Chapter 11: Watch and Watch Out
I sat down on the mat across from Tamara and her Espeon.
Leafeon walked in nervous circles around me.
I was the first, besides Tamara, to arrive. I sighed. It would probably take another fifteen minutes for everyone to gather.
Tamara and her Espeon both sat perfectly still with their eyes closed. It was best not to disturb them when they were meditating.
For a moment, I observed the room our meeting was to take place in. The austere room was shaped in a circle and had bare white walls with no windows. The plain door to my right was the only way to enter the room. Eight light blue mats lay on the wooden floor in a circle, only two of which were currently occupied.
The room was much too dull and lifeless, in my opinion. I wished for there to be at least one window, and maybe a cute potted plant…
I decided to meditate with Tamara.
I closed my eyes and whiffed the homely smell of wood. Sadly, the wood was dead.
I felt below the wood and took pleasure in the richness of the dirt. I silently shared my enjoyment of the dirt with the grass rooted just outside the room. I swayed in the wind with the blades and felt the warm kisses of the sun—
The door slammed.
My eyes flew open as I was jolted away from the grass blades.
Kyle looked at me apologetically as he entered the room. His Vaporeon, Tonsil, followed him in. He and Tonsil silently sat beside me.
I glanced at Tamara, but the older woman was still meditating.
Kyle shrugged and smiled at me, his deep blue eyes kindly questioning "How are you?"
I smiled back to indicate I was fine.
The door quietly creaked open as Nai and her Glaceon, Whisper, entered the bleak room. As always, she was frowning slightly and her grey eyes were cold and distant. She sat down next to Tamara and Whisper sat on her lap.
The sight of her next to Tamara made me chuckle. One looked angry and the other peaceful. It was amusing because the grey streaks in their hair made them look alike, though Tamara's grey was due to age and Nai's was probably because of her gift.
Nai glared at me when I chuckled. I swear the room temperature dropped five degrees.
It was ten minutes before anyone else entered the room. I was with the grass outside again when I heard a booming laugh. I checked my watch; they were late.
The door hurled open and in walked a cackling old man and an obnoxiously loud red head, Sparky and Aden respectively. Sparky's Jolteon, Sparkles, and Aden's Flareon, Eon, also entered.
"HELLO ALL!" Aden announced loudly. Sparky continued to laugh madly. Electricity made his grey hair stand straight up and every once in a while a spark would ripple across his body. These sparks were what earned him the nickname Sparky; his original name was Sam.
Tamara finally opened her eyes and scowled at the two gym leaders.
Aden smiled wickedly at Tamara and sat down next to Nai. Sparky sat in between Aden and me so I scooted my mat closer to Kyle, not wanting to accidently be shocked.
"So, what did you call this emergency meeting for?" Aden asked Tamara.
I rolled my eyes. As if he did not already know.
"We'll discuss it once everyone arrives," Tamara answered stiffly.
"But not everyone will be arriving!" Sparky yelled and then continued to chuckle under his breath. The old man scared me a bit.
Aden happily thumped Sparky on the back but then shook out his hand when he was shocked. Nai sneered at the two of them and then spoke: "Crazy has one thing right. One of our members will obviously not be coming. Why don't we just start and get this horrid thing over with?"
"We have to at least wait for the twins to arrive," Kyle reminded her.
"And how do you know both of them will be coming?" Nai asked spitefully.
"Tamara put out two mats," I said a matter-of-factly. Tamara smiled at me. Nai glared again.
Aden snorted. "Those two are always late. We could be here another hour before they show up!"
Just then, the twins, Dustin and Tali, entered the room, each holding an Eevee. Technically only Dustin was a gym leader, but because he did nearly everything with Tali, she was often included in our monthly meetings.
The twins, at age seventeen, were the second youngest current gym leaders of Acceber. The youngest was the reason this meeting had been called.
Dustin looked around the room, snickered, and sat down. Tali smiled mildly at me and then sat next to her brother. Their Eevees, Ray and Cassie, grinned at the other Eevee evolutions around the room. My Leafeon finally stopped pacing and sat by my knees.
