Saturn looked at him, a bit bewildered. This young man was well known in all parts of the world, not only because of his grandfather, but also because of his reputation as one of the great trainers to come out of Pallet Town. Saturn, in an effort to keep his cool, sat back down and folded his hands.
"What do you mean?" Saturn asked.
"What I mean is," Gary replied. "I want to help you find the mew."
"You know about the mew?" Saturn said, surprised.
"Of course I know about it." Gary told him. "Any trainer as experienced as me knows that a mew has been seen again. Or, has at least heard the rumors. But, I have information that is much better than any mere rumors."
"Really?" Saturn leaned forward, interested. He motioned to one of his team members, who brought a chair for Gary.
"I know that all of the four major crime, or, in your case, ex-crime syndicates are searching for it." Gary started. "I'm sure that you already knew that, since your main purpose for searching is to make sure the others don't get it. But, I know for a fact that there is something I know that you don't."
"Which is?"
"I know exactly where the mew is." Saturn's mouth dropped. Gary just grinned, sufficiently smug.
"How…when…why…" Saturn stammered. Gary waved his hand.
"None of that matters." he said. "All that matters is this: I know and I want to work with you. I don't want to see this legendary creature fall into anyone else's hands either. But, I'm not stupid enough to try it alone. So, with my knowledge and your man power, we can catch the pokemon before they do and keep it safe. What do ya say?" Saturn thought for a second. Normally, he'd be wary of such a suggestion considering the stakes involved. But, the man before him was not known for his untrustworthiness. And, Saturn would love to have such a man on his side.
"Ok, deal." he said finally. "Where is it and what do you need?" Gary's eyes glowed as he smiled wide.
"It's right here in Sinnoh. Rally the troops; we're going to Snowpoint City."
TJ and Aden walked happily towards Pewter City. The area was rocky, but the path was more than clear enough to walk down. There were very few trainers out and the sun was still high in the sky. Just on the outskirts of town, a pokemon sat in the middle of the road. As they walked closer, they realized this pokemon was a vulpix.
"Oh, a vulpix!" Aden squealed. "But, they aren't normally found around here."
"Maybe it's not wild." TJ suggested. The vulpix was facing away from them, scanning the area. "I think she's looking for something." They came up behind it. "Hey there, are you looking for something?"
"Vul?" it said, turning. As soon as it saw them, the vulpix's eyes went wide. "Vulllpix! Vulllpix!" It cried out towards the town. Aden and TJ just looked at each other. Then, there was some rustling of grass and footsteps, and a man walked quickly towards them from the right, followed by a geodude and a crobat.
"Great job, Vulpix!" he said, kneeling down and petting the pokemon. He stood back up and faced TJ and Aden and they finally got a good look at him. He was much older than them, his skin was dark, as was his spiky hair, and his eyes were squinty. Aden tilted his head in concentration.
"Hey, aren't you…?" he started, his voice trailing off as he wasn't entirely sure.
"Brock, the Pewter Gym leader, as well as a good friend of Professor Oak." the man said. "He asked me to meet you when you got to Pewter. I have a few things I need to tell you." He was talking directly at TJ, which surprised her a little. She didn't know what to say, she was too busy speculating on what a great gym leader would want to tell her, so she just nodded.
"I have a question for you, actually." Aden said. Brock nodded.
"I know, Oak told me" he said. "I'll answer any questions you have, but let me go first. Call back your pokemon and follow me." The two did as they were told and followed Brock into the city. Pewter was much larger than Viridian and Pallet. On the far right of town, Mt. Moon jutted up to the sky, toped by snow. To the left, the pokemon gym. And, in the back part of the town, there was a large building. TJ didn't know what that building was, but it seemed like that was exactly where they were headed. The sign out front read "Pokemon Museum". But, they didn't go in the front door. Brock led them around to the right side of the building. They entered a small room that was filled with scientists running about. They all greeted Brock happily as they went about their business. They stopped before one of them that stood in the far corner.
"Hello, Brock." the scientist said.
"Hello, Adam." Brock said. "This is TJ and Aden. TJ, Aden, this is scientist Adam. And he discovered something a while ago that has a lot to do with you, little miss." TJ blinked.
"Me?" she said. Brock smiled.
"Yes, you." he replied. "You may be confused now, and I'm sorry to say that what I have to tell you is just going to worsen it, but you need to know. Adam, if you would." Adam nodded and turned towards the wall. He opened a panel in the wall to reveal a number pad. After hitting a series of numbers, there was a sliding noise and a hidden door opened in the wall. There was a stairway leading down to a basement of some sort.
"Thank you." Brock said. "Come on, you two. Down here." TJ and Aden followed Brock down to a dark room. They stopped at the bottom of the stairs. Brock flipped the light switch. Large spot lights hung from the ceiling. They turned on slowly, starting from the closest to them and going to the back of the room. On the far wall, there was a glass case on a pedestal.
"Is that what you wanted to show us?" Aden asked. "Why is it hidden away?"
"And what does it have to do with me?" TJ asked.
"Slow down! I'll tell you in due time!" Brock said. "That is a very important artifact. Adam found it in the Ruins of Alph. We couldn't just leave it on display. It's been analyzed by all of the top professors in the land. Go on, take a look." Brock motioned for them to go look at the artifact. TJ and Aden walked up to the glass case. Inside, there was a large slab of stone. Etched into the stone was some sort of words and pictures. It was fuzzy and worn, but it was just decipherable.
