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The Official Mew/Mewtwo Report

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The Japanese 20th anniversary website recently added a very interesting section just about the Mew/Mewtwo mystery. While it basically just covers what we already know from the games, the way it is presented is still interesting, at least to theorists such as myself. So I asked @クリスタル to translate it and she kindly obliged.

- Confidential -
Mew and Mewtwo's Secret

Report by Researcher Kazuki

The Pokémon whose existence itself is deemed mystical, Mew, and the legendary Pokémon rumored to be the strongest: Mewtwo. Although the two Pokémon shrouded in many mysteries were widely known to have a deep relationship, not many people know about their connection to a certain person. This written report is a validation report approaching the top secrets regarding Mew and Mewtwo.

Report Content:
File 01: The particulars leading to research and investigation
File 02: Secret of Mewtwo's birth
File 03: The whereabouts of Mewtwo afterwards
File 04: Who gave birth to Mewtwo?
File 05: Mew afterwards?
File 06: Conclusion

[Pokédex entries]

File 01
The particulars leading to research and investigation


The supposed super rare Pokémon Mewtwo, was said to be generated from Mew's DNA. But, things such as what happened specifically, are still mysteries around here.

Hence this time, I who researched Pokémon genetics in Silph Company, am investigating the secret of Mewtwo's birth. This book, is the written note of that result.

About Silph Company:

Starting from Pokeball, to Silph Scope and Pokegear, Silph is a company that produces many items essential to Pokémon Trainers. The headquarters is situated in a large building in Saffron City of the Kanto region. It is a large enterprise with many branches across the world. Inside the headquarter building there exist warp panels, where one can move to many places easily... But there were also employees that ended up getting lost. According to rumors, this building has a secret underground floor.

File 02
Secret of Mewtwo's birth


Going around asking research colleagues, I learned that the scientist who had produced Mew and Mewtwo, was known to have lived in the Pokémon Mansion on Cinnabar Island of the Kanto region. Promptly heading towards Cinnabar Island, what stands there now is the destroyed Pokémon Mansion. The interior of the mansion has large holes in the floors and ceilings. Being severely destroyed, no person has come here, and it now inhabited by wild Pokémon.

Running away from wild Pokémon, Koffing and I who barely made it to the 2nd floor, found the old journal pages on the tables. Deciphering the pages with some difficulty, I unearthed some shocking content regarding Mewtwo.

According to the journal, it seems that the scientist who lived in this mansion had generated Mewtwo from Mew's DNA. As the date was jumping in intervals, it is unknown how long the period was, but since there is evidence of the DNA manipulation requiring a lot of time, the intervals between the journal updates must have been long.

The journal inside Pokémon Mansion:

July 5th
Guyana, South America
A new Pokémon was discovered deep in the jungle.

July 10th
We christened the newly discovered Pokémon, Mew.

February 6th
Mew gave birth.
We named the newborn Mewtwo.

September 1st
The Pokémon Mewtwo is far too powerful.
It's no use… I cannot control it!

And then, the result of DNA manipulation, is that Mewtwo became too savage and out of control. The Pokémon Mansion was probably destroyed due to the rampage of Mewtwo. Inside the crumbling mansion, it is getting difficult to look for traces of the period when the scientist and Mewtwo were still around.

Translation note: There is an interesting sentence right at the very beginning, translated to "the scientist that produced Mew and Mewtwo" (ミュウとミュウツーを生み出した科学者). The Japanese word is used in the context of birth rather than discovery, which doesn't make sense in Mew's case. "Kazuki" must have made a typo (he doesn't seem to actually think Dr. Fuji created Mew).

File 03
The whereabouts of Mewtwo afterwards


With the investigation in Pokémon Mansion, the birth place of Mewtwo is revealed, leading to a new question: Where did the rampaging Mewtwo go?

Looking for the whereabouts of Mewtwo, first we went around asking Pokémon trainers in Kanto. We obtained witness reports of a Pokemon that looks like Mewtwo being encountered deep inside the Cerulean Cave near the Cerulean City.

