Locked rooms... a long hallway... soft weeping... pictures on the wall... circle... triangle... square...
Black's eyes shot open as he realized a tear had fallen from his eye while he slept. He sat up and carefully wiped it off his cheek. Bringing it closer to his face, he examined the clear droplet with fascinated curiosity, trying to remember what his dream had been about. Oh. That was it. Red's mom. Black sighed, getting up. It was already Scott's tomorrow. He felt a presence appear next to his shoulder as he checked the time on his Xtransceiver (it happened to be 8:16 A.M.). "Hiya, Mew," said Black without turning around. From somewhere behind Black, the Legendary Pokemon giggled.
"Mew!" it cried. The small, pink Psychic type slowly came into view as it removed its invisibility. Swooping down upon Black's head, it snatched his hat before he could stop it, and playfully took off, laughing hysterically as it did so.
"Eh?" Black asked, confused. He patted around his suddenly free hair before he realized what was missing. "Mew!" He shouted. "Give me back my hat!" Trainer and Pokemon ran around the spot where Black had been sleeping for several minutes until the game abruptly ended when Mew flew face-first into a tree. With a small cry of pain, it fell. Black hurried forward and caught it in his arms before it could fall onto the dewy, morning grass. "Are you okay, silly thing?" He asked, chuckling.
"Mew mew," it replied, handing him his hat. It suddenly shot out of his arms and started to laugh some more before racing around his head. Black sighed in mock exasperation as he put on his hat again. He looked at the surrounding landscape, trying to get his bearings. Where was he again? Oh. Right. Professor Oak's lab, in his backyard, right next to the stream, underneath the tree that he'd observed the other day. It had become something of a habit for him to sleep outside whenever humanly possible. While he did sometimes enjoy the warmth and comfort of a regular bed, the freedom and sense of liberty that came with sleeping out in the open air with his Pokemon was something beyond compare. Plus, it was a much appreciated bonus for him in that he didn't have to play the social game. That thought had him wondering. Did Red sleep in a tent on that frigid mountain or did he do it without anything in the cave like he did himself? If so, perhaps it was best if he spent a few nights ahead of time to prepare his body for the whole ordeal.
A gentle tug on his hair from Mew got his attention. He looked at it and smiled. "You're right, Mew. Let's go get ready to see Red's mom." The New Species Pokemon cheered as it raced after Black, who quickly pulled some Pecha Berries from his bag as he ran. He handed one to Mew who took it gratefully and, together, they snacked on their makeshift breakfast as they hurried toward the town market where Scott had told them to wait. As they reached the edges of townsfolk civilization, Black looked over at Mew, who nodded in understanding. Black watched in fascinated amusement as the Legendary slowly faded from sight, its invisibility leaving behind no trace of its existence save for the constant, reassuring presence Black felt at his side. "Alrighty then, Mew," muttered Black, more to himself than anything. "Ready to go meet the mother of the Kanto Champion, then?" All he received in reply was a slight pressure on top of his head where the invisible addressed had taken up residence.
It was something of a pain in the rear, having to walk through those roads as awkwardly as he did while people looked, murmured, and in some cases, even pointed at him. Black knew that the people of Pallet didn't mean to be rude; however, that did nothing to help suppress his urge to scram. He let out a sigh of relief when he finally arrived at the town market that Scott had pointed out to him the other day. Mew decided to go and have a look around, leaving Black to stand all alone. Needing something in his hands to mess with—anything—he grabbed his Pokedex and started running through its contents. If he wasn't doing anything right now, he might as well prepare for his battle with Red. From the rumors he'd heard, Red had started off with a Charmander as his starter, before later adding a Pikachu to his signature team. According to what Professor Oak had told him yesterday, the trainer extraordinaire did indeed have all 150 Kanto region Pokemon at his disposal, despite using only 7 of them regularly. Black frowned in confusion. But what, then, of the Legendary Birds and, more importantly, Mewtwo? Red didn't seem like the type of person to just capture such an angry being and then entomb it inside of a Pokeball for life without first trying to help it. Not from the stories he'd heard, anyway...
A small tap on his shoulder brought Black back to reality. Scott was standing right behind him, grinning widely. Though Black couldn't see it, he somehow knew that Mew was floating behind Scott, making all sorts of rude and silly faces at him. Just the mere thought of Mew trying to copy Scott's signature grin had him cracking up. "Hiya, Black?" Scott's cheery greeting ended in confusion—no doubt due to the fact that his friend had suddenly started to keel over and convulse in laughter. Several minutes passed before Scott's future Frontier Brain could pull himself together.
"Oh man," gasped Black, wiping a tear from his eye for the second time that day. "Sorry about that, Scott. I don't quite know what came over me there." That last part was, of course, a lie. But Scott didn't need to know that. Black got up a little tiredly as he grinned at Scott's perplexed face, while simultaneously ignoring the locals' reactions to this strange foreigner. "It's all good now."
