(A/N: Hey, hope everyone had a good holiday. Next up is New Year's. Getting psyched for that. Now then, this chapter will be reintroducing an old friend of Mewtwo's. Ever wonder what became of the cloned Pokémon he sent out in the world? I'm sure Mewtwo has as well. Lets see what happens when he begins thinking about his fellow clones.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 11: Pikatwo

Though he had sent them out to live on their own, Mewtwo still worried about his fellow clones. True, no one would even be able to tell they were clones unless they genetically analyzed them, but it didn't stop Mewtwo from worrying about them. To him, they weren't just fellow clones, they were family.

He had tried keeping them safe by shielding them from the world, but eventually realized that he couldn't do that forever. Clones or not, they had the right to live where and how they chose. And so, he had scattered them across the planet so they could find their own way.

The two he thought about the most were Meowth and Pikachu, or Pikatwo as the latter chose to be called, wanting to take after Mewtwo. Out of the 23 clones he created, the two of them were the ones he was the closest to. Their loyalty and friendship were very dear to him, and he thought about them the most.

"Berry for your thoughts?" Mew asked.

He glanced at her. "Just wondering how my fellow clones are fairing. It has been a while since I have seen them."

Mew cocked her head to the side. "Want to go visit them? I'd like to meet them."

Mewtwo looked to the horizon. "Perhaps I should. It has been quite some time. I do hope they are doing well."

Mew settled on his head. "You did create them to be stronger than their predecessors."

That much was true. The clones he created were indeed gifted with stronger powers. He'd thought that had been important back then because that was the logic Giovanni had spoon fed him. But he had later learned that that had been false. True strength came from within. And as he used his powers to block the special abilities of both the cloned Pokémon and the original Pokémon, forcing them to rely on their own physical strength, the battle had ended as a stalemate as both sides fought to prove their right to live.

To this day, even though he had been forgiven, he still felt horrible for having started that war. For that was what it was. No matter how he tried to sugarcoat it or justify his actions, he had started a war. A short war, but a war all the same. But thank Arceus it had ended before there were any casualties; well, any permanent casualties.

"Hello, Mewtwo, anyone in there?"

The feeling of Mew knocking on his head brought him out of his thoughts. "What?"

"I said lets go visit them."

Visit them? Should he? Or would it be better to just stay out of their lives, to let them move on from their dark past rather than risk compromising their safety with his presence.

"Or we could mate," Mew suggested.

That made up his mind for him. "A visit sounds nice. Very well, we'll go see a few of them."

Mew pouted. "Well, ok, but we better get busy soon; my mating cycle ends in a few weeks."

And he would very much be looking forward to that day so she would stop pestering him.

He teleported away, taking Mew with him on reflex. It was easy enough to find his fellow cloned Pokémon. He simply had to picture them in his mind and teleport to them. And he was pleased to find that they were all living happy lives out in the world.

The most interesting visit so far was with the cloned Charizard. The flame Pokémon had become the top contender of Charicific Valley. And to Mewtwo's astonishment, he found the cloned Charizard was now "uncle" Charizard to the children of Charla and, you guessed it, Ash's Charizard. That boy was literally popping up so much in his life, Mewtwo didn't know why it still surprised him.

It was good to see his fellow cloned Pokémon again, and Mewtwo was glad they were happy. However, there was one visit that turned out to be less than ideal. And it happened when he and Mew teleported over a prairie. This was where they ended up when Mewtwo had teleported to Pikatwo's location. He found it strange that the electric mouse Pokémon had chosen to live here. Not because it was a prairie, there was nothing wrong with that. No, he found it strange that Pikatwo had chosen to live so close to a human home, for there was a house only a few meters away from where he and Mew now floated.

'Why would he make his home right next to a human dwelling?' he wondered. 'No, it couldn't be…'

A horrible thought occurred to him that he refused to accept. But he would not jump to conclusions, not yet. He would find out the truth first.

"What are we doing? Mew asked as Mewtwo settled on the roof.

"I just want to confirm something. I need to read the minds of the humans that live here."

He did just that. The house was currently occupied by two humans, though it was home to four. The father was outside, tending to the Tauras and Miltank in the fields, as was the son, who was chopping wood outside with the help of his Scyther. Inside, the mother was sewing with wool made from their freshly shaved Mareep. The youngest child, the daughter, was currently making her way outside.

The door opened and a young girl of 10 or 11 walked out. Mewtwo moved further back so he wouldn't be seen while Mew hovered beside him, turning invisible.

"Ok," the girl said. "Time for our chores. Go, everyone!"

She tossed four PokéBalls into the air. They burst open, pouring out streams of light that took solid form. There was a Poliwag, a Chikorita, a Darumaka, and a…

"No," Mewtwo gasped.

