12: Legendary Encounters

Pikachu

Legendary pokemon hardly interfered with human affairs. Hearing about Reshiram a few weeks ago made me wonder about what role it played and why it would choose to get close to N but even though legendaries hardly ever stepped in to mess with human affairs, there were times and a few that were willing to aid humans.

Bonding with them was entirely unheard of. They were proud pokemon; some of them were damn near immortal and literally controlled various aspects of our everyday lives. Everyone knew about Arceus but most people didn't believe it was real and to be honest, I didn't either. I didn't believe in some all-powerful being that created us one day and then went poof the next.

However, there were a few exceptions. If it were true, Dawn and Giratina—if she lived up to her title she had been introduced as—would likely be one of the first recorded trainers to have caught a legendary pokemon. I didn't know if she kept it or not or if she released them like Red released Mew and Mewtwo, even though they had decided to keep their pokeballs on them.

Then there were the three legendary birds of Kanto we had encountered as well. We hadn't told Blue that Red had gained the trust of Moltres, Articuno and Zapdos on top of Mew and Mewtwo. The three birds all flew off to do their own thing after we released them (I still firmly believe Moltres keeps an eye on us when we're at Mount Silver), but we had never intended on traveling with any of them.

Mew, one of the rarest and elusive pokemon out in the world was practically a bedtime story for children. She had also been caught by Team Rocket and we had the luck to discover her in one of their laboratories, trapped in a strange tube in Celadon City. After our initial shock of holy crap Mew is actually real, we freed her and just like the stories said, she went invisible to get away as fast as possible.

Strange things started to happen around us when we left Celadon City, like a few of Red's pokeballs were misplaced, or some food would go missing. I swore I saw Red's hat disappear one night when the others were asleep.

I would catch glimpses of her during our travels until one day she outright showed herself to us in the morning and greeted us properly. Red hadn't asked for her help, but on multiple occasions, the pink cat was teleporting us to safety and away from the danger that would have put us in our early graves. She claimed that because we helped take down Team Rocket, she would in turn help us. She just laughed at our shocked faces and claimed that she watched Red defeat them in Saffron City and Viridian City then decided to follow us around. Mew hardly ever stayed to chat, but one day she decided to travel with us for a month after we'd defeated Blue at the Indigo Plateau, now claiming she enjoyed our company.

She had also decided that Espeon was her new best friend and the two would run off to get into mischief, causing trouble for the rest of us and headaches for Red. On occasions when we walked or biked to and from cities, I would take my usual perch on Red's right shoulder and Mew would suddenly teleport onto Red's left, startling the human enough to nearly crash and make her hold her sides from laughter, wiping her eyes when she was done. She told us she had never gotten attached to a human before, saying that for some reason Red was different than all the others she'd met.

To me, that sounded almost like Charizard. He hadn't really liked Red or any other human for that matter at first—hell, he still has trust issues but he opened up and didn't want to let him go.

When we learned about Mewtwo hiding out in a cave near Cerulean City, Red was the one who comforted her fears and even though she was stubborn and said she wasn't afraid of 'some human creation,' she seemed relieved that Red and the rest of us were going to at least try to calm him down. She had outright refused to go inside the cave with us and so we went in to find Team Rocket's creation without her.

With a ride from Blastoise, we reached the other side of the cave easily, and standing in the middle of the cavern island was a two-legged creature that was immediately furious that a human came into the cave unannounced.

He attacked us the moment we stepped foot onto the island and Blastoise snatched our trainer and I from the spot that would have been our last. Following that lucky escape, we had an intense battle and I'm not sure how long it lasted but near the end, all of us were so exhausted, we could hardly remain standing. The rest of the team had fainted by then but I was still in front of Red, panting hard as he wiped his forehead. I knew that if I decided to also take a nap, Red would be killed by the overpowered psychic.

Mewtwo's eyes glowed suddenly and I had been thrown far from Red towards the other side of the island we were on. Red had shouted for me and he ran to try and catch me before I hit the ground while Mewtwo looked on with his intense gaze. I knew Red wouldn't have caught me in time anyway, so I simply had closed my eyes and braced for the impact. I was too tired to care anymore.

When no pain came, I was confused and opened my eyes again. Red looked just as startled as me as I was gently lowered into his arms with Psychic and we both turned to Mewtwo when he appeared behind us with Teleport. "Why did you run after him instead of worrying about yourself?" Mewtwo had asked telepathically, looking almost as confused as we were. "You—a human, who use us pokemon as tools such as they do—would risk your life for one?"

We both knew who 'they' were. This creation had absolutely no regards for Team Rocket and they had been the only humans he'd been in contact with. I understood why he hated humans so much now but I had no answer for Red and remained silent as he looked at me, relieved that I was all right.

Finally, he looked up at the much taller pokemon, still holding me gently and said, "Pikachu isn't a tool. He isn't a 'thing' that is here for my own use. None of my pokemon are. They are a part of my family and being a part of my family, I would sacrifice myself if I had to."

Mewtwo paused as he took in his words. "Family…?" He had been quiet for a long time as he stared at us and then said, "I see now that you are not like the other humans. You are different than they are." He turned his head and looked towards the shore, staring at something.

