Chapter 47

The home of Lilly's uncle was starkly different from that of her aunt's, in that everything seemed to be made of wood.

Thick wooden beams stretched under a high ceiling, which was covered in a wood so light that I almost thought it was white. The floor was dark wood, and the furniture was also wood for the most part. My eye always went to the only place that seemed to be without wood; dark stones mounted on part of the wall surrounded a space that looked as if it was meant for building fires, which sat empty at the moment. Isn't that a bit dangerous with all the wood? I had thought to myself.

It was early in the morning and the child was awake and eating breakfast with Lilly's uncle, who looked half asleep as he spooned hot cereal into his gaping mouth. I had never seen a baby up close before, and they looked quite different from the humans I was used to looking at. Tiny hands and feet were attached to arms and legs shaped like several dinner rolls and a large, unsteady head that was supported more by the strange chair he sat in than his seemingly nonexistent neck.

This is really how all humans start out? I thought to myself as I watched from behind the counter separating the kitchen from the living room. They're so feeble. How do they change so drastically? As if he heard my voice, the small human looked over with wide, brown eyes and pointed, loudly babbling incoherently. Lilly's uncle seemed unphased by this and tried to direct his attention back to the spoon in his hand.

The husband emerged from what I presumed to be their bedroom, fully dressed in a business suit. He kissed the uncle and child good morning and grabbed a piece of toast from the plate in the middle of the island. "I'm off," he said after taking a bite and grabbing his jacket from the chair next to the uncle, "have a great day, you two!"

"Bye, darling," the uncle waved from his seat at the table. The small human even shouted something resembling a goodbye.

The front door closed, and the two of them were left alone. I then quietly placed the small notebook on the table next to the child's breakfast. The uncle did not notice right away, but the child did. "Da-da-da-da!" he cried, banging on the table with his free hand.

"What's up, squ—" When he noticed the notebook, he jumped and dropped the spoon, making the child screamed with laughter. He picked up the spoon and placed it nearby before grabbing the book and opening it to the first page, where Lilly had started her note. I had forgotten to read it earlier and read along over his shoulder.

When he had finished, he closed the notebook. "Mew . . . two?" he asked timidly, turning his head about. I appeared on the other side of the island, which also excited the baby. "You can understand me, right?"

It took all my focus to not scoff at the statement. "Yes. I can speak as well, as a matter of fact."

I knew he recognized my voice as soon as I spoke. "You're the one who's been trying to tell me about this for the last day or so!" I nodded as he stared at me in disbelief. "You're . . . a real Pokémon?"

That statement made me feel uneasy. "Forgive my curiosity, it's just that my husband researches Pokémon, and I've never heard your name come up. Is there a . . . 'Mew-one' that you evolved from?"

I elected to ignore his question in hopes that he would drop it. "I take it by your lack of refusal that you and your husband will not object to our presence in this house?"

It worked. "Object?" he shook his head, "Not at all, I'd love to finally meet her! We have a spare room downstairs she can stay in. Is she really on her way?"

"Yes, we will arrive in—"

I choked on the rest of my sentence, suddenly unable to draw breath. His son started to babble some more as the uncle stood up. "Are you alright?" he asked, his brow creasing together.

I imagined this was similar to what Giovanni felt when I choked him, as I had not experienced this sensation firsthand. I managed to say "Please . . . refer to the note . . ." before disappearing again.

When I reappeared just outside of the ship, my head was spinning from a lack of oxygen. I have to . . . get to the . . .

I teleported again. I ended up inside the ship, but in the wrong room. Luckily the family there was asleep, and I was gone before their Pokémon could wake up.

I reappeared outside of the room with our number on it, leaning against the wall for support. What . . . the hell—

I heard Lilly groaning on the other side of the door. I focused and teleported one last time into the room, staring in disbelief at the sight before me.

There was a black being with glowing teal eyes, but it was hard to make out what shape he was in the dark behind him. I did not get a good look at Lilly or the creature before I lunged and disappeared with the being in my grasp.

We appeared about a mile away from the ship, where I finally felt air rush into my lungs before hitting him with a wave of energy. "Who are you?!" I growled.

In the light of my next readied attack and our glowing eyes, I got a good look at the thing attacking Lilly. It was difficult to tell where it ended and the night began, but the place where its head should be was marked by a red neckpiece, something white resembling hair on the top, and those ominous eyes. It did not respond, but its eyes narrowed as I examined it.

A Psychic type? Its voice was not particularly loud, but something about it made me shudder as if a freezing wind had suddenly blown over the sea.

Is this . . . a Pokémon? Though I had not been alive for very long at that point, it still surprised me that there was a Pokémon I did not know about. "You have three seconds to answer my question," I threatened, aggressively drawing my arm back.

Its eyes seemed to glow brighter. Perfect. Without warning, it vanished just as I sent my attack flying. It reflected off the waves for a moment before dissipating into the night air. I moved out of the way just in time to avoid his attack from behind, a physical one from his three-fingered hand. You will be easy to defeat!

I snarled in frustration, sending another attack flying at it. I grunted in triumph when it landed but gasped a moment later as it seemed to move right through him. "What?!"

The being laughed and sent its own attack at me. It did not look particularly powerful, but the force at which it hit me pushed me down into the water below. I cried out; I had not taken a hit that strong in ages. The Pokémon came down to meet me and tried slashing at me with its hand again, but I teleported behind it and tried attacking again. It was as useless as it was a few seconds ago, and that was when I knew it really was a Pokémon. Dark Type, I growled to myself, vanishing before it could land a hit on me.

