FicWad

Author's note: This is the story of the cloned manufactured pokemon Mewtwo and his friendship with the young daughter of his creator, Dr Fuji.
In the original Japanese "Myutsuu No Gyakushu", there was a short ten minute prologue where Ai-two (anglicized to "Amber" for international release) was a clone of Dr Fuji's daugher, who had died in a car crash. Her griefstricken father used her DNA to recreate her, and grew her in the same unit in which Mewtwo was also growing, where they became friends. This version was cut from the movie for overseas consumption as being too dark for children.
In my version of the story, the original Ai (now called Aiko, it still means the same, I just think it's a prettier name) didn't die, but still met and interacted with Mewtwo while he was growing within the gestation unit. Circumstances part them, until they meet up many years later, both as adults, and the story follows their developing relationship and growing affection for each other.
I have tried to set my story up as a sort of Pokemon-for-adults, so Aiko has black hair and brown eyes, rather than the Pokemon-for-kids type fantasy with hair and eyes of many amazing shades. Likewise, I've tried to achieve a science-fictiony feel to the story, just to see how it would turn out.
I have deliberately written Mewtwo as a little naive at first - after all, he spent his formative years growing in a jar in a laboratory! And until Sakaki (Giovanni is the anglicized version of the name) decided to train him, he was kept with animals and had to teach himself to speak the human language using his psychic ability, so he didn't have much in the way of life experience! As one reviewer rightly stated, this gives him the attitude of a child in an adult's body; however, I have matured him as the story progresses.
This story is rated G until Chapter 4. And from Chapter 5, there are depictions of explicit human/pokemon sexual activity.
I hope you like this little foray into my imagination, and please do review!



The Mewtwo File
Alison Venugoban

Prologue

Aiko’s father finally gave in to her pleas and agreed to let her see the kittens.

“Just remember,” he told her as they drove to his workplace, “these are genetically-enhanced creatures, they don’t really look much like cats. At least not the sort you’re used to.”

It was late in the afternoon, and the laboratory where her father worked was quiet. A uniformed man sitting at a desk looked up as Aiko and her father walked into the foyer.

“Hello Dr Fuji,” he said with a smile. “Is this your new lab assistant?”

Dr Fuji shook his head with a chuckle. “Hello Miki. This is my daughter Aiko. I promised to bring her to see the kittens for her birthday. Aiko, this is our security officer Takeshi Miki. ”

“Happy birthday, Aiko,” Miki said. “How old are you?”

“I’m seven years and one day old,” Aiko told him seriously. “I had my birthday party yesterday.”

Miki touched a button on his desk and the double glass doors leading to the labs swooshed open. “Well, Aiko, seeing as you’re with Dr Fuji, and especially since it was your birthday yesterday, I guess I can let you through. I hope you like the kittens,” he added as she and her father walked through.

The corridor was long, with many open doors leading into labs all along it. But Aiko’s father walked past these until they came to a sturdy, locked steel door at the very end of the corridor.

“The kittens are being grown in here,” he told her, taking his identity card from his pocket and swiping it in a slot at the side. The door unlocked with a muted click and slid aside, granting them access. “Not many people are allowed in,” he added. “Usually just the scientists. But because you’re with me, you may come in to look. Just don’t touch any of the computers, all right pet? They’re sensitive.”

“All right, Daddy,” Aiko agreed. She tightened her grip on her father’s hand as they walked into the dim lab. It was eerie in there. Huge glass containers filled with liquid loomed out of the darkness. Bubbles floated up, up, up within them, like pale ghosts in the gloom, to disappear at the top with muted gloop gloop sounds. Strange unidentified lumps floated in the liquid.

“Why is it so dark, Daddy?” Aiko whispered.

“The kitten’s eyes can’t take bright light yet,” Dr Fuji answered with a smile. “And there’s no need to whisper, Aiko, they can’t hear you! You could have a rock band going in here and the kittens would sleep through it.” He led her to the nearest container. “See this button here, on the base? This is an infrared light switch. Press this and you’ll be able to see the kitten growing inside. Infra-red light doesn’t hurt their eyes like ordinary light would.”

Hesitantly, Aiko reached her hand forward and pushed the switch. Instantly the container was filled with a soft pinkish glow, and she gasped as she saw that the dark lump inside was in fact a “kitten”, curled in a fetal position. A long flexible plastic tube emerged from the place where its navel should have been, branched into several separate tubes of different colors, and disappeared into the base of the container.

“That is its feeding tube, that’s its waste-disposal tube, and that one there is how we monitor its health and brain waves,” Dr Fuji explained, pointing at the various tubes. “All baby mammals have an umbilical cord when they’re within their mother’s body that provides them with everything they need to grow. These tubes do the same job. When we feel they’re strong enough to be ‘born’, the tube will be removed, and they’ll have a normal belly button, just like yours!” And he tickled her stomach, smiling at her giggles.

