The chilly mid-November air was causing their breaths to trail away in a misty fog. Rain was driving down in icy sheets on top of the two, forcing Mewtwo to bend over slightly and attempt to prevent the rain seeping into his white jacket. Gengar, however, didn't seem to need to do anything in response to the downpour; he simply continued walking as if nothing were happening.

"I'm glad I brought along this jacket," said Mewtwo as he pulled up his hood to block the rain, fitting the horns on his head through holes in the hood. "I bet Allen didn't want a repeat of our first visit. Remember when we all came in soaking wet?"

"I do," said Gengar, looking back to the entrance of the University as they walked down the sidewalk. "The water was coming off of you in rivers, wasn't it?"

"It sure was," said Mewtwo, vividly remembering the bone-chilling cold the rain had brought. "Even for October, it was quite cold that day." He glanced over at Gengar, who didn't seem to be affected by either the rain or chill, and asked, "Aren't you cold or anything?"

Gengar shook his head as Mewtwo dug his hands deep into his coat pockets, "Not at all. I guess it doesn't affect me because I'm a Ghost Pokémon? That's the only thing I can think of, to be honest."

Mewtwo shrugged his shoulders and added, "I thought it might've been because of that, but I wasn't sure." He paused before continuing, "What's it like being a Ghost Pokémon? I mean, how are you different from when you were—err… living?"

He hadn't anticipated the question to come out as awkward as it did, and regretted asking it nearly the moment he finished. Gengar slowed his pace of walking, gazing at the sidewalk with unseeing eyes.

"I don't know…" he said in a flattened voice, "Physically, I don't feel much different compared to when I lived, except perhaps a height difference; but even that might just be from my ears. I feel lighter even though Allen said a Gengar is slightly heavier than a Clefable, which I don't understand. I've definitely noticed that I tend to shy away when a touchy subject comes up, especially if it has to do with something I couldn't control. But when I'm happy—and I mean really happy—I feel like I can just float away without a care in the world. I always try to keep a bounce in my step in the hopes that I can cheer at least someone up."

Mewtwo was touched at these words. He knew Gengar was rarely down in the dumps, but he didn't know it was because he was trying to keep up the spirits of others around him.

"Aww," Mewtwo said fondly. "Thanks for being such a great guy to hang around. I always have fun whenever I'm with you."

Gengar looked up with a grin and said, "Well I'm happy to hear that! I enjoy being with you too."

Thankfully, Mewtwo didn't feel snubbed from further questioning. There was a short pause before he continued by asking, "So what can you do now that you're a Ghost Pokémon?"

Gengar's eyes lit up at the question, "Oh, all sorts of stuff! In our last few visits to the University, Allen taught me about my abilities, my move set, and a lot of other little things. For instance, he told me that I'm able to hide in the shadows unlike anybody else. If I do it right, I can actually become a part of the shadows! I'll be practically invisible!"

"Wow!" said Mewtwo. "So you'll be able to turn super stealthy if you ever need to?"

"Exactly," said Gengar. "We've been working on it at the University, but I'd like to try it outside of the test setting."

"Hmm…" said Mewtwo thoughtfully, "Tim and I were talking about my abilities as well, and he reckons that I have the ability to fly. Maybe once we're in Cerulean City proper, we can try it all out."

Gengar giggled and said, "Now you've gotten me all excited!"

They walked on, splashing in the rivers and standing water all the way to the heart of the city. Traffic was heavy, for there weren't many people that chose the freezing walk through the rain. But those that weren't piloting a vehicle had a tendency to look at the pair of them longer than was necessary, even completely stopping what they were doing to get a better look. When this carried on for well over a half-hour on their walk through downtown, Mewtwo began to feel seriously annoyed at their peculiar behavior.

"Why are they all staring at us?" grumbled Mewtwo to Gengar after a shuttle bus full of people passed them with their noses pressed to the glass.

"Well…" said Gengar delicately, "I suppose it's because of you, isn't it?"

"What d'you mean?" asked Mewtwo sharply. Gengar met his eyes with an uncharacteristically serious look.