It can probably be assumed that the rampaging Mewtwo headed to Cerulean Cave after leaving Pokémon Mansion. But, why did Mewtwo go to Cerulean Cave? With a destination inhabited by many powerful Pokemon, could Mewtwo be avoiding contact with humans?

Additionally, according to a trainer from another region, Mewtwo was also sighted in the Unknown Dungeon in a place called Pokémon Village in the Kalos region. But it is unknown if that Mewtwo was the same individual as the one sighted in Cerulean Cave.

Cerulean Cave and Unknown Dungeon are both caves that are off-limits to anyone but the Pokémon League Champion. This fact seems telling of how dangerous Mewtwo is.

File 04
Who gave birth to Mewtwo?


Continuing the investigation on Cinnabar Island, the owner of Pokémon Mansion is revealed to be the person "Fuji". The name "Fuji" that comes to the mind is the Dr. Fuji that set up Pokémon Laboratory, which runs research related to Pokemon. I admired him as a Pokémon researcher.

Dr. Fuji was probably doing research on Pokémon's DNA in this Pokémon Mansion near Pokémon Laboratory. Then, the result of continuous manipulation of Mewtwo's DNA, was the rampage of Mewtwo going out of control. After that, the whereabout of Dr. Fuji became a mystery together with Mewtwo...

But thanks to continuous investigation on Cinnabar Island, we found a photo inside Cinnabar Gym that caught our attention. The old man inside the photo that had his arms around Gym Leader Blaine, is called Mr. Fuji. But this elder no longer lives on the island.

After that, we learned that Mr. Fuji now lives in Lavendar Town, and in order to confirm the truth we headed there. We visited the Pokémon House where he lives now, but unfortunately, we were unable to have a meeting.

Reference material: Who is Mr. Fuji?

An old man living in the volunteer house in Lavender Town. He looks after and cares for abandoned and orphaned Pokémon, earning him the praise of many people in Lavender Town.

He loves to read the monthly magazine "Pokémon Fan" and likes to enter prized competition. But he seems to dislike interviews, having turned down many Pokémon journals.

Silktree's note: This trivia was originally stated in FRLG's Fame Checker.

File 05
Mew afterwards?


As the investigation progressed, something interesting was found about Mew, the origin of Mewtwo's DNA. From the words of a kindhearted trainer, the mystical Pokémon Mew was said to have been sighted at a place called Faraway Island. Furthermore, we were also informed of the content of the old writings left on the island.

“…ber, 6th day
If any human…sets foot here…
again…et it be a kindhearted pers…
…ith that hope, I depar…”

This message was probably left by the person that released Mew on this island. What catches our attention is the name "...ji" written at the end of memo. Could this possibly be Dr. Fuji that discovered Mew?

What follows is a bold assumption of mine: Dr. Fuji, regretting creating Mewtwo, took Mew to this Faraway Island where no one could enter, in order not to let anyone else repeat his own mistake. This is just speculation, but as the seldom known Mew is living peacefully somewhere... That's all I can think about.

* Faraway Island is a special place not accessible through normal play in Pokémon Emerald. A special item called the Old Sea Map is required, but is no longer obtainable.

File 06
Conclusion


There are two points made clear by this investigation:

1. Dr. Fuji created Mewtwo from Mew's DNA, and lived in the Pokémon Mansion on Cinnabar Island.

2. Mewtwo, which escaped from Pokémon Mansion, inhabited Cerulean Cave where very few humans could approach it.

After that, I deeply hope that Mewtwo encountered a kindhearted trainer and lived happily.

Also, regarding Mew and Dr. Fuji, a precise answer is still currently unavailable. I plan to continue the investigation.

Researcher Kazuki

Silktree's notes:

1. Kazuki doesn't mention the fate of Cerulean Cave, which collapsed in between the Kanto and Johto games. Why did it collapse? Why did Mewtwo return there in HGSS? Actually, this omission is excusable since the report was written when Cinnabar Island was still in tact (prior to the volcano eruption), but then the report does mention Mewtwo's sighting in Kalos years after that...

