Now that Mewtwo saw all that the village had to offer, it was time to take a hike in the mountains. He took one of the well-traveled trails that started on the outskirts of the town and wound its way up the mountain. With no further delay, Mewtwo set off.

Ahh, it was bliss. With only nature to observe on this trail, Mewtwo soon felt very content with his heart as light as a feather. He stepped enthusiastically through the wending trees, the leaves colored all shades of autumn; sunshine yellow, flaming red, coffee brown. The afternoon sunshine that filtered through the leaves of the trees created ripples of shadow on the ground, flashing with sunlight as the treetops wove back and forth with the breeze. The scent of wood and grass caused Mewtwo to breathe slowly and deeply, savoring these moments of pure beauty.

He continued to walk on the trail, stirring up the fallen leaves on the ground. The wild Pokémon of nature continued to make appearances amongst the treetops. Pidgeys were twittering, flying high above. Spearows were gliding and hopping about, cawing loudly. It was music to his ears.

After traveling for some time, Mewtwo approached a clearing. On his left was a steep drop off of the mountain where trees did not obscure his view. Looking out this way, he saw the entire village of Ether Valley nestled snugly between the two mountains. He traced the river that cut through the town, flowing from up in the mountains themselves to exiting the south edge of town and out of sight. Positioned about three hundred feet or so up, Mewtwo could still easily distinguish the different buildings on the landscape. The church's high, high steeple wasn't very tall at this vantage point. He spotted the library, the town square, and even the old sage's cottage among the collection of buildings. Reflections from the sun made the town glitter and sparkle as he moved his head this way and that. What a sight to see.

The sun kept him warm as he looked down upon the valley. This was easily the most wonderful moment in Mewtwo's opinion. Nothing could ruin the time that he was spending here with just himself and nature.

How very wrong he was.

Mewtwo stood there for only a minute longer when several things happened in a blindingly quick succession.

An excruciating pain, starting from his back and traveling to his left side with lightning speed, made him gasp and buckle in agony. His back arched, trying to avoid the searing pain as he fell to his knees. His eyes were jammed shut because of the intensity and sharpness of what just happened. Mewtwo had only enough time to register that this pain was occurring exactly where his scars were located before he fell, left side leading, into the grass.

But instead of colliding with the ground, Mewtwo continued to fall sideways. He opened his eyes to discover that he was cartwheeling through total blackness while falling and gathering speed, all at the same time. The howl of sound was almost unbearable to hear. Faster and faster Mewtwo fell. He closed his eyes again, wishing it would stop. And then—

He slammed into the ground so hard that the wind was completely knocked out of him. He rolled onto his front, eyes shut tight, struggling to regain his breath for several seconds. His heart raced at a thousand miles per hour and ached as it beat. But strangely enough, even as Mewtwo still lay there gasping for air, he wasn't injured from the massive contact with the ground. This struck him as extremely odd. Why did the contact not hurt him, considering the tremendous force with which he landed?

It took a few deep breaths to steady himself and let his heart rate slowly decline. While he lay there, he allowed his senses to explore the situation. The clearest observation was that he was lying on grass again; the smell of it was strong in his nostrils while his face was resting against the ground. He also heard the sounds of trees and their leaves rustling in the breeze. His backside was growing hot. Through his eyelids, a dull, dark color of red persisted. The sun was shining high in the sky.

Now that he had calmed down, Mewtwo also realized that his scars were not hurting. The series of events that just occurred made absolutely no sense to him. But if he wanted to find out what happened, laying here wasn't going to solve anything.

Mewtwo rolled to his left side and opened his eyes.

He was lying on a grass path that sloped upwards away from his gaze, guided by trees on either side. And unless he was very much mistaken, these trees seemed awfully familiar…

Mewtwo quickly looked up at the tree canopy, expecting to see the colors that he had observed on his hike. Instead, the leaves were a uniform green, brightened by the sun that filtered through. It was summertime.

Mewtwo shakily raised himself to a sitting position. He rested his head against his forearms, staring at the grass. Wild thoughts ran through his mind, each more ridiculous than the last. What did he do? Why had this happened? How did this happen? His head was pounding from the gravity of the situation.

Something caught the corner of Mewtwo's eye as it appeared over the hilltop to his right. He turned his head to get a better look.

What he saw made him cry out in shock.

It was himself.

Mewtwo tried not to panic. If this other Mewtwo saw him, he was going to be in serious trouble. As he rose to a half-standing pose, unsure of what to do, the other Mewtwo continued to approach. Closer and closer he drew. But strangely, his counterpart didn't seem to notice that he was in plain sight. In fact, he walked right by without a glance.

