Wakeful - Part 5
by Goz
Disclaimer: I own some merchandise. But I don't own any of the characters or anything...
Notes: Yeah, over a year since the last chapter. Don't give me no lip.
I also changed a lot of Fess's dialogue in the older chapters to make her easier to understand - even I can't get through that slur now. I don't think I made any other changes, but you never know. Mew might have been Angemon before.
-
Part 5: Edges
-
Fess never expected much out of people, and her place in the world felt more secure when, when she told Ted she needed to talk to him in private, he made bad jokes loudly enough that the whole Poke Mart heard him.
Once in his office, he promptly dropped that persona for another. "Now, *what* is it you want? I assure you, I was not prophesying anything that involves you vitally earlier -" He acted nervous about something and kept slicking back his hair. It could have been just a new mannerism he'd adopted.
"Whatever. Know someone who wants ta buy yer Master Balls. Asked me ta find out how much ya want for 'em."
"All of them? Do you know how many that is?" He sounded incredulous, but Fess didn't dismiss it as hyperbole as easily as she might have. Theodore Corsica was obviously playing deeper games than Fess had thought - anyone whose name was known to a legendary Pokemon had to be.
"Not a clue. How much ya want?"
"I understand someone named Talbot has sworn to steal Kwa, does this have anything to do with that?"
"'f I said it wuz him -"
"No, no, it's obviously not him, he'd never hire someone for something he could do himself, especially not someone like you. Whatever "like you" is -" Ted accidentally clawed his ear, then looked wildly at the window to make sure the blinds were closed. "Who was it?"
"Prob'ly someone who don't care 'f anyone knows who they are. Just sent me 'cuz I'm so cute."
"It's rude to be sarcastic with a straight face. You are not helping your case at all." It may have been an accident that he was acting like Mew. Anyone nervous would seem like Mew to Fess just now.
"I got a case?"
"Something has gotten you so distracted that you are being insufficiently weird." Ted was trying to pace, but there were boxes in the way. "And furthermore it is too much of a coincidence that you've made an enemy of Talbot and are asking me this the day after the last Master Ball factory is destroyed -"
"The last what?"
Ted abruptly punched her in the eye, and she backed towards the door a pace. He stared at her irresolutely for a moment, then said in an intense voice, his eyes unfocused, "Damnit, you know where it was, you've probably been there hundreds of times, and furthermore I know exactly who you're doing this for. Did you think he was a secret? Tell him there's no charge as long as he waits at least a year to go after Maggie and Mack's hoardes - and as long as *you* make sure everyone knows *mine* is gone within a *month*!" Fess didn't say anything. "You're impossible! Tell him he's got my permission to root around in my head if he wants! I haven't got time for this, he - does Talbot still have any Master Balls, just tell me that!?"
Fess couldn't follow that jump in Ted's thoughts, so she answered as best she could. "I got one of 'em. Don't know if 'e has others."
"Okay. Maybe he does - you know all three of us make a policy of not selling a new Master Ball to someone who doesn't bring back the remains of the first one, don't you? Don't want any new dealers nosing in." He giggled. "Well, keep it mind while you're dealing with Talbot. You'll probably be able to do more with the information than I can right now, and listen, have you got any idea if this is going to be good enough for him?"
"Him" was said with an edge. "I gotta talk to him first. Gimme yer keys." Ted's eyes bulged slightly. He yanked a desk drawer open viciously and tossed them to her.
"Hurry."
Fess stuffed the keys into her pocket and left without another word.
Fess opened the basement door and stepped in. She waited a moment, then slapped her forehead exaggeratedly, and closed and locked it behind her. *Well?* asked the little voice edgily.
"How many Master Balls 's Talbot got right now?"
*Why?*
"Ted's losing 'is nerve an' wants outta the business. Afraid of Talbot and don't want to be around when he comes back fer more."
*...He's got one other. He usually only keeps one at a time - so I won't get a chance to destroy more than one at once - but for some reason he had a spare this time. You didn't give me a chance at it.* Mew sounded a little cranky. *What did Mr. Corsica say he wants?*
He hadn't grasped the meaning of what she'd said. "No charge. Jus' wants you to wait 'till everyone knows his stash is gone 'fore ya go after Maggie and Mack's. Afraid of them, too."
*...he already knew about me?* This did not, apparently, come as a total surprise to Mew.