“How many kittens are there, Daddy?” Aiko asked. The room seemed to extend a long way; the big glass containers faded into the gloom and she couldn’t see the back wall.

“We have thirteen that have made it this far,” Dr Fuji answered, his face serious once more. “We started off with over one hundred eggs, but clones are difficult to bring to maturity, and we were working with the preserved DNA of an extinct animal, the psychic pokemon Mew. So there were gaps that we had to fill using DNA from other animals. Many of the clones either didn’t divide, or else just withered before we could transfer them to the containers. Some had to be culled because they were deformed or showed signs of disease. These thirteen seem to be the strongest. We have to keep our fingers crossed that they will make it long enough to be born, that is, when they’re big enough to leave their containers.”

Aiko stared at the creature floating inside the container. Its body fur was light, with a soft lilac tinge, but whether that was from the infrared light or its actual colour was impossible to tell. Its tail and stomach were a slightly darker shade. Its eyes were tightly closed. Two short forelegs crossed its chest and two long hind legs were drawn up in front. The long tail floated out behind it, rising and falling gently in the currents within the container. It was huge for a kitten, almost as big as Aiko herself.

“How long will it be before they can come out?” Aiko asked.

Her father thought for a moment. “Nobody really knows. You have to remember, pet, this is a brand-new experiment, we’re still learning! The kittens are extremely slow growing; I put the first clone in its container before you were born. You can see the dates each was started written on the base of the containers. This one is the eldest of the thirteen and is ten years old now. They get younger as you go further back.”

“But they must be going to be born soon, Daddy. They look so big!”

Her father smiled at her earnest face. “We expect to have them growing in here for some time yet. They’ll be a whole lot bigger once they’re born, that’s why the containers are so large, to accommodate them until then.”

“What will you do with them once they’re born? Will they go to school like I do?”

Her father laughed. “No. The original Mew was said to be psychic, and we added some DNA from another psychic pokemon, Abra. They also have some human DNA, so their brains will be large; they may turn out to be the most intelligent of all species of pokemon. What we’re really interested in is any psychic ability they may have. They’ve got some very interesting brainwave patterns, even this young, and we’re going to be experimenting with what they can do for years. If the clones turn out to be as psychically powerful as we hope, they’ll be worth a lot of money.” He smiled down at her. “You can go and have a look at each of them now. I have to check the computer readouts.”

Aiko wandered amongst the containers, pressing the light switches and gazing with fascination at each of the animals. They all looked similar to the first one, lilac-furred, eyes closed, bobbing gently in their artificial womb. Occasionally one would twitch or flicker an eyelid, as if dreaming. But there was no other response to show that they were living creatures.

The dates on the bases of the containers got progressively younger, and each kitten was smaller than the last. Finally, Aiko reached the far end of the room. She gazed at the last, youngest kitten. This one was only half her size, not counting its long tail. Aiko read the date on the base of this container and gasped. “Daddy!” she called softly. “This one, here at the back, has the same birthday as me!”

Her father chuckled and called back, “It hasn’t been born yet, Aiko! That date is when the fertile egg was put into the container.”

Aiko smiled and didn’t answer. She turned back to the kitten. “Maybe you’re not really born yet, but you’re still my age,” she whispered to it, feeling a connection she hadn’t had with any of the others. “And you may be the littlest, but I think you’re beautiful.”

She placed her palm onto the warm glass of the container, where the kitten’s shoulder touched. “What is it like,” she whispered, “floating in there all by yourself? Are you dreaming? What could you be dreaming of, if you’ve never seen the world outside?”

Suddenly she gasped. For the kitten had moved slightly, more than any of its brothers, and not just because of the currents circulating around its body. It turned its head in her direction. Aiiko watched, holding her breath, her hand still on the glass. “Can you hear me?” she whispered in awe. “Do you know I’m here, little kitten?”

She stared in rapt concentration at the baby pokemon. It moved its head again, restlessly, and its body drifted a little more towards her. Then, so quickly that she jumped, its eyes opened, revealing two clear sapphire-blue pupils, fixed on her. She heard, no, she felt…felt something…no words, but a strange, questioning feeling in her head. There was no doubt in her mind that this was coming from the kitten.

Leaning close to the glass, her brown eyes never leaving the blue ones watching her, she whispered to it, “My name is Aiko. Hello, little Mew …”

She felt that wordless questioning again in her mind. Then the kitten moved one of its forelegs, on the end of which was a paw resembling a three-toed ‘hand’. It moved this clumsily, then managed to place it palm-first against the glass where her own hand rested.

Aiko smiled in delighted wonder. “You’re the most beautiful of all the kittens,” she told it sincerely. “And when you get out of this container, we’ll be friends, I know it.”

