Chapter 5

When Mewtwo woke up to his alarm at 5:00PM, he could hear Misty shuffling about in the kitchen. He rolled onto his back and replayed the events of last night. The girl he rescued was terrified of Team Rocket, and Mewtwo had the impression at the time that she wasn't too sure about him either.

The girl could wake up any time now, so when she did, Mewtwo felt it was best for him to be in his human form—at least until he knew he could trust her.

As Mewtwo was getting dressed, he glanced at his human form in the mirror. Looking back at him was a man in his mid-twenties, with shaggy, light-brown hair, tan skin, and violet eyes. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get the eyes to change; if a person looked close enough, they would even notice the cat-like pupils. Mew said it was normal that something from his true form would remain—like an anchor of sorts.

Mewtwo left his room—wearing a gray T-shirt and blue jeans—and entered the living room to check on the girl. Her breathing was normal now, and her face was relaxed, as she lay semi-curled facing the fireplace.

Not wanting to disturb the girl, Mewtwo entered the kitchen. He saw Misty standing over the sink, holding a piece of fabric with some tweezers in one hand, and a lighter in another.

"What are you doing?" Mewtwo asked.

"Not trying to burn the place down, if that's what you think." Misty answered humorously, "Come over here and look at this."

She appeared to be burning the piece of fabric, holding it under the lighter's flame. But when Mewtwo took a closer look, he realised that the fabric was not blackening or setting fire at all, "Did that come off her clothes?"

"Yeah, I was curious," Misty explained, "You told me that she has some fire type abilities, and judging from the photos I saw of the scorch marks in the forest, I began to wonder how her clothes weren't incinerated while she was running from Team Rocket."

"There's an image," Mewtwo commented dryly.

Misty half-scowled at him, "Anyways, she must be emitting some pretty powerful flames if she can burn this. It doesn't matter how long I hold this little piece under the lighter, I don't think a Charmander could even make a mark if it tried."

Mewtwo looked back towards the living room, "Have you checked her temperature recently?"

"Yeah, she's at 109 degrees Fahrenheit now," Misty answered, putting down the lighter and tweezers, "What kind of thermometer do you have? It's alerting me to take her to a hospital."

"That was a program I put into it myself," Mewtwo answered, "It helped while I was learning the normal body temperatures of humans and various pokemon."

"Well, let's set it to a Charizard reading or something." Misty said. When Mewtwo shook his head, she lifted an eyebrow, " Why not?"

"Because it's pointless now, I know what all the temperatures are supposed to be. That program was an assist, and I don't need it anymore, I plan to take it out next chance I get."

"Well, as long as you get it's infernal beeping to stop," Misty said as she headed into the living room.

Mewtwo looked into the sink at the piece of fabric; he'd have to examine it downstairs in his lab to see what it was made of. He looked up when he heard Misty gasp, "Matthew! She's starting to wake up!"

Mewtwo left the kitchen and entered the living room to see the girl's eyes flickering open. Her unfocused gaze found Misty first, who was kneeling in front of her, "Who are—wh-where am I?" She started looking around the room nervously, and she spotted Mewtwo standing at her feet.

"It's okay, you're safe," Misty said placing her hand over the girl's reassuringly, "My name is Misty, I'm the Cerulean Gym Leader, and this is my friend, Matthew, he found you on the mountain, running from Team Rocket. He rescued you and brought you here to his house."

"Team Rocket?" She asked. It didn't sound as though she remembered anything, but from the way her eyes became more focused and a look of fear showed on her face, it was all starting to come back. Quickly, she jerked her hand away from Misty, suddenly afraid of her.

Misty appeared stunned by the sudden distrust, but she continued, "Can you tell us your name?" She asked softly.

"No, I-I can't," the girl answered.

"Do you not remember?" Mewtwo asked, the girl's eyes flashed fearfully over at him; her irises were almost a flaming red color.

She doesn't trust us, Mewtwo heard Misty say in his head.

Mewtwo left to get some tea with honey for the girl. He returned to the living room a minute later, setting the mug on the coffee table in front of the sofa facing the fireplace. "Let's sit you up, the tea should help you warm up faster internally."

As Mewtwo began to help her sit up, Misty left to get another blanket to drape over her shoulders. That was when the girl became aware of her missing clothes, quickly wrapping herself in the blanket as her face reddened and she glared at Mewtwo accusingly. That's one way to return color to her cheeks, Mewtwo thought.

