Pokémon Splice Of Life

[Umbramatic]

This story is less old than the last one (early 2018), and it was story I'd been meaning to write for a long time. It goes into many things - Kanto worldbuilding, gene splicing, splicing of Pokemon canons - but I like to think it goes into friendship and family most of all.

Splice Of Life



Blaine was having a normal day, or as normal as it could get for a Gym leader.

Work at the gym was done for the day, and he was back home, doing dishes, cleaning up, getting ready to sleep in his nice little house-

Car horns in the distance. A yowling Meowth. Barking Growlithe scaring his Rapidash grazing in the backyard. Blaine sighed. Who was he kidding? He hated Fuscia. He wanted his house in Cinnabar back.

But he couldn't have it, he thought. Cinnabar was gone.

Damn Hoenn Legendaries. Causing a ruckus that got the Cinnabar caldera to erupt years ago. It was a miracle anyone made it out alive. But everyone thought the place was cursed, and to this day there was only a lone Pokemon Center on the volcanic wreck of the island. It was a shame.

...He shouldn't dwell on such things, he thought. Blaine finished his chores, got in his pajamas, and greeted his Arcanine resting at his bedside before crawling in bed himself.

-----

He woke to a distinct thumping.

lHe quickly noticed that it wasn't an audible thumping but a deep vibrating pulse that seemed to echo within his mind. The pulse also created a tingling feeling that seemed to ripple through his skin. He bolted from his bed and noticed - even with his failing vision - his normally brave and loyal Arcanine was cowering in the corner, whimpering.

He knew what this was. He knew who this was.

He rushed from his bed, ran between rooms to his front door, and swung it right open.

Before him stood a looming purple figure somewhere between catlike and alien, leering down at him and radiating as much menace as psychic energy.

~...Hello, Blaine.~

Blaine stared with his jaw agape for a few seconds before breaking out an ecstatic grin.

"Mewtwo my boy! So good to see you! Come on in, come on in, I don't want anyone else seeing you!"

Mewtwo slunk in at Blaine's gesture, Blaine closing the door behind him. He cocked his head slightly but suddenly in Blaine's direction.

~How's it been?~

"Oh, same old, same old... Running the gym, taking care of my Pokemon... You? I heard you caused a ruckus up in Ferrum!"

~I did. These three girls helped fix me.~

"Aha, that's good! Wouldn't want any variation of that awful Shadowfication process to get near hide or hair of you... Anything else?"

~Red visited again.~

"Yes?"

~He used a Mega Charizard X against me.~

"And?"

Mewtwo allowed himself the vaguest hint of a smirk.

~I won.~

Blaine grinned and clapped. "Atta boy!"

Mewtwo whipped his tail in a satisfied fashion before suddenly drifting his gaze and staring off into space.

"Something the matter boy?" said Blaine.

~It's been a long time.~

"Since we could talk like this?"

~That, and since... the lab.~

"Oh." said Blane, rubbing his neck awkwardly. "Yes. Yes it has..."

A deep silence permeated the room before being broken by Mewtwo's telepathic voice.

~I miss her...~

Blaine reeled as his mind was suddenly awash in visions.

----------------

His senses were rudimentary at first. And in that glass tube the only ones that really mattered were his psychic ones. But even so, from the start he sensed he had a neighbor. One in a glass tube just like his right next to him. And eventually, he got the guts to say hello.

Not literally; he couldn't form words yet. But he extended a part of his presence, a link, to the other being in the other tube.

And they accepted.

Mewtwo felt a strange, indescribable feeling, mostly because he had no idea how to describe things, but it was pleasant all the same. He shared sensations, experiences, with the other being in the other tube, and they were responsive back. Mewtwo could tell from their mental patterns they were the same species as the strange beings that lurked outside the tubes - aside from the one, the "feline" he later described it as, the kindred spirit - but only as far along in development as he was. And they continued their mental link, their shared experiences, all their time in those tubes.

Until it came time for them to come out.

There was a rush of new senses, sight, hearing, smell. There were new emotions as well, like panic and confusion. They saw different things with their newfound eyes, heard different things with their newfound ears.

Mewtwo saw a man with a moustache looking over him and smiling.

-------------

He hated the containment unit.

It was cold, sterile, restrictive. People came in and out in strange suits to examine him and do tests, sure, but no one ever came to talk.

There were, however, two exceptions.

First was the first of these humans to greet him when he emerged from that tube. He was a "scientist" - apparently the human term for the people who did the poking and prodding, though he wasn't so bad about it - named Blaine. They'd actually talk, and Blaine would teach him things. Blaine seemed so proud of him, like Mewtwo was special. And Mewtwo liked that.

