Interlude

Mewtwo…

The voice belonged to Arceus.

Mewtwo…

It was growing louder. Coming through the darkness.

The darkness of what? A dream? A vision? Mewtwo couldn't remember.

You, Mewtwo's rage was afire within him, but he was too weak to strike at Arceus. The god-Pokémon's presence taunted him. What was it doing in his mind? What did it want?

You must rest Mewtwo, Arceus's voice was soothing, but the tone only fanned Mewtwo's rage. He would not be pitied by his enemy.

You must rest Mewtwo, it began again, there is much you need to do. And much that you need to learn and see.

Riddles and lies, like always.

Leave me, Mewtwo tried to lash out with his psychic powers, but a flash of pain coursed through his brain. He screamed.

Rest, Arceus's voice began to fade back into the darkness, and have faith.

Then there was only darkness, for a second time.

Mewtwo's mind was a haze when he first awoke. He could hear a voice shout out in delight and surprise. A blanket lay across him as he lied in bed. There was a light breeze blowing through a window somewhere to his left. Wind chimes were clanging outside and the air smelled of salt. He was somewhere close to the sea.

He could not remember where he was. After speaking with Giratina about the Children of Jirachi, he had set out for Himitsu Island. The journey would be long and difficult, but he needed to reach it as soon as possible.

He began by heading south from the Cerulean Cave, flying higher than most bird Pokémon, to avoid detection. He paused often to rest, which made him grow frustrated. Two days into his journey he had still not left Kanto.

Speaking with Giratina had sapped more of his strength than he realized. The after-effects of visiting the Reverse World acted like a sickness. It grew stronger when he exerted himself and only rest made it subside.

But he would not be deterred. Jirachi was on Himitsu Island. If what Giratina told him was true, then the power he needed slept on that island. The key to challenging Arceus would only be to wake the tiny Pokémon and force it to grant his wish. It would be a simple task after speaking with Arceus and forcing his way into the Reverse World.

His goal was close. Easily obtainable. And yet Arceus was relentless in combating him. His strength ebbed as he approached the ocean. Once he began to cross it, there would be no turning back. The sickness that weakened his body was merely an attempt to delay him. A challenge set on him by the god Pokémon. It would not stop him from reaching his goal.

The last thing he remembered was the sea rushing up to meet him as his strength failed.

"It's okay, you're safe now," a human's face appeared through the haze. It was a girl, no older than thirteen or fourteen. Her hair was short and colored honey-blond. Her eyes were a bright, shining blue. But her ears were short and triangular, jutting from the top of her head, rather than the side. They were yellow, with a thick black border. They twitched rapidly, indicating the girl's excitement. She was a girl, but she was also a Pichu. A Child of Jirachi.

Mewtwo slipped back into unconsciousness.

He awoke again only a few hours later. The same sensations greeted him, except that the girl was not close by. The wind chimes clanged outside, not just one set but three or even four. Each one added a different tone into the air. It was a peaceful melody. There was no malice or unrest in the air. No gods taunting him and telling him to search his soul. This was a place of rest and peace.

Gingerly, Mewtwo sat up. His movements were slow and weak. His own arms felt as though they could not lift themselves, yet somehow he managed. The late spring heat wafted in from outside, making Mewtwo very uncomfortable beneath the blanket. Too weak for physical exertion, he tested his psychic abilities. With a thought, the blanket was thrown aside, flapping in the air before floating onto the floor. Even with his body weakened, his mind remained strong.

"Oh!" the same girl from before cried out, "you're awake, again!" Mewtwo lifted his head to see the small girl standing a few feet away from the foot of the bed. She dressed plainly in a white apron overtop of a faded yellow dress. Both the apron and the dress were spotted with long-dried food stains.

"Don't try to get up!" the girl held up her hands, "I think you're sick. You had a really high fever when Will - that's my brother - when he brought you in." She spoke in a rush, but her tone was more excited than afraid. She whirled around, searching for something, "here! I made soup for when you woke up!"

Mewtwo's vision began to clear as the girl went to the kitchen. He surveyed his surroundings, checking for signs of danger. They were cramped close inside a small wooden hut. The kitchen was little more than a single bench top not ten feet away from the foot of the bed. There was no refrigerator, nor any lights at all. Aside from the bed, the only furniture was an unmatched pair of lawn chairs. Yet, the shack was warmly decorated. Every bare surface had at least one flower pot on it. There were three hand-made welcome signs on the back of the only door.

"Here you go!" the Pichu-girl thrust out a small, steaming bowl. She held it in a pair of oven mitts designed to look like a Pikachu. The thumbs resembled lightning-bolt shaped tails.