"You're notorious—I mean famous—no, I don't mean famous…" he faltered under Mewtwo's hard stare. "It's just—you're legendary, Mewtwo! You can't expect people to not take a second look."

"But why?" asked Mewtwo. "I'm not really that significant, am I? If anyone should deserve to be treated with a second glance, it's you guys. Alder's done so much for Ether Valley already, right? And isn't Allen a fantastic trainer?"

"True…" muttered Gengar, "I guess you have a point."

"Then why overlook you guys entirely?" Mewtwo pressed.

Gengar took a minute to respond, "Well, you—now don't take this the wrong way, but—a lot of these people still remember you for whatever crimes you committed. Maybe you don't, but they do. I still remember the days when the organization was taking over," Gengar shuddered for a moment.

"What was it like back then?"

"Horrible," said Gengar without hesitation. "You didn't know who to trust. People and Pokémon alike disappeared without a trace. There were some well-publicized murders, too; usually those that resisted the underground regime were killed. My father was one of them… My mother and I knew we were next, so we split up to try and shake the tail. I traveled for months, just hoping that I wasn't going to be next. Then I met Pikachu…"

His eyes glazed over, and Mewtwo could sense that he was seeing what nobody else could.

"She and I… we were practically inseparable. I met her right near Vermilion Bay and found out she was traveling as well, but for very different reasons. So we took up to each other quickly and began to roam for quite some time. She just wanted to sightsee all around Kanto, so I sort of tagged along. I always looked over my shoulder in fear that we were being followed; but of course, I didn't tell her that.

"She was always looking for the next adventure, whether it be hiking through the mountains, walking along the stretches of beach on the eastern shores, or touring some of the cities. Then—I remember it so clearly—she said, 'Let's go caving...'"

Gengar's voice shook slightly when he finished the sentence. Mewtwo had an urge to prevent Gengar from what he knew full well was to come, but the latter continued without interruption.

"We went to the Seafoam Islands because she heard that the caves were packed with things to see. But she didn't want to explore the normal caves. She found an isolated one instead, far removed from the Sea Routes that linked Cinnabar to the mainland. It turned out to be a massive ravine, must have been at least five hundred feet below sea level. And all around us were beautiful, beautiful stones of many sizes in the walls. Pikachu picked up a loose stone, the Mega Stone, and pocketed it, saying that she wanted a souvenir for their adventure. But how were we to know that those stones were so significant?

"Well anyway, we moved on to Cinnabar, through Pallet Town and Viridian City, and into the Viridian Forest. And… I made the mistake of taking point…"

Gengar sniffed. He seemed to be rapidly approaching tears.

"The forest was one of the rare places that she was uneasy about, so she asked me to go first and she'd follow. I obeyed, not remembering to keep an eye out for anything suspicious…

"Halfway through the forest, we got jumped in the dark. I heard a slashing noise behind me followed by a thud. Before I could do more than turn around and glimpse Pikachu face-down in the grass, someone punched me right in the face."

Mewtwo took a small intake of breath and said more quietly than normal, "And what happened next?"

"I don't remember," said Gengar, shaking his head sadly. "All I could hear was a very loud ringing in my ears, which makes me think that I was knocked out. The next thing I know that happened was waking up to some sort of conversation, and I opened my eyes to discover that we were in a warehouse. And then—well, you know the rest…"

Gengar's voice broke. He rubbed his eyes rather forcefully with his fists and sniffed again. Sighing, he looked up for the first time in several minutes and said, "But never mind that…"

Mewtwo had no idea how to respond, so they walked in silence for another long stretch of time, thinking all the while.

It all traced back to him; the pain and suffering of what was surely tens of thousands of people and Pokémon, lives forever altered or wiped out by his actions as well as those of this criminal organization. He wondered what it would be like if he had fought against the evil instead of with it… How much could he have changed? How many lives could he have saved? He tried to push away these bitter thoughts, but was unable to eradicate them completely. They hovered around in his mind and refused to leave him alone.

