Tia and Aidan stood in front of a simple house in the middle of Lavender Town, hoping that the owner was home. It had taken weeks of tracing old documents to lead them to this person, and they hoped a meeting with him would yield good results.
At first, the paper trail had led them to Lavender Town’s Pokemon House, where the person in question apparently worked part time taking care of abandoned Pokemon. The staff told them he had retired some months ago but still lived in town, and they pointed Tia and Aidan down the street to his home.
Standing in front of the house now, Tia took a deep breath and knocked on the door. After a few moments and some shuffling inside the house, the door opened, revealing an old man with gray, balding hair.
The old man stared at them warily. “Yes, may I help you?”
“Dr. Fuji?” Tia asked.
The old man glared. “Haven’t been a ‘Doctor’ in a long time. But, yes.”
Tia and Aidan glanced at each other, then Tia spoke up. “We’re sorry to bother you. I’m Professor Tia Cade, and this is Aidan Gray, a Pokemon folklorist.”
Fuji didn’t answer, but was carefully looking them over.
“We have some things we’d like to ask you about,” Tia continued, “Regarding Mewtwo.”
Fuji’s expression suddenly changed. “Shh!” He nervously looked to the left, then the right, then grabbed both of their hands and pulled them inside the house. “Come inside before someone hears you!”
Tia and Aidan hurried inside, and Fuji closed the door. He pulled a curtain back, looked out the window, then closed the curtain.
Tia questioned his sudden paranoid behavior. Why all the secrecy? She looked over at Aidan, who shrugged, and was about to say something when Fuji finally spoke up.
“So many other people over the years have dropped by asking about Mewtwo,” Fuji said, “but they were all crackpots and conspiracy buffs, chasing the ghosts of their own tails.” He looked at them pointedly. “I can see you both are serious professionals. What brings you two here?”
“We’re here on behalf of Professor Oak and Silph Co.,” Tia answered, “We’re conducting research on the Legendary Pokemon of Kanto and Johto.”
Fuji stared back at them, nodding his head. “And what makes you think that Mewtwo is one of these Legendary Pokemon, and not just a famous cryptid?”
“There were eyewitness accounts,” Aidan spoke up, “connected to a laboratory explosion on Cinnabar Island, around 10 years ago. All of the accounts were from trusted sources – up-and-coming scientists and rising stars in the field of genetics. They also had two things in common – the creation of Mewtwo, and the head scientist Dr. Fuji.”
Fuji smirked. “You’ve got a talent for detective work, tracking those records down. They should have stayed buried until the end of time.”
“So you admit that Mewtwo is real?” Tia asked, excited.
“Of course Mewtwo is real,” Fuji retorted, “I’d rather it wasn’t, in hindsight, but that doesn’t excuse what we did.”
“Can you tell us more?” Tia asked seriously.
Fuji looked at them for a moment, then cleared his throat, preparing to tell his story.
Tia and Aidan walked carefully through the fallen debris and rotten detritus of the now-buried Pokemon Mansion. The lava flow from Cinnabar Volcano had long since cooled off, blocking out any sign of natural light, and there was a constant smell of burning wood permeating everything.
The conversation with Mr. Fuji had led to him directing Tia and Aidan to the long-ruined and recently-buried Pokemon Mansion. The journals and records stored there, as well as the lab itself, would tell the story better than he could.
“But I thought everything on the island was destroyed when the volcano blew!” Aidan had said.
Fuji shook his head. “The volcano may have covered everything up, but it’s all still there.” He further explained about a secret tunnel hidden behind the Pokemon Center, leading straight to the buried mansion ruins.
“I’m not sure how it got there in the first place,” Fuji explained, “But I happened to find it not long after the lava cooled. Maybe the remnants of Team Rocket dug it up, looking for something, anything, that would warrant a comeback.”
