A/N: Ok, just because I've had quite a few reviews asking me this, I can confirm that Sashara is definitely NOT pregnant. There is something wrong, but…you'll just have to keep reading! Also, because of new policy regarding review responses, this will be the last chapter where they're included. Sorry guys!
Miah The Storm Wolf: Glad to see you back! And I like to think I'm not that predictable.
Ami Metallium: Re. the latest offerings from 4Kids and Nintendo - after Pokemon Johto I felt the franchise had gone downhill, but anyways. Rather impressed you like this after two years!
Mousewolf: Very happy you decided to read this, and equally chuffed that you like! No, this is gonna be just the one story, not sure if I have the time or the energy for a sequel.
New fan: I know I'm horrible, but it just seemed way too obvious for her to be pregnant. As for the ending…c'mon, you really think I'm gonna give anything away at this point?
Anna: Mewtwo's age is tricky to call, and since he's not too good with emotions and the like (remember the first movie?), he just goes with whatever mood is strongest. Citrus isn't everyone's thing so not to worry, but at least I warned people there would be a lime! I'm trying to tone down the ellipses as of now, but there will still be one or two. Thanks muchly for the constructive feedback and enjoy!
Lin16: This story will be going on for a good few chapters yet, so not to worry! And yes, that joke was baaaad.
Predatordragonfreak: More Mewtwo fans, yay! Very chuffed you like!
Tyler B-Sotirios: Many reviews there! I think the last chapter was easily the most angsty so far, no guarantee there won't be more angst in later chapters. Hardly call this fic outstanding or flawless, but very pleased you like this!
Spirit of the Sky: Updated. Ain't I nice?
The Maine Coon Cat: Quite a number of reviews there as well! Most of the songs in the soundtrack are the more obscure songs by popular artists, but I like to think the lyrics and melody work for the fic. And glad you're enjoying this!
Shego2Drakken: Regarding Sashara's symptoms, I can safely confirm that it's…none of those mentioned, but it is something serious. And that's all I'm saying!
Cosmic Mewtwo: The opening sequence in the last chapter was both the easiest and the hardest bit to write, if that makes sense! Don't know about anyone else, but that's how heartbreak felt to me when I first experienced it. Not fun, but hell, great material for later life!
WiseAbsol: Mewtwo's only had to cope with heartbreak when Ai died, and even then he still had his memory partially erased. The angst dosage will be reduced a bit after the previous chapter, but there is still a big whack of nasty stuff to go…
Nightdragon0: Mewtwo is suffering, but not as much as Sashara is, in my opinion. She learned after her experiences in the Viridian Gym not to trust anyone, went against those lessons when she fell for Mewtwo, but thinks it might just be a matter of shutting herself off from the world again. And we know life's never that simple.
Disclaimer: I own Sashara, Penumbra, Perdita and that's it. Everything else is being borrowed from 4Kids, Nintendo and Satoshi Tajiri.
Warnings: Hmmm…angst dosage and some minor nastiness relating to Sashara's condition. I'm skipping over a lot of her Pokemon journey, mainly because I can't write it, and partly because it's irrelevant. And trust me; everything will make sense in the end!
Italics denote Pokemon speech
Italics denote shifting POV.
Forgotten: Part 15
One month had passed since the activation of the viewscreen.
Two months had passed since her departure.
And still she showed no outward signs of missing me.
I realised that after a time, the loss of Sashara would grow less painful. Perhaps it would have simply become a memory, sadness tinged with pleasure.
But after I had activated the viewscreen, after I had seen her trekking through Ilex and Goldenrod City, watching her catch and train the newest additions to her team of Pokemon…
I was now uncertain if I should still be hurt and heartbroken at her abandonment of me, or, now that I had seen her capabilities as a Trainer, if I should be proud of her.
I wanted to let go of her.
Maybe I needed to let go of her.
But the mind and the heart do not always see what the other needs or desires.
Spinarak. Abra. Gastly. Growlithe. Xatu. Girafarig. Poliwhirl. Magnamite. Meowth.