We followed his gaze, seeing Mew floating there above the water, a calm look set on her face as she flew towards us. "I have been following him for a few months now. There are many, many humans are just as wonderful and kind as he is. Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres have all gained his trust as well, you may go see them if you wish to confirm it," she had told him, floating down so that she was sitting on Red's head, much to his annoyance as she smiled. "Plus, he makes a comfortable seat." That much I agreed with and Red rolled his eyes at us.

Mewtwo then around, a deep frown settled on his face. "More humans would come here. Team Rocket will—"

"Team Rocket is no more," I interrupted. Arceus, I had been tired. I surprised myself that I had managed to say something else. "They won't come after you again."

Mew perked up, hovering in front of Mewtwo. "Red gave me a pokeball," she said, her pokeball coming into her tiny hands from out of nowhere and floated between them. Despite her childish nature and playful attitude, she had her moments of when I had to remember that she was a legendary, sounding far older as she kept speaking with her clone instead of the childish Mew we had been traveling with for the past month.

I still wonder how he is a clone when, you know, he's taller than Red and she's only a little bigger than I am, among a few other things. I decided to stop thinking about it a long time ago.

"They keep us safe from any trainer who would try and catch us. It would keep you safe from anyone else. If you accept, will you help me?" She smiled at Mewtwo, who was hesitant and remained still. "I'm on an important mission. I want to help other pokemon—no matter if they have been hurt by humans, in battles, or even by natural causes. I have already helped so many and I really do need help too. Kanto is a very big place. The world is even bigger."

Mewtwo looked at Red and I as Red shifted me into one arm, reached into his pocket, pulled out an empty ultra-ball and clicked the button so it could go to its normal size. He held it out to Mewtwo and Mewtwo didn't even hesitate to let himself enter it. Once it had shown the capture was complete, Red released him and handed it to him with a smile.

"Thank you, Red. You as well, Pikachu. If either of you or any of your... family needs help, I will be there to do what I can," he told us as he took the ultra-ball in his three fingers, though it soon disappeared. Mew nodded, letting us know that she would help as well. Afterwards, she teleported us to Cerulean City's pokemon center, and I noticed it was dark. She had giggled at our shock, then soon explained that it had been two days since we entered the cave. No wonder we were so exhausted.

She waved us good bye and flew up into the sky, where Mewtwo was waiting and they both disappeared shortly after. We hadn't seen either of them since then.

I figured Mew must be busy helping the pokemon she wanted and I didn't mind. At least Mewtwo wasn't a raging psycho-mon anymore.

-x-

The crescent moon was high in the cloudless sky, a bright light among the millions of stars that reflected off of the ocean waves with a serene sense of purity. There wasn't another human or pokemon within sight or hearing range and there was a slight breeze to keep us all cool from the late spring night. It was the perfect setting for any romantic scene in a movie, book or even reality.

Was being the ultimate key word. It was going to be my trainer's very first kiss, aside from his mother of course. Red and White had nearly accomplished the feat and I was eager to be their first witness and brag that even Charizard had been there to Espeon later.

Mew's unfortunate timing was impeccable. As soon as their heads crashed into each other, I knew that delightful and heart-felt moment was gone, leaving Red and White to nurse their poor foreheads when they turned to see who was laughing.

Unlike Mew, Mewtwo was silent and I heard Mew's high-pitched and delighted laughter increase when White screamed in shock at the sight of the two. Red was silent but his face betrayed his own shock that the two of them had suddenly appeared. I got off of the rock and leaped onto the log beside Red as he got to his feet and helped White up as well. Charizard just sighed as Mew's laughter continued to ring in the air.

"How in Arceus' name did you two find us?" I exclaimed to the two newcomers.

Mew finally composed herself and wiped her eyes, taking a deep breath to catch it. "I followed my link with Red! I was gonna watch your guys' matches so I decided to come early and Mewtwo followed me!"

She then flew straight into Red's face head-first and caused him to yelp loudly when she crashed into him. He stumbled back a few steps as she held onto his head in a tight hug with her two front paws and kept her long tail wrapped around his neck, as if to ensure she stayed there. It was obvious she was using telepathy to communicate with the humans as she suddenly shouted, "I missed you, Red!"

"Gah!" was the only muffled reply he could get out and at once tried to free his head. She clung to him like a wad of gum on the bottom of a shoe though and kept coming right back in for another suffocating hug every time he managed to pull her away.

"You never write, you never call, you never even bother to come see me! I'm saddened by your lack of communication, silly human!" I almost forgot how much energy Mew had. How were we supposed to write or call her, anyway?

"Wait, what's going on?" White blurted, clearly in disbelief as she looked between the two psychics.

"This is Mew and that is Mewtwo," I told her, pointing to the two. I didn't even bother to ask and see if one of them was translating.

Luckily, one of them was although I didn't know which one it was. "Mew and what?"

I almost slapped myself. Of course she wouldn't know about Mewtwo, he was a complete secret from most of the world. Instead of asking again, she looked shocked and looked at Mewtwo as he turned his dark eyes towards her as Mew continued to cling to Red despite his desperate struggles to get her off his face so he could breathe without inhaling her bubblegum pink fur.

"Since Red aided us in Kanto, it is time we return the favor," he told her simply, his own telepathy entering all of our minds.

"You flew all the way from Kanto to here?" I asked.

