Wakeful - Part 2
by Goz
Disclaimer: I own some merchandise. But I don't own any of the characters or anything...
-
Part 2: Very Good at Finding Things
-
*Uh... I guess. What did you want to know?* Mew was drifting off, looking distracted. Fess crossed her arms and dropped to the ground - several odd-looking rocks appeared next to her, and Mew turned around, alert again. Fess ignored them. "What attacks d'ya know?"
*All of them.* He sounded smug.
"What, ya used Mimic on Sketch, or somethin' like Metronome?" He blinked and shook his head.
**What?* Well, I guess that could work - maybe... Like Metronome. That other one would take a *really* long time,* he added thoughtfully.
"'kay. What happened ta Mewtwo after 'e ran away from Team Rocket?"
*He - but -* Mew broke off in confusion, scratching one ear. *I thought - I guess Mr. Ketchum must have decided not to tell anyone,* he finished, sounding puzzled.
"First time fer everythin'. But what happened that he'd want ta?" Mew looked irritated and slightly ashamed. *Well, Mewtwo - wasn't quite mentally stable, and tried to - well, take over the world, I think. And there was some fighting. But he seems to be okay now. I haven't spoken to him since.*
"Sounds pretty borin' - hold it, were Brock an' Misty wit' Ketchum then? When was this?"
*The Gym Leaders? Yes. It was about seven years ago. When there was that big storm - the first one, before the one with the birds.*
"Nope. Yer makin it up. No way." Fess crossed her arms, eyes narrow. Mew looked offended.
*I am *not*. Why do you say *that*?*
"Nope. Brock can't keep a secret. No *possible* way that's true." Mew's tail twitched. Fess went on doggedly. "He talks 'bout giant Gengars, Alakazams, an' Jigglypuffs, canyons've Aerodactyls and Omanytes, and Ghastlies pretendin' ta be human ghosts. No way he'd leave that out."
"It's true! I was *there*,* he insisted. *But -* He frowned and fell silent. *...I didn't think he'd *brainwash* them.* Mew sounded mildly appalled. Then he shook off the startlement and finished. *I assume Mewtwo erased their memories so no one would know he was still alive.*
"Oh, yeah. Takes a lotta effort ta brainwash *Ketchum*." Fess stood up, apparently satisfied with this explanation. Mew shook his head again, puzzled.
*How do you know him?*
"Muh brother's Brock, th' Pewter Gym Leader." Mew blinked again. "Doesn' have the longest attention span in th' world, but he wouldn't jus' get distracted an' forget he'd seen Mewtwo, Mew, an' whatever else was there."
*Whoever,* Mew corrected irascibly. *Is that what you wanted to know? I need to be going someplace.*
"One last thing -" Fess drew out her Pokedex and brought up the map. "D'ya know where Natus live?" He tapped a spot to the north of Violet City with his tail. *A flock goes to the little lake there every summer. *Anything else?** he asked heavily sarcastically.
"Nope. Thanks. Have fun destroyin' human civilization."
*I'm *not*!* Mew snapped furiously, vanishing too quickly to have taken his tail out of contact with the Pokedex. This was not a well thought-out expression of anger.
Fess smirked and tapped something out on the Pokedex. Pry appeared in front of her. "Ya get where he went from that?"
"YES." Pry projected anything she wanted to say in the air - Fess deliberately misunderstood Pokemon speech too much. "NEAR CIANWOOD. WHY DO YOU WANT TO FOLLOW?"
"Jus' curious." Fess held up the TM - 30A. "Ya still want this?" Pry bobbed. "YES YES."
"You'll be able ta use it right 'way, or ya hafta take a while ta install it?"
"0.014 SECONDS."
"Tha's good." Fess opened the TM a few inches in front of Pry, forcing her to dive into the flow.
"JERK JERK. YOU COULD HAVE WASTED WASTED IT."
"Yer that slow?"
"NO NO."
"Is 0.014 seconds up?"
"YES. YOU KNOW, KWA WILL BE MAD MAD."
"That's his problem. Ya kin tell him all 'bout what happened, 'kay?" Fess suggested quietly as she climbed a boulder, surveying the area casually. Here was a giant, boulder-filled chamber of a cave, with the smell of deep underground in the air. Fess couldn't see the ceiling, despite Pry's dim illumination. "Whatsit wit' caves and forests? Isn't there anything else in th' world?"
