It was past eight PM. The sun was setting and people were scampering inside to avoid the rainfall – all except one man. A very tall, broad-shouldered man wearing a pinstriped suit, a long black coat and a gray hat that mostly obscured his face. He strode towards the Ruins of Alph with a single-minded purpose, and beside him was a white feline Pokémon with a long, slim body and a red jewel attached to its forehead.
Chapter Ten: Berserk Gene
Location: The Ruins of Alph, Johto
Kris entered the ruins through the unattended gatehouse, carrying Shrew under her arm, shielded from the rain by her jacket, while Kris herself was soaking wet. The guard's absence immediately attracted her attention, but she decided not to dwell on it – maybe they just didn't bother putting guards here past closing time? Who would steal anything from a famous archeological dig site with plenty of uncovered secrets?
The last time Kris had been there with Iris, the place was still bursting with life, scientists, technicians, guards and other staff walking around in a huff, but today, all these were absent.
Oh no, I'm in way over my head here – shouldn't I call for someone's help? Iris, Blaine, Elm and Leaf can't be that far. But if I don't do this myself, is it even possible for me to – hey, a person!
A security guard exited one of the uncovered chambers, stretching and looking completely normal despite the lack of people. Maybe it was someone taking a snooze inside the chamber while everyone else packed up and headed off? Or is this the only night watchman in the place? Kris decided to head over and have a word.
"Excuse me, Mr. guard!" Kris called out, and the guard flinched and started looking around wildly. "It's okay, I just want to ask you something."
Despite the rain, hearing Kris shout made Shrew climb out from under Kris' jacket and on Kris' shoulders, gazing restlessly at the guard briskly approaching Kris.
"Ma'am, the Ruins of Alph are closed for today," the guard said professionally. "Come back tomorrow, we'll be open for a little while longer."
"Oh, right, today's Sunday," Kris said, nodding. "Sorry, it's been a long day, but I just have a few questions." She turned her back at the guard to look around the ruins, seeing mostly plenty of old, partially collapsed buildings, new buildings serving as the scientists' quarters and ponds blocking access to other, deeper areas of the ruins. "Have you seen any suspicious people com-"
Kris squealed in surprise as Shrew suddenly jumped off her shoulder and attacked the security guard, who had grabbed an electrified stun baton off his belt. Just like with Wes, Shrew scratched the guard all over the place: his face, his chest and his arms, ripping through the security guard get-up and revealing a black shirt with a red 'R' emblem underneath.
"Shrew, Mega Punch!" Kris ordered, gasping in realization.
Shrew did as ordered, and the medicine seemed to have done the trick, as a single punch from the little Sandshrew's tiny paw knocked the fake guard out cold. Looking around for more, Kris grabbed the fake guard's legs and carelessly dragged him to one of the little shacks built for the scientists and locked him there, grabbing the guard's stun baton as she went.
Next, she headed for the chamber the guard came from. It was an old, small stone building, almost like a mausoleum, though fortunately lacking in corpses. Kris and Shrew inspected the small chamber. In the middle of the room, there was a panel containing one of the famous sliding tile puzzles. On the very back of the chamber, there were the same Unown engravings Kris had seen before – this time, she knew better than to touch them, but couldn't figure out what they said either.
"Dead end, huh?" a raspy voice suddenly spoke up.
Kris almost shrieked, but covered her mouth at the last moment as she turned around, only to be blinded by a flashlight pointed directly at her face.
"Relax, Kris," the voice said soothingly. "It's just me."
Kris rubbed her eyes and blinked the spots away from them, finally seeing the man who had sneaked up on her: Blaine. Shrew squealed in delight when he recognized the man, too.
"I'll take a wild guess at why you're here," Blaine grunted in an amused tone. "Figured you'd get to be a hero this way? Save the day and bask in the glory of triumph instead of being torn to shreds by a super-Pokémon with psychic abilities? And that's ignoring the dozen Rockets swarming around."
"Hey, one less now!" Kris snapped. "As you can see, I can take care of myself!"
"Yeah, I took out two in the other chamber, but it looks like they had sealed it before," Blaine said nonchalantly. "Not so easy without my gun, but I still have Magmar and Arcanine with me."
"How did you find here?" Kris wondered.
Blaine looked at the floor for a while instead of answering, inhaling and exhaling dramatically.
"If I tell you," Blaine said slowly, "you must absolutely not to mention this to anyone. Not to Iris, not to Leaf and particularly not to your professor friend. I don't want to lie to him, but I know what he'd do if I told the truth."
Kris just nodded, and Blaine slowly took off the glove covering most of his left hand except for his fingertips, then pulled back his sleeve. Kris cringed when she saw Blaine's arm: it was a strange purplish color and his skin had turned into something resembling the texture of a Grimer from his elbow to his thumb. It pulsated in a sick, grotesque way, too, and Blaine groaned a little when he put his glove carefully back on.
"W-what's wrong with you?" Kris asked, taking a step backwards as if the condition was infectious.
