Note: This was written when I was a teen, before Mewtwo Strikes Back had come to the USA and long before gen2. Some effort was made to correct spelling. Warning: There is some very awkward ace-hetero which resolves quickly. The ending is essentially a prolonged shoutout to the Team Rocket web forum I was posting it to where I was getting feedback. Over 20 years ago...
Part 1->Cinnabar, my only home
Through the obstacle course i ran, my breath caught in my sides with a pain most trainers never have to feel...lucky them. Backing my ears i kept running, trying to keep up speed even as my sides started hurting, a sign of initial burn-out. I'll be hurtin' tomorrow, I thought. The end of the course stretched out before me, the end of six laps around Cinnabar. Cinnabar. was a small island, but six laps still took it out of a person. Most human trainers made it around twice before they dropped, but if I made six that would be a real show of stamina. I kicked gravel and sand out behind me and stumbled towards the laboratory, breathing raggedly. At the steps to the lab, two scientists in white coats stood with their note pads and timers. I scraped to a halt in front of them, loosing my balance slightly and keeling to the side. The island tilted and i put a hand behind me for balance, only to fall on my rear in the road. I shook my head to warn back tunnel vision, letting my tongue hang out of my mouth. I swished my tail in the dust, knowing i didn't look the least bit civilized, but hell, i had a fine excuse not being Human and all. I looked up at the doctors. "How.." I panted, trying to breath normally, "How was that?"
"Good work, Soshika, you've beaten your initial lap time. How do you feel?" Raskun took my pulse and pulled me up, checking out my condition. I didn't expect anything less then the lab rat treatment, after all, that's what I was. But i was at least their prize lab rat.
"Ill," I muttered, violently snatching a cup of water from the other doctor's hands. She smiled kindly and watched as i drank down the water in one gulp, spilling some on myself in the process. Not that i cared, the cool water was refreshing on my skin after nearly a half an hour of running. I only wished i could have more. I shook my head, trying to get my hair off the back of my neck to cool off. Raskun made notes on everything. He was head scientist around here, and was therefore in charge of me. That meant he took notes on EVERYTHING.
"Think you could do it again?" he asked coolly.
My mouth dropped open. Was he JOKING? "Not now," I said almost frantically. "Maybe in an hour or so!"
Raskun scowled, scribbling in his notepad. "A shame," then sidelong to the assistant doctor he muttered, "Increase the training intensity." It was somewhat annoying, that they thought i couldn't hear them. But at least they were still interested in how fit i was. That meant i wasn't a lost cause, yet.
"Sir," I panted, "permission to go back to my room?"
Raskun frowned, but finally nodded. It wouldn't do for his showcase specimen to pass out during tonight's presentation. Any other day he would have made me work a few hours longer, just for being winded. It kinda sucked. Still, i was grateful for this break. I bowed a little too quickly and raced up the steps past them, towards my tiny room.
Kitchen, bed, couch, radio, chair, table, rug and paper drawings made up my tiny but still comforting room. The paraphernalia of any pokemon trainer lay strewn about; pokeballs, gloves, toys, pamphlets on how best to capture a pokemon and what strategies were most commonly used. Books were piled high on the table listing in a rather confusing order the way of things. Psychic beats ghost, water beats fire, fire beats plant, flying beats ground, ice beats flying, dragon beats everything but psychic...it went on like that for pages and I didn't understand any of it but what i knew instinctively. I didn't own any pokemon yet, because i was only training. I could run all around the island, capture forty pokemon all on my own, but i wasn't allowed to keep any. The route i ran was secluded, and the only pokemon i was permitted to hunt were those that belonged to the facility, and I'd long since mastered them. I longed to get out, to be a TRAINER, not just a commander. Still, until they were completely satisfied with my performance, I was not allowed to even leave the grounds. No one had ever met me aside from the doctors and nurses and aides inside. I felt like some freak that must be locked away from the eyes of the public, even though i knew that i was was a normal standard in beauty, albeit a tad exotic. It was also the reason no male doctor was allowed to enter my room alone. As if i was that naive! Some people were just paranoid, because as i saw it the only thing these men could love was what they created...and that only as children.
Part 2->The Ultimate Trainer, the Ultimate slave
"May I present, the ultimate pokemon trainer..." the curtain drew away and i was unveiled like some new exotic food at the downtown deli. The scientists and trainers gathered gaped, and it made me uncomfortable. I felt like a thing on display, without a personality. Just some dumb machine or a shell. Fur bristled under my black tee-shirt, it contrasted well with my fur, which was light yellow. Someone raised a hand.
The person asking the question indicated it was for me, and the doctor allowed me to answer. At least for now. "What is your name?"
What is your NAME? Couldn't they think of a better question then that? Oh well, if they felt like treating me as an alien or monster, i wasn't apt to play their game. I stood up straight and answered civilly. "Soshika, that was my given name. On the test subject roster I am number four at the moment." That kind of thing always puzzled me. Who were numbers one through three? Were they higher up because they were more important, or simply because of the priority? I didn't know, i doubted i ever would.
The interviewer went on, asking another stupid question. "How old are you?"
I almost spat out "Jez-us man, are you blind or did you just live in a cave for the last twenty years? I'm sixteen! Yeesh!" but the cold glance from Raskun stopped me. Did he know what I had been thinking? Man... "Sixteen Human years, level thirty-nine by pokemon standards."
A murmur broke out across the room and someone yelled out that genetic testing was indecent, but doctor Raskun silenced them all with his scientific banter. "Soshika is part pokemon, mostly Meowth although we have spliced some attributes of the famed eevee. Unlike humans, she is capable of amazing feats of strength and stamina, as well as inter-species communication. Still, unlike most uncivilized pokemon, she retains the ability to think and act independently."
"Can she live in a pokeball?" Someone joked. I frowned and growled, but Raskun shocked me with his answer.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, Soshika is capable of living in a pokeball."
My eyes flew wide. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs that that was insane, that I wouldn't do it! But that explained so much, I was only a pokemon to them, not a person. But there was no way I was going to be treated like a pet or a fighter, i was just as human as any of them! I wouldn't be a slave.
A laughter broke out across the room, a laughter i wanted to attack and kill. Raskun resumed talking. "Ladies and Gentlemen, you look upon the future of pokemon training. Soshika is the most powerful trainer in the world, and once she is full grown, will be the most powerful pokemon in the world. Not even the Elite Four could stand against her!"
Shivering, scared, and betrayed, i sat down in the tiny metal chair behind me. Raskun went on and on about the future of pokemon, answering questions and making up strange stories to draw a laugh from the crowd. I barely was awake when they shoved me offstage. There would be no fighting demonstration needed, everyone believed. I shivered and looked towards where the raticate had been waiting. It lifted its head and looked at me angrily. "Rrrrrraticate!" No matter what Raskun said about inter-species whatever it was, i didn't understand the pokemon.
Part 3->Mew, the ultimate pokemon
"Come meet your newest contender, Soshika," doctor Holn lead me kindly from my room, Raskun having left the facility to work on greener pastures. I was glad he went, but i still felt betrayed. Holn had promised i wouldn't be sold, that I would stay in the lab forever. It didn't comfort me. It was as if someone had looked at me critically and gone "Good thing this one came out right, we were running out of room the bury the rejects." Still, i was now at least considered assistant in the facility, whenever they needed someone to test a pokemon's strength, it was me. I nodded and followed Holn down the hallway towards our small gym.
"I believe you'll find this a challenge, it's a newly discovered pokemon species. We've named it Meu, or Mew for the less technical trainer." The gym was empty still, this new pokemon hadn't been brought in yet. I stretched out, testing my muscles. The cloths i wore for fighting were just about the same that every human kid wore in the summer - jean shorts and a tee-shirt. It was always warm on Cinnabar.
"What type?" I asked simply. "Am i dealing with something that's about ready to step on me here, or gonna soak my fur or crunch me under rocks?"
"Meu is a psychic pokemon, which is why it will be good practice for you to fight her. You've had precious little training with psychic, Soshika. It's time you learn."
I paled, because I knew the absolute power of a psychic pokemon. Unless you got in the first move, a powerful enough opponent could totally waste your entire arsenal. But, I really didn't have a choice. I nodded, swallowing nervously. "Bring it in."
Holn smiled and spoke over her shoulder to the two attendants there. They all wore white lab coats, which was kind of creepy. "Bring out Meu." she stated simply. The attendants nodded and left the scene quickly. They returned a moment later with Etchi, another young trainer like me. Of course, Etchi was Human and therefore didn't fight, but we'd pitted our pokemon against eachother. The facility now allowed me a few assigned monsters, but not many. Drowsee, Sandshrew, Butterfree and a Charmander that gave me an unusual amount of trouble. The little pest was cute, and powerful, but had a tendency to ignore me. Etchi was registered with a Pidgeotto, a Rattata, an Ekans, and a Goldeen. Rattata seemed to be her main pokemon. This time, though, she held a purple and white pokeball in her hand with a "M" stamped on it. My heart caught in my ribs. A masterball! THE masterball! Any trainer would give their best pokemon to get their hands on that. Etchi dropped the ball carefully into the ring, speaking softly. "Mew, go." From the ball leapt a tiny white pokemon, segmented in the trademark of the psychic monsters. Its whole body glowed with a strange light, and her tail flicked out behind her softly. This was a pokemon of extreme intelligence, i knew. But, it was so SMALL! It couldn't be above level twelve! I started laughing.
"THAT's your Mew?" I was fighting to keep from rolling on the floor, i just gripped my sides. Still laughing, I pulled Sandshrew's pokeball from my waist and readied to throw it. "This is gonna be too easy! You guys are getting lame!"
Holn caught my arm and gave me a stern look that halted my laughing. "You don't understand, Soshika. Mew is the most powerful pokemon we've ever found. You're underestimating her."
I blew air between my lips in a mocking sound. "Bah! Gimme a break. Sandshrew could whip this thing in a minute."
Holn scowled and shook her head. "Not only do you drastically underestimate this pokemon, you weren't listening. This isn't a trainer battle, YOU'RE fighting Mew."
I laughed again, almost in disbelief. "You're joking, right? I mean, I'll hurt the little bugger!"
Holn's eyes were strangely cold. "We'll see. Now get out there."
I shrugged and returned Sandshrew to my belt. Stepping into the ring, i could tell that the tiny pokemon they called Mew was watching me sharply. She was sizing me up, I knew. Best to take her out quickly, I thought. Taking a running start, I abruptly dropped to all fours. It was an awkward way to run, but the jump it gave was really useful. I pushed off into the air and dove down on Mew, ready to tackle her.
Mew shimmered, then was gone. I hit the ground on my hands, pushing forward and rolling out of the botched attack. Teleport! Figures...I spun around myself, searching for the little glow-worm, but couldn't find her. Looking up, I could see Mew levitating above me. "Get down here you little pest!" I yelled. As far as the medical techs in the lab could figure, when my anger spiked, so did my attack power. Jeering another pokemon seemed to work about the same way. Mew narrowed her eyes and lifted her hands. I held my ground, ready for a jump. If I used a hi-jump kick, i could maybe knock the squirt down. Before I even thought about it, I was in the air kicking out at Mew. The pokemon's eyes widened slightly, and Mew jumped backwards a bit. Not enough to avoid me though. I laughed angrily, this WAS too easy.
The blast of psychic attack sent me reeling when it hit, I fell like a rock and hit the ground the wrong way, slamming my shoulder on the hard floor. Groaning, I tried to pick myself up, but the world seemed to swim and I felt ill. Mew alighted softly on the ground in front of me and raised her hands again. I was sent flying backwards and hit the ground hard, bouncing a few times before finally hitting the wall. I shook my head and used the wall to prop myself up. Mew had relented, giving me a chance to get at her. Wrong move, I thought. Holn was right, I had underestimated the little thing, but now I knew what to expect. I forced the world to stop dancing, using the few seconds of logic there to launch myself into a quick attack. I stopped behind Mew, striking her to the shoulder. The pokemon squealed in pain and spun, but I was running again. This time I came at her hard from the side, knocking her to the ground. Mew jumped as she hit, but the injuries were beginning to take effect. The pokemon staggered an shivered. The sudden attack had left Mew confused! I charged her, ignoring my spinning head, and sent her into a seismic toss that crashed the small pokemon against the ceiling then back to the floor. Mew shivered again, tried to get up, and fell. The match was over.
Holn held up her hands, making what I had deduced official. "It's over. Etchi, call Mew back and get her to the rehabilitation center. Congratulations, Soshika." Holn spoke coldly, making my still spinning head wonder. I was panting hard. Holn left the room with the attendants, leaving me in the deserted ring alone. I slumped to the floor, propping myself up by one hand. Dropping Drowsee's pokeball on the mat, I called him out. "Drowsee, c'mon out."
Drowsee appeared from the pokeball, sitting his awkward bulk on the mat in front of me. Drowsee's face was kindly and somewhat comical, and it relaxed me. Drowsee was almost like a real friend, thought I couldn't understand him. "Drow," Drowsee said.
"That was a hard match," I stated simply. "And the fact that I won seemed to upset everyone. I think they WANTED me to loose. What do you make of it?"
