Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Rejected ❯ The Mask of Ice ( Chapter 19 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

OFF: New chapter completed!

Anyway... sorry for taking so long to update... and sorry for the chapter being so short. Well, I hope that you will still enjoy the chapter.

Now, time to start working on chapter 20 I guess...

==========================================================
REJECTED
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
CHAPTER 19: THE MASK OF ICE
==========================================================

"Hahaha... HAHAHA..." the... the cold, harsh, mocking laugh... I... it...

"Oh! I know that you are awake... I know that you can hear me!" that voice... it was... it...

Days have passed since... since this horrible nightmare... I... I still remember... the screams... and my own...

The mask... it... it never leaves me alone... never... I am haunted every waking moment of my life by this cursed ice-blue object... by it's evil grin... by it's mocking voice...

"Hahahaha... can you hear them? Can you hear them? They're calling to you... calling to YOU! Calling to their lord and master!" stop it! Stop it! STOP IT!

I'm... I'm not what you claim I am, mask... I... I am not... I am not... I...

"Oh come on! WE know that you are not a common Shadow Pokemon! There is a... LEGEND... around you... hehehehe!"

What do you mean? Can't understand... so confused... head hurts... the laugh... the evil laugh... and the orders... must obey or get punished...

"Oh come on! He's dead! You delivered death to him personally, remember? Get a hold of yourself!"

STOP IT!!! I AM NOT LISTENING!!!

"Hahahahaha... HAHAHAHAHA! This is... priceless! Truly, who do you think you are... WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?"

I... I am a Shadow Pokemon... an evil Pokemon... but I will be purified. People... they call me Mewtwo... and they say this name with fear in their voices... because that they know that Shadow Pokemon are evil...

"Wha?... er... HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! MUWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! NOW that's priceless! You? Purified? HA! This will happen the day Grumpigs will fly!"

Shut up shut up shut up!!!

"But well... you just awakened, don't you? You don't know who you are. Do you even remember who is Mew? She is a Legendary Pokemon, remember?"

What? Mew?... I remember... having a mate... and a son... I remember meeting this son but... but I... my memory is so blurry... the world spins... it hurts... the master... doesn't want me to think... the anti-psychic energy... it hurts... Mew... I remember au aura... love and care... but I can't remember what she looks like...

But... I am sure that this is not the Mew people are talking of... the Legendary Pokemon... I'm just a common Shadow Pokemon. I am weak, powerless...

"You? Weak? HAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Stop... mocking me...

That green fairy... it... it told me that... that Mew is dead... that my mate is dead... I must... search... for a new mate...

"Incorrect answer."

I must... find a new mate...

"Incorrect. Try again."

Why does that mask interfere? I... I am a Pokemon... when a mate dies... you find another one... it's that simple...

"And love in it all?"

Blasphemy... heresy...

"You are blasphemy and heresy incarnate. I don't see why the Sin of Love would be a problem to you."

I... am... not... what you claim me to be. I... I am good... the evil was inserted in my heart by humans... The humans... created the Shadow Pokemon... they seal their hearts away and replace it with a dark void...

"Oh please! You are better placed than anyone to know that those fairy tales are all wrong!... Isn't it, Mewtwo, Legendary Pokemon of Darkness?"

I am NOT pure evil! I am not of the Darkness!

"Darkness being evil? So cliche... and so sad that you believe it. Still... you want to find your mate and your son, right?"

I... I must not... search... for them... Must... find... new mate...

"Look at yourself. The more you try and follow the Holy Laws, the more it will hurt. Just follow your heart already!"

I have no heart... I am a Shadow Pokemon... must... be purified... must... follow Holy Laws... only way to salvation... to forgiveness from Ho-oh.

"Forgiveness from HO-OH?!? He doomed you and your family! Heck! He sealed the fate of this world! You KNOW that there is no salvation in the death of the soul!"

BLASPHEMY!!! HERESY!!!

"Hahahaha... how very funny..."

Who do you think you are, vile mask?!? Why do you mock the Almighty and Perfect Ho-oh? Why do you mock Him?

"Who am I? Who do you think I am? Stop screaming "blasphemy" and take the time to look at me..."

...

I...

I... I...

I feel... cold... I feel... a flow... like a river of cold, icy water... but it is not water... I... I see the mask... a cold wind and flow... I can hear the screams... screams of rage, terror, and suffering... all coming out of the mask and into me... I feel... so cold... so cold and lonely... so full of a hatred that isn't mine... so many negative feelings... so lonely...