Marill. Misdreavus. Staryu. Tentacruel. Seel. Horsea. Zubat. Geodude. Gyarados.
Flaaffy. Venonat. Stantler. Hitmontop. Heracross. Slugma. Ursaring. Swinub.
Two months of her journey had added these Pokemon, among several others, to her arsenal. Sashara had clearly been carefully instructed in the talents of a Trainer.
Her current seven badges had been well earned.
The irony of her 'captures' had not escaped me however. All of the Pokemon she had encountered had been abandoned, injured or ejected from their pack. In the cases of those wounded, she had patched up their injuries and made them all the same offer as she had made to Perdita, who even now was making a steady recovery under her care.
With Mew hovering somewhere behind me, I silently watched the image of Penumbra trotting beside his Trainer, regularly turning around to give encouragement to Perdita, who was limping at an impressive speed behind him.
I felt a shadow of a smile cross my face as the Umbreon stopped and waited for the injured Mightyena to catch up, giving her a quick lick on her cheek as she paused to catch her breath.
The gesture, it seemed, was a welcome one for the other Pokemon. She briefly nuzzled his face, then proceeded to limp ahead towards Sashara, quietly standing a short distance away, an unreadable expression on her face.
My heart still made an unpredictable jump whenever I looked at her. It was somehow easier to risk short glances at her and to try not to think.
Her expression wavered for a second as she watched the two Dark Pokemon contentedly walking together. Her eyes narrowed, then closed as she shook her head, as if she was trying to ignore something.
Maybe her head.
Maybe her heart.
I could romanticise if I wanted, but my own internal logic dictated that it was something else.
But if she was thinking of me, even for such a brief time, I would not complain.
The Ancestor of all Pokemon floated quietly towards the back of the cave at the first shimmer of light. Too much time had passed to justify the lack of an update.
She tried not to giggle. The Traveller running out of time…now there was a thought.
He had not noticed her retreat, instead choosing to devote his time to studying his erstwhile companion's travels on the viewscreen.
Her heart silently went out to him. She didn't have to use her abilities to sense the emotional turmoil hidden just under the surface of his psyche. He missed her, he loved her, and yet he still believed he could not go out to her or help her.
Her mood lightened. How much that would change when the Traveller's tales of the future came true!
'Mew…'
She flew discreetly out of the cave and into the narrow passageway outside. A pair of wide turquoise eyes shone in the dim light as the Traveller came into view, his translucent wings flapping so hard that they appeared to blur.
Her own eyes shimmered in relief and happiness as she reached out for the Grass/Psychic Pokemon and snuggled into his arms. 'Missed you.'
Celebi allowed himself to forget his mission for a brief moment as he held his companion close and sighed. 'And I you.'
Mew reluctantly parted from her mate and floated in front of him, all smiles and giggles gone at the look on his face.
'What? What's wrong?'
The turquoise eyes that she loved were clouded with fear.
'It's started.'
The Ancestor felt her heart freeze. 'No.'
'I've seen it. I've felt it. I know it. It's started.'
'But it can't. It's too soon. She's not even returned to New Bark Town.'
'Believe me, Mew, I know that. But circumstances here have dictated the future's course in a manner which I had never anticipated.'
She tried to control her breathing. 'Then…what can we do?'
'She must complete the travels in Johto, then onto Kanto and Viridian City as soon as possible.'
'But what of the risks? Will haste not worsen it?'
'Better to risk it than to not let it happen at all. You know of what the future will be like if their creator remains active.'
The tiny Legendary twitched her tail back and forth as she thought through the information she now possessed. Celebi fluttered in the air, gently buffeted about by the air currents.
She closed her eyes as she made her decision. 'Inform the Dogs of what you know, and tell them to leave the Tower immediately. I will inform the rest of the Guardians and order them to stand by.'
'All of the Guardians? Even the Twins and the Titans?'
She stared at him with a look he recognised immediately.
'All of them.'
I silently ignored Mew's retreat towards the back of the cave. Whatever the tiny pink Legendary was up to, I would wait to hear about it.
