrounded by white, black, and gray in the laboratory -- but it reminded her somewhat of Blaine's mustache.

Curious, Mewthree looked at herself, only to find that she appeared to be lying in a bed. An actual bed, not the cot they had given her to use in the other place. Curious, she lifted the covers of the bed with her left arm to have a look at what she was lying on...only to mentally cry out in pain as the burns, cuts and bruises on her arm reacted to the movement.

Mewthree dropped her arm, only to notice that it appeared to be covered in bandages, and her shirt sleeve was torn apart. She let out a shudder, remembering what had attacked her when she was last awake. Curiosity soon took over, however, and Mewthree wondered as to where she was, seeing as the last thing she remembered as...that....

"Rosa, we're lucky that you found her when you did," a muffled voice said. Mewthree sat up slowly, taking note of a door made out of some sort of brown-colored material. "The Chansey I keep on the property mentioned that the damage she had taken could have knocked out a Venasaur." The handle on the door turned, Mewthree's ears going straight up as something clicked. "Whoever might have attacked her really wanted her to give up the ghost." The door creaked open, revealing an old man in a lab coat. "I put her in here...." The man turned, his blue eyes filling with surprise upon seeing Mewthree sitting up. "Oh!"

"Samuel, what is it?" Mewthree's eyes widened upon seeing a small pink creature with her ears, tail, and eyes peering over the old man's shoulder. "Ah, I see! She's awake." The creature flew over the old man's -- Samuel's -- shoulder and stopped in front of Mewthree. "Hello there, young one. My name is Rosa. What is yours?"

Mewthree gave Rosa a curious look, not quite sure as to how to respond.

Rosa's eyes widened upon feeling the curiosity come rolling off Mewthree. "You wish to know more?" She flew over to Samuel. "This is Professor Samuel Oak. I brought him to you after finding you collapsed in Viridian Forest. Of course, I had to use a Trainer in order to help me --"

"Professor Oak?" Mewthree repeated, curiosity increasing.

Oak nodded, surprise appearing on his face as to how the girl had spoken. "Yes, that's me."

Mewthree gave him a curious look. "Wh-where am I?"

"In Pallet Town, although I don't know as to whether or not that will be of much help to you."

Rosa frowned slightly. "Actually, Samuel, I think that is what she is looking for."

Mewthree nodded. "I need to look for an old friend of one of my creators -- Master Blaine."

Professor Oak paled, his blue eyes widening. "Blaine...." He looked away and shook his head, cloaking his eyes as he did so. "Old friend, what have to done now?" Looking back at Mewthree, he asked, "Did he call you anything before you left?"

Mewthree blinked in confusion before realizing what Oak meant. "Um.... He and the others called me 'Mewthree.' Is there any reason why? Do you know?"

Rosa and Oak exchanged glances with emotions that Mewthree didn't quite understand. She had never before seen anything really portrayed on a creature's face other than anger and determination....

"Mewthree would most likely be the name of your species," Oak finally said. "Even though you seem to be the only one of your kind."

"...species?" Mewthree repeated. "What does that mean?"

"He's referring to how you look and what you are," Rosa explained. "For instance, I am a Mew, and Samuel is a human. However, seeing as there have been more than one Mew, and there is more than one human, we have our own names to discern us from the others of our own kind." She moved her left paw to her chin and frowned, as though lost in thought, causing Mewthree to remember Blaine. "Even though you are the only one of your species, you need to have a name other than 'Mewthree'. What do you think, Samuel?"

Oak nodded in agreement. "But what to call her is the question.... Normally, when a Pokemon is given a name by their Trainer, it involves something about their appearance or attitude. However, we know little to nothing about her, considering you only just woke up...."

Mewthree, cocked her head slightly, thinking back to one of the kinder people she had interacted with. "Someone told me my eyes were like crystals. What are those?"

"Crystals?" Rosa repeated. "They're...oh, I'll have to dumb this down a little.... They're rocks that carry a sparkle of some sort of them. They can come in all sorts of different colors, as well. For instance, there is one called 'Sapphire,' which would be a deeper color of blue than your eyes."

Mewthree cocked her head slightly, considering what Rosa had just said. "Um.... Why not call me 'Crystal'? I think it's easier to remember than Sapphire."

Rosa and Oak looked at each other, then nodded and smiled.

"Crystal it is," Oak said. His smile faded when he saw Crystal's look of confusion. "Is something wrong?"

"I've never seen anyone do anything like you just did with your mouth," Crystal replied, pointing with her right arm ad Oak's face.

"What, this?" Oak smiled again, causing Crystal to nod. "No one's smiled at you before?"

"Smile? Is that what it's called?" Upon seeing Oak nodded, Crystal attempted it. "It...feels so strange. I haven't done anything like this before."

"We do it when we're happy," Rosa explained.

"...Happy? What's that?"

"An emotion," Oak explained. "When you feel good inside. It can happen when either you have done something that pleases you or others, or when you see something that pleases you."

"Oh. I'm sorry, but I just don't get it."

"You will in time," Rosa comforted. "Now, when I found you earlier, you were covered in cuts and bruises for one reason or another. Can you tell us why?"

The strange sensation -- the smile -- vanished in an instant. "It isn't a...happy...memory. Master Blaine helped me escape, but then these...things came after me. They spewed fire from their mouths and bit me when they got the chance. The bites hurt more than the fire did. I managed to escape them by running through a bunch of sleeping Vileplume -- I think the scent kept them away."

Ross's eyes filled with an emotion Crystal couldn't decipher, and the .mew turned to look at Oak. "They have Dark/Fire-Types at their disposal? Samuel, this group -- it's getting stronger."

Oak nodded. "It certainly is," he confirmed grimly. "I just hope those two boys won't get into any trouble simply because they're out traveling. At this rate, they might end up running into them soon." He turned to look at Crystal. "Tell me, Crystal -- what sort of abilities have you mastered?"

Crystal blinked for a moment, before realizing what Oak meant. "Oh! Um...Flash, Protect, Defense Curl, and...Confusion. They've been trying to teach me different moves, but they're too strong for me to completely control. I'm only a Level 5, according to Master Blaine."

"Interesting...." Oak's eyes widened. "Wait. Crystal, can you speak like I can? Using your voice and not your mind?"

Crystal frowned, cocking her head slightly. "I'm not...sure. I've always spoken this way. Master Blaine said that I should be able to, but...I just haven't been able to."

"Just like Red," Oak muttered under his breath. "Crystal, you'll probably need more rest so that your wounds can heal. Rosa, if you would."

Crystal watched in confusion as Rosa nodded then turned her gaze to the girl. Confused, Crystal suddenly felt very sleepy from just staring into the Mew's blue eyes. Accepting the natural call to rejuvenate her energy, Crystal fell back, drifting off to sleep just as her head hit her pillow.

Chapter Text

"That girl...she truly is nothing more than a child, Rosa. They must have allowed her to develop to a certain point, then let her come out into the world." Oak continued to pace back and forth in front of his desk, which was in a personal office that hardly anyone knew about, even after going through his lab.

"That seems to be the case," Rosa agreed from her perch on one of the bookshelves. "It also is obvious to me that she has not been in the world for long. At Level 5, a Pokemon is only at the equivalent of a four or five-year-old human's knowledge. I do sense a lot of potential in her to gain incredible strengths, but she has yet to realize that potential."

Oak nodded, bringing his hands from behind his back. "And yet, can we trust her? We know who might be creating those things. They could have brainwashed her into thinking that we were the villains."

"That isn't the case, Samuel. When I looked into her eyes, I saw confusion, curiosity, and a slight tinge of fear, very much like when a young Pidgey looks up at the sky before first trying to fly." Rosa crossed her arms over her chest. "No one can truly mimic a look like that -- unless they are looking at something entirely new in their minds." The Pokemon thought for a moment before adding, "She also seemed to be ignorant of lying. Never once did I sense a change in her when she spoke."

Oak's eyes widened at this, but then he closed them and shook his head. "That means that Blaine might have bitten off more than he can chew. If that girl is MewTHREE, then the other one might already be up and about."

"Not so. I haven't sensed the other one's presence since that initial energy surge."

"Grandpa! Where are you!"

Rosa's eyes widened, and she promptly vanished as Oak opened the door of his office and came out from under the stairs.

"What is it, Daisy?" Oak asked, making his way over to Blue's sister, who was standing in the middle of the lab.

The green-eyed girl let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, good, you're up. There's a couple people at the front door who want to talk to you for some reason."

Oak frowned. "Did they tell you why they wanted to talk to me this morning, Daisy?"

His granddaughter shrugged. "They just said they wanted to ask you a few questions. They claimed they were reporters who were doing something on Pokemon Professors and their research."

"At ten in the morning?" Oak knew Rosa was listening in on the conversation, and that she had only kept the telepathic connection up with him, and not Daisy -- the Mew didn't want to be introduced to the world quite yet.

"Why would a reporter be here so early and without permission from me to come over?" Oak asked, putting his left hand on his chin in thought. "It doesn't seem quite right."

"I've tried to tell them that you probably wouldn't answer their questions at this hour, but they insisted on waiting outside until you come and talk to them." Daisy let out an annoyed sigh. "They even camped out in a tent not too far from here."

Oak raised an eyebrow at this. "Hm. It looks like I'm going to have talk with them about where the nearest hotel is." He walked over to the front door and opened it, only to jump back in surprise upon seeing the two who were standing on his front stoop.

"Good morning, Professor," a teal-haired young man in a trench coat said. His voice was gravelly, and the smile on his face appeared forced.

"Do you mind if we ask you a few questions for an article we're working on?" A blond-haired woman inquired. She was dressed in the same manner as the man, and she carried a notepad and pencil. The slight smile she had on her face wasn't forced, but there was a glint in her eye that didn't look quite so friendly.

"I wouldn't mind if you two had secured an appointment first," Oak responded, slightly annoyed. "Do that first, and then I'll talk to you." He slammed the door shut, only for one of the two to stick their foot in the way.

"Oh, come on!" The woman tried to push the door back open while the man tried to keep in a yell of pain. "How much harm would a few questions do?"

"A lot, if you ask the wrong ones. Begone!"

"C'mon, Prof! Just one?" Oak could hear the pain the man was trying to keep out of his voice. No doubt he wold be limping for a day or two from the pain in his foot.

"...Fine." Oak opened the door again. "But I'm not letting you in."

"Fine with us," the woman stated. "OK, so we know you are, besides researching Pokemon, also in charge of giving children who which to be Trainers their starting Pokemon. Have you given out any Pokemon recently?"

"I have," Oak replied. "But only to my grandson. He's been waiting for this ever since he learned about the Champion and how much strength Lance has."

"Ah. So he wishes to become the Champion?" The woman seemed to be...relieved by this.

"Yes, that's right."

"He might need some pretty strong Pokemon for that. Perhaps even a Legendary." The man's eyes carried the glint that was in the woman's, now.

Oak sighed. "He can train up the ones he gets on his journey. I highly doubt that he will need a Pokemon like that. Besides, the Legendary Pokemon are exactly that -- legends. It's possible that they don't even exist." He could feel Rosa land on his shoulder, but did nothing that might have hinted at her presence. "You know as well as I that I'm a Professor who sticks to the facts, not looks into legends."

"Right, right." The woman wrote something down on her notepad, then paused. "But you know, there have been rumors of a strange Pokemon being seen in this area. Some people have claimed that it looks a lot like that Mew creature. Have you seen it, Professor Oak?" The woman and the man gave him hungry looks.

Oak's eyes narrowed. "No." With that, he slammed the door in their faces.

"What were they asking about, Grandfather?" Daisy asked as Oak stomped by her.

"They wanted to ask me if I'd seen a Mew in the area -- a Mew!" Oak let out a short laugh. "Can you believe that gobbledygook?" Rosa released an aura of annoyance, but she knew that he was doing this because she had asked him to. "I'd better go and feed the Pokemon. Don't want what happened last time to happen again."

Daisy giggled in agreement. "Right. I'll go get your breakfast ready." She walked into the kitchen that was connected to the lab on the first floor while Oak walked out the back door, grabbing a large back of Pokemon Food as he did so. Upon walking outside, however, he sees a sight that causes him to drop the bag.

A Nidoking and a Golem are glaring at each other not too far from where he was standing. Scattered around them were fallen trees and fainted Pokemon.

Oak's eyes narrowed. He had been expecting something like this. Those two Pokemon were owned by two rival Trainers, and the Pokemon had picked up on that rivalry and had been causing minor problems. It was obvious that things were getting to a head.

Oak reached into one of his lab coat's inner pockets, bringing out an old PokeBall that looked like it might have seen better days. He got ready to throw it, only for a Protect to appear around the two Pokemon, surprising the Professor.

"Rosa?" he asked, looking around for the Mew.

"That wasn't me." Oak felt the Pokemon's presence on his right shoulder. "The only energy I'm using is to keep me hidden."

"Then who--" Oak cut himself off as he looked up, catching sight of a figure with their upper body sticking out of one of the windows on the second floor. "Crystal."

The Nidoking and the Golem looked around at the Protect in confusion. Upon seeing the damage they had caused in their fight, their eyes widened. Then they turned to look at each other, their glares returning. Oak watched as the two Pokemon powered up Hyper Beams and fired them at each other, causing an explosion of smoke. This seemed to be what Crystal was looking for, because the Protect dropped as the smoke cleared, revealing to panting Pokemon.

The two Pokemon looked at each other for a moment longer, then turned and walked off in separate directions.

Oak let out a sigh. "Looks like the Chansey are going to be busy again."

"This fight was valuable, however," Rosa responded. "If Crystal had been created for destruction, she would have watched that for enjoyment. She knew what the Pokemon wanted to do, and she made it so that they could fight each other without creating even further damage to the landscape or other Pokemon. I'm going to show her something, and then you should introduce her to Daisy."

"What?!"

"The child needs education, Samuel. It's better that Daisy teach her rather than hire a tutor from one of the cities."

Oak thought this over for a moment before nodding. "I see your point. What should we tell her?"

"A half-truth. Say the child was found by Red and brought to you to be put under your care. Just don't mention that she is also part Mew and possibly a creation of Team Rocket's. I'll make sure that Crystal won't use her telepathy in Daisy's presence so that she can play as a mute."

"Even that won't last us for long, Rosa," Oak warned.

"I know, Samuel. But it's better that we keep this illusion up for a little while longer." With that, Rosa teleported away, leaving Oak to his thoughts outside.

@@@@@

"...so, Daisy, can you educate her?"

Oak's granddaughter looked from the Pokemon Professor to the girl beside him, whose blue eyes were wide, reminding Daisy of a child who was looking at something for the first time.

"You want me to educate a mute girl who is about my age and probably hasn't lived in civilization before?" Daisy asked, going over the information in her head.

"That's right. Will you?" Oak gave his granddaughter a hopeful look.

Daisy let out a sigh of annoyance. "All right. Come on, Crystal." She motioned for the mute girl to follow her.

Crystal looked up at Oak, who nodded, before letting go of the professor's arm and following Daisy into an adjoining room on the first floor lab, where Blue had once been educated by his grandfather on Pokemon Types and possible strategies to counteract them.

"We'd better hope this works, Rosa," Oak muttered.

"It will. I just hope her education is completed before the other one is released."

Chapter Text

"Hey, you! Get up!"

Blaine was roughly shaken awake by a figure in black uniform.

"Petrel wants to see you!"

The scientist got up from his cot quickly, sending a glare at the Rocket grunt with fiery hair who had been assigned as his guard. "What is it this time, Capone?"

"He'll tell you when you get there." Capone grabbed Blaine's left arm and dragged him out of the scientist's cell and down the corridor to where Petrel was located.

Petrel was standing in front of Mewtwo's chamber, and Blaine could tell from just one look that the Rocket executive was mad.

"Something is wrong with it," Petrel growled, pointing to the partially-complete creature. "Fix it."

"Fix what?" Blake looked over the machines that were monitoring Mewtwo. "Everything seems to be in the green. There's nothing wrong."

Petrel's eyes narrowed. "Blaine, this...thing...hasn't responded to anything that we've brought in. Not even Sabrina's Alakazam has been able to get a single telepathic word out of it. Explain that!"

"Have you gone over the previous scientist's data?" Blaine adjusted his glasses as he picked up a folder from one of the computers' dashboards. "I have been. According to this, they had to administer a serum of some sort in order to make sure that the Pokemon didn't tear itself apart after the other experimental clones were lost. It seems to have forced the Pokemon into a deep slumber -- a hibernation, if you will -- that won't let it respond to any sort of psychic prodding." Blaine handed the folder to Petrel. "It seems that we'll have to wait for some time before the Pokemon will respond -- or even awaken, for that matter."

Petrel opened the folder and looked over the data inside. "I think there might be something more in this matter." He closed the folder with a snap!. "I suggest you go over our data more carefully, Blaine, or you will end up in a worse situation." The Rocket executive walked off without another word.

As Capone moved to the door to stand guard and make sure that Blaine didn't get any ideas, Blaine sat down in front of a computer and started to go over the data from the past few shifts that had been watching the Mew clone. His curiosity soon got the better of him, though, and he started to compare Mewthree's data with Mewtwo's. just as he had expected, Mewthree had been much more responsive than Mewtwo presently was -- especially considering that the former had mentally reached out and momentarily possessed three scientists -- however, it surprised Blaine to find that Mewthree had developed much more quickly that Mewtwo -- even before this "serum" had been administrated.

The scientist began to dig even deeper, going through the data they had obtained before the cloning process had even started. The data on the DNA they had obtained from the Mew fossil was identical, although the human DNA they had added was different. For one, Mewtwo had Blaine's DNA, while Mewthree had DNA from a woman's corpse they had found. Of course, now it was a wiggling pile of purple goo, thanks to those renegade Mew cells.... Blaine shook the thought out of his mind, delving deeper into the data they had collected.

As Blaine was going over the code for the DNA they had used for Mewthree, he stopped suddenly, the screen showing a group of numbers that he hadn't expected.

"What is this?" he muttered, going over the data. His eyes widened behind his glasses. "Oh, my. By Moltres' fire...." He closed up the files he had been going through, then walked over to Capone. "I need to get back to my room to think things through."

The Rocket grunt nodded, then opened the door, took Blaine's arm in a tight grip, and walked down the hall to his room.

Chapter Text

"Vine Whip!"

Red grinned at the sound of Riley’s voice as Ivy smacked the rock snake in front of her with her vines. The Onix let out a roar as the Grass-Type attack hit it, and the giant Pokemon collapsed.

"Onix, Return!" The Pokemon disappeared in the PokeBall Red's opponent carried -- a young man with spiky brown hair wearing a long-sleeved green shirt under and orange vest. "All right; I'm beat." He walked forward, across the battlefield, stopping in front of Red, Riley, and Ivy. Holding out a small, metallic item shaped like a rock, he added, "Here's the Boulder Badge to signify that you won."

Red's eyes sparked with excitement as he accepted the badge. Riley grinned, as well.

"All right!" Riley exclaimed. "One badge down, seven to go!" Red made a few motions, causing the Pikachu to continue, "Thanks for the battle, Brock."

"It was no problem," the Gym Leader replied. "You know, though, it came to me as a surprise to find that the one issuing the orders was a Pikachu."

"I'm surprised you didn't yell out in shock." Riley smirked. "A few of the locals in Pallet Town didn't quite believe what they were hearing when I first started talking and defending Red from Blue. We've been close friends ever since."

Brock smiled and laughed. "That's good to hear."

Red made a few motions, and Riley translated: "So, where's the next Gym?"

"In Cerulean. You'll have to go through Mt. Moon in order to reach it, though."

Red nodded as Riley stated, "Thanks! That'll give us a lot of training before we reach the next town." With that, the Trainer left with his Pokemon releasing Peter from his PokeBall as he did so.

"So you got it?" Peter asked, landing on Red's right shoulder.

"We got it," Riley confirmed, grinning from Red's left. "The next place is in Cerulean -- we have to go through Mt. Moon, according to Brock."

"Mt. Moon?" Peter's eyes widened. "That's Zubat territory! I've heard that they like to suck the life out of Pidgey! Red, when we go in there, please put me in my PokeBall."

Red gave his friend a concerned look, then nodded quietly.

"We won't be going there just yet," Riley chided. "We need to get Ivy up to full health, first." He motioned to the Pokemon Center, which they had just reached. "That's why we're here."

The group entered the Pokemon Center, and Red handed Ivy and her PokeBall over to Nurse Joy so that the Pokemon could get her health restored. They then sat down at a nearby table, waiting until Nurse Joy returned with the Bulbasaur.

"What do you mean, you meet me?" Red looked over at an old man in surprise upon hearing him tell into a cell phone. "You said you would meet me in Pewter's Pokemon Center, you dolt! What's keeping you!"

Riley and Red exchanged strange glances, only to look back in shock at the old man when he yelled, "WHAT?! Team Rocket's attacking Mt. Moon?!"

Red looked at the two Pokemon with him and made quick motions with his hands. Riley nodded in agreement while Peter gave the two a look of confusion. When Nurse Joy returned with Ivy, the group ran out of the Pokemon Center without another word.

Chapter Text

"It's incredible, really, the progress she's made over the past few days." Oak looked over the data his grandson had sent him the last time he had entered a Pokemon Center. "I think she might have gone through all of the books I have at least twice."

"She knew practically nothing when she came here, remember," Rosa chided from Oak's shoulder. "It would only make sense that Crystal would try to research everything she doesn't know yet." The Mew let out a sigh. "Still, it's a shame that she ended up revealing her telepathic abilities to Daisy."

"I don't think so. She needs to be able to ask questions, and using telepathy is her way of asking them.... So that's how the Golem and Nidoking became so angered against one another...they were living in the same area! They must have developed a rivalry."

"We will need to get her used to other humans, Samuel. She can't simply stick to you and Daisy like glue for the rest of your lives."

Oak looked up from the data. "I know, Rosa. But we still have to get her used to the concept of battling. Other than her first day here, she has refused to watch Pokemon battle each other -- whether they live on my property or they recordings I made a few years ago."

"I have a friend who might be able to help with that."

"Grandfather?" Rosa disappeared as Daisy entered the lab, Crystal (with her Mew traits camouflaged) not far behind. "Crystal told me that she wants to leave and look for Blaine."

"He hasn't come here since I escaped; I'm worried that something might have happened to him," Crystal explained.

Oak frowned. "I don't know if you'll be able to find him, Crystal." He held up a newspaper, with the date being a few days ago. "According to a recent article in the newspaper, a building in Viridian Forest -- possibly the one you escaped from -- was set fire to. There were no human remains found in the rubble, so I gather that those who were inside have been taken elsewhere. Where they were taken to is the question."

Crystal looked deflated, but then she straightened up, a determined look on my face. "Then I'm gonna find him!"

"Crystal, I don't think it's going to be that simple." Daisy looked at her student. "He could be anywhere in Kanto -- or even in another region, for that matter! It could take years to find him. And what about those people you said beat you? He could still be trapped by them."

Crystal's eyes widened at this, and she shuddered. "But that means we should rescue him, right?"

"If only it were that simple, Crystal."

Daisy looked around in confusion, looking for the source of the voice. Crystal, however, looked at a spot next to Oak, her head cocking in confusion.

"Do you really think so, Sister?" Crystal asked, catching Daisy's attention.

"Sister?" Daisy repeated. "You have a sister?"

"Adoptive, but yes." The Mew's form seemingly materialized out of thin air, startling Oak's granddaughter. "Greetings. I am Rosa."

Daisy's eyes widened. "No way. A Mew? In Grandpa's lab? I must be dreaming."

"I'm afraid you're not," Oak replied, a smirk playing on his features. "Daisy, meet Rosa, an old friend of mine."

"Hello," Rosa said, bowing mid-air.

"Do you think I could--"

"Yes, you may, Crystal."

The blue-eyed girl released a breath before her ears and tail materialized, causing Daisy to jump away from her in alarm.

"No way!" Daisy's eyes were wide as she looked Crystal over. "You're part Mew?!"

"...Is that a problem?" Crystal gave Daisy a hesitant look as Oak's granddaughter walked around her.

"Well, it does explain how you're able to speak telepathically," Daisy admitted, "but I thought fusions like this were impossible. All Grandpa told me was that Red found you unconscious in Viridian Forest."

"I'm afraid there's more to the tale, Daisy," Oak responded. "About five or six years ago, Rosa felt a surge of power not much different from her own. Crystal was the apparent result of it. According to what she's told us, there's a group that seemed interested in her getting stronger, but we have no idea why. And I have yet to figure out why Blaine became involved. Perhaps it's connected to his leave of absence from Cinnibar's Gym...."