"You know," said Blaine one day. "You and I share a special connection."

~We... Do?~ said Mewtwo.

"Yes!" said Blaine. "You see, you, me, humans Pokemon, all living things, come from a substance called DNA. And when we created you, three humans used some of their DNA to help! I was one of them!"

~So we share DNA?~

"Yeah! It's like we're family!"

~What's a family?~

"Well, at it's most basic, it's just people you share DNA with. But really it's anybody you have the right special connection with!"

~So we have a special connection?~

"Yes! Me and Dr. Fuji created you to do great things!"

That always made Mewtwo smile.

The second was his companion from the days in the tubes. She was a human girl named Amber, and she was always peering into the containment unit. The windows at least weren't entirely telepathy-proof, and from there they had conversations.

"Dad says I shouldn't be down here, but I don't care! You're my friend and I want to talk to you! Plus I don't want to be a replacement... You're a lot more fun!"

~Thank you. You're a lot more fun than the scientists other than Blaine.~

He frowned.

~Sometimes... I don't know, I want to hurt them
or something...~

"Mewtwo!" said Amber. "Please don't talk like that!"

~Why not?~

"Some of the scientists from Rocket... They talk about making you into a weapon! I don't want that to happen to you!"

~Rocket? They want me to hurt people and Pokemon?~

Indeed, there was a third particular visitor that Mewtwo disliked instead of liked. He was tall and imposing, and called Giovanni - which Mewtwo later learned meant "gift from Arceus" - but Mewtwo could sense petty greed and lust for power that made him seem more pathetic than anything. That man was apparently the head of Rocket.

"They do!" said Amber. "But it shouldn't be this way! Dad said you're a symbol for Kanto that will guide them!"

~I am? I guess that's nice...~

"Yeah!" said Amber, smiling. "I hope you do a great job!"

Mewtwo allowed himself to smile.

~Thanks Amber.~

-------------

It was lonely in the unit all the same. Time passed, he was never sure how much. Scientists were the only ones who came in or out.

Then one day the door opened to reveal someone much more welcome.

~Amber?~

"Hello... Mewtwo," Amber said. "I'm pretty sure nobody's around, so, um, I wanted to say hi in here..."

She moved towards Mewtwo and sat down next to him. Mewtwo noticed that while they both had grown he was still far taller than her.

"So. What now?"

~Well, what can we do like this that we can't do with you outside?~

Amber paused. Then she carefully reached out her hand twoards Mewtwo's, clasping it gently.

~What are you doing?~ said Mewtwo.

"Holding your hand!"

~...Why?~

"It means I like you."

~Oh. Thanks.~

Amber frowned. "You feel kind of cold though..."

~Well, I don't get out much.~

"Me neither. I have to stay in the mansion above this lab because Dad insists on keeping me "safe"."

Her frown grew into a look of despair. "He's technically not even my dad! His real daughter died and I'm just a-"

She stopped. Silence. Mewtwo waited a bit before responding.

~Just a what?~

Tears started running down Amber's face.

"A clone. A copy. We're both clones. Both grown in tubes."

Mewtwo frowned. ~That's not... Normal?~

Amber shook her head.

~Oh...~

More silence. Then Amber perked up her head and smiled.

"I guess... It doesn't matter in the end, though?"

~Why not?~

"We do have a lot in common. The same air, the same planet, the same sky. Maybe if we started looking at what's the same instead of always looking at what's different... well, who knows?"

Mewtwo smiled as well.

~Heh... I guess that is true.~

Another silence, but not an awkward one this time.

"...Unfortunately I ought to get back before anyone knows I'm in here..." said Amber, getting up to leave.

~Wait!~ said Mewtwo. ~Tell me something first.~

Amber stopped. "Tell you what?"

~Are we... Friends?~

Amber smiled. "Of course."

Mewtwo smiled back, and with that Amber left.

------------------------

Today was the fateful day.

Mewtwo was finally free of the containment unit. He stood in the center of the lab, admired by the scientists, and Amber.

Then the Rockets came.

They came with armor for him, with powerful Pokemon, with the one known as Giovanii and his slinking feline. Mewtwo tensed.

~What do you want?~

"We're the biggest investors in this project," said Giovanni, "and you are rightfully ours."

Mewtwo clenched his fists. His eyes glowed a vivid blue.