The mask... is pure negative energy... pure evil... pure destruction... pure hatred... pure terror... pure pain... pure Darkness... pure evil...

"The last adjective is incorrect... but apart from that... you are very close to what I truly am."

Darkness but not evil? Cannot be... Are you... the Darkness within me?

"You are the Darkness within me. You created me. I am nothing but a hollow shell. I am nothing more than a shadow of you... nothing more than your reflection."

A reflection?... no... no... NO! I AM NOT EVIL!!!

"Of course not, doofus. You banished your own evil and sealed it inside of me. You made me evil so that you would be good. Don't you remember?... of course not. I had forgot. Oh do the mighty has fallen..."

Please... why do you... why... why do I suffer so much? Why am I in pain? I feel as if my heart was bleeding... as if my heart was being ripped apart... I have the urge to scream the name of my mate... to collapse in tears... in sadness... and there's my son... I... I can feel his distress... his sadness... and it makes me want to die... I feel... so sad and lonely...

... and... and...

... I feel so... humiliated... so tiny... so completely defeated and crushed...

Why? I feel as if I should be so much greater... and is less than nothing... I have visions of a greater state... of a greater existence... and I am nothing but a worm...

I...

Mew... Mew died... I am crushed... alone... all alone...

"Mewtwo... she does not have to die."

Huh? What the? She's already dead! What is there to hope? What kind of treachery is this?!?

"WE can save her, Mewtwo."

Save her? She's gone! GONE!

"Mewtwo... return to Dis. Return to the Dark Citadel's ruins."

Dis? The legendary capital of the hellish dimension, the Vortex realm... how... how could I get here? My trainer isn't going there anytime soon...

"Your trainer cannot enter there. Only I can give you the power."

The flow... the flow is becoming warmer... warmer with... with... ooooh... I feel... so strange...

I... I feel strong... I can feel... I CAN! This feeling... this burning feeling... everything is turning red... the hatred! The hatred! The rage! The anger! I can feel it! I am strong... so strong all of a sudden...

"I will be waiting for you there, Mewtwo! Go! Go! Free yourself of your chains! Rise! Rise anew, Mewtwo!"

I... I am... I clenched my fist... I am... powerful. I can sense it... the mask... is filling me with power...

There is nothing I cannot do. I will not hesitate. If an obstacle comes into my path... I will destroy it! I will not let anyone get in my way! NO ONE! I... I am strong... and so enraged!

Whoever killed Mew... will feel my wrath! I don't care who did it! I will get you! I will... save Mew too...

Mask... direct me to this place! To the city of Dis! To the Vortex!

"Hahahahaha! Yes! YES! Follow me! You need me!... so use my power! Go on! We shall do this!"

Pure... rage... and Shadow flames...

...

BROOOM! BROOM!

The purple thunderbolts were visible, in the stormy clouds. The sky was dark red... the sun was shining with unholy black light... the earth is scorched red... the rivers... are of blood... The trees twist and twist around freely... those dead trees...

The wind... the endless sound of silence... and the wind... a wind of emptiness... of loneliness and sadness...

The mask... is on my face and yet... it needs not to be attached, need not to be held... it clings to my face and remain there, as if stuck by a mysterious force... and it does not hamper my vision. It was as if... the mask had became a part of my face... or if the mask had became my face.

Before me, the towers of a castle of some sort... the fabled city of Dis... the black, cursed stone walls are ruined, in a terrible shape, as if no one had repaired them in years.

The towers have various statues of Demons on them... various shapes of legendary, ancient Shadow Pokemon of ancient times... but the statues are dirty, in pieces, shattered.

The unholy utopia is in ruins, stripped of it's former glory. Such a sight should be ominous... but the Darkness within is long gone... or rather, long dead.

As I approach the broken gate, I realize that the walls are made of the petrified corpses and souls of the damned. I can see their faces, stuck in a last expression of terror, begging for forgiveness... and yet... something feels... lame.

The souls... seems to be lamenting, to be yawning in regret and boredom as if part of something that was no longer. The terror was replaced by an expression of pity... or mercy... toward the city they once despised.

There is nothing... I enter the cities... and I am greeted by the remains of houses. The lamps are shattered, the fountains and statues crumbled down, the streets are filled with debris and corpses... but not by the corpses of the damned... but by the corpses of the Demons, of the city's inhabitants.

