This World

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Most humans call me a legend. Some of them go so far as to say that I am the "Phantom Pokémon."

I'm not, though. A "phantom" is something that's not really there, like a vision or an illusion.

But I'm not really a phantom... if you see me every day.

Even though I stay hidden from your eyes, I'm probably the most familiar thing to your mind. As the humans say, you know me "like the back of your own hand."

I can fly. It's a lot of fun to go soaring through the skies, even if it's only in my dreams as I sleep under the water. It comes as naturally to me as walking on two legs comes to you. But every day, all throughout the world, I'm doing thousands of things all at once. Sometimes, I can't fly. Rather, I run, or swim, or bounce, or any number of things that I can do.

I'm very small. But despite that, I'm a million different sizes, all at the same time, all the time. From the biggest Wailord to the tiniest Diglett, I'm all of them, all at once. I've also got short, pink fur and blue eyes that see everything. But all over the world, I look very different. Sometimes I have fur, sometimes I have scales, and sometimes I have slimy blue skin! Sometimes I have red eyes, sometimes brown, sometimes barely any at all.

I'm only one species of Pokémon, but I encompass all of them within me. I know all of their behaviors, I can learn all of their attacks and abilities... They are all a part of me, as I am of them.

Now, some humans might disagree with me, maybe even you. You might try to tell me that not all Pokémon came about from my creation. You say that some of them, like Porygon, came from human technology and science.

But I think that you are mistaken. Not necessarily wrong, but mistaken. All Pokémon can trace themselves from me. Would Porygon be able to exist if I had not shaped them to be the way they are now?

"Ah," you say. But what about another Pokémon, another one surely created from Man's greatness?

You mean Mewtwo.

And despite myself, I laugh. Not a mocking laugh, just a sincerely happy one. For Mewtwo, despite what humans think of it, is most certainly a Pokémon born from me, only me. Humans helped me, of course. They provided the grounds on which a new Pokémon species could be brought to life. But Mewtwo is neither mine nor theirs, just as all Pokémon are.

Even though I am your Pokémon, I am not yours.

Certainly though, you must know who I am.

I am Mew.

At this, many humans may begin to shake their heads in disbelief. I am surely only Mew. How can all Pokémon be me? What about the Densetsu no Pokémon, the Legendary Monsters?

The three Densetsu that run across the land of Johto... the three that fly in the sky over the Orange Islands? The golden sun and silver moon that hold power over them? The two creators of ground and sea that now sleep peacefully beneath what they made? And the lord of the heavens, the dragon that soars above the planet?

How can they all be of a single small Pokémon? How could such a simple creature be the forerunner of these elemental titans?

And that is the answer, in its simplicity. Simplicity.

To all Pokémon, I am the universal constant. I am the one who can understand each one's language, who can know all that they know.

Are there many of me, or only one? Is each Pokémon a little different than me, or are we all the same?

Do I reign only over Pokémon, or over your race as well?

Sometimes, I wonder too. But enough about wondering.

I must speak to the humans, to you, to those that I have adopted as my own. I must stop wondering and begin telling.

Even though you may not see me, even though I may only be a "phantom" to you, I can watch and observe everything that happens. Because it is all happening to me.

Sometimes, I watch as my humans wonder if battling Pokémon is a "good" thing to do.

Please let me help you. My Pokémon are born to compete, just as my humans are. My Pokémon are endowed with special abilities, and my humans possess that strength beyond instinct; reason. Compete to your heart's content; this world is made for living in, and to live you must be happy. If you want to compete, compete; if you don't, then don't. I want all to be happy.

But please do not force battling on those who do not wish to do so. While I enjoy watching happy humans and Pokémon on Earth, I must be subjected to viewing some, humans and Pokémon alike, be forced to go against their wills.

Sometimes, I wonder if humans realize the impact that they have had on Pokémonkind.

Even that word, "Pokémon"...

It's just a shortened version of the phrase, "pocket monster". Back when I was the first Pokémon, back when I was the only one, there weren't any "Pokémon." I wasn't a "phantom."

But as my humans evolved and learned to cooperate with my other creatures, they developed a carrying device, called a "Monster Ball" or a "Poké Ball." The ball was able to shrink down any monster, contain it, and transport it anywhere.

At first I was alarmed, but I soon realized that this device was helping my otherwise wild creatures become tame, and that the many species in this world were growing closer together. I was able to show myself to the world, and many worshipped me as they would a god. People and Pokémon of all species were equals with each other, and Pokémon often joined human companions without struggles, without battling, even without the use of the ball device. At least, that is the way that it went for many, many years...

Unfortunately, as the species continued to grow and evolve, all of them reaching new heights, some corrupted humans began to stand out. These humans began to take Pokémon despite the beasts' protests and virtually enslaved them. This was not what I wanted... These humans formed organizations... like the Rockets. The relationship between Pokémon and humans changed forever.

The biggest change began when their leader, Madame Boss, heard of me. She began to search me out, trying to find me, trying to create a Pokémon to rival my power. This was what forced me into hiding. My humans were trying to destroy that what I had carefully brought into being.

From the Rockets, from a fossil that I had left to the humans long ago, Mewtwo was born. He searched for and pondered what his purpose was. However, no one had any answers for him, and his grief and frustration turned into hatred and anger. Using my power, the power I had passed on to him, he began to slowly destroy what I had tried to create. I began to wonder if this single species of human could no longer be trusted among the many species of Pokémon, if this was all that would happen because of their conflicts.

Finally, I was awakened by Mewtwo's anger. I journeyed to the island where he had been created, where my power and the humans' technology had combined...

That day, I watched as Mewtwo took on the Rockets' way of forcing Pokémon to fight. I became angry at him. Why was one of my Pokémon becoming like one of the corrupt humans?

However, in my own confusion, I inadvertently encouraged the Pokémon to fight. I was becoming corrupted, too.

Humans are a part of me. We all affect each other. Unfortunately, our world was being affected in a way that could undo us all, human and Pokémon alike.

It took the sacrifice of a single pure hearted human to set the world right again.

So, if you have stayed here long enough to listen to me, to discover who I am, then it is you that I must ask to help me protect this world. Help me, just as Satoshi did. Just as he continues to do.

I look out on the world, just as I did millennia ago, and I see that very little seems to have changed. True; boundaries have shifted, and all of Earth's creatures have evolved beyond my wildest dreams. But very little seems to have changed to me.

Or could it be that I have changed along with the world?

Oh well. Change or no change, this is still my world. I carry its weight on my shoulders.

But don't think I'm alone.

You're helping me.

We're all the same, in this world. Through the good and the bad, we must all find our ways. No matter what might come, no matter what I might face, I'm not alone. On Earth, there are millions, even billions of Pokémon and humans who are all me.

I've changed. I guess I'm just realizing this now.

Barely anyone remembers what the first Pokémon looked like. When I say the first Pokémon, I mean beyond the Aerodactyl, the Kabuto, the Relicanth. Beyond the Pokémon gods, the Densetsu.

I've changed a lot, huh?

You've changed, too. You and all of your kind.

All of you that are alive.

Pokémon and humans are not really so different. Can you remember that?

I'm glad.

We're all the same.

If chaos befalls this world, we will all succumb to it. If happiness descends upon us, we are all here to accept its rewards.

It is here, today, that I ask of all of you to understand my words, understand me...

Understand that, as humans say...

"Alone we fall, together we stand."

Please listen... because you are listening to yourself.

Like I said before...

You see me every day. Whether in the eyes of your family, your friends, your Pokémon, or even yourself...

You know me as well as you know the back of your own hand.

I'm here.

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"There are many in the world...

"... but they all began with Mew."