Chapter Two

Regrets

'I would rather regret the things I have done than the things I have not.'

Lucille Ball

Amy sat with her father, both of them a cup of tea in hand. It warmed up Amy's hands which were still cold from being outside. Her father's expression was hard to read, except that he was scared. But there was something deeper in his face that she couldn't quite decipher.

It took him a while to start talking.

'So, what I'm about to tell you - you have to understand, this is over twenty years ago. I'm a different person now.'

Amy frowned, 'What did you do, Dad?'

'It's actually more… what I didn't do.'

'What do you mean?'

'Look, it's a long story - it's gonna take some explaining. I wouldn't be telling you at all except I think you and Mum may be in danger.'

The statement hung in the air like a bad smell. Amy didn't know exactly how to feel upon hearing it. Her immediate instinct was to be angry at her Dad for some reason but considering she had no information to go on yet, she forced herself to suppress any reaction until she knew the facts.

She said nothing and waited for her father to continue.

Back in my late teens, I was involved in a biker gang. Now, we weren't really involved in any serious crimes. It was more… like a presentation. We saw ourselves as tough guys. Now, there was me, and I was the newest member of the group. And there was also Vince, Marcus, Gwen and Sebastian. Sebastian was sort of the leader of the group,' Sam explained, not looking up at his daughter as he did so, "so the problems began when Sebastian decided he was actually going to get involved in some shady dealings. He tried to drag us all into it, masquerading it as clean work. But soon it became obvious to me that Sebastian was messing with things that he shouldn't be.'

Amy waited on her father's every word, waiting for something she could latch on to to get a semblance of the situation.

'One time when we were told to chase this man who had apparently been abusing his Pokemon. When we finally got him, it turns out he was just a rich guy who Sebastian wanted to rob. Sebastian never changed his story but I could just tell this guy wasn't the monster Sebastian had painted him as. It was just a story to get us to come along. I intervened and let the man get away and Sebastian turned on me.' Sam explained.

'He attacked you?' Amy asked.

'Not exactly. But he could be quite manipulative. Made up some story about how he needed that money to help a sick friend and that I had now put their lives in my own hands. I felt awful. He managed to convince me to do another job with him, to make up for my screw up. I should never have agreed, I should have stuck to my guns.'

'What happened?' Amy asked.

Sam sighed, rubbing his forehead.

'He didn't trust me, not really. But he needed me as a means to an end. So he made me the getaway guy, as he didn't have any flying Pokemon and my Dragonite could get us out of there really quickly. We went to an old mansion in Cinnabar Island, Kanto. He had heard from an associate of a powerful Pokemon there and was planning on capturing it. If I had any idea what he was getting involved in, I never would have gone…'

'Wait… over twenty years ago… Cinnabar Island…'

The truth dawned on Amy.

'Are you telling me that…?'

'Yes. I was there when Mewtwo escaped from its lab.'

Amy, perched on the edge of her father's living room couch, recalled the moments spent delving into the pages of a worn-out book chronicling the infamous Mewtwo incident. The chilling narrative depicted the catastrophic escape of the genetically engineered Psychic-type Pokemon from the Cinnabar Island laboratory, a tale shrouded in shadows and scientific ambition gone awry.

Her curiosity had led her to unearth every available detail, each line etching a vivid image of the turmoil and danger that unfolded on that fateful day. In more recent years, a documentary had further illuminated the haunting events, bringing the Mewtwo incident to life through interviews, archival footage, and eyewitness accounts.

The screen flickered with images of a powerful, untamed Mewtwo, a Pokemon struggling to comprehend the world thrust upon it. Amy's eyes, wide with a mix of fascination and trepidation, had absorbed every frame, unwittingly connecting her to a piece of her father's past that had remained concealed until now.

'What happened?' Amy asked.

'I can't tell you exactly what happened because I don't know,' Sam admitted, 'but after an hour of waiting for Sebastian to return, the mansion started exploding. I saw Mewtwo, for a moment or two, but mostly it was just the aura of power around it. It was terrifying. Sebastian came out of that building and he was only adding to the destruction. I watched him use his Gengar to kill two men. That's when I finally knew what a grave error I'd made. Before he had a chance to turn on me as well, I fled with Dragonite.'

'How come you've never told me about this Dragonite? You don't just keep a Dragonite hidden.' Amy pointed out.

Sam sighed, heavily. He closed his eyes.

'Because during our escape, we saw Mewtwo again. This time in the air. And he saw us. But all he saw was a human and a Pokemon subservient to him. And Mewtwo was angry. I was unfortunately in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was blasted off Dragonite. I never saw him again.'

There was a cold silence in the air after this. Sam sniffed and wiped his eyes hastily.