"Oh, wait!" the girl's eyes darted around in panic, "I need…umm…a table or something to…oh!" She drew back in shock as the bowl lifted out of her hands and drifted over in front of Mewtwo. Still too weak to lift his arms, he called on his psychic powers to help spoon the soup into his mouth. The soup was mostly broth with only a few bits of carrots and celery, but it was warm. He could feel his strength returning as he sipped at it. It would serve.

As Mewtwo drank his soup, the Pichu-girl pulled over one of the lawn chairs. She sat on it backwards, peering over the top at him. Her blue eyes were wide with fascination. Mewtwo did his best to ignore that.

How long was I unconscious? Mewtwo asked, speaking directly into the girl's mind.

"Y-you can talk?!" she was, once again, more excited than afraid.

Yes, he answered. Technically, he was not speaking, only directing his thoughts towards her. If he tried to speak, he would only make the same carnal noises than most Pokémon did. Though he understood it, his vocal cords were not capable of human speech.

"Oh, wow! That's so cool!" the Pichu-girl exclaimed, "So, I guess you're a psychic-type then, right?" Grinning widely, she unconsciously nodded as if to answer for him.

I am, Mewtwo confirmed.

"I knew it!" she cried, "as soon as you lifted the bowl, I knew it!" She bounced happily.

She seemed to forget about his question, so he asked again, how long was I unconscious?

"Oh, right, sorry," the girl flushed, "umm…it's been two days since we found you. Well, I found you and Will brought you in. Will's my brother. But I guess I said that already…oh! My name's Anne, by the way!"

You have a human name? Mewtwo narrowed his gaze at her. She claimed that Will was her brother, most likely another Child of Jirachi. Could he trust creatures like this? How much of them was human?

"Umm…yeah," Anne stopped bouncing as she explained, "well, we had other names before we evolved, but Will thought we should have human names since we're part human now," She paused, as if to omit something from her story, "oh, I should explain what we are. Well, what we think we are, anyway."

There's no need, Mewtwo shook his head, I already know. If what Giratina had told him was true, then it was likely that he knew more than what Anne did. Most of these creatures had no idea that Jirachi had created them.

"Oh…umm…okay," Anne nodded, "good, I guess…" her gaze lowered before she finished, "umm…you're not mad, are you? A lot of other Pokémon seem mad at us…"

No, Mewtwo lied, no, I'm not angry with you. There was no true reason for him to dislike the Pichu-girl. She had done nothing wrong and had most likely saved his life. And yet, he still felt an instinctive hatred buried within him as he looked at her. The Children of Jirachi evolved into this new form of their own free will. They left behind their previous lives to transform into a human. What Pokémon would do that to themselves?

"Oh, good…" Anne breathed a long sigh of relief. She settled back and resumed watching Mewtwo as he finished his soup. But it was only another minute before she asked, "So…what kind of Pokémon are you? I've never seen anything quite like you before."

Is it truly important? Mewtwo despised this question. What he was was an abomination. A twisted freak made by humans that no longer belonged to anything. He was no more a true Pokémon than the half-human girl across from him.

"Oh…well…I guess not," Anne's Pichu-ears drooped. Then she sniffed the air, taking deep breaths.

What are you doing? Mewtwo asked.

"It's okay," Anne smiled, "you don't have to tell me what you are. I trust you."

Why? He narrowed his gaze in suspicion. The girl was strange. Every word she said gushed with cheer.

"Because you have a nice smell," she blushed, "it's hard to describe…but I've smelled it before. My trainer smells the same way."

How is that? Mewtwo hated the idea that he could smell like a human. What was this foolish girl suggesting?

"It smells like hope…"

Hope doesn't have a smell.

"Yes it does!" Anne pouted, "And it smells like you!" She turned away in childish determination.

Mewtwo turned back to his soup. The Pichu-girl was stubborn, childish, and naïve. She was young, which was obviously not helping her. But it went beyond that. Too much of her reminded Mewtwo of humans. After all, it hadn't been cruelty that motivated the experiments that had been done to him. No, those scientists wanted something more. They dreamed that their experiments would lead to something greater. But they had failed and Mewtwo was the product of it.

Sometimes hope could create disaster.

Thank you for the soup, Mewtwo finished eating and sent the bowl floating back over towards Anne.

"You're welcome," she rubbed at her eyes before standing up and taking it over to the sink.

Mewtwo began to look around the hut, once more. Anne had said that she had a brother and a trainer. Yet this tiny hut couldn't possibly be meant to house all three of them. Spread out across the floor, there were two other places where someone had slept recently. Two pillows and two blankets. Not three.

