Once it was the strongest, but now lay huddled up in a corner of the cave, body shuddering, a harsh filled breath came from it as it tried to move, but it only managed to move one leg before it let out a howl of pain and collapsed on it's stomach, then slowly and painfully, tried to drag itself along the ground, ignoring the sunlight streaming through the opening which created more pain.

The only thought on it's mind was water, it burned with fever and a raging thirst even overwhelmed the pain, eyes closed against the strong sun, it finally made it's way out of the cave, little by little and felt the cool breeze against it's body, it was welcoming against the burning heat radiating from his body.

He did not see the lake, but rather *felt* it, could smell the water, pushing him onwards, until he could reach out and place his hand into the cooling liquid, emitting a sigh of relief, with great difficultly he knelt, placing his cupped hands and gathering water which he leant forward to drink.

Fatigue however, and the sudden rise caused a dizzy feeling and blackness touching the edges of his vision, he fell into the water with a splash...no energy left, he started to sink, now letting the blackness engulf him.

For how long he was sinking he didn't know, but Mewtwo suddenly felt himself coming to awareness. Not awake, but not unconsciousness either, more a half sleep, unable to move his body but able to think. Again, he was alone. He had not seen any of the other Pokemon for days, this in itself was not unusual. Many times he just went to some part of the island and they left him alone, they
understood that their creator, their 'father' in a way, needed time alone. Decisions in the past and for the future were always pressing.

But, more than anything right now, he wanted someone, a friend. When he had touched Nurse Joys mind, and....enslaved her, he felt disgust at the thought. He was no longer evil and did not want to inflict harm on innocent beings. But when he touched her mind, one thing he remembered was a memory, of a small child, ill, looked after by an older figure - mother, the memory told him.

Thoughts and memories swirled around in his mind, he fought them for a time, not understanding why, then gave in, seeing images form in his mind, almost as if he was back in the past.

Then, he remembered the kindness he felt when the Pokemon trainer, Ash was his name, and his friends had helped him, throwing their whole strength against the machines that held him and when they could not stop it, he felt a glimmer, friendship, could it have been. Then he used what had remained of his depleted power and broke free.

Weak, he had fallen, expecting no-one to help him, but hoping, no, a 'feeling' that the young trainer was not like the humans who had created him, pure of heart. He blinked, where had that thought come from, how would he, a cloned Pokemon, not a born Pokemon, know what a pure heart was.

He could not explain it, but somehow he knew the boy could be trusted, and his hope was rewarded as the young trainer took his dead weight on himself and together with his Pokemon, helped Mewtwo up the stone stairs to the pool.

The scientists had protested, he might contaminate the water, were these humans the same, would the trainer obey them, they were elder. But no, he told them that if the water would be for all Pokemon, then he, Mewtwo, was included.

The first time he felt more than a clone, and as the water rejuvenated him, he understood.

Later, after the battle, he had been standing, when the young trainer defied again, this time Mewtwo's own decision to erase the memories, like the last time. Then, he finally put all he had learned, both then and before, into words.

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

Yes, it was true.

Now, as the memories returned, he shivered. Not from fear, that was gone. From the illness ravaging his body. It seemed a sign that he could be a normal Pokemon, even in hiding, all pokemon could get sick.

As he now was.

He had fallen asleep in the cave, that very fact was proof, Mewtwo did not rest often and was never unnaturally tired, he also felt a aching in his limbs which could not be explained as training his powers.

Tired again, he felt the blackness approach, welcoming it.

Mewtwo felt a tug from the waking world, and with a strength taken from desperation, clung to it and felt himself being pulled back from unconsciousness.

Pain tore at his throat and lungs, and with a gasp he coughed, large quantities of water coming from his mouth. Still weak, he opened his eyes slowly, the light invading his vision and he had to blink for a few seconds before the outside world came into focus.

The first thing he saw was the clone Pikachu, it stood at his side, it's tail lay limp on the ground, and the eyes were dull. On seeing Mewtwo awaken however, it uttered a shrill 'pika' and smiled.

Mewtwo felt a small chuckle at the back of his throat, but it turned into another fit of coughing and this lasted for several seconds. When it stopped he shut his eyes again and took stock of the situation.

His body, apart from the burning pain in his throat and lungs, which was now settling into a dull throbbing, felt as if his chest had been hit by something, not outwardly painful however.

Opening his eyes again, he noticed more Pokemon around him, the cloned Blastoise stood behind Mewtwo, he went into another fit of coughing and the Pokemon placed it's huge paws on Mewtwo's shoulders and helped him.

Thankful that unlike the other Pokemon, he could use psychic powers to speak through telepathy, he pushed himself into a sitting position, noticing the worried look on their faces.

*Why?*

The Pikachu clone looked at him, it's eyes reflecting a frightened soul as it answered. 'You're our creator. You were in trouble. We could not let you die.'

Mewtwo understood this, but the next words shocked him, to the core of his very being, more than anything he had heard before.

