Mewtwo and the Mysteries of Life

Chapter 8: A Kangaskhan Rescue (Part 2 of 2)

"Hmm, let's just test that, shall we?" Gina said, starting the battle with a snap of her fingers, sending Scyther forward as it disappeared. A second later, Scyther materialized right beside Nari as she only froze and looked up in time to feel one of its arms thwack into her side, causing her to fly into the tree with a squeak. "I don't remember you being the brave type."

"No!" I called in shock, letting the tiny baby Kanga slide down in haste as she then let go of me and watched as I rushed over to where Nari had crashed. Watching her come to in relief when she sensed my hand touch her, I paused as I saw the expression on Nari's face change from panic to rage as she stood up, shook off the brunt blow, and faced Scyther, again, instead. Watching the way both of them growled at each other, it made me guess that she knew this opponent from before all too well. Seeing it start to move, though, I froze as Nari's tail started to quiver in anticipation as Gina then laughed in spite. 'Ee … Vee?'

"See? No response? Some confidence. Alright, Brick Break!" Gina commanded, sneering as Scyther disappeared at her signal, again, reappearing right behind us as Nari shouted at me at the same moment, "Ee-vey!" We both watched the way Scyther charged at us, raising its glowing white scythes high as Nari then made a decision and leapt defensively in front of me, concentrating her energy. Trying to use Reflect, the wall of light appeared in front of us right as the chop of Scyther's hit shattered it with a burst of echo that ricocheted Nari right into my arms, the both of us landing on the ground. "Ooh, I remember that move. Come on, twerp, where's that vigor you showed just a moment ago about not backing down?" Gina parried, laughing, but not for long as a charged-up thunder shock interrupted her, making her look up from an electrified stone that got ricocheted off the ground and alit with char.

"She's not, and neither are we," Kimi said, Zap already charged up and ready to fight with a solid, "Pika!" Seeing the little Kangaskhan agree, Kimi picked up the little Kanga to keep her from wandering too far as she only said, "You have us to deal with us, too! Zap, give us some cover and knock it back with Quick Attack!"

"Pi-Ka!" Zap shouted, tuning into his specialty instantly as he zigged and zagged all around where Scyther was hovering and waiting in the path, disappearing and re-appearing with the same and sudden knack of speed from its first attack.

Meanwhile, coming over to me with the baby in one arm, Kimi hurried over to pull me up with the other hand. "You alright?" She asked, seeing the way Nari was still warily watching the action. Seeing that I was alright, though, Nari followed suit at Zap's summons for help and started to run with her own action of Quick Attack as the two of them took turns running up the field, distracting Scyther enough for us to talk. "You froze."

"I … I know," I said, only watching Nari as she then let Zap leap off her back and into the air to slam into Scyther, knocking it into a tree, getting it really steamed.

"Zap, try to stun him with Thunder Shock!" Kimi called out, Zap replying with an agreeable trill, "Pika-chuuu!" Trying to stop Scyther from coming any closer to, Zap released a small barrage of electric charges to show that he meant business. Seeing that Zap was quickly weakening, Nari could only watch hesitantly as she looked back at me for a command, wanting to help. "We all get scared. Sometimes, though, you just have to fight back. At least, that's what I've heard Uncle Koga say a lot. Look at Nari for a second. She may have gotten hurt, but she shook it off to protect you, just like you do for her."

"Ee-vey! Eee-VEYY!" Nari trilled, encouraging me and revealing only a few bruises as she positioned herself and faced it again, hiding only a soft whimper and not giving up. 'Nari?' I whispered inside, her head only turning back towards me for only a moment as she heard it coming, again, this time from the right and right past Zap as it pushed him aside in irk, Zap sliding across the grass. We only had a few seconds.

'What are you going to do?' I heard someone else ask, not her, as I took Kimi's advice in and remembered our training from that morning with Koga about how important it was to push back against your opponent.
'You have to work hard if you ever want to combat any major challenge that may be right in front of you. Set your sights where you can see them. Go higher to do what you must do. Plan your next move with clarity against any adversity. Two things, however, you must remember for any situation – One, be quick to push back against any opponent no matter how big or how small. No matter how you do, it shows your strength and bravery to do what is right."

"Ok. Nari, use you Quick Attack, again, to dodge its next attack! We need time to come up with a strategy!" I said, not hesitating anymore with an order. "Vee!" Nari agreed, speeding up on the ground with the brief few seconds she had before Scyther appeared right in front of her for another attempt at a brunt swipe.

'Observe your opponent closely, and you can sometimes predict their next move. Two, dodging is critical because with it, it can help you gain extra time to come up with a counter-attack or gain the upper hand for a plan in battle.'

