Mewtwo: The Awakening

''As our heroes continue their Pokémon journey, somewhere on the far end of the Hora region, Team Rocket is setting its dangerous plans into motion. To see how these plans all began, we must travel back, years into the past. Now begins the story of the most famous legendary Pokémon of all...''

"How's it coming, doctor?"

It was a male voice, from the outside. Distorted by the crystalline glass that kept the large, purple Pokémon contained.

"It is fully conscious." another voice replied to the original. "Its brain waves are off the charts. Did Giovanni really engineer one of these before?"

"Yes." boomed the original voice. "But, it got out of hand and escaped his clutches. We are being paid to make sure that mistake doesn't repeat itself."

"These voices..." the purple Pokémon thought to itself, stirring from its slumber. "They're... human voices. They're outside. Outside this tumescent prison."

"Doctor!" a third, distinctly female voice came, "Its waking! Look, on the monitor!"

First sight. It was blurry, likely not helped by the distortion created by the tank's fluid and the crystal-like glass that held it in place. However, soon, these became only minor hindrances, and the purple Pokémon was able to see very clearly the room around it. Multiple people, mostly dressed in black garbs, were surrounding the tube the purple Pokémon found itself contained within. A quick shift of its arms revealed that it was attached to wires, which were likely monitoring its vitals and brain waves.

"Who..." the Pokémon thought, unaware it was transmitting its thoughts through Psychic waves by this point. "Who are these people?"

"We are your creators." the original voice said, stepping forward and revealing himself to be a man wearing a golden helmet. "You... are Mewtwo."

"Mew... two?" the Pokémon replied, confused.

"Yes, you were cloned from the genetic material of the legendary Pokémon, Mew. While you are its clone, you are in every way superior to it. And that is why we created you. To be of service to Team Rocket." the helmeted man explained.

"Team Rocket?" Mewtwo repeated again. "I... I don't understand."

"Patience, my friend, you shall soon enough." the helmeted man assured him. "Amy!"

"Yes sir!" a female officer, which had likely been the source of the female voice from just before Mewtwo's awakening, stepped forward."

"Radio Giovanni." the helmeted man commanded. "Tell him we've done it."

The Origin of Mewtwo
In the present day...

Time had passed. How much time, however, Mewtwo didn't know. It had been freed from its cylinder-like prison soon after its awakening, and been brought to a room deep within the Team Rocket fortress. It was this very room, which it now found itself again, so long after, seated on a large metallic table. He was told that they were awaiting the arrival of the Team's leader, Giovanni. Mewtwo only barely remembered hearing the man's name in the conversation he had partaken in earlier, but his mind was buzzing with other questions. What was it? Why was he brought into the world?

"Ah, its magnificent." a sharp voice, with slight accent. "Its grown since I last saw it."

Mewtwo inclined its head so it could clearly see where the voice had originated. At the top of the stairs, which opened up into a balcony where one could see the entire room, stood a man, dressed in black military garb, and a mafia haircut. He was staring down, clearly with much interest, at Mewtwo. It was a face Mewtwo knew all too well, having seen him in the past, shortly after its "birth". This was the Team Rocket leader, Giovanni.

"Mewtwo, I trust you've been treated with the respect you deserve?" Giovanni asked, though Mewtwo could detect that the man didn't really care.

Giovanni descended the stairs, taking his time, keeping an ever watchful eye on Mewtwo, who was keeping about as close of an eye on him as well. Approaching Mewtwo, Giovanni placed his hands firmly behind his back, and glanced the psychic Pokémon over a few times.

"Why... am I here?" Mewtwo finally spoke, using its telepathy.

"You are here because Team Rocket needs your assistance." Giovanni replied coldly.

"Assistance?" Mewtwo recoiled. "With what?"

"Well, since we don't have anything better to do at the moment, I'll explain." Giovanni replied. "You are the world's most powerful psychic Pokémon. Stronger even than the legend that you were born from."

"Mew..." Mewtwo supplied.

"Yes, Mew." Giovanni confirmed, continuing with his monologue. "It is because you have these great powers that you can help us. Team Rocket wishes to build a utopia! And for that, we need the assistance of the legendary Pokémon, Sacrelivo. Alas, Sacrelivo is sealed somewhere in the Hora region. Many of the other legendary Pokémon are doing their best to prevent Sacrelivo from being reborn and using its true power. I intend to free it."

