I do not own Pokémon. Credit goes to Satoshi Tajiri and Game Freak.

Also, credit goes to Laurleen aka Emi-Xstitch on DeviantArt for co-writing the first four chapters and then RubyDaSquirlz on DeviantArt for the successor chapters starting at chapter 5.

The disgruntled captain led Red, Gary and Mewtwo down the second floor hallway, with the psychic Legendary carrying Leaf in his arms. Tears still lingered on her face as she hugged her arms to her chest. Gary took a quick detour to a bedroom provided to him to grab his bag before he met up with the others. They turned at a corner before making their way to a staircase. Once they climbed the stairs, the captain pushed the door open and gestured the trainers and the Genetic Pokémon into his cabin.

Red and Gary plopped onto the couch, the professor's grandson letting out a loud sigh as he leaned his head backwards. Mewtwo sat down next to Red before he nuzzled Leaf's cheek, still cradling her in his arms. The captain strolled over to his desk and sat down, his stern expression unnerving the boys.

"I'm terribly sorry you four got roped into this mess," the captain told them.

"You're…not mad at us?" Red paused.

The captain shook his head. Pikachu sat on his trainer's lap, cleaning and rubbing his tail in an effort to remove the lingering sensation of Bartholomew's grip off it, mumbling quietly to himself. Red stroked the electric mouse's head and watched the captain, trying to calm himself from the intense ordeal. Mewtwo didn't pay much attention to his surroundings as he held Leaf close to him.

"Well," the captain replied, "I was about to make preparations to set sail and then some of my guests chose to torment the three of you?"

Gary nodded with a huff.

"And to think that girl wants me as her husband?" Gary added, "she's still a teenager!"

"A teenager with no brain," Red muttered, "it's not the first time she's been after Leaf either. Her dad might say she's bullied his daughter, but they all bullied Leaf and our friend Helios came to her rescue."

Mewtwo perked up and looked over at his nickname, thinking back on that moment and hesitantly allowing himself to publicly send a telepathic message to the occupants in the room.

"I suppose I technically broadcasted what she and her associates did to Leaf to the Pewter screens in that moment," Mewtwo explained, gesturing to the brunette in his arms, "but that was solely to protect her. I apologize if I caused any trouble to your vessel, captain."

The captain made a brief glance at Mewtwo and chuckled softly.

"Hey, no trouble at all," he humbly fluttered his hand, "I suppose I can offer you three trainers something to compensate for the incident."

The captain reached into his desk and pulled out three disks which differed from the TMs the three trainers collected so far.

"This is a Hidden Move called Cut," the captain explained, "you find any prickly trees in the way, you use it on your Pokémon to cut it down."

Pikachu perked his ears up and glanced over. He jumped off Red's lap and climbed onto the desk, taking a moment to sniff at the disks. Red approached the desk before he carefully took them and handed them out.

"Wow," Red exclaimed, "thanks, captain! Are you sure you can spare these?"

The captain nodded with a smile.

"Of course," he answered, "they don't call me the Cut Master for nothing!"

The next thing they knew, they disembarked the ship and stepped back to the port. By then, the sailors hauled up the anchor while one of them blew a whistle. Moments later, the ship's funnel expelled a loud horn blast which echoed across the port. Leaf groaned softly as the noise rattled her eardrums but she couldn't bring herself to cover her ears with her hands. Mewtwo's eyes softened as he emitted an invisible sound barrier for less than a minute. Red and Gary glanced over their shoulders as the S.S. Anne left the port, slowly making its way out to sea.

"Well," Gary commented, "I didn't feel like traveling to other regions right now. Thanks, guys."

"Anytime," Red gave Gary a wink.

As they walked farther towards the coast, they noticed Lavender standing on the port as she stroked her hand along her Typhlosion's head. When she spotted the trainers and the psychic Legendary out of the corner of her eye, she tilted her head sideways.

"Hey," Lavender called out, "you guys all right?"

Red and Gary paused in their tracks as chills went down their spines.

"Y-Yeah," Red blurted, "the situation's calmed down by now. What brings you here?"

Lavender shrugged as she withdrew her Typhlosion.

"About to head out to Indigo Plateau," Lavender clarified, "Johto League starts in a week."

Gary shrugged. Red simply blinked twice as Leaf wrapped her arms around Mewtwo. The psychic Legendary sighed as he nuzzled her cheek.

"Of course," Mewtwo nodded.