For one moment the room was completely silent. Even Sparky had stopped laughing.
Then Tamara cleared her throat and spoke: "Before we get to the main issue of this emergency meeting, we must go through the traditional updates.
"In the past month, over one thousand different trainers have attempted to challenge at least one of us. Currently, there are a total of approximately fifteen thousand active trainers in Acceber. There are two new gifted trainers. One is Florence Traken, who has a weak rock gift. The other is Anita Parkwood, who has a strong psychic gift.
"Now for individual gym updates. Nai?"
"Only one individual has visited my gym this month. He lost, but I believe he will be attempting to beat me again soon, as he has not left my town," Nai answered.
Tamara nodded.
"Well, I haven't been successful as Nai here," Aden started. "Of course, I don't live on top of a mountain nobody can reach." Nai threw him a nasty glare. "I've had… oh, about twenty kids beat me this past month. Just two days ago, a kid named Jake Veneer whooped my butt."
Wow. I knew the boy was good, but that was fast. He had beaten two gym leaders in half of a week.
"Exactly twenty-seven children earned a badge from me," Sparky cackled. "Twenty-four of them had a ground type Pokemon though."
"Let's not make excuses," Tamara said dryly. "Find a way to win despite your weakness. I do."
The old man laughed. "All of Acceber is scared shitless of you, though."
"And they're not scared of you?" I murmured to Kyle.
It was my turn to speak. "I have been beaten by eighteen challengers this month. One of these challengers was Jake Veneer." I nodded to Aden. "Another was the gifted child, Anita Parkwood. I expect she'll be challenging one of you two—" I gestured to Sparky and Aden. "—relatively soon."
"Thirty challengers beat me this month. Especially noteworthy was Megan Dorin and Matthew Rowbean," Kyle pronounced clearly.
Tali did not say anything but looked expectantly at her brother.
"We've lost thirteen times this month," Dustin said. He frowned.
I sighed. He despised losing.
"I was beaten by four," Tamara stated. She looked at Kyle. "Megan Dorin was indeed noteworthy."
Dustin snickered.
Kyle calmly asked him, "Is something funny?"
"Just that you two found Megan to be some amazing trainer. Tali and I beat her and her friend easily."
"If you do not have any constructive criticism, say nothing at all," Tamara snapped.
"Someone's a sore loser," Dustin taunted.
Tamara glowered.
This could not be going anywhere good. I gave Dustin a reproachful look and interrupted their argument before things got out of control. "Can we get back to important matters?"
Tamara blinked. "Of course." She looked around at the Pokemon and thought to all of us, {Is there anything the Pokemon would like to add before we move on?}
The Pokemon shook their heads. That was usual. The Pokemon tended to only get involved when absolutely necessary. For the most part, they were just not interested in the politics that came with being a gym leader.
"Obviously there is one of us missing," Tamara began. "For the record, not one person beat him this month."
Dustin rolled his eyes and mocked, "For the record, nobody has ever beaten a Mendol." He gazed at Tamara slyly. "Not even you."
I stared harshly at Dustin. He was always causing trouble, but I had hoped he would tone down today. Luckily Tamara was taking it well. She ignored him.
Sparky's laughter grew louder.
Kyle cleared his throat. All eyes turned to him. "How do we know he is missing?"
"Let's see," Nai answered severely. "Maybe it's that nobody has seen or heard from him for the past four days."
Kyle shrugged. "He was never very sociable."
"I called him about every other day just to make sure he was alive. I can check up on any of you at any second, but not him," Tamara added. Dustin looked irked. He hated the fact that Tamara could watch any of us at any time. It didn't bother me much; in fact, I felt safer. Tamara continued, "Four days ago, the boy left a note on the gym door indicating that finding him was the new prelim for the gym. Since then, I have not been able to contact him."
"Has anybody else been able to contact him?" I asked. I looked pointedly at Dustin, as he was the only person I had ever seen the Mendol boy act semi-friendly toward.