"SOMETIMES ABANDONED BUILDINGS. QUICK QUICK GET DOWN!" Pry interrupted herself just as Fess finished reading the last word. She was beeping urgently, and Fess obeyed, ducking into a crevice between two rocks. "ANGRY TIRED FEAROW WITH LIGHT AROUND NECK COMING HERE. WITH TRAINER. HUMAN IS ADULT, THINK MALE -" Pry was still beeping, and Fess whacked her gently.
"I kin see 'em. Calm down," Fess muttered, watching carefully from her post beneath the rock. The Fearow was zooming through the cave, holding someone she couldn't quite see. "Real brilliant, Fearows in here."
"HE WANT GO FAST. GOSH, WONDER WHY?"
There was a small flash of light - just possibly a Poke Ball capturing something - somewhere to the right. "Meeew -"
"THAT *COULD* BE IT, I GUESS."
"Fearow, return!" snapped a loud voice, echoing through the cavern. Fess heard heavy breathing and the sound of someone struggling across the rocks. A flickering flashlight beam was roving across the cavern. The guy shouted a curse, and apparently gave up and sat down. There was a pause.
"You - are - *really* getting on my nerves -" he growled haltingly. Fess heard the faint sound of a drawstring, then someone fumbling through a backpack. She sat very quietly, waiting.
Fess hadn't realized Pry had gone anywhere, but a black Porygon 2 zoomed into her face, and Fess batted her away startledly. "HE SLEEPING. LEAVE, STEAL MASTER BALL, OR WHAT?"
"Think carefully, brilliant."
-
The most important feature of Master Balls was that it was somehow impossible to use attacks from within them. Mew could scratch and kick at the inside as much as space would allow, but any attempt to say, use Hyper Beam on the latch would result in nothing but an eventual headache if he kept trying too long. He couldn't even use Transform. The implications of that as it applied to Pokemon in general were very disturbing - *A machine can turn off our inherent abilities? What does that *make* us?*
This only made being inside the things more miserable, as he had little else to think about. Yes, of course he would escape eventually - as soon as Talbot let him out, generally within a day, he would just teleport away before the madman could try anything. He always did. That idiot Hypno wasn't fast enough to stop him, and there was *no* chance that Mew would feel any kind of fringe loyalty to Talbot. He'd *told* Jiraldan that his protege couldn't be trusted. But Jiraldan, educated as he was, still treasured the philosophy that Pokemon were fundamentally inferior to humans, simply because humans couldn't be caught in Poke Balls. So he hadn't listened on the only *important* thing.
Jiraldan hadn't been a bad person - he had just had some curious blind spots that had even begun to heal up. Talbot was a bad person. And Mew just didn't know what to do about him. Mew abhorred brainwashing - the realization that Mewtwo had done it had been a painful blow - and *killing* Talbot... No, out of the question. Though maybe he could just accidentally mention the crazed psychic's usual haunts to someone without such scruples... Entei and Suicune, who'd be thrilled to have something *constructive* and violent to do and would go along because she felt sorry for Mew, respectively, or Articuno, who was on the move a lot more than she admitted...
No. It was wrong... Articuno wouldn't do it, anyway -
*click*
"Hey, hold it a sec -" Mew was already halfway around the world before it registered that he hadn't seen Talbot anywhere - just that weirdo, Fess.
He paused, absently putting up a Light Screen - he'd somehow managed to land in the middle of a Beedrill hive, and their immediate reaction to anything was attack.
"Drrrrrrilllllll!" *wham, wham, wham*
Was this a trick?
"Beeeeeeedrrrrrill!" *pound, pound, scrape, pound*
Maybe she was just there to distract him for a second while Talbot tried an attack from behind or something.
*WHAM scratch*
"Mew mewmew mew mew? Mew mewmewmew mewmew." *Would you guys calm down? I'll leave in a second.* He didn't like making rushed decisions.
*WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM*
Pity he never made any other kind. If she wasn't working for Talbot, she might leave if he didn't go back soon - *Well - I'll hide in a tree and check. It can't hurt anything. Okay, so yes, it can, but - augh.*
"Well, whadja know? Emails from Ted, Meggie, Mack, Ted, Mack, Meggie, Meggie, Ted, Mack, Mack, Mack, Meggie, Ted - gonna hafta have a talk wit' Ted 'bout this, huh?"
