FicWad

"You."

Misty stared into the sunset, squinting as if her teal eyes could bore a hole in the sky. She refused to look at what was behind her-it was a memory of a past she turned away from, a group she no longer belonged to, and a pain she no longer wanted to feel. Indeed, the Pokémon that had approached her on the bridge by the lighthouse was the ultimate reminder of just how much she had hurt...

I walked up beside her and gazed off into the sunset as well. "Hello Misty."

"What are you doing here?"

I looked off to my right, away from her. "Mostly just visiting what few friends I have. And ... looking for something."

"You sound like you found something that's illegal everywhere but Orre."

"What, you prefer," I lead, dropping back into an exaggerated version of my former speech pattern, "'I am a clone and therefore my life is meaningless; woe is me!'"

She laughed. "So you picked up a sense of humor."

I resumed my "current" voice. "So I did."

We both stared off into the sunset for a moment. Purples, pinks, and oranges blended together in a strange synergy, unlike anything I had seen before... even on Mt. Keyna. I supposed, if I had removed the cloak I used to conceal my identity, the sunset would be similar in color to the pair of us, standing there by the sea.

"How are they?"

I sighed. "Brock... will be returning to Pewter in about two weeks. But he's alright."

"And Ash?"

"Deeply troubled."

"Where is he?"

"Following the path to enlightenment that I took... as hollow and sad as that is."

"You speak in riddles, Mewtwo."

"Haven't I always?"

She looked at me. Those teal eyes blazed, although not the same way as they had the last time she had glared at me. Of course, this time she was well aware that I hadn't killed him, whereas last time that had been the case and the cause.

"He's in the mountains of Johto."

"Why?"

I sighed. "It isn't my place to say... But Ash has come to the conclusion that his life is not in his own hands. That his wishes, his desires, his plans, his very will itself are simply the tools of fate, leading him toward a destiny that he no longer wants."

"In other words, he's a teenager." She sighed this time.

"There is hope for him, but it's pretty hard to come by. Serendipity... isn't in his vocabulary anymore. Any of ours but mine, really."

"What do you mean?"

"I think he could use a familiar face right now." I paused. "One who didn't kill him before."

"So let Brock go there. He's closer."

"Brock is part of the problem. While they're no less close... Brock can't fix it. Encouragement and mothering are not the answer."

"Then what is?"

I looked down at Misty, staring into her eyes for once, instead of the converse. Although I could not visually see my own eyes, the image she saw was reflected back at me, and I realized that I was still no less a monster than I had been the first time we met. "Don't be obtuse."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's fair to say that I know what's going on because I'm a powerful Psychic Pokémon. But a blind fool could see what's happening just as easily as me, without the benefit of being able to read Ash's thoughts."

"Riddles..."

"Misty, don't be stupid. You know what I'm talking about. You knew before he did. But your stubborn pride got in the way, and his stubborn pride got in the way. It's like me trying to apologize; too much pride."

She stepped back and began to walk away. "Where do you get off lecturing me about pride, Mr. Most-Powerful-Pokemon-In-The-World?"

I turned to follow. "And where did you get off calling me a bully?"

In a moment she was nearly on top of me; her hand met my chest much faster than I could have anticipated. With a mewl and a cough, I flew backward, into the water. Quite a punch for a small female human...

"I didn't kill people, you jerk! I didn't torture Pokémon and try to drown the world! I just called people some names."

I climbed out of the water, shaking myself off. "No. Your actions were... understandable. Acceptable, even. Mine were psychotic at best..." I put my paws in the pockets of my cloak. "But you hurt him as much as I did. It's not fair, it's not right, but it's true."

"Go to hell."

"I've apologized to him. You should too. Not for the apology... but just so he can hear your voice again." I began walking along the shore. I expected her, for a moment, to follow me, to say something else...

But she just walked away.

We took the same path for a while, albeit far away from one another. But at the bridge... we split. She went to Cerulean City, resolving to get away from the gym and go to Johto...

And I went toward Mt. Moon, to await the arrival of the one human I knew would never condemn me.