He waited a few seconds before reopening his eyes. They were standing on the outside of the Ether Valley Pokémon Center, looking into the lobby lit by the blueish natural light. The sounds of commotion had been replaced by a sleepy silence.

Mewtwo released Gengar's hand and approached the windows to peer in. The semi-lit lobby was a bit hard to see into compared to the outside, so he pressed his forehead against the glass. His eyes traveled over the tables, the fireplace in the middle of the opposite wall, and the couch, in which two figures were sitting.

Mewtwo looked more closely at these figures. Who else would be sitting in the dark lobby before the Center was even open?

Alder was sitting with his hands covering his eyes and staring at the ground. Alakazam was sitting awkwardly on the couch, sort of in a half-upright pose, his elbow on the armrest and head in his hand. He seemed to be staring absently at the wall opposite, not moving a muscle.

Mewtwo raised his hand, hesitated, and then used his knuckles to knock on the glass.

Alakazam turned his head to look at what had made the noise. Upon catching sight of Mewtwo, he sat up slightly, apparently not entirely sure of what he was seeing. He nudged Alder as he sprung up from the couch, vaulted the low coffee table, and ran to the front door to unlock it.

Alakazam pushed the door open wide as Mewtwo approached the threshold. Mewtwo looked into Alakazam's face, which was weighted with anxiety.

How did it go? were his first words. Did you succeed?

Mewtwo nodded in response. Yes, all went well. Actually, I think it went better than expected.

As if on cue, Gengar, who was hovering uncertainly in the background, asked, "Are we going to go inside?"

Naturally, Alakazam's attention was drawn. Upon catching sight of Gengar, Alakazam automatically took a step back and bumped into Alder, who had just appeared at the doorway.

"Ouch! Do watch where you're going, Alakazam!" He turned to Mewtwo, saw Gengar, and, like Alakazam, reacted automatically. He gasped just as Alakazam asked, How did he get here? Did you bring him, Mewtwo?

Feeling that if was rather rude to treat Gengar like this, Mewtwo spoke up.

"He is here at my invitation. I trust that you two will allow me, and help me, to explain everything. Now, if you let us inside, I can begin."

A red flush swelled in Alakazam's and Alder's face, both looking flustered in response to their own behavior. They stood back from the doorframe to let Mewtwo and Gengar enter. They all wove their way to the chairs in front of the fireplace and took a seat. Gengar was looking around the lobby with interest, inspecting the glass ceiling and the comforts the lobby had to offer as he sat down. Alakazam and Alder resumed their seats on the couch while Mewtwo occupied a recliner opposite the fireplace.

For some time, nobody spoke. Everyone in that informal circle was lost in their own thoughts as the lobby slowly lightened around them. Dawn was approaching.

Mewtwo decided to break the silence with his own question. He looked at Alder and asked, "So how's Allen? Did you guys make it here okay?"

Alder's face fell in response to the question.

"Yes, we did make it here okay. But actually being okay was a different story." He took a deep breath and continued in a slightly flattened voice. "Of course, the doors were locked, so we had to try and attract the attention of somebody from inside. That took a while. By the time Nurse Joy unlocked the front doors, Allen had fainted in our arms."

"Wait," Mewtwo interrupted, "couldn't you just unlock the door yourself? Alakazam was able to do so earlier, right?"

Alder shook his head. "Unlocking the door ourselves would be quite as rude as kicking down the same door. We preferred to be polite."

Mewtwo bit his lip, fighting down a retort to these words. If it was himself instead of Alder that was carrying a dying friend, he would have likely smashed in the windows rather than wait for the door to unlock. Instead, he held his tongue.

"I understand," Mewtwo said with a trace of dismay. "As you were saying…"

Alder sat a little straighter and continued.

"Well, you know what state he was in; blood everywhere and trailing it wherever we walked, a broken leg, looking like a victim of a mugging—it was a wonder that Nurse Joy didn't faint. But she kept her cool and had him rushed to the Intensive Care Unit. Nurse Joy told us that it's a miracle he's alive."

Mewtwo chanced a half-glance in Gengar's direction. The latter shifted uncomfortably in his seat at these words. His eyes had averted from Alder's and instead were staring at the coffee table that sat in front of all four of them.

"Is he there now?" Mewtwo asked.

Alder nodded and added, "But Nurse Joy said to us that he is not to have visitors for at least a couple hours. He should gain some of his strength back before anything else."

"Of course," Mewtwo said, inclining his head in Alder's direction. "So he's okay?"

"More or less," Alder replied with a sad smile on his face.

"Good. I only hope that I won't be responsible for anything else going wrong today."

Mewtwo glanced again at Gengar. He could see a good deal of guilt in his eyes. He felt that the courteous thing to do was to shift the conversation topic instead of let Gengar stew in his own guilt, but the things to talk about all weighed heavily on the most recent events.

