"Who… am I?"
The Shadow Pokémon lowered its head, its deep purple eyes staring blankly at its own hands.
This power…
This self…
Suddenly, the sound of spinning rotors cut into its ears.
The Shadow Pokémon snapped its head up, those deep purple pupils flaring to life again, burning like ghostly flas—chilling to behold.
A boy in a white shirt and black pants jumped down from the helicopter.
With the help of a certain gray fat guy's psychic power, he landed neatly and stylishly.
"Tsk tsk～"
Damian swept his gaze over the surroundings.
The ravaged ground vividly told him exactly what kind of "abuse" it had just suffered.
Then Damian shifted his attention to the figure standing at the very front—wtwo.
No, to be precise: Shadow wtwo.
Its shape was almost identical to an ordinary wtwo, but its body was pure black, and it looked like a broken golden crystal was embedded into its left shoulder.
The tip of its tail also glowed with a hint of gold.
Tap… tap… tap…
Damian walked slowly toward Shadow wtwo, his footsteps unnaturally clear on this ruined land.
Shadow wtwo's purple eyes flickered on and off, reason and bloodlust fighting for dominance.
Instinctively, it wanted to raise its hand several tis and use its overwhelming psychic power to stop this human from getting closer.
But every ti, its reason forced that instinct back down.
Reason told it this suddenly appearing human might know its identity.
"Look around you. You did all this. Pretty impressive."
Damian stopped two, three ters in front of Shadow wtwo and grinned at it.
"Who are you?"
A hoarse Telepathy echoed from Shadow wtwo's mind.
"Damian. You can call Damian."
"Then who am I?"
"wtwo. You should already know that, shouldn't you?"
Damian smiled as he answered.
Strictly speaking, Shadow wtwo had only just awakened—but it should have been conscious long before now.
Those unfortunate researchers buried beneath the ruins here had never bothered to hide anything from it when they were talking.
Shadow wtwo fell silent.
So it really was wtwo?
"Using w's genetic code as a foundation, they added in genes from all sorts of exceptional Pokémon, plus a portion of a special 'substance,' and combined that with advanced cloning bio‑technology.
That's how you were born—wtwo."
Damian didn't hide anything about Shadow wtwo's origin.
The biggest reason this particular Shadow wtwo even existed at all was the golden stone on its left chest.
Damian had stumbled on that stone by chance.
He'd originally planned to have the researchers study it—
But due to an accident, the then‑infant wtwo had absorbed it directly.
And from that, this Shadow wtwo was born.
"w… clone… wtwo…"
Yet after hearing Damian's words, Shadow wtwo only looked even more lost.
So it was just a copy of w?
The deep purple in its eyes flickered faster and faster.
So it was only a clone—just a aningless experintal body?
Its innate, feral violence began driving its emotions out of control, and the realization that it was rely a "clone" was sothing it simply could not accept.
"Calm down. You're not anybody's copy. You're you. You're an individual nad wtwo."
Damian raised a brow and let the power of Viridian flow out, soothing Shadow wtwo's raging emotions.
This Shadow wtwo seed even more vicious than the one in the movie.
Then again, that weird stone—whatever it actually was—had basically given wtwo an entirely new "skin," and even seed to have altered its typing.
Bathed in the warm, gentle power of Viridian, Shadow wtwo's mood eased a little.
Most important of all, though, were Damian's words.
It wasn't soone's "copy"?
"w is w, and wtwo is wtwo.
Sure, you were born from its genetic data. So what?"
Damian's soft voice made it easy to relax.
"Don't hesitate. Don't get lost. Don't tie yourself in knots, wtwo.
You're truly one of a kind. The very fact that you exist proves it.
This world acknowledged your 'miracle'."
"You're not wrong. You're not a mistake. You're a free lifeform.
You don't need to shackle yourself with so chain labeled 'clone,' because you're already different from w."
Shadow wtwo stared blankly at the human in front of it.
Having just awakened, it had no real defenses against Damian's words at all—
Especially when its mind wasn't exactly stable right now.
"I…"
Even so, Shadow wtwo was still a little lost.
Even if it was free to exist—what was it supposed to do next?
Goals, dreams, will… it had none of those.
"You just woke up. You're confused, right?"
Damian could see Shadow wtwo's helplessness.
At this stage, Shadow wtwo was honestly a little immature.
But that was exactly why this timing was perfect—for luring it over.
"Then co with . I'll take you along, wtwo.
We'll go looking for our future together."
Damian extended his hand toward Shadow wtwo in invitation and gave it a genuine smile.
With the subtle influence of the power of Viridian plus the way he phrased things, he was confident Shadow wtwo wouldn't turn him down.
"Future?"
Shadow wtwo stared straight into the human's eyes.
"Yeah. Our future."
Damian's smile grew brighter, every word landing with weight.
"It's gonna be a dazzling, brilliant future.
But on the road to get there, I can't walk alone."
"So I need you, wtwo.
Lend your power. How about it?"
Shadow wtwo stared at the boy's outstretched hand, dazed.
"Our… future…"
On the shattered ruins, the distance between the Shadow Pokémon and the boy slowly shrank.
...
Celadon City—a place where multiple generations lived side by side, and ho to the biggest Celadon Departnt in the Kanto Region.
The "jade rainbow" in its na referred to a dreamlike, multicolored arc of light.
As one of Kanto's largest cities, second only to the super‑tropolis of Saffron City, Celadon City was incredibly prosperous.
Not only did it boast the largest Celadon Departnt, it was also ho to one of the official Gyms—Celadon Gym.
On top of that, Celadon City housed the famous Celadon Ga Corner.
"How does it feel, wtwo?"
On a southern street of Celadon City, Damian asked the Shadow wtwo walking beside him.
Right now, Shadow wtwo was wearing a sleek, silver‑gray set of armor with a heavy sci‑fi vibe.
"Takes so getting used to. My psychic power feels sluggish."
Armored wtwo flexed its arm, now weighed down by the armor, and replied with that sa hoarse Telepathy.
"Your power's too strong, but you've only just awakened.
You can't properly control that much strength yet.
This limiter armor will suppress your raw power, but it'll help you master it perfectly a lot faster."
Damian explained.
Armored wtwo fell silent.
It understood that perfectly well.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, Damian looked off into the distance.
A trio of kids plus a single Pikachu ca into view.
"Well, would you look at that. Talk about fate."
Damian broke into a wide grin.
Yo, yo, yo—look what he'd just spotted.
~~~
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