“Well, well!” said a voice, and Aiko turned her head to see her father staring at the kitten in amazement. He came forward and knelt down beside Aiko. The kitten moved its gaze from Aiko to Dr Fuji. Again that questioning feeling tickled Aiko’s mind.

“He wants to know who you are, Daddy,” she said to her father.

Dr Fuji chuckled. “It certainly looks like it, doesn’t it? I wish I did know what it was thinking!”

“No, really Daddy,” Aiko insisted, realizing he didn’t believe her. “He just asked me who you are.”

Her father stared at her. “What do you mean, Aiko?”

“I can hear him…well, not exactly, I sort of…feel he wants to know.”

Her father shook his head. “You can? Hmm, this is the most reaction I’ve seen in any of the clones. I wonder…are they dormant psychics needing mental stimulation to bring it out? Why did the youngest wake first? Are the others about to? And how can you hear it, pet? Are you psychically empathic? I wonder…”

Aiko didn’t understand all the big words. She realized her father was simply thinking out loud. She stood and smiled at the kitten, as Dr Fuji hurried back to the desk at the front of the room and began telephoning colleagues. Aiko could hear his low, excited tones as he spoke to each of them in turn. “Jiro? It’s Fuji Yutaka here. One of the kittens is awake. Yes, it moved! It opened its eyes…can you get out here as soon as possible, we need to run some tests. Yes, number thirteen, the youngest one, who would have expected that? Good, good, see you then. No, that’s all right, I’ll let them know…but could you pick up Saburo on your way in, her phone line was busy when I tried to ring…”

Aiko thought friendly thoughts at the kitten and smiled when she received the feeling back, as if the kitten was copying her. She moved her hand, and with some difficulty little Mew changed his position to again lay a paw against the glass where hers lay, making paddling motions in the liquid to get there. She laughed at this, and was even more delighted when she saw the kitten’s mouth curve up into a smile as well. It had fully uncurled itself now, and hung in the liquid of its container, watching her intently. She felt its happiness and continued to play, the other kittens all but forgotten in her joy at interacting with this one.

“Aiko,” she told it out loud, “my name is Aiko.”

“Ai…Aik..o?” It was the first real word she had ‘heard’ from it, a psychic whisper directly in her head. It felt strange that she could hear it without using her ears at all.

“That’s right! Yes, I’m Aiko! And you are my friend little Mew!”

But this proved too much for the kitten. It gave up the attempt and turned upside down, looking so comical that Aiko got the giggles again. She felt the kitten’s surge of happiness at this new experience of playing with another.

“Can you follow me?” she asked, beginning to walk around the container. Little Mew obligingly paddled its short front legs, turning to keep her in sight, until she got back to her starting point. It was then she realized that the kitten’s long tail had wrapped around its body as it turned, and she burst out laughing again, pointing. Little Mew began to laugh silently too, slowly rotating back in the other direction until its tail unwound from about its waist.

She felt its questioning emotion again, and after concentrating, she thought she understood what it asked enough to answer, “My hair? No, it’s only on my head. Oh, and my eyelashes and eyebrows.”

She touched her shoulder-length black hair to demonstrate what it felt like, and got back a definite impression that Little Mew somehow “received” the tactile sensation. He then put one hand to the top of his own head, with the other still on the glass. Aiko touched the glass again and closed her eyes. Tingling in her free hand, she could feel the pokemon’s wet, soft fur.

She was trying to explain the difficult concept of “clothes” to Little Mew when her father returned to her side. “I’ve called some of my colleagues to come and check this kitten out,” he told her. “But I’ll be busy for some time, so I’ve phoned your mother to come and pick you up…”

“Oh no, Daddy, don’t make me go yet!” she protested. “Little Mew and I are just getting to know each other. He knows my name, we’re playing…”

“Now don’t argue with your father, Aiko,” Dr Fuji said firmly. “You’ve seen the kittens as I promised, but now I have work to do.” He took her hand. “Come along, I’ll take you to the foyer. Your mother will be here soon.”

Reluctantly, Aiko turned to follow her father. Instantly, she felt a puzzled feeling from little Mew.

“I have to go now, little Mew,” she called, turning back to look at it. “I’m sorry, but I can’t stay…”

As it realized her intention was to leave, the kitten grew frantic, pressing its face against the glass. Its emotion echoed in her head as clearly as any words: “Don’t go! Please don’t leave!” Then, making an effort, it used the only word it knew: “Aiko! Aiko!”

The kitten’s desperate psychic calls made Aiko’s stomach knot painfully. Fighting back sudden tears, she looked up at her father. “Daddy, I’ll go with you, but please, can I say goodbye to little Mew first?”

Dr Fuji hesitated, then relented at the sight of her tear-filled eyes. “All right pet. But don’t be too long.”

Aiko ran back to the incubating container. Little Mew was still hovering anxiously. She pressed her hand against the glass and the kitten did the same. “I have to leave now, little Mew, I’m sorry. I really can’t stay.”

