Metwo Sagas By Joltz Book 1 Birth of a Legend The sun was just creeping up over the horizon, filling the sky with golden rays of light and awakening the land. There was dew on the crisp, emerald grasses still, and the various creatures that lived among it were just beginning to wake up from their peaceful slumber. There were still a few shadows in the corner of the fields, in the taller grasses near the trees. In a small meadow surrounded by these tall grasses, a few creatures stirred about. They had pale brown fur, with large, fluffy, white-tipped tails. Their eyes were large and black, and their small noses sniffed the air curiously. They had perky, rabbit-like ears that turned this way and that, picking up on the tiniest sound in the clearing. And on their chests were fluffy, white manes. The little creatures yawned and stretched, ready for a new day after a good night's sleep. A few began grooming themselves with their small, pink tongues. Some others began wrestling playfully, or chasing each other in a game of tag. Some larger ones, the adults, still slept, their tails wrapped around them, as the pups tugged on their ears, attempting to wake them. One of the young ones chased a brightly colored butterfly around the meadow, with a smile on its face. The small creature stopped as the butterfly hovered then landed on the little creature's nose. Then her ears picked up on the sound of brush moving. She looked off through the tall grasses and saw two shadowy figures standing under a tree. One appeared to be one of her own kind, only older than she is. The other was tall and took on the shape of a human. Each one remained perfectly still, posing no threat to her. The curious little creature began trotting off in the direction of the figures, shading herself in the tall grass. She knew there was the risk of being captured, but curiosity overwhelmed her. She then stopped a few feet away and crawled slowly towards the small figure. "Eee?" it queried, then looked in her direction. It began walking towards her, the human-like figure remaining in place. The creature poked its nose around through the grass, then finally came upon her. "Eee," she greeted it. "Eee eee eee," it replied. It was a female as well. "Eee eee?" the young one asked, glancing over at the human, who still stood in place, making no motion whatsoever. "Eee eee. Eee." "Eva!" called the human. "Come on, we have breakfast with the others today. We can come back later." The human sounded passive, as if she had no intent of capturing or harming the young one. "Eee." With that, the older Eevee bounded off after her trainer. The human patted her on the head, looked over towards the young one, nodded at her, then turned and walked off. "Where've you been?" "Sorry I'm late. I took Eva out to see the wild Eevees again," I replied. I looked down at Eva, who was busy conversing with her black-footed mate, Eevee. "Oh," Jennifer replied simply, then continued eating her pancakes. "Waiter!" I called, sitting down at the booth. All of my friends were there already. Jennifer, who was of average height for her age, 17, with dark brown hair pulled up in a ponytail, brown sugar skin, slender features, and a nice pair of glasses, sat across from me. Laura was sitting next to her. She was quite tall with wavy, dirty blonde hair, a somewhat chubby face, and a husky body. At the end of the booth sat Ben, who wore his dirty blonde hair in a sort of mushroom cut, and had a scrawny body. Daniel sat next to me. He was a short, Filipino boy with ebony hair, who sat quietly and listened to the others talking. I myself was short with long blonde hair that looked like it needed to be combed, and a small face with freckles. "Yes?" A woman came over to the table. "Can you get me a glass of orange juice and the pancakes?" I asked. "Coming right up." The woman walked back towards the kitchen. I pulled off my backpack and took a large plastic bowl from it, then a bag marked "Pokemon Chow". I filled the bowl with the food, then placed it on the ground for my two pokemon. "Did anyone get a newspaper?" I asked. "Yeah," Laura replied. "Nothing interesting. Nothing about the legendary pokemon." "As if there ever is," Ben remarked, snidely. "Hey, it's not like you're gonna see something on them everyday," Daniel said, quietly. "You told me that a million times," Ben replied. The waitress soon returned and delivered me my meal. I began eating the pancakes, then stopped. "Maybe we should go somewhere else. I mean, Fuchsia hasn't had any good news lately." "Yeah." Laura swallowed some scrambled eggs, then continued. "How about Cerulean?" "There's nothing worth seeing there!" Jennifer argued. "Shutup, Jennifer!" "Okay, okay, how 'bout we just go to..." I thought a moment, and remained silent. "Cerulean Cave," Ben piped up. "Ha ha. No way." "Hey, I hear they have some cool pokemon up there." "Dangerous, too," Daniel said. "The pokemon there aren't used to humans and so they're always ready to attack those in their territories." "Really?" "Eee?" Eva asked. "It's not like my pokemon are going to get hurt," I said smugly. "Hey," Jennifer said. "Isn't that where they trapped Mewtwo?" There was a brief silence at the table. "That was just a rumor. They probably threw Mewtwo in the ocean, less chance of people finding it." Daniel took a sip from his glass of milk. "So, are we going there?" asked Laura hopefully. "Hell no!" Jennifer protested. "But they just