The pair of them were walking around in the very heart of Cerulean, watching the traffic rumble by, when great clouds of fog rolled in between the many skyscrapers to join the downpour of rain. The tops of the buildings were lost to the dense grayness of the fog. Combined with the relentless rain, visibility was non-existent. Mewtwo couldn't see further than one hundred feet in any direction. The suddenness of the fog's arrival startled him.

"What the—where did all this fog come from?" he asked, looking around in confusion.

Gengar gave a noncommittal shrug and said, "It looks like it rolled in from the south, so I would say from the harbor?"

"Makes sense… but still," said Mewtwo, "I've never seen it this bad."

"I dunno," said Gengar, "Cerulean's weather is always a bit iffy. Maybe you can ask Allen when we're back this evening."

The steel gray fog was nearly impenetrable and scrambled their sense of direction. They had to slow their walk and pay attention to street signs so that they knew where they were. On one corner they passed loomed a grand building, the front entrance curved gracefully with the rest of the building. There was a lot of sidewalk in between the street and the entrance, so the two only saw the shadow of the building through the dense fog.

"Cerulean City's Pokémon Center," pointed out Gengar, motioning to the billboard-like Pokéball on the face of the building. "One of the finest in the Kanto Region."

"You've been there?" asked Mewtwo, sparing the Center another glance before it was swallowed by the fog.

"Just once," said Gengar. "It might've been sixteen years since I was there last, but it was state-of-the-art. Probably still is, come to think of it."

"Really?" said Mewtwo. "What was it like?"

"It was pretty amazing, to be honest," said Gengar. "I saw technology that I never thought possible. It was all a very fluid setup; I couldn't believe how quickly everything was handled. The staff was top-notch and extremely well-trained. There were—let's see… I think three stations where trainers could easily heal their Pokémon. Then if you needed extra help, you could go to the backrooms and let your Pokémon overnight. It was some incredible stuff."

They walked another couple blocks, past the largest of the office buildings and into the more residential part of the city. Neat apartments lined both sides of the street, cars parked the whole length. They toured this area for a while, admiring the architecture of the buildings while Gengar commentated.

"Battery Hill is a nice little area, in my opinion," he said as they passed some upscale apartment buildings separated by narrow alleys.

"Mhmm," said Mewtwo, looking around. The cars they were passing sure looked larger and nicer than anything he had seen yet. He guessed that these residents had some money to live comfortably without any financial worries.

But as they passed one of the gaps between buildings, Mewtwo heard a curious sound; something like a mix between a gasp of breath and a whimper. It made him stop in his tracks, trying to listen for the sound again. Gengar was ten paces ahead when he realized Mewtwo was no longer with him.

"What's up?" he said, turning around.

"Did you hear that?" said Mewtwo quietly.

"Hear what?" asked Gengar as he backtracked to where Mewtwo stood.

"Listen…"

Gengar became very still, straining his ears to catch what Mewtwo was talking about. After a moment, he said, "I don't think—"

"Shh!" Mewtwo said, flapping his arms to quiet Gengar. They both listened in as the strange whimpering reached their ears again, at which Gengar whispered, "You mean that?"

"Yeah…" breathed Mewtwo. "Is it coming from that alley?"

They turned in unison to the gap between buildings, still cloaked by the fog.

"Sounds like it," said Gengar.

Mewtwo hesitated, then proceeded to creep across the sidewalk and into the alleyway.

It was much darker here than out in the street. They moved slowly, feeling their way along the brick walls, the whimpering and snuffling growing louder all the time. After a tense minute of silence, Mewtwo decided to break it.

"Is there anyone here?" he called.

A loud, stifled sob issued from the ground several feet to his left. When they turned, all they saw at first was what seemed to be a heap of trash bags to be taken out to the street. Mewtwo moved forward for a closer look.

Something was moving amongst the rubbish…

Mewtwo shifted aside the topmost bag and uttered a cry of shock.

Lying amongst the garbage was a Squirtle, curled up in a ball and crying. The shell was nearly broken; deep cracks ran through it, some so deep that Mewtwo could see through to the flesh. Scratches covered most of the face and arms, where some dried-up blood had run down the knees and elbows. Squirtle's eyes were half-closed and the breaths being drawn were deep, rattling gasps.