"And what does all of this have to do with me?" Mewtwo snapped, impatient for its answer.

"Curious, aren't you?" Giovanni chuckled, relishing its confusion. "Your powers might just be great enough to allow us to break the seal on Sacrelivo without the traditional ritual involved. It can also be used to stop the other legendary Pokémon from interfering with our plans."

"So, then that is my purpose?" Mewtwo snarled. "To be your tool, while you search out this 'Sacrelivo'? To be your solider, in order to make sure that everything goes according to plan?"

"Precisely." Giovanni confirmed, his voice becoming more serious. "Once our plans are complete, then you will be free to do whatever it is you please. Until then, however, consider us... business partners."

Giovanni didn't wait for a response, instead he turned heel and returned to the stairwell, walking purposefully up the steps back into the door from which he had originally come from. There, he stopped, bathing him in the light of the adjoining hallway.

"Until you are needed, feel free to roam the base." Giovanni said. "This is... your home now."

The boss of Team Rocket then exited the room, slamming the door shut behind him, casting Mewtwo into lonely darkness once again. Mewtwo didn't regret this, however, as it wanted to be alone in its thoughts. Giovanni had given it much to think about.

"These humans..." it finally began to think. "They want to use me as their tool. Is that all there is to life? To serve these humans in their ambitions? He called us 'business partners', but he does not consider me a comrade. Not his equal. I wonder... will I ever know companionship?"

As Mewtwo thought this, it became aware that it was becoming weary, its eyes becoming heavy with fatigue. Curling up on the cold metal table, it drifted off into the world of its dreams. Where, just for an instant, it could escape the harsh reality of its birth.

Darkness consumed it as it entered slumber. But it would not sleep peacefully.

What was this?

A melody.... soft and soothing....

This is the ocean! Deep beneath the surface...

Mewtwo had seen this before, in a dream not long after it had been born. Suddenly, it felt trapped, scared. The surface was nowhere in sight. And then came the eyes. Eyes as blue as the full moon itself, peering at it from a deep, underwater current. Watching as it struggled in fear and panic, to escape the watery grave it found itself in.

"Mewtwo..." a voice came, seemingly from all around.

"Who are you?" Mewtwo demanded telepathically.

"That is not important..." the voice responded, causing Mewtwo to realize that it was the same melodic voice that had sang that melody in the beginning. "You must go, Mewtwo... You must go..."

"Go?" Mewtwo questioned, confused. "Go where? How?"

"Soon..." the voice answered cryptically, and then the dream was gone.

To Test My Limits
Bright. Seeing the sun's light for the first time wasn't exactly a pleasant experience for Mewtwo. It found itself standing on one side of a makeshift battle arena, deep inside the fortress' research facility, which was open to the sunlight via a massive sunroof. Opposite him was the helmeted man that it had met the first day it had been awake, and whose name, it had later learned, was Vicious.

"What is the purpose of this?" Mewtwo was questioned, obviously annoyed by his presence.

"To make sure your battle capabilities are what they are supposed to be." Vicious replied coldly, snatching a Pokéball off of his chest.

"Battle capabilities?" Mewtwo asked confused.

"You sure have a lot of questions for a smart Pokémon." Vicious snapped. "Just battle. You'll learn it naturally."

The Rocket Admin tossed a Dark Ball into the air, releasing a reddish-white light from it, which quickly reformed into a floating moth-like Pokémon, which then took flight and hovered not too far from Mewtwo.

"Is that... a Pokémon?" Mewtwo wondered, having finally seen another Pokémon for the first time.

"Volcorona!" Vicious suddenly shouted, snapping Mewtwo from its thoughts. "Use Hurricane! Go!"

"Vooool... coooor... ONA!" the Bug-type Pokémon cried.

Fluttering its wings at an almost violent pace, generating powerful gales of wind, which then took the form of shockwaves, racing outwards from their epicenter towards Mewtwo. Feeling instinct take over, Mewtwo's eyes began to glow with a deep blue coloration, and a barrier of psychic energy soon appeared around it, deflecting the attack from Volcorona with little to no signs of wavering.