I stopped and stared at two corpses... A female Demon Nidoqueen petrified in her last expression as she clung to her child, staring at whoever delivered the finishing hit, the two forever stuck in their last position as they begged for mercy...

They are Demons... Pokemon that accepted the Darkness into their hearts... and yet... I cannot help but feel sadness for them...

This is not an unholy city... it is... a graveyard... an ancient battlefield... the place where a horrible carnage had took place, thousands of innocents slaughtered for no reason...

I can see the various bodies... I can see a human, his skull pierced by large Poison Sting spikes, forever holding in his hands the Teddiursa he had tried to protect...

Several burnt down buildings... in the ashes, I think I saw the crying souls of dozens of innocents that had been locked into the houses before whoever was attacking burnt down the place...

This place... feels... this place... this familiar feeling... a feeling that I have been here already... that I saw what had happened here... a sadness... rage... impending doom...

Why? Why do this place feel familiar? Why am I feeling mercy for monsters? They were evil. They were inhabitants of a cursed city. Serve them right.

"Polarity does not determine whenever one is good or evil." this voice... the evil mask's voice...

Shut up. Your words are heresy. Ho-oh himself said that Darkness was nothing but evil and he is a Legendary Pokemon and thus, is always right.

"Legendary Pokemon are always right? Then this must mean that the Legendary Pokemon of Darkness was right to attempt to destroy the world, centuries ago. It must also means that Groudon is right that all oceans must disappear." the mask...

It is trying to fool me... those are mind games... only mind games... and yet... No... NO! The mask is wrong! Groudon and Kyogre are Titans, not Legendary Pokemon! The Legendary Pokemon of Darkness is the Devil himself. He is pure evil and lies is the only thing that ever came out of his vile mouth.

"Such propaganda. Really, this is sad. You have a great intelligence. Use it." the mask is annoyed... this must means that I am right!

"You are not. Continue on... and see." is the mask challenging me? Is my faith in Legendary Pokemon tested?

I... I don't know... and I don't care. This place is unholy and this feeling in my heart... I want to get out... I must... go to places where the Light shines...

"The Light leads nowhere. Neither Light or Darkness is the path. Make your own path." LIAR! LIAR! LIA...

... wha... what is that vile sight?!?

I bent down... and I looked at this... abomination...

But then... why am I so... so... sniff... so sad?

Shadow Lugia... he is here, laying down on his back, his crimson eyes forever staring at the sky, his stare blank with soulless peace of mind... His hand-shaped wings are covered with cuts and scars... his black body is covered with wounds and at several spots, the skin had been ripped off, his bones and decaying flesh visible.

A lament is heard... a silent lament filled with sadness and regret and yet... there is a feeling of pride... a sense of honor and sacrifice...

I stand here... and I cannot help but lower my head and close my eyes. I... I want to hate this being... I must hate him... he was one of the four Arch-Demons of Dark Vortex... I must hate him... I must despise him for being an unholy being... but... but I can't help but feel respect for this being... and sorrow.

I... I feel as if I was before the grave of a friend... before the tomb of an ally... why? He is nothing but a spawn of Evil... but my soul has very different pictures in mind...

I can see... a black shadow shaped like a mix between a bird and a dragon, gracefully soaring through the crimson skies, dozens of younger bird and dragon type Shadow Pokemon flying alongside the dark colossus.

His blood-red eyes are not filled with hatred or the thirst with destruction... the flames of Darkness does not erupt from his body in a chaotic way...

The flames form an uniform, beautiful purple coat around the Pokemon, giving the Demon the appearance of a dark comet. His eyes glow with a sense of loyalty and honor like one of those old-fashioned human knights from ages old...

A picture completely opposite of what Shadow Lugia truly is... a blood-thirsty monster who thinks of nothing but to murder the innocent and destroy everything in the name of the Evil One, the Legendary Pokemon of Darkness!

"Why don't you trust yourself? Why such hatred toward yourself?" asked the mask.

I am a mortal and is imperfect and impure. I am unworthy. I am nothing but dust. My perceptions are worthless, my feelings pitiful and my thoughts being nothing but heresy. The Legendary Pokemon are the only way, the only salvation. One must disregard himself and give his soul completely into blind worshipping. This is the only way... the only way... the only way... the only way...

"Blindness is not to be wise. Intolerance only lead to hatred. Is to see the world consumed in hatred the true desire of Mew?" vile mask! Stop tempting me! I will not fall into the Darkness!

