(Deep in Mewtwo's memories...)
Joy went into her mother's study and looked for the pokemon she had found. After a quick search, she found the creature inside the small crib her mother placed the smaller pokemon in before letting them roam in her storage pens. Joy stood on the tip of her toes to look inside the crib. Laying there peacefully was the little pink 'Mew' that had saved her life before, sleeping quietly as it regained its energy. As Joy watched him sleep, the little pokemon yawned and opened his eyes. He looked up at her and mewed happily when he saw her.
"Did you sleep well?" the little girl asked. Mew nodded his head and floated out of the crib. Joy stared in awe at the little creature, and giggled when it crawled into her arms and purred happily. "Let's go outside. I'll introduce you to all the other pokemon." she said. Joy took Mew outside through the back door of their home.
The home was very simplistic. It was made of logs and stone moved into the forest from the town a few miles down the road. Joy's mother helped a local professor try to catalogue and study all the pokemon they found in this region, so if she wanted to study them in their natural habitat, she had to get away from the town. With only 40 pokemon documented, and so many more to go, her mother hoped the pokemon she had managed to coax into her pens would add to the growing number of pokemon they knew about.
Joy reached up and opened the latch on the gate for the pens. She went in and closed the gate behind her, and proceeded down the hill their house rested on to the grazing areas of the pokemon. Joy approached a lone Ponyta, who was eating peacefully next to the small watering hole in the pens.
"This is Ponyta." said Joy. Mew looked at Ponyta and mewed happily to the pokemon. "Ponyta, this is Mew. He's going to live with us!" Ponyta neighed down at the new pokemon, and let Joy rub her flank while she returned to her grass.
Mew felt like moving now, so he flew out of Joy's hands and let her lead the way to the other pokemon living here. Joy hopped along, introducing Mew to Pidgey, Butterfree, Oddish, Bulbasaur, and Nidoran. Mew greeted them each with a mew and a feline rub, to which most of them responded with an equal amount of friendliness. While Joy and Mew were playing around with the Nidoran, Joy's mother walked over and playfully ran over and tickled Joy, resulting in laughter from both of them.
When Joy had leaped upon her mother, she conceded defeat. "Okay, I give up." she said. Joy giggled and got off her, letting her sit up. Joy sat next to her, and Mew flew around them playfully.
"So did you see any new pokemon today Mommy?" asked Joy.
"Nope, not today, but when I went to town for groceries I got something very interesting from Professor Sumac."
"Ooh, what'd you get!" said Joy. Her mother pulled out a small bag, reached in, and pulled out a strange, round object that looked like a metal ball about an inch wide. It was red and white, and had a little button on it. Joy looked at it curiously, but chose not to touch it since she wasn't sure what it was. "What is it Mommy?"
"It's called a 'pokeball'." she answered. She pressed the button on it, and the device expanded to become about as big as a baseball. Joy gasped, and her mother smiled at her amazement. "It's supposed to be able to hold a pokemon inside it."
"...Wooow." Her mother offered the pokeball to her, which she took cautiously into her hands. She looked at it intently, but soon she showed her confusion. "But Mommy, why would they put a pokemon in here when they can fly and walk and stuff?"
"Sometimes pokemon don't want to walk. They get tired like you and me, so if they want they can go inside these." she replied. "But it also is supposed to make catching them easier."
"Oooh..." said Joy. She held it out to Mew, who sniffed it curiously. He recoiled somewhat, but slowly he approached it again and touched it with the tip of his nose. Suddenly, the ball opened and emitted a red light, which engulfed Mew and made him disappear. Joy screamed and dropped the ball as it made noises and vibrated. She looked around frantically for Mew, thinking she may have hurt him accidently with the ball.
Her mother calmed her down. "Don't worry Joy. Your little friend is just in the ball. Watch, he'll come back out." Joy and her mother watched the ball shake around, before it opened up and revealed Mew in a flash of red light. Mew shook his body as if it were cold, then squeaked when it saw the ball on the ground. It dashed over to Joy and hid behind her, while Joy's mother picked up the ball.