"Dodge it!" Grinning with a taunt of her own, Nari dove right underneath Scyther's strike and skirted around its feet where it then started to turn and fly after her. Confident, Nari tuned right into her move, again, as she followed Zap's example from a moment ago and went faster and faster, not stopping to even give Scyther a chance to get close as I raced after her, too. 'How far you and your partner will go will not just be based on your bond, but your trust in one another. Together, you must learn to battle and think as one,' Koga's final words echoed in my memory from that morning as seeing Nari's determination gave me courage to think out our next move.

Stopping short at the stream, though, Nari didn't let a skirt of water stop her as she hopped off a stone and onto another. Seeing Scyther hesitate, though, Nari stopped and turned in time to see the skirt of her slide hit Scyther right in the face. Skidding to a stop, the mere sprinkle of water made it flinch as the big Mantis Pokémon only looked at the water in disdain and fear, a sight that was quite the spectacle. Getting a plan in mind, Nari looked right at me, pointing a paw at the stream right behind them as Gina only then just screamed at her partner's panic as she then caught up to us a few feet away.

"Now, don't you start freezing just because of a little water!" Gina shouted, an idea confirming in our heads as Nari and me shared a moment of understanding.

'Vee!' At my nod, Nari ran straight through the shallow water and right at Scyther as it raised an arm for another strike. "Ee-vee-vey!"

Diving right underneath Scyther's legs, however, Nari playfully skidded past Scyther's swipe as it only followed her with its gaze as it slightly turned, puzzled when Eevee only leaned down in a slight crouch and down on her front paws, getting into position as she slowly backed up against a low tree, waiting until she had a good foothold for a surprise jump. Puzzled, Scyther could only stare as its eyes suddenly widened with pain as a sudden jolt of electricity stunned him, Zap revealing that he was alright from the hit and responding to Kimi's sudden call, "Zap, Thunder Shock! Hold him there!"

"Now, Nari!" I shouted, seeing that now was our chance, surprising Kimi and Gina both as Nari pushed right off of the tree and torpedoed right into Scyther with a powered-up hit of Quick Attack, catapulting it right into the water of the stream with a splash, landing them both in the waves with a charred mist that even scared Zap back a couple of hops as the small splash then receded.

Embarrassed and defeated, Scyther flailed as it surfaced and then helplessly clawed for the shallow service, not even caring if the water was no deeper than its knees. Clinging to the edge, its expression shrunk back in sunken pride as its wings hung down heavily unto its back. Gina just screamed, "Pathetic!"

"No, he wasn't," Kimi said, impressed at his strength. "That's a terrible thing to say!"

Scooping the little Kangaskhan back up into my arms, I was just relieved that she was looking better. Seeing the way she whimpered against my heart, though, I immediately thought of who it was she was missing from before. Turning back to face Gina as she angrily pocketed for the poke ball into her pocket, I said, "You lost. Now, where is she?"

"'She?'" Gina scoffed, recalling back her soggy partner with a grimace. "Oh, you mean …?"

"The mother," I said, holding the little baby securely in my arms as she looked on and growled with a little bit of a challenge of her own. "A full-grown Kangaskhan is never far from her baby without a reason."

"Right, I almost forgot you think you can talk with Pokémon. Since you won the bout and all, I'll tell you this," Gina sneered, backing up a step at the crunch of a nearby bush. "Just stay out of the way. You want the baby? We'll leave it alone. It's not like it has anywhere else to go. It was only the bait anyway. We already got what we came for, and that's all you're getting out of me."

"What do you mean by that?!" Kimi shouted, covering her face with an arm as Gina surprised us both with a gas bomb, throwing it down as she revealed that she had grabbed it, too, when she had pulled out the poke-ball. "Hey!" Kimi shouted, coughing a bit as we both looked up to see that she had disappeared. "She's gone."

"Pika-chu," Zap said coming over to help tug Nari out of the water, tugging a bit albeit gently by her scruff, as they both heard the sudden long cry from Amma as I only held her in an embrace, gently but also in a bit of a protective hold, afraid that she was going to try and jump out of my hold in grief.

"Ee! Vee-vee," Nari said, seeing also how I was holding in my fury at everything that was just said. Releasing Amma, I lowered her to the ground as I said, "I know, I'm fine."

"We'll find her, little one," Kimi said, saying the words that I wanted to say to Amma, Zap looking at her, too, as the little Kangaskhan looked up at me in silence.

