The minute Devon had seen Mewtwo stalking forwards towards Giovanni, he had gotten a strange feeling in his stomach of dread.
But the time he spent in shock could have very well cost him Giovanni's life, the man that had taken him in and raised him, trained him.
The man to whom he owed everything.
As soon as he saw Mewtwo forming a kinetic ball, he Teleported over, just in time to see the stupid boy leap in front of his master.
Traitor! Devon hissed at Mewtwo after the yells of astonishment had subsided.
But Mewtwo wasn't paying attention to him, his eyes were on the glowing, lifeless body in front of him.
"Ash!" Misty cried out, rushing to his side, faster than a speeding bullet.
"Don't die," she whimpered, clutching his chest, and resting her forehead on it, tears soaking into his shirt. 'Don't die, Ash. Please don't let him die!' she prayed, as her body was wracked with sobs.
Quietly, and with almost frightened reluctance, Giovanni knelt down beside his son, and checked his pulse. He straightened slowly, and stated flatly, "He's dead."
Mewtwo stared at Ash Ketchum. He had killed a human boy.
It was one thing to kill Giovanni, who had already lived for quite a while, and wasted his life away.
But it was another to kill a human child who had barely even begun to live.
"Pik-kaa," Pikachu trembled, tears in his eyes, as he touched his Pika-pi's arm, almost afraid to believe the truth before him.
But there was no reaction from Ash. Not an eyelid twitch, not a rise of the chest.
"Pika-pi!" Pikachu screamed in anguish, trying to shock life back into the boy, narrowly avoiding the sorrowful Misty, whose head was still lying on the cold boy's chest.
Giovanni turned to Mewtwo, coldly, and spoke in a voice that would have chilled Jack Frost to the bone. "You killed my son."
Mewtwo, harsh and evil as he was, was a bit at a loss. He'd never killed anyone before, especially a human that hadn't even attempted to capture him.
Devon was quickly beside Giovanni's side, and the two slowly grew closer to Mewtwo, who was still a bit stunned with himself, and backing up unsurely.
"Ash..." Misty managed to get out, in a broken voice that was barely a whisper. But Giovanni somehow managed to hear, and it almost broke his heart. "I never got a chance to tell you...But...I love you..." Trembling, she gave him a tender kiss that she put all of her soul into.
It was almost as if when she let out those frightening words, and gave him a heart-felt kiss, she expected him to miraculously wake up, almost like Snow White in reverse.
But she saw no reaction from him, and buried her head deeper into his chest.
Had she paid closer attention, she might have noticed his lips part slightly, and the almost-utterance of part of her name...Mist.
But as quickly as it was almost formed, the sign of life disappeared.
"Attack him," Giovanni grated out an order to his Pokémon, who instantly and readily turned on Mewtwo.
Wait, Devon spoke in their minds. I'll take care of him.
Nodding, Giovanni made a gesture for his Pokémon to cut off their attack. And they did so, reluctantly.
"Attack only the Legendaries," Giovanni told them in a low voice.
And greedily, readily, darkly enthusiastic, they did so.
Ash's Pokémon had not the heart to battle, and tearfully had their eyes on their deceased trainer. Brock stood a few feet away from the fighters, unable to take it all in.
It had never seemed real that one of their group would die. They'd gotten into many difficult situations, but had always managed to get out of them.
Team Rocket had always seemed like a joke, nothing like it appeared to be at that very moment. Brock understood now that they had merely been dealing with those Team Rocket members that had true consciences and respect for their Pokémon. Not the cruel beasts that were trying to take down the Legendaries.
Brock bit his lip to prevent himself from crying. Ash would want him to be strong, and carry on...
But that boy had been the best friend he had ever known.
Trying to swallow the hard lump in his throat, he slowly glanced over at his mournful Pokémon, who appeared as distraught as he was.
Mewsie looked like he wanted to cry in confusion, floating in the air amidst his siblings and staring at the dead boy.
Cat had transformed back into her normal self, and was trying to prevent herself from crying, but moisture was seeping from her eyes.
Lelia's lip trembled, as teardrops went freely in a stream down her cheeks. Her trainer was gone...Gone.
Never to return.
Not to come back.
In a zombie-like state, she drifted forward, trying to pour healing into him, causing him to glow.
But she saw no signs of movement, and ceased, broken-hearted.
Cat bit her lip, then swiftly Teleported between her fighting brother and Mewtwo.
"Stop it!" she ordered, blocking the attacks that they were about to send at each other.
Stay out of this, sister, Devon ordered.
This is our battle, Mewtwo inserted Psychically.
"You don't understand!" Cat insisted. "You were not meant to fight like this!"
Who cares?! Mewtwo hissed, sweeping her aside, caring at the moment only for the fight.
With a cry of pain, Cat slammed against the wall, and slid down it, whimpering.
The ex-Team Rocket trio watched the scene before them with tears glistening in their eyes, sobbing uncontrollably.
"He may have been a twerp but I didn't want him to die!" James cried.
"Me neither!"
"Waaah!" they both sobbed simultaneously hugging each other.
"Meowth didn't want 'em to die neither," the cat sniffled, joining in on their hug.
Their wet eyes all met, and their crying increased tenfold.
"I love you, Ash, you can't die," Misty was still sobbing lover's lamentations into Ash's now damp chest. She suddenly noticed that Ash was glowing, and something was changing.
Hopeful, but scared, she inched away from him as the light grew brighter. With fascination and fear, she watched Ash's body float into the air, until it became too bright for her eyes to remain focused, and she cast them away.
When the light had subsided, she brought her eyes back, and noticed with surprise that Ash was no longer laying on the ground in human form.
He was a Mew.