This next chapter contains material that may displease some viewers. These include but are not limited to, Canon deviation, snippets of the worst part of Human/Pokemon interaction, the partial backstory of what might be the most messed up legendary since Darkrai... and Giovanni. You have been warned. Enjoy
Princess Celestia walked through the hallways of Canterlot Castle, normally Celestia tried to maintain an air of serenity while she walked. This time, however, her shoulders were slightly hunched, her face was marred with a scowl, and her ears twitched in either anger of nervousness, probably both.
As the perturbed Alicorn arrived in the dignitary wing of the palace she realized just how little she had planned for this confrontation. “Perhaps I should have asked about this being when the professor was around.” She remembered how Keldeo had said that the little legendary… Mew, was more powerful than he was. “Hmm, Mew, Mewtwo... perhaps he’s her son?”
Thinking about that just unnerved her even more. “And what type is he?” Celestia sighed as she knocked on the door, regretting that she had not thought of these questions sooner. As soon as Celestia’s hoof connected with the door it swung open, revealing that the room was dark save for a few candles flickering around the room. And on the bed, or rather several inches above the bed, Mewtwo sat, or rather floated. Legs crossed and arms folded, as if he were meditating.
Celestia paused a moment before entering. “Greetings… Lord Mewtwo, I’m not interrupting am I?”
The legendaries eyes snapped open and he studied the princess for a second, as if only just noticing her. “No.” He answered, uncrossing his legs and rising to his full height. At almost seven feet tall the Psychic-type would have been just shorter than the Princess, excluding her horn, if he had been standing on the ground. But floating almost two feet off the ground Mewtwo forced Celestia to look up at him, a situation normally reserved for Discord, and a few Minotaurs she had encountered.
Celestia shifted awkwardly, trying to figure out what to say. “I have a few questions,” She began. “That I would like you to answer.”
“Then ask.” He replied rather curtly.
Celestia ignored his tone. “Could you please… tell me a little bit about yourself?” Mewtwo looked genuinely confused at her request and the princess smirked inwardly.
“I – why do you wish to know this?” he asked, as if unwilling to share information about himself.
“All good relationships are built on trust,” She explained. “And if you and your kind are here to stay, then we need to begin trusting each other.” Celestia was beginning to entertain the idea that she might be unable to bring about the removal of the Pokémon.
Mewtwo knew the princess’ logic was sound, he just wasn’t use to sharing information about himself. “I...”
Celestia could tell the legendary was uncertain, so she decided to take the initiative. “I’ll start, my name is Princess Celestia, I’m over a thousand years old and I’ve been ruling Equestria for most of that, by myself for a good portion, when I was younger I bore the Elements of Harmony alongside my sister Luna, the two of us took control of Equestria after we defeated Discord, the now reformed lord of chaos.”
Mewtwo thought for a moment, he didn’t want to ruin the chances of peace. “My name, is Mewtwo, I am the single most powerful Psychic-type Pokémon in existence, although even two of the Lake Guardians could best me. I was… born… only a few decades ago.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow. Mewtwo seemed confused about a few things, specifically retaining to his age. She decided to figure this out in a somewhat roundabout manner. “I can’t help but notice that your name, and appearance, share resemblance to another Pokémon I met yesterday, Mew; are you two related?”
Mewtwo clenched one of his hands into a fist. “In a manner of speaking, yes Mew and I are related.”
Celestia could practically feel the anger coming from the Genetic Pokémon, she decided to change the subject. “So,” She began. “What do you think of Equestria so far?”
“It is… pleasant, and peaceful, and serene. I can appreciate these things.” Mewtwo was mostly thankful for the fact that it was lacking in humanity. The Psychic-type didn’t hate all humans, just the ones who saw him as a savage beast, which was to say most.
Celestia nodded. “And what do you think of Arceus bringing your kind here?” Celestia honestly didn’t want to provoke the legendary, she just wanted to see what kind of... creature he was.
“I support Lord Arceus’ decision, I am merely glad that our subjects will no longer be at the mercy of the humans.”
“Were the humans really that bad?” Celestia asked, she had wanted to ask more about the human world at the last meeting but after everything that happened she figured that everyone could use a break.
