Jack stared from the tall humanoid Pokémon in front of him to the defeated body of his last Pokémon in disbelief. With a sense of his impending doom he recalled his last Pokémon and sprinted away from the vision of death through the labyrinth cave.
Or he tried to.
As he turned to run all his muscles froze instantly. He was stuck in position like a statue, unable to coax his muscles into movement. Mewtwo began to float towards him, its long purple tail thrashing the air behind it, with a look of terrible anger on its face. Its three fingered hand was held out directly in front of it.
Slowly it began to close its hand and a huge invisible force began to crush Jack. He yelled in panic and his mind unconsciously searched back to how he'd arrive in this position....
'It's in Cerulean Cave, I'm sure of it,' shouted Jack, clenching his fists at the sheer stupidity of the Hoenn Champion. 'You've already told me you don't know where it is and all the signs point to Cerulean!' Steven shook his head, rejecting Jack's plea again. 'It doesn't make any sense. It won't live near a city. It's in Victory Road, I know it!'
Jack laughed bitterly and threw up his hands in disbelief. 'You're dumb. It won't hide right on the League's doorstep. Everyone except a League member is refused access to the cave and they don't check it very often at all. Couple that with the fact that all the Pokémon have disappeared!....It's obvious that it's hiding in the damn cave!'
'Humph,' grunted Steven, unwilling to give in to his younger opponent. 'I still think....' he was cut off by a loud crack which accompanied Lelana's powerful slap to his face. Steven's head was snapped round and the skin around the impact point began to redden. When he looked back at Lelana there was already a large red handprint forming on his cheek.
'Just listen to Jack you obnoxious buffoon,' exclaimed Lelana, 'it's obvious that he knows where this Pokémon is. Stop being so big-headed and admit when you're wrong!' Steven felt his cheek uncertainly, completely wrong-footed and shocked by the slap. 'Fine,' he said heavily, 'we'll have it your way.'
Jack patted him on the back, suddenly friendly. 'Don't worry about the slap. She's done that to everyone she's ever met. It comes with the territory.' He laughed and dodged Lelana's retaliatory slap as they began to make their way to Cerulean.
Cerulean Cave was dark and forbidding in the extreme. Its entrance was merely a jagged, pitch-black hole cut into the rock face. Though light streamed through the entrance into the network beyond nothing could be seen in the near total darkness. The cave seemed to absorb light so there was nothing but black remaining.
Now their Pokémon were fully healed in the Pokémon centre you would expect the entrepreneuring young trainers and the Hoenn Champion to stride confidently into the blackness. In truth they all hung back, not only because of the forbidding looks but by a menacing presence that seemed to repel them from the cave completely.
Taking a deep breath Jack banished the mostly unfounded terror that was been pressed upon him and strode into the cave. At the entrance he turned back to Lelana and Steven who still held back. 'Are you coming or what?'
Steven's Metagross cast light on the situation by releasing a bright flash of light which lit up the rocky labyrinth and burnt on steadily for long after it was produced. The trainers now proceeded in an eerie half-light which created strange, twisted and tortured shadows across the walls and ground.
For a cave that should be full of the most powerful and dangerous wild Pokémon ever found – because it was essentially a prison for all the powerful and troublesome Pokémon in the world - it was surprisingly empty. During their unfruitful navigations of the cage not once did they encounter any wild Pokémon.
This was strange as any trainer crazy enough to venture in was normally swamped by the challenges of insanely powerful wild Pokémon who wanted to take out their anger about their confinement on something living, breathing, breakable and hopefully human.
They smelt it long before they saw it. It was the dirty, choking smell of rotting carcasses. It filled the air around them as they walked towards the source of the perceived carnage. What they found was worse than what they ever could have imagined.
Every single Pokémon in the cave had been slaughtered and piled up in a huge mountain of bodies and left to rot. Some of the remains were burnt and charred. Others were broken like twigs and thrown away like small dolls discarded by a clumsy child. Others were completely whole except for the crazed twisted fear engraved on their faces. It was a vision from hell. It was hell for the trainers who found it.
What made it worse was the Pokémon who had been killed. They were all hugely powerful. They found the burnt body of a Dragonite, the broken remains of a mighty Slaking, the charred bones of an insanely muscled Machamp. They even found the twisted body of a Gyarados discarded contemptuously onto the remains of a Tyranitar. Whatever had slaughtered these Pokémon did not lack power. That was abundantly clear.
The trainers separated as they walked around the piles of dead Pokémon in different stages of shock. This is what would be Jack's downfall. When he was the other side of the corpse filled cavern Jack heard the sound of a child sobbing. It was coming through a small hole in the rocky wall. All he had to do was crawl through and comfort the child.
Jack lost all his sense and he squeezed himself through the hole. He did not call to Steven or Lelana. He did not even stop to think. The overwhelming need to save this child filled his mind. He emerged to find what he was looking for. A small child, dirty and injured, was sitting against the wall of the second, smaller, cavern sobbing heavily. Its frail body heaved as it expressed its sadness by spewing salty tears from its tear ducts.