"Gym?" Crystal repeated, confused. "Blaine ran one of those?"

"Yes, he does." Oak crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head, letting out a sigh as he did. "Crystal, if you're going to try and go after Blaine, you're going to have to train and get stronger. You do realize what that means, correct?"

Crystal's eyes widened at the unspoken word. "N-no...not that."

"What?" Daisy asked, curious. "You haven't been trying to do something when I'm not around, have you, Grandpa?"

"I have," Rosa responded. "The child is only a Level 5, Daisy. If she is to take on these people, she needs to become stronger."

"I don't want to do what you're been suggesting, though." Crystal crossed her arms over her chest and looked away from Rosa. "I'm not going to battle Pokemon and knock them out just to get stronger."

"Hmmm...." Rosa's eyes widened. "There is another way."

Crystal looked up in surprise. "There is?"

"Yes. But my friend is not exactly willing to appear before humans -- even humans he knows he can trust." Rosa let out a sigh. "Which means that you and I will have to leave Pallet Town and go and meet him."

Crystal's eyes widened. "L-Leave Pallet Town? Truly?"

"Truly. Are you willing to go ahead with it?"

Crystal looked down at the floor for a moment, considering what Rosa was suggesting. To leave Pallet Town, which had been told to Crystal was a place of safety,was practically unthinkable. But now....

Crystal looked up, her eyes sparking with excitement. "I'll do it! Anything to rescue Master Blaine!"

Rosa smiled and let out a giggle. "All right, then. We'll prepare today, and we'll leave tomorrow. That way, any last-minute things Daisy wants to cover can be covered before we get going."

"I appreciate the gesture, Rosa, but I'm not sure that Crystal needs it." Daisy smiled at Crystal. "We have gone over everything so deeply, she knows everything that I know -- and more, considering how quickly she went through those books. I find it almost impossible, how quickly she went through everything."

"I had a...um...what did you call it? Thirst for knowledge?"

Oak chuckled. "Indeed, Crystal. In that case, you may go and play with the Pokemon nearby. Just make sure you come straight back when Rosa calls, and keep clear of any Trainers or humans that might be nearby, all right? We don't want you discovered just yet.

Crystal nodded, then dashed out the back door of the lab.

Chapter Text

"All right!" Riley cheered as the Rattata in front of Ivy collapsed. "Eat dirt, rat!"

The man in black uniform in front of them growled as he returned the Pokemon to its PokeBall. "This isn't over, kid. Soon, Team Rocket will have the power to take over the world!"

"Right. And my dad can stand living with a Charizard next door," Ivy replied, rolling her eyes in annoyance. She was suddenly covered in a bright light. "Wh-what is this?!"

"Whoa...." Riley looked at Ivy from where he sat on Red's shoulder. "She's evolving!"

Sure enough, the Grass/Poison-Type was changing shape, the glow still coming off her form as the bulb on her back became bigger. When the light had exploded off her, her bulb had now become a flower bud, the leaves that had once covered it now splayed out on Ivy's back.

Ivy shook her new form. "Wow! I'm an Ivysaur!"

The Rocket grunt on front of them snorted. "That's not going to help you against what the Boss is planning. And not even I know what it is!" He pointed to two rocks beside him. "Just take a Fossil and go, all right?"

Red moved past the Rocket grunt, watching the man suspiciously, before picking up the rock labeled, "Dome Fossil." He then motioned for his team to follow him, and the Trainer made his way out of the mountain.

"Is this the first time you've run into those guys?" A rock with arms shielded his view of the sun, allowing his eyes to adjust to the light of outside.

"That's right, Geo," Riley confirmed. "They really slowed us down on our way to Cerulean. Speaking of which...." He pointed down the sloping path. "There it is! Now we can take out the Cerulean Gym Leader!"

Red rolled his eyes at his Pokemon's outburst, then pointed up at the sky. The sun was nearing the horizon.

Riley's ears drooped. "Oh, great. We won't be able to battle them today."

Red shrugged, then released Peter from his PokeBall as they made their way down the slope. The boy kept looking around, his eyes moving quickly.

"Looking for another Pokemon?" Riley asked, knowing the look in Red's eyes. When the Trainer nodded, the Pikachu asked, "Which one do you want to catch this time?"

Red stopped on the path, his other Pokemon gathering around his feet while Peter landed on his free shoulder. The Trainer pointed at a Pokemon in front of the group: a yellow, shrew-like Pokemon that seemed to be trying to make a hole alongside the path.

Ivy gave the Pokemon a curious look. "You...want to make friends with a Sandshrew? Why?"

"Why not?" Riley responded, grinning. "Hey, Peter, do you want to take this one?"

The Pidgey nodded, then jumped down from Red's shoulder and landed in front of the Trainer. "Whenever you're ready!"

Red nodded, then spun his left hand pointer finger around in a spiral, which Riley translated as "Gust." The attack got the Sandshrew out of its digging frenzy and into a battle stance, but it also looked a little dizzy from the attack. The Ground-Type was quick to shake off the effects, however, and it threw a bunch of sand at Peter, yelling, "Keep back!"

"Nice try," Peter replied, shaking the sand out of his feathers. "I have Keen Eyes."

"Hit it with a Quick Attack!" Riley ordered after Red made a slashing motion.

Peter nodded, then slammed into the Sandshrew at a high speed, causing the Pokemon to fall back on its rear.

Red reached into his backpack while the Pokemon was trying to get up, coming out with an empty PokeBall. He tossed it at the Sandshrew quickly, hitting it on the head. The PokeBall shook once...twice...thrice....

Click.

"Yes!" Riley exclaimed, leaping off Red's shoulder, his Trainer grinning like a madman. "Great job, Peter. Now let's get into Cerulean and heal up before we challenge the Gym Leader tomorrow."

Chapter Text

Blaine awoke with a jolt, a gasp, and a shudder. Something -- a forgotten nightmare -- had gotten him up to get his attention about something that was seemingly wrong with his body. The scientist looked himself over, to make sure that he was still in one piece...only to find his hand shaking and twitching all on its own. Curious, he turned on the small lamp that he was allowed to have in his cell, only for him to jump in alarm.

His entire right hand was a twitching purple mess.

Blaine could feel all the color draining from his face as he stared at the twitching mass. He hadn't expected it to develop to this point so quickly -- which meant that Mewtwo's development was speeding up. This was an unexpected development on the Gym Leader's part -- the serum the last scientist had administrated must be wearing off. Quickly, the scientist got up and, hiding his right hand under his lab coat, requested Capone that he be escorted to the lab immediately. Once there, he started to go over the data the shifts had collected, ignoring the strange looks he was getting when he as using only one hand. Upon finding what he was looking for, his eyes widened in surprise.

"This is impossible," the scientist muttered. "There's no way that this could be forced...." He thought back to what he had discovered about Mewthree, and how the DNA taken from the woman's corpse was actually an egg cell, which the Mew DNA readily bonded to and filled in the gaps. The way the DNA was reacting to Mewtwo, however, was different, especially considering they were using adult DNA for the main project. And the DNA was added after Mewtwo had started to form.

"What are they doing?" Blaine muttered, shaking his head in alarm. "They had better hope that it doesn't damage it permanently...for all our sakes." Going over the data again, he decided that it was better that no one could get their hands on it, rather than all of the Rocket community having free range with it. Quickly, the scientist started to type in codes that would guarantee his determined thoughts....

Chapter Text

"So, your friend is here?" Crystal looked around at the dense forest. "This place looks like it hasn't been touched by humans."

"I never said that this particular friend was human." Rosa paused in front of Crystal, the girl almost bumping into the Mew accidentally. "Can you sense his power? He's somewhere near here."

Crystal frowned, her head cocking slightly out of confusion. "You are more experienced that I am in that sort of thing. That's why we're going to see this guy, remember?"

"I remember. I just wanted to see if you knew anything beforehand." Rosa moved a branch aside with her psychic power. "We're here."

Rosa and Crystal walked forward into a clearing, the latter looking around in amazement.

"Wow. This forest is so...dense." Crystal reached out and touched a tree trunk. "This is...incredible."

"Never touched by humans, it has." Crystal looked around in confusion at the sound of the new telepathic voice. "My own secret hiding spot, it is."

"Eep!" Crystal jumped back in alarm as something materialized in front of her. It looked like Rosa, but instead of pink, it was blue.

"Hmm...strange, you are." The blue Mew circled Crystal, who was watching the Pokemon warily. "Human you are, yet you are not. Pokemon you are, yet you are not."

"Uh...." Crystal's nervousness increased as the Mew came even closer. "What are you doing?"

"Seeing if hostile you are." The blue Mew leaned forward, it's nose almost touching Crystal's.

"Catzin, she's safe." Rosa moved between Crystal and the blue Mew. "She isn't going to cause you any harm."

Catzin -- which appeared to be the blue Mew's name -- gave Rosa a curious look. "Hmmm.... Feels like you, she does. Sister, is she? Or creation with DNA, is she?"

Crystal's eyes widened in surprise at what Catzin had said. "How did you--"

"No Pokemon in planet history has had for human feelings." Catzin chuckled, but then a serious demeanor came over him. "What means you in entering my domain?"

"I need you to train Crystal so that she can master her Pokemon abilities," Rosa explained. "It's because of a problem. A few years back, did you feel an energy surge?"

"Surge? Have I, maybe. Two of them, attention grabbed."

"Crystal was one of them -- a creation that has been called 'Mewthree'." Rosa motioned to Crystal, who gave Catzin a hesitant wave. "If what you just said is true, then they used my DNA in creating her. There is another, however."

"Yes, the Mew of twos. I have been watching him."

Rosa gave Catzin a look of shock. "Y-you have?"

"There's another one of me?" Crystal asked, confused.

"Not a Mew of threes. A Mew of twos. Created before you, it was. More powerful than you, it was. Created from old skin, it is."

Rosa's eyes widened. "Old skin? Not the--"

"Yes. That skin."

"What do you mean by 'skin'?" Crystal asked, confused.

"Every few century or so, the two of us shed our fur, very much like an Ekans sheds its skin," Rosa explained. "It sets us back by a few levels, but it's our way of staying alive since the beginning of time. Some thousand years ago, Catzin's shedding was messed with, causing him to go on a rampage and destroy an entire civilization. I had to go to him with a good friend of mine and speed up the time around us, causing us both to shed our skins at the same time. As a result, Catzin has become a bit...odd."

"Odd in speech, yes. Odd in mind, no." Catzin started to look at Crystal more closely again. "Mew of twos has old, crazy skin. Go on rampage when wakes, he will."

"Then we have to get to it, first," Crystal deduced.

"Bad ones catch you, they will. Must train you first." Catzin flew away from the two and into the center of the clearing.

Crystal swallowed nervously. "Train? But I don't want to hurt anyone."

"Crystal, stronger you must become. Power within you sleeps. It can awaken to defend those you love -- with training."

"Crystal, I'm afraid we don't have much of a choice." Rosa put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "It's either we do this and give you a chance to defend yourself against our opponents, or we take a risk and go out with you unprepared for what you might face."

Crystal gave Rosa a sad look. "But I just don't want to risk hurting someone out here."

"You too weak to worry." Catzin's tail twitched with impatience. "Train you, will I? Or not?"

Crystal swallowed nervously a second time. "All right. But I want to take it slow, O.K.?"

Catzin nodded. "Rosa, watch for intruders, will you not?"

"All right, Catzin," Rosa responded. She gave Crystal a quick smile, then disappeared in a flash.

Catzin turned his gaze to Crystal. "Strength not level to mine, yours is. What is your power?"

"My level is at 5," Crystal responded. She wasn't quite sure as to whether or not Catzin had meant that, but that seemed to be what he was looking for, because he nodded slightly.

"And abilities of yours? The powers you can use in battle?"

Crystal swallowed. "Flash, Protect, Defense Curl...and Confusion."

"Interesting. Strong, defense is. Good defense also, attack is." Catzin motioned to the foliage behind him, and a Rattata emerged, looking up at the Mew expectantly. "Train, you must."

"I won't attack another living creature," Crystal said, moving back a little. "I don't want to hurt anybody."

"A creature that won't defend itself by attacking back? There's a laugh and a half!" Crystal looked at the Rattata in alarm as it continued, "Out here, every Pokemon has to fend for itself, usually by attacking if it gets into a tight spot. What was the only offensive attack you had? Confusion?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Confusion is a Psychic attack, meant to scramble a Pokemon's thinking process a little. It doesn't do much damage, but if used correctly, it can cause a Pokemon to become confused and see illusions around it." The Rattata looked up at Catzin. "Is that right?"

Catzin nodded. "Effects do not last; recover quickly, Pokemon can. Meant to spar, we were."

"R-really?" Crystal looked surprised at this.

The Rattata nodded. "Sometimes, though, we end up taking more damage than our bodies can handle. We just go into a deep sleep until someone can heal our wounds with a Berry, a Seed, or one of those devices Trainers can use."

Crystal scratched the back of her head, a mix of surprise and relief appearing on her face. "Then that means I can defend myself from attack without worrying about hurting my opponent?"

"In most cases, yes. Humans, stand our attacks well they cannot. Pokemon, always looking for a way to best others, they are."

"So...Pokemon are always looking for ways to become stronger?"

"Yup! It's our only way for us to be able to evolve into stronger forms. I think humans call it a...uh...'rite of passage'? Is that right?"

"Yeah, I think that's what it's called." Crystal turned her attention to Catzin. "So, how are we going to do this? The people I escaped from tried to teach me all kind of moves--"

"That, we will not attempt. Strengthen present moveset, we must." Catzin motioned to Rattata. "Practice spar, but only Confusion must you use."

Rattata wagged his tail back and forth in excitement. "All right! This is your first battle, so I'll go easy on you." The Pokemon charged forward and jumped, slamming into Crystal's stomach, causing the girl to stumble back in surprise.

"You call that going easy?" Crystal asked, surprised. Her eyes narrowed, and she gathered together whatever psychic energy she had and telepathically attacked Rattata. The attack was a weak one -- she knew that -- but she didn't want Catzin to get mad at her just because she used one of her other abilities.

Rattata's eyes widened as the attack hit, and his eyes became dazed and unfocused. It soon shook the attack off, though, and the Pokemon attacked again in the same way as before. Crystal, since she wasn't going to be using her more defensive moves, tried to get out of the way, only to get hit in the side. Crystal responded with another Confusion, only she was much more quick about it than the first time. Because of this, while the Rattata was still dazed, Crystal was able to attack again, causing the Pokemon to collapse.

"Whoo!" Rattata got up, shaking his head to clear up the previous attack. "For a kid who managed to only just start battling, your attack really packs a punch!"

Chrystal's eyes widened in surprise. "Truly? I'm that powerful?"

"At this point, yeah." Rattata grinned, his sharp teeth glinting in the sunlight. "Course, I'm only a Level 3 by Trainer standards, so if you really want someone's opinion, you should get Catzin to speak out about it." The Rattata looked up at the Mew expectantly.

Catzin nodded slowly. "Power is great, your attack is. Great room for improvement you have. Need training, you do. Rattata, we need more of your friends."

The Normal-Type nodded. "Right!" He turned and dashed off into the woods, leaving Crystal and Catzin behind.

"How did it feel, to use that power?" Catzin started to circle Crystal lazily.

"It felt...odd." Crystal looked down at her hands, which she clenched and unclenched. "Almost...instinctive."

"Power comes naturally to Pokemon, it does. Lies near surface, easy to reach. Humans have power deeper in -- comes out during times of distress, it does. You have both. Help you, I will. Gain control of both powers, you will."

"R-really? You'll help me with that?"

Catzin nodded. "First, eat you must. Come." Motioning for the girl to follow, the Mew drifted off into the trees, Crystal following not far behind.

Chapter Text

<So Samuel, how's your little prodigy coming along?>

"I'm afraid I don't know that." Oak scratched the back of his head out of embarrassment. "She left about a week ago with an old friend of mine, and they haven't reported back yet. I'm hoping that they haven't gotten themselves into any trouble...."

<I'm sure they're fine. You did say your friend knew how to avoid attention, after all>

Oak chuckled. "Yes, she most certainly can. Well, I had better get going -- my grandson and his rival are coming back here today, and I don't want to get distracted."

<Right. Professor Birch is out!>

As Oak turned off his telecommunications system, the front door of his lab opened, revealing a certain spiky-haired Trainer.

"Hey, Gramps," Blue said as he approached. Oak took note of the six PokeBalls his grandson had on his belt. "Has Red gotten here yet? Cause if he has, I'm gonna battle him."

"Chill out." Red closed the door behind him as he and Riley approached. "Red wanted to let our team say hi to a few friends. So, Prof, what's the deal? We were standing in front of Vermillion's Gym when you called and told us to come back."

"I'm getting worried about what is going on out in the region," Oak admitted. "Team Rocket's attacks are becoming much more frequent, and I'm not sure that the two of you should be journeying around at this point in time."

"Wait -- hold on a sec." Riley gave Oak a surprised look. "You mean to say that you want us to stop traveling around?"

"At least until this whole thing dies down."

"Gramps, I don't see why we should stop." Blue folded his arms over his chest. "I haven't run into any of these guys."

"But we have." Riley looked back and forth between Blue and Oak. "My guess is that we might be the cause of their increased activity. I mean, ever since we took them out at Mt. Moon, that bunch of losers has been on our tail trying to take us out. We've been running into those guys all over the place -- they really have an agenda against us. And when they haven't been going after us, we've been going after them. Have you heard from Mr. Fuji yet, Prof? We rescued him when Team Rocket out Lavender Tower under siege!"

Oak gave Red a surprised look, and the teen nodded, a determined look on his face. Blue, however, appeared indifferent.

"They're probably some of their weaker groups," Oak's grandson stated. "They don't think you're enough of a threat yet."

"We've faced Rockets with Raticate and Weezing, spiky. We've been getting all of their attention -- you're the one who isn't much of a threat to them." Riley and Blue exchanged glares.

Oak was surprised at this. "It takes a lot of strength to be able to fend off Pokemon like that," he noted. "Red, are you certain you want to continue traveling around?"

Red nodded, the determined look not leaving his face.

"We need to take care of those guys before they do something to someone other than us," Riley remarked. "Red and I suspect that they're holed up in Saffron, but we haven't been able to get in there yet. We're going to head back to Vermillion to challenge the Gym, and then we're going to ask around to see if we can find a way inside."

"I'm going to head to Fuchsia." Blue smirked. "They've got a Safari Zone there, so I'll be able to catch all sorts of rare Pokemon."

Oak smiled at the two Trainers. "Good luck in your endeavors -- the both of you. And keep an eye out for anything suspicious -- we don't want Team Rocket to get the best of you just yet."

"They won't," Riley promised. "Come on, Red! Let's go -- we've got a Gym Leader to beat!" Red nodded in agreement to this, then turned and dashed out of the lab.

"I'd better get going, too," Blue noted. "No sense in just sitting around and waiting for him to get stronger. I'm going to beat him one of these days...." With that, he turned and dashed out the door after his rival.

With the two Trainers gone, Oak felt like a burden had been lifted from him; it helped to know that they were capable of defending themselves against Team Rocket. However, he was still nervous about what was going on in the region. Deciding to try and clear his thoughts, the professor walked out the back door of his lab and into the sanctuary he had created on his land for Pokemon.

As he walked across his property, Oak observed the Pokemon that he had provided sanctuary to -- both wild and owned by Trainers. There was still a lot that he didn't know about the creatures, but the Professor was learning a lot from his fellow Professors. Even now, about a year after the regions had started to actually converse with each other politically and allow Trainers to travel from one region to another, there were still a lot of Pokemon that Oak was unfamiliar with. That had been the main region he had contacted Professor Birch from Hoenn -- he wanted to know a little bit more about the strange, four-legged blue and yellow Electric-Type that a traveling Trainer had sent him some time ago. A Manectric, the fellow Professor had called it.

Oak let out a sigh and shook his head. He wasn't quite sure as to how many Pokemon there were out there, but according to what the most recent region claimed, the world had discovered over 600 different species, not counting the myths and legends about the Legendary Pokemon that haunted each region. The Professor wondered if, considering that Mew existed, the other regions' legends carried truth -- that those Pokemon truly existed....

"Samuel!"

Oak was jolted out of his thoughts in surprise at the call of a human voice. He looked around quickly, searching for the strangely familiar voice's source. His eyes widened upon seeing a figure stumbling out of the woods near Route 1, and he ran over as fast as his old legs could carry him, hoping that whatever help he could provide would work before it was too late....

Chapter Text

"So, do we have what we need to get into the Gym?"

Red grinned at his first Pokemon and held up a disk with "HM01" on one of the sides. Then he made a couple motions with his hands, ending with using the disk to make a sideways, slashing motion.

"Yeah-yeah, I know we did this before. Just checking." He nodded to the Sandslash standing next to Red. "Okay, Sandy -- you're up!"

The Sandslash nodded slightly, then moved swiftly, his claws glinting in the sunlight. The small tree in front of them was torn to shreds within a few seconds.

Red gave Sandy a thumbs-up, the Sandslash grinning in response. The Trainer then motioned for the Ground-Type to follow him, and they entered the Vermillion Gym.

Riley looked around, a frown appearing on his face. "Is the Gym supposed to be this dark?"

I don't think so, Red signed back. The other Gyms all had something connecting to a specific Type. Unless the Gym was changed from Electric to Dark, I'd have expected this place to be lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Yeah. That makes a lot more sense than this." Riley let out a sigh. "We may as well have a look around and see if we have to flip a light switch or something."

"Light is not the least of your problems."

The Gym lit up with a bright flash, forcing Red and the others to cover their eyes for fear of becoming momentarily blinded. When the light had died down somewhat, Red lowered his left arm from his face, causing his eyes to widen in surprise and shock. Riley had the same look on his face.

"No way...." Riley looked at the creature in front of them, fear coming to his eyes. "That's Zapdos!"

"I have come to test you." Zapdos furled his wings back. "Let us see if you are worthy!" Electric strikes began to come down out of nowhere and slam the ground with the force of a small earthquake, forcing Red and the others to move around in order to avoid getting hit.

Red gritted his teeth, then motioned for Sandy to come close. He then started to move his fingers quickly. Riley was quick to translate the plan to Sandy, and the Sandslash nodded.

"Good plan," the Ground-Type noted. He turned and dashed for the lightning bird, his claws glowing with a metallic sheen. "Metal Claw!" With surprising speed, the Pokemon slashed the Electric/Flying-Type before jumping back to avoid its beak. "I think it knows Drill Peck, Red!"

"Just try to attack it a couple more times before Red brings out the reinforcements!" Riley called back. He looked at Red. "Honestly, though, what are we going to get out of attacking that thing? It's probably more powerful than the lot of us put together!"

I know what I'm doing, Riley, Red signed back. He reached into his backpack and brought out a yellow and black PokeBall. Zapdos said he wanted to test us. I'm going to test him back. He threw the Ultra Ball at the Legendary, much to Riley's shock, only for the ball to get batted back at him.

"It needs to be weakened even further," Riley berated.

I know that! Red motioned for Sandy to attack again, simply by pointing at the Zapdos. This got Zapdos damaged again by two more Metal Claw attacks, but that didn't seem to do much to the Legendary.

Red grabbed another PokeBall off his belt, motioning for Riley to call Sandy back. He then tossed it out, revealing Ivy.

The Ivysaur shook herself a little in order to get her bearings, and she looked up at her opponent, her eyes widening in alarm. "What do you want me to do? Get eaten by this thing?!"

"PoisonPowder, stat!" Riley responded, translating for Red.

Ivy's flower bud started to shake again, releasing purple spores that instantly zoomed for Zapdos like flies to a lightbulb. The Legendary bird tried to avoid them, but the spores were soon absorbed into its feathers, causing the Electric/Flying-Type to look sickly.

Red readied the Ultra Ball again and threw it at the bird, only to get it whacked back at him a second time. The Trainer's eyes narrowed, then signed to Riley to relay to Sandy another Metal Claw attack.

"Hah!" Sandy slashed the bird from below in an uppercut motion, causing the Legendary to fly backwards and hit the back wall of the Gym. "Take that, Thunderbird!"

Red nodded in approval, gripping the Ultra Ball that had been thrown back at him twice. Third time's the charm. He threw it at Zapdos with as much strength as he could muster, mentally pleading that it would work this time.

The ball flew through the air with a metallic whistling noise, hitting Zapdos between the eyes as it struggled to get up into the air. The Ultra Ball actually managed to capture the Legendary within its spherical confines this time, dropping to the ground with a clang. Red quickly crossed his fingers, watching intently. His Pokemon started to move forward, but the Trainer motioned for them to stop.