Gengar gasped from behind Mewtwo's back and stammered, "Oh my—what happened?"

Mewtwo scooped up the Squirtle in his arms. Immediately, he could tell that Squirtle was very near death; the limbs were limp and the body was shaking uncontrollably, presumably from the cold. Tears mingled with the rain that ran down Squirtle's face. The sight made Mewtwo's heart feel as if an iron fist had grasped it so tightly that it hurt to beat. His brain was beginning to flood with panic.

"No… no, no, no…" He whipped around to face Gengar as his words tumbled out in a rush, "This Squirtle—he's ill, he's injured… We—we have to get to the Pokémon Center. We'll have to leg it there if we want to save it."

"I—but—" Gengar spluttered.

"But what? But what?"

"We're—you mean right now?"

"I'M NOT LETTING ANYONE DIE ON MY WATCH!" Mewtwo roared. The anger jumped out from nowhere and made Gengar cower against the wall. "We have to get to the Pokémon Center! NOW!"

"Okay! Okay!" shouted Gengar, still turned away in fear. "It's at the corner of Platt and Sixth Street!"

Mewtwo unzipped his jacket and held Squirtle between his body and the jacket. It was like ice, but Mewtwo didn't bother to fathom the coldness. Once he ensured Squirtle was wrapped securely in his coat, he ran out of the alleyway and began sprinting as fast as he could back into downtown.

They splashed their way through the many puddles on the sidewalk, not stopping for anything. The rain stung Mewtwo's face and he could feel the rough parts of the sidewalk cutting and slicing at his feet. He ignored the pain and pressed on relentlessly, even when he could see that he was leaving bloody footprints in his wake. Nothing mattered now except getting Squirtle to safety.

They skidded back onto Platt Street and reversed the route they had taken earlier. The sparse amount of people they passed on the street stared at them as they ran by, but Mewtwo didn't care. He spared no thoughts for them, only for the Pokémon Center that was surely just at the next corner…

"That was—Fifth Avenue—back there," Gengar gasped, clutching a stitch in his side, "so the next—street—should be…"

The building cut through the fog as they dashed across Sixth Street. But as they rapidly drew closer, Mewtwo noticed something that made his stomach sink through the concrete beneath his bleeding feet; there were no lights on through the glass front doors…

To confirm his worst fears and add insult to injury, a small sign visible on the inside of the door read, "Sorry, we're CLOSED." Mewtwo kicked the door in frustration and swore loudly.

"This is just brilliant!" snarled Mewtwo. "Why now?"

"We're out of time," panicked Gengar. "Squirtle won't last more than an hour without proper attention. This Pokémon Center is closed…" He walked up and put a hand to the door, trying to open the door that would not budge. He looked back at Mewtwo, where the usual glow in Gengar's eyes seemed to have gone out. Hopelessness washed through instead as he said, "What do we do?"

"We go back to Ether," said Mewtwo. The idea came to mind as soon as he saw the dark lobby through the front doors, and it made complete sense to act on his idea without hesitation.

"Back to Ether? Are you kidding me? That's an hour and a half away by train!" Gengar said incredulously, gesticulating violently to the north. "There's no way we'll get there in time!"

"Watch me," growled Mewtwo. "You can join me back to Ether, or you can take the train."

Frustration was obviously building quickly inside Gengar. Mewtwo saw some of the old scarlet glow return in Gengar's eyes, fuelling the latter's anger.

"How the hell are you getting back?!" Gengar shouted.

"I'm flying."

Whatever he was expecting, it wasn't that. Gengar was struck dumb by the sentence and struggled to pull himself back together and utter a response.

"You're—but—what?"

"Tim taught me how to do it. If you join me, we can fly back together."

Gengar simply gawked open-mouthed at him.

"We can't wait any longer. I'm leaving now, and you're free to come along."

Gengar closed his mouth, swallowed, and nodded his head. Mewtwo bent his knees and made sure that Squirtle was still secure inside his jacket.

"When I leave the ground, you follow. Okay?"

Gengar bent his knees obediently, still wearing an expression of utmost confusion.

