Chapter 36
"Dreams"
Who am I?
What am I?
Where am I?
I am ready…to be…
* * *
Where…am I? This…This is not the same…Was everything before…just a dream?
…Why…?
* * *
"Doctor. Look at this!"
"What?"
"Its brain waves…They're surging!"
"Let me see if she's right. Let's run another scan."
"Its mind is racing!"
Those voices…
"I hope we don't lose this one!"
They're outside…
"We can't lose this one!"
Where I must be…
A simple force of will…and I was outside…
"Radio Giovanni's helicopter! Tell him what's happened!"
"Quiet! Let us hear its psychic powers…"
Psychic…powers?
"For years we've struggled to successfully clone a Pokémon to prove our theories, but you're the first specimen to survive." He gestured to a picture on a wall to the right. "That is Mew, the rarest of all Pokémon. From its DNA we created you, Mewtwo."
Mewtwo?…Am I only a copy? Nothing but Mew's shadow?
"You are greater than Mew, improved through the power of human ingenuity. We used the most advanced techniques to develop your awesome psychic powers."
So, I am simply the end result of your experiment. What becomes of me, now that your experiment is over?
"Oh, our experiment isn't over yet! It's just beginning! Now the serious testing begins!"
They turned to each other, giving words of encouragement and congratulations…
…These humans…they care nothing for me…
I looked down at my paws…Three round fingers…unlike their five long ones……I clenched them together.
A memory of flying…over a mountain range……Was it never real?
Is that my purpose? Am I just an experiment? A laboratory specimen? This cannot be…my destiny!
Enough with the humans. They had finished serving their purpose. Now their destiny was drawing to a close…I ignored their screams of fear. They were simply too cowardly to accept their fate…
The laboratory burst into flames at my will…It tried to take me with the humans, but I couldn't let it. I could not let anything stop until I discovered my true reason for living…
Behold my powers! I am the strongest Pokémon in the world!…Stronger even than Mew…
I heard a whirring and chopping behind me. I turned around to see yet another human walk through the flames.
"Those fools thought you were a science experiment," he told me, "but I…I see you as a valuable partner."
…Partner…?
He nodded.
"With your psychic powers and my resources, together we could control the world."
I do not need your help for that, human.
"A wildfire destroys everything in its path. It will be the same with your powers unless you learn to control them. I can help you do that."
How?
"Trust me and I'll show you a way to focus your powers that will make you invincible."
…Show me.
* * *
The man brought me aboard his helicopter and took me to a place that he called Viridian City…He introduced himself to me as Giovanni Ketchum, but asked that I call him just Giovanni, or Giovanni Rocket…I did not know why he asked me to do that, but it did not matter to me what he was to be called…I sought out only my purpose……
There was a Pokémon in the helicopter also. Its name was Persian. It seemed frightened of me, but stayed close to Giovanni……its……master……
Why do you hide from me? I asked it, We are both Pokémon…You have nothing to fear from me…
"…Perrrr……Perrrrsssiannnn…perrrrrr"
'…Because you are different, Mewtwo……I feel a foreboding about you…a darkness that comes from within…'
What do you mean by that? I demanded.
Persian looked away, still afraid to even be near me…
We shall see about this darkness, Persian…Indeed, we shall see…
* * *
Giovanni showed me to a room in a building where he said he had something to help protect me. I let him cover me with a metal suit that seemed to close in on me, leaving me feeling vulnerable, not strong…
You say this armor protects my body, I said, yet it suppresses my powers.
"Your powers are not being suppressed. They are being focused. Learn to use them to accomplish your purpose."
What is that?
"Patience my friend. Your purpose will become clear."
* * *
Giovanni showed me how to focus my power. I learned how effectively I could overpower anything…but I didn't learn what I had been seeking all along…
* * *
Now I fully perceive my power, but…what is my purpose?
I heard the hiss of the door and looked up. Giovanni and Persian had overheard my thoughts.
"To serve your master," Giovanni said, "You were created to fight for me. That is your purpose."
That cannot be…You said we were partners. We stood as equals!
"You were created by humans to obey humans. You could never be our equal."
Humans may have created me…but they will never enslave me! This cannot be my destiny!
I focused my power outwards. He was no different from the first humans I had met. He had lied to me…betrayed me…and now they would all pay…
"Stop this now!" he said in alarm.
I was not born a Pokémon. I was created, and my creators have used and betrayed me. So, I stand alone!
They both did the wise thing and ran for their lives. I destroyed the rest of the building with one last blast before fleeing myself. I went to the only other place I knew…my birthplace…
…The entire island was in shambles…all that was left was a picture frame encasing perfectly an ancient picture of Mew……I dropped my helmet on the ground next to it…The humans had given me life…That I would not forget…Nor would I forget why…and how…
I stared out across the ocean, the salt air so much different from……From what? All I had ever known was enslavement…Why did I feel like I didn't belong here? That my place was……
It was so hard to try to figure it out…
Who am I? What is my true reason for being?…I will find my own purpose, and purge this planet of all who oppose me, human and Pokémon alike. The world will heed my warning. The reign of Mewtwo will soon begin.
* * *
"Pikapi?"
'Ash?'
My skin felt as if it was burning, and yet I was so cold I couldn't stop shivering.
"Pikapi?" Pikachu asked again, this time more hopefully.
'Ash?'
Pikachu…?…Ash…? That's me, right?…But then……was it…a dream?…Or is this just a dream…? Or……
I closed my eyes, and Pikachu faded away one more into darkness…
So which is my reality…? Who am I…really…?