"No, we skipped across the ocean and then played hide and go seek with a Wailord," Mew interrupted when Red was finally able to tear her off of his face. He held her at arm's length though she didn't seem to be bothered as her tail leisurely swung back and forth. "Then we stopped in Slateport City for an all-you-can-eat buffet lunch and then helped deliver a baby in Undella Town!"

Mewtwo, the one with a mature brain in his head, sighed and shook his head. "Of course not. We teleported here to Red and Mew saw them about to kiss. Clearly, she decided to—in her own words—ruin the moment. One Psychic later and you know the rest."

I had a feeling Mew had been the culprit. The setting had been so perfect, too! I was sorely upset that the moment had been stolen from us and I could sense White's disappointment next to me as she quietly tried to make heads and tails of what was going on.

"But it was funny, huh?" Mew said. She squirmed out of Red's hold and sat on her side his shoulders just as she had done years before. "Oh wow, it's roomier up here now! You're finally growing up!"

"No, it wasn't really funny at all," White mumbled under her breath.

Red looked between the two legendaries, confused. "What are you two doing here?" he asked.

Mew smiled at us and wrapped her tail around his neck once more. "I heard your thoughts all the way in Kanto. We were helping some Nidoran get out of a cave-in and then I decided to pry a little bit to see what you were doing because I missed you. I knew you were going to Unova for a tournament, but when I went to look, your thoughts just went blank."

Red hesitated, his face turning into a frown as White went to his side and I joined them at their feet. Mew then got off of him and floated beside Charizard and Mewtwo, both of the larger pokemon calm as could be.

"When we couldn't hear your thoughts anymore, Mew panicked and almost caused another cave-in," Mewtwo added when she went silent.

"Did not!" Mew exclaimed and her clone ignored her. I could've sworn I saw her cheeks flush a bit with embarrassment. "Those rocks were falling because they didn't like you!"

"What do you mean 'thoughts went blank'?" White asked and then looked up at Red expectantly.

"When we were attacked by the Shadow Triad, he was knocked out," Charizard answered for us.

She immediately pinched the bridge of her nose. "I can see why Blue and Ethan are constantly worried about you," she muttered though Red gave her a guilty smile.

"They told us they want to basically take over the world," I added. "Make a world based off of their ideals or whatever."

She hesitated. "This would be the third time they've tried, then. It's really strange, though."

"Third times the charm!" Mew shouted.

"Now isn't the time," I scolded her.

"What? I thought it was funny."

"Your sense of humor is questionable."

She grinned at me instead of saying anything else.

Mewtwo ignored us two as he stared straight at White and Red. "What do you mean it's really strange?" he asked.

I thought it was interesting that they didn't ask who Team Plasma was. I suppose they already knew; if they could get into Red's mind easily without him knowing or even feeling anything, they could know a whole hell of a lot more.

She looked up at Red as he listened. "They just seem to be working in the shadows instead of being out in the open like they always were is all."

"The Shadow Triad visited Giovanni a few times ever since we arrived, too," I said, crossing my paws. "And then they got mad when he started relaying messages from them to us and said that he was a lost cause or whatever."

Mewtwo's expression grew considerably darker upon hearing the human's name, no doubt still unforgiving of his creators.

I continued despite his furious face. "They kept insisting on Team Rocket's help, but he told us he refuses to do anything with them. Before we were attacked by the Shadow Triad, Giovanni told us that they told him to stay away from the stadium on Monday. We think someone or something will attack but we have no idea if that's true or not."

Charizard glanced at the two as well and added, "It's obvious they want something from Team Rocket but none of us know what that something is."

Mew and Mewtwo looked at each other. "Do you two know something?" White dared to ask as Red watched expectantly.

Mew nodded slowly. "Yes," was all she said.

We were met with silence from the two, the only sounds coming from the area were the ocean waves and the few cries from the forest but that wasn't why I suddenly had a horrible pit in my stomach form. Red had also paled slightly, likely with the same feeling in his gut.

As her face grew serious, that feeling returned, the one that reminded me that she was a legendary pokemon and could probably kill me without even thinking twice about it. I could only think, Please let me be wrong.

"Team Rocket announced their return."

I don't normally swear, let alone use awful words, but the only reasonable reaction I could give her was a long and drawn-out, "…Fuck."

-x-

Mewtwo teleported us to our room the moment Mew had told us about Team Rocket's return, where Red decided it best to try and make a new pit in the floor from his pacing. The news boggled our minds and it seemed as if Red couldn't think straight as switched from one of his nervous habits to another.

He was pacing so much that it annoyed White enough to pull him onto the couch and I noticed her presence seemed to calm him down—only a little bit but it was enough so he could take a few breaths to try and gather his thoughts. Mew was in his lap the moment he'd sat down while I took up residence to his right on top of the arm rest of the couch. Mewtwo was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, though I knew he was not sleeping. Charizard also stuck close to the couch and refused to let Red out of his sight.

White had called everyone including Brendan to ask them to meet us in a few minutes despite it being near midnight and through their confusion and various stages of sleepiness, they agreed to come. "They'll all be here in a few minutes," she said as she clicked her Xtranseiver to hang up from the last call she'd made.

Red nodded wordlessly and scratched Mew's fur on the top of her head and watched her close her eyes in pleasure.

White was silent for a little bit but put her hand on his free hand gently and asked, "Are you okay? You've been even quieter than usual ever since we came back."

