A lot occurred over the next few weeks. Squirtle finally got to meet everyone, including Tim (who took a great interest in Squirtle when Allen called to offer him a visit to Ether). In Squirtle's slightly crowded room, Mewtwo noticed a marginal improvement in the poor soul. Even though Squirtle seemed a bit worried about meeting so many people at once, he seemed to be enjoying himself as he spent some time getting to know everyone more thoroughly. Mewtwo came back to visit every single day and try to warm up as much as possible to the Pokémon that lost so much in such a short period of time.

Tim was delighted in Allen's idea to fabricate Mewtwo a suit of armor. Almost straight away, he began talking of ideas for materials, fabrication methods, and the sheer amount of technology that would go into this amazing suit.

"So I've been looking at materials," Tim said in a hushed voice later that day in the library. Looking very out-of-place in a warm, black sweater instead of his white lab coat, he had Allen and Mewtwo at a table spread with books again. "I've been researching stainless steel, aluminum-titanium mixtures, everything. We need something that will be strong, but very light and very rigid."

Mewtwo, who was flipping through a book of Silph Company's inventions, looked up in interest.

"Were you thinking of anything in particular?"

Tim bit his lip in thought and said, "I'm not sure yet… I've considered fiberglass or maybe plastic for their cheapness, but they might not be strong enough."

"Well, whatever you think is appropriate," Mewtwo said, resuming his reading pursuits.

Perhaps it was because he said this in an unintended castaway tone, but Allen froze in place. After a pause, he said, "You know we value your opinion, right? This is going to be your armor. Surely you don't want it to be built from something that's uncomfortable or non-functional?"

Realizing his mistake, Mewtwo rushed to say, "I didn't mean to insult you or anything, not at all! I'm just—you guys know much more about this than I do. I don't want to interfere or anything."

"We still care about anything you may have to say," Tim said simply.

"I guess like you said," Mewtwo said to break an awkward silence, "strong and very light works great."

The next day, the three of them traveled to Cerulean University and continued work on the developing ideas. They had returned to their team's office, which was still mysteriously missing the other two team members.

"They'll be here soon enough," said Allen after Mewtwo commented on why he hadn't seen them yet. Both of them were crunching numbers and measurements into their desktops while Tim was simultaneously creating sketches on separate paper. "They're—oh! I never told you! The two of them are here on a long-term exchange trip from the United States. The high school they attend offered an advanced studies program abroad, and Cerulean City took them in! They're the brightest students of their class. They've flown home to spend Thanksgiving and the month leading up to it with their families."

"That's nice," Mewtwo said. He waited a moment before asking, "What are they like?"

Tim chuckled to himself before responding.

"Each is unique in their own ways, like all of us are. Both of them are quite polite, but Bryce is a bit cautious about befriending others; something about 'trust issues,' he told me not too long ago."

"I'll change that," Mewtwo said to himself with a sly smile.

"But Mr. Griffin is very versatile," Tim continued. "As he put it, he's 'a jack of all trades, but a master in none.' Even though Bryce will refuse to brag about his own intelligence, Stephanie will go to no ends about how smart he is. Truthfully, he's not really a go-getter like Stephanie because he prefers the backseat. More room to spread out, you know."

After another pause, Mewtwo asked, "And what about Stephanie? What is she like?"

"Nearly the complete opposite," Allen said at once. "Miss Fuller wants to be friends with a lot of people, so she's much more social to strangers than Bryce is. The only unfortunate thing is that she's involved in a lot of other activities, so Stephanie can't spend as much time as she'd like with us. But somehow, she still gets the work done. Bryce, on the other hand, spends the most time here out of all of us aside from Tim. Sometimes he'll come in as early as six o'clock and won't leave until long after everyone else has left."

"Interesting…" Mewtwo said slowly. For some reason, meeting this Bryce guy didn't interest him as much as meeting Stephanie. Though Mewtwo had no idea what either looked like, he imagined Bryce in shirt and tie with a frosty, inflexible manner and Stephanie as somebody that would rather wear sweats. He amused himself for a moment, picturing the two of them as a foil to each other based off of Tim and Allen's descriptions.