One glance at the screen showed me the image of Sashara, the bodies of Penumbra and Perdita cuddled into her side. She would be safe for the moment.
I deactivated the viewscreen and picked up a pawful of berries from the table, left by my self-appointed caretaker. Food at the moment was a decent distraction from my situation; at the very least, it made Mew stop worrying about me.
A rare burst of mirth tugged one corner of my mouth into a small smile. That little feline Pokemon could be something of a mother hen, given the right opportunity. It had always made me curious as to why she had not produced offspring – she would make a most impressive parent.
Then again, if I continued to dwell in my more unsavoury emotions, she would never need to be a parent. Not if she had me to look after.
With that thought lodged in my mind, I reached for another pawful of berries. If there was anything that would make Mew less paranoid about my welfare, surely the renewed capability to look after myself would be one of those preferred traits.
Or perhaps not, if the expression on her face as she entered the cave was any indication of her thoughts.
I raised an eyebrow as she floated in the entrance, staring into the middle-distance.
'Dare I ask?'
She glanced up at the sound of my voice, but her eyes did not focus.
I was instantly alert. Mew was not a Pokemon to whom darker thoughts were a normal occurrence. Something had happened, something she had not been aware of…
The viewscreen flickered on, instantly displaying the image of Sashara and her travelling companions outside the mouth of the Ice Caves in the north of Johto. Penumbra and Perdita were curled into a fur-covered heap, noses touching as they slept.
Sashara…
A cold lump settled in my stomach.
She was twitching, rolling from side to side with her arms wrapped around her stomach. A thin sheen of sweat covered her skin, no longer tanned but a sickly pale green.
Her eyes snapped open as she rolled onto her stomach and clamped a hand across her mouth. Shaking, she managed to stand and bolted for a thicket of bushes before she collapsed onto her knees.
Her back arched as she retched.
The bouts of sickness showed no signs of ending. If anything, they were now becoming alarmingly frequent.
But the vomiting was a new development.
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and tried not to fall forwards from the dizziness the act had provoked.
The noise had not gone unnoticed by her Dark companion, who unwound himself from his mate's body and silently ran towards his Trainer.
'What's wrong?'
She closed her eyes and shook her head. 'It's nothing. Just something I ate.'
Penumbra stubbornly shook his head. 'You eat the same foods as we do, none of us are ill. So what's wrong?'
She forced herself to take a deep breath, trying to quell the nausea. 'Probably a touch of PokeRus then.'
'PokeRus never affects Pokemon as badly as that, and humans can't contract it.'
Her frustration took over. 'Unless you've forgotten, I'm a hybrid. Who knows how it would affect me? And who asked you anyway?'
She was spared the look on the Umbreon's face as she fell forward into the bushes and retched again.
Panic rose in his throat. This was wrong. She had never been ill, at least not visibly. And now this…
She fell backwards against a tree as the bout finished, the nausea disappearing as she collapsed. Taking a few deep breaths, she gazed exhaustedly at the Pokemon staring at her with concern in his amber eyes.
'I'll be fine. Nothing I can't cope with.'
Taking one last worried look at his Trainer, Penumbra wandered away and settled back down next to his mate. Amber eyes closed as he reflected on this new turn of events.
He was asleep.
Finally.
She sat up cautiously, praying wordlessly that the nausea had gone for the night.
Nothing.
She sighed and tucked her legs up against her stomach, the action disturbing a few torn stomach muscles.
And the itch.
She closed her eyes and summoned her knapsack telekinetically. Dragging the first aid kit out, she silently loosened her arm gauntlets and pulled back her shirt sleeves.
The bandages had come undone again. Nothing too drastic, but better to wrap everything up than risk one of the Pokemon seeing the gauze and commenting on it.
Besides, it was a simple skin infection, nothing to be too concerned about.
The smell of antiseptic and infected tissue grew worse as the bandages were unwrapped. The itch at least lessened in the cool air emerging from the Ice Caves.
She winced slightly as the last bandage came free and she was able to examine the extent of the infection.