Joy held Mew tightly and rubbed his fur. "Are all pokemon going to be scared like that?"
Her mother shook her head. "Once they get used to it, I'm sure they'll be fine. They can get out any time they want unless they're very tired or hurt, so they shouldn't feel too claustrophobic or anything."
Joy seemed to understand. She returned her attention to Mew, whom had calmed down from the shock of its first time in a pokeball. Joy rubbed noses with Mew, and held him up before her. "Don't worry Mew. You don't have to go in those thingees if you don't want. You can fly around with me forever!" Mew purred happily and he playfully made a bubble appear over them and pop, bringing some more giggles from them both.
****
Giovanni looked at the gigantic viewscreen in his lab. Displayed for everyone in the lab to see was a large radar layout for the surrounding city, plus various other sensory data. Giovanni paced quietly behind a team of communication officers at computer terminals before the viewscreen, each with headsets on. Quietly, Giovanni rubbed his Persian's head as he sternly read the data on the screen. Suddenly, a green blip appeared and started steadily moving closer to the center of the radar.
"Is that him?" Giovanni asked in a quiet voice.
"Yes, sir. He's fifty miles away and closing." said one man.
"ETA, five minutes." said a woman.
Giovanni turned to another officer. "Order the gym security to maximum and secure the laboratory. Make sure the containment area is prepared."
"Yes, sir." answered everyone. Giovanni nodded and they buzzed into action. While they prepared for Mewtwo's arrival, Giovanni went to the lab elevator and moved up to the main gym.
"Yes...my creation has finally come home. And this time...he'll be house broken."
****
Mewtwo zoomed over the mountain range- the landform that reminded him of his first home...back when he was still Ancient Mew. Before he died...so long ago. Before a precious part of him was found and used by Giovanni as an instrument of war. Before he became a freak of nature like he was now.
Mewtwo felt anger build up in his chest, and his psychic powers responded accordingly. His blue aura made a slight burst, as if gasoline had been poored on the fire within him, and he zoomed straight at a familiar prison from his past...Giovanni's gym.
"Giovanni!!" yelled Mewtwo as he slammed through the roof of the sturdy building. Rubble fell around him as he landed in the center of the gym. He stood straight, showing off his power by letting his psychic energy hum around him. Mewtwo growled as he sensed the approach of several enemies from all directions.
"Freeze!" shouted a man dressed in a black uniform with the Team Rocket emblem on it. He, along with eleven other men, held wicked-looking semi-automatic rifles pointed straight at Mewtwo. Behind them, a well-dressed man followed by a Persian calmly and confidently strolled up behind them.
"...There you are." growled Mewtwo as he stared directly at Giovanni through glowing blue eyes. "You know why I'm here. Give my friends back."
Giovanni chuckled. "Your 'friends'? Ha! As if you could ever have friends. Heh heh. The pokemon you refer to are hidden at one of my safehouses. If they don't hear a call from me in ten minutes, your 'friends' will be destroyed."
Mewtwo's anger grew, causing the ground to reverberate like an impending earthquake from his growing psychic energy. "You have one last chance to escape alive Giovanni. I'm not interested in hurting any of you humans, but if you don't return the other Super-pokemon to me, I'll tear this place apart ...and anything that gets in my way will get the same treatment."
Giovanni smiled. "While you may think that you can fight these men, even you can't stop more than a hundred bullets charging at you almost simultaneously." Mewtwo didn't answer, which only confirmed Giovanni's statement in his way of thinking. "The instant I say so, they will spray you full of lead."
Mewtwo wasn't entirely sure if he could or couldn't dodge all of those bullets, but at the moment he was more concerned about finding his friends. For the moment, letting Giovanni talk while he probed his mind for the location of his friends was his best plan of action
...nothing. Mewtwo sensed nothing...just a strange emptiness. Just like that girl...