Wait for the click, the boy insisted. We don't want to get too close to an angry Legendary that knows the Thunder attack.

Riley frowned slightly as he watched the ball shake vigorously. "I'm getting the feeling that's not gonna happen."

Don't rule out all possibilities. Red's eyes narrowed as he watched the ball shake less vigorously. All Pokemon can be caught. Legendaries are still Pokemon. We could get this one.

"I don't know--" Click. Riley instantly fell silent as the sound echoed throughout the Gym. "No way...."

Red walked forward, his Pokemon falling back as their Trainer approached the Ultra Ball. Red picked it up calmly, looking inside to see that Zapdos had fallen asleep out of exhaustion -- if the Legendary had been pushed even further, he might have fainted.

"Uh, Boss, I think there's someone back there." Sandy pointed to the crack in the wall Zapdos had made when he crashed into it. "Smells like whoever it is got covered in electricity."

Red made a slashing motion. Cut. Get this wall out of our way.

Sandy nodded, then brought his claws back before leaping up and slamming them against the wall, creating slash marks as he slid back down to the floor. The wall soon followed suit, crumbling around the team and kicking up dust. When everything had settled down, Red and the others looked at the whole Sandy had created, Red's eyes widening in surprise.

"That's Lt. Surge!" Riley identified, looking at the knocked out blond Gym Leader in camouflage pants and and a no-sleeve muscle shirt. "What was he doing back there?"

Let's find out. Red stepped around the rubble carefully, watching out for anything that might trip him. Upon reaching the hole in the wall, Red reached out for Lt. Surge and tried to get him to wake up.

"Maybe I should try," Riley suggested, his cheeks sparking. "A little electricity should wake him up.

He hangs around with Electric-Types all day. He's probably immune to your level of power.

"Yeah, you're -- wait. What do you mean by that?"

He was probably knocked out by Zapdos' Thunder attack. The Pokemon is stronger than any of his other Electric-Types. At least, I think. Red worked his way around to stand behind Surge, then tried to use himself as a support to get the Gym Leader to stand upright...only for the man to fall forward on his face. Which seemed to do the trick.

Surge let out a groan and started to get up, muttering something under his breath that Red didn't quite catch -- and it was probably lucky that he didn't.

"Are you all right, sir?" Riley asked. Seeing as Lt. Surge used to be a part of the army, it made sense that the Electric-Type should show him some respect. Plus, the Gym Leader was very adapt at controlling his own Electric-Type Pokemon.

"I've been through worse," Surge grunted in reply. He took note of Sandy and Ivy, who were standing in front of him with nervous looks. "Where's the Pokemon that trapped me in there?"

"In this." Red came around and showed Surge the Ultra Ball, causing the Gym Leader's eyes to widen. "I don't know what my Trainer was thinking in trying to catch a Legendary."

It said it wanted to test us, Red responded, giving Riley an annoyed look. The Pikachu was quick to relay what his Trainer had said as a reminder to the Electric-Type.

Surge smirked as he got up from the ground. "So you're the Red kid that I've been hearing so much about. That's quite a feat, capturing Zapdos." He frowned. "Although, it's strange, having the Pokemon appear here. Normally, Zapdos lives in the abandoned Power Plant and challenges the brave and foolish -- mostly foolish -- kids who go there.... Something is wrong." He pointed to the Ultra Ball in Red's hands. "Keep that thing in your backpack, and don't use it. At this point, that thing is going to be too powerful for you to handle. But...." The Gym Leader dug into a pants pocket, coming out with a small, shiny piece of metal that looked like a sun with an "X" shape on top of it. "I think it's enough to let you have this."

Red's eyes widened in surprise, as did Riley's.

"Why?" The Pikachu looked up at Surge. "We haven't even fought you!"

"I don't have to give it to you only when you fight me," Surge replied gruffly. "It's a sign of my approval, that you're growing in strength and deserve a chance to go to the Pokemon League. Gym Leaders like myself only need to test the Trainers who come to challenge the Gym." The smirk returned to his face. "And I think your capturing of Zapdos proves that more than my battling you ever could."

"Well, uh, thanks." Riley looked at the wall while Red took the badge. "You're going to have a few repairs ahead of you."

"After having a Legendary in here, I would expect nothing less." Surge looked around, then let out a sigh. "That legend had better not be coursing problems around here...."

"Legend?" Riley looked confused. "What do you mean, legend?"

"How long did you live in a closet? The legend I speak of is one that has been passed down through the generations. According to it, whenever something disrupts the planet in some way, the birds leave to look for someone who will be able to take care of the problem." The Gym Leader shrugged. "I don't really believe a word of it, but if that bird came here, there may be some truth to it. You'd better get to that next Gym of yours -- who knows what you'll find there." Surge suddenly clenched his teeth and fell back onto his knees.

"Surge!" Riley exclaimed in alarm.

"Grrrr.... It appears Zapdos did a worse number on me than I thought."

Red nodded to Riley, who stated, "We'll help you get to the Pokemon Center so that they can patch you up." The Trainer then helped Surge back up and slipped his left arm under the Gym Leader's right shoulder, allowing the muscular man to use him as a support as they moved out of the Gym and over to the Pokemon Center.

Chapter Text

Silence. Darkness. How comforting those two things were. It was all the creature had known, and it was certain that it was all it would ever want to know. There were pictures that did come into its head -- visions of another time or place, when something else was with someone, teaching it, encouraging it. Those visions seemed out of place...it was certain that it had been alone, and that it would remain alone. Why bother it with these strange visions that mean nothing to it?

Something that wasn't the darkness -- wasn't the creature -- suddenly started to try and force its way into its mind. The creature resisted, because the whatever-it-was had disrupted the peace the creature had. And the creature didn't like this disruption at all.

Spacial Break

"Perfect." Petrel smiled at the spikes in brainwaves. "You seem to be making it have good progress, old friend."

The old scientist sitting at the computer in front of Petrel let out a chuckle. "I'm more than happy to get this up and running for the sake of your boss, old friend. That young man you had here earlier would have simply let fate run its course -- causing this project to disappear, more likely than not."

A younger scientist came up to the two, a concerned look on his face. "Are you sure that doing this is such a good idea?"

"Doing what, Connor?" Petrel gave the scientist a cold look.

"Speeding up its growth. I can sense that it feels discomfort because of this. Maybe you should just stop and see if it can grow and wake up sooner that otherwise."

"The process has begun, boy," the old scientist replied harshly. "It's not going to stop until either the thing dies, or it wakes." He turned to look at the computer screens. "If it succeeds, it should become active within a week's time."

"You have gotten better in your technique," Petrel noted.

"I've had a lot of practice."

The Rocket executive nodded slightly, then left the lab and walked into a room adjoining it. Inside, all was dark except for the glow of a TV screen, on which there was a silhouette of a man.

"Well?" the dark figure asked.

"Charon is making good progress, as I had predicted," Petrel stated. "He suspects that it will be ready in a week's time if he keeps it up."

"Good. You have provided me with much more than that buffoon Blaine ever could, even if he is a scientist and you aren't. Tell him to keep going -- make it grow even faster, if he can. We need that thing so that we can take over the world."

"Of course. Is there anything else you need me to do at this time?"

"No. Keep watching the progress and report back to me for reports so that I may monitor the creature's progress from here."

Petrel bowed. "As you wish, Master Giovanni." He then turned and left the room. On the screen, the figure started to shake, then chuckle quietly. This soon became a full-fledged laugh that sounded like it's owner had sinister intentions....

Chapter Text

Crystal looked up at the night sky above her and took in the night scents of the forest around her. She had never really been able to enjoy the beauty of nature when she had been with Blaine or Oak -- both had kept her inside at all times, the former because of orders, the latter for fear of the wrong kind of person discovering her -- and now, Crystal could see why Pokemon were mainly found in the wild.

Over the past few days, the girl had managed to get stronger by sparring with the Pokemon in the area. However, because she still felt slightly nervous about striking out too hard and damaging the Pokemon, Crystal had decided to do some training at night, as well. The quiet allowed her to be alone with her thoughts, so that she could concentrate on strengthening her presently known attacks.

"I hope Blaine's all right," she murmured quietly to herself. She thought back to when she had been in the lab, and what Blaine looked like, causing her to smile. However, whatever memories she had pushed out of her mind from when she had been there began to surface, bringing back what the people in black uniforms had done to her when they were trying to teach her new techniques.

Alarmed at her own memories, Crystal retreated from them and looked up at the stars again, tears falling at the memory of the pain she had suffered. "Do I really have what it takes to stop them? To rescue Blaine and take care of that Mewtwo creature?" She closed her eyes and let out a sigh. "I don't know...."

"Is something wrong, little one?"

Crystal was shaken out of her grief in surprise. The voice didn't sound like Catzin, and it was more gentle and quiet.

"W-who's there?" Crystal asked, looking around nervously.

"Over here, little one."

Crystal turned her head to see a strange Pokemon entering the clearing. It looked like a dog-like Pokemon, mostly blue with a black mask that surrounded its red eyes. On the main body area of the Pokemon, it had white, fluffy fur with a steel spike in the center of its chest, as well as on the back on both of its front paws. "Please, tell me, why are you crying, little one?"

Crystal sniffled. "It's those goons in black. I-I'm afraid that I won't be able to take them out when the time comes...." She shuddered at the thought. "I don't want to be captured by those things again."

"But that is why you are here, is it not?" The Pokemon approached Crystal, placing a paw on her left shoulder. "I am Rukario. I saw you training here, and I became curious."

"I'm Crystal. Catzin and the others are trying to help me train, but I'm afraid of hurting people and Pokemon."

Rukario became intrigued by this. "A pacifist for a Pokemon? Now there is something I haven't seen before."

"Pokemon? I'm not a Pokemon. At least, not completely.... Why do you think I'm a Pokemon?" Crystal looked at Rukario curiously, while the strange Pokemon looked away.

"I have been using my Aura Sight to see. A long time ago, I was born without my natural sight, so I adapted by learning about this power from my parents. It could be to your advantage to have an ability such as this."

Crystal gave the Pokemon a curious look. "How am I going to learn that? I am not a Pokemon like you."

"But you do have powerful Pokemon abilities within you. Powerful enough to learn Aura Sight and Aura Sphere."

Crystal's eyes widened. "I haven't heard of that move before. What is an Aura Sphere?"

Rukario chuckled. "Aura Sphere is a Fighting-Type attack that is a concentrated ball of aura -- your aura. Like this." He held out one of his paws, and a light blue, glowing ball of energy appeared there. "It is an attack that cannot miss, and is the bane of Dark-Types. Perhaps it could be of some use to you?"

Crystal's eyes widened even further. "Dark-Types...the Pokemon that aren't affected by Psychic attacks. If I had this attack.... Teach me, Rukario! Please!"

Rukario smiled kindly. "Of course. We shall use the trees for target practice, and I can teach you attacks that Machoke can use that won't mess with the number of techniques you have. Boxing and wrestling, despite being common among humans, can also be used as basic attacks when you run out of energy for your other attacks."

"Sounds good. Let's start!"

Spacial Break

Crystal let out a yawn as she woke up. Her arms and legs were sore from the "light sparring" she and Rukario had done the night before, causing the Mew-girl to wince as she started to stretch and get up from her temporary bed -- a nest made of soft grass, which the Rattata in the area had gathered at Catzin's behest.

"Strengthen mental capacity today, we will." Catzin sat down on a tree branch above her head while Crystal gave the blue Mew a curious look.

"Strengthen my mental capacity? What do you mean?"

"Power in the mind, there is. Stronger the mind, stronger some attacks. Learn new techniques, you can." Catzin motioned to Rattata, who was sitting in the center of the clearing. "One technique, there is. Telekinesis. Lifts other Pokemon into the air. Watch." Catzin motioned to Rattata again, and the Normal-Type was lifted into the air, and the little Pokemon started to flail about, surprise clear on his face. When the Rattata had been placed back on the ground, Catzin told Crystal, "Try, you must. Lift him, you will."

Crystal swallowed nervously. "Oh, boy. Let's see what I can do." She looked over at Rattata, who was watching her expectantly, if a little more prepared for what was going to happen. Cautiously, Crystal raised her left hand and closed her eyes, then tried to concentrate on lifting Rattata up off the ground. The Mew-girl could see the Normal-Type being lifted up in her mind, and hoping that she had succeeded, Crystal opened her eyes, hoping to see Rattata floating at least a couple inches off the ground.

To her surprise, the little Pokemon was floating off the ground at a high enough distance that he could have easily stared into her eyes without her needing to bend down in the slightest.

"Whoa. I wasn't expecting it to work that quickly," Crystal noted. "Do Pokemon normally learn attacks that quickly?"

"Not normal Pokemon, you are. Legendary half, you have. Learn moves quickly, easily, you can. More to this move than lifting, there is. Allow Rattata to fly like Pidgey, you must. Direct his movements through air, you can."

"Direct his movements?" Crystal frowned, then moved her left hand slowly to the right. To her surprise, Rattata responded easily, floating to the right, as well. "Huh. So, I'm pretty much carrying him without needing to use my hands?"

"Using mind, you are. Try not to use for too long, however -- strain the mind, it does."

Crystal nodded, then started to try to lower Rattata carefully...only for the little Pokemon to come crashing to the ground.

"Ow! Try to be a little more careful with that!" The Normal-Type got up unsteadily.

Crystal grinned sheepishly. "Sorry about that. It's going to take me a little while longer to figure out this whole Telekinesis thing."

"Get it, you will. Practice long, you must." Catzin motioned to a couple boulders sitting nearby. "Use those, you will."

Crystal sighed. "I'm really going to be sore tonight...."

Break

Crystal had only just managed to start to move two boulders through the air at once when a familiar figure stepped out of the shadows and into the clearing, a familiar pink Pokemon floating beside him.

"Catzin, Crystal," Rosa greeted. "It appears that we have a guest."

Crystal looked over and suddenly dropped the two boulders out of surprise, a grin appearing over her face. "Rukario!" She ran over and gave the Pokemon a fierce hug, much to Rosa's surprise.

"You know him?" Rosa asked.

"I have been giving her late night lessons," Rukario admitted. "Crystal is starting to come close to mastering the Aura Sphere technique."

"Aura Sphere?" Rosa looked at Crystal in surprise, causing the Mew-girl to smile sheepishly.

"I need something to protect myself from the Dark-Types," Crystal explained in a calm manner. "He's been teaching me to use Aura Sight, too, just in case I end up becoming temporarily blinded or anything like that."

"Good technique to learn, it is," Catzin noted. "Only strong Pokemon use it, do they. Strength of heart and mind, need you."

"That's kind of what Rukario's been telling me," Crystal noted. "Did you know that what you've been teaching me has been helping, Catzin?"

"Aware of late night lessons, I have been. Have lessons during day now, we will. Gain more restful sleep, you will."

Crystal chuckled. "Yes, I most certainly will."

Break

"Catzin, Rosa, Crystal. I need to speak with you."

The three looked up from their meal of Oran Berries. "What's up, Rukario?" Crystal asked, curious.

"I've been picking up something with my Aura-enhanced senses," the Lucario explained. "There are changes in the earth. Whether they are to our advantage or not, I am unsure at this point in time."

Rosa looked at Catzin. "You don't think--"

"Time to move, it is," Catzin replied glumly. "Time is soon."

"Soon?" Crystal repeated. "What do you mean by that? What time is coming?"

"Catzin and I can see short glimpses into the future," Rosa admitted. "The time for us to confront those who are creating Mewtwo is near."

Crystal's eyes widened. "R-really? We're going to be heading out to fight them?"

"We are heading out, but the fighting won't start yet." Rosa smiled slightly. "Crystal, you have become incredibly strong since you left Samuel's home. You're at Level 30, and you have learned Psychic, Telekinesis, and, thanks to Rukario, Aura Sphere. Protect will provide you with whatever extra defense you may have need of. Crystal, you are physically more than ready to go out into the world beyond this place. Are you mentally prepared for what you might face?"

Crystal frowned slightly, going over her thoughts. To leave this sanctuary -- to possibly enter into whatever danger might be lurking out there -- terrified her to no end. And yet, she also needed to find Blaine and save him from those people that had beaten her -- who knows what they could have done to him? And to wonder what they could do to her when she wasn't as prepared to defend herself....

The Mew-girl let out a sigh. "All right. But I don't want to get dumped into human civilization right away. And I want to get some more training in."

Catzin and Rosa nodded.

"Good choice," Rosa noted. "Everyone, gather round! We're getting out." Rukario, Crystal, and Catzin got closer to Rosa, allowing a pink bubble of energy to appear around them. There was a bright flash, and the four were gone.

Break

"I can't hear Brother's voice anymore. It's been completely severed. I'm worried about him."

"He's fine. Don't you remember? He said something about getting ready to test someone who was entering the Gym. It is my belief that he found the person he was looking for."

"We'd better hope so. If we choose incorrectly, then this entire world is doomed unless we find another way to stop this natural disaster-freak."

"The two are aware of what's going on. I believe they have one of the creatures that was created and they're training it."

"I know that! But will it be enough?"

"It will."

Chapter Text

"O.K. -- Erika's got Grass-Types according to the Trainers we've run into, so we'll need Flare and Peter," Riley stated.

We could also run into another one of the birds, Red responded. He watched a Trainer -- a Bug Catcher -- dash by where they sat, the figure cradling his PokeBalls with care.

"I dunno about that. The legend said the birds represented fire, ice and lightning. We've already run into the lightning one, and he was hole up in an electric Gym. Erika, as I've already said, runs a Grass-Type Gym." Riley's thunderbolt-shaped tail twitched. "If anything, we'd have to go all the way out to Cinnabar before we run into another one of them. There's a volcano located there, so the fire bird's probably there."

They're looking for someone, remember? It would stand to reason that neither bird would be on an island, far out of the reach of humans. Besides, Surge said that we might find something here. Red got up from where he sat, prompting Riley to jump off the table and onto his Trainer's left shoulder. We may as well get this over with. We've waited long enough. Red started for the door of the Pokemon Center, stepping out into the crisp morning air.

The boy and his team had been detained in the Pokemon Center as soon as Red had handed over his Pokemon so that their health could be restored the day before. Upon seeing the exhausted Zapdos in his possession, Nurse Joy became terrified and amazed at what Red had managed to do. Insisting that she double check that it had actually been him who had caught the Pokemon, Joy had looked into the database and cross-checked his Trainer ID with other Trainers who were in the Pokemon League -- or, at least, trying to get in. Nurse Joy had only just returned his team to him that morning, causing Red to wonder what would happen if he ended up finding the other two legendary birds, as well as what the problem that they sensed might be.

"Hey, Red?" Red looked at Riley, who had a slight frown on his face. "Call me paranoid, but I'm getting the feeling that something big's gonna happen. Not those birds or anything like that, but...something else."

Red frowned. What kind of "something else"?

"I dunno. All Pokemon carry that kind of instinct, but, unlike some more experienced, wild Pokemon, I can't find the source. I just know that something's up."

Reid's eyes narrowed. You may be right about that. To be honest, ever since we picked up Zapdos, I've felt on-edge for some reason. This...whatever-it-is you're sensing is somehow setting me off, too. Whatever it is, we'll probably find it soon. They stopped in front of a small tree that blocked a path that led into a more quiet area of Celadon. On a tree that stood nearby, a sign had been hammered into the trunk, with the words "Celadon Gym is down this way" carved into it.

Riley's ears drooped. "Great. It's just like back in Vermillion."

Oh, don't be so unhappy about it. Red grabbed a PokeBall off his belt. Sandy can take care of it. The Sandslash was released from his spherical confines, and the small tree was shredded in a matter of seconds, just like the one that was blocking the way to Surge's Gym. After the Ground-Type had been returned to his PokeBall, Red continued forward, his eyes peeled for any building that looked like the Gym they were looking for.

As they continued on, Riley's ears suddenly twitched slightly, and he looked up, his eyes searching the skies for the source of whatever minute change in their surroundings had just taken place. Red, taking note of his friend's sudden movements, stopped walking. Is something wrong?

"I'm not sure," Riley muttered. "I thought I heard something....like a bird just flapped its wings or something like that...."

It was probably just a Pidgeotto flying nearby or something. We're almost there, so try to calm down a little bit. Red returned his gaze to the path in front of them, taking note of a building that appeared to be a greenhouse with a giant PokeBall on the front. That Trainer was right -- Erika is a Grass-Type Gym Leader. The Trainer approached the building, his hand drifting to another PokeBall on his belt.

Red stopped short not too far from the entrance out of surprise as the temperature of the air around them started to rise, while at the same time, snowflakes started to fall, a few landing on Red's and Riley's noses.

"Snow? At this time of year? And why does it feel so hot?" Riley looked around just to make sure that nothing else funny was going on, only for his eyes to widen in surprise. "It looks like it's only snowing around us! And that temperature change doesn't seem to be affecting anyone else...." The Pikachu's eyes widened. "You don't think--"

"You there." Red and Riley stumbled back in surprise as two large shadows passed over them and two equally large figured landed in front of them.

"Moltres and Articuno...." Riley named, awed by the two Pokemon in front of him.

Red was also awed, but he didn't stay in that state for long. Quickly, he grabbed two PokeBalls from his belt and tossed them, releasing the Pokemon that had been inside: a red and white dog, and a two-legged, blue creature with a spiral on it belly.

"No need to fight us both at once," the large, majestic blue bird Pokemon murmured. "We are prepared to battle you one at a time, and I'm going first." Articuno moved in front of Moltres, who obligingly moved back to give the ice Legendary more room.

The Poliwhirl, in response to this, moved back as well, while Red's Growlithe moved forward, a growl coming out of the small Fire-Type's throat.

Red quickly clenched and unclenched his fist, and Riley called out, "Flamethrower, Arid! And step on it!"

Arid let out a bark in response, then the Pokemon spit out a stream of flames at Articuno. To the small Fire-Type's surprise, the ice bird did not dodge -- it did not even move an inch to avoid the attack.

"Hmm.... You have great power, to get this one up to that level of power." Articuno brought a wing in front of her face, then flapped it, creating an Icy Wind that coated a small area of Arid's back in small ice crystals. "However, you have yet to reach my level of power."

Flamethrower, Red ordered again, glaring at Articuno. He knew that Ice-Types were weak to Fire-Types, but Arid was still pretty young compared to the rest of the team. The little fire dog had yet to move on from barks and yips -- baby talk, according to Riley -- but Arid was already starting to prove himself as an important part of the team, one that would most likely stay as time went on. The Trainer watched in satisfaction as the Flamethrower hit Articuno again, causing the ice bird to shriek in pain as a burn appeared on one of her wings.

Red quickly reached into his backpack and brought out an empty Ultra Ball, only to pause. The Ultra Ball may have been the best kind of Ball to use in order to catch a Legendary, but something at the back of Red's mind told him to save what Ultra Balls he had for a later date. He placed the yellow and black ball back, only to bring out a blue ball with two red lines along the top.

Riley gave his Trainer a look of shock. "Are you insane?! The Ultra Ball would have been better to use, not a Great Ball! What are you thinking?!"

Red rolled his eyes, ignoring the Pikachu, then threw the Great Ball at Articuno, desperately hoping that it wold work. Much to his surprise, the Great Ball actually managed to take in Articuno. Even more surprising was that, while the ball was shaking, waiting for the Pokemon to give up trying to break free, it rolled over to his feet. Red and Riley watched with wide eyes as the Great Ball shook a few more times, nudging his foot, then finally let out the click, causing both Pokemon and Trainer to relax.

As Red was putting Articuno's ball in his backpack alongside Zapdos', Arid let out a yelp and was suddenly thrown back by Red's feet, fainted.

"My sister was ready to accept that you were the one we were searching for," Moltres growled as she came forward. "Let's see how you can handle an opponent like me!"

"Poli, get in front, now!" Riley glared at Moltres as Red returned Arid to his PokeBall and the mentioned Pokemon jumped in front of his Trainer. "Water Pulse, stat!"

The Poliwhirl let out a grunt before unleashing the attack, only for Moltres to dodge it.

"You won't get me that easy," Moltres hissed. "Flamethrower!" A cascade of golden flames came out of the fire bird's mouth.

"Move, move, MOVE!" Riley yelled at Poli, translating their Trainer's words. "And use another Water Pulse!"

Poli jumped to of the way of Moltres' Flamethrower, then prepared the Water-Type attack again and fired. This time it actually managed to hit its target in the chest.

The bird let out a noise that sounded like it could have been a short laugh in human terms. "Do you really think that an attack like that will affect me? I am stronger than your puny friend." A wing lashed out and hit Poli, sending the Pokemon flying into a tree trunk. The bird then proceeded to set fire to the tree, which toppled on top of the Water-Type, forcing Red to return the Poliwhirl to his PokeBall.

