Pokémar Episode V, A Clone's Destiny

Spark of Emotion

When we arrive back at the arena the tournament is already in full swing. The trainers who lost their teams likely couldn't compete and were disqualified. Probably too late to change that, but we can at least reunite them with their companions.

We find one of them sitting at a table a ways from the competition, looking depressed. I don't exactly blame him.

"Hey!" I call out as I approach. He faces me for a moment before getting up and rushing towards me with hope and fear in his eyes.

"Did you find them? Are they hurt?" He asks cautiously.

I respond with a smile. "We found them. Safe and sound." I open the back and show him the collection of pokeballs. "You know which ones they are, right?

He stares for a moment at the bag. And in an instant elation floods over him as he quickly grabs half a dozen balls and releases the pokemon inside. "I never thought I would see you guys again... I am so sorry I gave you up so easily. I really mean that. You all are so loyal to me. You deserve better than that."

"You're upset about needing to give us away, aren't you?" A Kirlia replies in pokespeak. "It's okay. We're not leaving you."

"They haven't left you, so I think they've forgiven you." I say.

The trainer turns to me. "Thank you so, so much. I owe you so much."

"Just doing what I can. Guessing you were disqualified?"

"I really don't care about that right now. I'm just glad everyone is safe."

"Be sure to deliver the rest of these to the other trainer that was there. I assume you know them?"

"Yeah. Brendan's a good friend of mine. I'll be sure his pokemon get back to him. That you so much. " He takes the bag from me and starts returning the pokemon to their balls. "Can I get a name before I go?"

"Call me Alex."

"Hilbert. Thanks again." He turns to leave with bag and pokeballs in tow. With everything taken care of we walk to the bleachers and take a seat next to Jackson and Josh to watch the remainder of the battles.

"Everything go well?" Jackson whispers to us.

"Very." I reply. "We freed everyone and got ahold of some suspicious devices. We can check them when we get back. For now, let's enjoy the event."

"Sounds good."

Mewtwo, I say telepathically through the link. You can head back home if you'd like. We'll meet back up with you later.

Before I do I have a question. When you rescued the pokemon from the camp, did you... feel... anything? That's an odd question coming from them.

What sort of "feel?" Like emotions?

Yes, emotions. Did the act elicit any sort of emotion?

I mean, yeah. Seeing all that work and effort result in someone reaching safety feels good. It's satisfying. Seeing their gratitude, relief and joy makes all the hardship worth it in the end. Why?

I believe I felt something similar to what you described when we rescued those pokemon. It feels alien to me. But... I want more.

A smile creeps over my face. Well then I'll see to it you have a chance to be involved next time we do something like this.

Why not simply create a situation where we would be in a position to save people? Would that not be more efficient? And just as quickly as my smile appeared, it vanishes.