"Isn't that a mew?" Aden said. TJ got as close as possible.
"Yeah, it is." she said. "And, that's a ponyta. But, who is that woman."
"That," Brock said from behind them. "is Teara Jaycee, the only trainer in the world to capture and train a mew."
"Really?" Aden said, surprised.
"Wow, she must have been strong." TJ said, looking at the woman's picture. Her eyes traveled down to the other picture. It seemed to be of flames and disaster. "Brock, what is this other picture?"
"That is an omen." he said.
"An omen?" TJ and Aden said in unison. Brock nodded.
"Yes. A bad one." Brock said. "That woman was a trainer from years and years ago. It is said that Teara was entirely pure of heart. This was why the mew showed itself to her. You see, this mew was hurt and needed care. Teara nursed it back to health and that mew allowed Teara to capture it and train it. She called it Liseli and that mew stayed with Teara till the day she died. Unfortunately, the legend goes that that very mew will be cause of the fiery disaster you see there."
"Really?" TJ said. "That's horrible! Isn't there anything we can do?"
"Yes, there is one thing." Brock told her. "When we finally translated the lettering, we were not only told about the legend and the omen, but also a possibility to stop it. And, that is where you come in."
"You keep saying that!" TJ said, frustrated. "Tell me, why am I so important?"
"Teara is your ancestor." he said. "You are the descendant of the great mew trainer. That means that you are the only person Liseli will listen to and the only one that can save it."
"Save it?" Aden said. "From what?"
"Team Rocket." Brock said. "They aim to capture the mew. We don't know why, but we do know that this is the goal of their new leader. And he is the one that will bring about the disaster. If they get to Liseli first."
"So, let me see if I got this straight," TJ started. "This woman from years ago, Teara, is the first trainer to train a mew and she is my, like, super great grandma or whatever. Am a good so far?"
"Yes."
"And, when she died, Liseli went off on its merry way, because mews obviously live longer than humans. Then, some one carved out this omen that, some day, someone bad would get their hands on Liseli and start this big disaster and the only person who can stop it from happening is the great descendant of Teara herself. And that person is me. Right?"
"Right." Brock told her happily. "Seems like you've got this down pretty well." There was a moment of silence, and then TJ broke out in a loud, belly aching laugh. She was doubled over and tears were coming from her eyes. Aden and Brock just looked at each other. Then, Brock stomped his foot in anger.
"STOP LAUGHING!" he said. It took a minute, but TJ was able to calm herself down. She stood back up, wiped the tears from her eyes, and tried to catch her breath.
"I'm sorry Brock, but it is just so funny!" TJ said. "Me, the descendant of Teara? Me, capture and train a mew? Me, stop that?" She pointed at the fire picture. "You guys are nuts! Sorry, but you must have the wrong girl."
"No, we don't." Brock said seriously. "You match the description perfectly. You look exactly like her: blue hair, blue eyes, and you're even named after her."
"What?" TJ said, giving him a look. "My name is Tara Jane, not Teara. And, my last name is Winters, not Jaycee. I still say that you have no idea what you are talking about."
"Um, TJ?" Aden said. "Teara Jaycee. T-J. Last names can change over the years, so you being a Winters doesn't matter in the least." TJ looked at him.
"That is a big coincidence." she said. "But, I still don't know what you think I'm gonna do about it."
"How you stop them, we don't know." Brock said. "So, all we need you to do right now is exactly what you are. Go to Cerulean and see about that Rocket hideout there. If we are right, then just following on the path you are on should lead you to the rest. Like I said, I wasn't telling you this to clear any confusion, just as a heads up. It was time you knew."
"'Time I knew'?" TJ said. "You mean everyone has known about this for a while?"
"Yes, ever since we found this a few years ago."
"Even Elm?"
"Especially Elm." Brock told her. "He was to keep you safe until we were sure of who you were and then send you on your way." TJ was silent, taking it all in. "He was just trying to protect you. No matter how you would have been raised, this was always your destiny. We're lucky that you were born so close to one of the professors." TJ still remained silent. She wasn't sure what to think. All of this was so strange to her, but she had promised herself that she would stop Team Rocket at any cost.
"Ok." she finally said. "I want Team Rocket to stop hurting pokemon, and if this is the way I have to do it, so be it. I am going to do my best, but, let me remind you, I am making no promises on this mew thing. I still think you're nuts."
"Good." Brock said. "I've done what has been asked of me. But, before I just let you go, there is one last thing I need you to do."
"Ok, what?" TJ asked.
"You have to battle me."
"What!" Aden said.
"TJ needs all the training she can get if she is going to face Team Rocket." Brock explained. "So, if she beats me, she is more than fit to move on to Cerulean City." Brock crossed his arms and looked at her smugly. "Do accept my challenge?" TJ thought for a second.
"Deal!" TJ said triumphantly. "You're going down!"
Off in Hoenn, Jess and Jay reconvened at their hideout after leaving teams Magma and Aqua. They were regaling a large group of Rockets in the tale of how easily the other teams had fallen into their trap. Jay described it as leading lambs to the slaughter. Each leader was told the same story: Team Rocket knew when and where the other team would be the next day. They would challenge their enemy, with the Rockets hiding just in case they were needed. The winner would receive Team Rocket's help in getting the mew. Little did they know that Rocket had other plans. But, they would find out soon.