2. The fact that the Pokemon Lab's research team investigated Cerulean Cave (while looking for the legendary birds) isn't mentioned, either. What happened to them?

3. Kazuki's speculation about Fuji taking Mew to a place where it wouldn't be found has made me realize that it is unlikely Mew's original habitat (a Guyanese jungle) is one and the same as the island jungle. After all, Dr. Fuji was able to find Mew in Guyana, so why would he bring it back there if he wanted to keep it safe? If the locations are separate, just where is Faraway Island? The artwork shown on the website implies that it is east of the Japanese regions. Could it be based on one of the Hawaii islands? If we go further south, then Niue is an interesting possibility due to both its name and being considered one of the most remote islands in the world.

4. How long ago did the Mewtwo experiment happen? Was the Old Sea Map made by Fuji or does it date back even further into the past?
 
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Many thanks to Crystal for the translation and Silktree for putting this up. These recent lore sites by Daisuki Club always manage to deliver one way or another, but I have to say I'm particularly surprised with this one, as it brings some of the most interesting Pokémon world history back to relevance despite its numerous obscure elements. It's nice to know they still have it in mind, and may offer an expansion and further clarification in the future.

Incidentally, the character Kazuki is also detailed and that brings another interesting element back to relevance. He's mentioned to be from Sevii's Three Island and a graduate of Celadon University.
 
Very interesting. I love when they expand on the more obscure lore of legendary pokemon.
Hopefully they'll do it for others too. I'd love to know more about Xerneas/Yveltal for example or the Kanto birds.
 
Hopefully they'll do it for others too. I'd love to know more about Xerneas/Yveltal for example or the Kanto birds.
I don't think those examples would work, as there are too few in-game references to go on for an interesting report. Kazuki just summarizes facts (obscure or otherwise) from the games.

He does reference the mascot legendaries and even the bird trio when describing each region.
 
This is very fascinating. I had never actually considered the possibility that Fuji could have taken Mew *back* to Faraway Island, but it makes enough sense.

They raise the question of whether or not the Mewtwo in XY is the same one. M16 flashbacks aside, I wonder how this fits into the whole multiverse thing. I would assume that they simply aren't acknowledging that, but that would seem somewhat odd when they're pulling from some of the most obscure places for everything else (and they do refer to Mega Evolution and Infinity Energy on other pages). If they *aren't* acknowledging the multiverse, then I suppose these scenarios must be set in some sort of "meta-timeline" where all the games coexist in a weird blur.

If the Gen VI games aren't being factored into this, though, then one could just say that even though the specific events of XY never happened, Mewtwo could have gone from Cerulean Cave to the Unknown Dungeon earlier on. I mean, just because Calem/Serena's journey doesn't play out the same way, doesn't mean somebody else couldn't have spotted Mewtwo.

I don't think those examples would work, as there are too few in-game references to go on for an interesting report. Kazuki just summarizes facts (obscure or otherwise) from the games.

True, sadly. Although this section about Mew and Arceus is tantalizing, but it doesn't really tell us much that we didn't already know.
 
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My personal answer to your concerns at the end of the thread:

1. This is either of the two possibilities. A) Cerulean Cave collapsed in Crystal, where there is no more Mewtwo available for anyone to catch. Meaning Red (aka Player in GenI RGB) had caught Mewtwo, and the cave was collapsed due to the fierce battle back at then. B) Cerulean Cave didn't collapse in HgSs, Mewtwo is still there for you to catch. Meaning Red (aka Player in GenIII FrLg) didn't bother to catch Mewtwo back at then, it didn't "returned" from elsewhere, it was living silently and peacefully during that period.
For the Mewtwo in Kalos, there were also two possibilities. A) That Mewtwo is not the same individual as the one in Cerulean Cave. But of course it raises the most dubious question of everyone: Who created that Mewtwo then? How it was created? B) It is the same individual Mewtwo, where it went to Kalos after Cerulean Cave collapse. But then it contradicts my previously mentioned possibility route of Mewtwo was caught by someone. So the result should then be Mewtwo was not caught, someone attempted to do so but unsuccessful, and Cerulean Cave was collapsed due to the fierce battle.

