Story Notes:
Well, this is my first time delving into the world of Pokémon fanfiction so I hope the story is decent. I also would like to note that I wrote in 2nd person "you" style and that the character portrayed is female (even if you can't tell at first) so if you find that uncomfortable just replace the "you"s with "I"s or "she"s.Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.Spoilers: Possible spoilers for the game Pokémon Fire Red / Leaf Green version.
Epic Battle of Epicness
"Who dares disturb my slumber?"
"...Shit."
Shit indeed. In fact, it appeared that you were stuck in the middle of Shit Creek without a paddle and your boat had just sprung a leak.
Your first impression was that you were being spied on by a psychic trainer; of course, if that were the case, it would've had to be a psychic with an odd sense of humor because no normal person would speak with that holier-than-thou attitude and spend their free time sleeping in caves. Then again, you never considered psychics all that normal in the first place.
"Who's there?!" you shouted, your eyes narrowing and your head frantically turning this way and that, trying to catch a glimpse of the psychic who had the nerve (and the balls) to harass you.
You weren't the only one disturbed by this; all of your pokémon searched the darkness, their eyes much more keen than your own. Raichu's ears perked as he listened for any movement nearby, Gengar's eyes started glowing red in a threatening manner, Gyrados let out a roar in warning, and Charizard stood by you, shielding you with his wings from any unseen danger. You smiled; despite the situation, the gestures of your pokémon made you feel both safe and proud.
"I know someone's there!" you shouted, your voice ringing strong as it echoed against the cave's walls. The courage and strength of your team filled you with great confidence. "Come out and show yourself, you coward!"
Silence.
For a moment you thought that you wouldn't receive a response. Maybe the psychic chickened out and ran away; it wouldn't be the first time a trainer did that after spotting your pokémon. However, you didn't have to wait much longer for a reply.
"Coward?" You shivered at the mocking laughter that followed; it wouldn't have been half as bad if it weren't inside your head. "You dare call me a coward? You humans have a lot of nerve."
Your searching became twice as frantic. You did not like people messing with your mind. Your thoughts were private and no one had any right to intrude on them.
"All you humans are the same; arrogant, selfish creatures that act smug when they're on top but turn tail and run as soon as they're the ones in danger. You capture pokémon, force them to battle for your own amusement, and then take credit for their victories. You humans... are the worst kind of scum."
"Get out of my head!"
"So you don't like when people intrude in your mind, hmm? Well, I'll have you know I don't enjoy having people intrude in my home. Leave this place; leave while you still have the chance."
You growled, your hands clenching together with so much force that your fingernails dug bloody crescents into your palms. "You have no right to demand anything of me! You haven't even shown your face yet!"
You grit your teeth as a dark chuckle rang within your mind, the sound anything but pleasant. "You humans can be quite amusing, especially you young ones. All right, I'll humor you; I'll show you my face."
Another chill ran down your spine; you had a bad feeling. Judging by the defensive poses of your pokémon and how they gathered closer to you, you were sure that they felt it too. Whoever the psychic egocentric maniac was, he was definitely a force to be reckoned with.
Nothing could've prepared you for what you saw.
A bright blue sphere of light illuminated within the darkness of the cave. You were half-tempted to cover your eyes but kept them open out of sheer curiosity. The orb of light appeared to grow larger as it came closer and closer to you, floating from the highest peaks inside the cavern until it gracefully met with the ground. You could barely make out the large, almost-humanoid shape within.
The light slowly faded away into nothingness, revealing the psychic to the curious and wary stares of you and your pokémon. You were finally convinced that it wasn't one of those run-of-the-mill psychic trainers that you were used to encountering; whatever it was, it wasn't even human.
The most human-like quality about it, other than its ability to stand straight on its hind legs, was its eyes. There was nothing particularly special about the eyes themselves; it was the way the creature watched you. Its brows were narrowed in either thought or amusement as it looked you up and down, analyzing you, judging whether you were a threat or not. They were the eyes of a creature with higher thought processes; the eyes of a human. Maybe even something smarter.
The rest of the creature, however, was very inhuman-like.
Its body was covered in a fine layer of fur; however, due to the darkness of the cave it was hard to tell exactly what color its fur was. It had to be blue... Or was it gray? Purple maybe? Perhaps even white. Oh well; it didn't really matter much anyway. The color of its fur had no relation to the creature's powers or abilities so you told yourself that it was nothing worth mulling over.
The creature was insanely tall, well over six feet if you had to take a guess. Its muzzle extended outward only slightly; his profile stuck out a little further than a person's but much less than a pokémon like Charizard's would. Ears protruded out of the top of the creature's skull resembling horns, only adding to the unnerving feeling it gave you. Its neck was thin and frail; you doubted it would be able to support the creature's large head if it weren't for the second tube-like neck behind the first. Long, thin arms that you somehow knew had to be stronger than they appeared extended from its body, ending in hands that were proportionately much too large. Each hand had three long fingers with large rounded tips that vaguely reminded you of the super bouncy rubber balls that you used to play with as a child. Its legs were long and thick where they started by its hips but slimmed down to become progressively thinner so that the creature's ankles appeared as if they should snap in two under the weight of its body. Large, clown-like feet barely touched the cave floor; apparently the creature was capable of levitation; the three rounded-tipped toes somewhat akin to the creature's fingers were the only part of its foot that were firmly planted on the ground. A long, almost misshapen-looking tail swung back and forth behind the creature in a nonchalant manner, almost as if the creature should be sitting at a table and sipping tea while entertaining guests instead of staring you down with cold, calculating eyes.
A loud, rumbling growl from behind you abruptly brought you out of your observations. You looked back at your charizard, his wings still wrapped around you protectively as he growled and glared at what you had silently deemed the creature for lack of a better term.
You watched quietly as the two exchanged glances, snarling and sneering at one another as if they were engaged in an argument. You found that odd considering that, with the exception of an annoyed growl or grunt from Charizard here or there, the two remained completely silent. You weren't entirely sure what was going on; maybe they were just in the middle of an intense staring contest?
You had enough of standing idly by. After all, there was only so much boring silence a girl could take before she snapped. "Uh... Not to be rude, but what exactly are you anyway?" you asked loudly, causing the creature to turn its attention back to you and earn yet another growl from Charizard.
"Are you really that stupid?" It didn't wait for a reply which was probably for the better considering you were half-tempted to rip the jerk a new butt hole for its comment. "I'm a pokémon; the most powerful pokémon in the world!"
You blinked, scratched your head, looked at your fingernails, and made a mental note to clean the dirt out from under them once you were back within civilization. "You know," you started, giving your nails one last look before finally having the decency to look at the creature while you spoke to it, "You don't look like any pokémon I've ever seen or heard of before."
"That's because you humans enjoy being blissfully ignorant of the world around you as long as it doesn't directly affect you. Your entire race is selfish and stupid."
"You're racist."
"..."
"Well you are."
"...As I was saying," the creature continued, prepared to ignore any other idiotic comments you might decide to add, "Humans are ignorant. You play your childish games and force your pokémon to fight for your own amusement, completely unaware as scientists with god-complexes work to create new life. That is how I came to be."
You weren't entirely sure what to make of the creature's, ahem, the pokémon's speech. It obviously didn't think very highly of people at all. Perhaps it had a bad experience with them? Maybe, maybe not, but something deep within your gut told you that you were about to sit through a long and boring explanation of the mysterious pokémon's past even though you neither asked nor really cared to know it.
"Using trace amounts of DNA that came from the legendary Mew, a group of scientists created me through the process of cloning."
You and Charizard turned towards each other, exchanging bored glances. Why was it that everyone you had ever met always felt the need to share their life story with you? What did you look like? Their therapist?! With a frown, you unzipped your satchel in search of something you could use to entertain yourself for the remainder of the pokémon's speech.
The pokémon, however, didn't seem to take notice of this, too wrapped up in its own monologue. "After many months of research and failed experiments, they finally ended up with me, Mewtwo; a pokémon even more powerful than Mew or any other being on the planet. I am the ultimate life form; I am the strongest pokémon alive."