It was only now that Jack began to have second thoughts about what he had done and he turned round to call to his companions. Again the overwhelming need to help the child engulfed him, but this time it was much more forceful. It was as if the thoughts were being pressed into him.
He quickly ran to the child and reached out to comfort it. His hands went straight through the child as it disintegrated into tiny dust motes of flashing light. A commanding voice echoed around the cavern. Or was it in his head? It was so overwhelming that he couldn't tell. So I've found myself a strong willed fellow have I hissed the voice sibilantly well I'll just have to break him, won't I? The voice was more than a little mad.
Slowly Jack turned round to see what he was facing. It was not the abomination he was expecting. The Pokémon was actually beautiful, in its own strange way. It was immediately obvious to Jack from its glowing eyes and the purple aura that surround it that it was a psychic Pokémon, however its body was made out of lean, powerful muscle. Its purple tail was thick and dangerous looking and from its powerful legs it looked like it could dish out tremendous kicks.
The battle that followed was almost a dream for Jack. Harry was almost immediately overwhelmed by the sheer power of his opponent. He was soundly beaten in the psychic match up and his barriers were torn apart as if they were paper. His body lay broken on the damp, uneven floor within a minute.
Asrael barely lasted longer. He could not even get near to the Pokémon before he was caught with psychic energy. He was crushed to death within two minutes, without even getting in an attack.
Kabi lasted for a bit longer. Her sheer bulk and physique enabled her to resist the psychic attacks better than her two compatriots and she managed to zap her opponent with a web of thunder. It was with some consternation that Jack saw the Pokémon shake off the attack as if it was displacing an annoying fly and break Kabi's back with one thrust of energy.
Within five minutes Jack was down to his last Pokémon and Mewtwo hadn't even broken a sweat. It wasn't even tested. Jack did not want to release Dante to get slaughtered but the look the creature's smouldering eyes spurred him on. Dante was part steel type and therefore tougher and more resistant to all types of attacks.
He attacked to try and overwhelm the Pokémon who had defeated all his comrades and thundered towards Mewtwo like a derailed freight train. Mewtwo concentrated hard and began to levitate as it brought the full power of its mind to stop the Pokémon thundering towards it. Dante began to slow as if he was running through treacle and suddenly he stopped in midair and hung their suspended. Finally Mewtwo seemed to be using most of its power and struggled to hold Dante in place.
With a thud Mewtwo released its hold and Dante clattered heavily to the ground. Before he could even move he was knocked onto his side by an incredibly powerful psychic attack. Dante returned to his feet looking very dazed and tottered around before releasing an inferno in Mewtwo's general direction. The legendary psychic Pokémon looked unfazed and wrapped a cocoon of psychic energy around itself to protect it from the raging blaze.
When the blaze abated Mewtwo was completely unharmed and attacked Dante with an almost contemptuous flap of its hand. Dante was smashed again with incredible force and left a great furrow in the ground behind him as he was thrown backwards. Dante seemed even less sure on his feet that before and he swayed from side to side like a drunkard.
Though it seemed a mercy to put the now scatterbrained Dante out of his misery the blood-hungry Mewtwo executed it brutally. With a scary show of power Mewtwo repeatedly pounded the shaking Dante with its mind until Dante was little more than a bloody wreck, though he was still conscious. The final attack played out in slow motion in Jack's mind as crackling energy was conjured into being in front of Mewtwo's outstretched fingers.
For a second Jack watched as Dante stared into the face of the attack which would surely defeat him. The attack was released and Dante struggled to heave his body out of the way. He was too dazed to avoid the attack at all and he caught the powerful broadside on his flank. That spelt the end for Dante. He hit the ground hard and did not get back up.
Something strange started Jack out of his revelry. Why wasn't he dead? That was the first question that echoed through his mind. Mewtwo had started to crush the life out of him but for some reason it had stopped. Suddenly Mewtwo released its hold on Jack completely and he thudded to the ground, cutting and bruising his skin on the rough stone.
He looked around and saw that Steven and Lelana had finally found him and come to his rescue. They were bending the rules slightly to give themselves more of a shot of winning. Well, bending was not the right word. More like shattering into thousands and thousands of pieces. They were using all of their Pokémon to just keep the enraged Mewtwo at bay, which wasn't allowed under the Pokémon League's rules unless you are in Victory Road.
Mewtwo's power did not diminish under fire from all directions. In fact it seemed to become even more powerful when the odds were less in its favour. In one attacked it knocked out Lelana's Machamp and her Espeon, the latter's psychic attacks overwhelmed and dissipated as easily as Harry's.
Windie attacked whilst her comrades were being beaten and crashed into Mewtwo with a powerful takedown. She floored the legendary psychic Pokémon and began to claw and scratch viciously as she degenerated into an unthinking beast that lived only to rip its prey to shreds. Except this prey could fight back.