"My curse for playing God," Blaine said, smiling grimly. "When I created Mewtwo, we didn't have enough genetic material from Mew to synthesize new tissue from, so I had to use fragments of my DNA that I took from my arm. Then, when those idiots decided to wake Mewtwo up before it was ready and treated it as if it were a slave, it escaped and blew up the old Cinnabar Lab. I was away at the moment, suspended to keep me from interfering with their plans. As I headed to the lab, it was nothing but a flaming wreck – I saw Mewtwo there and felt it grabbing me. It was wounded, and some of its blood got on my arm. That, combined with Mewtwo's psychic powers means this wound gets worse whenever Mewtwo is nearby. When it's far away, it merely stings a little and is just oddly colored. Unless we contain Mewtwo's powers, the infection will spread to the rest of my body, and I'm afraid what happens next is..."
"Y-you'll die?" Kris suggested quietly when Blaine didn't finish that sentence.
"Worse," Blaine grunted. "But I know how we can stop it from causing any more havoc – without having to kill it!"
Blaine took a small item from the pocket of his lab coat – a Poké Ball. Pressing a button to enlarge it, Kris saw the differences compared to a regular red and white ball. This one had a blue top half with red parts sticking out of it, decorated with a large white letter 'M'.
"The Master Ball," Blaine said. "The very first prototype made by Silph and which Giovanni attempted to steal three years ago. When Red stopped him, the company's president gave it to him as thanks. Since then, a few other models were made, but making one is very expensive and few people are trusted with this much power. When I told Red of my problem long ago, he gave this to me for safekeeping. I owe it to him to finish the job."
"I want to help you!" Kris said firmly. "I'm tired of people treating me as a walking punchline, like I'm some pushover who constantly needs to be protected!"
"No offense," Blaine said, "but while you did all right earlier today, this is much more dangerous. You do know that you are young, inexperienced, small-"
"And no offense to you Blaine but you're being a condescending prick right now. Either you accept my help or I'm going in and take Mewtwo and Team Rocket on myself. You decide!"
Blaine stroked his mustache, staring at Kris, impossible to read through the shades covering his eyes. Finally, he let out a boisterous laugh and slapped Kris on the shoulder – fortunately not with the infected hand.
"Well, damn it!" he said jovially. "You have fire in you, Kris! Maybe I was wrong to doubt you. You even remind me of - well, I don't know."
"Please don't say yourself when you were young," Kris said.
"I wasn't going to," Blaine chuckled. "When I was your age, I was a self-centered fool. No, you remind me of something far greater – even if it is just a bit."
Kris sighed. "So, how do we get into that cave?"
"Team Rocket probably went through the Union Cave," Blaine muttered as he pointed his flashlight at the strange letters. "They then sent those three guys here posing as guards to close the place earlier than usual and send the scientists home, planning to seal the chambers before anyone got through. But maybe this one can still be used..."
Blaine turned his flashlight off and opened one of his Poké Balls. Kris backed down a little when Blaine's Magmar materialized in the room.
"Magmar, Flash, please," Blaine said.
The flame at the tip of Magmar's tail suddenly grew brighter, bathing the chamber in light. The Unown letters suddenly glowed white as well, and soon enough, Kris and Blaine watched the piece of the wall with the letters slide away, revealing hidden stairs descending somewhere dark and no doubt scary.
Kris was amazed. "How...?"
"I've studied those symbols a bit since we first met," Blaine explained. "I can't exactly order a meal at the restaurant or find my way to the train station, but I recognized one of the symbols as the symbol for 'light', so I winged it from there. Magmar, go ahead."
Obediently, Blaine's Magmar walked into the narrow tunnel, walking the steps carefully, as the staircase was quite steep. Blaine went in after it but stopped at the entrance to look at Kris.
"Well?" he asked.
Kris gulped and nodded, following Blaine into the tunnel. The three walked the steps carefully, one at a time, Kris noticing more Unown letters on the walls written in a smaller font, no doubt telling some exciting tale that Kris had no desire to suck into her brain. As the trio descended deeper and deeper underground, Kris eventually started to hear the flow of water.
Blaine heard it too. "Underground river," he muttered. "Mewtwo came here to rest after our fight... or maybe to get away from the Masked Man?"
"Yeah, about that," Kris whispered for some reason. "You noticed the Man wasn't using a Poké Ball? How can he control it, then?"
"Let's hope Elm and the others find out," Blaine grunted.
When the trio finally reached the bottom of the staircase, Kris found herself shivering. The air in the cave was cold and damp and Blaine quickly returned Magmar to its Poké Ball and opened the flashlight – Kris had kind of hoped Blaine would keep it around for warmth. Instead, Kris buttoned her jacket tight and folded her arms to keep her hands warm. Blaine didn't seem to be bothered, he just looked carefully around the cave, scanning it with the flashlight. The underground river flowed just a few yards away from them, the tunnel extending to both left and right, darkness obscuring anything else that might have been hidden there. The flow of water drowned out all other noise.