"Yup."
*Okay, fine. Ask him where it is.*
"'kay. Yer welcome."
*...thank you!* he added as she opened the door.
When Fess reached for the map Ted had hastily drawn, he grabbed her arm and glared at her, demanding in a low voice, "And just what do you get out of this?" She shrugged and looked down at her wrist. Ted released it and dropped into his seat, burying his head in his hands. "Leave the keys with whoever's at the counter, okay?" he said in a strange voice.
Fess left quickly. "No problem."
-
Brock, Ash, and Misty talked a lot about training, something that bored Fess. She alternated between lagging behind and running ahead. She wasn't sure why they were walking to Ecruteak rather than driving - even Ash was nearly eighteen, surely *one* of them had their license. Not that Fess did, but then she couldn't see two Gym Leaders and half the League Champion hitchhiking. Even these Gym Leaders and this half.
That reminded her of the prime reason they should be hurrying. If Ketchum was so determined to catch this mysterious Pokemon, why was he giving Oak the chance to get there first? She was hazy about what sort of Pokemon Oak had, but was certain there was an Abra evolution in there somewhere. He could have teleported in and been scouting out Ecruteak for days. Ketchum wasn't a genius, but he couldn't be stupid enough that he hadn't thought of it. She was considering Teleporting ahead to check things out for herself when she heard Misty ask, crankily, "And you're sure you're not going to get in trouble for breaking his Alakazam's nose?"
"Nah, Professor Oak was watching, he said himself it was Alakazam's fault for misjudging his Teleport. Gary won't argue with *him*."
"You're positive he's still in Blackthorn?"
"Tracey's going to call when he leaves -"
"You don't have your *phone* with you."
"Yes, I - wait -" Fess swung her backpack off, patting the pocket her Pokedex was in.
*You had better not be thinking of having Pry teleport them -* Mew began, sounding nervous.
Fess hadn't been sure he was still there. "I'm gettin' th' drink Renee packed fer me out," she said quietly.
*...what?* Fess smirked and gestured vaguely back towards Pewter with the bottle. "'s Milktank milk. She's always givin' it ta me - thinks I've got a calcium deficiency."
*Oh.*
"You wan' it?" Fess caught a glimpse of something pink out of the corner of her eye.
There was a pause. *Okay. Thank you.* The bottle disappeared from her hand - the others didn't notice, occupied as they were in searching for a working cell phone - and Fess rolled her eyes.
*I am a cat. Cats drink milk,* said the disembodied voice defensively.
"Wasn't sure yuh ate 'tall." Apparently, Legendary Pokemon had some *practical* skills - he hadn't asked for help getting the lid off.
*People bring offerings to Moltres, Articuno, and Zapdos. And sometimes Celebi.*
"Duz the electric cat drink milk, too?"
The air wavered behind her again. Fess wasn't sure whether to classify it as a blush or a giggle. Either was depressing, she thought. *Uh... I don't think so. I think he just likes the Milktanks because they're quiet, and don't want to fight him.*
"Wouldn' think much would wanna fight 'im."
*Well, other Pokemon always want to beat Legendary Pokemon in battle - to brag about or something.* Mew sounded slightly embarrassed, for some weird reason. *I guess it's like you humans wanting to catch us,* he added blandly.
Fess ignored him. "All three're definitely gonna be there? Any of 'em ever skip out?"
*They'll all be there. Suicune gets distracted easily, but Entei's always with her, so none of them has ever missed yet.*
"I'm guessin' that there's gonna be people other'n Ketchum and Oak there."
Dead silence, then a little nervous sound somewhere nearby. *Why?*
"Ted made a joke 'bout falcons in their pride of place being killed by little hawks, or somethin'. Likes ta quote dramatic soundin' stuff. Prob'ly just wanted ta say it in front've Ketchum," she added.
*Then why do you think -*
Fess interrupted the frustrated inquiry with a wave of her hand. "Well, how's *Ted* find out anythin'? If he knows, other people gotta."
Mew was silent for a beat, then exploded, *Talbot had a spare Master Ball!*
"Yep," she said smugly. She'd been sure he'd find a reason to panic.