Tia’s stomach felt queasy at the thought of Team Rocket. The evil organization had been dissolved for over a decade, though there were always rumors flying around that they would make a comeback. Mr. Fuji had all but confirmed that Team Rocket was responsible for funding the creation of Mewtwo – a Pokemon strong enough to be used as the ultimate weapon.
Her thoughts then drifted to Mewtwo. What kind of life had the Pokemon led, having been created to be used as a weapon? It must have grown to hate humans, Tia thought, and would want nothing to do with us. The thought of it made her sad.
Aidan’s shout from the other side of the room startled Tia out of her thoughts.
“I think I’ve found something,” Aidan called out. He held a sheaf of papers in one hand, and a flashlight in the other. Blaze stood nearby, lighting the area further with his tail.
Tia looked down at Summer, who was walking beside her with her neck flames ignited, and they rushed over.
“Look at this,” Aidan said, handing the stack of papers to Tia. “It looks like a diary or journal of some kind. Maybe it’s Mr. Fuji’s notes!”
Tia flipped through the papers and focused her flashlight on one of the journal entries.
“July 5,” she read, “We discovered a new Pokemon deep in the jungle. We christened the newly discovered Pokemon ‘Mew’.”
She flipped through a few more pages, showing ancient carvings and drawings of Mew, analysis of the Mew fossils, and descriptions of advanced genetics research. Then she came to another journal entry.
“Feb. 6: We obtained a new Pokemon from Mew. We have named this new Pokemon ‘Mewtwo’.”
The entry was followed by more analysis, records of Mewtwo’s growth and development, then one final journal entry. The last pages were tattered and scorched, as if they had survived a fire.
“Sept. 1: Mewtwo is far too powerful. We have failed to curb its vicious tendencies…”
The entry ended with one final line, hastily scribbled.
“It’s no use... We cannot control it!”
The last line sent chills up Tia’s spine. Her hands shook as she handed the papers back to Aidan.
“There’s more,” Aidan said. He turned and walked toward a large, darkened doorway. Tia and their Pokemon followed. As they stepped inside, the flames lit up a massive, metal-walled room, filled with numerous machines and giant glass columns. Scorch marks on the walls and several of the machines implied that a fire or explosion had occurred. The glass columns, cracked and broken, looked as if they had once contained liquid.
“This must be…” Tia whispered, “… the lab Mewtwo was created in.”
They were drawn to one glass column in particular. Larger than any of the others, it was connected to several machines via a series of long tubes. The column was completely shattered, implying that whatever had been contained within had escaped.
Escaped…
Tia shivered, quickly looking behind her and seeing nothing but the open doorway to the lab. Aidan took her hand and held it tightly.
“Don’t worry,” he said, “Mewtwo hasn’t been sighted here since this place went to ruins.”
Tia swallowed. “Let’s get out of here anyway,” she said faintly, “This place gives me the creeps.”
Aidan nodded. “I agree.”
They were both quiet on their way back to the Cinnabar Pokemon Center. Surrounded by empty seats and no one but the on-duty Nurse Joy for company, Tia and Aidan brooded on what they had seen in the ruined mansion.
“Some part of me feels like we shouldn’t continue on,” Tia said softly. “Sure, we’ve come so far and gotten so close to Mewtwo already, but… somehow I feel like we’re getting in over our heads.”
“Same here,” Aidan replied, “The condition of that lab… and what the scientists said in those eyewitness accounts… people have gotten hurt and even killed, while bringing Mewtwo to life.”
Tia was silent for a few moments. Aidan reached over and held her hands.
“It’s your call,” he said, staring into Tia’s eyes. “We can abandon our search for Mewtwo right now and look for another Legendary Pokemon, or we can keep searching.”
Tia let out a deep breath. “If we stop looking for Mewtwo now,” she began, “we risk someone else finding Mewtwo and getting hurt. Now that we know how powerful Mewtwo is, we should at least try to find it and face it.” She looked up at Aidan and tightened her hands around his.
“Let’s continue on.”