My last hope arced toward my target, halting suddenly in midair as if trapped in an invisible hold. How? I wondered in shock at the floating Master Ball. Mewtwo, in its heavily injured state, had still managed to stop the ball from colliding with itself using its weakened powers. That was all I needed, for the ball to have only touched its body. The creature screamed, the sound ricocheting off the cave walls, and the ball exploded into a majestic display of pink and purple shrapnel. The ultimate catching device had failed me, leaving me with only one option left.
I hesitantly reached into my bag, fumbling around for what I needed. With my other hand, I wiped the sweat beads forming on my forehead. I felt some out of place hairs, and swept them back into my ponytail. Maybe, I should've worn a headband, I pondered. Shaking my head, I cleared away the thought, No, I have to focus. Pulling the last measly Great Ball out of my bag, I ordered my Charizard over to me with a whistle.
The Pokémon snapped his head around from Mewtwo to me. His eyes were narrowed and his fangs were barred. Opening his majestic wings, he soared over to me in a heartbeat. I jumped onto the Pokémon's back as he whipped by in midair and latched on with my free hand, all while I mentally prepared myself for the daring maneuver that had to work. Or else, this trip through Cerulean Cave had been for naught.
"Charizard, I need you to fly at Mewtwo straight on," I explained. "Let it begin to charge an attack. Then, circle around its back and hover for as long as you can before flying around to face it again." The Pokémon nodded at my commands and began his part of my plan.
We swooped down toward Mewtwo, allowing the wild Pokémon to begin its Future Sight attack. It had solely been using that attack for the past few minutes of the battle, which led me to believe that the psychic-type was out of power on its other moves. This battle had continued for too long, and both of us were out of options. At the last second, Charizard dipped out of the way of Mewtwo's attack; the sheer power of the move whooshed by me, leaving my ears ringing.
At the height of Charizard's flight, I jumped off of his back. My Pokémon cried out as he felt my weight leave him, but I knew what I was doing leaving nothing to worry about. Mewtwo, not expecting such a daring—but also dumb—move, kept its eyes glued to Charizard as I fell behind its back. The Pokémon had no time to turn and face me once it realized I was no longer riding on Charizard. I threw the Great Ball in the creature's brief moment of obliviousness. Only its eyes had caught up with my motion as the ball struck it on the head.
Charizard and I were breathing heavily now, watching as red energy swirled into the contraption I had just thrown. My right leg throbbed with pain now, my microsecond diagnosis had determined that it was at least sprained; that was a best-case scenario considering the distance I had fallen. The energy had now finished its spectacular display and the last traces of Mewtwo disappeared into thin air. This last Great Ball—and for that matter, last Poké Ball—had to catch it, or else this was the end of my hopes and dreams. The ball dropped harshly to the ground, making a hollow pinging sound when it hit. The ball shook violently.
One, I counted in my head.
It shook again. Two.
It hesitated to shake a third time, and the metal bolts that were tightened into the sides of the ball seemed like they were going to explode off at any moment. I could hear the sharp metal on metal grinding sound. My heart beat faster as I watched the bolts begin to back out.
Reluctantly, the ball shook again. Three. Come on, come on!
Charizard and I watched on bated breath for the final signal that the Pokémon was captured. He ducked his head to view the ball straight on, as if getting a better angle would allow the ball to have a greater chance to capture the Pokémon. I held my hands clenched in tight fists close to my body. I bit my lip so hard that it was beginning to hurt. It felt like one little movement might have broken the spell that seemed to be cast on the area.
Finally, little white stars jumped out from the top of the ball. The red and blue sphere sat perfectly still on the ground in front of me. I deemed it safe to breathe again and let air escape then refill my lungs.
"We did it!" I screamed as loud as I could. The pain in my leg seemed to fade away in my moment of triumph and instead joy filled me.
Charizard jumped at the sudden noise, whipping around to prepare for another attack. He flared his tail's flame while growling in the back of his throat at me.
"Woah buddy, don't hurt me," I eased my tense partner. "It's just, well," I began calmly, but excitement exploded through me again.
"We did it!" I limped as fast as I could over to my partner to embrace him in a hug. He flinched away from me at first, but soon I felt his wings wrap around my body and his head set down gently on mine.
