3 Friends, Old and New
Wendy sat at her desk, typing her business report. Nervously, she glanced at the clock. Ivan was due to arrive any moment now and that put her on edge. The new leader had barely been in control for a few weeks since he bought it out following Giovanni's murder, but already he was reforming Team Rocket. In the past two weeks alone, he had systematically checked nearly all departments, firing and replacing over two hundred members. Some departments were dropped from the group completely. As she waited for him to arrive, Wendy was almost certain that this would be her last day in Team Rocket.
There was a knock at the door. Startled, Wendy almost jumped right out of her skin. She took a moment to calm herself down before answering it.
"It's open," she said.
The door popped open and Ivan casually sauntered into the room. He had a friendly expression, but in his eyes, Wendy could see a lust for power that could never be satisfied. She smiled, forcing herself to swallow the lump of fear in her throat.
"G-good day, boss," she faltered. "H-how have you been?"
"Do you like your job?" Ivan asked, not showing the slightest inflection in his voice.
Wendy flinched, knowing what would come next. "Y-yes," she stammered.
"Good," Ivan replied. "Because I'm not here to talk about your job. I'm here to discuss a new policy for Team Rocket."
Wendy was relieved at first, but with the fear for her job gone, she quickly became confused. "A new policy, sir?"
"Yes," Ivan said, pulling up a chair next to her and lighting a cigarette. "I'm greatly upset with the way in which Team Rocket conducts itself. Robbing banks, ransacking houses and stores, stealing from children; these are not things that a powerful criminal organization such as us should be doing. So, as of this moment, all operations involving these activities are canceled. I also want all of the stolen pokemon to be returned."
"Canceled?" Wendy blurted in astonishment, then coughed as she breathed Ivan's secondhand smoke. "Return the pokemon? But sir. . ."
Ivan placed his gloved hand over her mouth, cutting her off. "No buts," he said. "These petty affairs are too risky for us. As long as they go on, the police will do their best to keep us under their control."
"The police?" Wendy scoffed. "The police can't do anything to us."
"What you don't realize," Ivan interrupted, "is that the police were planning to raid Team Rocket's headquarters and arrest everyone just last month. I was able to prevent it with some careful inside work. My men in the police department are the only thing that kept Team Rocket from being destroyed."
Wendy stared at him, her mouth gaped open.
"The police have been onto us for a long time," Ivan continued, unintentionally puffing smoke into her face. "That's why we need to throw them off. So, there will be no more these petty criminal activities. Our group will continue to operate its casinos and we will begin to capture and sell wild pokemon. These things can be conducted legally. When the police see that we have a legal source of income and that our illegal transactions have stopped, they will begin to ease off. And by returning the pokemon that have been stolen, it will appear as though our group has truly turned away from crime. No one will ever suspect Team Rocket's true objective."
Wendy frowned, not sure what to say. Ivan was ordering her to spend hundreds of dollars to undo what they had spent thousands of dollars to do. What could he possibly be getting at?
"What will be Team Rocket's true objective?" she asked.
"Giovanni sought to rule the world," Ivan replied. "I share in that desire, but I am not so foolish as he. He wanted to do it by gathering strong pokemon and trainers and then making an intimidating show of brute force and coercing the world into surrender. This would never have worked. When you take something by force, you spend the rest of your life fighting just to keep it.
"I have a different strategy in mind. We will allow the world to think that we are not a threat. Once we have lulled them into a false sense of security, then we will make our move. By putting members of our organization into important political positions around the world, or buying off those who already are, we will gain influence within the world's governments. Using that influence, we will begin to shape the world to our needs, making it more suitable for conquest. By the time anyone has figured out what we are doing, it will be too late. When the time comes, I will step in and overthrow the existing governments and place myself in control. By the end of the next twenty or so years, I will be on top of the world."
Now Wendy understood Ivan's ideas. He was more subtle than the previous leader. She was very certain that his plan could work, except for one problem.
"This will take a lot of time and money," she pointed out. "Where are you going to get the funding for this?"
Ivan chuckled and shook his head, disappointed. "Do you still not know who you are talking to? With command of Team Rocket added to my resources, I now control almost seventy-five percent of the criminal underworld. With a bit of manipulation, I could have nearly half the money in the world placed in my hands. Funding is no problem at all. So, in cleaning out our criminal records, spare no expense. Spend any amount necessary. I have more than enough."