"How can you fall into yourself? Use your head for once!" that last sentence... that stupid piece of blue materials is mocking me! Stop... please stop...

"Go on... enter the depths of Darkness... and open your eyes. Stop wandering in the Darkness blindly and follow that faint Light you so kindly ignore because of propaganda." stop ordering me around! I will do what I want! I will be free!

"Blindly worshipping deities who see you as nothing but a tool is hardly what I call freedom." why... why must that mask's words hurt me so much? Why am I so ashamed? It must be from hearing such heresy.

I must not listen... "Mew would be sad, seeing you."

Mew wouldn't be sad. I am nothing but a mortal... "So if you're nothing but a mortal... why would they care if you went into the Darkness and seen it?"

Just... stop already...

"And just stop standing there. STEP FORWARD AND FACE YOUR FEAR!" I DON'T WANT TO! I MUST NOT!

"What? You are to hate everything and be dominated by your fears? Is that the way of the Light? Truly pathetic..." NOT TRUE! I am not dominated by my fears! I am not consumed by my hatred! Darkness is! DARKNESS IS!

"Then prove it." the mask... challenged my faith. Fine... I will show you that I am right... that Darkness is nothing but Evil and that I do not stand in Evil...

I stepped away from that horrific monster, Shadow Lugia. May your body be defiled and your memory forgotten and... and... ugh...

"Insulting friends hurts, isn't it? Lying to yourself hurts, isn't it?" shut... up... must... continue on...

I placed my right foot forward... then the next one forward... the world... is a blur... and it hurts... and I feel so lonely... and so sad...

I see thousands of friends and innocents, all screaming for mercy... all crying in sadness... I see allies from ages old, staring at me like begging me for something... why don't the memories leave me alone? Why those temptations? Please Mew... please... for the love of the Almighty Mew... please... stop the pictures... the feelings... please...

B... but it won't stop... the torment comes to me... the sadness wash away all hatred... all resistance... all intolerance toward this place... toward those creatures... but I must hate them... but I can't... I only feel disgust and regret...

Who am I to think up of those creatures in positive ways? I'm nothing but a mere mortal... a puppet of Destiny... a mere piece in a puzzle... nothing but flesh and blood for the Legendary Pokemon to reshape at their will...

Mew... teaches mortals to forgive... to love regardless of nature... to vanquish Evil with Good... to correct rather than to destroy... and for this, I must despise the Hatred...

... ugh... why did the last sentence felt ironic, fake, tacked on by a second person who wished to twist her teachings? Why must I feel that the deities are crying alongside the Demons... that they suffer and cry from all this hatred... all this unneeded hatred...

Unneeded? NO! I am letting heresy corrupt my mind. I must despise those beings. They're nothing but pure Evil. They do not love, they do not feel, they only destroy...

... they only destroy... and yet in death, they had regrets, felt sorrow, tried in vain to protect their loved ones... what am I thinking? Shadows have no loved ones... they do not even have any souls... and yet... they have a soul to damn and condemn...

Such confusion... The sacred Light is the way through this confusion... the true answer... I am a mortal and can't hope to understand. I must turn to greater powers and obey. They are powerful and thus, are right.

"A Tyranitar meets a Mareep. The Tyranitar wants to murder the innocent sheep Pokemon, Mareep, because that it likes the color of blood on grass. To justify it's act, it says that the Mareep has killed it's father although the Mareep is defenseless. Still, the Tyranitar is right because that he is powerful and the Mareep is not. Logical, isn't it?" the mask... you make fun of the teachings of Legendary Pokemon... may you be burnt for your heresy...

"If the Legendary Pokemon are so perfect and all... then why did they allow Evil to appear? Why did they do that?" SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!!!

I... I collapsed... I don't even know where I am... I... I don't dare to look... if I look... those awful memories and feelings will... will... I'm so scared... I'm going to become insane... I don't... I don't want the Darkness to claim my soul... I'm so scared...

"Face your fears. Open your eyes. Prove your so-called faith!" challenged the mask.

Scared... lonely... sad... What is my life's value? I'm nothing but a mortal... who cares... I don't care... I just want to be in peace...

"Coward. You will die alone, in the depths of an unholy citadel. You are nothing. Mew don't care about fools." LIAR! I'm not a fool... Mew does care about every creature... and yet... she doesn't regard mortals... but still...

