PART ONE: THE BIRTH OF A LEGEND

Chapter One: The Ultimate Psychic

-Diagnostic scan...Complete

-Brainwave Inhibitor Active.

-Genetic Sequence Stabilized.

-Heartrate...Stabilized.

-Project Mewtwo running at 100.

These green words illuminated the dark room, where the creature was kept. The walls were lined with computers and monitors, all working steadily to maintain the creature's unconscious stasis. Against the western wall rested a pair of solid metal double doors, constructed to only open when key individuals activated the retinal scanners beside the doors. The walls were six-inches of solid steel, designed to repel any potential invasion.

Project Mewtwo was their brainchild, the ultimate biological weapon. The creature that floated in the glass tank in the center of the room was their crowning achievement, and every Silph researchers on Cinnabar had cheered the day he was completed. This was a glorious day for genetic research.

---------------------------------------------

Elsewhere, in a rustic tavern less than a mile from the facility, two men proudly drank their toast to their great accomplishment. One in his mid forties, with shaggy brown hair that came down to his shoulders, because he was simply too busy to cut it. The man had unshaven facial hair beginning to grow, he'd been far too busy this past week to pay attention to it. The other man was blond, with green eyes that carried with them the late nights. He was younger than his partner, the lab assistant, aged around his late thirties. He had gotten more sleep than the first, because he'd actually been able to tear his eyes away from their project.

There came the sound of a clink, as two glasses of vodka came together, before they both drank to their marvel. Project Mewtwo was a complete success, and it was a time of celebration. Neither of them noticed the pair of eyes that watched them from the bar, of a young woman with blonde hair swept back into a tender ponytail. Her blue eyes shone with a mysterious gleam, barely visible, one that sparkled hypnotically.

"Hey, Sally. You awake tonight?" The bartender snapped his fingers, breaking the young woman's gaze and grabbing her attention. She had sat here with a single glass of rum for over an hour now, with her eyes constantly traveling towards the two men in the corner table. The bartender was beginning to wonder about her.

Sally blinked her eyes, looking back at the man. He was an overweight man in his late twenties, with scraggly hair around his ears. He had balded early, as some men do, and looked a bit grumpy tonight. "Oh, yes, I...I am sorry." She cleared her throat, mentally berating herself for forgetting the contraction. She couldn't afford to look suspicious, this was too important.

She sipped her drink, then looked back at the men. A predatory grin crossed her face when she saw one leave for the bathroom. This was the opportunity she'd been waiting for, and she had to take it fast. She looked down at her right wrist, and the golden communication device that rest there. She pressed one button with her finger, sending back a signal, then followed after the drunk man.

The younger, blond-haired man slipped into the men's room, his walk woozy with the alcohol he'd taken in. But not three seconds after he'd come in, the door had banged open, and this gorgeous blonde bombshell stalked in after him. Before he could say a word, she pressed him up against the wall and pressed her lips to his, catching him by surprise. He didn't resist, however. A beautiful woman had decided to kiss him, and he couldn't refuse. Her lips caressed his, while her hand traveled down his arm, finally touching his hand.

His eyes widened when he felt something strange ooze over his hand, a weird, almost-liquid feeling he'd never felt before. But she kept kissing him, and after a couple seconds, the feeling passed. Finally, she let up, letting him fall to the ground, confused. With a grin, she backed towards one of the stalls. Her finger lured him over, and he grinned, crawling to her. She smiled, luring him up to his feet, and then in one quick movement, smashed the door of the stall against him, knocking him to the ground. Dazed, he tried to move, but she was on him too fast. He struggled, confused, and tried to scream, but then he felt something oozing over his mouth. The sight only made him try to scream louder, when he saw the beautiful woman melt into a magenta goo, with a happy grin on its face. He felt the ooze dripping down his throat, felt it cutting off his oxygen, and he struggled, but the creature was everywhere around him. He struggled, and he struggled, but he couldn't get free, it had him too tightly. Soon, his air ran out. His eyes closed, and he passed out.

The creature rose from him, not trying to kill him, just render him unconscious. It rose back up into a human form, shaping its returning blond hair into a shorter style, shaping its chest less than muscular and its eyes green. Having absorbed his genetic material into its body, it reconstructed itself into his form. The communication watch it had brought in with it was still on its wrist, and it pressed the second button, to open up a transmission. "Boss, I have him," it smiled to the brown-haired man in the lab coat on the other end.

The man smiled. "Good. Return to the lab with Professor Pine. We'll send a team to retrieve the hostage. And try to get a good night's sleep...tomorrow's going to be a big day."

