A/N: This story is the sequel to another story on my account, Mew Like Me. It would be best enjoyed after finishing that one.
Lane stood atop the prow of the Kanto Defense rescue ship Thanatos, as it passed through a bank of thick fog.
Thanks to the ship's aerofoils, it sailed at incredible speed, fast enough to lift her long pink hair into a trail behind her. Despite the terrible danger, she wore only an outfit that might be typical to any Pokémon trainer—short skirt with shorts underneath, a multilayered vest, and bits of pink jewelry clipped into her hair. And of course, she wouldn't go anywhere without her scarf, even if it was a little short for a human.
The wind whipped around her with incredible force, yet she lacked goggles or other protection. Somehow she remained upright on the prow of the sharply-angled craft, grinning into the wind.
Something shot through the air from above her, a blur of green against a shadowy white background. It resolved into a lanky green and white vulpine, with a bright red flower around his neck.
The Thanatos moved fast enough that Elisa had to fly with some speed to keep up, and his breaths were heavy with the effort. "You shouldn't be enjoying yourself, Lane! You know where we're going!"
She held up one hand, expanding the wedge of force ahead of her to shelter Elisa from the wind. That caught the shaymin off-guard, making him zip ahead towards the fog, only to strike against it and stumble backward.
Lane was ready for it, and stepped sideways to catch Elisa in her arms. She was still smiling as she did it, only a little smug. "Why shouldn't we enjoy what we do? Korina does. I think Mewtwo does. Helping people isn't a chore."
Elisa let her hold him, but only for a few seconds. Soon he started to squirm, forcing Lane to let go, depositing him carefully on the deck. At another time, she would find that powerful, lean build to be extremely attractive, daring her to chase for hours through the sky. A chase Elisa always won, as soon as she was ready. "Some of those people died, Lane. More will die before we finish."
Humans were far weaker, but even taking on a teenage body like this gave her clarity of thought her native form could not replicate. For now.
"I know!" Even as she said it, the Thanatos jerked under them, slowing so much it struck against the water with its hull. Sea water splashed out from all around them showering the deck to either side. It struck the same barrier Lane had been using to keep off the wind, so she stayed dry. "We didn't cause this, and now we're doing something about it. There's nothing to be guilty about."
They finally emerged from the fog, into a patch clear enough for Lane to see Gateon Port.
Even across the harbor, it was absolutely packed with people. Hundreds, maybe even thousands crowded next to each other, filling every open patch of ground. A few lucky ones had suitcases or duffels, but most didn't even have that.
Unfortunately for Lane, she had her Pokémon senses to supplement her eyes. Terror filled the docks. Human and Pokémon alike watched the jungle behind them, alert for anything that might emerge. They had good reason to be afraid.
"You!" someone shouted from just behind her, causing Lane and Elisa both to turn. She'd been so distracted staring at Gateon Port that she didn't even notice anyone was coming. She saw them now though—a squad of four Kanto Defense soldiers. Two were humans in thick body armor, with their faces behind polarized visors and even larger rifles in their hands.
The other two were Pokémon—one blaziken, the other a lucario. These wore uniforms in the same colors, with little armor plates molded to fit Pokémon bodies. But they carried no weapons—they didn't need them.
"You can't be here! There are no civilians on this vessel!" Neither pointed their weapons at her, though they radiated enough anger that she half-expected it. "You're interfering with international relief efforts. I hope you're prepared to go to prison for a long, long time."
The other pointed at her with an empty hand, then spoke with a deep, feminine voice. "Restrain her, Cinder, Luca."
While they spoke, the Thanatos continued its rapid path into port. Along the shore, their approach had finally been noticed. Cheering went up, with human and Pokémon voices alike.
The two armored Pokémon stepped forward, but not very far. They made it only a few steps before looking back at their masters, as though asking for clarification.
"Wanna fight them, Lane?" Elisa asked, lifting into a low hover beside her. "That could be fun!"
She sighed, reaching down with one hand to the shaymin's shoulder, trying to calm him. "It could be fun, if they weren't here for the relief effort. They need their strength to help evacuate people. Weren't you just lecturing me?"
"Oh, right." He landed with a dissatisfied thump. "If you two want to fight later, let me know! I'll even let you both go at once!"
Lane rolled her eyes. Even a Pokémon as powerful and intelligent as shaymin was limited by instincts. At least Elisa would be more like his old self when he was in land forme.
"What are you waiting for?" the female soldier asked, gesturing harshly in her direction. "Arrest her!"
"Are you blind?" the lucario asked. Of course, his trainer would not understand him. But understanding everything Pokémon said was one of the subtler benefits of Lane's new position. "Her aura is greater than... any Pokémon." He dropped to one knee, lowering his head to her.
The blaziken made an effort, but only managed a short distance before freezing in place, shaking. "I don't know... master. We shouldn't."
"I think they're scared of that Pokémon she's got," said the male soldier, resting one hand on his gun. It still hung across his chest, settled on the heavy strap. "What is that? I've never seen anything like it."
