Episode 9: Teenagers
The cobblestone streets were bustling with activity. People and Pokemon mingled, but this was no ordinary day. In the beautiful weather, everyone was done up for a grand occasion. Women wore the brightest, fanciest, and most fashionable dresses they owned. Men wore smart hats and crisp outfits. And even the Pokemon, they were not left out. Various Pokemon wore hats, scarves, jewels, shells, shoes, badges, ribbons, signs, shields, armor, and even a toaster. It was an amazing sight.
"Wow, everyone's dressed so nicely," Deoxys said as he watched the people of Hearthome gather from a hidden alleyway.
"This is a festival in a Contest town," Mewtwo explained. "It's all about appearances here. I watched a Smart Contest once, thinking that would be interesting. But the winner was such an idiot. He only looked smart and that's how he won."
"So why aren't we dressed up? It looks like fun. I wonder where I can find a fancy hat..."
His elder simply shook his head. "I'd rather not deal with all that fuss."
"But you should look the part if you're going to be here," a female's voice interrupted them.
Deoxys drifted around and back, surprised. Mewtwo just groaned. "Mew, will you cut it out?"
She put her hands to her lips and giggled. "Aw, but I just wanted to see you guys."
"Whew, you scared me," Deoxys said.
"Sorry." She twirled around. "Anyhow, what are you doing here?"
"We're..."
Mewtwo shot him a silencing look. "That's none of your business."
"Is it? Well, I thought you'd like to know something. If you're after a certain Meadow Plate, you'll need to hurry. There's someone in the crowds that wants to steal it."
He considered that, then asked, "Why are you telling us this?"
"I don't want you getting into trouble. If you mean to get up close to it quickly, you will need to disguise yourselves."
He muttered something under his breath. "I am not dressing up like some showy fool."
"I can teach you something that'll help a lot in crowds like this, if you want."
Before Mewtwo could refuse as usual, Deoxys asked, "How? Anyone who sees us will know that we're different."
Mew looked delighted. "There's a special skill that only certain Pokemon can use. I'm sure you two can. It's called Guise. It'll make you look like a human."
"That's ridiculous," Mewtwo sneered.
"But it works! Let me show you." She waved her hand and tail, making the air shimmer around them. When it settled down, she was the pink-haired Glitter Glameow instead of Mew.
Mewtwo had transformed into a young man with the same pink hair and same bright blue eyes. He wore a dark green jacket over a white t-shirt, and blue jeans. Deoxys had a more pre-adolescent look, being shorter than the other two, with a haircut that looked like a green and red Qwilfish. It was difficult to tell what gender he was, as his green t-shirt and jeans did not settle the issue. His eyes were two different colors, the left brown, the right hazel.
Mewtwo growled. "Pink hair? What's up with that?"
Mew smiled sweetly. "You are my son, after all."
Deoxys looked wide-eyed. "Oh my gosh, you're Glitter Glameow? I love your music!"
She patted his head. "Thanks Deoxys. I've been living under this disguise for several years now. I just wanted to do something different."
"So why do I look like this?" he asked, looking at his hands. "I'm short."
"Well, you're not fully mature yet, so you turned into a child. Your human form is different from those I've seen, yes. Maybe it's because you evolved from a virus."
"I see."
"As you get used to it, you'll be able to change this form at will. If I went with my standard form, I'd be older looking, with shorter hair."
"I guess this'll have to do," Mewtwo said. His hair was now black, as were his clothes. "Let's go, Deoxys."
"How'd you learn to change so quickly?" Mew asked, stepping back. "It usually takes dozens of uses to learn how to manipulate Guise."
He glared at her. "In case you've forgotten, I am half human." Then he turned and left.
Deoxys smiled. "Bye, grandma. And thanks for the spell." He hurried after Mewtwo.
"You're welcome," she said, her smile fading off as they left. "Gosh, I never thought anyone would call me grandma. Especially not a child from him."
She watched them pause at the end of the alleyway. Mewtwo was gauging the crowd, looking for threats. Deoxys took his hand and was either unnoticed or tolerated for it. Could this strange Pokemon really be the second chance that her son really needed? Or would he cut this relationship short, like every other?
Once they slipped into the flow of humans, Mew took hold of her braid and considered it. "I wonder if he realizes that the guise he chose makes him look like Giovanni." She frowned, then scowled and knocked a nearby trash can over. "**** that man!"
-+-
"Test your strength! Make the bell ring and win great prizes!"
"Ice cream, fifteen flavors! A great price so come on over."
"Bring your Pokemon over here for..."
"Hey kid, who does your hair?"
Deoxys looked up at a teenager who had a black mohawk. The carnival was exciting. So many things to see, do, smell, play... but Mewtwo moved through the crowd with purpose, carefully asking around about the Meadow Plate. Deoxys had to work to keep up. But he wanted to look around.