Wendy was silent as she contemplated all she had heard. She was in the presence of possibly the most powerful man in the world. At last she understood whom she was working for. This was certainly going to be the start of a glorious future for Team Rocket. She could hardly contain her exhilaration at the thought of what she was going to be involved in.
"I'll do as you command," she said. "Whatever it takes."
"Good," Ivan replied. "Now, I want to show you something."
Ivan reached into his inner coat pocket and removed a disc. He inserted it into the computer on Wendy's desk. When he opened the file, a picture of a strange pokemon that she had never seen appeared on the screen.
"This is Mewtwo," Ivan explained. "It is a genetically enhanced clone of the legendary pokemon, Mew. It was created by Team Rocket to be the most powerful pokemon alive; however, it was too powerful for Giovanni to control and it escaped."
"No," Wendy interrupted. "Team Rocket never created something like that."
"Yes, it did," Ivan said. "When Mewtwo escaped, it erased all knowledge of its existence from the mind of every member who saw it. When I saw what was inevitably going to happen, I made a copy of all the files pertaining to the creature and saved them for myself.
"I want this creature. Its power will be an invaluable asset to us. I want you to inform all members of Team Rocket in the field that they are to maintain a constant search for it. Tell them that the first person to see this creature who reports to me will receive a one hundred thousand dollar bonus on his next paycheck. Under no circumstances, however, is anyone to engage this pokemon in combat without me. Understood?"
"Yes, sir," Wendy replied.
"Good," Ivan said. "Well, if you'll excuse me."
Ivan stood and turned toward the door. Before he left, Wendy stopped him.
"It's about two members of our group, sir," she explained. "Their names are Jessie and James and they're a couple of incapable morons."
Ivan's expression hardened to steel. "Incapable morons? Show me."
Smiling inwardly, Wendy pulled up their file on the computer. Ivan read through it, taking particular concern to the list of failures on their record.
"They've been chasing after the same little boy for almost three years now," Wendy told him. "They haven't been able to steal his one Pikachu in their entire career. Not only that, but they've borrowed a lot of money from us and haven't paid back any of it. Giovanni was going to fire them before you took over. I would suggest you do the same."
Ivan was silent for a moment, sucking on his rapidly dwindling cigarette. "Nyet," he said at last. "I don't think I will."
"What?" Wendy demanded. "But you. . ."
"Silence," he commanded, filling the air with a thick cloud that made Wendy choke. "I didn't fire all those other members because they were incompetent. I did it because they were unable to give up their old ways and conform to our new policy. They were liabilities. If you have a personal grudge against these two, forget about it. They may have failed all this time, but they've kept on trying. I admire that kind of determination. I can certainly find good use for them. You will, however, need to inform them that they are no longer going to follow this boy. They are field operatives, and they are to capture wild pokemon for us to sell or keep as we see fit. And do it immediately." He extinguished his cigarette on her desk, leaving a black ashy mark, and tossed it into the trash. "Now, I must go; I am late for my next appointment. Good day!"
The way he said 'good day,' moments before he stalked out of the office and slammed the door made Wendy's hair stand on end. It was so cold and ruthless. She found herself unable to move for a few minutes after he disappeared from sight. When she was sure he was gone, she angrily cleaned the ash off her desk and rushed to open a window.
"Liabilities, huh?" she thought out loud. "Well, if that's the case, then I'll just have to make those idiots liabilities." Coughing heavily, she groaned and added, "Why did he have to light up in here!?"
"Ash?" Mewtwo stammered in disbelief. "Is that really you?"
"Hey, Mewtwo," Ash replied. "It's been a while."
"You know him?" Shigure asked.
"I do," Mewtwo said. "He's an old friend of mine."
Shigure stared at Ash. "Wait, is he the one you told me about?"
"He is," Mewtwo answered.
Shigure laughed heartily. "It's a small world isn't it? I never would have expected to meet you."
There was a moment of silence before anyone spoke again. Everyone was afraid to accept that what they were seeing was really true. It seemed too good, as though the slightest sound or movement might wake them from the dream. An earsplitting crack of thunder broke the silence, followed by Togepi squealing.
"Hey, Mewtwo," Shigure started with a nervous chuckle, "why don't you entertain our guest while I go clean myself up."
"Gladly," Mewtwo said.
For what seemed to be an eternity, the only sound that could be heard was that of the shower running in the bathroom upstairs. Ash and his friends sat on the couch, while Mewtwo rested on the chair across from them, none of them having the slightest idea what to talk about.