Misty jumped to his defense before the awkward situation dragged out too long, "He had to remove your clothes; not doing so would've made your condition worse."

"Besides, I saw nothing," Mewtwo added matter-of-factly. Misty seemed to resist the urge to face-palm. Attempting to escape the uncomfortable moment, Mewtwo grabbed the steaming mug on the table and offered it to the girl. She eyed it suspiciously, not even making a move to take it, "You must drink it, this will help your body temperature return to normal." Still, she no move for it.

"Give it here," Misty said, holding out her hand. Mewtwo handed the mug to her and both he and the girl watched as Misty pulled out the teabag, blew on it to cool and put it in her mouth. Pulling it back out, she said, "See? Nothing but tea." Misty held the mug out for the girl, and this time she took it.

Mewtwo made a face, "You could've just taken a sip from the mug."

"Yeah, well I only share the same cup with my sisters. At least she's drinking it now though, right?"

Mewtwo nodded in agreement and looked over at the girl while she sipped the tea. He had to get her to talk; he'd rather not resort to reading her mind just yet, "I saw those flames you were making last night," he said. The girl quickly turned her head to face him, terror in her eyes, so he added, "We are not Team Rocket, and you are safe from them now. Just tell us what happened."

"Please?" Misty asked, "If this is something that could endanger a lot of people and pokemon, then we need to know."

"I can't tell you anything!" the girl said, looking at Misty desperately, "If I do, then they'll—" she suddenly stopped herself. Avoiding both their gazes, she looked down at her mug, now holding it in her lap.

Mewtwo began to put a couple pieces together, "Does Team Rocket have someone else? Someone they could use against you if you revealed anything?" Tears began welling in the girls eyes, "My guess is, when you were running, the police was at the forefront of your thoughts, yes?" The girl nodded, so Mewtwo continued, "I may not wear a badge, but I'm pretty sure that if I did, and you spoke to me then, you're friend would be facing the same consequences, if not more dire."

"Matthew, that's a little harsh, don't you think?" Misty asked, a note of anger in her voice. Mewtwo looked over at Misty and nodded regretfully.

The girl's muscles relaxed, a look of defeat in her eyes. "It's true though," she said, her voice tightening. "But that's under the assumption that they aren't facing them already." With that said, whatever images were flying through her head at the moment, they were enough to make her eyes water and her face contort as she broke into sobs. Misty reached behind her to rub her back soothingly.

They… Mewtwo thought. Just how many innocent people are Team Rocket doing this to? He knew that if he or Misty asked her any questions now, she would answer them truthfully, but would she feel safe enough to give them the whole truth? If Mewtwo supposedly left to rescue these others that Team Rocket is torturing and experimenting on—quite possibly giving them unnatural powers as well—and this girl held anything back that could hinder his success…

Mewtwo stopped that thought, he would find out as much as he can, and if he felt he needed to know more, then he would just have to read her mind and deal with the consequences of his methods after her friends were safe.

He wanted to give her a chance though, but she was far too distraught now to tell her story accurately, so Mewtwo decided to give her time to get her thoughts together, "We're going to let you rest, it's obviously too soon to be asking you a long list of questions, or to be asking you to tell a long story," Mewtwo said. "So I'm just going to ask you two."

The girl glanced at him, her eyes sore and tears streaming down her face.

"Let's start with the easy one," Mewtwo said, "What's your name?"

"Vesta," she answered hesitantly.

Mewtwo could already tell something was held back in that answer; it was not her legal name, but it certainly was a name she called herself and answered to. 'Vesta' was the Roman equivalent of 'Hestia', goddess of the hearth, there's no coincidence in that. Either Team Rocket gave her that name out of arrogance, or giving herself a strong name such as that was how she was able to cope with the situation.

"Alright Vesta, second question," Mewtwo said, "I have already come to the realization that you have pokemon DNA in you, can you tell me what species of pokemon?"

There was a long pause. Vesta appeared to be warring with fear and the urge to just answer, because what difference would it make if it was a Charmander or a Magmar, other than the possibility of differing environmental conditions that she would need to live in?

Vesta took a deep breath and let it out to calm herself, and then she glanced over at Mewtwo and said in a low voice, "Moltres."