This story is tied in to a previous fanfiction I wrote a long time ago. If you are wondering why Mewtwo is Karen's pokemon you'd have to read the previous story but I will do my best to explain in here throughout the story to make it easier.

1

It was night time. The sun had set nearly an hour prior and the forest had gone from bright green colors to twilight shadows. A Lampent was moving slowly down the forest path, lighting the way for two other figures who walked behind it. One of the figures, a tall bipedal creature with vague feline features and a long purple tail that moved constantly, looked up, barely making out the moon through small gaps in the trees. He frowned and turned to look down at his traveling companion. A girl about twelve with black hair and green eyes wearing a sleeveless green shirt and jean shorts, who was staring nervously at the trees surrounding them.

[Are you all right, Karen?} the creature asked her, speaking telepathicly. [Are you scared?]

The girl named Karen looked up at her companion with large green eyes, it was obvious by the look on her face she was scared. "No," she told him, making an effort to hide her fear. "I'm fine, Mewtwo. I'll be okay."

The creature named Mewtwo frowned, knowing she was lying. The forest at night always terrified this girl due to a bad experience in her past and, even though both of them were aware of this, she constantly insisted on proceeding through them at the end of the day when she knew full well it would be dark soon. He'd tried convincing her not to in the past but she would assure him that doing so was helping her get over her trauma. Who was he to deny her that when Mewtwo himself had his own bad past experiences in his life?

But that was only part of the reason the two were in the forest at that time of night. They had recently gotten off of a bus that took them into a new region named Ario. The bus station was in the middle of nowhere so Karen and Mewtwo would have to walk through the woods to get to a small town where they could find a place to stay. The female on duty at the bus station had said if anybody wanted to wait until morning to head to the town they could spend the night there. Karen had refused to stay, claiming that they would be able to reach the town before it got dark.

Mewtwo hadn't complained because people had been staring at him the whole time and he didn't like it and refused to stay in his pokeball even though Karen had suggested he do so. He enjoyed his freedom and, even though the inside of the Master Ball was very comfortable, he didn't like being confined. It was nothing but a prison. The girl had stopped recommending it a long time ago when their relationship got better and she came to understand his feelings.

The sun had still been up when they'd left the bus station, as it was late afternoon, but the human girl had misjudged the distance between the station and the town and they wound up still in the forest when the sun went down and darkness fell. So now they followed the path, the way being lit by the pale light of the girl's Lampent who floated along ahead, softly humming to itself.

{Do, you know how soon we will reach the town the human at the bus station told us about?} he asked her, hoping to get her mind off the darkness surrounding them.

Karen blinked then turned her attention to her Lampent, as if focusing on the ghost pokemon's comforting flame would help her. "She told me it wouldn't take more than a couple hours," she replied.

Obviously not. The pokemon didn't say that, the girl was already stressed out enough. Instead he said, {Wait here.} then, before she could protest, he'd lifted himself into the air and flew above the leafy canopy to have a look around. He hovered in the air, scanning the landscape, his eyes focusing on a band of light in the distance. It only took him a couple seconds to realize the light belong to the town that was supposed to have been a short distance from the bus station.

Mewtwo turned and rejoined the girl on the path who looked at him. waiting for an answer.

{I don't think we'll be getting out of here any time soon,} he told her. {That town is further away than the human claimed it was.} he paused a moment then said what else he was thinking. {Or we got lost.}

Karen looked at him. "We can't be lost!" she exclaimed. "we never left the path!"

Leaving the path didn't mean anything. If she'd been paying attention she would have noticed the path they'd taken had many twists and turns and even branches where there was a fork in it. Had she even looked at the map the woman at the bus station had given her?

{It doesn't matter that we've stayed on the path,} he pointed out. {We've obviously gone the wrong are lost and we won't be able to leave this forest If we keep going the way we are.}

Karen's expression changed and he briefly saw irritation flash in her eyes. She looked like she intended to argue with him about it, maybe even make some kind of snide comment in a sarcastic tone she'd used in the past but at the last second she changed her mind. She'd fought with him before when they'd first became partners but now she knew she could never win against him in the war of words.

Instead she asked him. "If we're lost what do you suggest we do?" she reached into her short's pocket and took out a piece of paper which she unfolded. "I don't even know where we are on this thing. "

Mewtwo took the map from her and held it in front of himself. He squinted at it as Karen's Lampent hovered closer to give the psychic pokemon more light. He couldn't read it either, not that he needed to since if it had been up to him they would have just flown there using his powers.

Karen was watching him, waiting for him to give her his opinion. He folded the paper and handed it back to her. {We're lost,} he said again. {I don't even know where we are on that. }

She wordlessly placed it back into her pocket before looking up at him with her eyes basically saying "See? You don't know where we are either."