Lavender made a brief glance at the S.S. Anne reaching the horizon before turning to face the coastal city.

"You guys on a journey, too?" she asked the three trainers.

"Yeah," Gary placed his hand behind his head, "we gotta long way to go, though and plenty of time."

Lavender glanced over her shoulder and winked at them.

"All right, I gotta get going," Lavender said, "see ya!"

And with that, Lavender started sprinting down the port. Red, Leaf, Gary and Mewtwo waited in a minute of silence before they started making their way out of the port.

It didn't take long for them to reach the Pokémon Center, where they ate their dinner in the lobby in silence before they made their way to a room they booked. Red combed Pikachu's fur while Leaf sat on her own bed, hugging her legs to her chest as she glanced downwards. She shivered slightly as the memory of the whole incident played back in her head. Hateful words also echoed in her mind, weighing her down like a Rhyhorn had pinned her to the ground.

What did you do to cause it?!

They're just getting a reaction. Ignore them.

Your weird behavior is unacceptable!

Leaf may have cried already hours ago, but she tried to resist the urge to shed tears again. Sighing, Mewtwo sat next to her and placed his hand on top of her head.

"I'm so sorry," Mewtwo whispered into her head.

Leaf simply turned her head towards Mewtwo and just nodded at him. By then, Gary emerged from the bathroom in his pajamas. The professor's grandson didn't hesitate to toss the blazer, waistcoat, slacks, necktie and dress shirt into the hamper.

"Is it just me," Gary asked, "or did it look like Eloise was about to post the video she recorded onto the Internet?"

Leaf shivered and tightened her arms around her legs.

"Omari already did that," Leaf admitted, "once…back at school."

While Red and Gary stared in disbelief, Mewtwo gazed intently as he slowly nodded.

"I'm not surprised," Mewtwo replied.

"Yikes," Red muttered under his breath.

"H-How?" Gary warbled.

Just as Squirtle jumped onto the bed, Leaf lifted her head slightly as she recalled that day when she first met Omari.

"Omari…befriended me at first," Leaf began, "when I was six. That was the year I started attending the school in Viridian City."

Leaf reeled back a little when she recalled the moments Eloise and Blake started teasing her for her odd habits.

"I thought he was a good friend," Leaf continued, "standing up for me when Eloise and Blake hated me right from the start."

Squirtle lowered his head and drooped his tail.

"Squirtle…"

Mewtwo nodded at Squirtle as he swished his tail to one side.

"Do you need to take a break?" Mewtwo asked her.

Leaf shook her head.

"We did get along for a month," Leaf added, "but then, he told the class his younger brother was diagnosed with Autism."

"Like yourself?" Mewtwo clarified.

The instant Leaf nodded, Red and Pikachu exchanged glances amidst the confusion.

"I-I had no idea," Red commented.

"Pika…"

"Worse, Omari added his parents started sending him to ABA Therapy," Leaf interrupted, making air quotes, "they believed doing so would make him 'normal'."

Leaf couldn't help but remember the nervousness she felt on how Omari would react if she gone through with telling him about her diagnosis. She remembered that time when he had been getting friendly with Eloise and Blake for a while.

Maybe you should try making friends with her, that way she won't tease you as much.

"Is that even a good idea for that kind of practice to exist?" Gary gave Leaf a confused look.

Mewtwo shook his head.

"And then Ellie told Omari about my Autism and that's when he chose to exploit it," Leaf said.

Her hand flew to her mouth as her mind became plagued with memories of that dreadful day when she got locked in a storage closet, struggling to find a radio which played a variety of songs she hated so much she would rather be rendered deaf than have those songs stuck in her head forever before she collapsed to the floor, screaming and flailing her limbs as tears trickled down her cheeks. She still swallowed that nervous lump in her throat to explain the incident.

"I didn't find out Omari pulled that prank until the next day," Leaf added, "but that's not the worst part. He shared a video of the whole thing with his friends."

Mewtwo shivered as he ran his hand through Leaf's hair.

"I assume he recorded that footage," Mewtwo replied.

Leaf nodded.

"The betrayal was so bad," Leaf said, "I wanted to make him hurt for what he did."

Her memory flashed to the day she threw a punch to Omari's face, even repeating the method a few times before they dropped to the ground and started wrestling.

I'll never forgive you!

"That didn't stop my teacher from giving me a detention," Leaf added, "and not believing me."