Your brother also lives with you? Mewtwo asked.

"Yep," Anne returned to her seat, "it's just temporary, though. Until Brian - that's our trainer - until he can convince his parents we can live with them."

Temporary. That was what she claimed, but everywhere Mewtwo looked, there were signs that said otherwise. The flowers, the decorations, the wind chimes outside. All of them were meant to be permanent.

How long have you been here? He asked, already knowing the answer.

"Four months," Anne answered. Too long…much too long. "We moved out here because we were having trouble controlling our electricity."

Mewtwo nodded. Pichu were not very strong Pokémon. It often took a long time for them to master their electrical abilities. Even once they did, accidental discharges were common. They could, and often did, shock themselves. A part-human version would only cause more damage and be more difficult to control at the same time.

"So, we moved out here," Anne continued, "it belongs to Brian's family. It's where their maid used to stay. Their summer house is just up over the hill, there."

A maid lives here?

"Well, used to," Anne shrugged, "she…they had to let her go two years ago. All of her stuff was taken out, but the building was still here. So, Brian said we could use it until he could come get us."

I see, Mewtwo nodded. It was an unusually kind gesture for a human. Could it be possible that…no, he couldn't believe it. Four months was too long, even for a child. Something was wrong. But Mewtwo had other concerns. And where are we?

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot," Anne blushed again, "this is Cinnabar Island. You…know where that is, right?"

Yes, I know, Mewtwo answered.

Cinnabar. Four days had already been wasted and he was still in Kanto. Such pathetic progress. Worse, he was still weak and unfit to travel across the ocean to Himitsu Island. On the other hand, he had been lucky to find himself here. He could have easily died in the middle of the ocean or been overcome by sickness and never woken up. Or his greatest fear, been washed ashore and caught by a human trainer. A miserable end to his war against Arceus.

But none of those things had happened. He was here, being watched over by one of the rare and mysterious Children of Jirachi. What kind of ploy was Arceus throwing at him now? What cruel joke did the god Pokémon want him to see?

"It wasn't easy for us to get here," Anne interrupted Mewtwo's thoughts, "we had to come from Saffron to get here. Brian couldn't help us, but he knew we'd be safe here."

You came from Saffron City? Mewtwo asked, once more suspicious of the Pichu-girl's situation.

"Yeah," she nodded, "me and Will came south and took a ship from Fuchsia City to get here. We…worked whenever we could. Otherwise we wouldn't have been able to afford the ship."

I see, Mewtwo nodded. That was the last piece of the puzzle. Their trainer wasn't coming. The boy had not expected his human Pokémon to make the journey. He had tricked them into leaving and never expected to see them again. But he had underestimated their devotion. They made the journey at immense risk and made themselves a new home while they waited. And they would keep waiting.

Such loyalty and devotion. Only Pokémon were capable of that. And only a human would be capable of the cruelty that their trainer had shown them.

Mewtwo could only pity this girl.

"Oh, that reminds me!" Anne exclaimed, "Will should be home soon! He works most of the day, but he'll be home in just a few more minutes!"

Your brother?

"Yeah," she nodded, "he has to keep his ears hidden, though. So, he works odd jobs around the city. Anybody that'll hire him without asking too many questions. That way we can eat." It was odd how much good cheer she spoke with. Their lives were not easy, but the girl sounded as if she was pretending they were.

How old is your brother? Mewtwo asked.

"Well…it depends," Anne shrugged, "we're two years old, but Will says we're actually fourteen. Oh, we're twins, by the way. He looks just like me! Except…you know…he's a boy. You'll like him. Like I said, he carried you inside so we could look after you."

I will have to thank him then, Mewtwo told her.

Two small children were living here. Twin Pichu that were both part human. Living in hiding and waiting for the trainer that wasn't going to come. Once again, he felt an undeniable rage towards Arceus. What kind of god wanted children to suffer like this? What had they done?

But why should he care? Mewtwo wasn't even supposed to be there. He was supposed to be on his way across the ocean, not worrying about the lives of two Children of Jirachi. He couldn't stop to heal their wounds. The best way would be to press onward. He could only help them by leaving.

But he did not possess the strength. Not yet. If he tried crossing the ocean in his current state, he would fail again. And the next time would cost his life. He needed rest and this was the best place to get it. Anne and her brother would not betray him.

"He's back! I can hear him!" Anne suddenly exclaimed. She rushed to the door and threw it wide, bouncing on her heels as she waved.

Moments later, a young boy wearing a yellow hooded sweatshirt that covered his head came through the door, brushing Anne aside.

