So, my original version of this story didn't really have any plot. It was just mainly Cara going and doing stuff. So I'm adding more about Team Rocket so that this whole thing actually feels like it's going somewhere. Otherwise it's a bunch of random episodes. So I guess I'll build on the Mewtwo phenomenon for now just cause he'll show up in the somewhat distant future. I need to get Giovanni in here somewhere eventually cause Cara's got ta meet him.

Augh! I really hate computers sometimes! Mine just shut down and deleted at least a few pages of this chapter. So now I have to re-write them. GRRRRRR!!!! Curse the computer demons!!

Polaris-Ponyta, Hurrico-Squirtle, Blossom-Bulbasaur, Leviathan-Gyarados, Pooka-Pikachu, Charren-Charmeleon, etc.

The Game Corner

Well, here we were. Celadon City. We'd had to skip past Saffron City because the road was closed, so we decided to battle the Celadon Gym while we were waiting.

Ben caught a Growlithe just before we entered the city. I think he likes it a lot.

"Wow, Celadon is a lot bigger than the other cities we've been to so far," I muttered as Ben and I headed to the Pokémon Center.

"Saffron City's supposed to be even bigger," Ben noted.

"Phew. Well, I think it's safe to say that I'm not a city person. Let's heal our Pokémon and go train so we can challenge the gym tomorrow.

"Yeah. Good idea."

After we'd healed, Ben and I headed to the Celadon town square. We prepared to battle. Each of us glared dramatically at each other, trying to figure out what each of us would choose to battle with. And then at the same moment, we sent out our Pokémon.

Both of us laughed. Ben had sent out Wartortle, and I'd sent out my Squirtle.

"Copy Cat!" Ben shouted.

A few people gathered around to watch us fight.

"You're not going to use Wartortle in the gym match are you? Why are you training him?"

"Well, why are you training Squirtle?" Ben retorted.

I shrugged. "All right already. Let's get going."

Wartortle charged forwards, but Hurrico used Withdraw. Wartortle tripped over Squirtle's shell and landed on his belly. Hurrico jumped out of his shell and used Water Gun, sending his opponent sliding away on his stomach. Wartortle quickly used Rapid Spin, knocking Hurrico backwards onto his shell where he flailed helplessly.

"Withdraw!" I shouted. Hurrico pulled himself into his shell again as Wartortle charged forwards. Wartortle lifted Squirtle, ready to fling him against the ground. But at that moment, Squirtle snapped out his head and chomped down on Wartortle's arm. Wartortle cried out and dropped Squirtle, who landed on his feet. Squirtle spun around and kicked Wartortle's feet out from under him so that he fell back on his belly.

Then Hurrico began to glow. He was evolving! And a moment later, another Wartortle was standing there.

The small crowd cheered. Ben gave me the thumbs up.

The next day, we headed to the gym. It was like a giant indoor garden.

"You go first, Ben," I told him. "I always go first."

Ben nodded and stepped forwards to challenge Erika.

"Since both of you will challenge me," she said, "I'll do a one-on-one battle with each of you. Choose your Pokémon."

Ben sent out his Pidgey. Erika sent out Weepinbell.

"Sand Attack!" Ben shouted to his Pidgey. "Bury the arena in sand!"

Pidgey flapped his wings, kicking up sand that hung thick in the air.

"Good!' Ben cried. "Now fly over the sand and attack your opponent!"

Pidgey soared above his mini sandstorm and spotted Weepinbell engulfed in the dust below him.

Suddenly Pidgey began to glow. He too was evolving.

Ben's new Pidgeotto swooped down on Weepinbell and the two Pokémon vanished in the sand.

Erika tossed her hair, not looking too concerned for her Weepinbell. It looked like she had something planned.

"Don't think," she said lightly," that just because you have a type advantage that you'll win. And always take caution against shouting your battle plans out in front of your opponent like you just did."

As the sand settled, Ben gasped. His Pidgeotto was on the ground, fast asleep. As he'd flown down to attack Weepinbell, Erika's Pokémon had grabbed the bird and used Sleep Powder.

Ben had lost.

Ben returned his Pidgeotto, looking dejected.

"Aw. Good try, Ben," I sighed. "And your Pidgey just evolved too!"