He frowned slightly and shook his head once. "No, but I will be." I looked at him with worry but decided to keep silent. I felt a little happy that he admitted that he wasn't fine, but I heard White move a little to lean forward just enough to make him catch the movement and look at her.

She didn't seem to be convinced by his words but didn't seem surprised when he avoided any explanation. Knowing him, he would probably avoid it if he could for as long as he could. "If you ever want to talk, I'm here." She put on a smile, patting his hand gently.

He looked grateful that she hadn't bugged him and nodded again.

She stretched her arms out with a groan and yawn. "While we wait, maybe we can plan a day trip tomorrow and find out what to do." She took one of the pads of paper from the coffee table and pen, setting it on her thigh. "There's a few things that I personally like to do around here and I can take you there if you like."

Mew suddenly looked excited, looking up at the humans but didn't get up from her spot. "I want to help! I've been all over the world, you know so I know all the best places to go for fun—"

White shook her head instantly. "No, it's okay, Mew. I got it." She narrowed her eyes at the legendary. "I don't need or want our heads to be bashed together again.

Mew gave a fake pout but snickered, not even trying to hide it.

Red sighed at Mew.

White turned her eyes up to meet Red's. "Now, do you like museums? There's a few that I like here, not as awesome as the one Leonora runs but that one is a little too far for a day trip. Oh, and there's the mine that's nearby, they give tours sometimes. I don't know if they will be doing one tomorrow, with the tournament and all. What about a movie? There's actually one that Diantha starred in recently, I think it's a comedy."

I felt relief when he started to speak again and answered softly, "I like comedy."

"Okay, movie for sure then!"

As she listed more and more things to do around town and they planned out tomorrow's growing list of things they wanted to do, I noticed Red slowly starting to relax even more. The weight of Team Rocket briefly lifted from his shoulders enough for him to smile as White blabbed on about what else they could possibly do in town.

A sudden knock at the door made them both look up and White got up to answer it. Mew and Mewtwo made no move to make themselves invisible when Blue entered. He didn't notice Mew or Mewtwo at first as he glared straight at Red as he shouted at him, "You ditched me! We were supposed to pick up Gramps and you—"

He stopped talking and froze when he caught sight of Mew and her clone. He stared at them silently for the longest time, his mouth opening and then closing itself before looking directly at Red. "Why am I not even surprised?" he finally said.

Mew tilted her head. Then something seemed to click in her mind as she floated up off of Red. "I know you! You're Red's friend, right? I've heard Red's thoughts about you, you seem to be nice and you're a really strong trainer, too!" she said. "He also thinks that you can be a spoiled brat a lot too. Oh! And super clingy."

Red rolled his eyes at her.

Blue looked unsure, rubbing the back of his head. "Er… thanks? I guess?"

"You're welcome!"

She floated back to Red, deciding to rest on the top of his head this time as Blue looked at White with a confused look, though she shrugged. "Mew's very attached to him, she hasn't let him go for more than like five seconds," she explained but she started to laugh a little, covering her mouth with a hand. "You should have seen her when I first met her—she tackled his face and almost suffocated him."

Red narrowed his eyes at them as Blue laughed heartily, holding his side with an arm. "Aren't you supposed to be the girlfriend?" he asked and White's face turned pink.

"Shut up, Blue!"

I smiled and looked at Red, who was trying to hide his own blush from Blue. Unfortunately for him, Mew had also noticed. "Aww! You're blushing, Red! Do you blush all the time now? You've grown up so much since I last saw you, too! You're what? Fourteen now?"

Red scowled up at her, ignoring the giggles he received from the psychic. "Seventeen."

"Same thing, you're still a kid." She put an arm on her forehead and dramatically draped herself across his lap. "Young love; thine blade runs deep! O, how I detest thee!" She suddenly clutched her chest with both paws. "No, stray not to the light!"

"What are you even quoting?" I asked. "Shakespeare?"

She lifted her head to look at me. "Nope! It's my own work, just wrote it now! You like it?"

"Meh."

As soon the frown returned to Red's face, Blue took notice immediately and went to sit down on the couch beside him, taking White's former spot. "What's the matter?" he asked. I saw White watching from the door as she closed it, looking concerned.

"It's kind of a big thing and we'll tell all of you once the other two are here," Mew said then poked Blue's hair, causing the teenager to instinctively pull his head back. "Why do you have so much hair and why is it so spiky?"

"Great, not you too," he groaned and White laughed.

"Red, you should spike your hair too. I think you'd look cute."

"No," came Red's instant response.

"Aww, why not?" She took his hat off with Psychic and ignored his annoyed look as she poked his hair. "Aw, come on, I wanna see what it would look like!"

All he did was grab his hat to shove it back on his head.

That simple reaction got her to laugh again, delighted with annoying us all. White opened the door again after another knock, revealing Ethan and Brendan, the latter yawning. "Sorry, but this is really important and I think you can help us too, Brendan," White said apologetically and closed the door as the boys came in, both stopping the instant they spotted the psychics as well.

"Whoa!" Brendan said eagerly, his eyes widening. He seemed like a little kid again as his eyes comically widened as he stared at Mew and Mewtwo. "That's Mew! But I don't know what that one is, who's that?" he asked, glancing at Mewtwo.

"That is Mewtwo! He's my clone," Mew said cheerfully. She laughed as Brendan and Ethan both jumped when they heard her unexpected voice.

