The "Birth of Mewtwo" was a radio drama that aired in five parts to help promote the movie Mewtwo Strikes Back.
Below is a detailed synopsis of each episode.
"The Phantom Pokemon "Mew" "
Episode One "The Phantom Pokemon "Mew" "
The narrator, Sakaki, starts by going over the history of the universe. Galaxies form, stars emerge, planets pop up...and on one particular planet, living creatures are born. These creatures evolve and then, later, humans are born. And then some time after that, mysterious creatures called Pocket Monsters - "pokemon" for short - come into the world.
The narrator explains that, as time goes on, more and more of these pokemon are discovered. An old radio broadcast from before the second world war can be heard in which researchers announce the discovery of a new pokemon named "Hakuryuu" about 200 nautical miles from the Futago Islands. Another broadcast lets us listen to the discovery of Gyarados and its attack on the woman who found it. A third radio broadcast talks about the discovery of Kabutops, the oldest known pokemon who lived over 2,000,000 years ago.
As pokemon were being discovered, one after the other, a group known as the Rocket-Dan was formed. The narrator takes this opportunity to introduce himself as Sakaki, the current boss of the Rocket-Dan. He tells us that he will delve into the history of the organization to bring us the most important story to ever occur to the group.
One afternoon 20 years ago, a Rocket-Dan agent named Miyamoto (ミヤモト) made a report that gained the attention of the boss of the Rocket-Dan at that time, Sakaki's mother. She presents the boss with a tape made in the South American amazon with a highly sensitive microphone. The female boss stops her to ask how much the mic was, and Miyamoto replies that she got it for 50% off in Akihabara. She then tries to get the report back on track by explaining that the mic was set up in the amazon to capture the sounds of the pokemon in the area in hopes of being able to identify and locate any legendary pokemon who may be around. She then states that using this highly sensitive mic (which the female boss argues they should have gotten for 60% off instead), they were actually able to capture said pokemon.
Miyamoto plays the tape. At first it's difficult to make anything out because there are so many things making noise at the same time, so Miyamoto filters out all the sounds of nature - the sound of the wind, the sound of the rivers going by, etc. She plays the tape again, and this time all we can hear are the pokemon cries. She filters out the Bird and Bug-Type pokemon. She plays the tape again, and this time...folk music like the kind that can be heard in the Andes can be heard! Miyamoto explains that in that region, there's a legend that the world's rarest pokemon rises with the sun once a year to protect everything in the world. This "country music" they're listening to right now is devoted to this legendary pokemon. Miyamoto says that she'll stake out this area to wait for the pokemon even though it'll mean being away from home and her beloved daughter. She needs the money, however, and the female boss says that she can relate because her lazy son requires a lot of money as well.
At this, the narrator clears his throat loudly.
Miyamoto isolates the tape further until they can hear the voice of this legendary pokemon. "Mew...Mew." Miyamoto tells the boss that no one has ever recorded Mew's voice before and that if they're able to capture it they'll be able to get a lot of money for it. The boss of the Rocket-Dan is pleased.
We hear the sound of a blizzard.
Miyamoto describes her surroundings as if she's giving a bus tour. After doing this for a bit ("To the right, you'll see that right before dawn...it's really really cold!"), she laments the fact that she's been up on that mountain for years now. She's been separated from the other Rocket-Dan members who went with her and has only had an old picture of her and her daughter to keep her company. Despite all this, Miyamoto decides to continue believing that the legends of Mew are true.
Episode Two "The Birth of Mewtwo"
The narrator recaps the events of the previous episode. Miyamoto continues to wait up in the mountains for Mew, stating that her daughter will be entering elementary school soon and will need money for that.
The narrator explains that eighteen years have passed since then. During that time, he, Sakaki, has become the boss of the Rocket-Dan. He tells us that the Rocket-Dan's operations include illegally mining for pokemon fossils in various locations. It's in one of the locations below some mountains in South America where the Rocket-Dan made their greatest discovery - a fossil, no bigger than a centimeter, that glowed with a terrific light.
At that moment, a professor's voice takes over. He introduces himself as "Doctor Fuji," also known as "Fuji-Hakase." He's a professor who had the mysterious fossil brought to his secret lab in a place called New Island. The computer in his lab analyzes the fossil and announces that while it can confirm that it's a fossil of an eyelash belonging to a pokemon, it has no record of which pokemon it belongs to. The computer then creates a recreation of the pokemon's cry based on the DNA.
The computer uses this recreated voice to search for a similar recording and finds the one that Miyamoto had made eighteen years ago. At that moment, Sakaki enters the room and asks Fuji-Hakase if he can recreate the pokemon. Fuji-Hakase will give it his best.