"Close the door," he snapped at her, "and cover your ears up! How many times do I have to tell you?" Not until the door was safely closed did he throw back his hood, revealing his own yellow and black ears.

"And bring the wind chimes in," he added, "You know that nobody's supposed to live here. What if somebody saw?"

"I'm sorry," Anne shied away from her brother, "did you find any work?"

"Not today," Will shook his head, "I think people are starting to get suspicious of me. They don't like that my hood's always up."

"Oh…" Anne nodded, thought not entirely surprised. But she brightened when she remembered Mewtwo, "oh! Will! Our guest woke up today!"

"Huh?" the Pichu-boy noticed the strange Pokémon sitting in their only bed for the first time, "yeah, I guess he is," he paused before adding, "Do you have any idea what he is?"

Anne shook her head, "he doesn't want to talk about it."

"Talk?"

I'm told that I should thank you for saving me, Mewtwo spoke into the boy's mind.

"A psychic, huh?" the boy's reaction was much more subdued than the girl's. "Anyway, don't thank me. Anne's the one who found you and begged me to take you in." His tone suggested that if it were up to him, he would've left Mewtwo where he found him.

I won't be staying long, Mewtwo assured him. One more night at the most. He couldn't be sure if that was all the time he needed, but it was all the time he would take.

"As long as you're up to it," Will shrugged, "sounds fine with me."

"No, no!" Anne interjected, "Will, don't force him out!" She turned to Mewtwo, "you can stay as long as you want. We don't mind."

Mewtwo doubted that. Anne's good-hearted and naïve nature would let him stay, but her brother was the opposite. Will had wanted him gone two days ago, but Anne had somehow convinced her brother that she could look after Mewtwo herself.

And yet her brother's cold, hard realism had led them here. Into this tiny shack to wait for their trainer. Was it just that he had no other options? Or was the brother just as blind as the sister?

"Will, please, let him stay," Anne pleaded with her brother, "he's not hurting anything."

The Pichu-boy looked from his sister to the strange Pokémon sitting in their bed. He didn't trust it. Its whole appearance was alien to him. It looked like no Pokémon he had ever seen.

"Alright," he conceded, "he can stay." Anne grinned with delight, "But only until Brian comes to get us. They'll be here soon and he's going to have enough trouble looking after the two of us already."

"Yay!" Anne clapped quietly and hugged her brother.

When is your trainer supposed to come back for you?

"I'm not sure, exactly," Will admitted, "whenever they come here for the summer. It's usually around this time." The doubt in his voice was stronger than his sister's, but he shared her stubborn optimism. Was it only the Children of Jirachi that had this much faith in humans? Or were all captured Pokémon like this?

Have you ever visited the house? Mewtwo challenged, though he did so politely. He did not want to fight these two and in his weakened state. There was nowhere else to go. Still, the veil over their eyes needed to be lifted. They needed to see the truth, no matter how much they denied it.

"No," Will shook his head, his fear was palpable this time, "no, it's too dangerous. Brian will come, though. He promised."

I see.

Mewtwo had heard everything he cared to about their kind, devoted trainer. But if they would do nothing, then he must do something.

He closed his eyes to concentrate his powers. He felt around the shack, mentally prodding at the furniture and the walls and the two Children of Jirachi. Then he expanded outward, going through the walls, touching the wind chimes that Anne had forgotten about. He spread across the beach, reaching outward. A few Krabby scuttled along the shores, but he passed over them. He found the ocean and stopped his search in that direction. He shifted his focus inland, searching for the house that Anne had mentioned.

He found it just a mile inland, over the hill behind the shack. It was a mid-sized house. Two bedrooms. One for the adults, one for the children. He prodded with his psychic powers, seeping through the walls. He searched for the occupants.

"What is he doing?" Will's voice was muffled in his head, but it shook his concentration all the same.

"I don't know," Anne's voice joined her brother's, "this is the first time I've seen him do this…"

Mewtwo ignored them and continued his search. He found the humans he was looking for. A mother, a father, and three children. He ignored the parents and looked more closely at the children. The oldest was a boy, maybe eleven or twelve; the other two were girls, seven and nine. Anne and Will had not mentioned siblings, but it meant little to Mewtwo. He closed in on the boy. He noticed nothing as Mewtwo opened his mind, searching through his memories.

His name was Brian Verdant. Though his family was wealthy, his life was hard. At least, he believed it was. He was small for his age and not particularly skilled at sports or at books. Though he had friends his own age, he often dreamed of having friends that were older than him.