Tamara looked around the room into the eyes of each individual. I knew she was sensing if we were hiding any information.
She looked into Dustin's golden brown eyes.
He sneered at her.
She looked harsher, and suddenly Dustin's expression became angry. "Stay out, Tamara," he warned.
"You spoke with him," Tamara said quietly.
"OUT!" Dustin yelled at her. "I can block you."
The air was still, full of silent tension.
Both Tamara and Dustin were concentrating intensely.
"STOP IT!" Tali yelled with such force that my eardrums hurt. She was the reason we always met in rooms without windows. Her gift gave her power over sound, and if she lost control of her emotions, windows often shattered.
Tamara, apparently, was shocked out of Dustin's mind with Tali's yell. She kept shaking her head.
"Keep out of my brother's head," Tali growled.
Tamara's eyes flickered to Tali for a moment and then returned to Dustin. "Would you like to inform us what he told you before he disappeared?"
"Not really," Dustin snickered.
"I wouldn't be pushing my luck, boy," Aden threatened. "You're in a room full of gifted gym leaders and their best Pokemon."
Dustin shrugged. "He only told me he had research to do and that he would be leaving for a bit. He said if anyone actually found him, he would accept their challenge."
Tamara must have sensed that he was not lying because she said nothing.
"Well, that bit of information was sure worth getting all worked up about," Nai put in sarcastically.
"Like anyone will actually find the lad," Sparky said, chuckling. "We are the only people who have actually seen his face."
"So what do we think he's actually doing?" I questioned, curiously wondering.
Dustin answered dryly, "Maybe research, like he said he was."
"Why would he need to do research?" I watched Dustin inquisitively.
Dustin shrugged.
"Oh, c'mon you guys!" Nai exclaimed. "It probably has to do with Team Glop'emm!"
Aden's face darkened, as did Tamara's.
There was silence.
Nai looked around. "I know you have all heard the rumors. Master Mendol. Who else could it be?"
"There are plenty of Mendols in Acceber," Tamara answered carefully.
"Really? When was the last time you checked?" Nai asked icily.
Tamara was silent.
"We cannot make assumptions based on rumors," I added logically. "We do not have actual proof."
Kyle, Dustin, and Tali nodded in agreement.
"Plus, it does not really matter where he went," Kyle started practically. "The fact is, he's gone. We just need to decide what we are going to do about it."
Silence.
We all looked around the room, waiting for someone to talk.
Finally Nai said bitterly, "What can we do about it? He technically has not violated any rules. We cannot replace him because he did not officially give up his gym and has not officially gone missing. Technically, it's just part of his prelim."
"For all we know, he could have just gotten tired of answering Tamara's phone calls," Kyle joked.
Yeah right.
"So we do nothing," Dustin decided.
"No," Tamara argued. "We watch. If one of us finds him, we immediately contact the others."
All but Dustin and Tali nodded in agreement.
The Pokemon, except Dustin and Tali's Eevees, nodded as well.
"Fine. Dismissed."
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
I sat silently on the uncomfortable cot and thoughtfully watched the girl on the top bunk sleep.
Moonlight crept through the window and glimmered just above the girl's head. Her usually straight brown hair was strung out wildly across her pillow, sharply contrasting her cream colored face. The rest of the girl's body disappeared beneath the pearl white bedcovering.
The girl looked completely at ease in her sleep.
Completely normal.
Could this girl really be one of the most powerful Pokemon known to man?
I sighed and quietly reached into my bag, carefully pulling out a grey walkie-talkie.
There was not even a squeak of the old cot or a creak of the door as I slithered from the room.
I had a call to make.
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
The walkie-talkie vibrated.
I overcame the impulse to chuck the toy out the window and answered the childish device.
"Yes?"
"It's the Master," came the irritating voice through the radio. Of course it was. The detective had yet to contact me and I was starting to believe the two twerp relatives were hiding information from me. All the more reason to get Carly on the detective's trail as soon as possible…
"You received my message?" the boy inquired.