"WHY?"
"Always sayin' he just likes ta *act* important. Now he's givin' Master Balls ta some nutter who goes 'round catchin' Legend'ry Pokemon. Howzat for a wannabe?"
"TED IS LIAR LIAR LIAR. ALWAYS."
"Now, now, that ain't nice fer the guy who gave ya yer Up-Grade."
"SO?"
"Why you - you *meanie*. Hey, I wonder if Ted really found the thing in a box in a secret chamber in Mt. Moon while he was chasin' down th' guy who stole his Steel-type Lapras that died in an accident involvin' a flock of Psyducks, like he said, or if he jus' bought it from Mack, an' if that's the pink thing in that tree over there?" Mew paused for a moment to decode that, then teleported away again. *Okay, so I'm "the pink thing" now - whoa.*
*Did you steal his Pokedex?* Mew demanded, stunned. Fess waved him away, smirking. "Nope. Stole his right parietal lobe -"
*You really ought to give that back,* said Mew nervously, calculating how far this was from Talbot. Only about a hundred eighty miles - he'd have to get out of the cave first -
"Yeah? Why? He's got some interestin' stuff in here. Like someone sent 'im a recipe fer fried Mew -" Mew actually wouldn't be surprised if such a thing existed. Trainers should *not* have access to the internet.
*No. I am being serious. He can find you if have that.*
"Yeah? I don't think so. I kin fix it -"
"YOU MEAN *I* CAN."
"*Feh -*"
*No. I don't mean with some kind of computer thing.* Pry was projecting a complicated diagram in the air with a jargon-laden explanation scrolling along beneath it. *I mean - he's a psychic -* Mew felt his voice slipping and corrected it. *Talbot is very good at *finding* things. If he's seen something once, he'll always know where it is.* He paused to let the implications of that sink in.
"Mus' be easy ta find his wallet." Mew considered knocking her out. Fortunately she continued as though she had never made that infuriating observation. "How 'bout if I paint it funny colors? Or scratch it all up?"
*No. That wouldn't work. He still finds me when I'm using Transform.* He was relieved that she had supplied an excuse to skip the obvious, embarrassing questions.
"Hey, wait a second - ya mean he kin actually find *you*?" Fess's eyes were wide. Mew raked his small claws across his forehead. *Do you really need an answer to that, or shall I continue?*
"But I don' understaaaaand -"
*Oh, shut up. Yes, he can find me, I can't stop him. Thus, I suggest that you dispose of the Pokedex before you get killed?* he pleaded, refusing to say anything further on that topic.
"I'll think 'bout it. Howzit work? Can he find ya while yer still in a Poke Ball?"
*I refuse to say anything further on that topic.* And he didn't know the answer to that one. Pry, as was to be expected from a Porygon, was oblivious to Mew's discomfort about the situation.
"If you say so. Duz that mean he can find Master Balls, too? Like, all of 'em after seein' one?" Mew blinked. *Uh - yeah, actually. How did you know?* He didn't remember to think suspicious until she was halfway through her next statement.
"Just a guess. Some weirdo mention'd somethin' like that ta me." Hm? "Just wonderin', can you read his mind an' find out where stuff is, too?"
*No - that's the other problem. As far as psychics are concerned, he generally doesn't exist. Nothing works on him, unless he wants it to.* Talbot spoke very disparagingly of Sabrina, who had been frightened out of her wits when he had challenged her. *Who told you about -*
"Tha's *kinda* a *secret*."
*You were talking about someone named Ted. Theodore Corsica, in Pewter?*
"You little *spy*. I'm callin' the police. They arrested Zapdos fer invasion of privacy when 'e listened in on a couple kids talking 'bout double-A batteries in Vermilion, ya know." A cellular phone had melted out of Pry's side - Mew suspected that that Porygon quickly got annoying. He stayed silent. "Yeah, it's Ted," said Fess after a moment, without a change in tone. "He does have a bunch've Master Balls, but he's got 'em hidden. Don't go buggin' him," she added, holding up one hand warningly. "He can't be hypnotized. Got some kinda attention span mental problem."
