Chapter 9
"Letter"

Colt looked in the bathroom mirror where he had locked himself. He knew this would only gain him a few moments of respite. The house was too small for the bathroom to remain undisturbed for too long.
What in the world had possessed him to say something like that? He couldn't understand why this was making him feel so terrible and so guilty. He usually never felt this way. He usually would make a hurtful remark and then pretend he had never done it. He wondered why this was bothering him so much now.
He stared at himself in the mirror. Normal, dingy brown hair spiked around his head. His dull brown eyes stared back at him. Nothing to make him special...he was just another person in the crowd. Another guy who happened to be tall and strong.
"And a Rocket..." a soft voice within him said. Colt turned from the mirror angrily, finding himself blushing. He rubbed his face furiously, trying to make the bright crimson go away, but found that it had decided to stay. Angry at himself, he sank to the floor near the sink and thought. He found his thoughts tracing back to the cabin and meeting with Reimia and Tashi again. He felt his hands trembling with rage. Even Reimia's last minute rescue of him at the last showdown, he still felt uncontrollable hatred towards the other boy. He could clearly remember what happened... and how he had reacted. Throwing rocks with all his strength...shattering windows and getting some vicarious joy out of doing so.
"I hate you...I hate you because of what you do to me..." he had said back then. Reflecting on the furious moment, he could not recall why he had said those words. He could not recall what had possessed him to say that...much like why he couldn't remember what made him say his other words.
He tried to push the issue away, disregarding it as unimportant. But Colt knew that something that could be bothering him this much couldn't be unimportant. Something was demanding his attention. He had to figure out why this bothered him so much.
What was it that Reimia and Tashi did to him? Colt looked at his own hands, still shaking from suppresed anger. They made him feel angry. But why...?
Colt knew why. Because of what they had done to him.
That wasn't what he was looking for. That was too easy. Colt knew it had to be something else...but what? He couldn't find it...
Suddenly he thought of Caleb. He felt the same kind of anger go through him. He knew somehow these two had to be connected...
Why did Caleb make him angry? Because Caleb reminded him of who he was... then it hit him. That was it. It made him angry because it reminded him of what he had become. Where had came during his life...where he was destined to stay. At the bottom. And Reimia and Tashi reminded him of who he was and what he had become.
Having finally faced his irrational hatred, Colt felt a release of pressure on his mind.
"Colt? Colt! There are other people in this house, you know!" someone banged on the door loudly. Colt sighed and stood, brushing himself off.
When he looked in the mirror, he was no longer blushing.

~~~
"Do you remember where it is?" Eclipse asked her son whose tears of rage still fell. The Mewtwo clenched the grass near the pond, ripping it out of the ground.
"No...no. I don't ever want to go back there. Not ever...no." the Mewtwo stared directly into the pond as if seeking a answer. Eclipse looked thoughtful.
"Do you remember the Unknown Dungeon?"
The Mewtwo continued staring at itself. "Yes."
"Do you remember where it is?"
"...yes."
"We have a lead then. We may be able to find Drak after all." Eclipse said brightly. The Mewtwo looked at her then back to the pond.
"Do you think he is really being held in that place, Mother?"
"It's the only lead we have." Eclipse said, patting her sons shoulder.
"They may have taken him there to try and locate you."
"It doesn't make sense..." the Mewtwo threw the grass he had torn out of it's bed into the pond, watching the ripples spreading. Eclipse fluttered her wings, jumping on her sons shoulder.
"Things never make sense completly, Mewtwo. Things always are confused and changing. But we can at least try and find Drak."
The Mewtwo kept staring, but finally relented and nodded. It stood up slowly and walked into the house.

~~~
"Ella E! Put them back! You can't do that!" Atelli's shocked voice went through the entire house.
"I can too! They won't do anything bad! They're trained!"
Boo, Facet, Warp, Beeffff PokémonO, Gogo, Charles, Nyashock, and Growlissa sat on the floor, watching the conflict between their master and her sister.
"You can't have Pokémon running around in the house! It's too small as it is!"
"They won't do anything bad! They just want some fresh air, okay? Give them a break!"
"Growl!" Growlissa barked and began to pant, which almost caused Ella E to shatter glass at the new octave she had reached screaming "Awww!" Atelli held her head.
"Fine! Fine! Be that way! But if you can let out all YOUR Pokémon, I can let out mine!"
Atelli threw out six Pokéballs, much to Ella E's surprise.
"What? No!"
Soon, Six Pokémon stood behind Atelli and Eight sat behind Ella E. The two sisters glared at eachother. Atelli's Pokémon all seemed a lot larger then Ella E's, being older and more experienced. One in particular was Atelli's Dewgong, Dewy.
However, Ella E was not going to be outdone.
