There was no doubt about it; this handshake with Gengar was one hundred percent genuine. Gengar had returned the smile with his own, along with a nod of his head.
"Here," Mewtwo started, "why don't you all pull up chairs so we can talk?" He gestured to the immediate area around him.
Alder stepped forward and spoke up.
"If we're going to talk, I suggest we take it back to the lobby. I don't think we should've been here in the first place, because Allen—"
Alder was interrupted by none other than the one he was talking about, who said, "I'm glad that you two have made up, but does anybody mind explaining what's been going on?"
All four of them whipped around to face Allen, who was observing them all with a bemused expression on his face. Gengar wasted no time in making himself heard by saying, "Allen, I can't tell you how sorry I am to have landed you here. I was brainwashed to have done those terrible things to you, and I would never do that in my proper state of mind—right, Mewtwo?"
Mewtwo nodded his head vigorously and added, "He's speaking the truth. I can certainly vouch for that."
Allen frowned and asked, "Then why is your face all marked up? Did you get into a fistfight or something?"
Mewtwo reached for his face and felt these recently acquired bruises. In all honesty, he felt that this pain was only a small repayment to what he truly deserved. Just thinking about what he did—or rather, what his past self did—was enough to sicken himself to the stomach, along with making him wish that Gengar were still beating him up. He looked at Gengar, who was staring guiltily at his swollen knuckles, and felt that the latter's actions were justified.
"Well," Mewtwo started hesitantly, "that's actually what we made up over. And frankly, I would've done the same thing." He gave a small, reassuring smile to Gengar as he said this, which was returned rather shiftily.
"Why?" Allen asked curiously, "What happened?"
Mewtwo and Gengar glanced concernedly at each other. How could they present the information in a tactful fashion?
"Let's tell him together," Gengar said, "it'll be better that way."
Mewtwo breathed a sigh of relief. He was thankful that Allen didn't have to hear just one side, for the story told as such was sure to at least generate some hard feelings.
After the others had drawn up chairs of their own, the two told the story from beginning to end while filling in the holes in each other's tales. Their audience was rapt with attention, drinking in every detail. Allen was reacting unusually strongly to the story; while Alder and Alakazam simply had expressions of mild shock, Allen seemed to be taking it directly to heart. He looked to be on the verge of tears.
When they had finished, nobody spoke for quite some time. Mewtwo had hung his head and was staring at the ground, his mind buzzing. The silence was worse to hear than the two's story had been. It pressed in on Mewtwo's thoughts, driving everything else out of his mind. He was worried that he would be judged, worried that this would simply reverse everything he had done since his awakening. He was scared for the silence to break.
Finally, Allen said in a trembling voice, "I c-can't believe you b-both had to go through that. It must've b-been terrible to witness again."
Mewtwo nodded, still hanging his head, and he sensed rather than saw Gengar doing the same.
"B-but knowing that you two m-made up, that really shows the marks of a t-true friendship." Mewtwo looked up at Allen, his muscles clenched from nerves and from what he had just heard. Allen's voice strengthened as he continued, "You two just set aside a major hurdle. T-to see you two forgive each other like that makes me so happy to know that we're all in good hands."
Mewtwo could hardly believe what he was hearing as what seemed like a balloon was swelling with joy inside of him. To know that he had gained his friend's trust, along with the acceptance of what he was sure could've been his greatest rival, made him smile from ear to ear.
"I will do everything in my power to make sure we're all in good hands," Mewtwo said to everyone in the room. Almost simultaneously, they all beamed back at him.
This was the first step. The first step had finally been taken, and it left him with an oddly light feeling, like he could do anything to his heart's content. It was wonderful to have the trust of these four people around him, and he would never do anything to compromise it.
Gengar took over the conversation by stating his own question, which was directed to Allen.
"There's still one thing that I don't quite understand. That man, Giovanni, showed off the bracelet we talked about. He told us about how powerful it was, but we never figured out what purpose it served. Do you know anything about it based on our description?"
Allen leaned back thoughtfully.
"From what I've heard, the bracelet you describe sounds a lot like something we've recently been researching and developing back at the university. That's why I was at the library yesterday, Mewtwo," he said, inclining his head in his direction, "to research how we could alter both a Pokémon's physique and powers. It's called a Mega Ring, and we believe that it will revolutionize Pokémon battles."
At these last words, an unexplainable leap occurred in Mewtwo's chest along with the feeling that something large and beastly was trying to claw out of Mewtwo's body. It took a moment to realize that this beast was roaring its disapproval at Allen's words and that this being was in fact his own feelings. He decided to cut into the conversation, for he was scared that he would let his emotions get carried away and lead to him doing something very stupid.
"Allen, I don't think that would be a good idea," Mewtwo said quickly.
Predictably, Allen responded with a puzzled look and asked, "Why?"