---------------------------------------------

"But daaaaaaad!" The young girl whined. "Daddy, you PROMISED you'd take me to Seafoam today! You PROMISED!" Her brown hair fell around her shoulders, and she moved in front of him, trying to keep him from walking out the door. Disappointment filled the young girl's eyes, she couldn't believe he was doing this to her. He was breaking a promise, AGAIN!

Pine sighed. It hurt inside that he had to do this, especially to his beloved daughter of fifteen years. He looked into her watery brown eyes, and then he pulled her close to him, hugging her tightly. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. But we've just finished our big project, and they need me upstairs to run diagnostics. I'll tell you what, I'll try to get this over with as fast as I can, and then I'll take you to Seafoam, okay?"

"How long will that take?" The girl had learned to watch his wording carefully.

Pine sighed, knowing he was beat. "Probably two to three weeks," he admitted, and winced when he saw the anger in his little girl's eyes. "Sweetie, I know it's rough, but–"

"You don't know anything!" she yelled at him. "All you know is how to lie and make promises and then never keep them! God, I hate you!" Infuriated, she stormed out the door, not looking back.

"Elise!" Pine took a step to follow her, then almost stumbled when he felt something small and furry race past his leg. He regained his balance, and watched Sasha, the little Eevee he'd managed to buy his daughter as a birthday present three years ago, race after her. The little fox Pokemon had brown fur that came up all across her body, save for the tip of its tail, which was white, and a poofy mane around its shoulders and neck, which was also white. It was only a foot tall, and ran on all four legs like a housecat. Elise loved that little Eevee, she always helped cheer her up.

Pine sighed, watching his daughter and her pet go. He'd have to make this up to her later, but for now, he was needed upstairs. He hoped that she'd be okay. Figured she'd probably head for the gym, since that's where she seemed to enjoy spending her days. Blaine's people would keep an eye on the little princess, so she should be okay.

Pine sighed. Something inside told him to go after her, to chase after his daughter, but he knew they needed him upstairs. In the months to come, he would always look back on this moment and berate himself. If he had only known, he would have gone to her, would have hugged her tight and told her he loved her. If he had only known...

---------------------------------------------

Elise stormed out of the building. She was pissed, and nothing would calm her anger. She didn't even see little Sasha chasing out after her as she started down the street, fuming at her father. Why couldn't he, just once, actually do something he promised to do? Why couldn't he just keep his stupid promises? She sighed, slowing her walk. She was headed down the familiar road, to the Fire Gym that made its home here on Cinnabar Island.

Elise had spent most of her free time at the gym since she was six years old. To her, it was like a second home. On days like this, it was more like a first home, where she could go to forget the troubles of her father. Her walk slowed, as she thought more on it. Her father had buried himself in his work ever since her mother died. She wondered, sometimes, if the reason he didn't spend more time around her was because she reminded him too much of her mother.

"Mama..." the word escaped her lips for a moment, and her walk slowed more. She felt alone now, and her mind began to wander. Kids as young as ten were leaving her island, young children with ideals to become great, experienced Pokemon trainers. She had considered it once, but that life just wasn't for her. She didn't know how they could stomach wandering so much, never having a home. Some spent their whole lives alone, with only their Pokemon as friends. Though, as she started to think, that wasn't so different from her life, was it?

She was shaken from her thoughts by the yipping sound behind her. It brought a smile to her face, she would recognize that yip anywhere. She stopped, turning back, and crouched down to pet Sasha, who had chased after her. She loved that little Eevee, it was her best friend. Elise pet her for a couple seconds, then picked her up into her arms and started walking again.

"Least I'll always have you," she smiled. The little Eevee yipped a second time, then leaned up and licked the side of her face. One thing was certain for young Elise, though her father never had time for her, she would never be alone. She always had Sasha.

---------------------------------------------

"Ready to go?" Professor Pine was greeted by the sound of his young assistant, and he nodded his head. His thoughts were still on Elise, but he knew he needed to focus. He could make things up to her the next time he saw her, he knew that. For now, Project Mewtwo demanded his utmost attention.

"Yeah, let's go," he nodded. "Mewtwo's not going to scan himself, right?" Pine laughed, but the assistant was careful to keep a straight face. This made Pine curious, but he decided not to push it. Probably just having a bad day or something. After all, he certainly was.

Pine led the assistant down to the elevator, pressing the up button. As he waited, he looked at his assistant again. Something seemed off, something he couldn't quite place. He'd worked with this man for years, something just seemed different about him. "Hey," he asked, "where did you get that watch?" Pine had never seen anything like the golden watch that his assistant had on his wrist.

The assistant sweat a moment, nervous. "Um...it was a gift from...uh..." He had to think quickly now, he didn't know anything about this person. Who did he know! "...from my grandfather," he nodded quickly.