'You're our father'

Mewtwo's eyes widened. *A father has a biological link to a child, I have none to you*

The clone Pikachu shook it's head. 'A father is someone who cares for their child, a biological link does not matter. You brought us into being, that is true, but you did not have to defend us when
Giovanni came to the island. You almost gave your life to save us when you could have just turned away and left us. You protected us, like a father does to a child. We are a family, despite the many differences'

Mewtwo was shocked into silence. Father, family, these words were not unfamiliar to him, but he had never felt any relation between those words and himself. *Do you all truly think this?*

Every Pokemon nodded.

If they could feel that he was their father, could he, Mewtwo, feel that they were his children?

Eyes closed he was unsure of himself, but opening his eyes, and looking at the group of Pokemon assembled, his decision came in a flash.

*You... You are my family. My children*

Pikachu spoke again. 'When you left, I followed you, I did not come close, but near enough to watch you. I respect your privacy, but like you cared for us to protect us against Giovanni, I sensed something was wrong and despite your power, I felt a desire to follow. When I saw you emerge from the cave I was worried, you were crawling upon the ground, I could see the pain radiating from you and your eyes tightly closed' Pikachu fell silent for a second, ears hanging down, then continued. 'Then... then you fell into the water. I thought for a second that you were just swimming, despite the pain, I was foolish'

Mewtwo shook his head. *You were not.*

'...but then you did not surface, I ran down to the water's surface, diving in. I could see you sinking, far faster than I could swim. I resurfaced...' Pikachu's voice had a tone of desperation in it. 'I didn't know what to do. Then, I saw Blastoise' Pikachu motioned to the huge Pokemon. 'I swam over to him, he listened, then dove down and in a minute, came back up with you. We got back to the shore, some of the other Pokemon, attracted by the noise or who had seen it, were already there. You weren't breathing and....and we didn't know what to do' Pikachu's sad expression then had a small, sad, grin in it. 'So I gave you a thundershock, like the trainer's Pikachu tried doing to him, I hoped it would work - and it did!' Pikachu eyes lit up and it smiled at Mewtwo.

In spite of his exaustion, already claiming to overwhelm him and the new emotions whirling inside him, Mewtwo gave a small grin back. *Thank you. Thank you all. I may have given you life, but your gift to me of the same thing, means more to me than I could ever say*

Noticing the pyschic Pokemon's tiredness and already drooping eyes, Pikachu motioned to Blastoise, who again, picked up Mewtwo and together they headed towards the large cave where Mewtwo usually rested. The other Pokemon tended to make their nests in the wilderness of the island, but Mewtwo liked to have one specific place to rest, where he could also meditate and be alone.

Blastoise walked along, Pikachu perched on his shoulder, Mewtwo in his arms. The psychic pokemon could not resist the comforting feeling and let his exhaustion claim him again and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

Blastoise and Pikachu arrived at the cave where Meowth had been waiting, a bed of leaves and moss had been made and Blastoise gently placed Mewtwo down on it, the pokemon sleeping on.

Pikachu placed his paw on Mewtwo's head, the fever still remained, but was not dangerously high. Rest would fix this, as the allusion of it had probably caused it in the first place, as well as staying outside with no shelter in cold weather and rain. One leaf, soaked in water was placed on the Pokemon's forehead and Pikachu curled up beside the bed, tired himself, and drifted off to sleep.

Darkness, closing around him.

Dark faces.

Giovanni.

Tests.

Experiments.

Hurting.

Hurting innocent Pokemon.

More tests.

More hurting.

PAIN!

Mewtwo awoke, breathing heavily, the nightmare still imprinted heavily on his mind. Pikachu had also awoken and placed a small paw on Mewtwo's arm.

'Are you alright?'

Mewtwo nodded. *Yes*

'What happened? Was it a nightmare?'

Before, Mewtwo would have considered admitting this weak, but now he nodded again, shivering at the memory of it. He couldn't seem to stop shivering however, even after the fear from the nightmare wore off and he wrapped his arms around himself. Pikachu hopped onto the bed, placing his paw on Mewtwo's forehead again. The fever was almost gone now and he ran across the small room which Mewtwo had created with his powers and came back with a blanket, which he then draped across the pokemon who almost asleep again, smiled.

*Thank you*

A week had passed since his near death, but Mewtwo still felt himself thinking about it and the circumstances which had occurred because of it. This was his first time outside the cave since he had been ill. The fever had gone within 2 days, but the weakness and fatigue kept him asleep for most of the next few days. Some periods of sleep had been punctuated by nightmares, but when he awoke, Pikachu or another Pokemon had been there to make sure he was alright.

Even now he felt tired, he had not rested that long in months and his body was still demanding he lay down right now and close his eyes. He did so and just before he fell asleep, he knew that whatever the future brought him, he would not have to face it alone. It seemed as if his nightmares and longing were over.

He was a Pokemon.

A real Pokemon.

More than a clone.

As were his family.

I wrote the beginning to this fic a few months ago and posted it on , trying to get people to guess who it was. I took it down a while back when reorganizing my fan fiction and it lay on my hard drive.

A few days ago, I finally decided to clear out my hard drive and came across this. I started to write and came up with this. It's angsty (like most of my fics) focusing on Mewtwo. I tried to keep him in character, so any OOC is purely due to the nature of the fic.

Enjoy.