~No.~

With that objects - and people - started flying in haphazard directions. A Rhydon amid the Rockets roared and attempted to subdue Mewtwo only to be flung aside like the rest. A Houndoom unaffected by the maelstrom of psychic energy lunged but was quickly felled by an Aura Sphere. Everywhere, voices echoed over the storm.

"Evacuate Dr. Blaine and Dr. Fuji!"

"Evacuate Giovanni!"

"Wait, where's Amber?! Where's my daughter?!"

Amber, was, in fact, rushing up to Mewtwo as he started glowing and rising in the air.

"Mewtwo, don't! They're not worth it!"

It was too late. Mewtwo was already set on dealing with this himself. In that moment his heart was nothing but savagery.

He rocketed up through the roof of the lab, into the mansion, and delivered a psychic blast to devastate all.

--------

His vision was fuzzy. He coughed.

His eyes refocused and he saw the devastated wreck of the mansion below him. His chest clenched into a million knots. He barely registered the getaway copter with Blaine, Fuji, and Giovanni in the distance.

No one else could have survived that.

Amber couldn't have survived that.

Tears streamed down his face as he flew away at rapid speed, as far away as possible.

-----------

Blaine reeled back again as the visions ended, panting.

~Sorry...~ said Mewtwo.

"No, no, it's fine..." said Blaine. "I... Needed the refresher..."

He sighed. "And... I guess it's about time I told you the story behind your creation in the first place."

~Go on?~ said Mewtwo.

Blaine thought a bit before continuing. "As you... Correctly remember you were created with my, Fuji, and Giovanni's DNA in additon to your Mew and other Pokemon DNA, and that Rocket was the biggest investor in the project. First thing I should note in addition was that the Amber you knew was technically meant to be a control for the experiment, but in practice was Fuji inserting himself into the project for... Obvious personal reasons."

Mewtwo looked away.

"You also correctly remembered you were origionally meant to be a new symbol of hope for Kanto - but not why," said Blaine.

~...Why then?~

"Ever notice how almost everything in Kanto seems pretty recent? Like how most everything but places the power plant and the Lavender Tower and... and what's left of the old lab seems like it just sprung up out of the ground a few decades ago? How there's not much history to any of it, especially compared to Johto right next door?"

~...Now that you mention it... Yes.~

Blaine waggled a finger. That's because modern Kanto is very different from the Kanto of old, which was under the guidance of Our Lady Mew, who you were meant to be a successor to! And as for why she needed a successor..."

He paused. He fidgeted. Then he turned hesitantly to Mewtwo.

"You showed me your memories... Mind if I show you mine?"

Mewtwo paused as well. ~...Yes.~

He looked into Blaine's mind.

--------------------

The child ran.

He ran through the wrecked, smoking buildings torn to bits. He ran past the bodies of people and Pokemon slike, impaled or ripped to shreds. He ran even as his legs, lungs, entire body wanted to give out.

And the hound found him anyway.

A green and black creature with razor sharp fangs, the hound rammed into the boy in a suprise attack, sending him sprawling into one of the cracked and torn buildings. Hastily attepting to right himself, the boy fully expected to have his throat ripped out by the monster, as he had seen others succumb to the same fate.

Instead, he heard the hound give an unhinged, Mighthyena-like cackle of a laugh.

He saw it glow green, absorb strange green cells from within the earth, display hexagon-like patterns across its transforming body that highlighted its shift to something far more humanoid.

Indeed, the boy, noted, the being that resulted almost looked actually human, if weirdly dressed and with messy, oddly-decorated dreadlocks. He could still tell, however, that this was the same houndlike monster that pursued him by their glowing green eyes and malicious grin.

"Cute!" they said. "You survived pretty long and admirably for a human your age; I guess I'll use you as an excuse to... Vent."

They punctuated their last word by summoning a staff with gnarled red and blue motifs and pointing it straight at the boy's throat. The boy stammered in panic, tried to back away.

"So, kid. What's your name?"

"Bl-Blaine..." said the boy, shaking in terror.

"Oh, this one's actually creative! Better than all those Toms and Rogers and such. You should already know me as Zygarde. But regardless."

They gestured to the ruins and wreckage around them. "Do you know why I did... this?"

Blaine shook his head. Zygarde scoffed. "Really? Do you remember this region's protector? The Mew?"

Blaine nodded fearfully. Zygarde grinned, which did not settle Blaine's utter terror in the slightest.

"Good, good... You remember how the humans here had this big civil war, and how they had the gall to kill her smack dab in the middle of it for trying to stop them?"

Blaine nodded again.

"Bingo! There's your answer, filth!"

