Chapter 51

Red stepped up to Steven and held out his hand.

"My jacket, if you could." His voice was a lot darker and tougher than the one I was accustomed to. I was so absorbed by it that I was surprised when Steven took the jacket Brendan had given me off and toss it at his feet. "Awh. Someone's throwing a little temper tantrum." Red picked it up and slung it over his shoulder. He met Steven's infuriated gaze. "Do you wanna cry about it? The fact I've kissed your girlfriend twice now?"

"You're lucky my pokemon aren't healed, or I'd tear you to bits," Steven swore. He took a step forward and Red held out a pokeball to stop him. "Don't be a coward. Fight me like a man!"

"I don't hit children. Especially weaklings like you." Steven bared his teeth. I tried to push past him, but he held me back. Red's eyes met mine. His gaze was cold and unforgiving. "I'll battle you when you're ready. I feel like you'll be more of a challenge."

"You don't get to talk to her!" Steven pushed me back further. "Look at me Red." The Kanto champion did as told. "Why are you here? What do you want with Mew?"

"You think it's that easy to explain, don't you? I should've expected something that shallow from you." He backed away. "Get yourselves comfortable. I've got a story for you two, and I hate talking, so I'm not going to repeat myself." We didn't move. Red rolled his eyes, pulled a pokeball off his belt and tossed it at us. Steven grabbed me and pulled me backwards, quickly, but the pokemon that emerged did not look at all angry or vicious. It was a Pikachu.

"How?!" Steven leaned forward. "My father took that pokemon from you and you know it! You gave it to him as a peace treaty!"

"I stole it back when Mew's parents were talking to him." He returned her pokeball back to his pocket. "I'm not breaking the treaty of peace. I just knew I'd need her back before I disappeared again." Without being told, the pokemon hopped up onto his shoulder. "Are you two going to sit, or are you going to stand through this all?"

"We'll stand," Steven snapped. Red shrugged.

"Whatever. It's not my problem. I'll start from the beginning. I was a normal kid growing up. I had a mother, a father, and several friends. When the Great Pokemon War came around and claimed my father, those friends began to vanish. The closest tie I had was with young Green, my rival. The war had taken the lives of both of his parents, leaving him in the care of his grandfather Professor Oak. It was up to me and Green to catalog pokemon in hopes that we could learn enough about them to turn around humans' position in the war. We were ten-year-old spies. Green and I set out into the world of pokemon to make a name for ourselves. I didn't know my potential as a pokemon trainer until I defeated Giovanni of Team Rocket."

He lifted his hat softly, then set it back down. "Upon stopping him and forcing him to discontinue his evil organization, he surprised me with some very unpleasant news. He had already started a project after Mewtwo had failed him. He took the DNA of Mew and implanted it in a pregnant mother: Mrs. Zakuro."

He looked to the side. "Mr. and Mrs. Zakuro were informed that their baby was being vaccinated when Giovanni, disguised as a doctor, implanted Mew's DNA in their baby. Giovanni then set out to watch this child as she developed into a half human, half pokemon god. She was barely young when I defeated him in Silph Co, where he had stationed himself to watch over the Zakuro's. He promised to disband Team Rocket on one condition: I was to watch over human Mew. He wanted me to make sure the Mew that stands before you and I didn't destroy the world." He met my eyes. "I didn't expect someone who created Mewtwo, a once uncontrollably powerful pokemon, to create a sweet and merciful person like you."

I couldn't find any words to speak. "As you grew up in that tiny house in Saffron city, I noticed that you were different. You were kind and loving, but pokemon had a strange aversion to you. They either ran away, or they tried to kill you. It was interesting. I watched you grow for years just as I had promised, and when I had decided that you were to cause no harm to anyone or anything, I left. I became the champion of the Kanto Region. I fulfilled my dreams and stopped the Great Pokemon War, but in the process, I nearly lost track of you."