Moltres seemed to smirk, but Red couldn't quite tell because the creature's beak was not like a human's mouth. "I am stronger and faster. What makes you think you can beat me?"

Red looked at Riley with a determined gaze. The Pikachu swallowed nervously and looked like he would like to cower under a bush. When his Trainer's gaze intensified, Riley reluctantly complied to Red's silent order, jumping off his shoulder and landing in between the Trainer and the Legendary bird.

"This one is even smaller than the last one," Moltres noted, amused.

But he's stronger. Red brought out his PokeDex and pressed a few buttons, causing the device to proclaim, "Thunderbolt!"

Without flinching at the sound of the harsh, mechanical voice, Riley released the strong, Electric-Type attack, causing the fire bird to squawk in surprise as the attack coursed through her entire body, creating some sort of rainbow-colored aura.

Hope this works. Red pulled out an Ultra Ball and threw it at Moltres, only for it to be batted back with enough energy to destroy it as soon as it came in contact with a tree somewhere behind the Trainer.

"It's still too strong for that!" Riley called out, dodging a Flamethrower Moltres was aiming at him.

I saw that. Red had his PokeDex order another Thunderbolt. If we're going to capture it like we did the others, Moltres is going to need a status problem. The Trainer crossed his fingers as the Thunderbolt struck. Come on, come on! I'm looking for some paralysis, here!

Moltres let out another squawk as the electricity struck. "You are really getting on my nerves, boy!"

Red, it isn't working!" Riley called out, looking back at Red.

It will! Red made a slashing motion that seemed to cut himself in half from where Riley stood. Another Thunderbolt! Now!

Riley swallowed. "If you say so...." He turned to look at the fire bird again, then released the Electric-Type attack a third time.

"I've had enough of you," Moltres snarled, brushing the attack off as if it were nothing. "Flamethrower!"

Riley tried to move out of the way of the attack, but he tripped on an uneven patch of ground that looked like it had been moved by a tree root. "Oof!" He looked up at Moltres nervously as the bird prepared to attack...but it never came. The bird seemed to be unable to move.

Reid's eyes widened, and a grin appeared on his face upon realizing what had happened. All right! She's paralyzed! Now let's try another one. He reached into his backpack, only for his eyes to widen. Oh, shoot.

"What are you waiting for?!" Riley demanded as he scurried away from Moltres as the fire bird tried to move her body. "Throw one of those things already!"

I've run out of Ultra Balls and Great Balls! Red responded. We only have PokeBalls left, and who knows how we'll fare with those against Moltres!

"Well, just throw one and see what happens! And hurry!"

Red went through the items in his backpack, wondering why he didn't get a bag that had a separate pocket for Balls. Eventually, he managed to find a PokeBall at the bottom of the main pocket of the backpack. Let's hope this works.... The Trainer threw it at Moltres, his other hand crossing fingers for luck.

The PokeBall flew through the air with a metallic zing!, a noise not very different from the sound that had come from Zapdos' Ultra Ball. The PokeBall hit Moltres as she was struggling to break the paralysis grip, and it sucked her in, falling onto the grass, where it shook slightly, but not enough to cause it to move over to where Red stood. Riley stood in front of his Trainer protectively, watching as the ball shook, the Pokemon ready to unleash a Thunderbolt as soon as Moltres broke free. The Pikachu's and the Trainer's ears were straining as they listened for the noise that they wanted to hear.

Wiggle...wiggle...Click.

Riley blinked in surprise, then looked up at Red as the Trainer walked over to the PokeBall. "Don't they shake three times before doing that? Moltres might be playing a trick."

Red picked up the PokeBall and looked at it carefully. Moltres, who was most certainly inside, gave him an annoyed look and turned her head away. Refusing to stare into his red-eyed gaze for another moment. There's no way that she's playing a trick. Moltres has definitely been caught. He looked at Riley. Has your electricity ever released an aura like that on another Pokemon before?

Riley frowned, then shook his head. "I don't think so. What do you think could have happened?"

Either there's something wrong with our eyes, or something ended up helping when we were battling Moltres. Red placed the PokeBall in the same area as Articuno's and Zapdos' spheres, looking a little relieved at the fact that they had actually managed to finish the battle, but he was also a little curious. Who -- or what -- do you think ended up helping us?

Riley got up on his hind legs and shrugged -- a habit he had picked up from hanging around with humans. His ears then started to twitch, however, and he looked around for the source of the whatever-it-was that he had heard. "Over there!" The Pikachu pointed to some rustling bushes near the forest. "Whoever you are, come out!"

The bushes' rustling intensified, and something emerged, causing Red's and Riley's eyes to widen in surprise.

"No way...." Riley murmured. "You're that kid we found in Viridian Forest!"

Sure enough, standing before them was the blond-haired, blue-eyed girl with the strange, Pokemon-like appendages. She was even wearing different clothes -- jeans, white-and-pink running shoes, and a white shirt with a pink jacket.

Red took a couple steps forward, looking the girl over with curious eyes. Riley, thinking that his Trainer was going to attempt to communicate with her, dashed forward and climbed up onto Red's shoulder.

My name is Red, and this is my friend, Riley, Red introduced as Riley translated. What's your name?

The girl cocked her head slightly, her eyes traveling up and down the two, as if taking in their appearance. Finally, she stated, "My name is Crystal."

Red stumbled back in surprise, his and Riley's eyes widening. Did you just--

"Speak using telepathy? Yes, I did. It's an ability I've had ever since I can remember." She smiled slightly at their surprise, then suddenly stiffened, the ears on the top of her head swiveling toward the more populated area of Celadon. Red and Riley looked in that direction, catching sight of some figures in the distance. The two turned to look back at Crystal, only to have their eyes widen in surprise upon seeing that the girl had strangely vanished.

"Weird kid...." Riley muttered. He looked over at the oncoming figures. "Say...I think one of those people is the Gym Leader...."

A black-haired woman in a flowery kimono ran up to them, followed by a hodgepodge of Trainers who looked like they were ready for a battle.

"Have you seen two large Pokemon sitting on top of my Gym?" the woman asked, stopping short in front of the two.

Red nodded, then gave the woman a sheepish grin, pointing to his backpack. Riley quickly translated: "We ran into them and kinda...caught them."

The woman's eyes widened. "Impossible...." When Red brought out the Great Ball and PokeBall, her face paled considerably. "What is your name, young man?"

"My Trainer is Red, and I'm Riley." The Pikachu gave the woman a curious look. "Did you just say that the Gym is yours?"

The woman nodded. "My name is Erika. Surge called a heard from the Vermillion Pokemon Center and told me that you would probably be coming my way next. And then Moltres and Articuno appeared and forced me out of the Gym.... We were heading there to see if we could get them to leave and land elsewhere."

"So you actually managed to catch them?" A Bird Catcher asked in surprise. "Can I see?"

Red shook his head, then placed the Balls back in his backpack. He then began to make hand signals.

"I doubt that letting them to would be a very good idea," Riley translated. "Moltres was really eager to try and take out our team. She'd probably try and take you guys out if we released her. The others, though...."

The Bird Catcher frowned. "I get where you're going. Bird Pokemon, even when they're Legendaries, can be hard to tame when you catch them at higher levels."

"Aren't all Pokemon at high levels hard to tame?" A Bug Catcher responded.

"That doesn't matter right now," Erika replied quickly. "The Legendary birds have been alerted by something, and we need to find the source. Team Rocket has also been acting up, and we need to find their leader before they manage to take over all of Kanto. They have Saffron under siege already."

"Wait -- what?" Riley's eyes were wide. "We were going to go there next to fight the Gym Leader there!"

"I'm afraid that Sabrina isn't going to be available for some time." Erika let out a sigh. "I've been hearing rumors that she has been helping them out...." The Gym Leader shook her head. "That's not important now. What is important is that I've been hearing rumors about."

Red frowned, cocking his head slightly in confusion. This signal could easily be translated by even those who hadn't met him before.

"Some people in the area claim that there are Team Rocket operatives who have a base somewhere in this area," Erika explained. "I was planning on scouring the city in order to find out whether or not that was true."

"Maybe we can get Kaz to look into it," Riley suggested to Red. The Trainer's eyes instantly brightened, and he nodded in agreement.

The Bug Catcher frowned. "Kaz? Who's Kaz?"

"A Kadabra we picked up a while back," Riley explained as Red snatched a PokeBall from his belt. "He's gotten really experienced with sensing other people's life sources." The Pikachu frowned slightly. "I think he called it 'aura' or something."

Red nodded again, then tossed the PokeBall, releasing a creature that carried a spoon and had a thick tail. The Kadabra looked around for a moment, then bowed respectfully to Erika.

"All right, Kaz," Riley said, getting the Psychic-Type's attention. "Erika said that it was possible that there are some of those Rocket goons holed up in an area near here. Can you try and sense them?"

The Kadabra looked to Red, who nodded, a resolute look on the Trainer's face. The Psychic-Type then got into the air and crossed his legs, closing its eyes and appearing to start to meditate.

"It'll probably take him a little bit before he finds something," Riley told the Gym Leader. "Have you checked out any places already?"

"The Celadon Department store is clear, as well as my Gym and a few of the residential buildings," Erika supplied. "We were going to give a few of the hotels in the area a once-over today when I came out this morning and found those two birds on top of the Gym."

"The Game Corner." Everyone turned to look at the Kadabra in surprise as it floated back to the ground. "I sense...malevolent thoughts there. A few from Mt. Moon asking for revenge for what you did, Red."

That is to be expected, Red responded. Those people seemed to dislike me the moment I appeared. I still haven't figured it out yet.

"The Game Corner," Erika murmured. "Why didn't I think of it before? That place appeared so suddenly...and many people claimed that the letter 'R' appeared all over the building in red...like on the front of the Rocket uniforms...." Her eyes widened. "We have to get over there now!"

"Well, we won't be able to join you right away," Riley stated. "Poli and Arid need to get healed up, and I'm feeling a little tired myself." Upon seeing the look he was getting from Red, he demanded, "What? You didn't think that would just run in there, did you? We might need those two!"

"The Pikachu's right." The group's attention returned to the Bird Catcher. "We'll wait for you by the Game Corner's entrance, Red. Go get your team healed up, and then we can go in and storm the place."

Red's eyes widened slightly, and he nodded, a grin coming across his face. He then turned and dashed off for the Pokemon Center, Kaz somehow managing to fly after him.

"He's a strange kid," the Bug Catcher noted. "A Pikachu that talks, a Trainer that can't...he's probably been targeted by bullies."

"If he managed to capture all three Legendary birds, I doubt it," the Bird Catcher responded. "It takes a lot of confidence in yourself in order to catch a Pokemon of a high level, and even more in order to catch a Legendary.... I'm nervous just thinking about it! If I have to face that kid anytime soon...."

"You probably won't have to, unless he asks for it," Erika chided. "Come on! We have to get to the Game Corner!"

Chapter Text

Crystal watched quietly from her hiding place as the figures ran off into the city, glad that she had managed to slip away when she did. It had surprised her to see that the strange boy who she had in a surprisingly faint memory had actually managed to capture two Legendary Pokemon -- those of which Catzin and Rukario had spoken with reverence.

"How --" The Lucario beside her seemed to be at a loss for words. "Such a thing has never happened before! A human Trainer capturing a Legendary?! Times certainly have changed...." Rukario looked at Crystal curiously. "Why did you help him weaken them? Or even show yourself to him? Every other human that has passed by here, you have cringed at."

"I...know him from somewhere." Crystal could feel Rukario's gaze burning into her with a curiousness that she could not ignore. "When I managed to escape from the Rocket base that had been in Viridian Forest, Red and his Pikachu friend, Riley, were the ones who found me. I remember hearing Riley's voice right before passing out. Later, I learned from Rosa in secret that she had Teleported them and me to Professor Oak's home, but she didn't give me the names of the Trainer or the Pokemon -- most likely because she didn't know. I helped them because...well, I feel like I had owed them a debt because they had managed to rescue me and put me under the care of someone I knew I could trust."

"I think you put him in your debt," Rukario responded. "Leaving a battle with a Legendary alive is only told in ancient legends and as great accomplishments by Rescue and Exploration Teams on the other side of the world. Here, a human might end up dying from such an encounter...only for possibly every single theory to be debunked right here, with that boy capturing those two Legendaries."

"Three. Red has all three of the Legendary birds Catzin spoke of. I could sense Zapdos entrapped in one of those PokeBall things. It was in his backpack."

Rukario's eyes widened once more. "All three--?!" He shook his head. "It shouldn't be capable of happening.... What are you going to do now, Crystal? Are you considering following him into Celadon City?"

"I have been...considering it. But the idea of interacting with other humans still scares me a little."

"As it should. You have yet to live among that many humans grouped together, seeing as you're more used to being with Pokemon than those you resemble more." Rukario moved a little closer to the edge of the trees so that he could stand beside Crystal. "And, if I were to follow you, we would attract attention immediately. I know you can hide your Pokemon ears and tail, but a Lucario like me isn't exactly native to the area. The Trainers around us will flock to you asking to battle or trade, thinking that I am a Pokemon you have befriended and use in battle. I have seen this instance happen on more than one occasion, and I have not attempted to wander out in the open for fear of being taken from my journey myself."

Crystal looked at her friend, a saddened expression appearing on her face. "Oh, Rukario...." She returned her gaze to the strange buildings, taking note of their height. The strange Mew-human close let out a sigh. "Still, this human city had gotten me curious. I want to see what they do on a regular basis." She started to step out of the trees again, only for a flash of light to catch her and the Lucario's attention.

"We just took a round-trip around Kanto," Rosa stated, approaching Crystal. "According to the Pokemon in the region, Team Rocket's attacks against people and Pokemon alike have become much more frequent."

"Dangerous for powerful, it is," Catzin noted, sitting in a nearby tree. "Rockets take advantage, they do."

"Well, they didn't get those three Legendary birds you told me about," Crystal pointed out. "I just helped Red catch one not too long ago. Do you know why they were challenging him like that?"

Rosa nodded. "As they were made of fire, ice, and lightning -- direct forces of nature -- Moltres, Articuno, and Zapdos are more in-tune with nature than most Pokemon of their level of power. They became aware of your and the other clone's existence the same time I was, and they only just started to make their move, seeing as you have awoken. It might also mean that...Mewtwo, I suppose, seeing as you called yourself 'Mewthree'...might be close to waking."

"Close, he is," Catzin confirmed. "Feel power, I do. Nearby, he is. Where, I cannot yet tell."

Crystal frowned slightly, then her eyes widened. "A black-haired woman ran up to Red after he had caught Moltres. She said that she had heard...'rumors'...about a Rocket base right here in Celadon. They ran off to investigate a place not too long ago. She also said something about Team Rocket holding Saffron City under 'siege'...but, what is a siege? And what are rumors?"

"A siege is when people in a certain area are forced to stay there, usually without any connection to the outside world," Rukario supplied. "No one can go in or out, and food supply lines are cut. A rumor is usually something that people have heard, but it is a statement that can't be confirmed because it is stated without proof."

"Oh...."

Catzin gave her a curious look, perking up slightly. "Hmmm...." He got off his branch and flew around Crystal, inspecting her a little. "Gotten stronger, you have. Level 37, you are. Only a few days, have we been here."

"I did help battle Moltres," Crystal admitted. "I had heard her say that she wanted to test Red, and after seeing what had happened to Articuno, I figured that he might need some help. Besides, I owed him for finding me in Viridian Forest...."

Rosa let out a sigh. "You really shouldn't have done that, but I do see your point. The next time that boy attempts something like that, however, I don't want you to help him with battling a Legendary, all right?" Upon seeing Crystal nod, Rosa allotted herself a small smile. "Good. Despite the simple fact that you could gain more experience, it's not something you should attempt for some time yet." The Psychic-Type turned to look at Catzin. "We must find that clone of yours and stop the humans from waking it up. If it'll be anything like you were--"

"Destroy this place, it will," Catzin remarked grimly. "Powerful as, crazy, as...me. Must find where it hides, we do."

Rukario stiffened suddenly, his blind eyes widening as his head turned.

Crystal gave him a curious look. "What is it, Rukario?"

"Someone approaches. They don't seem to be malevolent, but there is something wrong with their form."

The Mew-human clone frowned. "Something wrong with them? What sort of something?"

"The kind that I would not force on any other living creature."

The group's heads turned, their faces showing shock or surprise as a strange figure approached, leaning against a horse with a fiery mane for support on his right.

Crystal's surprised face became one of joy. "Blaine! You got away from them!" She moved forward, only to pause as everything around her became different shades of blue as the Mew-human clone activated her Aura Sight. Crystal's eyes widened as she saw the writhing purple mass that took up her friend's entire right arm and then some. "What happened to you? You didn't have that purple...thing there before."

Blaine smiled and chuckled weakly as the Aura Sight was deactivated. "I'm afraid this happened while we were still with them. It only just started to cause problems...ugh!" He leaned even more heavily against the fiery horse, causing it to neigh at him out of concern. "I'm all right, Rapidash...for now." Turning to look at the rest of Crystal's friends, the scientist stated, "My name is Blaine. I was hired by that group to try and do what a previous scientist couldn't. Mewthree showed me the error of my ways...but it is already too late for me. When I helped you escape, Mewtwo's active cell mutations on my body had already begun to spread from my right hand.... Now, the mutation spreads even faster than it had before -- and a new scientist is the cause. He is...stimulating Mewtwo...forcing it to grow at uncanny speeds.... It won't be much longer before my body is forced to succumb to the after-effects...."

Crystal's eyes were brimming with tears for her friend. "We'll fix you somehow, Blaine," she promised. "Do you know where Mewtwo is?"

It took about half a minute for Blaine to muster up the breath for an answer. "Saffron.... Under the Silph Company tower...."

"Oh, boy." Crystal sounded worried. "You mean we have to face all the Rockets that are probably in the area? With whatever powerful Pokemon they might have?"

"I wouldn't worry about them being all that powerful." A boy who looked to be about thirteen with dark blue hair and equally dark green eyes appeared. He was wearing a white shirt and jeans, and appeared to be more muscular than other boys his size. "Their bosses make it a point to keep the power among the Rocket grunts are a minimum."

"Who are you?" Rukario growled.

The boy allowed a smirk to flicker on his face for a moment. "The name's Capone. Sabrina decided to use her mumbo-jumbo on me a while back and stuck me in their ranks. Blaine snapped me out of it when he knocked me over the head with a lamp." The boy chuckled at the memory, but then became serious again. "The only Rocket member you really have to look out for that isn't a boss is Petrel. He pretty much runs the whole science division, and was the reason Blaine got out of there. The old man was gonna have the guy offed, but Blaine conked me in the head and I ended up saving his life as thanks."

"For which I thanked you for," Blaine responded. He was about to say something more, but he let out a growl of pain and slumped against the Rapidash, causing Rosa to fly over and give him a closer look with her own Aura Sight.

"You are most certainly not well, Blaine," Rosa warned.

Blaine let out a grunt. "I know. That last bout...was even worse than the others. I fear...that we might be...too late."

Spacial Break

"The time has come." A creature within darkness stirs, sensing others outside of its prison, not caring whether they are enemies or allies. These creatures were nothing to it...it who could destroy them with a single thought...a single gesture.

"The time...to destroy!"

Chapter Text

"Thunderbolt!" Riley released a good amount of electricity, taking out the Raticate that was coming toward him. The grunt who had been commanding the Normal-Type was also caught in the blast, causing him to fall back from the electric charge that had been released. The figure hit the tiled floor with a thud, forcing him to release a groan.

"Sorry, buddy," the Bug Catcher, Al, said as he grinned at the grunt. "Maybe you'll come to your senses and drop the uniform when we get this whole thing wrapped up." He gave Riley a thumbs-up. "Not bad for a Pokemon your size. If you keep going like this, you just might be able to take out the big leagues without bothering on evolving."

"That's what I'm planning," Riley replied with a grin. He nodded to Red, who was standing next to a poster that was advertising a new kind of PokeBall -- something that was apparently called the Timer Ball. "Let's see what's under there."

The Grunt seemed pretty intent in protecting it, Red agreed. He grabbed a lower corner of the poster and yanked on it, intending on pulling it off the wall. There was the sound of ripping paper, and a corner of the poster Red was holding onto came off in his hand while the rest of the poster stayed in place. Where the corner had been, a red button with a black "R" sat, pretty much screaming to be pushed.

"That looks like a secret switch," Erika noted.

Red nodded in agreement, while Riley rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Gee, ya think? Red, just push it already!"

Red nodded again, then reached out. He was mere centimeters from the button when the Bird Catcher stopped him.

"As soon as we press that, whatever Rockets that are in the area are probably going to be on the alert," he warned. "Are you sure that you want to press it?"

Red frowned, then nodded again. The Bird Catcher promptly released his hand, and the Trainer pressed the button. Instantly, all the slot machines in the building shut down.

"I'm glad that we managed to get everyone of of here," Erika noted as the lights started to dim. "If anything, then we might have had a mob on our hands."

"I was more than happy to play a crazy goon if it meant knocking this place down," the Bird Catcher stated. "People should really avoid this place like the plague."

"You said it, Kyle," Al agreed. The ground underneath his feet started to move, forcing the boy to jump out of the way as the tiles slid back into the wall, revealing metal stairs. "Do we have to go down there?"

Capone frowned, then nodded. "Yeah. They designed it so that they could get the money directly from the cash register after the Game Corner closed up for the day. No need for hired thugs to let the money change hands."

"Aren't the Rocket grunts hired thugs anyway?" Riley climbed back up onto Red's shoulder as the Trainer gave Erika a questioning look.

"Most of them seem to be cannon fodder, but there are a couple who rise through the ranks," Erika remarked. She motioned to the stairs. "Are we going to go down there or are we just going to sit around waiting for the world to end?"

"We're going down there," Kyle stated. He started forward, but Al stopped him.

"Let Red go first," the Bug Catcher suggested. "He has proved that he is the strongest out of any of us." He nodded to Red, who looked down the stairs, hoping to see if there might have been anyone waiting down below. However, there were no lights around the base of the stairs, and what lights that lined the hall were only just enough to illuminate the way down. His body seeming to relax slightly as he let out a sigh, the Trainer steeled himself, then walked down the stairs, doing his best to look braver than he felt.

"Great," Riley muttered, not looking at all pleased, either. "We're thrown into something, and we don't know what's waiting. My fur's going sparky just thinking about it."

All Red could do was nod in reply; the lighting of the stairs didn't provide enough to allow the Trainer to communicate with his Pokemon.

"Hey, wait." Red stopped short and looked at Riley, who pointed to the last few stairs, seeing as Red was only just starting to clear the ground floor. "It looks like there some Pokemon down there...." The Pikachu's paw pointed to a few shadows that seemed to be waiting around the base of the stairs. "Looks like they knew we were coming."

"It looks like there's a guard at both ends," Kyle whispered behind them. "Maybe we should give him a surprise."

"I doubt that's going to work. They already know that someone's coming down." Riley's cheeks started to spark. "Just say the word, Red, and I'll take 'em out!"

Red looked at his first Pokemon -- his first friend -- and, after a moment, nodded, a determined look on his face. He made a fist with his right hand, then pointed downward with his thumb, a motion that Riley found to his liking.

"Perfect!" Riley jumped off Red's shoulder and landed on a stair a few steps below, causing the figures at the foot of the stairs to cry out in alarm upon seeing him there. "Surprise Thunder attack!"

Red covered his eyes as a bright flash illuminated the space in front of them, the air obtaining the smell of ozone as large amounts of electricity was released, attacking those who were by the stairs. By the time Riley had stopped the attack, the Rocket grunts had long since been knocked out.

"Did you have to go overboard?" Kyle asked nervously as the rest of the group came down the stairs and surveyed the damage done by Riley's rebounding attack.

The Pikachu grinned sheepishly. "These guys have been giving me and Red detour after detour from the Gym challenge. They deserved it."

"Yes, but I have to agree with Kyle." Erika pulled a PokeBall from one of her kimono's sleeves. "You did overdo it." She tossed it up, releasing a Pokemon that had a giant red flower on its head. "Come, Vileplume; Team Rocket is to be stopped at all costs." The Gym Leader nodded to Kyle and Al. "We shall split up; Kyle and Albert will travel together, and I will go with Red."

"Do I have to?" Al gave her a pleading look, but quickly changed his tune when Erika shot him a glare. "OK, OK! We're going!" He nodded to Kyle, and the two took off down one of the branching off corridors, leaving Red and Erika still standing at the base of the stairs.

Riley looked up at Red. "OK, then! So, where to first?"