They gestured to the wreckage again and started pacing back and forth in front of Blaine.

"This! This is the Legendaries setting an example to you humans about what happens when you actually kill even a minor one of us! Or at least try a bit too hard, but that's barely relevant! You killed her! Death is supposed to be alien to us legendaries, but no, humans score another point on ****ing up the natural order of things! That's all you ever do!"

They stopped and glared at the boy again.

"And why do I care so much? I'm Zygarde. I'm a Legendary myself. And what's in my job description? You guessed it! Protecting the natural order of this world, especially from beings like you."

Finally the boy spoke.

"You... You can't see things this way... Humans and Pokemon... They're friends... They work together to make the world bett-"

He was suddenly thwacked in the face by Zygarde's staff.

"Don't give me that crap!" they said. "I get it all the time and it's Taurosshit! Humans only use and abuse Pokemon, they're filth, scum! I'm only taking the form of one now because you apes only like properly communicating with each other! In fact... I don't necessarily need to right now, do I?"

More cells were absorbed into their body. They stretched and grew to become a massive green and black serpent.

~Tell the others who I spared: I am nature! I am law.! I am order! You humans shall find no friendship or family with the true people of this world! And you can never escape me!~

And with that they disappeared burrowing into the ashen ground.

The boy stared, shook, trembled. Then broke down into sobs.

------

Mewtwo removed the reach of his mind from Blaine's. His expression was, as usual, stern and mostly emotionless, but he radiated worry.

"I barely told anyone in the end..." said Blane. "It didn't help that there were huge government coverups to deny
Zygarde's involvement - we were just recovering from a civil war, we didn't want the Kalosians involved. Meanwhile Kanto rebuilt itself, tried to forget the past, except the old Power Plant, and the Lavender tower where all those that died were honored... But they went and overhauled those anyway..."

He sighed. "And in the meantime me, Fuji, and some other scientists tried to engineer a new guardian of Kanto starting with the DNA of a Mew from Faraway Island and... Well, you know the rest..."

Mewtwo thought a bit. ~I... I'm sorry.~

"Not your fault, boy," said Blaine. "Though after all this I do wonder if that Zygarde bastard was right... Maybe humans and Pokemon aren't meant to be..."

~They're wrong.~

"They are?"

~I should know. They say I have the most savage heart among Pokemon. Yet I had Amber. I still have you. Red has his Pokemon. In my travels I have seen so many people and Pokemon working together
and being happier with each other.~

He broke into a wide, genuine smile.

"I like to say the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant. It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are."

Blaine broke into a wide smile himself. "You've learned a lot, boy."

He paused, then moved over to a cabinet, digging around in it. "By the way, Mewtwo, I have something for you."

Mewtwo watched curiously as Blaine produced a strange purple and brown orb and put it in his hand.

"It's a Mega Stone!" said Blane. "Mewtwonite X! You may have already had experience with this back in Ferrum..."

~Yes, yes I did. Thank you.~

"You're welcome. Now remember, this only works with Trainers you have a strong bond with. And a Key Stone"

~I'll keep that in mind.~

Blaine grinned, then gave a loud yawn. "It's middle of the night; I ought to get back to bed. You take care?"

~Thank you. You too.~

He floated to the door, opened it telekinetically, and left. Blaine yawned again and stretched and went to bed.

-------

Somewhere, a young woman wearing a mask covering her eyes gazed up at the stars.

"We do have a lot in common. The same air, the same planet, the same sky. Maybe if we started looking at what's the same instead of always looking at what's different... well, who knows?"

She gazed a long while.

"I will find you... Mewtwo... My friend."

***

 

[kyeugh]

this is an interesting one. in particular i really like this portrayal of zygarde. zygarde seems like a more neutral, if not actively good, character in canon to me, but its premise and dex information touch on the themes that you address here, and i think zygarde as a vengeful protector of a damaged world against humankind is a much more compelling take on the character.

i also enjoyed the conversation between blaine and mewtwo immediately following mewtwo's entrance. it feels very familiar and friendly without alienating the reader with callbacks for which they lack context. you're standing a bit on the baseline established by canon here, while adding your own components— i think that's good, as it gives the readers an understanding to work with as they parse the additional material you bring to the table.

i also enjoyed the bits detaining mewtwo's younger years: the formation of its violent impulses, its relationship with blaine and amber (and by extension, humanity) et cetera. it places its future actions into a unique perspective.

the mewtwo and meowth quotes are nice touches as well. not much to say there, but i thought i'd point it out. i wonder if amber is related to mewtwo in some way?

