Mewtwo's recovery proceded smoothly, thanks to Kayla and Dragonite's expert hands. Between the two of them, they helped Mewtwo regain his strength within a few days, when normally it would have taken almost two weeks to recover from such a traumatic experience. Mewtwo was amazed at just how knowledgeable she was about pokémon health. Specifically, he was amazed at how much she knew about him. She knew almost as much about his anatomy as he did. It made sense, since she was supposed to capture him, but Mewtwo never knew Giovanni had access to that much information even after destroying the lab where he was created. He was well prepared it seemed. Mewtwo would be sure not to underestimate him.

When Mewtwo was finally at full strength, they made ready for combat. Mewtwo had a rough idea of how long it would take them to make a clone, but he didn't know how large or advanced their facilities were. Kayla agreed that it would be best to destroy the lab (and Giovanni's supply of Mewtwo's blood) quickly, before too many clones were made. Mewtwo made way for Viridian City to acquire information on where the lab would be, while Kayla and her two Super-Dragonites flew to Cerulean City, where she would stock up on supplies before they enter the fight.

When he arrived, it was a simple matter for Mewtwo to scan the minds of the various scientists present without them knowing, but there was a problem. Out of the twenty scientists working to restore the lab below the Viridian City Gym, only the leader knew where the lab was, and he was shielded like Giovanni was earlier. It wasn't too difficult to catch the scientist without alerting anyone else. From his mind he learned the coordinates of the lab, but not the name or appearance of the location. After changing the memories of the scientist so he didn't remember the attack, Mewtwo returned to Kayla's home under the cover of night.

---------------

Kayla's House

8:22 PM

---------------

"So where do we go from here?" said Kayla as she filled up an old backpack of hers with potions and antidotes. "We have a lead, which could be wrong for all we know. Giovanni wouldn't tell his scientists the real location unless he expected them to get there."

"The cloning machine on my island was fully automated for the most part. All you really needed was one person to activate the machine and input any necessary commands, and the machine would do the rest. It may be a trap of some kind, but for the moment it's all we can do."

Mewtwo paced the room slowly, glancing every now and then at the pictures on the tables. Most of them were of a young girl just reaching her teens, along with a middle-aged man. The two were usually in happy poses, giving "V for victory" signs or hugging each other for the camera. Mewtwo picked up one of the pictures, in which the girl was riding the man's shoulders and holding a balloon of an American cartoon character named Mickey Mouse. "Who is this man, Kayla?"

Kayla looked up, and frowned at the sight of the picture. "That's my father, five years ago. We went to America and saw Disneyland to celebrate my entrance into Pokémon Technical via scholarship."

"They asked you to enter?" Mewtwo said with amazement.

"...Yeah. I was a prodigy. My first pokémon actually came to me. Almost like fate."

"What do you mean?"

Kayla looked off into space as she remembered her past. "I was out playing one day, wandering through the forests between Cerulean City and Pewter City. I went deep into the forest, against my father's wishes. I found a hidden well that led deep into the ground to an underwater cave. Inside, I found a nest with a very large egg in it. Being a little girl, I couldn't help but touch it, even though I knew it was unsafe. Of course, it was guarded...by an old Dratini."

"Dratini..."

"For ten years, we were partners. Under my training she became a Dragonite rather quickly, since we took all the hard battles, and never gave up. We trained harder than anyone we knew. I could sense what a pokémon was thinking. I knew what they would do before they did it, and I knew just what was wrong with my pokémon when they weren't doing well. Thanks to that talent, Dratini and I had a perfect record. I was the best in Pokémon Technical for all age groups."

"Perhaps you're psychic." Mewtwo said. "It's not unheard of. Many trainers have some level of empathy with pokémon. Besides, you are a very skilled trainer."

"I suppose. At any rate, we were a perfect team. One day though...she ran away from me during the night. I searched everywhere for her, with the help of several other trainers at the school. After several days, when we were just about to give up, we found her in a make-shift nest. She was..." Kayla seemed unable to continue as the weight of memories long buried began to surface again.

"...I'm sorry. I know how it feels to lose a loved one...even if I don't look like the kind to have loved ones."

Kayla smiled as she tried to retain her composure. "It's okay. She had a long life. And besides, she didn't leave me completely alone..." Kayla pulled out two pokéballs from her pocket. "She left me an egg."

Mewtwo sat down on the floor opposite her. "That's why you feel so attached to them. You've been with them their whole lives."

Kayla nodded slowly. "We have a bond. Even though I'm obviously human, they consider me their mother, and I consider them my daughters...my little girls. We'd do anything for each other. They're strong like their mother..."