Kris and Blaine walked carefully over to the edge of the river, peeking into the tunnel, but even Blaine's flashlight wasn't much of help as the river took a sharp turn to the right, blocking their line of sight.
"We have to be careful," Blaine muttered. "It would be incredibly easy for Team Rocket to sneak up behind us."
Kris and Blaine glanced at each other, then slowly turned around to look. Blaine's flashlight soon illuminated the familiar visage of the purple-haired, long-faced Rocket Executive Petrel, joined by three Rocket Grunts.
"Oh for frak's sake!" Kris snapped. "How did you even do that?"
"Oh, puh-lease," Petrel scoffed. "This whole place has been carved full of secret tunnels and passageways. A perfect place for a really strong and elusive Pokémon to hide in, no? Say, how's that arm feeling, doctor?"
Blaine scoffed in return. "Yeah, yeah, really impressive, you know about that. Is that supposed to intimidate me?"
Petrel shrugged. "Ehh, just trying to catch up, no need to be so hostile. We're practically colleagues, aren't we?"
"Huh?" Kris said.
"So, who will I have the displeasure of fighting to get this over with, hm?" Petrel asked as he carefully took off his long, white gloves and tossed them to a Rocket Grunt behind him.
"Kris, catch," Blaine said and threw something round and blue at Kris.
Even with her crappy hand-to-eye coordination, Kris managed to catch what Blaine had thrown just before it dropped in the river behind her. Opening her palm, she realized it was the Master Ball.
"Listen to me, Kris," Blaine said, standing directly between her and the Rockets, while Magmar did the same, standing in front of its trainer. "Go and find Mewtwo – I'll take care of this. If by some miracle you manage to get a shot and capture it, do not under any circumstances open the ball. Even the Master Ball can't control Mewtwo – it can only contain it, and I'm not even sure if that will last very long."
Petrel snorted. "I have to fight you?" he said and yawned dramatically. "Can you even toss a Poké Ball anymore, old man?"
"I dunno, can you throw one at all with those stringy arms of yours?" Blaine countered. "Kris, now!"
Petrel just smirked and sent out his Pokémon: an incredibly muscular, four-armed, gray fighting-type – a Machamp. Blaine went with his Magmar, but instead of sticking to watch, Kris took her jacket off, wrapped Shrew into it to keep it dry and sent out Croc.
To Kris' relief, Croc obeyed when Kris ordered it to jump in the water, and even though she had never tried it before, Kris jumped in after it, holding on to the Croconaw like it was a life-buoy, gasping for air as she struggled to stay above the surface in the cold, rapid current.
Making sure Kris and Shrew were holding on tight, Croc started swimming forward into the dark cave, the sounds of Blaine and Petrel giving their Pokémon orders soon getting blocked out by the current. For a long time, Croc just swam forward, Kris focusing all her energy on holding on to her Pokémon. Swimming was the only thing she used to excel at, but it had been years since she had done that, nor had she ever come across a current so strong.
Then, Kris could see light in the front – four Rocket Grunts riding small, autonomously moving boats equipped with bright head- and tail-lights. Focusing entirely on moving forward, they hadn't noticed Kris, but at their rate, they would also reach Mewtwo before she did. And then what would she say to Blaine? Blaine would...
Hang on... Blaine...
Wincing as she had to dip her hand in the cold water and reach for a Poké Ball, Kris sent out her Murkrow. Remembering a piece of rope she had in her bag, she reached out for it, too, tying it around Murkrow's leg and while giving the other end to Croc, who held it in its mouth. With Murkrow pulling, Croc managed to swim even faster, allowing Kris to rapidly approach the Rocket boats. Finally, a grunt noticed her.
"Intruders!" she yelled. "Behind us! Grimer, use Sludge!" she commanded the Pokémon also riding the same boat.
"Murkrow, dodge!" Kris ordered, and Murkrow expertly swerved out of the attack's way. "Excellent! Now, Night Shade!"
Murkrow's eyes glowed red as it launched a black and crimson beam of dark energy at the Grimer, knocking it out. Cursing, the Rocket Grunt booted the fainted Grimer off the boat. Kris watched the hapless Pokémon fall into the river, but decided that time for guilt was later – it would probably be fine, Grimer were able to swim, after all... probably.
"Koffing!" another Rocket yelled. "Smokescreen!"
But as Koffing began to spit black smoke into the tunnel, Croc took matters into its own hands and dove underwater, dragging Kris and Shrew with it – Kris managed to tap Shrew with a Poké Ball and recall it before anything bad happened, but after a couple of seconds of just swimming forward underwater, Croc surfaced again, the group having made past the smoke cloud.
"Brilliant!" Kris praised Croc. "Okay, Murkrow, use Night Shade again!"
Murkrow repeated the process for the Koffing, knocking it into its trainer and causing both to fall off the boat.
"Croc, let go!" Kris ordered. "And use Water Gun! Murkrow, you take the others!"
