Mantis sat across from me in the cafe that Lavender Town sported. After an emergancy trip to the pokecenter for my newly aquired Charmander, plus a trip to teh store for more pokeballs, we were all tired out and ready for lunch. Josh's words still spun around in my mind, they were hard things to shake. A guardian he'd called himself. How did he know what he was?

More importantly, how did i know who i was?

All four of my pokemon were out and sitting next to me in the booth, and while Jabba and Josh both had names, Rattata and Drowsee didn't. Mantis had been quick about nicknameing her pokemon, they were all in a military fasion. Abra was Commander A, Gastly was Sniper, Hypno was Infantry and Clefairy and Jigglypuff were Field Operatives C and F. It seemed to suit her training methods, which were full of salutes and feirce fighting. Even for Jigglypuff.

Finally i just gave in to my frustration and banged the table, making all the plates jump, and Rattata's lunch of rice patties fly onto Drowsee's head. "I can't think of any more nicknames!" I screamed aloud. A few people turned to stare at me.

Mantis wasn't eating, her nose burried in a newspaper with headlines about Team Rocket causeing trouble with the Pallet Dam and the new (or rather post-new seeing as it'd been blown sky-high) pokecenter. I wondered how i kept missing these people. They were everywhere! Mantis said it all had to do with timing, which i didn't have. She looked over the rim of her paper at me. "You'll think of something," she informed me.

I sat back in my seat and began to contemplate the logic in re-naming all my pokemon "Self" again when the loudspeaker over-head buzzed. At first we didn't pay much attention, but after the second sentance we were all ears.

"Attention! Attention: the pokemon lab on Cinnibar Island has been destroyed! While it was not as badly damaged as the ajoining manor where the researchers stayed, all but three rooms were leveled. Casualties are high. Eye-witnesses report the destruction was brought on by a top-secret pokemon experiment named Mew-two. No further information is available at this time, although the local gym leader has locked his gym tightly and will allow no-one to enter. Anyone planning on taking the sea route to Pallet through Cinnibar, please avoid doing so."

Mantis dropped her paper and stared at me, wide-eyed. "I told them so."

"Mewtwo? Why would Mewtwo do that?"

Mantis shook her head and started to get up, neglecting to leave a tip. I called all my pokemon back and clipped them to my belt. "Mewtwo just wanted to be left alone. She was somewhat freaky, and way too smart for her own good. They didn't give her any space. So she leveled them."

"Whoa." I couldn't help but imagine if i'd had that kind of power how many buildings would be dust by now. It was kinda scary.

"Yeah," Mantis growled, folding her paper and heading out the door. I followed her to where she stood outside, looking skyward and testing the air. "Hang on to your pokemon, Soshi. We're going back home."

As the Teleport started, i still wasn't sure what was going on. "Why? What are we going there for? I thought we ran away so they wouldn't sell you. Have you flipped your lid, Manti-sama?"

Shaking her head, my sib explained farther. "We need to go to talk to Mewtwo. There's no end to the amount of power she has, she could easily level the entire world as we know it. I don't think she will though, she's not psycotic."

The Teleport itched around me, on my arms and wrists and behind my ears. I didn't know why this was, it might have just been a side effect like my getting headaches whenever Mantis or anyone else used psy-powers. "Then why are we even bothering to go? Don't tell me you're feeling nestoulgic."

Mantis gritted her teeth, scowling. "Far from it. It's just that Mewtwo doesn't like humans, doesn't respect them. I don't blame her there either, but the point is she might devistate whole towns on a whim, for no real reason. We need to try to talk sense into her."

"Do you think we can?" I was skeptical.

My sib shrugged. "It's only right that we try."

The weirdness that was Teleport disipated and left us standing on a beach, but it wasn't Cinnibar's beach. Mantis levetated into the air above me. "I'm going on ahead. That way i can come back and we'll both be better prepared for the situation. Start swimming. When i come back, I'll Teleport you the rest of the way."

"What happens if you're a long while getting back?"

Mantis waved and grinned. "Don't worry about it. I've grown a few levels since we left Cinnibar. I'll be able to take Mewtwo is she attacks."