I pulled away again, remembering the newly caught Pokémon on the ground mere feet from us.
"How could I forget?" I said as I swooped my hand down to the grab the ball. The metal was still warm; it had yet to cool down from its intense battle to keep the beast inside its walls.
I looked down at the ball, knowing that I couldn't see what was in the contraption, but I could still feel the raw energy of the monster that now resided inside. I grabbed my Pokédex from the clip on my bag and looked at the new entry. I felt warm inside when I noticed the message 100% COMPLETE at the top of the computer's display. I had truly caught them all. The feeling of joy flared even higher inside of me. I typed up a quick summary of what I knew about Mewtwo from Team Rocket's notes about it.
#150 Mewtwo, the Genetic Pokémon
It was created by a scientist after years of horrific gene splicing and DNA engineering experiments.
"I feel bad for the Pokémon used to create this guy," I said solemnly. "Team Rocket probably erased so many innocent lives to create their ultimate weapon.
"But not anymore, I'm going to make sure you get the love and attention you deserve. Just because you were created from the countless sacrifices of other Pokémon, doesn't mean you don't deserve love."
I looked over my shoulder to Charizard, waving him towards me with one hand while holding the ball in the other.
"Let's get out of here, I need to get home and show this and my Pokédex to Oak as soon as possible."
Charizard waddled over to me as fast as he could. I noticed he had quite a few scrapes and scratches on his body, and I also saw that his breathing was shallow and ragged. I probably didn't look or sound too much better.
"Don't worry," I told him, "We can stop at a Pokémon Center on the way home. You look like you need it."
He bent down, allowing me to climb onto his back. It would be a tight squeeze, flying on Charizard to get out of Cerulean Cave, but I trusted my partner enough to fly us to safety. I stroked his head as I settled onto his back. Once in place, I gently gave him a kick in his side. His powerful wings unfolded, and we took to the air. After rushing up to meet the sky outside of the cave, I pulled my diary out and began a new entry.
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Dear Diary,
Today I completed the Pokédex Professor Oak gave me. I was ecstatic to see the "100% Complete" message at the top of the machine. Although my Pokédex journey is complete, I'm still some ways away from the end of my entire journey. I have yet to make it back to Pallet Town. As I am writing this, I am flying away from Cerulean Cave on Charizard after completing the great challenge of capturing the rogue Mewtwo. It was a worthy opponent, I would even say it was a tougher battle than facing the entirety of the Elite Four; and that was a challenge in and of itself! I just can't wait to get home, rest, and prove to Professor Oak my completion of his task.
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Charizard soared over Kanto as I finished up writing. I wrote every time I did something noteworthy, so I treasured this diary greatly. It was a spectacular record filled with my adventures. I flipped back through the pages, reliving my journey as I went. Reading about picking my starter, Charmander, filled me with the same excited and nervous energy I had that day. Charizard was so cute and tiny back then. I felt proud as I remembered my victorious first gym battle and how tough it was with a fire starter. Remembering the first time I defeated those Team Rocket jerks brought a smile to my face. Getting the final badge, facing off with the Elite Four, and capturing the legendary birds were some of the biggest highlights in the book. It filled me with awe to look back on those battles. They had all happened so close together in time that the memories blurred together in one giant action sequence like something I would see on TV. It filled me with joy to see how far I had come. And now, I had the unbelievable opportunity to write about capturing Mewtwo.
I couldn't help but thumb through the rest of the empty pages. So few pages filled, and so many more blank ones to go. I placed the pen back in its place on the front cover then placed the diary in my bag that currently hung around Charizard's neck. I still had Mewtwo's ball on my belt instead of in my bag. It just didn't feel right to put it away yet. After all, it was such a monumental catch.
"What do you think we're gonna do next?" I asked Charizard while scratching his head. The fire-type roared a response as he continued to guide us back home.
"It can't get much better than this," I gestured to Mewtwo's ball as I spoke. "But then again, we still have so many more pages to fill in our diary. Guess we'll just have to wait and find out what comes our way.
"All I know is that I want you by my side the entire time." I hugged Charizard around the neck, and he growled softly in return. The future looked bright for both of us.