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GamzGuy
January 20th, 2008, 03:59 pm
-Chapter 2- David and the Matrix Boy

Journal Log #35:

I still think about my encounter with Mewtwo from before. Those eyes...it was as if he was trying to familiarize me to someone else... Could it be that he was with Ash Ketchum not too long ago? Seems like the more characters I meet in this world the more I get into all these tie-ins from the old movies...could it really be that ironic? Or did those films have some truth to them...?

I have no doubt in my mind that I will see him again soon...

-Adam Duseman


It would be at least four days before Adam ever saw his new friend again, and it had made him wonder if he should have made him his partner. Still, it couldn't prevent him from fantasizing what his ideal Pokémon partner would be. It was a tradition in this world for children to grow up with a companion Pokémon, and when they were old enough to become legally licensed trainers they would naturally take them along on their adventures. Even some adults would still have their original partner from their childhood; most of them, however, either separated after they concluded their journeys or used them as extra hands around the house. More often than not, their Pokémon's own offspring would become their children's partners.
Being raised in a world that believed Pokémon was an electronic babysitter for children, Adam was still nonetheless raised with the fantasy of having one for himself.

Four days. It was more than enough time for the trio to reach Celadon. The famous Underground Paths, which were used by travelers to reach Saffron from neighboring towns by means of an underground walking trail, were recently remodeled into an entire subway system, which the company (called "Magnx") who designed it advertised everywhere: on billboards, on posters, everything. In fact, it was so brand new that there were no advertisements for anything else yet.

"You look kinda down," Josh said to his sullen cousin. "What's up?"

"Nothing's up. I'm just tired," Adam yawned and leaned on the escalator rail.

They don't know, Adam thought. They don't know of my late-night excursion, of the face I saw, of the friend I almost made...

The Path had to be dug twice as deep to accommodate the large subway trains (and the stations they rested in), making normal stairways unthinkable. Naturally, an elevator was also installed; however it was only for the physically handicapped.

The subway tickets cost 200P per person, one-way, so Josh (being the money manager of the group) calculated 600P total, plus 100P extra fee because of Raikou, and exchanged the cash for tickets at one of the electronic ticket machines.


For the most part, everything about the subway was as it was back home on Earth. The trains came and gone through the station, which was a large arched cavern with the occasional walkways across the electrified rails. The middle lane itself was a no-man's zone; the only thing that resided there were supports for the walkways and occasionally coded signs for the conductors of the trains.

As the trio arrived at the bottom of the escalator, they quickly scanned the electronic scrolling bulletin to see which train was arriving.

Train Color Time
KTMG-0508 YLW ARRV
KTMG-0602 GRN 0:05
KTMG-0800 GRN 0:15
KTMG-1320 YLW 1:00

Yellow color-coded trains went westbound from Lavender through Celadon, so the first train to arrive was the one to ride. They quickly rushed down the stairs from the walkway onto the platform just as the train halted in front of them.

As everyone clamored onto the train, Mindy and Josh sat in a row near the doors, and Raikou laid in the open space normally reserved for wheelchairs. Adam, however, sat in a different row, by himself, staring out the window dejectedly as they pulled out of the station, watching the tunnel lights speed past him.

If Mewtwo stays in Saffron like I think he will, he thought, then I might not see him again for a long time...

Josh glanced at Adam and sighed. "Something's gotten into him," he whispered to his sister. "I'm going to see what's bothering him." He quietly crept over next to Adam's seat.

"Adam?"

Adam looks at him, then turned back to the window.

"Adam, I know something's up. We're cousins. You can confide with me."

Adam sighed and looked him straight in the eyes. "Well...last night, I...saw...Mewtwo..."

"Are you serious? You saw Mewtwo?" Josh asked, surprised. He had to keep himself from saying it out loud.

Adam told him about the thug fight and how Mewtwo had either come to his rescue or was just in the right place at the right time. He didn't really know himself.

"Rescued by the Amazing Spiderman," Josh mused, "but without the love scene."

A dirty look convinced him to stop joking.

"So why are you so bummed about it?" he asked.

Adam leaned against the headrest and sighed again. "Because I want to see him again."

