Game Theory - Mewtwo's Secret Human Clone! (Pokemon)

Episode Date: August 13, 2023

Join Game Theory Host MatPat as he dives into the secret backstory of one of Pokemon's greatest legends... Mewtwo Credits: Writers: Matthew Patrick and Justin Kuiper Editors: Dan "Cybert" Seibert, Marc Schneider, Shannon (Bomb0i) and Chance Cole Assistant Editor: AlyssaBeCrazy Sound Editor: Yosi Berman

You ever notice how Pokemon always say their own names? Yet whenever you encounter Mew 2 in the games, it always says Mew instead of Mew2. It happens in red and blue, it happens in the Gen 3 remakes, Fire Red and Leaf Green, and it even happens in Pokemon X and Y. I think we all know the answer. Mew 2 is a clone of the original Pokemon Mew and Pokemon always say their name, with Mew 2, just being the nickname the scientists gave it, but still, it's a very cool example of attention to detail. That said, it is pretty darn disrespectful to keep

keep calling it Mew 2 to its face. Like, imagine if you had a human child named, I don't know, Amber. And then you cloned her and then you started calling the clone Amber 2. That would be pretty messed up, right? They called me Amber 2, but I'm still really Amber. Hello internet. Welcome to Game Theory, where we're just like Nintendo, constantly looking to make money off of old franchises.

Now would be wagging my finger at Nintendo for the shameless retread if it wasn't. It wasn't for the fact that they had also just released Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Evie. Two games that straight up remake the campaign from the originals. Easy, cash grabs abound. But of course, I had to play them. It is my job, after all. It's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it. So of course, while playing through them, I was on the lookout for what new additions to the series they decided to slip in with this revisit to where it all began.

Lesser emphasis on combat, check, no random battles. Great! Girl who repeatedly pelts your face with Pets Pokeballs. Uh, what? You see, in these new games, after you visit the Cerulean Cave and capture MUTU, you encounter a trainer by the name of Green. Her introduction to the player is, well, definitely not typical.

The encounter starts with her throwing a polka ball at the player. She quickly tries to play this off like an accident by saying, oh, whoops, you're not a Pokemon, and it's dark in here. Fair enough, I too sometimes get startled and throw my balls at people in self-defense. But then, she becomes angry when she learns that, you know, you've already captured Mew2. She battles you, then after you win, she throws another Pocobol at you, and another, and another, and another. Five times she tries to capture you in a Pokemon. All of this while making the odd suggestion of, why don't you become one of my Pokemon together with Mew2? Think about it, okay? Listen, the first time you smack me with a

polka ball might just be an accident, by the time this girl gets to her fifth Pokemon thrown at me. I'm gonna start wondering if there might be something slightly off about her. It's the sort of weird moment that tells me that there's something else going on here. So who is this girl? Who is Green and what is her connection with Mew2? Well it's my belief as well as the belief of online theorist Ricky Grunt on Reddit that Green is a clone. A girl who was raised in a test tube by scientists. All as a part of the MUTU project. Now that might seem like a lot to assume from just a few lines of dialogue and a little bit of weird behavior, but the evidence is definitely out there.

The birth of Mutu was a 10-minute origin story that served as a prequel to the events of Pokemon's first major motion picture, Mutu strikes back. And it was created to be part of the movie's U.S. theatrical debut. Now, if you originally saw that movie in theaters and don't remember anything happening before the movie about a Mutu origin, well, you're not wrong. The whole thing was cut prior to release. And the only pre-show that happened before the movie was the short Pikachu's big Then when the movie came out on home video, a heavily cut down version that reduced its runtime from 10 minutes to 2 minutes made it into the final edit. It wasn't until 2001 that the full 10 minute prequel finally got a release without any cuts. The fittingly dubbed uncut story of Mutu's origin. So that merits the question what was too hot for Pokemon to handle? What was so controversial and traumatizing that it got cut not just once but twice?

movie releases? Oh, it's no big deal. It was just the story of the death of a little clone girl. Here's the story as told by that animated short film. Mr. Fuji, the guy who hangs out at the Pokemon House in Lavender Town, and is best known for giving out pokefluits to trainers need and get some snorlaxes out of their way, was part of a cloning project to resurrect the Pokemon Mu. However, Mr. Fuji's motives for joining the project were a bit more personal than he'd let on, as he wanted to use the same cloning technology being used to resurrect Mew to also resurrect his own deceased daughter, Amber. I must see my little girl smile again. Please let my theories be true. Mr. Fuji here sounds a lot like me every time I release a theory.

Well, except for the whole dead daughter thing. Now, obviously, in the short, the Mew clone is named Mew 2, but it's not the only clone we see. Charmander 2, Squirtle 2, and Bulbosaur 2 are also there. Rounding out that roster of Terrible 2s though is Amber 2, who, in case you haven't noticed the pattern by now is the clone of Mr. Fuji's daughter Amber. Amber 2 is somehow able to communicate telepathically with Mew and all the other Pokemon clones. All five live in an unconscious state, trapped inside their own minds as they're waiting to be fully born. But because Amber 2 has the memories of

the original Amber, she's able to share her memories of the outside world with Mew 2 and the other Pokemon clones, teaching them about life in the outside world. I call this my remember place. This is where I use to live. What is that? That's the sun. It makes the whole world bright, and it keeps us warm all day. For Pokemon that have never gotten to no life outside of a cloning tank, Amber's memories

are the only taste they ever get of the real world. It's actually a really touching story. Until, of course, they decide to crush your childhood by teaching a theater full of kids about their own mortality. You see, Charmander 2, Squirtle 2, and Bulbosaur 2 don't survive the cloning incubation process, and ultimately fade out of existence. Which, let's just be honest with ourselves as children's movie shorthand for those dead test tube clones gonna be flushed down the toilet But if that weren't bad enough the movie then does the unthinkable

Amber 2 fades as well Thank you for caring about me and don't cry, you too You're alive and life is wonderful Which just leaves meutu alone and in the darkness the only survivor Sad and angry at the loss of his only four friends Please Amber, come back. Don't go, please! Watching this short story, it's really hard to think of Mutu as the villain ever again.