"You can't have out all YOUR Pokémon! That's too many!" Ella E said.
"Too many! Too many!" Atelli mocked her sister, then laughed. "You just said a while ago that yours wouldn't cause any problems. Well, neither will mine."
"Mine are small. Yours are big! Especially Schnoodle. Look what he's done to the furniture!"
The Venusaur snored where the couch used to be, sleeping peacefully. The huge Pokémon had almost flattened it. Atelli looked worried for a moment, then recovered.
"Well, until you put away yours, mine stay out."
"That's not FAIR!" Ella E shouted, but Atelli walked out of the room, followed by most of her Pokémon except Schnoodle, who was still asleep. Charles was interested in the possibility of meeting a evolved form of himself.
"Bulba?" he said, poking Schnoodle in the nose. Schnoodle remained asleep. Losing interest quickly, Charles returned to Ella E, who was turning bright red.
"What's all the commotion about?" Monty said innocently, strolling into the room. Ella E, having no other place to vent her frustration, took it out on Monty.
"That...She...ARGH! Atelli is so MEAN sometimes! Do you know what she did?!"
Monty, sensing he had walked into a awkward situation, began to back away, holding his arms in front of him.
"Uh...no..."
"She made fun of me! Right here!" Ella E knew she was being irrational, but there was something about her sister that always made her angry. She never knew why. Monty, sensing he should say something, thought quickly.
"Listen, it's just because she's your sister." he said carefully, trying to not anger her. "She doesn't understand, okay? Calm down and take a deep breath."
Expecting Ella E's fan to hit him, Monty was surprised when he opened his eyes to find Ella E looking composed. She ran over to him and gave him a hug.
"Thanks for making me calm down, Monty! Bye!" With that, Ella E ran out of the room. Monty was blushing so furiously his whole face was red. Colt walked into the room, looking the very picture of Monty when he first came in.
"What happened?" he asked, avoiding Charles as he scooted by his legs. He then made a strange noise when he saw Schnoodle on the couch. "What in the-"
Monty was too dumbstruck to speak at first, but finally managed to compose himself. "Huh...oh. Um...Ella E and Atelli got into a argument..."
Colt scratched his head.
"Where did THIS come from?" he pointed to the Venusaur who had flattened the furniture. Monty shrugged.
"You're guess is as good as mine." he said, his face slowly turning it's normal color.

~~~
"Eeeee! Eeeeeee!" A High-Pitched cry sounded through the small house. Boo ran back and forth in front of the door, sounding it's name at the top of it's lungs. Soon Ella E came to where her Eevee had summoned her.
"Eeee!" Boo said, jumping in Ella E's arms.
"What is it, Boo?" she asked, staring at the Eevee. It smiled at her and pointed at the small envelope on the floor.
Since the house was relatively small, soon everyone was with Ella E near the stairs.
"What's wrong?" Monty asked, looking at Boo, who shied away from him.
"I've got a letter...but they don't deliver the mail on Sundays." Ella E said, putting Boo down and looking at the letter suspiciously. Atelli rolled her eyes.
"Well, who's it for?"
Ella E looked annoyed and picked up the letter. The only writing on it was on the envelope. In small, neat handwriting right in the middle of the envelope was her name. Ella E was even more curious now.
"That's strange..." she said, looking at the letter.
"Open it." Colt said impatiently. Caleb glared at him, but didn't comment. Ella E held the envelope out to Facet, who sat motionless on the floor where it had glided.
"Facet, can you open this?"
"Pory." it said in a mechanical, unfeeling voice. It looked at the envelope and a small laser formed from it's nose. It appeared for what seemed like only instant, but Ella E soon held a open envelope in her hand.
"Thank you, Facet." she said. Facet's eyes seemed to smile as it returned to it's previous position.
"What's it say?" Colt asked, trying to read over Ella E's shoulder. She read it silently, then looked up as if stunned.
"Bad news?" Atelli asked. Ella E dropped the letter on the floor and nearly fell backwards if Colt hadn't caught her. Warp teleported in, grabbed the letter, and teleported to Atelli's shoulder. It dropped the letter, then disspeared. Atelli, shrugging, grabbed the letter and began to read. It almost looked as if someone had filled in a form.
"You are formally invited to the funeral of Joy Sama of Vermillion City. Formal Attire required. You may bring two companions. Please respond with a positive or negative response as space is limited. Join us in the mourning of the passing away of someone important to the community.
Signed,
Joy Sama of Pewter City"
"That's right..." Caleb said, looking thoughtful. "I remember. One of the victims of the Vermillion City Massacre was Nurse Joy. This must be from her sisters."
"Why would she invite Ella E?" Atelli asked.
"Ella E was the last one to see her alive." Caleb said softly. Ella E remained motionless in Colt's arms, tears beginning to form in her eyes.