The kitten’s desolate feeling hit her so hard that Aiko felt her tears spill over and begin running down her cheeks. “Please don’t be sad,” she whispered to it. “Please be happy. I want to remember you laughing.”

“Come back?” the kitten’s wordless emotion was again as clear as speech.

“I don’t know if they’ll let me see you again,” Aiko replied. “Today was a special birthday present. But you’re going to grow into a big strong pokemon someday. I’ll never forget you, little Mew. Goodbye… ”

Hanging her head, Aiko turned and walked back to her father, who took her hand silently and led her away. As they went out through the steel door, Aiko felt another emotion in her head. The little clone was crying.


PART ONE

Chapter One – Bittersweet

Aiko leaned back in her chair, gazing at the image on her computer screen. It was an artist’s impression of what Mew, the extinct psychic pokemon, must have looked like. Her eyes ran over the drawing, remembering the day, years ago, when she had set eyes on the augmented Mews her father had been working on. The memory was bittersweet. For the kittens had begun to die not long after she had seen them, the eldest one first, then one after the other, wasting away in their containers before ever being born. The scientists had been unable to find a cause for the deaths.

Finally the child Aiko had stopped asking to see them again; it had been almost a relief when her father, discouraged by repeated failure, had left the project to work on other research.

“There’s the boss! Aiko, look, he’s crossing the courtyard now…”

Aiko sighed. “Give it a rest, Suzu,” she said. “I really don’t know what you see in Raikatuji-san. I rode the lift into the building with him this morning, and he didn’t say so much as good morning. A nod, that was all I got when I greeted him. I don’t think he’s very polite.”

Suzu snorted. “Huh, who cares about polite? He’s good looking, single, and rich. That’s enough. If I’d been in that lift, I’d have made him talk to me!”

She moved away from the window and sat back down at her desk. “Oh well, he’s gone into the stadium now. He had that new fighting pokemon with him. I saw it when it arrived two weeks ago.”

“Oh yes? What species is it?”

“Don’t know – it must be one of the new crossbred strains. Vicious looking thing – all long legs and attitude. The boss ought to keep it on a leash.” She shuddered. “Are you going to the exhibition match at lunchtime to see it fight?” she added. “All the staff are invited.”

Aiko shook her head. “No. I hate those matches. It’s wrong to make pokemon fight each other.”

“I don’t understand you sometimes Aiko. It’s our job to research fighting pokemon. It’s their job to fight.” She shrugged. “I don’t have a problem with it.”

“The difference is that we get paid for our job, and we have a choice about whether or not we do it. We can always resign. The pokemon have no choice, get nothing out of it, and can end up hurt or even dead. And people get rich on the results. It’s not right.” Aiko’s voice had risen angrily, and she had said more than she meant to. She stopped herself with an effort, more than a little surprised by the outburst.

Suzu stared at her. “You’ve been in a real weird mood lately, you know that? You’re usually so composed, but the past couple of weeks you’ve been biting my head off at the least little thing.”

Aiko took a deep breath to calm down. “I’m sorry, Suzu,” she apologized. “I’ve felt a little depressed these last couple of weeks.”

“What’s up? Man problems?”

Aiko frowned. Her friend really did have a one-track mind. “No. There’s really nothing I can think of – I just feel…I don’t know!” She shrugged.

Suzu nodded wisely. “You need to get out more, relax and have some fun. Tell you what, tonight I’m going out on the town with some friends. Come along and I’ll fix you up with Hiroshi. You remember him, he’s my friend Takara’s brother. You’d like him, he’ll show you a good time.”

Aiko shook her head. “No. Thanks Suzu, but I’d rather not. I planned a nice quiet night in tonight.”

“Come on, girl, it’s Friday, live a little! Who stays home on a Friday night?”

“Me,” Aiko said firmly. “I’m just not in the mood for going out this evening.”

Suzu shrugged. “Whatever. I’m fed up with work this morning – think I’ll go to lunch early. If I wander across to the stadium now, I might get the boss interested.”

Yeah, interested in why you’re not working! Aiko thought to herself as Suzu left.

Aiko busied herself with logging details of the digestive processes of the pokemon Gyarados for the next half hour, but her mind stayed on her conversation with Suzu. It was true she had been feeling a little strange lately.

She tried to analyze the mood. She was her usual self when at home, but by the time she got to work she’d begun to feel irritable. Some days it wasn’t too bad, other times she’d felt close to tears, or angry, or both. But angry at what? There seemed to be no trigger to the emotions which would sweep over her so unexpectedly.

Late afternoon was the worst. She’d begun leaving early, as she knew that if she lingered too long she’d start to feel really depressed. The feeling would gradually subside the further away from the Raikatuji Pokemon Research Centre she got. It was totally out of character for her, unlike anything she’d ever experienced before. And as she’d told Suzu, there was no reason for it.

