At the summit of Mt. Moon, Caleb and Mewtwo stood side by side on a relatively flat rock, gazing at the white clouds swirling around them...
Mimikyu, who was now endowed with the ability to fly, darted joyfully through the clouds. Its form shifted continuously... One moment, it took Caleb's appearance, the next it transformed into Dragonite, then Lucario, and finally into a miniature Mewtwo that was less than 0.5 meters tall.
When Mewtwo saw the tiny version of itself created by Mimikyu, it froze momentarily, pursing its lips as unknown thoughts swirled in its mind.
"Wuu!"
Standing beside Caleb, Dragonite became intrigued.
Flapping its wings, it began chasing and playing with Mimikyu through the clouds.
Lucario watched this scene, its fluffy ears twitching slightly before it averted its gaze. The fine fur on its body rippled gently in the airflow.
Caleb kept his eyes fixed on the map projected from his smart wristband. It displayed the area surrounding Mt. Moon. He was searching for the location of Cameran Palace.
Cameran Palace was situated in the mountain range between Mt. Moon and Pewter City. Strangely, however, the map didn't mark it's location.
After some thought, Caleb called Dragonite down from its play.
"Wuu?"
Though thoroughly enjoying its flight, Dragonite obediently returned upon hearing its trainer's voice.
Caleb took out a coin from his inventory. This was a League Coin from the Pokémon world that was made of special metal. The front of the coin bore a standard Arabic numeral '1', while the back featured a chibi Charmander head.
To the west of Mt. Moon lay the path to Cerulean City, to the east the road to Pewter City. Only the south and north directions stretched into endless, overlapping mountains and forests.
Caleb took Dragonite's claw and placed the coin in it, saying, "Flip it."
Heads for south, tails for north.
"Wuu~"
Thinking this was a game Caleb was playing with it, Dragonite happily tossed the coin into the air.
Then Caleb watched as the League Coin plummeted off the cliff, disappearing into the white mist below...
Caleb: "..."
Feeling somewhat speechless, he took out another coin while telling Dragonite, "Gently."
"Wuu!"
Dragonite cheerfully complied. It took the coin, gave it a flick with its claw, and a silver streak shot straight upward.
Dragonite craned its neck, its large teal eyes following the trajectory, and then...
*Plop!*
The vertically descending coin landed squarely on Dragonite's forehead right in front of Caleb.
Caleb: "..."
Dragonite blinked innocently.
Caleb took a look, "Hmm, heads..."
He calmly removed the coin from Dragonite's forehead and used the Viridian Power to erase the red mark, then declared, "Time to go!"
Mimikyu, now in its tiny Dragonite form, immediately flew back.
With no precise location for Cameran Palace, Caleb temporarily abandoned the idea of having Mewtwo Teleport them there. Instead, he mounted Dragonite and flew southward with it.
Mimikyu and Mewtwo flanked them, while Lucario rode on Dragonite's back with Caleb...
....
It was late autumn, and the weather grew increasingly cold. The leaves in the mountain forests below had already turned yellow, dangling precariously from branches...
Before long, this place would become completely barren.
Caleb kept watch on the distant scenery while also paying attention to the mountains and forests below.
Throughout their flight, aside from a few Digletts cautiously poking their heads from the soil, he hadn't seen a single wild Pokémon. Not even a Pidgey, the most common bird in Kanto.
Caleb felt an inexplicable sense of desolation. He withdrew his gaze and turned his attention to Mewtwo, asking, "Do you know Mew?"
Mewtwo hesitated, then nodded. It had been created by humans using Mew's genes...
Caleb rephrased his question, "Have you seen Mew in all these years? Or any other powerful Pokémon? Like a large bird with rainbow feathers..."
'A large bird with rainbow feathers...' Mewtwo thought for a moment, then pointed behind Caleb, asking: >..That one?..<
Caleb turned to see a Fearow flying past, its expression blank. Its wings reflected colorful light under the sun, looking quite beautiful.
Caleb: 'Alright... So Mewtwo has never seen Ho-Oh...'
"What about Mew?" he asked.
Mewtwo shook its head, answering truthfully: >..I have never seen Mew. Although according to you humans, it's my mother or father, in my memory, its figure has never appeared..<
It had been created in a laboratory by a human called Blaine.
Caleb wanted to say more, but just then, Mimikyu, who was flying ahead, suddenly darted to his side and made an alerting sound.
Mewtwo noticed first, its eyes glowing blue as it said: >..There are people below..<
Caleb immediately spotted several crude huts amidst the endless mountain forests. Smoke curled from the chimneys. The people below seemed to be preparing dinner.
Caleb exchanged a glance with Mewtwo and suggested, "Shall we go down and take a look?"
Rather than wandering aimlessly through these remote mountains, it would be better to go down and gather some information.
Dragonite had been flying for quite some time. If their direction wasn't wrong, they should be close to Cameran Palace.
Mewtwo had no objections...
So the group landed in a nearby clearing. To avoid drawing attention, Caleb recalled all his Pokémon into their Poké Balls.
Although Mewtwo wasn't technically his Pokémon, as a comrade fighting alongside him, Caleb had prepared a Poké Ball for it to rest in.
Recently, he noticed Mewtwo increasingly disliked staying outside. Apart from meals, it spent most of its time inside the Poké Ball.
Considering Mewtwo's low mood and unusual state these days, it wasn't hard to guess why it preferred staying in the Poké Ball...
It couldn't accept the things it had done over the years. Thus, it was in despair, and was on the verge of collapse.
In this boundless, cold world, only the Poké Ball could provide it with a sliver of security. The Poké Ball's cramped yet warm interior gave Mewtwo the illusion of being in its mother's womb.
Although it hadn't been born through delivery or hatched from an egg, the human genes within it whispered that this was the safest and warmest place in the world.
Caleb sighed softly and shifted his thoughts from Mewtwo back to reality.
He put all the Poké Balls into his inventory and walked toward the direction of the rising smoke...