Mewtwo looked out the window at the pouring rain, which seemed to have no intention of letting up. Clearing his throat, Mewtwo rose to his feet and walked over to the fireplace.
"How about a fire," he said uneasily, putting some logs into it. "That always seems to make a rainy day seem better."
"Yeah," Ash agreed.
Getting up from the couch, he began to help Mewtwo. He put some old newspaper and kindling into it. With a twitch of his brow, Mewtwo caused the paper to light up and in moments, a fire was roaring in the pit.
"That's better," Ash said.
"Much more comfy," Misty agreed.
Mewtwo and Ash returned to their seats. After another moment, Brock spoke up.
"So, how did you end up here?" he asked Mewtwo.
Mewtwo sighed. He looked out the window again.
"After I escaped from Team Rocket and we went our separate ways," Mewtwo began, "I decided to explore the world for myself. During the night, I traveled from place to place, seeing whatever there was to see. It was peaceful for a while, but after a few months, some men found me and tried to capture me. I escaped them, but they continued to chase me. No matter where I ran, they always found me."
"Couldn't you fight them?" Ash asked.
"Or erase their memories?" Misty added.
"I tried both," Mewtwo replied. "They wore headgear that protected them from my mental abilities. As for fighting them, not only did they have powerful weapons and equipment, but they also had very strong pokemon."
"They couldn't have been stronger than you," Ash stated.
"No," Mewtwo admitted, "but they were stronger than any others that I had ever seen before. I managed to elude them for three months, but then, one of them hit me with some kind of poisoned dart. I was able to loose them after that. I'm not sure how, the poison clouded my head too much then. Somehow I managed to drag myself all the way to this town, unaware of where I was or what I was doing. I collapsed in a ditch and that was the last thing I remembered before I woke up here."
Upstairs, they heard the shower stop. Mewtwo smiled, stroked the Flareon's head and continued.
"It was Felix here who found me, unconscious and half-dead. He led Shigure to me, who took me to his home and nursed me back to health. I've been here ever since.
"While I survived, the poison left side affects. I've lost almost a quarter of my psychic strength and every time I exert myself too much, I have blackouts and seizures. Because of that, I can't risk leaving this town."
"That's terrible," Misty commented.
"Yeah," Brock agreed. "Who were those guys?"
"I don't know," Mewtwo said. "They didn't have anything that I could identify them by. It's not so bad, though. If they hadn't been chasing me, I never would have met Shigure. That would have been the real tragedy. Shigure has not only become my best friend, but he's shown me a new reason for living. My time here, though darkened by pain, has been the happiest time that I have ever seen."
"I'm glad to hear that," Ash said.
A few minutes later, Shigure came down the stairs into the main room, Sparky following close behind him. He was wearing a traditional men's kimono and at his left hip hung a katana. He smiled as he sat down on the floor next to Mewtwo.
"So, what have you been talking about?" he asked.
"Not much," Mewtwo replied. "I was just explaining how I came to be here."
"I see," Shigure said. "Well, Ash, from what Mewtwo has told me, you must be a good trainer."
Ash smiled. "Yeah, I'm pretty good."
Shigure chuckled.
"What?" Ash asked.
"The way you responded," Shigure explained. "Not to big on humility are you?"
Ash leaned back. "What's that have to do with anything?"
Shigure smiled as he looked over at Mewtwo and then back to Ash. "It's just a principle really. I've always been that way and so have most of my friends. It sounds a little funny hearing the way you said it."
Ash nodded. "What about you? You must be pretty good yourself."
"Some people think so," Shigure responded.
"How about a match then?" Ash asked.
"My, aren't we in a hurry," Shigure said, smiling. "I was going to ask you anyway, though. I wanted to see the way you train your pokemon. Come with me."
Shigure rose from his chair and started off down the hallway. Ash and the others followed. Along the way, they noticed a number of portraits and sketches hanging on the wall. Some were of people, some were of pokemon and others were landscapes. Most were drawn in pencil, but some were painted. Ash made mental a note to ask who drew them after the battle.
Shigure led them to a large training room, where a Hitmonchan was viciously attacking a punching bag. When it saw Shigure, it paused to give him a thumbs up, then continued its exercising.
"Good work, Rocky," Shigure said. "Keep it up."
Ash watched the Hitmonchan hammer the punching bag as it delivered punch after punch, almost too fast for him to see. With each hit, the bag looked as though it might snap off of its base.