The mohawk teen smiled. "That's a wild do you got."
"Um, my grandma taught me."
"Really? Wish I had your grandma. She's got to be one cool customer."
"Uh, yeah."
"Come on," Mewtwo called firmly.
"Bye," he told the teen. Then he hustled after Mewtwo. "Can we look around after we find the Plate? There's lots of interesting things around."
"We don't have money available," he pointed out. "And we don't want to stick around for long when we're done, or we may get caught."
"But can't we have some fun?"
"This is serious, Deoxys. We need that Plate."
Deoxys frowned, but as he was shorter now, it went unnoticed. These missions were interesting, but sometimes, they weren't as fun as they could be. But his elder really did know better, so he would just have to resist temptation and go along with the objective.
They ended up in the Hearthome Gym. It was an eerie place, with dark violet stonework and ghostly stained windows. While the building had multiple levels, the Meadow Plate they were looking for was right on the entrance level. It was grass green, about the size of a pack of notebook paper. An aura permeated it, like a sunny field with lush grass and vibrant wildflowers. There was no security precautions taken for the Plate's presence; it simply sat on top of a table ten feet in front of them.
And there was someone there with it, a strange man with cold eyes and metallic blue hair. He wore a silver-gray uniform with a large black gun at his side. On his wrist, there was a strange metal brace that had something more to it; Deoxys' senses couldn't pinpoint what more, but it would definitely do something.
He looked at them and only saw a man and a child. "The Gym is currently closed," he stated. "It's off limits to the public for the time being."
"That didn't stop you, Cyrus," Mewtwo said, clenching his fist.
He narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?"
"That doesn't matter. You will leave if you know what's good for you."
"I don't take orders from anyone. But I will leave." He put his hand on the Meadow Plate.
"Leave that. Or else."
"It doesn't belong to you."
"It doesn't belong to you either."
Cyrus' hand moved slightly on his leg. Then he rapidly drew the gun and fired at Deoxys. He was bewildered and alarmed at the sudden bang. Afraid, his body froze up.
The bullet never reached him. Once the second of panic subsided, he saw Mewtwo in front of him. He had discarded the Guise spell in order to focus on the bullet. It hung in the air two feet in front of him before dropping harmlessly on the ground.
For a moment, Cyrus looked flustered. Then his eyes hardened and he fired again in rapid succession. Mewtwo halted the second bullet as well, but the third struck his chest. A fourth and fifth also found their mark, causing him to collapse to his knees.
"You can't do that to him!" Deoxys shouted in a flash of anger. He changed into his Speed form, losing the Guise in the process. He flicked his arm whips and made them snap.
Cyrus grabbed the Plate fully off the table and fired his gun at Deoxys. He darted out of the way. In response, the strange man started firing ahead of him to make the shots connect. Deoxys managed to weave out of the bullet paths, then teleported to behind the human. He lashed out with his right whip, trying to strike him across the back.
But a gray energy appeared. The metal brace he had noticed earlier was a shield generator. He flew back and threw Psychic at him. However, Cyrus' shield also deflected that. He still decided to make a run for it, heading straight for the door. Deoxys threw another Psychic after him, but stayed in the Gym.
"Mewtwo!" He rushed over to his elder. "Are you gonna be okay?"
Three trails of blood ran down his chest, with two more on his back. His face was twisted into a grimace of pain. Grasping at Deoxys' left arm, he looked up at him. "Teleport us out of here. But not far... I might pass out."
A worried sickness filled his body. "Where?"
"Just anywhere quiet."
Deoxys nodded and took them out of the Gym.
They appeared near the Cathedral, on a wooded side. There wasn't anyone around to see them. Deoxys' aura was dense with worry. "Mewtwo, you're bleeding badly."
"I know." He cast Recover over his wounds, to quickly seal the blood vessels. He then focused on the bullet remaining in his chest. If it had been unimpeded by his attempt to stop it, it would have passed right through his body into Deoxys. As of now, it was stuck at the skin layer of his back.
Mewtwo took a moment to cast Calm Mind; this was going to hurt like hell. Then, he mentally took hold to the bullet and forced it out of his body. He didn't let himself wince at the pain. Just cast Recover again, be strong. Then he brought the bullet around to look at it. A higher quality and caliber than he had trained with so far, but not the best available. As he looked over the red shine of his blood, he was reminded of all the other times he had failed miserably lately. The frustration stirred, but Mewtwo left it to smolder.
His companion paled at the sight of the bullet. "Y-you okay?"
"It's fine, I know what I'm doing. This isn't the first time I've been shot, after all."
"It isn't?"
"Far from it." He cast Recover again. It was always a real struggle to heal these things.
"I was afraid for a bit that you'd gotten killed."
