Chapter 2

There we were, Mary, and I in the middle of the ocean. It had been two hours and a half since we left the island. 3:10pm. Mary was sitting next to me, lying back while holding her left leg. I was driving the boat, looking ahead for any sign of land.

Mary spoke for the first time since we left the island. "Do you know where we are going?", Mary asked, apparently worried that we were lost at sea. "Yeah, I know. I am following the direction that the helicopter went in", I said, while holding her hand, trying to keep her calm. The last thing I needed was to be lost at sea with a worried woman who had a broken left leg.

"Thank you for saving my life . . . . . er." "Matt. Matt Thomas," I said, realizing that she had forgotten my name. Oh great. I have just saved her life and she has already forgotten my name! Mary rubbed the back of her head. "I'm sorry that I forgot your name. Matt?" I looked over to her. "What?" "Why did you save me instead of your brother?". I took my eyes off her and back at the wheel. "He was already lost to me when I found you", I said in a hardened tone.

Mary took the message. I didn't want to think about David now. I didn't want to think about watching him die. I didn't want to think about the unholy creation that killed my brother. I didn't want to think about Mewtwo.

The whole scene played through my mind like a tormenter, refusing to have mercy on his victim. The monitor crashing into him. Him throwing the boat keys to me, as if he knew that his time was up. The roof coming down on him. David's death wouldn't leave me. So wouldn't the monster that killed him. Mewtwo was laughing at me, taking pleasure in my pain.

"Look! Is that land?" Mary said in a joyful tone while pointing in the direction of what she was seeing. I set my sight in the direction she was pointing to. It was land! There was a city there too! Fuchsia City! "You're right!" I said happily. I slightly turned the boat so it would go to the Fuchsia City beach. I had to admit, after seeing nothing but water for such a long time, seeing land does feel refreshing.

----

As we drove closer to the beach, I took in my surroundings. People and pokemon were swimming and surfing around. Multiple houseboats were anchored off the coast, the owners either swimming, having a barbeque on deck, or just relaxing on chairs on the deck.

On the beach itself, people were lying on beach towels in the sun, taking in a tan. Pokemon were either doing the same or battling other pokemon. Girls in wet bikinis ran across the beach, catching the attention of every man within 10 feet of them. Human men, machokes, and machamps flexed their muscles as women went crazy with desire. Across the street was a big hotel.

As soon as we arrived on the beach, I jumped out of the boat and screamed, "This woman has a broken left leg! She needs medical attention!" No sooner than after I made that statement, did medics come and place Mary in a stretcher. I followed them to an ambulance that they probably kept around just in case some surfer took heavy damage while riding a wave.

The medics slid Mary into the ambulance. One of them turned to me and asked, "Are you going with us?" I nodded. I might as well stay with Mary for a while. I could take the bus back to Cerulean City later. I boarded the back of the Ambulance with Mary while the medics went into the front seat of the ambulance. The siren went off, and the ambulance screeched off toward the hospital.

Once again, Mary was the first to speak. "So Matt. What is your job?" I responded, "Well, I really don't have a job. I was considering going into a career as a scientist, but that is out of the question now". Mary said with a look of wonder on her face, "Well, how do you stay alive?" I responded, "Well, have been earning money from Pokemon matches so far. I can't do that for the rest of my life, though". I took a moment from my talking to sigh.

"I guess that I could do what Mom and Dad wanted me to and take a job in their electronics business". Mary looked surprised at what I had just said. "You mean that your parents own Thomas Tech co.?" I nodded. She laughed and said, "Do you think that you could get me a few DVD players?" We both laughed at the statement. I said in a pleasant yet inquisitive tone, "I think that I have said enough about myself so far. How about you?"

