Ch 72. Path to the past and future

Seeing the young child being torn apart, Mewtwo observed the scene in front of him with a solemn air, along with a hint of disturbance yet also a bit charmed. It was fascinating to see the extent in which humanity tried to kill its own kind for the smallest of reasons.

Multiple children were thrown out over the days they were seeing, the memory quickly speeding up. From all the things that were shown, it was clear that there was one criteria the children needed to possess or rather, the lack of, to be thrown away.

Their lack of a power called Aura.

A force, the young man beside him, had in massive amounts, easily dwarfing the Lucario the young man had as his partner. How did a human get such strong powers in the first place? Mewtwo could not help but ponder about this.

The memory slowed down as soon as the young boy learned to walk, which was at the young age of one-and-a-half. It was slow compared to the other children. Not surprising, as the couple that took care of the boy didn't seem to have any interest in him. Most of the time, the boy was treated like air, invisible to the naked eye.

From time to time, they would show a hint of interest, which was often during meal times.

While the adults were eating bread, fish and other human foods, the boy got some kind of paste. It did not look appetiting, which the boy in the memory seemed to share. A kind of dreadful energy was wafting from the food, something Mewtwo and the toddler could clearly see.

Under the constant rejection from the toddler, the mother finally began to force-feed the toddler with spoon after spoon until the plate was scraped clean.

Mewtwo squinted his eyes at the action, as the toddler almost chocked multiple times. Not even pokemon were that harsh on their young.

When the plate had been scraped clean, the parents would just watch, a notebook on the side as they wrote down anything that happened in the aftermath of the meal.

At this point, it was clear the situation was not normal, as the parents clearly used the toddler as an experiment. Something Mewtwo was familiar with, though he had been unconscious at the time.

The young toddler collapsed, spasming in pain, from some kind of adverse reaction to the strange food. The parents would nod, writing down the observations as they checked the toddler over once the attack had faded. The mother would hold a mirror just below the nose, nodding in affirmation when the glass fogged up. The toddler still lived.

This continued for, in fast forwarded memory time, a year in which the toddler had stopped resisting, enduring everything without so much as a word. It would be surprising if he could even speak.

Now much later, an opportunity seemed to present itself to the toddler in the memory.

At this point, the parents had gone out. The toddler however, had secretly crept into one of the bags the parent were using, secretly stowing himself away to see what his parents were doing in the time they were gone. All the stuff they usually took with them were thrown out and hidden away to make room for his small form.

The memory had darkened at this point, showing the black fabric of the inside of the bag, the few holes from which young Ares was looking out of. It was an odd experience, as Mewtwo was intrigued at the change of perspective. He himself was too tall to encounter such a situation.

Mewtwo glimpsed to the side at Ares, gauging his reaction at the memories he was reliving, only to get an apathetic glance. It seems Ares did not care for this memory. Yet a hint of confusion was seen as well, a sign that this memory was something he had clearly forgotten.

The two of them remained silent, up to the point the bag with young Ares in it had been thrown hastily to the side. A roar resembling that of moving boulders resounded through the air as young Ares's head peeked out of the bag, just in time to see his mother's and father's pokemon pin down a massive pokemon as she chopped off pieces of its icy carapace, drawing blood and tissue from the pokemon.

The pokemon, an odd but massive form of a strange Avalugg, stared at the young Ares, the pain in its eyes visible. The ground shook under the weight of its massive bulk, groaning as four Lucario attacked its legs to keep it pinned down.

This was the turning point in the memory, one where the Avalugg made eye contact with young Ares. A glint seemed to pass through the air, like static elektricity.

Avalugg reared its massive head, regaining its strenght and gained a kind of boost of energy. It swung its head back and forth, sending all the Lucario flying. It roared loudly as it unleashed massive spikes of ice from the grounds, instantly killing the Lucario nearest to it.

The remaining ones had been incased in ice as soon as they turned to save their trainers. Even from a distance it was visible the Lucario did not survive the cold.

Ares's mother and father made a run for it, only to be struck from behind by the encased frozen Lucario. Avalugg looked smuggly at the two crushed trainers, its head still in the same position it had been when it lauched the two frozen Lucario.

The Avalugg followed it up with a roar of pain and fury as the pain from its injuries returned, glaring at the two splattered remains of the humans. Its eyes glanced aside, looking at young Ares with intrigue, giving a short little tap with its head against Ares's hands before dissappearing back towards a giant ice arena. It was too injured to care for the child, as it needed to recover from its injuries.

Young Ares watched on as the Avalugg disappeared from his sight, leaving him alone in the desolate icy wasteland. With his parents dead and no other person around, it was basically a death sentence.

The toddler would stumble around, the pokemon in the surroundings staying away from him, the scent of the powerful Avalugg still clinging to the boy and keeping the other pokemon from attacking him.

Young Ares had been left there for two days, as he stumbled around, somehow reaching an area close enough to the village to be found. The memory had become vague, as it was clear Ares had been on his last legs when he came back. Even the few pokemon that had helped him get back had only become rough shapes in the eyes of the weakened toddler.

The rest of his life in the village had sped up, from the near death experiences and trauma's to the point he had met Mew and Celebi.

Mewtwo remained silent through the whole experience, up to the point the memory had faded to the previous black.

[This has been an interesting development. From your memories, it seems my conclusion about the humans in general has been right. They are destructive and detrimental to the world. Though maybe it should also include that there are a few who are different. At least in this time and age, they have mellowed out to some extent. Something that needs to be explored further into the future. For now, it appears we need to part ways. Our time has run out.]

Mewtwo looked up, as the darkness was fading.

[I will find you in the future.]

"Something to look forward to, I suppose. I do hope it would be without the battle."

Ares uttered, knowing there was little he could do about it if Mewtwo tried to find him again.

Mewtwo chuckled, the fury and hatred that simmered deep inside of him slightly suppressed as new emotions had risen to the forefront, amusement and maybe a hint of curiosity.

[That is to be seen in the future]

Mewtwo smiled like his younger self had once done, their figures quickly fading from the void.

.

.

.

Ares gasped for air as he looked up from his lying position.

Lucario was stumbling towards him as Mew was shielding them from Mewtwo's Psychic energy.

Mewtwo seemed to have returned to his senses as well, as he directed the psychic blast towards every direction, blowing a hole in the ceiling and escaping through it.

Dust rose and fell, leaving only Giovanni, Ares and Lucario on the scene. Mew had disappeared alongside Mewtwo, no doubt chasing after it.

A bit further at the back, Clefable was looking up from behind some rubble, the pokeball of Umbreon tightly in her hands as she returned to Ares's side.

Giovanni looked in anger at the blue sky, knowing he had lost Mewtwo. His blazing eyes shimmered in fury, which was quickly suppressed as he turned towards Ares.

"This battle is over. Seeing as only your pokemon remains standing, you have earned a badge. Collect it at the reception desk. I have other things to do right now."

Giovanni turned away, disappearing deeper into the building.

A staff member soon came forward, handing Ares his gym badge and led him outside.

"The gymleader has left the gym due to an emergency. Here is the badge. We wish you a pleasant day."

The staff member closed the doors behind Ares, a temporary closed sign hanging on the door not long after.

"It seems we barely got ourselves a badge. If the rest of the pokemon league is as strong as Giovanni was, then we need to train a lot more. Fortunately, professor Oak shared the perfect place to travel to. Let's go buddy."

Ares muttered, walking towards the pokemon center to let his pokemon recover and contact professor Oak.