Drowsee scratched its head with one of his blunt three claws. "Drowsee," he told me as if i understood.
"I dunno, things are getting weird around here. A lot of experiments going on. I think they're trying to replace me."
Drowsee sighed and shrugged. "Drow drowsee. See drowsee drow."
I groaned, my head aching from Mew's psychic attacks. "I wish I knew what that meant," I muttered.
A soft voice from behind me spoke with a chilling laughter. "It means 'No one wants a powerful trainer. They want a powerful pokemon.' You're a wasted experiment."
I spun around to see who had said that, catching a white and gray Pokemon-type creature leaning on the door. Three stripes marked its head, and it looked not unlike Mew, except it stood about Human height. Unlike Mew, its ears were pointy and tail split in two at the end. Also, its legs were more slender, as if it were made for striding as well as fighting. Its face reminded me of an Eevee, and its voice seemed like a meowth. I felt ill, this was a creature like myself, only meant for the pokemon's fighting life alone. "How do you know that? Who are you?" I snapped at the pokemon. The Mew-like creature just laughed, then flickered away. I found myself thinking about how much I hated Teleport before someone landed a blow on the back of my head and I passed out.
Part 4->Who needs trainers?
The strange Pokemon's words haunted me through the next few months, especially with the changes that were going on. My pokemon were taken from me and I was locked in a room for study, coming out a week later to fight Mew's "Daughter" Mewtwo. Mewtwo was a much larger copy of Mew, and didn't glow. Mewtwo was also far more violent. The battle went on for at least eighteen hours, but only because Mewtwo was toying with me. She'd wait until I had a few shots in, then revive herself. I would have passed out sooner, but bland determination kept me going. They might have well as pitted a Charizard against an Oddish. In the end, I was carried to my room. Holn spoke harshly to me when I regained consciousness. I pretty much ignored her, swinging my feet against the bed.
"You were Raskun's pet project, and we thought maybe we could make some use of you, but no one needs TRAINERS, Soshika. Those come from everywhere and everyday. The Elite Four have their hands full enough defending their positions. There's no call for a powerful trainer, there's a call for powerful pokemon. Unfortunately for you, you're too independent to be that. Somewhat like other...mistakes. Mewtwo has proven herself more then a match for you, and therefore we have no further use of you." Holn droned on for another hour, trying to properly sugar coat the fact that I was yesterday's news, I was toast and they were telling me to get out and stop wasting valuable lab resources. I jumped off my bed, my joints still stinging from Mewtwo's powerful swift attacks.
"I get your point, doctor." I said, my voice sounding uninterested. Just like them! Stupid scientists, jumping at every new project and never seeing the first one through.
Holn stopped her banter and walked to the door. "Clear out by tomorrow morning. This lab does not tolerate failures."
Her back was turned, thankfully, when I muttered to myself, "How could it, with the ass-holes taking up all the spare room?" The insult wasn't heard, and so didn't spring a reaction, but it had helped me vent some steam. I snatched up the back-pack on the back of my desk chair and gripped it tightly in my claws. It was supposed to be for carrying pokemon books around with me so I could constantly be studying. The thing was made of some cheap, thin red plastic-y stuff that the tips of my claws went straight through, but I didn't have much of a choice in luggage. The pokemon league emblem was sewn into the back of it, and the pack itself was too small. I figured it was made for ten-year-olds or some one equally short. Still...
I stood in the center of my room and looked around myself. It was surprising to think how few things of importance I really owned. All the toys were useless where-ever I was going, and the books were just added weight. My fighting suit, swimming suit, jogging outfit...all of them were just plain dumb, not to mention impractical. I picked through my closet to the very back and pulled out some old black tees and two old pairs of cargo pants I used to use when I was just helping out around the lab. The pants were stained in the knees with some type of chemical, but the tough fabric held. I crammed the clothing into the bottom of my pack and slammed the closet door shut. I looked around again, still not seeing anything of real use. In the end, I wound up taking only the basics. Toothpaste, toothbrush, soap, towel, blanket. I was still not issued any pokeballs, so my pokemon catching would have to wait.
Trying to decide whether I should bring my lap-top or Koffing poke-doll, I heard a sigh behind me and felt a strange tingle at the back of my skull. I shuddered. The room was locked. Who could be hanging around inside a locked room besides the person who locked it? I kept my eyes forward, concentrating on the poke-doll. From behind me, the voice spoke, sounding vaguely like a Meowth.
"So, they're cutting their losses with you too, huh?"
That voice! The pokemon that had appeared after my fight with Mew, that Mew-like creature...I spun around and glared at it. Now I could see it also resembled Mewtwo, only slightly more evenly built. I narrowed my eyes at it. "Who are you?"
The pokemon shrugged. "Call me Mantis. Don't be so friggin flipped out, we're sisters you know. Twins, I guess." Mantis folded her arms and looked at me strangely. Now at least I knew how she'd gotten in. That damn Teleport...
I snatched up my Koffing poke-doll violently and stuffed it into my pack. Trying to find an excuse not to look at the pokemon talking to me, trying to hide my confusion at what she'd said, i crawled under my bed and pretended to look for things. "What do you mean? We can't be sibs, you're a pokemon."
Mantis laughed. "Well so are you! Only I have Mew where you have Human. We were born in the same damn lab on the same damn day from the same stupid tube. We're as much twins as two genetic mutates can be." She sighed. "It's just like them, though. May as well toss us both out. Freaks of a feather get beaten together."
"Huh?" The search under my bed had not proved pointless, I found a canteen under a pile of socks. I hated socks. I'd probably thrown them there and pretended they'd all been sucked up in the wash. "You're being kicked out too? Why?"
"Same reason you are, couldn't cut it against our my big sister Mewtwo. They tried to enhance Mew's power but curb her unpredictability when they cloned me, but instead wound up with someone just as unpredictable and half as powerful. You were only there to get more pokemon-like. Instead, I got more Human-like. Dumb huh?" She laughed again. I noticed she didn't have a pack or anything, before it occurred to me that since she was a pokemon, she'd of course be treated as such! Why would she have Human things?
"But where does Mewtwo figure in this? And if you're Mew's half-daughter, then how come they didn't fight Mew until now? You said Mewtwo is your older sister, what does that mean?" I zipped the pack up and slung it over my shoulders, shrugging until the weight felt comfortable on my shoulders. My head felt like it was going to explode with questions about Mew, Mantis, Mewtwo and myself. I'd never known anything about myself aside from what I'd been told, that was why it had been such a shock to me during that presentation so long ago.
Mantis took a deep breath. "Mewtwo was the correct experiment version of you and I, only I think she's far more independent and powerful then they give her credit to." Mantis lowered her eyes and shook her head and the scientist's naivette. "Mew wasn't brought out sooner because they're still studying her. Mewtwo...Mewtwo really isn't older then we are, she's really only a month old but they've kept her in incubation until she grew to level sixty-five. So, she's actually much more powerful then we are, and therefore my older sister." Mantis laughed. "That answer your questions, Oh sib?"
"I guess." I started towards the door, when Mantis stopped me. Just as well, I didn't know where I would go.
"You going anywhere interesting? We ought to stick together, I figure."
"I guess having a sister'll be interesting. I don't know where I'll go, maybe west?" I knew west was the route to Lavender town, a great place for ghost pokemon. It was also just a few days away from the gyms in Saffron and Celedon. Not a bad place to start, if I was planning on being a trainer.
Mantis raised an eyebrow, chuckling. "West? Do you have a ride? And what'll you do once you get there?"
I frowned. It wasn't like I was stupid or anything! "I can swim! And once I'm there I'll head to Celedon and Saffron. I'm supposed to be the ultimate trainer, right? Then I'll beat them easy."
Mantis broke out into wild laughter, pounding the door with her fists. I made a face that asked the obvious question of "What?" Mantis fought to control her laughter as she explained to me.
"You forgot one key thing, Soshi! Pokemon! You can't fight without them!" again, she laughed. I felt stupid. How could I forget pokemon? Hoi vey! I groaned. Mantis patted my shoulder. "Besides, you wouldn't be able to go west anyway. The seafoam caves are really dangerous, there's some vicious wild pokemon there, besides the currents."
Remembering my map lessons suddenly, I felt even more stupid. I hung my head and backed my ears. "Oh, yeah."
Mantis opened the door quickly, checking the hallway for anyone watching us. "I say we go North. Pallet town is where most trainers start out, and Professor Oak's lab is there. He might give you some instructions on Pokemon training. Maybe even a pokemon."
I scowled, sticking out my tongue and shoving a finger down my throat to make sure it was obvious how I felt. "I won't take hand-outs. I'll catch my OWN pokemon, thanks."
To this, Mantis simply shrugged. "Suit yourself. Anyway, it'll give you a chance to get used to real trainers. And we could swing past the Pokemon League Headquarters too. I've always wanted to see it."
I was busy trying to think of what lived outside and around of Pallet town and the Poke-League HQ. Spearows, Pidgeys, Rattatas and some bug pokemon, plus a few Pikachus and a couple Nidorins outside the HQ. Not a bad place to start. Besides, I heard things were starting to heat up in Saffron and Celedon with Team Rocket, and I planned to stay clear of them until I learned more. Still, this was it! This was the beginning! I was going to be a real trainer, not a experiment. Nodding enthusiastically I yelled into the empty hall. "Alright! Let's go there!!"
Mantis's paw clapped across my muzzle quickly and she glared at me, glancing up and down the hall again. "Keep it down, would you? Cheeze and Rice, I'm not supposed to be getting out on my own! I'm a pokemon, remember? The docs were planning to SELL me, sib!"
I quickly shut up and shrugged in apology. Mantis didn't seem to care much.
Two minutes later, the gates to the Cinnabar. Pokemon lab were scaled, and we looked back at the lab one last time, my sister and I. My sib shook her head and spoke prophetically, which kinda scared me. "Stupid people, playing with stuff they don't get. Mewtwo's gonna be trouble for them, I hope they realize."
Trying not to dwell on the grim words, I pulled my poke-doll out and clutched it tightly as my sister and I ran down the road, even though she ran on all fours and I on my hind legs. I buried my nose in the secure scent of the stuffed animal as I ran, wondering what lay ahead that I didn't know, about myself and my sister and anything else in our way.
Part 5 ->License? What License?
Even if the water was cold as hell, I splashed around in it happily, not really wanting to actually get in and swim. I was glad I hadn't taken anything in my bag that could be permanently damaged by water, because the little red pack leaked like crazy. I was worried about my underwear getting wet, but that really wasn't THAT important to me at the time. Up in the water up to my knees, I could see Mantis down the beach, Teleporting from place to place looking for anything some passing trainer had dropped. My sib returned a minute later, shaking her head. She levitated above the surface of the water, so I splashed at her. "What's wrong, couldn't find anything?" It seemed weird, seeing as what I'd heard was most trainers were ten-year-olds who tended to drop things everywhere.
Mantis cringed at the water and flew up higher, where she thought I couldn't get her wet. Dumb. I swung my right arm just at the surface of the water and sent a wave towards her. To my dismay, Mantis used Teleport again and flew to my other side. "No, I didn't find anything good. Just a few useless things like escape ropes. We ought to get moving, though."
The world around me zipped a bit, and I yelled, wondering what was going on. Mantis rolled her eyes. "It's just Teleport, don't be such a baby."
Teleport, huh? Well, if we were just Teleporting to Pallet town, i figured I might as well relax. I folded my arms behind my head just as the world re-appeared. Gravity kicked in and I felt myself falling down. Hitting the water hard, I sputtered and swam in a circle. Mantis had Teleported me to the middle of the ocean! I looked up, but of course, my sister was just hanging there, nice and dry. "Catch ya in Pallet, sib," she told me abruptly. Then, just like a psychic pokemon, she was gone again. I groaned, treading water. The water was really cold, and my wet fur felt icky and disgusting on my skin. At least my hair was relatively dry. Trusting in my own sense of direction, I struck out swimming in what I thought was North, wishing I'd payed more attention during my swimming lessons.
After maybe fifteen minutes, I was starting to get tired. Swimming in regular cloths was a lot more work then running laps, i realized. Dog-paddling, I refused to dip my head underwater and get the sticky salty water in my hair. Suddenly, I felt a tug at my ankle. "Now what?" I muttered, kicking my foot. The thing still stuck on. "Great," I whined, "Now I'm caught in sea weed!" Rolling onto my back I lifted my foot out of the water to see what had got me.
A ugly Tentacool hung from my leg like a leech, making weird burbling sounds. My eyes flew wide. Alright! My first Pokemon already! Even without Pokeballs, I could at least carry the thing. Once pokemon were beat, they pretty much accepted their defeater as their trainer, or so I'd been told. I grinned at the Tentacool.
"You're mine."
"Tentacool?"
I dove for it, forgetting it was still stuck on my leg. I spun upside-down underwater, thrashing around and trying to get a grip on the Tentacool. I broke the surface of the water again, now soaking wet. Gritting my teeth, I looked at the pokemon now hanging from my tail. "Right, now you're in for it!" I reached for the pokemon, but Tentacool's tentacles swung out and caught my wrist. I pulled. "Hey, let go you stupid squid!"