Together, Croc and Murkrow managed to knock all the Rocket Grunts off their boats one by one. Croc swam quickly past them, while Kris looked behind her to make sure they hadn't drowned.
As Kris and her Pokémon moved deeper into the tunnel, it turned dark again, but some light was pouring through from a hole at the side of the tunnel, Kris making out a small speck of land a couple of dozen yards in front of them.
"Murkrow, fly into that tunnel!" Kris ordered. "Croc, we only a few seconds, so make sure we don't aaaaahhh!"
Without warning, Croc grabbed Kris into its arms and jumped off the water. Both Kris and Croc got on the small, flat rock next to the tunnel's entrance, painfully landing on their bellies. As Kris coughed for a while and adjusted her breathing, she got up and squeezed the excess water off her hair, pondering if it was better short.
Next, Kris released Shrew and Lampent from their Poké Balls, allowing Lampent to illuminate the area. Slowly, Kris and her Pokémon walked into the tunnel, Kris having to walk slouched despite her shortness. The tunnel took Kris deeper into the cave, the faint, mysterious light coming from blue crystals sticking out of the walls and ceiling. Deciding to ask Blaine about them later, she focused on thinking strategies for the upcoming battle – there was no way Mewtwo would just let itself get sucked into the ball. But what chances did she have, anyway? It was a couple of small, practically freshly caught Pokémon against a clone of one of the most powerful things on the planet. Was this whole thing just an exercise in insanity?
Eventually, the tunnel ended and Kris found herself in a large cave. The blue light coming from Lampent's candles and the crystals scattered all over the place eventually revealed to Kris what she had feared: Mewtwo, floating in a lotus position above a flat rock. Its eyes glowed blue like they had done back in Ecruteak, but the glowing stopped as soon as Kris stopped moving, revealing Kris the Mewtwo's large purple irises. It stopped floating and landed on the rock before slowly standing up. For several seconds, Kris and Mewtwo just stared at each other, Kris' Pokémon forming a circle around their trainer, apart from Shrew, who hugged Kris' leg and shivered from sheer terror.
Kris gulped. "Hello, um, Mewtwo. P-please, don't attack me – I come in peace. Your, uh, creator is here with me and he-"
Mewtwo's eyes glowed blue and Kris wasted no time leaping behind a rock, her Pokémon following her as they all took cover, though nothing seemed to happen.
"Okay, so you don't like him!" Kris reasoned, still attempting to talk to the Pokémon while holding the Master Ball like her life depended on it. "I get that. I don't much like my parents either – though I guess that's where our similarities end, huh? I mean, I don't want to compare us or anything, heh..."
Kris stopped talking for a second. Inhaling and exhaling deeply, Kris managed to pull herself together, wondering if she should just try to throw the Master Ball with no specific strategy.
"I understand how you're feeling," Kris told the Mewtwo, whose silence felt unbearable – it didn't even make any sound, just seemed to stay still in the same place as before. "That Masked Man guy is just using your power – and now those scum tried to come here and capture you. I'm not with them – I stopped them from coming here. Not that I think they stood a chance anyway... listen, Mewtwo, Blaine told me everything. Including about those people you killed – I'm sure you didn't mean to, and that they were bad people anyway, and you just wanted freedom! We can still end this without anyone else having to die. I... I know Pokémon aren't evil, not unless humans make them such. Please... let's just stop this. Get into this Poké Ball and-"
Kris cringed as a psychic wave of energy destroyed a rock slightly away from the one Kris was hiding behind. She knew it was a warning, but she didn't move anywhere.
"I really don't want to do this," she said. "But if you insist... Murkrow, go!"
Murkrow didn't hesitate, but flew away from its hiding hole and towards Mewtwo. Kris took the opportunity to peek over the rock, watching Mewtwo just stand still and do nothing.
"Murkrow, Feint Attack!" Kris yelled.
Murkrow moved so fast it vanished from sight and emerged again near Mewtwo, trying to hit it with a full-body tackle, but Mewtwo swatted it away with a simple swing of its three-fingered hand. Then, it attacked by hurling a brown orb of energy at Murkrow with incredible speed, knocking the bird out immediately. Kris recalled it and ducked behind the rock again.
"Damnitdamnitdamnit..." she muttered, rummaging through her bag. "Where is it... where is it... there!"
Kris managed to find SkrillDex in her bag and turned it on – fortunately, no loading period was necessary, and as Leaf had promised, it was fixed and started talking immediately:
"It is unwise to allow unknown parties to tamper with my hardware – unit wonders if username Kris would protest if it attempted improvised surgery on her squishy, meatbag interior-"
"Shut up!" Kris told the PokéDex. "We're literally in the middle of something – tell me whatever you can about that Pokémon there."
"Specify: the Pokémon handing username Kris her pasty backside in a battle?"
"Yes!"
"Scanning... error: results incomplete. Data possibly corrupted or out of date."
"You won't find it from any database – it's called Mewtwo and it's probably psychic-type, but what else can you tell me?"