"Wait," Pine pressed, "I thought your grandfather died. You were telling me about that three years ago."

Well, crap. The assistant thought fast, then quickly stammered up an answer, "Well, he did, but this was an heirloom he left me in his will. They...uh...they just found it...y'know, recently, and he left me the watch. It gets passed down generations in my family, and now it's mine." Sweat beaded on the assistant's forehead, it was too early to get caught!

"Oh, I see," Pine smiled. "I'm sorry, I should have been more sensitive about...y'know..."

"No, no," the assistant smiled, relieved that it had worked. "No, it's okay. I've...I've come to terms with it." He nodded solemnly, keeping up the image, and counted it a blessing that he had actually managed to pull that off. The boss would have KILLED him if he'd screwed up now.

The elevator dinged, and the doors opened. Both men stepped inside, and Pine pressed the button for the ninth floor. The assistant breathed a relieved sigh as the elevator moved, he knew he had dodged a bullet. The ride passed in silence, and the assistant grew more and more anxious. They were getting closer and closer to this secret project, this...what had Pine called it? Mewtwo? Whatever it was, it was almost in his grasp.

The elevator dinged, and the doors opened on a long, dulled, white hallway. There was a set of magnetically sealed double doors at the end of the hall, which led into the chamber. The assistant followed after Pine, his eyes looking from one door to another, uncertain which they were supposed to take. Finally, he saw it, the magnetically sealed double doors at the end of the hall. His eyes widened when he realized this was the chamber they were heading for. "Something on your mind?" Pine asked him, and he once again found himself struggling for an answer.

"Just thinking about the project," he nodded, as his eyes kept glancing from door to door.

"What is with you?" Pine asked, growing more suspicious. "You're acting strange."

The assistant eeped, his cover was close to being blown, and he spoke quickly, "Just a hangover from...y'know, all the gin."

"Gin?" Now Pine was really suspicious. He stopped walking, his eyes trained on the assistant. "You hate gin. We had vodka. We always have vodka. You hate the taste of gin. You hate everything about gin."

"Well..." the assistant backed against the wall. Realizing his cover had been blown, he decided to just go for it. "Y'see, the thing is...HRAGH!" the assistant lunged, shoving Pine against the wall.

"SECURI–" was all that came from Pine's lips, before the assistant had covered his mouth with a disturbing pink slime. The slime had been his hand before, and now, seeing this, Pine realized what had just happened. This wasn't his partner, this was a–

The slime began to absorb his genetic material, capturing traces of his DNA into its body. "Sorry, doc, but I gotta do this. Don't worry, by the time you wake up, it'll be over. Whatever your little project is in there, it is now the property of Team Rocket."

The slime cut off Pine's oxygen, just as it had the assistant. The creature waited there with him, until he had passed out, and then got up. "Have to do this fast," the assistant muttered to himself, he knew the security cameras would have caught this.

The man raced away from the unconscious body of Pine, running straight for the metal doors. He knew he had to make this quick, so his body shifted as he ran, recomposing his genetic structure to the good doc's. He hit the end quickly and pushed his head in front of the scanner, pressing the button and allowing it to read the retinal scan of Pine, who he had perfectly matched. The light turned green, the ding sounded, and the doors slid themselves open.

The creature stepped inside, and the moment his eyes fell on the tank in the center of the room, his eyes widened in surprise, and his jaw opened slowly. For here, held in biological stasis, was Silph's greatest project, a being they called Mewtwo. Mewtwo...it looked so human.

Mewtwo was 6'7" tall, taller than most humans. It had white skin all across its body, save for the violet tail that swept back. The shape was disturbingly humanoid, with two toes on the long, rabbit's feet, and three fingers on each hand, each ending in a small ball. Though his body was shaped in a humanoid fashion, his white flesh was more rubbery than skin-textured, and his features were...almost feline. A mysterious wire, almost like a second neck, protruded from his back, between his shoulder blades, and wrapped up to connect to the back of his head. Two stubby horns rose from the sides of his head, and his face swept forward, more towards the bottom, to the point that his nose and mouth almost protruded from the rest of his head. Almost. Lastly, his tail, approximately six or seven feet long, ended in a mound. It kinda looked like a club to the man, but he couldn't be sure what it was for. This thing...he didn't know what this thing was, but there was no mistaking it. This had to be Project Mewtwo.

The man looked down to his watch, pressing the second button on it. The commscreen flipped on, and he saw the scientist once more. His boss, not the big boss, but his boss. "Okay, I'm in, and you really need to see this for yourself." He held his watch out, showing his boss the stasis tank containing Mewtwo. "This thing...I don't know what it is but..."