"Got any threes?" you asked, staring at the back of the cards in Charizard's clawed paws with strained eyes as if that would grant you the power to magically see what cards he held. By this time, the rest of your pokémon had gathered closer to you; Gengar to your left, Raichu in your lap, and Gyrados stretching his neck as far as he could so he could see your cards from his spot in the river. Charizard grunted lightly, nodding his head reluctantly as he handed over the card. You accepted it with a smug grin while Raichu cheered. "Sweet! Got any fives?"
"..." If you had been paying close enough attention, you would have seen Mewtwo's right eyelid faintly twitch. "...What are you doing?"
"What does it look like? We're playing Go Fish, duh!" you responded, pouting as you were forced to fish yet another card from the deck.
"Were you even listening to me?!"
"Yeah, yeah, I was listening; science experiments, cloning, most powerful pokémon; etcetera, etcetera" you replied distractedly, most of you attention focused on your game.
Your charizard grinned, baring his sharpened teeth as he took the last card from your hand, earning his victory. It must've taken every ounce of his self control to keep him from blasting a Flamethrower in the air in celebration.
You pouted; you were a bit of a sore loser; but quickly pulled yourself together and pushed Raichu none-too-gently out of your lap before standing up. You turned back towards Mewtwo, all traces of silliness and childishness gone. "So... If my team beat you in a battle then would that make them the most powerful pokémon in the world?"
The dark laughter of the pokémon once again echoed through your head. "Human, are you challenging me?"
"Well I'm sure as hell not asking you out on a date" you responded, barely able to contain your excitement. Your lips curled into a smirk and your eyes twinkled brightly at the thought of a good fight. After all, every step you took only brought you closer to your goal of becoming the world's greatest pokémon master.
"You have no idea what you're getting yourself into. I'll give you one last chance to run along home."
"After I've come this far? Not a chance!" Your lips curled into a confident expression, your eyes sparkling in excitement. Your pokémon, being the overconfident powerhouses that they were, mirrored the expression.
"If you won't run like a coward..." Mewtwo trailed, his voice echoing ominously in your head. You could barely detect a hint of a smirk lifting at the corners of the creature's small mouth. It outstretched its arms; the reason why, you weren't entirely sure. Your eyes widened when you saw the beginnings of a black and purple sphere of dark energy; a Shadow Ball. "Then you'll die like a fool!"
You were frozen in place; all you could do was clench your eyes shut tight as the attack hurdled towards you. Luckily your charizard was not one to freeze under pressure. The dragon pokémon grabbed hold of your shoulders lifting you in the air as he swiftly dodged out of the way just in time, the Shadow Ball blasting a hole in the wall of the cave, sending bits of rock flying.
Other than a stray pebble scratching against your cheek, you were unharmed.
"Thanks buddy" you muttered under your breath, still in slight shock at the near-death experience. You wondered; did your pokémon deal with that sort of fear everyday? As soon as you got back in town, the first thing you were going to do was treat your team to some gourmet pokémon food.
Charizard snorted back in acknowledgement, his eyes locked on Mewtwo's form. The fire burning in your pokémon's eyes was almost enough to make you sweat. You were sure that you had never seen Charizard look that angry before. That look in his eyes told you he was just barely restraining himself from attacking without your orders.
Well, he'll have to wait a little bit longer, you thought to yourself. "Gengar!" you called, causing the ghost's ears to perk up at the sound of his name. "Let's fight fire with fire! Use Shadow Ball!"
The purple ghost nodded his head in understanding, his lips set in one of his rare frowns as he concentrated on forming the attack. The Shadow Ball glowed with a malevolent light as it grew in his stubby hands; those same stubby hands thrust the attack in Mewtwo's direction.
You grinned as you watched the orb of dark energy fly towards Mewtwo. It would hit him dead-on since the so-called superior pokémon didn't even make an attempt to dodge out of the way; it probably thought it was invincible or something. Your grin widened only to transform into an open-mouthed gape as Mewtwo stopped the attack when it was just inches away from making impact, allowing the orb to hover in front of its paws. Another reason to hate psychics, you noted; they were cheaters.
"You call this a Shadow Ball?" it mocked. "Hmph. Simply child's play. This," it spoke, the Shadow Ball before its paws growing with every word it said, "This... is a Shadow Ball." Mewtwo wasted no more time as he threw it straight at your gengar, catching him off guard and knocking the poor creature out in one shot.
"Gengar!" you shouted, your eyes wide in horror. It had been so long since any of your pokémon had been knocked out in a match. Usually your opponent was lucky if they could even get a good hit in. Seeing your Gengar lying unconscious against the cave's floor only made you all the more aware of how mortal your pokémon really were. A long streak of continuous wins had almost made you forget that. You shook these thoughts out of your head; no time to let your thoughts wander. "Hold on Gengar!" you called loudly as you pulled your satchel off your shoulder, frantically searching for a Revive, a Potion, or anything that could help.
You gasped as the bag started to float away from you. It hovered in front of you, close enough that it grazed against your fingertips but far enough that you couldn't get a good hold on it. Determined, you dove towards it; the bag darted away from you with a newfound speed while you fell face-first onto the hard cave floor.
"Ow..." you muttered, rubbing your jaw. You were sure to have bruises in the morning.
"What do we have here?" Mewtwo's voice echoing through your skull was enough incentive for you to lift your head off the ground. It took a moment for your dazed mind to register what was going on but once you shook away the confusion you nearly growled when you saw Mewtwo idly looking through your bag, his tail swinging back and forth in a bored manner.
"Give that back!"
Mewtwo ignored your request, still searching your bag with mild interest. "Your pokémon already outnumber me four to one; it seems unfair that you should be allowed to use items too."
You grimaced. "I don't care about that! Give it back right now! Gengar's in pain!" you shouted desperately, hoping that the thought of a fellow pokémon suffering would guilt it into handing your bag back over to you.
"And it's your own fault that he's in pain. He wouldn't have been in a battle he had no chance of winning if it hadn't been for your overconfidence and your selfish desire to win. I have no sympathy for greedy trainers and their pokémon slaves." With that said, Mewtwo nonchalantly tossed your bag over its shoulder, allowing it to fall to the ground behind him with a soft thud.
You bit your bottom lip. You didn't like the thought of leaving your gengar untreated but Mewtwo had made it painfully obvious that it wasn't about to give you your items back anytime soon.
All you could do was keep on fighting and hope for the best.
The metallic taste of your own blood slowly filled your mouth; apparently you were biting your lip so hard that your teeth broke through the skin. You soothed the sting of pain away with a few swift licks of your tongue, your gaze never leaving Mewtwo's as the two of you stared the other down with hardened eyes.
"Raichu," you called, still not breaking eye-contact with Mewtwo, "Use Agility!"
The electric rodent nodded his head and immediately performed the move, increasing his already impressive speed twofold. Your eyes briefly flickered towards the left; the movement was slight and hardly noticeable, but it was enough. Raichu dashed at lightning speed, his target in sight.
But his target wasn't Mewtwo.
Barely even two feet away, Raichu made a nosedive for your satchel, his chubby paws stretched out in front of him as far as they could reach. He was only inches away, so close he could nearly taste his victory, when the bag flew up in the air and out of his reach before promptly giving him a quick smack to the head. The hit dazed him momentarily but wasn't enough to stop him for long. Raichu made another attempt to grab the bag and failed, resulting in another hit to his skull that was even harder than the last. Then another. And another. ...And another until the poor thing was out cold.
"Raichu!" You made a move to run towards him but were easily held back by Charizard's claws gripping onto your shoulders. You vainly tried to escape his grasp. As expected, you accomplished nothing.
"So," Mewtwo's voice interrupted, causing you to cease your frantic movements briefly from the shock, "How's it feel to know that I'm always two steps ahead of you?" The smugness of the statement made you increase your struggling tenfold; you even went so far as to rake your nails against Charizard's scales in an effort to make him release you. "You and your pokémon are no match for me. For every attack you formulate, I come up with two ways to counter it before you've even opened your mouth. Face it, human; you're as good as dead."
