"I didn't steal him," Quickie shook her head. "It's a long and really weird story, but I didn't steal him. The reason why when we first met he didn't run off was because the situation would've been made worse if he did. Lt. PB didn't mean him any harm, and neither did I, and he understood that. We simply ran into each other, surely happenstance. And since it was a rather secluded location, we were the only humans for miles and miles, and leaving us neuralized in the middle of nowhere would've done more harm than good. Raised more questions."
Quickie paused and picked up her sketchbook, thumbing through it for a blank page. She helped herself to a pencil and began to sketch as she talked, every now and then glancing at James and studying his face. "It was really late in the evening and PB and I were setting up camp. We had some food, and as a gesture of goodwill, I offered the Pokemon a meal. After all, we did invade their territory, and thus, it was best that we pay our dues."
Selecting another pencil, Quickie continued. "We had a chance to talk over dinner. Exchanged our histories. Years ago, before I started my Pokemon journey, I came from a broken home. I actually ran away when I started my journey. The journey was a ruse, I wanted to escape. I was born unnaturally, and due to birth injuries, I was strapped with a developmental disorder that no one could pinpoint. I was taken from specialist to specialist, went clear to Cinnabar for a diagnosis. While there, I wandered away, found my way to the Pokemon Mansion and went inside. This was before it was destroyed, it was a multipurpose building, used by several companies."
Quickie glanced at James as she continued to sketch. "I wandered around and eventually ended up in the part of the wing outsourced for scientific research. No idea why no one stopped me, but there were other kids there, kids of the employees, so I guess they thought I was one of them. I had long hair then, no glasses, and people kept referring to me as 'Amber.'" She paused before continuing. "I walked into a part of the lab, directed by another scientist, saying that my dad was there. I thought they actually meant my dad, so I went inside. There, I saw the cloning tanks, and in one of them was Mewtwo. He was really small, then." She paused and thumbed through her sketchbook to a specific page, showing a sketch of a very young Mewtwo floating in a tank. "Drawn from memory, might not be exact, but it's what I remember."
After a moment, Quickie set the sketchbook page-upon the table and put her pencil aside. "Eventually, they realized that I wasn't one of their children and they took me to the Cinnabar police station, who then called my parents. I was collected and taken home right away. Then, my mom beat my ass. After that, I knew that I had to escape. They couldn't handle me. I wasn't the child they wanted, I was flawed, I wasn't born right. Four years later, I ran away. The police never followed up on it. Said I went on a Pokemon journey."
She looked to James. "Hope that someone's recording, because you got part of the history you wanted."