After another few visits within the week, they had everything they needed to begin building the armor. Seeing that Mewtwo was no longer required, Tim and Allen spend nearly every day over the next few weeks overseeing the process of fabrication by others in the University. To keep Mewtwo surprised, neither gave any tells as to what the suit would look like or how it would perform, but both assured him that he would be blown away.

In the first week of December, many good things happened nearly simultaneously. After a vigorous regime of medicine and therapy, Squirtle was released from the Pokémon Center in full health. He looked infinitely better, save the shadow of a large crack traveling down the belly of his shell. On the same day, Nurse Joy told Allen that he would no longer need his wheelchair. Both of them celebrated by taking a long walk in Ether Valley along with everyone else. Even though Allen used a walking stick as a precautionary measure, he was still delighted to be up and around again. To cap off all the good news, Tim returned later that evening from Cerulean to say that Mewtwo's suit of armor had finished fabrication and was ready to be tested.

"Then we go tomorrow!" Allen exclaimed to general cheers and applause.

And so they did. All of them took the first train to Cerulean, traveling through the morning's pre-dawn half-light. Everyone was talking all the way, excitedly speculating with each other while Allen and Tim smiled on. Both still wanted to keep it a complete surprise, so neither gave any more hints about the armor.

After the train ride, the group walked through the University's front doors just as the sun rose over the horizon, temporarily casting everyone in a warm, orange glow. They all went downstairs to the labs, where the hallways were nearly devoid of people. Truthfully, Mewtwo was quite unsurprised at this, for it was barely seven o'clock in the morning. Tim had asked for some help in their office, so Mewtwo and Gengar followed him while the others traveled to the same lab they had always used.

When they approached the office, they found the door unexpectedly open and light spilling out into the hallway. All three quietly looked in.

Opposite of the door and sitting at the desk in a leather swivel chair, a tall and lanky teenager wearing the standard white lab coat had his back to the onlookers. His brown hair was short and well-kept as if it had recently been washed and trimmed. A sports jacket was hanging on the hook in place of his lab coat. He had a pen in hand and was speaking quietly to the Blaziken that sat beside him. Both were looking at the computer monitor, where something that seemed like blueprints was being shown.

"Look at these similarities," the young man spoke softly in a deep voice that contradicted his age. It nevertheless carried across the room to the wide-open door. He gestured with his pen to the monitor and to the papers spread out on the desk before them and said, "I took a good look at what we were given and made the best drawings that I could. Take a look for yourself between the old and the new."

Blaziken looked between the sheets and the monitor, his head darting back and forth to look at the two as if he were watching a tennis rally. After a few moments, Blaziken whispered, "Yeah, I see what you mean… it's almost uncanny how close these two examples are. That's very interesting…"

"Right?" the young man said excitedly, "Maybe we can do some digging together. I'm intrigued…"

Both continued to look at the monitor and papers, lost in thought and unaware that the others were still standing in the doorway. When Mewtwo looked closer as much as his eyesight could allow, the images on the screen seemed to resemble something like armor. It took just a second longer for what he was seeing to click in his brain; those were the blueprints to his armor!

At this point, Tim finally knocked on the open door to draw the attention of the young man and Blaziken. Both turned in unison, revealing their faces for the first time.

The teenager's face was long and thin, as if someone had placed their hands on either side and pushed as hard as possible. He wore black plastic glasses with lenses that were quite thick, behind which he had sharp eyes. Underneath the lab coat was a blue dress shirt unbuttoned several inches from his neck, and underneath the dress shirt was a white t-shirt. He wore gray dress pants and black loafers, which Mewtwo assumed were to compliment the sports jacket now hanging on the coat hook. He was quite skinny, slouched slightly as if he desired to drop an inch or two from his height, and didn't look to weigh very much. But otherwise, he was projecting a strange aura of professionalism mixed with a desire to prove himself.