said-" "I want to go," I said. "I wanna see how my pokemon compare to those wild ones." I grinned. "Who knows, maybe Mewtwo really is there. C'mon, we need to find new challenges." "I'll go!" Laura said, always willing to jump in. "Maybe I'll find new water pokemon." "This is stupid! Laura just wants to go see a bunch of weak little water pokemon!" Jennifer bursted out. "Water pokemon suck!" "Shutup, Jennifer!" "How about you guys?" I asked, looking towards Daniel and Ben. They shrugged, indecisively. I sighed. "Look, do you want to go or not?" Ben looked towards Daniel for a response. Daniel was the most experienced trainer out of all of us, so it was always good to hear what he had to say. "I'll go, I guess," Ben answered. "I don't really give where we go," Daniel replied. "Okay, we'll make plans for going to Cerulean. We might have enough cash to go by airplane this time," I explained. I guess I never gave a good introduction. My name is Karen, and I've been a pokemon trainer for nearly four years now. I'm seventeen years old, and first got my license at my hometown, Vermilion City, when I was thirteen. After a couple of months of training, I met Jennifer and Laura in Pallet Town while they were choosing their very first pokemon, and decided to bring them along on my journey. Later on, I met up with Daniel and Ben in Saffron City. Since I've been training so long, I own many pokemon and each one is very well trained. Eva was my very first pokemon, and she and Eevee have had a litter of Eevees themselves, all of which have evolved. I've kept one myself and evolved it into a Jolteon. I've also raised a Raichu, an Arcanine, a Ditto, a Gengar, a Nidoqueen, and a Sandslash. I've had others, but some had to be released. Laura and Jennifer have been best friends since they were ten. Laura grew up in Cerulean City, where she earned her liking of water pokemon. Her older brother left home when he was young to become a pokemon trainer, but it was a failed attempt. Jennifer grew up on Cinnibar Island, where she grew to love fire pokemon. Her father was a doctor, and her mother kept track of files at the pokemon center there. Jennifer's mother owned a Rapidash, which was a sort of pet for Jennifer when she was little. Ben's family was constantly moving around when he was young, so he learned a bit about each type of pokemon. He started training in Celadon City with an Abra, who is now an Alakazam. Later on, he met Daniel, who has been training pokemon even longer than me, and Daniel took Ben on as an "apprentice". We currently traveled the world in a group, looking for new challenges. We all sought to capture the three legendary bird pokemon that very few have seen, which is why I really wanted to go check out Cerulean Cave. The flight wasn't long at all. It landed in about two hours or so at Cerulean City. We all got off and found a hotel to stay at for the night. Then, the next morning, we met in the hotel lobby to discuss how we would get to Cerulean Cave. "So, we're off to Cerulean Cave?" Laura asked, excitedly. She still acted like a kid. "Mmm..." I replied. I was still tired, since it was very early. Eva and Eevee sat against each side of me on the lobby couch, sleeping. "Okay, okay. Listen up! We have to go north until we reach a bridge out of town. At the end of the bridge, we head west until we find a spot where we can reach the water," Daniel explained, showing us all a map. "We're gonna need an inflatable raft or something from there, then we follow the stream to the cave." "A raft? We have to carry one there?" Jennifer asked. "Yes. We could end up camping there, too, so bring your sleeping bag and stuff," Daniel said. "Arcanine can help us carry stuff," I volunteered. "He can hold our bags and two of us can carry the raft." "Good. Okay, go grab your things and come back. I'm already packed." The four of us returned to our rooms and gathered all of our supplies for the trip. We got on a bus and went to the northern most point in town. There, we made a brief detour to buy a large, inflated raft. We tied our bags to Arcanine's back, then headed across the bridge, our large group of pokemon following. We made our way to the end of the bridge and followed the stream. "Growr..." Arcanine snarled at the water. I also noticed Jennifer's pokemon keeping their distance. Flareon, Pixa the Ninetales, and Dasher the Rapidash all stayed against the rocky mountain wall, opposite of the water, while Chara flew up above. "There's no where to get in! Laura, send in one of your pokemon," Ben said. "Seadra, go find a place where we can get in the water," she said. She dropped Seadra over the edge, and she plunged into the water, then swiftly swam ahead, flapping her spiky "wings". After about five minutes or so, Seadra came back. "Seadra!" she beckoned, then began swimming away. We all ran after her, with the raft in tow, then came to a place where the ground slanted down into the water. Laura plucked Seadra from the stream. "We can get in the raft here." "Okay, call back all of your pokemon," Daniel ordered. "Send Seadra ahead of us, Laura." Laura nodded and put Seadra back into the water. "Two people stay here. The raft can't carry everyone and our bags." Ben and I volunteered to stay behind. We loaded a few of the bags in with Jennifer, Laura, and Daniel, then they went off down the stream. About half an hour later, Daniel returned with Laura's Starmie pulling the raft against the