When gnawing on Charizard's arm did nothing to ease his grip on you, you simply made an effort to calm yourself. You closed your eyes and took deep breaths while trying to think up a plan to defeat this seemingly undefeatable foe. One thing was for sure; you'd definitely have to get serious now, especially if you wanted to help Gengar and Raichu.
Seeing your calmed demeanor, Charizard released you, eyeing you carefully to make sure you didn't try anything stupid that would get you killed. One near-death experience for his trainer was more than enough for one day.
"Gyrados..." At the sound of your voice, Gyrados perked up, his tailfin swishing back and forth as he eagerly awaited your orders. "Use Surf, then follow up with a Tackle attack."
The water serpent let out a ferocious roar as he manipulated the water around him, forcing it to gather together and form into a wave so large one would expect to see it only during a tsunami. Gyrados launched the attack, being extra careful to make sure the move didn't reach any of his comrades.
Mewtwo, a confident smirk curling at the corner of its lips, stood still as death as the wave loomed over its head, casting an ominous shadow over feline-like features until the water crashed overtop of the psychic. Gyrados swam over towards Mewtwo's submerged form; his speed was so great that he resembled a torpedo being shot out of a submarine; and opened his mouth to reveal a large set of sparkling white fangs. Releasing a ferocious roar, Gyrados dove downward, determined to knock Mewtwo down for the count with a single Tackle.
You weren't exactly sure how long it was before the water washed away; in hindsight, you knew it couldn't have been more than two minutes; but it felt like an eternity. Slowly, streams of water flowed down the stone paths of the cave, leaving behind a wet trail and two pokémon bodies in its wake.
The sight made you want to scream out in both frustration and concern.
Your gyrados was lying in an unconscious heap; your only indications that he was still alive were the up and down motions of his chest as he breathed and the pained groans that occasionally escaped from the back of his throat. Mewtwo, meanwhile, remained completely unharmed. Its body was shielded by a large and shimmering blue orb, much like the one that had surrounded it before when it had made its appearance. The light slowly faded away, revealing Mewtwo's smug expression to you once again.
"Ready to give up?" You were really starting to get sick of that voice.
"No way in hell!" you shouted, your eyes flaring. "Charizard, it's your time to shine!"
Charizard grinned, excited that it was finally his turn to enter the fight. The dragon flapped his wings wildly, leaned back, and let out a deafening roar.
You barely manage to resist a slight smile when he started strutting around the cave in celebration.
Mewtwo, however, was not in the mood for such foolishness and chose to make its distaste known. Its eyes glowed an eerie blue as it focused its powers on the still form of your gyrados; a blue miasma encircled your pokémon, lifting his gargantuan form high up in the air. All you could do was stare in shock as Gyrados floated in midair, still unconscious, until the hulking body came hurdling towards you.
That was the second time in one day that you had found yourself the target of a pokémon attack; a new record.
Once again Charizard found himself rushing you out of harm's way and by now even you were starting to get sick and tired of playing the part of the damsel in distress. Really, the only thing you despised more than being weak, helpless, and the multitude of other negative qualities depicted in most female stereotypes was when people humiliated and harmed your pokémon even more so than necessary. Currently, you were experiencing both.
Your rage could only be compared to a woman on her menstrual cycle that had just run out of chocolate.
Charizard, meanwhile, was equally pissed. Not only did this Mewtwo disrespect a fallen comrade, but it also disrupted Charizard's imminent victory strut. Nobody interrupted the strut; nobody.
As far as you and Charizard were concerned, Mewtwo was screwed.
"Alright Charizard, this has gone on long enough. It's time to take Mewtwo out!" You and your pokémon exchanged knowing glances before turning back towards Mewtwo, the two of you staring the creature down with narrowed eyes. It observed the two of you carefully, its tail casually swinging back and forth as if it were daring you to rise up and challenge it.
You and Charizard were never ones to back down from a dare.
"Use Fly!"
The words hadn't even fully left your lips before your charizard spread his leathery wings and took to the air. He flew in circles around his target, analyzing the best possible approach for an aerial attack. Of course, the fire dragon wasn't much of a tactician and was really never one to think too much before jumping into action; with an impatient growl, Charizard dove down, Mewtwo in his sights.
Mewtwo didn't even bat an eyelash (you weren't sure if the creature even had any eyelashes; it was much too dark to tell) as it swiftly dodged the assault, using its psychokinetic powers to levitate its body out of harm's way. The movement seemed so practiced, graceful, like a ballerina performing a pirouette; you probably would've found it beautiful under different circumstances. Instead, the action only proved to further infuriate you.
"Is that the best you can do?" Mewtwo mocked. "I was hoping you'd put up more of a fight than that."
"We'll show you a fight!" you growled venomously, clenching your fists. "Charizard, use Flamethrower!"
A devilish light seemed to glow from Charizard's eyes the moment you finished giving the command. Obviously you weren't the only one getting sick of Mewtwo's incessant taunts. The fire dragon took in a deep breath, his chest expanding from the large amount of oxygen filling his lungs, and released a stream of burning-hot fire.
You watched with a mix of awe and satisfaction as the attack burned at Mewtwo's fur, charring random patches black. Charizard kept the flamethrower going strong, the faint light the fire provided dancing across his features and casting ominous shadows over his eyes. You briefly wondered how Charizard could produce such powerful flames without burning the inside of his mouth (or his esophagus, for that matter) but shrugged the thought away, deeming it unimportant for the time being.
Mewtwo barely even cringed as the flames engulfed its body, enveloping the creature in a fiery inferno of orange and red. You stared with morbid fascination as its flesh melted and burned away; all the while, Mewtwo's only reaction was a dark laughter that sent chills down your spine and caused the hair on the back of your neck to stand on end.
"What... What are you?" you asked in a voice barely above a whisper.
"I already told you," it spoke in a voice that raised goose bumps on your skin, "I'm the most powerful pokémon in existence."
You and Charizard gawked shamelessly, eyes wide and mouths hanging open, as Mewtwo's form began to glow; a golden light surrounded its body, giving the creature an angelic glow. The charred remains of fur and burnt flesh reshaped itself, returning to its original form and full health before your very own eyes.
"H-how..?" You barely managed to breathe the words out in your state of shock. "How did you do that?"
Mewtwo seemed amused by your dumbstruck expression. "Come now; as dull as you may be, I'd expect even you to know how I accomplished such a feat. And you call yourself a trainer? You act as if you've never seen Recover before."
"Damn it..." you cursed under your breath. How were you supposed to beat this thing? It took all four of your pokémon in order to deal some damage and once you finally succeeded in doing so it regains all the health it lost with a single move? No fair! That Mewtwo was such a cheater!
Things were starting to look grim. Mewtwo was at full health while you were down to your very last pokémon. It wasn't that you doubted Charizard; he was your most reliable partner and he'd gotten you out of tough situations before; but without any items your chance for victory was slim to none.
To put it bluntly, you were fucked.
"There's really no use in trying to fight back," Mewtwo spoke, its tone calm, "You're way out of your league. Believe me, I would know. After all, I'm a psychic pokémon; I can see the future..." it drawled, the air around Mewtwo crackling with power. "And I predict... your imminent defeat!"
Once again you found yourself the target of an attack and, yet again, you could do nothing but stare like a stantler caught in headlights. When did Mewtwo use Future Sight? During Charizard's Flamethrower? Gyrados' Surf? You couldn't remember; you were probably too focused on the damage done to your teammates to even notice it in the first place.
The attack was so sudden and unexpected that it left little time to react. You closed your eyes tightly, bracing yourself in preparation for the pain, only to feel a set of claws grasp your shoulders and toss you with enough strength to send you flying fifteen feet away.
You opened your eyes just in time to see Charizard smile with a softened expression before the attack hit him head on.
"...No" you whimpered, eyes filling with tears as Charizard's features contorted in pain. The attack lasted only seconds but to you it felt like a millennia. All you could do was watch as your best friend suffered until his body fell to the ground in a crumpled heap. "No, no, no, no, NOOOO!"
You screeched, you cried, you dug your fingernails into your scalp until you bled, but none of that was enough to get your charizard back on his feet.