He nearly blew it off, but when he looked at Deoxys, the younger Pokemon was deeply concerned. "Well... it might have. None of them hit my lungs or heart." He started to laugh bitterly, but it hurt. "Geez... if I know you could dodge bullets like that... and you don't even have standard organs. You'd probably take a bullet far better than me. Just goes to show what happens when you let yourself think irrationally."
"Do we need to go to the Pokecenter?"
"We're better off not going in there."
"Why?"
"I doubt they would help me. Anyhow, I can handle this. I just need somewhere safe and quiet." He turned around and looked in the cathedral windows. There was no one inside. "This place should do fine. If..." he raised his left hand, scanning the building. Sensing what he wanted, he pointed to the second floor. "There's a storage room up there. Get us in there."
"All right." Deoxys took hold of him again and brought them into the room. There were a dozen stacks of chairs, some piles of cloth, folding tables, three markerboards, and four couches.
Mewtwo took a white cloth and wrapped it around his body to help cover the wound. Then he settled onto one of the couches. Recover worked just fine for the normal damage Mewtwo got in battle. Captive Pokemon did not fight with deadly intent and wild ones never had the power to cause him severe damage. But a bullet wound that went through his body was not normal. Weakened by the touch of steel, unable to focus his mental powers, stuck in a human building, there wasn't much he could do if someone came upon them. He could only hope that his training of Deoxys was sufficient enough to get them through this.
"You're going to be in charge for now," he told his junior. "I don't think I can maintain rational thought for much longer with this pain."
"Shouldn't you go to a Pokecenter, if it's that bad?"
"As I said, I don't think they'll help me. This isn't the first time I've had to deal with this kind of thing." He clenched his fist. "It's just going to take a miserably long time to get through."
"But it could get infected. It could kill you."
"I'll be fine." Grimacing to a pulse of pain, he gave it a second thought. "Actually, if you think you can handle it, can you break into the pharmacy and get me some strong painkillers? Something antibiotic would help."
"It's not right to steal," he said reluctantly.
"Deoxys, people consider us criminals," he snapped. "The humans aren't as nice as you imagine them to be. Even if you could manage it, they wouldn't give the medications to you if they knew they were meant for me."
He brought his hand up to his face. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. It's always been that way."
"I'll try."
He closed his eyes, then thought of something. He looked back to Deoxys, who was waiting worriedly. "Thank you."
It made him smile slightly. "You're welcome."
-+-
There was a knock at the door. "Come in," Giovanni called.
One of his Team Administrators came in and placed a black Dusk Ball on the desk. "Sir, here's the Pokemon you asked about."
"Ah, very good." He picked it up and looked over the status screen. "Here you are, Michael. You've caused quite a stir the past week."
"She is a hybrid of a Gallade and Gardevoir, not pure of either kind. But she is very strong. KO'ed most of the team sent to capture her."
"Good. I'll be taking her down to the lab for examination." He left his current project and went downstairs. On the way, he ran into Cyrus. "Have any luck in Hearthome?"
He looked suspicious. "I never told you where I was. And what are you doing here?"
"Assisting with your project, of course. I have a lot of experience in this kind of matter and your scientists seem to appreciate it."
"What about him?" he asked, glancing at the Rocket Admin.
"I told them that they could find me here. So then, you were...?"
For the moment, Cyrus gave in. "I acquired the Meadow Plate in Hearthome. I also ran into Mewtwo and Deoxys."
"Really? They were after the Plate as well, I assume."
"Yes. Doesn't make sense to me, as they're both pure Psychics."
"That doesn't matter. It's a powerful artifact."
"Right." He started to go down the hall, but then stopped to add one more thing. "They acted odd back there. I fired a gun at Deoxys and found out that Mewtwo could stop bullets. He wasn't even in the path, but then I shot him three times. So he's probably weak now somewhere around Hearthome if you want to go after him."
"I'll think about it."
So Mewtwo would take a bullet for his companion. Was it that same principle of instinct that made child Trainers so annoyingly powerful? In any case, Mewtwo had a new weakness, and it was growing. The time to strike would be soon.
-+-
Using Guise to pass through the streets unnoticed, Deoxys approached the pharmacy. There were only two other customers, with two workers handling them. They seemed like nice polite people.
He hesitated again, thinking. It had started with wondering why that crazy blue-haired man wanted to kill him and wound up reconsidering things he'd taken for granted. He had taken all that happened for granted; if Mewtwo said something had to be done, then it was fine. But really, they were criminals and he was about to do something criminal on his own. And he kept thinking back to the Abra he met at the warehouse. He had sensed death and a joy in dealing death, but then Mewtwo had come out perfectly unharmed.
But this had to be done. He didn't want his adopted father to suffer and if this would help, it had to be done.
