Breaking the Mold

XI

'Where are we again?' Knot asked. His joints ached, but it felt good to be up and walking around now that the nausea had passed.

'Almost to Saffron,' Flea murmured. She sat on the base of his tail, small arms gripping the purple appendage.

'I don't feel prepared,' the tall pokemon confessed. 'I feel... vulnerable.'

'Practice doing things,' the Abra suggested. 'Move the little rocks.'

Knot concentrated and struck. A solid burst of energy blasted rocks, bushes, and trees out of his path.

'Ah! No!' Flea flailed around and climbed up to hold onto the loop at the back of Knot's head. 'One rock. Just one. Like this.'

A single pebble floated gently up to eye-level, and made a figure-8 in the air.

'Take it,' Flea urged, scrambling up to drape herself over the Mewtwo's thin shoulder.

Knot frowned. The rock jerked erratically.

'You're pushing,' Flea complained. 'Just hold it.'

'How?' The long purple tail twitched in frustration.

'You're using it like a fist. Pretend it's another hand. Open it.'

Mewtwo tried. Little rivulets of power shot out in all directions. The stone rose.

'I'm gonna drop it. You catch it,' the Abra instructed.

The stone fell. It jerked as if hitting something. It trembled and rolled around in the air.

'Better,' Flea said. 'Keep walking, and keep holding it.'

Knot began to talk again, slowly. The rock moved as he did, but stayed generally in front of him.

'You do this a lot?'

'No, it's boring.' Flea grinned. 'I started with spoons. Bending them. It's all the rage with psychic trainers.'

'...I want to move from one place to another.'

'You're doing that right now. Wow, you're good!'

'You know what I mean! I want to teleport. And move things. And read minds. And whatever else I can do.'

'The first two are the same, it's just a matter of moving yourself or something else. And you have to know the place you're sending something to, or you'll end up somewhere else. Or you won't move. Or you'll disappear forever. I've heard that happens sometimes, but I'm not sure if it's true. It's not that hard, unless you're trying to take yourself and someone else somewhere. That's why I would only take my trainer back to the last Pokemon Center we'd been to. It's just hard to find the power for more.'

'Hm... What about mind-reading?'

'That's... kind of different. But kind of the same. It's hard to explain. Talking like we do is half of it. But it's more about listening to what's not said. All the other thoughts are still there, you just have to find them.'

The pebble seemed to be dancing drunkenly.

'Can you turn invisible or hide in the open?' Knot asked slowly. 'I think everything would be a lot easier that way.'

'Me? No.' Flea yawned. 'Maybe somebody else could. I run, I don't hide.'

Knot walked for a while. 'You said you didn't have the power to move someone else far... Can you get more power?'

'What do you mean?'

'I mean just take the extra power. There are plenty of sources around.'

Flea's pointed face turned upwards. 'What sources?'

'You – you don't feel them?' Knot asked, surprised. 'All around. It's how I'm holding your rock. The same as you did. Isn't it...?'

'...No,' Flea said slowly. 'I hold it with the power I have. What are you talking about?'

****************************

The only light in the Veilstone Galactic computer lab was the blueish glow from a single screen. It cast a pale, flickering light over the man typing. On the far side of the room, a door opened.

"Sir?" the silhouette said. "How's it going?"

"I'm almost in," the blue-haired man at the computer said distractedly. "Their security's just as good as I expected."

"Can I help?"

"You might be able to." Commander Saturn slid over to the computer next to him and wiggled the mouse until the screen came up. He clicked a few things, then slid back to his own computer.

"I'm going after their main system, based in Viridian City. If you can start hacking into the smaller Sevii branch, it could distract them, throw them off my trail."

The young woman sat down and began typing at lightning speed. "Once I get in, what should I look for?"

"Anything involving Sinnoh, Hoenn, genetic experimentation... just anything strange. Or anything vulnerable."

"Got it."

The two typed furiously in the dark. There was no other sound for a while.

"There." With a triumphant keystroke, Saturn was past the firewall and the main portion of the digital traps. The Porygon Z on the screen bounced rapidly. "Let's see. Sinnoh... not much. Hoenn... here's something. Project M... Counterstrike... Lilycove. Ten subjects. Remixing of DNA for certain desirable traits, with special emphasis on manageability and obedience. Then more recent entries... An attack, six killed, one missing. That'd be the one I ran into. Remaining three relocated to... Sevii. How's it going, Rhea?"

"Here it is," said Rhea, her eyes scanning her screen as she typed. "Just... training programs and progress reports. They're progressing at the same rate, with only minimal variations. An attempt to retrieve the lost specimen failed. This is pretty recent..."

Saturn's computer beeped. "They're onto me. Time for phase two." He grinned and bend forward, slicing his way messily through the digital landscape, deeper and deeper into the network. Porygon Z whizzed around the screen. Beside him, Rhea was doing the same.

Saturn's screen froze. Porygon Z faded into cyberspace.