"Stop ignoring the presence of such paradoxes. It is a fact. The teachings of the Legendary Pokemon and the propaganda in your head are two different things." I... NO! I'm not insane! I follow the teachings! I do, I swear it!

I will prove it... I will stand up and open my eyes...

I stand before a door... a huge door that had been broken open. Beyond the door, the entrance hall of a castle...

I... I will step inside... I will... face my fears...

...

I... I am inside...

The door... I simply pushed it and... it opened, like that, slowly and loudly but still... it opened.

... err... why am I shaking? I can hear and feel my knees knocking against each others... I can feel my heart beating...

BOM BOM! BOM BOM! BOM BOM! BOM BOM!

So loudly... and quickly... I feel like panicking... why?

What did I expected, really? For the door to turn into a Demon Pokemon and to jump in my face?

I must... not let my fear dominate me...

The halls... are very different from the exterior...

Old, dusty red carpet... black metallic walls that haven't been cleaned in ages... paintings of various disasters and war scenes... very dusty, as well.

... ATCHOUM!!!

Sniff... all this dust caused me to sneeze... so dusty. Obviously, no one has cleaned this place in years. I can even see the Spinarak webs on the various columns... and then, there's the various furnitures... gold and silver-plated in a style worthy of medieval human kings... Technology and tradition blend together perfectly in this castle... if I didn't knew that it was a castle belonging to Evil, I would have probably wanted to live in such a place...

I made my way forward... strangely enough, it seems the place was spared by whoever invaded the place... but as I noticed a few skeletons leaning on the walls, I figured out that maybe my first guess had been wrong...

The hall... was quite large... quite long... so I felt the fear dying down and boredom creeping in... but well, boredom is the lesser evil of the two...

... a dead end. The hall ends with two metallic doors. There's a metallic box to the right of the doors... a control panel? It's covered in webs... and I can see the tiny Spinarak, staring at me. For some strange reasons, I have the feeling that I can read it's thoughts...

I do not even have to concentrate... I look at it and... it's mind is an open book.

It hopes I will not destroy it's home... that I will not harm it...

Humans would probably wonder what to do here. I'm not a human, I'm a Pokemon. I will not think. I will act and thus, I will smash that bug and get it's web off the control panel since bugs are strong against psychic, thus meaning that I should have instinctive hatred toward it!

"Preying on a little spider that never did anything to you? Yeah right. That's SOOO much more noble than to think and spare an innocent, right?" taunted the mask.

My perceptions of Good and Evil are nothing. The Legendary Pokemon's words are Truth.

"Would Mew really want you to harm an innocent Pokemon? Really, is that the desire of the Legendary Pokemon?" shut up. SHUT UP!

I... I... I just... NO! I must not think! I must destroy that insect and yet... it's just minding it's own business, not doing anything wrong... is it right to kill it? NO! Thinking is evil!

.. ugh... why do I hesitate? Thinking is evil. That is the teaching of Ho-oh!

"Strange, isn't it? You must be kind... but you must think to be kind. Thinking is seen as evil by Ho-oh. Mew never said a word on it. Strange, isn't it?" stop tempting me, demonic mask!

It laughed... laughed and laughed... laughed at my confusion...

"Ho-oh teaches ignorance... but Evil manipulate the ignorant and cannot fool the one who thinks. Paradoxal, isn't it?" I despise you, mask.

"Hatred... you felt nothing but hatred ever since you have awakened. Your faith only brings you intolerance. Stop relying on the so-called Truth and search for the real, actual truth." LIES! LIES! I'M NOT LISTENING!!!

I will... PROVE MY FAITH!

CRAAAAACK!

"SCREEEEEE!" a scream... the scream of an insect... the sound of metal ripped apart...

I stared at the Spinarak, lying on the ground, yellow liquid slowly flowing out of it's opened green body, forming a puddle... of blood.

I... I...

"Congratulations! You have committed the Sin of Murder in the name of Ho-oh! So, how does it feels to be a murderer? To kill in the name of a being who is supposed to be oh-so perfect and all?" I... I...

The Spinarak... I... I can feel it's pain... I can feel it's sadness... It does not understand why I blasted it with my powers... it cries in pain... it wants to live but... all of it's strength is leaving it...

I can hear it's low, faint cries as it calls for help in vain...

It... I think I can hear it's voice... it's last thoughts...

It wonders if it's father is up there, waiting alongside Mew... it wonders how Silver Valley looks like...

FLASH!