Mary lied on the stretcher for a while in silence, probably thinking of what to say. Finally, she started to speak. "Well, working on New Island was my first job. My father is the Commander of--". "--The S.C.O.R.S.?" I said, finishing her sentence. Mary looked surprised that I said that. "How did you--?"I once again cut her off, saying, "--The S.C.O.R.S. have been in the news frequently lately. It's like you cannot go a week without hearing, "The S.C.O.R.S. busted a pokemon stealing ring today", or something like that".

Mary gave me an annoyed look. "Will you stop interrupting my sentences?" I smiled and said, "Fine. I'll stop". My smile half faded as I decided that it time to get more information on New Island and Mewtwo.

"So, why did you decide to work on creating Mewtwo?", I asked while watching Mary's eyes for any hint of lying. Mary said in return, "I thought that it would have been exciting to create a life. I would have never helped out if I knew this would happen". Mary looked away from me, feeling guilty for what she had done.

She continued, "Just imagine the kids that I have left without a dad, the women I have left without a husband and vice versa. The tears that my actions have caused". I thought about placing a hand on her shoulder, but I decided otherwise. It's not like she is my friend, she is just somebody that got lucky to be spotted by me while I was escaping the lab disaster.

Not wanting to let Mary beat herself up like this, I said, "It's not just your fault. I am sure that the scientists knew the risks". She looked back at me with a faint smile. "Thanks for cheering me up, Matt".

It was obvious that it would be best if I changed the subject, but I still wanted to know as much about this as possible. I continued questioning her. "Explain the connection between Dr. Fuji, Team Rocket, and Mewtwo". Mary took a deep breath. This was apparently going to be long.

"Dr. Fuji originally wanted to clone his daughter, Ai". I guess David was right when he said that Dr. Fuji had good intentions. "She recently died in a accident. The problem was, Fuji was low on cash. Giovanni, leader of Team Rocket, agreed to fund Fuji's experiment, but on a condition". Of course. Nothing comes free from Team Rocket. "Fuji would need to create the world's strongest pokemon for Giovanni. Fuji wanted his daughter back very much, so he agreed."

A fossil of Mew was found at a ruin and brought back to the lab. It was used to create Mewtwo. This wasn't tried once though. The attempts to create Mewtwo failed many times. The previous specimens died shortly after being created". How sad. To be given life, only for it to be snatched away. Maybe it is for the best that they died. We don't need so many creatures that are capable of mass destruction and murder.

"So, Dr. Fuji and the other scientists created Ai (Two) and Mewtwo. The records say that Ai (Two) and Mewtwo communicated with each other psychically before Ai (Two) died. After she died, Mewtwo started to go crazy. He was put to sleep before he could do any damage. He slept like that, until today. That's about it, Matt". Interesting. A sleeping god of destruction, who has been awoken.

Before I could respond to that huge piece of information, the sirens stopped, and the medics opened the back door. "Come on, let's go", One of the medics said. They grabbed Mary's stretcher and took her into the hospital, me following close behind. After a few minutes, Mary and me found ourselves in a patient's room on the 20th floor, me sitting in a chair, Mary lying on the bed.

I walked over to the TV in the corner of the room and turned it on, taking the remote on top of it back to the chair with me. The news was on. A male reporter was standing in the middle of a street that looked like it went through one huge riot! Cars were burning, people and pokemon were being taken away on stretchers. Electric signs were in the middle of the street, sparks of electricity coming from them. A sewer manhole was suspended in the air by the sewage that was shooting into the air. To top it off, the street lights were either broken in half or bent out of shape and the traffic lights were in the middle of the street, blinking red and green. Police sirens wailed throughout the whole scene.
The reporter said, "I am standing here at Scissor Street of Celadon City, where a Team Rocket/Dark Dawn battle happened today. As you can see, the destruction is very widespread. As I speak, shop owners are calling insurance and people and pokemon are being hauled off to hospitals and centers. The battle was ended when both sides of the conflict saw the police moving in".

I changed the channel. Another news program.

The female reporter was standing in front of what looked like a hospital. She said, "I am here in Celadon City for the grand opening of the first pokemon-human hospital ever. The hospital will be named Man-Mon Hospital".