*Th-that's insane! If he can't handle *me* - if that Hypno - if *Suicune* - but if Raikou... *damn it*! I hate Talbot.*
Mew always spat out creepy-guy's name, wanting to get it over with quickly, but this time it came easily; his voice was distracted, a little wondering. His thoughts rose around Fess again.
- hundreds of years old, maybe thousands, and still he was able to hate people. It was disgusting. Why did *she* always have to be right? -
Fess was entirely unfamiliar with the emotions that "she" was charged with.
- She had said something else, though, something that was more important right now. It had been another line like, "Hate is all that keeps us moving," another idea that he had dismissed as manga-mad-cynic-prophet idiocy. If she was right - but she had also said he'd be coming to see her again soon. That was less than a year ago. Now would be soon, wouldn't it? Today? *Couldn't she have warned me ahead of time?! She's the only one who could get ahead of time, anyway...*
Sometimes he stopped worrying that the years had driven him insane, decided that self-consciousness was all the imbalance his little pink head had room for. But now again he was brought to the edge of something darker, something reeking and cold that sent him reeling away from the places in his ancient mind still left unmapped. She always took him there; a word from her was like the end of the world, or like the beginning, something he often felt so close to and that everyone thought she had seen, but neither ever dared speak of. *I don't *want* to see her...* -
Fess thought, *Hundreds of years old, maybe thousands, and he's still afraid of death.* She didn't like it.
- No, calm down. It was okay. In a cat's life there were fleas and there were dogs, and she was only one of the former - just bored, foul-mouthed little Celebi, sulking in the trees behind her single shrine in Ilex Forest, only appearing to those who were *interesting* enough to be worthy of being graced with her presence.
Fess decided that she liked that part. Mew's dark night of the soul receded as suddenly as it had come. *If she was lying...*
"'course I was. 'bout what?"
*I wasn't talking about you!... why *do* you keep lying, anyway?* he asked, in a tone close to the conversational.
"The best lie," she said cheerfully, "Is the one that's true."
*Oh, I'm the best lie? I'm flattered.*
"Oh, I ain't sure a' *that*. Maybe 'f I could get Ketchum ta become a Hare Krishna and bury ya alive wit' a couple purple Weedles an' a wood duck -"
*Shouldn't the best lie accomplish something?*
"A *true* liar lies fer the sake've the *art*." Despite his belittlement of the Guardian of the Forest, he was still having to work up his nerve to teleport. She glanced backward - two phones had surfaced, but so had four address books. Misty was hitting Ash with one of them.
*I see... What are they doing back there?*
"Lost Sketchit's phone number, an' Ketchum's fergot the phone 'e knows ta call."
*- So Oak might already be in Ecruteak?*
"Could be."
The air wavered somewhere off beside her; that worried him. It only made sense. Ketchum saw the good Pokemon, but he never caught them; Oak had never been given his chance. Fess doubted that he would blow it the way Ketchum had. Or she had, for that matter.
Fess had fooled around with a lot of things she shouldn't have, and she thought she could recognize a ruthless person. One thing she had in common with her brother and his friends, she'd discovered, was that she wasn't one. There were a couple people she thought might have killed her if they hadn't seen it. Oak, they wouldn't have let by so easily. Oak knew how to be ruthless. When he found something he wanted, or even something someone else wanted, he'd drop his moral baggage and take it. He was the one Mew needed to worry about.
Mew knew it, too. *- I think I'd better go and check,* he sighed. *Not that Entei and Suicune are likely to be there yet, but... Okay, could you please not - no, of course you couldn't. By all means, *do* drop hints, incite chaos, and generally entertain yourself. I'll be back in a couple of hours.*
Fess said, "No problem. Enjoy yerself."
Yes, she could tell when he was gone. It wasn't any sort of psychic thing; it was just the way things settle down when any jumpy guy goes outside to smoke. Nerves weren't an individual thing. They got into the air.
Misty was screaming now, and Ash was turning red. Fess got her Pokedex out and checked her address book - yep, at some point she'd put a number for Sketchit in there. She couldn't remember if she'd gotten around to whatever she'd planned for it - if she had, it wouldn't be good anymore. Idly, she pressed "Call."
It didn't even get a full ring in. "Hello, damnit?!"
Now, whatever could he be so worked up over? "This's Sketchit?"
"- yes -"
"The one wit' the hat wants you. Hold on." Yes, she would incite chaos, all right, she thought, running back towards the fight. What else did she ever do?
by Goz
Disclaimer: I own some merchandise. But I don't own any of the characters or anything...