“Maybe I’m allergic to work!” she thought in exasperation. But she enjoyed her work, she was proud of following in her father’s footsteps as a pokemon researcher. And up until two weeks ago, she’d been fine…

Two weeks ago. What had occurred then to make her feel this way? The unhappy, bitter, lonely feeling suddenly enveloped her again and she screwed her eyes shut, trying to block it out, to make it go away, her hands balled into fists on her desk.

“Why do I exist?”

Aiko gasped and opened her eyes, badly shaken. The thought had been like a frustrated scream inside her head. Abruptly she stood and went to the window, flinging it open and breathing deeply to calm herself. The klaxon announcing the beginning of the pokemon match in the stadium sounded, and as suddenly as it had begun, the bitter hopelessness dissipated. Despite the warmth of the day, she shivered and hugged herself, badly frightened by the experience. For a moment she thought of telephoning her retired father to ask his advice, but she didn’t want to worry him. What could she tell him anyway? “I’m feeling depressed, and I heard a voice in my head.” He’d think she’d gone crazy.

“Am I going mad?” she wondered. “What’s happening to me?”

She decided to wait for another week. If the feeling hadn’t disappeared by then, she promised herself, she’d visit a psychiatrist and see if that would throw any light on her problem.

Hoping that work would keep her mind off the depression, she plunged back into the intricacies of the internal plumbing of Gyarados.
*

Suzu arrived back in the office after a couple of hours, full of beans.

“The boss said hello to me,” she announced delightedly. “And he smiled when he said it.”

“Hey, congratulations. Can I be the bridesmaid?” Aiko asked, suppressing a smile.

“You may laugh, but it’s a start!” Suzu answered, refusing to let her mood be dimmed. She sat down happily. “It’s a good thing you didn’t come along though, since you hate seeing poor l’il fluffy pokemons get hurt. It was quite a show. That new pokemon the boss bought is amazing. I was right, it’s brutally efficient – fought everything thrown at it and won each round without breaking into a sweat. It’s a psychic pokemon, by the way, I saw it levitate, and it could somehow shield itself against light, it gave the impression that it had just disappeared – you could only see it when it moved, there was a sort of flickering effect. I’ve only seen that particular trick in Abras, and then only once before. But I still don’t know what they crossbred to get it. It must have cost the boss a fortune.”

Aiko shook her head. “It’ll probably end up making him another,” she thought, but kept it to herself.
*

Suzu had left for the day when Aiko felt the first stirrings of the now-familiar depression.

“Oh no,” she thought despondently, and quickly began to pack her work away, getting ready to leave. She locked the door of the office behind her and hurried down the corridor, feeling the hopelessness building inside her mind as a relentless pressure.

“Why do I feel this way?” she wondered for the hundredth time, heading for the lift at the other end of the building. As she passed a corridor branching off at right angles from her route, she was so overwhelmed by such a desperate wave of sadness that she stopped walking, her eyes filling with tears.

Drawing a deep breath to steady herself, she half-turned, and saw someone standing, gazing out the large window at the end of the corridor, silhouetted against the blazing light of the setting sun. And abruptly, without being able to rationalize the feeling in any way, Aiko knew that the depression she was feeling was outside of herself, that it was not her emotion at all, but emanated from the figure at the end of the corridor. As she gazed at it, she realized with a shock that the window was open and the figure was standing with feet on the very edge of the casement, leaning far out. And they were six floors up…

Her heart thumping with fright, she raced down the corridor, calling out as she did so, “No! Don’t jump!”

The figure whirled about and moved lithely away from the window, out of the full glare of sunlight, and Aiko realized she’d been mistaken. For facing her was not a tall man as she’d assumed, but a pokemon, standing on two hind legs, long tail no longer curled about his feet and hidden by the bright sunlight, but flicking behind him with annoyance.

He looked down at her with disdain, and then he spoke quite clearly: “I’ve no intention of jumping. Go away, human.” His voice was deep, each word a mellow roll of sound, like softy purred growls, but entirely understandable.

“You…you can…speak?” Aiko said. It was the first time she’d heard of a pokemon being able to communicate using human language.

The pokemon turned away from her dismissively. “Leave me alone.” And a voice she heard only inside her head added, “Stupid human…”

Aiko’s eyes had adjusted now to the glare of sunlight flooding through the window, and as she heard that voice, memories long buried rose to the surface of her consciousness in a great upwelling. In wonder she gazed at the figure striding away from her. He was nearly two meters tall, long and lean, yet now Aiko knew the lilac-tinged fur and long tail, and most of all she remembered the psychic voice in her head.

“Wait!”

The pokemon glanced over his shoulder at her. She felt his irritation at her persistence. “Go away. I’ve told you I’m not going to jump.”