current. We boarded, with the remainder of the bags, then went downstream to a rocky ledge. We climbed up. Laura and Jennifer were sitting there, chatting. "Woah!" I commented. "This cave is huge!" "Yeah, I noticed. Probably deep enough to get lost in, too," Jennifer replied. "Well, shall we go in?" suggested Laura. She called her Starmie over and waited. "Get out your flashlights," Daniel said. I took one out of my backpack and clicked it on, then told my pokemon to follow me and entered the cave. The others entered behind me. We shined our flashlights all around, searching for wild pokemon. "SCREEEEE!" "Zubats!" Jennifer exclaimed. I laughed to myself, remembering how Jennifer and I went into a Zubat cave a long time ago... "Hey! What's that?" Ben asked, shining his flashlight in one direction. We all turned our flashlights there as well. "It's just a pokeball," I said. "It's broken." Ben approached it and picked it up. It was lying open and cracked. The pokeball was rather large and looked different from the normal type pokeball. "It says 'prototype six' on it," he said, upon closer inspection. "Really?" I snatched it from him and looked at it. There was some faded writing on it under the words "prototype six", but I wasn't able to make them out. "Maybe it's a master ball! Those things are worth a lot of money!" "A master ball, huh? We should keep that. It could come in handy." "Of course it will!" I replied. "Wait a minute," Daniel cut in. "Master balls are unbreakable. They catch pokemon 100 percent of the time." "So?" we asked in unison. "It looks like something broke out of this one." "It is a prototype," I said. "Yeah, they're still testing these things, you know?" Ben said. I place the master ball in my backpack, and we moved on through the caves. We caught sight of movement through the cave but could never see what had been there. After about an hour or so, we came across water within the cave. "Alright!" Laura practically leaped for joy. "We can fish here! Maybe find some rare water pokemon!" "I don't like water pokemon!" Jennifer cried. "Char!" Chara roared in agreement. "Well, we should at least check it out. Send out Seadra, Laura," Daniel requested. Seadra was the best swimmer of all of Laura's pokemon, after all. "Go, Seadra! See where this water leads you, then come back here!" Laura said. "Sea!" Seadra swam off in the blink of an eye and disappeared from view. We all waited around for her return. Laura's Persian yawned, and curled up on the cave floor. Persian was easily bored. I found Persian the most annoying of Laura's pokemon, as he refused to fight often and was very lazy and egotistical. Laura sat down by him and began stroking him. "How long could this stream go on?" asked Jennifer, annoyed and impatient. I shrugged. "Maybe she got lost or something." "I could send Kabutops or Dragonair to go look for her. Or Ben could send Poliwrath or Golduck," Daniel suggested. "Leave my pokemon out of this," Ben snapped. "Send Dragonair," I said. "Okay. Dragonair, go!" The thirteen-foot Dragonair emerged from the pokeball into the water. Its eyes glittered with the reflection of the water. "Dragonair, go downstream and look for Seadra." "Dragon!" she replied. She was just about to dive under when there was a rumbling noise. The ground shook and we all tumbled away from the stream. "Dra?" "What was that?!" Laura cried. "I don't know, it felt like something hit the side of the ledge," Jennifer stated. "Is everyone alright?" Daniel asked. I tried to stand up and reply, but then there was another bang and the ground shook again. I scrambled to reach my pokeballs and call back my pokemon. "Dragonair, return, now!" Daniel cried. "Dra?" "Ack! I dropped Sandslash's pokeball!" I exclaimed, attempting to grab it as it rolled away. BAM! It flew over the ledge and into the water. I dived for it as it did, then froze. There was a shadow in the water, and it was huge. "Oh my god! What is that?!" "What?!" SPLOOSH! The water erupted. Dragonair was knocked onto the ledge with us. And right in front of me was a gigantic serpent with large teeth and a mean glare. "RRRROOOOOAARRR!" It boomed. "A Gyarados!" Laura screamed. The sea monster looked down at me, teeth bared. Those fangs sure looked like they could do some serious damage, too. It lunged. Without thinking, I rolled over and into the water with it. It bit down on the hard, rocky ledge, making a loud, crunching sound. The rock crumbled and bits fell into the water, showering me. I dived under water, then popped up on the opposite side of Gyarados. "DRAAAAA!" There was a light splash, then Dragonair poked her head above water. Her skin was torn in one are, and she was bleeding, but it was a minor flesh wound. I was surprised she didn't get hurt worse. She spotted me and immediately swam beneath me. I wrapped my arms around her long, slender body and she swam through the stream's current, away from the Gyarados. "RRAWRR!" I looked behind us. The Gyarados was not happy, and was swimming after us. "Dragonair! Gyarados is gaining fast!" I warned. She attempted to quicken her pace, but it was difficult to do with me in tow. I tried to think of a way out, but I had no pokemon, and Dragonair could never fight a Gyarados of this size. Then I realized how deep the water was. "DIVE!" I yelled urgently. We turned a corner around a ledge, then Dragonair shot underwater. I held my breath and kept looking behind us. Gyarados was