Chapter Three - Epsilon's Roaming
By humans' standards, the hour of the day was unholy. One should be sleeping soundly at 2:00 A.M., but again, this is the humans' standards. For some creatures, this time is the equivalent of late afternoon. The creatures of the night with bright shining eyes inhabit a world much different than diurnal beings.
One such pair of eyes overlooked a large human-made city from atop a lightning rod-esque pole. For anyone without a superb sense of balance, the perch would seem precarious, but, for this particular entity, it was a good spot for watching out for anything strange.
It found what it sought.
A bizarre blue and purple anomaly flashed in the sky above the city, floating unstably as a balloon with a slow leak of helium and an updraft below it. It seemed to catch sight of the lone observer and it stopped in the air to watch, still as the feline-like watcher with the bright shining eyes. It then sped away, a bluish blur across a black star-studded sky.
A blur of white and purple pursued it.
The glowing orb of blue made a sharp turn nearly perpendicular to its original path. The white being made the same maneuver. The glowing orb of blue averted its path upward, driving to the stars. The white being made the same maneuver. The glowing orb of blue made another drastic turn, diving into the canopy of a forest. The white being made the same maneuver and landed on the forest floor.
It glanced around, looking and listening for its quarry. It spotted a peculiar glowing in a bush and lunged at it, reaching into the brush. It pulled out a small pink kitten by the tail and looked it fixedly in the eye.
"That's enough of your games, Mew," said a deep voice, not seeming to emanate from anything, just beaming straight into one's brain. The triumphant pursuer's lips never moved.
The small pink kitten that had been addressed as Mew made the cats' equivalent of a sigh before mewing a reluctant agreement.
The Mew was tiny in comparison to its captor, who stood in excess of six and a half feet tall. Tall as a spectre and pale as one as well, except for a long tail of lilac purple, and eyes of a much deeper, more intense violet. It had two horn-like ears on its head and a peculiar cord-like structure reaching from the back of its head to between its shoulder blades. Every one of the creature's details fit that of the first super-clone. The captor of Mew was none other than Epsilon.
Mew made a bit of a case about Epsilon being "no fun." Epsilon countered that that was beside the point and that they needed to get going, glaring at him.
"Mew?" said Mew, seeing a sparkle above the canopy and glad for the distraction; anything to stop that glare.
A high-pitched cry, rather like a bat's, pierced the air as the glittering object seemed to spot them. As it began to draw closer to the two, Mew began to make out what the silhouette was. "Memew!" he exclaimed as a large butterfly descended through the treetops and hovered in front of him.
The butterfly had large curving white wings, heavy dark lines outlining the insectoid scales. Its body was deep purple and snowman-like: plump and rounded. It had two small paws on very stubby arms, which seemed to be useless, but held a note. It looked expectantly at the two with blue eyes, twitching its two antennae.
Epsilon released Mew's tail and took the note from the Butterfree, untying a yellow ribbon tied around the scroll-style note. He unrolled it and looked right to the name the note was signed with. The great butterfly hovered anxiously for a moment as the seven-foot anthropomorph looked at the letter seriously, pondering the name.
"K. Leon?" inquired the cat of the butterfly, "Who?" The insect burst into its language of clicks and screeches, explaining the situation concerning the note's origin. It said that the sender could be found in Saffron City, somewhere near the Silph Company. It pointed, or rather attempted to wave in the general direction of the letter and said that there were directions included on finding the author.
Mew grinned slyly, before bouncing up and snatching the letter from Epsilon. "Mew! Give that back!" shouted the disgruntled clone, but Mew only blew him a raspberry and plunked down on a high tree branch. He unrolled the note again and started reading it. It is a rather strange event when a creature that only knows one word can read with such skill as this kitten.
Mew read in that scripture that this K. Leon had gotten some information on an issue pertaining to the clones. He had sent the message via Butterfree in the hopes of it reaching one of them. The issue was urgent and the receiver of this message must travel at once to Saffron City, stop at the guard post with a human companion and have that companion ask for Mister Konor Leon at the gate, and obtain directions from the guard. The sender of the letter was to contact them upon arrival at Mister Leon's place of abode. He warned that the clone that came was to act like a normal Pokémon as to not alarm the masses.
"Ha!" said Epsilon, grabbing the note from Mew. Mew shrugged, "Mew mew me." "You already read it? Darn," said a slightly deflated Mewtwo, "Oh well." He unrolled the note a third time, read it over, then looked at it strangely with his head cocked to one side. "Human companion? Where am I ever going to find one of those?" he asked no one specifically. "Mew me mew," suggested Mew. "Get caught?" asked Epsilon taken aback, "Are you insane?" Mew appeared to consider this, before beginning to nod and quickly turning the nod into a head shake. "Very funny, Mew. I can hardly contain my debilitating laughter. Ha ha ha, hee hee hee," replied the sarcastic Epsilon blandly. Mew shrugged again, pretending not to see what was so funny.
Epsilon glared at Mew a moment before stating, "If we intend to find a 'human companion,' we had best get going now, you insolent annoyance." "Meme mewew? Me Mew?" asked Mew. "Yes, you." Mew blew him another raspberry and floated off in that unstable way of his. Mew's clone soon followed suit.
"Where should we check first?" asked Epsilon of Mew. "Mewme . . . ," said Mew, only half-attentive. "You don't know? You've been alive on this planet for millennia, and you don't know where to find a human? You, sir, are pathetic." commented Epsilon, chuckling to himself. "Mewmeme . . . ," replied Mew. "Right back at you," countered Mewtwo. "Meeew mewme," said Mew. "Such an innocent-looking pink creature should not use such language as that," laughed Epsilon. One must wonder why he is the only one ever to laugh at his jokes.