"Yes, Master," I replied with disdain.
"And our top researchers are currently experimenting with Ditto?"
"Just as you requested, sir." His dratted bird hadn't left me alone until I had made his request an order.
"Excellent. I need the device as soon as possible." The master paused, almost hesitantly. "Also, I would like to speak with Rita Teal."
I snarled under my breath. I was supposed to be the one left in charge. I was supposed to be the only person allowed to talk to the Master through this device. It was my power. Why would he need to speak with Rita? She was the team's top researcher, but he could tell her anything through me. Anger rose in my throat.
"I need to talk to her," the Master continued smoothly, "to arrange some experiments I have just discussed with our detective."
I was seething, but I tried to keep my voice steady. "When would you like to speak with her?"
"Now."
I considered calling her to my office. She would have the advantage then. She would have the ability to spread lies of the master's trust in her or horrid rumors about me. No, it would be better if I went to her. Other researchers would witness the conversation, and perhaps this would create jealousy. I could use their jealousy to my advantage.
"This will be a few minutes," I informed the Master icily. I rose from my leather chair, and walked out my door to the elevator.
The Team Glop'emm headquarters building consisted of several floors, most of which were opened to the public. The building was supposedly used for the gym leader's research, which was ironically true at the moment, as the gym leader was also the leader of Team Glop'emm.
When the empty elevator arrived, I pressed B5.
The building looked to be four stories from the outside. Floors one and two were open to the public and we held several displays on some of our minor research on these levels. Floors three and four were closed for "privacy reasons." They were actually mostly used for meetings and some high ranking team members' private offices. My office and the Master's office were both on floor four.
There were seven basement levels, five of these levels filled with labs. Only levels six and seven were strictly closed to the public. The other levels could be seen upon request, for the most part.
The elevator door opened and I walked into a blue-tiled hall way. I entered the first lab on my right and scanned the room for the woman I was looking for.
Even though it was early morning, there were several scientists about the room working with complex looking machines. A couple of the machines had glass boxes in which Dittos were being held. A cluster of scientists near the back of the room were observing a Ditto transform into different objects, animals, and Pokemon. I easily spotted Rita walking toward this cluster.
I cleared my throat. The lab became silent as everyone turned to look at me.
For a moment I savored the respect they were showing. Then I said, holding out the walkie-talkie, "Rita, you have a phone call."
There was almost complete silence as Rita changed directions and approached me. Only the soft buzzing of the machines and the clack of Rita's heels against the cold floor could be heard.
Rita waved a hand and the other scientists returned to their work. Or they at least pretended to. Many eyes continued to flicker between the walkie-talkie and Rita.
With a large concentration of people in this building, news spread fast. It was no secret that this talkie was the only device used to contact the Master.
And up until this point, it had only been used by me.
Rita grinned widely as I bitterly handed her the phone. The top scientist of Team Glop'emm was a very bizarre character. The woman was a few years younger than me, but only an inch shorter with her high heels. For reasons unknown to me, she kept her hair died a solid Wobbuffet blue and wore multicolored Pokeball earrings. The woman could be found in one of the labs at nearly any hour of the day. Along with overseeing every one of Team Glop'emm's research projects, she often developed her own projects and experiments. She was also rumored to be an excellent battler.
"Yes?" she said into the walkie-talkie. I strained to hear what the Master was telling her, but only managed to hear the words, "experiment" and "Pokeball."
Rita seemed to absentmindedly walk across the room to one of the glass cages and let out one of the Dittos. She held a blue Pokeblock out to the Ditto. "If you transform into me, you can have this," she told the Pokemon. Immediately the Ditto transformed. Now there were two Ritas standing side by side. Rita gave the Ditto-Rita the Pokeblock, and the Pokemon gobbled it up.
"Yes," the real Rita murmured. "The Ditto still likes the Pokeblock." Rita then stuck her hand in her pocket and pulled out a Pokeball. She threw the Pokeball at her duplicate.