Leaf Aoyama! You dare attack Omari like that?! You're supposed to be his friend, you ungrateful little brat!

Her memory flashed to the day she had to sit in detention after school.

"Omari joined Ellie's gang since then," Leaf concluded.

Mewtwo found his head tilting subconsciously as memories flashed through his head.

Is that my purpose? Am I just an experiment? A laboratory specimen? This cannot be my destiny!

He recalled the anger, hues of purple covering his vision from the grays around him, explosions and fire. A dark room replaced that memory. The next thing he knew, he stared up at a man confidently standing at a balcony.

Humans may have created me, but they will never enslave me. This cannot be my destiny! I was not born a Pokémon, I was created. My creators have used and betrayed me, so I stand alone!

Concrete flew around him, wires whipping around him from the armor, followed by another explosion. He realized he hadn't been breathing and took a manual breath, blinking back to his senses. As he took a moment to calm himself, he made brief glances at Leaf, Red, Gary, Squirtle and Pikachu.

"Pika?" Pikachu blurted.

"I'm fine," Mewtwo replied, "I was caught up in my own thoughts."

Squirtle examined him silently with his head tilted sideways before turning back to Leaf. Gary sat down on his bed while Red scratched his head.

"Yeesh," Red commented, "that really sucks, being picked on by other kids and being blamed for it."

Mewtwo nodded and silently listened to the conversation, realizing how all he wanted to do was re-read his book at this moment, to not let the memories come back. He could feel them swimming at the edge of his conscious thought. Leaf reached into her messenger bag and pulled out her Togepi doll before she slipped under the covers. Squirtle blinked twice before he curled up onto a pillow next to her. Likewise, Pikachu stretched his arms and let out a yawn.

"Squirtle?" Squirtle chirped, "Squirt Squirtle?"

Mewtwo nodded and telekinetically drew the book out of his backpack, moving to lean back against the wall near the end of the bed so as to let Leaf have her space.

"Is this suitable?" Mewtwo asked her.

"Maybe…a little closer?" Leaf requested.

Pikachu hopped off the table and curled up on a pillow on Red's bed. Mewtwo shuffled carefully until he lay parallel to her, tail almost curled protectively around her and back against the wall.

"Well?"

"Better," Leaf nodded.

Mewtwo smiled softly as Red climbed underneath the covers and rested his head on his pillow. Using his telekinesis, the psychic Legendary shut off the lights while leaving one lamp on. As the three trainers slowly drifted off to sleep, Mewtwo started reading his book, calming his mind in the quiet ambience.

Meanwhile, Jessie, James and Meowth stood at the port and stared at the directory, sighing in disappointment. To them, nothing was more frustrating than the delays that caused them to miss the S.S. Anne.

"So much for planning a mass thieving spree," James muttered to himself, "and never getting to put it into action."

Jessie shook her head and folded her arms while she gave James and Meowth a tsk-tsk.

"And who's to blame for losing track of the time?" Jessie scolded.

"But Jessie," James protested, giving Jessie puppy eyes, "those ramen noodles were so tasty!"

Meowth tilted his head away and wagged his finger.

"Oh, cut the crap," Meowth grumbled, "we would've boarded the ship on time if you hadn't ordered second helpings!"

James slumped his shoulders with a heavy sigh. As far as he knew, the chances of getting to the S.S. Anne by swimming were already slim to none, and they didn't have any Pokémon strong enough to carry the trio across the water.

"Let's just find a place to sleep tonight," James suggested.

Jessie huffed before she turned on her feet and stomped her way out of the dock, so James and Meowth followed her without saying much further. When they strolled through Vermilion City, they didn't bother finding a hotel. It wasn't long before they entered Diglett's Cave. The incompetent Team Rocket trio ventured deeper into the cave until they found a suitable place to camp.

As they got out their sleeping bags, Meowth scanned his surroundings and observed the Digletts and Dugtrios wandering along the walls, floor and crevices of the tunnel. He took note of some features such as a stray boulder while thinking of possible places to hide.

"Ooh," Meowth grinned as he rubbed his paws together, "I just got an idea!"

So, what kind of trick does Meowth want to pull up his sleeve? Can Red, Leaf and Gary figure out a way to the Vermilion Gym? Stay tuned!

Feel free to drop a review, because Mewtwo and Leaf could use some emotional support!

Mewtwo and Leaf would also like to see any memes or fanart you can come up with related to this fanfic!