DISCLAIMER: [Insert proper legal disclaimer here.] I don't own Pokemon, or anything else related. It belongs to all the different companies that it belongs to, obviously.

Author's Notes: This is my first fic, so bear with me, either for being slow, or just being not very good at this. The pace will pick up after Christmas when I have my own computer at home so I can actually write.

For Anna, my muse.

Chapter 1 – Lost or Stolen

He remembered the day like it was yesterday. It had been a crisp evening. The sun was just going down, bathing the mountainside in an amber glow. His clefairy, Mysti, had just evolved. He had taken her to a secret clefairy evolution ceremony deep in the mountain rough. They were headed home, though they didn't know where that was at the time. For so long, the mountain itself had been Seymour's home, but now it couldn't be. It hadn't felt right. Not after the events that had taken him from the mountain in the first place and eventually brought him back. He had found a small settlement in the foothills but that hadn't felt right either. He recalled, now, thinking of where to go. Before they had reached the bottom, a black helicopter had shown up over the horizon. He recognized it immediately. Rockets. It hovered over them, dropping a group of thugs dressed in black and gray. The rest was a dizzying struggle that he couldn't quite remember but in brief flashes. He knew what they wanted. He fought fiercely, calling upon all his strength, but even the strongest person knew when they were outnumbered. He was quickly enveloped in the orchestrated melee. They took his clefable. His best friend. But it was just a pokemon.

That was almost a year ago. He'd continued on, half searching, half hoping to forget. Eventually he had arrived at Saffron. He found his long lost love, Nurse Joy (one of them, anyway, distinguished from the rest with long lime green hair ^^), who had disappeared after the explosion on the St. Anne off of the northern coast of Cinnabar. She had been searching for him as well. Together they went on, eventually arriving at their current home, the Oak Research Facility in Pallet Town. Professor Oak was a colleague of Seymour's in the Research and Development branch of the infamous Indigo League, so he was happy to let them stay as long as they liked.

The couple was relatively happy and content in their new home, though Seymour simply wouldn't let the issue with the Rockets rest. On cold, wintry days like this one, he would become nostalgic to the point of near crying as he watched mournfully out the window at the snow, wondering helplessly if Mysti was safe, if she had a warm place to stay, or if she was even alive.

Seymour the scientist ran a hand through his unkempt brown hair. He scowled at the snow outside, hugging himself. His pale blue eyes welled with tears.

A cozy fire burned in the fireplace in front of him, but it brought him little warmth. He wouldn't let them get away with taking his best friend.

Mewtwo stood within his once-forgotten fortress. Though he had sworn never to return, never to hurt anyone ever again, he had come back. Come back to assist those who he had vowed to destroy, merely for bringing him into existence. That was years past, he said.

He had not realized he had a purpose then. Had thought he was brought to free the Pokémon from the humans. They were in fact, a balance, and one could not exist without the other. Now, something.. He could not think of the word for several seconds. Something evil, he decided, had surfaced to disrupt that balance.

Mewtwo was confined to his island, cursed never able to leave, by some unknown force. Was this his purpose? To remain for the rest of eternity? The question gnawed at him as he pondered over it.

Lifting slightly off of the floor, he fashioned himself into a sitting position and closed his violet-hued eyes. Drawing on the power within him, he reached out with his mind. He grasped outward with his consciousness, touching the essence of the minds of all close by, washing over them, past the island, over the sea and towards the mainland. Pushing his limits, Mewtwo found himself surveying well past the island of Cinnabar.

Who am I? Why am I alive?

His questions had already been asked, at his creation. He had been enraged to find that humans had created him. He spat the word, even as he thought it. Who am I? He repeated, his telepathic voice echoing through the minds within his reach. Why am I alive? He inhaled sharply as the familiar voice entered his mind, almost forcibly.

Humans created you to serve them! The voice of Giovanni rang clear within him. That should be your only purpose and your only desire! Beyond that your life is worthless!

Clenching his fists, Mewtwo snarled his reply from years past: My life is worthless? I'll decide what my life is worth.

With your power, we can take over the world, Giovanni's sinister speech nudged Mewtwo's mind again.

I do not want the world, Mewtwo stated his reply, but the vision of his former controller was gone, leaving only the empty expanse of memory over the sea..

The sea teemed with life, with thought, as Mewtwo felt it, all oblivious to his plight. His frustration grew as he took in their complete ignorance. His 'voice' was laced with rage as he continued his quest for answers.

Who am I...? Where am I...? Who asked for me to be created...? Who wished me to life...?

Then it was gone; the sea, the island, everything, disappeared from his mind. In its place stood a ravaged town, burning still as he stood witness to the destruction. A flash and there appeared a small Meowth. In another instant it was gone. In its place stood a young human female, hair the color of emerald. She turned to face Mewtwo.

You are not welcome here.. she spoke to him, telepathically. Suddenly Mewtwo felt and overpowering force surrounding him. It squeezed, wrenching the power from him.

The girl became stronger.

Mewtwo's world went black.. He opened his eyes, finding himself back where he had started, on New Island. He listened to the ocean ebb and flow, waves crashing against the rocky island shore.

What did it all mean?