Tentacool had no intentions of letting go. Whipping out more tentacles, it caught me in a wrap attack. My eyes bugged as it squeezed me, but I kicked with my feet until I finally hit the thing. The Tentacool let go, surprised, and dove underwater. I narrowed my eyes. "Oh no you don't!!" Taking a deep breath, I dove back down after the Tentacool, chasing it underwater. The salty water made everything unclear, but I spotted something wriggling. Reaching out a hand, I grabbed it tightly. It felt like a Tentacool! Kicking to the surface, I held my pokemon above my head.
A wave smacked into me as I shattered the glassy surface, my prize held high above my dripping wet head. "Ha! I got a Tentacool!"
"Tenta?"
I opened my eyes to actually look at my Tentacool, only to feel ill inside. "SEA WEED???"
"Tentacool!" a big blobby red orb seemed to drop from the sky into my face. Tentacool was sitting on my head!
Reaching up for it, the pokemon jumped off with more agility then I'd expected from a jellyfish. It started swimming away on the surface, apparently thinking I was playing a game with it. I screamed after it. "I'm not a pokemon!! I'm a trainer! I'm NOT PLAYING GAMES!"
The Tentacool paused, but I was already in a tackle attack. I hit the jellyfish and we both sank underwater. I scratched at the pokemon blindly, grabbing its tentacles and tying them together. Pulling it to the surface again, I screamed out to the open ocean. "IF I GET DUNKED ONE MORE TIME I'M GOING TO GO CRAZY!!" The universe seemed to have it in for me. I knew my poke-doll and underpants were well soaked through now. I would have to spend quite a while to dry them out, once I got to Pallet.
In my claws, the upside-down Tentacool squirmed. "Tenta coooooool," it whimpered. I'd almost forgotten! I looked at the little pokemon and started laughing, poking at its red orbs. "HA! You're mine now! Thought I couldn't catch you huh? Well, shows you!" Yelling to the water again, I shouted joyously; "I got my first pokemon!! HA HA!"
In the distance I heard a boat motor. What a great day! First I catch a pokemon, then a boat comes and picks me up! Can't get much better!!
The motor boat pulled up alongside me, splashing water in my face. My ears were weighted down and I was obviously soaked, and must have looked kind of silly holding an upside down Tentacool above my head. The driver of the boat had on a blue uniform and blue hair and was very official. "Officer Jenny of Route 1 from Pallet Town to Cinnabar. Island. May I see your Pokemon trainer license?"
My ears drooped more, if that was possible. I almost dropped my Tentacool. "License? What license? What for?"
"All pokemon trainers need a pokemon trainer license. Without it, it's illegal for them to capture pokemon for fighting. If you haven't got a license, we need to take your pokemon."
I gripped the squishy Tentacool against my chest, squashing it somewhat. "You can't take Tentacool! I caught him fair and square, I didn't know about your dumb license!" I growled, hoping to maybe make her go away. Idiot cop! What business did she have stopping me anyway?
I found out. "You're a suspicious looking character. If you don't give up your pokemon, I will have to report you as being an Illegal trainer and arrest you." She held out a weird orange coloured pokeball. "Tentacool, come!" Jenny commanded. The Tentacool suddenly disappeared and the pokeball shook. My eyes filled with tears and I stared at my empty hands.
"But...my Tentacool...It's not fair!" I cried out. I felt about ready to cry. I'd fought really hard for that Tentacool! I'd even got soaking wet, but for no good reason!
"There, there." Jenny smiled and held my Tentacool aloft in the pokeball. "Don't cry, once you get your license, you can capture all the pokemon you want. You can get your license in Pallet town, at Professor Oak's lab. All you need to do is take the test."
I sniffled, my eyes clearing. "Could I have my Tentacool back then?" I whimpered.
Jenny smiled and gunned the boat's engine. "Sorry, this Tentacool will be returned to the wild, that's the law!"
The boat sped off, leaving me bobbing in the water, soaking wet and pokemon-less. For about two minutes I just threaded water and screamed that I wanted my Tentacool back, then started swimming for Pallet town again.
Part 6-> A legal trainer
When i reached the beach at Pallet town, I was soaking wet and looked somewhat drowned. dragging myself out of the water, my stomach growled at me. I looked around for someplace to stay, before rolling my eyes in a realization that Pallet was just a no-name back-road town. They didn't even have a pokecenter where i could sleep. Some guy at least twice my age gave me a strange look as I stood on the beach, dripping, before I caught him at starring. The man turned back to his fishing pole rather quickly, shaking his head.
The air next to me became charged before shimmering into my sib. Mantis folded her arms and tisked at me, levitating about two inches off the ground. "Tch, tch. Soshi's drawin' stares. You look like a choked Persian who got dumped in a pond, sis."
I gritted my teeth, trying not to let it become obvious I was going to quick-attack her. "Wouldn't look like I was drowned if SOMEONE hadn't dumped me in the middle of the ocean. Thanks a lot, Mantis."
Mantis shrugged simply. "Eh, you survived. Least you learned something." I launched myself sideways with my claws out, ready to slice at her face. The air flickered again and Mantis was suddenly behind me. I whirled and slashed at her, using the distraction to tackle my sibling and pin her. Mantis went down hard, her back to the sand. I stood on top of her and glared down, folding my arms.
"What did I learn? That I could swim?"
Again, my Sib used Teleport and appeared next to me with a sucker-punch just for my attacking her. I fell back, dazed. "You learned you're not weakened by water, stupid. You're still more Pokemon then person. You need to regard yourself like you would regard a pokemon you were training."
I shook my head, stunned. The fisherman who had stared at me made me remember. "Mantis, I had a Tentacool for a while there."
"With your bare hands?" Mantis rubbed her paws together but didn't seem to be watching me. "Where is it now?"
I scowled, thinking of that blue-haired freako Jenny. "The officer covering this route snagged it from me. She said I needed a license."
Mantis laughed aloud at me, and began teleporting first to my left, then my right, poking and prodding me as she teased me. "You got caught by JENNY doing something illegal? WHOO! No member of Team Rocket are you, Sib!"
I growled at her, but stood the taunting. "I noticed," I said with gritted teeth. Something kept bugging me...if these Team Rocket guys were so good at what they did, how come I hadn't met any yet? They were like the Mafia, supposedly. Had their hands in everything. I interrupted my own thoughts and my sib's laughing with a question. "But still, where do I get a license?"
Mantis grinned evilly and flew ahead towards Pallet. "Follow me. I'll show you."
My sib flew much faster then I could run, but I did my best to keep up. Mantis vanished in front of a large building, where I stopped, looking around myself for her. "Hey, Mantis! Where are you?"
Just like herself, Mantis teleported behind me and shoved me against the building. I hit a large wooden sign hard, and fell back in surprise. "Oof!"
"Read! Dipstick.." Mantis pointed to the sign. I followed her gaze and skimmed the bright blue painted letters.
Pallet Town Pokemon Lab
Prof. Oak's classes meeting now
Inquire for Pokemon license within
Trainers must be at LEAST 10 years of age
She dismissed me with a parody of a lady-like gesture. "Pokemon aren't allowed to become trainers. I'm unsure if they'll allow you in as it is."
I furrowed my eyebrows and pouted. "Then how'll you catch Pokemon?"
Mantis rolled her eyes. "Cheeze and rice...Look, there's more ways to get Pokeballs then here. If you're GOOD at it, you won't be caught either."
I pointed at my sib dumbfoundly. "So you're gonna be..."
"An Illegal trainer," she stated with a simple shrug. "If they turn you down, I suggest you do the same. Even if it isn't honest, it's smart. You'll get no-where without pokemon."
I nodded solemnly and entered the Lab.
Part 7-> Some amount of intelligence.
"Soooo..." The old guy instructing our class took his pointer and indicated towards the board. On it were the three basic pokeball types. Regular, Great and Ultra. Regulars were red and white, Greats were Blue and white and Ultras were yellow and white. I knew there were at least two other kinds, those would be the Police and Safari, which were orange and green respectively. The Masterball I'd seen only once when I'd fought Mew and it was purple and white. But this class didn't cover that. No wonder half these kids didn't get to far.
"Great is better then normal and ultra is better then great," droned the classroom in reply to the instructor's prompt. I propped my head up on my fist and stared towards the window, mocking the zombie like reply.
"Blah phlaph phlamphla ba phlu, pha plumpla nyna na nya," I hung my tongue out of my mouth to show how bored I was and tried to drool a little on the desk just to let the prof. know i was ready to get my test and get OUT. He noticed alright.
"Soshika, this is the last time i'm telling you. Turn around and pay attention or you'll be asked to leave." He narrowed his eyebrows and glared at me. The entire class had come to a standstill, and there I sat with my tongue hanging out and my eyes rolled skyward. I pulled in my tongue and sat properly in the desk for about two minutes before lying on top of it inside my folded arms. This stuff was so AMATEUR. How could they expect these kids even to CATCH a pokemon?
Class returned to paranormal with its brainwashing drone that i kept out of. It had taken me about an hour to convince them that half-humans at LEAST should be allowed to take the test, if not pokemon with Human abilities. I'd worked pretty hard to get in here, and even if i did feel like pushing the limit, i wasn't going to get thrown out. Cheeze and Rice, i thought, I've been here only three hours and I'm already bored.
"Soshika are you paying attention?"
"Yeeeeeeees," I muttered, drawing out my voice to let the prof know i was still bored to hell with this.
He finally seemed to notice. "Are you bored, Soshika?"
I snorted and sat up. "It's only that your lecture is baby stuff," I laughed. "I knew this when I was three. Sir."
"Well then, aren't we the little prodigy? If you're so good, what are you doing taking this class six years after you turned the legal age?" The professor looked pretty smug at that last remark. The rest of the class snickered and jabbed one another pointing at me. I growled deep in my throat. When I got my license, I'd come back and shove it up this guy's nose. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted Mantis hovering outside the window. She shook her head and crossed her arms in a charge-up stance. She was gonna blast the school with Psychic energies.
I frantically started shaking my head "no" in her direction, mouthing off words. "No, Mantis. Don't do it!"
Mantis nodded and grinned evilly. I could practically feel a headache from the Psy-powers coming on. Oh, she thought at me, Those jerks deserve it.
"No, no, no!" I mouthed more frantically and shook my head. I waved my arm in a sideways-chopping motion too, trying everything i could to stop her from attacking.
A shadow fell over me and I cringed as I turned to face the prof again. "Is something wrong, Soshika?" He asked grimly. I knew this was it. "Who are you talking to out there?"
Frantically, I scrambled for an excuse. Mantis had Teleported, smart of her. Wish she'd taken me with her. "Um, uh..ah...an..er..a...Spearow," I finally decided. A unconscious Magikarp could have come up with a better excuse.
"A Spearow?" the Prof put his hands on his hips, disbelieving.
I grinned sheepishly. "Sure."
Next I knew i was on my aching bum in the dirt outside the entrance. The Prof looked down angrily at me. "If you can't take pokemon seriously, you'll never be a trainer!" He shouted. I covered my ears, or at least the most sensitive part of them. He had a loud voice.
"Can't I just take the test?"
"NO!"
With that, the doors to the lab slammed shut in my face. I sat on my bum in the sand a while, thinking. This is a setback, I decided. If they weren't going to let me take the test, I'll just take Mantis's approach and train them without a license. No one would know the difference.
Mantis Teleported in front of me with her hands on her hips. I noticed that around her waist she had a weird looking black belt with some sort of holsters on it. It took me a minute to recognize the trainer belt without any pokeballs on it. Another one was slung over her shoulder. Mantis sneered. "Didn't let you pass, did they?"
I stood up and dusted my cargo pants off. They were still slightly damp from swimming. "No thanks to you."
"Trust me," laughed my Sib, tossing me the trainer belt. I caught it and put it on quickly. You didn't question where people found these things. For all i knew there were now two kids running around with their pants down. "They wouldn't have let you pass anyway," she continued. "I saw them in the back room, talking about you. They were fixing your test. Stuff no-one has memorized and that they didn't go over."
I frowned, aggravated. "I coulda done it."
Mantis raised an eyebrow quizzically. "You know off hand what TM fifteen teaches?"
I thought a minute. "Earthquake?"
My sib shook her head. "I don't think so. Trust me, this is just cutting out a middle step."
Sighing, I admitted defeat. As we began to walk away from the lab, I realized I'd left my pack behind. Damp as it was, it still had all my cloths and my pokedoll in it. I started to run back. "Those jerks still have my stuff!"
Even as I reached the door, an extremely wet parcel soared through it to hit me in the face. I pulled my pack away from my eyes and ran to the re-closed door and began to kick it. "You jerks! You dumbasses! I hate you!"
Beating the wall did little to vent my anger and i returned to walking north out of Pallet with Mantis. My sib crossed her arms again in a power-up. "Want me to blast them?" she offered.
"No, thanks." I growled, slinging the wet pack over my shoulder. "When I get a fire pokemon I'm gonna come back here and burn them down." That thought made me feel slightly better as we walked onward.
"Well," Mantis said with a shrug, "Least you have your priorities laid out."
Part 8-> Camp out!!