"No..."
It was at that moment you finally realized you were in way over your head. This was nothing like the world of pokémon you were so used to. It was nothing like battling the average wild pokémon; Mewtwo was much more intelligent. Unlike most pokémon, Mewtwo was capable of strategizing and deceiving. It wasn't like a trainer battle either; your opponent didn't call out their attacks before they hit and there was no referee to regulate the fight and prevent any fatal injuries.
And worst of all, you weren't a confident hot-shot pokémon trainer with an unstoppable team; you were just a weak little girl who watched as all her friends fell before her very eyes.
"Looks like you lose, human."
You lost. You lost the battle, you lost your confidence, and you may have even lost all your pokémon for good.
"I'm a reasonable pokémon, so I'll give you one of two options." You could barely muster the energy to pick your head up and meet Mewtwo's eyes. "Option one: I let you run along home and you forget all about your dreams of being a pokémon trainer. I wipe away any memory of you from your pokémon's minds and they live in peace with me for the rest of their lives. Option two: you stay here and die by your pokémon's sides. The choice is yours."
You were ashamed to admit it, but the first thought that came to your mind was to run. You needed to get away; far away to a place bereft of any powerful pokémon with a god-complex; you needed to go somewhere safe. It would be the smarter choice anyway, wouldn't it? If you left, not only would your life be spared but your pokémon would live as well. Only one question remained: could you really go through with it?
It wasn't long before you came to a decision.
"Never!" you growled out with a newfound energy, eyes burning with a raging fire as strong as the flame on the end of your charizard's tail. "I'd rather die than ever abandon my friends!"
Mewtwo watched you with careful eyes; if it was surprised by your decision in any way then it was an expert at hiding its shock. "Very well... So be it." Mewtwo's tone was impossible to decipher; had you not been so focused on keeping your knees from shaking, you may have been curious as to what was going through the creature's mind.
You held your ground as Mewtwo slowly glided towards you, its feet hovering just above the cave floor while moving with a certain poise and dignity that would have impressed you had the circumstances been different. Instead, you just growled and bared your teeth, trying to look as intimidating as a girl stuck between a rock and a hard place can possibly be. Unfortunately, the gesture wasn't quite as intimidating as you had hoped for.
Still, at least you had enough strength to keep your knees from shaking. If you had to die then you'd rather do so on your own terms and not spend your last moments of life quivering in fear.
Besides, your body was so frozen stiff in terror that you couldn't shake a finger, let alone your knees, even if you wanted to.
Mewtwo stopped approaching once it was within mere centimeters of your body, so close that you could feel its breath ghost across your neck, phantom limbs of air wanting to encircle your throat and squeeze the oxygen out of your lungs. You gulped down greedy breaths of air in anticipation, feeling rather foolish when the creature's only response was a twitch of its tail. You stared into eyes that were human, yet, at the same time, not quite human at all; large luminescent orbs of amethyst with a ghostly blue glow that stared at you with cold indifference.
Eyes that were more human than pokémon, but more demon than human.
"So..." You jumped in alarm as the voice echoed throughout your mind, not expecting anything more than your own imminent demise. "Any last requests?"
"Let me and my pokémon go free?"
"..."
"Heh... It was worth a shot." You grinned, the gesture simply a reflex of yours whenever you were nervous. The smile quickly faded away from your lips as you let out a sigh. "Could you... could you give me a moment to collect myself before you blast me to the next world? ...I have a few issues I'd like to sort out with myself, if you don't mind."
Mewtwo looked you over for a moment, as if contemplating whether or not to grant your request, before simply turning away. You stared at the creature's back, pondering why it would trust you enough to show its back to you. Seconds later, you realized that it had absolutely nothing to do with trust and everything to do with the fact that you posed no threat whatsoever. The thought was enough to knock your self-esteem down another notch, but that hardly seemed important when Death was breathing so heavily down the back of your neck. Instead, you were thankful for the time and privacy the creature gave you to meditate over.
You closed your eyes and leaned your back against the cave wall, ignoring the rugged stones that dug uncomfortably against your body. You could hardly believe it; had the end of your journey really come so soon? You accomplished so much and yet there was still so much more out there to accomplish. You were young; young and full of dreams of traveling to other regions, meeting new pokémon, entering different competitions, and battling new rivals. How could everything end for you now when there was still so much more for you to do?
Not to mention that the thought of death was frightening enough. You had never been deeply religious but your parents had mentioned an afterlife to you when you were just a child. They always described it as a beautiful paradise with sunny skies and streets paved in gold. You weren't quite sure if you believed such a thing or not. And even if you did believe in an afterlife, would you really want it to be like that? Were pokémon allowed in the afterworld too? Or did they get their own separate world without human interference?
You frowned. You could hardly imagine life without you pokémon, let alone an afterlife without them. They were your team, your friends, your family. Hell, they were your whole damn world. Your pokémon, the only ones you ever allowed a special place in your heart (with the exception of your own blood relatives), were going to die. And it was your entire fault. The thought tore you from the inside out. You opened your eyes, allowing your gaze to linger over the fallen bodies of your comrades; stubborn but brave Charizard, faithful and calm Gyrados, sweet and cheerful Raichu, and...
...Where was your mischievous yet loveable Gengar?
Your answer revealed itself in the form of a semi-translucent purple arm sticking out of the wall only inches from your face. It took every ounce of self-control you had to keep yourself from shouting.
The moment Gengar stuck his bruised and battered head out from the cavern wall to give you a wink, your first thought was to pull him into your arms and smother him in kisses. You were so relieved to see him alive! But then you took notice of what he held loosely hanging on his arm.
Your satchel.
You quickly snatched the bag away from Gengar, ignoring the indignant glare he sent your way as you were too busy digging through its contents to care. You dug through piles among piles of potions and ethers; both were well and good but would do little against a pokémon that knew a move like Recover. You needed something that was one-of-a-kind, something that would take Mewtwo down in one shot with zero chances of failure. You doubted such an item even existed and even if it did there would be little chance that you of all people would have it.
And then you pulled out a purple and white orb; the Master Ball.
You stared at the ball with dreamy eyes; it had been a gift to you from the Silph Company after you helped scare away a group of Rockets that had been terrorizing and controlling them. Supposedly the Master Ball was a prototype created by the company. It was never put on the market, however, due to its high catch rate (one hundred percent). A Master Ball in the wrong hands could be a dangerous thing. Even now you weren't too thrilled about using it. It didn't seem fair to catch a pokémon that had won the fight, however, the thought of your pokémon and your drive to survive were enough to override your conscience for the time being.
"Hey, Mewtwo, think fast!"
Mewtwo turned to face you just in time for the Master Ball to smack him right in the forehead. Its eyes widened to the size of saucers in a mix of shock and terror as it was enveloped in a bright red light and sucked into the confines of the Master Ball.
The Master Ball didn't even shake before it blinked to acknowledge the capture of Mewtwo.
You stared at the ball for a good two minutes (you couldn't believe it had been so easy; after all you went through and it was that easy!) before finally collecting your wits and picking it up. It felt cold in your hand and gave you a nauseous feeling in your stomach. You quickly deposited the ball into your satchel before turning to Gengar with a nervous smile. He returned the gesture with a tired grin of his own before collapsing on the ground by your feet. The poor little monster must've used up what little energy he had left in order to get you your bag. Your smile widened; such a sweet little bugger.
You returned all four of your pokémon to their pokéballs and quickly fished an Escape Rope out of your back. You ran out of the cave as fast as your legs could carry you, ignoring the stray golbat or wobuffet until you were out of the cave and greeted by the warm glow of the setting sun. You took a moment to admire the view before setting off towards the nearest pokémon center; your pokémon deserved a good rest and you wouldn't mind taking a break yourself. You just hoped the local Nurse Joy wouldn't chew your ear out.Chapter End Notes:You'll notice that I referred to Mewtwo as an "it." This is simply because Mewtwo is technically genderless and the character "You" is unaware of Mewtwo's gender anyway. However, I will later refer to it as "he" as the story goes on.