Without any further conversation, my sibling Teleported away, and left me standing on the beach, again. At least this time, i thought, i'll know not to get caught by Jenny. Plungeing into the water, pack, pokemon and all, i struck out towards the lab.

Part 21->Major Sibling Rivalry!!

I'd been swimming for maybe a half an hour when the distress cry hit me. I flailed a minute, not recogniseing it, but then i realized it was a telepathic cry. Mantis was in trouble, i knew it. Something deep inside me, like from my kneecaps, knew it. I tried swimming faster, but it only tired me out. The weight of my Pokemon and the few Element stones we had left was weighing me down.

"This is getting no-where fast," i muttered, getting ready to loose the entire pack. Of course, then the idea hit me like a thunderbolt from a super-charged Raichu. Not bothering with the zipper, i just ripped the pack apart with my claws, dumping two moonstones into my pockets and catching a waterstone, i let the others sink underwater. "Alright, Self," I growled. "Let's do some mutateing."

For a minute nothing happened, and i started wondering if maybe i wasn't affected by Waterstones. That was right before the water seemingly exploded around me. I'm not quite sure why that occured, but it felt for quite a long while like i was drowning. Water was rushing in my throat and ears and eyes, cutting off the outside world completely. I felt like i was dead.

When reality peeked through the water again, i was totally changed. I had scales instead of fur, and under my arms were fins the size of wings, though i knew there was no way i could fly with them. I felt sleeker, more streamlined, and totally in my element. I felt increadably passive, but at the same time i knew i would soon have to fight.

I dove underwater and swam. The speed with which this new form moved was increadable! I felt like i was skimming water, it rushed around and over me but i never disrupted it. It was as if before i'd been as clumsy and lumbering in the water as a Tauros, and now i knew exactly how to move to gain speed!

Of course it was over all too soon. I reached Cinnibar island adn paddled around towards the lab, but even out at sea i could feel something was wrong. The air was tenser, smelled strange and the water wasn't normal. i streaked towards the lab quicker now, i wanted to get out of this weird water.

What the lab used to be and where the Manor used to stand was now just one big black hole in the ground. Smoke tendrels still drifted from the charred crater, the damage was so fresh. I hauled myself out of the water, my form awkward on land, and ran towards the crater.

When i reached it i saw two things right away. Mantis had lost an arm and was bleeding badly, and Mewtwo seemed mostly unharmed. Mantis clutched the socket where her arm used to be and looked at me, winceing.

"Get out of here," she gasped. "Mewtwo's way more powerful then even i figured.."

Mewtwo let loose with a psy-attack i'd never seen before that sent my sibling flying backwards, slamming her head against a rock. Mewtwo turned to me. "Who're you?" she demanded.

It took me a moment to realize that Mewtwo had never seen my water state. I set my feet/flippers apart on the ground and stood with my hands on my hips. "I'm the person standing up where Mantis fell," I told her. Reaching into my pocket, i pulled out one moonstone and held it in my hand, feeling my body shift back for use on land. Mewtwo watched in amazement. "I'm the greatest pokemon trainer ever created, Mewtwo," I went on. "I'm Soshika."

Mewtwo broke down in laughter. "YOU again? HA! I beat you when i was just born, you think you're any match for me now? Don't be stupid!"

I chose to ignore her, stepping into a ready stance. I was planning on fighting, even if i did loose.

The renegade pokemon growled, so i growled back. "Do you really want a fight?" She snarled, her very words bringing on a headache. I knew she was packing some powerful psy-powers. "Then you best be ready to loose! HA!"

The blast Mewtwo sent out could have wrecked a whole city block, and i knew that even if i did dodge it, anything it hit would be sent flying in my direction. Still, i jumped to the side trying to flee the blast. It caught my legs though, and sent me spinning. I landed hard on my stomach with the air knocked out of me, my limbs whimpering in pain. I can't keep this up, i thought.

Dragging myself up, I screeched, putting on speed to build up to a quick attack at the same time. Mewtwo waved the screech away as if it were nothing, shooting up into the air so even my quick attack missed entirely. From up in the air, she looked down and grinned demonicly at me, ground bound, and laughed. "Cute," she snickered, lifting a single finger that levetated a rock roughly the size of the S.S. Anna and directed it streight at me. I ran.