The massive ship released a frightening blast from its horn, loud enough to startle all four of them. Even Lane winced, reaching halfway up to cover her ears. Human ears were stubbornly stationary. At least they weren't terribly sensitive.
The Thanatos slowed to maneuvering speed, coming in a wide sideways turn to bring it along the dock.
"He's called a shaymin. They're the most numerous legendary Pokémon on our planet. But don't call him common, he gets agitated." She turned to the side, looking over the railing. With both hands on it, hopefully she wouldn't give these guards anything to be scared of.
"Should we call for backup?" the woman asked. Her voice was partially muffled by the helmet, yet still clear to Lane. It helped when she could hear her thoughts. "This could be about the shadow Pokémon threatening Orre. If she has power like that over our Pokémon."
"Over a legendary?" He walked past the two stunned Pokémon, over to the railing. The soldier kept both hands on his weapon now, fingers white with fear. "Why are you on the Thanatos, miss? I knew we had a Pokémon master aboard, come to liberate Orre. But I've spoken with him already."
She giggled. The idea of a Pokémon master would've filled her with awe and nervous fear a few decades ago. Now, it only seemed comical. As though anyone could master forces so diverse and powerful. Humans barely understood the ground they were standing on.
She was doing her best to rectify that failing, and had considerable success in the last quarter-century. Not enough to avoid getting a gun waved in her direction.
"Put your hands up!" shouted the woman, only a few feet away now. She held the weapon alert, with a set of plastic handcuffs in her other hand.
Lane's fingers tightened around the railing, annoyance on her face. "You have somewhere to be, Lucille Fleetfoot. Get to the ramp. Help passengers aboard."
She shuddered for a second, then released the weapon in both hands. It clattered against her armor, and she turned to walk the other way, without a backward glance. The lucario looked to Lane for permission, then scampered after her.
They came to a stop a few seconds later, bumping gently up against the dock. But it wouldn't be gentle for long—a crowd was forming below, thronging together. If they kept at it long enough, they would trample each other.
"You're from Saffron," the other soldier said, after a moment. "Did old Sabrina send you?" He didn't wait for an answer. "The stories we hear about what's happening here in Orre. Pokémon losing their minds, killing their trainers, fighting and bleeding and dying. Seems downright supernatural. Are you the solution?"
"This is not fair," Elisa said, landing delicately on the railing beside her. "Just because you can transform, you get them fawning over you. Give it a week and this is gonna be some spooky story whispered in their barracks."
He fixed the soldier with a sudden, intense glare, and the way he spoke changed. Suddenly it was perfectly intelligible English. "When you tell your scary story, make sure they know I'm her partner, not her sidekick. She's not a trainer, we're a team. Got it?"
He nodded fearfully, retreating from the railing. "I... I understand."
"Sabrina didn't send us," Lane went on. "You could say the ones she works for sent us. But nothing's so simple. Those Pokémon have a hard time with visualizing the future. It's so hard to make them care when their own habitats aren't threatened. But Orre doesn't have a guardian, at least not one in temporal synchronicity with us. So here we are, rolling up our sleeves."
She mimicked the gesture with both hands, though her arms were mostly bare. She got the message across in any case.
"What's going on?" he asked. "No one in command knows. They just know we have to get everyone out, and stop it from spreading."
She shook her head sharply. "We don't either. I've focused most of my energy on Kanto these last twenty years. Guess I'm not much better than the older ones. Tunnel vision." She laughed nervously, but the soldier didn't seem to understand. Besides, they both had work to do.
"Can you tell me where is the most dangerous? I only heard about all this on the news. My satellite is being extremely disagreeable lately, and only tells me things we don't want to know. Where are these shadow Pokémon most concentrated?"
"I shouldn't—" he began. But at one harsh glare from Elisa, he went on. "Mt. Battle," he said. "There's an old building there, used by the league while there was still one in Orre. That was where the outbreak started, everyone thinks. It would be suicide to go there."
"For you," Elisa said. "Probably not for us. You should meet some of Lane's friends. Big as houses, and half as smart."
No one laughed, certainly not Lane herself. Elisa wasn't wrong, but those Pokémon also couldn't be blamed for it. They had sacrificed themselves for the good of all life on the planet.
She reached into a pocket, removing a tourist map she'd printed before the trip. It showed the various areas of the small region, including Phenac City and Orre Colosseum.
She gestured at the mountain with her free hand. "Here?"
"Yes."
The ship began to rock and jostle as the crowd moved up the deck. The Thanatos was as big as any cruise ship, and it could probably fit a great number. But not all. It looked like half the region was here, fighting for space.
"I believe they'll need you too, Scottie Udar. Thanks for your help. My mom always tells me that humans are irrational and untrustworthy, but here you are. Thanks for being decent." She hopped up onto the railing.
In that instant, she transformed—her human features faded, and her body became much, much smaller. The world rose up around her, expanding until she was half of Elisa's size.