"What did she mean? Surely not," I said, letting the words slip out as I had a sudden thought I didn't have before as it caused me to drop my head, too, in fury, letting the little baby climb as she started to wiggle. Sighing, I felt Nari's eyes stare at me in the back in remorse, hearing her sigh as she shook her wet fur off in a quick slight shake for only a quick moment before I started to turn around. "'Nari, I'm alright. I …' I started to say, hearing a small series of footsteps run off. "Nari?"

Hearing no sound from her or even an inner answer, I turned around to see no one but only Kimi as she had bent down to collect her bag that had dropped in her sprint down to us alongside Zap, who was also strangely absent. Looking to the right and the left, the area had gone almost deafly silent as the wind was the only thing that answered and made any sound at all and answered me as I then looked down and noticed a trail of three small pair of pawprints disappear into the brush and just off the sand. "Kimi!"

"What?" She said, looking up from her bag, seeing my worry.

"Girls! Where are you?" we heard Koga's call not too far away, looking for us, as I held my breath and pulled myself out of the brush.

"They're gone!" I shouted.

"Pika?! Ka-chuu-pi?" (What?! Where are we going?) Zap asked, demanding why they were just racing ahead without letting Kimi or me know where they were going, watching as Nari's ears were pointed to where Amma had hopped onto her back with a purpose as they followed her insistence to keep going forward.

"Kanga-kanga, khaannn," (Please-please, this way), Amma trilled, aiming for them to go on deeper into the woods despite Nari's hesitancy. Glancing back at the tears on Amma's face, Nari only had the guess that they were for finding her mother. "Ghan?" (Help?)

'Akira wants to do everything we can to help her,' Nari said internally, thinking of me. "Ee-vee. Ee vee-vee." (Of course. We'll sure try – I promise). Looking back at Zap, too, Nari assured Amma that they were both aware of her worry as they continued on. Maybe it was his instinct, but something ironically didn't feel right in the air the further they went into unfamiliar territory. Growing quiet, though, a deep secret stood hidden in the wain of one of Amma's tears as it trickled down her cheek and she began to tremble with something else – Guilt.

"Pi-kaaaa," (I don't like this) Zap chirruped, getting more and more antsy the more they walked through the dry trees and over a rough patch of leaves that was stationed strategically just next to a rough low-hanging branch that was bent over and hid a suspicious secret. "Pi? Pika-Pikachu!" (What? Stop! It's a trap!).

"Vee? Ee-vee!" Nari screamed as the trap sprung to life and she and the little Kangaskhan was hefted up into the tree, away from where Zap could reach them from the ground. "Vee! Ee-Veeee!"

"Pika-chu," Zap trilled up, climbing up the tree like a squirrel with some careful footing. Reaching them, he grabbed ahold of the top of the net with his teeth and tugged at it, trying to pry the bindings loose. Trying to help, Nari gripped it, too, in her teeth and started chomping at it with a very sure firing growl, not giving up yet with a chomp of her own.

"Well, well, well. Looks like we did catch something after all," a familiar voice said, cackling at the sight of them both trying to get the net loose, Nari's bare thread still clenched tight in her teeth as she growled and the little baby Kangaskhan screamed, squirming and wiggling with fright as the cold hand of their captor reached up to stroke the trembling baby's chin in pride. "I didn't think it would go that easily. Good job, little one. You served your purpose. Now, as promised, you'll see your mother … as soon as we get all of you back to Headquarters."

"Pi-kaaaa," Zap whimpered, disappearing further up into the leaves at Nari's urgency, so he could run and get help. Unfortunately, a menacing flap of a pair of huge bat wings and a vicious growl stalled his progress as Zap turned his head and looked right into the face of a final foe.

"Oh, and don't worry. I haven't forgotten about you either," they said, grinning with a snidey smirk as another click of a finger was heard and Golbat attacked.

"Zap, where are you?!" Kimi called out and out of worry, now too, as she also listened for any sign of her partner. Standing close to Koga's side, Kimi's worry turned to tears as we all heard nothing but the breeze further in the brush. "We have to find him!"

"I'm sure they're not far," Koga said, looking up to see me standing idle, the breeze whispering past my bangs as I shut my eyes, sensing something familiar. "Ah, what is your friend doing?"

'Ee-vey!' I felt Nari's cry, tensing up in a new way than before as I turned eastward and felt her message as clear as day. "It's Gina, again," I said, seeing Koga look at me with a strange look on his face on how I knew her name. "It's a long story. I know her from before from the Team Rocket New Island Base. She was also the same one that was assigned to keep an eye on me," I said, seeing the way that his eyebrows went up in curiosity.