"You... attacked me!" Mewtwo snarled, angrily.

"Yes. You're a Pokémon, and that means you have to battle." Vicious snarled back, annoyed that Mewtwo was arguing with him.

Mewtwo visibly winced at his words, "I cannot be ordered around like some mongrel pup..." it snarled.

"Vicious!" the voice belonged to Giovanni, who was watching nearby. "That's enough."

"Giovanni, sir!" Vicious snapped around, surprised.

"I specifically ordered you to leave the experiment alone until I gave the order, and now I find you battling it?!" Giovanni appeared quite enraged by his subordinate's lack of obedience.

"Experiment?!" Mewtwo thought, its irritation slowly rising. "He doesn't even have the decency to refer to me by name. I'm just an object of his possession."

"Mewtwo!" Giovanni barked, snapping Mewtwo from its rage-induced gaze. "You are dismissed."

Snarling, Mewtwo turned, without a word, and walked out of the arena into a neighboring hallway. The longer it walked in the darkness, the angrier it became. Oddly, however, it wasn't angry at Team Rocket. At least, not yet. It was angry at itself. Confused, irritated, anxious. How could this be happening? Was it really nothing more than a belonging of theirs? An object for them to endlessly experiment on? No... surely not. A glint in the corner of its eye caught Mewtwo's attention, causing it to spin on its heel to face the direction it had come from. There, directly across from it, was a large, abandoned laboratory, with what looked to be outdated computers laying around all over the place.

The door was locked, but for Mewtwo, this wasn't a problem. With a wave of its three fingered hand, the Psychic-type legendary Pokémon blew the door off of its hinges and stepped inside. Looking around, it could see that most of the equipment in this room hadn't been used in years, if not longer. All of the computers were covered in a thick layer of dust. Stepping forward, its tail accidentally hit a switch on one of the nearby computers, causing it to come to life, and a recording to play.

"Returning from the Johto region." the recording was the voice of Giovanni. "I was unable to find any traces of Mewtwo."

Mewtwo's eyes narrowed. He was searching for it in Johto?

"Even the lake, rumored to be seated on the summit of Mount Quena, has dried up and left nothing but an ugly crater. It seems that Mewtwo has at last escaped my grasps, but I have another plan. Project M. I shall re-clone Mew, and this time, I will make sure the creature obeys me!"

"There was... another... me?" Mewtwo was now severely confused. "And it escaped Giovanni. But why?"

Suddenly, there was a static noise, as the recording switched from one voice to another. This voice was considerably higher and had a much different accent. From this, Mewtwo could establish that Giovanni was no longer the one speaking. In fact, this voice sounded panicked, as if the person speaking it were being attacked by some savage monster.

"I haven't got much time! I pray this record of our experiment survives!" the voice came, as screams and explosions could be heard in the backdrop. "A year ago, we discovered a fossil which proved to be the remains of the ancient Pokémon, Mew. There was sufficient genetic material to replicate Mew, but Giovanni, who funded our project, insisted we try to design super clones more powerful than any living Pokémon! Many attempts failed, but finally our experiments proved successful. We produced a living Pokémon — we called it Mewtwo! But for some reason the creature's anger is out of control! With its psychic powers, it is destroying our laboratory! We dreamed of creating the world's strongest Pokémon... and we succeeded."

The recording ended, and a heavy, eerie, silence fell upon the room. Mewtwo had been stunned to silence. The information it had just gathered was immense and hard to bear. There had been another Mewtwo? This one, much like it, had been created by Giovanni in his bid to accomplish his own purposes, and had escaped, destroying the laboratory in which it had been created. Giovanni had then gone to Johto, but for some reason, had been unable to find it again. Then...

"I am the replacement for that Mewtwo..." Mewtwo seethed, its anger reaching critical. "I am nothing more than a substitute, meant to fulfill that Mewtwo's role."