Red's gaze went over the adjoining corridors, taking note of the steel walls and how they seemed to lead to places that weren't just below the Game Corner. Eventually, he pointed to a hallway on their left -- the exact opposite direction Kyle and Al had gone. I think we might be able to find something down that way....

The Pikachu sitting at his feet nodded. "All right, then. Lead the way, Red!"

The group dashed off down the corridor, Riley's ears up and his tail high in case he needed to unleash another electric attack at oncoming enemies.

"Hold it right there!" The two Trainers and their Pokemon came to a stop, not too far away from two grunts. In front of them were two angry-looking Raticate. "You two are trespassing on private property."

"Two?!" Riley looked a little annoyed. "You could at least take note of the Pokemon, creep! Who do you want me to attack, Red?" The Pikachu looked quickly back at his Trainer, who pointed to the left without hesitation as the Raticate there prepared to dash forward. "All right! Thunderbolt!" Riley whirled around and zapped the Normal-Type with the electric shock. The Raticate stumbled back, it's attack forgotten as electricity sparked out of its fur.

Finish it off with that new move, Red directed. Riley nodded, then started to dash forward.

"Take this! Iron Tail!" Riley jumped up into the air, his tail starting to glow white with energy. With a quick spin, the Electric-Type slammed down on the Raticate's head, forcing it to the floor. When Riley had landed a few feet in front of the Pokemon, the Raticate did not attempt to get up, much less attack the Pikachu.

"Vileplume, use Petal Dance," Erika murmured. The Grass/Poison-Type nodded slightly -- without doing anything that might cause it to tip over -- and then it started to move over to the other Raticate, spinning much like a ballerina as flower petals started to appear around the two Pokemon. When the petals had obscured the view of the two Pokemon, there was the sound of something getting a great beating. When the petals had died down, the Raticate had fainted soundly, while Vileplume was standing proud.

"Y-you took him out in one move?!" Riley stood gawking at Vileplume, who gave him a grin in response.

"I have two different teams," Erika explained. "One is for Gym challenges, and the other is for stronger Trainers -- or for situations like this." She looked at the two Rocket grunts, who were also gawking at the Vileplume. "If you two would kindly stand aside, or else I will let Vileplume do the same to you."

The two grunts looked at each other, eyes wide, then slammed themselves against the walls of the hallway, allowing for Red, Riley, Erika, and Vileplume to walk past unharmed.

"Don't think that we're the only ones here!" one of the grunts called after them. "There are a lot more of us down here who can -- and will -- take you down!"

"Yeah, sure!" Riley grinned back at them. "Like you guys are anything that we should be worrying about! I took out a group of you guys with a Thunder, and I'm more than willing to do it again!"

Red yanked the Pikachu's tail, annoyed with his Pokemon at boasting at the enemy. Riley glared back in reply.

Concentrate on taking them out, not bragging on your level, Red scolded. Yes, they're not too powerful, but there are the rumors about their leader being strong...and then what Erika told us about Saffron's Gym Leader. We have to be careful.

"I would listen to your Trainer, Pikachu."

Red stopped short in surprise, Erika right behind him as Vileplume let out a low growl.

"After all...there is still me you have to face."

"Sabrina!" Erika identified.

The dark-haired woman in front of them sneered at the two Trainers and their Pokemon. "Hello, Erika. You certainly seem to be...healthy."

"Why did you do this?" Erika demanded. "Why did you join them?"

"They needed my help, much like they needed Blaine's." Sabrina smiled mischievously at Erika, who gave the Psychic Gym Leader a look of confusion. "You mean you haven't heard? How shameful."

"B-Blaine is working with Team Rocket as well?" Erika asked, shocked.

"The Cinnibar Gym Leader?" Riley looked none too pleased. "Oh, great."

"Oh, he isn't with us anymore." Sabrina tossed a PokeBall out, revealing a humanoid Pokemon that looked somewhat like a clown. "Team Rocket has no more use for him...and they have no use for you, either. Mr. Mime, Psychic!"

"Oh no, you don't! Thunderbolt!" The Electric-Type attack hit the Psychic-Type square in the chest right before the psychic energy attack hit Riley. "Gah! That smarts!"

Sabrina looked over at Red as he looked at Riley in surprise. "It appears that you and your Pikachu have a deeper connection than they thought...."

"The name's Riley, witch!"

"Riley, Red, I want you two to go on ahead." The two mentioned looked at Erika in surprise as she brought out another PokeBall. "I will face Sabrina alone."

"Do you really think you can defeat me?" Sabrina gave Erika a sly smile. "Do you remember what happened last time you dared to challenge me at my Gym?"

"Things are different now. I've trained since then."

Sabrina looked at the Grass-Type Gym Leader a moment before chuckling. "Very well, then. Let's see how you can manage against me. Mr. Mime, a Barrier, if you would."

"Yes, Ma'am!" The Pokemon saluted, then quickly moved around Sabrina and Erika, forcing Red to move when a wall materialized out of thin air and forced him into the corridor behind Sabrina. "Sorry, boy, but we can't allow you to help, can we?"

Erika! Red looked at the Gym Leader to of concern.

"Don't worry about me, Red!" Erika's voice was muffled by whatever it was that Mr. Mime was creating. "Keep going, and try to find out what they're planning! I'll be fine!"

"We'd better do as she says," Riley muttered into his Trainer's ear. "Who knows -- we might be able to stop this mess before it gets any worse."

Red frowned and looked down at his shoes, considering his options. Stay and watch a new-found friend battle a rogue Gym Leader? Or try and keep going? Eventually, he looked over at the Pikachu and nodded.

"Good." Riley gave Erika a thumbs-up. "Try to beat her for us!" With that Red turned and dashed down the corridor. Sabrina watched them go in a calm manner.

"You do realize that you will most likely lose," Sabrina noted calmly, turning back to look at Erika. She was surprised to see that the Gym Leader had returned her Vileplume and was holding two PokeBalls now.

"You don't keep tabs on us as much as you used to," Erika noted, placing one of the PokeBalls back inside her sleeve. "Maybe you should rethink that last statement." She tossed the PokeBall, exclaiming, "Shift, use Dark Pulse!"

Time Break

"Come on, come on...." Riley looked around the hall, his nervous nature causing his fur to rise because of his constant releasing of electricity. "Where did all the Rocket grunts go?!"

Red shrugged, but couldn't help but feel unnerved by this, as well. Something wasn't right here -- even though it was an evil organization's base -- and the Trainer was going to do his best to try and find out what was wrong.

Of course, considering that he didn't quite know what to expect, Red turned a corner and ended up stopping short, his eyes widening in amazement.

The corridor eventually led to a dead end, in which there probably was the most advanced computer system to date -- a huge screen took up most of the wall, separated into smaller sections that showed different corridors at different angles. The rest of it was buttons and levers, each in a different color or flickering like they had hidden lights underneath them. Sitting in front of the very center of the screen there was a man with purple hair that went up in an odd position. Red couldn't help but wonder how much hair gel the man used in the morning. Riley seemed to pick up on the thought as soon as it came into Red's head.

"Hey, you!" the Pikachu barked. "How many bottles of hair gel do you go through a week? One a day?"

"Actually, it's one and a half--" the figure started as he turned in the swivel chair, only to stop short in surprise upon seeing who was standing there. His dark eyes widened in surprise. "Well, well. It looks like I have a guest. Tell me, what's your name, boy?"

"He's Red, I'm Riley." Riley glared daggers at the purple-haired figure. "We've got a bone to pick with you, Rocket, putting a base right under a city."

"The name is Petrel." Petrel gave the Pikachu a look. "Red, was it? You have a very rare Pokemon with you. Any Pokemon that can talk is worth a lot of money. Perhaps we can make a trade?"

Red's scarlet eyes widened, and he shook his head vigorously while Riley grinned.

"Like he would give me away just like that!" Riley looked triumphant. "The two of us are old friends, and have been since he was five! There's no way you're separating us!"

"We shall see about that." Petrel appeared to be slightly shaken at what Riley had said, much to Red's confusion. A Rocket member who isn't surprised to hear a Pokemon talk, and yet at the same time doesn't like what he hears? "Muk, come out!" A dark purple blob appeared on the linoleum floor, and a stench started to fill the air, forcing Red and Riley to cover their noses out of disgust. "What are you waiting for, boy? An invitation? Fight me and my Pokemon! If you win, you can go on your way. If I win, I will get your Pikachu!" Petrel slammed down on a button behind him, forcing the doorway behind Red to suddenly slam shut. "If you forfeit or even think about fleeing, I still get the Pikachu."

"The name is RILEY!" Riley snarled. He looked at Red. "What are we going to do?"

Reid's eyes narrowed. We fight. He grabbed a PokeBall from his belt and tossed it out. Let's go, Kaz!

The Kadabra appeared in mid-air in front of Red. Upon seeing who he had as an opponent, the Psychic-Type waved the fumes away from its nose in disgust. "Vermin. You really ought to hide your scent. It's distasteful."

The Muk appeared hurt by this statement, and it tried to grab at Kaz, only for the Kadabra to float a little higher.

"Muk, use Sludge!" Petrel ordered.

Fight back with Psychic! Red had been more than delighted when he had found out that Kaz could read his thoughts. It meant that Riley could give his voice a break, and Red could have an actual conversation with one of his Pokemon.

Kaz waved his spoon about lazily as the ball of poison came flying at him, causing it to become filled with psychic energy. The Sludge attack was then dropped on the Muk, and the Psychic attack invaded the Poison-Type's system quickly, causing the Pokemon to moan in pain. By the time the energy had dissipated, the Muk lay there on the floor, becoming nothing more than a puddle. Two swirls where its eyes had been indicated that the Pokemon had fainted.

"Kaz one, Rocket grunt, zippo," Pikachu stated, grinning at Petrel.

"I'll have you know that I am not a grunt, rodent," Petrel stated calmly. "I am an executive of Team Rocket." He tossed out a second PokeBall, revealing another purple Pokemon, only this one floated in the air like Kaz did, and it smelled even worse. "Weezing, use Sludge Bomb!"

Another Psychic! As strong as you can make it! Riley watched in amazement as Kaz once again somehow managed to catch the attack, fill it with psychic energy, and throw it back at the Poison-Type, causing the Weezing to gag on its own attack while the Psychic attack took it out the rest of the way.

"Oh, yeah!" Riley grinned at Red. "That was awesome!"

"Crunch!"

Kaz let out a cry as he sank to the floor, a giant bite mark in his tail.

"I'm not done yet, boy." The Raticate that was sitting in front of Petrel grinned wickedly at Red and Riley, sharp teeth glinting in the fluorescent lights. "Raticate will make sure of that."

Red's eyes narrowed, and he returned Kaz to the safety of the Kadabra's PokeBall. A moment later, another flash appeared, showing a blue creature that looked muscular and ready to punch the snot out of the opponent.

"Glad we got that Water Stone from the Department Store now?" Riley asked, grinning at Red. The Trainer nodded, then motioned for Riley to call out an attack for Poli -- now a Poliwrath -- to use. "Oh, yeah! Let's go with an Ice Punch!"

Poli didn't even bother to acknowledge that he had heard Riley's order -- he instead charged at the Raticate and slammed his right fist into the Normal-Type's face with enough force to send it flying into one of the machines.

Yes! Red grinned at his Water/Fighting-Type, who nodded back.

"Don't think that you've beaten him so easily," Petrel warned. A sadistic grin appeared on his face. "Raticate, Super Fang!"

The Normal-Type got up from the ground, shook off whatever dizziness it had, then charged at Poli, its fangs becoming sharper the closest it came.

Break them with Fire Punch! Red motioned.

Riley quickly translated. "Fire Punch on the teeth -- stat!"

Poli was quick to charge up the Fire-Type attack, and even faster at punching the oncoming Pokemon. The result of the force of impact caused both Pokemon to slide back a little, Poli managing to keep himself steady while the Raticate started to become a little imbalanced, its teeth seemingly broken into sharp shards and edges. This caused the Raticate more pain than it had probably originally expected from the Poliwrath.

"Finish it off -- Water Pulse!" Poli fired off the attack from his belly, sending the Water-Type attack spinning at the Raticate, who became caught in the Whirlpool-like blast. The Pokemon tried to remain standing through the attack, but it had already sustained too much damage from the previous attacks, causing the Normal-Type to faint.

Red nodded in approval to Poli while Petrel returned the Raticate to its PokeBall. Great job. He turned to face the door, only to find that it was still locked. What is this?

"You haven't fainted all of my Pokemon yet, Red," Petrel warned. "Murkrow! Grab the Pikachu!"

"You got it, boss!" Something small and black flew over and grabbed Riley, digging its claws into the Pikachu's back.

"What the -- hey!" Riley glared up at the Pokemon, who was flapping quickly in order to try and get the Pikachu off Red's shoulder. "Let me go, idiot!"

Use Thunderbolt! Red caught Riley's attention with the gesture. If we beat it, then we can get out of here -- and maybe we can get some answers from this Petrel guy. This "Murkrow" is obviously a Flying-Type, so the attack'll do some major damage.

"But Red, it's going to --"

Don't you think I know? You've blasted me at least a couple times, so I'm prepared. Just do it!

Riley swallowed as the Murkrow started to gain altitude slowly. "All right." Sparks began to fly from his cheeks. "Take this, bird brain! Thunderbolt!"

The affect of the attack was instantaneous. Electricity from the attack jumped from the Murkrow to the computer system behind Petrel, causing almost everything to short out. Red was hit with it as well, his eyes shut tight and his mouth open in a silent scream as the electricity coursed through him. When the Thunderbolt attack was done, Red, Riley, and the Murkrow fell to the floor as the lights above them flickered, the black bird smoking as an after-effect of the attack.

Petrel looked at the Trainer and the Pikachu in wide-eyed amazement. Never before had the Rocket executive seen so much power released -- even from Sabrina's Pokemon, and that was saying something.

Red started to stir, shaking his head in order to get the sparks out of his eyes. Riley, who had been watching him intently, jumped up and ran over to look Red in the face. "You okay, Red?!"

Red looked at the Pikachu, then raised his left hand shakily, giving Riley a thumbs-up. He then started to get up, a slightly injured Poli -- who looked like he had burn scars from the attack -- helped the Trainer get to his feet.

"Don't ever make me do anything like that again!" Riley scolded. "I don't want my Trainer to end up dying just because he wanted an enemy Pokemon off his back!"

Red appeared to be silently laughing as Riley got up onto the boy' shoulder. He looked down at the Murkrow with curiosity. Looking back at Petrel, he pointed down at the bird Pokemon, a questioning look on his face.

"I had it imported from Jhoto," Petrel stated. He pulled out a PokeBall and returned the Murkrow to it. The Rocket executive looked Red over again, pausing upon coming into contact with the red eyes the mute boy had. After being locked with them for about thirty seconds or so, all the color drained from his face. "No...it couldn't be...."

"What couldn't be?" Riley snapped Petrel out of his stare. "And why are you staring at Red like that? You look like you've seen a Gengar possess somebody."

"S-sorry. I mistook your Trainer for someone else." Petrel caught sight of a blinking light on the dashboard of the computer and he pressed it. "This is Casino Base. What is it?"

There was nothing but static coming out of the speakers, which unnerved Red and his two Pokemon to no end.

"Are there more of this place than here?" Riley asked, his eyes narrowing.

Petrel ignored him while Red watched him curiously, a frown on his face. I think he thinks he knows me from somewhere.

Riley frowned. "Knows you? I haven't seen that guy anywhere before! Come on, Red -- let's go and check on Erika before--"

"What?!" The Trainer looked at Petrel in surprise, taking note of the data that was now streaming across the computer screen. "What is this?!"

"What is what, old man?" Riley sounded bored.

"This." Petrel motioned to the computer screen, while turning slightly to have a better look at Red. "This is life's masterpiece. Something that we have been working on for years. First we lose most of the data thanks to a stupid virus, and now it's gotten loose before our boss can see it's completed form!"

"Wait." Riley's eyes narrowed. "Are you telling us that you created something?"

"The ultimate weapon...so that our boss can rule the world with an iron fist...." Petrel turned to look at the data again. "I have to capture it and bring it to the boss personally so that he can tell it of its one goal in life...." He quickly whirled around and started to dash for the door, but stopped when he heard a creaking noise above them. He looked up, starting to look for the source, while Red glanced up, curious, while Riley started to spark as his fur fluffed out.

"I'm getting a baaad feeling, guys," Riley warned.

Gee, ya think? Red snarkily responded.

"I mean it, Red! My danger sense is acting up again!" Riley's eyes widened as they watched the roof started to slowly rise up above them, bits and chunks of it falling around Red, Poli, and Petrel's feet. "There's got to be something really powerful moving whatever it is that's above us, and I do not want to be the one that has to fight it."

Petrel grabbed a PokeBall off the belt he wore. "Even if you would, you probably wouldn't be able to survive."

Riley gave the Rocket executive a curious look, and was about to ask what Petrel meant when the roof was suddenly, completely torn away, and a building -- it looked like it might have been part of the Game Corner, from Red's perspective -- was sent flying into the distance. Remaining there, floating in the sky, was some sort of creature colored in different shades of purple.

"Yes," Petrel muttered. "It appears my boss' new weapon had come to me! Mewtwo! Come down here and get rid of this pest of a boy for me!"

The purple creature looked down through the hole it had created, its purple eyes narrowing slightly upon seeing the figures that stood below it. Without saying anything, it held up a three-fingered hand and started to gather energy into it.

Riley's eyes widened. "It doesn't look like that thing is going to be listen to you, old man...."

Petrel, who was now looking at Mewtwo in fear and confusion, didn't bother to correct Riley's statement. Instead, he started to back up slowly, his PokeBall still gripped tightly in his hand. "Mewtwo, listen to me! Don't aim that Shadow Ball at me -- aim it at him!" Petrel pointed at Red, who gave Petrel an annoyed look.

Mewtwo once again didn't respond, or move where he had originally positioned the attack -- in the center of the floor below, closer to Petrel than to Red.

The Trainer looked at the creature above him with wide eyes. That thing doesn't look like any Pokemon we've run into so far.... It looks really strong, too, so it could take out both Petrel and me in one blast. I need to come up with a counter-attack so that it doesn't destroy us both.

Red's backpack started to shake, causing the Trainer to look back at it in alarm. While Mewtwo continue to charge the Shadow Ball -- which was already half the strange creature's size -- Red took off his backpack and tried to find the source of the shaking. After digging through most of his pockets, he came upon a small side-pocket, out of which he pulled the PokeBall, Great Ball, and Ultra Ball that the Trainer had caught Moltres, Articuno, and Zapdos in. All three looked like they were ready to burst open at any moment.

"What are you doing?" Riley asked in a low hiss. When Red poked at the Pikachu, the Electric-Type' eyes widened. "You wouldn't! We only just caught two of them, and you saw the look on Nurse Joy's face!"

"Caught what?" Petrel asked, confused. But the two ignored him.

They want to. I don't know how I know, but they want to go and take that thing on. And I'm going to let them. Red tightened his grip momentarily on the Balls, then tossed all three of them up at once. Let's hope they can take it out!

As one, the three capture spheres burst open at once, releasing all three Legendary birds at once, right at the same time that Mewtwo released the Shadow Ball. As though they had been expecting it, a joint Protect appeared of of nowhere, different shades representing the different elements that the Pokemon represented. Petrel watched in awe as the three Legendary birds looked at each other, nodded, then flew up out of the hole, surrounding Mewtwo.

The strange creature in the center of the three, however, didn't seem to be disturbed by the Legendary birds that surrounded it. Instead, it started to fire off multiple Shadow Balls at the birds, causing a fight to start between them.

We have to help them! Red started to reach for the PokeBalls at his belt, while Poli and Riley got ready to jump up and join in the fighting. Petrel, however, was next to the Trainer in a flash, grabbing the boy's arm before he could gain hold of even one of the PokeBalls.

"What do you want?" Riley was clearly irritated by Petrel. "Because if you don't let go, I will Iron Tail you into submission."

Petrel wasn't deterred. "I want you to answer a question for me," the Rocket executive stated.

Red gave the purple-haired man a weird look, raising an eyebrow at Petrel's statement. Eventually, he nodded. What do you want to know?

"I want to know if you can remember anything beyond five years of age." Petrel had a pleading look on his face, almost as though he didn't want to hear Red's answer.

Red frowned, looked at Poli, looked at Riley, then returned his gaze to Petrel...and shook his head.

Riley, who had been watching his Trainer, stiffened in surprise. "Nothing?! You remember nothing?! You don't remember the day I hatched -- right before you turned five?!"

Sorry, but no. I always pretended to remember it.

Petrel's face paled considerably, the sounds of the battle above not seeming to affect what his mind was thinking.

"Why did you want to know, anyway?" Riley demanded, turning to glare at the Rocket executive. "You don't have any reason to pick into other peoples' pasts like that!"

Petrel shook his head. "My reason is none of your concern, rodent. In fact, you and others in your condition should just --"

"Mewtwo!" Red, Petrel, Riley, and Poli looked up out of the hole, taking note that Mewtwo had suddenly stopped firing off Shadow Balls and was looking at someone who was out of their view.

Red snatched a PokeBall from his belt and tossed it, releasing a large bird Pokemon with red and yellow feathers running from its head down to its back. We need to get out of here in order to get a better look at what's going on. He climbed onto the Pidgeot's back.

"Could you give us a lift, Peter?" Riley asked as Poli jumped on.

"No problem!" Peter took off into the air, leaving Petrel down below. The group was quickly lifted above the hole, landing beside it, and catching sight of a surprising sight: a man in a dark outfit with a red "R" on the right side of his chest was riding a Rhyhorn and had succeeded in getting the psychic monster's attention.

"Who's that guy?" Riley wondered, cocking his head to one side in confusion.

I could ask the same thing, Red agreed. It looks like he's with Team Rocket, though.

"I am Giovanni, leader of Team Rocket!" the man called, answering Riley's and Red's unvocaled questions. "You, Mewtwo, were created to serve me! Come, and we will rule the world together!"

Mewtwo's purple eyes narrowed into slits. It did not speak, but a strange purple aura started to gather around it instead.

Riley's eyes widened. "It's getting ready for an attack! Move, Red!"

Red's eyes widened, as well, and he quickly returned Peter and Poli to their PokeBalls, getting down on the ground as Mewtwo's aura flared up and exploded out in a shockwave-type manner, hitting every Pokemon -- and Giovanni -- causing them to fly back from the attack.

"That was a Psystrike!" Articuno warned. "We must be careful in case the creature uses that attack again."

Red started to get up from the ground, having barely avoided the attack with Riley. The Trainer's eyes were narrow, and his teeth were clenched. They shouldn't have to fight this alone. Red grabbed the PokeBalls on his belt quickly, throwing them, releasing the Pokemon he had with him: Poli, Peter, Kaz, Ivy, and Arid. Okay, guys! We need to help Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno take out Mewtwo! If we don't, who knows what kind of bad things will happen!

Riley looked at his Trainer, eyes wide in shock and surprise. "Are you nuts?! We'd probably have a better chance at beating the Elite Four than that thing!"

We still have to try. Red glared at Mewtwo, who had turned to look at his six new adversaries. Give it all you got, and don't give in!

The Pokemon on Red's team called out a battle cry, then either took to the air or dashed for the creature, attacks being prepared in order to try and do some damage to the strange Pokemon.

Giovanni, who was getting up from the ground and his now-fainted steed, saw the Pokemon charging and started to laugh. "Do you really think that weak Pokemon such as you can stand a chance against Mewtwo? He will destroy you all!"

"And he'll destroy you too, Giovanni!" The Rocket leader turned his head, but couldn't find the source of the voice. "The Pokemon knows nothing but destruction -- it will stop at nothing until everything is destroyed -- it will go to great lengths in order to fulfill that one wish! You have created a monster!"

"It was not I that created him," Giovanni growled in response. He ducked as Red's Pidgeot flew over his head, knocked back by a powerful Shadow Ball. "It was the scientists who work for me."

"And through them, you created Mewtwo. It is your monster, and even you cannot control it."

The mentioned clone Pokemon suddenly whirled, purple eyes glaring at the ice bird, who appeared to be more damaged from previous attacks than the others. A snarl of a smile appeared on the crazed Psychic-Type's face, and it began to form an orb of blue energy, its intent clear. Red's Pokemon, seeing what Mewtwo was intending, started to run from the places where they had fallen in order to defend the Legendary -- or force the attack back. Unfortunately, none of them could have gotten there in time.