Mew maintained his silence. He had known most of that, and was actually relieved by the last statement. He hadn't been able to hypnotize Mr. Corsica in the past - when the little Ghastly had materialized in his apartment at eight in the evening and tried to hypnotize him, Ted had just look irritated - and had worried that he might have Talbot's ability. The difference between the Hypnosis attack and the kind of hypnosis humans used was only willingness - in addition to being slow, the human technique couldn't be used on an unwilling subject. But someone *unable* to be hypnotized was out of *anyone's* reach.
"He might sell 'em to ya, though." Fess's expression was perpetually cheerful. "That's how I got mine, 'course."
Mew was taken aback. *I'm sure I could find them more easily...* Actually, he'd searched for Corsica's hiding place for a long time, but hadn't found any sign of it anywhere near Pewter.
"They're not in Pewter. His Abra Teleports 'im to wherever he keeps 'em, and he only sells 'bout one a year."
*...I guess that's about right...*
"'course it is. Ya ever know me ta be wrong?"
*...* Mew was beginning to suspect that the only way to maintain one's dignity around this person was not to talk. Fess crossed her arms, waiting patiently. *...what would he want for them?*
"I gave him six TM 31's fer one. And it was a special one-day deal, jus' fer me." Mew ignored the editorial. *I'm not asking that poor Eevee to do anything else - I already sent a message telling him he didn't need to worry about it... Maybe I could find an HM set someplace. I *knew* I should have taken the ones I saw in the Rocket HQ -* That seemed a lot longer ago than it really was.
*I'll think about it,* he said suddenly, shaking his head. He was uneasy about being this close to Talbot for so long. Fess shrugged and stood up, shouldering her backpack, and started to wander off. Pry followed her, projecting images of violent things happening to her trainer. Mew made ready to Teleport away.
"Heard somethin' funny the other day. They say that there's at least one rare Pokemon that hangs 'round Ecruteak City this time've year." Mew paused.
"Heard that only th' League Champion's allowed ta go near the tower, though. Too dangerous fer anyone else."
They left before he could. Maybe that was the point?
by Goz
Disclaimer: I own some merchandise. But I don't own any of the characters or anything...
-
Part 2: Very Good at Finding Things
-
*Uh... I guess. What did you want to know?* Mew was drifting off, looking distracted. Fess crossed her arms and dropped to the ground - several odd-looking rocks appeared next to her, and Mew turned around, alert again. Fess ignored them. "What attacks d'ya know?"
*All of them.* He sounded smug.
"What, ya used Mimic on Sketch, or somethin' like Metronome?" He blinked and shook his head.
**What?* Well, I guess that could work - maybe... Like Metronome. That other one would take a *really* long time,* he added thoughtfully.
"'kay. What happened ta Mewtwo after 'e ran away from Team Rocket?"
*He - but -* Mew broke off in confusion, scratching one ear. *I thought - I guess Mr. Ketchum must have decided not to tell anyone,* he finished, sounding puzzled.
"First time fer everythin'. But what happened that he'd want ta?" Mew looked irritated and slightly ashamed. *Well, Mewtwo - wasn't quite mentally stable, and tried to - well, take over the world, I think. And there was some fighting. But he seems to be okay now. I haven't spoken to him since.*
"Sounds pretty borin' - hold it, were Brock an' Misty wit' Ketchum then? When was this?"
*The Gym Leaders? Yes. It was about seven years ago. When there was that big storm - the first one, before the one with the birds.*
"Nope. Yer makin it up. No way." Fess crossed her arms, eyes narrow. Mew looked offended.
*I am *not*. Why do you say *that*?*
"Nope. Brock can't keep a secret. No *possible* way that's true." Mew's tail twitched. Fess went on doggedly. "He talks 'bout giant Gengars, Alakazams, an' Jigglypuffs, canyons've Aerodactyls and Omanytes, and Ghastlies pretendin' ta be human ghosts. No way he'd leave that out."
"It's true! I was *there*,* he insisted. *But -* He frowned and fell silent. *...I didn't think he'd *brainwash* them.* Mew sounded mildly appalled. Then he shook off the startlement and finished. *I assume Mewtwo erased their memories so no one would know he was still alive.*
"Oh, yeah. Takes a lotta effort ta brainwash *Ketchum*." Fess stood up, apparently satisfied with this explanation. Mew shook his head again, puzzled.