He paused. "I returned to Saffron City one day to realize that you were currently on the move to the Hoenn Region. I panicked and followed you here, hoping you hadn't destroyed the region when I got there. I managed to hop on the back of my charizard and beat you to LittleRoot, where I met Brendan. The real Brendan. He had heard stories of me and introduced himself to me. He's an eager guy, I liked him. Him and his father, Professor Birch. They both had heard of my story involving the banishing of Team Rocket and asked if there was anything they could do to help me. As you might've guessed, I took them up on their offer."

He scratched under Pikachu's chin. She seemed to enjoy it a lot. "Professor Birch lent me a ditto which I used to disguise me as Brendan down to every detail. The one flaw was ditto had black, tiny eyes. It took some time, but the ditto managed to disguise them back into turning blue, but the effect wore off whenever I was overcome by emotion. Whenever I was angry, upset, or elsewise, my red eyes would show. It was a flaw in the creation, but you two never questioned it."

There was a pause. "By the time my disguise my ready, the real Brendan hid in his lab. He was not to come out or be seen by anybody or else give out my position. When I was to reveal myself, I would call him. I'll have to make that call after this conversation." He flipped his hair to the side. "My job was no longer simple. Mew was here in the Hoenn Region. I still had my promise to that idiot Giovanni, so I became Brendan. But I had a new objective: I was going to get her a pokemon. Not just any pokemon, but a specially chosen Torchic in a masterball. I had given it to Professor Birch in hopes that he would be able to give it to Mew. I lead her to the Professor, who had somehow ticked off a few wild pokemon, but still managed to get Mew her Torchic. Things went flawlessly."

"Why is that pokemon in a broken masterball?" Steven asked. "What is that pokemon?"

"That's not for me to say," Red explained, "or else I'd be breaking a promise. I take those rather seriously. But, besides that, as soon as Mew got her torchic, I joined her team. It was supposed to be perfect. Everything was ready. But you had to step in and join us. Now I had to deal with you and your father breathing down my neck. You and Mew were close, so if I exposed myself to you, she would figure it out, too. I couldn't risk being discovered, so I played along further."

"Why did you give her that torchic?" Steven questioned harshly.

"I wanted to see her true potential. I wanted to see what would happen if, put under the right circumstances, she could become a trainer. I was right." He held up a finger. "I did not expect Maxie and Archie to place the red and blue orbs in her. I didn't expect it in the slightest. When it happened, I was taken aback. Even Mewtwo couldn't handle being infused with the essence of two impossibly powerful legendary pokemon. Mew took both and was nearly unaffected by them."

Pikachu hopped over to his other shoulder. "I thought things would go smoothly, but they didn't. Your boyfriend and his annoying father were onto me. When we got into Rustboro City, he kept asking me where I had gotten the master ball that had been lost in the overrun Silph Co. back in Saffron. I'll tell you where I got it: Giovanni himself. When I beat the idiot, he gave it to me. I used it to catch the torchic that would eventually be Mew's. But to keep Mr. Stone quiet to the cops about illegally obtaining his star item, I had to give him Pikachu. If I was to hurt one of you two, he could keep her. He kept his promise, I'll give him that. But his part in this is over. I have my Pikachu back."

"So you're telling us that Eve is some sort of super pokemon?" Steven asked. "You expect us to believe you wasted a master ball on a Torchic?"

"Believe you want, I'm not saying any more on that matter." He wiped a small trickle of blood that started dripping down from the corner of his mouth. "It wasn't too hard to keep up the whole Brendan act. The real Brendan kept up his part of the deal just as well as his dad did. When we got lost out at sea, however, the ditto I had as a mask fainted. I was exposed. Luckily the two of you were off in the other direction. I knew that Mew wouldn't be able to fare well without a pokemon, however. So when the ship sunk, I slipped Espeon's pokeball in her pocket. Well, my pocket. I didn't buy the jacket. I just thought the jacket would come in handy for her, which, like I already explained, did come in handy. Espeon helped her find Steven and I. I didn't, however, like that she helped you cheat to get Brawly's gym badge. That's something I'll leave you to fix."