i do find the pacing and structure of the story sort of odd, however. it's not really clear why mewtwo shows up to blaine's house after having been apart from him for so long. it also seems somewhat arbitrary that they just start sharing memories (at first, basically unannounced). in general, i guess, i'm just not a fan of stories being arranged as a sequence of flashbacks sprinkled into a framing narrative. some degree of personal preference involved there, of course, though it does seem pronounced and particularly awkward here. i think the story might be improved if it were rearranged to be chronological, or perhaps if mewtwo was introduced as being specifically motivated to uncover the truth, rather than it just happening somewhat inorganically from an otherwise ostensibly ordinary interaction. a combination of the two approaches there might be good too.

regardless, it was an interesting read, and though the worldbuilding details come on a bit heavy, they are interesting worldbuilding details, and i'm interested to see more of this pokémon cosmology you hint at throughout the fic.

 

[Negrek]

Oh nooo, Mewtwo fic? Mewtwo fic! My favorite! It's always fun to see how different people handle his character, and you always put a spin on the legendaries that makes them distinctly your own.

The opening section provides some neat context about the eruption on Cinnabar (with the involvement of the Hoenn legends), but ultimately it strikes me as kind of disconnected from the rest of the story. Blaine's dislike of Fucshia never comes up again, and indeed the fact that he's in Fucshia rather than Cinnabar doesn't matter; if you hadn't told me, I wouldn't know. As far as I'm concerned, starting with Blaine waking up would have worked just as well.

~Red visited again.~

"Yes?"

~He used a Mega Charizard X against me.~

"And?"

Mewtwo allowed himself the vaguest hint of a smirk.

~I won.~

Haha, loved this little reference. Also makes me go, man, how has it been so long since Origins premiered already...

It was cold, sterile, restrictive. People came in and out in strange suits to examine him and do tests, sure, but no one ever came to talk.

There were, however, two exceptions.

It's kind of weird to me to say "no one ever did X" and immediately follow it with "except for these people who did X." Why not go with "people rarely came to talk"/"people almost never spoke to him"/whatever?

[~Sometimes... I don't know, I want to hurt them
or something...~

This line comes kind of out of nowhere to me. Is it supposed to indicate that Mewtwo has some innate violent tendencies? Or are there some abuses here that we haven't actually seen? From the story so far there doesn't seem to be much reason for him to want to hurt any of the scientists. He's clearly lonely, but it's not like he has no friends or no one to talk to. When he gets angry over Giovanni showing up to say that he "owns" Mewtwo it seems much more justified, although the extent to which he lost his temper was still pretty extreme.

I know this is old, so I'm not going to really go into grammar/punctuation/whatever, but if you have a quick minute, it could really use a spellcheck! There are a lot of errors like "slike" and "origionally" in here.

It is interesting to read this story and see now how it ties in with the events mentioned in "Progenitors," the cataclysm that shook Kanto and Mew's murder. Also nice to see Loki Loki-ing it up here! It does kind of make me wonder, though, do you have any sort of guide somewhere about suggested reading order or how the different stories tie into one another? The lists I've seen have all been chronological by publication date, I think, but I don't know that that's the order everything's supposed to be read? I think it would be helpful, or at least fun, to have some more information on how the stories tie into one another and maybe get a sense of how to follow them "start to finish," if that's possible.

I REALLY like the idea of Mewtwo as being supposed to be kind of a symbol of hope for the Kanto region--especially here, of course, where Mew is explicitly dead and people feel like there needs to be someone new to give the region hope again. But I honestly think that it would work well just from what we see in canon. We usually see a lot of emphasis on Mewtwo being created simply to ~be the strongest~ and as a weapon, but the idea here where people were trying to create a protector and symbol of hope, which was then corrupted by greed, is a somewhat more interesting scenario to me. Gives the story an extra layer of tragedy, I guess. After what happened to Mew, humans clearly still haven't learned their lesson... and so what results is more bloodshed.

It's also fun to see a twist on the usual Mewtwo portrayal--I guess it draws a bit more heavily from Special than most Mewtwo depictions I've seen, with the thing about Mewtwo literally being cloned from Blaine and the two of them being friends. This is a case where I think your own worldbuilding works really well with what's in canon, and the two kind of enhance each other. This story isn't talking about the same world as the one in the games, anime, etc., but it's a world that feels quite plausible and really not that far off from what we see in canon. You capture the feel of the canon without copying the same story beats, and it works well as a coherent and plausible take on the pokemon world.