Viridian Forest was much denser then the forests on Cinnabar, a lot more full of bugs too. Still, anytime I got near a pokemon, it disappeared into the grass before i could catch it. Maybe Tentacool was one-of-a-kind, i wondered. Every now and again, Mantis would hear someone yelling in the distance, but we never saw them. It was starting to give me the creeps. I noticed Mantis was teleporting from side to side, investigating the bushes. "What are you doing?" I finally demanded.
"Looking for pokemon, stupid," she replied cynically, never stopping in her Teleport search, "But these are all weakling bugs. They're only good against plant pokemon and only wimpy trainers have those. Still, I suppose if I could find a Beedrill or Butterfree and teach it the right TMs, it wouldn't be so bad."
"Yichth," I stuck my tongue out. "Bees. Ugh. Bees sting."
"Really?" My sib asked sarcastically. Sighing, she began to slow down her Teleport search. "Well, I don't see any and it's going to be dark soon. I guess we should stop."
"Okay," I replied cheerfully, unslinging my pack. "I'll pitch camp!"
Mantis looked unbelieving. "How? We haven't got a tent or sleeping bags, dip."
Tossing my pack upwards, it tangled in the branches of a tree. I scrambled up the tree and lay flat on the limb, looking down at my sibling. "Like this."
Mantis laughed. "Oh, we're going to pretend to be a Mankey, huh? Well thanks but no thanks."
I rolled onto my back, judging the width of the limb. If I fell off, there were some larger branches under me. I'd be safely caught. "Then where're you gonna sleep?"
"Me?" Mantis lifted her feet but remained suspended in air. "I'll levitate."
I rolled over and shut my eyes snickering. "Psychic pokemon...Can't live with em.." I left off, expecting her to know the rest.
Apparently she did, but my Sib was more original then that. "..'d get eaten by a Snorlax without em. Really, Soshi, you're totally helpless."
"Am not!" I rolled over and nearly fell out of the tree yelling at her.
Mantis snorted and rolled over in thin air so she didn't have to look at me. "We'll see." she said simply.
Part 9-> How do Clones Clone?
Morning came quicker then it did on Cinnabar, and I was still groggy when I woke up. My stuff was still somewhat wet too, but hanging in the tree all night had let it drip-dry somewhat. I rolled onto my stomach and looked out into the open path at my sib who was levitating cheerfully and looking fully rested. I rubbed my eyes and groaned before sitting up and tugging my pack into my lap. Pulling out clean cloths, i climbed higher into the tree and hopefully out of sight of anyone passing by to change. Mantis had noticed my retreat.
"Anyone glancing up will be in for a rude surprise this morning," She commented cynically.
"Only if you tell them I'm up here," I called back. Changing quickly as i could, i jumped down from the tree and hit the ground hard, falling on my tuckass once again. Mantis shook her head and floated to the ground. I decided to sit on my rear a bit, i had nothing better to do.
"Your cloths are still wet," Mantis observed.
I scowled and stuck out my tongue at her for a change. "They wouldn't be if someone hadn't dropped me in the water!"
Mantis's feet touched the ground and she began to walk in a northward direction again. "Oh, get over that. I couldn't Teleport you to Pallet, you've never been before."
I blinked in surprise at this thought and climbed to my feet. Running after my sib, i urged her to elaborate. "You mean Teleport can only take you to places you've been? When did you go to Pallet?"
"Please!" my sib snorted, as if it was a stupid question. "I've been everywhere, Cinnabar is too boring to spend sixteen years on. I flew all those places the first time, in case you're asking that next."
"But you Teleported me to the middle of the ocean. I was never that far out at sea."
"Sure you were, I was too. As infants, that is." Mantis shrugged. "I don't remember it, but Mewtwo did. She told me about it."
I noticed Mantis's pace had slowed. She had been forced to forget, perhaps I had too. But when Mewtwo had told her she began to force herself to remember. "What happened out there?" I asked.
Mantis shook her head. "Someone named George and that cop Jenny. I don't know why...I think they were planning to use us to destroy or at least beat the Rockets."
I began to inquire but something caught on my foot and I fell. Turning to see what had so rudely tripped me, my face lit up and i grabbed it in my hand. Jumping up, I shoved my find in my sib's face. "Look Mantis!! I found a pokeball!!"
Mantis raised an eyebrow and took the pokeball in her hand. Handing it back to me with a shrug, she stated simply; "Big deal."
"Big deal? Mantis, I can catch a pokemon now! Yes!!"
Mantis snickered as i did a victory dance. "Give me that," She stated calmly, levitating the pokeball from my hands to hers. I spun and stomped the ground.
"That's mine!"
"Grow up and get a grip," Mantis growled, holding the pokeball in front of her face. Her eyebrows furrowed in concentration, and the pokeball began to glow slightly yellow. My eyes widened as Mantis lifted her other hand. In it appeared a duplicate of the pokeball I'd found. Mantis handed the one I'd found back to me.
I gawked at the clone pokeball. "How'd you do that?"
Mantis snickered. "My secret," she told me.
I shrugged and clipped the original pokeball to my belt. I was determined to find a pokemon now!
Part 10-> Let's get ready to fumble!!
I was on my feet and into the air in a flash when the Butterfree showed up. It just flapped between Mantis and I, while we were eating a slightly soggy lunch and almost caught me off-guard. I spun around in the dust to face the pokemon, which was apparently expecting a hand-out. I grinned wildly and pointed at it like a little kid. "Cool! Look, Sib! A wild Butterfree! I didn't know Butterfree evolved in the wild!"
Mantis scrambled to her feet, brandishing her pokeball and pointing to her head. "Think, dip! Don't fight it, CATCH IT!"
I nodded, i already understood. "Gotcha." Unlike that stupid professor back at the lab, I knew you needed to get a pokemon's health halfway down on average to catch it. Some more feisty pokemon like Raichus or level 40 monsters needed a lot of whooping to be able to catch them. I launched myself into the air in the same tackle attack I'd used on Mew the first time. The Butterfree reacted with surprise and flapped backwards, but not far enough. I caught it around the midsection and slammed it into the ground. I leapt back and Butterfree shot upward, angry now. It had only wanted lunch, I'd challenged it to a fight. It flew at me fast, slamming into my head and knocking me back. I tripped over my own tail and hit the dust again. Mantis groaned. The Butterfree hovered over and began to dust me with some sort of powder. I didn't know what kind until i felt my limbs locking up. "Stun Spore!" I cried in alarm.
Mantis charged into action, leaping into the air behind Butterfree and pounding it on the back. Butterfree squealed in pain and soared higher, but Mantis pursued. I knew she was taking it gentle with the Bug, trying not to knock it out. I sat back up and cheered on my sibling. Above ground battles weren't for me, the best I could do was watch.
Then, to my amazement, Mantis started pushing the Butterfree ground-ward. I jumped on my feet and flexed my claws, ready. With one final shove, my Sib sent the pokemon tumbling towards me, still quite capable of beating me. It had the flying advantage. "It's all yours, Soshi!"
"I thought you wanted a Butterfree!"
"I changed my mind. I've decided to stick with what I know and train Psychics."
"Thanks a lot," I muttered, diving towards the Butterfree. Increasing my speed, I slammed into it with a Quick Attack that almost knocked it senseless. I didn't hesitate a second. Pulling my Pokeball free I tossed it at the Butterfree.
The bug dodged. My pokeball fell to the ground, useless for the moment.
"No!" I shouted in dismay as the Buttefree began to fly away. It knew I was ready to catch it, and it wasn't ready to give up its freedom yet. I wasn't quite ready to let that happen. I raced up a tree trunk and out onto a limb, launching myself into an almost suicidal tackle attack. "Yaaaaaaaaaaaagh!"
The Butterfree saw me again and dodged. Again. I found myself plummeting ground ward again. I hit harder then i would have liked and found myself looking upward at the Butterfree escaping through a cloud of dizzy stars and dancing pokemon. Mantis appeared in my vision with her arms crossed. "Nice work."
"I think I need to hunt a weaker pokemon," I grunted before passing out.
Part 11-> Nifty hats and niftier moon pokemon!
"Hey, look! A Jigglypuff!" I'd regained consciousness a while ago and was already back to alerting every pokemon within ten miles to our presence. Mantis kept telling me to shut up, which i suppose was why i kept doing it. The KO and Stun Spore still had me a little loopy and my reaction time to everything was slowed.
The Jigglypuff's ears perked up and its eyes widened, if that was at all possible for the little bugger. I mean, its eyes were HUGE. I'd've been creeped out if it wasn't so cute and fat. It turned and puffed out its cheeks at me with a frown that was way to cute on its face. "Puff!" It announced in an authoritative voice.
"Watch it," Mantis warned me. "They look cute but they can be trouble. Sleep attacks, Soshika."
I snapped at my sib. "I know what they can do!" Turning back around to face the Jigglypuff i sat on my haunches and smiled at it. "Hi there Jigglypuff!"
Jigglypuff's face puffed out more before returning to normal. Slowly, it started to sing at me. The song was kind of soft and almost lullaby like, and i fell into a trance.
"Jiiiiiigg-a-lyyy puuuuuuff Jigg-a-ly puff jiggly puuuuuff jigglyyyyyy..."
The lids of my eyes slowly started to shut, and i started to lean forward. A yawn escaped my throat and i fell forward, more then three tenths asleep. Out of the corner of my eye, i spotted Mantis toss her pokeball. Next i knew i was sleeping.
A moment later Mantis was shaking me awake. "Thanks for distracting that thing, Sib. I got a Jigglypuff now."
"Really?" I was awake in a second, and spotted Jigglypuff sitting on its rotund behind in the grass, smiling cheerfully. It seemed to enjoy having Mantis as a trainer. "Whoa," I muttered.
"Yeah," Mantis smiled smugly and rubbed the balloon pokemon's fluffy head. "It's not really a Psychic pokemon, but it's close enough i figure."
"Jiggly!" Jigglypuff announced cheerfully.
A thought crossed my mind. "Hey Jigglypuff," I scooted towards it and tried not to look formidable. Apparently it didn't have any hard feelings towards me. "Would you teach me that Sing attack?"
The pokemon seemed to think a minute before waving its stubby arms in the air and exclaiming its name happily. "Jigglypuff!"
I pounded the dust and grinned hugely. "Great!! Show me how! But don't sing me to sleep again, okay?" I smiled sheepishly. Mantis just shook her head and sat to watch this.
Jigglypuff nodded and began to sing softly. The pretty sound floated through the woods and reflected off the leaves, echoing for what must have been miles. Mantis and I listened in awe. Jigglypuff finally stopped, to our dismay, and motioned for me to try.
I cleared my throat and started nervously. At first, it came out somewhat like Jigglypuff's song, only i sang my name instead of Jigglypuff's. Jigglypuff leapt into the air happily and clapped its stubby hands. Even Mantis smiled and nodded. I stopped singing, overjoyed. I'd learned Sing!!
We resumed walking, Jigglypuff outside its pokeball so we could all sing as we walked. Mantis chuckled. "If i keep this up, I'll be known as a Bard trainer!"
I was singing with my eyes shut and not watching where I was going. In mid-note I slammed into something big and tough. The thing pushed me back and I fell on my behind. Again. Mantis was laughing and not watching where she was going either. She soon suffered the same fate. Jigglypuff took one look at the thing and hid behind Mantis. My sib and I looked up and the biggest, ugliest thing we'd seen in a long while.
"Rhydon!" snarled the thing. It stood in the middle of the path with its paws on its hips. Strangely, a hugely stretched out trainer belt wrapped around its girth and a cool looking red and white hat perched on its head. The pokemon was a trainer like Mantis and me!
"It says we have to battle it to pass," Mantis told me.
"Jiggly?"
"It or its pokemon?" I wanted to know, pointing to the three pokeballs strapped to the belt on the Rhydon's waist.
"I don't know," Mantis admitted, climbing to her feet. She pointed to the expanse of path between us and the Rydon. "Jigglypuff, handle it."
"Jiggly!" Jigglypuff leapt into the area with more agility then you'd expect from the chubby pokemon. Its cheeks puffed out angrily and its face looked as warlike as was possible for a balloon.
Rydon roared and threw one of his pokeballs onto the ground. Out jumped something of cuteness to rival Jigglypuff's.
"Clefairy!" Cheered the pokemon.
Jigglypuff looked to Mantis for instructions. Mantis rubbed her chin in thought. I knew why. Both pokemon were mainly sleep attack pokemon, fairly similar in everything but appearance. "Jigglypuff, doubleslap!"
"Jig!" Jigglypuff leapt at the Clefairy angrily and began to smack it around. The Clefairy looked totally unprepared for such an onslaught and started singing out of confusion. Jigglypuff wasn't affected. The Rhydon roared in fury and called back the Clefairy and sent out a Drowsee. Jigglypuff squealed in surprise and scrambled out of the way just as the Drowsee let loose with a blast of confusion.
Mantis thrust forth her pokeball. "Jigglypuff, return!" Jigglypuff quickly returned to the pokeball. Mantis charged in to meet the Drowsee in battle. The Drowsee tried to slam into her, but Mantis was too quick on her feet. She jumped onto the pokemon's back when it was down and blasted the back of its head with Psibeam. Drowsee shuddered and whimpered, totally unprepared. Rhydon called that pokemon back too. Furious, the rock pokemon sent out its last pokeball. Mantis leapt aside as a full-grown Hypno surged free.