"That's good," said Scott. "So. You ready for the next part?" Black nodded solemnly. "Okay then. Let's go."
Scott and Black stopped to look at each other when they had arrived at Hanako's front door again. Scott merely shrugged when Black said, "Allow me," and knocked twice on the door. The two of them tensed as they prepared to hit the deck, but there was no sign of commotion inside to suggest Hanako's approach. In fact, it was disturbingly silent. The door flew open just as Black was reaching his hand out to knock again, causing him to fly back at least a foot in shock. Somewhere in the back of his head, he heard Mew cackling with mad glee.
"Oh. It's you two. Do, please, come in," said Hanako quietly. Both Scott and Black glanced at each other one last time before stepping through the door. Mew quickly moved to follow its friend as the door was closed behind them. "I'm sure you both must be famished, what with it being early in the morning and everything. It's been forever since I made breakfast for someone other than myself; please, let me play hostess for just a little bit."
Black cocked his head in confusion as Hanako set to work in her kitchen while he, Scott, and Mew went to the living room automatically. There was something different about her and the way she moved. Black put a finger to his lips and pulled on the bottom one in an extremely cliche fashion as he tried to figure out what it was about Hanako that had changed. Scott looked over at what Black was doing and shook his head. "I love it when you make that face, Black. Your eyes and head just fall back as if someone had jerked on them." He laughed and continued. "Honestly, you should try to get someone to hold up a mirror to you sometime; you'd enjoy it."
The Unova trainer turned beet red, shyly smiling as Mew fell over in the air, silently working itself into a hysterical fit of playful laughter that threatened to reveal its whereabouts. His smile lessened a fraction as Hanako walked in, not necessarily because of any hateful reason. He warily watched as Hanako made her way to the the couch opposite of theirs and sat down. Black turned to Scott for any ideas on how to start, but the owner of the Battle Frontier was facing Hanako, smiling pleasantly. Black carefully focused his attention on the area around Scott's eyes (or rather, where they should be). There was an abundance of wrinkles around his eyes that disappeared when Scott stopped smiling and leaned forward about an inch. "Mrs. Hanako, before we begin, I would really like to offer my most heartfelt thanks for giving up so much of your time for us," said Scott.
Hanako nodded stoically. "It's also been an honor to have someone of such influence under my roof as well." Black paused for a second to reevaluate those words, adding them to his mental landscape in an effort to piece together what it was that had changed within Hanako. She shifted in her seat as she moved to push forward two plates to him and Scott. "Please. I understand it isn't much but I wanted to at least have the honor of treating you both to some breakfast."
Black looked down to examine his plate. Some creamed eggs on toast stared back at him, with a side of sausage and bacon. What he saw when he moved to thank Hanako shocked him: she was smiling warmly. All of the emotional scars written underneath her face seemed to loosen up for just a mere instant as she gave them her first real smile since meeting them. "It used to be Red's favorite before he left. I hope you'll enjoy yourselves a little." There was not a single bit of hesitation in her mention of Red, no slip in composure like the day before. Black's mind was already reeling when he observed the way she poured the three of them tea. In that instant, he realized what he and Scott had brought to the mother of the missing trainer—what it was she had forgotten so long ago: hope.
Scott didn't seem to register anything, instead opting to start up a merry hum as he helped himself to Red's favorite breakfast. Black decided to follow his lead and dug in. He pulled back a moment later to take in a breath. Hanako tilted her head to the side in confusion, and gave him a small smile. Black simply shook his head and went back to eating. This food... Black was by no means a connoisseur like Cilan and his siblings by any length, but he did consider himself a fine food enthusiast and amateur glutton. The meal that Hanako had served them had all the warmth and tastes that reminded him of his own mom's cooking. One might even venture to say it was made with the signature love and care of home. When the two had eaten their fill, Hanako handed them some napkins and tea to clean up. "Thank you for the breakfast, Mrs. Hanako," said Black. "It was delicious."
"Mhm. I'm glad you enjoyed it," she replied.
"Yes, that was good." Scott patted his stomach in appreciation. He suddenly scooted up in his seat and faced Hanako. "But, Mrs. Hanako. I wanted to ask you again about the business of bringing Red back and helping him become a Frontier Brain... do we?..."
Hanako sat back and sighed, staring up at the ceiling. "I thought a lot about it yesterday," she began. "And I don't want to waste any more of your precious time than I have to." At this, she straightened her back, and moved her head to scrutinize Black and Scott. Her face suddenly hardened, taking on the stern, practiced coldness of a disapproving mother strengthened by her resolve. Black predicted her answer long before she said it. "I want you two to bring him back as quickly as possible... I-I give you my blessing. Please, bring Red back to me. It's been so long since I've last seen my little boy."