The Pokeball bounced off of the Ditto.
"The Pokeball does not affect Ditto in this form, Master. The Ditto has entirely human genes at the moment." Rita paused. "No, you are right. There has to be some DNA in the Pokemon somewhere that allows Ditto to transform back. It cannot be completely human." Rita nodded to the Ditto and the Pokemon transformed back to its original form. Rita scooped the pink blob up and lifted it into the cage. The scientist then took out a piece of paper and began scribbling notes.
Five minutes later, Rita looked her writing over. "Yes, I'll be sure to do these. I'll inform Jam—" The Master must have cut her off. "Fine. I will. Here's Jamie."
I took the phone from Rita's gloved hand and held it up to my ear as I walked out of the lab. "I am having Rita perform a series of experiments for me. She will send the results to me via Honchrow."
I grimaced. The Master trusted me less than I expected. "Of course."
"Master out."
I scratched my chin aloofly as I waited for the elevator. Clearly, the Master was purposefully keeping information from me. I had believed putting me in charge was a sign of his absolute trust. I angrily grinded my teeth. This put a slight damper on my plans. I would have to figure out what he was hiding. I reviewed the scene I had just witnessed.
Rita had thrown a Pokeball at a Ditto transformed into a human.
Of course.
He suspected the girl was Mew.
But what was the point of withholding that information?
He's paranoid, I reminded myself. Or… or maybe he does not want you getting to Mew first.
Whatever the case, I had clearly overestimated the amount of trust he put in me.
I eyed the room with the Mew tracking device in it and grinned.
Well, if he was not telling me everything…
I didn't have to tell him anything.
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
I put the walkie-talkie down and breathed in the cool early-morning air.
I wondered how my assistant was taking my talk with Miss Teal. He often became angry when I did not confine solely in him. It was actually quite amusing.
But nevertheless dangerous. It was too bad I had no other means of contacting Miss Teal without revealing my location. Then my assistant would know nothing of the experiments I wanted her to perform. The less he knew about Mew, the better.
I watched the setting full moon.
My gift made it nearly impossible to sleep on nights like this.
So instead, I sat alone, contacting my assistant and remembering.
My memories were the reason I was here.
I hated my memories.
They made me emotional.
They made me weak.
Yet the more I tried to forget, the more I remembered.
The warm sun shone high in the sky.
Over Slateport City's graveyard.
A man and his son walked silently through the graveyard's entrance.
Despite the warm weather, both were wearing black.
A breeze whistled quietly over the grass.
The recently well-trodden grass.
Many of the older graves toward the back of the graveyard were strewn about, as if they had been displaced from their original location.
There were several new graves near the graveyard's entrance.
All were in perfect condition.
The man and the boy stopped at the twenty-third grave on the right.
The man sat down on his knees. He pulled a single white flower from inside his jacket and placed it in front of the grave.
The grave read:
Sue Mendol
April 13, 1971 - July 2, 2003
Wife, mother, and friend.
A light of the dark.
Tears rolled down the man's cheeks.
The son watched his father weep with distant eyes.
"Why?" The man murmured. "Why why why why why?"
The boy frowned, intelligence glinting in his eyes.
"Mom and Auntie are dead. They are gone forever?" The boy asked as if there was some misunderstanding, as if there was hope that this reality was fantastical.
The father turned to his son and enveloped him in a hug. "Yes, they are gone."
The boy's frown deepened. "But then where's L—"
"Shh." The father held his son closer. "Your cousin is still missing."
"So he's not dead?" The boy looked hopefully up at his dad.
"We're not sure," the man replied hesitantly. "There is a very good chance that he is."
"But we don't know yet?"
"Not yet."
"When will we know?"
"I don't know."
The father patted the son comfortingly on the back, but then broke down crying.
The son sat in his father's arms staring at his mother's grave coldly.
"Sue." The father spoke quietly. "Sue, I have failed you." The man's breathe quickened. "I couldn't protect you. And now you're gone."