"Not bad," he commented.
Shigure cleared his throat, calling attention to the battle arena. Ash took his place at the other side of the arena, while Misty and Brock sat down on a bench off to the side.
"We'll keep it simple," Shigure explained. "One-on-one, with standard pokemon league rules. Sparky will fight for me."
Sparky stepped into the center of the arena.
"Pikachu will be my choice," Ash replied.
Pikachu stepped into the arena and stood before Sparky. There was a brief pause while the two pokemon sized each other up. A smile tugged at the corner of Shigure's mouth.
"Begin," he said.
"Pikachu!" Ash ordered, "Thunderbolt!"
Electricity crackled around Pikachu's body as it hopped back away from its opponent, preparing for its attack. With a fierce "CHU!" it channeled the electricity toward Sparky. The bolt struck the Raichu directly, forcing it to take a step back as thousands of volts of electricity raced through its body. Flexing its muscles, Sparky shook off the attack.
"Tackle it!" Ash commanded.
Pikachu charged forward and dived at Sparky. Reaching forward, Sparky grabbed Pikachu by the ears, twirled it around and threw it aside. Twisting in the air, Pikachu was able to land on its feet.
"Thunder!" Shigure ordered.
Raising its tail into the air, Sparky began to gather energy around it into its body. Everyone in the room could feel their hair rising on their heads as it prepared to attack. In a massive flash of light, Sparky released all of the power. Ash had to turn away from the blinding explosion of electricity. When he looked back, he saw his Pikachu was shaken by the bolt, but able to stand.
"Can you keep going Pikachu?" he asked.
"Pika!" it affirmed.
Shigure was clearly impressed, but maintained his focus on the battle as he quickly calculated his next move.
"I don't think we can win that way, Sparky," he noted. "Let's show him our surprise attack."
"Rai!"
Sparky tensed up. Its tail wriggled in the air, coiling about like a snake. Ash could see by its focused gaze that it was preparing for a powerful attack. He knew that he had to make the first move.
"Pikachu, quick attack!" he shouted.
Pikachu leapt forward, ready to strike its opponent.
"Wait for it!" Shigure warned.
Pikachu leapt forward again, drawing closer to its target. Shigure's eyes narrowed as he held off his attack. Sparky's tail coiled up again. Pikachu leapt closer again, landing less then a foot away. It lowered its head and prepared for impact.
"NOW!" Shigure commanded.
Sparky leaned back on its tail and pushed with all its strength, springing itself into the air. Pikachu sailed harmlessly beneath it.
"Follow up with mega-kick," Shigure ordered.
Pikachu barely had time to turn its head to look before Sparky landed on its coiled tail and bounced toward it at incredible speed. Sparky drove its foot into Pikachu's chest, using its inertia to launch it from the ring. Pikachu crashed headfirst into the wall and fell to the ground with a painful cry. Ash ran to his fallen friend and cradled it in his arms.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Pika-pi," it moaned painfully.
Shigure knelt down beside them and gently felt its head.
"Your Pikachu will be alright," he said. "A little rest and some food and he'll be just fine."
Carefully holding Pikachu, Ash extended his hand. Shigure accepted it and shook it.
"I guess you are the better trainer," Ash admitted. "I figured you would be."
Shigure shook his head. "Not necessarily," he said. "It can't be denied that I've more experience than you, but I've no doubt that when you've been at this for as long as I have, you'll be just as good as me. Maybe better."
"Really?" Ash asked, his face glowing with pride.
Shigure nodded. "I've seen a lot of trainers who thought they were good, but none of them were able to stand up to Sparky's thunder attack like your Pikachu. The only one that didn't faint on the spot was Bruno's giant Onyx, but it was still left paralyzed for hours afterward. I don't know what you're doing, but your doing it right. Keep it up."
"Thank you," Ash said, a broad smile on his face.
Brock rose from the bench and walked over to Ash. "That's quite a compliment," he noted.
"Yeah," Misty agreed. "It makes me wonder if you're really the same person I've been traveling with all this time."
"What's that mean?" Ash demanded.
"Just that you've never shown any kind of real skill before," Misty teasingly replied. "I can't believe that someone could say that about you."
"Oh, yeah!?"
Shigure watched with a mixture of confusion and amusement as the two argued. After a moment, he began to laugh, abruptly ending the bickering.
"Who's hungry?" he asked.