“Humans,” Mewtwo began. “Are an interesting race, most Pokémon are more aligned to good or to some form of evil, with some in between, but the humans, they are more grey.” He shook his head as old memories came to mind. “They are capable of great goodness, and great evil.”
“And I assume that the humans, or former humans, I should say, are the ones who are more ‘good’ in your opinion.” Celestia asked. In all honesty, Arceus’ assumption that he could just pick and choose people to move to Equestria made her angrier than the actual move.
Mewtwo picked up on Celestia’s anger, and he frowned. “Yes, he used the memories of the entire council to create a sort of... itinerary for whom he chose.”
Celestia shook her head. “How can you justify this? You just pick and choose beings to rip from their lives, what happened to the ones left behind?! What about families and friends you have separated!?” Celestia suddenly found herself releasing her pent up aggression onto the Genetic Pokémon, unable to hold it in with this new information.
Mewtwo glared at the Alicorn. "Princess-"
“And if your world is as dependent on Pokémon as I have been lead to believe how will those left behind maintain a functional society!? Do you even care what happens to them!? Do you-?"
“NO!” Mewtwo shouted, launching forward and forcing the Princess back as he hovered over her. “I don’t care. I have experienced the cruelty of humans first hand, and I will not feel sympathy for the likes of them!” A psychic pulse traveled outward from the legendary, throwing the bedding, a dresser, and several vases and pictures against the wall. Glass broke, wood splintered, and a large crack traveled up the wall.
Celestia took a few more steps back and lit up her horn. “Stop this at once!” She shouted. “Or I will make you!”
Mewtwo, no longer using his psychic powers, turned to the princess. “Do not threaten me Princess, I am not a being to be trifled with.”
“I have faced worse than the likes of you.” Celestia said, certain she was correct.
“No, you haven’t.”
The princess was shocked, the certainty in his words scared her.
“I am one of the strongest Pokémon on the planet, only Lord Arceus and his children outrank me in sheer power.”
Celestia almost backed away again, but before fear got ahold of her once more, she steeled her nerves, ceased channeling her magic, and stepped forward. “I don’t care how powerful you, or the other legendaries, are. Transplanting the majority of a planets population could lead to dire consequences.” She continued to walk forward until she was face to muzzle with Mewtwo.
“And leaving the Pokémon in the position they were in could have led to the same.” Mewtwo countered.
“How?” Celestia asked. “From what I have been told, a good majority the humans were good-hearted.”
“Yes,” Mewtwo conceded. “One of them even stopped the fight I had with my… mother when we first met.” Calling Mew his mother was still difficult, even if she technically was. “But as well you know, the minority can cause the most problems,” He gritted his teeth. “I know this personally.”
Celestia had to admit, he was right. Sombra, Discord, Chrysalis, and Nightmare Moon were but four beings but had caused more trouble than any others. “But why did the authorities, or the legendaries themselves, not remove the problematic humans?”
Names and images flashed through Mewtwo’s mind. Ghetsis, Cyrus, Lysandre... Giovanni.
“The humans who cause the most trouble are extremely difficult to remove.” He explained carefully. “They have legions of followers, all devoted to a singular cause. And teams of powerful Pokémon, ones that they have enslaved to their will.” He shook his head. “They often pay off the authorities to keep their organizations running and only a few ever dare to oppose them.”
Celestia was shocked. “The authorities? Enslavement?!” She had assumed that the human world had had problems, but if what Mewtwo said was true... “But what about you?” She asked. “Aren’t you powerful enough to stop them?”
Mewtwo didn’t speak. He didn’t want to reveal to the princess that the legendaries were often the ones at the mercy of the groups. Including himself.
“We’ve tried.”
Celestia could tell the Genetic Pokémon was hiding something. “What happened?”
Mewtwo had been training for years to control his temper. Mew and Virizion had helped him, but at times, when he was threatened or angered, he lost control. His past was one of his triggers.
“If you want to know Princess,” He held one hand towards the Alicorn. “Then let me show you.”
Celestia suddenly felt a powerful mental force assault her mind, she had set up mental wards to stop being such as Discord and Chrysalis from controlling, or entering, her mind. Even in the dreamscape only her sister could view her dreams. And under Mewtwo’s mental attack, those wards cracked like an egg underhoof.