Notes: Yeah, over a year since the last chapter. Don't give me no lip.
I also changed a lot of Fess's dialogue in the older chapters to make her easier to understand - even I can't get through that slur now. I don't think I made any other changes, but you never know. Mew might have been Angemon before.
-
Part 5: Edges
-
Fess never expected much out of people, and her place in the world felt more secure when, when she told Ted she needed to talk to him in private, he made bad jokes loudly enough that the whole Poke Mart heard him.
Once in his office, he promptly dropped that persona for another. "Now, *what* is it you want? I assure you, I was not prophesying anything that involves you vitally earlier -" He acted nervous about something and kept slicking back his hair. It could have been just a new mannerism he'd adopted.
"Whatever. Know someone who wants ta buy yer Master Balls. Asked me ta find out how much ya want for 'em."
"All of them? Do you know how many that is?" He sounded incredulous, but Fess didn't dismiss it as hyperbole as easily as she might have. Theodore Corsica was obviously playing deeper games than Fess had thought - anyone whose name was known to a legendary Pokemon had to be.
"Not a clue. How much ya want?"
"I understand someone named Talbot has sworn to steal Kwa, does this have anything to do with that?"
"'f I said it wuz him -"
"No, no, it's obviously not him, he'd never hire someone for something he could do himself, especially not someone like you. Whatever "like you" is -" Ted accidentally clawed his ear, then looked wildly at the window to make sure the blinds were closed. "Who was it?"
"Prob'ly someone who don't care 'f anyone knows who they are. Just sent me 'cuz I'm so cute."
"It's rude to be sarcastic with a straight face. You are not helping your case at all." It may have been an accident that he was acting like Mew. Anyone nervous would seem like Mew to Fess just now.
"I got a case?"
"Something has gotten you so distracted that you are being insufficiently weird." Ted was trying to pace, but there were boxes in the way. "And furthermore it is too much of a coincidence that you've made an enemy of Talbot and are asking me this the day after the last Master Ball factory is destroyed -"
"The last what?"
Ted abruptly punched her in the eye, and she backed towards the door a pace. He stared at her irresolutely for a moment, then said in an intense voice, his eyes unfocused, "Damnit, you know where it was, you've probably been there hundreds of times, and furthermore I know exactly who you're doing this for. Did you think he was a secret? Tell him there's no charge as long as he waits at least a year to go after Maggie and Mack's hoardes - and as long as *you* make sure everyone knows *mine* is gone within a *month*!" Fess didn't say anything. "You're impossible! Tell him he's got my permission to root around in my head if he wants! I haven't got time for this, he - does Talbot still have any Master Balls, just tell me that!?"
Fess couldn't follow that jump in Ted's thoughts, so she answered as best she could. "I got one of 'em. Don't know if 'e has others."
"Okay. Maybe he does - you know all three of us make a policy of not selling a new Master Ball to someone who doesn't bring back the remains of the first one, don't you? Don't want any new dealers nosing in." He giggled. "Well, keep it mind while you're dealing with Talbot. You'll probably be able to do more with the information than I can right now, and listen, have you got any idea if this is going to be good enough for him?"
"Him" was said with an edge. "I gotta talk to him first. Gimme yer keys." Ted's eyes bulged slightly. He yanked a desk drawer open viciously and tossed them to her.
"Hurry."
Fess stuffed the keys into her pocket and left without another word.
Fess opened the basement door and stepped in. She waited a moment, then slapped her forehead exaggeratedly, and closed and locked it behind her. *Well?* asked the little voice edgily.
"How many Master Balls 's Talbot got right now?"
*Why?*
"Ted's losing 'is nerve an' wants outta the business. Afraid of Talbot and don't want to be around when he comes back fer more."
*...He's got one other. He usually only keeps one at a time - so I won't get a chance to destroy more than one at once - but for some reason he had a spare this time. You didn't give me a chance at it.* Mew sounded a little cranky. *What did Mr. Corsica say he wants?*
He hadn't grasped the meaning of what she'd said. "No charge. Jus' wants you to wait 'till everyone knows his stash is gone 'fore ya go after Maggie and Mack's. Afraid of them, too."
*...he already knew about me?* This did not, apparently, come as a total surprise to Mew.