The Aura Sphere flew out of Mewtwo's three-fingered paws, the energy sphere heading straight for Articuno's chest. The bird started to fly out of the way, trying to find a way to buy more time, but the attack was not one that could miss. The Legendary Pokemon was pulling up from a sudden suicide-like dive when the Aura Sphere made its way straight for her back....only to be suddenly deflected by a Protect shield that appeared seemingly out of nowhere, surrounding the Legendary ice bird and lowering her to safety.

Mewtwo's tail twitched, the Pokemon clearly annoyed, while the others present looked around in confusion.

"Who did that?" Riley wondered, voicing the question that was bouncing around in everyone's minds.

"Me." Something shimmered in the air next to Kaz, who had not moved from a spot near Articuno since he had recovered from the Shadow Ball attack Mewtwo had thrown. Something was pulled away like a curtain, revealing the figures behind it.

"I am Crystal."

Chapter Text

"What sort of business do we have in these human-made ruins if we are looking for friends of yours? Wouldn't they choose something more...Pokemon populated?"

"These ruins have long since been depopulated by Pokmon, Rukario." Rosa looked away from a rune-covered wall for a moment. "Besides, we will not find a Legendary here. We are only looking for the gate."

The Lucario frowned, then shook his head. "I still cannot believe that you have connections to the legends of other regions, considering how the humans kept themselves land-locked until not but a few years ago. They still don't know everything about each other."

"Connections, have we. Not affected by humans, they are." Catzin smirked at the Lucario's frown. "Contact rare is. Keep to themselves, Legendaries do. Spreads word, Rosa does. Messenger, she is."

"Messenger? You mean she tells the other Legendaries what goes on in other regions?"

"Close. I tell one Legendary, who tells the others." Rosa's pink paws came over a carving of what appeared to be a PokeBall, causing Rukario to almost jump in surprise when a loud clicking noise was heard. "There we go! I always have trouble finding it among all these carvings. Humans can hide things so well sometimes." The section of the wall in front of them slid to one side, revealing a pulsing blue vortex. "Catzin, Rukario, I suggest that the two of you stay back. This is a portal for me and its creator alone." The pink Mew flew forward, disappearing into the blue vortex, causing it to suddenly wink out of existence.

"Great." Rukario let out a sigh. "Do you have any idea as to who Rosa is going to, Catzin?"

The eccentric blue Mew frowned, then started to tap his chin as he tried to think up an answer. "Jhoto, we are in. Ho-Oh and Lugia live here. In Ruins of Alph, they are not. Live here, yet not here, Celebi does."

"So you don't know who Rosa might be going to speak with."

"Guesses, have I. Not sure, if they are right or wrong. Portal to Whirl Islands, Forest of Ilex, or Ekruteck, could be."

Rukario frowned. "We could have just as easily gone to one of those places without the need of a portal. It could be that she needed to go to another region...."

"Teleport, we could. Whole world, are there no secrets for."

Before Rukario could say anything more, the blue vortex once again appeared, almost blinding them with its sudden brightness.

"I'm back!" Rosa flew out of the vortex and stopped about half a foot away from the two other Pokemon. "And I'm bringing help!" She looked back at the vortex as another figure emerged, causing Catzin's and Rukario's eyes to widen.

"By the Badges...."

@@@@@

Crystal's stern gaze went over the three birds, the six regular Pokemon, and Red before stopping on Mewtwo, then continuing to Giovanni, who was glaring at Blaine, who stood next to her, using Capone as a support. "You." Her gaze intensified as a Protect appeared around Mewtwo, so as to keep it from attacking any of those present.

Giovanni's gaze turned to look at Crystal. "What do you want?"

"Why did you seek to create Mewtwo and I?" Crystal could see the look of shock appear on Red's face out of the corner of her eye, but she said nothing to explain her question.

"I will rule this world," Giovanni stated boldly. "Mewtwo will give me the power to do so. You were just a side-project, to make sure that human and Pokemon DNA were compatible. Now that I have the strongest Pokemon in existence, I have no need of you."

"You are a fool, Giovanni," Blaine growled. He had been saving his strength to yell at Giovanni -- he had told Crystal so when Rosa, Catzin, and Rukario had left. "No Pokemon can be the strongest in existence -- it upsets the balance in nature. Even Legendaries have their weaknesses against each other. We have to destroy Mewtwo now." The Cinnibar Gym Leader's speech fell apart as he started to cough and hack loudly.

Crystal flinched slightly as Mewtwo started to slam against the Protect walls; she wouldn't be able to keep them up much longer. "Are all of you prepared? This must end now, before what happened here affects the rest of the world."

"Do it, Crystal." Kaz caught the girl's attention. "Moltres and the others aren't going to hold back, now."

Crystal looked at the Kadabra curiously, then nodded, a determined look appearing on her face. Raising her right arm, she suddenly dropped it, the Protect shield disappearing with it.

Instantly, Moltres and Articuno released a simultaneous Flamethrower/Ice Beam combo, while Zapdos contributed with a Thunder attack. The other Pokemon present were quick to join in, as well, using long-range attacks that wouldn't allow them to be hit by their allies' moves: Thunder, Water Pulse, Gust, Psybeam, Solarbeam, and another Flamethrower were all added to the melting pot in an attempt at lowering Mewtwo's strength.

While all this was going on, a single voice called out, "Dark Pulse!" Crystal's head turned sharply as a strange wave of dark energy flew out over her and the others' heads, striking Mewtwo's form. Behind Crystal stood a young woman in a kimono dress, beside which stood a giant, tree-like creature with fans of leaves for hands. There was also another young woman in what appeared to be a Rocket uniform.

Crystal frowned, looking at the two women warily.

"My name is Erika, and this is Sabrina," the woman in the kimono stated. "We are both Gym Leaders, sided with Red." Erika glared at Sabrina. "Although it took some convincing on my part."

Sabrina shrugged. "I was convinced when I felt her presence; not because you managed to finally beat me." The woman looked Crystal over carefully, while the tree-like Pokemon unleashed another Dark Pulse. "I may have not personally met you, but my Pokemon have told me about you, Mewthree."

"It's Crystal," Crystal stated, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'd prefer it if you didn't call me by my species name."

Sabrina's eyes widened at this, and then she smiled a sly smile. "Very well, then, Crystal. Have you learned anything useful since Blaine took you away?"

Crystal's eyes narrowed. "I don't like your tone, Sabrina. Ask me after we have taken care of Mewtwo."

As if on cue, the attacks that were being fired at Mewtwo were suddenly blasted back by another Psystrike, causing some of the Pokemon that had been attacking to be blasted back, as well.

"We need to find its weakness!" Riley looked at Red as Crystal glanced over in their direction. "Red, what do you think?"

If it's supposed to be a clone of Mew, and Crystal has Mew-like characteristics and speaks through Telepathy like Kaz, I think that it's a Psychic-Type, Red deduced. Bug-Type attacks should do a lot of damage to it.

Crystal nodded. "Anyone with Bug-Types, get them out now and see what you can do against Mewtwo!" She called out, startling Red and Riley.

"Were you eavesdropping?" the Pikachu demanded.

"I picked up on Red's thoughts as he was telling you what he thought of Mewtwo. If Sabrina or Erika happen to have a Bug-Type with them, they needed to know."

"Crystal, I specialize in Grass-Types, and Sabrina specializes in Psychic-Types," Erika stated. "And Giovanni's always been a Ground-Type user. I doubt that any one of us would have anything that useful."

"Beedril, Twin Needle!" A pair of large spikes were suddenly shot out of nowhere, striking Mewtwo in the side, causing it to let out an inhuman shriek in pain. Everyone turned to see Giovanni standing beside the mentioned, angry wasp-like Pokemon. "Never judge a Gym Leader by their designated Type, Erika. If I recall correctly, your Shiftry is part of the recently designated 'Dark-Type' as well as the Grass-Type. It can't be effected by Mewtwo's Psychic attacks, according to what has occurred in the past with similar situations." The Rocket leader turned his gaze on the Mew clone, who was now covered in cuts thanks to the Bug-Type attack. "And now...the final blow...." He pulled out an Ultra Ball and threw it at the creature.

Mewtwo -- who had looked like he was on his last legs -- suddenly moved, batting back the Ultra Ball with a single paw, the strength that hid in it causing the capture sphere to shatter. The Mew clone then glowed brightly as the cuts on its form started to heal up and disappear.

"That's a Recover!" Crystal was concerned. "According to Catzin, that can be used at least 20 times. Mewtwo isn't going down so easily."

"Another TwinNeedle, Beedril," Giovanni stated calmly. Before the Bug/Poison-Type could use the attack, however, it was suddenly blasted into the wall of a building by way of a blue energy sphere. "What?!"

"It looks like Mewtwo doesn't have just Shadow Ball and Psystrike in its arsenal for powerful attack moves," Sabrina noted. "Your scientists might have done their job too well -- not only can it utilize its strengths, it knows the weaknesses of others and can strengthen even the most non-effective of moves."

Crystal's eyes narrowed. "We have to figure out a way to take it down. If we don't, the entire world might not survive." She stepped forward, mentally steeling herself to attack, when something stopped her short in surprise: a Protect shield had dropped down out of nowhere, trapping Mewtwo in a large dome of energy that kept the other Pokemon and Trainers out -- or kept the Mew clone in.

"What?" Riley looked around, stopping to look at Crystal. "Did you do that?"

Crystal shook her head. "No...this Protect is even more powerful than anything I can possible conjure...."

"That is because it was I." Everyone looked around to find the source of the voice, Giovanni finding it first.

"By the stars...." The Rocket leader looked like he was almost at a loss for words. "What Pokemon is that?"

Chapter Text

"Creature, what are you?" Giovanni glared up at the strange, white creature with a golden ring around its middle. "I demand to have a name from you!"

The strange, gigantic Pokemon looked down at Giovanni with a regal air, while Mewtwo glared at it from within its Protect-prison. "I am Arceus, creator of this world and all who wall upon it. When an old friend of mine called in a debt I owed her, I came to fulfill a promise."

Three figures peered around the Legendary Pokemon's neck and looked down at the world below, prompting Crystal to grin in delight and wave. Giovanni saw her action, but not those she was waving to.

"She is the one who called in the debt?!" Giovanni let out a laugh. "She is not even a year old yet!"

"I am afraid that you are mistaken, Giovanni." Arceus' tone of voice stopped the Rocket leader's laughter short. "Crystal is not the one who called in the debt, but rather one that she considers a sister." He looked down at the beings sitting around his neck, causing Giovanni to gawk. "Rosa, Catzin, Rukario -- if you would get off, I have something that I must take care of."

Rosa nodded, then exchanged a look with Catzin. Quickly, the two of them took to the air, then took Rukario with them using a Telekinesis ability in order that he not jump off and hurt himself by accident. As soon as the group landed, they made their way over to Crystal, Rukario looking around in amazement for some reason.

"I never thought that the world carried so many colors...." the Lucario murmured.

This caught Crystal by surprise. "What do you mean, Rukario? Didn't you tell me that you were blind? That you could only see through your Aura Sight?"

"That was before I met Rosa's ally." Rukario looked up at Arceus with reverence. "He can do things no other Pokemon can -- find things that not even Catzin would have known about."

"What? Rukario, what are you talking about?"

Rukario looked at Crystal, a serious look coming over his face. "Arceus will take care of Mewtwo. Just watch." He nodded with his head over to the large Pokemon, seeing as it was now approaching the Mew clone.

Arceus looked at Mewtwo with a seemingly curious air while the clone glared murderously back, the Mew clone's gaze moving from the Legendary birds -- which had long since retreated to a spot near Red and his team -- and the newcomer. It looked like, when Mewtwo would get the chance, that it would try to kill Arceus.

"I call upon all my power as a Legendary, and also as a creator," Arceus stated, starting to glow a strange bright yellow, "you, Mewtwo, are a mindless weapon no more!" A beam of yellow energy blasted out of Arceus and into Mewtwo through the Protect, hitting it in the chest. To everyone's surprise, the Mew clone didn't cry out. Instead, it closed its eyes and seemed to accept what Arceus was doing to him.

"I am also reducing you to Level 50," Arceus continued as more beams came out of him. "You must learn to control yourself and learn what you can do on the battlefield."

He can do that? Red asked Riley, catching Crystal's and the others' attention.

"Arceus was considered a god among humans, once," Rosa supplied. "Even among the Legendaries, he is considered a powerful adversary. If any were to face him, there would be a slim chance of you beating him -- capturing, unless he was willing about it, is nigh on impossible."

So...there's an even slimmer chance of beating him than one of these guys? Red motioned to the three Legendary birds standing behind him.

"The slimmest," Zapdos confirmed. "There's a reason that he's the head of the Legends Council, and not any one of us."

Now, Arceus had dropped the Protect shield, letting large amounts of power flow into Mewtwo. The clone Pokemon was now writhing in pain, teeth clenched, but it refused to open its eyes, instead clenching them tightly, as well.

"You've told me that Mewtwo is nothing more than a monster." Crystal looked from Rosa to Catzin in confusion. "Why did you ask Arceus to do this?"

"All creatures should have a chance at life." Catzin gained a surprised looked from Crystal. "I was once a monster -- a glitch in the world, something that found killing easy. When I destroyed an entire civilization, Rosa managed to give me some minor amount of intelligence." Crystal noted the sage-level knowledge that Catzin's voice seemed to be heavy with. "Arceus sensed that not everything was done for me yet, and he healed me of the killing intent that remained. I can still call upon it, but only when it is absolutely necessary. Mewtwo will also be healed of what mental injuries he carries."

"...."

"Crystal." Rosa caught Crystal's attention, now. "If we let you live life, we need to give Mewtwo that same chance. You and he were once anomalies in this world -- beings that weren't meant to exist. Your actions and what you have learned have changed where you stand in this world, and Arceus is doing the same for your brother."

"My brother...?" Crystal looked back at the now-glowing Psychic Pokemon, who appeared to have fallen unconscious under the constant light bombardment.

"It is done." There was a bright flash, and the light suddenly retreated. Without anything to hold him up, Mewtwo dropped to the ground with a sickening thud. "Rosa, Catzin, what is your report on the man who was once connected with Mewtwo?"

"Connected with -- Blaine!" Crystal turned to her old friend in alarm, only to find that he had taken off his lab coat and shirt, examining himself.

The Cinnibar Gym Leader raised his right hand and wriggled its fingers; it took a moment for Crystal to realize that the hand had been under attack from Mewtwo's cells to but a few seconds before. "I'm cured of the curse, Arceus." Blaine looked up at the Legendary Pokemon, a grateful smile playing on his lips. "Thank you."

"Hey, Arceus!" The Legendary's head turned to look at Riley, who was standing in front of a rather surprised-looking Red. "My Trainer hasn't been able to talk for some reason! I ask you as a fellow Pokemon to let him speak his mind without needing hand signals!"

Riley, you don't have to ask that of him! Red was surprised and made nervous by his friend's request.

"People have bugged you often enough about it! You'll need to fight your own battles when the time comes -- I won't always be there!" Riley turned to look back at Arceus, who seemed to be considering the little Electric-Type's request.

"You have a lot of nerve to ask me to give your Trainer a voice," Arceus noted finally.

"After all he's been though, I don't think so." Riley was adamant. "We've caught all three of the Legendary birds, faced down those Rocket goons, and gone through the Pokemon Gym Challenge besides -- is it just me, or do the fates have more planned for him than the Elite Four?"

Much to everyone's surprise, Arceus chuckled. "I knew there was something right about partnering up that kind of spirit in a little form like yours. Very well. Be warned, however -- this is going to sting a little." A thin beam of light snaked its way out of Arceus' chest, making its way over to Red's neck. It stopped there -- seemingly hesitantly -- for a moment, but then it charged into the Trainer's neck, resulting in a stiffening of the boy's form as the light covered his neck, lifting him up, as well.

Red's face turned into a grimace as the light began to fade, dropping him onto the ground, where the Trainer landed in a kneeling forward position, rubbing his neck with his right hand.

"When you said it was going to sting, you didn't say how much," the boy grumbled as he started to get back up. "The warning was appreciated, though."

Crystal stared at the Trainer with wide eyes. "Red."

Red looked at her. "What?" He had a genuine look of confusion in his eyes.

"You're...talking. Like the other humans."

Reid's eyes widened. "I am?" He reached up for his throat again.

"Yeah, ya are!" Riley jumped up onto Red's left shoulder. "Now I don't have to do the talking for you anymore!"

Red chuckled at his Pokemon's statement, then turned to look at the Legendary Pokemon above them. "Thanks for giving me a voice."

"It was a simple matter. However, your DNA appears to have been messed with."

Riley frowned. "Messed with? What do you mean, messed with?"

"I can answer that." Everyone turned to see Petrel standing at the edge of the hole that had been the base's control center roof. Beside him was a larger version of the Murkrow, only it had a large bunch of white feathers flowing down its front.

"You can?" Red gave Petrel a curious look. "This doesn't have anything to do with that question you asked earlier, does it?"

"More than you realize." Petrel walked away from the hole. "About five years ago, Giovanni decided to try and see if it were possible to turn Pokemon into humans. No one truly knows where he got the idea in the first place, but I suspect it might have something to do with a legend from the Sinnoh region, about creatures who were capable of being both Pokemon and human."

"The man has always been obsessed with myths," Blaine observed. Giovanni, who was standing nearby, gave the Cinnibar Gym Leader a glowering look, but said nothing, considering that a Pokemon that could make the mute speak and cause clones to stop rampaging was still present.

"Any experiments we had with turning humans into Pokemon was a disaster," Petrel continued. "It was only after Giovanni had started Mewtwo's creation process that we started to try it in the other direction. We made clones of Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle in an attempt to see if cloning Pokemon were possible. The Grass/Poison-Type didn't survive, but the other two did. We then proceeded to see how much mutation their genetic structures could stand. Eventually, we succeeded, but neither the Fire-Type or the Water-Type had the abilities of Pokemon or the ability to change back. In the end, we left them near Pallet Town in an attempt to integrate them into society."

"What does that have to do with me?" Red's eyes narrowed slightly, watching Petrel with suspiciousness.

"What Arceus just said confirmed it." The Rocket executive pointed at Red, his left hand shaking -- from surprise or fear, no one was sure. "You were one of the Pokemon that we transformed those years ago. The Charmander."

Chrystal's eyes widened. "Are you saying that Red is a clone, too?!" She looked between Arceus and Petrel, not quite believing what she had just heard.

"Red's genetic structure has been tampered with enough that there is nothing that points to him being such a creature," the large, white Legendary stated calmly. "If one were to unravel the tampering that has been done, yes, he most likely would be a clone."

"There is still one unanswered question, however." Rukario glared at Petrel. "If Red is the Charmander, who is the Squirtle?"

Red frowned slightly. "I think I know...." He looked up at Arceus, his eyes revealing that he was lost in thought as his left hand moved to his chin in a thinking position.

"Well, who is it?" Riley looked like he was ready to burst from not knowing. "Spit it out, already!"

Red smirked and looked back at the Pikachu, scarlet eyes filled with humor. "I think it's Blue."

Riley stared at the Trainer in surprise for a moment, before grinning and bursting out into laughter. "Oh, that makes sense! No wonder he reacted so badly to me shocking him that one time! I think I know what that Eevee of his is going to turn out as, now -- a Vaporeon!"

While the Pikachu's laughing fit deteriorated into a fit of giggles, Red grinning in agreement, Rosa looked up at Arceus. "Thank you for coming to our aid. Without you, this world might have been lost."

Arceus nodded. "All have a right to live. Mewtwo is no exception. I shall see you again, Rosa." With that, there was a sudden flash of bright light, and the Legendary was gone. While they were still allowing their eyes to readjust after the flash, there was the sound of a PokeBall popping open, followed by the cry of a powerful creature.

"Now that Mewtwo is down, I can capture it and use it to conquer the world!" Giovanni exclaimed. The Rocket Leader was now standing beside a giant creature that looked like it might have been a Rhyhorn, once. "Rhydon, use your drill on the clone, now!"

The Rock/Ground-Type let out a roar in response, then charged, the horn on its head turning at a high speed as it dashed forward. Mewtwo, who was only just starting to stir, stared at the oncoming attack with wide eyes, then shut them tightly, expecting the inevitable.

However, instead of the Drill attack hitting Mewtwo, it hit an invisible wall, causing the Rhydon to bounce back in surprise.

Giovanni's eyes narrowed. "Who dares to stop my plans of conquest?!"

"I do." Crystal ran forward, placing herself between the Rhydon and Mewtwo, who was looking up at her in confusion. "Rosa, Catzin -- get my brother out of here. I can keep the Barrier up for only so long."

The two Mew looked at each other, nodded, then flew over to Mewtwo and started to lift him up with Telekinesis, the Mew clone looking around as though this was his first time in the outside world.

Giovanni looked Crystal over, then let out a laugh of amusement. "Do you really thing that you could possibly defend yourself against me? I will have Mewtwo, girl. Even you can't stand in my way. Petrel gave me reports on your progress -- you're nothing more than a defense-minded child. You weren't meant for combat." The Rocket leader made a careless waving motion with his hand. "No matter. You will soon be stomped into the ground."

Crystal's eyes narrowed. "Yes, I concentrate more on the defensive than the offensive, but that doesn't mean that I'm all defensive." The human Mew got into a fighting stance. "According to Catzin, sometimes that best defense is an offense!" She brought her hands in front of her chest as the Barrier dropped, a blue sphere of energy forming in her hands. "Aura Sphere!"

The blue sphere was fired at the Rhydon at a fast velocity, catching it in the chest and sending it falling backward onto the ground. It got up a moment later, however, a growl in its throat and a glare on its face.

"Drill Run, Rhydon," Giovanni stated. He appeared bored, but Crystal could see a spark of minor interest in his eyes. "Make sure your opponent doesn't survive."

The large Pokemon let out a roar in response, then charged at Crystal again, its horn drill spinning at a high speed.

"I'm not going down so easily!" Crystal held her hands forward, glaring at Rhydon. "Sure hope this works.... Psychic!"

A strange, bright pink aura suddenly surrounded the Rhydon, causing it to obtain a panicked expression as it was slowly lifted off the ground. Crystal, who was clearly straining at the weight of the creature, managed to get the Pokemon about ten feet into the air before dropping it with a sickening thud. Giovanni's Rock/Ground-Type didn't get up after that.

"Yes!" Crystal fist-pumped in delight as Giovanni returned the Pokemon to its sphere. "How do you like that?"

"Not at all." Giovanni tossed out a second sphere, releasing a Pokemon with a small purple creature in a pouch on its stomach. "Kangaskhan, use Hyper Beam!"

Chrystal's eyes widened. "Eep! Barrier!" The protective wall was brought up in time to deflect the blast, sending it skyward.

"A normal Barrier attack isn't supposed to be able to do that," Red noted from the sidelines.

"Crystal isn't exactly normal," Blaine responded. "The child was meant for battle, much like Mewtwo. However, she was only a side project that I created. Giovanni never came in to gauge her progress, and no one tried to speed up the process, like they did with Mewtwo."

"Speed up the process?" Riley gave the scientist a confused look.

"Yes. After I helped Crystal escape, they assigned a new scientist to watch over Mewtwo's progress. I never saw the man in person, but I did see what he did to Mewtwo in order to speed the cloning process up. I made sure that the data was destroyed when I left."

"I saw him." Everyone turned to look at Capone, who had a deadpan look on his face. "He was short, old, and crazy. Crazy enough to claim that he was an alien from a planet's moon. Even named himself after it."

Kangaskhan suddenly collapsed, a scorch mark from an Aura Sphere attack plain on its chest. Crystal wasn't as giddy about fainting the Pokemon as she had bee n the first time -- she was prepared to take on anything that Giovanni might end up throwing at her next.

"I see you're still learning," Giovanni noted, seeing the change from the last time she had defeated a Pokemon. He tossed a PokeBall lightly in one hand. "However, you won't be learning anything more from anyone after this." He tossed the PokeBall forward, allowing it to burst open. "Nidoqueen, use Earthquake!"

The blue and white creature let out a roar and started to stomp the ground, causing cracks to appear in the ground, causing shifts that sent the remains of Mewtwo's destructive spree sliding in all directions. Crystal moved quickly to avoid the rubble that came her way, but it didn't help the others.

"Get on!" Moltres barked at the ground-bound human and Pokemon.

"But--" Red started.

"My fires won't harm you! Just get on before you get crushed!" Red quickly complied, returning his Pokemon and jumping onto the fire bird's back. Riley remained on the Trainer's shoulder, gripping it tightly, while Rukario and Blaine got onto Zapdos, and Sabrina and Erika jumped onto Articuno. The three Legendary birds then took to the skies, Rosa and Catzin joining them a decent distance away from the carnage below.