It was all Black could do to not choke on his tea as Mew finally revealed itself, pointing at its Trainer and guffawing loudly. Hanako flew out of her chair in shock while Scott passively looked at the coughing Black, smacking him once on the back hard. It took several moments for Mew and the commotion to all die down. Black wiped his drenched mouth off with a napkin as he tried his hardest to muster up an unnerving glare at his jocular (if innocent) Mew. The Legendary simply cocked its head at him in a gesture of mock curiosity. Black sighed. Why was it that whenever he needed the resting bitch face, it never showed? Mew moved to give him a sympathetic pat on the back as it tried to show that it at least understood why he'd nearly died by tea in the first place. "Mew mew," it murmured.
Scott followed Mew's movements with ardent interest for a couple of seconds, having never seen the fabled Legendary before. "Say, Black, are you alright?" he asked, before turning to the still-standing Hanako. "It's alright to sit down again. I don't think Black's Mew is out to do us any harm." As if to affirm that statement, Mew rushed over to the surprised Hanako and began to affectionately rub its cheek against hers, rather like a feline.
The astonished lady quickly found herself felled, all while scratching the Legendary's head softly. Mew gave her a soft purr of approval and made itself at home on Hanako's lap. It cracked open one blue eye briefly to give Black a smug look. Its Trainer placed a hand over his heart as he feigned offense at the acts of mutiny against him. A few moments of tense silence passed while everyone (with the exception of Mew, who was snoozing contentedly without a care in the world) tried to figure out a smooth way to break it. At long last, Black decided to speak up, feeling responsible for the atmosphere in the first place. He cleared his throat before starting. "So, er... Mrs. Hanako. You're... giving us permission to try to recruit Red as a Frontier Brain then?"
Hanako continued to gently stroke Mew's head as if she hadn't heard the question, affectionately gazing at its tiny form as it slept peacefully. "Yes. Just, please, try to do so as quickly as possible; I do miss him so."
Scott nodded. "We've already worked out a plan with Professor Oak. If all goes well, he should be home in time for New Year's Eve."
Mew lifted its head in confusion when it noticed a sudden lack in wonderful sensations. Hanako had stared off into space again with a wistful look on her face. "Red... home... for New Year's... Yes, I do like the sound of that."
"Then I think it's time we departed and give you some time to rest," said Scott as he stood up. "It's been a pleasure knowing we could help you, Mrs. Hanako." He extended his hand in a gesture of concord, which Hanako obliged.
"Thank you for all that you've offered to do," she whispered quietly. She then turned to Black with a question in her eyes. "Would it be okay if?..."
He agreed to it before she had even voiced the request, this time certain that it was the right question he was predicting. "Of course. It's fine if Mew stayed behind a while longer; I usually let my closest friends roam around the area anyway. Besides," he added with a snicker, "this is the quietest I've ever seen it."
An indignant noise was barely heard as Black, Scott, and Hanako all burst into laughter at the joke. It was to be the first of many hearty exchanges in the house that had once only known pain.
3:00 P.M., That Same Day
"Are you sure you have everything you need?" asked Professor Oak one last time.
"Positive," said Black from atop Zekrom. "I daresay I probably have too much." The small company that had gathered to see him off chuckled.
"Be careful up there, Black," said Scott, who gave him a thumbs up. The trainer nodded.
"Remember, if anything happens, make sure to get a Pokemon out to us immediately, alright?" asked Blue.
"Don't worry. If I fall off the mountainside, Mew will come a-running to you all like its life depended on it," Black replied with a grin. He scratched his nose, pondering the thought. "In fact, its life would depend on it." He turned to Mew, who was floating right next to him and Zekrom, and told it half-jokingly, "So remember to use Teleport instead of Fly, okay?" Everyone burst into another round of boisterous laughter before finally calming down again. A strange sense of melancholy lingered in the air as no one knew quite what else to say.
"Good luck, Black." All heads turned to Hanako, who had whispered that blessing to the trainer. "And, please, stay safe for me. Won't you?"
Black was momentarily taken aback by how much she resembled his own mom in that single instant. He gave her a reassuring smile, and told himself that if he ever got out of this mess alive, he'd call and check up on his mother who was probably worried sick about him in Unova. "Yeah. I will," he said. "Well, everyone. Looks like this is goodbye for now." Zekrom's tail began to glow as it prepared to lift off. Scott, Professor Oak, Blue, and Hanako all took several steps back to give the Legendary Dragon some room to maneuver as it slowly levitated. Both trainer and Pokemon settled into the air for a second as blue electricity began to cloak them, before shooting off into the distant land of the setting sun, all to the unspoken best wishes of the new friends they had made in Kanto. Said new friends' hands never faltered for a second as they continued to wave at the vanishing duo, only stopping when they were certain that none of them could see the two anymore.