Josh nodded respectfully. He wanted to say something comforting, but he knew it wouldn't really be of any comfort to him. After all, this was his cousin, the one who got him into a world of a mess in the first place. He was willing to come along, so why not share some of the pain? Then he remembered. "But that's what you said about Link and Lugia, didn't you?"

That's right, Adam thought. They said they wanted to go on their own adventures together and left us. Who knows when they'll ever return.

A minute of silence passed. "Hey, does that look at all suspicious to you?" Josh whispered, pointing.

Adam looked. Sure enough, in the window of the car behind theirs was a sullen-looking young man with dark orange, almost brown hair, in a mop that nearly covered his face. He wore deep, dark green clothes and was toying with a strange device in his hands.

He shrugged. "So many people dress as weirdoes as it is that I don't even notice much anymore."

The rest of the ride was in silence. People shuffled, there was a low murmuring. Someone coughed. But for the most part, things were peaceful.
________________________________________ __

When the train arrived at the station and the doors slid open, most everyone (including Mindy) filed out of the cars and into the station. However, Adam and Josh remained to see what the stranger was doing. He, too, waited for everyone to leave for the moment of silence before people would climb back in.

As they watched, hiding from behind the seat in front of them, they witnessed him gently place the device on the space underneath the window, make a gesture as if to say "There, perfect!" and dash out the doors. He harshly shoved through the crowd until he accidentally knocked a blonde girl onto the floor.

He just happened to have stumbled into Mindy.

"Watch where you're going, you little brat!" he spat at her.

Offended, she took the moment to drive her leg and foot into his crotch. Groaning in pain, he firmly stood up to her as she got to her feet and said, "Alright, you, you want a fight? I'll tear you to pieces!" He held up his fists threateningly.

"Hey," a voice called behind him. He quickly spun around just in time to see a fist fly into his face, sending him reeling to the floor as people scurried out of the way of the fight. He quickly stood up, blood leaking from his broken nose.

"That's it! Nobody messes with the Matrix!" he shrieked, wiping his nose.

A large cat growled behind the boy in the red shirt and his companion.

The thug charged towards Josh with evil intentions but was suddenly tripped by a green vine that was stretched out across him towards the train and landed flat on his face.

"Good work, Ivysaur," a voice said, and the vine returned to its owner, a short, stubby dinosaur with a blooming bulb on its back.

The disheveled man quickly sprang to his feet again, now with a noticeable scrape on his forehead. "I don't have time for this!" he muttered, and quickly dashed up the stairs and away from the scene, to the horror of those around him.

"Thanks, man," Josh said to the boy who apparently commanded the Ivysaur.

"Hey, nuthin' to it, mate," he replied with a distinguishable British accent. He was less than an inch taller than Josh, with wavy black hair and a blood-red plaid shirt, with buttons on the collar, and bluejeans. He extended a hand. "Name's David."

"Josh," he replied, shaking his hand firmly. "I don't think we've met before."

"Nope, was ridin' in the car in front of you. Looks like that sis of yours got in the way of a Matrix grunt."

"Matrix?"

"Yeah, them nasty folk. Hate the Rockets, they do. Bound to cause some chaos here an' there. Dunno why one was out here in the open, though."

"He had some device in the car behind us," Adam said.

"Huh. Sounds fishy t' me. Did he put it down?"

"Yeah."

"Odd. That car there," David pointed, "that's the middle of the train, there. Must've got something cooking."

Cooking? Adam thought quickly. Wait a second...he was toying with it on the way here, right? And then...he set it down...gently... Then he was in such a hurry to get out of here...

...Then it clicked.

"Hey," Adam quickly asked, "Those Matrix guys? What's their motive?"

"Nuthin', really." David answered, confused. "Why?"

"Because if that gadget is what I think it is..." he started. Suddenly, he heard the hissing of the train doors closing, and heard the loud humming of the electric rails as it began to leave the station.

"WAIT! STOP THE TRAIN!" he shrieked, running after it, though at the moment it was already ahead of him. "THERE'S A FRICKING BOMB IN THE SUBWAY!!"

