Chapter 10
The Telling of the Tale
There was only one word to describe what it was like inside Union Cave: damp. It was horribly damp inside, not to mention dark and smelly. Even though I couldn't see them, I could hear creepy, crawly Pokemon scuttling in and out of the shadows, crying out occasionally.
"This place gives me the creeps," Ash said, shivering.
"Ah, it doesn't bother me," Gold said. "After all, I've been to all the caves in Kanto and Johto."
"All right, stop rubbing it in!" Ash complained, "You've been more places than me! So what? It's not like…" But suddenly he stopped, and wrinkled his nose. "Dude! What is that smell?"
We all smelled it also. It was incredibly foul. Then, Gold nudged me on the shoulder and pointed to a corner of the cave. In the light filtering down from a crack in the ceiling, I saw a huge pile of brown stuff… We all looked up, and saw a cluster of Zubat hanging from the ceiling, obviously the source of the guano.
"Let's move on, quickly," I said, holding my breath. We all hurriedly went ahead.
The cave was incredibly long… a lot bigger than I remembered it from the game. Finally, I said, "Hey Ash, do you think Meganium would mind giving me a ride for a while?"
"Why do you want to make your Pokemon smell this foul air?" Gold asked, rolling his eyes.
"No, he's got a point." Ash said. "I just might ask Blastoise for a ride."
Gold sighed. "Well all right then, by Joshua, we'll all ride our Pokemon!" And so, with me atop my beloved Meganium, Ash riding high on Blastoise's shoulders, and Gold riding regally atop Persian, we pressed onward.
We rode in silence for about twenty minutes, when suddenly Gold tilted his head and whispered, "Did you hear that?"
"What?" Ash asked, motioning for Blastoise to stop.
"It sounded like a faint rumbling coming from down the tunnel." We listened intently, and indeed there came a distant rumble, repeated every few seconds or so.
"What do you say we find out what it is?" I asked. They nodded silently, and we nudged our Pokemon forward. As we got closer to the noise, it got louder and louder, and soon, from around a curve ahead of us, we saw bright flashes of pink and blue light, and several men were screaming. We looked at each other, but continued. We passed the bend, and immediately scuttled back into the shadows.
"This is impossible…" I whispered. "Two of those?"
Illuminating the center of the cave were two Mews, the rarest Pokemon ever. One was emitting a light blue halo, the other a bright pink. They were very angry, we could tell. And well they should be, for crowded around them were at least a dozen members of Team Rocket, their Pokemon pressing closer and closer to the Psychic Pokemon. The Mews' halo brightened, and the Rocket Pokemon were flung backwards and slammed into the wall.
DO NOT ADVANCE ON US AGAIN! boomed a deep, horrible voice. OR IT SHALL BE THE LAST THING YOU WILL EVER DO! But this only made the Rockets snicker.
"Hey guys, I think we should help." I said.
"Don't get involved," Ash whispered fiercely. "The Mews are powerful. They can handle themselves."
"They're outnumbered!" I whispered back. "Look… Meganium and I will handle this. You just stay here." Before either one of them could stop me, I jumped off Meganium and we approached the battle.
"Hey, what say you back off that Mew couple right about now?" I said casually.
The Rockets spun on me. "Who the devil are you? Stay out of our business!"
"This is now our business," I said, narrowing my eyes. "You have no business hurting an innocent Mew couple. Now, back down!" I felt confident, but suddenly I was surrounded by the Rocket Pokemon. "Okay, Meganium… attack! ATTACK!" Meganium roared and rammed its head into a Weezing, sending it flying. A Raticate came dashing forward, fangs bared, but Meganium kicked it back with its hind legs. A Gloom managed to get in a Cut attack, but Meganium took it in stride and gave it a hardy head butt. The Rocekts saw that I was powerful, and then all of the enemy Pokemon were closing in on us.
But suddenly, out of nowhere, an Ice Beam and Shadow Ball attack came flying out of the darkness, striking a few of the Pokemon.
"Looks like you need a little help," Gold said cooly, as he and Ash stepped out of the shadows. "Shall we?"
I grinned. "You guys are the best. Now let's do this!!!"
The combined might of the Team Rocket squadron was no match for our team of three. And a few Solarbeams, Surfs, and Slashes later, the Rocekts gathered what Pokemon were left and dashed off down the tunnel.
I caught my breath, and then cheered, "We did it! We beat Team Rocket!"
Gold shook his head and smiled. "I have to say… you fight pretty damn well, kid. Pretty damn well."
"Yeah, I think your fighting style even rivals me!" Ash said with a nervous laugh.
"Oh, don't be ridiculous!" I said, patting Ash on the back. "If that was true, then how come I'm not the final enemy of Gold, Silver, and Crystal and you are?"
Ash made a weird face. "What the hell are you talking about?"
ENOUGH… said a voice.
"Oh yeah," I said, turning back to the Mew couple, who were floating next to each other before us. "Well, we saved you!"