I changed the channel. The Brittany Jackson Show.

"This should be fun", Mary said. "This show is garbage. It is stupid how people are basically judged by a crowd of strangers who probably only know half the story", I said in response.

On the show, a man and a woman were sitting in chairs. The audience was cheering over something. The man looked angry and the woman looked happy and confident.

The man said, "You people aren't listening to me! She cheated on me twice before I cheated on her!" Brittany said, "Well, don't you think you should have left the relationship instead on letting it go on like this?". The audience clapped and screamed. A hand rose out of the audience and Brittany walked over to the person and handed the person the microphone as he stood up. The person said, "I guess your kids will never learn family values. Not with a family like this". The audience clapped.

I couldn't bear it anymore. I changed the channel just to save my brain from rotting anymore. "Hey! I was watching that!" Mary said. "Not anymore", I retorted, waving the controller in Mary's face and pulling it away just as she tried to snatch it.

I clicked through the channels, looking through movies, cartoons, music shows, and so on. I stopped at a movie, which looked like a psyduck/wigglytuff love story, but I continued clicking after I decided that it was absolute crap.

I kept clicking until I saw a huge blue beam of light on screen. It was a news program. The image switched to a reporter was standing at the Fuchsia Beach, speaking. "This was taped today from the coast of Fuchsia City. A huge beam of light coming from somewhere over the sea today. We have no further...wait...I'm getting something". The reporter held a hand over the small headphone in his ear. "This just in! The light came from New Island. The lab that was on New Island has been wiped out!"

A doctor walked into the room. "Hello, miss. I am here to look at your left leg". The doctor began to inspect Mary's leg, finding out what he needed to make the cast like. My attention was still on the TV.

"We have no clue on what could have caused such a catastrophe to occur, but we have sent out investigative teams to the island.

Also, 2 people came to the beach at Fuchsia City today. They were taken to the hospital. Could they be possible survivors of the New Island disaster? We will keep you informed as new information comes up".

I turned my attention to the doctor, who had now gotten all the information on Mary's left leg that he needed. "We'll fit you with a cast in a few minutes. May I get the names of the two of you?" "Matt Thomas". "Mary Angel".

The doctor wrote the names down and started to leave the room when another doctor bumped into him. "We need to get the names of these patients. A lot of people are calling in to see if their friends and/or relatives were the 2 survivors". "Don't worry, I have their names already". The two doctors left the room, leaving me, Mary, and the TV alone once again.

"Did you just see the news?" I asked Mary. Mary responded, "No. I was paying attention to the doctor". "It looks like what happened today just became public information". Mary sighed and said, "It will be only a matter of time before our parents find us". My family. I wanted to see them more than anybody else right now. I needed Mom's comforting. I needed Dad to tell me to toughen up. "Them and the reporters", I added.

Speak of the devil. The moment I finished that sentence, a man in a suit with a microphone busted into the room with a cameraman behind him. The reporter gave the signal to turn the camera on and he began speaking. "This is channel 14 news reporting at Life Hospital in Fuchsia City. We are with", the reporter darted his glance at a sheet, the same sheet the doctor wrote on, then back at the camera,"Matt Thomas and Mary Angel!". The reporter stuck his microphone in my face. "So, how is it to know that you survived a accident that killed many people?"

Before I could voice my anger at this asshole, who thinks that he could just bust into any room and ask people questions after going through something that could stay with them for the rest of their life, the 4 doctors, one of them being the doctor that recorded Mary's left leg conditions and our names, grabbed the men and dragged them out of the room. "Hey! This is going against free speech and press!" the reporter protested. "Don't you have any respect for victims?" one of the doctors said.

Mary and me watched the reporter get dragged from the room. Mary and me looked at each other, sending the same message to each other through our facial expression, "What a bastard". The doctor that we have come to know so well once again came into the room. "We are sorry for that unfortunate disturbance. We will be putting a cast on Ms. Angel now. Mr. Thomas, could you go to the waiting room now?" I nodded and left the room. "Later, Mary", I said.