"Keep an eye on you?" Koga repeated, still not fully aware of my full story from before. "Wait a second before you continue. First things first, if this Gina is in Team Rocket. We've got to hurry. Something tells me, somehow, you know which direction they're headed by the look in your eyes."

"I do," looking up, too, with the two of them as we heard a police bike park just a few miles away, where Officer Jenny dismounted and was surprised to see where Flasho stood guard over the three tied-up grunts that Koga had battled and embarrassed only a few moments ago.

"What's going on here?!" Officer Jenny asked, looking straight at Koga for a serious answer. "I got an urgent call about how there was trouble out here and about some missing Pokémon. You know anything about that?"

"Meet us there?" I asked, seeing Kimi's expression go determined, too, as Uncle Koga nodded his head for us to go, Officer Jenny looking up quizzically as Koga gestured that he would fill her in.

With Flasho leading the way to the ravine, Kimi and I ran as fast as we could after him as he led us further into the woods on the quickest but safest path he knew. Stopping just short of the line that separated Koga's property with the no-fence border of the Safari Zone, we parted the bushes to find the dreaded ravine that tore into the sides of an abandoned waterfall cliff that dangerously fell down into a rushing stream below.

"Wait, I recognize this path. These were the rocky cliff falls that met about halfway up the path to the dojo. This way has been cut off for challengers for as long as I can remember. Mom told me it was always too dangerous and off limits. Now, I know why," Kimi said, looking down at the rushing water. "Are you sure they came this way?"

"Positive," I said, inwardly still trying to hear any sign for Nari. "I can't explain it. This is where I heard her."

Before I could take another step, though, Flasho pulled at my sleeve to pull me back and lowered his head to the ground, his paw tapping the ground lightly to indicate that we should be quiet. Pointing his paw towards where he was looking, we all three then saw a small tucked away cave that was big enough to hide something hidden away. Hearing stifled grunts come from just inside, we both nodded our heads to slowly make our way over to the rocky gap in the unstable rock wall to see what was inside.

"Pikachu! Pi-pi-chuuu," Zap grunted, thumping both his head and tail against the inner walls of the case cage he was trapped in. How he got in there, we weren't sure, but Kimi surprised me and Flasho immediately by ducking inside on her own when we saw Gina come around the corner of the dim-litted cave with a satisfied cackle.

"I'm not leaving him. I made a promise," Kimi whispered, behind her shoulder as she held up a hand at Flasho's advance. "You two sneak behind me and see if you can find the others. Just wait for my signal."

"Go on and try all you want. Tire yourself out," Gina said, laughing at his efforts. "Luring you two away from those twerps was just too easy. Those kids are too young to know your true value."

Seething, Kimi waited until I and Flasho sneaked right past her, following the cries of a few other Pokémon we heard from deeper into the cave, as she crawled in a bit closer for a surprise attack. What she was planning, even I didn't see coming. "You'll have a far grander purpose serving Team Rocket than you would have here. All that power looming to waste for nothing. Well, not anymore … "

'Nari? Where are you?' I called out to her inwardly, to which I heard an immediate "Ee-vey!" from just behind the door. Opening it and running over to hug her through the bars, I also saw a bunch of other Pokémon caged and eager to be sit free, stopping their fidgeting and scratching when they saw me and unsure, frightened. Seeing a set of keys on the wall, I immediately grabbed them as Amma's little face immediately connected with mine in regret and grief as she turned away, ashamed. It was that confirmation that told me of what she had done.

'Amma?' I asked her, unlocking her cage next, after Nari's, as her soulful expression pulled at my heart as she felt my hand settle down along her back, a little gesture of comfort that allowed for no harm. I wanted her to know that I didn't mean for any blame that had been done. "It's alright," I whispered, seeing her barely change at that moment. Looking around at all the others gathered, I felt another pulse alongside mine as I only came over to them all and unlocked every single cage, setting them free. Lasting only a moment, though, I rose up immediately, sensing something else in the room as a screeching Golbat dropped from the roof and screamed, alerting Gina in the other room to what was aspiring before Nari and I got a chance to act.

"What is going on back there? Oof!" Gina said, turning around too late as she felt Kimi pounce on her by grabbing her ankles, knocking Gina's first partner Pokémon's ball out of her pocket as well as a single iron key. "You again! Don't you twerps ever know when to quit?"

"No, and that's a good thing," Kimi said, from where she had revealed that she tied a rope around Gina's boot ankles, and when she wasn't paying attention, just tight enough for her to trip. "That's for taking our Pokémon and for hurting my best friend!"