To my amazement, Mantis retreated and sent out Jigglypuff. The little pokemon struck a truly warrior-like pose and screamed in anger. "Jiggly!!!"
Hypno started laughing, giving Jigglypuff an opening. The tiny pokemon jumped up and onto Hypno's head, smacking it on the nose. Hypno slapped at it but hit his own head instead. Angered, it charged after Jigglypuff who met it with an angry doubleslap. Hypno retreated to his pokeball, his pride wounded. Rhydon hadn't even called him! I gaped at the disobedient monster.
Apparently Rhydon had had enough of fair play. It ran forward with a war scream, nearly trampling Jigglypuff. Mantis called it back quickly and pointed at me. "I handled his pokemon, YOU handle HIM!"
"Me?" I took one look at the angry steam engine waiting to run me over and shook my head. "No way! What'll I attack it with?"
Mantis rolled her eyes. "Sing, stupid! Put it to sleep, then we'll just slip by!"
"Are you nuts?"
"Look," Mantis released Jigglypuff who ran and hid behind her. "I'll send Jigglypuff in to back you up if you fail miserably."
"Thanks a bunch," I growled, striding in the meet the Rhydon. The big pokemon didn't waist a minute but lifted a huge boulder from the ground and threw it at me. I dodged and tried to Sing. But something went wrong and the notes came out about three hundred octaves too high. The Rhydon dropped another rock and covered its ears, knocking the hat off its head. Behind me, Jigglypuff puffed out its cheeks and glared at Mantis accusingly.
"Puff!"
"Don't look at me, it was your idea to teach her!"
But while they were complaining, I kept up the ruckass. In my mind, I realized I'd learned Screech, and Rhydon was having trouble adjusting to it. The rock pokemon's chest heaved in painful roars, stretching the old belt to its limit. The leather snapped, and pokeballs rolled to the ground. The Rhydon didn't seem to care. Mantis and Jigglypuff seemed fine, their fleshy hands able to block the screech out of their ears, but Rhydon's rocky hands conducted the sound wonderfully. The huge pokemon turned and fled into the woods, crunching trees as it ran from my "music."
Part 12->Lyika, the Electric one
I stopped Screeching to take a breath. Grinning, i pumped my fists into the air. "I beat Rhydon!" I cried.
"Jig!" Jigglypuff seemed to forgive me for souring my notes and jumped up and down until Mantis called it back. My sib laughed and patted me on the back. "Nice work, Soshika. I have to admit, I was scared to go in there myself."
I tried to look modest, secretly gloating over the fact that she'd been scared and I'd beaten the big pokemon. It felt cool, and I'd learned a new attack too. That also meant I'd grown a level. Something occurred to me. "Hey, Mantis, did you learn Psibeam just then?"
Mantis looked as if she hadn't even noticed it and was shocked. "Yeah, i did."
"I think we both grew a level," I muttered, surprised. I forced myself to get over it quickly and went to pick up the Rhydon's hat. I placed it on my head and twisted it around different ways, playing with poses.
Mantis took it more seriously and picked up the fallen pokeballs. She tossed me one. "I know you're good with Drowsees, so you can have this one. You damn well earned it, I'd think."
I caught the pokeball in my left hand and stared at it, somewhat stunned. It sure wasn't my old Drowsee, but I'd be able to fix this guy up, i figured. "Thanks," I said. This time it was sincere. I clipped the Drowsee to my trainer belt and pumped my fists in the air, hissing triumphantly.
Mantis wasn't listening. She'd taken the whole thing far more in stride and put Clefairy and Hypno on her belt next to Jigglypuff. Glancing towards where the Rhydon had stood, her eyes widened. "Whoa, Soshika, check this out!"
I ran over, upset that my game of striking stupid poses was halted. In front of us was a big pile of pretty coloured rocks. Some were purple, some were blue, some were green, some were yellow and some were red. I scratched my head. "So? Rocks. Big deal."
Mantis ripped my pack off my shoulders and began shoveling the stones inside, the purple ones and red ones especially. "They're Element Stones, cheeze and rice! They can evolve pokemon of that type! The purple ones are Moon Stones, the reds are Fire, the blue is Water, green is Grass and the yellow is Thunder."
My eyes widened. "Can I have some?"
Mantis tossed me a red stone which i missed. "Why do you think I'm getting Fire Stones, stupid? So you can use them later!"
I kicked the stone back to Mantis. "I don't want just fire. Maybe some water Pokemon will come in handy, and you never know where electricity will play a game. C'mon!"
Mantis sighed and threw the three other Element Stone types at me, one of each. I bent to pick up the Thunder Stone and put it in my knee pocket when something weird happened. A spark leapt from the stone to my hand. I yelped but grabbed the stone anyway, not knowing any better. Holding the stone in my hand, electricity began to climb up my arms and against my skin. My fur started to glow white and my hair grew spiky, my claws longer. I dropped the stone in alarm and yelped. Mantis turned, without even jumping. I whimpered and cried as electricity tingled around my body. I felt weird, changed. Looking at my tail, I saw it had changed into one like a Raichu's, with a thunderbolt at the tip.
Taking it all in stride, Mantis cocked her head and thought. "Nifty. The Eevee in you is evolving you in response to the stones. You're an Electric type now."
I clenched my fists and whimpered, I didn't like this. "How long will this last?"
Mantis shook her head. "No telling. I doubt it's permanent though. You're too much non-Eevee. In the meantime, you're a new species. What should we call you?"
"Call me my name! I don't like this!"
My sib disagreed. "Nope. You were Soshika before, now you're something different. I think we'll call you Lyika. Short for Lightning Cat. Yeah." Mantis smiled. "That works."
I pouted, folding my arms over my chest. I hoped that Drowsee wasn't getting shocked in his pokeball. "I don't like this."
"Oh, grow up. This could be an asset. Try Thundershocking that tree over there." My sib pointed.
"But I don't know Thundershock!"
Mantis laughed and waved her hand dismissively. "That was when you were Soshika. You're Lyika now. Try it."
I didn't quite know what to do but try, so i visualized all my energy charging up and filtering into the tree. A bolt of energy flew from me towards the tree and zapped it into a pile of dust in a second. I gaped. "WHOA! That was almost like an Electrabuzz's Thundershock!"
Mantis nodded, taking it in stride still. "Very cool," she decided. "Well, get some sleep sib. Tomorrow I plan on checking out what the Fire Stone does."
I wasn't too keen on being a guinea pig, but seeing as the stones didn't seem to affect my sibling, i obeyed and leaned against a tree to try and get some sleep. It wasn't that dark out yet, but I wasn't going to argue.
Part 13->Hellcat, the rather brash one.
I awoke the next day with a headache and my limbs sore as if I'd been slammed into the ground a few times. Supposedly this was what electric shock victims felt. I groaned as i woke up and stretched, a crik in my neck. Mantis lay against my pack a few feet away, the cheap fabric of the bag ready to tear so full of Element Stones. She blinked awake, sensing me awake myself. My sib grinned evilly.
"I knew it wouldn't last. See? Now we're gonna try the Fire Stone."
I groaned, but climbed to my feet. Mantis handed me a Fire Stone, which I put in both my hands like I'd done with the Thunder Stone. Small flames leapt out of the stone and crawled up my body like last time, only this time it felt much better. I laughed, looking and seeing my tail had changed to a flame-tip like a Charmander's. My hair too, seemed on fire like a Ponyta. My fur grew darker and almost gray. I snickered. "Hey, this isn't half bad."
Mantis gauged the reaction like a scientist. "Interesting, that. The Fire Stone seems to have flared your personality a little."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. When do I get to torch something?" I was grinning evilly now, clenching my fists tight. I had so much energy i was ready to set the whole forest on fire. I needed to blast something SOON or I'd explode. Maybe literally, but that wouldn't be all that bad, now would it?
Mantis seemed to be laughing, which didn't bug me at all. From the forest, there was a slight rustle of bushes. From the foliage bounded something so sickeningly cute and obsessively loved that cringed.
"Pikachu!" Declared the bizarre little bugger.
I didn't' wait that long. I charged the 'Chu with an evil light in my eyes and Fire Blasted the little rat to Pikachu heaven. All that remained was a charred carcass on the ground. I kicked the dead pikachu back into the forest and grinned demonically.
Mantis closed her eyes and nodded to herself. "Hellcat," she muttered. "This one is definitely Hellcat."
"Where's that Clefairy?" I growled to myself, snatching it from my sibling. Holding Clefairy's pokeball in one hand, i went to the pack and started unzipping it. "The damn thing's too cute for its own good."
Mantis's eyes widened. "You blast my Clefairy and I'll knock you unconscious for a week, Hellcat."
"Kill it?" I laughed aloud. "No way! I'm gonna evolve it!" Digging my hand into the pack, i started to pick up a Moon Stone.
Mantis yelled. "No, Hellcat! The Stone might evolve you again, maybe irreversibly, I'm not sure yet! Don't do that, Moon Stones are still a mystery, no one understands them!"
I snorted. "Well I understand they make stupid Clefairys into something else." Ignoring my sibling, I picked up the Moon Stone in my paw.
The change was instantaneous. My fur lost its gray colour, my tail stopped flaming and my hair returned to normal. I shook my head, the brash and violent tendencies suddenly vacating my mind. I fell on my rear, again, confused.
Mantis looked surprised. "Huh, how bout that? The Moon Stone returned you to normal. Well," she shrugged. "You always were a space cadet."
"Oh, be quiet," I muttered, handing her the Clefairy back. "When do I get to eat around here or are you just gonna give me split personalities all day?"
Mantis shrugged and materialized a duplicate breakfast of yesterday's on the ground, unfortunately it was just as soggy. Tiredly, i went about the same routine of eating the bananas that weren't too bruised. The rest I left to my never-too-picky sibling. Part 14->On da' Road again.
It had been two days since Mantis had been bombarding me with Element Stones, and we'd been keeping up a fairly good pace in that amount of time. Mantis caught only one new Pokemon, an Abra, as she claimed she had a perfect team in mind and wasn't about to change that plan. I was a little less picky, but I had my standards. I picked up a Rattata to cover where Drowsee fell short, because once it learned Hyperfang it wasn't all that bad. It had been pretty simple to catch, Drowsee had used Hypnosis then Pound. I was pretty pleased with my two pokemon. We were a team.
The road in front of us was a dirt path running through a field on the way to Lavender Town. I wanted to go because there was a guy who helped you pick out cool nicknames. Mantis had her own reasons, mainly ones named Haunter and Gastly.
"You know," I told my sibling as we walked, "I think I'll name all my pokemon 'Self'."
Mantis looked at me quizzically, as was not uncommon. I still dragged around the Element Stones with us, we could always sell a few on occasion. Leaf Stones didn't seem to sell all that well, so I would conveniently "loose" a few every now and again to make my life easier. Mantis thought this was left over hyperactivity from when I'd been exposed to the Fire Stone, but we didn't know for sure.
"Why would you do that?"
"Because then my enemies wouldn't know if I was sending out myself or my Pokemon," I explained, "Besides, it'd be fun. Of course then the Pokemon might get confused, but.."
"Shh," my sibling slapped her hand across my mouth, shutting me up. Following her pointing finger, I looked.
A Sandshrew lay in the middle of the path, snoring. It looked kind of chubby even for a Sandshrew and didn't appear to be waking up anytime soon. I grinned and pushed Mantis's hand away, throwing Drowsee's pokeball onto the ground. "Drowsee, let's get us a Sandshrew!"
Drowsee rolled out of his Pokeball and Body Slammed the sleeping Sandshrew. It awoke in a grouchy mood and started to scratch Drowsee's face. I squealed and called Drowsee back. "Rattata, go!"
Mantis smacked me upside my head. "Idiot! I wanted you to sneak around it, don't battle it!"
"Rrrrrrrrattata!!" screamed the vicious little rat as it leapt into Sandshrew's face. I ignored Mantis's warning and urged my pokemon onward.
"Rattata, Quick Attack it!"
"Rat!" Rattata charged the Sandshrew, slamming into it headfirst. Sandshrew fell back, stunned for a minute. To my amazement, it turned tail and started kicking up sand. The air was soon clogged with dust. Mantis and I were coughing drastically.
"Rattata, come back!" I called Rattata back and stood coughing, trying to decide my next move. I sent out Drowsee again. "Drowsee, use Hypnosis!"
Of course Drowsee kept missing, but that wasn't what I wanted. I shoved his pokeball into Mantis's hands. "Quick, clone that!"
My sibling shrugged, thinking I was an idiot, but took the time to do like I asked. She handed me the clone pokeball and the original. I called Drowsee back and stood still, waiting for the dust to clear.
The dust drifted away across the road and I stood with my hands twitching on the pokeball. Sandshrew stood cowboy-like down the street from me, his tiny paws dancing at his sides, ready to scratch me. It was like something out of a Western. The day was silent.