I walked to the waiting room, and sat down on one of the couches. The couch really felt comfortable. I would just lie back for a while. I sat on the couch and laid back and closed my eyes as I heard the TV in the room. An anchorman said, "Our hearts go out to the people that lost their lives."

Our hearts go out to the people that lost their lives.

****

Darkness. Cold, lonely darkness. I was standing in the darkness. Suddenly, I dim light turns on. It only illuminates a small area. I walked toward the light. Somebody in the light was fighting something in the dark. David? It was David in the light! He was fighting something. I had to help him! I ran toward the dim light where my brother was fighting for his life, but it seemed as if I was going in slow motion! I ran as hard as possible, trying to get to David.

Something caught David by the leg and was dragging him into the darkness. David saw me and started to scream to me. "Matt! Help me! HELP!" "I'm coming David!", I screamed back. I used every ounce of strength in my body to get to him, but by when I finally got there, David was completely pulled into the darkness. "NO! DAVID!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

As if on cue, the light started to become brighter, showing more and more of the area I was in. I gasped as the light grew to show David, lying in a puddle of blood. His blood. Blood was coming from his mouth and from his stomach. "Why couldn't you save me, Matt?" David said in his last breath. "David . . . . . . . I . . . I". *Yes, why couldn't you save him?* Huh? Where did that echoing voice come from? I looked around the area until the light grew bright enough for me to set my sights on where the voice came from.

My eyes widened in horror as I saw him, Mewtwo, floating in the air, arms folded, smirking evilly at me. I started to run as fast as I could. To my surprise, my normal speed was somehow restored. I ran until something knocked me down. It was as if somebody threw a punching bag at me!

I rolled over to see what had knocked me down. I saw Mewtwo's tail move back from the blow it has just given, to its former position behind him. Before I could get up and start running again, Mewtwo took the open chance and jumped on me, his legs spread across my waist, his hands holding me by the shoulders, pinning me down.

I was frozen, I was scared. Was it my time to die now? Mewtwo moved closer to me until his head was only inches away from mine. I could feel him breathe on my neck and face. I looked straight into those purple eyes. *You couldn't save your brother, and you couldn't save yourself*, Mewtwo said mentally. Here it comes. Here comes the end.

Mewtwo's eyes glowed, as he became even closer to me. He said . . . . .

****

"Matt! Wake up!" I opened my eyes in shock. My vision cleared to reveal Mom, Dad, Gerald, and my best friend, Clark. Mom was in tears as she hugged me. "Oh Matt! I am so happy that you are alive!" Dad and Gerald weren't crying, but they were still happy to see me. "I'm glad that you're safe, son", Dad said. The 4 of us hugged together, Mom crying and me trying to hold back tears. "I'm sorry, but David is dead", I said, coming out of the hug. "We're just happy that one of you survived", Gerald said, beginning to break into tears.

Clark walked over to me and playfully punched me in the shoulder. "I'm glad that you're okay Matt. If you died, I would have to cross off one best friend". I returned the punch and responded, "I'm glad to see you too". I looked at all four of them and said, "You guys don't know how much the sight of you makes things better for me. I . . . . . saw David die. . It was-". "-SShhhhh. Don't worry about it now. You just need to get some rest", Mom said.

"Hey, where is Mary?" I asked. "In her room with her father. Maybe you should go see her", Dad responded. I got off the couch and walked to Mary's room. She and her father, Harold Angel, were both crying while hugging each other? Mr. Angel noticed my presence and looked over to me. He said, "Are you Matt Thomas, the person who saved my daughter?" I nodded. He stopped hugging Mary, and walked over to me. Then, he took my hand and shook it with gratitude etched on his face.