Wendy sat at her desk, typing her business report. Nervously, she glanced at the clock. Ivan was due to arrive any moment now and that put her on edge. The new leader had barely been in control for a few weeks since he bought it out following Giovanni's murder, but already he was reforming Team Rocket. In the past two weeks alone, he had systematically checked nearly all departments, firing and replacing over two hundred members. Some departments were dropped from the group completely. As she waited for him to arrive, Wendy was almost certain that this would be her last day in Team Rocket.
There was a knock at the door. Startled, Wendy almost jumped right out of her skin. She took a moment to calm herself down before answering it.
"It's open," she said.
The door popped open and Ivan casually sauntered into the room. He had a friendly expression, but in his eyes, Wendy could see a lust for power that could never be satisfied. She smiled, forcing herself to swallow the lump of fear in her throat.
"G-good day, boss," she faltered. "H-how have you been?"
"Do you like your job?" Ivan asked, not showing the slightest inflection in his voice.
Wendy flinched, knowing what would come next. "Y-yes," she stammered.
"Good," Ivan replied. "Because I'm not here to talk about your job. I'm here to discuss a new policy for Team Rocket."
Wendy was relieved at first, but with the fear for her job gone, she quickly became confused. "A new policy, sir?"
"Yes," Ivan said, pulling up a chair next to her and lighting a cigarette. "I'm greatly upset with the way in which Team Rocket conducts itself. Robbing banks, ransacking houses and stores, stealing from children; these are not things that a powerful criminal organization such as us should be doing. So, as of this moment, all operations involving these activities are canceled. I also want all of the stolen pokemon to be returned."
"Canceled?" Wendy blurted in astonishment, then coughed as she breathed Ivan's secondhand smoke. "Return the pokemon? But sir. . ."
Ivan placed his gloved hand over her mouth, cutting her off. "No buts," he said. "These petty affairs are too risky for us. As long as they go on, the police will do their best to keep us under their control."
"The police?" Wendy scoffed. "The police can't do anything to us."
"What you don't realize," Ivan interrupted, "is that the police were planning to raid Team Rocket's headquarters and arrest everyone just last month. I was able to prevent it with some careful inside work. My men in the police department are the only thing that kept Team Rocket from being destroyed."
Wendy stared at him, her mouth gaped open.
"The police have been onto us for a long time," Ivan continued, unintentionally puffing smoke into her face. "That's why we need to throw them off. So, there will be no more these petty criminal activities. Our group will continue to operate its casinos and we will begin to capture and sell wild pokemon. These things can be conducted legally. When the police see that we have a legal source of income and that our illegal transactions have stopped, they will begin to ease off. And by returning the pokemon that have been stolen, it will appear as though our group has truly turned away from crime. No one will ever suspect Team Rocket's true objective."
Wendy frowned, not sure what to say. Ivan was ordering her to spend hundreds of dollars to undo what they had spent thousands of dollars to do. What could he possibly be getting at?
"What will be Team Rocket's true objective?" she asked.
"Giovanni sought to rule the world," Ivan replied. "I share in that desire, but I am not so foolish as he. He wanted to do it by gathering strong pokemon and trainers and then making an intimidating show of brute force and coercing the world into surrender. This would never have worked. When you take something by force, you spend the rest of your life fighting just to keep it.
"I have a different strategy in mind. We will allow the world to think that we are not a threat. Once we have lulled them into a false sense of security, then we will make our move. By putting members of our organization into important political positions around the world, or buying off those who already are, we will gain influence within the world's governments. Using that influence, we will begin to shape the world to our needs, making it more suitable for conquest. By the time anyone has figured out what we are doing, it will be too late. When the time comes, I will step in and overthrow the existing governments and place myself in control. By the end of the next twenty or so years, I will be on top of the world."
Now Wendy understood Ivan's ideas. He was more subtle than the previous leader. She was very certain that his plan could work, except for one problem.
"This will take a lot of time and money," she pointed out. "Where are you going to get the funding for this?"
Ivan chuckled and shook his head, disappointed. "Do you still not know who you are talking to? With command of Team Rocket added to my resources, I now control almost seventy-five percent of the criminal underworld. With a bit of manipulation, I could have nearly half the money in the world placed in my hands. Funding is no problem at all. So, in cleaning out our criminal records, spare no expense. Spend any amount necessary. I have more than enough."