"All right. Here we go…"

Without a moment's delay, he pushed off from the ground hard and shot upward into the rolling fog. He rose rapidly like a cork in water and soon broke through the fog. Looking back, Gengar joined him a moment later, and the party sailed over the land at top speed.

They glided along noiselessly above the earth in between the clouds high in the sky and the fog they were skimming. Mewtwo pushed to go faster the longer they were in the air. Soon they had left Cerulean far behind and instead were soaring with the contours of the mountaintops.

Something scrabbled at Mewtwo's chest, and when he looked down he saw Squirtle's head poking out from between the zipper of his jacket in curiosity. Squirtle's eyes were slightly wider than earlier to reveal eyes so bloodshot and puffy that they looked red. When Squirtle's mouth opened to speak, the voice issued in a high, hoarse rasp.

"Who—who are you?"

Though the voice was distinctly male, he couldn't have sounded any older than eight or nine. Mewtwo made sure he wasn't going to crash into anything before looking into his eyes and responding slowly.

"You don't need to know who I am right now. Just know that you're hurt, but you'll be safe with me."

Squirtle blinked and asked, "B—but what can I call you?"

Mewtwo paused for a second before softening the formality in his voice and saying, "Call me a friend. However, I need to ask you some questions now. Can I do that?"

Squirtle nodded with difficulty.

"How did you come to be lying in a heap of trash?"

Squirtle's lip trembled before uttering in a shaking voice, "Th—they killed Father."

The iron fist clenched around his heart again, holding it fast and making each consecutive beat more painful than the last.

"They?" he said in a constricted voice, "Who's they?"

"A bunch of P—Pokémon and th—their leader," Squirtle said in a quavering voice that rendered understanding him difficult at times, "F—father and I were v—visiting Mother's grave in the cemetery when th—they showed up. The man in f—front said, 'Give us th—the boy, and nobody gets hurt'. Father h—hit them all with a massive blast of water before w—we ran for it."

Squirtle had closed his eyes while his head sagged slightly to the side, crying weakly. Mewtwo couldn't turn his eyes away.

"We thought th—that we could escape w—with a head start, but they were too f—fast. We were b—barely out of the cemetery gates when w—we were caught up. They knocked down Father f—first, but he told m—me to run b—before they—they…"

At this point, Squirtle was sobbing so hard that he couldn't speak. Mewtwo held him closer to his body, eyes and throat burning. This was completely unfair; on what grounds did these strangers have to attack Squirtle and his father?

When Squirtle's crying subsided somewhat, Mewtwo asked, "Who did it?"

"I d—don't know," sobbed Squirtle. "I've n—never seen anything like it."

Mewtwo lowered his voice further, "What did it look like?"

"B—big and red," choked Squirtle. "He w—was flying, and when it spread out its b—body, it l—looked like a g—giant Y."

"And the man?"

Squirtle looked up through eyes even redder than before and asked, "Th—the man?"

"Yes, the man," Mewtwo confirmed patiently. "What did he look like?"

Squirtle's gaze sank in thought. It was minute before he responded, "He was t—tall with v—very short, gray hair. He looked l—like some crazy old g—guy because his smile was so b—big and creepy…"

Something painful was going on inside Mewtwo; he had no idea what it was, but it felt like he was about to witness something horrible. The anticipation rose in him like flood waters when he asked, "And what was he wearing?"

Obviously confused, Squirtle murmured, "Err… an old b—black suit and red t—tie."

Immediately, the old scars on Mewtwo's back seared white-hot and caused him to flinch slightly. Squirtle noticed this and whispered, "Do you kn—know them?"

"Just the one," Mewtwo growled through clenched teeth, "and it's about time he's had a taste of his own medicine." He looked back down at Squirtle with such ferocity that he could have scarcely believed it possible from himself. "What did they do to you?"