And there was a memory of two of his Pokémon evolving into a girl and a boy, just a few years older than himself. He had thought that it was a wish come true, but the two were a disaster. They were Pichu that could not control their electricity. They destroyed his room by sheer accident and he had barely survived himself. But the two had fled the room, leaving the boy alone to answer for the destruction. He had been angry enough to hope that they never returned, but they were back the next morning and still had no more control over their electrical powers.

Just a day later, the two were coherent enough for him to give them instructions to leave. It was a plan that he had thought of before if he ever needed to run away. He used it instead to rid himself of the walking disasters.

Ever since then, he had been doing his best to forget about the two human Pokémon. He would be going to a private high school in just a few more years and had plenty of young, innocent dreams of what he wanted for the future. His human Pichu felt like a distant nightmare.

Just before Mewtwo pulled away, he noticed something else. Close by where the boy sat in his room, two Pichu, not more than a month or two old, were scurrying around the room.

Mewtwo opened his eyes and looked at the two Children of Jirachi that had been left behind.

I'm sorry, he told them.

"Sorry for what?" Anne's expression was filled with terror.

In a rare stroke of sympathy that he didn't understand, Mewtwo did not tell them.

Mewtwo's strength returned quickly in the next two days. Though he spent most of his time in bed or asleep, Anne was always close by and delighted in talking to him. She talked about everything. The weather, recipes that she'd been learning, the flowers around the shack and the wind chimes that Will had bought her, the welcome signs that she had hand-made, their journey to the island, everything. But she did not talk about Brian.

She learned not to ask questions, either. Mewtwo told her nothing, but only asked her questions to keep the one-sided conversation going. She seemed to continually need to be prompted or she would lapse into silence, thinking that Mewtwo was growing frustrated with her. However, keeping the girl in high-spirits was an easy task and Mewtwo obliged her.

He decided that there was no reason for him to hate these Children of Jirachi. These two, in particular, had simply made a poor decision to trust the humans that they had grown attached to. Why they had developed that feeling to begin with was beyond Mewtwo's understanding, but he did not view it as grounds to hate them.

They needed guidance. Once Mewtwo accomplished his goal of defeating Arceus, he could offer that guidance and save them all. They were not too far gone. Perhaps the Children of Jirachi could even serve as a replacement for the humans.

As Anne chattered away and nursed her patient, Mewtwo used his psychic power to watch for danger. With the family returned to their summer home, it was most likely just a matter of time before one of them came out to check on the little hut by the ocean. So far, however, they kept their distance and so did the human Pichu.

But he did not simply watch the house. He and Anne were relatively safe inside the shack, but it was Will who put himself in danger each day. The only thing protecting his identity was the hood of a yellow sweatshirt. If it should come off for any reason, Will could be in a great deal of danger. For this reason, Mewtwo kept a psychic link on Will at all times, monitoring for any signs of distress. The two children were in a very vulnerable position.

There is much you need to do, Mewtwo remembered the words of Arceus from his dream, and much you need to see and learn. Even thinking about it made Mewtwo furious. What was he to the god Pokémon? A tool? A plaything? A source of amusement meant to pass the time?

But when he thought about the words…could this have been what Arceus had meant? Surely his power was needed here to protect these two. But he couldn't stay, wouldn't stay. Jirachi called to him. He needed that power, then he could save all Pokémon from their human tormentors, whether they were Children of Jirachi or not.

He would have to abandon Anne and Will at some point. It was best not to get attached to them.

Still, there was nothing he could do while he recovered. He could defend them until then. Repay their hospitality and thank them for saving his life. Perhaps he would return when he was successful and grant them all the happiness that a god could bestow on a creation.

Mewtwo grimaced to himself. His own thoughts sounded weak and pathetic. He was too strong for sentimentality, had suffered through too much. The suffering of these children living alone on the beach paled in comparison with his own tortured past. He had forgotten himself. He belonged nowhere. Not with these children, not anywhere.

On the morning of the second day after he awoke, Mewtwo was finally feeling strong enough to leave. The lingering sickness from the Reverse World was gone and his strength was almost fully restored.

"So, you're leaving us?" Anne's voice was filled with childish disappointment, though it no longer annoyed Mewtwo.

Yes, Mewtwo told her, there's something that I need to do across the ocean.

"The ocean?!" the Pichu-girl exclaimed, "don't you need a boat?"

No need, to demonstrate, Mewtwo used his psychic powers to raise himself out of the bed, rather than standing. I can fly as high as most bird Pokémon and I only need to stop half as often to rest.