"Thank you. Thank you very much! I don't what I would do if I lost Mary in that horrible accident". It was clear that his commanding position at the S.C.O.R.S. didn't harden his heart toward his daughter. His expression of joy and gratitude became an expression of thinking. "You know, Matt, somebody with your skill might be able to make it in the S.C.O.R.S.".

"Me!?" I said, taken off guard by the comment. "I just got lucky enough to survive the incident". Mr. Angel responded, "It couldn't be luck. Not after what Mary told me. The way you risked your own life to help somebody who was hurt. The way you bravely jumped into the water as the lab exploded. The way you called for medical help the minute you arrived on the beach. That sounds like S.C.O.R.S. material to me".

"Well--", I started to say. "--Listen. You don't need to make a choice now. Think it over". Mr. Angel handed me a card with a number. "I'll think it over, Mr. Angel", I said, pocketing the card.

"Hey Matt, what do you think of the cast?" Mary said, entering the conversation. I looked at the plain, white cast. "It looks like a normal, everyday cast to me", I responded. Mary grabbed a pen from the table sitting next to her and handed to me. "Why don't you sign it?" "Okay, if you want me to", I said. I took the pen and wrote, "Matt T." on the cast. "Thanks", Mary said with a smile.

"I'm going to talk to Matt's parents for awhile", Mr. Angel said. After he left the room, Mary asked me, "So what have you been doing for the last 5 hours?" I said with amazement, "It's been 5 hours?" "Yep", Mary responded. Should I tell her about the nightmare that I had? Maybe it would be best if she didn't know. Well, she has been honest with me so far; I might as well return the favor.

"I had a nightmare about David and Mewtwo. David asked me why was it that I didn't save him. Mewtwo almost killed me", I said.

Mary put a hand on my shoulder. She put her hand on my shoulder. Weren't we just strangers to each other? Maybe we're more than that? "It is just like you told me. David knew the risks". I looked at her hand on my shoulder, and then her face. Into those beautiful blue eyes. It was amazing. I had met the woman today and I think that I am already starting to like her. I wonder how she feels about me.

"Matt? What are you thinking about?" Mary asked. I snapped out of my thinking. "Yeah, there is no reason to think of the what-ifs anymore, There is nowhere to go but forward", I said, pushing the dream to the back of my mind. I looked at the clock. 10:50pm. It was getting late. I might as well call it a day. "Mary, I'm going to go home now. You should be okay here with your dad". "Will you come to see me tomorrow?" Mary asked. I responded with a smile, "Maybe. Later, Mary".

I left the room, waving at Mary. I walked into the waiting room, where my family was talking amongst themselves. Clark was sleeping at the same spot on the couch that I was sleeping at. I walked over to Clark and tapped him on shoulder.

"Wha?" Clark said, waking up. "Hey Clark, can you take me home?" I asked. Clark, still sleepy, said, "Don't you want to go home with your parents?" "I am sure that Dad and Gerald will ask me questions about New Island. I just want to rest", I said. "Are you leaving now, Matt?" Dad asked, looking away from Mr. Angel, who he was talking to. "Yeah, Clark is taking me home, bye", I said, walking away with Clark.

When we arrived at the elevators, I pressed the call button. I walked over to a nearby window and looked out the city. It was a beautiful site. I saw lights turn off and on in the buildings in the distance, people walking on the sidewalks while talking to each other, and cars driving by, their headlights and streetlights illuminating the streets. Boats sailed by on the building-illuminated water while an airplane flew in the sky.

Clark, who was leaning on the wall nearby, walked over to me and looked out the window with me. "It's a beautiful site, isn't it?" I asked looking over to Clark. "It is, but you should see Neon, Hop Hop Hop, and Celadon", Clark responded. With a chime, an elevator door opened. We took our eyes off of the night skyline and walked into the elevator. After Clark pressed the button for the first floor, the elevator doors closed and the elevator began it's descent from the 20th floor to the 1st.