"Pika-chuu!" Zap shouted out, barraging at the cage again, this time making a dent out of joy and determination to reunite with Kimi, who said, "Hold on, Zap. I'm coming!" As the poke ball rolled against the wall, however, it clipped open with a click and out came Scyther with a white burst, looking over with a faint yet surprised look across its face. Tensing up, Kimi only stood to her feet and lightly raised her hands as the Mantis Pokémon only looked at her with a quiet curiosity, its wings only raising in caution. Reading that it wasn't going to attack, Kimi relaxed with a smile.

"What are you doing just standing there?" Gina said, trying to kick her feet free and push herself up from off of the ground and out of a pile of burlap she had landed on. Rolling over, she exclaimed out in pain as she felt something else and others run over her as all the Pokémon from the other room came barreling out the door, free. Crying, Golbat flew out, too, stunned and whimpering with a distinct pain in his jaw as Nari and I came out, celebrating, as a team. "Stop them! Both of you!"

Doing nothing, the two Pokémon just looked at the other in unified defeat as I saw the ropes and her state on the floor and only smiled as Kimi looked up from where she was reaching the iron key for Zap's cage at the same time. "What did you do?" we both asked and at the same exact time, giggling as Gina just growled, interrupted us.

"This isn't over, twerps," Gina started to say, tensing up when she heard a sharp bark from the hall, right behind her. Turning, she saw Flasho's eyes flash red in warning as his growl and the other Pokémon's snarls, big and small, filled the room as they only cornered her into silence.

Picking up the key from off the floor to undo the lock on Zap's cage, Kimi also heard a distinct siren go off just outside the cave as she only said, "If I were you, I would just save my comments for the police." Hugging Zap to her chest, Kimi added one more thing, "And, we do understand Pokémon a whole lot better than you. Try to understand your own partners for a start. That's where a bond truly begins."

Seething, Gina only shook her head in disgust as her eyes connected with mine one more time before Koga entered the room right ahead of Officer Jenny, as her eyes scanned the room with unbelief and settled unto Gina and her Team Rocket uniform. "I meant it, though. Forget everything you ever saw of us. You may never see me, again, but I can't say true for the boss. He was there when your mother was sent away. As for your father, you will never see him again," Gina whispered as Officer Jenny came in right behind Koga as he saw the pain that quietly reflected the pain of her words.

"Ee-vee! Vee!" Nari protested, growling as she felt my hand come down to scratch her head in a dismissive nod, just telling her to just let her go as Officer Jenny led her away to a dispatched car that arrived just seconds behind her.

'It's alright, Nari,' I inwardly told her, seeing her eyes accept my words as both of our gazes then turned to where I had made a temporary over-the-shoulder pouch for the little Kangaskhan, who was currently too tuckered out from everything that had happened to even think about how she was clutching her little clawed paws around me as she slept. Both of our thoughts were on her, to both Koga's and Kimi's eye as Officer Jenny came back in with a pen and pad to take note of all the Pokémon who were present and accounted for.

Seeing the baby in my arms, Officer Jenny pulled Koga aside for a minute to say, "The call I got reported a missing Kangaskhan from the Safari Zone. Did you see any sign of her?"

Knowing we only heard the call from before, Koga didn't say anything else as a solemn breeze filled the cave with the spray from the falls just off of the stream. Shaking his head no, he only watched as Kimi and I were escorted out of the cave by Flasho, who nosed the baby as it looked up at us with a new light. "The girls only found the baby," he said, watching as Officer Jenny wrote it down.

"I'm going to have to call it in," She said, shaking her head. "We've been getting constant hits with these 'Team Rocket' incidents. This recent hit is only one of many to name and all in the last few months. And Kangaskhans are a protected species. These other Pokémon, however, whether they need to be returned to the wild or need to be reunited with their trainers …"

"If I may, I'll talk to the warden myself about the baby Kangaskhan. I know him, and he'll want to hear this," I heard Koga say as we waited for him outside. "I promise it will be taken of. With all due respect, I feel there is no need to separate it when it is already in the best of care of two true trainers who will one day grace the world all too soon."

In explanation for the slow progress of this chapter, I can re-go over several parts of this to flow perfectly. And, I hope this is well worth of the effort. What will happen to the little baby Kangaskhan? Next chapter will touch on that and another partial mystery the girls find and take under their wing. Events are getting closer and moving up towards the movie, but I hope this is a good filler for the meantime.

A humble thanks for supporting this original story and its characters. Yes, Akira still has a connection with Mewtwo, but for right now it's not at full strength b/c of his incubation and hibernating mind. Will Akira be surprised of his intelligence or how much does he remember from their experience on New Island? That will be revealed when the time and chain of events get there. Until next time!