I made the first move, tackling the Sandshrew as hard I could. Sandshrew jumped aside and I kicked up dust when I landed, sending it up in a cloud. I jumped up, looking around me for Sandshrew. I spun and caught a glimpse from the corner of my eye. Sandshrew was making a get-away through the grass! "Oh no you don't!" I cried, throwing the pokeball behind my back. It hit Sandshrew in the back of the head as he ran and he was sucked inside.
Rather then stand and wait for the Pokeball to settle, i ran and grabbed it in my hands, holding it shut with all my might. "You are not getting out," I said through gritted teeth. As if the Sandshrew understood, the pokeball stopped quivering and the red nexus turned white. I threw it high in the air. "Yeah! That's three, oh yeah! Yeah baby!!"
Mantis shook her head and laughed. "You're bizarre."
I tossed the pokeball back on the ground to let Sandshew out. It came out with a resigned look on its face. It turned away from me, angry.
"Hey, don't be a sourshrew. You lost." I got on my knees and held out a piece of a banana to it. The Sandshrew turned and sniffed it, then gobbled it down and smiled. I laughed. "Guess the way to a Sandshrew is through its stomach, huh?" I held the pokeball back out to it. "Well, i just wanted to make peace with you. Time to get back inside."
Sandshrew sniffed the pokeball and turned away again. I groaned. "Oh cheeze and rice. You're not one of those weirdos who won't stay in pokeballs, are you?"
Mantis figured it out before me, of course. "That's a clone of Drowsee's pokeball, Soshika. He wants his own."
"Oh." I minimized the pokeball and put it in my pocket. "Okay then. We're going to Lavender Town, Sandshrew. You can stay out until then. Then I'll buy you a pokeball all your own, okay?"
Sandshrew chuckled and gave me a thumbs-up. At least I had a good relationship with my pokemon, i thought.
"Well," Mantis pulled free Abra's pokeball and let it open on the ground. "So long as you've got your newest pokemon out, why shouldn't I try to bond with Abra a bit?"
Abra emerged from his Pokeball with a yawn. The little pokemon's eyes were squinted against the sun and unlike most Abras, his skin was black, not gold. I thought his nickname should be Nightshade, but Mantis hadn't decided yet. Abra saluted tiredly like a little military officer and stood to attention before Mantis. Mantis returned the salute, oddly enough. My head started to hurt and I guessed they were carrying on a telepathic conversation. I shrugged and looked at Sandshrew.
"Let's go, Pokemon Tower awaits!" Mantis exclaimed. Abra squealed happily and levitated next to my sib. Sandshrew chattered at me and started walking after them. I had to run to catch up.
Part 15->A very stupid fire trainer.
Lavender Town was already a pretty depressing place, and seeing someone standing outside the Tower sobbing uncontrollably didn't help matters much. Mantis wisely started walking, rather then levitating. We already freaked people out enough.
My sibling and I approached the crying trainer with confused looks on our face. I tapped her on the shoulder. "What's wrong?"
"He's dead he's dead waaaaaahhhhhhh!" sobbed the girl. She didn't even look at us, just threw herself against Mantis and continued carrying on.
"Who's dead?"
"My Charmander! I lost a battle and he wouldn't get up. He's dead!!" The girl sniffled. "That's the ninth Charmander that's happened too! Why do they always die?"
"Umm..." I almost laughed, but didn't. I held it inside. "Did you take it to the pokecenter to wake it up?"
The girl glared at me and started to run off. "Don't toy with me!" she called back. Mantis shook her head.
"Idiot."
"Yeah," I stated. Then, realizing something, I ran inside the Tower. "An Idiot whose fainted Charmander is gonna be buried alive!"
"Hmmm..." I heard Mantis ruminating behind me. "A ghost Charmander...that would be something."
Part 16->Pokemon Tower!!!
Inside the Tower it was very silent. I raced up to the receptionist and pounded the desk. Sandshrew, whom I'd almost forgotten about, caught up with me and jumped on the desk.
The receptionist looked a little surprised. "May I help you?"
"Yeah, there's a Charmander who just got brought in here who isn't dead yet." I told her flat out. If they didn't understand that, the people must be made of bricks. Sandshrew emphasized my point by scratching the counter.
"Oh my!" The woman tried as fast as she could to bring up the data on her computer. "Third floor, one of the mourners is bound to know where. Take the stairs!"
"Thanks," I yelled over my shoulder, racing towards the steps. Mantis appeared in front of me, Teleporting no doubt.
"You're gonna need my help if you're trying to get a live pokemon out of here still living!" she laughed. Abra Teleported next to her, clicking his heels in mid-air as if to report.
I nodded and saluted to Abra. Picking up Sandshrew, i dashed up the first flight of steps.
The first floor was almost empty and I raced through it as fast as I could carrying a fat Sandshrew. I started panting under his weight and i muttered under my breath; "I should call you Jabba the Shrew."
As I raced across the second floor, Mantis and Abra at my back, something floated in front of me. I couldn't see it, but i knew it was there. I squealed in alarm. Mantis flew in front of me. "It's a ghost," she announced. "We'll handle it."
The ghost let itself materialize to the point where I could see it was the orb-shaped Gastly. Mantis knew ghost pokemon, i hoped.
Surprisingly, Mantis sent out Clefairy. I found myself staring at it and wondering if there wasn't some fanatic Clefairy cult somewhere in the world that ate these things. At least this Clefairy seemed a bit logical. It stood on the floor before Gastly quite calmly. "Cle," it stated.
"Gas?" Gastly seemed momentarily confused, but came back in an instant with a Lick. Clefairy wasn't affected, and came back with a Tackle that sent it straight through the Gastly and onto the floor. Gastly took total advantage and hypnotized it.
Mantis called it back quickly and sent out Abra. She turned to me to explain quickly. "They only put you to sleep so they can use Dream Eater. Clefairy was bait and Gastly took it." In her hands, she began to quickly clone a pokeball. "Abra, psychic."
Abra charged up as the Dream Eater Mantis had expected missed and blasted the Gastly onto the floor. Struck by the wave of Psy-energy in the room, i fell back and hit my head, something which almost konked me out. Sandshrew patted my face to wake me up.
My vision edged on black as i saw Mantis's pokeball smack Gastly square on the fore-head and suck him inside. As my eyes cleared, I was able to clearly see Mantis walk over and pick up the pokeball. She bounced it on her hand with a smug grin. "That's five outta six. One more and I've got what i want."
Abra seemed somewhat tuckered out but was still ready to go as ever. Jabba pushed the back of my head, making me sit up. I knew i would feel horrid in a few moments, psychic attacks just didn't mix well with me. I stood up and tried to pretend i wasn't feeling as bad as i was. Mantis had what she wanted, sure, but i still needed to find that Charmander! I picked up Jabba the Shrew and nodded towards my sib. "Let's keep going."
Mantis clipped the clone pokeball to her belt and levitated about three feet off the ground. "I had no intention of turning back."
We raced up the steps through pokemon tower, looking for someone to tell me where the grave was. When we hit the third floor, Mantis went nuts. Okay, she didn't really go nuts but she started yelling and pointing. I followed her hand, but couldn't see anything but what looked like a cloud of dust. Slowly and much to my surprise, the dust moved towards us. As it passed near me, i felt the fur on my back raise up. "Another ghost!"
"Not just any ghost!" Mantis crowed triumphantly. "It's a Haunter! Hypno, go!" slightly more excited this time, Hypno's pokeball hit the floor hard from Mantis's toss and nearly shattered apart. Hypno morphed out and growled at the Haunter.
Haunter materialized, and grinned hugely. It obviously thought this was funny. "Haunt huant haunter!"
"Hypno, use confusion! Weaken it up!" Mantis was pretty charged, my headache was getting worse as she let of spontaneous shocks of psy-energy. On top of that, Hypno's confusion attack sent me reeling again, nearly making me loose the lunch of semi-bruised bananas I'd been eating the past few weeks.
Haunter didn't seem to care. It turned and fled, laughing hysterically. Mantis recalled Hypno and gave chase on foot. What could i do? I ran after her, Jabba on my tail.
The chase wound around the gravestones of the third floor and past some pretty upset people leaning over graves. I didn't have time to read them. Mantis was yelling pretty loud, destroying much of the peace several of these pokemon were hoping to rest in. "Slow down, damn you! I'm gonna catch you already!"
"Why don't you just attack at a distance?" I suggested, hoping this chase wouldn't leave the third floor and that it would end soon. That charmander was in a lot of trouble, i knew it.
Mantis might have replied if she hadnt' stopped short. I nearly slammed into her, and i knew from the sudden pressing pain in my back legs that Jabba had hit me. Peeking over my sib's shoulder, i saw what she was looking at.
A man stood in our way. Actually he probably wasn't much older then me, I'm pretty sure. He was dressed in black from head to toe, and that counted his black hair and black eyes that swam constantly like pools of ink. He looked wholly evil, and while Mantis and Jabba seemed to want to retreat, i didn't. It took me a minute to realize, I'd never encounter the feeling before, but i was attracted to his evil. I was, i guess, if the term applied to half pokemon half people, in love!
The Haunter hovered over the dark man's shoulder, chuckling. Maybe it belonged to him, maybe he just knew it. I wasn't sure. He extended a gloved hand to us, which i took and shook. He grinned, but it was a demon grin, the kind predator gives prey. Still, i kinda liked it.
"Permit me to introduce myself," the dark man said. He spoke to all of us, but he gazed entirely at me. This isn't a vain thing, he stared straight into my eyes which seemed to stab my mind harshly. What was he, a telepath? "My name is Josh."
Part 17->Josh's Challenge.
"Josh?" Mantis sneered, she'd pulled herself together and was ready to fight. "What kinda name is Josh for a Ghost trainer?"
Josh smiled, the demon smile again, and motioned to Haunter. "I wouldn't expect you to be the one asking questions, considering you are on my section of the tower." he shrugged. "Besides, it's as good a name as any. On the few occasions where i need to use it, it works."
"Your floor? Pokemon tower is public property, buster!" Mantis was leaning forward, four feet off the ground, and growling. Jabba did the same, without levitation of course.
The air around Josh started to shimmer, and Mantis was sent backwards with a psy-attack. My head nearly split, and i grabbed it, crying in pain. The psy-energy blast quickly stopped. Josh crossed his arms and glared. "Do you want to challenge that?"
Mantis, panting, pulled herself up. My ears were ringing, but my eyes were wide in confusion. Human telepaths weren't supposed to have that kinda power! "What are you?"
Josh just smiled, but he seemed calmer now. The air around him had stopped shaking.
"What do you want?" Mantis demanded.
Josh laughed, again, it was evilish. Not that i minded. It sounded kinda cool to me. "I was just going to ask you two that. Not many trainers come up this far, the second level has the same pokemon as the third and fourth and fifth." he narrowed his dark eyes. the black inside seemed to stretch out across the whites, like it needed to morph and cover maximum space or something. "So what are you doing?"
"Someone buried a live charmander," I blurted out. "I need to rescue it."
Josh raised and eyebrow and indicated towards Mantis. "And her?"
"Just along for the joyride," Mantis hissed.
Josh apparently thought this funny and laughed. Abruptly, he turned back to me. "I'll give you a chance. I'll tell you where the charmander is. If you can race my ghosts out of the tower and win, you get to keep it. If not, it's mine. Alive or dead, it makes no difference to me. It's just one way is less of a hassle."
The way he worded it was kinda creepy but i got the point. I nodded in agreement. "Show me."
Part 18-> The race for Charmander!
Josh lead us around the third floor until we got to a fresh grave. He toed the dirt with his boot. "It's here," he said simply.
Jabba started to dig without my needing to urge him. Soon, the orange muzzle of a charmander poked through. I yanked it the rest of the way free. The Charmander was in pretty bad shape, his tail was almost out and he seemed quite beat. He needed help. Fast.
Josh's eyes seemed to soften a minute at seeing the Charmander, but they returned to their paranormal state in a second. Maybe he has a soft spot for pokemon, i wondered. If he had, he didn't leave it exposed very long. "Okay, here's the rules. You can't use any pokemon to battle. I suppose in your case that would mean you can't battle either. Your sister will have to meet you at the steps, she's not allowed to teleport the charmander. You need to use your brain. If my Gastlys can delay you more then three minutes, the Charmander's mine. You get out of the Tower in that time, and it's yours. That's it." The air around Josh shook again, and he blinked out of existence. He'd Teleported, I'd guessed. His voice floated back. "I'll meet you at the exit, hopefully."
Mantis too, soon teleported. I called Jabba back to his pokeball, something he objected to but didn't have any choice in. I picked up the Charmander and started running.
Back on Cinnabar, I'd been more of a distance runner then a speed runner, but figuring i only had a few minutes to spare i let my feet fly. I jumped down the first flight of steps, landing hard and sending a jolt up my legs that shook me right into t he brain. I put the pain and dizziness into a holding area and kept going.
It didn't take long for Josh's Gastlys to find me. They closed in on all sides, getting in my way and obscuring my vision but never attacking. Eventually i just closed my eyes and ran. Never again, i thought to myself as i hit a tombstone head on. I had to open my eyes again to find my way around it, but with all the gastlys it was like driving a car in a rainstorm with no whispers. Still, i kept at it. I could hear Charmander under my arm crying in alarm whenever a Gastly passed by him, but he was too weak to battle. I had to save it, i thought as i threw myself down the second set of steps and into the first floor. I tripped as i landed and got the wind knocked out of me. air kept away from my lungs, thanks to the Gastlys, but i staggered through the first floor as best i could. I knew i couldn't go long at any pace without air, but i had to.