The pokemon wasn't in the mood to argue with his human partner, instead he made the most logical suggestion. {I could just fly us there. We don't need to wander around this place any longer and get more lost when we can just go over it.}

Karen's eyes widened then she looked from his face to the leaf canopy above and back. He was waiting for her answer and frowned when she didn't give him one. What was her problem now? She had no reason to deny his suggestion when it would save them both a lot of time and frustration. When she got like this it reminded him why he hated humans so much, even her, though the two were friends now.

{What now?}

"Nothing!" she exclaimed. "I'm just-"

The rest of her answer was cut off by an ear piercing scream. She jumped about a foot in the air and turned to stare into the darkened forest as she asked in nervous voice. "What was that?!"

Mewtwo also looked into the woods, squinting in the darkness to see if he could spot who had made the sound. He couldn't see anything through the shadows but his instincts were telling him something, aside from harmless nocturnal pokemon, was hiding in there. Whatever it was it was giving off an odd mixture of emotions, anxiety, rage and .. fear? He wasn't sure if the thing in the darkness was giving off the fear or it was coming from Karen whose fear he was picking up in waves.

After a moment of silence Karen asked, her voice in a near whisper, "Do you see anything?"

The cat pokemon frowned, still scanning the darkness. {No,} he told her honestly. {But I can sense something. Whatever it is is nearby.}

Lampent had turned away from it's owner and the ghost pokemon had wandered away slightly to give him more light to help him see. The light helped but Mewtwo still wasn't able make out anything. Whatever was hiding in there was doing a good job of it, almost as if it was blending into the darkness. Mewtwo looked at back his human partner.

{Stay here,} he told her before moving forward before she could answer him. He stood beside Lampent and peered further at the night darkened forest, his eyes glowing a light blue hue.

I know you're in there, whoever you are. Don't think you can hide from me. I will find you.

The sound of heavy breathing reached his ears as silence fell over the path. He wasn't completely sure but it sounded like it was close and to his right, hidden in the thick brush growing along the side of his path. Just as he turned his head an orb of purple and red light came flying out of it. Instinctly he ducked, causing the ball of enegy to fly over him. Unfortunately Lampent wasn't so lucky and the attack hit it head on, enveloping the poor creature. It let out a terrified shriek then fell silent as it slumped onto the ground, unconscious

Mewtwo, realizing what the attack did turned back to Karen, his eyes flashing with intensity. {Run!}

Karen stared at him for a second unmoving, before the command clicked into her brain and she turned around to obey the order. Something came flying out of the trees behind her the same moment Mewtwo moved, using his powers to pull the girl away from the creature as he lunged, flying over her head and colliding with the creature in a full tackle.

The two beings hit the bushes with a loud crash and a struggle began. Karen, who had been knocked off her feet when Mewtwo had pulled her out of the way, sat on the path beside her unconscious Lampent, listening to the psychic pokemon battle with whatever monster had been stalking them.

Suddenly a shadow came out of the bushes where the two had gone down and came flying at her. She just had enough time to make out a flash of white hair and an intense blue eye before it was knocked away from her by a strong psychic blast from Mewtwo who'd followed it. The creature was thrown back into the trees as the psychic pokemon flew back onto the path and floated in front of her.

{Get up,} he ordered the girl before she could ask any questions. {We are getting out of here.}

The look on his face told her not to argue and she quickly scrambled to her feet, returning her Lampent to it's pokeball as she did. Then Mewtwo had grabbed her arm and shot up, out of the trees, and into open air. He paused for a moment, then, spotting the lights of the town again, started in their direction.

He hadn't gotten very far before a loud scream split the air behind him. Glancing over his shoulder he spotted their pursuer, a black ghostly figure with whispy white hair and insane blue eyes, flying straight at him and Karen.

The psychic pokemon swore and turned his attention forward again. If they could reach that town he would be able to set the girl down and take care of that thing. They just had to get there before it caught up to them

"Mewtwo!" Karen's shout made him look down. The girl was gripping his wrist with her free hand and looking terrified. "I'm slipping!"

The feline pokemon realized then that his hold on her arm wasn't as secure as he'd thought. Instead he let her go and used his powers to hold her telepathically beside him. Now she wouldn't fall and he could focus better as the two flew quickly over the night darkened forest.

"Mewtwo, what is going on?" the girl asked as she flew beside him. "What was that thing?"`

{I'm not sure,"} he replied, frowning with concentration. {But it doesn't seem to like us being in this forest. We must have invaded it's territory. If we leave that should convince it to stop pursuing us.}

"I hope so," Karen said, quietly. It seemed to her that the beast was angry about something, angry about more than them trespassing in its territory.