For the fraction of a second... I thought I seen something... a cloaked shadow wielding a massive bone scythe... and a cold wind... like death itself...

"It was Death itself, you doofus! Unlike most Pokemon, you actually have the necessary senses to see her as she travel through time, reaping the souls of the dead." you are evil thus, only lies come out of you.

"Geeze! I only explain the obvious and then, you refuse to listen because of my nature? What a fool..." SHUT UP!

ding!

Huh? The metallic doors... they slowly opened... That control panel... it must have been activated when I blasted the Spinarak...

I stepped into the elevator, I think it's what those are called, and the doors closed themselves behind me. Then, I felt a movement... the movement lasted a while... and the doors opened again.

I was... elsewhere... no longer in the halls...

I stepped inside... and I seen it... a golden sphere of light in the darkness...

"Well, I have fulfilled my purpose. I won't say what you are supposed to do since I know you'll do the opposite, like the good brainwashed idiot you are." mocked the mask, like it always does.

I hate you, I hope that you burn down.

That sphere... I... it's familiar... why? Why does it feel familiar? Why am I still in this unholy place? I should escape... I should get out... but... but I am so curious... I must... find out what is that sphere...

NO! To thirst for knowledge is to act like a human, to commit a sin! I must escape from here and remain in ignorance forever!

"JUST TOUCH THE SPHERE ALREADY! Geeze! Enough with the stupidity!" SHUT UP!!! I will NEVER touch it!

Huh? What the... I feel... weird...

"You asked for it. I'm fed up with your retarded brainwashed self. Awaken, Mewtwo! Rise! Be yourself once anew!" I will never let the Darkness control me...

I will not... I will... ugh... I... I feel a feeling... my heart... is burning... burning... I must... touch... the sphere...

Can't... control... myself... annoyed to no end... sad... confused... can't... control...

I... reached out and grabbed the sphere despite trying not to... I...

FLASH!

... I... where am I? I feel... so cold...

The moon... I can see the moon and I feel... so sad... so... little...

The wind blows... it blows with sorrow and regret... where am I?

I... I looked down... and I seen...

There is a cat Pokemon at my feet... human sized and humanoid... just like me. This Pokemon... is seemingly sleeping. I can see the Pokemon, grasping it's chest with it's right hand... a right hand that has three delicate fingers... a skinny arm... the chest looks like an armor of sorts... then, there's the fur... pink with the belly and tail being purple...

The Pokemon... doesn't move... and there's a red puddle under it... and scars and cuts all over it's body...

I looked up and I seen a black shadow in the night sky... a figure hidden under a cloak double it's size... a black, dirty, cloak that had holes and various parts damaged. A very old cloak, obviously...

The figure's hand was green... and the hand was grasping a black Pokeball that glowed alternately between white and black, as if containing a fireball of sorts... the Pokeball glowed grey...

The figure's blue eyes stared at the Pokeball in sadistic pleasure... and then, as it turned to face me, I felt... I...

I felt... I felt like if I had died... as if all light had forever vanished from my heart... and I lost the will to live...

My son... died.

The Grim Reaper Pokemon smiled under the cloak, it's blue eyes shining as it grinned triumphantly, enjoying it's victory...

FLASH!

The sphere... glowed red... and broke into pieces...

"Is that what you want?" the mask... what... what kind of question is that?

OF COURSE NOT! My... my son... My... my family...

I don't care about the Holy Laws... I just don't care... Just... don't take my son... please...

I fall on my knees and beg of you... anything but this...

"It seems that they couldn't take away your love, after all..." who? Who would take away my love? Why would they do this?

I... I...

"Look at the pedestal... another memory awaits you..." huh? What is that mask talking about? The sphere broke just now and...

... Now that's weird. The sphere... it's there again, in a perfect condition... and yet, why? It had broken into pieces... I don't understand...

"Touch the sphere." said the mask...

The mask... does it know anything? I do not trust it... but maybe... maybe those spheres could tell me how to prevent the vision I saw?

I grabbed the sphere again... and I felt a strange pull...

FLASH!

I... I recognize this darkness... I hate this darkness... I hate this place... I recognize the place...

I am chained to the wall of Julius's laboratory... to the wall of his cursed hideout.

Julius... a vile human. Descendant of Giovanni, the one who had ordered my creation...

Wait a minute? Giovanni ordered my creation? But... this can't be! I can't be several centuries old, can I? Physically, I am at my prime! This cannot be and yet... the memories I have in this vision... I am sure that they are true and they are so fresh to my memory.