"Scanning... username Kris is correct – Pokémon identified as 'Mewtwo' is psychic-type. Properties: species is six feet and seven inches tall and weighs 269 pounds. Move previously used identified as Aura Sphere, fighting-type move, a near-instantaneous blast of energy. Other moves noted: Psychic, Shadow Ball, Recover, Protect, Psystrike, Mega Punch, Amnesia, Swift. Conclusion: would user wish to purchase an affordable life insurance now?"
"There's gotta be a way to get past it," Kris muttered. "And how can it know so many moves?"
Kris didn't get an answer, but instead she closed her eyes and cringed again when Mewtwo blew up a stalactite, letting the debris crumble down.
Another warning shot... why doesn't it just finish me already?
"Lampent, attack and use Shadow Ball!" Kris shouted.
But while Lampent did as ordered, Mewtwo just blocked the attack and responded with a Shadow Ball of its own, knocking out even her most powerful Pokémon with on shot. Kris recalled Lampent as well, while Croc roared and stepped out from behind the rock, ready to face Mewtwo without even being told to.
"Croc, no, I... all right, try your best! And be careful! Try to freeze it with Ice Fang!"
Croc's teeth glowed blue as it opened its mouth and charged at Mewtwo, but Mewtwo simply leaped out of the way and floated in air out of Croc's reach, not even bothering to attack. Croc growled and shook its little fists at it, while Mewtwo just watched.
"Water Gun!" Kris ordered.
Inhaling as deep as it could, Croc fired its Water Gun with the highest pressure it could manage, but Mewtwo blocked even this attack with ease. Not even bothering to wait for Kris' instructions, Croc readied its claws and leaped at Mewtwo, but Mewtwo's eyes glowed blue, and just like Kris had before, Croc was surrounded by a ghostly blue glow and floated in the air.
~o~O~o~
As Kris fought Mewtwo, Blaine made good progress with Petrel, who had forced the grunts to just stick back and watch. His Machamp managed to defeat Blaine's Magmar, but not before Magmar burned the fighting-type with its Will-O-Wisp attack. Now considerably weakened, it fell easily to Blaine's next Pokémon, Arcanine, who attacked with a destructive Flare Blitz.
Petrel sent out his Raticate next, but it was no match for Arcanine, in terms of both speed and strength, and the Raticate soon fell, too.
"Excellent!" Blaine praised the orange canine Pokémon. "And you," he told Petrel, who was forced to recall his Raticate. "You don't think it was sort of a mistake to use your strongest one first, only to follow up with one of the lamest of all Pokémon afterward? I could swear the standards of you Executives just keeps dropping every year."
Petrel was shivering in rage as he glared at Blaine. "You conniving old son of a... you three!" he told the Rocket Grunts. "Attack him!"
"But you just said-"
"Never mind that! Kill him already!"
"Morning Sun!" Blaine shouted.
"The what now?" Petrel asked.
Petrel got his answer as Blaine looked away and Arcanine blasted the Rockets with a flash of blinding white light. As the Rockets were dazed, Blaine charged at Petrel and punched him in the face with his healthy hand, knocking him into the water. Arcanine followed Blaine's example and did the same for the grunts, tackling them all into the river.
"Thank you," Blaine simply said and scratched the Arcanine behind its ear. "Now, these guys came through some tunnel – it might lead us to Kris. She needs our help."
~o~O~o~
Kris watched helplessly as Mewtwo launched Croc through the air, telekinetically throwing it halfway across the cave until it hit the wall and blacked out. Kris returned the Pokémon, realizing she only had two left.
Well, there's always Shuckie...
But Kris only had to imagine the sight of Mewtwo using Psychic on it, tossing it around until the Shuckle was just turtle soup, which the Mewtwo would then gleefully gobble down – perhaps it wasn't wise to use it, then.
Mewtwo's eyes stopped glowing and it started to slowly walk towards Kris, who made herself as small as she could, closing her eyes and gritting her teeth.
Damn it! I can't do anything! I wasn't even cut out for these trials in the first place.
But at least it will be all over now...
Kris flinched and opened her eyes when she felt something tugging her sleeve. She saw Shrew staring at her, tilting its head at Mewtwo's direction. Kris could only stare back.
"You... you serious?"
Shrew just nodded and suddenly pulled its stomach in, starting to flex its nonexistent muscles. This energetic little Pokémon looked completely different from the wounded, helpless critter Kris had found from Violet City.
"All right," Kris whispered. "But only distract it – I'll do the rest."
Shrew nodded, and quickly sprang up from behind the cover, leaping at Mewtwo and even managing to scratch it in the face before Mewtwo could react. Instead of blowing up Kris, it instead focused its attention on Shrew, hurling another Shadow Ball at it, but Shrew dodged the attacks with ease, running around the cave and hopping from place to place at incredible speed.
~o~O~o~
One of Petrel's goons had managed to grab a rock before getting dragged away by the current. Soaking wet and coughing, he pulled himself up back on the surface, back near the stairs where Blaine and Petrel had fought. There didn't seem to be anyone around, Blaine having long since walked deeper into the tunnel.