Deoxys went up to the information booth at the end of the counter. It had walls and a simple door, so that a customer could discuss something private with the pharmacist. For what he planned, it was best. One of the workers came over to him. "Good afternoon. How can I help you?"
Recalling Mewtwo's hypnosis lessons, he looked into the man's green eyes with subduing Psychic energy. "You will help me."
The man's eyes instantly went blank. "Yes, I will help you."
Sighing in relief, he continued eye contact. "You will not remember this when we leave. My father is suffering from bullet wounds. He needs some kind of pain killer."
His mind went into an automatic process, albeit a little rough. "Your father..."
"He's a Pokemon."
"Pokemon medications... is there a risk of infection?"
"Yeah, he said antibiotics would help."
"What's his body mass?"
"Body mass? I think he's about two hundred and seventy pounds... six feet tall."
"When was he injured?"
"An hour ago."
The pharmacist put the information in a computer. "Pain killer," he mumbled. "Antibacterial agent..."
He got up for a minute, then returned to the counter with a large dark-colored bottle. He measured this out into a smaller bottle. On the other side, Deoxys felt his heart pound as one of the real customers walked by. What if she noticed? What should he do then? Mewtwo had acted as if this would be nothing, but it was nerve-wracking. Maybe he had more experience in this. But if he was experienced in theft, then he was a criminal. On a few of the cop shows, he had learned that it was against the law to help criminals. Mewtwo was very smart, but also very wrong? But it was also wrong to leave someone he loved to suffer... Deoxys bit his lip. What was the right thing to do?
Then, the pharmacist placed the smaller bottle and a measuring cup into a brown bag and gave that to Deoxys. "Two tablespoons to start with, one tablespoon twelve hours later. Continue at one tablespoon every twelve hours for seven more days. There is exactly that much in here. Keep the wounds clean. He won't be fully alert and his mind will not be clear, but he will be in less pain and heal faster."
Nodding, he took the bag. "Okay, thanks a lot. Make sure the computer doesn't make a record. And you can't remember this."
"I won't remember."
"You can go back to work once I leave the store." He paused, still nervous. "And, I'm really sorry about this."
He left then, before the other pharmacy worker could figure out something was up. Mewtwo had spoken as if this wouldn't be too much trouble. But Deoxys felt a sickening sense of guilt. What if the pharmacist got into trouble? The man could maybe even lose his job, but it wasn't his fault. It was Deoxys' fault for hypnotizing him and forcing him to hand over the medication. But if he didn't do it, Mewtwo could get into trouble. Maybe even die... that was too horrible a thought to consider for long.
As he went back to the Cathedral, his mind was so preoccupied that he didn't notice the people around him. Someone grabbed hold of his shoulder. "Deoxys."
Startled, he didn't fight when the man turned him around. He was large, with red hair streaked with gray. There was something odd about his aura, like it didn't fit the body it was in. "W-who are you?" he asked.
He leaned down and quietly said, "A strong one like you. I am Heatran, the soul of a volcano. What are you doing here on your own?"
Another Pokemon able to use Guise? But Mew said only certain... it had to be the most powerful Pokemon. "I'm just shopping."
"At a drug store?"
"It doesn't concern you." He clenched the paper bag, determined not to lose it.
"You concern us. We can tell you're a powerful youth, but you need instruction. He's just out to use you and won't hesitate to kill you when you get in his way. You'll be safer coming with me."
Deoxys tried to pull away, but Heatran's hold was firm. "You don't know that."
"You don't realize how dangerous and unbalanced Mewtwo is."
"He is not!" Deoxys shouted, then threw Return at him. As it knocked him back, he was able to run off. In the confusion of the moment, people were less likely to blame the small child running from the large man.
-+-
Several minutes later, Heatran was back in his original form, with Uxie floating beside him. They were in a rocky field outside of Hearthome. "Thanks, that was a close call."
"You're welcome. I called them."
As he mentioned it, the three Johto beasts appeared. "What's the news?" Entei asked.
Suicine sniffed Heatran. "What happened to you? You've been badly injured."
"He was unconscious for a bit," Uxie said.
"I encountered Deoxys on his own," the large volcano Pokemon stated. "He was using Guise and appeared like a young teen. I tried to talk him into coming with me, but he struck me with Return and got away."
"Return?" Entei twitched his ears. "But to knock you unconscious, it had to have been at max strength. Yet, he has no Trainer."
"He has Mewtwo," Uxie pointed out.
"His feelings are that strong?"
"We have to separate them, and soon," Suicine said, pawing the ground. "We don't want another corrupt young immortal around."
"You might have a lucky break," Heatran added. "I caught the youth coming out of a drug store. I heard there was a gunfight in Hearthome today. Mewtwo is probably injured."
"Right." Entei paused, then shook out his fur. "And yet, I say we'd better go for broke and summon him."