Wendy was silent as she contemplated all she had heard. She was in the presence of possibly the most powerful man in the world. At last she understood whom she was working for. This was certainly going to be the start of a glorious future for Team Rocket. She could hardly contain her exhilaration at the thought of what she was going to be involved in.
"I'll do as you command," she said. "Whatever it takes."
"Good," Ivan replied. "Now, I want to show you something."
Ivan reached into his inner coat pocket and removed a disc. He inserted it into the computer on Wendy's desk. When he opened the file, a picture of a strange pokemon that she had never seen appeared on the screen.
"This is Mewtwo," Ivan explained. "It is a genetically enhanced clone of the legendary pokemon, Mew. It was created by Team Rocket to be the most powerful pokemon alive; however, it was too powerful for Giovanni to control and it escaped."
"No," Wendy interrupted. "Team Rocket never created something like that."
"Yes, it did," Ivan said. "When Mewtwo escaped, it erased all knowledge of its existence from the mind of every member who saw it. When I saw what was inevitably going to happen, I made a copy of all the files pertaining to the creature and saved them for myself.
"I want this creature. Its power will be an invaluable asset to us. I want you to inform all members of Team Rocket in the field that they are to maintain a constant search for it. Tell them that the first person to see this creature who reports to me will receive a one hundred thousand dollar bonus on his next paycheck. Under no circumstances, however, is anyone to engage this pokemon in combat without me. Understood?"
"Yes, sir," Wendy replied.
"Good," Ivan said. "Well, if you'll excuse me."
Ivan stood and turned toward the door. Before he left, Wendy stopped him.
"It's about two members of our group, sir," she explained. "Their names are Jessie and James and they're a couple of incapable morons."
Ivan's expression hardened to steel. "Incapable morons? Show me."
Smiling inwardly, Wendy pulled up their file on the computer. Ivan read through it, taking particular concern to the list of failures on their record.
"They've been chasing after the same little boy for almost three years now," Wendy told him. "They haven't been able to steal his one Pikachu in their entire career. Not only that, but they've borrowed a lot of money from us and haven't paid back any of it. Giovanni was going to fire them before you took over. I would suggest you do the same."
Ivan was silent for a moment, sucking on his rapidly dwindling cigarette. "Nyet," he said at last. "I don't think I will."
"What?" Wendy demanded. "But you. . ."
"Silence," he commanded, filling the air with a thick cloud that made Wendy choke. "I didn't fire all those other members because they were incompetent. I did it because they were unable to give up their old ways and conform to our new policy. They were liabilities. If you have a personal grudge against these two, forget about it. They may have failed all this time, but they've kept on trying. I admire that kind of determination. I can certainly find good use for them. You will, however, need to inform them that they are no longer going to follow this boy. They are field operatives, and they are to capture wild pokemon for us to sell or keep as we see fit. And do it immediately." He extinguished his cigarette on her desk, leaving a black ashy mark, and tossed it into the trash. "Now, I must go; I am late for my next appointment. Good day!"
The way he said 'good day,' moments before he stalked out of the office and slammed the door made Wendy's hair stand on end. It was so cold and ruthless. She found herself unable to move for a few minutes after he disappeared from sight. When she was sure he was gone, she angrily cleaned the ash off her desk and rushed to open a window.
"Liabilities, huh?" she thought out loud. "Well, if that's the case, then I'll just have to make those idiots liabilities." Coughing heavily, she groaned and added, "Why did he have to light up in here!?"
"Ash?" Mewtwo stammered in disbelief. "Is that really you?"
"Hey, Mewtwo," Ash replied. "It's been a while."
"You know him?" Shigure asked.
"I do," Mewtwo said. "He's an old friend of mine."
Shigure stared at Ash. "Wait, is he the one you told me about?"
"He is," Mewtwo answered.
Shigure laughed heartily. "It's a small world isn't it? I never would have expected to meet you."
There was a moment of silence before anyone spoke again. Everyone was afraid to accept that what they were seeing was really true. It seemed too good, as though the slightest sound or movement might wake them from the dream. An earsplitting crack of thunder broke the silence, followed by Togepi squealing.
"Hey, Mewtwo," Shigure started with a nervous chuckle, "why don't you entertain our guest while I go clean myself up."
"Gladly," Mewtwo said.
For what seemed to be an eternity, the only sound that could be heard was that of the shower running in the bathroom upstairs. Ash and his friends sat on the couch, while Mewtwo rested on the chair across from them, none of them having the slightest idea what to talk about.