Crystal gritted her teeth as she continued to move, trying her best to avoid the rubble. When a steel bar started to roll by her feet, threatening to trip her up, the girl jumped...and didn't come down.

"What?!" Crystal's tail twitched in surprise as she looked down, her ears going straight up. "I'm...flying?!"

"About time." Catzin sounded a little disgruntled. "A Mew learns how to fly at birth -- or, at least, we did." He nodded to Rosa, who nodded as well.

"How many Mew are there?" Red asked, curious.

"There used to be an entire civilization of them," Rosa explained. "However, all things must come to an end. We split into separate groups that were scattered all over the world. I haven't heard of anyone since."

Chrystal's ears flattened. "Guys, conversation while I'm in battle is NOT helping! Down!" Her body was forcibly dropped to the ground by the mental command. "Let's see how you like to fly! Psychic!"

The purple aura surrounded Nidoqueen, and a slightly pained expression appeared on her face, accompanied by concern. She was promptly lifted into the air -- even higher than Rhydon had been.

Surprise appeared on Crystal's face. "You're lighter than the other one? Judging from your size, I'd have thought you'd be heavier." She forced her hands down quickly to mime forcibly dropping something, and the Nidoqueen followed suit, fainting instantly.

"Nidoqueen is part Poison," Rosa called out as Giovanni returned the Pokemon. "It is weak to attacks like Psychic."

"Good to know." Crystal watched Giovanni as he returned the now fainted Ground/Poison-Type to her PokeBall. "I'm seeing a pattern. Your Pokemon are either part Rock or part Ground for the most part."

"As a Gym Leader, it's part of the rule book to have at least one Type in common among the Pokemon team." Giovanni grabbed a final PokeBall, only this one was yellow and black. "This one I've kept as a last resort; it hasn't been used in Gym Battles because it's too strong. However...." He tossed it out, releasing a blast of light that was twice as tall as Crystal. When the light had faded, a creature that looked like Rhydon stood in its place, although it appeared to be more...bulky. Not only was it rounder, but it also had orange plates of armor all over in neat squares -- some of which seemed to be in odd places. "Meet Rhyperior."

The giant Pokemon let out a roar in response, then looked down at Crystal and gave her a sneering grin, causing Crystal to shudder a little.

"Okay...he's big." Crystal swallowed.

"Indeed. That is how most act when they see him." A smile creeped its way across Giovanni's face. "And it will be the last thing you will see. Rock Wrecker on the girl, now!"

Rhyperior let out a roar in response, then started to fire giant boulders from holes in the center of his front paws. Startled, Crystal tried to keep clear of the oncoming attack, dodging the boulders in any way she could.

"Gah!" Crystal cried out as a boulder hit her in the back. It quickly sent her flying into a pile of rubble, causing more damage to her body.

Rhyperior stepped forward, watching for anything sudden from Crystal as she struggled to get up. Giovanni, however, burst out into loud laughter.

"Do you see now, girl? No one is to ever defeat me!" The Team Rocket leader grinned maniacally. "I will rule this world!"

"You're crazy!" Red glared down at Giovanni from where he sat on Moltres. "No one's going to listen to someone like you -- especially when you had to cheat in order to get a strong Pokemon!" He pointed to Mewtwo, while Catzin and Rosa made sure that he didn't fall off Moltres' feathery back by accident.

"Strength is everything to a Pokemon Trainer, boy!" Giovanni called up.

"You're wrong!" This time it was Riley who spoke out. "It's the ties that bind us together -- the bond between Trainer and Pokemon. A journey can make you stronger physically, sure, but it's the friendship that matters."

"Friendship?!" Giovanni started guffawing.

"Friendship makes us strong," Red stated. "Even though I might not be a Pokemon, something inside me from when I was senses that. It's as important as training to become physically stronger -- maybe even more so. Didn't anyone ever tell you that as a kid?"

"Bonds between friends...." Crystal felt as though she suddenly had more energy, and she started to get up more steadily, obtaining a surprised look from Rhyperior. "If I can concentrate that energy.... Okay, gotta focus."

Giovanni gave her a curious look. "Hm? Still have some fight left in you?" A malicious grin appeared on his face. "Very well! Rhyperior, another Rock Wrecker!"

Crystal closed her eyes and let out a calming breath, then brought her hands together in front of her, much like when she had created the Aura Spheres before. However, instead of the energy that appeared being blue in color, it was a rather violent-looking orange. Opening her eyes to reveal a very focused, serious look about them, the human Mew glared at Rhyperior.

"Focus Blast!"

There was an explosion of massive proportions as an orange sphere of energy connected with Rhyperior right in the face. The resulting shockwave from the attack caused the giant Rock/Ground-Type to slide back a few feet, trip on its tail, and fall backwards with a CRASH that caused the ground to shake because of the Pokemon's size.

"Whoa...." Crystal's eyes were wide. "I can see why they wanted me to learn that move back at the lab." She blinked for a moment, then touched her throat, her body relaxing because of her present confusion. "Am I...talking? Like a normal human?"

"You most certainly are!" Rosa confirmed. The Mew flew down from where she and the others had been watching, then proceeded to fly in circles around Crystal. "You certainly are a marvel! Taking out a Pokemon of that size and level at your age and power strength -- Crystal, you have as large an attack force as your defense force!"

"R-really?" Crystal blinked in surprise. "I'm that powerful?"

"Indeed you are." Catzin joined the two as the three Legendary birds landed and let their charges get off. "Not only has your moveset changed to include Barrier and Focus Blast, but you have also gained the ability to fly...and have reached the base Legendary level of 45."

"Base Legendary level?" The three looked over as Riley and Red made their way over the rubble. The Pikachu -- who had asked the question -- looked as confused and curious as his Trainer.

"Most Legendaries have the capability of becoming stronger or weaker, depending on their opponent," Rosa explained. "We have the ability to switch to any level, but our limit is 45 at our weakest in battle, and 70 at our best. If we are caught, then our actual level becomes our battle level. Most Legendaries hate this, so they make it a point to steer clear of Trainers for as long as they can."

"We happen to like being at Level 100 of our own power," Catzin added. "Of course, we might be...persuaded...to try the bond between Trainer and Pokemon. For a few days."

Red's eyes widened. "Are you saying you want to join my team?"

"I'm saying that there are a few Legendaries out there who can be persuaded to. I might be among them.... But then again, I might not be."

"Humph." The group turned to look at Giovanni, who had returned Rhyperior to its PokeBall and was looking very annoyed. "I wasn't expecting that last attack from you." He turned his gaze to Mewtwo, who was trying to stand unsteadily nearby, using Rukario as a support. "I'll leave Mewtwo alone...for now." The Rocket leader returned his gaze to Crystal and Red, both of whom looked like they were ready to get into a fist fight. "Red, is it? I'll be waiting for you and your Squirtle friend in the Viridian Gym." Turning his full attention to Crystal, he stated, "I will be prepared if you want to fight me again." With that, he turned and walked away, never once seeming to lose his footing in the rubble.

"That man has too much power in mind," Crystal noted softly. "That sort of thinking...according to what I read in Professor Oak's study...can corrupt someone entirely."

"E-excuse me?" Everyone turned to look at Mewtwo, who was standing rather unsteadily on his own two feet. Rukario and Capone were nearby, in case the Mew clone ended up collapsing. "Who are you guys?"

Crystal cocked her head slightly, seeing the confusion and wonder in Mewtwo's eyes. A slight smile came onto her face, and with a small jump, she took to the air, and flew over to where the Mew clone stood, landing in front of him.

"My name is Crystal," Crystal stated. "I'm your sister." She motioned to Catzin and Rosa, who were coming up behind her. "The blue Mew is Catzin, and the pink one is Rosa. I'm Rosa's clone, and you're Catzin's clone."

"Clone? What's a clone?"

"A clone is a creature that is made with the DNA of another creature." Blaine approached from Crystal's right. "My name is Blaine. I assisted in the cloning process of the both of you."

Mewtwo gave the Cinnibar Gym Leader a curious look. "You do seem...familiar, somehow." He looked around again, catching sight of Red and Riley, who were standing at a distance. "Who are they?"

"That the Pokemon Trainer, Red, and his first Pokemon, Riley, a Pikachu," Crystal introduced. "They're very good friends of mine."

"Hi," Red greeted. He walked over, then turned his gaze to the three Legendaries. "It was an honor working with you three, but I don't think I'm ready to handle that kind of power just yet." He pulled out the PokeBall, Great Ball, and Ultra Ball and pressed the buttons on each. A glow came over the capture spheres, as well as the corresponding Legendary birds. "When I feel like I'm ready, I'll come back and challenge each of you." He smirked. "No need to come and find me at a Gym; I'll find you."

The Legendaries exchanged looks and smirked, like they were sharing a secret joke, then took off into the air and flew in different directions: Moltres to the west, Articuno to the south, and Zapdos to the east. They were gone into the horizon in moments.

"They went looking for you at the Gyms?" Sabrina was curios by this.

"They sensed that something was up, and decided to try and find someone who could help them solve the problem," Red explained. "Zapdos kinda kidnapped Lt. Surge and met me at the Vermillion Gym, and Moltres and Articuno dropped in on me at Erika's Gym."

Sabrina's eyebrows arched. "Now that is interesting. Normally, a Trainer hunts down the Pokemon, not the other way around." Her eyes sparkled with some sort of hidden amusement. "That proves enough for me." She reached into a pants pocket and removed from it a circular medal. "Here. This is my badge. Take it."

Red gave her a look of surprise, then accepted the badge. "Thanks."

"Here." Erika reached into a kimono sleeve and gave Red a small medal, as well. "Your actions in the base proved yourself more than worthy of this."

"Wow." Riley was surprised. "Two Badges at once? This is unreal!"

"Yeah," Red agreed, looking down at the two Badges.

"You will not be receiving the remaining ones so easily," Blaine said, his glasses reflecting the sunlight above. "Now that I have severed all ties, the Cinnibar Gym is open, and you should be able to reach Fuchsia, as well. Koga hasn't had a challenger in years, as far as I'm aware. Your story could prove interesting to him."

"What are you talking about?" Mewtwo had a clear look of absolute confusion on his face. "Could someone please explain this to me?"

"It will all become clear in time." Catzin approached Mewtwo. "But for now, as your brother, I am going to make sure that you know how to use your abilities as a Pokemon properly. I know a place where we can train without distraction."

"Are Crystal and Rosa coming with us?"

"Rosa has no need for training, and Crystal has already learned everything that she can from me." Catzin nodded to Crystal, who felt her heart lift in excitement at this. "The only way for her to learn more is if she learns them herself."

"Meaning that there's more that I can learn?" Crystal was surprised by this, as much as she was excited.

"We are always learning something new," Rosa replied. She looked up into the sky. "Catzin, you might want to remove yourself from the premises. A Trainer is approaching on the back of a Pidgeot."

Riley's ears perked up, and he looked up into the sky, his eyes squinting a little. "I think that's.... Blue! Oh, he's going to be so mad that he missed some action!"

"And...probably interested to see you, as well." Red gave Catzin, Rosa, Crystal, and Mewtwo a look of warning. Rosa's right, Catzin -- you and Mewtwo have to get out of here."

Catzin nodded. "Farewell, friends. Crystal, you are more than welcome to visit the Unknown Dungeon by Cerulean."

Before Crystal could utter a word in reply, there was a flash of light, and Mewtwo and Catzin were gone. As the shadow of a bird Pokemon passed over their heads, Rosa made a point to disappear, and Crystal caused her Mew ears and tail to become hidden, as well.

"Here we are, boss!" The Pidgeot landed in front of the group, then let out a whistle of surprise. "Man, this place looks like a meteor crashed here! What happened?"

"Team Rocket," Riley replied smoothly. "We took care of them."

The spiky-haired teen on the back of the bird let out a yell of frustration and slid off the bird's back. "Well, isn't that just great! I saw the light show all the way from Vermillion and I get here a few minutes too late!"

"Aw, come on, it wasn't all that impressive." Red smirked as he looked at his friend. "All that happened was a friend of mine beat the Team Rocket leader. No big deal."

"No big deal?!" Blue turned to glare at Red. "I wanted to actually be able to see one of these guys in action, and you say that it's--" The Trainer stopped short upon realizing what Red had just said, only causing the red-eyed Trainer's grin to become even wider. "No...no, it can't be...."

"You'd better believe it, Blue!" Red replied with a grin. "I've got a voice, now!"

All color drained from Blue's face. "T-that's impossible. You didn't have a voice -- you're not supposed to have a voice! Since when did you get it?"

"Arceus granted him one, no thanks to his Pokemon's attitude," Rukario noted. "Greetings. I am Rukario, a Lucario from a distant land."

Blue stared at the Pokemon with wide eyes, and started to grab a Pokemon, but Crystal grabbed his hands.

"Don't!" Crystal gave Blue a nervous -- yet also defense-full -- look. "Rukario may be free of any Trainer, but he's a good friend of mine. I won't let you take him."

Blue gave her a strange look, then let go of the PokeBall he had been close to snatching off his belt. "Fine." He looked her over. "Red, who's this?"

"My name is Crystal." Crystal was annoyed that Blue had decided to ask Red rather than her for her own name. "You're Blue, right? The Squirtle Petrel mentioned?"

Blue was taken aback by this. "S-Squirtle? Me?" He let out a nervous laugh. "You've got to be kidding me. Who gave you that idea?"

"That would be me." Heads turned, catching sight of Petrel, who was still standing beside his Honchkrow. Blaine, Erika, Sabrina, and Capone were standing nearby, the looks on their faces revealing that they were prepared to take the Rocket executive out if he tried anything funny.

"You?" Blue laughed a little more confidently. "Why would Red believe an old man on that sort of thing?"

"Because Arceus confirmed it," Crystal piped up.

Blue frowned. "There's that name again.... Who is this 'Arceus'?"

"A Pokemon god." Crystal found no reason to hold anything back, but she found herself laughed at once again.

"Oh, Red, this kid is funny." Blue wiped a fake tear from his eye. "What next? Are you going to tell me that there's a Mew hanging around here or something?"

"Uh...." Crystal looked a little nervous at this. "Rosa?" She saw a shocked look appear on Blue's face. "Eep! I've gotta learn how to converse with her in a more private way...."

"Are you speaking...using telepathy?" Blue could hardly believe this. "What kind of kid are you?" He started to look her over more carefully, trying to find a hint as to who Crystal was.

"Uh, Blue, you really shouldn't go into her backstory," Red stated. "Even I don't know everything about her yet."

"We've got plenty of suspicions, though," Riley added, earning a glare from his Trainer. "What? Either you were going to say it, or I was!"

Red simply rolled his eyes at his Pokemon's antics, then shook his head. This seemed to insult the Pikachu greatly, because he glared back.

"Perhaps I ought to explain this...." Rosa's pink form appeared in front of Blue's face, causing the boy to stumble back in alarm. "Crystal is a clone of my DNA with some human DNA, as well. I consider her a sister, and not my daughter. Arceus is a good friend of mine, and he explained that Red's DNA was not like a normal human's. I can sense that you are in the same situation. If Petrel's statement holds true, you used to be a Squirtle, but you have no memory of your time as one."

"Rosa, I think we'll be able to explain this better back at Professor Oak's lab," Crystal stated as her ears and tail were revealed, much to Blue's shock. "He should hear this, too."

"Yeah. Especially the whole 'Arceus gave me a voice' part," Red agreed.

Blue gulped. "Oh, man."

"What?" Crystal gave him a curious look. "All we're going to do is use Teleport to get to Pallet Town. What's the problem?"

"I'm staring at a Mew....probably the first one that's been seen in centuries...."

"Your adoptive grandfather knew of my existence long before this day. Are you prepared, Crystal?"

Crystal nodded. "Yup! Everybody get in close who wants to go to Pallet Town!" She looked over at Blaine with a slightly pleading look.

The Fire-Type Gym Leader chuckled. "Very well. Capone, make sure Petrel doesn't try anything."

"Right."

Rosa nodded as Blaine joined the group, Blue reluctantly returning his Pidgeot to the bird's PokeBall. "Three, two, one! Teleport!"

Chapter Text

Professor Oak couldn't believe his ears. "It makes so much sense in so many ways," he quietly stated, "but...I just can't wrap my head around this."

"Better believe it, Gramps," Riley replied, earning a glower from Blue.

"Riley, give him a little bit, will ya?" Red looked at the Pokemon Professor. "Professor Oak just needs a little time to think about what we've just said. I mean, Crystal's backstory is crazy enough -- mine and Blue's goes waaay over the deep end."

Oak chuckled. "You have no idea." He motioned to Rosa, who was sitting on a bookshelf while Crystal went over the books that were located there. "I already knew about Crystal's existence -- Rosa sensed her when she was 'born,' if you will. The same goes for her...brother, Mewtwo. What I can't believe is that two of Pallet Town's own were once Pokemon!" He looked over at Rosa. "Is it possible that there are others like these two scattered around the world?"

The Mew gave him a helpless look. "Sensing clones of myself and Catzin is one thing -- sensing morphed Pokemon or clones of Pokemon that have been morphed is another thing entirely. They may be Pokemon, but that doesn't mean I can sense when they come into existence. If that were true, then I might have thought that Crystal and Mewtwo were simply another pair of Pokemon that had been born."

"I can say with certainty that there aren't any others who are in this situation." Everyone looked at Blaine in surprise.

"How can you be sure?" Crystal asked, curious.

"Before I left with Capone from the Team Rocket base in Saffron, we made sure that whatever information that was of great importance was destroyed or glitched to the point beyond data retrieval," the Cinnibar Gym Leader explained. "Neither of us found anything involving human to Pokemon transformation -- although there had been a few reports of it happening in the other way around. I believe there's a secret community of such Pokemon hiding somewhere in the world, away from prying eyes."

"But no one who's been turned into a human?" Blue pressed.

Blaine shook his head. "Nothing. If such a file existed, Capone would have found it. However, I wouldn't put it past the scientist who did this to have a file hidden away somewhere off the Rocket grid. We won't be able to know for sure, unfortunately."

"We should be prepared for a run-in," Riley suggested. "Bring Pokemon of every Type that we can use to defend ourselves."

"There's too many to fit on a single team, Riley," Red stated. "Remember, we can only have six to a party."

"Still, we should be ready. What would happen if we ended up running into a kid who could actually take you out? I mean, don't get me wrong, Red, I know you can defend yourself, but you guys were the first ones! What would happen if some kid came along...and he could hit you with a Hydro Pump or an Earthquake or something?!"

"I doubt that's going to happen anytime soon," the red-eyed Trainer replied sourly. "I mean, Team Rocket is the group that's been causing the most trouble. If they heard about humans who could use Pokemon abilities, they'd try to hunt them down. If I could still breathe fire, I'd be laying low until they were taken care of."

While Blue nodded in agreement -- albeit, nervously -- his grandfather looked like he had suddenly gotten a jolt of energy to his systems.

"You know, I think you two should have a Pokemon from the three that I recently picked up," he stated. Oak then dashed out of his study, motioning for the others to follow.

"New Pokemon?" Blue was intrigued by this. "What's he up to this time? Does he want us to start over? I hope not."

Red shrugged. "Maybe he wants us to train them up -- a new species or something." He walked our of the study, the others following close behind.

Out in the lab, Professor Oak was standing in front of a work table, on which three PokeBalls sat at regular intervals. He was grinning out of triumph.

"These three came in just a few days ago," Oak explained. "I got them from a Pokemon Breeder, who insisted that the Pokemon Professors of each region hand out one of three basic Types to Trainers when they start their journeys: Fire, Water, or Grass." The Professor motioned to each PokeBall in turn. "He chose three Pokemon that used to be quite common in the Kanto region, and I think that you'll find them very familiar." Grabbing each of the PokeBalls, Oak tossed them up, letting loose the Pokemon inside simultaneously. "Say hello to Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander."

Reid's eyes widened in surprise upon seeing the last Pokemon mentioned -- a red lizard standing on two legs with a fire burning on the end of its tail. "That's a Charmander? I guess I should have expected that -- the name kinda sounds like a lizard Pokemon." He got down in a squatting position and motioned for the fire lizard to come over. "Hey there, little guy."

Blue gave the blue turtle creature a curious look, while the Squirtle looked around nervously at those present, eyes wide. Oak's adoptive grandson smiled then, and he mimicked Red's stance, motioning for the little Water-Type to come over. "Hey. I've got a Pokemon who would make good friends with you." He reached for his belt and grabbed a PokeBall, pressing the button on it, releasing a flash of light. An instant later, a four-legged blue creature with fins a on its head and a fin on its tail appeared beside Blue.

"Ha!" Riley exclaimed, grinning. "I knew you'd go for a Vaporeon!"

Blue sent him a glare of annoyance, then looked back at the Squirtle. "Squirtle, this is one of my Pokemon, Vaporeon. Vaporeon, this is Squirtle."

The Eeveelution stepped forward and sniffed the Squirtle curiously. This only caused the Pokemon to suddenly disappear into its shell, scared out of its wits.

Oak, who had been watching all this, chuckled. "Squirtle is the most shy out of the three."

Crystal smiled in agreement, then almost jumped into the air out of surprise when she felt something rubbing against her legs. Looking down, she discovered that the Bulbasaur had approached her.

"Wow." Crystal got down into a kneeling position on the floor slowly, so as not to accidentally scare the Grass/Poison-Type. "You remind me of the Pokemon that led Red to me, back in the Viridian Forest." She looked at the red-eyed Trainer, who was now sitting on the ground petting the Fire-Type. "Was that what the Pokemon was called? Bulbasaur?"

Red nodded. "I found Ivy at the entrance to Viridian Forest. She's a Venasaur now, though."

"You found a wild Bulbasaur?" Oak was amazed at this. "Those are the rarest of all three of these Pokemon to find in the wild. You really are a wonder, Red."

"Nah. I'm just lucky." Red smirked, then looked back at Charmander. "Would you believe that I was like you once, little guy?"

"Inexperienced?" The little Fire-Type cocked his head slightly.

Red smiled. "Well, that too, but I'm thinking about something else. See, I don't have any memory of it, but my friends have found out that I was a Charmander once."

Charmander's eyes widened. "S-seriously? Is that why you feel so warm?"

Red frowned. "Warm? What do you mean?"

"Well, we Fire-Types can always sense when there's another of our kind nearby. You feel like what an especially strong Fire-Type does. I guess the whole Charmander-to-human thing helps to make sense of it a little."

Red grinned. "I guess that it does." He looked over at Blue, who had managed to successfully coax the Squirtle out of its shell and was now trying to get it closer so that he could pet it. Vaporeon still sat next to him, watching the proceedings with what appeared to be a smirk on its face. "I kinda feel a connection with the little guy. What about you, Blue?"

"Huh?" Blue looked over at Red, the confused expression becoming a frown. "A connection?" He looked back at the Squirtle, who was giving the Trainer an expectant look. "Maybe. I haven't been able to start a conversation with him yet."

"Squirtle is the youngest out of all three of us," the Bulbasaur explained. He puffed his chest out proudly. "And I'm the oldest."

"You say that just because your egg was laid first," Charmander responded. "I'm the oldest because I hatched first."

"Says you!"

"Guys, there's no need to fight about this," Crystal chided. "We're all here living at the same time, and that's what matters."

"See?" The Squirtle gave the others a small smile. "That's what Cole always told us. Spending time living is what matters -- not how old you are. Age doesn't affect the ties we have with Trainers."

Crystal grinned. "That was very philosophical of you to say, Squirtle." She looked up at Oak. "Is Cole the name of the Trainer who sent these three to you?"

"Nope! Cole's my dad!" Charmander grinned. "He's the oldest Pokemon that the Trainer's got."

"The Trainer's name is Seth," Oak explained. "He is one of the Trainers who used to live here in the area. When Lance became the Champion, Seth retired from his position on the Elite Four and let a strong Trainer named Bruno take over. Now, he's planning on putting up a few regulations for the Pokemon League -- for instance, he wants Trainers to be able to start off with either a Fire, Grass, or Water-Type, and not a Pokemon of another Type of their own choosing. He claimed that it made things much more interesting that way."

"You mean that, if you'd have gotten these three before we left, I would have started with Charmander and not Riley?" Red frowned.

"You would have been a special case, Red. They would have made an exception for you."

The red-eyed Trainer let out a sigh. "That's a relief. I don't think that I would have been able to handle that computer voice from the PokeDex anymore than I did. It just sounded too...synthesized." Riley shuddered in agreement.

Charmander frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I didn't have a voice before a few hours ago," the Trainer explained. "Arceus granted me one -- after Riley demanded it." Red looked at the Electric-Type, who'd shrugged. "I was certain that he would end up with something unexpected instead. A person -- whether human or Pokemon -- shouldn't go around demanding things from technical gods."

