Pokémar Episode V, A Clone's Destiny

Secrets and Clues

"Who's the new guy, Alex?" Jackson asks as we get into the car.

"They call themselves Mewtwo," I reply. "We saw each other when Thunder, Growlithe and I escaped, but seems they returned much like us."

"What for?"

"Answers about their past. Seems they've got amnesia to some degree. And considering how closely our goals align and that we're not enemies I decided to offer them a chance to work with us on this."

"You are a friend?" Mewtwo asks Jackson bluntly and suddenly.

"Uh... Yeah. Yeah, we're friends. I know Alex." He replies, clearly taken aback for a fraction of a second.

"Good. Then you shall live." A brief, but uncomfortable silence hangs in the air following Mewtwo's words. I'm beginning to question my decision to bring them along.

"...So how about the facility?" Jackson says, breaking the silence. "Did you find anything inside?"

"Not a lot," I reply. "They burned it down so most evidence was lost. All we found was a flash drive." I pull it out to show him. The dented aluminum body is the most glaring signs of damage, but considering I can't hear any loose chunks of electronics rattling about in it I'm not super worried about damage. Jackson gently shakes it, likely thinking the same thing. "Assuming it's not encrypted this will be a boon for us."

"We can hope." He glances at Mewtwo again. "We could also get you scanned by our Pokedex. See if there's anything we can glean from that."

"Pokedex?" I ask.

"Did I forget to show you that? My bad. I'll give you the rundown when we get back. Which reminds me. Do we have a plan on where our new friend is staying?"

"We we're hoping you'd have an idea."

"Can we trust he'll be safe around Josh and the others?"

"If causing these people no harm is conditional to my having somewhere secure to rest, I will comply." They say flatly. Jackson looks to me as if to ask whether or not their word can be trusted. All I can do is shrug. We literally met just hours ago. There's no way I could vouch for them.

"Fine. But one sign of trouble and you're going to have to find your own place."

"Understood."

Good. Things seem to be working out. At least for now. If we're lucky Mewtwo will be able to remember some things and give us insight into Team Rocket's plans. The sooner we dismantle their plans for Pokemar, the safer everyone will be.

>>>>>>>>>>

"Welcome back, guys!" Josh says as we walk in the door. "Did your trip go well?"

"Yeah, I think so." I answer. I step aside to let the others in.

Josh's eyes lock on Mewtwo the moment they step inside. "Woah! I've never seen a pokemon like that before! It look super cool! What kind is it?"

"We don't know." Jackson replies. "We're hoping to find out. Mind grabbing your pokedex?"

"Okay! I'll be right back!" Josh excitedly dashes off down the hall and out of sight. Jackson turns his attention to me.

"Alright. Pokedex. It's a sort of multitool. Mostly it's used as a scanner and database to identify pokemon one finds out and about. Trainers also use it to monitor the health of their pokemon. It's also got a map, notepad, and other things you can download."

"Sounds a lot like a smartphone."

"Similar, but not quite. A dex is far more specialized and robust, designed to be used while out in the wild. You can't break one by dropping it, for starters."

"Ah. I got it."

"He seems excitable." Mewtwo comments, off topic from our discussion.

"That he is." Jackson replies. "It's all part of growing up. I do miss those days, honestly. No responsibilities no troubles, just a sense of wonder at all the secrets the world."

"I think we all can agree to that." I add. There is certainly a magic that is lost with maturity. A sense of wonder, like he said. For some that flame dies out without a way to reignite. For others there's the spark of curiosity and adventurous spirit. Something I've seen plenty of on Pokemar. While it's nothing but embers compared to the sheer energy of the flame during it's heyday. But it's nice to know that it will never die completely. Especially not back home.

Josh emerges from the hall with a red device in hand, the pokedex, presumably. The device looks uncannily like an old handheld game console, complete with a d-pad and face buttons. An odd design choice, for sure.

He raises it up, keeping the backside pointed at Mewtwo who, for his part, stands there without much fuss. "Alright. Let's see here..." He waits a few seconds as the dex finishes its scan, letting off a soft, three-tone chirp to announce its completion. Josh's excitement quickly turns to puzzlement as he looks over the results. "'This pokemon does not appear in the database.' I've never seen that come up before."

"So there's no record of their species?" I ask.

"No. That means-" He perks up as if making a realization. "-it means that we found a brand new pokemon! One no one has ever seen! This is awesome!" He works the controls for a moment, the pokedex punctuating every button press with sounds that once more make me think of a video game system. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if it could play games. "I'll make a new entry quick for them. What should we call it?"

"From what I know so far, I think Mewtwo is a good name." I say.

"Mewtwo it is then." He aims the dex at Mewtwo again. "Just gotta take a few more scans to fill out the entry." I wonder if the data, whatever that may be, from these scans will shed some light on our friend's mystery.

"Alright. While you do that I'm going to take care of something myself. See ya in a bit." I head into the office room and boot up the computer. I riffle through my pack and dig out the flash drive and insert it into a port. Thunder climbs up on to the desk just as the desktop flashes into being on the screen. The notification informing me of the flash drive pops up and I'm quick to select it. A window pops up, revealing several folders. Most of them are named with error codes or "corrupted file." What is still intact written using a shorthand I do not recognize. 

"What are we looking at, Alex? Is it anything good?" Thunder asks.

"Well I can read it, so it's not encrypted. But I guess it got damaged worse than I expected. Not sure if we'll find anything usable." I start searching through what is available, constantly hitting dead ends of corrupted files and folders. Most of what I find in illegible or inaccessible. At this rate we may not find anything worthwhile. "I hope Josh and Jackson are having better luck..."

"Alex?" Jackson calls from the door way, concern etched into his face. "I think we may be in trouble."

I feel a pang of anxiety. "Why? What's wrong?"

"It's Rocket. I just saw on the news that they've been seen in Rustboro City. A lot of them. It looks like they're trying to take over the city."