TL;DR. In short, alternative multiverse theory.

2. Probably Kazuki wasn't even aware there was research team went for investigation in Cerulean Cave in the past. (To tell the truth, not even I was aware. Did it ever mentioned in RGB/FrLg games?)

3. Not counting the Real-Life world geography but in-universe world, what I would assume is that Faraway Island is not part of any already known region nor near to any highly populated region. Because if one think about it, if Fuji wanted to hide Mew from any other, he obviously would not choose to hide it in a place easily accessible by normal human beings. However, as I see in the artwork of the Old Sea Map, there are red arrows in the top left corner land and bottom right corner land on the map, where by common sense it is used to indicate place of importance such as cities and/or town, but since we had not yet seen cities or town located in two separate nearby islands that are equally large (of course, if we do not count the Pokemon Ranger regions in), so it may not indicate islands in the same region, but in fact may be continents of different regions, and Faraway Island is situated at the boundary of two different regions. However I have no idea what those two regions may be.

4. According to the assumption time needed for a destroyed building (Pokemon Mansion) become inhabited by wild pokemons, and also by comparing the possible age of current Lavendar Town Mr.Fuji to the general age of a normal researcher in his profession prime, it is possible that the Mewtwo experiment had happened quite some decades ago.
And if that is the case and also from sea navigation POV, then it is no doubt that Old Sea Map must be constructed by Fuji, as old-fashioned sea maps are sketched by ones who had sailed and been to that place before, and for such long time the oldness of the map is kind of justified.
 
If the Gen VI games aren't being factored into this, though, then one could just say that even though the specific events of XY never happened, Mewtwo could have gone from Cerulean Cave to the Unknown Dungeon earlier on. I mean, just because Calem/Serena's journey doesn't play out the same way, doesn't mean somebody else couldn't have spotted Mewtwo.
Mewtwo could have gone back and forth between the two caves in any timeline. So I am not really bothered about the apparent discrepancy, which I'd wager is just an oversight.

True, sadly. Although this section about Mew and Arceus is tantalizing, but it doesn't really tell us much that we didn't already know.
I decided to create separate thread about this. I find it less interesting than the Mew/Mewtwo report, but it's still nice to see official comparison between Mew and Arceus.

クリスタル said:
1. This is either of the two possibilities. A) Cerulean Cave collapsed in Crystal, where there is no more Mewtwo available for anyone to catch. Meaning Red (aka Player in GenI RGB) had caught Mewtwo, and the cave was collapsed due to the fierce battle back at then. B) Cerulean Cave didn't collapse in HgSs, Mewtwo is still there for you to catch. Meaning Red (aka Player in GenIII FrLg) didn't bother to catch Mewtwo back at then, it didn't "returned" from elsewhere, it was living silently and peacefully during that period.
For the Mewtwo in Kalos, there were also two possibilities. A) That Mewtwo is not the same individual as the one in Cerulean Cave. But of course it raises the most dubious question of everyone: Who created that Mewtwo then? How it was created? B) It is the same individual Mewtwo, where it went to Kalos after Cerulean Cave collapse. But then it contradicts my previously mentioned possibility route of Mewtwo was caught by someone. So the result should then be Mewtwo was not caught, someone attempted to do so but unsuccessful, and Cerulean Cave was collapsed due to the fierce battle.

TL;DR. In short, alternative multiverse theory.
Cerulean Cave's Pokegear description in HGSS does say that it collapsed and was recently reconstructed. A reasonable theory is that Mewtwo either moved to Kalos after the cave collapsed, or it stayed with Red. But once the cave was reconstructed, it either returned from Kalos or Red released it for whatever reason. The events don't necessarily vary between the timelines.