A desperate moan escaped the man's lips. His body quivered.
The boy stared ahead.
"I couldn't save you. I couldn't save Maria. I couldn't even save— No. Gone. Everyone." The man waved his hands wildly. "All these people are dead! Why?" The man laughed hysterically. "Because some legendaries decided they wanted to battle!"
The man's chest heaved.
The boy stared ahead.
"They got their battle alright. It took just one wave to decimate half the loved ones in this city. Just one wave." The man closed his eyes and tried to calm his uneven breathe.
"One f*cking wave," he shouted angrily. "F*cking legendaries with their f*cking powers. F*ck them!" The man was sweating. "They ought to be killed. Too much f*cking power. That's what they have. Too much. Not good for society. Too much f*cking power and too much f*cking destruction."
The boy stared ahead. His bright eyes never wavered from his mother's grave.
"I ought to kill them," the man murmured frantically. "No. No no no no no. I can't. I won't. I failed you, Sue, but I will not fail our son. No. We will leave. Leave this horrid f*cking country with its f*cking legendaries."
Tears flew freely off from the man's face into his son's hair.
The boy stared ahead.
"We'll go somewhere safe. Somewhere without legendaries." The man grinned wildly. "How about it son? Want to leave this dump?"
The boy finally turned to his father.
"Yes, Papa. Yes."
I clenched my fists.
F*cking memories.
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
I woke up with a start.
Light poured into my eyes.
I jolted into a sitting position. The clock on my PokeTech said 5:00 a.m.
Phew. I had dreamed that I overslept and lost the opportunity to battle the gym leader.
Beams of moonlight fell through the window onto my covers.
Ahh. That was what had woken me.
I lied down on my side to try to fall back asleep.
The cot across the room from me was empty.
I closed my eyes.
The cot was empty.
I jolted up and rubbed my eyes.
Where was Liam?
I cautiously crept down from the top bunk, careful not to wake Apple or Erin.
I slipped out of the room.
The hallway was dark and empty, as was the staircase leading to the main floor.
I shivered as a gust of cool air brushed my skin.
Wait. Cool air? Someone must have just entered or exited the Pokemon Center.
I warily stepped down the stairs to investigate.
I ran into someone on the final step.
My wrist jerked away from my body.
I tried to shake the grip off but failed.
I turned to glare at whoever had grabbed my arm.
Luminous green eyes shone into mine.
"Hey!" I exclaimed.
"Sorry," Liam said, releasing my arm. He actually sounded sincere. "Reflexes."
The boy must have been swiftly walking toward the staircase. It was hard for me to take my eyes away from his strange ones. They glowed in the dark like a cat's.
"What are you doing up?" I hissed.
"I could ask you the same question."
I waited expectantly, glaring harshly.
"Fine. I couldn't sleep. It's very difficult for me to sleep on nights when there is a full moon," Liam answered. "I went for a walk."
My gaze softened.
"Oh," was all I could say.
"And you came to catch me molesting a girl or doing something horrible?" The boy snickered coldly.
I was taken aback.
"Are you going to go back to sleep?" Liam questioned intensely.
Did he want me to?
"No," I replied defiantly.
His eyes glared at me harshly.
He really wanted me in bed.
Ooh, that sounded so wrong. I did not mean it that way. Good thing Apple was not up to read my mind.
"Fine. Then you're training." He grabbed my hand again and strutted toward the exit. "We'll work on your barriers too."
I made a mental note to be more compliant in the future.
Me and my big mouth.
/ / / / / / / / / / / /
CLOSED
"COME ON!" I yelled. "What gym closes on a Tuesday?"
Liam grinned knowingly.
Weirdo.
Erin shrugged. "Maybe there's a shoe sale."
"The gym leader's a guy," I answered flatly.
"So?"
I rolled my eyes. So did Erin. "I'm just kidding."
I sighed. "Well, we have the whole day free. What should we do?"
"Shop!" was Erin's immediate response.
"No!" Liam and I answered.
Erin sulked.