"...They're strong like their trainer. Even if they weren't super-pokémon, they have heart like you. Nothing can stop a pokémon if they have a trainer who would do anything for them." Mewtwo stood up. "You should get some sleep. Tomorrow, the fight will start."

"Not yet." said Kayla as she resumed her packing. "Tell me a story while I finish packing."

"A story?" Mewtwo answered with mild surprise. "I'm not much of a storyteller...or a talker for that matter."

"Please?" said Kayla with big, sad eyes. Mewtwo struggled against the raw, unstoppable power of the puppy-dog eyes, but eventually he was forced to submit.

"...Fine. What kind of story?"

"Tell me about what happened to Sara and Mew after the little girl died."

Mewtwo looked at her with a hint of anger. "...How do you know about them."

"I asked your Dragonite a question, and he showed them to me."

Mewtwo frowned, but didn't ask about what she was asking him, and instead started talking. "Sara and Mew learned to live life after Joy's death. Although it was tough at first, they learned to rely on each other's strength. They continued where they had left off- Sara continued watching and studying pokémon, while Mew helped her and protected her, without using his powers. Between the two of them, they were able to catalogue fifty new pokémon by themselves. Sara became a famous part of the scientific community with her knowledge of pokémon behavior and lifestyle."

Kayla listened intently, while Mewtwo started to pace some.

"Nobody knew about Mew. Sara was careful to keep him a secret, for a simple reason- fear. She knew that many money-hungry businessmen were looking to use pokémon for some new sport in which they fought each other for their human trainers. If word ever got out about Mew, Sara knew that a lot of pokémon and people could get hurt. She knew Mew wasn't malicious, but the little guy had more power than he knew what to do with. Besides, he hated fighting anyone unless it was in defense of a friend."

"'He' hated? Aren't you guys-"

"Are you going to listen or not?" said Mewtwo angrily. Kayla silenced, and Mewtwo lay down on the couch he would be sleeping on. "One day, when Sara had reached the ripe old age of ninety-five, she had a long talk with Mew. She knew her time was coming soon, and thus she wanted him to leave human lands. Once she was gone, she could no longer hide him from the outside world, and he might get caught or taken by someone- something she definitely didn't want to happen. Needless to say, Mew was uncooperative. He refused to leave, even when she tried threatening him with a broomstick. Mew had grown far too attached to her. Sara was truly touched by Mew's devotion, and in the end she realized she didn't want him to leave anyway. She wanted him to be with her until the day she died. Mew indeed was there until that fateful day...when she went to sleep, and didn't wake up the next morning."

"Mew knew she was old, and understood that humans someday had to die like pokémon did... but that didn't mean he liked it. He felt alone...lost. Keeping in mind her wishes, Mew freed all the pokémon she had kept in her pens. When that was done, he made one last good-bye to his home and flew as far and as fast as he could- all the while crying as he cursed the world for being so mean."

"...Mewtwo."

"After flying all day and night, the weary and depressed Mew found himself in a strange jungle. It was hot and balmy, with no signs of civilization in sight. Pokémon could be seen all over the place. The beauty of this surreal landscape was so awe-inspiring, that Mew wondered if somehow he had gone to Heaven and not even realized it. In any case, Mew decided that this was as good a place as any to hide from the world and live out the rest of his days. Many decades later...a team of scientists would come. They would come across a place deep in the South American jungles. In this place, pictures of the pokémon abounded, along with odd depictions of human-looking beings in various activities. The scientists would conclude that this was the site of worship of some ancient pokémon that no longer existed, or so they guessed."

"Nobody would ever learn the truth behind Mew's past, and his time with a girl named Joy, and a mother named Sara. From them, Mew learned all there was to know about love and happiness, as well as sadness and death. For the happy little pokémon, meeting humans was both the greatest and worst thing to happen to him."

Kayla pulled her knees closer to her and leaned her chin on them. "So is that why you stay away from humans? Why you don't help humans like other pokémon do?"

"...It was the reason I started that way. Those feelings would have gone away eventually, if it weren't for Giovanni. He taught me to hate humans with a passion."

"But what about Mew? You have his memories...how could you have learned to hate humans so easily?"

Mewtwo closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Mew's memories have come to me in flashes. In the very beginning, all I could see of my past were glimpses of a pool...lots of water. Possibly the place of my birth. I knew nothing of my past, except that I had been alive before."

Kayla looked at him sadly. "Then all you've known in this life is what Giovanni has forced upon you? All this pain...all the hiding?"