Aiko drew a deep breath, caught up with him and quickly moved in front, blocking his path. “You…you don’t remember me, do you?” she said. Gazing up into the cat-like face, she continued, “Cast your memory back – you were being grown in a glass container. A little girl came to see you. You played together, and said you’d be friends forever…”

She had the pokemon’s full attention now. He was staring wide-eyed at her, and Aiko could feel a tumult of conflicting emotion.

“You do remember,” she insisted, “I can feel your emotions as easily now as I could then. Little Mew, you know me. I’m Aiko.”

The pokemon had backed away from her, shaking his head. Aiko felt fear and bewilderment emanating from him. “No! You can’t be Aiko - Aiko died - ”

“No. I was forced to leave, and I wanted to come back, but my father wouldn’t let me. He told me that the kittens had begun to die, and I was so sad, because I thought that meant my Little Mew…you… had also died…” Aiko’s throat was tight, and with surprise she felt tears threatening to overflow.

The pokemon had stopped moving and was now regarding her face intently. Uncertainly, he brought up one handlike paw, and Aiko, suddenly knowing what he was doing, raised her own hand. Their palms touched, and the pokemon drew a quick shaky breath. “Aiko!”

With his other hand he tentatively touched the top of her head, then very gently ran it down the side of her face. His paw was warm, the short fur soft as velvet.

“How can it be?” he said in wonder. “Aiko? But I remember Aiko was so much bigger than me…”

Aiko laughed softly, breathlessly, overwhelmed by her memories. “I told you then that you’d grow into a big pokemon, didn’t I? And you’ve grown more than I ever imagined. I can’t very well call you ‘Little Mew’ anymore. What is your name?”

“Every human I know calls me ‘Mewtwo’.”

“Mewtwo,” Aiko repeated. “The second Mew.” She nodded. That name fitted the tall pokemon far better than her old nickname for the kitten it had been.

“Aiko, you’re crying. A human once told me that people cry when they’re unhappy – has meeting me again made you unhappy?”

Aiko brushed at the tears with one hand. “No, Little…I mean, Mewtwo, tears show great emotion, good or bad. I’m crying because I’m so pleased to see you again!”

Unable to contain herself any longer, she threw her arms around Mewtwo and embraced him. For a moment he did nothing, but Aiko could feel delighted surprise flowing from him in waves. Then he put his arms about her shoulders and somewhat diffidently, then with more confidence, he hugged her back. She felt a strange vibrating rumble begin in his chest, and it took her a moment to identify the sound. But then she was charmed to recognise it for what it was. The big pokemon was purring.
*

They sat comfortably on the floor of the corridor, exchanging memories. Aiko had her back against the wall, her legs stretched out before her on the carpet, ankles crossed. Mewtwo sat catlike on his haunches, his arms now used as front legs for balance, his long tail curled neatly over his forepaws.

Aiko no longer felt the echo of dreadful depression that had haunted her days for the past two weeks. Although she now knew the cause, it was a shock to realize how responsive she was to the pokemon’s moods. She could feel his joy at meeting her again, and the bittersweet nostalgia of times past as they talked.

“The day you woke me,” Mewtwo was saying, “I remember many humans in the lab running tests, trying to get me to move about, shining bright lights in my eyes, doing things I didn’t like. But nobody would talk to me psychically.” Mewtwo paused for a moment. “I realize now how few humans are able to understand me unless I vocalize. But for a long time I didn’t know why they seemed unable to hear me, or answer.”

“I always spoke to you aloud,” Aiko reminded him.

“I understood the words you said, I think, because you projected their meaning psychically,” Mewtwo answered.

“After that day in the lab,” Aiko said, “my father took me to be tested for psychic ability. I remember the results were ambiguous. The tests showed that I have a high empathic index, but everything else was rather weak. The tester did say that maybe I could improve, if I was taught by a psychic, or if I was sufficiently motivated,” she added, “but I never bothered to pursue it.”

“Nevertheless, I understood you.” Mewtwo smiled at her, making Aiko realize that this was another area where he differed from traditional cat pokemons. Like humans, he had a full range of facial expressions. “But none of the other humans that day could speak to me. Their tests frightened me. I didn’t understand what they wanted. I kept begging them to bring you back, but of course they didn’t respond. When I realized they couldn’t hear me, I put myself back to sleep. They couldn’t reach me there, I was safe again.” Mewtwo stared at the far wall, his eyes unfocused as he remembered.

“I asked about you,” Aiko said. “My father told me that you became unresponsive again fairly quickly. He was in favor of taking me back to the lab, but the other scientists were against the idea. They seemed to think that your awakening while I was there was just coincidence. At any rate, I was never allowed back in.”

“I wish you had come back,” Mewtwo replied wistfully. “After you vanished, I was very lonely. I reached out psychically, trying to find your light again, but I came instead across twelve others, the sleeping clones. I was able to rouse them, and we would speak psychically…”

“The strange brainwave patterns my father spoke of!” Aiko said. “You all seemed unconscious, but Dad said that the alpha waves of all the clones were off the charts after I left. So that’s what caused it!”