The rock shattered on the ground nearby and struck me, ripping into my shirt adn shoulder. Blood rushed from teh wound, and i shrieked, but it didn't do me any good. Mewtwo just chuckled. "I've had enough of these games," she snarled, placeing her hands together like she was ready to catch something. Light entered and condensed in her hands, adn she sent the beam of psy-waves straight at me.

I tried to dodge but i was too slow. The beam sent me back violently, strikeing me against the side of the crater and resulting in a snap noise which, from the pain there, had to be a few ribs cracking. I tried to cry out, but there wasn't much i could do. I'd never been in a battle like this, i'd never been really injured, just ached a little later on! Mewtwo was playing very rough, and i knew that was all she was doing. Playing. Winceing against the psy-beam holding me in place, i glanced at Mantis, who strugled to stand where she had fallen. Blood streaked from her arm socket down her side, and her right hand was entirely red with her own blood. This is bad, i though, crigeing.

The psy-beam relented a moment and i crashed to the ground hard, clutching my ribs and trying not to vomit. Mewtwo wasn't done yet, no way. I'd barely been on the ground a minute when a blast of Psywave hit me, sending me backwards screaming. I forgot my ribs and grabbed my head, wailing. So far as i knew, i was still screaming when i passed out.

Part 22->The not-so-final battle

"Soshika?"

Through my stream of uncociousness, i heard Josh before i saw him. He approuched me out of the gray mist that seemed to fill my mind. I was shakeing, shivering, still injured even in my mind. I could see him, but i sat huddled over, unable to move. He reached out a hand to me, which i struggled to take.

Before i could recall my hand in pain, Josh grabbed it and yanked me to my feet. "You're not injured here," he told me. "This is your mind, you do what you want."

Even as he spoke, pain vacated my legs adn ribs and head, leaveing me renewed and healed. "Thank you," i whispered.

"You're fighting something way too strong for you," Josh told me, holding the sides of my arms so i was only a few feet away from him. Unlike before, his hands weren't cold this time. "You can't beat Mewtwo in your current state. You have to change."

"Change?" His eyes were still dark and shifting, but they drew me in. "How can i change?"

He shook his head. "All i know is what i know, and that's that you have to change."

"But-"

"When this is all over, you'll be changed for good. You won't ever be the same, Soshi." He drew me somewhat closer, my mind raceing.

"You mean change my frame of mind, don't you?" I whispered. "I believe i'm not strong enough, so i'm not. I need to change my perspective is-"

Josh kissed me softly on the lips, an action which i fell into, victem of the moment. When we were released by time, Josh smiled at me. "I'll be waiting for you in the end, Soshi," he told me.

Then, back into the mists he vanished again. Just like that. But now at least he'd left me hope.

Back in my conciousness, i awoke suddenly. My eyes shot open and the pain flooded back, but i put it elsewhere. I climbed to my feet and glared at Mewtwo with a grin that you only get when you know something they don't.

"You're quite stubborn," Mewtwo observed. "Very annoying, somewhat like a Zubat. Don't you realize you loose?"

"Not yet," my hand moved slowly into my pocket, but i kept my gaze locked with Mewtwo.

"A real pain," she went on. "When i destroy all the Human towns, you'll be the one standing at the gates to waste my time, won't you?"

"You damn well better beleive it." I had the moonstone just under my fingers now.

"In that case i think i'll blast you once and for all. It'll be real nice to watch you snap apart bone by bone." Mewtwo grinned and crossed her arms in a charge-up i'd seen Mantis use countless times, ready for a simple but extremely effective Psychic attack. She let it blast out at me with a force that reft the very ground apart where it passed, and would surely rip me to peices.

But this time i dodged and made it. I rolled ont he ground once, jumped up and clutched the Moonstone in my hand. Silver light spilled from teh stone down my body and across the ground, out towards Mantis. The light lifted us up, chargeing us, healing us. It reached across our personalities and forms adn spanned them, making what years of genetic reserach only wished for. We were one. We were the same.