Stepping backwards from the computer, Mewtwo nearly tripped, having stepped on something cold and hard lying across the floor. Looking down, it saw a small cave painting, which was covered in a similar layer of dust. It was cracked and had clearly been mistreated, but Mewtwo could still make out what was on it. A small Pokémon, feline in appearance, and even though Mewtwo had never laid eyes upon it before, it knew in the depths of its being what this was. Mew. The legendary Pokémon from which it had been cloned.

Your Will or Mine?
Mewtwo's thoughts had now been deeply disturbed. There was another and it had been treated just a terribly. But it had done something about its predicament. It had fought back, and, if the recordings were to be believed, won, in the end. So now, the same choice rested on the shoulders of this Mewtwo. Would it stand and fight, or would it submit to Giovanni's will? Clenching its three fingers tightly, Mewtwo let out its frustration in the form of a burst of psychic energy, which sent papers and utensils scampering across the floor.

"I will not be some slave." Mewtwo snarled in its anger. "But I cannot just leave either. Not yet. I must find a way to stop Giovanni from creating more Pokémon like me."

"I'm afraid that's impossible." a voice echoed, as a figure entered the room Mewtwo had stumbled upon. "I wondered where you had run off to, and it seems you've found it. My old laboratory."

"Giovanni..." Mewtwo gasped, recognizing the man, even in the dark.

"It seems you share the will of the original Mewtwo. You intend to defy me. I warn you against such a choice. It will prove fatal to you." Giovanni warned, though he seemed completely relaxed.

"I am not your servant, human." Mewtwo was quick to snap back. "You may have created me, but that makes it your mistake."

"The only one who is mistaken here, is you." Giovanni retorted coldly, his tone suddenly becoming serious. "You are my creation, that makes you my property."

Mewtwo's eyes lit up a luminescent blue, clearly greatly outraged by that particular remark, "I am no one's property." it insisted.

"Is that your answer?" Giovanni asked, clearly prepared to back up his threats.

"It is." Mewtwo confirmed, its own voice taking a cold turn. "And it will be the last answer you ever hear... human."

Without waiting to give Giovanni a chance to attack, Mewtwo brought its hands back, forming a sizable sphere of blue, psychic power. The sphere sparked with intense energy, which radiated off of it, cracking the tiles in which it struck. It then hurled the sphere of energy directly at the Team Rocket leader, who dove right to avoid it, sending it slamming into the outside hallway, causing a sizable explosion which rocked the base with tremors. Smoke from the blast immediately began billowing into the room from the hallway, covering the floor.

"You're brave, Mewtwo." Giovanni snarled, making it back to his feet. "But this is a mistake you will very much regret!"

Mewtwo began to respond, but stopped when it noticed a glint coming from Giovanni's pocket. It couldn't explain why, but it was inexplicably drawn to the energy emitting from that location, and so it activated its psychic powers to draw the objects out.

"What are you-?!" Giovanni began to yelp, as two stones were pulled out of his pocket and floated in midair. "Those are the Mega Stones! Put them down this moment!"

"Mega Stones?" Mewtwo mulled, suddenly amused that the man was flustered. "How interesting."

Suddenly, and very much to the opposite of Mewtwo's intentions, the psychic energy in which the Genetic Pokémon was exerting sparked a reaction in the Mega Stones, forcibly drawing them in and then melding with its body. The result was an explosion of psychic energy within the legendary Pokémon's body.

"Giovanni, sir!" came a higher pitched voice.

It was one of Team Rocket's lead scientists, who had ran to the room after the explosion Mewtwo had caused earlier, to check on his Boss. In the commotion, neither Giovanni, nor Mewtwo, had noticed him appear.

"What happened?!" he barked.

"It absorbed the Mega Stones!" Giovanni swore.

"Absorbed the-?!" the scientist snapped around to see the psychic Pokémon.

Already, the Mega Stones were taking effect. Mewtwo's body had morphed, shrunk down into a slimmer form, and was floating slightly above the ground. When it opened its eyes, it observed its hands one by one, clearly transfixed by the transformation that had taken place.

"Mewtwo, hand those stones back this instant!" Giovanni demanded a second time.

"I do not know what these 'Mega Stones' have done to my body, but the power is surging inside of me." Mewtwo noted. "This is the end of your precious plan, Giovanni!"