Focussing its mind Mewtwo crushed Windie and tossed her aside, unconscious, like bad rubbish. The manoeuvre was reminiscent of a car being crushed at a wrecking yard. Windie's body was a nearly unrecognisable crumpled mess as a result. Lelana had been dispatched in even less time that it took for Mewtwo to beat Jack and she reeled back to join her beaten rival.
Steven was not so easily beaten. His Pokémon were exceptionally powerful and hardy and could take more than one attack from the psychic creature. As one Steven's Aggron and Lucario attacked, working as a team like they always did. The Aggron charged, head down as it tried to skewer Mewtwo. It was stopped in its track and then tossed against the wall of the cavern with tremendous force.
As the whole cavern began to shake and a hail of small rocks began to descend from the ceiling the Lucario attacked. It smashed its fist into Mewtwo's face and threw the creature over its head in a judo manoeuvre. Showing great agility Mewtwo somehow managed to land on its feet and smashed the Lucario with a thick tail.
Lucario was winded and as it bent forward reflexively it was smashed in the face by a powerful foot. It reeled backwards and was attacked again, this time with a thrust of energy. It was sent spinning to the side and lay dazed on the wall.
Steven's Empoleon, Skarmory and Metagross attacked as a team – for that seemed to be the only way Mewtwo could be defeated – as his small Pokémon, one which Jack did not know the name of, childishly explored the cavern around. Not even bothered by the rampaging legendary only ten metres away.
The Metagross made the mistake of trying to engage Mewtwo in psychic combat. If it had not it would never have been disabled so easily. It let Mewtwo get a foothold in its mind and the creature destroyed it from within. Even as the Empoleon and Skarmory closed in Mewtwo was straining to break Metagross. Finally it succeeded and the huge Pokémon dropped to the floor. There seemed to be no life left in its body. It was as if the life had been ripped out of it.
Steven seemed shaken to have one of his Pokémon defeated so easily and he went into overdrive in ordering his Pokémon tactically. This was his mistake. Mewtwo read his mind like an open book and predicted every single move he could think up. The psychic Pokémon always seemed three steps ahead of Steven and his Pokémon and soon his Empoleon and Skarmory were also defeated.
The dazed Lucario and Aggron also had not taken long finishing off in their confused state. Steven only had one Pokémon left now. The small one. The weird one. The enigmatic one.
Mewtwo attacked it when it wasn't even looking and was repulsed. The small Pokémon's face twisted in childlike anger and it attacked with incredible power. Mewtwo reeled back under the surprising assault until he could reassemble his defences.
The two Pokémon fought in a psychic duel of gargantuan proportion. They seemed to be evenly matched, though the small Pokémon should have been able to win if it seized on the surprise factor. But it did not think. Its mind seemed to be like that of a child and it fought as such. It attacked viciously and with all its power and when hit it reacted petulantly. There was no way it could win like that but it still managed to match Mewtwo blow for blow.
The duel seemed to be more dangerous for the spectators than for the participants. Stray psychic energy smashed into the cavern around and soon they seemed to be in danger of being crushed by a cave in. Jack realised this first and tried to convey the fact to Steven over the incredibly loud bangs of psychic energy colliding.
'We need to get out of here,' he screamed, pointing to the roof which now seemed to be rippling. Steven swore loudly and ran to the exit, picking up Jack and Lelana by their shirts and hauling them with him.
They ran through the labyrinth cursing but somehow the battle never seemed far away. Turning around a corner they saw that somehow the two creatures battling were directly in front of him. 'Duck,' screamed Steven suddenly, dropping to the ground and dragging the two other trainers with him as a stray bolt of psychic energy decimated the rock face directly above them.
Both of the Pokémon suddenly disappeared and reappeared further along the tunnels. They seemed unaware that they were teleporting around. For them it seemed to be as natural as thinking and walking. For the next ten minutes the trainers played a dodging game with the lethal falling rocks that seemed to be intent on impaling them onto the ground. Then disaster struck and it struck hard.
They found the exit blocked by the two Pokémon fighting. The fighting had peaked in intensity and power. Both Pokémon were going for broke to kill the other. It was impossible to see who was winning as the attacks and counterstrikes occurred faster than thought.
To the watchers it was as if they were watching a mono-coloured but extremely intricate fireworks display. Then there was a loud explosion as two particularly powerful psychic attacks connected. Numerous bolts arced out from the collision and smashed into the rocks surrounding the exit. The rocks seemed to begin to fall in slow motion for Jack as, for the second time in less than two hours, his death flashed before him.
He was running before he shouted the warning, 'The exit is going to collapse!' Steven was slightly slower than him and Lelana was the slowest.
Jack barely made the entrance and Steven only managed to escape with huge groves cut into his flesh by the jagged falling rocks. Lelana was not so lucky. The entrance was blocked before she could make her way out. The last thing that Jack saw of her was a look of absolute terror marring her pretty face. Then the boulders fell and Jack could see nothing.
Nothing at all.