Clark looked over from the button panel and said, "We are going out the back and sneaking to my car in the front of the hospital. There are still a bunch of reporters and people hanging around". I nodded. The last thing I want now is to have 15 reporters sticking their cameras and microphones in my face.

We walked out the back door and started sneaking behind cars to Clark's car. "SSsshhhh. Don't say anything, don't make any noise. One screw up and they'll be all over you". Sneaking like this was exciting yet pressuring. Exciting that I was sneaking by the people, and pressuring that any second, they could spot me. As we quietly moved from car to car, I heard the people waiting at the front door. "I just want to know if he saw how my son died", a man said. "He can't stay in there forever!" a cameraman said.

Clark silently laughed. Too bad he didn't notice the pop bottle in front of him. "Clark! Look Out!" I whispered. It was too late. Clark slipped on the bottle and slipped into a car, setting the car's alarm off. The group of people looked in the direction of the car with the alarm that went off, spotting us. "That's him over there!" a reporter screamed. Clark and me ran at full speed to his car. "It's over there!" Clark screamed. Clark whipped out his car remote, unlocking the car.

We jumped into the car just as the mob of people surrounded the car. "Mr Thomas. Tell us about this traumatizing situation", a reporter said through the closed car windows. "Please! Tell me my boy's last words!" an old woman said. I screamed to Clark, "Start the damn car!" "Hold on!" Clark responded. With a roar, the car activated.

"Go!" I screamed, afraid that any second, the mass of people would break through the windows and drag me out. "Just hold on. I can't just ram into these people you know", Clark responded. The car slowly backed out of its parking space, pushing people aside as it went. As soon as the car was out of the parking spot it was previously in and people weren't in its path, Clark made the car practically fly out of the parking lot and into the streets, the mob of people pathetically trying to run after us.

Clark looked into the car door mirror and smiled. "Ha! Look at those fools!" News Vans and other cars came screeching out of the parking lot, coming in our direction. "They may not be so foolish, Clark", I said, looking at the speeding vehicles. " . . . . . . .. I have an idea!", Clark said with a smile. "What is it?", I said, still looking at the cars that were closing in.

Clark drove the car onto the onramp for the bridge to Celadon City. I screamed, "Clark! We can't go there! It is 11:15pm! A boat is supposed to.........You aren't about to. . ?" Clark nodded, his smile growing wider.

The lane ahead was packed with cars, thanks to the boat that was about to come though. Clark turned the car out of the right lane onto the left lane. "Clark, think about this!" I said. I wasn't sure whom I was supposed to be scared of anymore. Clark or the mob of people?

I looked into the car mirror again. Most of the cars chasing us have backed off by now. Only a few news vans were still giving chase. The raised part of the bridge was coming closer. Clark had the car going as fast as the engine would allow it to. We blazed onto the ramp, only one news van following now.

I noticed that Clark was going straight and realised what would happen if we went off the ramp like this. "Clark! We're going to crash into the cars on the left lane at the other side of the bridge!" Clark realised the mistake he had made and turned right just as the car went flying off the ramp.

The next 10 seconds seemed like 20 seconds. Clark and me screamed at the top of our lungs as we flew over the boat below the raised bridge. Suddenly, the car landed on the right lane of the other side of the bridge. We both looked back to see that the one news van that didn't give up on chasing us, had made the jump with us and landed on the cars in the left lane, completely unable to move now.

"WOOHOO!" Clark and me screamed in unison. "Clark, that was so sweet!" I screamed happily. I thought about how good I was at sneaking by the mob by using the parked cars. "Maybe Mr. Angel was right when he said that I might go far with the S.C.O.R.S.", I said. Clark took half of his attention of the wheel and looked at me. "Mr. Angel made a offer to you to join the S.C.O.R.S.? Damn, you must be good if the Commander himself is looking at you".