Mewtwo was thinking the same thing. What with the way it had attacked them unprovoked and the utter madness of it, it felt like something was off about the creature. Very off.

The two had very nearly reached the town when another scream split the air, he turned slightly to see where it was coming from only to be hit hard in the back by a large blast of power. Grunting in pain, the blow shattered his concentration and time seemed to stand still as the psychic energy surrounding Karen flickered and then vanished. Her face twisted in a scream of terror as she was sent plunging downward. The same time this happened something shot past him, something white with a sleek, vaguely feline body, then time returned to normal and he was falling.

Realizing he was going to crash he tried to stop himself only to be shocked when nothing happened when he tried using his powers. Before this had a chance to sink in his body came in contract with the high branches of the trees. They cracked under his weight and he hits the ground hard, landing on his back, bouncing once and then slamming heavily into a short ditch where he lay still on his back his face to the sky, only slightly conscious, as his body took a moment to recover.

While lying there the pokemon became aware of a presence near him. It didn't give off the same feeling as the creature that had attacked him and Karen, as it felt benevolent. He blinked, trying to get his eyes to focus. Doing so only made his vision more blurry. He blinked again and now, what looked like a white head with unearthly blue eyes was hovering over him. Mewtwo's eyes widened as he found himself staring at the strange face with the alien eyes. For ten seconds the two just stared at each other wordlessly, then the creature reached out a glowing white hand and gently placed it on his cheek.

The instant its hand touched his face there was a bright flash of light.

Mewtwo's eyes snapped open, finding himself alone. He sat up, placing a hand on his forehead as he became lightheaded from getting up so fast. That same instant the scream came again, reminding him what happened. Karen!

Summoning his powers, Mewtwo shot up off the ground and into the trees to look for the human girl.

He found her quickly, as she'd only landed a short distance from where he'd fallen. She was laying on her stomach on the ground, her arms stretched out over her head, unconscious. The psychic pokemon floated toward her and reached down to grab her shoulder to turn her over. Much to his relief he discovered that the fall hadn't killed her. She was breathing and seemed to be fine, only unconscious.

Mewtwo carefully picked her up off the ground, keeping a firm grip on her body. Once he'd gathered her up into his arms he floated down the path, making no attempt to fly over the trees in case the monster who attacked him was still up there, waiting for him to get stupid enough to try again.

He hadn't gotten more than a few feet when Mewtwo found the way blocked by a dark figure. He gritted his teeth and swore when he realized it was the aggressive creature who'd attacked them before. He stopped, glaring at the being in the way. Why was it so intent on killing the two? Neither of he or Karen had bothered it.

{Out of my way!} he ordered it tightening his grip on Karen's body as he did so. He realized he couldn't fight it with her in his arms, she would get hurt or worse. {I have no interest in fighting you!}

It remained still, just staring. For a moment the pokemon thought it was going to let them pass but then it screamed and rushed at them, reaching out with a three fingered hand. Mewtwo's flashed blue and quickly put up a barrier to protect them which it slammed into. It backed up slightly then came at him again, trying to get at it's prey.

He stared at it from the other side. He could finally take a moment to to see just what is was and was slightly startled by what he was seeing.

It was a Darkrai but something was off about it. The nightmare pokemon looked as if it had been in some kind of major battle, it's entire body was covered in scars and tears, giving the figure a fragmented look. What was most unsettling was it's eyes which radiated a crazed blue light that gave it a haunted look.

Mewtwo's eyes widened when an image flashed into his mind. Black silhouettes against a grey background and the sound of screaming.

The barrier cracked, breaking down as Mewtwo lost his concentration.

"Get it!"

Something large and white burst out of the trees and crashed into the Darkrai, knocking it backward into the darkness.

Mewtwo, blinked and shook his head to chase the terrible images away and turned his head in the direction the voice had come from.

A figure rushed out of the trees, stopping beside the barrior. He saw that it was a young woman about four or five years older than his charge with long black hair tied in two pigtails and wearing a black trench coat. She turned her head to look at the pokemon, her piercing green eyes resting in a pale face.

"Come with me!" she ordered.

Not really having a choice, he did so, following the young woman as she rushed down the path and away from the sounds of the battle in the trees.

"You're lucky I came along when I did," she said to him as they ran. "Darkrai would have put you in a nightmare you wouldn't be able to escape."

{You seem to know a lot about that Darkrai,} Mewtwo remarked. {Who are you?}

The woman glanced back at him. Her face held no expression, not even surprise that he was able to talk to her. "Platinum," she answered,turning her head forward. "don't worry about what I know about Darkrai, just concentrate on getting yourself and your master out of this forest."

She was talking about Karen. While the girl had caught him in a pokeball, making her technically his master, he refused to call her that. She was just Karen.