Now Mewtwo was utterly flabbergasted. He scrambled to his feet, and fell in step next to himself.

He decided to try and attract this other Mewtwo's attention. He held up a hand, hesitated, and then waved it in right in front of Mewtwo's face. He didn't stop, look around, or indeed react at all.

Mewtwo withdrew his hand, thinking hard. He doubted that the other Mewtwo would ignore seeing himself; Mewtwo knew that if he had seen himself, he would have been scared out of his wits.

It felt like he was a phantom to this period in time; like he didn't belong.

He studied Mewtwo's face as they both continued to walk up the trail. His eyes were slightly narrowed and he also wore a small frown. These features gave the impression that he was permanently irritated or something like it. Mewtwo raised his hands to feel his face and was relieved to find that neither of these features was present on his own.

The other Mewtwo trudged relentlessly through the forest, following the path that Mewtwo himself had walked only a short time before. He didn't seem to be taking in the beauty of the forest or observing the natural world at all. Words that were spoken to him earlier that day drifted through Mewtwo's thoughts.

"The world is so big and beautiful; it's a shame that some people never get to see all of it. You try so hard to make people see, but sometimes it's just fruitless."

Mewtwo looked at his other self's side, expecting to see the scars that marked him, but gasped. The scars weren't there. It was clean and unblemished.

This had to have been his past self; there was no other way. But if this was him in the past, why did he look so unhappy? Why was he not bothering to take in the beauty of nature? What was this Past Mewtwo going to do? Mewtwo had to have been taken here for a reason, or he wouldn't have gone through this ordeal.

The two crested a hill and were greeted with an absence of trees on their left side. The other Mewtwo glanced towards the gap (he happened to look through Mewtwo at this time) and redirected his course to take him closer to the edge of the drop-off.

If Mewtwo were solid, he would have been knocked over by the sudden change in course. Instead the other Mewtwo just walked right through him. Mewtwo stopped, momentarily bewildered, before he approached the other, who had taken up post near the drop-off.

And he was looking down upon the village of Ether Valley all over again.

But the landscape looked different. The village was smaller and less populated. He definitely recognized plots of land that held no buildings. The church still rose above all of the buildings in the village, looking even more prominent with the lack of structures.

He heard Mewtwo make a small noise of dissent through his nose. He turned in time to hear Mewtwo grumble, "Filth". His gaze upon the village told of intense dislike while his folded arms displayed the same idea.

Mewtwo quickly took a step to the side as his eyes widened in shock. Did he just call these villagers "filth"?! How rude!

He quickly looked back at the village. All was quiet and peaceful, and he had no reason to believe otherwise.

What was wrong with his old self? How did he get to be such an unappreciative being? These questions confused Mewtwo more thoroughly than anything to this point, and he wanted them answered.

He looked back at his past self with disgust. He was glad that he left behind much of his old attitude in the present, glad that he could appreciate much more of what his old self couldn't.

But Mewtwo still didn't understand what he was brought here to witness. What was so important in his past, other than to witness a bad temper?

His question was soon answered.

Glancing down at his past self's feet, he noticed something very peculiar. If he was recalling correctly, the Past Mewtwo was standing precisely where he himself was before the fall into this time and place. How strange…

How very strange…

Wait—

And with an enormous thrill of foreboding, Mewtwo knew what was coming the second before it happened.

As if in slow motion, a flash of claws came flying from behind him, straight at the Past Mewtwo. The claws came down, right to left, and dug deep into Mewtwo's side with tremendous speed.

Mewtwo's blood flew from the wounds, splashing on the grass and several feet up a nearby tree. His scream rent the calm air as he fell in nearly the same fashion; back arched and coming to his knees before falling on his left side. The blood poured from his side to collect in a pool on the ground. It was so gruesome that Mewtwo couldn't look away.

Mewtwo didn't notice who had attacked because they had withdrew so quickly. But footsteps could be heard approaching from behind, so he turned away from the Past Mewtwo attempting to staunch the flow of blood and looked to see who had joined.

It was instead more than one that had joined. One was a tall man dressed in a suit and tie, his closely cut dark hair accentuating the crazed grin on his face. The others were Pokémon that accompanied him. There was a Persian that paced back and forth in front of the man, and a Sandslash was backtracking slowly, his right claw stained red with Mewtwo's blood. All of them were looking on with great interest upon the scene.