She'd get bigger, eventually. It was no fair the shaymin got to cheat with a flower. She didn't look back, just lifted into the air, cutting a glowing pink trail over the crowd. As she flew, Lane had to split her focus between a small satchel, the only thing she carried that was real.
Many years of practice had finally given her mastery over clothing when she took a human shape. But it was just an illusory thing, and she couldn't copy objects with any functional purpose. So she carried it, a little bag almost as big as she was.
Elisa caught up with her a few seconds later, shouting to her over the roar of wind. "You think it's good to show off like that? A hundred people are pointing at us."
"Good!" She didn't have to scream back, but sent the thought directly. "They need some good news."
Elisa didn't argue the point, and so they flew in silence for some time. Lane accelerated as she lifted higher. Partly that was about the view, so Lane could see the full scope of the devastation below.
As soon as she did, she wished she hadn't.
Orre was one of the smaller and more sparsely-settled regions of her planet, with a population of less than a million humans. Of course that meant more wild Pokémon, which in this case was not an advantage. This strange mental infection appeared to target wild Pokémon far more easily than humans, or even trained ones.
The devastation was obvious the higher she flew. Whole patches of forest were charred away, while the sound of battle echoed in her ears. She focused on a single instance of the strange effect, a nearby pidgeot flying all on its own. Strange to see it separated from its flock.
That would be weird enough, but the bird also looked so unhealthy. Its feathers protruded at random in all directions, with several broken or bleeding. It looked like it was struggling to fly, flapping far harder than it should. Yet it kept flying, apparently oblivious.
Elisa didn't have the same psychic senses that Lane did, but he was still powerful in his own right. If anything, the sky forme shaymin would be more useful in a fight than she was. It helped when so much of his abilities came by instinct, instead of training. But while his power was great, his versatility was less so. "We getting closer?"
She nodded, angling down over the bird from above. There was one important factor left to test, before they could land in the old league building. "Hey!" Lane shouted, more mentally than physically. That made crossing the distance far easier. "Pidgeot! Are you okay?"
Of course Pokémon language wasn't nearly as structured as what humans used. But Lane had communicated with them long enough that she had adapted, interpreting everything they said in the closest approximation.
This one turned on her instantly, its eyes wide and bloodshot. She reached for its mind, attempting to read its intentions before it even spoke.
She felt nothing. It was a direct contradiction given what was before her—she could see the pain on its face, the anger and confusion all swirling together. But its mind was a mask to her, like the most powerful legendaries. Even Mewtwo usually let more through than that.
"We're trying to help you," Elisa added. "You're obviously in pain. Tell us how to help."
The creature spun on them, shifting into a rapid upward climb, wings beating aggressively. Then it screamed. There were no words in that shout, no real meaning. It was just an agonized, painful shout. Lane felt its fury, and raw, homicidal intent.
We can't reason with this. "I thought... normal Pokémon weren't supposed to attack us?" Elisa sagged, slowing slightly to watch the attacking Pokémon approach. It flew on despite obvious, overwhelming exhaustion. By the time it reaches us it will barely even be in the air anymore.
Lane lifted higher, angling herself sharply upward. Her powers were not affected by air-resistance or wind speed in the same way as a bird using ordinary principles of aerodynamics. Levitating upward took little energy once she overcame gravity. But the bird just grew increasingly exhausted.
"What about your psychic stuff?" Elisa glided in close, but couldn't stay on one stationary path. Where the shaymin couldn't hover, he circled, turning in tight loops around Lane. Protective little bugger, even if he wouldn't admit it. "What's wrong with it?"
Lane concentrated one more time, focusing all her energy on the creature's mind. She didn't expect anything terribly complex or focused. How could it possibly be resisting her?
She fought so hard Lane started to sag, slowing as her little shield against air-resistance started to buckle and falter, making her flop sideways and spiral in the air. If she pushed a little further...
The Pokémon screamed again, unleashing a blast of force with its wings. The gust sent Lane tumbling wildly through the air, looping in painful arcs with her tail whipping in each one.
Elisa rushed off to catch her, trailing along beside her before rising beneath her, catching Lane on his back.
Lane looked up, grinning weakly at him. "I got it. There's something... artificial. Like they've been brainwashed. There's a repeating pattern there. I couldn't get a good look, but it's there. Overpowering the mind underneath."
Elisa made no pretext of letting the bird keep up with them, but accelerated in a sharp burst of speed, dropping into the clouds to obscure their passage. Lane clung to him, letting the comfort of his familiar scent overpower her disorientation. It helped. "What do we do about it?"
"There's probably a way to reverse it. A... counterprogramming. I need to find the source, study it. If I can't figure it out from there, smarter Pokémon probably could."
"Guess we have to go to that mountain," Elisa said, glum. "More being underground. Fantastic. You owe me when this is over, Lane. I dunno what, but you owe me."
She sat up, shaking off the effects of the attack. A little burst of air wasn't going to harm a Pokémon as strong as she was, not from that distance. But it still left her head spinning.
"Sure, Elisa. Whatever you want, as soon as Orre is safe."