"Wow…" Anne grinned, "That's cool. I wish I could fly…"

"And I wish I could find a job," Will grumbled as he fitted on a pair of brown boots he had fished out of a garbage bin. It had been three days since he had found a job that would take him. Normally he could find work moving furniture, cutting hedges or some other small job that would accept a teenager without asking too many questions. If anyone asked him whether or not he should be in school, he had no choice but to leave the job. Without written permission, it was illegal for him to work. Will would have gotten what he needed a long time ago, if only he could read.

Suddenly, an idea struck Mewtwo. A parting gift for the two kids that helped him.

I may be able to help with that, Mewtwo smirked, and I could get work for both of you.

Anne sprang to attention in a moment, perhaps too eager to help.

Will had protested at first, but had to concede when he considered how much they needed the money. Without any lights in their house, they could go without electricity, but soon they wouldn't have enough money to buy food. The situation was becoming desperate and Will was forced to admit that he couldn't rely on his day-to-day jobs.

Mewtwo insisted that he could accomplish his task from the shack, so it was just the boy and the girl that left. The two made their way along the beach, heading for the boardwalk at the southern side of the island. As they walked past the shops and tourist attractions, they searched for a "Help Wanted" sign. Mewtwo said that any one would do, so long as they liked the work. He would handle the rest.

Anne spotted a small shop that was selling local aquatic Pokémon. Krabby, Staryu, and Horsea drifted in tanks, waiting to be paired with a Pokéball and sold to a trainer or perhaps a child that wanted one as a pet. There were no Tentacool, because the jellyfish was so common that all a trainer needed to do was walk twenty feet along the beach and they'd find one. Mewtwo thought it was disgusting, but it was this shop that the two siblings settled on.

They approached the shopkeeper and asked about the sign.

"I dunno," the crusty owner rubbed his chin in indecision. He smelled like seaweed. At least that meant that the Pokémon were freshly caught. "How old are you two kids?"

That was when Mewtwo set to work. He prodded through the man's mind, searching for what he needed. But this was not the first time that he had done this.

"Uh…sir?" Will was afraid to touch the man. Without warning, he had gone suddenly rigid and his eyes glazed over. He slumped forward as if he had fallen asleep while standing up. A moment later, he stood up straight up again, his eyes slightly out of focus, but otherwise perfectly healthy.

"Tell ya what?" the man began, "you two look like good kids. I'll try you out for the first day and if you do a good job, we'll forget all about that fancy legal business. Sound like a deal?"

Anne clutched her hands in exhilaration while Will's mouth hung open. Mewtwo had just gotten them both good, well-paying jobs with no questions asked.

"Uhh…should we be doing this?" Will asked the air, not sure where to direct his question.

It'll be fine, Mewtwo told the boy, as far as he's concerned, you're both eighteen and can work for as long as you want. I'll have him forge the paperwork to make it legal later. That way, if anyone finds out he'll be the only one to get in any trouble.

"That's…" Will wanted to say that it was immoral, criminal and downright cruel. But what choice did he have? Another week without work and they wouldn't be able to afford food. And besides, Mewtwo was giving them the chance to work for it. They weren't stealing the money. They were just…opening a window so they could fend for themselves. That wasn't as bad, right?

Anne was quivering with anticipation next to him as the shop owner produced brooms for the two of them. Their first task was to sweep the floor and she looked as though she was born to sweep dust out of a crappy, boardwalk shop.

"Thanks," Will sighed, after he took his own broom.

I'll watch over you until the day's over, Mewtwo assured him, after that you should be fine on your own.

The two were fine for most of the day. The shopkeeper gave them simple tasks to start with. Sweeping, cleaning empty tanks, running down the boardwalk to get him a soda. Easy jobs. On the whole, the shop wasn't very busy either. The Pokémon he sold were expensive. For every ten times a child exclaimed about the pretty Horsea in the tank, there were nine times where the parents took one glance at the price and kept walking.

When a customer did buy one, the shop owner conducted the sale while Will and Anne took turns fishing out the Pokémon. They kept Dive Balls on hand, which were powerful enough to hold the unevolved water Pokémon without needing to weaken them. Retrieving one was as simple as putting the Pokéball on the end of a rod, climbing up onto a short ladder to reach the tank, and jabbing the selected Pokémon with the Pokéball. It was a much easier system than either of them had expected.

Still, neither Anne, nor Will, nor Mewtwo had anticipated what happened next.

Around noon, the shop's peak business hours hit. The boardwalk was crawling with tourists and small children were everywhere. The shop seemed to flood with customers, crammed into the tiny space. Will and Anne were both frantically diving for Pokémon to fill orders. At the rate they were going, the shop would sell out in only two more hours.