Mewtwo looked at Giovanni, trying to find the reason behind his power being blocked. On his person, Mewtwo saw something he didn't recall on Giovanni in their prior encounters...a small medallion with an odd design.
{Damn...there must be something in there blocking my mind reading powers. He must have planned for this situation. That's not good...}
Giovanni watched Mewtwo carefully for any quick movements, while his Persian companion growled menacingly at the other opponent. "You have two choices, pokemon. You can fight until your eventual destruction...or you can surrender peacefully to me and my scientists."
Mewtwo twitched at the mention of 'scientists'. The idea of going back to being nothing more than a specimen for some madman's experiments was something that he couldn't bear. But with no way to read his mind, and no idea where the super-pokemon are being kept, Mewtwo was backed into a corner...
"What's your answer?" said Giovanni.
{Well...I guess this is it.} Mewtwo cut off his psychic power, and the blue flame surrounding him snapped off. The men slowly lowered their guns, but they remained ready for action in case Mewtwo tried something.
"Alright Giovanni...I'll be your guinea pig again. But only if you let the other pokemon return to my island, safe and sound." Giovanni paused in thought, and weighed the issue carefully in his head.
{What is he after...something isn't right here.}
Finally, Giovanni nodded. "Very well. As long as you remain here, your "children" will remain safe. I give you my word."
"Your word means nothing to me, but if you even look at them again I'll destroy you and everything with your name on it." said Mewtwo angrily.
Giovanni rolled a simple pokeball out, which rolled to a halt in front of Mewtwo. The pokemon looked down at it, and felt a sickening feeling in his stomach at the sight of that...that cage.
"Get in the ball." ordered Giovanni. Mewtwo gave him an angry glare, but he managed to contain his anger. No matter how repulsive this man was to him...he was the key to keeping his friends alive.
Mewtwo reached out his trembling tail, and touched the pokeball. The ball opened, and Mewtwo closed his eyes as he was surrounded by the red light that drew him into the device. As the pokeball closed around him, he felt something that he had vowed never to feel again...he felt trapped.
****
Giovanni walked down the hallway to the secret laboratory, quietly chuckling at his success. It had taken a full year of planning and financing, but now, it looked like Mewtwo was ready to be tamed...and ready to make Giovanni the most powerful man in the world.
"Sir." said a feminine voice. Giovanni turned around to see Kayla standing at attention.
"Yes young lady, what is it?" replied the man. Giovanni continued to walk down the hall, and Kayla fell in step next to him.
"Sir...congratulations on apprehending Mewtwo." she said.
"It would be a lie to say I captured him alone. You are the one who got us the bargaining chips. You will be well payed for that."
Kayla stepped in front of him. "Well...then you can give my girls the shot you promised them." Her eyes betrayed a deep worry in her...something Giovanni didn't expect from the cold, calculating agent he saw in her before.
"Your pokemon will get the shot once it is ready." answered Giovanni. "Now that we have Mewtwo, the chemical can be extracted and studied, but it still will take some time, and your payment is low on my list of priorities."
Kayla blocked Giovanni from continuing. "But sir...Ashley and Mary Kate aren't doing well. They've started having difficulty breathing...and I think their hearts are starting to fail. If they don't get the serum fast, they could-"
"Silence!" ordered Giovanni. Instantly, Kayla stopped talking, and she struggled to keep her anger hidden. "As an agent of Team Rocket, you will obey my orders. Is that clear?"
"...yes, sir." she answered.
"Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have business to attend to." Giovanni sidestepped Kayla and continued down the hallway into the laboratory. Kayla remained where she was, unable to move.
