May 22

The lab was unusually warm and possessed little to no natural light, giving the island facility the feel of an underground lair of sorts. I watched the tiny figure as it drifted about in its tube chamber. White fur covered most parts of its feline-like body with the exception of its stomach and long tail which were a deep shade of purple. This was it… the first successful prototype - an enhanced clone of one of the most powerful Pokémon in the world. This was Mewtwo.

"Madame Boss, I apologise for the delay, I had no idea you were here."

I spun to greet the project's head scientist, Dr. Fuji and he gave me a respectful bow of the head.

"John, please it's just Delia. Giovanni hates it when people call me Madame Boss. It reminds him of his mother."

"Ah," said the scientist in reply, pushing his glasses up the rim of his large, beak of a nose. "And you're here on behalf of Giovanni to see the prototype?"

"Yes," I nodded with a light chuckle. "It was at my own insistence. Please don't let my presence disturb your work. Giovanni is caught up in meetings with his investors on Cinnabar Island. He should be here by later this evening. He is very excited about this prospective success."

The scientist's smile was faint. "Yes, this one holds a lot of promise."

I still didn't know what to think of it… and even as I watched it in its chamber, it didn't look all that dangerous. It wasn't exactly the abomination I was expecting. I guess that was a good thing.

"It looks so small," I said.

"It is only a baby," replied the scientist, taking a moment to check a chart by the creature's tank. "Once it finished its gestation phase, we had it moved into this chamber where we will expect it to eventually more than double in size."

"How long will that take?"

"We're not sure… years perhaps for it to fully mature. We wanted to develop it at a natural rate before we introduced growth accelerants into the next batch."

"Next batch? You mean Giovanni is planning more than one?"

"Oh yes. As I said, this is just the prototype."

I found myself taken aback at his utterance and I couldn't help but step back and take in the remainder of the lab. Behind me one of Fuji's assistants was busily cleaning out the middle of three other chambers no different from the one that contained the Mew clone. On a table beside these sat three Pokémon that I soon realised were dead – namely a Charmander, a Bulbasaur and a Squirtle.

A hand inadvertently went to my mouth and I suddenly had to fight myself from being sick. "Please tell me they didn't suffer."

Fuji spun to take the three dead Pokémon into his sight and he frowned "They never had the chance to wake up in order to suffer."

I had to look away at the horrible waste of life. My eyes soon fell on a brilliant glow of red energy that found itself contained in a clear cylinder. Like the northern lights in the Polar Regions the aurora gently drifted about in its glass prison, the colours of reds, oranges and yellows shifting and changing in a slow dance. And in that moment I found myself utterly captivated.

"I call her Amber," the Dr. filled.

"It's…beautiful…" I breathed.

"Yes," he agreed lining up beside me to watch the fascinating phenomenon.

"What is it?" I asked after a moment of silence.

But he chose to say nothing.

I tilted my head and in response the aurora seemed to move, and in that moment I could have sworn it was alive.

But it was beginning to fade…

"Dr. we're… losing her too…" I was barely aware of the female voice behind us and the light alarm sounding from a computer that monitored the phenomena.

As if to call it back, the head scientist placed a hand up on the cylinder. "Amber…"

Then spinning on his feet, he bounded over to the computer that his assistant watched. The aurora was all but gone now… nothing more than a wisp of smoke. In imitation of Dr. Fuji, I placed my hand up on the glass, feeling its coldness beneath my fingertips. The wisp seemed to be searching for something. It found my hand, and what was once cold glass soon became hot to touch.

I yelped and immediately pulled my hand away from the hot surface only to find that the wisp was gone. My fingers were tingling and when I glimpsed my hand, for a split second I saw the same aurora from the tube under my skin. I jumped back with a gasp but when I blinked the sensation was gone.

"Doctor…" I started but just then beside me the chamber that housed the baby Mewtwo seemed to come alive with activity. As though the sleeping Pokémon was making a weak attempt at an attack of sorts, it released green ripples of energy from its body.

"Doctor!" Fuji's female assistant sounded the alarm, pointing frantically at a display that showed what looked to be the brainwaves of the mutant Pokémon. These now screamed in red as a loud alarm began to blare. "Mewtwo's brainwaves are out of control!"

"It's getting too upset!" Fuji yelled in reply. "It mustn't remember this! Administer the serum. Do it immediately!"

I had no idea what was going on. I felt the urge to move away… but I couldn't… it was like a power not of my own held me in my place in front of the clone. Its waves were getting stronger now… a strange energy emanated from it, causing every hair on my body to stand on end.

"I'll try a hundred units!"

The woman scientist barely had the chance to act before a wave of energy erupted from the container so great that it knocked me right off my feet. I hit the ground on my backside, dazed and mortified.

Reeeoooreeeoo! An alarm sounded.

"Ten… twenty… thirty…forty… fifty…sixty…seventy…eighty…ninety…"

"What's happening? Is it working?"

The alarm settled and the energy dissipated. Mewtwo's brain activity slumped and everyone in the lab could breathe a sigh of relief.