I'm also aware that not too many people appreciate stories written in second person. It's my style and I find I'm better at writing them than other perspectives, but I can't ignore my readers. So, if you're kind enough to review, please vote on whether you want me to change the perspective to first or third, or keep it in second.
Thank you
"...Shit."
Shit indeed. In fact, it appeared that you were stuck in the middle of Shit Creek without a paddle and your boat had just sprung a leak.
Your first impression was that you were being spied on by a psychic trainer; of course, if that were the case, it would've had to be a psychic with an odd sense of humor because no normal person would speak with that holier-than-thou attitude and spend their free time sleeping in caves. Then again, you never considered psychics all that normal in the first place.
"Who's there?!" you shouted, your eyes narrowing and your head frantically turning this way and that, trying to catch a glimpse of the psychic who had the nerve (and the balls) to harass you.
You weren't the only one disturbed by this; all of your pokémon searched the darkness, their eyes much more keen than your own. Raichu's ears perked as he listened for any movement nearby, Gengar's eyes started glowing red in a threatening manner, Gyrados let out a roar in warning, and Charizard stood by you, shielding you with his wings from any unseen danger. You smiled; despite the situation, the gestures of your pokémon made you feel both safe and proud.
"I know someone's there!" you shouted, your voice ringing strong as it echoed against the cave's walls. The courage and strength of your team filled you with great confidence. "Come out and show yourself, you coward!"
Silence.
For a moment you thought that you wouldn't receive a response. Maybe the psychic chickened out and ran away; it wouldn't be the first time a trainer did that after spotting your pokémon. However, you didn't have to wait much longer for a reply.
"Coward?" You shivered at the mocking laughter that followed; it wouldn't have been half as bad if it weren't inside your head. "You dare call me a coward? You humans have a lot of nerve."
Your searching became twice as frantic. You did not like people messing with your mind. Your thoughts were private and no one had any right to intrude on them.
"All you humans are the same; arrogant, selfish creatures that act smug when they're on top but turn tail and run as soon as they're the ones in danger. You capture pokémon, force them to battle for your own amusement, and then take credit for their victories. You humans... are the worst kind of scum."
"Get out of my head!"
"So you don't like when people intrude in your mind, hmm? Well, I'll have you know I don't enjoy having people intrude in my home. Leave this place; leave while you still have the chance."
You growled, your hands clenching together with so much force that your fingernails dug bloody crescents into your palms. "You have no right to demand anything of me! You haven't even shown your face yet!"
You grit your teeth as a dark chuckle rang within your mind, the sound anything but pleasant. "You humans can be quite amusing, especially you young ones. All right, I'll humor you; I'll show you my face."
Another chill ran down your spine; you had a bad feeling. Judging by the defensive poses of your pokémon and how they gathered closer to you, you were sure that they felt it too. Whoever the psychic egocentric maniac was, he was definitely a force to be reckoned with.
Nothing could've prepared you for what you saw.
A bright blue sphere of light illuminated within the darkness of the cave. You were half-tempted to cover your eyes but kept them open out of sheer curiosity. The orb of light appeared to grow larger as it came closer and closer to you, floating from the highest peaks inside the cavern until it gracefully met with the ground. You could barely make out the large, almost-humanoid shape within.
The light slowly faded away into nothingness, revealing the psychic to the curious and wary stares of you and your pokémon. You were finally convinced that it wasn't one of those run-of-the-mill psychic trainers that you were used to encountering; whatever it was, it wasn't even human.
The most human-like quality about it, other than its ability to stand straight on its hind legs, was its eyes. There was nothing particularly special about the eyes themselves; it was the way the creature watched you. Its brows were narrowed in either thought or amusement as it looked you up and down, analyzing you, judging whether you were a threat or not. They were the eyes of a creature with higher thought processes; the eyes of a human. Maybe even something smarter.
The rest of the creature, however, was very inhuman-like.
Its body was covered in a fine layer of fur; however, due to the darkness of the cave it was hard to tell exactly what color its fur was. It had to be blue... Or was it gray? Purple maybe? Perhaps even white. Oh well; it didn't really matter much anyway. The color of its fur had no relation to the creature's powers or abilities so you told yourself that it was nothing worth mulling over.
The creature was insanely tall, well over six feet if you had to take a guess. Its muzzle extended outward only slightly; his profile stuck out a little further than a person's but much less than a pokémon like Charizard's would. Ears protruded out of the top of the creature's skull resembling horns, only adding to the unnerving feeling it gave you. Its neck was thin and frail; you doubted it would be able to support the creature's large head if it weren't for the second tube-like neck behind the first. Long, thin arms that you somehow knew had to be stronger than they appeared extended from its body, ending in hands that were proportionately much too large. Each hand had three long fingers with large rounded tips that vaguely reminded you of the super bouncy rubber balls that you used to play with as a child. Its legs were long and thick where they started by its hips but slimmed down to become progressively thinner so that the creature's ankles appeared as if they should snap in two under the weight of its body. Large, clown-like feet barely touched the cave floor; apparently the creature was capable of levitation; the three rounded-tipped toes somewhat akin to the creature's fingers were the only part of its foot that were firmly planted on the ground. A long, almost misshapen-looking tail swung back and forth behind the creature in a nonchalant manner, almost as if the creature should be sitting at a table and sipping tea while entertaining guests instead of staring you down with cold, calculating eyes.
A loud, rumbling growl from behind you abruptly brought you out of your observations. You looked back at your charizard, his wings still wrapped around you protectively as he growled and glared at what you had silently deemed the creature for lack of a better term.
You watched quietly as the two exchanged glances, snarling and sneering at one another as if they were engaged in an argument. You found that odd considering that, with the exception of an annoyed growl or grunt from Charizard here or there, the two remained completely silent. You weren't entirely sure what was going on; maybe they were just in the middle of an intense staring contest?
You had enough of standing idly by. After all, there was only so much boring silence a girl could take before she snapped. "Uh... Not to be rude, but what exactly are you anyway?" you asked loudly, causing the creature to turn its attention back to you and earn yet another growl from Charizard.
"Are you really that stupid?" It didn't wait for a reply which was probably for the better considering you were half-tempted to rip the jerk a new butt hole for its comment. "I'm a pokémon; the most powerful pokémon in the world!"
You blinked, scratched your head, looked at your fingernails, and made a mental note to clean the dirt out from under them once you were back within civilization. "You know," you started, giving your nails one last look before finally having the decency to look at the creature while you spoke to it, "You don't look like any pokémon I've ever seen or heard of before."
"That's because you humans enjoy being blissfully ignorant of the world around you as long as it doesn't directly affect you. Your entire race is selfish and stupid."
"You're racist."
"..."
"Well you are."
"...As I was saying," the creature continued, prepared to ignore any other idiotic comments you might decide to add, "Humans are ignorant. You play your childish games and force your pokémon to fight for your own amusement, completely unaware as scientists with god-complexes work to create new life. That is how I came to be."
You weren't entirely sure what to make of the creature's, ahem, the pokémon's speech. It obviously didn't think very highly of people at all. Perhaps it had a bad experience with them? Maybe, maybe not, but something deep within your gut told you that you were about to sit through a long and boring explanation of the mysterious pokémon's past even though you neither asked nor really cared to know it.
"Using trace amounts of DNA that came from the legendary Mew, a group of scientists created me through the process of cloning."
You and Charizard turned towards each other, exchanging bored glances. Why was it that everyone you had ever met always felt the need to share their life story with you? What did you look like? Their therapist?! With a frown, you unzipped your satchel in search of something you could use to entertain yourself for the remainder of the pokémon's speech.
The pokémon, however, didn't seem to take notice of this, too wrapped up in its own monologue. "After many months of research and failed experiments, they finally ended up with me, Mewtwo; a pokémon even more powerful than Mew or any other being on the planet. I am the ultimate life form; I am the strongest pokémon alive."