Blaziken's demeanor was quite similar to the teenager sitting next to him. His eyes were so sharp and keen that they looked hawk-like (which, Mewtwo thought to himself, probably were). In addition, something about his eyebrows gave off the impression that he was angry or perhaps frustrated. His height was roughly equal to who he sat beside, if not just a shade taller. Save the minor detail of being liable to be pissed off by nearly anything, he looked just like Mewtwo expected a Blaziken to appear.

There was a moment in time where everything stopped. The two in the office were scanning the eyes of the three that were looking in. The keen brown eyes and the even keener yellow eyes traded glances with the blue, burgundy, and purple ones. The gazes tangled so much that Mewtwo lost track of who was looking where or even if they were looking at all.

Another second passed before Tim's face split into a grin.

"Didn't expect you here so soon, Bryce!"

Likewise, the teenager's face also broke into a wide smile as he leapt up from his chair and hurried forward to shake Tim's hand.

"It's such an honor to be here again, Tim. You know how much I love this place!"

Bryce glanced around at the others, slightly confused, and asked, "Who are your friends?"

"Ah," Tim started, "This is Gengar, Allen's Pokémon…" Bryce shook Gengar's hand with kind eyes and a nod of his head. "And this is Mewtwo; we're all here so that we can test the armor we've gotten fabricated for him."

Mewtwo extended his hand to shake Bryce's, which were cold and dry. However, there was something different about the look in his eyes. Mewtwo fancied that he saw hunger in Bryce's gaze, like the latter was looking at an object on display at auction that he strongly desired.

"Finally," Bryce mumbled, eyes still boring into Mewtwo's, "I get to meet the legend. I'm so humbled to meet you at last."

And then quite suddenly, the hungry look was gone. Mewtwo didn't know how to react, so he simply said, "Nice to meet you too."

The Blaziken had stepped forward and was eyeing them all with his sharp eyes. He didn't speak, but seemed to be waiting for Bryce to introduce him.

"This is Tobuscus, my Blaziken," Bryce said, gesturing towards him. "Tobuscus, this is Tim Bishop, Gengar, and Mewtwo," he said as he pointed to each one respectively. Tobuscus the Blaziken shook hands as they were introduced, a smile playing on his beak all the while. His eyes remained unchanged throughout, causing a cruel, cold look to join the smile and worry Mewtwo slightly. Combined with his talon hands that felt like ice, the first impressions weren't very good in the handshake. But of course, Mewtwo kept his thoughts to himself, and to himself only.

"Pleasure to meet you all," Tobuscus said with a hint of a squawk in his voice. Mewtwo glanced over and caught a glimpse of Gengar's face when he shook hands with Tobuscus. A flicker of fear passed, but disappeared just as quickly. Mewtwo could tell that Gengar was sharing his feelings.

"This was delivered before I arrived," said Bryce, pointing to several large parcels by the door that had so far gone unnoticed. They were packed in plain brown boxes and marked for interdepartmental mail. "I think we all know what's in there," he added with a sly grin.

"You're quite right," Tim said. "If you two want to join us, we're going to go and make sure the armor works."

"We'd be delighted," said Bryce and Tobuscus simultaneously. Without question, both picked up all of the boxes and looked expectantly at the group, waiting to be led on. Tim raised an eyebrow before chuckling and leading them all to the same lab they've always used.

When they entered, it was to find Squirtle waving animatedly to Mewtwo clear from the other side of the room. But when he caught sight of the two new faces, he stopped fairly quickly. Bryce and Tobuscus traded confused glances that went unnoticed.

"How's everyone treating you?" asked Mewtwo quietly after he had sidled up.

"Good," said Squirtle. He looked again at the new faces and lowered his voice further, "Who are those guys?"

"That's Bryce and his Blaziken, Tobuscus," Mewtwo said. "They're really nice, so please be on your best behavior around them. Remember to treat others the way you want to be treated."

Squirtle nodded vigorously and said after a moment, "Allen was chatting with me a bit earlier, and he said Tim would like to work with me on my battling from time to time. Is that okay with you?"

Mewtwo kneeled down, nearly to the floor so that he was level with Squirtle, and said, "Only if it's okay with you. Personally, I'd love for you to learn some new moves and stuff. I think it's a great idea!"