"What the hell is this?!" Mewtwo roared, sending another psychic blast into the silver light. It simply passed through us.

"We are Mewtwin," Mantis told Mewtwo. The light around us charged outward and struck Mewtwo in teh chest, sending her backwards harshly. Mewtwo caught herself though, and set up a barrier, returning with a Swift attack.

I caught the Swift in one hand. It ripped through me with increadable force, but i just channeled it into the light. The power level surged.

Mewtwo started to charge up all the power she had left into one attack that would kill us quite effectively, which we knew. We returned the charge with one of our own. Energy radiated from teh crater in frightening amounts, and none of us cared to stop it.

Mewtwo was snarling, her body glowing with a redish light that flowed like a force field. "You can't take me out," she laughed. "There's not a person on this earth that can beat me. You're good though, i'll give you that."

"You know you're going to loose," i told her. "Why dont' you just give in? we're never going to let you win."

"Yeah, in your dreams! KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGH!!" Mewtwo's pent up energy raged towards us like a fright train.

"AYIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!" Mantis and I screamed in unison, releaseing our energy back out at Mewtwo. The blasts hit, and the area was momentaraly lit up in a blast of fire that encompased the entire island. Anything living was thrown into the ocean, and anything that couldn't be moved was burned down. The shockwaves cause homes in Pallet and Vermilon to crumble, and sent tsunamis ravageing the beachfront towns. Almost everything was devistated, and the blast was visable from as far away as Mt. Moon.

When the fire cleared, we were all still standing. Mewtwo's breath was ragged adn she was injured badly, her energy almost entirely gone. Mantis and I were injured badly as well, and the silver light was disipateing, but what little there was kept us alive. One hit from either and the other side would be dead. The question was, was either one of use willing to risk in case the other shot back at the same time or dodged or we missed? We hung in the air, glareing at one another.

A click from behind me and then all around cause us to look. People were coming from the edge of the crater, standing on the lip with pokeballs in their hands, each one of them watching Mewtwo. Seeing her perdicament, Mewtwo shot higher into the sky, out of pokeball range.

"This isn't over! I'll be back for you at some point." Grinning, Mewtwo began to Teleport, her last words to us being. "Next time i'll know not to play around."

As soon as she was gone, the Silver light dropped us, and my sib and i hit the ground harshly, unable to move, our injuries catching up with us. We won, i thought at Mantis.

Just the battle, she replied sullenly, Not the war. Not yet.

Part 23->Team Rocket&so-on.

When i started to come too, the first thing i saw was a guy and a Raichu that was absurdly huge leaning over me. Seeing i was moving, the guy called back over his shoulder.

"She's coming around!" He called over his shoulder. "Daemon, we need some of that hyper potion over here!"

The guy named Daemon came running from where Mantis had fallen and handed the guy leaning over me the potion. The guy sprayed it on my face and shoulder, also on my ribs and legs too. I growled and yelped aloud, the stuff stung badly, but as the pain started to fade and my strength returned, i decided to be more coherent. "Thanks," i told him, sitting up. Looking around me, i saw that they were all wearing abou the same uniform. That is, white with black boots and a big red "R" on their shirts. Here and there there were things that diferentiated the uniforms, like lab coats or necklaces or even in one rather odd case, a penguin mask.

Mantis too, was sitting up and looked around at our rescuers with a pretty confused expresion on her face. "Who are you guys?"

Some guy with really white hair looked to a fairly normal looking fella who seemed to know what he was doing. "She asked...."

The normal looking guy nodded and grinned. "Oh yes, she did do that, didn't she?"

"Let's inform them, guys!" Yelled a shortish girl in a lab coat.

Hawk kicked the dust and looked upset. "Damn...i was hoping you'd blow more stuff up."

I found my voice and asked the stupid question of :"You guys are Team Rocket?"

Raizap thundershocked me for being stupid, which Stryker kinda but not really berated her for. "You were expecting someone else?" Kat asked.