The Past Mewtwo was doubled over on his knees, his right hand clamped over his wounds. The blood continued to pour forth without restraint. He tried to straighten up, but only achieved half of what he wanted. One knee remained on the ground as he turned to the party that approached. He had to place his left hand on the ground to prevent from falling over again. More blood ran down to stain his left side and his leg. He lifted his head, and, upon catching sight of the party, twisted his face into one of rage and agony.

"It's you…"

The man approached slowly, coming to within thirty feet of the Past Mewtwo. The real Mewtwo watched on in bewilderment and moved to the other side of the group, the better to see. The Pokémon retreated behind the man, watching the Mewtwo on the ground.

"It's me," the man said, the grin still on his face. "Now, I have some unfinished business with you."

"We never had any business," Mewtwo said weakly. His teeth were bared in extreme agony, though no more sounds of pain escaped Mewtwo's mouth. His hand was still grasped on the wound while his side shone red with blood.

"I believe we do," the man said with malice. "I've spent a great deal of time tracking your whereabouts, and it will not go in vain." As he spoke this, he reached into his jacket and removed a small ball. The ball was white and purple, emblazoned with a tiny letter M on the front. Mewtwo didn't recognize this object, though he did register that it looked like an oddly-colored Pokéball. But the Past Mewtwo's eyes were immediately drawn to this ball. They momentarily widened in fear before narrowing again in intense dislike.

"It's not going to happen," Mewtwo said, his voice continuing to fade. The wound refused to stop bleeding and his words seemed to cost him increasing effort.

"I'll make sure it will happen, Mewtwo," the man said as he fiddled with the ball in his right hand. "You've eluded me for far too long. This will end today. I will end this, or my name is not Giovanni!" The crazed grin lit his face once again.

And suddenly, all of the sound in the world died. The trees stopped rustling, the breeze forgot to whisper, and the birds were no longer tweeting.

Mewtwo's head bowed as his strength drained. But with what seemed to be every ounce of effort it cost, he whispered to the man named Giovanni.

"You… will… never... capture… me…"

He raised his right hand away from his wound and in the direction of Giovanni's party, palm forward. A ball of purple energy grew rapidly in his hand and flew into the ground between him and Giovanni.

There was a colossal explosion. The real Mewtwo was unaffected as he watched on, but the others were not so lucky. Past Mewtwo was blasted over the ridge a great distance and into the direction of the village. Giovanni and his party were lifted off the ground and thrown away from the blast site. A cloud of dust erupted immediately and obscured most of the scene. But through a clear patch in the dust, Mewtwo saw the apparently lifeless Mewtwo plummet towards Earth. He was falling toward the river that ran through the village. Before he had fallen into the river, a sphere of purple energy had encased his body while he decelerated. Gently, Mewtwo was lowered below the surface of the river and out of sight.

The real Mewtwo began to run toward Giovanni's party, but stopped. The scene around him began to dissolve. The colors of nature melted as Mewtwo felt the floor disappear. He felt like he was slowly rising into the air. Before he ascended completely from the scene, he heard the strong voice of Giovanni echo around him.

"This won't be the last you see of me; mark my words!"

And thus, Mewtwo ascended into darkness.

In a quick flash, Mewtwo returned to reality. He lay on the soft grass, surrounded by trees bursting with colors. His head began to pound heavily with his newfound memories.

Pain... there was excruciating pain felt throughout Mewtwo's body. Not just physical pain from the scars, but a mental sensation from the trauma of remembering.

I must hurry back, Mewtwo thought, there won't be much time. Mewtwo tried to regain as much composure as possible, and trudged down towards the village.

The villagers and Pokémon he passed were simply blurs; Mewtwo needed to find a particular abode. Someone to help him think and resolve these issues in a wise manner. Mewtwo took a minute to breathe as he stopped in front of a cottage. The sign in front of the cottage read "Alder: The Wise Sage."

He walked up the garden path through Alder's lawn and approached the door. Attached to the door was a shining brass knocker in the shape of a Pidgeot. Mewtwo took hold of the handle and knocked three times, each knock reverberating loudly off of the wood. He stood to wait.

The pain in his head was rapidly building and soon reached a pitch. He put his forearm against the doorframe and rested his head against it, struggling not to faint again. A sick feeling was growing in the pit of his stomach. He was taking deep breaths as his face grew uncomfortably hot. He hoped Alder would answer soon.

Alder arose from his seat, gradually stepping towards the door. He was choosing his words carefully before answering the door, as he knew what was to come. He smiled at Mewtwo, recognizing his face was filled with agony.