"So the espeon is yours," Steven clarified. Red blinked in confirmation.

"Yes. I couldn't help Mew at the time. I had to revive the ditto at Dewford. She was a good alternative." He paused. "Everything after that went pretty coolly. I managed to sneak back my espeon when Mew wasn't looking. What was really annoying was that one night that Steven was kidnapped in Mauville. I had heard Jirachi and Mew talking and followed. When Mew was struck in the back of the head by a Magma grunt, I took the chance and fainted all his pokemon. The two of you thought that I got kidnapped as well, but Team Aqua hadn't so much as touched me. I beat them single handedly, but at the same time, I didn't realize they were taking Steven captive. By the time I realized that, he was far gone. It was half a failure because I had managed to save Mew."

"Wait, I thought Mew was saved by Wally," Steven interrupted.

"That's where things got confusing. During the battle with the Aqua grunts, I had used some of my own pokemon, not the pokemon that Brendan would've used. Wally had heard the commotion all the way from Verdanturf and come over. He saw me with my extremely powerful pokemon and was confused. I had blown my cover, but only he had seen me. I ended up making a deal with him. If he told Mew that Brendan had been kidnapped along with Steven, I'd teach him a few battle tricks."

"You wanted to make yourself seem like you were kidnapped so there was less of a chance to blow your cover," Steven guessed. Red nodded once.

"I got you to think exactly what I wanted you to think. The deal excited him. He even got the whole city of Verdanturf to believe that he had saved Mew from being kidnapped like Brendan and Steven had been. Kudos to him for that."

"So you weren't kidnapped by Team Aqua," Steven confirmed.

"I wasn't taken hostage. Only you were. I traveled with Mew as myself and helped her reach Fallarbor Town. Before we had fully entered the city, however, I noticed a group of Aqua grunts a ways ahead of us. Mew thought that Brendan had been kidnapped by Team Aqua, but if she approached the group and they told her otherwise, I'd risk my cover. I ran away from her out of sight and became Brendan once again. Before she had reached the city, the group of Aqua grunts had seen me and gave me chase, hoping to catch me for real. When Mew saw that I was being chased, she assumed immediately I was making a break from being kidnapped. It worked. She thinks she saved me from Aqua, we rescue Steven, and the story continues."

He took a moment to think. "There was a few concerning aspects about the relationship between you two. You see, my mission is to watch over Mew. And as we got further along in our story, I realized that I had to do more than watch over her, I had to lead her to her destiny. But the way she was losing lives was… pathetic. I can understand a few were taken by surprise, but I didn't like how she gave a life to you in order to bring you back from the dead. I had to somehow pass it on to you Steve-o, that you couldn't go around dying anymore, or risk the future of this region, maybe even the world. So I revealed myself to him," he said to me. "In Lavaridge, I told him not to lose any more of his lives, or I'd make sure he couldn't be revived. This was for good reason. You need your lives to save this world, not use them like they're revives. I told him not to reveal me, but you can't hide forever."

"With good reason!" Steven snapped. "You were going to hurt Mew!"

"Where in the story did I ever say my intent was to hurt Mew? I was here to train her to calm herself, to not go Primal and destroy this Earth on a tizzy fit. I will admit, it did get a bit off track." He spread his arms. "There's the story. How are you taking it?"

"You…" I whispered, drawing both of their attention to me. "You were never my friend?" Red's face turned stone cold. "You were just there to watch me as some sort of experiment? A promise you didn't want to keep?"

"Basically, yes." He turned around and tossed out a pokeball. A charizard appeared from it. "My work here is done. Steven can take care of you now. I've got better things to do." As he started to get on its' back, I stepped forward.

