The next morning, Mewtwo was floating in the air quietly when Max walked up next to him, rubbing his eyes. "Good morning, Max," Mewtwo said. Max yawned. "Y-Yeah good morning Mewtwo. Listen, I'm taking Sapp to go get some food so can you watch Dave? He's still asleep." Mewtwo nodded and unfolded his legs, setting his feet on the grass. "Do what you must, but don't waste your time getting food for me." When Max gave him a weird look, he waved his hand dismissively. "I can explain when you come back." Max nodded and looked at Sapp, who was shouldering a pack. "Ready to go Sapp," Max asked. She gave a quick nod and began to walk off. Max look back at Mewtwo. "We'll be back soon." Mewtwo nodded and walked over to sit next to Dave as Max and Sapp walked off through the forest and were quickly lost to sight. Mewtwo sighed and looked at Dave. He looked familiar, but couldn't quite place where he had seen that face before. It was from a memory from long ago, back when he was trapped in Cerulean Cave. He shrugged the memory away. That was long ago, and what was in the past, was in the past and there was no point in dwelling on it.
After a few minutes, Dave began to murmur, weakly struggling in his sleep. Mewtwo looked down at Dave, confused as to what was happening. Before he could do anything, Dave screamed and his eyes flew open, but instead of their usual blue, they were now bright red. Mewtwo quickly reacted and Dave's body glowed purple, forcing him to stay on the ground as he examined Dave. He seemed to be suffering from a sort of seizure. Suddenly he began speaking with enormous difficulty. "M-Mewtwo! H-..Help me…." Mewtwo began to grow slightly panicked and put a hand on his chest, sensing the aura within. Instantly an unknown force pushed him back and he fell backwards onto the ground. He sat up, gasping for breath. Whatever was in Dave was destroying him. He scrambled back to Dave as he was beginning to rise and pushed him back down with a hand on the chest. Dave began to struggle with almost inhuman strength and Mewtwo was slowly beginning to struggle to keep him down.
Suddenly he got an idea and after a few seconds of quick deliberation, he closed his eyes and began to focus, his hand beginning to glow purple as he slowly started to suck the evil energy raging inside Dave into himself. Slowly, the purple glow began to fade, replaced with a red glow that covered his skin that began flowing up his fingers, bringing a burning sensation with it. In a startling amount of time, the glow had covered his entire forearm. All he could see was red, shining like a star on his arm as the glow advanced further up onto his shoulder. As the glow spread to his torso, Sapp and Max came running out of the forest and knelt beside Mewtwo and Dave. "Mewtwo! What are you doing to Dave?!" Max demanded with wide eyes. Mewtwo looked over as the glow spread down his abdomen in extreme pain. "I'm h-helping him…" He could say no more as his voice broke off in a scream of pain as the glow passed his waist and slowly made its way up his neck. By this point, his entire body felt like it was on fire. As the glow spread, it got faster and faster so by that point, his back was arched with pain as the glow covered his legs and head, encasing him in red. The moment the glow covered his head, he fell to the side, limp, leaving Dave cured and panting on the ground. Sapp rushed over to Dave as Max rushed over to Mewtwo to see what had happened.
Slowly, the red glow sank into his body, leaving his tail a bright red. Max quickly pressed his head against Mewtwo's chest to listen for a heartbeat, his eyes widening when he couldn't hear one. He sat back, terror in his eyes as he looked at Mewtwo's limp form which slowly turned to sadness. "Mewtwo…why couldn't I be here for you..?" Tears began to form at his eyes. "I'm…I'm y-your trainer and I wasn't here when you when you needed me most…" He looked down as tears fell from his eyes and silent sobs began to rack his body. Sapp walked over and knelt by him, her own eyes watery. "Y-You couldn't have done anything Max," she said quietly.
In a fit of anger, Max brought his fist up and struck Mewtwo's chest. At the strike on his chest, Mewtwo's eyes flew open and he sat up quickly, gasping. Max's eyes widened and he moved forward, putting an arm around Mewtwo, supporting him as he examined Mewtwo. He started when he noticed Mewtwo's eyes had taken on the same bright red color as his tail, but he smiled despite himself. "Mewtwo! You're alive!" Mewtwo looked around, slightly confused. "How long have I been asleep," he asked slowly. "O-Only a few seconds," Sapp said. Mewtwo breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. "Uh…Mewtwo..y-your eyes and tail are red," Max said almost shakily. Mewtwo nodded. "I know they are. I knew that would happen when I chose to help Dave." As he spoke, Dave walked over, still shaky from his ordeal. "Mewtwo…" he said almost reverently. "Y-You saved my life…"
Mewtwo held up a hand to forestall any further statements. "No thanks are needed. I did what I had to do and nothing more." He groaned as he slowly stood along with the others. "Now I recommend that we c-" His voice broke off in a scream as his tail and eyes flared red, forcing him back to his knees as the children rushed forward and knelt by him.
"Mewtwo! What's wrong Mewtwo?!" Max shouted in a panicked voice. Mewtwo could only scream as he fell over onto the ground, writhing in pain as the corruption inside him racked his body with an indescribable pain that rendered him weak and unable to speak. The kids could only watch with horror as the corruption seized Mewtwo's body with a terrifying intensity. As Max stood there, he got an idea. He reached to his belt and grabbed the pokeball Mewtwo had given him and launched it at Mewtwo in a final effort to help him. The ball hit Mewtwo's shoulder and his entire form glowed red before being sucked into the pokeball. The pokeball hit the ground and shook for a moment before it clicked and the red glow in the center button disappeared. However, the pokeball continued to shake even after Max picked it up. He placed the pokeball in his belt and pulled another one, releasing Staraptor and getting on its back. "Guys, I'm taking Mewtwo to a Pokemon Center to get him some help. Sapp, you and Dave keep going and I'll try to find you guys once we get this sorted out." Sapp and Dave nodded and Staraptor took off into the sky.