The Lost Champion

Hopefully this one is longer!

The pain was what awoke her first. The terrible, throbbing feeling inside her head. It felt like her brain was getting ripped apart. Various machines beeped and protested at her sitting up, but she ignored them. She realized she was in a room with no windows. She scanned the room, and saw that only the bed she lay in, the various machines she was hooked up to, and a chair were the only items inside the room. There was a door on the other side of the room, and she desperately wanted freedom. She needed it.

She swiveled her hips, and let her toes brush the ground. A wave of nausea washes over her from the movement she moved, and she clutched her mouth. The pain in her head suddenly became much worse and she fought the urge to just lay back down and go back to sleep. She needed out of this room, now. She couldn't even remember why she was here in the first place. She tried to recall anything, but the pain in her head and the nausea was too much, and she threw up on the ground near her feet. Taking in shaking breaks, she let the tears stream down her face. She felt lost and confused.

When the pain lessened, she got to her feet. Her legs shook as she gingerly stepped around her vomit towards the door. She stumbled and fell. She hit the ground and felt the wind get knocked out of her. She moaned, and fresh tears began to fall. Her vision began to fade as she drifted into unconsciousness.

Pain. Failure. Loss.

These words filled my head as I crumbled to my knees and stared at the horrors in front of me. Two horribly burnt bodies behind the man I knew were my two best friends filled my vision. I was to late, I had failed. The man chuckled, a deep hateful sound.

"I told you," he sneered down at me. "You couldn't defeat me. You are but a boy. But I, I am Giovanni, leader of Team Rocket. I don't just defeat my enemies, I utterly destroy them."

I could feel the tears begin to stream down my face. I had failed them, I had failed Kanto. I couldn't defeat Team Rocket. I couldn't save my best friends.

Giovanni began to pace. "You see, Red, I knew you had the potential to stop me, to become better than me. I couldn't let that happen, no I couldn't. That would destroy my reputation! I mean, a man defeated by a 10 year old boy?! Unheard of!"

I began to shake. Dead. Blue and Leaf are dead. And it was my fault, all my fault. What would I tell Professor Oak? What would I tell little Silver, the boy who Leaf took care of and looked after? What would I tell Mom?

Giovanni sneered down at the corpses of my best friends. "You know, I expected them to be a little stronger."

I look up at him. He dare insult my best friends? He already took their lives, what else does he want to do?

He looks away from their corpses and looks me in the eye. "Blue Oak, grandson of the famous Professor Oak. Rumors around Kanto say he's one of the very best around, but he still couldn't beat me. Leaf, the beautiful Pokemon trainer from Pallet Town. Rumors of hers had also reached my ears, but for a different reason. Apparently, this young lady here was quite the thief."

Blood roared in my ears. That's it, he's dead. I can feel my hands twitch towards my belt where my Pokeballs are, but before I can reach them a fist collides with my face. I fly backwards into a wall. Giovanni glares at me, and at his side stands a Nidoking.

"Don't interrupt a man during a speech. Once I'm done, you can take your rage out on me." He pats his Nidoking, who continues to give me a death glare. Giovanni clears his throat. "You know Red, I always knew it would come down to this. Me against you, the most epic fight in Kanto...or did you think that would be between you and Blue here?" He kicks Blue's body.

I lunge forward, grabbing a Pokeball blindly and throwing it mid leap. I land in front of Giovanni, and hear my Pokeball snap open.

"Poli!" my Poliwrath screams, instantly shooting an Ice Beam at Giovanni's Nidoking, knocking it out.

"You and me?!" I snarl, grabbing the front of Giovanni's shirt. "HA! As if! I've taken you down before, OLD MAN! Whats so different about this time?!"

Giovanni gives me a smirk. "I brought my ace in the hole."

Suddenly, the wall behind him is ripped open, and a figure stands there wearing a peculiar set of armor.

Giovanni smirks wildly. "MEWTWO, destroy Red."

She gasps, waking up in a cold sweat. She clutched her head. Who was that boy? Red? And that man, she knew him. But from where? And that monster behind him, the one wearing the armor, she knew that from somewhere too. She wanted to scream. Why did everything seem so familiar, but it wasn't? Why couldn't she remember her own name? Why couldn't she remember why she was even here?

The door began to creak open, and light flooded the room. She covered her eyes and tried to blink away the spots in her vision.