As for the Kalos Mewtwo possibly being a different one, I refuse to consider this possibility when nothing in XY could begin to explain it.

2. Probably Kazuki wasn't even aware there was research team went for investigation in Cerulean Cave in the past. (To tell the truth, not even I was aware. Did it ever mentioned in RGB/FrLg games?)
It is stated in one of the PCs found inside the Pokemon Lab. The research team sent the following email: "The 3 legendary bird Pokémon are Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres. Their whereabouts are unknown. We plan to explore he cavern close to Cerulean."

Personally, I think Kazuki should know about this as he obviously has colleagues in the lab. More likely than not, this reference was a bit too obscure for whoever actually wrote the report. It is quite possible that the research team never entered the cave for the simple reason that the League wouldn't let anyone but the Champion enter.

However I have no idea what those two regions may be.
Kanto and Hoenn? Maybe the red arrow goes from Kanto and was marked by Fuji, and the blue mark was added by Mr. Briney when planning the travel from Hoenn to the island. But that would place the island close to both regions as otherwise the arrows would be closer to each other. And it should be far judging from the name alone.

And if that is the case and also from sea navigation POV, then it is no doubt that Old Sea Map must be constructed by Fuji, as old-fashioned sea maps are sketched by ones who had sailed and been to that place before, and for such long time the oldness of the map is kind of justified.
Come to think of it, there is little doubt that Fuji traveled to the island a long time ago, since the message he left is referred to as an old writing that has partially faded.
 
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Mewtwo could have gone back and forth between the two caves in any timeline. So I am not really bothered about the apparent discrepancy, which I'd wager is just an oversight.
Of course, this is disregarding the fact that even the mightiest of Olympus Mons can be caught for use by the player.

Maybe they're trying to tell us that the multiverse is representative of the players' experiences and that the communication through trades and battle is what links it all together? idk, there's no other way I see a multi-Mewtwo explanation (or even the possibility of a single instance of the species travelling to other regions).
 
Of course, this is disregarding the fact that even the mightiest of Olympus Mons can be caught for use by the player.
It can also be released by the player.

(or even the possibility of a single instance of the species travelling to other regions).
Why do we need multiple timelines to explain that? Mewtwo can teleport and even fly. If anything, the report implies that Mewtwo was sighted in Kanto and Kalos in the very same universe.
 
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It's not necessary to introduce a second Mewtwo origin (though it wouldn't be impossible). The mention of the Kalos appearance is probably a deliberate break of the fourth wall, since players are familiar with Mewtwo's most recent appearance. Alternatively, Kazuki may have visited Pokémon Mansion a long time before he wrote the report and may (against all odds) not be informed about the Mansion being destroyed by the Volcano eruption. Alternatively (and I suppose more likely than the former), Cinnabar may have been restored by the time Kalos events occur -- perhaps damage wasn't as irreversible as we initially thought . Rather than between RGB and GS, that could place his report somewhere around the time Mewtwo first appears in Kalos, meaning its disappearance from Cerulean Cave (following its restoration) may not have been confirmed yet. In any case, we probably shouldn't read too much into it.

Regarding the timeline of Mewtwo's journey, I'd like to bring up another possible checkpoint -- Unova. That may be where Mewtwo developed its signature move, Psystrike, as the first distribution was during Generation V. That distribution was special in that it wasn't a tie-in to the anime or anything else, and like other "random" distributions before it, it may have a canonical significance. Moreover, that distribution was accompanied by another lore site similar to the one we're discussing here (in fact, I believe it was the first of its kind), which also discussed Mew and Mewtwo's history. Unfortunately, that site is now down and unarchived.
 
Never underestimate the power of time travel. The 2011 site wasn't anything to write home about, though, as it was written from a meta (real-life) perspective. Anyway, we can't begin to speculate what Mewtwo might have been doing in Unova. Fighting Genesect like in the anime? Unfortunately, there are no references to support that.
 