But as a large man in a suit walked down the stairs, the grunt quickly decided that he'd still like to keep his job, so he grabbed his stun baton and held it at the ready, trying to get a good look at the arrival.
"Who goes there?" he asked. "Don't come closer or I'll... I'll..."
Finally seeing the pale, gaunt, deadly serious face of the arrival and the Persian following him, the grunt dropped his baton, then fell on his knees, staring up at the man.
"It's you... boss," he wailed pathetically. "My lord! I am so sorry – I thought you had left us for good! This is a day of joy – just wait, sire, I'll get a hold of Ariana and Archer and they'll-"
The jewel on Persian's head shined as the feline Pokémon obliterated the grunt with a powerful Hyper Beam attack.
Meanwhile, Blaine was still slowly walking down the secret tunnel he had found, but had to stop constantly as he felt an unbearable burst of pain in his arm. When this happened for the third time in a span of a couple of minutes and Blaine didn't get up again, Arcanine whined in concern, sniffing at the arm Blaine was clutching.
"It's okay, Arcanine," he panted. "If I can't get up... you go on ahead... find Kris. Find Mewtwo. Do whatever it takes to capture it."
Blaine took off his glove and pulled his sleeve up again, but doing so caused him so much pain that he screamed, the sound reverberating in the tunnel. Finally, Blaine could see the extent of the damage – the disease in his arm had spread to his fingertips, while the other end was up to his shoulder and spreading towards his chest.
"No," he grunted. "Can't die yet. Got to stop Mewtwo. Say, Arcanine..."
Arcanine tilted its head and looked at its trainer.
"What do you think, can you bite it off?" Blaine muttered, half delirious now. "Please... I can do with just one..."
"Isn't that noble of you."
Though his vision was blurry, Blaine could still see the silhouette of a large man in a fancy dark suit slowly approaching him, a white Pokémon by his side. Arcanine growled at him, while Persian hissed back. It took a moment, but Blaine soon recognized that voice – he would never forget it.
"You... you're here for..."
"Yes, I'm here for it," the man announced. "I knew you'd put me on the right track, and I managed to squeeze information from your friend Fuji that you were in Johto."
"But... three years ago... Red defeated you..."
"Indeed. It has been a while since I was destroyed so thoroughly. One of my best battles, in fact. But I'm a man of my word, and I promised to return once my training was complete. Are you all right over there?"
Blaine screamed again as another surge of pain went through his arm. He could feel the infection spreading beneath his skin.
"A pity we had to give you up," the man spoke, hands placed casually in his pockets. "You were one of our best scientists."
"I wasn't... doing it... for you..."
"But now you can. We can leave the pathetic Team Rocket behind us now and focus on my goal. And for that – I need Mewtwo."
"..."
"What's that?"
"Suck me," Blaine growled. "Arcanine, Take Down!"
"Persian, Double Team."
The man's Persian suddenly split into three different Persians, all jumping around rapidly, confusing Arcanine.
"Slash," the man ordered calmly.
The copies disappeared, but before Arcanine could find the real one, it was struck by the Persian's sharp claws. It roared in pain, but didn't stop, instead trying to bite Persian, who jumped out of the way. Blaine was still on the ground, trying to get a good look at the battle.
"Flamethrower!" Blaine ordered.
"Giga Impact," Giovanni countered.
Persian was so fast that it charged at Arcanine before the latter could even aim. Persian's whole body glowed white as it collided with Arcanine, knocking the fire-type out. With his last ounce of strength, Blaine returned the Arcanine to its Poké Ball before it could be hurt further, but lost consciousness immediately after.
~o~O~o~
Mewtwo propelled itself into the air and launched itself towards Shrew, flying around and chasing it, all the while firing attacks at it. Shrew dodged the Shadow Balls and even Aura Spheres by taking cover a split-second before the attack hit – the Sandshrew's power had grown immensely since the battle against Falkner, even though Kris hadn't actually battled with the Pokémon since.
But finally, as Shrew was starting to lose its breath and slow down, Mewtwo managed to grab a hold of it with Psychic. Instead of throwing it away immediately like it did with Croc, Mewtwo instead used its psychic powers to lift Shrew in the air, then force it to hit the floor again, repeating it over and over, Shrew squealing painfully every time.
With that, Kris made her move.
Jumping away from the rock and running faster than she had ever ran before, she pulled back her arm, ready to throw the Master Ball. Mewtwo stopped playing with Shrew and turned to look at Kris, but immediately after getting control of its body again, Shrew curled into a ball and spun towards Mewtwo's head, distracting it for one valuable second.
And that second allowed Kris to throw the Master Ball, hitting the clone Pokémon in the chest. Kris watched without blinking as Mewtwo was converted into energy and sucked into the ball.
The Master Ball started wriggling on the ground, shaking constantly, the button in the center glowing red. Kris stared at it intensely, as did Shrew, its claws extended and ready to attack if it broke out.