"Awesome!" exclaimed Squirtle. "I'll tell Tim!"

He ran excitedly to Tim, attracted his attention, beckoned him to crouch, and whispered in his ear. While this was going on, the large boxes were being unpacked on nearby tables. As contents got unpacked, Mewtwo caught sight of his brand new suit of armor for the first time.

It was stunningly beautiful. The smooth, glossy surface defied what was underneath; a fine cross-woven texture of black and gunmetal gray strips. There were surely thousands of these tiny strips, for the effect of the weave was mesmerizing. Dark purple highlights edged nearly every piece of armor. One highlight in particular caught his eye; a single pinstripe on the helmet ran from the top of the blacked-out visor to the back of the head. Mewtwo was speechless at the sight.

"Made entirely out of carbon fiber reinforced polymer," said Tim, whom Mewtwo had not notice approach. "That suit is one of the greatest pieces of technology we've ever had created. The whole thing only weighs about twenty pounds, and it's unbelievably rigid. Even better, we've packed the most advanced technology into the battle mechanisms. The central computer chip taps directly into your brain to work with your situational awareness, amplify your senses, greatly increase the rate of evading attacks, boosts your physical and mental abilities and toughness, and scores of other incredible things. Try it on!"

Gingerly, Mewtwo picked up the helmet from the table. He immediately registered that it was extremely light. He caressed the helmet in his hands, feeling the glasslike surface slide effortlessly over his fingertips. The carbon fiber glinted spectacularly under the glare of the overhead lights. His fingers followed the ridges in the helmet, accentuated by the dark purple highlights. He turned the helmet on its head and let the light flood inside. Hundreds of miniscule blue wires lined the inside, integrated with the shell holding the carbon fiber together. It looked like a network of neurons. Without waiting a second longer, Mewtwo lowered the helmet over his head, temporarily enveloping his vision in cool, dark shadow.

Surprisingly, his field of view was unimpeded by the addition of his headgear. After just a second, Mewtwo could see as if he weren't wearing the gear at all. He looked around at the others, who had eyes for nothing but him. Tim and Allen had a wide grin on his face as their eyes seemed to sparkle. Squirtle looked on with his mouth hanging slightly open in awe. Bryce, Tobuscus, Alder, Alakazam, and Gengar were simply dumbfounded.

"Now what?" asked Mewtwo. His voice came out slightly muffled and echoed from behind the helmet.

"Turn it on!" said Tim. "It's all commanded by your thoughts, so there's no chance of it misinterpreting instructions! All you have to do is tell it 'power on.'"

"Erm… okay…" said Mewtwo uncertainly. Could he really operate this powerful piece of technology with just his thoughts? It seemed far too incredible to be believable. But, he did as he was told.

Power on, he thought.

Instantly, his vision flickered as if he were watching through a television screen that changed channels. Next moment, a large block of text filled the left side of his vision. At the top sat the Silph logo; a beautifully rendered Pokéball framed by the blade of a sickle on one side and carved by a sleek letter S on the other. Joining it, written to the right in bold letters, were the words 'SILPH TECHNOLOGIES GK.' It headed a lengthy list of much smaller text that was scrolling up and out of sight so quickly that Mewtwo couldn't get a good look. However, from what he could glimpse, it looked like a list of startup checks the system was going through. The text was first written in English followed by the Japanese translation directly after the statement. Mewtwo guessed that Bryce had written the code; why else would it be in English?

Some of the text flicking by was highlighted red, confusing Mewtwo slightly. However, the startup checks were completed, causing the Silph logo and text to disappear. A small list of flashing orange statements bulleted by warning signs replaced it. The first read, "Chestplate not connected—ensure this article is being worn to initiate connection." The rest followed this format, referencing different pieces of the suit like the hand guards, legplates, ankle cuffs, and the tail guard. The rest of his heads-up display sat nicely on the edges of his field of view, not obstructing his vision at all. An intricately blank circle of transparent blue was being shown in the bottom-right, presumably to house something while the combat system was active. The time and battery charge rested in the top-right while a miniaturized Silph logo joined the notifications in the top-left. Mewtwo was absolutely stunned by everything he had seen so far.