No, i reasoned with myself, of course we weren't. We weren't expecting anyone. We were expecting to commit Karma Kasia right there so that Mewtwo couldn't cause any more damage. But here, these guys had showed up and probobly saved our skins. So why, then, was i upset? Why was i so disapointed? What did i expect, that a ghost would be traveling with them? Not likely, i told myself. I still wished Josh was there though. Perhaps another time, i thought.

"How did you know we were here?" Mantis asked, now on her feet and nurseing where her arm had vanished from. Breeder Girl seemed to be taking an unusual amount of intrest in Mantis, but was also casting a few glances in my direction too. I guessed she'd never seen a half-pokemon half-person before.

"Well," Blackskunk explained to her and me. "It was all B.G.'s idea, really. She'd wanted to examine Mewtwo. Oak and Hawk went with her to see the devistation. The rest of us, uh..."

"The rest of us are following Gionovii's orders to contain the menace that Mewtwo presented to the people of the world. You two handled that very well." GP grinned at me in a way that scared me. I ran and hid behind Raizap, who thundershocked everyone in teh general vacinity.

"Rai Rai Raichu RAI!!" she screamed at me, basicly telling me to never sneak up on a Raichu. Not that i could have replied, most everyone includeing me seemed zapped pretty well, except for Mantis who'd used her tail as a ground. I wanted to bite her, but the best i could do was twitch angrily.

Part 24->Epiloge&open endings!

We were asked to join Team Rocket, Mantis and I. Actually that's not true because i was actually the one who did the asking, and with a little help from Stryker, we got in.

It turned out that Breeder Girl was just examineing Mantis's DNA in an effort to better understand Mew. Personally i found her lab really creepy, some of the things she had in there were totally psycotic. I mean worse then Mewtwo was. But, thanks to the genetic sample from Mantis, she's been happily spliceing and diceing away since then. Also, she examined my DNA too. Found out that the Moon Stone was the only stone that perminantly affected me, raiseing my power level up even if it didn't exactly "Evolve" me.

For the most part Team Rocket is great, except for the constant threat (haha! Threat! That's a joke, really it is.) from Team Fury, a group of renegades who are trying to shut us down. 007 or "Bob" the informant and master of disguise has been gathering us a lot of information on them.

Dr. Oak scares me still. His lab is almost always explodeing, thanks to his greatest triumph ever, the Self Destruct TM that can be taught to any pokemon. Course i never go in there. Do you know how many CHANSEYS that man has???? It makes you wonder where he came from....

Hawk put a Firestone under my pillow the other day which resulted in a large fiasco with Hellcat, includeing a small portion of Gionovii's office being burnt down. Mantis covered my tail and blamed it on a renegade stark-raving mad Vulpix, to which the boss replied "hmm...never did like Fire pokemon much!" Of course Hawk found the whole event fantastic, and he wasn't much alone. Blackskunk AND Oak AND GP all thought it pretty neat too. I have taken to wearing gloves to prevent my picking up any Firestones disguised as paperweights, coffee cups, sandwiches, ect.

GP has been driving me insane, asking me to marry him. If i have to reply "no" one more time, I'm going to LET Hellcat torch him. Raizap, the only pokemon i can come close to understanding, informed me to just ignore it as he has been asking everyone to marry him recently. I suggested he get a Meowth. This did not go over well.

In the end i did rename all of my pokemon "Self," which has resulted in several strange matches in which all my pokemon bumble to get into the ring when i only called for one. Or myself, for that matter. The Refs have come to dread watching my matches.

And Mewtwo...Mewtwo is still out there, though we don't know where. She's waiting until she can lash out at us again. She'll be harder to beat next time. But Mantis and i will be ready. Strangely, after the battle with Mewtwo had ended and the ruins of the mansion and labs were searched, there was no sign of Mew. In fact, while several other charred carcasses were found in the lab, of Mew there was neither hide nor hair. What happened to her we can only speculate...

Josh is out there, waiting for me, i know. Someday i will find him again. I have seen him in my dreams, but i believe that until Mewtwo is entirely vanquished, i will not be able to see him in the flesh (well, not really flesh. He's a ghost and all...) again. Perhaps that means in the final battle with Mewtwo it will finalize my life. No one is sure. I'll just have to wait and see....