So why bring this story up? And sadistically torture viewers with what might have been the most heart-wrenching story in all of Pokemon Canon? Well, I believe that Amber 2 from the movie is Green in these new games, Mr. Fuji's daughter, who was raised during the Mutu project. But unlike Amber 2 in the movie, Green actually survived. In the original Pokemon games, the Pokemon Mansion on Sinabar Island is the first place that the player learns about the existence of Mew2 through a series of journal entries. In the updated Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu and Evie, though, you'll find more than just journal entries hidden there. Deep in the basement, there's a large tank. It's empty. According to the game text, quote, it's a large container made of thick glass. It looks as if something has been beating on it over and over from the inside. And if that hint was too subtle for for what's going on here, if you have Mew2 as your companion when you're visiting the tank,

you'll get this unique text. Mew 2 is staring ahead at the large machine. If Mew's with you, it's a similar story. Mew is staring quietly at the large machine. Given that this is clearly the tank where Mew was cloned and where Mew 2 was born, it would make sense that both of them would have a personal connection to this particular location. But here's the mind blow. Just past Mew 2's cloning tank, you'll find four smaller.

cloning tanks, which precisely matches the number of additional clones that we saw in that Mew2 origin short. A tank for Mew two plus four more tanks for Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbosaur, and the human girl Amber. And remember, these cloning tanks weren't a part of the original game, but the developers went out of their way to add these very specific details back in. And while the green encounter in Cerulean Cave is certainly memorable, it isn't the only time that she's mentioned. If you've got Go back and re-battle gym leader Blaine on Sinabar Island, he'll have dialogue that specifically mentions her. Ha! Well done, returning here to my gym. By the way, I've been hearing an interesting rumor floating around recently.

You wouldn't happen to know a young lady named Green, would you? Huh, well, it's not as though I really know the whole story anyway. And that's it? That's all he has to say. It's one of those weird half clues that storytellers give you midway through the story to tell you that something fishy is going on, that Blaine has some sort of connection to this Missy has some sort of connection to this mysterious girl, but without them wanting to spell it out for you. But what could the connection be? Well earlier Blaine says this. You're the one who retrieved the key to this gym from the Pokemon Mansion. Did you see anything interesting while you were in there? That place still holds the remnants of my old friend's research

When he refers to the remnants of research, he's of course talking about the cloning tanks and journal entries As for his old friend, well that would be mr. Fuji This connection is made clear not in let's-go Pikachu and Evie but rather in in Fire Red and Leaf Green. The fame checker description for the Cinebar Jim photo explicitly says, quote, It's a photo of Blaine and Mr. Fuji. They're standing shoulder to shoulder with big grins.

This matches up with what we know from the anime. Remember, in the Mew2 origin story, it's Mr. Fuji, who's the lead researcher trying to bring back his deceased daughter, Amber. So if Green is indeed this universe's version of Amber 2, Mr. Fuji's clone child with a connection to Mew2, It would make sense for Blaine as a friend of Fugees to have a vague understanding of who, or more accurately what, Green actually is. Green has three distinctive features that are explained by her being genetically and psychically linked to Mutu.

First, there's the fact that she knows where Mutu is, let alone that she even knows he exists in the first place. Remember, Mu2 is a secret project, a Pokemon mega weapon. To everyone else in the world, including your rival, they only know vague rumors. saying things like, there's talk going around about some crazy strong-looking Pokemon being spotted. If Green became friends with Mew2 through her telepathic communication when they were both gestating clones, just like we saw Amber 2 do, that would explain why she's so enthusiastic about wanting to catch Mewu, why she wants to be reunited with her friend. It's also why she's so upset when she finds out that the player beat her to the punch.

Secondly, there's the fact that she has both of the megastones for Mew, which makes zero sense for just a random trainer to possess. As a Pokemon who was lab created, items related to Mutu would also have to be Art-officially created. Green then would have had to have obtained them from someone connected to the Mutu project And wouldn't you know it, but in the Pokemon Adventures manga, Plain not only knows Fuji, but worked on the Mutu project. Going so far as in the X and Y arc of that series Possess and use Mutu's Megastones. That in and of itself isn't conclusive of anything the Pokemon Adventure's manga follows its own canon. However, it does have a reputation for being more faithful to the spirit of the original games than the anime. According to the original creator of Pokemon Satoshi Tajiri quote, this is the comic that most resembles the world I was trying to convey.

And so if Blaine, canonically, has had the megastones in the past and in this universe actively knows about green Well, then we have ourselves a little line of possession for those very specific and very rare items And lastly we come full circle to the odd behavior that started this whole theory in the first place. The fact that she wants to catch you the player and tries throwing Pokea balls at you repeatedly. Seems like eccentric behavior for your typical human, but remember what happened with Amber 2 in the movies. If Amber and Mew 2 did indeed have a psychic link during the cloning process, that would mean that Green's first real friend would have been a Pokemon. A Pokemon that she might have even had full-on conversations with. Which for an impressionable young girl with a troubled past might blur the line between human and Pokemon, to the point where she actually thinks that she can capture a trainer if she uses enough

Pokeballs. Mew too even struggles with the same question in the anime origin story, where Amber 2 seems not to care about the distinction between human and Pokemon. Pokemon? Person? What are those? Which one am I? Maybe it makes a difference to you if you're a Pokemon or person, but not to me. But hey, that's just a theory. A game theory. Thanks for watching.