still following, still gaining. Then, I began to panic. Air! I need air! My lungs were burning. I felt like I was about to burst. I released Dragonair and trashed about, trying to make it to the surface, trying to hold on just a bit more... FWOOSH! Dragonair shot up between my arms and pulled me along again. Bubbles began clouding my view. Then, all of a sudden, we zoomed out of the water, above the water. We were sailing through the air! All of a sudden, we crashed onto solid ground, dust flying up all around us. I placed my hand over my heart and took a deep breath. "RRRROAR!" The Gyarados threw the upper third of its body on shore, just barely missing us. It snapped, then threw itself back, preparing to come up further. I stood and grabbed Dragonair in my hands and dragged her long body along against the ground. It was too dark to see now, but I kept running further away from the water. Then I felt a sharp blow to my head and was out cold. My eyes fluttered open. It was pitch black still. I felt the side of my head. It was pretty sore. I pulled myself to my feet and felt around, then felt something rough and moist. I had run into a large stalagmite and knocked myself unconscious. Then, I looked through the blackness and tried to adjust my eyes to it. "Dragonair?" I called. "Dra!" came a reply. She was obviously only a few feet away, left where I dropped her. I knelt down and pulled off my backpack. It was supposed to be water proof, but was completely soaked. I sighed and pulled everything out to dry. Then I found a hyper potion in my bag. "Dragonair, how's your wound?" I asked. "Dragonair..." I felt something slither around my knees. "I wish I had my flashlight," I muttered. Dragonair stopped moving and I found where her flesh had been torn. She must've cut it on a sharp rock in the brief moment the Gyarados had knocked her onto dry land. I sprayed the potion on the area, then tried once again to see my surroundings. The reflection of the water had given me a tiny bit of light, but going back would be dangerous. The Gyarados was still swimming around in there. Could it have gotten Seadra? Where were the others? How was I going to get out? That last question just sort of hung in there air. I had no way of getting back safely, no light, nothing really useful, and wandering around would only get me lost even worse. Dragonair would only be useful in the water, so I couldn't send her anywhere. Then I found something else in my backpack. "My pokedex!" I had nothing to dry it with, and prayed it hadn't got too wet. I flipped it open and pointed it towards Dragonair. "Dragonair, a dragon pokemon." The small screen lit up with the image of a Dragonair. "An extremely rare pokemon once thought to be mythical. The most powerful Dragonairs have the ability to change the climate in one area." "Alright! It still works!" I told Dragonair excitedly. "Dra-gon!" "What attacks does Dragonair have?" I asked the pokedex, not really remembering, since Daniel didn't use her much. "Dragonair's attacks: number one, wrap. Number two, leer. Number three, thunder wave." "Thunder wave?" I thought. "Maybe you can light this place up a bit." "Dra." "Number four, agility. Number five, slam. Number six, dragon rage. Number seven, hyper beam." "Okay, Dragonair, fire your thunder wave over there!" I ordered, pointing back towards where we had come from. "Dragonair!" A bolt of electricity propelled outward from Dragonair's horn and lit up the scenery. I could see where the ledge dropped off. There were stalactites and stalagmites here and there, and it looked difficult to get across the water back to the other side. "Jennifer! Laura! Daniel! Ben!" I called. "Is anyone out there?!" "Dra-gon!" Dragonair yelled. There was no reply, no sight of movement. Surely this cave would echo any sound a long way. Where could they be? "Dragonair, we may have to take our chances and swim across," I said firmly. "Dragonair..." "I know, I know, but the Gyarados must've left by now." I sighed. "You should've used your thunder wave to immobilize it. That would've at least slowed it down. But I guess water conducts electricity too well." I carefully lifted Dragonair, curled up like an Ekans, and made my way to the ledge drop-off. She lit up the area every now and then so I could see. Then, we looked into the water when reached it. There were many shadows in the water, but nothing that looked alive. I had to risk it. I jumped into the dark waters with a large splash, then swam across as fast as possible. I looked up at the ledge above me. "Dragonair, wrap around that stalagmite!" I tossed Dragonair behind my shoulder then up on the ledge, like a whip, where she tightly wrapped herself around the stalagmite. I pulled myself up with her tail and looked around. "Okay, now what?" "Dragon." "Okay, whatever. Light up the area." "Dragonair!" She used her thunder wave to brighten the vicinity. There was nothing unusual, no sign of humans or pokemon. Then I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and whipped around. Nothing was there. "Hello?" I called. "Dragonair, can you see what's over there?" "Dra." She slithered forward, but there was nothing there. It was probably just another wild pokemon, I thought. Nothing I couldn't handle. But then, an oversized Gyarados had nearly eaten me. Then, more swift movement, behind me now. Still, I could see nothing there. It had moved to fast for me to see. "Something's watching