*How do you know him?*
"Muh brother's Brock, th' Pewter Gym Leader." Mew blinked again. "Doesn' have the longest attention span in th' world, but he wouldn't jus' get distracted an' forget he'd seen Mewtwo, Mew, an' whatever else was there."
*Whoever,* Mew corrected irascibly. *Is that what you wanted to know? I need to be going someplace.*
"One last thing -" Fess drew out her Pokedex and brought up the map. "D'ya know where Natus live?" He tapped a spot to the north of Violet City with his tail. *A flock goes to the little lake there every summer. *Anything else?** he asked heavily sarcastically.
"Nope. Thanks. Have fun destroyin' human civilization."
*I'm *not*!* Mew snapped furiously, vanishing too quickly to have taken his tail out of contact with the Pokedex. This was not a well thought-out expression of anger.
Fess smirked and tapped something out on the Pokedex. Pry appeared in front of her. "Ya get where he went from that?"
"YES." Pry projected anything she wanted to say in the air - Fess deliberately misunderstood Pokemon speech too much. "NEAR CIANWOOD. WHY DO YOU WANT TO FOLLOW?"
"Jus' curious." Fess held up the TM - 30A. "Ya still want this?" Pry bobbed. "YES YES."
"You'll be able ta use it right 'way, or ya hafta take a while ta install it?"
"0.014 SECONDS."
"Tha's good." Fess opened the TM a few inches in front of Pry, forcing her to dive into the flow.
"JERK JERK. YOU COULD HAVE WASTED WASTED IT."
"Yer that slow?"
"NO NO."
"Is 0.014 seconds up?"
"YES. YOU KNOW, KWA WILL BE MAD MAD."
"That's his problem. Ya kin tell him all 'bout what happened, 'kay?" Fess suggested quietly as she climbed a boulder, surveying the area casually. Here was a giant, boulder-filled chamber of a cave, with the smell of deep underground in the air. Fess couldn't see the ceiling, despite Pry's dim illumination. "Whatsit wit' caves and forests? Isn't there anything else in th' world?"
"SOMETIMES ABANDONED BUILDINGS. QUICK QUICK GET DOWN!" Pry interrupted herself just as Fess finished reading the last word. She was beeping urgently, and Fess obeyed, ducking into a crevice between two rocks. "ANGRY TIRED FEAROW WITH LIGHT AROUND NECK COMING HERE. WITH TRAINER. HUMAN IS ADULT, THINK MALE -" Pry was still beeping, and Fess whacked her gently.
"I kin see 'em. Calm down," Fess muttered, watching carefully from her post beneath the rock. The Fearow was zooming through the cave, holding someone she couldn't quite see. "Real brilliant, Fearows in here."
"HE WANT GO FAST. GOSH, WONDER WHY?"
There was a small flash of light - just possibly a Poke Ball capturing something - somewhere to the right. "Meeew -"
"THAT *COULD* BE IT, I GUESS."
"Fearow, return!" snapped a loud voice, echoing through the cavern. Fess heard heavy breathing and the sound of someone struggling across the rocks. A flickering flashlight beam was roving across the cavern. The guy shouted a curse, and apparently gave up and sat down. There was a pause.
"You - are - *really* getting on my nerves -" he growled haltingly. Fess heard the faint sound of a drawstring, then someone fumbling through a backpack. She sat very quietly, waiting.
Fess hadn't realized Pry had gone anywhere, but a black Porygon 2 zoomed into her face, and Fess batted her away startledly. "HE SLEEPING. LEAVE, STEAL MASTER BALL, OR WHAT?"
"Think carefully, brilliant."
