Chapter 19: Rushing to Goodbye Sabrina awoke them early. Before the sun was even up; Just a little past 4:30 AM actually. They got dressed and came to the kitchen were they found a little girl dressed in purple, no older than ten, placing plates around the table. She greeted them warmly and had them sit down. She introduced herself as Katheryn, a trainer at the Saffron Gym. Katheryn had been one of the trainers they had seen out front yesterday and had anticipated that they would probably be receiving an unruly awakening so she had come early. "Sabrina's not like us, she doesn't really need to sleep...I think," she said as she poured them cereal. "In fact, before, she wouldn't sleep at all! Can you imagine?" She said reproachfully while shaking her head. "A bunch of us were worried because she would go on for days without sleeping, then she would suddenly drop down and snooze for 18 hours!" She poured their milk, "So we went to her and made her promise to sleep at least 5 hours every night." She raised a thumb to her chin, "I imagine she probably stayed up late after you guys went to sleep, huh?" They ate in silence for 10 minutes. During which, Katheryn eyes remained fixated on Karma. Finally Karma asked, "Is something wrong?" Katheryn shook her head, "No...it's just that..." She moved closer and whispered wickedly, "I think you cheated." "Huh?" said Chris. "I think that thing you did at the end of your battle with Sabrina was a little sneaky! Using Endure even though you were both supposed to just use your final attacks...Sneaky!" she hissed. "Some would call that strategy. Sabrina didn't object, so even she must have thought so..." replied Karma. "Well, even more so..." Katheryn moved even closer. "Every trainer at the gym has some psychic ability, including me, and I've thought this the moment since I saw you..." her eyes narrowed. "You're psychic too!" Chris had been drinking milk and then he snorted it. Karma's mouth dropped open, "What?" Chris looked at her. Was she psychic? She could see 'aura' (whatever that really was) after all. There had been a few times when she seemed to be certain steps ahead of those around her. Seeing past things, like back when Chris had first met her and he tried to get info from her, or there was that explanation she had given about not needing to give her pokemon commands at times...She had shrugged it off as simple preparation but...Could she secretly be psychic? Chris found himself wondering if she was reading his thoughts as he thought them... "I'm not psychic," Karma said simply. "Sorry but your spidey-sense is wrong." Katheryn continued with her abrasive stare but she suddenly relaxed, "Well...Ok...Maybe you're not psychic but you have some strange power." She huffed out her chest and proudly smiled, "I can sense that much." 'Indeed'. The psychic voice came from nowhere and suddenly, Sabrina materialized before them. 'I don't think you're psychic, Karma, but...I do think I can 'see' something unusual with you'. Karma's eyes widened. They way Sabrina had stressed the word 'see' had been a hint. Chris thought so too. Sabrina knew of Karma's ability to see aura, but was choosing not to talk about it. Maybe perhaps Katheryn was present company. Katheryn hadn't noticed the stressed word. She had an even prouder smile on her face, "See! Even Sabrina thinks so! Ha!" Sabrina reached into a pocket and removed a pokeball. It glowed blue and floated over to Karma. She took it and her eyes widened. She turned it over and found a badge attached to the underside. The pink Marsh Badge. "I don't really want i-" Karma started but Sabrina cut her off. 'Doesn't matter, just take it'. Then Sabrina turned to Katheryn, 'What have you come to tell me? Coming to simply welcome guests is unlike you'. Katheryn again smiled and rose to an important and proud posture, "It's Team Rocket. They're back! It looks like Celadon's siege ended yesterday, and already, this town is coming back under Team Rocket's control. They are looking for someone. A certain two someones who resemble these two someones before us here." She waved in the direction of Karma and Chris. "Just thought you should know." Sabrina disappeared. Katheryn didn't look ruffled. She sat down and served herself a cup of milk. Half a minute later, the gym leader reappeared, 'yes, thank you. The guard houses have been closed off and the city is once again being sieged. You two wont be walking out of here'. "Are you going to help?" asked Chris. Sabrina closed her eyes, 'no. As long as Team Rocket agrees to not end any lives, I will not impede them'. "What?" cried Chris. "Why? You have the strength to-" Sabrina turned to Katheryn, 'go. Please inform the rest if the trainers in the dormitories that they are not to tell Team Rocket we had guests here last night'. Sabrina wanted Katheryn gone. Katheryn knew it, but her respect for the gym leader was so great that she didn't raise an eyebrow. She pretended that this was another worthy honor bestowed upon her and left. 'I am no match for Mewtwo'. "But surely-" started Karma. 'No. My responsibility is to ensure lives are not needlessly discarded. Rest assured that if Team Rocket violates this deal, I shall move heaven and earth to oppose them, but for now...This is what I must do'. Karma and Chris remained quiet. Although personally Chris had about 1000 objections he wanted to voice, he didn't think he could. Sabrina wanted to stop Team Rocket, but she knew she couldn't and was doing the only thing she could to make sure nobody died. That seemed pretty damn noble to Chris. Karma though so too. 