"Mewtwo, please come and take a seat. You seem pained; allow me to grab you some medicinal herbs I keep around here to heal you."

Mewtwo could not refuse his offer, and took a seat. Mewtwo also needed to choose his words carefully. As Alder grabbed the precise herbs to create a similar substance to a painkiller, Mewtwo fell deep into thought. Horrors of those Pokémon and that man began to flash before him, and he jolted. Alder noticed this, and moved quicker to get to Mewtwo's side. He placed the herbs in a cup of tea, and handed the cup to Mewtwo.

"Thank you," Mewtwo said quickly. He was feeling sick in the stomach and kept his words to a minimum at the moment. He raised the cup to his mouth and took a sip of the tea.

The effect was instantaneous. The pounding in his head receded slightly along with the sickness in his stomach. He took a larger swig and noticed a marginal improvement.

"Whoa," was Mewtwo's immediate reaction. He set the cup down and turned to Alder. "What did you put in here?"

Alder smiled, "It's a mix of tea leaves, essence of Capsaicin, and chili powder. The leaves of the Capsaicin herb are a natural pain reliever while the chili powder boosts the effectiveness. The tea leaves masks the bitterness of the Capsaicin and the heat of the chili powder, therefore making it quite an effective remedy for moderate to severe pain. If you continue drinking, the pain will continue to recede, and will effectively disappear by finishing the drink." He nodded to the cup in front of Mewtwo.

Mewtwo picked up the tea again and resumed drinking. The head pounding receded while his stomach felt better as he drained the cup.

After a few minutes, both Mewtwo and Alder seemed ready to discuss the true matter at hand. Mewtwo began,

"I remembered such horrible things. And I know you can provide me with some answers. Fifteen years ago; there was something that happened fifteen years ago. There was something that made that man go after me. There was something that made me hate him and humanity. What was it?"

Alder took a slow breath. "Fifteen years ago, huh? Fifteen years ago, peace was sparse among the lands. Today, you look around and can see the happiness in the townsfolk. However, back then, true peace was far from within reach. Villagers would live out their days, some smiling, but the corrupt atmosphere of the current world was far too noticeable for anyone to truly be calm. People lived in fear that all their rights would one day be stripped from them, and their lives would be compromised for refusing malicious orders. A criminal organization lay at the heart of this corruption, constantly holding the regime and gaining whatever they desired. No one could stop them; this organization had acquired too much power. With such power, the organization and the mastermind behind it were able to move in the shadows, completing tasks that remained an enigma to the public. Some say they were planning on taking over the world. Despair scattered about the entire land, for people began to lose hope in a real, spoils-free world. Humans began to look at one another with a cruder look, questioning the validity of their fellow man. Anxiety plagued everyone's heart about whether everything around them was truly corrupted or not. At night, some Pokémon would cry out a song in hopes for a solution to be brought to save the corrupted world. For months on end this terrible cycle continued, until one day, it simply stopped."

"It stopped?" Mewtwo repeated. "Just like that? But why?"

Alder looked back into Mewtwo's eyes and weighed each of the following words carefully.

"It was believed that a key figure of the organization abandoned the operations for reasons unknown. This happened at a crucial time where the organization was likely to capture the Silph Company. Had they succeeded, the fate of man and Pokémon alike would have been severely compromised."

Mewtwo was aghast at this news, but recovered quickly.

"Who was so important and so influential that they could disrupt such an operation? They would have had to have been known and heard about, right?"

Alder looked away from Mewtwo's gaze and spoke to the table, "The individual that spread so much discord specialized in removing Pokémon from the organization's path to domination. His fighting tactics were unmistakably those of a Pokémon, but nobody ever knew what could achieve such devastation in battle. Rumors were circulating that a new Pokémon was being used for this purpose. The Pokédex number 150 was created, but remained vacant for this unknown Pokémon. Only after the failure of the organization's merge with Silph Company was the information for this Pokémon disclosed, along with a warrant for its arrest."

Mewtwo's eyes widened as he spoke in barely more than a whisper. "And the Pokémon? What was its name?"

Alder turned to look Mewtwo full in the face.

"It was you, Mewtwo. You were the Pokémon they were trying to recapture."

Mewtwo didn't fully register what Alder had just said. It took a minute to penetrate the shock that had filled his body. He tried to speak, but he was temporarily robbed of breath.

"It was me?" Mewtwo said weakly, his hand held over his heart. "I caused that whole mess?"