“For a while they were my only companions, but I was content,” Mewtwo continued. “I had friends, although obviously, our experience of life was very limited. But then number one, the eldest of us, felt horrible pain. He told us it was unendurable, and not long after, his psychic voice seemed to waver and his light dissolved into the gloom. One by one, all the others were affected. Their lights flickered and vanished, and they wouldn’t answer my cries. Then when I felt the pain, I was very afraid. But I remembered what you said, that I would grow into a big strong pokemon. Perhaps, I thought, this pain is the process beginning? I hung on. But the pain was dreadful - the scientists told me after my birth that it was caused by the - what was the word? Where something doesn’t quite fit together?”

“Incompatible?” Aiko suggested.

Mewtwo nodded. “Yes. Parts of my body were – incompatible - because I’m made up of the genes of several different species.”

Mewtwo’s eyes lost focus again as he remembered, and Aiko winced as she also felt the pokemon’s recollection of the agony he’d gone through.

“Inflammation,” she murmured. “Anaphylaxis. The body trying to integrate disparate parts into some sort of working organism. The immune system attacking itself…”

“I resisted,” Mewtwo continued, “To distract myself I concentrated on how you and I had played together, or else thought about conversations I’d had with my identikin, I even recalled the scientists and the tests they’d run on me, anything to take my mind off the pain.”

“But you didn’t give in,” Aiko said softly.

“No. My will was no stronger than the others, but I had the most life experience, limited though it was. I felt there was more to life than pain. I wanted to live. But, oh Aiko! The temptation to just let go, to dissolve and be at peace, was almost more than I could bear! Then, just when I felt as if I couldn’t bear it any more, it started to get better. My body managed to rearrange itself, the fire in my joints died down, my skin no longer itched and burned, and the pain…stopped.” Mewtwo sighed, then looked at her and smiled slightly. “Your eyes are crying again, Aiko,” he observed, lifting one paw to touch her face. “Are you unhappy? I find your moods difficult to read now – you’re quieter, where before, when we were younger, your psychic voice was like a joyful shout inside my mind.”

“I’m moved by your endurance,” she admitted, wiping the tears with the back of one hand. “And I guess my mind doesn’t project much psychically any more.” She smiled and shook her head. “So you were the only one of the thirteen who survived?”

“Yes. The lab was moved to one of the uninhabited Ryukyu Islands, south of Kyushu. It was just known as Shima. I was born there, some time afterwards. I had no way of measuring time while I was gestating within the container, but they told me afterwards I was there for many years, slowly growing. I was very lonely. On the island I would hear other psychic voices, but they made little sense. I understand now that there were Abras on the island, kept as research animals. But at least, hearing them, I felt less alone. There were also one or two scientists working on Shima who were not so psychically blind as most humans. I remember listening to them in awe – intelligent minds, sharp and strong and direct. They were very different from the muted sound of the Abras in their pens, whose only interests seemed to be feeding and fighting. The humans didn’t realize that they were broadcasting, of course, but I was inspired, I wanted to be like them.” He smiled again. “Over time, by listening, I began to learn the meanings of other human words besides ‘Aiko’.”

“What happened when you were finally born?”

“I was given to a Jinx to be mothered,” Mewtwo answered. “Do you know them?”

Aiko nodded. “Oh yes. If they can’t get anything animate to baby, they’ll adopt rocks! I’ve seen young Jinxes squabbling over who gets to take care of infant siblings. I like Jinxes.”

“For a while, I thought I was a Jinx,” Mewtwo replied. Fond amusement colored his mental tone. “I was socialized with a group of orphaned Abras, each with their own Jinx ‘mother’. But although I had companions again, it wasn’t enough. I wanted to be with the humans. I learnt to speak by listening and imitating the scientists. Being psychic helps the process. I can understand the meaning of words when there’s a mental picture to go with it. And I was eager to learn. The Jinxes and the Abras weren’t at all like humans. I was fond of them, but…they’re not my species.” Aiko felt his regret. “I’ve since found that humans aren’t my species either. I have no species.”

“That’s why you were depressed, isn’t it?” Aiko said. “I’ve been feeling your mood ever since you arrived here at Raikatuji Centre. I thought I was going mad until today.” She paused, thinking. “You are the only one of your species,” she said, “but you’re not alone. You’re sentient…”

“What means that word?” Mewtwo asked curiously; then as Aiko concentrated on finding the right interpretation, his expression took on a look of understanding. “Ah, I see! Creatures that can reason and are aware of their own existence.”

“You took that out of my head!” Aiko accused.

“You see, the psychic tests you did were right. Your ‘voice’ grows stronger when you think hard,” he answered complacently.

