Keeping quiet around the house was easy while it was just us for the first two days. The only thing Mewtwo permitted me to do for him was to change his bandages; I was not even allowed to speak to him while doing that. Immediately after taping the final edge of gauze, he would send me back downstairs. I was too nervous to leave the house during this time, so I watched a lot of televised Pokémon battles and contests.
On the third day, I received a message from the Pokémon Center saying that my Pokémon were ready to be picked up. At first I was worried that they would all be unhappy with me for letting them down during the last battle, but I walked in they were all waiting for me in the lobby. Ampharos was the first to run over and hug me, and everybody else followed suit. When we walked outside of the building, I broke the news to them that Mewtwo would be staying with us for a while.
Of course, there were a lot of protests at first.
"Wait, you're letting him stay with us? After what he did?!" Gyarados had roared, slapping her tail on the ground in anger.
It was drizzling outside, but I was thankful that I decided to do this before going back home to Pallet Town; Mewtwo would have been furious about the commotion for sure.
"Gyarados, not so loud!" I aggressively hissed, "nobody can know that we have him with us."
"Is this only for a few days? How long do we have to keep him?" Ampharos asked uneasily.
"It's just until he's strong enough to protect himself! Then he'll be gone, it'll be like none of this ever happened," I explained, trying to calm her down.
"Lilly is there any possibility that Ash could look after Mewtwo instead?" Ninetails asked patiently, though she was squinting her eyes in the light rain, "He put us through a lot, I don't know how I feel about living under the same roof as someone who tried to kill me."
I sighed before responding, "I know he did, and he tried to kill me too. But Ash is constantly getting chased by Team Rocket, so we thought that Mewtwo would be safer with us while he's recovering."
"I think you're doing the right thing."
Togekiss came to my side and continued, "We all fought hard and risked a lot to get him out of Cerulean Cave. We should see this through to the end!"
"I'm with Lilly on thisssss one, too," Arbok added quietly.
We all turned to look at her, startled that she said something.
"If Team Rocket catchessssss him again, everything we went through will have been completely pointlessssss."
"Thank you, Arbok," I said warmly.
"Fine, whatever, as long as I don't have to look at his mug," Gyarados muttered, looking sullen.
"Well, you definitely don't have to worry about that right now . . ."
When I sheepishly told them that we had to be silent in and around the house, there were audible groans from everybody.
A few more days passed, all in silence. I still did not want to leave the house while Mewtwo was there by himself, but I could tell that my Pokémon were beginning to become antsy from being cooped up. It was raining outside anyway, so I kept using that as an excuse for not leaving the house to train.
"Lilly, the rain has never stopped you from training before," Ampharos had quietly groaned at me on the fifth day.
"Well I wouldn't want to get sick while I'm looking after somebody whose life is in my hands, you know," I had retorted with more edge than necessary.
Though I didn't want to it seemed as though being stuck at home was beginning to get to me as well. When the next day came and I had to change his dressings again, I finally steeled my courage and went upstairs to confront Mewtwo about getting out of bed. Despite my best efforts, he was absolutely insistent on remaining in the dark room, using the same argument about regaining his energy and trying to heal himself a bit.
"But you have to move around!" I had said, turning on the lamp in an attempt to change his mind, "It would be good for you."
"Are you the scientist who created me? I think I know what I need to recover my strength," Mewtwo grumbled back a sarcastic reply, lying on the bed with his back toward me.
"You seem pretty healthy to me," I said, doing my utmost to suppress the annoyed tone creeping into my voice.
"Extinguish the light. I will come out when I am ready," he said as he flicked his tail impatiently.
Frustrated, I shut the light off and left the room.
On the morning of the seventh day, I woke up to sunlight shining through the window of my bedroom. Excited by the possibility of finally leaving the house that day, I rolled out of bed and went straight to Mewtwo's room to see what his condition was like.
"Mewtwo," I called, opening the door, "you should get up today! The weather is much. . ."
When I walked into the room, it looked as though there was nobody resting on the bed. I flicked on the light switch and saw that I was right; there was nobody on the bed at all.
"Mewtwo?" I called, suddenly nervous.
I looked around the room frantically, confused by his sudden disappearance. I checked inside the closet, behind the door, and even under the bed, but there was no sign of him at all. I ran out into the hallway again and in my haste almost slipped down the stairs.