"No, no, no!" a child whined around Anne's ankles as she stood on top of the ladder over the Staryu tank, "I want that one!" He pointed to one in the center of the tank, nestled at the bottom, while several others spun back and forth above it, directly in her path.

"Okay…" Anne bit her lip as she watched, hoping for an opening.

"Come on!" the boy whined.

"Just a second," Anne reassured the boy. The only way for her to get that specific Staryu would be to come at it from an angle. Maybe she could get it from the side and avoid the others. She stretched to the side, trying to angle the rod in just the right way…

She didn't know what jarred the ladder, but suddenly her feet slipped and she was falling forward. Her first instinct was to grab onto something. The only thing within reach was the tank. She grabbed onto the edge, trying to hold herself up, but her weight was too much. The little boy that had been with her only had a moment to get out of the way.

The tank crashed down on top of her. Glass shattered everywhere, most of it onto Anne herself. Her shirt was cut in a dozen different places and several pieces were jammed into her hands. Her blood mixed with the water as it rushed onto the floor. The Staryu from the tank flopped on the floor nearby. Screams started to fill the air. But nothing was as bad as when Anne lost control of her electricity.

No! Mewtwo stood bolt upright inside the seaside hut. The door exploded off of its hinges as he burst through and shot into the sky, flying directly towards the shop.

The Staryu flopping on the floor flopped faster and faster as Anne's Thundershock flowed unchecked from her damaged body. She whimpered as her own electricity rebounded on her. It coursed through her soaking wet frame, making her shake uncontrollably. People were screaming and running all around her. She could only pray that she wasn't hurting anyone else.

Run, she pleaded with whoever was listening, run. Don't worry about me. Just run away and be safe!

Suddenly, Will was holding her, gritting his teeth as she shocked him without meaning to.

"I can't stop!" Anne screamed into her brother's face.

"I know! I know!" Will screamed back. He had to get her off of the wet floor. Her clothes were still soaked, but maybe if he could get her off of the floor it would help. He scooped up his sister in his arms and raced to the entrance. Outside, away from the water. It was the only way.

He only just made it outside before his own body began to go numb. He couldn't move and he couldn't stop Anne's electricity. The only consolation he had was that no else could be hurt. The worst was over. So, he just held his sister and waited for it to be over.

When it was finally done, Will collapsed to his knees. He sucked in a few deep breaths, grateful for that small token. Anne began to cry in his arms.

She wasn't the only one, either. The boardwalk was filled with whimpers and screams of pain and shock. Will risked a glance back at the shop, afraid to see smoldering bodies amidst the ruined shop. But there were none. By the grace of sweet Arceus above, no one had been severely injured during the accident.

Will looked around at the crowded boardwalk. There were a dozen men, women and children huddled around the area. Most had been in the shop and were still in shock. A few had minor cuts from the flying glass or were clutching a shaking hand or foot that had been electrocuted. Such pain and suffering from an accident that could have happened to anyone.

Only Anne hadn't been just anyone. She was part Pichu and it made her dangerous whether she wanted to be or not. Will felt like crying himself. That was when he realized that the ears of both he and Anne were plainly visible to the crowd.

Electricity. Coursing through the ground and shaking the two of them though they were nowhere near a power source.

They knew. Every single person in that crowd knew what they were.

"Hey! What the hell just happened here?!"

Will looked down the length of the boardwalk to see a male police officer rushing over to get a closer look at the chaos. A Growlithe ran by his side, but when someone shouted out "a bomb! It must have been a bomb!" the officer's gun was out in a flash. He started running faster.

"Them! Them!" someone shouted, pointing at Will as he clutched his wounded sister, "I saw it! She was in the middle of the whole thing, but she got out somehow!"

"What the hell are they?!"

"What are those ears?!"

"Why didn't they get shocked?!"

The police officer stopped and raised his gun at Will.

"PUT THE GIRL DOWN!" he screamed.

"Will?" Anne whimpered in his arms, "What's going on?"

Mewtwo landed between the two Children of Jirachi and the police officer. An unsteady murmur rippled through the crowd of onlookers at the appearance of the strange Pokémon. No one had seen anything like it before.

The police officer took a step back and leveled his gun at the strange Pokémon. Its cold eyes stared at him with absolute contempt. His grip on the gun began to shake while the Growlithe at his side seemed much more willing to run than to fight. They were meant to help in case a criminal used a Pokémon, but no matter how brave they were, they knew their limits and could sense an enemy they could not defeat.

"You came for us?" Anne asked from behind him, overjoyed that he had come to rescue them.