“I don’t know that I like having my mind read. I value my privacy.”

Mewtwo radiated a sense of contrition, but Aiko could feel amusement there as well. “It was only a tiny whisper,” he said reassuringly. “If I wasn’t sitting next to you, I wouldn’t have heard you.”

“As I was saying,” Aiko continued with a smile, “You’re sentient. There’s no reason you can’t be friends with other sentients, in this case, humans.”

Mewtwo shook his head. “You’re one of the few humans I’ve met who isn’t afraid of me. They see me and think ‘animal’ instead of ‘sentient being’, and become scared that I’ll harm them. None have wanted to stop and talk to me as you did!” He sighed. “Everybody goes away at night, and on the weekends, leaving me alone. At least on Shima I had the company of the Jinxes and the Abras when the staff left. I dread weekends most. During the week I have my work. But the weekends – I have nobody to talk to and nowhere to go. Before I met you the only human who would talk to me is Sakaki, and he leaves like everybody else.”

“Sakaki? Oh, Raikatuji-san, the boss. But you’re not a prisoner here, surely? You can go where you like, can’t you?”

“Go where? To do what? Aiko, you were right when you said I’m unhappy here. I have no purpose other than to hurt other pokemon. I try to knock them out quickly to ease their suffering. I take no joy in giving pain.”

Aiko remembered his ringing psychic cry earlier in the day, before the lunchtime match had started: Why do I exist? The misery had been intense. She remembered also Suzu’s remarks after the match concerning the new fighting pokemon’s abilities: “brutally efficient…fought everything thrown at it and won each round…”

She knew now that Mewtwo had not tried to be brutal at all, but merciful.

The radiance that had been pouring through the window had shrunk to a thin bar of light on the floor as the sun sank below the horizon. It was getting late. But she didn’t want to be just another human, leaving Mewtwo by himself.

“Would you like to come to my house?” she offered. “We can share a meal, and talk some more. Weekends can be fun…”

She broke off as Mewtwo’s feeling of gladness washed over her. “I could? I’d like to see where you live very much.”

“It’s not far from here, just a short walk up the beach. What do you like to eat?”

Mewtwo looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“You know, what are your favorite foods? I have some chicken wings in my refrigerator at home. Or I could make some sushi with rice for you.”

Aiko sensed bafflement radiating from the big pokemon, and Mewtwo’s expression remained puzzled. “I don’t understand what you’re saying, Aiko, the words make no sense to me.”

Aiko frowned as a thought struck her. “Do you have special dietary requirements?” she ventured. “Some pokemon breeds do…”

“I eat brown mush and green pellets. Is that what you mean?”

Aiko shook her head. “Would you mind if I looked at your teeth? That would help me determine the sorts of food you can have.”

Mewtwo obligingly opened his mouth wide, revealing an impressive set of ivories. Aiko examined them. “Hmm. Fairly typical carnivore dentition, feliniform definitely, although those adapted carnassials at the back should make omnivorous feeding possible.” She met Mewtwo’s eyes. “I see no reason for restricted food types from examining your teeth. But of course you could have a metabolic requirement for certain foods. Do you have any examples of the food you normally eat?”

“I have packets of it in my room. I’ll show you – it’s through that door over there.” He stood on all fours, stretched his long back exactly like a cat, and then gracefully rose to his full height to walk on two legs, his long tail held in a sweeping curve behind him.

Aiko gazed about as she entered Mewtwo’s room. The word ‘spartan’ did not begin to describe it. It was merely a room with a large square futon bed against one wall, a cupboard against the other, and what appeared to be a basic bathroom through another door. There was no entertainment of any sort, no television, radio, stereo or books. The floor was tatami matting, the unadorned walls painted the same non-descript shade of bland as the rest of the offices in the building. She tried not to let her feelings show on her face, and disciplined her thoughts to quiet, as well, so that the psychic pokemon would not pick them out of her head. But he was busy at the cupboard, taking out packets.

Aiko walked over to look. The packets contained standard pokemon food, a basic diet with all the appropriate vitamins, minerals, protein, fats, sugars and fiber included. In fact, Aiko had helped develop one of them, the “green pellets” Mewtwo had mentioned. It was also bland and unappealing, designed to complement a more inclusive diet, rather than totally replace it.

“Is this – all - you eat?” Aiko asked, picking up one of the packets.

“I used to have the brown mush on Shima, but we had some long orange things and crunchy green things too. And sometimes round red things with sweet white inside,” Mewtwo answered. “I used to like those,” he added.

“Sounds like carrots, celery probably, and apples,” Aiko mused. Standard diet for the herbiverous Abras. She put the packet down.

It appeared that while Mewtwo could eat an omnivorous diet, Sakaki had not bothered to give him variety. No wonder he had no favorite food. He’d never experienced the full range available. Aiko decided to fix that omission, starting that evening.