"Your turn," Erika said to me, returning her Weepinbell.

I stepped forwards and sent out Polaris. Erika sent out Gloom. I'd heard about Gloom. They could release a stench so powerful that it could easily immobilize an opponent. We'd have to take care.

"Keep your distance Polaris!" I called. Polaris nodded.

"Gloom, use Poison Powder!" Erika said in a sing-song voice.

Gloom released a cloud of toxic spores from the flower on her head.

"Burn them out of the air, Polaris!" I shouted.

Polaris reared up and blasted out an attack that I'd only ever heard of: A bright tornado of flames that turned Poison Powder into embers. Polaris had just learned Fire Spin.

Gloom pressed herself against the gym wall and escaped the most of the heat from Fire Blast, but the falling cinders singed her a bit.

Gloom dove into the bushes on the battlefield.

"Burn some of those bushes out of the way!" I commanded.

Polaris used Ember, and several of the shrubs went up in a cloud of smoke. But something about that smoke… there was an odd shine to it.

Suddenly Polaris froze, head lowered, every muscle tensed up.

Then I understood. Gloom had used Stun Spore, which had been disguised by the smoke. Polaris was paralyzed.

"There's more to battling than brute strength," Erika informed me. "When your opponent relies on strength alone, it leaves plenty of openings for a Pokémon with a type disadvantage to get in there and win."

"Polaris, are you okay to battle some more?"

Polaris tried to shake herself off, and she stood a little straighter. She gave an affirmative whinny.

"Great. Let's keep at it! Were not through yet!" But I was concerned. She looked stiff from the Stun Spore, and I was afraid that is was causing her pain. She didn't want to give up though.

Erika shrugged. "A good trainer knows when to quit before they hurt their Pokémon too much."

"Well, it may be good to quit when you're ahead," I clenched my fist and raised my head to stare at Erika, "But quitters never win!"

Polaris stood where she was, rigid from Paralysis. Gloom started to charge forwards, knowing her opponent couldn't move because of the status condition.

Suddenly a massive explosion cut the air, making the entire gym rattle. Everyone in the gym staggered sideways and fell to the floor. Some of the windows shattered, spraying glass about.

Then the rumbling subsided. Everyone looked around, alarmed and confused. Then slowly they stood.

"What was that?" I muttered.

Ben walked up to stand behind me and helped pull me to my feet. Erika had stood and returned her Gloom.

"This match is postponed. As Gym Leader, it's my responsibility to see to the safety of the town."

She started running to the front door of the gym. I returned my paralyzed Ponyta and Ben and I followed Erika. The moment we were outside, we could easily see where the explosion had come from. A column of smoke was rising up from the earth not far from the gym. Erika stared at it for a moment, and then she ran towards it.

"Wait!" Ben shouted. "It could be dangerous!"

I ran after her and Ben followed.

"It's coming from the game corner," Erika shouted back to us.

We rounded a corner and saw flames flickering through one of the buildings.

"Do you have any water Pokémon?" Erika asked us. We skidded to a halt in front of the burning game corner.

I nodded and sent out Hurrico and Leviathan. Ben sent out his Wartortle.

"Put out the flames!" I shouted.

The two Wartortle blasted out water, but Leviathan sent out a river that extinguished the flames in less than a minute.

"Thank you," Erika said. "What could have caused such an explosion? I hope that no one was in there."

"Thanks, Gyarados," I said, returning him.

Erika approached the building and then stepped inside.

"Hang on!" Ben shouted again. "The building may be damaged! It could collapse!"

"She knows what she's doing. Let's go."

I followed with Hurrico at my heels.

"We were lucky," Erika told us as we followed her in. "The game corner was closed today, so no one was in here." She walked to the back of the room.

"But I see someone!" I exclaimed. "Look there!" Hurrico and I rushed towards a fallen game machine. Without a doubt, I could see a pair of legs protruding from under it.

Erika and Ben rushed up to me.

"Is he alive?" Ben muttered.

"Help me get this thing off him," I murmured, gripping onto the edge of the slot machine. Ben, Erika, and the two Wartortle joined me. Together we hefted the machine off of him and cast it to the side. The man moaned slightly and stirred. He was alive. Just unconscious. We all breathed a sigh of relief.