"Is it working?" asked Allen tentatively.

"Yeah!" exclaimed Mewtwo, "It's incredible! Can you guys help me put on the rest of the suit?"

Tim, Bryce, and Tobuscus nodded in response. They all grabbed a piece or two at a time and started to attach the different parts of armor while Mewtwo held his arms out to facilitate the process. Tim strapped the light but bulky chestplate to Mewtwo, securing the front and back plates snugly to the latter's body. Tobuscus linked the hand and forearm guards around Mewtwo's wrists while Bryce crouched to fit the legplates, tail guard, and ankle guards.

The tail guard was a bit unique compared to the other pieces of armor; because Mewtwo's tail was positioned as it was, the guard was worn around his waist so it could offer its full protection. The guard narrowed through his legs and attached to the entire back of his tail by encircling it with many ribs of carbon fiber, ending in a cap for the tip of the tail. Because the ribs were separated by space, his tail was still highly flexible while given the added benefit of extra strength and rigidity. Even more incredible was the fact that the ribs clasped automatically once Bryce properly positioned the guard, as if they were rearing to get to work as soon as possible.

In the corner of Mewtwo's eyes, he saw the notifications steadily disappear as the different components of the suit were added to his body. Each statement eventually changed to 'Checking…' and disappeared. Once everything was connected, the words 'System Ready' were displayed at the top of the HUD.

"Wow…" Mewtwo breathed, staring down at his hands. So seamlessly were the shields attached to his wrists, guarding his hands and forearm with beautiful carbon fiber. His gaze shifted past his hands to his feet, taking in the legplates and the ankle guards. The slick black legs matched the contour of his own, masking his legs like a shell. The anklets functioned like the wrists, reaching to his toes and covering what the legplates exposed. He felt the chestplate like he did the helmet, his fingers traveling over the exceptionally smooth and glossy polymer surface. The ridges and contours precisely matched those of his own chest, highlighted by the purple pinstripes.

Mewtwo was in total awe at the suit and its complexities. Not a word escaped his lips as he soaked in the suit's beauty and elegance. He looked around at the others and saw nothing but faces that reflected what he was feeling. What was the potential of this amazing suit of armor?

It was time to find out.

Mewtwo turned to address Tim and Allen, moving as naturally as if he wore no armor at all, and asked, "So what's first?"

"Well," said Allen, "I suppose the first step is to activate your assist programs. Open up the options menu with the command 'options,' if you will."

Mewtwo obeyed as Tim pulled an instructions booklet from the boxes and joined Allen's side. Bryce sidled over somehow and peeked over the shoulders of the two.

An options menu had appeared in Mewtwo's sight, presenting a list of text with every couple lines preceded by a blank checkbox. His eyes roved down the list as phrases popped out at him, like 'Boost Jump,' 'Air Dash,' 'Stamina Management,' 'Power Management,' and scores of others. He looked past the list to the three skimming the manual.

"Okay," said Tim, holding the manual closer so that the others could read, "Let's try something… look up 'Assisted Targeting' and switch it on."

The list scrolled, obeying Mewtwo's thoughts rather than physical input. He ticked off the Assisted Targeting option.

"Now what?" asked Mewtwo.

"See if it's working," said Tim simply.

"I don't think—oh!"

The moment he exited the options, everyone standing around him became highlighted in a blue aura, denoting that they were allies to the system. But what truly amazed him was that, though half of Allen's body was hidden behind a table, he could still see a blue outline of where his legs and feet were through the surface.

"Wow!" said Mewtwo, "I can see people through solid objects!"

"Correct!" said Tim. "The Assisted Targeting helps to highlight friends and foes alike, making it much easier to distinguish between the two. It will also assist your accuracy and deliver the most effective attack possible. The shortcut for this option is the command 'ATS on/off.'"