{That is not an answer,}

"It's all you're getting for now," she stated. "You need to focus on the most important thing right now and that's getting the two of you out of this forest and getting that girl some medical attention."

There was a light up ahead that grew brighter as they drew closer. Platinum led them toward it and the trio excited the forest, coming out in a small park with a fountain, white concrete benches, and shrubbery cut in the shapes of multiple cute pokemon. The place was brightly lit by old fashion looking lamps that ran on electricity instead of oil.

Platinum didn't stop running until she was sure they were far enough into the park to be safe from the Darkrai in the forest. Then she stopped and turned to look at Mewtwo. "All right, you can stop here," she instructed. "Darkrai won't follow you now. " she pointed out of the park and down down a street lit by street lamps. "There is a doctor's office you can take her to, just keep going straight. The medical staff there is used to seeing pokemon bringing their trainer in and it's free so it won't cost anything."

She started to walk away, pulling the hood of her coat up over her head.

{Hold on!} he exclaimed, his eyes flashing blue. Platinum stopped in her tracks and turned to look at him when she realized he was holding her still. {You didn't tell me why Darkrai attacked us, human.}

The young woman frowned, not happy he was preventing her from leaving. "He can't help it," she answered him.

{What do you mean?}

A sound came from the trees and he turned his attention off her, looking back toward the forest. A white figure flew out of it and toward the woman, hovering beside her when it reached her.

To Mewtwo's surprise it turned out to be another Darkrai. This one was a pale white with blue spikes in a ring around its neck. It had bright green eyes which were glaring at him. Realizing that it might attack him, he dropped his hold on Platinum who relaxed her stance.

"Take the girl to the doctor," she told him again. The white Darkrai was beginning to fly away and she started after it. "That is the most important thing you should be worried about right now."

The young lady and her white companion then re-entered the forest, leaving Mewtwo alone in the middle of the park. He looked down at Karen. She was still unconscious.

Deciding to follow the young woman's advice he exited the park and headed down the artificially lit street toward the doctor's office. That human was right about one thing, Karen needed medical attention and he had to get her to a doctor right away.

The staff at the doctor's office let both Mewtwo and the girl inside without batting an eye at the strange pokemon standing at their door. She was quickly looked after and put in a room within minutes. A doctor came in not too long after and looked her over, informing Mewtwo that she had broken no bones and would only be coming out of this ordeal with a few scratches and a bump on the head.

Mewtwo was surprised at how few injuries the girl sustained from the fall. She'd fallen from a great height and her body wasn't as durable as his. The doctor, who didn't know the full story, simply told him he could stay with her and to let him or any of his staff know when she woke up before he left the room, leaving the pokemon alone with his partner.

The psychic pokemon looked down at Karen who lay under soft white sheets. She didn't look like she was going to wake up for awhile. The fact made him feel sad.

No matter what had happened to them in the past and, even though they didn't always get along all the time, he'd grown fond of her since the time she'd caught him. He turned away from the bed, moving toward the large window in the back of the room, and looking out at the night sky.

He thought back to the events leading up to Karen being there. The psychotic Darkrai haunting the forest and the strange girl with her white Darkrai who had protected him and Karen and got them out of the woods.

There was something strange about all of them.

Mewtwo looked back toward Karen and returned to her. As he stared down at her face he made a decision. Tomorrow he was going to go out and find that girl. She knew what was going on with that Darkrai and he was going to make her tell him everything.

One way or another.

Unbeknownst to Mewtwo he'd been watched by invisible eyes. After the psychic pokemon had gone back to Karen's side the owner of those eyes had departed, flying quietly away from the medical building and down the street were it came to stop in front off a figure in a black trench coat.

Platinum.

The young woman looked up at the figure that revealed itself as the white Darkrai. "So he's decided to spend the night with his master then," she said, as if she could read the nightmare pokemon's mind. "Good. At least we'll know where he is for now and we won't have to worry about him for the time being."

The white Darkrai floated down and then positioned itself beside her. The duo silently watched the building for a moment before Platinum spoke again. "If he's as smart as he seems to be he will leave this region once his master is well enough to travel. Hopefully that will be sooner rather than later, the last thing we need is another legendary pokemon to worry about. "

She turned away from the building, giving the empty streets a careful once over. "I hope those two get out of here before they find out and turn their interests on capturing another." She looked up at the sky with a thoughtful look on her face. "We don't need him getting involved."

The white Darkrai placed a hand on her shoulder and she looked at him. She stared at the dark type pokemon's face for a moment then nodded her head. "I think you're right," she responded, reaching into her coat and taking an object out that lit up when she pressed a button. "We'd better get moving. Hopefully we can find her again before they do."