Josh would let the Charmander die if i didn't help it. It might have seemed cruel, but it made sense. He was a ghost trainer. What use would he have for a fire pokemon?
I could tell people didn't see me. I didn't understand this, until it occurred to me that the very Gastlys that were suffocating me were also hiding me from plain view. Charmander wailed, he was getting worse. I tried to step up my pace, but my limbs were starting to feel numb. My throat contracted tightly, trying to pull in air, but the Gastlys weren't letting me have any.
Still gasping, i fell to my knees, my legs giving way. The muscles in my arms loosened and i dropped Charmander, who rolled across the floor and lay in an unmoving heap. I tried to drag myself towards him, but i was edged on blacking out, and all it took was that one movement before darkness caught me.
part 19-> Not like him
Unconsciousness is a strange thing. It's like walking through a dream land, where you know it isn't a dream because all the sensations are too real...yet you still see the surroundings as one. Your mind fills in where your eyes leave out. You don't really see what's going on, only visualize. When you start to come back it seems like you've gone blind, sight doesn't return very quickly and even when it does, it takes a while to come into colour again. You sense things around you before anything else.
That's how i knew Mantis was shaking me. She came into focus in a grainy gray-scale, mostly blacks. It took a minute before she returned to her whiteish-blueish sheen. Over her shoulder i could see trees. I was outside, but i hadn't run there. I must have been carried. "You okay?" my sib asked.
I sat up, looking around me for Charmander. I couldn't find him anywhere. The race charged back into my mind clearly and i sat up. "What happened? What was my time?"
Mantis shrugged. "Josh found you in the lobby, he seemed pretty apologetic about it but didn't say much. Said nothing, in fact. I get the feeling he isn't all evil, though he acts it."
"Where's Charmander?" I demanded. I was starting to get the feeling I'd lost the race, as Mantis kept avoiding mentioning it at all.
"Josh has him-"
"Josh!" I was up in a minute, moaning. "Oh no!"
Mantis pushed me back, glaring me in the eye. "Easy. He said to meet him at the pokecenter. I'd trust him for now, if i were you."
It wasn't that i didn't trust him, i thought, just that i didn't want to see a Charmander capable of living die. I doubted Josh would outright kill it, more likely just set it somewhere and let it perish. He certainly hadn't been willing to dig it up himself. He's not the killer, i decided, just the soul collector. I nodded to mantis. "Right. Let's go."
We traveled the short distance to the pokecenter, where Josh materialized out of the shadows quite literally, the Haunter and about six Gastlys hanging back behind him. He looked me up and down strangely, in a way that seemed to be asking if i was alright. He didn't say it though.
"You lost the race," he told me simply.
"I know."
"The Charmander by rights is mine." stepping farther out of the shadows, he looked me deeper in the eyes. "But i believe had my Gastlys not asphyxiated you, you would've made it. You navigated the floors like you knew them, you had the way through the grave-maze memorized. It was really something to watch, even with your eyes closed you mostly knew your way around. I'm very impressed."
I snorted, half wanting to tell him how his impressions weren't saving the charmander's life, they were killing it. But i didn't. "Thanks," i growled.
"I should keep the Charmander, but i won't," he told me quite suddenly. "I'm not sure why, but you were pretty fanatical about saving it. You can have it." reaching down one hand, pulled a pokeball from his pocket, pried my fingers apart and deposited it in my hand.
I gaped. "Why...Why are you doing this?"
He shook his head. "I told you, i don't know. but the Charmander's yours now."
Looking down at the pokeball, i realized this was an incredibly kind thing he'd done. I just held the pokeball in my hand, looking at it. "Is there anything i can do?"
Josh smiled, somewhat elusively. "Not for me, no. Nothing."
"Then come with us!" I blurted out. Mantis didn't seem to object, although she didn't condone it either. She stood by and said nothing.
The Ghost trainer laughed aloud, turning back into the shadows and waving a hand behind him. "I can't go with you. There are few places for me. One is here. The others are secrets no living person can figure out.
A stray thought dawned on me, something I'd heard a long time ago. Pokemon Tower was built in the middle of a massive field, flattening a forest and a pond in the process. Some of the rarest pokemon around had lived there, and although the species were cultivated and were pretty common now, the place was still just a legend. Charmander Field, Bulbasaur Forest and Squirtle Pond. My heart jumped, startled. "Josh," I asked his retreating form, "What are you?"
Almost completely obscured by shadows, Josh turned to look over his shoulder at me. "Just a guardian if anyone feels like taking a trip to the past."
I ran into the shadows after him, but by the time I'd gotten there he was gone. I whirled about myself, looking for him, but couldn't find him anyplace. I called his name aloud but there wasn't any answer.
Mantis clapped a hand on my shoulder. "We're not like him, sib. No one is. It's best to let lost souls wander." dropping her paw she turned and began to walk towards the market, away from me. "You'll see him again."
I watched my sibling for a moment, then stared at the Charmander's pokeball. Tapping the nexus, i let the injured pokemon free. Shivering, it looked up at me. I picked it up and cradled it in my arms, preparing to take it inside. "You're mine," i told it. "And so neither of us forgets who saved your life, your name is Josh from hereon in."
The charmander didn't say anything, it'd fallen asleep against me.
Part 20->New news is bad news!
Mantis sat across from me in the cafe that Lavender Town sported. After an emergency trip to the pokecenter for my newly acquired Charmander, plus a trip to the store for more pokeballs, we were all tired out and ready for lunch. Josh's words still spun around in my mind, they were hard things to shake. A guardian he'd called himself. How did he know what he was?
More importantly, how did i know who i was?
All four of my pokemon were out and sitting next to me in the booth, and while Jabba and Josh both had names, Rattata and Drowsee didn't. Mantis had been quick about nicknaming her pokemon, they were all in a military fashion. Abra was Commander A, Gastly was Sniper, Hypno was Infantry and Clefairy and Jigglypuff were Field Operatives C and F. It seemed to suit her training methods, which were full of salutes and fierce fighting. Even for Jigglypuff.
Finally i just gave in to my frustration and banged the table, making all the plates jump, and Rattata's lunch of rice patties fly onto Drowsee's head. "I can't think of any more nicknames!" I screamed aloud. A few people turned to stare at me.
Mantis wasn't eating, her nose buried in a newspaper with headlines about Team Rocket causing trouble with the Pallet Dam and the new (or rather post-new seeing as it'd been blown sky-high) pokecenter. I wondered how i kept missing these people. They were everywhere! Mantis said it all had to do with timing, which i didn't have. She looked over the rim of her paper at me. "You'll think of something," she informed me.
I sat back in my seat and began to contemplate the logic in re-naming all my pokemon "Self" again when the loudspeaker over-head buzzed. At first we didn't pay much attention, but after the second sentence we were all ears.
"Attention! Attention: the pokemon lab on Cinnabar Island has been destroyed! While it was not as badly damaged as the adjoining manor where the researchers stayed, all but three rooms were leveled. Casualties are high. Eye-witnesses report the destruction was brought on by a top-secret pokemon experiment named Mew-two. No further information is available at this time, although the local gym leader has locked his gym tightly and will allow no-one to enter. Anyone planning on taking the sea route to Pallet through Cinnabar, please avoid doing so."
Mantis dropped her paper and stared at me, wide-eyed. "I told them so."
"Mewtwo? Why would Mewtwo do that?"
Mantis shook her head and started to get up, neglecting to leave a tip. I called all my pokemon back and clipped them to my belt. "Mewtwo just wanted to be left alone. She was somewhat freaky, and way too smart for her own good. They didn't give her any space. So she leveled them."
"Whoa." I couldn't help but imagine if I'd had that kind of power how many buildings would be dust by now. It was kinda scary.
"Yeah," Mantis growled, folding her paper and heading out the door. I followed her to where she stood outside, looking skyward and testing the air. "Hang on to your pokemon, Soshi. We're going back home."
As the Teleport started, i still wasn't sure what was going on. "Why? What are we going there for? I thought we ran away so they wouldn't sell you. Have you flipped your lid, Manti-sama?"
Shaking her head, my sib explained farther. "We need to go to talk to Mewtwo. There's no end to the amount of power she has, she could easily level the entire world as we know it. I don't think she will though, she's not psychotic."
The Teleport itched around me, on my arms and wrists and behind my ears. I didn't know why this was, it might have just been a side effect like my getting headaches whenever Mantis or anyone else used psy-powers. "Then why are we even bothering to go? Don't tell me you're feeling nostalgic."
Mantis gritted her teeth, scowling. "Far from it. It's just that Mewtwo doesn't like humans, doesn't respect them. I don't blame her there either, but the point is she might devastate whole towns on a whim, for no real reason. We need to try to talk sense into her."
"Do you think we can?" I was skeptical.
My sib shrugged. "It's only right that we try."
The weirdness that was Teleport dissipated and left us standing on a beach, but it wasn't Cinnabar's beach. Mantis levitated into the air above me. "I'm going on ahead. That way i can come back and we'll both be better prepared for the situation. Start swimming. When i come back, I'll Teleport you the rest of the way."
"What happens if you're a long while getting back?"
Mantis waved and grinned. "Don't worry about it. I've grown a few levels since we left Cinnabar. I'll be able to take Mewtwo is she attacks."
Without any further conversation, my sibling Teleported away, and left me standing on the beach, again. At least this time, i thought, I'll know not to get caught by Jenny. Plunging into the water, pack, pokemon and all, i struck out towards the lab.
Part 21->Major Sibling Rivalry!!
I'd been swimming for maybe a half an hour when the distress cry hit me. I flailed a minute, not recognizing it, but then i realized it was a telepathic cry. Mantis was in trouble, i knew it. Something deep inside me, like from my kneecaps, knew it. I tried swimming faster, but it only tired me out. The weight of my Pokemon and the few Element stones we had left was weighing me down.
"This is getting no-where fast," i muttered, getting ready to loose the entire pack. Of course, then the idea hit me like a thunderbolt from a super-charged Raichu. Not bothering with the zipper, i just ripped the pack apart with my claws, dumping two moonstones into my pockets and catching a waterstone, i let the others sink underwater. "Alright, Self," I growled. "Let's do some mutating."
For a minute nothing happened, and i started wondering if maybe i wasn't affected by Waterstones. That was right before the water seemingly exploded around me. I'm not quite sure why that occurred, but it felt for quite a long while like i was drowning. Water was rushing in my throat and ears and eyes, cutting off the outside world completely. I felt like i was dead.
When reality peeked through the water again, i was totally changed. I had scales instead of fur, and under my arms were fins the size of wings, though i knew there was no way i could fly with them. I felt sleeker, more streamlined, and totally in my element. I felt incredibly passive, but at the same time i knew i would soon have to fight.
I dove underwater and swam. The speed with which this new form moved was incredible! I felt like i was skimming water, it rushed around and over me but i never disrupted it. It was as if before I'd been as clumsy and lumbering in the water as a Tauros, and now i knew exactly how to move to gain speed!
Of course it was over all too soon. I reached Cinnabar island and paddled around towards the lab, but even out at sea i could feel something was wrong. The air was tenser, smelled strange and the water wasn't normal. i streaked towards the lab quicker now, i wanted to get out of this weird water.
What the lab used to be and where the Manor used to stand was now just one big black hole in the ground. Smoke tendrils still drifted from the charred crater, the damage was so fresh. I hauled myself out of the water, my form awkward on land, and ran towards the crater.
When i reached it i saw two things right away. Mantis had lost an arm and was bleeding badly, and Mewtwo seemed mostly unharmed. Mantis clutched the socket where her arm used to be and looked at me, wincing.
"Get out of here," she gasped. "Mewtwo's way more powerful then even i figured.."
Mewtwo let loose with a psy-attack I'd never seen before that sent my sibling flying backwards, slamming her head against a rock. Mewtwo turned to me. "Who're you?" she demanded.
It took me a moment to realize that Mewtwo had never seen my water state. I set my feet/flippers apart on the ground and stood with my hands on my hips. "I'm the person standing up where Mantis fell," I told her. Reaching into my pocket, i pulled out one moonstone and held it in my hand, feeling my body shift back for use on land. Mewtwo watched in amazement. "I'm the greatest pokemon trainer ever created, Mewtwo," I went on. "I'm Soshika."
Mewtwo broke down in laughter. "YOU again? HA! I beat you when i was just born, you think you're any match for me now? Don't be stupid!"
I chose to ignore her, stepping into a ready stance. I was planning on fighting, even if i did loose.
The renegade pokemon growled, so i growled back. "Do you really want a fight?" She snarled, her very words bringing on a headache. I knew she was packing some powerful psy-powers. "Then you best be ready to loose! HA!"
The blast Mewtwo sent out could have wrecked a whole city block, and i knew that even if i did dodge it, anything it hit would be sent flying in my direction. Still, i jumped to the side trying to flee the blast. It caught my legs though, and sent me spinning. I landed hard on my stomach with the air knocked out of me, my limbs whimpering in pain. I can't keep this up, i thought.