At the sound of his name, Mewtwo finally opened his eyes again, watching the newcomers with mild interest.

Ethan smiled and I rolled my own eyes as he introduced himself, "I'm Ethan, Johto trainer extraordinaire—"

"You're extra something, all right," Blue mumbled and Ethan huffed at him while I laughed alongside Mew.

"Humans are funny!" she exclaimed, startling Brendan enough for him to jump, which only increased her cackling.

"Ignore her, she's a bit of a trickster," White said and sat on the bed as Brendan and Ethan pulled up chairs. The curious one that she was, Mew floated up to them, trying to give them both styling tips and even tried pulling Brendan's hat off, to which he refused and held it down in place as she tried to use Psychic to pick it up just like she had done to Red's hat. She floated back to Red and I as Blue leaned back in the couch's cushions, getting comfortable.

Black, Rosa and Nate arrived together shortly after Brendan and Ethan did, all three in various stages of awe. After nearly ten minutes of questions about what they were and why they were here, Blue grew impatient as he looked at White and Red.

"I want to go back to bed so I want to find out why you called us for a meeting," he said to White.

"And why it couldn't just be a phone call," Nate added.

Mew's laughter instantly died down and Mewtwo got off the wall. He stopped in front of us, regarding us carefully with his large, obscure eyes. "This morning, just after the first battle of the champion's tournament, Team Rocket broadcasted a region-wide message in Kanto and Johto that they have returned," he said.

Most notably, Ethan and Blue both froze. Mewtwo noticed their reactions, seeming almost relieved that Ethan and Blue shared a bewildered and startled look similar to the one Red had when we had found out.

Brendan, however, looked confused and looked between everyone. "Team Rocket? Who are they?" he asked. His question, however, went momentarily ignored.

"What do you mean they've returned? They're back? How?" Ethan blurted, all trace of humor gone. It was rare to wipe that all too-happy smile from his face, and I suppose we would need more drastic turns of events to take it off again. "We got rid of them! Twice!"

"There's a saying for that," Mew interrupted and Ethan glanced at her. "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!"

"I thought we already went over this," I mumbled.

She scoffed at me. "Don't be a petite propitious poopy-pants, Pikachu—ooh! Try saying that five times fast!" She laughed as I groaned. "Look on the bright side, at least you aren't dead."

I only rolled my eyes at her as she giggled. "Oh, joy."

"And on top of that, you aren't rotting either."

Arceus, after spending less than five minutes with her, I wish I was dead as she muttered under her breath extremely quickly, "Petite propitious poopy-pants, Pikachu. Petite, proptitious poopy-pants, Pikachu…"

"Who in Hoenn's name is Team Rocket?" Brendan asked, looking frustrated that no one had answered him before. "Are they your run-of-the-mill 'take over the world' kind of people?"

Blue nodded. "Pretty much," he mumbled.

"It's their third time, just like Team Plasma," Ethan piped up.

"And they want to team up with the Rockets," White added, crossing her arms across her chest.

"That's assuming it's the entirety of Team Plasma and not just the Shadow Triad and Ghetsis," Rosa said.

"I'm pretty sure if they talk about Ghetsis and calling him 'lord' or whatever, it's the whole team again," Nate told her with a frown.

"Do you think Colress would help them too?"

Nate shook his head. "He's not even in the region anymore."

"Who's Colress?" I heard Ethan whisper to Black.

"Tell you later," he answered and ignored the Johto native's pout.

Brendan rubbed his head, leaning back in his chair. He seemed nervous and then he sighed when we were all silent for a few seconds. "Dad's gonna kill me." We all turned our attention to him. "He told me to stay out of anything dangerous while we're here after the whole thing in Hoenn," he said and shrugged when he sat back up then smiled at us. "Count me in, even though I don't know who Team Rocket or Team Plasma really are. It sounds like they're loads of trouble and you guys need help getting rid of them."

I was happy that Brendan so willingly decided to help us even if he knew so little about the situation. He had so many similarities with Red that I wondered what Norman would think if he found out what we were discussing with each other.

"We're in, too!" Rosa cried and shot her hand up straight into the air and Nate nodded.

Blue grinned. "Can't say no to kicking Team Rocket's ass."

"I'll beat them a second time and I'll take on Team Plasma, too!" Ethan declared.

White smiled, relieved that we now had so many allies. "Do you two happen to have any more information we could use?" she asked Mew and Mewtwo hopefully.

Mew tapped her chin with a paw. "Well, not really. When Team Rocket made their announcement, we went to every single one of the places the Rockets have been—in Kanto and Johto." She shook her head as she looked at everyone else. "It was all completely empty: the radio tower, Silph Co., even your gym in Viridian City—except for the gym trainers, of course. It's like they announced it but nothing's happened."

"Or they're just not in those regions anymore," Black muttered.

"I can think of a region they could be in now," Rosa said and lost her own smile.

"They're here in Unova, aren't they?" Ethan guessed and turned two golden brown eyes towards the two psychics. He looked more annoyed than anything now, but he sighed after Mewtwo gave a nod of his own. "Why now? Why do they have to be so…so annoying?"

Annoying was putting it lightly.

"I dunno. Why do you have to be so whiny?" Mew challenged, grinning as he narrowed his eyes at her with annoyance. She had a point.

I noticed White sit up, hands on her knees. "So, what are we going to do about them?"

