"I started my journey in Johto," Red began. "First, I met up with other trainers and battled, gaining some new combat skills. I met someone there, from Hoenn. He said there was a legend in his home village about a Mew, frozen in a cave."
"The Mew you have now?"
"Yes," Red replied. "This Mew, right here."
"You say you started in Johto... But it didn't end there? You followed him to Hoenn, then?"
"Not directly. First, we visited Kurt. I asked him if it was possible to create a Pokéball strong enough to capture Mew. After that, I went with this guy to his village."
"Where you captured Mew?" Blue asked, obviously wanting to hurry the story on. Red smiled.
"No, not in that village," he answered. "I did however find and awaken it. When I tried to capture it, it easily broke out of the ball. I contacted Kurt, who helped me construct the newer ball, using Mew DNA that I got Mewtwo to send me."
"Skip the details," Blue groaned, rubbing her head. The throbbing had stopped, but a dull ache was still there, and she wanted some painkillers as soon as possible. "How did you capture it, in the end?"
"Well, first I couldn't find Mew again. Instead, I used the older ball to capture a Celebi, and-"
"What?" Blue gasped, eyes wide in surprise. "You caught a Celebi as well?"
"Yes," Red replied, smiling. "I used it to track down Mew, and after a fierce battle I managed to catch it. I quickly realised why the older ball had failed – no regular ball is strong enough to hold it. The new ball, however, uses DNA from the same type of Pokémon to bind it. The ball forces it to do as I wish, in a way."
"You enslave it!" Blue said, a look of disgust creeping across her face.
"Only if the ball is used that way. I did not. As I said, it has to do as I wish in a way. I never give it commands it's not comfortable following. Therefore, I do not force it into anything, and I do not forcibly control it."
"But in a way, you do," Blue objected. "There is always the risk you'd do it, so it really is not free." A flash of anger crossed Red's face, but he quickly calmed down and composed himself.
"Let's get on with the story. I had followed Mew all the way to Sinnoh. After I captured it, I went to the closest village to eat and rest. When the hostel owner found out I had captured a Celebi, she told me about an old woman living in the Sinnoh mountains. A woman that knew about Pokemon lore, and how to see the future."
"Sorry," Blue interrupted, "but how do you mean see the future?"
"Using Celebi's powers along with a psychic-type move that projects those visions into the head of the trainer. Obviously, Mew could learn this power. I was sceptic at first, but the prospect of learning new moves lured me to this woman."
"And once there, you saw the future, and that's why you came back?" Blue asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Partially. She was the one that told me this was not just any Mew, but the first one."
"How did she know?"
"If you look closely, you'll see it has some special patterns in it's fur," Red said, shrugging. "I can show you later. Point is, it's more powerful than any other Pokemon in the world. Now, about my other reason for going there..."
"Yes, your future sight," Blue said, her tone now slightly mocking. "How did you see the future? Blurry pictures that were vaguely translated into some non-specific message?"
"I saw it very clearly, thank you very much," Red replied coldly. When Blue did not say anything, he cleared his throat and continued. "There was one part of the future that was more prominent than any other... A vision of war. First in the Pokemon Nation, and then the world. Millions died, and in the middle of it all was Team Rocket, with Silver and Giovanni. I figured that if I got Silver to quit Team Rocket, I could prevent the vision from happening."
"But Giovanni and... and Silver was killed before you even got there," Blue protested, blinking a few times, as if to ward off tears at the memory of her closest friend. "How did the future change before you got there?"
"I can only guess," Red sighed. "Maybe it changed because I ended my journey earlier. Maybe this was just the most likely future, but not the one that happened. I really don't know. After that happened, I used the technique again. This time, I saw a leaderless Team Rocket get destroyed by the Masked Rockets. After that, the Masked Rockets kept expanding..."
"Without anyone stopping them?" Blue gasped, and Red could feel now that she believed him. He was relieved. After all, it was mostly the truth. The only part he had changed was about Silver and Giovanni... He had known from the start that he would have to kill them, to take over Team Rocket, to prevent what was going to happen. He had known he would have to make this sacrifice, to save millions of others.
"They took over parts of the Association, using insider spies. Several companies were bought up, and the authorities remained helpless. The gym leaders and us, the dexholders, tried to stop them, but we failed. I saw some of us... die."
Blue frowned at the horrible pain in Red's voice. Who was it he had seen dying in that future? Yellow? Green? Herself? However, instead of specifying he continued his story.
"I saw the political tension come to a boiling point. Hoenn and Sinnoh left the nation, trying to distance themselves from the central core, where the Masked Rockets had taken power. Civil war followed, with thousands of dead. Masked Rockets spread to other nations, infecting their politics as well. They too were dragged into the conflict. Global wars started... with no end in sight. Just decades of destruction."
"So that's why you're doing all this," Blue whispered, her eyes wide. "But wait, what does the future say now?"
"I don't know," Red admitted. "The possibilities changes too often right now for me to keep track. I can't know which one will happen. I watch it several times a day, to make sure it doesn't change for the worse."
"You've carried this burden alone," Blue said softly. "Why? Why didn't you tell Yellow, Green or me?"
"Yellow would... I didn't want to involve her," he replied, his voice thick with emotion. "I didn't want to worry her, or put her in danger. And Green... he'd just tell me it's wrong to try and change the future, no matter what. He wouldn't understand that I have to do this."
They sat in silence for a while, and then Blue nodded. She felt tears burning in her eyes, and leaned forward to throw her arms around her friend. He flinched as she did, but quickly softened and hugged her back.
"Oh Red," she whispered. "You should've told us. Even if... You should've."
"Yeah."
It felt good, having told her most of the truth. She deserved to know what had happened, or at least as much as he could tell her. He wished more than ever then that Silver was there, that everything was back to normal. This was a burden he did not want, but he could not ignore it. Too much was at stake, and if Silver's death had bought the lives of millions of others... He would have understood, Red was sure of it.
"It was the only thing I could do," he said quietly.
"I understand," Blue answered, nodding.
"I'll use the technique to view the future as often as possible," he told her. "That's another reason I need an army to fight for me. I need to be able to do this during battle, and Mew is unable to fight while viewing the future."
Blue nodded again, and grimaced in pain. Red frowned and got to his feet.
"It's been long enough, you should get to the infirmary," he told her. "We've got a major operation coming up soon, and I want you in it. Go to the infirmary, and then sleep as much as you can."
"Alright."
As Blue left the room, Red sat down again to think. He stared at the hole in the wall where the door had been only minutes earlier. How had Sabrina known what she did? Did she work with someone in the organisation? Also... had she been in love with Giovanni? That sounded unlikely, but anything was possible. With a weary sigh, he got up and walked to his office. After writing down a few notes, he drifted off into a tense and troubled sleep. In the corner of his bedroom, Mew hovered, keeping him safe from anyone that might attack.