"So, really, where should we start?" inquired Epsilon, snapping back to seriousness. "Memew ew," said Mew, pointing. "We don't have to go far? And what are you pointing–Ack!" shouted Epsilon, catching the full brunt of a large flying lizard's Double Edge.
The tackle sent Epsilon reeling back into the ever-present trees. "Saaaalamenssssssse!!" roared the great beast, blowing a stream of flame into the air. This blue gargantua hovered in the air, supported by the strokes of immense red axe-head-shaped wings. The laws of aerodynamics, however, would never have let this thing slip by like it had the bee. Its body was low and flat, like a living example of the way dinosaurs were first thought to have appeared and the way crocodiles really are. Several grey plates lined its belly, and three horns struck out from the sides of its head.
"Ohhh . . . . That thing is going to wish that it had never even see me," muttered Epsilon, pulling himself out of the limbs of a thick tree. He burst out of the trees and tackled the huge gloating reptile. The Salamence caught itself just before it hit the ground and sped back to its former altitude. It breathed a sheet of flames at Mewtwo, which was easily diverted back to its owner by the clone, even though the large lizard dodged its reflected attack. "Sal! Mence!" it cried, rallying itself, before it flew backwards a ways, before launching itself at its opponent again. The second time around, Epsilon knew the attack was coming, and sidestepped it even as he levitated. The Salamence had not expected this and frantically backflapped as it careened to those trees. It couldn't stop itself and cleaved a huge hole in the canopy. The paradoxically agile creature readied for another go.
"Tatsura!" came a girl's voice from far below. The great lizard looked down from the trees and to its trainer, who was standing on the ground, and had been watching the aerial acrobatics. "Enough! He's too fast for you!" she called. The reptile appeared to sigh and lowered itself to the ground below. It lumbered over to its trainer, many times less agile on the ground as in the air. It bowed its neck and accepted its place back inside the Timer Ball.
"Mewmemeew," said Mew smugly. "Oh, quiet with your 'I told you so's," replied Epsilon.
"Hmm . . . ," began the girl on the ground, browsing through her Pokéballs, "This one ought to do it." She grinned in not so much an evil way as a plotting way. "Go!" she cried, hurling a purple ball into the sky, "Katanzira!"
With that, the ball let forth a paradoxical black light that shaped itself into a sizeable serpent. This creature was adorned with an odd yellow pattern across its black scales, with red accents. Its head was viper-like suggesting toxicity. It was somewhat reminiscent of an oriental dragon, but for the fact that its hind legs were absent, leaving it with two arms armed with cruel claws. It hung silently in the air with no visible way of doing so. It snapped its eyes open after a few moments, and gave a full-throated roar; this was one Pokémon that would not lower itself to having to repeat its name. Epsilon went wall-eyed.
"What is that thing?" he demanded, pointing at the snake. "Mewme . . . ," said Mew, staring at it in wonderment. "Again with the 'I don't knows?!'" shouted Epsilon.
Before Epsilon could get another word out, the Rayquaza disappeared. "Huh?" said Mewtwo, "Where did . . . ?" Epsilon got a gut-feeling, and obeyed it, turning around to see the giant serpent's face rushing at him, too late. It caught him squarely in the chest, sending him shooting down to the ground, and causing him to skid a good hundred yards across it.
Epsilon winced at the pain on his back; what he had been sledding on. "Agh . . . ," he said as he drew himself up, "Ow . . . . I know what that thing is now . . . . Godly." He looked up into the sky again, looking for the snake. "Oh, no . . . . Where is it now?" he asked, before looking into the airspace behind him, "Oh, da--" The Rayquaza, glowing with orange energy now, rammed Epsilon again, sending him sliding along the dirt again, to further tear away at his back.
Again, Epsilon found his way to his feet, "I've had just about enough of this nonsense." He placed the bottoms of his palms together and drew both arms to one side behind him. He paused a moment, eyes closed, before a blue aura enveloped him. He too snapped his eyes open, but his were now glowing a teal-blue. He appeared to charge for a time; a time in which the serpentine dragon prepared for another attack. The dragon disappeared and Epsilon waited a second before turning to face backwards and unleashing his attack on the stunned serpent.
There was a pause.
The dragon winced, at first, then clutched its head, then roared in pain and rage. It writhed in the air, all the while holding its head in its paws, and its claws began to pierce the scales; its grip was so tight. This went on for a good minute in which Epsilon smirked evilly on the ground.
After the minute, the creature dropped its head down, let go of it slowly, then stayed still almost as if petrified after all the wriggling. Epsilon slowly lost the smirk, to stare with mouth gaping at the serpent who had taken a full-blown Psychic and remained conscious, let alone aloft.
Epsilon involuntarily took a step back as the creature began lifting its head slowly, and he started to see a feint red glow emanating from the thing's face. Then the Rayquaza looked at Epsilon hatefully with glowing blood red eyes. It beamed a venomous hatred at Epsilon that made him feel as if he should flee from this mighty wyrm, but he did not.
Instead, he steeled his will to stand his ground, and readied for another Psychic attack. It would not help him however for the Rayquaza was also charging. It finished gathering its power before Epsilon did. It unleashed a blue lightning bolt, crackling as it superheated the air around it, and it sped at harrowing speeds for the ill-prepared clone. The beam hit Epsilon around the middle, and caused him to twitch and spasm; symptoms usually associated with electrocution. After the bolt had grounded itself, Epsilon fell to the ground, stunned beyond consciousness.
And Epsilon fainted.