Just then, we heard footsteps and looked around. A few men had entered the building. Firemen. And Officer Jenny was with them.

"Erika, you're here," Officer Jenny exclaimed.

Erika nodded. "Yes. There's a survivor here. Quickly, get him out and make sure he's treated."

"Right away," one of the firemen said. They rushed forwards and carried him outside.

"Make sure no embers carried through the city," Erika ordered. "We don't need any more fires starting. I'll take a closer look around the building. You can help me after you make sure everyone else is safe."

Officer Jenny nodded and left the building.

Erika stood there for a moment, and then moved to the part of the building that was most damaged-the back corner.

"What's this? There's not supposed to be a doorway here. And this looks like where the explosion was."

In the back of the building, there was a hallway that looked as though a bomb had gone off inside it. The entrance had been ripped wide open. It looked like there was a concealed door that had hid it from the gamers, but it too was blown to bits.

Erika started into the hallway. "I wonder what this could have been."

"Look," I said, pointing to the wall of the hall. Wedged up in one of the jagged remains of the building was a round shape. An Electrode. It was knocked out.

"I bet it used Explosion," I muttered.

"But why?" Erika whispered.

"You say there's not supposed to be a room back here?" Ben asked, stepping cautiously further into the passage.

Erika shook her head. We followed him further into the strange tunnel. And after a minute, it opened up into a larger room.

"Look at this," I muttered. It looked like a laboratory. There were computers with cracked screens, books that were ripped to shreds, and class tanks that were shattered all over the place.

Erika started looking around, confused at how such a place ended up under the game corner.

Ben wandered over to the computers to see if he could log into them.

I hadn't moved. My eyes were locked on something on the floor at the edge of the demolished room. It was a page of data. There was a picture on it that looked very familiar. I slowly walked over to it and picked it up.

I stared at it, not daring to believe my eyes. It was a picture of Mew. Not a photograph, but a rough sketch. And there were notes written on it, though only some of them were still legible. I tried to make out what I could.

"…most powerful Pokémon on the earth. Said to be…"

"…has psychic powers that are capable o…"

"…more than an Alakaz…"

"Able to transform into any Pokémon much like Ditt…"

"Can master every single attack known by every Pok…"

"…said to be extinct, though few scattered sightin… though yet to be confirmed… capture of phantom po…on… may lead to… clone… super……. two……………… even than Mew…"

The end of the document was the worst. Most of the words were singed off. But I could make out one last detail. The bottom of the page was stamped with a large red R. This place belonged to Team Rocket.

The document told me most of what I needed. They were researching Mew. They weren't sure if Mew was actually extinct, but they were going to try to capture her if they could.

I didn't think they'd be able to though. Especially if they weren't even sure that she existed. Mew would be smart enough to elude them, right?

And there were two other Pokémon listed there-a Ditto and an Alakazam. Those were the Pokémon whose graves had been destroyed at the Pokémon tower. But there had been an Eevee too. Was that grave destroyed by accident, or was that part of the experiment too? Eevee had the ability to evolve into three different Pokémon, which may have some vague connection to Ditto using transform…

I slid the page into my pack as Erika walked in my direction. I felt bad for keeping the data from Erika. The police might need it. But I had a deep instinct that told me to keep that paper.

I glanced around again. My eyes fell on a doorway that was sealed shut. Maybe the people here had used that doorway to seal off their escape passage.

"I'm going to have to ask both of you to leave," Erika said to Ben and I. Ben had been unsuccessful in turning on the computers. They had been smashed. "We need to investigate this place more thoroughly. I'm sorry, but you'll need to do your gym battles later. Maybe return to the gym tomorrow."

Ben and I wanted to stay and help, but Officer Jenny and the firemen were starting to pour into the room. So Ben and I ducked out.

As we left the burnt building, we saw the man we had rescued. He'd woken up, and he was speaking to a police officer.

"… went in to repair a broken machine. I heard something strange coming from the back of the building. Behind one of the posters there was a switch so I pushed it. It led to a passage, but when I went to investigate, an Electrode rolled out of nowhere and blew up!"

Ben and I exchanged glances. We slowly headed back to the Pokémon Center.