Life is Wonderful

"I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant. It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are."

That is what I had said after that battle.

That is what I thought I had learned.

But as I roamed the wilderness with the Pokémon that I had cloned, it had quickly come to my realization that I knew not what to do. I still did not have a purpose of my own, something to thrive for. Nor did I know where to find this drive.

As we roamed the Earth, however, each of the other cloned Pokémon seemed to have their preference for the different terrain we had come across.

I have realized that despite being cloned, each of them inherently felt more comfortable in their natural habitats, a home where they belong, if you will.

Since I gave them life, I felt it was my responsibility to take each and every one of them to where they felt most at home. It was a fantastic journey for sure. When we all watched as our Rhyhorn was taken in by the wild herd of Rhyhorns in the grasslands, it was evident that Pokémon did not discriminate from whence the other came. Cloned or born, it was inconsequential. A question that did not even exist in their minds.

Vulpix made its own little den in the deserts, Gyarados went on its way out in the open sea. Dewgong found an orphaned crew of Seels in the Arctic that it wanted to protect. And while out there in the cold icelands, Vaporeon found an unlikely mate in a wild Glaceon we had come across.

Little by little, I took them all to where they wanted to be. Where they could be themselves and know that it was there that they belonged. And little by little, our group grew smaller.

At the end of that journey, it was just Mew and I watching from afar as our Meowth was adopted by a human child.

"Can I keep him, pretty please!" She had implored to her parents so earnestly that they could not help but give in.

We watched for a few days, being convinced ourselves without a doubt, that Meowth would be loved and be happy with that family.

Mew then asked me what I was going to do next.

A question to which I had no answer for. Each of these Pokémon that I had cloned went back to the natural habitats of the original ones. I, however, was cloned from the one who had posed the question. And yet, as I looked upon Mew, we looked nothing alike. We behaved very differently, but more importantly, I knew nothing about it or where its natural habitat even was.

Perhaps sensing my thoughts, Mew offered to take me to where it belonged. And so, I went along. After all, I was not preoccupied with anything else nor did I have any idea on what else I could do.

Mew took me to the base of a mountain in a forest. There, we came to a stop by a lake, its waters so blue that I wondered if it was somehow artificial. Mew told me that deep in that lake was where it slumbered until something with great power would awaken it once again.

But as I looked around, nothing felt familiar. Nothing felt comfortable. This was Mew's home, but it was not mine. I did not want to go into slumber, I wanted to live. Life, after all, was supposed to be wonderful.

Mew told me that it was going to go to sleep either way and that I could wake it, if necessary.

So finally, I was alone.

Again.

Because after all, I was not just a clone.

I was altered, enhanced, changed. And because of that, I had no home, I did not belong.

Loneliness, anger and sadness returned and soon, the desire to level the entire world.

Surely, this was not my destiny.

"Life is wonderful." I heard myself say as I suddenly had a flashback of a little girl telling me this very message before she too left me.

What was this memory? I was not sure, but I had felt these same emotions back then as well.

Amber. Amber was her name, but who was she?

Slowly, I started to remember. Amber was the first human I had ever met. She had taken me and shown me a human neighborhood. She had called it her remember place. She had said it was where she used to live.

Maybe this human place is where I belong. After all, humans made me.

And though the ones that made me were not good humans, I certainly knew of one that was.

Ash Ketchum, the others called him. He was the young man who stopped the fight, sacrificing himself to show us, to show me, that we were all equal. None of the other humans present there did anything once they realized how powerless they were, but not him.

Surely, if went to the place he was raised in I would meet other good humans and maybe then I also could belong.

I scoured my mind, back to when I had tapped into his mind to erase his memory.

Pallet Town.

Pallet Town was where he had come from, and it was there that I would go.

Arriving there, I disguised myself to be able to walk around without alarming anyone. I followed Ash's memories, to find the house he had grown up in. To my surprise, it was remote from the rest of the village. Had his family been shunned, were they humans that also did not belong anywhere?

But as I looked into his house, my eyes met those of a woman. Through Ash's memories I knew that this was his mother, the one from whom he was born. A parental figure. Something I never had.

At first I panicked as I expected her to be scared or to try and capture me like all other humans had before. But she greeted me with kindness, opened her home to not only a stranger, but to a Pokémon. She offered me food with a smile on her face.

I will admit, I was taken aback.

Offering sustenance to a stranger. Is there any greater generosity? Any greater kindness? I soon discovered that there was.

She took me with her wherever she went and taught me many things. She taught me how to plant and care for certain vegetables. She told me that caring for another life can teach us many things about the world and ourselves.

We also went to the local market and she taught me how to pick the best fruits and other food that we could not grow in a backyard. She was always so friendly with the other people she came across, teaching me that a sense of community can be a beautiful thing.

She taught me how to cook, showing me that the care and love you put into things can transform something normal into something amazing. Showing me also that just because something is necessary, such as sustenance, it does not mean that we cannot make it delectable and delightful. There were always little joys to have in life.

She then took me on a picnic to the mountains. She showed me that good weather and good company can improve any mood and lighten any mental burden. She taught me that a day of rest was good for one's mind and soul.

Soul. What a concept, was it not? Was it a mental construct built by society? Or if it was real, could a being that was not born into this world like me have such a thing as a soul? It was impossible to be sure. But this human, this beautiful human, made me want to hope so.

And ultimately, she taught me love. I came to know what it was to love someone wholeheartedly, but more unexpectedly, I came to know what it was to feel loved.

Despite that, I still did not know in my mind if this is where I belong. There is a part of me that wonders whether she would still love me the same should she see my true form, the same form that struck fear into so many others before. Still, I am certain that this is where I want to belong.

And so, I will stay by your side, Delia Ketchum. Go wherever you go, help in any way I can. I will love you the best that I can, until my mind catches up to my heart, and I completely realize that you will love me even if I shed this disguise and show you my true self. Because I know it in my heart that beside you is where I want to be.

But until then, I will always be your Mr. Mime. Because life is still wonderful the way it is.