us," I whispered. "Be ready." "Dragon..." Then, light appeared. A pale blue orb, sparking like electricity, formed before my eyes right in the darkness. It glowed mysteriously and just floated there. Then, the ball of static rocketed straight for us. "Ahhh!" I hit the ground before it reached me. Instead, it crashed into the stalagmite we had used to climb up here. The rock shattered like glass. "Ouch..." I whispered, watching the rock crumble. "What was that for?!" I shouted. "Foolish human. Your attempts to stop me are in vain. Your feeble bodies could not withstand my power for microseconds." A deep voice echoed from the shadows. "Who are you?!" I demanded, standing my ground. "Dra..." Dragonair said fearfully. "Ha. You intend to battle me with your weak little pet? No matter, I shall crush it and you. Your people have tormented me long enough. Now that I am free, your peoples shall feel the pain I have felt. You will all die!" This guy is an idiot, I thought. "Look, I don't have time for this." I started to walk away and beckoned for Dragonair to follow. "You will regret your actions. Soon you will see the folly of your ignorance." "Yeah, whatever. Neat trick, though." Then, there was movement in front of me, and a large, shadowy figure stood before me. Dragonair's horn sparked with electricity, which was enough for me to see. "What are you?!" The creature was taller than I was: it was about the average size of a full-grown man. It had thin, white fur covering its body, with purplish fur covering its lower chest and spreading out into a long tail. There were three fingers on each hand and three toes on each foot. A tube of flesh grew out of its back and connected to the back of its head. And its face... It was furry as well, with slender features. Its brown eyes looked threatening and gave me a piercing stare. Its ears were up on top of its head. It had no visible nostrils and a small mouth. It most closely resembled a cat... "I have no name, but my tormentors have given me the meaningless title 'Mewtwo'." "Mewtwo?!" I exploded. Then I remembered the broken master ball we had found earlier. Mewtwo was a genetically engineered pokemon, merely a research specimen. It had attacked its scientist creators and wreaked havoc on Silph Co. a few years ago. But it had been apprehended with a master ball. How could it have broken out? "Now I sense your fright. Your kind always had fast learners," he smirked. Then, I felt a pressure in my head, like a migraine. I tried to ignore it. "How come you can speak English?" I asked. "I am far more intelligent than the pokemon you know, and more intelligent than humans. You should remember that well. A human cannot out-think me. That puny contraption humans have created could not trap me." The pain in my head grew worse. "I must find Fire, Thunder, and Freezer. You humans must know their locations. Do not try to protect them." Fire, Thunder, and Freezer? I thought. What was he talking about? Then, the headache stopped, just disappeared. "So, you do not know. But I will still find them and destroy your people. I will start with you." Then, the pressure in my head returned. I stumbled backward and watched helplessly as Mewtwo grinned evilly at my pain. "Rai!" came a sudden cry. Startled, Mewtwo jumped around. In his distraction, the pain was lifted once again and I looked around. "Raaaaaaaaaii-chuuu!" FLASH! A huge bolt of electricity shot out of the darkness at Mewtwo. The shock knocked him off his feet, since he was unprepared for battle. He tried to scramble to his feet. I lifted Dragonair and ran over in the direction Raichu stood. I realized there was a large hole behind Raichu, Sandslash standing nearby. Sandslash had somehow burrowed through the rock to find me! "Raichu!" Raichu crossed his arms in a defiant pose. "Come on, Raichu! Let's go!" I yelled, entering the burrow. I had to crawl through the space, since it was a tight fit, and pulled Dragonair along with me. Raichu followed closely behind me as we made our escape. Mewtwo most likely wouldn't fit through the tunnel. Hopefully. Finally, we came out of the tunnel. I then realized that there was dim light around me. Raichu and Sandslash hopped out, and Dragonair slithered after them. "Karen?" It was Laura. She was standing there holding her flashlight. Persian sat at her feet. "What happened?" "Dragonair!" said another voice, Daniel's, obviously. He welcomed his pokemon friend back. "Where's Jennifer and Ben?" I asked, not seeing them. "We don't know. They disappeared after the Gyarados came. So did some of the pokemon. Seadra never came back..." She trailed off, lost in thought now. "Raichu demanded we look for you, so he and Sandslash left. I guess they found you in one piece," Daniel said, looking me over and seeing no obvious wounds. "How did Sandslash burrow through this?" I asked. "We found out that the rock here is very brittle. All the water that forms these stalactites and stalagmites makes the ground moist and crumbly," he explained. "Well, I think I know what broke out of that master ball we found," I said. "I saw him. I saw Mewtwo!" "What? Here?!" Laura cried in disbelief. "Why would they release it in a spot where humans could reach it? Or it could reach humans?" "Are you sure?" Daniel asked, remaining relatively calm, as usual. "Very. He tried to kill me! Raichu here caught him off guard and saved me." I patted Raichu on the head. "Raichu!" he replied, modestly. "And