"Got any threes?" you asked, staring at the back of the cards in Charizard's clawed paws with strained eyes as if that would grant you the power to magically see what cards he held. By this time, the rest of your pokémon had gathered closer to you; Gengar to your left, Raichu in your lap, and Gyrados stretching his neck as far as he could so he could see your cards from his spot in the river. Charizard grunted lightly, nodding his head reluctantly as he handed over the card. You accepted it with a smug grin while Raichu cheered. "Sweet! Got any fives?"
"..." If you had been paying close enough attention, you would have seen Mewtwo's right eyelid faintly twitch. "...What are you doing?"
"What does it look like? We're playing Go Fish, duh!" you responded, pouting as you were forced to fish yet another card from the deck.
"Were you even listening to me?!"
"Yeah, yeah, I was listening; science experiments, cloning, most powerful pokémon; etcetera, etcetera" you replied distractedly, most of you attention focused on your game.
Your charizard grinned, baring his sharpened teeth as he took the last card from your hand, earning his victory. It must've taken every ounce of his self control to keep him from blasting a Flamethrower in the air in celebration.
You pouted; you were a bit of a sore loser; but quickly pulled yourself together and pushed Raichu none-too-gently out of your lap before standing up. You turned back towards Mewtwo, all traces of silliness and childishness gone. "So... If my team beat you in a battle then would that make them the most powerful pokémon in the world?"
The dark laughter of the pokémon once again echoed through your head. "Human, are you challenging me?"
"Well I'm sure as hell not asking you out on a date" you responded, barely able to contain your excitement. Your lips curled into a smirk and your eyes twinkled brightly at the thought of a good fight. After all, every step you took only brought you closer to your goal of becoming the world's greatest pokémon master.
"You have no idea what you're getting yourself into. I'll give you one last chance to run along home."
"After I've come this far? Not a chance!" Your lips curled into a confident expression, your eyes sparkling in excitement. Your pokémon, being the overconfident powerhouses that they were, mirrored the expression.
"If you won't run like a coward..." Mewtwo trailed, his voice echoing ominously in your head. You could barely detect a hint of a smirk lifting at the corners of the creature's small mouth. It outstretched its arms; the reason why, you weren't entirely sure. Your eyes widened when you saw the beginnings of a black and purple sphere of dark energy; a Shadow Ball. "Then you'll die like a fool!"
You were frozen in place; all you could do was clench your eyes shut tight as the attack hurdled towards you. Luckily your charizard was not one to freeze under pressure. The dragon pokémon grabbed hold of your shoulders lifting you in the air as he swiftly dodged out of the way just in time, the Shadow Ball blasting a hole in the wall of the cave, sending bits of rock flying.
Other than a stray pebble scratching against your cheek, you were unharmed.
"Thanks buddy" you muttered under your breath, still in slight shock at the near-death experience. You wondered; did your pokémon deal with that sort of fear everyday? As soon as you got back in town, the first thing you were going to do was treat your team to some gourmet pokémon food.
Charizard snorted back in acknowledgement, his eyes locked on Mewtwo's form. The fire burning in your pokémon's eyes was almost enough to make you sweat. You were sure that you had never seen Charizard look that angry before. That look in his eyes told you he was just barely restraining himself from attacking without your orders.
Well, he'll have to wait a little bit longer, you thought to yourself. "Gengar!" you called, causing the ghost's ears to perk up at the sound of his name. "Let's fight fire with fire! Use Shadow Ball!"
The purple ghost nodded his head in understanding, his lips set in one of his rare frowns as he concentrated on forming the attack. The Shadow Ball glowed with a malevolent light as it grew in his stubby hands; those same stubby hands thrust the attack in Mewtwo's direction.
You grinned as you watched the orb of dark energy fly towards Mewtwo. It would hit him dead-on since the so-called superior pokémon didn't even make an attempt to dodge out of the way; it probably thought it was invincible or something. Your grin widened only to transform into an open-mouthed gape as Mewtwo stopped the attack when it was just inches away from making impact, allowing the orb to hover in front of its paws. Another reason to hate psychics, you noted; they were cheaters.
"You call this a Shadow Ball?" it mocked. "Hmph. Simply child's play. This," it spoke, the Shadow Ball before its paws growing with every word it said, "This... is a Shadow Ball." Mewtwo wasted no more time as he threw it straight at your gengar, catching him off guard and knocking the poor creature out in one shot.
"Gengar!" you shouted, your eyes wide in horror. It had been so long since any of your pokémon had been knocked out in a match. Usually your opponent was lucky if they could even get a good hit in. Seeing your Gengar lying unconscious against the cave's floor only made you all the more aware of how mortal your pokémon really were. A long streak of continuous wins had almost made you forget that. You shook these thoughts out of your head; no time to let your thoughts wander. "Hold on Gengar!" you called loudly as you pulled your satchel off your shoulder, frantically searching for a Revive, a Potion, or anything that could help.
You gasped as the bag started to float away from you. It hovered in front of you, close enough that it grazed against your fingertips but far enough that you couldn't get a good hold on it. Determined, you dove towards it; the bag darted away from you with a newfound speed while you fell face-first onto the hard cave floor.
"Ow..." you muttered, rubbing your jaw. You were sure to have bruises in the morning.
"What do we have here?" Mewtwo's voice echoing through your skull was enough incentive for you to lift your head off the ground. It took a moment for your dazed mind to register what was going on but once you shook away the confusion you nearly growled when you saw Mewtwo idly looking through your bag, his tail swinging back and forth in a bored manner.
"Give that back!"
Mewtwo ignored your request, still searching your bag with mild interest. "Your pokémon already outnumber me four to one; it seems unfair that you should be allowed to use items too."
You grimaced. "I don't care about that! Give it back right now! Gengar's in pain!" you shouted desperately, hoping that the thought of a fellow pokémon suffering would guilt it into handing your bag back over to you.
"And it's your own fault that he's in pain. He wouldn't have been in a battle he had no chance of winning if it hadn't been for your overconfidence and your selfish desire to win. I have no sympathy for greedy trainers and their pokémon slaves." With that said, Mewtwo nonchalantly tossed your bag over its shoulder, allowing it to fall to the ground behind him with a soft thud.
You bit your bottom lip. You didn't like the thought of leaving your gengar untreated but Mewtwo had made it painfully obvious that it wasn't about to give you your items back anytime soon.
All you could do was keep on fighting and hope for the best.
The metallic taste of your own blood slowly filled your mouth; apparently you were biting your lip so hard that your teeth broke through the skin. You soothed the sting of pain away with a few swift licks of your tongue, your gaze never leaving Mewtwo's as the two of you stared the other down with hardened eyes.
"Raichu," you called, still not breaking eye-contact with Mewtwo, "Use Agility!"
The electric rodent nodded his head and immediately performed the move, increasing his already impressive speed twofold. Your eyes briefly flickered towards the left; the movement was slight and hardly noticeable, but it was enough. Raichu dashed at lightning speed, his target in sight.
But his target wasn't Mewtwo.
Barely even two feet away, Raichu made a nosedive for your satchel, his chubby paws stretched out in front of him as far as they could reach. He was only inches away, so close he could nearly taste his victory, when the bag flew up in the air and out of his reach before promptly giving him a quick smack to the head. The hit dazed him momentarily but wasn't enough to stop him for long. Raichu made another attempt to grab the bag and failed, resulting in another hit to his skull that was even harder than the last. Then another. And another. ...And another until the poor thing was out cold.
"Raichu!" You made a move to run towards him but were easily held back by Charizard's claws gripping onto your shoulders. You vainly tried to escape his grasp. As expected, you accomplished nothing.
"So," Mewtwo's voice interrupted, causing you to cease your frantic movements briefly from the shock, "How's it feel to know that I'm always two steps ahead of you?" The smugness of the statement made you increase your struggling tenfold; you even went so far as to rake your nails against Charizard's scales in an effort to make him release you. "You and your pokémon are no match for me. For every attack you formulate, I come up with two ways to counter it before you've even opened your mouth. Face it, human; you're as good as dead."
When gnawing on Charizard's arm did nothing to ease his grip on you, you simply made an effort to calm yourself. You closed your eyes and took deep breaths while trying to think up a plan to defeat this seemingly undefeatable foe. One thing was for sure; you'd definitely have to get serious now, especially if you wanted to help Gengar and Raichu.