Both forearms were covered in yellowish sores, the flesh underneath bubbling and discoloured a vicious purple and green. No matter what treatments she had tried, the skin refused to heal, blistering and leaking pus.
The urge to scratch at the sores until she drew blood was tempting.
She slapped a handful of antiseptic ointment onto the worst of the sores and dressed them as fast as she could, wiping her hands on the last of the sterile tissues she had brought with her.
Few medical supplies left in the kit, low on treatments for the Pokemon, and running out of food. Time to steal some more supplies after she travelled through the Ice Caves. No reason to stop that particular little habit.
At least it would be cool in the Caves. Stop the itching, stop the nausea for a while…
She winced again as she tugged her shirt up and shifted her trousers down to examine her belly. Bruised to a disturbing black-red from chest to groin, even touching the skin caused her pain.
At least it had healed over. But the blotches appearing on her thighs…
Dragging a bottle of Full Restore from her knapsack, she downed the contents in a gulp and relaxed, the sharpest pains dulling to an irritating throb.
Whatever this thing was, it would not stop her from completing her journey, or from fulfilling her… obligations in Kanto. As long as she could still walk, she would continue.
Straightening her clothes, she shuffled across to her sleeping mat and lay down next to her two Dark companions, already wound tightly together even in sleep. She kept a silent vigil over them as she relaxed and pulled her blanket over her body.
Perdita had recovered within a few weeks of their first encounter, albeit with a small permanent limp. It certainly hadn't stopped the Pokemon from battling, and she was more than capable of proving a formidable opponent. Still a rather snappy temperament, and she still refused all help unless completely necessary.
A small smile crawled across her face. In spite of what she had been informed of by the Mightyena, it seemed as though Perdita was more than content to accept help and affection from one Pokemon in particular.
And another reason to hasten her journey. If what she had come to suspect over the past couple of weeks was true, then the main threat to them and their own, the same threat to her, should be eliminated as soon as possible.
Her eyes snapped shut as the clamping sensation tightened around her temples. Not much farther to go before her journey's end.
But the reek of ammonia wasn't helping matters…
I watched unblinkingly as her expression changed from some form of contentment to pain. A pressure headache from the way her head was tucked into her body.
But the retching, those lesions, the marks on her arms and stomach…
Nothing in nature could have caused those wounds.
I should have kept the screen active more often, I should have seen what she was hiding, I should never have let her leave, I should have paid more attention to her…
A tiny whimper echoed in the cave. Mew was still staring at the screen.
It's worse than I thought…
My head snapped round at the words. I could feel my eyes widening. 'What is worse than you thought?'
She glanced at me, then back at the screen.
My paws tightened into fists. I reached into the air and grabbed the tiny Legendary by the tail, dragging her down to my eye-line.
'Tell me now Mew. What is worse than you thought?'
Her gaze was still focussed on the screen as the tension suddenly drained out of her body. Relief joined the emotions that had already gathered in her eyes.
I craned my neck in order to stare at the image on the viewscreen.
Three familiar forms had surrounded Sashara and her Pokemon, as they had done so many months ago.
Raikou was keeping watch over the entrance to the Ice Caves, his forked tail twitching back and forth in ingrained paranoia. Suicune was gently prodding Penumbra and Perdita awake, shooting concerned looks at the nearly unconscious body curled next to them.
A giant paw hid the Trainer's face as Entei turned her body to face him, worry etched into his crested face.
He glanced at his Water companion as she finished rousing the girl's Dark guardians.
'The Traveller did not exaggerate what he told us.'
Suicune rested a paw on the girl's forehead and closed her eyes. 'Have you ever known Celebi to exaggerate anything?'
'No.' The comment came from the Umbreon slumped on the ground next to his Trainer. He stared up at the Dogs with fear in his eyes once more.
'But he never mentioned any of this to me.'
The Dog of Thunder glanced over his shoulder. 'Possibly because he though you'd be more useful helping out than doing the doom-laden prediction and worry thing?'
Suicune's head snapped up, a glare marring her elegant features. 'That was un-called for.'
A shrug was his only reply as he returned to his observation position.