Mewtwo looked out the window at the pouring rain, which seemed to have no intention of letting up. Clearing his throat, Mewtwo rose to his feet and walked over to the fireplace.
"How about a fire," he said uneasily, putting some logs into it. "That always seems to make a rainy day seem better."
"Yeah," Ash agreed.
Getting up from the couch, he began to help Mewtwo. He put some old newspaper and kindling into it. With a twitch of his brow, Mewtwo caused the paper to light up and in moments, a fire was roaring in the pit.
"That's better," Ash said.
"Much more comfy," Misty agreed.
Mewtwo and Ash returned to their seats. After another moment, Brock spoke up.
"So, how did you end up here?" he asked Mewtwo.
Mewtwo sighed. He looked out the window again.
"After I escaped from Team Rocket and we went our separate ways," Mewtwo began, "I decided to explore the world for myself. During the night, I traveled from place to place, seeing whatever there was to see. It was peaceful for a while, but after a few months, some men found me and tried to capture me. I escaped them, but they continued to chase me. No matter where I ran, they always found me."
"Couldn't you fight them?" Ash asked.
"Or erase their memories?" Misty added.
"I tried both," Mewtwo replied. "They wore headgear that protected them from my mental abilities. As for fighting them, not only did they have powerful weapons and equipment, but they also had very strong pokemon."
"They couldn't have been stronger than you," Ash stated.
"No," Mewtwo admitted, "but they were stronger than any others that I had ever seen before. I managed to elude them for three months, but then, one of them hit me with some kind of poisoned dart. I was able to loose them after that. I'm not sure how, the poison clouded my head too much then. Somehow I managed to drag myself all the way to this town, unaware of where I was or what I was doing. I collapsed in a ditch and that was the last thing I remembered before I woke up here."
Upstairs, they heard the shower stop. Mewtwo smiled, stroked the Flareon's head and continued.
"It was Felix here who found me, unconscious and half-dead. He led Shigure to me, who took me to his home and nursed me back to health. I've been here ever since.
"While I survived, the poison left side affects. I've lost almost a quarter of my psychic strength and every time I exert myself too much, I have blackouts and seizures. Because of that, I can't risk leaving this town."
"That's terrible," Misty commented.
"Yeah," Brock agreed. "Who were those guys?"
"I don't know," Mewtwo said. "They didn't have anything that I could identify them by. It's not so bad, though. If they hadn't been chasing me, I never would have met Shigure. That would have been the real tragedy. Shigure has not only become my best friend, but he's shown me a new reason for living. My time here, though darkened by pain, has been the happiest time that I have ever seen."
"I'm glad to hear that," Ash said.
A few minutes later, Shigure came down the stairs into the main room, Sparky following close behind him. He was wearing a traditional men's kimono and at his left hip hung a katana. He smiled as he sat down on the floor next to Mewtwo.
"So, what have you been talking about?" he asked.
"Not much," Mewtwo replied. "I was just explaining how I came to be here."
"I see," Shigure said. "Well, Ash, from what Mewtwo has told me, you must be a good trainer."
Ash smiled. "Yeah, I'm pretty good."
Shigure chuckled.
"What?" Ash asked.
"The way you responded," Shigure explained. "Not to big on humility are you?"
Ash leaned back. "What's that have to do with anything?"
Shigure smiled as he looked over at Mewtwo and then back to Ash. "It's just a principle really. I've always been that way and so have most of my friends. It sounds a little funny hearing the way you said it."
Ash nodded. "What about you? You must be pretty good yourself."
"Some people think so," Shigure responded.
"How about a match then?" Ash asked.
"My, aren't we in a hurry," Shigure said, smiling. "I was going to ask you anyway, though. I wanted to see the way you train your pokemon. Come with me."
Shigure rose from his chair and started off down the hallway. Ash and the others followed. Along the way, they noticed a number of portraits and sketches hanging on the wall. Some were of people, some were of pokemon and others were landscapes. Most were drawn in pencil, but some were painted. Ash made mental a note to ask who drew them after the battle.
Shigure led them to a large training room, where a Hitmonchan was viciously attacking a punching bag. When it saw Shigure, it paused to give him a thumbs up, then continued its exercising.
"Good work, Rocky," Shigure said. "Keep it up."
Ash watched the Hitmonchan hammer the punching bag as it delivered punch after punch, almost too fast for him to see. With each hit, the bag looked as though it might snap off of its base.