DRIP

He jerked his head suddenly. What was that sound? The creature looked around, trying to place it. He'd heard something, some kind of dripping, like a single drop of water falling onto a metal surface. But what had it been?

DRIP

There it was again. "Boss, something strange is–" He felt something suddenly, like a probe, entering his mind, attacking his brain. What was going on! Was it security, had they...gah, it hurt too much to think! He looked up, eyes going to the containment tank. Was it...was it this thing? No...no, it...gyargh...

---------------------------------------------

"Ditto? DITTO, REPORT!" the scientist yelled at him, watching the flailing of the room, hearing Ditto cry out in pain. He saw a pink slime suddenly, Ditto was losing his form, losing the body. This was bad, he couldn't...what was that!

It was only visible for a second, in the air above Ditto. Invisible, unidentifiable. A small, white being, looking almost like a cat, only a couple feet long. The presence had a long tail that ended in a ball, and short, stubby arms and legs that it kept curled up to its body. But it had only been visible for a moment before it had vanished again, whatever it was.

"DITTO!" the scientist yelled, before he heard the sound too. The dripping sound was now audible to him, though not from the watch. He cut the transmission then, not allowing whatever it was to seep in. This creature had cost them a lot of money to train, but this was simply too much. Whatever this Mewtwo was, it wasn't worth letting this mystery presence seep into their base.

---------------------------------------------

Ditto grabbed his head in agony, trying to think through the agonizing pain that was attacking his brain. What was going on! It couldn't be the contained creature, it couldn't, that thing wasn't even awake! What...he stumbled back and forth, and then screamed in agony one last time, before he fell to the side. It was almost as though he had been pushed in that direction, he felt his body strike something hard, and then he hit the ground. And then the pain was gone, and he found relief. Whatever it was, it was gone now.

Ditto opened his eyes and looked up, and then saw the most horrifying sight he had ever known. The object he had struck was Mewtwo's containment tank. He had put a crack in it, and the stasis fluid was beginning to seep out of it. No...no, this was bad, he had to get out, he had to get away from here, this was–

An alarm sounded, and the lights cut to a red alert light. The magnetic doors started to seal themselves, and now Ditto was afraid. He would not be stuck in here with this thing when it woke up, he couldn't, he had to get out! He raced for the door, but it was closing too fast! Finally, he decomposed his body, splaying into ooze and slipping through the crack in the door just before it could slam itself shut.

He was safe, for now, but what of this Project Mewtwo? As Ditto reformed, taking on the assistant's form again, he worried now, what would happen when the water was gone? He creeped up to the window, watching inside, and his eyes widened in terror. What had been a crack had grown, from the pressure of the liquid. And, worse, he saw Mewtwo's fingers begin to twitch. That thing was waking up.

---------------------------------------------

Elise dropped herself down on the front steps of the Cinnabar Island Gym. She would go inside soon enough, but for now, she just wanted to sit with her Sasha. She stretched her hand down and scratched behind Sasha's ear, and was rewarded with a pleasant purr from the little Eevee. She smiled, "At least I have you, Sasha." She lifted up Sasha, looking her right in the eyes and putting her less than an inch from her face. "Friends forever, right?" Sasha yipped and licked Elise's nose, and she giggled. Her father had let her down, but Sasha always knew how to make her feel better.

She turned her head back home, to the large, towering facility that acted as the central point of this town. The building was her home, where her father worked. She'd lived there with him for over ten years, after they'd moved in from their old home. That was around the time her mother died, when she started visiting the gym to try and forget the pain that loss gave her.

As she scratched behind Sasha's ear once more, she found her eyes locked on that tower. Her father was in there, working on whatever his experiment was. He never told her anything about any of his work. That stupid job was his whole life, and he didn't have any time for her!

CRASH

Her eyes widened when she saw it. Only two blocks from the gym, it was difficult to miss. Something smashed outwards from the building, breaking through one of the windows and sending a mixture of concrete, glass, and various office supplies tumbling from the ninth floor. What the hell was that! She watched it move through the air, too fast to identify, just a violet streak sailing through the air. Her eyes widened with fear as she watched it sail in her direction, then heard the sound of it passing overhead several dozen feet above her. It flew powerfully through the air, whatever it was, as it flew towards the horizon. She hugged Sasha closer to her, instinctively, uncertain what to make of this thing. What the hell were they doing in that place! She swallowed hard, watching it fly into the distance, and then her eyes saw it move lower, off too far to see.

She didn't know what had just happened. She didn't know where that thing had come from. She didn't know why it was in her father's workplace or why it was here. She didn't know what it was, or what could break through a building with that kind of force. Her hair was frazzled and she was scared. She didn't know what had just happened, but...she was going to find out.