Charmander's eyes widened. "You met Arceus?!"

"And Moltres, Zapdos, Articuno, and my sister, Rosa," Crystal replied, motioning to the Mew beside her.

Bulbasaur looked startled. "S-sister?"

"Do you not see my ears and tail?"

The three young Pokemon looked at each other in shock and surprise, then looked back at Crystal and Rosa.

"No way...." Bulbasaur had a look on his face that expressed his feelings beyond words. "C-could you be my Trainer? Please?"

Crystal looked surprised by this. "Me? Be a Trainer? I don't know if I should...."

"It's a fun experience, Crystal," Red stated. "It'll help you learn a lot more about Pokemon, too."

"It's a great way to make a lot of friends," Blue agreed. He reached out and started to pet Squirtle, who stiffened a little, only to jump into Blue's lap a moment later and start making a purring noise. "See?"

"Well, there's the whole thing about who I am, remember?"

"You have trained yourself to hide those areas using light refraction," Rukario stated. "I doubt that, unless someone didn't watch where they walked, that you would have to go around with your ears and tail revealed."

Crystal looked at the Lucario for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, you're right about that." She looked over at the two boys, then at the Bulbasaur in front of her. "But you know, I can't very well go journeying about without giving you a proper name. How about it...Ven?"

"Ven?" The Grass/Poison-Type cocked his head curiously. "Why'd you pick that name?"

"I was just thinking about your final evolution -- Venasaur -- and I figured that it would work. What do you think?"

"Hmmm...." The Bulbasaur frowned slightly, thinking over Crystal's words. Looking up at the human Mew, he finally stated, "I guess that could work. Ven it is."

"He gets a name?" Squirtle appeared distraught. He looked up at Blue, eyes wide. "Can I have a name, too?"

"And me?" Charmander gave Red a pleading look.

Red chuckled. "Sure! I give all of my Pokemon names." He frowned slightly as he tried to think up something that would fit. "Let's see...." After a moment, he looked down at the Fire-Type Pokemon. "What about Blaze?"

"Blaze? Why name me after my ability?"

Red's eyes widened in surprise. "That's what your ability's called? I didn't know -- I was just thinking of how the fire on your tail looks like it could get stronger -- blazing fire stronger. What do you think?"

Charmander frowned, thinking the name over. "I guess I could get used to it," the Fire-Type admitted. He glanced back at his tail, a smirk appearing on his face as he recalled what Red had said. "Yeah....I think Blaze is going to work for me just fine."

Red nodded in approval, then turned to look at Blue. Crystal gave him a curious look, as well, as did the others present.

Blue looked around in alarm. "Cut it off, guys! You're making me feel boxed in!" The Squirtle seemed to agree with this statement, because he promptly disappeared into his shell. "Besides, I haven't made it a habit to name my Pokemon."

"Maybe you should start," Crystal prompted. "It'll make any bond you have with your Pokemon deeper if you can call them by a name and not their species. Without a name, it can feel a little...degrading."

Blue frowned slightly. "I never considered that." He looked over at Vaporeon. "Looks like we'll have to visit that Name Rater guy in Lavender Town in order to get you and the rest of the team proper names."

Vaporeon nodded. "An actual name would be nice. Perhaps I could be called...Rain? Do you think that will work, Blue?"

Blue looked at his first Pokemon a moment before grinning. "Sure. Why not?" He turned to look at Squirtle, who had come hesitantly out of his shell, watching around them warily. "And I think you should be called.... River. That'll work."

The newly-named Squirtle looked up at Blue in delight. "Yeah! Awesome -- I've got a name!" He started to dance around excitedly, only to fall on his back and start to flail around in an attempt to get back up. "Oops! A little help, here."

Blue smirked as he reached out and righted the turtle's shell, Crystal giggling beside him. "Try not to do that again, all right, River?"

River nodded. "Yeah. Sure. So, I guess we're going to start journeying around together, right?"

"Right," Blue agreed. He got to his feet and accepted River's PokeBall from his adoptive grandfather. "Well, I'd better get going. River's going to need a lot of training in order to get up to the level of my other Pokemon."

"Same with Blaze," Red agreed, getting up as well. "I've got a few badges left to get, and Giovanni probably won't wait for me to show up for forever."

Oak nodded, giving Red Blaze's PokeBall. "Good luck. Giovanni is the strongest among the Gym Leaders in Kanto -- he's the reason that so few are actually capable of reaching the Elite Four."

"We'll keep that in mind," Riley promised. He grinned at Blaze. "Now let's go train and see what you can do!"

Blaze grinned in agreement. "Just bring on this Giovanni guy! I can take him!"

Red chuckled, then motioned for the Fire-Type Pokemon to follow. The Trainer then walked out of the lab, the little fire lizard trotting alongside.

Blaine watched them go, then remarked, "I should get moving, as well. The Cinnibar Gym is going to need some cleaning up if I'm going to pick up the reins as Gym Leader again. Red is most likely going to challenge me there as soon as he can."

Rukario nodded. "There might also be a long list of Trainers waiting for you besides."

"Blaine has been away from his Gym for a few years. I would think that there would be a list of Trainers waiting to challenge him," Rosa noted. "I can Teleport you there, if you like."

Blaine frowned slightly, considering the Psychic-Type's offer. The scientist shook his head. "If you would, you can Teleport me back to Celadon. I can get a transport from there."

"Go back inland?" Crystal frowned. "But wouldn't that be counter-productive?"

"I want to make it look like I've been away on a vacation. Appearing on the island out of nowhere will most likely raise suspicion as to how I returned -- or even how I left in the first place." Blaine shook his head. "I can talk to Surge and Sabrina about covering my tracks for me. They know plenty about that sort of thing."

Rosa nodded. "Very well. Are you prepared to go now?"

"I am." Blaine nodded to those present. "I thank you for all you have done for me. My time away from the Gym -- both with Team Rocket and away -- has not been wasted." He smiled at Crystal, who looked slightly embarrassed by this.

"I'm just glad you managed to get away from them in one piece," Crystal murmured.

Blaine's smile became slightly bigger, and he nodded to Rosa. The Mew instantly surrounded them in a bubble of pink energy, and the two disappeared in a bright flash. A moment later, Rosa returned alone.

Blue looked over at Rain and River for a moment, before getting up from the ground and nodding to his adoptive grandfather. "I should be going, too. There's a lot of ground that I need to cover with River before I plan on continuing with the Gym challenge." He smirked. "Red isn't going to reach the Elite Four first, though. That I promise."

"We're going to challenge the big leagues?" River's eyes were wide.

"Yeah. And you're going to be on my team when we get there. Come on, you two! We've got some training to do!" Blue turned and ran out of the lab, Rain close behind, while River tagged along as best he could.

"Wait for me! You guys are too fast!" River called out as he disappeared out the door.

Rukario chuckled as the door slammed shut. "That Pokemon...I sense a great amount of power in it. Blue will find that he will make a great partner, and an even greater friend."

Crystal nodded in agreement. "I hope that they'll be able to fulfill what they set out to do in the first place."

"Speaking of which, I am afraid that it is my time to go, as well." Rukario turned to look at Professor Oak. "There are many Pokemon out in the wild who have yet to reach this part of the world, and many of them are curious. I came this far to see what there was to see, and I will return with newly gained insight. If you see a Pokemon that carries a scarf with a badge upon it like this, they are from my part of the world." Rukario reached behind him and pulled a small badge -- seemingly from out of nowhere. It looked like a PokeBall with wings, and it was pure white. "Not all of them are this color, but this shape signifies that the Pokemon belongs to a team of Pokemon -- whether to explore or rescue others from dangers, it matters not."

"You have organizations like that?" Oak's eyes were wide with curiosity and wonder. "Fascinating. I would like to meet such a Pokemon group in my lifetime."

"You might be able to...but then again, you might not. There have been human children who have approached our side of the world, only to become Pokemon themselves. I have yet to see if the change can be reversed for them."

"That sounds like something Petrel mentioned," Crystal noted.

"Because they are one and the same." Rosa flew over to a spot not too far from Rukario's left ear, her tail swishing around in a relaxed manner. "The part of the world from which Rukario comes from can exist because humans have been unable to go there and settle their kind properly -- they turn into Pokemon wither upon arrival, or after a certain amount of time. What they do there is unheard of on this side of the world -- because most humans are incapable of understanding Pokemon, and vice versa. There have been, however, a select few from both sides who have either grown up understanding Pokemon or have learned how to from working with them. Red and Blue, for instance, seem to be able to understand Pokemon speech -- either because they are the only creatures they could talk to on their journey, or because of the DNA they have in their systems. Crystal is part Pokemon, which allows her instant understanding of creatures on both sides of the genetic barrier."

"However, Pokemon from my side of the world hardly ever come over to this side -- mainly because of what we have heard of." Rukario shook his head. "Teams have been torn apart because of Trainers capturing certain Pokemon -- only for the team member to come after them and get caught, as well. Very few teams have ever returned to tell of what the humans are capable of doing. I aim to be among the first to actually speak out."

Crystal smiled. "Then I wish you the best of luck in doing so."

"Say, if Crystal's part Pokemon, why doesn't she go with you to that side of the world?" Everybody looked down at Ven. "What? She could, couldn't she?"

Rosa gave Crystal a curious look, her eyes scanning the human Mew as Crystal looked nervously between Rukario, Rosa, and Oak.

"It could be possible," Rosa finally admitted. "However, it is truly impossible to know because no one has had such a combination of genetic material before."

"There's always a first for everything. That's what my mom told me." Ven grinned sheepishly. "Besides, I'm kinda curious about this Pokemon-run place myself."

"I kinda am, too," Crystal admitted. "Rukario hasn't told me any stories about his adventures, but I can see that he's been to a lot of places. I'd kind of like to go where he went."

Oak gave her a curious look, then brightened. "Why not? Technically, you don't exist by human standards -- if you keep yourself hidden, you can go and explore without worrying about being followed by Trainers."

Crystal gave Rukario a pleading look. "Can I come with you? Please? I want to be able to explore the world without anything or anyone looming over my head."

The Lucario looked the girl over, considering what she had said. After quickly glancing at Rosa, he stated, "Very well, you may come with me. Be prepared, however -- we will not be near any human civilization for a few years, so we will lose contact with Professor Oak and the two boys. You might want to prepare yourself for the long journey ahead."

"When are we leaving?" Crystal asked, curious.

"As soon as possible." Rukario nodded to Professor Oak. "I will need access to different Berry trees, to make sure that we aren't damaged without something to help heal."

"We have a small plot of trees somewhere around here," Oak noted. "There are a couple Apple trees, as well, although I haven't seen them grow so big before...."

"Regular Apples, Big Apples, and Perfect Apples are what the Pokemon Exploration teams use for sustenance, as well as the different Berries we have access to," Rukario explained. "It seems that a small group managed to come over here and plant a few such trees before being found by humans -- or perhaps even settling down here." He looked towards the back door. "I'm going to go out and find those trees. Perhaps the Pokemon in the area will know where I can find other supplies, as well." The Lucario then started for the door, slipping out without another word.

"It's official, then?" Ven looked up at Crystal hopefully. "We're going?"

"We're going," Crystal confirmed. She grinned when the Bulbasaur started to jump about in delight. "It'll really help the both of us get stronger, too."

"Speaking of which." Oak gave Crystal Ven's PokeBall. "I don't know whether or not this will work on that side of the world, but you should keep it close just in case. Also...." The Professor turned and started to dig through a pile of papers and small, mechanical items, eventually coming up with a bright red backpack. "You can use this in order to carry items around, rather than simply relying on Rukario to carry everything."

"He'd certainly appreciate that," Crystal agreed. She placed Ven's PokeBall inside a small side pocket on the backpack, then threw it over one shoulder. "Come on, Ven -- let's find Rukario and help him with those Berries."

"Right!"

Chapter Text

Crystal let out a delighted laugh as she and Rukario walked through a small town, other Pokemon walking about the street and conversing with each other, and buying and selling items and other such things. "Oh, man! I never thought that anyone would be able to get Kecleon to get so haggled like that."

"You'd be surprised by how many Pokemon have been able to get on his bad side," the Lucario replied. He had long since stopped using his telepathic ability to communicate, seeing a they were now among Pokemon, and Crystal could understand them well enough. It also helped that, because of his high level, he was capable of learning and using the human language. "Most of the rookies think that the shops he's set up all over the dungeons are places where they can get things for free. They end up getting sent back to their bases battered and beaten. It only takes a few tries for anyone to get the hint and either avoid him or simply buy the objects to avoid his wrath."

"So, the Kecleon brothers hate to be stolen from," an Ivysaur at Crystal's feet stated.

"No one likes it, Ven -- not even the thieves who try and steal in the first place."

"Hey, Rukario!"The group's heads turned, catching sight of a Cyndaquil running over to them, a Chikorita doing her best to keep up with him.

"Hello, Cinder," Rukario greeted. "How have things been going for you?"

"Considering that I'm still getting used to all this? Decently enough." The Cyndaquil nodded to Crystal. "Hi, Crystal. Where did you guys disappear off to this morning?"

"Ven and I explored a mountain nearby," Crystal responded. "Mt. Steel. I'm glad that I managed to get some practice in with my Aura Sphere attack -- I think I was starting to get a little rusty from hanging out in town for so long."

"No one, fully Pokemon or half human, can ever become 'rusty'," Rukario intoned. "It seems to me that you simply haven't fully mastered it yet."

Crystal shrugged. "Well, at least I can work with it a little more tomorrow."

"Don't tell me you're planning on going back!" Ven complained.

"Well, I don't really see much of a point of straying too far from Treasure Town just yet." She looked down at Cinder. "Is there something you needed to talk to us about?"

Cinder nodded. "A Pokemon came by not too long ago -- a Tangrowth, I think he called himself. He gave us this letter -- show 'em, Bay."

The Chikorita gave her companion a curious look, then reached into a bag she carried and removed from it a piece of paper, which Rukario took and looked over.

"Any idea who the Pokemon in the letter is?" Cinder asked. "I used to be human, but I haven't heard anything about a Pokemon called that before."

Crystal peered over Rukario's shoulder to have a look at what was written there. Her eyes widened upon seeing what was written there. "By the stars...I recognize that name!"

Bay looked at her in surprise. "You do?"

Crystal nodded. "Yeah. Catzin's a Mew -- a blue one. He helped me overcome my nervousness for battle and helped me train in order to get stronger." She frowned slightly, looking over what was written there. "It looks like he wants to meet you guys...." Her eyes widened suddenly. "A challenge?"

Cinder nodded. "I don't really understand much of what he wrote there. Why would this 'Catzin' guy want to meet us in order to test a student of his?"

Crystal looked down at the Cyndaquil. "Is that what those footprint runes say? Catzin wants to to meet a student of his?"

Bay nodded. "Though, if what you said is true, and Catzin is a Mew, what kind of Pokemon would be able to stand being his student? They'd have to be super strong in order to be under him."

Crystal and Rukario exchanged a look, each looking at the other curiously.

"You two know something, don't you?" Ven piped up.

"Maybe," Crystal replied with a sly smile.

"Well, spit it out, then! Anything to let us know what we're going to be facing!" Cinder looked up at the Mew-girl eagerly, who frowned slightly.

Crystal looked over at Rukario, who nodded slightly.

"They're going to end up learning about him sooner or later, if Catzin is doing this now," the Lucario noted. Crystal, after thinking for a moment, nodded in agreement.

"I know who that student is," Crystal stated. "I...guess you could say that he's my brother."

"Your brother?" Bay repeated in surprise.

"Since when do you have a brother?" Cinder asked.

"Since...." Crystal let out a sigh. "Since Team Rocket created us both using Mew DNA."

The two Pokemon let out a gasp.

"Created?" Bay looked at Cinder. "Did you hear about this?"

"No, I didn't," the Cyndaquil replied. "I knew Team Rocket was up to no good, but this...."

"They did cause some trouble, but a Trainer from Pallet Town took care of that," Crystal stated calmly. "Anyway, Catzin decided that he wanted to take Mewtwo under his wing, so to speak. I haven't seen him since before the siege was lifted from Saffron City." She looked at Cinder. "Do you think I could come along? I want to see how he's come along since Arceus fixed him up."

Cinder's back let out a burst of fire, and the little Fire-Type's jaw dropped. "You met Arceus?! No way!"

Crystal grinned. "I can tell you about it along the way to where Catzin and Mewtwo are." She looked over at Rukario. "Where does it say that they're hanging out?"

The Lucario looked over the letter, one paw tracing the footprint runes at the bottom of the paper. "According to this, they're located on Mt. Travail, which isn't too far from here." He frowned. "Strange. I would have thought that they would be in the Mystic Jungle, considering the strength that Catzin and his charge might carry."

"Maybe they wanted to shorten the journey," Crystal suggested.

"Perhaps." Rukario looked at Bay and Cinder. "Are you two going to accept this or not?"

The two Pokemon looked at each other, considering their options.

"We'll accept it," Cinder finally stated. "It's getting pretty late, though -- we'll have to head out tomorrow in order to meet them."

"We'd better get ready," Bay remarked. "Come on -- let's go talk to Kangaskhan about getting some Reviver Seeds and Max Elixers from storage." The two Pokemon turned and dashed off.

"We'd better get ready, too," Ven noted. "If we're going to go with them to this Mt. Travail place, we're going to need to restock what we lost on Mt. Steel."

Crystal nodded in agreement. "Come on -- maybe the Kecleon brothers have simmered down a little."

Break

Red looked around the colosseum, eyes wide in amazement at how many people had packed the stands just to watch the events that were about to unfold. "Man, I never thought that we would be this popular."

"Are you kidding?" Riley grinned at his Trainer from his usual left-shoulder perch. "We took out Team Rocket single-handedly, made friends with six Legendaries and two clones, and you didn't think that we would become popular?" The Pikachu laughed, earning a glare from the red-eyed Trainer.

"I'm just a kid from Pallet Town, like Blue," Red pointed out. "No one really seems to think of a Trainer from there making their way to the top. I mean, Lance came all the way from Blackthorn, remember?"

"And Blue beat him." The Pikachu's cheeks sparked with electricity; no doubt the Pokemon was eager for a battle. "And now, we get to take him on."

Red nodded, then turned to face the other side of the official Elite Four battleground, watching with a slightly impatient air for his opponent to arrive so that they could get the whole thing over with.

Over the past few weeks, the Trainer had worked with his Pokemon team, managing to take out both Blaine and Giovanni without any trouble, Blue having managed to beat them both not too long after. The reason Red's rival had managed to get ahead was that Red had decided to take a quick break and train up his Pokemon as much as possible, so that taking on the Elite Four would not be too much of a hassle. Thus, Blue managed to dash ahead and take out the Elite Four, while Red continued to make sure his team was strong enough to take out any opposition.

"There he is!" Riley's voice pulled Red out of his thoughts, and the Trainer caught sight of the brown-haired Trainer stepping out of the other ground entrance of the colosseum. Walking on either side of him were his two strongest Pokemon: the Vaporeon, Rain, and River, who had grown in size since he had first encountered Blue. The Water-Type was now taller than his Trainer, a pair of cannons sticking out of the back of his shell, and was a darker shade of blue, as well. The Pokemon didn't seem as nervous as it once had been, either.

"Looks like they've been training like we have," Red noted. He reached for his belt and fingered one of the PokeBalls, which he had carved a sign into -- a fire emblem, meant to signify the Pokemon that hid inside. "I wonder how he'll fare against him."

"You're not thinking of pitting those two against each other, are you?"

"I think it all depends on whether or not Blue's still carrying around that walking coconut tree."

Riley shuddered. "I'm glad we didn't pick one of those things up. A Pokemon that has multiple heads? Now that's just freaky."

Red nodded in agreement. They hadn't seen Blue's -- or anyone else's -- Eggxecutors in battle very often, but the two knew from watching them in action -- both on TV and not -- that the Pokemon were, although weak if evolved too early, odd and creepy enough that Red had not even considered catching it's pre-evolved form, Eggxecute. "I just hope that someone managed to knock some sense into him about that. Why would he keep anything like that on his team, anyway?"

"It's exotic?" Riley guessed. He shrugged, then turned to look back at Blue, who had stopped short of the battlefield, a smug grin on his face.

"Trainers, are you prepared to battle?" the referee called.

Red nodded. "Let's do this." He grabbed a PokeBall off his belt and gripped it tightly. Across from him, Blue did the same.

"Battle, begin!"

Break

A figure in a completely black uniform and matching bandanna over his mouth snuck away from the building, watching as he waited for the delayed alarms to finally go off and those within to start to look for the intruder that was long-since gone. A smile crept across his face under the mask as people started to yell loudly -- whether for back-up or for weapons to find the intruder, it did not matter.

The figure grinned as he looked over the item that he had managed to get away with: a CD that was labeled with "Clone Data" in a magenta-shaded marker. His employer had been hoping to get his hands on it ever since he had heard about one of the experiments that had been run, and the thief had been willing to go after it...for a price, of course.

Chuckling, the thief slipped into an alley nearby, watching as figures dashed by -- most prominent being a green-haired woman in a police outfit, a Growlithe by her side. The thief counted himself lucky that he had decided to pick up a few things before going out on this run -- avoiding Officer Jennys had become a game to him, seeing as he could make it so that not even their Pokemon could pick up his scent.

Once the figures were out of sight, the thief snuck out of the alley and started for the rendezvous point, staying to the shadows in case someone caught sight of him -- after all, he was still in his "hunting" gear, and had left his disguise behind when going out.

Within fifteen minutes, the thief had reached the forest clearing that had been designated as the meeting point. He stood there, his arms crossed over his chest, one foot tapping impatiently as he waited for his employer to arrive and give him his pay in exchange for the data.

"All of Saffron City is up in arms," a figure noted as they strode into the clearing.

"Of course they would be," the thief replied. "Judging from how heavily protected the data was, they weren't planning on letting someone get their hands on it so easily. You're lucky I can hack into databases without too much of a problem."

His employer snorted. "You mean you're lucky that we managed to give you a way into the building. Did you get it or not?"

"I've got it," the thief replied carelessly. "Do you have my pay?"

"The data first."

The thief rolled his eyes, then pulled the disk out of a pouch on his belt. "Here. I won't give it over until I get my pay. Finders keepers."

The figure's eyes narrowed, and in one swift movement, he had released a creature from a PokeBall on his belt. "I'm not giving you your pay until you hand it over. Without damaging the disk."

The thief looked at the Pokemon in front of him and snorted. "You think that thing is going to scare me into handing it over? I'm not afraid of it."

"Then why don't you carry PokeBalls?"

"They'd slow me and my work down. Plus, it's an incentive -- get in, get out, without getting caught or attacked by the guard's pets." The thief eyed the Pokemon in front of him, then looked back at the figure. "So, my pay, if you would?"

The figure's eyes narrowed. "Hypno. Now."

The yellow Pokemon in front of him didn't even bother to acknowledge that it had heard the figure's command -- it simply started to wave the pendulum in its hand back and forth, its eyes staring at the thief in a commanding manner. Within a matter of seconds, the thief had become another victim of a particularly strong Hypnosis attack, turning a simple young, experienced man into another pawn to be put on the battle lines.

The figure smirked. "You will make a fine replacement for that fool of a boy," he noted, walking around the now stiff-as-a-board thief. "Now, the data, if you would."

The CD was handed over with smooth movements, hinting that the thief had possibly fallen under a strong type of hypno-control like this before. "There was a virus in the systems that destroyed part of the data."

The figure gave the thief a calm look. "That was to be expected. They must have planted it on the more recent data, correct?"

"Yes."

"That data is useless to us. Did you get the back-up of the data that had been destroyed like I asked?"

Another CD was removed from a different pouch -- obviously, the thief had been planning on double-crossing them, which would not have lasted for long with Hypno around. "The data is encrypted."

"That is to be expected. The man who ran the experiment made sure that no one other than he would be capable of reading his findings. Mewtwo is useless to us, but this is." The figure waved the CD in the thief's face, then turned to look at the Hypno. "You know what to do with him. His techniques are going to be useful to our cause."

Hypno nodded. "I have already gone through his mind. He has had contact with other teams before -- a group in a far-off region that is only just starting to form. They might be of use to us, as well."

"That remains to be seen." The figure made a careless waving motion, and a moment later, there was a flash as the Hypno and the thief disappeared. Taking another look at the CD, a mischievous smile appeared on his face. "Charon will be most pleased with this development." He held up the CD, allowing the sunlight to dance off its surface. On the front, it read in dark blue marker, "Poke-human data."

To be continued....