In a pun-filled rap that follows, Fuji-Hakase clones a Zenigame, Hitokage, and a Fushigidane. As Sakaki counts the pokemon being copied, he thinks about how much money he'll be able to make. Two become four, four become eight, eight become sixteen, sixteen become thirty-two...the Rocket-Dan will be rich in no time! Clones of Pikachu and Nyasu are made as well.
Fuji-Hakase sighs. Sakaki asks him what's wrong, and he says that he still isn't able to clone humans yet. Sakaki wonders what he's going on about all of a sudden and reasons that copies of pokemon, not human, are what's going to make them rich. He then says that if they can clone Mew, the world's most rare pokemon...Sakaki walks out of the room, trailing off into laughter.
The professor tells us that his goal isn't just to clone pokemon; he also wants to bring his beloved daughter, Ai, back to life. He reveals that his wife left him, leaving him to care for Ai all by himself. However, one day, his daughter was hit by a car and killed, leaving Fuji-Hakase all alone. The professor pleads with his memory of Ai to come back to him, but she says that she can't do that. Fuji-Hakase has decided that he doesn't care if he has to clone his daughter and live a lie in order to not be alone anymore.
However, Fuji-Hakase tells Ai that every attempt he's made to clone a human has ended up not being able to survive inside its test tube for longer than four years. The pokemon clones, unlike the human clones, are able to live full lives, so Fuji-Hakase believes that pokemon hold some secret to life. He further speculates that if he can take the eyelash fossil he has and successfully copy Mew, a pokemon said to have the key to eternal life, he can then use that knowledge to create a perfect clone of his daughter. He thinks about how great it will be to live alongside Ai as she grows up to be an adult and then, eventually, an old woman. He'll never be lonely again!
One month later, Mew's DNA is taken from its eyelash and Mewtwo is born. Ai looks over at the sleeping pokemon as it floats inside its test tube and asks if Mewtwo can be its mom or older sister. She then greets the pokemon: "Hello, Mewtwo."
Episode Three "Mewtwo and Ai"
A young Mewtwo asks itself these questions as it floats in its test tube. Mew appears before Mewtwo but then flies off before the latter is able to find out who it is.
In Fuji-Hakase's lab on New Island, the collected pokemon's cries are not unlike those of animals at a zoo after dark. Sakaki pays the lab a visit to have a look at the pokemon being cloned from Mew. Fuji-Hakase tells him that while this "Mew Two" is not quite the same as the original Mew, it should have powers that surpasses it. He tells Sakaki that Mewtwo is still sleeping.
Mewtwo tells itself that it's awake. But it can't see anything, say anything, or feel anything. What in the world is it? It can hear someone talking about it just outside its test tube, but it has no idea what's going on. Just then, a little girl appears and says that what Mewtwo is hearing are known as "words." Mewtwo asks who she is, and she responds by saying that she's a human who was born the same way Mewtwo was. Mewtwo asks if that means it's a human as well, and the little girl says that it must be since it's able to communicate the way humans do. She then starts to dream about what it would be like to be a pokemon, prompting Mewtwo to ask what that is. Is Mewtwo a human or a pokemon? The little girl says that it can be whichever one it wants because it was born the same way regardless.
The little girl then asks Mewtwo if it can hear the voices of the others who were born just like them. The confused pokemon listens..."Zeni-Zeni-Two!" "Dane-Dane-Two!" "Kage-Kage-Two!" Mewtwo asks why everyone has "two" attached to their names, and the little girl responds by saying that they're all copies. She explains that they're not the originals and therefore can't call themselves "one," so they call themselves "two" instead. She then says that the person she was cloned from is named "Ai," and since she's a copy, she goes by the name "Aitwo." She then wonders if she really is the second clone or not and says that if she's actually the third version, then she should be called Aithree. Or if she's the fourth, she'd be Aifour. She then goes through the numbers, both in English and in Japanese, while Mewtwo repeats after her. Zenigametwo, Fushigidanetwo, and Hitokagetwo join in as well.
Fuji-Hakase notices the spike in brain activity between Mewtwo and Aitwo and wonders what's going on. A computer tells Fuji-Hakase that the two are communicating with each other.
Mewtwo tells Ai that it wants to learn more. It looks up and wonders what that big bright thing in the sky is, so Ai tells Mewtwo that that's the sun. It gives them light and keeps everybody nice and warm. Night falls, so Mewtwo asks what these new lights in the sky are. Ai answers by saying that they're the moon and the stars. Mewtwo then asks what those people outside the test tube are putting into their mouths. She replies by saying that it's cake and milk. She explains that cake is delicious and is loved by both adults and children alike while milk is one of the things that babies who were just brought into this world want most. Ai's never had milk, though, because she's lived in her test tube her whole life.