Mewtwo nodded, already half asleep. "Recently, the flashes have been getting stronger- ever since my battle on New Island, when another Mew showed me the truth about humans and pokémon. I've slowly been remembering my past, but so far the only things I remember... are with Joy and Sara. They're the only family I've ever known."

"...You don't know where you're from? Who your real family was?"

Mewtwo yawned and rolled over on the couch methodically. "...No."

Kayla looked over at the picture of her father and her that Mewtwo was looking at earlier. "I hope that someday...you find your past. Don't you?...Mewtwo?" Kayla looked to see the pokémon already sleeping soundly. Kayla smiled and decided to go to sleep herself. She stood up and walked to her room, saying over her shoulder "Good night Mewtwo."

"...*mew*."

****

Mewtwo scanned the horizon ahead, while Kayla followed on the back of one of her Dragonites. Up ahead, Mewtwo could just make out an island with a large facility built on it. There was no dock or beach, but there was a helicopter-landing platform within the facility.

"There's the lab." said Mewtwo matter-of-factly. With a burst of speed, he reached the island in seconds, with Kayla close behind. When they landed on the island, they were surprised to find that much of it was in ruins. Smoke arose from the various buildings as fires started dying down. Not a single sign of life could be found.

"Looks like someone stopped the army for us." Kayla said quietly.

"Let's start looking around." said Mewtwo. The two split up and checked around the various facilities, looking for the main lab. After much searching, it was obvious that a great battle took place here, with plenty of scorch marks from energy attacks. Neither of them found any survivors, but Kayla managed to find the command facility. When they regrouped there, they searched the main computer. Kayla punched some commands, and the view screen displayed some data concerning the cloning machine's current status.

"It looks like the cloning machine was destroyed in the fight." said Kayla as she punched up some new data on the screen. "All that's left is the computer."

Mewtwo looked at the data intently. "According to this, only one super-pokémon was made during the test run, and apparently the machine wasn't used after that. That pokémon must have destroyed the lab. Guess all of us have a bit of a control problem."

"This data says that your blood and the pokémon's DNA were spliced with several experimental Power-ups to increase the strength of the super-clone. Unfortunately, this also gave the clone a much meaner disposition. A dog with rabies is probably nicer than this thing."

Mewtwo frowned. "Good old Giovanni. Always trying to make the ultimate weapon, while ignoring the dangers that come with it. What pokémon was cloned before it destroyed the lab?"

Kayla punched in a few more commands, which brought up a new screen depicting a pokémon and some statistical data. "It's a Ditto!"

Mewtwo frowned. "...That means this is basically a super-pokémon of all types."

"Ditto's are only good if they know what they're transforming into, so normally they aren't too dangerous. However..."

"A Super-Ditto will have higher intelligence, and thus have the skills necessary to transform into any pokémon with ease...or any-thing with ease. Hmm...Giovanni probably planned this, but he wasn't prepared for the level of this thing's intelligence or power I bet."

Kayla looked at the data once more, and highlighted a specific section on the screen. "The Super-Ditto has a flaw in its design."

"What flaw?" asked Mewtwo.

"Like the normal Ditto, it possesses low energy when compared to other pokémon. So even though it can use the powers of any pokémon it transforms into, they run out of energy quickly."

Mewtwo nodded slowly. "Then we have a chance. If we can make it waste its energy...we have to find it as soon as possible. If this clone is as temperamental as you say, then the first sign of a city could set it off."

"Alright. We'd better destroy the rest of this lab first." Kayla suggested.

"I agree." Mewtwo exited the lab and floated into the air, while Kayla did the same on the back of Ashley. Kayla watched as Mewtwo gathered his energy into a giant bubble of energy over his head, which crackled with blue and black lightning. Mewtwo guided the bubble to the island below, and watched as the energy ball exploded on contact with the earth. The island itself was scorched beyond recognition, and for a moment they were all deafened by the sheer intensity of the explosion.

My god… Kayla thought as Mewtwo flew towards the closest city, with her following on Ashley. If Mewtwo is that strong…how strong will this Super-Ditto be…especially when it can turn into him and still have the mind of a mad dog?

Meanwhile, Mewtwo's own thoughts spun through his mind. Ever since my memories have started coming back…I've hated the idea of killing. But now…can I do it? Can I protect Kayla and still fight this thing? Can I kill something that is like my brother?

Imperceptibly, Mewtwo whispered a heart-felt prayer. "Whoever lives up there in Heaven, I don't know if you listen to pokémon, but if you do…please help me protect the humans…especially Kayla. Keep them safe from harm."

Amen…