A frustrated growl caught the Dog's attention. Perdita was dragging her Trainer's knapsack across to the group.
She halted before Entei and stared up at him. Her pointed face was alert.
'Whatever is in here, would it help her as it has helped the rest of us Pokemon?'
The great Dog of Fire shook his head as he settled his body next to Sashara. The pain on her face faded as her eyes slowly opened.
'Nothing but the completion of her 'mission' will do anything to--'
He paused as the Trainer gazed at him for a few seconds. Wordlessly, she removed her knapsack from Perdita's jaws, granting the Dark Pokemon a gentle touch on the head as she did, before packing up her bedroll and blanket and stowing them away.
She used Entei's shoulders for support as she stood, grabbing two PokeBalls from her belt and recalling Penumbra and Perdita before they could protest.
'You're here to take me back, aren't you?'
Her voice was resigned.
'You don't think I'm capable of it.'
Suicune smiled gently. 'Oh no. You are capable of it. But in your…condition, we feel you needed a little friendly assistance to take you safely to New Bark Town.'
She raised a weary eyebrow and shook her head. 'Only after I pass through Blackthorn City. I entered the Johto League, and I will finish collecting the Badges, if nothing else.'
Her hand twitched under her gauntlet. 'After Blackthorn…I do what needs to be done.'
'Then the least we can do is give you an escort through the Caves.' The Dog of Fire gestured towards his back with his shaggy head, indicating that she should get comfortable.
She sighed and settled onto his back, holding tightly onto his mane. 'Any time I see a Pokemon I should capture, we stop. That's my only condition.'
Unseen to the rest of the group, Raikou rolled his eyes. Once a Trainer, always a Trainer.
As long as she didn't try to capture him, they would have no gripe. But the human side of her might not be persuaded otherwise.
'Ready?'
Entei and Suicune stood and crouched low to the ground. Sashara tensed, bracing herself for the journey.
The Dogs and their companion tore across the forest path and into the mouth of the Ice Caves, the frigid air instantly swirling around them and swallowing them up.
I risked turning away from the monitor and glared at Mew, who at that moment was hovering next to my head in complete silence.
'Explain. Now.'
She turned to scrutinize my face, then glanced briefly at the monitor and stared straight into my eyes.
You won't like it.
I gritted my teeth in a snarl. 'Do I look as if I will like whatever it is?'
She said nothing for a time. I continued to glare at her.
Mew shook her head, pressed a petite paw against my cheek, and closed her eyes.
Didn't you ever wonder why Sashara has trained all of her Pokemon with at least one Dark Attack? Why she keeps a Fire-type, a Dark-type and a Rock-type Pokemon with her at all times?
Mew's questions caught me off-guard. I felt my expression slide into one of confusion.
'Because…because she--'
Because she is of the Mew bloodline, and thus is a Psychic-type by default. And if you were a Trainer and you needed to fight a Psychic Pokemon, what types of Pokemon would you choose, which are either completely invulnerable or highly resistant to Psychic Attacks?
I felt the cold weight in my stomach gain a few pounds.
'…Dark and Rock-types. The primary types that she could not defend herself against…if they should ever attack her.'
Mew's paw quivered against my cheek. No. They would not attack her randomly; they are all too loyal for that…but say if her Psychic abilities ever went out of control; if they were ordered to attack her…
I wrenched her paw away from me and stared at her, aghast.
'She intends for them to attack her if she loses control?'
The tiny Legendary's eyes did not meet mine. No. She intends for them to attack her when she loses control.
When…
When she loses control…
The world started to tilt at an insane angle as I collapsed on the floor of the cave. My face and skin felt tight, overheated almost as I managed to take in what she was telling me.
Mew stared at me, her bright turquoise eyes shimmering with tears.
What you've seen…is only the beginning of her real loss of control.
A rushing sound began to build in my ears.
It was there within her from the start.
What was within Sashara from the start was still displayed on the viewscreen.
A small pool of acid under a mass of shrubbery.
But no stomach acid could burn holes through plant tissue. Only one chemical I knew of could produce that effect.
Ammonia.
TBC