GamzGuy
January 20th, 2008, 04:02 pm
-Chapter 3- Near Disaster

"Adam, are you insane?!" Josh quickly caught him before he could manage to enter the tunnel the train had departed in. "You'll kill yourself! And you don't know how to disarm a bomb! A homemade one, no less!"

"Yeah? You wanna just sit back and watch the fireworks?" Adam scowled furiously at him. He tried to break free but Josh held on.

"I'm saying that we've gotten ourselves into enough trouble in the past from your recklessness. We need to get the police down here; someone who knows what they're doing," Josh said, ignoring his comment.

"Yeah? And where are the police?" Adam posed the rhetorical question. "They're off chasing Rocket grunt everywhere else. There's no way they'd get someone down here in time!"


"Oy, this ain't good..." David moaned, peering down the tunnel, where the fading lights of the train turned an s-shaped corner and disappeared from view.

"What?" the others quickly said. Mindy walked up behind him and put one hand on David's shoulder, concerned.

"That train's headed towards the heart of Celadon," he said. "There's another station there, then the train takes a tunnel that turns around and sends them back this way. And that very tunnel is right underneath the Celadon mall."

"The Celadon Department Store?" Adam asked. "You're not telling me – ooooh, crap." He tugged at his collar, more concerned than before. Josh continued to hold his shoulder.

"It's a perfect plan for any terrorist," Mindy said quietly. "They want to hurt as many people as they possibly can, so they get the attention of the world."

"Exactly," David nodded.

"And that's why I've gotta go after it," Adam spoke defiantly, then began to walk into the tunnel, hopping over the fence that restricted their access.

"Hold it," Josh demanded. Adam stopped and spun around, irritated. "...You're not gonna go do your little stunts without a double, are you?" Josh smirked.

"Well, if you two are gonna run off and leave us behind, we're coming with." David said, standing next to Josh. Mindy nodded.

Adam smirked back deviously. At least if he was going to end up blowing himself to kingdom come, they'd all come for the ride.
__________________________________________

They reached the station on foot just in time to hear an announcement over the broadcast system:


"Attention. Your attention, please. Due to unknown circumstances in the Route Seven station, the Yellow and Green systems have been temporarily halted. Please clear the area until further notice, and we apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you."


"Looks like they're still cleanin' up our mess from before," David commented. "That buys us some time to find our car, but we've got to act fast!"

"Yeah, but now they've probably got police searching the area for us," Josh said.

As they ran into the station, people already beginning to leave from the announcement, several people in the crowd shouted "There they are! Get them!" and within seconds green-cloaked figures drew their weapons and surrounded the group, while bystanders screamed and a panic to flee the area began.

"Matrix!" David shouted. The group already had their own guns out and formed a circle where they were. David, surprised by his friends' preparedness, struck a pose implying he too was ready to fight. Raikou, with sparks flying from his body menacingly, growled fiercely.

"You really thought it would be that easy?" laughed one of the grunts. He was obviously the leader of the group. His tired, aged face glared at the members of the circle in front of him. "We saw what you did to our ploy. Not bad for little twerps like yourselves." He laughed again, sarcastically, then spat on the ground. "But now we're here to keep you from doing any more damage to our plot! Looks like we're gonna have to kill you right here and – David!" His eyes locked on to David's.

"Gerard," David acknowledged. "Surprised you still have a following after our last encounter."

"Ha! You are funny! You think that pesky little Bulbasaur of yours could have permanently defeated a team like us?" A few grunts in the crowd laughed and hooted. "Why should I take offense from a pipsqueak who hasn't even gotten his first badge?" He laughed again.

"Because badges don't determine the worth of one's team," David muttered under his breath.

"Enough of this nonsense!" Gerard shouted, not hearing David's comment. "Let's end this now! Kill the little rodents!"

"For the might of the Matrix!" they chanted. The first shots were fired.

So this is how it ends, Adam thought. With a bang.

A bright flash blinded him. Something grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him towards his companions. Another bright flash. Then he saw nothing. Nothing but emptiness. He felt as if he were falling... Falling...into emptiness...

This must be what death is like, he thought.

A bright flash. He saw the night sky, but his vision was horribly blurred.

"So you're awake at last," a familiar voice said. A shadowed figure huddled over him.
__________________________________________

"We found no trace of them, sir. And we checked the tracker too; apparently the bomb was disarmed."