He recognized the last one. It was a Pikachu, but it had one distinguishing feature that separated it from others of its kind. The black marks at the end of its ears were slightly different from other Pikachu's. This was due to an error in the cloning process when Ash had been attempting to rescue his Pikachu, sabotaging the cloning machine in the process. As a result, the cloned Pikachu had ended up with a slightly altered appearance from its predecessor. And this Pikachu had that same altered appearance.

There was no longer any doubt, Pikatwo had been Captured.

Mewtwo was seething. He'd attempted to protect his fellow clones from humans. He'd been wary of sending them out into the world without his protection, and now one of them had been Captured by a human. He would not stand for this!

The girl and her Pokémon began tending to the garden. They worked cheerfully enough, watering, plowing, and planting. They conversed and were playful, sharing laughs, and even sneaking a few bites from the vegetables. The girl even playfully tossed some grapes at Pikatwo and her other Pokémon for them to catch in their mouths.

Mewtwo took some solace in the fact that Pikatwo wasn't miserable. He seemed happy enough as he watered the plants. But if he was unhappy in anyway, Mewtwo would destroy the PokéBall he had been Captured with.

He found it surprising that even though Pikatwo had been Captured, he was obeying the human. There were Pokémon who, even after having been Captured, did not listen to their human masters, usually because they felt the human was unworthy of them unless they proved themselves by winning a number of Gym badges. Even then, there were some Pokémon that could never be trained and would never obey humans. Mewtwo was one of them, and he had thought that Pikatwo was another. Well, he would get to the bottom of this.

He waited until the watering can Pikatwo was using to run out. As the electric mouse Pokémon carried the empty can down to the nearby stream, Mewtwo teleported into the trees and telepathically called out to his friend.

Pikatwo blinked and looked around. He caught sight of Mewtwo and the genetic Pokémon disappeared further into the woods. Pikatwo immediately abandoned the watering can and rushed in after him. Mewtwo led him away from any prying eyes before allowing his friend to catch up.

"Mewtwo!" Pikatwo cried happily, leaping onto him.

The genetic Pokémon smiled. "It is good to see you again, my friend. I hope you are well."

"I am!" Pikatwo replied. "The outside world is wonderful! The place you found for us before was beautiful, but nothing can beat having the world as your home."

"I am glad to hear it."

"How about you? Have you been enjoying the world?"

"I have. Though I must still remain hidden from human eyes, I no longer fear going where I please. And I have even made some new friends."

Pikatwo beamed. "Me too. I have lots of new friends. They can't even tell I'm a clone. And the ones that I told don't care."

Mew chose that moment to arrive and drop her invisibility. "Hey, introduce me!"

Pikatwo glanced at her. "Hey, you're a…"

"She's a Mew I've been traveling with," Mewtwo told him. "She's going to tell you she's my mate, but she's not."

Mew giggled. "Yes, I am. He's just gets embarrassed."

Pikatwo hopped off Mewtwo's shoulder. "Wow, Mewtwo, you have a mate?"

Mewtwo wanted to throw his hands in the air. "Did you not listen to me?"

Pikatwo paid him no mind. "How long have you been mates?"

"We're not mates."

"A few months now," Mew replied.

Mewtwo's eye twitched, and he began to wonder if they were doing this on purpose. He decided a change of topic was in order. "Who is that human you were with?"

Pikatwo glanced at him. "You mean Alice? She's my friend."

His eyes narrowed. "You came out of her PokéBall. Did she Capture you?"

Pikatwo scratched his head. "Oh boy…"

Mewtwo's fists clenched. "She did, didn't she? Have you been mistreated?"

Looking startled, Pikatwo began waving his arms around. "No, no! Alice is wonderful! And her family is really nice!" He began tracing patterns with his toe on the ground. "I really like them."

Mewtwo considered this, looking uncertain. "You're saying you are… content with your situation?"

"I'm saying I'm happy. Humans… I know there bad ones; we ran into some on Mount Quena, and they did horrible things to us, and to our home, but there are good ones too. And the good ones, they're wonderful! They're so kind and loving. I love Alice very much. She's so nice."

"For a master?" Mewtwo asked skeptically.

Pikatwo shook his head. "Alice isn't my master, she's my friend. I didn't understand it before, but a human being a Pokémon's master isn't a title of ownership, it's one of respect. They're called masters because Pokémon are training under them. Even humans that learn martial arts and other fighting styles call their trainers 'master'. They follow orders and listen to them in fights just as we do in battle. It's not a master-slave relationship, but more of a teacher-student, like a coach and athlete. It's a relationship built on respect and friendship."