Fuji's assistant sat back in her chair. "Its brainwaves are going back to normal. Everything seems ok Dr."

Scientists crowded around me in attempt to pull to my feet, asking me questions of my wellbeing. I'd landed with a jolt and so fears very soon turned toward my baby.

"Clear the table. Grab the medic," someone ordered. Others grabbed me by the arms and pulled me along.

Too dazed from the experience, all I could concentrate on was Fuji who slouched against the chamber that once housed his brilliant aurora. "Nothing is ok. My Amber is gone forever. Only Mewtwo survives."

"Madame? Madame?!" I became aware of a figure that hovered over me and forced me to sit up on a cold, metal bench.

I felt wetness on my thighs and that was when I noticed the damp stain on my skirt. My heart raced to a screaming halt and I instantly paled.

"Oh no. Oh no!" My hands went to my stomach, searching it for signs of movement that would tell me it was alright. "My baby! I… I can't feel him moving!"

I suddenly found myself fighting tooth and claw against Fuji's people was attempted to restrain me.

"Please! You need to be calm. The medic is on his way."

This couldn't happen! Not now! What had Giovanni's clone abomination done to my baby?!

A new face appeared in the gaggle, his expression solid and stern as he examined me with a stethoscope to my stomach. "How far along are you?"

"I… I…" I panicked. "days… he is due any day now. Please! Can you hear something? Anything?"

He nodded. "I can hear a heartbeat. It's fast though, meaning it's stressed. It looks as though your fall caused your waters to rupture. For the safety of the child, we're going to have to induce labour."

All around me conversations ensued and the panicked looks on people's faced blurred into one big mess.

"My office is too small, we're going to have to do it here in the lab."

"Is here adequate, doctor?"

"Giovanni!" My loud wail sounded out over the chaos. "Please! I need him!"

"We've contacted him, Delia. He is on his way."

Like someone had gone and stabbed a burning hot knife into my gut I felt the first of many contraptions suddenly roll through me. Coming on like a burning fire in my gut, I keeled over on the bench, unsure as to whether I wanted to throw up or scream.

"Oh! Entei! Raikou! Suicune!" I yowled through my contraption as though uttering the names of legendaries would somehow alleviate the awful sensation.

Then it dissipated.

I heaved a ragged breath… my body flopping back onto the table. I allowed Fuji's scientists to attach me to a drip, strip me of my skirt and throw a sheet over my legs. Monitors and lab equipment were hooked up to me everywhere they could find a spot and I started to feel like another lab experiment.

"It's going to be alright, Delia." The stern face that belonged to the chief medic crumbled into a nervous smile of reassurance. "Just do exactly what I tell you to do and it will all be fine."

"How is she?"

"Tired but alive. She needs rest."

"And the child?"

"You have a healthy baby boy."

I heaved a moan, my eyes slowly sliding open in the bleary lighting of the lab. Every single part of me either ached or was numb. My back felt stiff and sore from lying on a metal table for so long, but as my mind came back around, I also became aware of the fact that I'd been cleaned up and my clothes had been replaced by a large lab coat.

Labour had come on quickly and unexpectedly. It took three hours from my first contraption up until the time of giving birth – my body barely had that chance to get ready for it. So needless to say, I was physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted.

Two faces appeared over my head and I smiled as I looked into the eyes of my husband and the medic. "Where is he?" I felt like I was high…

"He is resting," Giovanni answered. "Which is what you should be doing."

I reached up a hand and he grabbed it in his own before leaning down and kissing me gently on the forehead. He helped me pull myself into a sitting position as the medic carefully grabbed the little bundle from a supply basket that also acted as a cot. He beamed at me as he placed the beautiful little boy into my waiting arms. "That was my first delivery."

And I could only chuckle back at him. "And that was my first birth."

I stared down at the tiny baby that slept so soundly in my arms. He was so small...so delicate. A mop of black hair covered his head and tiny fingers curled up into fists. He was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. My beautiful, wonderful miracle.

At that point, the medic decided to leave us alone and once he was gone, Giovanni pulled up a stool and placed himself down next to me. He gently he ran a hand across my baby's head so small in comparison. This was his son… our son.

"Have you thought of a name?" His question caught me by surprise.

I gave him a bewildered smirk "Are you sure you want to trust me with that responsibility?"

"It's only fair, you did just give birth to him." He paused. "That and I am utterly hopeless with names. Naming my first child was enough."

"How about Ashton Joseph?" I asked. "Joseph after your brother."

"That is a good name." He indicated his approval with a nod and a gentle smile. "Ash; like the colour of his hair."

"I don't know where he gets that from. Not from my side," I mused.

"My mother," Giovanni smirked. "She had hair that colour."

We both watched the tiny bundle in my arms that slept so peacefully. Soon it would be time to feed him. It felt so… surreal. Together, we'd created life.

"Would you like to hold him?"

Giovanni seemed so hesitant and I had to smile as the hardened Crime Lord carefully took Ash into his arms, holding him with the care of a priceless artefact.

"Welcome to the world, Ash," he whispered.