Dragging myself up, I screeched, putting on speed to build up to a quick attack at the same time. Mewtwo waved the screech away as if it were nothing, shooting up into the air so even my quick attack missed entirely. From up in the air, she looked down and grinned demonically at me, ground bound, and laughed. "Cute," she snickered, lifting a single finger that levitated a rock roughly the size of the S.S. Anna and directed it straight at me. I ran.
The rock shattered on the ground nearby and struck me, ripping into my shirt and shoulder. Blood rushed from the wound, and i shrieked, but it didn't do me any good. Mewtwo just chuckled. "I've had enough of these games," she snarled, placing her hands together like she was ready to catch something. Light entered and condensed in her hands, and she sent the beam of psy-waves straight at me.
I tried to dodge but i was too slow. The beam sent me back violently, striking me against the side of the crater and resulting in a snap noise which, from the pain there, had to be a few ribs cracking. I tried to cry out, but there wasn't much i could do. I'd never been in a battle like this, I'd never been really injured, just ached a little later on! Mewtwo was playing very rough, and i knew that was all she was doing. Playing. Wincing against the psy-beam holding me in place, i glanced at Mantis, who struggled to stand where she had fallen. Blood streaked from her arm socket down her side, and her right hand was entirely red with her own blood. This is bad, i though, cringing.
The psy-beam relented a moment and i crashed to the ground hard, clutching my ribs and trying not to vomit. Mewtwo wasn't done yet, no way. I'd barely been on the ground a minute when a blast of Psywave hit me, sending me backwards screaming. I forgot my ribs and grabbed my head, wailing. So far as i knew, i was still screaming when i passed out.
Part 22->The not-so-final battle
"Soshika?"
Through my stream of unconsciousness, i heard Josh before i saw him. He approached me out of the gray mist that seemed to fill my mind. I was shaking, shivering, still injured even in my mind. I could see him, but i sat huddled over, unable to move. He reached out a hand to me, which i struggled to take.
Before i could recall my hand in pain, Josh grabbed it and yanked me to my feet. "You're not injured here," he told me. "This is your mind, you do what you want."
Even as he spoke, pain vacated my legs and ribs and head, leaving me renewed and healed. "Thank you," i whispered.
"You're fighting something way too strong for you," Josh told me, holding the sides of my arms so i was only a few feet away from him. Unlike before, his hands weren't cold this time. "You can't beat Mewtwo in your current state. You have to change."
"Change?" His eyes were still dark and shifting, but they drew me in. "How can i change?"
He shook his head. "All i know is what i know, and that's that you have to change."
"But-"
"When this is all over, you'll be changed for good. You won't ever be the same, Soshi." He drew me somewhat closer, my mind racing.
"You mean change my frame of mind, don't you?" I whispered. "I believe I'm not strong enough, so I'm not. I need to change my perspective is-"
Josh kissed me softly on the lips, an action which i fell into, victim of the moment. When we were released by time, Josh smiled at me. "I'll be waiting for you in the end, Soshi," he told me.
Then, back into the mists he vanished again. Just like that. But now at least he'd left me hope.
Back in my consciousness, i awoke suddenly. My eyes shot open and the pain flooded back, but i put it elsewhere. I climbed to my feet and glared at Mewtwo with a grin that you only get when you know something they don't.
"You're quite stubborn," Mewtwo observed. "Very annoying, somewhat like a Zubat. Don't you realize you loose?"
"Not yet," my hand moved slowly into my pocket, but i kept my gaze locked with Mewtwo.
"A real pain," she went on. "When i destroy all the Human towns, you'll be the one standing at the gates to waste my time, won't you?"
"You damn well better believe it." I had the moonstone just under my fingers now.
"In that case i think I'll blast you once and for all. It'll be real nice to watch you snap apart bone by bone." Mewtwo grinned and crossed her arms in a charge-up I'd seen Mantis use countless times, ready for a simple but extremely effective Psychic attack. She let it blast out at me with a force that reft the very ground apart where it passed, and would surely rip me to pieces.
But this time i dodged and made it. I rolled on the ground once, jumped up and clutched the Moonstone in my hand. Silver light spilled from the stone down my body and across the ground, out towards Mantis. The light lifted us up, charging us, healing us. It reached across our personalities and forms and spanned them, making what years of genetic research only wished for. We were one. We were the same.
"What the hell is this?!" Mewtwo roared, sending another psychic blast into the silver light. It simply passed through us.
"We are Mewtwin," Mantis told Mewtwo. The light around us charged outward and struck Mewtwo in the chest, sending her backwards harshly. Mewtwo caught herself though, and set up a barrier, returning with a Swift attack.
I caught the Swift in one hand. It ripped through me with incredible force, but i just channeled it into the light. The power level surged.
Mewtwo started to charge up all the power she had left into one attack that would kill us quite effectively, which we knew. We returned the charge with one of our own. Energy radiated from the crater in frightening amounts, and none of us cared to stop it.
Mewtwo was snarling, her body glowing with a reddish light that flowed like a force field. "You can't take me out," she laughed. "There's not a person on this earth that can beat me. You're good though, I'll give you that."
"You know you're going to loose," i told her. "Why font' you just give in? we're never going to let you win."
"Yeah, in your dreams! KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGH!!" Mewtwo's pent up energy raged towards us like a fright train.
"AYIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!" Mantis and I screamed in unison, releasing our energy back out at Mewtwo. The blasts hit, and the area was momentarily lit up in a blast of fire that encompassed the entire island. Anything living was thrown into the ocean, and anything that couldn't be moved was burned down. The shockwaves cause homes in Pallet and Vermilion to crumble, and sent tsunamis ravaging the beachfront towns. Almost everything was devastated, and the blast was visible from as far away as Mt. Moon.
When the fire cleared, we were all still standing. Mewtwo's breath was ragged and she was injured badly, her energy almost entirely gone. Mantis and I were injured badly as well, and the silver light was dissipating, but what little there was kept us alive. One hit from either and the other side would be dead. The question was, was either one of use willing to risk in case the other shot back at the same time or dodged or we missed? We hung in the air, glaring at one another.
A click from behind me and then all around cause us to look. People were coming from the edge of the crater, standing on the lip with pokeballs in their hands, each one of them watching Mewtwo. Seeing her predicament, Mewtwo shot higher into the sky, out of pokeball range.
"This isn't over! I'll be back for you at some point." Grinning, Mewtwo began to Teleport, her last words to us being. "Next time I'll know not to play around."
As soon as she was gone, the Silver light dropped us, and my sib and i hit the ground harshly, unable to move, our injuries catching up with us. We won, i thought at Mantis.
Just the battle, she replied sullenly, Not the war. Not yet.
Part 23->Team Rocket&so-on.
When i started to come too, the first thing i saw was a guy and a Raichu that was absurdly huge leaning over me. Seeing i was moving, the guy called back over his shoulder.
"She's coming around!" He called over his shoulder. "Daemon, we need some of that hyper potion over here!"
The guy named Daemon came running from where Mantis had fallen and handed the guy leaning over me the potion. The guy sprayed it on my face and shoulder, also on my ribs and legs too. I growled and yelped aloud, the stuff stung badly, but as the pain started to fade and my strength returned, i decided to be more coherent. "Thanks," i told him, sitting up. Looking around me, i saw that they were all wearing about the same uniform. That is, white with black boots and a big red "R" on their shirts. Here and there there were things that differentiated the uniforms, like lab coats or necklaces or even in one rather odd case, a penguin mask.
Mantis too, was sitting up and looked around at our rescuers with a pretty confused expression on her face. "Who are you guys?"
Some guy with really white hair looked to a fairly normal looking fella who seemed to know what he was doing. "She asked...."
The normal looking guy nodded and grinned. "Oh yes, she did do that, didn't she?"
"Let's inform them, guys!" Yelled a shortish girl in a lab coat.
Normal Girl:Make it double!
White-haired guy: To protect the world from devastation!
Army-lookin' guy: To unite all peoples within our nation!
Scary lab-coat guy: To denounce the Evils of Truth and Love!
Lab-coat girl: To extend our reach to the stars above!
Normal Guy: Stryker!
Normal Girl: Kat!
Scary Army Guy: Hawk!
Lab-coat Girl: Breeder Girl!
Daemon: Daemon Wyrm!
Scary lab-coat Guy: Doctor Oak!
White-haired guy: Articdude!
Pengiun Mask Guy: Giant Penguin! That is, Supreme Allied Commander Giant Penguin!
Army-lookin' guy: Blackskunk!
Bulbasaur (oddly enough): Misato!
Short girl: Dratini Girl!
Stryker: Team Rocket, Blast off at the speed of light!
Kat: Surrender now, or prepare to fight!
Raichu: RAAAAAAAAAIZAP!! RAI RAI RAI!!!
Hawk kicked the dust and looked upset. "Damn...i was hoping you'd blow more stuff up."
I found my voice and asked the stupid question of :"You guys are Team Rocket?"
Raizap thundershocked me for being stupid, which Stryker kinda but not really berated her for. "You were expecting someone else?" Kat asked.
No, i reasoned with myself, of course we weren't. We weren't expecting anyone. We were expecting to commit kama-kazi right there so that Mewtwo couldn't cause any more damage. But here, these guys had showed up and probably saved our skins. So why, then, was i upset? Why was i so disappointed? What did i expect, that a ghost would be traveling with them? Not likely, i told myself. I still wished Josh was there though. Perhaps another time, i thought.
"How did you know we were here?" Mantis asked, now on her feet and nursing where her arm had vanished from. Breeder Girl seemed to be taking an unusual amount of interest in Mantis, but was also casting a few glances in my direction too. I guessed she'd never seen a half-pokemon half-person before.
"Well," Blackskunk explained to her and me. "It was all B.G.'s idea, really. She'd wanted to examine Mewtwo. Oak and Hawk went with her to see the devastation. The rest of us, uh..."
"The rest of us are following Giovanni's orders to contain the menace that Mewtwo presented to the people of the world. You two handled that very well." GP grinned at me in a way that scared me. I ran and hid behind Raizap, who thundershocked everyone in the general vicinity.
"Rai Rai Raichu RAI!!" she screamed at me, basically telling me to never sneak up on a Raichu. Not that i could have replied, most everyone including me seemed zapped pretty well, except for Mantis who'd used her tail as a ground. I wanted to bite her, but the best i could do was twitch angrily.
Part 24->Epiloge&open endings!
We were asked to join Team Rocket, Mantis and I. Actually that's not true because i was actually the one who did the asking, and with a little help from Stryker, we got in.
It turned out that Breeder Girl was just examining Mantis's DNA in an effort to better understand Mew. Personally i found her lab really creepy, some of the things she had in there were totally psychotic. I mean worse then Mewtwo was. But, thanks to the genetic sample from Mantis, she's been happily splicing and dicing away since then. Also, she examined my DNA too. Found out that the Moon Stone was the only stone that permanently affected me, raising my power level up even if it didn't exactly "Evolve" me.
For the most part Team Rocket is great, except for the constant threat (haha! Threat! That's a joke, really it is.) from Team Fury, a group of renegades who are trying to shut us down. 007 or "Bob" the informant and master of disguise has been gathering us a lot of information on them.
Dr. Oak scares me still. His lab is almost always exploding, thanks to his greatest triumph ever, the Self Destruct TM that can be taught to any pokemon. Course i never go in there. Do you know how many CHANSEYS that man has???? It makes you wonder where he came from....
Hawk put a Firestone under my pillow the other day which resulted in a large fiasco with Hellcat, including a small portion of Giovanni's office being burnt down. Mantis covered my tail and blamed it on a renegade stark-raving mad Vulpix, to which the boss replied "hmm...never did like Fire pokemon much!" Of course Hawk found the whole event fantastic, and he wasn't much alone. Blackskunk AND Oak AND GP all thought it pretty neat too. I have taken to wearing gloves to prevent my picking up any Firestones disguised as paperweights, coffee cups, sandwiches, ect.
GP has been driving me insane, asking me to marry him. If i have to reply "no" one more time, I'm going to LET Hellcat torch him. Raizap, the only pokemon i can come close to understanding, informed me to just ignore it as he has been asking everyone to marry him recently. I suggested he get a Meowth. This did not go over well.
In the end i did rename all of my pokemon "Self," which has resulted in several strange matches in which all my pokemon bumble to get into the ring when i only called for one. Or myself, for that matter. The Refs have come to dread watching my matches.
And Mewtwo...Mewtwo is still out there, though we don't know where. She's waiting until she can lash out at us again. She'll be harder to beat next time. But Mantis and i will be ready. Strangely, after the battle with Mewtwo had ended and the ruins of the mansion and labs were searched, there was no sign of Mew. In fact, while several other charred carcasses were found in the lab, of Mew there was neither hide nor hair. What happened to her we can only speculate...
Josh is out there, waiting for me, i know. Someday i will find him again. I have seen him in my dreams, but i believe that until Mewtwo is entirely vanquished, i will not be able to see him in the flesh (well, not really flesh. He's a ghost and all...) again. Perhaps that means in the final battle with Mewtwo it will finalize my life. No one is sure. I'll just have to wait and see....