"What?!"

"To make matters worse, when we sent a team to check, the bomb was completely gone...like it had vanished off the face of the earth."

"That's impossible! Who's responsible for this report?"

"...Uh, I am, sir."

"Well, you'd better get your arse in gear and check your facts! Nothing can just disappear into thin air! I'm not paying you for this crap!"

"You...uh, don't pay me, sir."

"Did I ask you to contradict me? Get to work!"

"Y-yes, sir."

Gerard looks around the deserted station, scratching the side of his head. Ten minutes had passed; the trains were still halted, and the police would probably arrive any minute. Several of the men were on the ground, laying in slowly-growing pools of their own blood. After those meddlesome kids mysteriously vanished, everyone that had opened fire had accidentally shot each other.

Dumbfounded, he tore his dark green cap from his graying head and threw it on the ground. Clenching his teeth, he envisioned the unhappiness his boss would greet him with.

On second thought, the boss went mad over everything.

GamzGuy
January 20th, 2008, 04:09 pm
"Mewtwo?" Adam said slowly, rubbing his eyes. He was still feeling a little bit ill. He looked around; they were standing atop of what appeared to be the Celadon Mall. (Well, Mewtwo was. He and the others were lying on benches.) Lights were everywhere. There was a small garden consisting of potted plants and rows of planters, and on the wall near the closed door to the staircase there were soft drink dispensers that were still on. No one else was there, and it was already evening outside.

Mewtwo nodded. He was still in his cloak, face revealed. "You and your friends were unconscious for a long time. I take it you're not used to teleportation."

"A long time?" Adam repeated.

It had felt like less than a second, though! If that's true, then...

"Oh, crap, the bomb! We're too late!"

"The bomb? You mean this?" A three-fingered hand protruded from the cloak, holding what appeared to be a large soapbox.

Adam stared at the box, dumbfounded, then took it from him. "You...you found the bomb?"

"I was following you the whole time," the Pokémon smirked. "After our encounter the night before, I couldn't keep my eyes off of you. I saw the whole thing in the subway. When you got slowed up by those people and almost executed, I decided I had to step in. I couldn't risk putting you back in, seeing as they had overrun the place, so I also took the liberty of retrieving the bomb for you."

A vision entered Adam's head, as if he were seeing through Mewtwo's eyes. He saw himself trapped in the circle of the Matrix grunts, preparing to die, until Mewtwo, who had been hidden in the shadows of the tunnel with his cloak over his head, leapt from his hiding place and omitted the bright flash, grabbing Adam and his friends from within their circle towards him and pulling them into nothingness.

Did Mewtwo send this visualization as explanation? He didn't know psychics had that ability. It didn't matter though, really.

"Is it...live?" he said quietly, holding the soapbox as if it were made of glass.

"If it were, would I still have it?" he smirked again. Adam slid it open and sure enough, there was a tiny breadboard with a digital clock face (which was off) and a battery slot (the battery was missing). It was a poorly made device.

"It was rather pathetic," he explained. "All there was to it was to remove the battery. It would only detonate when it hit a certain time on the clock, which was timed to go off the moment it was under this very building."

"Interesting," Adam whispered. He slid the box shut again and pocketed it, intending to throw it away later.


"Adam, where are we?" Mindy yawned. It seemed the others were just starting to wake up, themselves.

Josh was the first to get up. He stood behind Mewtwo, pointing at him. "Is this him?" he mouthed to Adam.

Adam nodded. Josh said nothing, though was rather interested, and went back to help the others up.

"It's great that we have a safe haven up here and all, but I think it's best if we keep going," he sighed. Adam didn't want to leave; he really didn't. It was too peaceful up here.

"You can't stay?" Mewtwo asked. "But you don't even have anything on your mind to do, do you?"

"I have to go, too," David said. "I have a meet with the Gym Leader in town tonight. She's a friend of mine, you know."