It's strange... I feel so... so... so awake... so conscious... everything is so clear... I feel as if it was before something was put on my shoulders... before a feeling was infused in my heart... before I felt the pain...

Julius... his dream was to find the Pokemon his ancestor had created and to control it. He wished to wield ultimate power... to capture and tame the strongest of Pokemon, forcing him to obey.

I knew... that this Pokemon was me. A Pokemon infused with a power too destructive, too chaotic to be put in the hands of a being as vile and pathetic as Julius.

I tried to control his mind... but Julius was cunning. On top of anti-psychic collars and chains, he had also modified himself. He had knew that to modify his own DNA could have killed him... but the fool was so blinded by ambition that he tried it anyway.

If only the operation hadn't been successful... then Julius wouldn't have obtained the psychic powers necessary to resist my controlling attempts or even better, would have died.

But well... Destiny wasn't in my favor. It had never been.

I was born to be a scapegoat, to be a Devil that everyone could point out at and hate. Someone that would have all of the blames for every flaw of this world. The abomination, the monster. I was born to be the legendary Pokemon of Darkness, the Devil Pokemon, the Absolute Evil.

But I had refused this fate. I refused for Darkness to be a scapegoat. I was not born to be the punching bag of every creature. The Shadow Pokemon did not come into the world to be hated, despised, hunted, rejected. The sole purpose of Darkness will not to be an excuse to this world's flaws!

Thus, I chose to be good...

... !!!

Those memories...

I am... the Legendary Pokemon of Darkness?!?

This... this cannot be... and... not only am I the Legendary Pokemon of Darkness but... I chose to be good and succeeded?!?

How can this be? How can a being who powers are only of the negative and destructive nature can be good?

... I remembered something...

"A power, regardless of if is of Light or Darkness, is like a weapon. The power is not Good or Evil. It is the user who determine if the power is used for Good or Evil."

The Darkness is not evil. It does not choose to be good or evil. It is a power, like the Light. It is those who stand in the Darkness who chose Good or Evil... and I chose Good.

I... I can't believe it... I am the antithesis of the Legendary Pokemon... of the deities... and I chose Good.

I cannot be Good. Even if I am good according to my moral, my moral is nothing. It is the word of the Legendary Pokemon that is the Truth!

But then... I knew of jealousy... I knew of hidden secrets...

Ho-oh is not who people portray him as... or rather, as they portray her.

Ho-oh, just like Lugia, experienced mortal life... but while Lugia embraced mortality, Ho-oh was disgusted of mortality and chose to become a genderless, emotion-less being...

... this was a mistake. Ho-oh only dived deeper and deeper into hatred by trying to eliminate all signs of mortality within her. She became cold, cruel, insensitive... and then, it became worse. She became bitter, her temper became short, rage filled her heart.

She became a raging, berserk deity...

Such a deity cannot be an Absolute Good... for she is flawed, like every creature.

The only difference between a deity and a mortal is power. Amounts of power do not determine goodness. Ho-oh's rage is proof of the flaw of the so-called almighty ones.

The word of the Legendary Pokemon may be the Truth... but it should be the truth, not the Truth that one should follow.

Thus... I am good... for I have not let hatred invade my heart and brought happiness, hope, and progress whenever possible.

I was not an angel. I could not control all of the Demons and many of them longed for destruction and chaos. I made mistakes, I made incorrect assumptions... but I was good and although flawed, I knew of my flaws and worked to correct them unlike "perfect" creatures who deny their flaws and let them take over.

Pure Darkness and yet... good.

That is what I was in the vision... and probably what I still am.

But I wonder... that vision... it feels like the past and yet, I know so much and don't suffer... why?

Julius... he wish to control me... and to do this, he will break my mind.

I know it, I know he will. I can already imagine his tortures and harsh training... I can already imagine the nightmare... the pain... the suffering...

... and then I understood.

I have been had. I have been brainwashed!

Julius robbed me of my mind in order to control me! He stole my memories and buried what I truly was below suffering!

But then... why did I believed in that stupid religious stuff about the Legendary Pokemon? Why was I so blind?

... wild Pokemon...

In my time of pain, my soul robbed of it's thoughts... other Pokemon spoke to me... Pokemon blinded by the delusions of grandeur of Ho-oh, fools who worshipped him blindly.

My mind was vulnerable and I couldn't resist long... and I fell into the trap.

