Author's note: so this is the second of the three parts of my splitted chapter. The tournament is getting closer !
KirbyDreamer: I didn't think it was so important, but it's okay, later I'll add something to explain that.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The new spread into the island like a powder trail, and for the next two weeks, their training was turned into media event. When they took their ferry to Vermilion City, the port was full of fans singing. Even the champion, August, came to wish them luck. The ferry left at 10:00 pm, and would arrive on tomorrow noon. In the early morning, a few people were up, those who were too nervous to sleep.
Mewtwo was over-excited ! Each mile towards Vermilion Port excited him more !
"Metal, ain't it wonderful ? We're gonna be superstars !"
"Yeah. Follow me, I think I have an idea…"
They went to the front bridge, where trainers were comparing their pokemons. Metal screamed:
"What a bunch of moreons ! So you have nothing interesting to do but dreaming about victory ?"
They were watching at them, saying things like: « Hey, they are suicidal or what ? ». They felt so insulted that they didn't realize those two were speaking pokemons.
Finally, one of them sent a Blaziken, the other a Machoke, and the last sent a Tyrogue.
Mewtwo came in front of them. Blaziken threw a spinning kick and moved on with a double kick and a Comet Punch combo. The clone parried everything and countered with a jab that the fire pokemon blocked. Mewtwo twisted his opponent's arm and jabbed him in the face. At this moment, the two other pokemons decided to take part in the fight. They surrounded Mewtwo and sent an avalanche of punches, but the clone parried and countered everything. He even managed to break free with a Mawashi-Geri.
The Blaziken grabbed Mewtwo's arm and threw him away, but he gripped to the guardrail of the bridge, swang around it, and threw a dropkick that smashed the fire pokemon against the wall. Machoke and Tyrogue were furious, but their attacks were vain: they soon got smashed against the wall too. Match result: 3-0 for Mewtwo.
"Good job, said Metal. You see, that's the way you'll have to fight during the tournament, but in a normal match, you can use special skills."
"I have no special skills."
"Of course you have ! Watch this !"
Metal-Mewtwo began a match against a fourth trainer. The trainer sent a Seadra. Easy match, thought the cybernetic.
« Seadra, attack Ice Beam ! »
Metal crossed his arms in front of his face and waited for the beam. Once it was finished, the mechanic pokemon held up his arm and a cannon appeared from his forearm.
What the ?
A gigantic blue and red flame leaped out of the cannon and roasted the Seadra instantly.
It was the Flamethrower attack !
The black skin was already dry: the ice had turned into steam at contact.
The trainer sent his last pokemon: a Pinsir.
Metal-Mewtwo made two laser blades appear from the back of his wrists and threw a Sword Dance attack that crashed the pokemon's pincer. Match result: 2-0 for Metal-Mewtwo.
"You know what I mean, now ?"
"It's different. You're a machine. Those attacks are weapons integrated to your armor."
"There's no difference. You have weapons integrated, but they're in your head."
"What do you mean ?"
"You are a psy. It means that the two thirds of your strength are in your mind. All I did, you can do. You can create a flame by concentrating. You can do attacks much more devastating, such as the Psycho. Your weakness is that you only know the emerged part of the iceberg, and you don't wanna dive to see the other part. If you don't believe in your powers, you'll never be the ultimate pokemon."
"I…"
"But I don't want immediate results. I know it's impossible. You'll get that with experience. But I want you to keep that in mind. Okay ?"
"Okay."
"Good. We'll arrive in a few hours. The tournament begins tomorrow. I suggest you to rest a max. I'll stay with those trainers, for the fun."
Mewtwo got inside the boat. As he closed the door, he could hear the noise of a new fight beginning.
He wanted to talk to Sabrina. As he headed to her room, he met a tall man, very muscular, in camo pants, rangers, and a black slipover. He had semi-long hair and a beard. That was the kind of guy who sweat testosterona instead of water.
"Hey, was that you, mec, who just fought over there ?"
"Yes, I was training. My name's Mewtwo."
"Here, I'm known as Le Français. Alors, looking for a challenge ?"
"I will compete at the Saffron CPT. I was told about you. You're going there too, right ?"
"Tout à fait. And I do intend to get the title ! So I'll meet you there. Bye !"
Le Français got away but before, he turned back and said:
« Bonne chance ! »
Mewtwo still didn't understand why no-one was shocked about him speaking. He didn't know that telepathy was a fluent thing with psy pokemons, even if they didn't use it often. He went to Sabrina's room. She was in bed, dressed in pajamas, but she wasn't sleeping. When she saw him enter, she invited him to sit next to her.
"Can't sleep ?" He asked.
"No. Too nervous. And you ? How do you feel ?"
"Excited. I just had a warm-up with Metal. You should watch him ! He's incredible !"
"Yeah. He says that when you'll be more experienced, you'll be like him."
"I hope so. Tell me, how do you think it's going to be ?"
"I don't know. But I have a feeling that it will be a living hell."
"We'll do our best."
She sat up and tried to give him a cuddle. But when her thin fingers gently touched him, he had a start.
"What's going on ?"
"I don't know. When you touched me, I had a weird feeling…"
She had a devil smile.
"Oh, so you're ticklish…"
She jumped on him and they had a tickle-fight that finished to a draw.
The ferry arrived at Vermilion Port at midday.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Extra Infos: Le Français: I imagined that guy as a mix of Snake Plissken and Phil Cassidy. I know, his language is a Van Damme-style Frenglish mash, but it was very fun to write. The parts written in French are useless to the plot, so don't worry if you don't understand. Also, some of his expressions are from the French version of Heartbreak Ridge. As Kirby said, he's been defeated before, but by who ? A hint: it's someone you know, and who's not been mentioned yet in the story.
Next Chapter Preview: as they arrive in Saffron City, they discover that Le Français has some resentments towards a certain Rocket leader...