"What can we do? Unova's huge and we don't know where Team Plasma or Team Rocket are!" Nate said.

"I know a place," Black said and got up, going to the window. He opened the curtain and motioned towards the dark stadium in the distance. "If the Shadow Triad warned Giovanni to stay away from the stadium on Monday, Team Plasma will be there."

"What about Team Rocket? They do stuff underground, they tend to stay as quiet and do illegal stuff," Ethan said with a frown and turned around on the couch to look at him.

"Unless you blow up buildings," Blue muttered and shot a grin at Red, who glared instead.

I scratched my chin as I stared outside, standing next to the window with Black. If I were Team Rocket and Team Plasma were my best friends, where would I be? Would I be trying to steal pokemon from spectators? Would I try to break into a bank or something? I watched as Black went back to the others, sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table and leaned onto it before I stared back at the city and I sighed.

I had no clue where they would go or even what they would do while Team Plasma made threats about the stadium. Were they just distracting us from Team Rocket? I ran a paw through the fur on the top of my head and stopped myself, scowling at my own reflection when I caught myself doing that. All of this was stressing me out, but hearing Mew's giggling made me believe that she wasn't too worried about it.

I glanced back at them. The humans were still trying to figure out what to do and I watched Red come to my side, staring outside with a concentrated frown. He'd been awfully quiet this entire time but he glanced down at me, picking me up into his arms with a deep breath. I knew he was trying to think of where they would be as well but without any clues, they could literally be anywhere in the world.

"Well, I think you should stop talking about the boring stuff and go see someone so we can all get some real answers," I heard Mew suddenly say.

Red turned around, surprised when she floated right in front of us. "What are you doing?" he asked cautiously.

She either didn't hear him or didn't care, grinning as she cried, "Let us be off!"

I was about to ask what she meant though she only smiled and tapped our foreheads and I heard the others yelp when we were Teleported by her. Red let out a startled noise when he hit the floor on his bottom and he dropped me on accident when we re-appeared in a room that wasn't our own.

I looked up sharply when I heard an angry snarl and Red also jumped. Before I knew it, he grabbed me and rolled out of the way of a Stomp by a furious and large rock-type.

"Hey! What gives, Mew? Where are we?" I snapped as Red got up to his feet.

She looked at me but grinned as she easily blocked another attack from Rhydon, whatever it might have been. She didn't answer me as she looked towards the startled human at the table and I followed her gaze.

Giovanni looked alarmed to see Mew but he quickly composed himself as he set a glass full of a dark red liquid onto the table and he rose from his seat, hair slicked back and wearing that same suit as always, sans the jacket, which was draped over the back of his chair. My cheeks sparked and I looked at Mew. "Mew! Why are we here?" I shouted at her.

Mew still ignored me as Red kept a protective hold of me and a careful eye on Rhydon. Giovanni narrowed his eyes at us. "I suppose you three heard about that broadcast?" he asked simply.

"Yep, the very same! Who did it?" Mew demanded, though he frowned in a bit of confusion. "And don't give us the 'I don't know speech,' that's a little lame."

"And what if I say that is the truth?"

She crossed her little arms across her chest. "Then we won't believe you!"

He snorted and seemed to brush us off with a look towards Rhydon, waving a hand to tell it to stand down and come to his side. "Believe what you want. I had nothing to do with it and have continuously refused to side with Team Plasma."

Red glared. "Then who else would?" he asked.

"I have an idea, if that is what you are wondering." He narrowed his eyes at him. "But why should I tell you?"

I started to growl a little. Wasn't he the one who told us to figure out Team Plasma wanted in the first place?! Was he on their side or not? Were the Shadow Triad just trying to fool us into thinking he really was innocent so he could help them stab us in the back?

Red glared at him as well and he looked ready to start a battle—even if we were in the middle of a fancy hotel room.

Mew grew irritated, sitting on Red's shoulder instead. "Simple." She looked at Giovanni as he rose a brow at her. "I can grind your brain into teensy-weensy, itty bitty, tiny little chunks and flesh and make it into soup, and you'd be helpless to do anything 'cause you don't have any protection, or—if you prefer—I can break every single one of your bones with just a flick of my tail."

Red and I both looked at her in disbelief. She was smiling still, ever so calmly and Red looked at me as she giggled. I had no idea that Mew could be cruel like that either.

She floated into the air again, hovering before Red and I. "So, you tell us what we want to know and you get to keep your brain! Deal?"

Giovanni started to laugh, though there was no trace of humor in it and a cold chill went deep into my spine, causing me to involuntarily shiver as well as Mew, though Red remained stoic as usual, his eyes glaring deep into the man. When he finally stopped, he lost his smile. "I haven't had a laugh like that in years. You are far too kind of a pokemon to harm anything."

"True, I am too nice and can't really hold up to any threats that I make." She pointed to something that suddenly appeared behind Giovanni. "But he isn't."

Giovanni turned around sharply as Mewtwo Teleported directly behind him. Mewtwo used Psychic to pin the man to the table the moment he arrived, knocking the glass of wine and whatever meal he'd been having onto the floor. Giovanni gave a yell of surprise, wincing as his arms were forced apart to his sides and the psychic glared. "M-Mewtwo!" he said, as if he found it difficult to breathe. "W-we destroyed you!"