"The hell?!" a deep, harsh voice bellowed. "How's she awake?!"

She blearily wiped at her eyes, and tried to sit up. Two men stood in the doorway, staring at her in disbelief. One was obviously a doctor, as he was wearing pharmaceutical jacket of some kind. But the other man was wearing a Black Outfit with an orange R on the front. He was also wearing a black hat, and black pants with black boots. He wore a sinister scowl on his face.

"Doc, you got any idea how the little lady is awake?" The man in black asked the doctor while grabbing her by the arms, trying to get her back into bed.

"I-I-I have no idea Mr. Donavich! H-H-Honestly! Subject 13 wasn't suppose to awaken for quite some time!" The doctor stuttered, clearly intimidated by "Mr. Donavich".

She felt herself being lifted back onto the bed, but she didn't really ay attention. Subject 13? Thats what her name was? Why was she a subject? She nearly screamed when the doctor shined a light in her eye.

"She's responsive, which is better than Subject 12 faired, I'm afraid. Eyes aren't glazed over, breathing is natural, but slightly panicked. I don't understand how she woke up though!"

Mr. Donavich snorted. "Eh, we'll figure that out later. RIght now we need to get her back to sleep. She's due for more experiments later on."

She could feel panic rise in her throat. Experiments?! What else had been done to her? How long has she been here. She began to struggle in Mr. Donavich's arms. He let out a throaty chuckle.

"Woah there little miss. You aren't going anywhere! I'm afraid Boss needs you for something...SPECIAL."

"NO!" She felt herself scream, shocked by the roughness of her own voice. "PLEASE! SOMEONE HELP ME!"

Mr. Donavich let out a full blown laugh this time. "Sorry little miss, but no one's here to help-" She felt his body suddenly go rigid, and she slipped from his arms and it the floor. She crawled away as quick as possible from him, then turned around. Her jaw dropped at what she saw.

"Uhnnn," he groaned, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and a thin line of drool fell from his lips.

"Oh my Arceus..." the doctor murmured, backing away slowly, his eyes the size of plates. "M-M-Mr. Donavich? Sir, are you ok?"

Mr. Donavich's response was fallling face first to the ground at her feet.

The doctor let out a small squeak, then he suddenly went rigid, too. Tears began to fall down his face as his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he collapsed on the ground. She wanted to scream, she wanted to scream so bad. But she was afraid what happened to them, would happen to her if she did. Her head suddenly felt like it was split open. The pain was so intense, she felt like she was going to throw up again. She slowly dragged herself to the bed, but she didn't have the strength to pull herself up. She felt herself slowly drift away.

"But why?" Leaf asks me earnestly. "Why are you leaving? I mean, you just beat the League! Don't you want to celebrate a little?"

I can hear the sadness in her voice, and I can see it in her eyes. She really doesn't want me to go. But I have to. I need to get stronger, much stronger. Just in case someone like Giovanni tries something. I need to be the strongest to protect the people who matter to me, people like Leaf. I've tried to voice these concerns to her, but she doesn't care. She says someone else will rise to stop someone like Giovanni, that I don't need to be the strongest and that its all in my head. Sometimes I think she's right, but what if she's not? What if she's terribly wrong, and if I don't become the strongest, someone like Giovanni will come and do some terrible things. I can't let that happen.

"Leaf," I murmur, reaching out to grab her hand. "You know why. I need to become stronger, to stop someone like-"

"DON'T!" She screams yanking her hand away from mine. "Please, just don't do this again."

"Leaf," I reach for her hand again.

"No!" She shouts. "Screw your damn hero's complex! You have a life to live Red! You have friends who care for you! Think about what you're doing here! Think how it'll make your mother fell! Think about how it'll make me feel..."

I barely caught that last part. "..?"

Her face flushes, and she looks kinda cut. "T-Think how it'll make Blue and I feel! Y-yeah, thats what I said!"

I sigh, and look over the Pallet Bay, off towards Cinnabar Island. "I've already thought about that. I know that it'll make you feel sad. But know this, Leaf, its for the best of Kanto."

I look back at her, and can see tears well up in the corners of her eyes. I cringe. I hate it when she cries. "Leaf-" I'm cut off when her hand flies up and slaps me across the cheek. I stumble back, and look at her.