Seeing your calmed demeanor, Charizard released you, eyeing you carefully to make sure you didn't try anything stupid that would get you killed. One near-death experience for his trainer was more than enough for one day.
"Gyrados..." At the sound of your voice, Gyrados perked up, his tailfin swishing back and forth as he eagerly awaited your orders. "Use Surf, then follow up with a Tackle attack."
The water serpent let out a ferocious roar as he manipulated the water around him, forcing it to gather together and form into a wave so large one would expect to see it only during a tsunami. Gyrados launched the attack, being extra careful to make sure the move didn't reach any of his comrades.
Mewtwo, a confident smirk curling at the corner of its lips, stood still as death as the wave loomed over its head, casting an ominous shadow over feline-like features until the water crashed overtop of the psychic. Gyrados swam over towards Mewtwo's submerged form; his speed was so great that he resembled a torpedo being shot out of a submarine; and opened his mouth to reveal a large set of sparkling white fangs. Releasing a ferocious roar, Gyrados dove downward, determined to knock Mewtwo down for the count with a single Tackle.
You weren't exactly sure how long it was before the water washed away; in hindsight, you knew it couldn't have been more than two minutes; but it felt like an eternity. Slowly, streams of water flowed down the stone paths of the cave, leaving behind a wet trail and two pokémon bodies in its wake.
The sight made you want to scream out in both frustration and concern.
Your gyrados was lying in an unconscious heap; your only indications that he was still alive were the up and down motions of his chest as he breathed and the pained groans that occasionally escaped from the back of his throat. Mewtwo, meanwhile, remained completely unharmed. Its body was shielded by a large and shimmering blue orb, much like the one that had surrounded it before when it had made its appearance. The light slowly faded away, revealing Mewtwo's smug expression to you once again.
"Ready to give up?" You were really starting to get sick of that voice.
"No way in hell!" you shouted, your eyes flaring. "Charizard, it's your time to shine!"
Charizard grinned, excited that it was finally his turn to enter the fight. The dragon flapped his wings wildly, leaned back, and let out a deafening roar.
You barely manage to resist a slight smile when he started strutting around the cave in celebration.
Mewtwo, however, was not in the mood for such foolishness and chose to make its distaste known. Its eyes glowed an eerie blue as it focused its powers on the still form of your gyrados; a blue miasma encircled your pokémon, lifting his gargantuan form high up in the air. All you could do was stare in shock as Gyrados floated in midair, still unconscious, until the hulking body came hurdling towards you.
That was the second time in one day that you had found yourself the target of a pokémon attack; a new record.
Once again Charizard found himself rushing you out of harm's way and by now even you were starting to get sick and tired of playing the part of the damsel in distress. Really, the only thing you despised more than being weak, helpless, and the multitude of other negative qualities depicted in most female stereotypes was when people humiliated and harmed your pokémon even more so than necessary. Currently, you were experiencing both.
Your rage could only be compared to a woman on her menstrual cycle that had just run out of chocolate.
Charizard, meanwhile, was equally pissed. Not only did this Mewtwo disrespect a fallen comrade, but it also disrupted Charizard's imminent victory strut. Nobody interrupted the strut; nobody.
As far as you and Charizard were concerned, Mewtwo was screwed.
"Alright Charizard, this has gone on long enough. It's time to take Mewtwo out!" You and your pokémon exchanged knowing glances before turning back towards Mewtwo, the two of you staring the creature down with narrowed eyes. It observed the two of you carefully, its tail casually swinging back and forth as if it were daring you to rise up and challenge it.
You and Charizard were never ones to back down from a dare.
"Use Fly!"
The words hadn't even fully left your lips before your charizard spread his leathery wings and took to the air. He flew in circles around his target, analyzing the best possible approach for an aerial attack. Of course, the fire dragon wasn't much of a tactician and was really never one to think too much before jumping into action; with an impatient growl, Charizard dove down, Mewtwo in his sights.
Mewtwo didn't even bat an eyelash (you weren't sure if the creature even had any eyelashes; it was much too dark to tell) as it swiftly dodged the assault, using its psychokinetic powers to levitate its body out of harm's way. The movement seemed so practiced, graceful, like a ballerina performing a pirouette; you probably would've found it beautiful under different circumstances. Instead, the action only proved to further infuriate you.
"Is that the best you can do?" Mewtwo mocked. "I was hoping you'd put up more of a fight than that."
"We'll show you a fight!" you growled venomously, clenching your fists. "Charizard, use Flamethrower!"
A devilish light seemed to glow from Charizard's eyes the moment you finished giving the command. Obviously you weren't the only one getting sick of Mewtwo's incessant taunts. The fire dragon took in a deep breath, his chest expanding from the large amount of oxygen filling his lungs, and released a stream of burning-hot fire.
You watched with a mix of awe and satisfaction as the attack burned at Mewtwo's fur, charring random patches black. Charizard kept the flamethrower going strong, the faint light the fire provided dancing across his features and casting ominous shadows over his eyes. You briefly wondered how Charizard could produce such powerful flames without burning the inside of his mouth (or his esophagus, for that matter) but shrugged the thought away, deeming it unimportant for the time being.
Mewtwo barely even cringed as the flames engulfed its body, enveloping the creature in a fiery inferno of orange and red. You stared with morbid fascination as its flesh melted and burned away; all the while, Mewtwo's only reaction was a dark laughter that sent chills down your spine and caused the hair on the back of your neck to stand on end.
"What... What are you?" you asked in a voice barely above a whisper.
"I already told you," it spoke in a voice that raised goose bumps on your skin, "I'm the most powerful pokémon in existence."
You and Charizard gawked shamelessly, eyes wide and mouths hanging open, as Mewtwo's form began to glow; a golden light surrounded its body, giving the creature an angelic glow. The charred remains of fur and burnt flesh reshaped itself, returning to its original form and full health before your very own eyes.
"H-how..?" You barely managed to breathe the words out in your state of shock. "How did you do that?"
Mewtwo seemed amused by your dumbstruck expression. "Come now; as dull as you may be, I'd expect even you to know how I accomplished such a feat. And you call yourself a trainer? You act as if you've never seen Recover before."
"Damn it..." you cursed under your breath. How were you supposed to beat this thing? It took all four of your pokémon in order to deal some damage and once you finally succeeded in doing so it regains all the health it lost with a single move? No fair! That Mewtwo was such a cheater!
Things were starting to look grim. Mewtwo was at full health while you were down to your very last pokémon. It wasn't that you doubted Charizard; he was your most reliable partner and he'd gotten you out of tough situations before; but without any items your chance for victory was slim to none.
To put it bluntly, you were fucked.
"There's really no use in trying to fight back," Mewtwo spoke, its tone calm, "You're way out of your league. Believe me, I would know. After all, I'm a psychic pokémon; I can see the future..." it drawled, the air around Mewtwo crackling with power. "And I predict... your imminent defeat!"
Once again you found yourself the target of an attack and, yet again, you could do nothing but stare like a stantler caught in headlights. When did Mewtwo use Future Sight? During Charizard's Flamethrower? Gyrados' Surf? You couldn't remember; you were probably too focused on the damage done to your teammates to even notice it in the first place.
The attack was so sudden and unexpected that it left little time to react. You closed your eyes tightly, bracing yourself in preparation for the pain, only to feel a set of claws grasp your shoulders and toss you with enough strength to send you flying fifteen feet away.
You opened your eyes just in time to see Charizard smile with a softened expression before the attack hit him head on.
"...No" you whimpered, eyes filling with tears as Charizard's features contorted in pain. The attack lasted only seconds but to you it felt like a millennia. All you could do was watch as your best friend suffered until his body fell to the ground in a crumpled heap. "No, no, no, no, NOOOO!"
You screeched, you cried, you dug your fingernails into your scalp until you bled, but none of that was enough to get your charizard back on his feet.
"No..."