THAT YOU DID… said the male, nodding. NOW YOU MUST LEAVE THIS PLACE.
"Aren't you the least bit grateful?" Ash asked.
WE DID NOT ASK FOR YOUR HELP. the female replied.
Gold rolled his eyes, and turned to us and said, "How do you like that? We save the rarest Pokemon in the world, and they don't even thank us for it."
"Well, then let's just do as they say and get moving," Ash sighed. "If we're going to stop Celebi's army of Mewtwo's, we'd better…"
DID YOU SAY MEWTWO? came the voice of the female.
"Yes we did," Gold said. The Mews looked at each other and sighed. "Why? Do you know Mewtwo?"
The male looked down for several moments, and then looked up at us again and said, SIT DOWN. THERE IS A TALE WE MUST TELL YOU. Obediently, we sat on some rocks nearby and listened. The male continued. WHAT DO YOU KNOW OF MEWTWO?
"Well, we know that he's the most powerful Psychic Pokemon, and that he was created in the lab at Cinnabar Island." I said.
The male sighed. THAT IS WHAT EVERYONE HAS BEEN TOLD, BUT IT IS INDEED AN UNTRUTH. MEWTWO IS OUR SON.
We exchanged glances of surprise. Then Ash asked, "So, he wasn't genetically engineered?"
NO. THE ONES WHO WERE GENETICALLY ENGINEERED WERE MY MATE AND I.
WE WERE ALIVE THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO, the female said. WE SUDDENLY AWOKE IN THIS NEW WORLD, SURROUNDED BY SCIENTISTS. IT WAS VERY CONFUSING.
THE SCIENTISTS TREATED US WELL, the male continued. THEY RAISED US AND CARED FOR US AS WELL AS ANY TRAINER WOULD. IN TIME, THEY TRIED TO ENCOURAGE US TO MATE.
"So, I'm assuming it happened then?" I questioned.
The female nodded. YES. WE GAVE BIRTH TO OUR SON, MEWTWO. HE WAS VERY DOCILE UPON BIRTH, EVEN PLAYFUL. AND THE SCIENTISTS TREATED HIM AS WELL AS THEY TREATED US.
"But, something must have happened," Gold put in, "Because the lab on Cinnabar Island was destroyed."
YES, the male said, frowning. THAT WAS OUR MAKING.
"Your making? I thought Mewtwo destroyed it." Ash said.
OUR SON WAS NOT HAPPY LIVING IN THE CONFINES OF THE LAB. HE LONGED TO SEE THE OUTSIDE WORLD. HE BECAME LISTLESS AND ARROGANT. WE COULD NOT BEAR TO SEE HIM THIS WAY. The female stopped speaking and closed her eyes. SO, WE ENCOURAGED HIM TO BREAK FREE, TO USE HIS MASSIVE PSYCHIC POWER TO ESCAPE, TO GO OUT AND LIVE FREELY. HE TOOK OUR ADVICE AND DESTROYED THE LAB.
The male spoke next. WE THOUGHT WE HAD DONE WELL. BUT ALL THE SCIENTISTS, THE ONES WHO CARED FOR US AND LOVED US, LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE EXPLOSION, AND WE REALIZED WE HAD ERRED GREATLY. WE HID OURSELVES AWAY IN THIS CAVE, TO REMAIN FOREVER AWAY FROM THE OUTSIDE WORLD.
There was a brief moment of silence, and in that time, we decided we had to tell the Mew couple what was going on. I looked up at them and said, "There are big things going on, and it involves your son. The forest guardian, Celebi, is planning to launch an attack, and he's using an army of over ten thousand Mewtwo clones."
MY BABY! the female cried, covering her eyes with her hands and weeping.
The male put his hand on her shoulder, and then said to us, ARE YOU PLANNING TO STOP CELEBI?
"Yes, yes we are," Gold replied.
The male sighed and then said, THEN YOU MUST GO, AND QUICKLY. AS GLAD AS WE ARE THAT OUR SON IS ALIVE, WE CANNOT BEAR TO SEE HIM USED FOR SUCH A PURPOSE. IF IT MEANS THE SAFETY OF THE WORLD, THEN YOU MUST STOP CELEBI'S ARMY AT ALL COSTS.
"And that's what we'll do." Ash said. "We are on our way to see Kurt, in Azalea Town. He knows a lot about Ilex Forest and its history, so we're hoping he can tell us something about Celebi."
THEN GO. THE CAVE EXIT IS AROUND THE NEXT BEND.
We uneasily stood up and gathered our Pokemon. "Well, we'll do our best." I said. "We're sorry again for what happened to Mewtwo."
YOU NEEDN'T BE SORRY. ALL THINGS HAPPEN FOR A REASON. NOW, HURRY! GO!
Without another word we hurried around the bend and exited Union Cave. The small community of Azalea Town lay before us, and hopefully, some answers did too.