"I can see you don't give a damn about how your friends and family feels, Red." She lets Jiggly, her Jigglypuff out of her ball. "Good luck on Mt. Silver." She hops on Jiggly's back, and Jiggly inflates, flying into the air and off into the distance. I watch her fly off, and let out a sigh. I turn back to Pallet Bay and think how I've screwed up. I let the ocean breeze and scent take me away to my thoughts-which are rudely interrupted by someone clearing their throat.

"Well," they begin. "Looks like you've screwed up. I knew you were bad with people Red, but that was just sad."

I turn around to see my other best friend, Blue standing there. His attire was different though. Black shirt and purple pants with a little bag on his waist.

"Going somewhere?" I ask him.

He nods, a small smirk forming on his lips. "Yeah, Gramps got me a Rainbow Pass. I'm going to visit the Sevii Islands. Train a bit more. Probably not as extreme as you're planning though."

I chuckle. "Probably not."

Blue walks up to me and sticks his hands in his pockets and looks out at Pallet Bay. "So," he begins. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Leaf."

I wince, but try and hide it. "Yeah." I answer cautiously. Blue's always teased me about my people skills, seeing as I don't talk to people until I get to know them really well. Hell, it took me at least 2 years to warm up to him and Leaf.

"Man, you fucked up." He said bluntly.

I turn and look at him. Blue usually never swears, unless he's either really pissed or trying to get a point across. I'm going with Option B. "How so?"

Blue whipped his head around and looked at me, bewildered. "You mean you-" He stops himself. "Never mind. Listen, when you come back, hell, if you ever come back, pay attention to the way she looks at you. You mean a lot to her, and your conversation just hurt her pretty damn bad."

I blink. "I'm sure she'll get over it-"

Blue interrupts me with a laugh. "Holy shit, you really are dense, aren't you!"

I can feel my face flush. "Am not."

Blue laughs again. "Keep telling yourself that, Reddy Boy!" He turns around and begins to walk off. He stops though, and turns around to look at me. "Hey, give me Aero."

I blink. Why does he want Areo? "...?"

Blue sighs. "Don't give me that look. Listen, I want to do a quick trade. Aero for my Charizard."

Woah, Charizard is Blue's starter, why would he give it to me? "..!"

Blue chuckles at my expression. "Chill out, bro. I just want you to train Charizard. I figured if you're going up to Mt. Silver..."

"..That I would train really hard, is that it? You want your Charizard to be at my level?"

Blue let out a laugh., "Hell no, I want him to watch over you. I trust him to do that. So, is it a deal?"

I sigh, knowing he won't let this one go. "Fine, its a deal.."

It cold. She shivers. She opens her eyes and looks at herself, and realizes why. She's not wearing anything. She would feel embarrassed, but the only other people in the room were either unconscious or...

She shivered, not wanting to think about the other option. She stood up shakily, and grabbed the blankets off the bed, rapping them around herself. Felling a little warmer, she turned towards the door. She almost shrieked when she saw a familiar shape in the doorframe. The silhouette was probably at least 6 feet, a whole head taller than her. It had what looked to have three fingers with small balls at the tips, weird ears poking off the top of it's head, and a tail lazily swishing at it's side. She could see it's piercing purple eyes gazing intently at her. It felt like it was scanning her, looking straight through her.

"Mewtwo," she hoarsely whispered. "You were in those dreams." She was barely aware of her slowly backing away.

She could hear him chuckle. Dreams? I do believe those were memories, dear girl.

She gasped. His mouth hadn't moved, where was his voice coming from?

From my mind, to yours. Mewtwo said, easily reading her thoughts. Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you. Rather, I am here to help you escape.

"I...I thought you were with Giovanni?" She asked. "He called you in the dream, and you came. Why would you help me?"

Again, that was a memory. And that memory wasn't yours. It belongs to a friend of mine.

She felt the pieces click together in her head. "...Red?" She asked.

Yes, Red helped me escape Giovanni's mind control. It was that armor he put on me. He told me it would focus my powers, but it just controlled me. I'm in debt to Red, which is why I'm helping you.

"Your not making any sense.." She murmured, clutching her head. It was starting to throb again.

Mewtwo stepped out of the doorframe, and walked up to her. She looked up at him to see he was frowning. Yes, I suppose I should explain myself.

"I would like that..." she murmured. She could feel bile rising up her throat. The pain was getting worse again.

But first, I need to get you out of here. Here, grab my hand. Mewtwo reached down to her.