"I don't know if I should join", I said. Clark responded with enthusiasm, "I say go for it. I am planning on joining the S.C.O.R.S. tomorrow". "Why?" I asked. "Because it'll make me feel like I'm doing good things for all people", Clark said. "Even if it is risking your life?" I responded. "Sure, like the S.C.O.R.S. have any casualties", Clark responded. "It's serious, Clark. You could get killed!" I responded, wondering if Clark cared about living. I doubted it, considering the stunt he just pulled.
"So, are you and Mary together?" Clark said playfully. "I don't know. I just met her today, but I really do like her", I said back. "Then say you love her and get it over with. There is no point in hiding it", Clark said. "Are you sure about that?" I questioned. "Is my name Clark Silver?" Clark retorted with a smirk.

Clark's happy victorious mood faded into a more serious mood. "So, what happened on New Island?" Clark asked. I told him everything that happened on New Island. When I was done, he just placed a hand on my shoulder and said, "I'm sorry, man".
About 30 minutes later, we stopped at my house in Cerulean. I lived in an upper middle class neighborhood. I could have just taken a mansion from Mom and Dad like Gerald did, but I wanted to earn my house and things instead of getting it the easy way.

"Later Matt. Don't worry, It'll be okay in the end", were the last words that I heard Clark say before he drove away, into the darkness of the night. I looked around. Thank God. Nobody was at my house trying to interview me. I had to admit, Clark did a good job shaking the reporters and family members of the dead workers on New Island.

I walked through my house. As usual, Raichu and Primeape were sleeping on the couch in front of the TV that was still on while Flareon was sleeping on the floor.

Rick Ruben was on. They were showing the footage from the cameraman that was with the reporter that busted in on Mary and me earlier. Rick commented, "Wow. Beware people. The doctors at this hospital double as bouncers".

I turned the TV off and walked upstairs. Pidgeot was resting on its perch in its room, and Blastoise was sleeping in its room, head, arms, and legs hidden within its shell. The TV in its room was on too. I sighed, and walked into its room. I made my way to the TV, being careful not to wake Blastoise. Finally, I made it to the TV. Rick Ruben was also on this TV.

"In fact, the New Island explosion was so big, that the Pokemon League fireworks engineers said, "We're screwed", Ruben said. The audience laughed as the show showed a scene of a group of fireworks engineers pointed to the blue tower of light and went, "OOOOooooo! AAAAAhhhh!"

I sighed and turned the TV off. Other trainers would have laughed at me for making my pokemon so comfortable at my house. I decided that I was never going to be like the men at the fair, and if I have to pamper my pokemon, then so be it.

Finally, I got to my room. I took off my clothes, which consisted of blue jeans, a red short sleeve shirt with a vertical white stripe on the right side of the shirt, white socks and gym shoes, and the lab coat that David had gotten me today. I took off the lab coat and looked at it, holding it up by the shoulders. "David's last gift to me", I said to myself.

When I was down to my underwear and t-shirt, I jumped in bed. Just as I was about to go to sleep, I remembered my answering machine. It must be completely filled now. I reached over and activated the answering machine.

As I guessed, the machine was full of messages. Most of the messages were either, "Please tell me about my son/daughter/dad/mom/uncle/aunt's last moments", or,"Channel (insert number here) would like to interview you on your courageous story".

I didn't care at all for the reporters. All they wanted is to have the story first so they could end up with the biggest paycheck. They would probably ask me questions like, "How was it to see so many people be slaughtered?" In my mind. The reporters are just there to feed off the problems of others, just like Brittany Jackson.

I did feel sympathy for the other people. All they want is some closure on their relatives' life. How will they feel when I say that I can't tell them how their relatives died or their last words? Will they feel as empty and alone as I am now that David is dead?
There was one message that caught my attention. It was the latest message. It went:

Matthew Thomas
It was an interesting day for you, wasn't it? You are invited to the Viridian City Gym tomorrow to witness our newest and strongest pokemon. Also, the Gym leader would like to make a deal with you. If you are interested, be at the Viridian City Pokemon Center at 3:00pm tomorrow. Thank You.

-Team Rocket

End Chapter 2