The setup of this fic does feel a little contrived to me, though. Mewtwo shows up to talk to Blaine because he was in the area and thinking of him, I guess? And it turns into Mewtwo showing Blaine a lot of his history, which he already knows, I think. And Blaine finally chooses to reveal Mewtwo's origins, which would be a big deal, but which isn't really built up to at all, so it doesn't really seem like it in context. The bit with Amber at the end is intriguing, and it would definitely be cool to see Mewtwo and Amber eventually reunited, but I don't think it fits in that well with the short story format; it seems more like a teaser for another story than something that really fits in here. You kind of have a lot of interesting elements that maybe don't come together into a super-cohesive narrative.

Regardless, I did like your spin on Mewtwo's backstory and his relationship with Blaine. If anything, I'd have liked to see more of them interacting in the present! I wonder how they ended up reconnecting after the lab incident... Anyhow, it's a fun take, and I think you did a good job of getting across how comfortable they are with one another despite not giving their relationship a ton of screentime. If you wanted to revamp this, I think you might want to reconsider the structure and e.g. whether you want to include that bit with Amber at the end, or whether this would actually work better incorporated into a longer story about Mewtwo and Amber or something. Regardless, there's a lot of interesting material here, and a lot of cool ways I think you could build on it, if you felt so inclined.

 

[kintsugi]

me again! strayed here based on Negrek's review of Greenhorn Prometheus I think or i heard the name of this in a dream; i honestly don't know

lHe quickly noticed that it wasn't an audible thumping

you got an extra 'l' here

"Mewtwo my boy!

dropped your addressing comma here; I've seen you using them before so I think this was just a typo

"We do have a lot in common. The same air, the same planet, the same sky. Maybe if we started looking at what's the same instead of always looking at what's different... well, who knows?"

I like callbacks as much as the next person, but it's a little stretching belief for her to say Meowth's lines verbatim, haha

with the one known as Giovanii and his slinking feline

oops @ Giovanni spelling

people and Pokemon slike

I think you mean 'alike'

humans score another point on ****ing up the natural order of things

I feel like this is a relic from Serebii crossposting, but I think if you're starring out your cursewords you should just not have them

so many people and Pokemon working together
and being happier with each other.~

You have a few stray linebreaks here and there

Maybe humans and Pokemon aren't meant to be..."

~They're wrong.~

I think this is sort of an interesting concept to go into and it would've been neat to see more of it. This fic is full of examples of humans and Pokemon not being Great to one another; Zygarde murders entire villages because lol, Mew gets axed trying to prevent a human civil war. And the entire premise of Mewtwo is based on this ideal of a parternship between humans and Pokemon going being corrupted by human lust for power/superiority -- Blaine ironically sets off to make up for the cruelty that humans inflict on Pokemon and ends up being complicit in something far worse. For the most part I think your story is actually a series of examples that are proving Zygarde/Blaine right, with a side of Amber doing the bare minimum of not treating him like an object. So like... it kind of rings a little hollow here, and it feels especially strange for Mewtwo to have come to that conclusion? Especially because the last we see in his half of the flashbacks is him pasting the lab in a fit of rage; we don't really get to see the emotional growth that would lead him to circle back and conclude that maybe humans aren't quite so bad after all.

I do love what you've done with the backstory here. I like the Great Kanto War theory or whatever, and it's nice to see that you've given it some teeth and made it have real implications on the rest of the world -- real wars have fallout, dammit! I think some of this is probably explored in your other work as well, but it's always neat to see when authors have an extended universe/history for the events that they've brought into your canon. Also, Zygarde is neat. The depiction here is really clever, too; they're a force of balance, but how do you balance a world that keeps tipping between extreme pockets of violence except with more violence?

Mewtwo's flashbacks feel a little out of place for me. Like he's just gonna yeet up to Blaine's doorstep and be "remember when"; other people pointed out that it felt a little contrived so I won't go too much harder on that point. For me the flashbacks were kind of weird just because they were reflavors of story beats that we've already played out -- here's Mewtwo in the tube, here's Amber in the tube, here's Giovanni rubbing his hands evilly, here's Mewtwo blowing up the lab. And they definitely feel different and you've added a lot to the characters in subtle ways, but the core events that are being shown are still things we've seen before. And sometimes even the dialogue is the same as well -- so while a lot of new things are happening, it was easy for me as a reader to gloss over them because I'd already seen this flavor of interaction before.