Giovanni tried to retort, but was cut off by the sound of the base beginning to tremble. Mewtwo's eyes began to glow bright purple, and this glow was soon extended as an outline around the entire fortress. Giovanni could only watch in horror as the explosions began, and soon, the entire base was engulfed in an eruption of psychic energy. The result was an explosion that left the base in ruin. Mewtwo floated above the base now, free at last, and in the open air for the first time in its life. Gazing down on the smoldering ruins of Team Rocket's headquarters, it slowly morphed back into its original form.

"I am free now. Team Rocket has no control over me." it announced pridefully. "Now... I must learn to find my place in this world. Wherever that may be..."

Reluctantly, mainly due to its uncertainty, Mewtwo took flight and left the area, vanishing from the sight of the Team Rocket headquarters within seconds. However, in the smoldering ruins below where it had floated, something had survived. Standing to his feet, amidst the rubble, Giovanni cursed Mewtwo under his breath. Nearby, Vicious pushed several chucks of rock out of his way.

"Giovanni, sir!" he managed weakly. "The base..."

"I am aware!" Giovanni snapped, his anger reaching its threshold.

"What will we do now, sir?" Vicious asked, finally reaching the boss.

"Our plans live on." Giovanni answered calmly. "Come with me."

The two made their way through piles of rubble, which they shifted arduously until they reached the entrance of a staircase, leading deep into the underground portions of the fortress. A location that few of the Rockets ever traveled, except with express orders from Giovanni himself. As the two stepped down the stairs, a large laboratory came into sight, clearly unharmed from Mewtwo's above ground rampage. There, at the center of the room, was another tank, much like the one Mewtwo had been contained in years prior. And there, floating at its center, was another Mewtwo.

"Another one?!" Vicious snapped. "Sir, this one will simply repeat what the first and second did!"

"You're wrong." Giovanni corrected him. "I had this one made in anticipation that things would go bad with the second clone. I did not know it would go this terribly however. This one is different from any of the others I've created."

Vicious looked closely at the caged Pokémon. Indeed, Giovanni was right. This Mewtwo was different in coloration. Having a deep green tail and eyes, whereas previous incarnations had dark purple.

"Its color!" Vicious said aloud.

"Yes." Giovanni confirmed. "But its color has a special purpose. You see, in order to revive Sacrelivo, we need to Jade Orb. An orb connected to the legendary Pokémon, Rayquaza, that is said to give one control over Sacrelivo's powers. I had Team Rocket painstakingly hunt for the Jade Orb, and finally we found it, in the Hoenn region. I had it brought here."

He then gestured to another, smaller containment tube, nearby Mewtwo's, sitting on the counter beside it. Within it was a small, spherical gem, which was dyed an emerald coloration.

"When this Mewtwo was cloned, part of the atomic structure of the Jade Orb was replicated and incorporated into its genetic structure. This had the adverse effect of stripping this Mewtwo of its usual super intelligence, but after the displays shown by the fist two Mewtwo, I'd say that was an improvement. In addition, this Mewtwo now wields the power of the Jade Orb." Giovanni explained. "I have all I need right here..."

To Find My Purpose
The ridge Mewtwo was now perched on towered over the valleys of the Hora region. A cold gust repeatedly battered the Genetic Pokémon. For hours, since its escape from Team Rocket, it had stood on this very spot. Not moving an inch. Deep in thought. For the first time, it understood just how vast and limitless the world really was. In its brief time in freedom, it had now seen dozens of Pokémon — the creatures Team Rocket was desperate to bring under their control.

"I must do something for these Pokémon." Mewtwo said to itself, as a flock of Tailow soared passed its head. "Team Rocket intends to enslave them. I can never let that happen. But how can I protect them? I am but one Pokémon in a world of millions. There must be a way...."

In the valley below, Mewtwo could make out the scarce presence of humans. These humans were playing with a variety of Pokémon. In each little patch where a human or humans were gathered, so too were gathered Pokémon. Mewtwo narrowed its eyes, furrowing its brow in curiosity.

"Humans and Pokémon..." it murmured. "Can we really be companions? Is there more to it than doing everything alone? I must test this world's humans. For if they cannot protect this world alongside us Pokémon, then it may be doomed to fall..."

End...