Mewtwo nodded sadly. He was just starting to like Adam, too. There was something about him, something about his personality, his rashness...he didn't know exactly, but that was what made him so different. Then again, why was he upset? He knew he would see him again. Maybe even sooner than last time...
__________________________________________

Back on the ground, the group silently walked around the city for a bit – Adam explained everything to his cousins, Mewtwo hovering next to him (Mewtwo normally did not use his feet when traveling long distances quickly), David lagging behind, taking photographs of places and people, especially them ("Pfft, tourists" Josh scoffed), and Raikou tagging along – until they ducked into an alley near the Rocket Game Corner, a casino that was still run by Team Rocket. Giving away Pokémon as prizes had become legalized, as many other programs did as well, so business continued to prosper.

"Well, this is where we part, mates," David said, stepping back out into the street. "If you want, I'll be in the Mall tomorrow, and we can get together and do something later."

"Okay," Mindy chirped, letting go of his arm.

"See you guys," he waved, and then he turned the corner and was gone.


"We should get going, too," Josh said. "Mindy, we've still gotta find a hotel to stay in." Mindy nodded.

Adam sighed sadly. "Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" he asked his friend. "We could always use another member of the team."

"Aw, is Adam getting lonely with just us?" Josh teased. Adam elbowed him in the chest.

"No, no, I should part ways," he said. "It's an interesting offer, though; I might have to ponder it."

Adam's heart started beating a little faster. He might have almost won him over!

Mewtwo pulled him towards his chest and hugged him, just like when they first met.

"Come on, Adam, let's go," Josh beckoned, leaving the alley with his sister.

Mewtwo let go and pulled his hood back on, his face becoming nothing more than shadow once more. "It seems now that it is I who wishes to see you again." He smirked, though Adam could barely see it.

"You know it," Adam said confidently.

"Then I bid you farewell...for now." He backed further into the alley, and with a bright flash of light, he vanished.


Adam quickly followed the others back to the hotel, where he pried open his grass-green notebook and wrote a new entry:

Journal Log #37:

It seems as though today left me with more questions than answers, though I did get to see Mewtwo again. That David boy – he seemed to be too good to be true for someone his age. Is he hiding something? He must be, because the guy from Team Matrix – Gerard, I think his name was – obviously knew him. And then Team Matrix. I've never heard of them before. What's their motif? And why did they try to blow up the subway?

If I see David tomorrow like he says I will, then I will have a lot of questions for him to answer...

-Adam Duseman
__________________________________________

"Can you confirm these photos?"

"Yes, sir. Official Pokémon Registry number one-hundred fifty, species Mewtwo. I've never seen the likes of it before, and as far as my knowledge goes, no one else does either. Saw it with these three."

"We've had some run-ins with them before. Names Adam Duseman, Josh Quantum and Mindy Quantum. But there should have been a little elf boy in green with them."

"I saw no one with that description, sir."

"There wasn't any mention of a Samus Aran, Galactic Federation-licensed bounty hunter, either?"

"None, sir."

"According to our records, that Pokémon 'Mewtwo' was part of a science team development by some professors from Cinnabar Island we commissioned. It ended up destroying the laboratory on New Island and killing the entire team. All but one."

"May I ask who that survivor is?"

"Name of Masakazu Fuji. Survived with a destroyed leg and near blindness. He resides in an old part of Cinnabar as of two years ago."

"And there no more recollection of Mewtwo after that?"

"None. It's as if he never existed since. The only last encounter the team had with it was Purity Canyon three months ago, but no one has any recollection of it. It's been assumed he succeeded in wiping their minds of the event."

"Even the boss?"

"Even Giovanni."

"What about this thing here? Something happened after Purity Canyon?"

"That was Agent 009's encounter with Miss Aran, my boy. You weren't part of the team yet."

"I see. Well, what do you want me to do about the situation at hand?"

"Nothing. Keep a close eye on those kids. If the DNA sample you collected was indeed Mewtwo's, then it'll be at least a month before the new science team can put him to any use."

"I'm sorry?"

"Now that his memory has slowly returned to him, Giovanni wants to find Mewtwo and use him to create an even more powerful Pokémon. Maybe something that can resolve our problems with Team Matrix...or worsen them."

"I see."

"You've done well, Agent 701. You might be able to keep that Ivysaur of yours if you prove yourself useful."

"Please...call me David."

"Very well, David. You're dismissed."

"Thank you, sir."