Mewtwo awoke suddenly. “Wh-where am I?” He found himself surrounded in by water in some kind of tube, beyond the glass he could see a pair of beings arguing, and another lying on the ground, and two more behind the taller one holding some form of devices in their hands.
The shorter being, an elderly man with thinning hair wearing a lab coat, attempted to rush past the other, a man in an orange suit with dark brown hair. He was stopped when the orange suited man slapped him hard and sent him skidding across the floor where he landed next to another machine.
Mewtwo had no idea what to make of the situation, nor did he have time think about it. He felt a pressure building in his head and before he even knew what it was, it shot outward, shattering the glass and disconnecting Mewtwo from the tubes in his back.
All the men in the room turned to the broken tube in shock, but the one lying on the floor, a woman, didn’t move. Mewtwo noted the red liquid pooling around her.
Some form of projectile shot past Mewtwo’s head. He looked and saw that it had been fired from one of the men’s devices. The man in orange slapped the device from the man’s hand. “Don’t shoot it, you fools!” He grabbed the other gun from the second man. “Do you know how much money we’ve put into this project?!”
Before Mewtwo could make another thought, he felt another bout of pressure building in his mind, this one much bigger than the last. Mewtwo grasped his head. “GAAHHH!”
The three men took a few steps back. “B-boss?” one of them stammered. “M-maybe we should consider abandoning this project?”
The man turned back to his lackeys and snarled. “I will not be beaten by a Pokémon!” He shouted. “Especially one I own.”
At that point Mewtwo’s mental pressure broke. And the mental blast traveled outward. The three men in front of him flew backwards, the man in orange landed on his knees in the middle of the floor but the two ‘lackeys’ hit the wall behind them and crumpled to the ground.
The elder man looked on in horror, he reached for a button on the control panel, one for recording notes on the project. “Entry... entry 327. We dreamed of creating the world’s strongest Pokémon… and we succeeded.” The man, known as Dr. Fuji, slumped to the ground as the mental assault, combined with old age, injury, and fear stopped his heart.
“Let’s get out of here!” One of the two lackeys cried, together they rushed out the door, leaving their former boss alone with Mewtwo.
“Incredible.” He muttered to himself.
As Mewtwo’s psychic spike ceased, he fell to the ground, unable to support himself psychically or physically. The man in orange rose from the ground and over to the Pokémon. “Hello, Mewtwo.” He greeted the Pokémon.
“Is-is that my name?” He asked, confused about everything.
The man sneered. Apparently that worthless doctor didn’t complete the mind. He switched back to his smile, one that any knowledgeable human, Pokémon, pony, and basically every other sapient creature would recognize as a fake. Mewtwo had no prior life experience. “Yes, you’re Mewtwo, and I want to help you.”
“Help me?”
“Yes, help you control your powers, and help you learn.” He held out his hand to the Psychic-type, but Mewtwo glanced to the deceased elderly man.
“Who is he?”
The man smirked. “He’s no one – I mean, he’s a man who was trying to hurt you.”
“Hurt me?" Mewtwo asked. “Why?”
“Because he didn’t accept you Mewtwo, he thought you were dangerous. But you’re not dangerous, are you?”
“I don’t know,” Mewtwo answered truthfully. “Am I?”
“No, Mewtwo,” The man answered, still smiling his Krookodile smile. “You’re just misunderstood.” He looked down at the Pokémon. “But I understand you,” His smile became even more insincere. “I’m your friend.”
Mewtwo looked up at the man and after a moment took his hand, the man pulled him to his feet and used his own body to support Mewtwo as they walked towards the door.
“What is your name?” Mewtwo asked.
The man smirked. “My name,” He answered. “Is Giovanni.”
It was a few months later, and Mewtwo was sitting in a room by himself staring at a television, as for its purpose he had yet to be told, but he was certain that Giovanni would tell him when he returned. Even though he had been in the building he was told was ‘home’ for a few months now, he had only seen Giovanni a few times, and only for a short while. A woman, whom called herself Teacher, came to Mewtwo over those months and had helped him learn, she had even given him a dictionary, the only gift he had ever received. And every day Mewtwo went to a form of arena that doubled as an exercise area, a man called Blake then helped him test his powers. Blake was nice, but acted much different around others than he did around Mewtwo when alone.