But then, finally, just as advertised, the Master Ball came to a halt, the light turned off. Slowly, inch by inch, Kris approached the ball as if it was a stick of dynamite, eventually bending over and delicately picking it up. Nothing happened and the Master Ball stayed inert.
And just as she did so, a voice boomed from a ledge above her:
"Excellent work. I didn't think you had it in you."
Kris gasped in shock, trying to identify the man clad in a black trench coat and a black hat that obscured his face. Even being as bruised and injured as it was, Shrew stepped in front of Kris and spread little arms wide. The man's Persian appeared by his side, licking its lips as it stared at Shrew.
"You've contained the powers of the mighty Mewtwo," the man said. "I couldn't even do it myself. Allow me to introduce myself."
The man removed his hat, revealing his pale, gaunt, surgically altered face and slick, well-combed black hair. Kris recognized him, even though she had only seen him in pictures, brief news clips, artists' impressions and wanted posters.
"Twice now has Mewtwo escaped my grasp," Giovanni said. "Five years ago on Cinnabar Island, and then two years later when I failed to get my hands on that very Master Ball you're holding. Today will not mark the third. Do not be alarmed – I no longer associate myself with Team Rocket, or whatever it is that they're calling themselves now. I have dedicated my life to the study of Pokémon, to discovering their deepest secrets. And you're holding the key to unlocking most of them..."
Giovanni reached his hand out towards Kris and opened his palm. "Just toss the ball over to me," he said. "And we can unlock its potential together."
Kris felt her legs shaking and her breathing became shallow and rapid.
No... I got so far! I have no more Pokémon left to fight him with.
"Oh," Giovanni continued, "and I believed you will be missing this... Persian!"
Persian disappeared from sight for a moment, then returned, dragging something heavy with its teeth. With a nudge, Persian dropped the unconscious Blaine off the ledge, letting him fall a few feet, though the groans he made relieved Kris a little.
"Poor Doctor Blaine," Giovanni mused. "The strangest thing is that I didn't have to do anything to him – he did this to himself. Mind you, he may still live if we get him to a hospital soon. All you have to do is hand the ball over to me."
Kris looked nervously at Blaine, who was struggling to roll over on his back. The message was clear, and Kris stepped forward with the Master Ball in hand. Giovanni smiled contently.
"D... don't... give it to him..."
Kris paused. Blaine managed to roll on his back, his breathing raspy and his diseased hand completely purple, the texture of his skin gooey like a melting candle. But he still had the energy to speak.
"Head back and run... warn Professor Elm... and Mr. Fuji... they have to know."
"Do you know about the Pokémon Mew?" Giovanni asked Kris, but didn't wait around for an answer. "Scientists believe Mew to be the first species of Pokémon to populate the planet, and that its DNA contains traces of DNA from every single Pokémon to have come since. It is the precursor to everything, the blueprints to all Pokémon worldwide. It is said that only one Mew exists today, and I can not capture that, which is why I wanted to get my hands on the next best thing: a clone."
Kris took a few steps backwards, holding the Master Ball tight with both hands, Shrew staying in front of her every step of the way. Giovanni chuckled.
"What do you expect to do?" he asked. "Only a powerful trainer can command a Pokémon like that. I admire your skill in capturing it, but without the Master Ball, there would be nothing left of you by now."
Kris stopped moving when she heard some distant rumbling, but Giovanni didn't seem to notice or care.
"If you hand the ball over to me," Giovanni said slowly, "you will receive what you always wanted." Giovanni closed his eyes and put his index finger and middle finger against his forehead. "I can see that you're struggling to be recognized, to be remembered. You want to prove this region, maybe even this entire country, how wrong they were. With me, you can achieve that goal – what do you say?"
Kris stared at Giovanni. For a moment, she saw a brief flash of herself, Mewtwo and Giovanni standing on top of a giant rock, everyone bowing down at them, Lyra and Ethan included...
But then she looked down, at Blaine, who lay on the ground, shaking and groaning. Was she going to betray his trust now? She also thought of Iris, how she had admired her unquestionably, and how professor Elm had taken her in and taught her, treated her like someone who mattered.
Was this Giovanni going to do the same?
The rumbling came back, and this time, both Kris and Giovanni felt the tremors. Small rock fragments fell off the ceiling after another tremor, but Giovanni stood still and stared at Kris.
"This cave is about to collapse," he said simply. "Give me the ball. Now."
Kris looked at the Master Ball, then at Giovanni... and then put it in her bag before closing it tightly. She looked back up at Giovanni, and calmly gave him her response:
"No."
Giovanni scowled. "Very well."
Moving with incredible speed and precision, Giovanni tossed four Poké Balls in the air, then kicked them directly at Kris, who tried to run away but tripped, hitting her knee on the rock. Four powerful Pokémon appeared around her, surrounding her and Shrew entirely. There was a Rhyperior, a Golem, a Machamp and a Kingler. Shivering but still holding its arms in front of Kris, Shrew prepared itself for a battle.