Do not underestimate me, I spoke telepathically as the being looked around. When I reappeared, I was ready with an Aura Sphere. The effect was satisfying; the Pokémon cried out and was knocked back so far that I could almost no longer see it. It did not have a chance to recover before I teleported behind it and sent one crashing down onto its head. It screamed again as it sank into the depths below before vanishing. That'll keep it busy, I thought to myself before teleporting back to Lilly.

When I reappeared, the room was still dark but smelled strangely of smoke. "Lilly?" I called, rushing to the bed, "Are you al—"

Two things happened before I could finish my sentence. First, her eyes opened, and I almost cried out in shock when they were those of Arceus': green with red pupils, and they were glowing. Did she transform?!

The second was that she grabbed my shoulders and shoved me into the wall across from the bed. I cried out, her hands searing into me as she tightened her grip. "Lilly, it's me!" I said through gritted teeth, trying not to be any louder. Her own mouth was a tight grimace and her eyes were wide, yet she didn't seem to see me. I finally could no longer bear it and pushed her off of me, but she cried out again and grabbed me by the cord on my neck. That pain was unbearable, and I instantly teleported both of us into the ocean just outside of the boat.

She released me and began choking in the water. I put a forcefield around us and expelled the water, hoping that was enough to wake her up. But her hands still burnt as she clung to me and cried out, the water on her turning to steam. "Wake up!" I begged, clamping my own hands on her shoulders despite the pain.

I looked at her hands and felt my stomach drop; her fingers were starting to blacken like the woman from the hideout's had. The color slowly began to spread up her hands, she was using too much power. She's going to kill us both if I don't think of something soon. But it was almost impossible to think clearly through the pain she was inflicting.

Redirect it, a faint voice said.

"What?" I cried out weakly, feeling myself losing consciousness.

You must channel it for her. She does not yet know how to do it.

And then I understood. I shut my eyes tightly and groaned as I began to send the energy to the forcefield surrounding us.

To my surprise, it turned from purple to gold. My breathing slowed as the burning pain quickly dwindled away, and a steady hum began to ring in my ears. The energy I felt was unlike anything I had experienced before. I was at my limit, toeing the line between life and death by doing this. But as long as I remained calm, I knew I could keep this up for several minutes.

Though I could not see her face at that moment, Lilly seemed to calm down as well as her cries turning into low whimpers. I tried to wake her again. "You're safe now," I said quietly, "the intruder is gone."

She let out a rattling sigh and fell against me, her breathing also beginning to slow. With a final grunt, I dispelled the energy into the water around us, making the forcefield disappear before teleporting us back into the room. I fell against the bed with her in my arms; we were both soaking wet and smelling of the sea. I laid there for a moment, exhausted by the ordeal I just went through. Then I took her hands and healed them with my power, after which I slowly began to heal myself where she had burnt me. Several minutes into this process she woke up, sitting up so fast that I was afraid she had turned back into that strange form from a few minutes ago. But in the reflection of the light of my recovery, I saw that her eyes were the green I knew, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Where did that . . . wait, what happened to you?" she asked, stumbling off the bed and looking at me as I healed myself. Then she realized her clothes and hair were soaked. "And why are we wet? Did I fall into the ocean?"

"I wish that was all that happened," I whispered as I continued regenerating.

"Did you fight it?" Lilly ran to turn on the light, then gasped when she saw the state of the bed. "Where did these burns come from? Was that powerful?" She grabbed my hand, her eyes large with worry.

"I'm alright," I said, closing my eyes, "I . . . taught it a lesson." I finally finished healing as I said that, sitting up against the wall behind me. "Was that the Pokémon from earlier? The lights from the deck you saw?"

Lilly nodded vigorously. "It must have been!"

"What exactly did it do to you?" I asked.

"I . . . I'm not sure," she admitted, "it all happened so fast."

She began to explain that she thought it was me teleporting back into the room. But when she saw the Pokémon approach her, she had screamed and sat up in bed. She went on to say that it had threatened to sink the ship if she did not surrender the Opal to him, which she, of course, could not do. The last thing she remembered was sinking into a strange blackness. "And then I woke up, and you were there," she concluded.

The events between . . . I wonder if her power blocks her own memory. I thought suddenly to myself.

The bed was both singed and wet, but the smell of smoke was drowned out by the salty tang of the ocean. We stripped the bed and I removed the rest of the water from the mattress (which, luckily, was unsinged) with my power before she called the main desk to request new sheets. It was nearly three am by the time Lilly had finished showering for the second time and she got back into bed, exhaustion lining her face. Without asking, I also got into bed and draped my arm across her middle, hoping that would be enough to keep the darkness at bay should the creature return.

"Are you . . . not going back out?" I heard her ask in surprise.

"Nope," I mumbled into the second pillow as I telepathically flicked off the light. "I'm staying right here. Don't know if that thing will come back."

She did not respond at first, then proceeded to turn toward me and drape her own arm around my middle. "Okay," she mumbled into me.

"We're getting you a team when we get to Sinnoh," I added, nearly asleep by that point.

I felt her head whip up to look at me. "Really? You mean it?"

"Yeah . . ."

I was asleep before I could complete my thought.