{...My girls...I won't let you die. I'll get that serum...even if it's the last thing I do.}
****
Mewtwo felt an overwhelming sense of deja vu. The containment chamber they had prepared for him was outfitted with an armor-like suit that surrounded his body. It was connected to hundreds of little computers and machines, which served to divert and reduce his special powers to practically nothing. Added to this, the suit served as a straightjacket as well. It was reinforced metal that weighed a lot more than it should have, making it seem like a very small coffin to him. Combined with the thick chains that held the suit to the giant chair he was in, it would take a few bulldozers to free him.
For the first few hours, the scientists did nothing but make sure he was secured. While Mewtwo watched the viewscreen that showed his fellow super-pokemon returning home, they worked feverishly on his restraints. Obviously they were familiar with his destructive actions at the lab where he was created, and this time they were taking no chances. They double-checked the computers, the suit, the chains over the suit, and the security around the lab in case someone tried to break in to help him (as unlikely as that was). Then, the scientists started their tests. They used electromagnetic scanners to read his mental output, his physiological state, and his general health. They seemed very impressed, but they weren't going to stop there.
"Impressive containment system, isn't it?" said Giovanni as he stepped into Mewtwo's line of vision. Mewtwo payed him no heed. "I'm glad you agree. Even with your vaunted mental powers, you won't be able to escape even if you wanted to."
Mewtwo looked down at him from his prison. "What is it you want with me, Giovanni. I've realized what it is that's been bugging me about your whole plan. That girl and her dragonites...they were super-clones."
"Yes, that's true." confirmed Giovanni. "They were powerful...but barely a percent lower than your power level individually."
"If you're capable of creating more super-clones, why do you need me? Those two dragonites are strong enough to satisfy even your selfish desire for power."
Giovanni nodded. "Yes, yes indeed. They are powerful-almost your superiors- but they have one important flaw...just like the other super-pokemon I've created."
"And what flaw is that?" asked Mewtwo.
"They won't last long."
Mewtwo looked at him intently. "...Their DNA is unstable."
Giovanni smiled. "Exactly. The cloning process used to create the super-pokemon required many years of testing. In the end, we had only one last obstacle. Any cloned pokemon we created would live for a short time before dying from cellular degeneration- literally disintegrating from the inside out."
Mewtwo remembered all too clearly what he meant. Before him, there were hundreds of Mew clones...all of whom had died horribly from heart failure, brain loss, and a dozen other ailments that occured because of this degeneration. After all the horrible genetic experiments they performed to try and find a way to stop it, he had been the end result.
Giovanni continued. "In the end, we were ready to give up...until you were born. The scientists were amazed to find that out of all the other Mew clones, your DNA had mutated in response to the degeneration. In essence...your body fixed its own DNA."
{...I forced myself to stay alive.}
"Even to this day, we have no idea how to duplicate it. Apparently, there is only one way to "duplicate" it."
Mewtwo finished the sentence. "...my blood."
"Correct again. That is how you created your super-clones isn't it? Hmm...it must have been easier then. You only needed one blood cell, then they could grow on their own. Yes...trying to do the same to a clone already grown would require a lot more blood."
"...What about those two super-dragonites?"
Giovanni chuckled. "Those two are indeed very powerful. They were cloned from twin Dragonites that were born from that girl's original partner pokemon. They would have died from birth had they not been cloned by our scientists. Within this lab, we created them and trained them to fight you and your 'friends'."
"...But how did they survive? Without my blood, they would be dead in minutes."
"We have used Ditto fluid to create a temporary substitute." answered Giovanni. "It has kept them alive for a year now, but their bodies are beginning to reject the fluid."
"...Which I'm sure you regret." said Mewtwo, knowing how evil Giovanni could be.
"A minor loss. They and their master are useful, but replaceable."
{...monster.}
A scientist came up to Giovanni. "Sir, we're ready for the extraction."
"Very good. Well, Mewtwo, it has been nice chatting with you, but now it's time for you to give back what is rightfully mine...your blood."
{...I have to get out of here. If I let him have my blood, nothing will stop him from creating an army of clones that'll conquer the Earth. The question is...how.}