It was at that moment you finally realized you were in way over your head. This was nothing like the world of pokémon you were so used to. It was nothing like battling the average wild pokémon; Mewtwo was much more intelligent. Unlike most pokémon, Mewtwo was capable of strategizing and deceiving. It wasn't like a trainer battle either; your opponent didn't call out their attacks before they hit and there was no referee to regulate the fight and prevent any fatal injuries.
And worst of all, you weren't a confident hot-shot pokémon trainer with an unstoppable team; you were just a weak little girl who watched as all her friends fell before her very eyes.
"Looks like you lose, human."
You lost. You lost the battle, you lost your confidence, and you may have even lost all your pokémon for good.
"I'm a reasonable pokémon, so I'll give you one of two options." You could barely muster the energy to pick your head up and meet Mewtwo's eyes. "Option one: I let you run along home and you forget all about your dreams of being a pokémon trainer. I wipe away any memory of you from your pokémon's minds and they live in peace with me for the rest of their lives. Option two: you stay here and die by your pokémon's sides. The choice is yours."
You were ashamed to admit it, but the first thought that came to your mind was to run. You needed to get away; far away to a place bereft of any powerful pokémon with a god-complex; you needed to go somewhere safe. It would be the smarter choice anyway, wouldn't it? If you left, not only would your life be spared but your pokémon would live as well. Only one question remained: could you really go through with it?
It wasn't long before you came to a decision.
"Never!" you growled out with a newfound energy, eyes burning with a raging fire as strong as the flame on the end of your charizard's tail. "I'd rather die than ever abandon my friends!"
Mewtwo watched you with careful eyes; if it was surprised by your decision in any way then it was an expert at hiding its shock. "Very well... So be it." Mewtwo's tone was impossible to decipher; had you not been so focused on keeping your knees from shaking, you may have been curious as to what was going through the creature's mind.
You held your ground as Mewtwo slowly glided towards you, its feet hovering just above the cave floor while moving with a certain poise and dignity that would have impressed you had the circumstances been different. Instead, you just growled and bared your teeth, trying to look as intimidating as a girl stuck between a rock and a hard place can possibly be. Unfortunately, the gesture wasn't quite as intimidating as you had hoped for.
Still, at least you had enough strength to keep your knees from shaking. If you had to die then you'd rather do so on your own terms and not spend your last moments of life quivering in fear.
Besides, your body was so frozen stiff in terror that you couldn't shake a finger, let alone your knees, even if you wanted to.
Mewtwo stopped approaching once it was within mere centimeters of your body, so close that you could feel its breath ghost across your neck, phantom limbs of air wanting to encircle your throat and squeeze the oxygen out of your lungs. You gulped down greedy breaths of air in anticipation, feeling rather foolish when the creature's only response was a twitch of its tail. You stared into eyes that were human, yet, at the same time, not quite human at all; large luminescent orbs of amethyst with a ghostly blue glow that stared at you with cold indifference.
Eyes that were more human than pokémon, but more demon than human.
"So..." You jumped in alarm as the voice echoed throughout your mind, not expecting anything more than your own imminent demise. "Any last requests?"
"Let me and my pokémon go free?"
"..."
"Heh... It was worth a shot." You grinned, the gesture simply a reflex of yours whenever you were nervous. The smile quickly faded away from your lips as you let out a sigh. "Could you... could you give me a moment to collect myself before you blast me to the next world? ...I have a few issues I'd like to sort out with myself, if you don't mind."
Mewtwo looked you over for a moment, as if contemplating whether or not to grant your request, before simply turning away. You stared at the creature's back, pondering why it would trust you enough to show its back to you. Seconds later, you realized that it had absolutely nothing to do with trust and everything to do with the fact that you posed no threat whatsoever. The thought was enough to knock your self-esteem down another notch, but that hardly seemed important when Death was breathing so heavily down the back of your neck. Instead, you were thankful for the time and privacy the creature gave you to meditate over.
You closed your eyes and leaned your back against the cave wall, ignoring the rugged stones that dug uncomfortably against your body. You could hardly believe it; had the end of your journey really come so soon? You accomplished so much and yet there was still so much more out there to accomplish. You were young; young and full of dreams of traveling to other regions, meeting new pokémon, entering different competitions, and battling new rivals. How could everything end for you now when there was still so much more for you to do?
Not to mention that the thought of death was frightening enough. You had never been deeply religious but your parents had mentioned an afterlife to you when you were just a child. They always described it as a beautiful paradise with sunny skies and streets paved in gold. You weren't quite sure if you believed such a thing or not. And even if you did believe in an afterlife, would you really want it to be like that? Were pokémon allowed in the afterworld too? Or did they get their own separate world without human interference?
You frowned. You could hardly imagine life without you pokémon, let alone an afterlife without them. They were your team, your friends, your family. Hell, they were your whole damn world. Your pokémon, the only ones you ever allowed a special place in your heart (with the exception of your own blood relatives), were going to die. And it was your entire fault. The thought tore you from the inside out. You opened your eyes, allowing your gaze to linger over the fallen bodies of your comrades; stubborn but brave Charizard, faithful and calm Gyrados, sweet and cheerful Raichu, and...
...Where was your mischievous yet loveable Gengar?
Your answer revealed itself in the form of a semi-translucent purple arm sticking out of the wall only inches from your face. It took every ounce of self-control you had to keep yourself from shouting.
The moment Gengar stuck his bruised and battered head out from the cavern wall to give you a wink, your first thought was to pull him into your arms and smother him in kisses. You were so relieved to see him alive! But then you took notice of what he held loosely hanging on his arm.
Your satchel.
You quickly snatched the bag away from Gengar, ignoring the indignant glare he sent your way as you were too busy digging through its contents to care. You dug through piles among piles of potions and ethers; both were well and good but would do little against a pokémon that knew a move like Recover. You needed something that was one-of-a-kind, something that would take Mewtwo down in one shot with zero chances of failure. You doubted such an item even existed and even if it did there would be little chance that you of all people would have it.
And then you pulled out a purple and white orb; the Master Ball.
You stared at the ball with dreamy eyes; it had been a gift to you from the Silph Company after you helped scare away a group of Rockets that had been terrorizing and controlling them. Supposedly the Master Ball was a prototype created by the company. It was never put on the market, however, due to its high catch rate (one hundred percent). A Master Ball in the wrong hands could be a dangerous thing. Even now you weren't too thrilled about using it. It didn't seem fair to catch a pokémon that had won the fight, however, the thought of your pokémon and your drive to survive were enough to override your conscience for the time being.
"Hey, Mewtwo, think fast!"
Mewtwo turned to face you just in time for the Master Ball to smack him right in the forehead. Its eyes widened to the size of saucers in a mix of shock and terror as it was enveloped in a bright red light and sucked into the confines of the Master Ball.
The Master Ball didn't even shake before it blinked to acknowledge the capture of Mewtwo.
You stared at the ball for a good two minutes (you couldn't believe it had been so easy; after all you went through and it was that easy!) before finally collecting your wits and picking it up. It felt cold in your hand and gave you a nauseous feeling in your stomach. You quickly deposited the ball into your satchel before turning to Gengar with a nervous smile. He returned the gesture with a tired grin of his own before collapsing on the ground by your feet. The poor little monster must've used up what little energy he had left in order to get you your bag. Your smile widened; such a sweet little bugger.
You returned all four of your pokémon to their pokéballs and quickly fished an Escape Rope out of your back. You ran out of the cave as fast as your legs could carry you, ignoring the stray golbat or wobuffet until you were out of the cave and greeted by the warm glow of the setting sun. You took a moment to admire the view before setting off towards the nearest pokémon center; your pokémon deserved a good rest and you wouldn't mind taking a break yourself. You just hoped the local Nurse Joy wouldn't chew your ear out.Chapter End Notes:You'll notice that I referred to Mewtwo as an "it." This is simply because Mewtwo is technically genderless and the character "You" is unaware of Mewtwo's gender anyway. However, I will later refer to it as "he" as the story goes on.
I'm also aware that not too many people appreciate stories written in second person. It's my style and I find I'm better at writing them than other perspectives, but I can't ignore my readers. So, if you're kind enough to review, please vote on whether you want me to change the perspective to first or third, or keep it in second.
Thank you