he can speak English, too! He used his psychic powers to read my thoughts. He said something about finding the location of Freezer, Fire, and Thunder." "Hmm?" Laura thought for a moment. "I've heard stories of something called Freezer before, but that was back when I was a little kid. I think it's a god of ice or something." "Freezer, Fire, and Thunder? Sounds like types of pokemon," Daniel said. "I have no clue what he means by that." "Rai! Raichu chu raichu!" Raichu piped up. "Rai raichu, rai!" "Huh?" I looked down at Raichu who was dancing around excitedly. "Do you know something about this?" "Rai-CHU!" he shouted, then shot a gigantic bolt of electricity around him. Thunder attack. "He knows something about Thunder!" I translated. "Chu!" Raichu pointed at me as if to say "bingo". "Chu rai!" He looked around for a minute, to Dragonair, to Sandslash, to Persian. "Raaai... Chu, raichu!" He began waving his arms up and down, then jumped around like Clefable. "Something to do with the Clefairies, maybe?" I suggested. "Rai!" He shook his head and continued to jump around. "Shhhaand!" Sandslash said, then began flapping his arms like a chicken. "Flying." Daniel stated. "Chu!" this time, he pointed at Daniel. "A bird?" Laura guessed. "Oh. H-hey! Zapdos!" I cried. "The legendary bird of electricity! Of course!" I stopped Raichu from his charades. "There are three legendary bird pokemon, Zapdos, Articuno, and Moltres! There is no true proof that they exist, but I have been looking for them on all of our journeys!" "Mewtwo is looking for the three legendary birds... Why?" Daniel wondered aloud. "He said something about our people tormenting him. I think he's still mad about being a science experiment. He said he was going to destroy our people," I explained. "WHAT?!" Laura screamed. "He can't do that! He's insane!" "Yeah, he is insane." "I've noticed a lot of highly intelligent people were insane," Daniel said. "Does that mean I'm gonna go insane?" I asked. "Not all people need to be smart to be crazy, Karen. You prove it," Laura giggled. I punched her in the shoulder. Persian hissed at me and I hissed back. "Look, for now we just need to look for Jennifer, Ben, and the rest of our pokemon. More of them had to have made it. Now let's go look for them!" "Right," Laura and I said in unison. We started walking ahead slowly, Raichu and Sandslash closely following me, Dragonair slithering near Daniel's ankles, and Persian padding after Laura. Together we moved on through the darkness for about an hour, more or less. It was hard to tell, since I didn't have a watch and couldn't see the sun. My guess was that it was nighttime. I was yawning and felt dead tired, not to mention cold and hungry. I would've probably fallen unconscious again, had it not been for Raichu, who could use thundershock on me. Then, there was movement in the shadows. Raichu leaped in front of me, ready for battle. My light of my flashlight darted through the darkness, searching for the creature. "Flare flare!" "Hey, it's Flareon!" Laura pointed out. Flareon ran over to her. "Flareon?" she asked. "Where's Jennifer?" I asked Flareon. "Do you know where the other pokemon are?" "Flare..." she replied, ears drooping. "Well, at least she didn't fall in the river," Daniel said. "If any of the fire pokemon fell in the river, they could've drowned." "Where could Arcanine have gone? He would've been able to swim for a little while. And Chara can fly," I thought. "Well, when the Gyarados came, I got knocked against the wall from it banging against us. Sandslash dived underground immediately and tried to get away from the water. I saw Dragonair fall in the water after you. Chara flew in the air, but I didn't see where she went. I think all of Laura's pokemon jumped in the water and tried to make it against the flow of the water." Daniel stared at the ground, trying to remember if he had seen anything else. "When I went downstream, it sort of grew into a lake, which is where the Gyarados came from. Dragonair tried keep some distance between us and the Gyarados, but we got thrown on land." "Flareon?" Flareon asked. "I saw Jennifer," Laura said. "She jumped onto Chara with Vileplume and Jigglypuff, and I'm pretty sure Butterfree flew with them. As for Ben, I didn't notice where he went." "Neither did I," Daniel nodded. "So Jen has Chara, Vileplume, Jigglypuff, and Butterfree, and we've got Flareon. Pixa, Dasher, and Chansey are missing. Ben and all of his pokemon disappeared. I only have one of my pokemon. Laura only has one of hers, but Seadra swam off. And Karen has two of her pokemon," Daniel said , doing a head count. "That means..." "We're missing two people, and...uh..." I tried to quickly count in my head. "Thirty-five pokemon." "Damn!" Daniel exclaimed. "Flareon, did you see anyone else out here?" Laura asked. "Flare, flare!" Flareon nodded. "Flare flareon!" She ran about fifty feet away, then started barking at the roof of the cave. Raichu went over to her and looked up. I followed. There was a dark hole in the cave ceiling. Then, three heads poked out of it, hearing Flareon's calls. It was Ben's Beedrill, Daniel's Pidgeot, and Laura's Clefable. They spotted me and flew down, firing questions in their pokemon language at me. "Why are you guys up there while Flareon's down here?" I asked sharply. "Clefable," Clefable said. "Flare flare!" "Flareon must've jumped down to see who was here," Laura said. She patted