Mew giggled, as if she found this whole thing funny. "Obviously, you didn't do a good enough job."

"You have no idea how long I have suffered because of your kind, human," Mewtwo snapped. His voice held nothing but rage, not caring if Giovanni was choking and trying to breathe.

I didn't even feel sorry for the man and Mew remained where she was, feeling the same. Rhydon roared in fury, trying to hit Mewtwo but Mew kept him at bay and easily knocked him out with a Psychic.

Mewtwo was quiet for a little longer but the three fingers on his arm finally grew apart a little and I heard Giovanni cough when he could breathe again. "However, it is not Red's wish for you to die even after all the crimes you committed. You will tell us who the ones responsible for this are."

Red was frowning silently, and I hadn't a clue what was going through his mind. I snapped my head back to the pinned Giovanni, who made a pained sound as he tried sitting up.

"Remember: we get to squish your brain if you don't say anything!" Mew chimed in a sing-song voice. Her sanity was indeed questionable.

"I don't know who exactly. The only person I can think of is Archer; he's always wanted to bring Team Rocket back from the ashes ever since it was disbanded four years ago," Giovanni said as he winced.

"Archer declared he would not bring Team Rocket back," Mewtwo said, glaring. "Do not lie to me, human!"

He managed a short laugh but it turned into a cough as the three fingers on Mewtwo's left arm flexed a little, constricting his air once more. "Humans lie. You should know this better than anyone, Mewtwo."

Mewtwo hesitated before he reluctantly lowered his arm slowly as he stared at the pinned man.

The psychic finally let up and Giovanni was able to sit up, rubbing his neck as he glared up at Mewtwo then glanced at Red and I. "Archer most likely lied to Ethan. He wouldn't give up his own dream. They probably still have their feet dug into every little corner of Kanto and Johto, too."

"Then that would mean you would be a part of that same team, wouldn't it?"

Giovanni frowned. "I gave up that path a long time ago. I have nothing to do with Team Rocket anymore."

For once, I didn't think the man was lying and Red remained silent, looking at Mew as she hesitated, going back to sit on Red's shoulder.

Giovanni continued, straightening his shirt. "I'm sure he's convinced the other admins to join him as well." Red remained quiet as he looked at Rhydon once he began to wake up. "Now get out of here, I have given what you wanted."

Mewtwo hesitated for a long time before he teleported, unable to bear the sight of Giovanni, I assume.

Mew glanced at the man, staying near Red and I. "Now we don't have to squish your brain. See? Was that so hard?" she asked, smiling again.

Giovanni glared at her but turned his eyes towards Red. "If you want to stop them, I would suggest going to Clay Tunnel—I heard that there is a lot of strange activity going around there. A lot of people wearing a strange uniform with the letter 'R' on the front." Red stiffened and Giovanni picked up the glass that had fallen onto the floor earlier.

"Why should I trust you?" he finally asked and I kept a very close watch on Giovanni as he stood again to set the cup onto the counter beside the sink.

"Have I lied to you yet?"

I frowned. He hadn't and that's what made me nervous as well. But how was he getting this information? He couldn't have gotten it himself, could he?

"Go to the tunnel and from there, I am sure you'll get more answers." He turned around to face us. "Team Plasma is watching you and your friends—they know your mother is here as well. Do not assume that anyone is completely safe within this place."

Red stiffened but before he could say anything, Mew had teleported us out of the room and into a more familiar territory—our own room, which was thankfully empty. We already knew that the Bisharp were watching us all, but with the knowledge and the awareness that they were here in Driftveil watching his family and friends, along with the fact that Giovanni was most likely telling the truth, it hit my trainer hard.

He looked around our room and let out a heavy sigh, rubbed his face with shaky hands and sat on the bed without bothering to turn the lights on.

I barely noticed Mewtwo in the room as well, standing on the other side of the bed, and I'm sure Red knew he was there, but he made no move to greet him as he tried to get rid of his anxiety. I sensed it immediately and I jumped up next to him. I rubbed my head against him to try and calm him but it did little to help ease his fears.

I looked up as Mew flicked the lights on with Psychic then floated over to us, hovering above, an almost guilty look on her face. "I'm sorry, Red. But what Giovanni said was the truth. There are strange pokemon always following you around and I cannot sense them with psychic abilities." She then tried to smile. "But you have me here now, right? And I won't leave again! If those pokemon try anything to hurt you or your mom, they're going down and so are Team Rocket and Team Plasma! Their tiny brains will by mush by the time I'm through with them!"

She lost her smile when she realized her attempt at humor was lost on our human, who was a complete mixture of worry and fear. I understood why: his mother was his only family member that any of us knew about and the fact that they knew she was here scared him to the core.

Whereas Mewtwo didn't bother to try and comfort the human, Mew floated to Red and hugged him around his neck—not a tackle-in-the-face or a suffocating death grip but a real, Arceus-forsaken hug that startled the human.

"It'll be okay, Red." She smiled. "I promise."

I smiled up at him as well and jumped up to his shoulder to hug his head as well. After a few silent moments, he nodded and finally hugged us both back. When he let go, he pulled out a pokeball. Mew instantly brightened up, recognizing that it was Espeon's pokeball and the moment she was released, Espeon gave a delighted sound and both tackled into each other in joy, the psychic duo finally reunited after years.