'I landed in the water and just by pure coincidence, I happened to be picked up by some sailors. Just my luck really, or I'd have ended up dead.'

'I'm sorry, Dad,' Amy said, softly, 'but I still don't understand what's going on. So Sebastian is out for revenge… because you abandoned him as his getaway person?'

'Oh no, Amy,' Sam shook his head, 'It's far, far worse than that.'

Amy frowned again and her father elaborated:

'When I arrived back on land, the Mewtwo incident obviously had made all the news channels. See, there were multiple fatalities of course, most of them caused by Mewtwo, and a couple by Sebastian.'

This time, Sam looked up and met Amy's eyes.

'And they also discovered Sebastian's body at the scene.'

'But - how -'

'And the Sebastian I knew, the Sebastian who has been dead for over twenty years… he looks exactly like the man you described in Petalburg Woods.'

'So you're…'

'I'm being hunted by a ghost,' Sam replied, 'I never helped him escape. I sentenced him to death because I failed to act. Because I backed away from responsibility.'

'But it wasn't your responsibility to save him from his own idiocy!'

'I'm sure that's not how he would see it… and to be honest with you, I'm not sure that's how I see it either. That's why we moved here to Hoenn. To get away from it all. But it always stuck with me. I'm being hunted by a ghost… And if he could find you here, so easily…'

'But that's impossible -'

'Why?' Sam responded quickly, as if expecting it, 'I mean, Ghost Pokemon are all around us. What if Sebastian somehow… found a way to come back from the dead.'

'Oh, come on Dad… I mean sure Ghost Pokemon exist - but humans aren't Pokemon. Fire Pokemon exist too but it doesn't mean I can breathe fire.'

'But you saw it with your own eyes - Sebastian is out there.'

'Someone claiming to be Sebastian is out there.' Amy corrected him.

'What other explanations do you have?' Sam asked.

'Maybe he didn't die, maybe they got the wrong person.' Amy suggested.

'Alright, so why does he not look like he's aged a day?' Sam retorted.

A shiver ran down Amy's spine; she had no answer.

'So, what now?' Amy asked.

Sam leaned forward, pulling out his wallet.

'Listen, you were going to head out tomorrow for your journey anyway. But you're gonna have to leave sooner. Tonight.'

'What?'

'You're being watched. You were found in those woods to deliver this message to me, specifically because you're my daughter. It was a warning.'

Amy recalled the man's voice about conveying the message to her:

'This way the message might… sink in.'

'They won't be expecting you to leave Rustboro tonight, you don't even have your gym badge here yet. So if you leave tonight with Jules, you might be able to put some distance between you and them.'

'What about you? And Mum?'

'I'll deal with Mum,' Sam replied.

'She won't go anywhere with you, Dad. You know this.'

'She will… once I tell her what's happened. Your Mum knows about my involvement in the Mewtwo incident. It was obviously before we met, and I felt I owed it to her to tell her before we got married.'

'She knew?'

'Well, of course. Sebastian is - was - dead. I had no reason to think we would be in danger after that.'

'I - this is a lot to take in, Dad.'

'I know, I know… but the last thing I want is to let my past mistakes put you in danger. And you'd be safer travelling, than being rooted in the one place that you're known to frequent. Leave while it's still dark. Go meet Jules right away, I'm sure they won't mind.'

Amy pondered her father's words, her gaze drifting towards the faded photograph on the mantle—the one capturing her and Jules as carefree children, their laughter frozen in time. Jules, a whirlwind of boundless energy and passion, had been her steadfast companion since their earliest days. Their shared dreams echoed through the years, a promise made beneath the shade of the same ancient tree in Petalburg Woods where they first met.

Jules, with a contagious zest for life, had always insisted that they would journey together, no matter what obstacles lay ahead. The prospect of leaving her father's cottage suddenly felt like tearing away from the roots of her past, yet a fire ignited within her, fuelled by the desire to protect her parents in whatever way she could.

'I'll have to tell Jules. At least the basics. It wouldn't be fair to put them in unknown danger.'

Sam considered her and smiled sadly.

'You're right, of course. That's why I'm proud to call you my daughter.'

Amy felt a lump in her throat.

'You'll call me right? Let me know where you and Mum are.'

Sam nodded, 'Of course, come here.'

Sam pulled in Amy for another hug and kissed her on the forehead.

'Don't you worry yourself about me and Mum. I'll make sure she's safe. I'll get to the bottom of this. I'll find out who or what Sebastian is and I'll deal with it once and for all.'

'Don't put yourself in danger.' Amy said.

'I stopped doing that years ago, sweetheart. Now danger is coming to find me… and I'm not looking to be found. Now call Jules - the quicker you leave, the safer you'll be.'