Clefable on the head and checked her over for any wounds. "That leaves thirty-two pokemon," Daniel reminded me. "Damn," I replied. We went further through the darkness once more. I was afraid we would never find the exit to this place, even if we found Jennifer and Ben. The cave seemed endless, a lot bigger than it looked on the outside. I continuously lost track of which way we were going. All this time, however, I felt the strange sensation that someone was watching us. Even with a team of powerful pokemon at my side, ready for battle, I still felt uneasy. There were surprisingly few wild pokemon here, fewer than I had suspected. The Gyarados and Mewtwo were the only ones I'd seen, and the odds of me defeating either one of them weren't very good. I still had no clue why the Gyarados attacked. I just wanted to go back to the hotel. Stop being a wuss, I told myself. Then, I heard faint voices echoing through the cave. "Shhh..." Laura said. The pokemon all perked their ears up to listen. "Don't make me come over there!" "You had to attack, didn't you?!" "Look, Chara was protecting me, okay? So don't blame me!" "You're supposed to keep your pokemon under control!" "Hey, look, can you just shutup so I can try to find a way out of this?" "Flare flare!" Flareon exclaimed. She darted off towards the sound of the argument, recognizing her trainer's voice. We went after her, the sound growing louder. Eevee and all of its evolutions have tremendous, rabbit-like ears, so of course they have to have great hearing. We came into a dead end, a sort of chamber in the cave. We shined our flashlights around and spotted many familiar faces. "Hey!" Ben cried, spotting us. "Get us out of here!" Jennifer demanded. The two were hovering, literally, in what looked like glass bubbles. Surrounding them were all of our missing pokemon, in the same type of bubbles. "Can I ask a question?" Daniel offered. "What the hell are you doing?" "This really weird thing happened... Mewtwo is somehow loose in this cave. You see, we heard our pokemon in here and came to investigate, then Mewtwo came out of no where and trapped us. He said something about 'getting us all in one strike'." "Eee!" Eva said, putting her paws up on the cage's glass. "Don't worry, we'll get you out! Raichu!" I said quickly. Raichu nodded and shot electricity from his yellow cheeks. The glass, or whatever, didn't shatter. It didn't even crack. "Ooookay, would anybody else like to try?" "Ha ha ha," came a quiet laugh. I jumped in surprise, then turned around. Mewtwo stood there. He must've just teleported in. "Mewtwo!" "Correct. I have collected you all for a test and a demonstration. It has been so long since I have used my powers, so I shall practice them on you." "What's this guy's problem?" Laura asked. Mewtwo set his gaze on Laura, his mouth pulled back in a dark sneer. "Humans. You have harmed me every waking moment since I could remember. Now you too shall feel the pain." His eyes narrowed at Laura and she began spasming uncontrollably. "Mrowr!" Persian cried, then swiped at Mewtwo with his claws. Mewtwo kicked Persian away lightly. All of the pokemon who were trapped raged and tried their best to break free from the strange bubbles Mewtwo had created. "You cannot defeat me. My power is far beyond yours." As a demonstration, he turned his focus on a large rock and broke it with his mind. This caused some of the pokemon to back down, nervously awaiting orders from their trainers. My mind reeled. This Mewtwo was trying to control us all with fear, and then he'd probably kill us. But he sure was taking his time. What should I do? What could I do other than watch my pokemon attack it, then end up severely injured or worse? Then I remembered. I dived to the nearest stalagmite, then turned to Mewtwo. "You're wrong," I said. I wrapped my arms around the stalagmite, then yanked as hard as I could. The rock broke away from the cave floor. I grinned. Mewtwo looked surprised, but not shaken. He obviously didn't know how brittle the rock was. "Hmph. My mind outdoes yours. We'll see who is stronger." He began creating a ball of psychic energy, as he had attacked me with before. He fired. I dodged, jumped away, then hit the ground. I felt my lip sting and wiped my fingers over it. Blood. I had sliced it on a sharp rock. "Coward." "Rai CHU!" BZZZZZT! I rolled to see Raichu get the jump Mewtwo with his thunder attack, his strongest attack. Sandslash then swiped at him with his slash attack. Mewtwo fell. "Yeah!" I cried. Then, I saw Mewtwo move. "Huh?" He was still conscious! "RRRRAUGH!" Mewtwo glowed with a mysterious blue light. Raichu and Sandslash hit the wall. Raichu fell, stunned, Sandslash went out cold. Mewtwo looked around now, eyes filled with malice, done playing around, trying to impress us. "Return!" I shouted. It was the only thing I could do. Raichu and Sandslash were back in their sound pokeballs. I leaped to my feet and kicked at the irritating glass prisons that held my pokemon. "Attack!" I ordered. "Get out of there!" Suddenly, the bubbles disappeared and the pokemon, including Ben and Jennifer, hit the ground. Mewtwo stared darkly at Laura's Marowak. He cried out in pain, then was silent. "Nooo!" Laura wailed. "Call back your pokemon!" Ben cried. "No! Have them attack!" Jennifer said. "Char!" Chara bellowed, then breathed fire at Mewtwo. The other pokemon began to join in. Mewtwo jumped high in the air, successfully avoiding