Mewtwo thought this through. He had come to accept that human-Pokémon relationships were not that of master and slave, but to hear such resolution from one of his own really took him aback.

But then he thought back to his encounter with the Pokémon Hunter, Dirk. He had not been a nice person, not to his fellow humans or to his Pokémon. They had obeyed him out of fear, not loyalty. But they could never escape from him as long as they were bound to him through their PokéBalls, and were undoubtedly punished for any disobedience. So Mewtwo had crushed their PokéBalls. With nothing to stop them from leaving, Dirk's Pokémon had abandoned him.

Was Pikatwo in a similar predicament?

"Is it that you wish to leave but cannot?" he asked. "Do you get trapped in your PokéBall so you are unable to escape and get punished for disobedience? If so, just say the word and I will destroy your PokéBall."

Now Pikatwo glared at him. "Don't. It will change nothing. I like being with Alice. I want to stay with her. If you destroy my PokéBall, I'll simply let her Catch me again."

This really surprised Mewtwo. Not just because Pikatwo wanted to stay, but because of how strongly he wanted to stay. He didn't like it, he didn't understand it, but… he would accept it.

"If that is truly what you want, then so be it."

Pikatwo smiled. "It is."

"Pikachu!" came the voice of Alice. "Hey, Pikachu, where did you go?"

Pikatwo beamed. "Alice!"

As the girl pushed aside the tree branches, she found Pikatwo alone. "There you are. I was worried. You didn't get lost, did you?"

Smiling bashfully, Pikatwo rubbed the back of his head. Alice chuckled and motioned for him to follow. "Come on, let's go back."

Pikatwo complied and retrieved his watering can before following. Mew and Mewtwo remained hidden in the trees, watching as they left. Pikatwo paused just long enough to wave goodbye to the two of them before disappearing with his Trainer.

Mewtwo sighed as he watched his friend go. He still didn't like it, but he supposed that as long as Pikatwo was happy, then everything was fine.

"You know," Mew told him, "I can understand that you don't want to be Captured, but I really don't think it'd be as bad as you think it will."

"Perhaps," he reluctantly admitted. The evidence was right in front of him after all, and he had seen many other examples. "But still, I will never allow myself to be Captured."

Mew flew around in front of him. "Lets just say you are. What would you do?"

Mewtwo humphed. "Is it not obvious? Refuse to obey orders and destroy my PokéBall at the earliest opportunity."

Mew giggled. "Should have known. But what if it was Ash that Caught you?"

Mewtwo's eyes widened. Truth be told, he had never considered the possibility. Probably because, knowing that boy, he would never attempt to Capture him. But Mewtwo did trust him, and consider him to be a friend. If, for whatever reason, he did end up Captured by that boy… well, he supposed he could be content with it, at least long enough to give having a Trainer a chance, simply for experimental purposes of course. But he would never admit that!"

"It doesn't matter; it will never happen."

Mew laid back, floating on the air with her hands behind her head. "Well, if someone really nice Caught me, I guess I wouldn't mind."

For some reason, the thought of a human Catching Mew infuriated Mewtwo, even more so than Pikatwo's Capture. "That will never happen! I won't allow it! You are…"

He trailed off, unsure of what he wanted to say. Even Mew glanced at him curiously. "I am what?"

He looked away. "Nothing. I would protect you anyway, so it is a moot point."

Mew cocked her head to the side, looking at him with interest. "Mewtwo?"

"Lets go," he grumbled, and the two teleported away.

(A/N: I always wondered how Pokémon view their relationship with their human masters. I know that some are pet/owners, but most are trainer/trainee. As such, I kind of view it as sensei/disciple, which is why I used the martial arts reference. I also thought about how Gym badges and Pokémon obedience work. If you don't have enough badges, higher level Pokémon will stop listening to you. I think the badges are hoe Trainers prove their worth to their Pokémon. If they don't have a certain number of badges by the time a Pokémon reaches a certain level, the Pokémon will feel that they've become too strong and the trainer is no longer worthy of them. This was the chase with Ash's Charizard. If you think about it, Ash only ever won 3, maybe 4, of his badges while the bothers were pretty much given to him. That's why he stopped listening to him. It does make me wonder how Mewtwo would react if he was ever Caught by someone like Ash. Would he accept him as his Trainer, or refuse to obey? He has changed his opinion of humans, certain ones anyway, but he does still hold them in disdain. And did you notice how protective he got at the end there when Mew wondered what it would be like to be Captured. He was upset that it happened to Pikatwo, but he was very against it happening to her. What do you think he was going to say when he trailed off there. Speaking without thinking can be a good thing sometimes since you say could end up saying what's in your heart.)