"Kill her," Giovanni said simply as the cave shook and crumbled all around him.
The Rhyperior aimed its cannon-like arm at Kris, the Kingler snapped its pincers, Kris closed her eyes and ducked while Shrew prepared to lunge at the Golem.
And then, in a pink flash of light, Kris was gone.
~o~O~o~
Kris breathed deep, opening her eyes as she felt grass under her knees. She looked around her, seeing lampposts, small wooden buildings and ancient stone chambers. Looking up at the cloudless sky, she saw the stars and the full moon.
Before doing anything else, Kris grabbed her bag and rummaged through it, but it was in vain: the Master Ball was gone.
"Looking for this?"
Kris gasped when she saw an old, completely bald man with gray eyebrows and beard hold the Master Ball in his hand, smiling kindly at Kris.
"Don't worry," he said softly. "You're safe now, as are your friends."
Kris looked the way the old man was pointing at, seeing Shrew laying on the grass but slowly coming to its senses, as well as Blaine, who was still laying on his back a few feet away from Shrew. The old man walked up to Blaine and made him drink from the water bottle he was carrying, managing to revitalize him. Kris noticed that the skin on Blaine's hand was now normal and only slightly purplish in color.
"Fuji!" Blaine gasped as he regained consciousness. He grabbed Fuji by his shirt collar, only to pull his hands away when he noticed they were back to normal. "What in the world-"
"I asked a favor from a friend," Fuji said mysteriously.
Blaine shook his head, then focused on the Master Ball in Fuji's hand. Fuji noticed Blaine's gaze.
"I take it our project is in here," Fuji guessed.
Blaine nodded. He then turned to look at Kris, smiling weakly.
"You did it, Kris," Blaine said hoarsely. "I don't know how, but you went and did it, you crazy little runt! Thank you!"
Getting herself in a sitting position, Kris rubbed the back of her head awkwardly, the events of the cave not quite sinking in yet.
"Uh, you're welcome...?" was all she could say. "I, um, the Master Ball helped a lot, obviously. And my Pokémon."
Kris picked Shrew up from the ground carefully, holding it at her eye level.
"You did it," she told the Pokémon. "You did what I asked and I'm incredibly proud of you. Do you... still want to be in my team?"
Shrew nodded, squealing happily and hugging Kris so tight that its claws almost took off Kris' ear. Laughing in relief, Kris returned the hug. Fuji and Blaine watched, both smiling.
"I remember when that Sandshrew was brought to the Lavender Volunteer Pokémon House," Fuji said, causing both Kris and Shrew to look at him. "It was in a terrible condition, and not just physically. But it looks like helping us capture Mewtwo was what finally gave the little fellow release. I prayed it would one day find a good trainer to help it forget what happened at Navel Rock... and looks like it wasn't in vain."
"Sorry I didn't tell you before," Blaine grunted. "Mewtwo was a priority, but we detected some unusual energy readings from Shrew. They matched the ones we got from Mewtwo, so that kinda threw off our machinery. I'm still not sure what the link between them is, but I guess we have plenty of time to find out now."
"It's all right," Kris said. "I'm just happy I could help it. And Mewtwo too, of course. Um, what's gonna happen to it now?"
"We'll try talking to it a little," Fuji pondered. "And once we think it's safe, we'll release it again. Where, who knows... possibly Kalos. It's a good place to start a new life."
"And... holy Arceus!" Kris exclaimed, going almost giddy in excitement. "Doesn't this mean... I helped you solve an incident related to a legendary Pokémon... I practically helped all of you turn your lives over... you can testify to the Legendary Pokémon Society, and I'll pass the trials for sure! They might even ask me to become a member! Aww yeah!"
"Actually, Kris, that might be a problem," Fuji said kindly.
"...aww yeah?" Kris said weakly.
"I'm afraid not," Blaine sighed. "Kris, I would actually appreciate if you'd keep this whole thing to yourself for the time being."
"WHAT? !"
"Please understand," Blaine said calmly. "If you tell the LPS, they're going to be wanting answers. They'll think Mewtwo is a threat. Hell, it almost killed a bunch of their members and practically destroyed their base of operations."
"But-"
"They'll hunt Mewtwo down and do whatever they can to make sure it will not be a threat – and they won't hesitate to kill it if they have to. I can't have that happen on my watch!"
"You asshole!" Kris yelled.
Blaine sighed even deeper. "I guess I deserve much worse than that. Look, just don't tell the LPS or anyone else about this. Well... I think Iris, Leaf and Elm are trustworthy enough, but that's it. In return, I... well, I'll owe you big time. And I'll definitely make some calls and recommend you to them. Since we only recently met, my recommendation will hold more weight than Elm's."
"...fine."
Kris didn't like it. She wanted someone to blame so she could tear them a new feeding hole. But Blaine had a point, and there was not much use arguing anyway.
"I promise I'll shut up about this," Kris said tensely.
But if me getting into the Silver Conference will depend on this – then I say that promises were meant to be broken.