Red released the others shortly after, gladly taking off his shoes as they greeted Mew as well, who was just as happy to see them as well. There was a sudden, rapid knock on the door and Red answered it after a brief glance through the peephole. White entered quickly and quickly threw her arms around him, causing a quick blush to appear on his face but he smiled as he returned the hug. "I was so worried! Mew! Don't kidnap him again!" she instantly scolded.

"I wouldn't kidnap him!" Mew retorted. "Well, maybe. I probably will again." She stuck her tongue out at her as Espeon giggled.

Red rolled his eyes at the girls then looked at White. "I'm sorry I scared you, Hilda, it will not happen again." He gave Mew a hard look.

"It will if it's to save your life. What if you get squished or your brain turns to mush? Well, I can't repair that."

"Huh?" White asked, finally letting Red go.

"Ignore her," he said, sighing again.

Blastoise tilted his head though Espeon was first, tackling into the humans, over excited that not only Mew had returned but also the hug that the humans had given each other. They both yelped and hit the floor just as fast. "You two are hugging! In front of us!" she cried suddenly, smiling just as brightly as the gem on her forehead. "Did you two kiss? How was it? You didn't use tongues, did you? Are you even old enough to have sex yet—"

"Nope, we're done, Espeon!" White said, her whole aura screaming embarrassment. "Done!"

Mew suddenly started to laugh one more time as the humans blushed brightly, though Red pushed Espeon off of them.

"Nothing happened. Mew bashed their heads together before they could even do anything," I replied and Espeon looked at Mew, looking disappointed.

"What? Don't give me that look! It was the perfect time and then—BAM! Foreheads crashed together!" Mew said with a smile and wiped her eye. "It was a sight to behold."

"But think of O.G.A.D.!"

Mew tilted her head curiously. "What's O.G.A.D.?"

"Oh, Arceus," Venusaur mumbled with exasperation.

The next person who asked us what O.G.A.D. was, I was determined to Thunderbolt them.

White looked at Red as he sighed at us pokemon, though Mew was only laughing as usual. Mewtwo sighed at her, going to awkwardly sit onto the couch and closed his eyes to rest. White then chuckled, interrupting a brief moment of happiness. "We left right after you got teleported and tried to look for you. I came back when I saw the light under your door on." She pulled out her Xtranseiver and began to text. "I'll tell the others that you're fine and it's okay to go back to bed now."

"Thanks," he told her.

She glanced up at him and gave him a small smile. "I guess we can't go on a date tomorrow, can we?" she asked.

"No, but we got useful information from Giovanni tonight," he said and she blinked.

"Is that where Mew took you? What'd he tell you?"

As Red explained to her what happened, although he skipped the part where they knew about his mother and I didn't correct him, I looked at Charizard as he listened intently. Snorlax seemed to be deep in thought as he ate a few berries (where he got them from, I have no idea. I don't even think I want to know) and Blastoise settled on his haunches beside the bed beside Venusaur.

They were all silent after learning that Team Rocket had come back and Venusaur looked at Blastoise nervously, who seemed to be jittery all of a sudden as well but we looked at the humans as White rubbed her head. "Wow. Well, I guess we can go to the tunnel if you want. Do you want to go tonight? The others have probably gone to bed by now, though."

Red looked at Mew as she yawned and it was completely contagious again—every one of us also was hit with a sudden dose of exhaustion. "Tomorrow, after we've all gotten some sleep."

She smiled. "You promise?" When he nodded, she turned to the door and glanced over her shoulder as she opened the door. "Good night, Red."

He returned the smile. "Good night, Hilda." She gave a soft laugh as she left, closing the door gently behind her.

It was silent before Espeon jumped onto him again, sending them to the floor one more time. "Why didn't you walk her to her room? Or kiss her? What kind of man are you?"

"You monster!" I heard Mew shout from the side.

Red rolled his eyes as he pushed her off again and stood up and began to get ready for bed.

When he settled into the sheets, I yawned and jumped onto the bed then curled up next to his side. I felt a couple more weights appear on the bed and I saw Mew laying down around his neck and Espeon was at his other side. I heard Blastoise settling into his shell next to the bed as Venusaur did his nightly stretches before laying down. Snorlax had squeezed himself into the room and sat up against a corner on the other side of the room, already going to sleep while Charizard had moved in front of the door as a living barrier to keep an eye on the living room for us.

I looked up at our trainer's face when I heard his breathing deepen as he fell asleep in a matter of seconds—nearly as fast as Snorlax could if he was tired enough. It's a talent I wish I had.

I blinked sleepily as Mew remained awake and when she noticed, she quietly said to me while the curtains mysteriously closed themselves, "What were the strange pokemon that we saw on the way here? The ones that were watching you?"

"They're called Bisharp, they're the Shadow Triad's pokemon," I said. "They are dangerous."

Mew let out a quiet and weary noise. "I think I should squish their brains."

I rolled my eyes at her. "They're dark-types, you can't squish their brains."

"No excuses! Just a few moves and then I'll have their brains in my grasp."

"Go to sleep, Mew," I heard Venusaur scold.

"I'm still gonna squish their brains if they try anything."

I finally closed my eyes again when she quieted down. The only thing that comforted me enough to even relax and eventually fall asleep was the fact that Mewtwo was still awake and would likely stay that way all night, keeping watch.

With those two around, we had nothing to fear.