Don't be afraid, he told them, I'll get you out of here.

Anne looked between Mewtwo's legs and his thick tail to see the police officer. There was a lot of fear in his eyes. She sniffed the air, looking for hope.

"Stand aside!" the officer commanded Mewtwo, but he would have better luck commanding the tides, "stand aside or I'll shoot!"

Turn away, Mewtwo's voice filled the officer's head, turn away now. I'm taking these children home. Try to stop us and I will not hold back!

Mewtwo watched the fool and waited. So quick to judge, to pass blame on what they didn't understand. It had been an accident; a situation that Mewtwo could easily fix, but for this one simple-minded fool.

Mewtwo gave him one chance, but he didn't take it.

The gunshot echoed for miles up and down the boardwalk, but even before it was over, the bullet that had been fired was spinning harmlessly on the ground by Mewtwo's feet.

I warned you, Mewtwo told the police officer.

It was quick. The police officer felt nothing but a quick jolt through his brain, then everything shut off at once. His muscles went limp and he collapsed forward onto the boardwalk.

Anne stared at the fallen police officer.

"Is…is he…?"

We're leaving, Mewtwo told her. He turned towards them, grabbed a hold of Will's sweatshirt and lifted both of them into the air.

Tears started to well up in Anne's eyes as she watched the police officer's Growlithe begin to paw at his master's fallen body.

Anne was still screaming when the three of them landed outside the beach-side shack.

"YOU KILLED HIM! YOU KILLED HIM!" she reached for Mewtwo and tried to call up Thundershock, but all of her electricity was spent. She screamed and cried on the sand, her entire body screamed with pain and she was bleeding from a dozen different places, but it all meant she was still alive.

"You didn't have to do that…" Will gaped at Mewtwo, but the Pokémon ignored him.

He bent forward, opening Anne's hands to look at the glass embedded in them. Concentrating and looking for each piece, no matter how small, he removed them all as painlessly as he could. But he knew that Anne wasn't screaming because of the pain.

Pokémon were strange creatures when death was concerned. It was commonplace for captured Pokémon to mourn their trainers and even humans that were total strangers. But even wild Pokémon were known to mourn the deaths of humans they had come in contact with.

Mewtwo supposed that he should feel remorse, but he didn't. It wasn't the first time he had killed. The first time had been during his escape. There was no telling how many died when he fled that laboratory. And yet, he hadn't felt remorse then, either. Was that something that they had done to him? Or was that a part of him that had always been there?

"What the hell are we supposed to do now?!" Will screamed at him. Though more coherent than his sister, there were tears in his eyes as well. "They're going to blame us for this! We just became criminals! Just what the hell did you think you were doing?!"

Saving your life, Mewtwo told him. He was a child. He didn't understand.

"YOU KILLED HIM!" Anne screamed until her throat was dry.

Listen, Mewtwo told them both, I can get you somewhere safe, away from this place.

"WE DON'T NEED YOUR HELP!" Will screamed at him, "You did this to us! We were happy! Brian was going to come get us! But now all of that's gone!"

Brian was going to do nothing, Mewtwo confessed the secret to the Pichu-twins, he told you to go out into the world expecting you to never come back! That is what humans will do to you! Now, LISTEN TO ME!

"Go away…" Anne sobbed. She turned her face up to look at him, her eyes bleary with tears, "please…just go away…"

Mewtwo had no choice, then. He grabbed the collars of each of them and rose into the air. He shot northward. Never before or since did he ever fly faster or harder. That much was a relief. He was fully recovered and well prepared to make the journey south to Himitsu Island.

He reached the shore south of Pallet Town within two hours.

There, he left the two siblings. They were both sobbing and alone, but they were safe.

You may not realize it now, Mewtwo said to them, but one day you will thank me.

With that, he rose into the air one last time and began to fly south.

Anne and Will held each other and trembled as they watched him go.

AN: sorry I'm a day late on this one. I needed to take some extra time to edit the whole thing. there were a lot of italics to add.

I hope I didn't disappoint with the return of Mewtwo. It's been so long I'm afraid that I won't be able to live up to expectations.

and I made another minor mistake in the last chapter. I said that Eclipse, Jitter and Maple were all born at the same time. Not true. Eclipse was born in the spring, Jitter in the summer and Maple in the fall. Not hugely important (not yet, anyway) but they are her older brothers. Rather than Will and Anne who were born together and I get to call them twins that way.

oh, yeah, Mewtwo COULD just read their minds and not ask any questions, but he's pretty much just being polite.

Anyways, I think that's everything I wanted to say. thanks much for reading! And I hope you stick around for Round Two!