I clumsily stumbled into the living room and shouted, "Everybody, wake up! I can't find Mewtwo anywhere!"
Togekiss, who was sleeping on the couch, squawked when he sat up. Ninetails, in the kitchen, made the floor rumble when she got to her feet. Arbok snorted when her small eyelids flew open. Ampharos jumped up with a cry.
"What do you mean, 'can't find him'? He's been sleeping in the same spot for days," Togekiss tweeted sleepily.
"I mean he's not in his room! Are you sure you didn't hear him come down here?"
"I would certainly know if I saw his royal highness come down here," Ninetails grumbled, irritated about being woken up.
"I haven't heard him at all, come to think of it," Ampharos lazily stretched her short, thick legs.
"Why are you panicking, Lilly?" Arbok asked.
"Arbok . . ." Ampharos started.
"What? He'sss probably fine. He can take care of himsssself."
In my panic, I spun around and addressed Arbok angrily.
"Do you know what'll happen to him if Team Rocket find him before I do, Arbok?"
Arbok's eyes widened, and Ninetails began to warn me instead when she said, "Lilly—"
"They'll kill him! He won't even have time to vanish before they unleash their secret weapon, especially since he's still injured! And it'll be my fault if he—"
"It is a bit early to be shouting this loudly, is it not?"
Startled, I turned around to see who had asked me that question. I gasped and sighed with relief, almost at the same time, when I saw that it was Mewtwo,
"Mewtwo!"
He was massaging the sides of his head with his fingertips with his eyes closed, his face contorted in discomfort.
"What . . . on Earth . . . is all the yelling about?" Mewtwo growled.
"I . . . but . . . you—"
"I thought I told you I wanted to rest!"
"Hey, you're the one who was hiding from us!" Ninetails growled in response.
"Lilly practically had a panic attack looking for you! She's constantly worried about your safety, how did you think she would react if you disappeared suddenly?"
"Don't you sssstart complaining!" Arbok spat.
"Yeah!" Ampharos chimed in.
"Hey guys," I said, turning around to look at my Pokémon again, "I'm sure there's a reason why Mewtwo wasn't around—"
"You say that I was hiding?"
Mewtwo grunted in amusement, then followed with, "Nonsense. I was asleep on the bed, but—"
"But I checked there!" I protested, looking back at him.
". . . but I was invisible," he finished finally.
I stared at him for a moment before asking, "Why?"
"I woke up invisible. I could not have been in that state for longer than a few minutes or else I would still be exhausted; being invisible for extended periods of time takes a lot of energy."
". . . Oh."
"Wait . . . you were invisible?" Togekiss chirruped.
"Correct. I was not," he glared at Ninetails, "hiding . . ."
Ninetails returned the glare, but she was no match for Mewtwo. I'm not sure anyone could have matched his glare.
"So Mewtwo," I said, trying to break the tension between them, "the team's feeling much better, and they've been itching to get out and train again. Since you're looking . . . somewhat healthier, do you want to join us?"
Mewtwo's look softened just enough to not kill me when he turned his attention back my way.
"Where is it that you are planning on going?" he asked after a moment.
"Oh, ah . . . perhaps the Sevi Islands?"
"The Sevi Islands? Why?"
"Are you kidding? It's sssssso much fun to train there!" Arbok exclaimed.
"Especially with all the strong Pokemon to fight!" Ampharos squeaked.
"And not a lot of people visit that area of Kanto, so I think you would be safe if you came along. But if you don't think you're well enough to come with us today—"
"What do you mean, 'not well enough'?"
Oh jeez, I thought to myself.
"I just meant—"
"Are you suggesting that I am weak?"
As he asked that, his eyes flickered blue for a moment.
"I just don't want you overdoing it, Mewtwo," I said quickly, putting my hands up protectively.
He seemed to relax a little when I said that.
"Overdoing what?"
"You've recovered a lot, but your injuries are probably still healing. I would hate for something to happen and for them to get worse, but . . ."
I glanced outside the window near the front door before finishing with, "I think the sunshine would do you some good!"
I turned my attention back to him and chuckled when I added, "I know that we're trying to hide you from Team Rocket and that you like the dark, but it's not like you're a cave Pokémon. We should get you outside!"
He looked down at himself when I made eye contact with him, seemingly to examine his own condition.
"Well at the very least, I am now strong enough to deflect attacks," he said finally, "an excursion with you and your Pokémon should be fine."