"Yup."
*Okay, fine. Ask him where it is.*
"'kay. Yer welcome."
*...thank you!* he added as she opened the door.
When Fess reached for the map Ted had hastily drawn, he grabbed her arm and glared at her, demanding in a low voice, "And just what do you get out of this?" She shrugged and looked down at her wrist. Ted released it and dropped into his seat, burying his head in his hands. "Leave the keys with whoever's at the counter, okay?" he said in a strange voice.
Fess left quickly. "No problem."
-
Brock, Ash, and Misty talked a lot about training, something that bored Fess. She alternated between lagging behind and running ahead. She wasn't sure why they were walking to Ecruteak rather than driving - even Ash was nearly eighteen, surely *one* of them had their license. Not that Fess did, but then she couldn't see two Gym Leaders and half the League Champion hitchhiking. Even these Gym Leaders and this half.
That reminded her of the prime reason they should be hurrying. If Ketchum was so determined to catch this mysterious Pokemon, why was he giving Oak the chance to get there first? She was hazy about what sort of Pokemon Oak had, but was certain there was an Abra evolution in there somewhere. He could have teleported in and been scouting out Ecruteak for days. Ketchum wasn't a genius, but he couldn't be stupid enough that he hadn't thought of it. She was considering Teleporting ahead to check things out for herself when she heard Misty ask, crankily, "And you're sure you're not going to get in trouble for breaking his Alakazam's nose?"
"Nah, Professor Oak was watching, he said himself it was Alakazam's fault for misjudging his Teleport. Gary won't argue with *him*."
"You're positive he's still in Blackthorn?"
"Tracey's going to call when he leaves -"
"You don't have your *phone* with you."
"Yes, I - wait -" Fess swung her backpack off, patting the pocket her Pokedex was in.
*You had better not be thinking of having Pry teleport them -* Mew began, sounding nervous.
Fess hadn't been sure he was still there. "I'm gettin' th' drink Renee packed fer me out," she said quietly.
*...what?* Fess smirked and gestured vaguely back towards Pewter with the bottle. "'s Milktank milk. She's always givin' it ta me - thinks I've got a calcium deficiency."
*Oh.*
"You wan' it?" Fess caught a glimpse of something pink out of the corner of her eye.
There was a pause. *Okay. Thank you.* The bottle disappeared from her hand - the others didn't notice, occupied as they were in searching for a working cell phone - and Fess rolled her eyes.
*I am a cat. Cats drink milk,* said the disembodied voice defensively.
"Wasn't sure yuh ate 'tall." Apparently, Legendary Pokemon had some *practical* skills - he hadn't asked for help getting the lid off.
*People bring offerings to Moltres, Articuno, and Zapdos. And sometimes Celebi.*
"Duz the electric cat drink milk, too?"
The air wavered behind her again. Fess wasn't sure whether to classify it as a blush or a giggle. Either was depressing, she thought. *Uh... I don't think so. I think he just likes the Milktanks because they're quiet, and don't want to fight him.*
"Wouldn' think much would wanna fight 'im."
*Well, other Pokemon always want to beat Legendary Pokemon in battle - to brag about or something.* Mew sounded slightly embarrassed, for some weird reason. *I guess it's like you humans wanting to catch us,* he added blandly.
Fess ignored him. "All three're definitely gonna be there? Any of 'em ever skip out?"
*They'll all be there. Suicune gets distracted easily, but Entei's always with her, so none of them has ever missed yet.*
"I'm guessin' that there's gonna be people other'n Ketchum and Oak there."
Dead silence, then a little nervous sound somewhere nearby. *Why?*
"Ted made a joke 'bout falcons in their pride of place being killed by little hawks, or somethin'. Likes ta quote dramatic soundin' stuff. Prob'ly just wanted ta say it in front've Ketchum," she added.
*Then why do you think -*
Fess interrupted the frustrated inquiry with a wave of her hand. "Well, how's *Ted* find out anythin'? If he knows, other people gotta."
Mew was silent for a beat, then exploded, *Talbot had a spare Master Ball!*
"Yep," she said smugly. She'd been sure he'd find a reason to panic.
*Th-that's insane! If he can't handle *me* - if that Hypno - if *Suicune* - but if Raikou... *damn it*! I hate Talbot.*
Mew always spat out creepy-guy's name, wanting to get it over with quickly, but this time it came easily; his voice was distracted, a little wondering. His thoughts rose around Fess again.