She looked at his hand, thinking. Could she trust Mewtwo? She wanted answers, but the dreams...Red's Memories, they showed that Mewtwo was with Team Rocket. She looked at Mr. Donavich's body, with him.

You can trust me.

She gingerly reached up and touched his-

Remember to breathe. First time Teleporting is never fun.

She felt herself gag, and throw up on the cave wall. She felt the warm tears run down her face as she sat down. She crinkled her nose. It was starting to smell. SUddenly, it was gone. She blinked and looked up at Mewtwo, who gave her a small smile.

"Wha..?" She asked.

Hm, I'm afraid your vomit is now Team Rocket's problem, seeing as I just teleported it back to where you were being held.

She felt her lips twitch up into a smile. She let out a tiny giggle, resulting in a larger smile from Mewtwo. The smile quickly vanished though, and he looked her in the eye.

I believe you wanted answers?

She nodded. "Yes. Please. I feel like I'll go crazy if I don't get any. I need to know my name, and why I was kidnapped by Team Rocket. Please, tell me everything you know."

Mewtwo nodded, his purple eyes never leaving her face. Your name is Ruby, and you were kidnapped by Team Rocket because you fit their standards for their experiments they were conducting.

Ruby, that was her name. She smiled, at least that was taken care of. She forced herself to ask the question, but she was scared of the answer. "What...what kind of experiments?"

Giovanni...has a grudge against Red. Ever since Red defeated him and destroyed Team Rocket, he has held a burning hatred for Red. You were part of Project Nobody, a secret project that would create a perfect match for Red.

Ruby swallowed thickly. "Perfect match? What does that mean?"

Giovanni had Red scanned physically, and basically copied his memories. He had the Pshycic Pokemon then dump the memories into a host...who just had their memories wiped.

Ruby felt it click together. "So thats why I had those dreams about Red's Memories!"

Mewtwo nodded. Exactly. You were being created to counter Red. To be his perfect "Other", as they called you.

Ruby nodded. "So they wiped my memories, and gave me some of Red's so I could be his "Other" and be used to fight him?" Ruby's head felt like it was going to explode from all this knowledge. "How does that even work?"

They figured if you had his memories, you could fight like him. So, you could fight him AND destroy him, consequently leading to Team Rocket destroying all of Kanto in the process.

Ruby's mouth went dry. "So I'm basically a weapon..."

Yes, a weapon Team Rocket was going to use to destroy Kanto.

Ruby thought back to what the doctor had said earlier. "The doctor that looked at me back at Team Rocket's base, he called me Subject 13, and said I was doing better than a Subject 12. What does that-"

Mewtwo suddenly went rigid, and went alert. His sudden change in posture and demeanor startled Ruby, and she jumped a little. Mewtwo's eyes briefly flashed blue, and then he returned his attention to Ruby.

Red has called me. He called me to him.

Ruby suddenly felt excited. Would she get to meet Red? She wanted to meet her "Other", and she suddenly felt really anxious. What if he didn't like her? Or hated her for having some of his memories? Mewtwo began to walk towards the front of the cave they were in.

"Wait! Aren't I coming with you?"

Mewtwo turned around and looked at her. Not yet.

"What do you mean, 'Not yet'?" Ruby demanded. "I want to meat him!"

Mewtwo chuckled. Not yet. We need to settle you out first, and figure out how to hide you from Team Rocket. Now, if you don't have any more questions, I must be off. I promised Red I would be in Pallet Town by tomorrow. So, if you'll excuse me Ruby, I must be off.

"Wait!" Ruby cried. "Where exactly am I?"

Cerulean City. Cerulean Cave, to be exact. I'll be back tomorrow.

And with that, Mewtwo was gone. Ruby rested her head in her hands. Her head suddenly shot up as she thought of something.

"Wait, what the hell am I supposed to eat?"

Whew! I hope this one is better and longer! I'd like to thank my friend Pyrrhos Nightmare Dragon for being my editor, of sorts. He's put up with my bugging and actually proof read my writing. Go check out his story, "Betrayed One's Rage", a darker look on Ash as a character. Pretty good stuff! Go check him out!

I'd like to thank everyone who read this story (and actually read this little Author's Note!) and reviewed. I hope this chapter was satisfying! Don't worry, next chapter will be in Red's POV!

Please Review and Share with friends! Greatly appreciated!

-Robo