Squirtle was temporarily speechless under the intense gaze. His mouth was slightly open before he said, "I'm n—not sure… They kn—knocked me out right after F—F—Father died. The next thing I r—remembered was laying on s—some surface when s—someone said, 'He's useless; d—do what you w—wish with h—him.' Then someb—body smashed my sh—shell in so badly that I—I couldn't m—move. The pain… the p—pain was too much for me. I p—passed out again and w—woke up to b—being dumped in th—the alley. I just rem—member praying that s—someone would f—find me—"

At these last words, Squirtle choked and began a hacking cough that lasted for well over a minute, after which he resumed sobbing into Mewtwo's jacket.

Rage was building inside Mewtwo; his anger at how Squirtle had been treated would not remain in check much longer. Squirtle's father was killed, his mother was dead from who knows what; it just all seemed so unfair. His life was ruined in an instant thanks to the evils that Mewtwo could do nothing to prevent. He wanted to give retribution, just so that the wrongdoers could feel some tiny part of the pain that they've doled out to millions…

"Mewtwo!" somebody shouted from behind, making Mewtwo snap back to reality. He completely forgot that Gengar was still gliding along; his conversation with Squirtle had driven everything else from his mind.

"What?" he called.

"Ether Valley's dead ahead! We need to slow down for a safe landing!"

"Oh… Right!"

From between the two mountains that parted arose Ether, clear of fog and sitting snugly under the steel gray sky. Mewtwo lowered their altitude and picked out the Pokémon Center amongst the small crowd of buildings. They decelerated rapidly to come in for a gentle landing on the street that the Center was situated on.

The moment Mewtwo's feet touched the ground, his knees buckled unexpectedly, sending him straight into the pavement. His strength was nearly depleted, for he did not realize how much stamina he had used to fly himself and Gengar all the way from Cerulean. Gengar ran up to Mewtwo and seized his arm to help him back upright. Upon moving, Mewtwo discovered that, for whatever reason, his left leg was not cooperating. It dragged along behind him as he limped across the street, leaning heavily on Gengar for support with one arm while holding Squirtle with the other. The barely-healed cuts on his feet opened up again, leaving a glistening trail of bloody footprints on the wet pavement wherever he trod.

They stumbled through the front doors, Mewtwo coughing and spluttering from exhaustion. The lobby was empty except for Nurse Joy, who was sitting behind the front desk reading a book. She looked up at the sounds of their entrance, gasped, and dashed around the desk to meet the struggling group halfway.

Before Nurse Joy could open her mouth to speak, Mewtwo quickly said, "Please, Nurse Joy, Squirtle needs help right away." From within his coat, he withdrew Squirtle with one hand, delicately balancing him before holding him closer again. "He's seriously injured, and he's going to die if he doesn't receive treatment immediately." She was about to speak again when Mewtwo answered the unasked question, "Don't worry about me right now; just get him the help he needs."

Nurse Joy reached forward and scooped up Squirtle to assess the damage. Running back to the desk, she reached over it and paged over the intercom, "Patient priority level zero; immediate assistance required in ICU room number one! All hands on deck at once!" She then dashed off through the double doors, cradling Squirtle in her arms.

The moment she disappeared, Mewtwo collapsed onto all fours. His vision was becoming slightly blurred as his strength ebbed away from the simple task of standing. Gengar heaved him back upright, dragged him over to one of the couches while he peeled off his jacket for him, and pushed him into it so that he lay across the entire surface. Gengar threw the jacket over the back of the couch to air out.

"You need a lie-down," he said firmly as he sat down in an unoccupied recliner that faced the table between them. "Travelling a hundred miles taxed you to the extreme, and you shouldn't be trying anything else until you've rested up a bit. We'll wait here." He then picked up a magazine that was lying on the table, opened the front cover, and began to read.

Mewtwo had no energy to argue, nor did he have the will to do so anyway. He let his head rest against the cushion while his sore, bloody feet were propped up on the other armrest. He watched Gengar's slightly fuzzy outline shift every once in a while to turn a page before letting his eyelids fall in exhaustion.

Barely a minute later—or so it seemed to him—Mewtwo opened his eyes again to find Gengar leaning with head in hand on the armrest, gazing absently at the table. He looked up when Mewtwo shifted around and said, "Nice to have you back. Feeling any better?"