Mewtwo spoke what had come to his mind the instant that beast rose in his chest by saying, "I mean, what if this Mega Ring came to fall into the wrong hands? What if they already had a strong Pokémon? What if they use it to take over? What if… what if nobody could stop them?" His last words trailed away and he looked straight into Allen's eyes.
Allen's face blanked out, and he knew that both of them were thinking of the same thing; a more powerful and more destructive version of himself, brought under control by sinister forces intent on nothing but domination. In other words, a recipe for disaster.
Allen attempted to recover.
"Well… the Mega Ring hasn't completed development yet, because we're still missing a key ingredient. But even if it were finished, I doubt it would become commercially available. We would have to test it first and get it approved for sale, along with patents, paperwork, and all that stuff. Then there's the consumer part, because the buyer would have to go through some stringent checks before purchasing such a powerful object. I mean, this ring would be very much sought after along with the fact that it's dangerous; I don't know if we'll even be able to sell it. It might just be a kept as a secret project once it's fully developed, just so nobody can steal these secrets."
The beast in Mewtwo's chest had gone quiet, but he still felt a bit uneasy.
"How did Giovanni manage to acquire a Mega Ring so long ago?" Mewtwo asked.
Allen shrugged and said, "I don't know how that could have happen, but I do know that the Silph Company had undertaken a similar project around that time. It was scrapped because nobody could find the proper way to supply the ring's power, nor would they have known how to use it. The Mega Ring was simply too advanced for their time." Allen frowned before continuing, "The University's research team is having similar problems, like I mentioned before. The power required seems to be from a stone, but no evolutionary stone has the ample power for the ring. It drives us crazy."
Mewtwo glanced around to see what the others thought of this. While Alder and Alakazam wore similar expressions of deep thought, Gengar had risen from his chair, said, "Excuse me for a moment," and walked right out of the room.
They all looked around at each other in confusion, clearly wondering where Gengar had gone. Mewtwo had barely said "Where d'you—?" before Gengar returned. One hand was clutching something, presumably a small object because Mewtwo couldn't see it otherwise.
Without a word, Gengar had leaned across Mewtwo and held his hand open for Allen to see. In the palm of his hand sat a small, marble-like object, colored a gorgeous coral hue. Though the room didn't have much natural light, the stone seemed to be shimmering, like sunlight was reflecting off of it. But the longer he looked at it, the more the stone seemed to be not reflecting light, but emanating light. It was a very strange sight to see.
Allen looked stunned as he took the stone and turned it over in his hands. He began mumbling almost inaudibly to himself, although Mewtwo caught words like "no way" and "impossible!"
Allen looked up at Gengar and asked, "Where did you find this?"
"Fifteen years ago." Gengar said simply. "My friend Pikachu and I had been exploring caverns by the Seafoam Islands when we found it, along with hundreds like it. We took it as a souvenir, but never dreamed that it was such a desirable object. We were captured, hauled in for questioning, and… well…" Gengar lowered his head moodily when he seemed unable to find the right words.
"But how did you have it so readily available?"
"Saw it," Gengar said, "right there on the mantelpiece in the lobby before Mewtwo and I went to that awful place."
"Wait a second," Mewtwo said quickly, "what does this stone have to do with the Mega Ring?"
Allen raised his eyes from the stone and gave Mewtwo an incredulous look.
"It has everything to do with the Mega Ring! This stone is a Mega Stone, the key to unlock the powers that the Mega Ring has to offer!"
Mewtwo felt his jaw drop.
"But how did that very same stone come to get here? Surely such a powerful stone would be guarded somehow?"
Clearly thinking hard, Allen said slowly, "There are very few people that know about the Mega Ring's potentials, much less the combination of Ring and Stone. I suppose whoever found it didn't know about the stone and, like Gengar and Pikachu, just took it for the aesthetic appeal."
The thought of accidentally picking up a stone so powerful was mind boggling, but the main question still lingered in the air; what was the next step? With such an object in their possession and their current position, every action must be done cautiously yet swiftly.
"So," Mewtwo began, "as soon as Allen is on track to a full recovery, why don't we take a trip to Allen's university? If he needs us, we can act as test subjects."
"Are you sure?" Allen questioned. "I wouldn't want to risk the worst happening to you guys. The results of any tests are completely unpredictable!"
"With the situation we are involved in, I'm willing to take any risks."
The other two Pokémon nodded in agreement. Gengar added, "We'll help you with your studies, Allen!"
Allen smiled benignly at them all and said, "Thank you all very much for offering your help. We can all go along once I'm fit for travel, but that might not be for at least a little bit." He winced as he adjusted his position.
"You're right," Mewtwo said, "I'm really sorry to have disturbed you like this when you should've been sleeping."
"Ah, it's no problem," Allen said with a wave of his hand, "I always enjoy company."
Mewtwo smiled as he stood up with the others.
"We'll be back later. Go get some sleep."
Allen leaned back into his pillows and closed his eyes. Though he'd only been awake for a fraction of the time that they had, he looked completely exhausted.
As they left the room, Gengar said aloud, "You know, we never did have breakfast."