{I hear there's a good museum in town,} Apple suggested.
I relayed the suggestion.
"I heard that too! I also heard they have a new, cool special display on Mew! We should definitely go check it out."
Liam, Apple, and I all chuckled.
Apple and I stopped abruptly and looked at Liam.
Why was he laughing?
Liam's face turned stoic. "What?"
I shrugged.
"We're going now!" Erin declared, ruining our awkward moment.
Ruining any moment, for that matter.
Typical.
/ / / / / / / / / / /
The museum had a number of odds and ends. There were quite a few fossils and several rare stones. I was tempted to take the fire, electric, and water stones on display. They were hard to get and I would be able to evolve the Eevees with them. I resisted despite the encouragement from Apple.
{Aww. They were pretty and useful. Pretty useful. Could'a taken them no problem,} Apple whined.
{Except the I-get-thrown-in-jail part. That would be a slight problem,} I replied sarcastically.
We reached the Mew exhibit.
Mew contains the DNA of every Pokemon, I read.
No, duh. Hadn't heard that one before.
I walked over to wear Erin was looking at actual pictures taken of Mew.
{Are any of those you?} I asked curiously.
{Hmm.} Apple examined the pictures. {Most of them are from other regions. Ahh. That one on the end is me.}
I looked at the picture. It was a picture of several houses on fire. In the bottom left corner there was a pile of ash. A Mew stuck its head out of the ash.
{That's from when I was just born,} Apple said proudly.
{Err, did you cause the fire?}
{Not purposefully!}
I turned to the right and saw Liam examining a different wall. I walked over to see what he was looking at.
Mew die and are reborn every 5,000 years. Legends of the phoenix actually originate from this Pokemon. After a Mew has lived for 5,000 years, the Pokemon undergoes a process in which it releases all of its excess psychic energy, causing an explosion. The new Mew is born from the old Mew's ashes after the explosion.
The latest rumored Mew explosion occurred just a few years ago in Acceber's own Vintage Village. If it did indeed occur, it would be the first time a legendary Pokemon was ever sighted in Acceber. There were only ten witnesses, seven of whom were not able to confirm that they actually saw Mew.
{Is this all true?} I asked Apple.
{What? The whole blow-up then reborn thing? Of course! They got the place—Vintage Village—right, too.}
{Why did you decide to blow up in Vintage Village? Shouldn't you have gone to a more secluded area?}
{I wasn't the one who decided to go there. I wasn't alive for the decision; my father picked the area. I have no idea why he chose Vintage Village of all places.}
Liam was watching me intently.
{He is seriously a creeper,} I commented to Apple.
{Yeah he is. He kind of reminds me of the man who chased me just after I was born.}
{Right. You told me about that. I'm amazed you got away.}
{I did, but he kept finding me. I wasn't safe until I finally met you. Haven't seen the man since.}
I smiled down at Apple.
My stomach growled.
Liam was suddenly next to me.
"Here, want a piece of candy?" he asked.
I looked at him dubiously. Was he trying to poison me?
He offered it again. "Here, I insist. It will calm your stomach." He shoved the candy into my hand.
What the h*ll?
I narrowed my eyes at the boy and held my hand with the candy in it towards Apple.
{Is it poisonous?} I asked.
Apple sniffed. {Nope. Smells yummy.}
{Are you positive nothing is wrong with it?}
{Yup.}
Liam was still watching me. "Go ahead; aren't you hungry?"
I slowly unwrapped the candy and then took a bite.
It was a good sign when I didn't die.
It was a bad sign when I spit the candy out onto Liam's shoe.
"Ew. What was in that thing! It tasted like roasted barf-covered bananas!" I exclaimed.
Liam shrugged.
Apple gobbled the chewed remains from Liam's shoe.
Erin walked over and grimaced at Apple, apparently having witnessed what had just taken place.
When Apple finished, Liam casually returned to his examination of the Mew exhibit.
Erin and I exchanged looks of disgust.
Apple licked her lips.
{Delicious.}
This group had serious issues.