"Wait!" He stopped. His charizard blew an annoyed breath of smoke from his nostrils, but Red ignored it and looked back at me. My face was determined. "All that you said right now… did you even mean any of it? Do you even consider yourself my friend?"

There was a suspenseful pause.

"Mew," Red whispered. "At the start of our journey, yes, you were only an experiment, a promise I didn't want to keep. But…" His eyes grew distant. "As we traveled together, I realized that you would not only make a wonderful and merciful god, but I realized that I grew to like you. Maybe even love you." His eyes turned cold once again. "But now I realize that it's not me you want. I understand. I have done my fair share of lying, cheating, and blackmailing to get here-"

"I'm still your friend, Red." He paused. The look on both Steven's and Red's face was completely aghast. The charizard raised his eyebrows. Pikachu's tail swished in the air, interested. "I know you lied. I had a feeling you weren't who you said you were. But I'm going to be honest with you, the person you pretended to be was the real you." I took a moment to think. "I'm… I'm not saying you're Brendan deep down, but you are happy. You are kind. And I know for sure you're a happy-go-lucky idiot that likes to make fun of people and enjoy life." I put a hand to my chest. "But the person standing in front of me isn't who he really is. You're not meant to be silent all the time. You're not meant to live a life of solitude. You want to be happy. That's why you followed me here, not because you had a promise to keep. I highly doubted you could've cared less about me when I left for Hoenn, because something deep down in you must've changed right then. It must've. Because the man standing before me now is not the Red everyone fears, everyone thinks is the hardest, toughest guy on the planet." I paused. "The person before me is my friend."

Steven went completely silent. Red just stared at me. He looked completely awed at what I had said. And I knew why.

Because everything I said was true.

"Can you look me in the eyes and swear that the person who traveled with Steven and I wasn't the real you?" I whispered. "Or at least the person you want to become?"

The silence that took place just then was scary. Red's charizard looked surprised. He looked to his trainer and nudged him. When the pokemon met eyes with his pokemon, he put a hand on his forehead, eyes wide and staring at nothing in surprise. Steven stepped up to me and put a hand on my shoulder. I let him set it there, but when he tried to pull me back, I held firm.

"Pika…" Red's starter pokemon whispered, nudging him. I could tell by the way the electric pokemon spoke that she was confirming it as well. He pet her and looked at the ground, expression lost in thought. Then he looked to me.

"You don't understand," he said softly. Then he jumped on the back of charizard. He held a hand out to Steven, who was grabbing for his skarmory. "Don't follow me. Where I'm going is not important to either of you."

"Red," I started.

"Mew," he said, interrupting me. "There's a chance this could be the end. There's a chance it couldn't. But I don't want you to worry. I'll be fine." He looked at his Pikachu. "Yeah, I'll be fine." Then his charizard opened its' wings and started flapping. It took every bit of power I had in me to not cry.

"You're my friend, Red," I shouted just before he was out of earshot. "Please, be safe!" He looked over his shoulder, eyes narrowed. Before he disappeared, I saw him raise a hand to the air in goodbye.

Then he was gone. That could've been the last time I'd see him. And to be honest, it was crushing to watch him fly away. I could've cried, but I didn't. Because there was a part of me that knew that he would be back.

And he would be smiling.

From high up in the clouds, soaring on the wings of a charizard was Red. Pikachu nudged the side of his face, urging him to get her attention. When he turned to face her, he saw that her expression was scared, upset.

"There's nothing to worry about," Red assured. His voice was hard to hear over the rushing winds, but she heard it nonetheless. "We're not going into solitude like we usually do."

"Pika?" his pokemon asked.

"Yep." He rubbed her head. "We're going to go pay everyone a visit back in Pallet Town."

Red Appeared!

Charizard Used Fly!

Red Fled!

Saving Game…

Game Saved!

Part 4: End

Lives Left: 7

Part 5: Commence!