Alder slowly began to nod his head, his eyes filled with sympathy.

"It isn't all your fault; you cannot help how you were created."

Mewtwo's mind swirled and turned. He was unable to fully process and analyze the whole situation, as the shock value was so great. How was he supposed to solve this problem, when it was himself caught straight into this problematic web? Mewtwo was at a loss. Everything seemed blank, with no answer to guide the way.

Alder noticed that Mewtwo's eyes had glazed over and stared unseeing at the opposite wall. He recognized this signature look of vacantness and decided that now was the time for some explaining.

"Mewtwo, look at me."

His head turned slowly to look at Alder. His face wore one of immense guilt and sadness. Pity flowed throughout Alder's body, and he softened his voice considerably.

"Mewtwo, you were created to be the ultimate Pokémon for battle. But you must understand that your creators failed to accommodate for a compassionate heart. That is why the organization used you solely as a battle tool. Both your creators and the organization were wrong to use you like this. It was not your fault that such terrible things happened by your hand."

Mewtwo hung his head, eyes shut. This didn't do much to ease the deadweight of guilt in his stomach.

"Then why don't I have the same brutal nature after 15 years of inactivity? Surely it didn't simply disappear?" Mewtwo raised his head to look back at Alder.

Alder searched for the right words, but his skewed face seemed to show he couldn't place his thoughts.

"To be honest, I do not know myself. Nature can be extremely mysterious in its own ways. But I can assume your compassion still lies in your heart after all these years. You were not born with natural hatred; it was trained into you as a guard dog learns to attack others. Trigger words and actions, I assume, were built into you for battle. But they must not be natural. When you were liberated and rested for those fifteen years, it was your true spirit that surfaced. Your dangerous side is probably still in the shadows of your heart, but it is possible to control it. You are free now; there is no one to force your hand."

It seemed to be hard work, but Mewtwo was able to smile in response to Alder's words. The muscles in his face felt like they were ill-adept to the simple task of smiling; perhaps he just needed some practice.

"Do you really believe I can overcome that? Do you have such faith in me when I was built on such a bad reputation?"

Alder returned with a small smile and said thoughtfully, "Well, have you done anything today that didn't involve rudeness, cruelty, or mass destruction?"

Mewtwo gave Alder a look that shined with hope. As long as there was someone who would be there to help him grow, he could truly believe he wasn't really a monster.

Mewtwo was about to make a reply, when there was a sudden knocking on the door. It was not the casual knock signifying a regular visit, but a knock that reverberated with a sense of urgency.

Alder walked towards the door, and opened it for the visitor. Mewtwo recognized the voice coming from the visitor who entered; it was Allen.

Mewtwo rose uncertainly from his chair, forcibly reminding himself of doing the same thing in his own memory earlier that day. What was Allen doing here?

Allen, standing in the doorframe, addressed Alder and spoke in a rush.

"Alder, there's something awful going on in the village square! There's a gang of rogue Pokémon that showed up and they're wreaking havoc! Other people have tried to help, but the gang is too strong for our Pokémon. We need a lot more power. Can you help?"

Mewtwo removed himself from his chair and hurried forward to the door as Allen finished speaking. His appearance drew Allen's attention.

"Mewtwo! What are you doing here?"

"Long story, Allen. I'll have to tell you later." Mewtwo turned to Alder. "Can't we do something about this?"

Alder turned around to address Mewtwo, "This sounds like a serious situation. I think we can take care of this gang, but no single Pokémon will be able to take on the entire group. We'll have to do a tag team battle." Alder's face split into a grin, "Want to team up with my Alakazam against the rogues?"

Mewtwo was hesitant before answering Alder. He knew time was a major constraint, yet Mewtwo remembered how inexperienced in true battling he was.

"Alder..." Mewtwo started, "I definitely want to help the village, but I've never handled a situation like this where I won't… cause major destruction."

Alder smirked. "My Alakazam is almost as old as I am. We've conquered the highest of mountains, the cruelest of jungles, and some of the fiercest of Pokémon throughout our journey. He'll be able to show you the ropes in how to truly battle. Just follow him, and you'll be fine."

Allen also walked up to Mewtwo and patted him on the shoulder.

"Give yourself some faith," he encouraged.

Mewtwo took a deep breath and nodded. Alder released Alakazam from the Pokéball kept safely in Alder's pocket.

"Let's make our move nice and quickly, for no one shall mess with our village!" Alder announced with determination.

And so the party of four left Alder's cottage to get to the town square.