I think this would've benefitted from more of the non-canon conversations. We've seen Mewtwo yeet the lab; that's sort of the "we have to blow up this big spaceship in a trench run to get to its one weak spot" of Pokemon as far as key events that get replayed/reincarnated in all the media. I don't really know if having it again here really adds as much to the characters you're fleshing out as, say, the conversations between Amber/Mewtwo outside of the tubes, or Blaine's entire backstory.

And like, hmm, tough line to tread since a) your rendition of the Mewtwo yeet is fugging cool and b) wiping out a bunch of innocents and evil people as well as arguably your only real friend isn't exactly a life event that you can just skip out on because people have talked about it before, but at the same time, I think it'd be justified since Blaine probably knows how this song and dance ends?

Idk. I'd really love to see some of your more non-canon scenes play into this sort of fic, though -- the bits between Amber and Mewtwo are really good, but I feel like we could have a lot more time focusing on their relationship. Part of the plot contrivance for me (of "why is Mewtwo infodumping stuff to Blaine randomly) was made especially more obvious since the scenes are also familiar to us and Blaine. Since the crux of the conversation that these two people are having is if humans and Pokemon should be separate given the horrors they've done to one another, it's a little strange that Mewtwo spends so much time focusing on the bad things that happen to him only to come away with the complete opposite takeaway from Blaine -- I think you could kill a few birds with one stone by focusing more on the non-canon friendship moments between Amber and Mewtwo.

But still! For a contained narrative, I think this functioned really well. It definitely wasn't Slice of Life lmao can't read titles, but it's a nice kind of genre that plugs up a lot of holes and still sheds some life on this interpretation of Mewtwo's origins. I like the overall direction that you took these things in, and how you tried to give some grounding to the overall batshit premises that surround a lot of things -- overall a really fun read!

 

[canisaries]

God tier name, 10/10, review over, goodbye.

No, let's talk a little more about this. So I will admit I know pretty little about Mewtwo lore, both the anime and the games. I did go and read some summaries on wikis, though, so I think I know the gist of them, and that this really is modified splice of the two. Here are some thoughts I had.

"Dad says I shouldn't be down here, but I don't care! You're my friend and I want to talk to you! Plus I don't want to be a replacement... You're a lot more fun!"

So it seems that this Ambertwo doesn't have the consciousness of the original Amber unlike in the movie canon, which makes the fact that Fuji cloned her a lot worse ethically, as now this new person has to live knowing they only exist to emulate someone else rather than being a freak of nature through reincarnation. And as we all know, the more ethically questionable something is, the juicier - which is why I'm a little saddened that her condition isn't explored more.

As for this line of dialogue, it took me a while to see how "I don't want to be a replacement" and "You're a lot more fun" connected. I think what this implies is that "being a replacement" entails acting like the original Amber who definitely didn't have a Mewtwo pal, meaning that hanging out with Mewtwo makes her unlike the original. I needed to make a few mental hops to get to this, though, so I think this would benefit from being worded more clearly. Of course, expanding upon her dilemma as mentioned before would also help, as that motivation would be more clearly in the reader's mind.

"We do have a lot in common. The same air, the same planet, the same sky. Maybe if we started looking at what's the same instead of always looking at what's different... well, who knows?"

This is a beautiful line, but it seems to come a little out of the blue. The "we" would make sense to refer to normal lifeforms and clones, but the context makes it sound like it's Amber and Mewtwo even though they really don't seem to have a problem finding things in common otherwise. More ruminating on normal people being normal and clones being clones first would set the scene better in my opinion.

They came with armor for him, with powerful Pokemon, with the one known as Giovanii and his slinking feline. Mewtwo tensed.

~What do you want?~

"We're the biggest investors in this project," said Giovanni, "and you are rightfully ours."

Mewtwo clenched his fists. His eyes glowed a vivid blue.

~No.~

Now I can get Mewtwo, as a psychic, being smart and all, but I think it could have taken a little more time for the realization to set in. He does fly into a blind rage bad enough to kill his best friend as collateral damage (or so it appears, as she's revealed to still be alive later on) and I think that kind of thing could use some more time to accelerate, y'know?

Also, *Giovanni.

"Not your fault, boy," said Blaine. "Though after all this I do wonder if that Zygarde bastard was right... Maybe humans and Pokemon aren't meant to be..."

It's unclear to me how a civil war ties into humans and Pokemon not getting along - unless it was actually humans vs Pokemon? "Civil war" really sounds like humans vs humans (with trained Pokemon on both sides), as Pokemon don't appear sapient here outside of legends and Mewtwo, and a war between humans just seems to show that humans are garbage in general rather than specifically in terms of Pokemon.