Unfortunately, it was Alder that took the lead into this undesirable topic. He leaned forward in his chair toward Mewtwo and said in a somewhat hushed voice, "Mewtwo, what happened after we left with Allen?"

He had a feeling that this question was coming, but it didn't prevent the heat that rose to his face in response. Retelling the story would never allow Alder and Alakazam to capture the full effects of what really happened; the battle against Gengar, the awful effects that confusion had on him, the collapse of the ceiling, jumping from a ten story building…

With a deep sigh, Mewtwo recounted what had happened.

One thing that Mewtwo immediately registered was how strange it was to tell them about his and Gengar's conversation and subsequent battle. Poor Gengar had to listen to what he said and did to the one that was talking about it. Mewtwo could see his bottom lip quivering and his eyes begin to glaze. Of course, Gengar was unaware of what had happened, but remorse was surfacing in his gaze. Mewtwo could not remember feeling more pity for anyone else.

By the time Mewtwo had reached the part where Gengar broke down under the influence of Confusion, Gengar had covered his face with his hands. Silent tears were pouring through his fingers, his breaths coming very jerkily. Mewtwo sat motionless, at a loss of what to say or do. He felt like his insides had been replaced with lead while a sense of sorrow crept through his body. All he could do was sit there.

Finally, Alder spoke up.

"Gengar, look at me."

Very slowly, Gengar raised his head to look across the table and into Alder's eyes.

"The actions you performed yesterday and this morning do not justify your character. Based off of what Mewtwo has told us, it seems that you have not been responsible for your actions since you've lost your memory."

As he said this, he glanced at Mewtwo and met his eyes. Mewtwo knew that Alder was thinking back to yesterday evening, when he learned about his role as a tool of destruction in the mysterious organization.

"By the same reasoning," Alder continued, "I believe that you had been brainwashed to perform tasks that you would never wish to do under normal circumstances. But by using Confusion, Mewtwo was able to successfully break through and release your true character."

Gengar gave a watery smile and turned to Mewtwo.

"You saved me from being a horrible being. How can I ever repay you?"

Mewtwo was never going to consider a serious repayment, but he remembered the atrocities that Gengar had committed under the influence of the brainwashing. How many other crimes had he committed in fifteen years? How could he help him earn redemption?

Mewtwo chose his words carefully.

"It's not me that you need to repay," he said slowly, "it's yourself. Your last fifteen years have been ruled by something far outside of your control. To be honest, my history hasn't exactly been clean either. But I think that, with some help, we can erase that bad reputation and replace it with something more stellar."

With this proposition, Gengar fully invested his trust into Mewtwo.

"What do you have in mind?" Gengar questioned.

"In a few hours," Mewtwo began, "let's meet in the center of the Town Square. It will be easier to explain my solution in precise detail there. Alakazam, Alder, you two are also invited to join."

Alakazam and Alder looked puzzled, but nodded accordingly. Mewtwo turned his gaze towards the ticking clock above the reception desk of the Pokémon Center. The clock's hand paced at the rate of a steady heartbeat, an almost hypnotic noise. It reminded Mewtwo how early it was, and how even if the world crumbles before him, the clock will continue to tick.

"It's still quite early," Mewtwo muttered to himself. "I'm going to wait and see Allen before heading off to the Square."

"Hold on," Alder said quickly, "You can't go tearing off the ICU just yet. Nurse Joy said to leave Allen be for at least a few hours to recuperate."

Mewtwo had actually risen from his chair and was halfway to a standing pose before freezing in response. Of course—how could have he forgotten so quickly? Alder himself had said the same thing just minutes before.

"Right…" Mewtwo said quietly, returning to his seat. "I guess I'll have to wait for a bit…"

"Yeah," Alder said, "we can all see Allen later. Let's—let's have some breakfast meanwhile. It's 7:14 right now."

This was true; the clock read precisely the same time. As they all turned to look, the first rays of sunlight shone into the Pokémon Center, coloring the walls a bright copper. Only when Mewtwo saw this did he realize that he'd already been awake for three hours, and he felt curiously weak and sleepy when the thought drifted across his mind. Maybe he just needed some more rest.

But he couldn't right now; there was just so much to do in response to all of these events. They still had to clean up the town square from those rogue Pokémon, not to mention his devastating attack in the same area. He had to check up on the same three Pokémon at some point before they were discharged from the Center; maybe he could do this before going to the square. There was just too much to do.

His head was nodding backwards into the recliner as he felt like he was sinking into the warmth of the cushions.

Maybe he did…

Just need…

Some sleep...

From what seemed like way far away, he heard Alder's voice echo,

"Ah, let him be. He needs some sleep anyway."