-
The most important feature of Master Balls was that it was somehow impossible to use attacks from within them. Mew could scratch and kick at the inside as much as space would allow, but any attempt to say, use Hyper Beam on the latch would result in nothing but an eventual headache if he kept trying too long. He couldn't even use Transform. The implications of that as it applied to Pokemon in general were very disturbing - *A machine can turn off our inherent abilities? What does that *make* us?*
This only made being inside the things more miserable, as he had little else to think about. Yes, of course he would escape eventually - as soon as Talbot let him out, generally within a day, he would just teleport away before the madman could try anything. He always did. That idiot Hypno wasn't fast enough to stop him, and there was *no* chance that Mew would feel any kind of fringe loyalty to Talbot. He'd *told* Jiraldan that his protege couldn't be trusted. But Jiraldan, educated as he was, still treasured the philosophy that Pokemon were fundamentally inferior to humans, simply because humans couldn't be caught in Poke Balls. So he hadn't listened on the only *important* thing.
Jiraldan hadn't been a bad person - he had just had some curious blind spots that had even begun to heal up. Talbot was a bad person. And Mew just didn't know what to do about him. Mew abhorred brainwashing - the realization that Mewtwo had done it had been a painful blow - and *killing* Talbot... No, out of the question. Though maybe he could just accidentally mention the crazed psychic's usual haunts to someone without such scruples... Entei and Suicune, who'd be thrilled to have something *constructive* and violent to do and would go along because she felt sorry for Mew, respectively, or Articuno, who was on the move a lot more than she admitted...
No. It was wrong... Articuno wouldn't do it, anyway -
*click*
"Hey, hold it a sec -" Mew was already halfway around the world before it registered that he hadn't seen Talbot anywhere - just that weirdo, Fess.
He paused, absently putting up a Light Screen - he'd somehow managed to land in the middle of a Beedrill hive, and their immediate reaction to anything was attack.
"Drrrrrrilllllll!" *wham, wham, wham*
Was this a trick?
"Beeeeeeedrrrrrill!" *pound, pound, scrape, pound*
Maybe she was just there to distract him for a second while Talbot tried an attack from behind or something.
*WHAM scratch*
"Mew mewmew mew mew? Mew mewmewmew mewmew." *Would you guys calm down? I'll leave in a second.* He didn't like making rushed decisions.
*WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM*
Pity he never made any other kind. If she wasn't working for Talbot, she might leave if he didn't go back soon - *Well - I'll hide in a tree and check. It can't hurt anything. Okay, so yes, it can, but - augh.*
"Well, whadja know? Emails from Ted, Meggie, Mack, Ted, Mack, Meggie, Meggie, Ted, Mack, Mack, Mack, Meggie, Ted - gonna hafta have a talk wit' Ted 'bout this, huh?"
"WHY?"
"Always sayin' he just likes ta *act* important. Now he's givin' Master Balls ta some nutter who goes 'round catchin' Legend'ry Pokemon. Howzat for a wannabe?"
"TED IS LIAR LIAR LIAR. ALWAYS."
"Now, now, that ain't nice fer the guy who gave ya yer Up-Grade."
"SO?"
"Why you - you *meanie*. Hey, I wonder if Ted really found the thing in a box in a secret chamber in Mt. Moon while he was chasin' down th' guy who stole his Steel-type Lapras that died in an accident involvin' a flock of Psyducks, like he said, or if he jus' bought it from Mack, an' if that's the pink thing in that tree over there?" Mew paused for a moment to decode that, then teleported away again. *Okay, so I'm "the pink thing" now - whoa.*
*Did you steal his Pokedex?* Mew demanded, stunned. Fess waved him away, smirking. "Nope. Stole his right parietal lobe -"
*You really ought to give that back,* said Mew nervously, calculating how far this was from Talbot. Only about a hundred eighty miles - he'd have to get out of the cave first -
"Yeah? Why? He's got some interestin' stuff in here. Like someone sent 'im a recipe fer fried Mew -" Mew actually wouldn't be surprised if such a thing existed. Trainers should *not* have access to the internet.
*No. I am being serious. He can find you if have that.*
"Yeah? I don't think so. I kin fix it -"
"YOU MEAN *I* CAN."
"*Feh -*"
*No. I don't mean with some kind of computer thing.* Pry was projecting a complicated diagram in the air with a jargon-laden explanation scrolling along beneath it. *I mean - he's a psychic -* Mew felt his voice slipping and corrected it. *Talbot is very good at *finding* things. If he's seen something once, he'll always know where it is.* He paused to let the implications of that sink in.
"Mus' be easy ta find his wallet." Mew considered knocking her out. Fortunately she continued as though she had never made that infuriating observation. "How 'bout if I paint it funny colors? Or scratch it all up?"