the horde of attacking pokemon. Using his mind, he threw them all up against the wall. I had a plan. I ran over to Ditto when Mewtwo was turned away. Ditto knew what to do instantly. "Oh nooo!" Ben moaned. "Another one!" "We're dead!" Laura agreed. Mewtwo turned around to come face to face with another Mewtwo, perfectly identical in appearance. Everyone held their breath. A heavy silence came over us as the two Mewtwos just stared at each other. Finally, Mewtwo, the first one that is, reacted. "What is this?!" The new Mewtwo remained silent and motionless, except for the lashing of its purplish tail. I reached into my backpack, almost forgetting what I had intended to do. I pulled out the master ball we had found earlier. "Mewtwo return!" Before Mewtwo could do anything, he was caught in the beam of red light and pulled inside the pokeball. It was cracked, but I had hoped it was still functional. There was another silence as the ball wobbled while Mewtwo desperately tried to escape. Then, the movement stopped. Ditto changed back to his normal self. I walked over to the pokeball and picked it up. "Wow," I commented. "We got him." "Yes!" Jennifer managed to say enthusiastically. "We're alive!" The other all crowded around and we just watched the pokeball. "I wonder what he planned to do," Laura thought. "I wonder why he took so long to do it," Ben said. "What should we do with it?" I asked. "We should-" FLASH! The ball broke open and Mewtwo knocked everyone backward. My back slammed hard against the wall. He looked at me with pure hatred, pure malice. And then, the pain started. I grabbed at my temples as the headache slowly came on. "That prison is ingenious, but it will never be enough to hold me. And now you shall die painfully and slow!" I stumbled backward as the pain became more intense. My head was exploding! I wanted to scream, but I felt my energy being drained from me. I felt sick and weak. My knees buckled and I fell forward. My body was numb. My eyes couldn't focus quite right. I heard sound, noises that I knew should've been loud but were only heard as faint and distant. I don't know how long it lasted, but the pain remained in my skull. Then, it disappeared, but I was too weak to hold on any longer. I went deaf and blind. Then, I heard a sound, from inside of me. It was my heart, slowing with each beat. Thump...thump...thump.....thump........ Thump. It was quiet and I felt calm, peaceful. Utter silence was around me. The sky above was dark and filled with bright, twinkling stars that went on as far as the eye could see. Below me was fog or mist that seemed to constantly change color, going through of the hues of the rainbow. I just sort of floated above it all and watched the colors go by. It was mesmerizing. Then I looked up and saw an orb of bright golden light in front of me. It moved closer then stopped right in front of my face, like a living being who had come to investigate. I squinted, but could make no sense out of the object in front of me. Then, the light faded long enough for me to catch a glimpse of it. Bright, sparkling, ice blue eyes... Then, the image disappeared. There was dim light as I opened my eyes. Jennifer, Laura, Daniel, and Ben all stood around, shocked looks on their red faces. "What?" I asked. They just stared for a minute. Then, Jennifer managed to yell "You're alive?!" I was helped up off the cave floor, my legs a bit wobbly. I was shaken, but alright. "How can you be alive?!" Laura cried. "What do you mean?" I asked. "I got beat up pretty bad, but nothing too severe, if that's what-" "No, man," Ben cut in. "She means you were dead! As in not breathing! Dead!" It took me a few seconds to think about that. "Uh..." I managed to reply. "I have no clue." I didn't bother to tell them about the image of blue eyes that had been burned into my mind. I didn't feel much like talking. I looked around and realized Mewtwo was gone. There was also a very large hole in the thick rock wall. "I don't remember the walls being that breakable." "Mewtwo got away," Daniel muttered. "Dammit!" "We can get out now, at least," Jennifer sighed. "Let's all go back to the city. We're in the back of the mountain, near the bridge. We can make it out." With our pokemon snug in their pokeballs, we marched back across the bridge into town. We were all dead tired and must've looked like a group of zombies, but we managed to get back into town and found a taxi still out on the street. We had a few bucks left, so used them to get back to the hotel. Most of us fell asleep on the ride back. I stayed awake to think about why I didn't die. Mewtwo had crushed my brain with his psychic attack, yet I had survived. Still, I was too exhausted to even think of the possibilities. I looked at Laura, who was sitting in the front passenger seat. She was holding an empty pokeball and sitting there silently. Marowak... Had Mewtwo killed him? I sighed. So now a powerful murderer was on the loose once again. He'd killed many people the first time. He'd killed my friend, Amara, in her attempts to stop him. He'd killed Laura's Marowak. He tried to kill me, but failed. I would get him back someday... I yawned as the taxi pulled around to the front door of our hotel. I threw the money at the driver, then got out with my friends. It was about midnight, maybe past. We'd been in that cave for practically two days, and I was ready to get some sleep. Mewtwo would have to wait. For now.