Soon, Giovanni entered the room, holding a disk he recognized as a DVD.
“Greetings Mewtwo,” he said with a smile. “It’s been a while hasn’t it?”
“Why haven’t you visited me?” Mewtwo asked, a sort of anger slowly growing inside him.
Giovanni hid his frown. “I’ve been… busy.” He walked over to the TV and popped the DVD in, but didn’t turn on the player. “How have you been?"
“I have been… well.” the Psychic-type answered.
Giovanni nodded. “Good, good,” He pulled up a chair and sat facing Mewtwo. He looked over the paper on a clipboard atop the TV. “It says here that you have excelled in all areas,” He smiled. "Congratulations, my friend! We can finally start fulfilling our long-awaited dream."
"That is what I wish to question." Mewtwo spoke, no longer feeling a scrap of excitement. Instead, he felt frustrated that he was being treated like a toy, rather than the equal being Giovanni claimed him to be.
"Oh?" Giovanni leant forward in his chair, scratching his chin as he awaited Mewtwo to continue.
“All this time you have spoken of a ‘goal’ and you have yet to tell me what it is.”
Giovanni sighed. “I can understand your frustration, Mewtwo, but understand, I did not want to show you until I was sure you were ready.”
“Ready for what?” He asked.
Giovanni got up and walked over to the TV. “Ready for this.” He turned on the DVD player and the TV flickered to life. For a moment the screen was black, then the images began. Within the video, a human man was savagely beating an Arcanine with a stick. Mewtwo shivered upon seeing the brutal abuse, twitching each time the man brought his stick down upon the cowering Pokémon.
"Why are you showing me this?" He asked, but Giovanni gave no reply. Another video came up, sharing the monitor space with the previous video. In this one, a Charizard held a human woman by her throat, and was slamming her mercilessly against a wall.
“What is the meaning of this?!” Another came up, the heart wreching image of a human, an exorcist, slowy ripping the gems from a Misdreavus' necklace, the Ghost Pokemon cried in pain and faded as its life source was taken from it. Soon another video popped up, the ghastly sight of a Hydreigon chewing off a man's skull. More and more came up, completely covering the monitor with the suffering of countless humans and Pokémon.
“Stop this at once!” A mental pulse went outward and shut the TV down. For a second, Mewtwo worried Giovanni would be angry. But when he looked to the man, he saw there was sadness in his eyes. It was fake, put there so Mewtwo would feel more comfortable. Unfortunately, it worked.
“I’m sorry you had to see that, Mewtwo. As you saw this world is filled with cruelty and evil, humans and Pokémon savagely beat each other and cause endless amounts of suffering.” He walked over to the Pokémon and placed a hand on his shoulder. “My dream is to eradicate this suffering, but I cannot do it alone.” He walked around Mewtwo and looked him in the eyes. “Will you help me?”
For a moment Mewtwo was silent, then he spoke up.
“Where do we start?”
Mewtwo sat in his ‘room’ at the Viridian Gym, he had been here for a few months now and he still didn’t understand what battling these ‘Trainers’ had to do with the eradication of suffering, but he dared not question Giovanni; if he did he would be shown more of those images. To make matters worse, Mewtwo now wore a form of exo-suit attached to his spine that limited his powers, he had been told that this was to keep him from hurting himself, but in truth, it was so Giovanni could parade him around and not worry about getting hurt.
“Challenger 109, report to the arena.”
Mewtwo rose from his spot and walked out the door that led to the arena, whenever one of the challengers came, he was to report to the area and defeat them. These battles caused him the most doubt in Giovanni’s plan, some of the Trainers seemed to only care about winning the battle, which none ever did, others cared for the well-being of their Pokémon to a level that made Mewtwo reconsider the plan entirely.
A girl who had battled him only last week had been so distraught when he had defeated her Zoroark she had ran onto the field to make sure he was ok. She had ran out of the gym carrying him, tears in her eyes.
This trainer didn’t seem to fit into that category. The young boy had spiky brown hair and wore a bright blue shirt. “So you’re the big, scary Pokémon everyone’s talking about, huh?” From the boy’s attitude, Mewtwo could tell the boy was definitely haughty, and he appeared to be a bully, but did that really make him a bad person?