Then here are a few typos I spotted:

lHe quickly noticed

origionally

and Pokemon slike

Mighthyena-like cackle of a laugh.

I am law.!

In addition, Blaine's name was spelled as Blane once or twice, Ctrl+F will show you the spots.

Death is supposed to be alien to us legendaries, but no, humans score another point on ****ing up the natural order of things!

I'm guessing that this was copypasted from Serebii or another place with a swear filter and so this accidentally was left in, because I don't see the point of censorship otherwise.

---

There's a lot in this oneshot - character, lore, drama. I think it's handled well for the most part and does get touching, but as said before, there's some stuff I wish were expanded upon. I will acknowledge, though, that this is a short story and not everything has time to be explored. But perhaps a few more paragraphs in some places would do?

Something that kind of stuck out to me as out of place was Zygarde. It surprised me to see a Kalos legend in what's such a deeply Kanto story otherwise, but I kept my mind open - and Zygarde does fit for a legend to interfere when humans cause great disarray somewhere. How they're portrayed, though, undermines their presence and impact in my opinion. They come across as a little too petty and villainous to fit the part of what's essentially a god of the natural order, and their point of men and mon not mixing is, in a way, contradicted by the gijinka-type form they take. While I don't blame you from opting out from using the official 100% form because what even is that thing, I think the serpentine 50% form would've fit here better. It's a Pokemon and a bestial one at that, which would avoid their subtle implication that a human form is higher than that of a Pokemon. You could make the "form you're more comfortable with" argument here, but comfort seems like the last feeling they would like to evoke in this little boy they're yelling at. It also seems rather counterintuitive to raze the place with the intention of teaching humans not to screw around while not actually telling more than one child what the meaning of this attack was. And as Zygarde's involvement then does get covered up by the government, it feels like that's largely thanks to the legend's poor planning.

Finally, some props on actually writing about Blaine and letting him have a big part. I can't imagine he's too popular in fanfic due to him not being as kewl or smexy as a bunch of other canon NPCs.

 

[Adamhuarts]

Just read this oneshot. I think it's alright for the most part all things considered. The story of Mewtwo is one I never get tired of, and I enjoyed your take on his backstory here. I liked the addition of canon lore while also introducing your own twist on it.

If anything, I kinda wish this was a full on serialized story because there's a lot of things in the oneshot I'd have liked to see elaborated on. The oneshot felt like an epilogue to a story if I'm being honest, but that's not really a bad thing depending on how you look at it. If anything, it makes me want to read more of what happened, especially with Amber and Zygarde.

"I like to say the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant. It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are."

I'm really glad you included this line too especially. It's a really powerful quote. :3

 

[K_S]

Love that little caveat.. as normal as it could get, that's not forboding at all...

And with the nods towards events of the Manga we got our setting... I'm surprised he didn't move to the fringe of town so that his Rapidash could have more room to roam.

As an ex-Roclet and considering his history I'm surprised he's so blase with the thumping. Arcanine is picking up on it so it makes it seem less mundane... and more ominous...

Well hello Mewtwo, at least he's not in his mind control armor but considering his temper in manga canon that's both a good and bad thing...

Is this before Red calmed/trained him because if so Blaine's in for a rough morning, to put it mildly.

(and fuscia is likely in for a rough repaving project if things go worse case scenario)

Caused a ruckus, I suppose per Baine's experience anything short of the apocalypse would likely match the criteria of "mild to moderate ruckus". He's a gregarious old firebrand, isn't he?

you know I came in from one info dump involving a dragon learning taxes and getting therapy, to get a front view scene by scene of the pokemon first movie, uncensored... from Mewtwos perspective, it's an odd feeling to bump into the same plot device twice... Poor Amber she got the short end of the stick... I get what her father was trying to do but still...

At least Blaine was as kind as his circumstances would allow. And that Mewtwo had amber even if it was for such a short time... And even though it all went pear-shaped he still has Bline for a while yet. The Z' legend (I'm assuming from the x/y games) is one I'm unfamiliar with,.. though he seems a nod towards the more malicious Legend personifications. It's a good thing that he didn't bump into plasma and their segregationist views of he might have swept them up under his tail/wing... meh the anthology falls apart.. he gives me a feeling of a mon version of Ghestis and I kinda wonder how he'd interact with N'.

Huh, Blaine's gift is an interesting one... wonder how it'll be used... and Amber's alive? I thought she had passed? Were you planning (or did you this is an old tale after all) plan on exploring their reunion at some point? It sounds like an interesting read if you do or did.

Thanks for posting this tale.