Ai suddenly gets very quiet. Fuji-Hakase tells us that Ai's cells are breaking down and that he still has a way to go before he'll be able to successfully clone humans.
Ai tells Mewtwo that it seems like the time for farewells has come. As Ai fades away, Mewtwo, who's inside a glass tube filled with water, wonders how water can still be coming out of its eyes. Ai tells it that those are tears and that her daddy once told her that people cry when they hurt themselves or when they're sad. But only humans are able to cry when they're sad, Ai says...Ai thanks Mewtwo for her tears and tells it not to cry anymore because it is alive and will surely enjoy many fun things in the future. As Ai disappears forever, Mewtwo notices that it can't stop crying.
The episode ends with Miyamoto still waiting up in the mountains for Mew. This old lady needs the money for her daughter's entrance exams, after all!
Episode Four "The World's Strongest Pokemon"
Fuji-Hakase watches as Ai's life signs vanish. But he won't give up! He'll continue to make copy after copy of his daughter until he's finally able to create a perfect clone. Mewtwo protests, saying that there's only one Ai and that you can't just "make more," but Fuji-Hakase can't hear it. Fuji-Hakase does, however, notice that Mewtwo's brain readings are becoming more agitated and has his assistants inject a sedative to help stabilize its brain readings. Fuji-Hakase is glad to see that Mewtwo has settled down; unlike Ai, Mewtwo cannot be copied over and over.
Mewtwo falls into a deep sleep. During its long slumber, Mewtwo forgets all about Ai and the pokemon who were copied. The only thing that it remembers are the questions that keep nagging at the back of its mind: Where am I? Who am I? Who brought me here? As these questions repeat themselves, over and over, Mewtwo grows into an adult.
Without warning, Mewtwo lets out a powerful wave of psychic energy. Fuji-Hakase states that Mewtwo has awakened, and the other lab assistants start to pat themselves on the back. "It's more powerful than we thought!" they gloat. "Our experiments are a success!" Mewtwo continues to break the various equipment in the lab with its psychic powers, causing Fuji-Hakase to think to himself how this pokemon's power puts it in a league of its own. As Mewtwo lashes out at everything around it, it starts to grow at an alarming rate.
The lab's computer decides to eliminate the threat in order to preserve itself. Against Fuji-Hakase's protests, the computer fires a laser at Mewtwo, causing its vital signs to drop. Fuji-Hakase is horrified until, suddenly...Mewtwo shows signs of life again! It seems that even Fuji-Hakase didn't know that Mewtwo had the ability to regenerate! Before long, Mewtwo angrily asks who attacked it, causing the computer to aim its laser beam at it again. This time, however, Mewtwo identifies its attacker and destroys the computer with its psychic powers.
Fuji-Hakase approaches Mewtwo and tells it that it's amazing. Mewtwo asks if it's this "Mewtwo" he's talking about, and Fuji-Hakase confirms that it is. Does that mean that Mewtwo is "Mew Two?" Fuji-Hakase points to an artist's rendering of the legendary pokemon Mew he had hanging up in the lab and introduces Mewtwo to Mew. Mewtwo asks if Mew is its father or mother, and Fuji-Hakase replies by saying that you would say that that's true, but that that's also not true. Mewtwo then asks if it was created by God. Fuji-Hakase tells Mewtwo that only God and humans are capable of creating life, but that humans are the only ones who can create life in a test tube the way Mewtwo was.
Mewtwo, upon realizing that it was created by humans, begins to ask itself who it is, where it is, and why it was born. Fuji-Hakase responds by telling Mewtwo that their dream was to create the world's strongest pokemon, so Mewtwo says that it has the ability to show them whether or not they've actually succeeded. With that, Mewtwo destroys the lab on New Island.
As waves beat upon the shores of New Island, Mewtwo calls out to Mew. "Where are you? Am I the strongest pokemon in the world...Mew? Am I stronger than you?" Mew's cries get further and further away, causing Mewtwo to become more desperate. "Mew! Show yourself! Show me which one of us is the strongest!"
Suddenly, Sakaki, the boss of the Rocket-Dan, approaches Mewtwo from behind and tells it that there's something in this world that's even stronger than Mewtwo: humans. Humans have the knowledge and power to create the world's strongest pokemon, after all, and if the two forces combine their powers, the world can become theirs. However, Sakaki tells Mewtwo, its power will simply destroy the world if it's left unrestrained, so he offers to help Mewtwo control it.
Chains and armor are placed on Mewtwo. Sakaki tells Mewtwo that, when the time comes for it to use its power, he will remove the chains and armor and have it let loose. The first order of business, Sakaki says, is to get pokemon. Not copy pokemon, he assures Mewtwo, but real pokemon. "And if I defeat the real Mew?" Mewtwo asks. "Then your life will have more meaning than Mew's" replies Sakaki.