*No. That wouldn't work. He still finds me when I'm using Transform.* He was relieved that she had supplied an excuse to skip the obvious, embarrassing questions.
"Hey, wait a second - ya mean he kin actually find *you*?" Fess's eyes were wide. Mew raked his small claws across his forehead. *Do you really need an answer to that, or shall I continue?*
"But I don' understaaaaand -"
*Oh, shut up. Yes, he can find me, I can't stop him. Thus, I suggest that you dispose of the Pokedex before you get killed?* he pleaded, refusing to say anything further on that topic.
"I'll think 'bout it. Howzit work? Can he find ya while yer still in a Poke Ball?"
*I refuse to say anything further on that topic.* And he didn't know the answer to that one. Pry, as was to be expected from a Porygon, was oblivious to Mew's discomfort about the situation.
"If you say so. Duz that mean he can find Master Balls, too? Like, all of 'em after seein' one?" Mew blinked. *Uh - yeah, actually. How did you know?* He didn't remember to think suspicious until she was halfway through her next statement.
"Just a guess. Some weirdo mention'd somethin' like that ta me." Hm? "Just wonderin', can you read his mind an' find out where stuff is, too?"
*No - that's the other problem. As far as psychics are concerned, he generally doesn't exist. Nothing works on him, unless he wants it to.* Talbot spoke very disparagingly of Sabrina, who had been frightened out of her wits when he had challenged her. *Who told you about -*
"Tha's *kinda* a *secret*."
*You were talking about someone named Ted. Theodore Corsica, in Pewter?*
"You little *spy*. I'm callin' the police. They arrested Zapdos fer invasion of privacy when 'e listened in on a couple kids talking 'bout double-A batteries in Vermilion, ya know." A cellular phone had melted out of Pry's side - Mew suspected that that Porygon quickly got annoying. He stayed silent. "Yeah, it's Ted," said Fess after a moment, without a change in tone. "He does have a bunch've Master Balls, but he's got 'em hidden. Don't go buggin' him," she added, holding up one hand warningly. "He can't be hypnotized. Got some kinda attention span mental problem."
Mew maintained his silence. He had known most of that, and was actually relieved by the last statement. He hadn't been able to hypnotize Mr. Corsica in the past - when the little Ghastly had materialized in his apartment at eight in the evening and tried to hypnotize him, Ted had just look irritated - and had worried that he might have Talbot's ability. The difference between the Hypnosis attack and the kind of hypnosis humans used was only willingness - in addition to being slow, the human technique couldn't be used on an unwilling subject. But someone *unable* to be hypnotized was out of *anyone's* reach.
"He might sell 'em to ya, though." Fess's expression was perpetually cheerful. "That's how I got mine, 'course."
Mew was taken aback. *I'm sure I could find them more easily...* Actually, he'd searched for Corsica's hiding place for a long time, but hadn't found any sign of it anywhere near Pewter.
"They're not in Pewter. His Abra Teleports 'im to wherever he keeps 'em, and he only sells 'bout one a year."
*...I guess that's about right...*
"'course it is. Ya ever know me ta be wrong?"
*...* Mew was beginning to suspect that the only way to maintain one's dignity around this person was not to talk. Fess crossed her arms, waiting patiently. *...what would he want for them?*
"I gave him six TM 31's fer one. And it was a special one-day deal, jus' fer me." Mew ignored the editorial. *I'm not asking that poor Eevee to do anything else - I already sent a message telling him he didn't need to worry about it... Maybe I could find an HM set someplace. I *knew* I should have taken the ones I saw in the Rocket HQ -* That seemed a lot longer ago than it really was.
*I'll think about it,* he said suddenly, shaking his head. He was uneasy about being this close to Talbot for so long. Fess shrugged and stood up, shouldering her backpack, and started to wander off. Pry followed her, projecting images of violent things happening to her trainer. Mew made ready to Teleport away.
"Heard somethin' funny the other day. They say that there's at least one rare Pokemon that hangs 'round Ecruteak City this time've year." Mew paused.
"Heard that only th' League Champion's allowed ta go near the tower, though. Too dangerous fer anyone else."
They left before he could. Maybe that was the point?