They went through the entire options list, Tim describing what each option did while Mewtwo decided which ones he wanted to turn on or off. His suit was soon fully customized to his liking, including additions to his HUD that measured his stamina, internal body temperature, and heart rate. A nifty addition was a small space that served as a "rear view mirror," allowing him to see directly behind his head.

"This is so cool!" exclaimed Mewtwo. Though none of the others could see his face, he was smiling from ear to ear.

As he was looking around at the others, something on the outskirts caught his eye. There was a tall cabinet with the door ajar, and inside was something sleek and metallic reflecting light in the dark space it resided in. Mewtwo narrowed his eyes, trying to get a closer look.

Magnify, he thought.

His vision zoomed in like looking through a pair of binoculars. He looked the cabinet's ajar door up and down, attempting to distinguish what was inside. Through the thin sliver, he couldn't distinguish much more than before. However, what he could see upon closer inspection looked like steel or aluminum that had worn its luster from age. At exactly his eye level, this metal was carved by a strong reflection in black-tinted glass. It looked like the black glass was fixed to the metal in some manner… like a visor…

What was behind those doors?

"What do you think, Mewtwo?"

"Huh?"

"I said what do you think?" asked Bryce.

"About what?"

Bryce paused for a second before saying, "I asked if we should wrap it up for the day, and we wanted to know how you felt."

"Oh…" Mewtwo mumbled. "Yeah, that sounds good. Sorry," he said apologetically.

"No problem," said Bryce. "Now, the next thing we wanted to ask you was—"

Unfortunately, he was cut off by a sudden bang. Everyone turned quickly to the door to catch a glimpse of someone accidentally tumbling over the threshold. She fell flat on the ground but quickly picked herself up, straightened, and said with little breath, "I'm so sorry I'm late, guys, I forgot the time and I was up late last night and—"

She stopped abruptly at the sight of so many people in the room staring at her.

Immediately, her face flushed from embarrassment. She scanned the room, observing all the unfamiliar faces around her. Aside from Tim, Allen, and Bryce, none of the other faces were recognizable to her. As she walked towards the group, her full attention was caught by the armor. A glistening spark of excitement filled her eyes.

"Wow! The armor came out beautifully!" the girl exclaimed. Before continuing, she paused, turned toward all of the unfamiliar faces, and smiled.

"Allow me to introduce myself, especially after interrupting such a wondrous moment. I'm Stephanie, but feel free to call me Steph." She pointed to Bryce, Allen, and Tim, and said, "I have the honor of working on the team with these fantastic guys!"

Everyone simply watched as Steph made her way around to properly greet each person. One at a time, she individually shook hands with the new faces, smiling and laughing as she did so. Greeting Mewtwo last, she happily walked up towards him.

"It's such a pleasure to finally meet you, Mewtwo! You've been quite the center of attention around here, so I'm glad to meet you in person!"

"It's nice to meet you as well," Mewtwo answered, slightly taken aback by how open Steph seemed.

Mewtwo took the time to carefully observe Steph's features. Looking at her face, he peered through her hazel eyes, trying to read through her expression; but, he was unable to properly reach a verdict as to what lay beyond her friendly eyes. A thin coat of eyeliner masked the top of her eyes along with a bit of mascara. Her lips were glossed with a pale pink color, a simple accent to her pale skin. Her straight, dirty blonde hair fell loosely about six inches past her shoulders. As for clothes, a hint of a graphic t-shirt could be seen from under her lab coat, which matched well with her black slacks.

While Mewtwo continued to inspect her appearance, Steph reached into a small tote bag that she carried with her.

"And with all the commotion, I almost forgot!"

From her bag, she pulled out a notepad. At first glance, the notepad seemed filled with different diagrams and captions. Carefully, Steph flipped through the crisp pages until she found the page she needed.

"I may have come late, but I did obtain a bit of useful information in my absence! Within this notepad, I took notes of ideal places to field test Mewtwo's armor. Of course, I know traveling back and forth from Ether Valley must be a pain, so I found a few spots right in Ether Valley that would be the perfect candidates for a field test!"

Steph smiled and turned towards the team, as if seeking for approval. Seeing positive reactions from the others, she continued, pointing to a specific page in the notepad.