"They've got me," the leader of the Galactic Corporation said grimly. The computer beeped a few times, and went black. "Wait for it..."

Every other screen in the room lit up one by one. The code Saturn had been typing continued, looping and doubling back on itself and zigzagging all along different channels in the wake of Porygon Z. Rhea's computer did the same in the smaller Sevii network.

One by one they froze. Went black. Slowly, gradually, the room went dark.

Porygon Z's "blip blip" emerged from a speaker in the middle of the room.

And Saturn's laughter echoed in the darkness.

****************************

"What's our status?" snapped the I.T. Admin.

"We've got a pinpoint on their locations! We'll shut them out in three minutes or less."

"Hurry up. This shouldn't even be an issue," the blond admin said tersely.

"Sorry." A technician gritted her teeth in a rage of typing.

"Celac, why are you even here? You're worthless at maintaining security! We never had a problem before you arrived."

"I was the best computer engineer on my last team! Apparently the Boss thought I was good enough," the enraged former scientist growled, not looking over her shoulder at her supervisor.

"The best survivor, you mean?" her new boss scoffed. "He just wanted you out of his developing projects. Are you finished?"

"I'd work a hell of a lot faster if you'd quit breathing down my neck. They keep popping up!"

"Well what's the source?"

"All over Sinnoh, all different IPs and locations! I can't -"

"Move, I'll do it." The younger woman pushed Dr. Celac away from the terminal and started typing confidently. Her frown grew as the extent of the invasion became clear. "What the hell!?"

"Can't YOU handle it?" Doctor Celac demanded, smirking.

"It's not hard," the admin insisted. "It just takes a focus you don't have." She nodded after a minute. "See? We just needed a fresh firewall. Nothing can break through this."

For a second, the screen was clear.

And then every computer in Kanto with Team Rocket-made software, or any sort of connection, wavered. The screens turned black. A pointed gold letter G appeared. And slowly, from the top down, the background began to crumble to reveal bright blue behind the black. The bold G remained.

The phones started to ring. Every line was buzzing urgently.

The Boss's private line took top priority. He was not pleased.

The G clearly did not stand for Giovanni.

***************************

Out at sea, Arche's phone buzzed as well. He pulled it out and read the text.

"...Saturn hacked their system," he said.

"I'm impressed. Their defenses are outrageous."

"Says they won't be using any electronics for a long time." The phone buzzed again. "Oh, here's another. Their main base is Viridian City, that's where their boss'll be. Saffron's also a major hub of theirs. And in the Sevii Islands they have three more Mewtwos growing."

Maxie frowned. "So what's our destination?"

"Well we could get to Sevii easily, but I think either of the other cities would make more sense. The best place to land is Vermillion, and we can walk from there to Saffron, and on to Viridian."

"There has to be a faster way..."

******************************

'So how do you learn to teleport?' Knot asked, gazing at Saffron City from the trees. Humans in black clothes ran through the streets from time to time.

'It's an Abra's only natural defense,' Flea explained, draped over the Mewtwo's shoulder. 'We do it when we sense any potential danger, even when we're asleep.'

'...Which is about three fourths of the day.'

'Yeah.' She yawned. 'An Abra that doesn't get enough sleep gets stressed out, and can't concentrate. No sleep, no teleporting. No teleporting means we die pretty fast. I saw it happen once. Really scary...'

'But how do you do it?'

'I realize where I am isn't a good place for me. A safer place pops into my head. And I'm there. I guess I pull myself there.'

Knot frowned in concentration. He moved a few feet to the right, as if being dragged.

'That was weird,' Flea informed him. 'Weird, and not teleportation at all. But good telekinesis. Can you do it up?'

Knot lifted. The tree trunks rushed past, and he found himself flailing in the branches. Flea was floating beside him. He dropped to the ground again.

'Work on that,' the smaller pokemon muttered, holding her tail.

'Is mind-reading... easier? And less painful?' Knot stood slowly, rubbing his hip.

'I hope so. Do you trust me?'

Knot hesitated. 'Do I need to?'

'So no, then. Why not? I've been nice, I've helped you.'

'Yes, but... you're getting something out of it, too.'

'What am I getting?'

'A moving bed,' Knot scoffed. 'Escape from the ship and the humans.'

'What else?' Flea's voice was slow, hypnotic, soothing.

'That's the main part. ...And company, someone to talk to, a warm body and a heartbeat to be near that doesn't expect you to be more. You're pretty neurotic, really.'

Flea grinned. 'Where'd you get that?'

Knot blinked. 'From you. It's obvious.'

'Not all of it. And that's basic mind-reading.'

'Oh... Oh!' the Mewtwo exclaimed. 'That's... not too hard!'

They were silent for a long moment. Knot smiled slowly.

'That's easy!' he exclaimed.

'Hey, wait!' Flea protested. And they vanished.

A moment later, something else appeared. It looked around, sniffed the air. And it vanished, too.