"Not bad," he commented.
Shigure cleared his throat, calling attention to the battle arena. Ash took his place at the other side of the arena, while Misty and Brock sat down on a bench off to the side.
"We'll keep it simple," Shigure explained. "One-on-one, with standard pokemon league rules. Sparky will fight for me."
Sparky stepped into the center of the arena.
"Pikachu will be my choice," Ash replied.
Pikachu stepped into the arena and stood before Sparky. There was a brief pause while the two pokemon sized each other up. A smile tugged at the corner of Shigure's mouth.
"Begin," he said.
"Pikachu!" Ash ordered, "Thunderbolt!"
Electricity crackled around Pikachu's body as it hopped back away from its opponent, preparing for its attack. With a fierce "CHU!" it channeled the electricity toward Sparky. The bolt struck the Raichu directly, forcing it to take a step back as thousands of volts of electricity raced through its body. Flexing its muscles, Sparky shook off the attack.
"Tackle it!" Ash commanded.
Pikachu charged forward and dived at Sparky. Reaching forward, Sparky grabbed Pikachu by the ears, twirled it around and threw it aside. Twisting in the air, Pikachu was able to land on its feet.
"Thunder!" Shigure ordered.
Raising its tail into the air, Sparky began to gather energy around it into its body. Everyone in the room could feel their hair rising on their heads as it prepared to attack. In a massive flash of light, Sparky released all of the power. Ash had to turn away from the blinding explosion of electricity. When he looked back, he saw his Pikachu was shaken by the bolt, but able to stand.
"Can you keep going Pikachu?" he asked.
"Pika!" it affirmed.
Shigure was clearly impressed, but maintained his focus on the battle as he quickly calculated his next move.
"I don't think we can win that way, Sparky," he noted. "Let's show him our surprise attack."
"Rai!"
Sparky tensed up. Its tail wriggled in the air, coiling about like a snake. Ash could see by its focused gaze that it was preparing for a powerful attack. He knew that he had to make the first move.
"Pikachu, quick attack!" he shouted.
Pikachu leapt forward, ready to strike its opponent.
"Wait for it!" Shigure warned.
Pikachu leapt forward again, drawing closer to its target. Shigure's eyes narrowed as he held off his attack. Sparky's tail coiled up again. Pikachu leapt closer again, landing less then a foot away. It lowered its head and prepared for impact.
"NOW!" Shigure commanded.
Sparky leaned back on its tail and pushed with all its strength, springing itself into the air. Pikachu sailed harmlessly beneath it.
"Follow up with mega-kick," Shigure ordered.
Pikachu barely had time to turn its head to look before Sparky landed on its coiled tail and bounced toward it at incredible speed. Sparky drove its foot into Pikachu's chest, using its inertia to launch it from the ring. Pikachu crashed headfirst into the wall and fell to the ground with a painful cry. Ash ran to his fallen friend and cradled it in his arms.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Pika-pi," it moaned painfully.
Shigure knelt down beside them and gently felt its head.
"Your Pikachu will be alright," he said. "A little rest and some food and he'll be just fine."
Carefully holding Pikachu, Ash extended his hand. Shigure accepted it and shook it.
"I guess you are the better trainer," Ash admitted. "I figured you would be."
Shigure shook his head. "Not necessarily," he said. "It can't be denied that I've more experience than you, but I've no doubt that when you've been at this for as long as I have, you'll be just as good as me. Maybe better."
"Really?" Ash asked, his face glowing with pride.
Shigure nodded. "I've seen a lot of trainers who thought they were good, but none of them were able to stand up to Sparky's thunder attack like your Pikachu. The only one that didn't faint on the spot was Bruno's giant Onyx, but it was still left paralyzed for hours afterward. I don't know what you're doing, but your doing it right. Keep it up."
"Thank you," Ash said, a broad smile on his face.
Brock rose from the bench and walked over to Ash. "That's quite a compliment," he noted.
"Yeah," Misty agreed. "It makes me wonder if you're really the same person I've been traveling with all this time."
"What's that mean?" Ash demanded.
"Just that you've never shown any kind of real skill before," Misty teasingly replied. "I can't believe that someone could say that about you."
"Oh, yeah!?"
Shigure watched with a mixture of confusion and amusement as the two argued. After a moment, he began to laugh, abruptly ending the bickering.
"Who's hungry?" he asked.