It can also be released by the player.
There's still several more being caught than there are being released, but hey, I don't dictate a player's play style...

Why do we need multiple timelines to explain that? Mewtwo can teleport and even fly. If anything, the report implies that Mewtwo was sighted in Kanto and Kalos in the very same universe.
Fridge logic. Depending on the player's experiences, they could have released a Level 100 Mewtwo only to find it Level 70 the next time they found it. Or, more plausibly, having it learn (and forget) certain moves... In essence, how you take your Mewtwo encounters over the Generations is pretty much entirely up to headcanon and nothing else. Rumoured sightings of a powerful Pokémon that the player only ever sees a single instance of - you can theorise that others may exist of the same species, though that only makes 100% sense in a few cases.

We may be overthinking it. Just a tiny bit.
 
I really don't think that the multiverse should be used to break gameplay and story segregation. I was implying that Red, the canon player character, may have caught and subsequently released Mewtwo.
 
If we think about it in the remake sense, though, would that mean he released it and it subsequently returned to the Cerulean Cave? The question then becomes where it goes next (and maybe who caught him at that point before the Unknown Dungeon).

The fact that Red's canon team in Johto includes a Pikachu heavily implies that Yellow was the canon version, but that's another argument for another subforum.
 
If we think about it in the remake sense, though, would that mean he released it and it subsequently returned to the Cerulean Cave?
Yes.

The question then becomes where it goes next (and maybe who caught him at that point before the Unknown Dungeon).
It didn't necessarily leave the cave until shortly before XY.
 
It didn't necessarily leave the cave until shortly before XY.
That's with the assumption that the players never caught Mewtwo, obviously. Then again... You could make the same argument for Red - maybe he wasn't the all-doing trainer we made him out to be.

Even without those things in mind, we don't actually know how long that took. We were never given a timeframe between Sinnoh/Johto and Unova.

I'd use headcanon to explain the segment of time after that in my head: Around the time of Black/White, Mewtwo wanders off in search of a new place of solitude, and during the events of B2W2 (which, for all we know, is concurrent with XY), he finds it in Unknown Dungeon. That's just one way to look at it, anyway...

One thing's for sure: I highly doubt a single instance of a species of Legendary Pokémon would simply switch hands every day to explain it being possessed by so many trainers in so many regions, that's just illogical considering those trainers number in the millions.
 
One thing's for sure: I highly doubt a single instance of a species of Legendary Pokémon would simply switch hands every day to explain it being possessed by so many trainers in so many regions, that's just illogical considering those trainers number in the millions.
I don't know where this assumption that Mewtwo belonged to several trainers is coming from as far as the canon story is concerned. We can only hazard a guess that Red caught it if we go by Origins.
 
I don't know where this assumption that Mewtwo belonged to several trainers is coming from as far as the canon story is concerned
I think that's my fault, as I'm going by the millions of players who have had the chance to obtain Mewtwo over the years. While not strictly related to the canon of the games, it's a bit hard to pin down the exact actions of every player character over the years... Especially since things like Unova exist. Not everyone's going to do the same thing as another player (unless you're speedrunning), and the only reason I think Pokémon should be treated that way above other RPGs in which others could easily do the same is due to the immersion of the game and putting yourself in the player's shoes, making the story your own rather than being predetermined - you do get to name them, after all.

At this point I think I'm injecting way too many personal beliefs into this. We don't know anything. There's no reason to believe one way or the other, whether or not Mewtwo was caught, and who did it if anyone. We'll probably never get an answer on things like that.
 
Well, this thread is about the canon story that is independent of the actions of every player out there. We wouldn't be able to get very far if we accounted for so many possibilities.
 
In saying that, doesn't that still leave the fate of Mewtwo ambiguous enough in the games (and discounting Origins) to the point where we can't draw a conclusion on whether or not it was caught by Red? They never outright mentioned Red's adventures in other games outside of him beating Blue...
 
Please note: The thread is from 8 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
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