Further in the background, Mewtwo could see a group of young woman, all dressed in red and white, short skirted outfits, they had what Mewtwo assumed were ‘pom-poms’, from the look of them Mewtwo assumed they were cheerleaders. But why were they all here for this one boy? Did this human control a harem?
“You’ve made quite a name for yourself, you know?” Mewtwo remained silent. “The silent type huh? Doesn’t matter, ‘cause I’ll be the one to bring you down! Go, Nidoking!” With an enthusiastic cry he tossed a Pokémon prison... a Pokéball, into the air. A large purple Nidoking burst out and roared savagely at his opponent.
Mewtwo had encountered many of these before, several stronger than this specimen. This battle would be trivial.
“I advise you send out all your Pokémon.” Giovanni’s voice crackled from the speakers on either side of the balcony where he sat. While the other Trainers stood behind their Pokémon and offered some form of support Giovanni knew Mewtwo could handle any challenge.
The challenger smirked. “To be honest, I only brought one other Pokémon. Go, Arcanine!”
Mewtwo already knew this other Pokémon as well. It seemed to be a popular species for boys, apparently on the basis that ‘it looked cool’. Were humans really that concerned with physical appearance? Did they not consider things such as personality? Traits? Behaviours? To Mewtwo, humans appeared to be pretty shallow creatures.
The referee walked up to his designated pedestal. “Let the battle commence.” He walked on, not even stopping to watch the battle.
Before the Trainer could call out an order, Mewtwo raised an arm towards the Pokémon and activated his powers. His eyes glowed blue and the Arcanine and Nidoking lifted off the ground, encased in a blue outline, and were thrown into the opposite wall, leaving two large dents.
“H-how?” The Trainer held up his Pokédex.
“No data available.” The device answered.
“What the hell are you?” The Trainer asked as he recalled his Pokémon.
When no answer came, the challenger stomped out of the gym, like so many before him, and his cheer squad solemnly followed.
It was only a few days later, and Mewtwo was wandering the Gym as he had taken to doing. Giovanni allowed it, as long as he did not go in a few specific rooms, one of which Mewtwo was standing outside of.
“What could be in there?” he wondered aloud. Giovanni seemed to spend a lot of time in this room, and Mewtwo often wondered what lied behind it. And tonight, he planned to find out.
Tonight was one of the first times Giovanni hadn’t been in the Gym. Mewtwo had no idea where he was, but all that mattered was finding out what was behind the door. The inhibitor on his back prevented him from using most of his powers but he could probably manage to pry the barrier open, a fact cemented when the locks on the door clicked open.
Mewtwo smiled as he walked into the room, which appeared to be some form of lab. He walked over to the control panel and began searching the computer for any important data. He found plenty.
“Entry 001,” An elderly voice crackled over the computer. “After obtaining genetic material from the legendary Pokémon, Mew, we have begun testing it to see if it would possible to recreate the DNA.”
Mewtwo was confused. Who was Mew? What did any of this have to do with him?
The entry log skipped ahead a few. “Entry 005: We have determined it would be possible to recreate, in some form, the genetic code of Mew. It would, however, cost more than our current benefactor is willing to supply.”
“Entry 010: A new benefactor has come forward and offered us unlimited funding, more than enough for our current project. We have accepted, despite rumors about who our new benefactor actually is.”
“Entry 050: Even though we have confirmed that our benefactor is in fact the head of the Team Rocket, the notorious Giovanni, we have no choice but to continue our work for him. We have already begun the recreation of Mew’s genetic structure… and my personal side project.”
Mewtwo was beginning to worry what was going on, but he kept listening. “Entry 095: We nearly lost subject 1 today; its DNA became unstable and nearly collapsed. I managed to save it by adding my own DNA into its code – it is only a small dose, and as Giovanni has already had us altering the subject’s DNA, I do not believe it will have adverse consequences.”
“Entry 120: After discovering the full extent of the subject’s genetic alteration, I have decided to give it a name, going off of the majority of its existing DNA, I have named it Mewtwo.”