Everything is so clear now... I feel... whole again.

I cannot access the memories yet... I still have to face my fears... but I know who I am and I know that I will save my son from whatever is threatening him.

FLASH!

"Welcome back, master." ha, it's you, Ice Mask. I remember you... thank you for leading me here. Good thing I infused you with a LITTLE of my goodness and not only with my negative feelings.

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Everything is not so nice however, dear myself. You see, I fear that you still don't remember nearly enough about anything." not to worry, I can remember that this room contain informations.

The sphere quickly shattered in my hand, it's purpose fulfilled. The room was completely dark... but I have the feeling that filling it with light is easy. Maybe if I project my thoughts...

bzzzzzt...

The sounds of old, damaged machines... and then, the room was filled with light as the lamps in the ceiling were activated. The light was faint so I could see much... but I could see that the room was small and metallic, like almost every room of this castle, by the way.

There's a large machine in front of me, behind the pedestal, with a chair, a dozen of screens, and a gigantic keyboard or something like that. The master computer of this place... and the place where I stored all that I had learnt during my life.

I approached the chair, sat on it, and the old computer activated all by itself. I seen the screens turns from grey to pitch black and I seen green symbols come on screen... and then, the machine was in stand-by state.

Now... time to remember... who is Mew? I know her name... I know I loved her and had a son with her... but who is she?

I projected my thoughts into the machine and then, on the largest screen, the picture of a small pink cat Pokemon, about a third or half my size, appeared. She seemed so... beautiful. I felt a feeling rise within me... a feeling of nostalgia and a longing...

I could stay here, staring at her picture for hours... but... but it wouldn't be a good idea, right?

I noticed some text beneath the picture...

"Mew, Legendary Pokemon of Light, deceased. Slain at Indigo Plateau during a fight against Groudon. Killed by the Grim Reaper." as I read it...

I... Mew... was the Legendary Pokemon of Light? So... it was true...

But wait a minute! The Legendary Pokemon of LIGHT in love with the Legendary Pokemon of DARKNESS?!?... err... I... but well, I guess this is a pretty obvious confirmation that I was and am good. Mew, the Pokemon of Purity, would never love a monster...

The other point however... it makes me cringe. I feel pain just thinking of it... Mew... deceased? This is a joke, right? Legendary Pokemon can't die...

"Immunity to time... but not immune to injuries." stated the mask. Legendary Pokemon do not age... but if their bodies are wrecked, they die, like every other creature.

In fact, according to my memory, except for Ho-oh and Lugia, all of the Legendary Pokemon constantly died through the ages... but then... if they died... how come Mew lived for such a long time?

A cycle... the vile cycle... I don't know what this cycle is about or what it is exactly... not yet, at least... but I know that the cycle is the cause of it. A cycle which was the cause of all of those problems...

What problems? I don't know...

Huh? What's this? I only noticed it now but... on the screen to the far right, there's this flashing red text...

"Forbidden access alert." flashed the text...

I pressed some buttons on that strange keyboard and a report was displayed on the main screen...

"An unknown individual wearing a disguise similar to Lord Mewtwo's was seen in the containment area. This being released without permission all of the Dark Vortex agents who were in a state of artificial sleep." I... this...

Why do I have the feeling that this was supposed to happen but that I had done my best to prevent it? Why do I have this feeling, like a feeling of failure?... and this intense fear... like I was going to see the first vision, my son's death, becoming reality soon if I didn't do anything?

"You can't save him." HMPH! I had thought that the mask would FINALLY act in a way I liked... and then, it starts becoming annoying again!

So, stupid mask, if I can't save him... then who can?

"SHE can save him." I have no time for riddles! I want to know who can save him!

... huh?

The mask shown me a vision... a mouse Pokemon with pink fragments in her heart... a figure that was alterning between mouse and cat... a figure filled with an infinite love...

"Find her. Find the vessel for Mew's love." said the mask.

Find her? How am I supposed to find her?

The flow of Darkness... I can feel the negative feelings gathering... and I know that the opposites are related...

I must follow the flow of Light... I must seek the place where the hopes and dreams of people gather... a trail of hope and positive intentions...

I stood up. I must get going... I have the feeling that I don't have much time...

...

Slowly, the gigantic black dragon-like bird creature opened it's empty, dead red eyes...

Somewhere else, the Champion stared as the helicopter disappeared in the horizon.

The hunt had begun...

=TO BE CONTINUED