"A bit," Mewtwo admitted. True, he wasn't feeling very well, but it was much better than before he took his nap. Looking around, he noticed that there was no more light outside the many windows of the lobby. Obviously, it was night out.

"What time is it?" asked Mewtwo, stretching. As he moved his feet, he noticed that they felt a little weightier than he remembered. He saw that somebody had cleaned and dressed his feet in bandages. They were no longer hurting either.

"It's a little after seven," Gengar said, twisting in his seat to look at the clock.

"When did we get here?"

"I'd say around three-thirty."

"That did not feel like three and a half hours," groaned Mewtwo as he rubbed his eyes.

"Maybe for you," said Gengar, "but it's probably been a lifetime for everyone still working on Squirtle."

Mewtwo's heart skipped several beats. He had completely forgotten the reason he woke up on a couch in the middle of the lobby with a weight of worry and anticipation on his shoulders.

"I need to see him," he said, swinging his feet around flat on the floor. They felt tender, but he wasn't concerned about that now.

"No," Gengar said forcefully. For the first time in memory, he looked incredibly strict. "They're still working back there. Nobody at all is allowed entrance except for staff; I tried when you were asleep."

Mewtwo sank back into the chair in disappointment.

"But how are we supposed to know how he's doing?"

Gengar shrugged, "We wait."

And so they did. There was nobody else in the lobby save the two of them; all of the staff was presumably involved in Squirtle's procedure. Mewtwo curled up on the couch and was reduced to simply staring around at whatever he could lay his eyes on in the lobby, but even that lost its interest after a relatively short time. Not long after, Gengar began to doze in the recliner, his steady, rhythmic breathing acting as a depressant to the room's energy.

Mewtwo eventually fell into a torpor. He was suspended in between conscious thought and no thought at all, simply staring into blank space. Gengar looked exactly like he felt; his head had fallen sideways so that he was caught in an awkward pose between lying down and sitting upright, snoring gently. All the meanwhile, the clock ticked on, though Mewtwo couldn't have been bothered to check it.

He lost track of time as lights gradually went off in the lobby, giving the place an eerie, dark yellow glow. The only thought now that could force him through this insanity of exhaustion was, He'll be all right… he'll be all right… he'll be all right...

Finally, at a quarter to midnight, the double doors opened from the back halls to reveal Nurse Joy in scrubs. The noise snapped Mewtwo out of the stupor and awoke Gengar at the same time, such that both looked around for the source of the noise. Nurse Joy sluggishly walked over to the pair of them and, before either could speak, said in a wan voice, "He's going to survive."

Mewtwo breathed a huge sigh of relief. Looking into Nurse Joy's face, he noticed slightly purple shadows under her eyes. Clearly, she didn't have a single break from taking care of Squirtle through roughly nine hours of work.

"What was the damage?" asked Mewtwo. His voice sounded roughened from lack of use.

"Three broken ribs, a cracked sternum," she reeled off, "six fractured vertebrae, several cuts and bruises, a shell held together by little more than his own flesh, and a pneumonia affliction to boot. To say the very least, it's nothing short of a miracle that he is alive."

"How is he now?"

"He's sleeping, but you can't see him yet. I'll tell you when you're allowed to visit. And while we're on the subject," she said, joining Mewtwo on the couch, "what happened to Squirtle?"

"We don't know," said Mewtwo sadly. "We found him like that."

"You found him?" repeated Nurse Joy incredulously, "How?"

Briefly, Mewtwo explained how he and Gengar were touring Cerulean City earlier that afternoon and found Squirtle stuffed away in a back alley, how they tried the Cerulean Pokémon Center first and failed, and how they all flew back to Ether.

Nurse Joy was absolutely stunned.

"That's outrageous!" she seethed. "How can anybody be so heartless?"

"I think I know who," Mewtwo said delicately. She looked around in surprise.

"Really? But you said you found him—"

"I know I said that," he said shortly. "He told us what the perpetrators looked like, and his description matches one of the vilest combinations of trainer and Pokémon in history."

He took a deep breath before continuing.

"I think the organization is amongst us once again."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gengar shift uneasily, as if what he just heard reminded him of a secret.