- hundreds of years old, maybe thousands, and still he was able to hate people. It was disgusting. Why did *she* always have to be right? -
Fess was entirely unfamiliar with the emotions that "she" was charged with.
- She had said something else, though, something that was more important right now. It had been another line like, "Hate is all that keeps us moving," another idea that he had dismissed as manga-mad-cynic-prophet idiocy. If she was right - but she had also said he'd be coming to see her again soon. That was less than a year ago. Now would be soon, wouldn't it? Today? *Couldn't she have warned me ahead of time?! She's the only one who could get ahead of time, anyway...*
Sometimes he stopped worrying that the years had driven him insane, decided that self-consciousness was all the imbalance his little pink head had room for. But now again he was brought to the edge of something darker, something reeking and cold that sent him reeling away from the places in his ancient mind still left unmapped. She always took him there; a word from her was like the end of the world, or like the beginning, something he often felt so close to and that everyone thought she had seen, but neither ever dared speak of. *I don't *want* to see her...* -
Fess thought, *Hundreds of years old, maybe thousands, and he's still afraid of death.* She didn't like it.
- No, calm down. It was okay. In a cat's life there were fleas and there were dogs, and she was only one of the former - just bored, foul-mouthed little Celebi, sulking in the trees behind her single shrine in Ilex Forest, only appearing to those who were *interesting* enough to be worthy of being graced with her presence.
Fess decided that she liked that part. Mew's dark night of the soul receded as suddenly as it had come. *If she was lying...*
"'course I was. 'bout what?"
*I wasn't talking about you!... why *do* you keep lying, anyway?* he asked, in a tone close to the conversational.
"The best lie," she said cheerfully, "Is the one that's true."
*Oh, I'm the best lie? I'm flattered.*
"Oh, I ain't sure a' *that*. Maybe 'f I could get Ketchum ta become a Hare Krishna and bury ya alive wit' a couple purple Weedles an' a wood duck -"
*Shouldn't the best lie accomplish something?*
"A *true* liar lies fer the sake've the *art*." Despite his belittlement of the Guardian of the Forest, he was still having to work up his nerve to teleport. She glanced backward - two phones had surfaced, but so had four address books. Misty was hitting Ash with one of them.
*I see... What are they doing back there?*
"Lost Sketchit's phone number, an' Ketchum's fergot the phone 'e knows ta call."
*- So Oak might already be in Ecruteak?*
"Could be."
The air wavered somewhere off beside her; that worried him. It only made sense. Ketchum saw the good Pokemon, but he never caught them; Oak had never been given his chance. Fess doubted that he would blow it the way Ketchum had. Or she had, for that matter.
Fess had fooled around with a lot of things she shouldn't have, and she thought she could recognize a ruthless person. One thing she had in common with her brother and his friends, she'd discovered, was that she wasn't one. There were a couple people she thought might have killed her if they hadn't seen it. Oak, they wouldn't have let by so easily. Oak knew how to be ruthless. When he found something he wanted, or even something someone else wanted, he'd drop his moral baggage and take it. He was the one Mew needed to worry about.
Mew knew it, too. *- I think I'd better go and check,* he sighed. *Not that Entei and Suicune are likely to be there yet, but... Okay, could you please not - no, of course you couldn't. By all means, *do* drop hints, incite chaos, and generally entertain yourself. I'll be back in a couple of hours.*
Fess said, "No problem. Enjoy yerself."
Yes, she could tell when he was gone. It wasn't any sort of psychic thing; it was just the way things settle down when any jumpy guy goes outside to smoke. Nerves weren't an individual thing. They got into the air.
Misty was screaming now, and Ash was turning red. Fess got her Pokedex out and checked her address book - yep, at some point she'd put a number for Sketchit in there. She couldn't remember if she'd gotten around to whatever she'd planned for it - if she had, it wouldn't be good anymore. Idly, she pressed "Call."
It didn't even get a full ring in. "Hello, damnit?!"
Now, whatever could he be so worked up over? "This's Sketchit?"
"- yes -"
"The one wit' the hat wants you. Hold on." Yes, she would incite chaos, all right, she thought, running back towards the fight. What else did she ever do?