Mewtwo’s jaw dropped in surprise. “These are about… me?” Despite his shock, the entries kept coming. “Entry 205: …Amber died today; her DNA collapsed. We managed to save Mewtwo, but… I considered pulling the plug entirely, but I couldn’t, I’m beginning to consider the possibility that Mewtwo might be related to me – it has my DNA in it, but... maybe I’m just trying to fill some form of void.”
“Entry 256: It turns out Mewtwo is male, we were doing some tests with different hormones and… long story short, Marissa screamed and dropped her clipboard when she saw the… appendage.”
Mewtwo was now even more confused and scared.
“Entry 300: The readings say that Mewtwo’s psychic power is even greater than that of a fully trained Metagross or Alakazam. We’re excited that the procedures have worked but I can’t help but wonder what Giovanni wants with him.”
Mewtwo clenched his fists. He knew exactly what Giovanni wanted. And he had given it to him. Mewtwo’s anger was suppressed by the inhibitor, which was good, as otherwise he would have leveled the building. He also missed all but the last two entries.
“Entry 326: I fear what Giovanni has in store for my son; yes, I’ve decided to call Mewtwo my own, he has my blood after all, perhaps this is some form of compensation for losing Amber... twice, but I don’t care. As soon as he is ready, I am going to remove Mewtwo from this place and find somewhere safe for him.”
“Entry.. entry 327: We dreamed of creating the world’s strongest Pokémon... and we succeeded.”
Mewtwo was shocked silent, he was a… “A clone.” Mewtwo spun around to see that Giovanni had entered the room. “I’m sorry you had to find out. Now I suppose I’ll have to start over.” He hit a button on a remote and unimaginable pain shot through Mewtwo’s body, originating from the device on his back. “And this time, I’ll have them design one without so much free will!”
That was the last straw for the Psychic-type. Mewtwo reached for his powers and accessed them at a primal level. “RAAAAAHHHH!!!” He screamed, using his actual voice for one of the first times.
Psychic energy blasted through the room, tearing apart the machinery and the device on Mewtwo’s back, and launching Giovanni backwards.
The unconscious human could not see the Pokémon standing over him, couldn’t see him reach out and touch his forehead, couldn’t see him hesitate, and withdraw, with a firm and determined voice.
“I won’t be like you.” Mewtwo then tore a hole in the ceiling and flew off, leaving a burning laboratory behind.
Mewtwo sat on an uninhabited island, leaning against a large boulder and thinking about what had occurred earlier.
“Who am I?” he asked himself. “Really?” He was more uncertain of himself than ever before. “Where do I belong?” He looked to the night sky. “What am I?”
Celestia gasped as she came back to the present. “Th-that – you – I didn’t…” She had no idea what to say. Mewtwo was unlike any being she had ever encountered, and not just in the genetically altered clone way.
“I-I’m sorry.” She finally finished. “I didn’t know.”
“No,” he replied curtly. “You didn’t.” He had been in this situation before, he always hated it. People always felt sorry for him, he didn’t like sympathy.
“I… I honestly have no idea how to react in this situation.” This was unusual for the Princess, she had dealt with annoying dignitaries, emperors and kings, powerful creatures of all kinds, and social situations that would unnerve a therapist. But this was something insanely complicated and even more awkward.
But she wanted to help. The solar princess stepped forward and put one wing around Mewtwo. He tried to resist but Celestia was unexpectedly strong. She forced the resistant legendary into a hug, she knew he could have stopped her but she was glad he didn’t. “I promise,” She said, tears in her eyes. “That I won’t force you back there.” She still wanted the Pokémon out of Equestria, although nowhere near as much as she had before. In fact she would make sure that Arceus didn’t send them back there.
Mewtwo didn’t know what to say, he had encountered few beings who were this accepting this quickly. “Th-thank you.” He said, finally breaking out of Celestia’s grasp.
She nodded, she had more questions but figured that the legendary would want some time alone. “I’ll return later.” With that the princess walked out of the room, leaving Mewtwo alone with his thoughts.
The Genetic Pokémon smiled at the princess as she left, she seemed nice, he understood why Arceus chose this world, or he thought he did. Mewtwo looked the ceiling and sighed, memories of his past always left him depressed. “Father.”