As Mewtwo does Sakaki's bidding, it begins to think to itself. It thinks how living creatures other than humans shed tears when they're sad but thinks that it never sheds tears because it knows neither sorrow nor pain. That's because, Mewtwo reasons, it's the pokemon with the most meaningful existence in the world.
Mewtwo approaches Sakaki and asks who he is again. Sakaki responds that he is the man who's most qualified to take over the world. Mewtwo asks how many pokemon there are in this world, and Sakaki replies by saying there are over 150 of them. No matter, Mewtwo thinks; it will surpass them all.
Over in the Andes mountains, Miyamoto continues to wait. Her beloved daughter will probably become a bride soon, and that will require buying a wedding dress...hurry up and show yourself, Mew!
Episode Five "Mewtwo Strikes Back"
The Rocket-Dan's secret weapon has been activated.
Sakaki removes the chains and armor from Mewtwo and tells it to let loose. Using its various attacks - Psychic Power, Sleep Paralysis, Speed Star, and Psycokinesis - it helps the Rocket-Dan capture pokemon after pokemon. Ptera, Kabutops, Gyarados, Strike...and, of course, Lizardon, Fushigibana, and Kamex. A trainer challenges Mewtwo to a battle with his Boober, but the effects of its Flamethrower attack are soon nullified by Mewtwo's Self-Regeneration technique! Boober is soon defeated by Mewtwo's Hyper Beam, so Sakaki has a Monster Ball thrown at the pokemon and captures it. When Boober's trainer protests that that's against the rules, Sakaki responds by saying that the rules don't apply to them. Mewtwo will defeat those that are strong, seize those that are weak, and drive away all who get in its way.
Later, Mewtwo starts thinking to itself. It thinks about how it's having fun defeating strong opponents and how defeating the weak but cunning humans isn't too bad, either. However...there aren't any pokemon who are stronger than Mewtwo; it is invincible. As for those Rocket-Dan guys...all they care about is earning money. No, not just the Rocket-Dan...all humans are the same way. All they care about is money, Mewtwo says to itself, and they're all garbage not even fit to be thrown into a trash can! Mewtwo begins to address mankind, saying that power, not money, is what's needed to take over the world. As for the pokemon, the ones who aren't copies...well, they're worse than humans, aren't they? As soon as they're caught by their trainers, they suddenly do whatever they're told while happily wagging their tails. As a pokemon itself, Mewtwo cannot forgive this.
Back in the Andes, Miyamoto is exhausted. Who is she looking for again? Fire? Thunder? Freezer? With some effort, Miyamoto remembers that Mew is the one that she's after. Please understand, Musashi! Your mother's doing all this for you!!
Sakaki brings Mewtwo out into a jungle not unlike the one heard in the first episode of the radio drama. He tells Mewtwo that there are over a million pokemon living there and that its job is to use its powers to capture them all at once. After all, going after them one by one is too much trouble, isn't it? Sakaki adds that if it doesn't do what he says, it's life has no worth. Mewtwo reluctantly obeys, capturing a year's worth of pokemon in a single motion.
"What in the world am I doing? What am I living for? Why am I fighting?"
Back at the Rocket-Dan headquarters, Mewtwo tells Sakaki to remove its chains and armor. Sakaki tells Mewtwo that he can't do that because its powers are too dangerous for humans. Mewtwo asks if it still has to fight for humans, and Sakaki responds that of course it does. Mewtwo is a pokemon, after all, and pokemon are creatures who are only alive to be used by humans. Mewtwo protests, saying that it's not just any pokemon, and Sakaki says that that's right - Mewtwo was created by humans to serve humans. What other value does it have?
With this, Mewtwo uses its great powers to rip off the chains and armor holding it back. Sakaki is shocked - is Mewtwo turning against him!? Mewtwo tells Sakaki that it was created by humans, though it's not a human itself. But even though it was created as a pokemon, it doesn't see itself as a pokemon. With that, a huge explosion engulfs the Rocket-Dan's headquarters, destroying it in an instant. Sakaki thinks to himself how it seems that nobody is able to restrain Mewtwo's powers.
Mewtwo is now free. It sees itself as the strongest in the world and therefore concludes that it, not humans, is qualified to rule the world. Mewtwo doesn't feel joy, sadness, pain...and on top of that, it's never shed tears. It is Mewtwo, and it has the qualifications to rule the world. But...what about Mew...?
Miyamoto continues to wait. She doesn't remember what Musashi looks like anymore, but no matter - she'll follow Mew no matter how long it takes!