'Please get your belongings and meet me in the living room', Sabrina said before disappearing. Chris and Karma cleaned their plates, returned to their rooms, and returned to the living room. Five minutes passed without Sabrina returning so Chris turned on the TV. It was some stupid movie about four kids walking on railroad tracks. He changed it and got to something weird, a continuously dancing pokemon; it looked like it was having fun. He changed the channel one more time and got to the morning news. It was 5:09 AM and Channel 8 was broadcasting what it called cowardly and terror attacks by Team Rocket on Celadon City yesterday. The motive was still unknown but the police had promised to investigate. Then the subject changed to a beach where a large blue whale had been washed ashore. People were helping push it back into the ocean. Sabrina appeared. She greeted the duo with her usual indifference and asked them mentally if they were ready. Chris and Karma nodded their heads and but they didn't teleport. Sabrina gazed at the two and sighed. After a strange silence, she physically spoke, "I don't know why, but I get the sense that you two are planning to kill yourselves." "What?" cried Chris and Karma in unison. Sabrina judged their responses and then proceeded, "It's just that...I can read your minds, and can see that you are going to save lives with whatever it is you're going to do...but I also get the sense that both of you have already decided on some ultimate fate for yourselves." Chris thought he knew what she meant, he glanced at Karma but she continued to gaze at Sabrina. After awhile, the gym leader continued, "Maybe it's not death...but I get the feeling you both have resigned yourselves to some sort of..." she trailed of. "I don't even know how to say it...the closest thing to what I'm getting is...'you are resigned to...delete yourselves'." Chris understood, she was referring to their decision to alter the past and change the time-line; thus literally deleting the people they were now, and replacing them with whatever would have become of them had they never met. "It sounds strange but...answer me this. You two are not planning to kill yourselves are you?" asked Sabrina. "We are definitely not planning to kill ourselves or each other," Karma answered plainly enough. Chris nodded his head in agreement. Technically, no, it wasn't suicide. He didn't think there was a definite term for what they were planning though. Sabrina narrowed her eyes for a full minute before relaxing; it seemed she had worked some psychic power to test their honesty. "Well...you're not lying...but that weird resolve is still there..." she sighed. Sabrina raised her arms and the room turned misty and blurry, when it resettled a second later, they were standing in a Pokemon Center. A nurse joy who had been slumped over at the counter from boredom suddenly popped up with surprise. Audible gasps also arose from people sitting at desks on the other side of the room. It was understandable, three people had just popped out of nowhere in the middle of a PokeCenter. Behind them, Sabrina placed her hands on the two's shoulders and gripped them firmly. Psychically she said, 'good luck'. Then she was gone. <><><><><> Mewtwo awoke abruptly. It was shivering, cold brisk air had engulfed it. The large feline found itself in the red truck, sprawled across the driver and passenger seats. It vaguely recalled having a weird dream where some trainer had approached the truck, peered inside, and tried to push the truck with his strength. The psychic cat pushed these thoughts aside and yawned. It had been a particularly good night's sleep and it felt utterly refreshed. Although it was a tad bit peckish for an early morning snack- In a flash of blue light, Mewtwo crashed out the driver's side door. It had just remembered the circumstances of how it had found itself in the truck. Mewtwo was standing on a cement pier, morning fog was coming inland from the ocean and covering the land in a white blanket. There were no visible boats nearby, which wasn't exactly a bad thing. It hadn't overslept, its Future Sight had shown the two in Johto in the early morning, the cat was right on schedule. It was now showtime. Mewtwo disappeared in Kanto and reappeared in Johto. Far in the sky above Goldenrod City. It zoomed down, straight through lofty clouds and stopped high above a road that led south from the metropolis towards a forest. Here it waited for five minutes when they suddenly appeared. The girl, the boy, and the mutt. They had just exited the city when it struck. Mewtwo's Future Sight from the day before brought a wave of blue energy down on the trio as they walked and took them by so much surprise that they slammed to the ground. Mewtwo considered attacking them now. It could easily swoop down on them in their weak moment and simply obliterate them. The trio got to their feet wearily, expecting to be hit by whatever hit them again; pokeballs drawn in their hands. Mewtwo, however, showed self restraint. It would not get the entirety of Goldenrod City involved, the town was right behind them after all, it would be all too easy for innocent people to get drawn into the destruction that would follow. Mewtwo would wait for them just down the road. 'The mutt must be first. The mutt must die before any of the others...' With a smirk, Mewtwo descended.