"So, using this notepad to determine the precise location, we can begin field testing whenever it is convenient. I recommend this mountainous region; this way, we can observe how well the armor reacts under different elevations."

"That's sounds like a great plan to me," Tim chimed in, "And maybe you can bring Glaceon along for us to test different climates as well."

Steph grinned at the mention of Glaceon and nodded her head.

"Certainly! Anyway, we have plenty of time to discuss the details. Mewtwo, why don't you let us know when you're up for some field testing, and then we'll take the trip down to Ether?"

"Sure, that definitely sounds good."

"Oh, in that case, Mewtwo" Bryce began to add, "it'll be best if you take the armor with you back to Ether. This way you'll become more accustomed to it, and it'll be one less thing to bring from the University up to Ether Valley when we begin the field tests."

"Ah, well... thank you," Mewtwo answered, somewhat at a loss for words how to respond to such a suggestion.

"Great! Seems as though today has been pretty successful then, so why not wrap up for the day?" Allen said as he organized the day's paperwork to return to Ether. "Bryce, Steph, and Tim, I'll be sure to call in when we're all set back at home for the tests."

"Great!" Steph replied cheerfully. "I definitely look forward to it!"

"As do I," Bryce added. "I'm always available, so just give me a call."

With that, Mewtwo and the others gathered their belongings, and prepared to head home. Wrapped securely for transport, the armor lay in Mewtwo's hands. Mewtwo took the utmost caution as he carried the armor back to Ether, like he was carrying a small child.

Once the group had successfully returned to Alder's cottage, the first priority found itself in keeping the armor in a safe place. Behind one of Alder's paintings located on the back wall of the cottage, Alder pointed out a small latch to Mewtwo. Lifting the latch, a cavity in the wall was revealed; the perfect place to store the armor.

"We can keep the armor here until it gets used again. What do you think?" Alder asked.

Mewtwo, although grateful for the offer, hesitated. Taking a breath, Mewtwo answered, "This is definitely a great place for it; however, I feel that this armor is my responsibility, and it will be best to keep it in an area of easier access. Thank you for the offer, but I'll just keep it with me for the night."

"Completely understandable," Alder said. "Whatever suits you best."

A second passed before his lip twitched into a smile and Mewtwo burst out laughing at his words. Within a few minutes, Alder covered the cavity back with the painting and wished everyone a good night. The lights to the cottage dimming, Mewtwo made his way to the guest room that was temporarily his.

Several hours later, Mewtwo lay in bed, staring at the dark ceiling and unable to fall asleep. His mind was buzzing with activity, rendering rest quite unobtainable for the time being. The image of that cabinet with the strange contents hovered on the edges of his mind. His insides were burning with curiosity as to what it could possibly be. His eyes fell to the luminous alarm clock standing on the bedside table. It was nearing twelve.

How about a midnight stroll? Mewtwo thought to himself.

The bed creaked quietly as he sat up and tried to not make noise. His suit of armor was neatly arranged on the carpet near the space heater, both illuminated by the winter moonlight pouring through the window panes. He collected his ID lanyard and the helmet and lowered both over his head, starting up the system in the process. As the computer chip booted up, he began to strap the armor to himself.

It was much slower work than back at the University. He had to be careful, for he was still inexperienced with his own armor. Gradually, he worked out the different components in the half-light and wore them in their proper spots. Thankfully, the tail guard wasn't nearly as difficult to wear as he thought it would be; as soon as he buckled it around his waist, the carbon fiber ribs did the rest to connect with his tail. Eventually, he was suited up and ready to go.

Gently, Mewtwo eased open the window that led to the sloping roof of Alder's cottage. He squeezed out onto the roof, closing, but not latching, the window behind him. The moonlight glinted off his armor, framing him impressively in a silhouette against the dark trees surrounding Alder's cottage. Mewtwo knelt down to ensure his balance on the asphalt shingles, feeling its residual warmth and gritty texture on the soles of his feet. He accessed a map of Ether Valley and zoomed out to find Cerulean City. Using this map, he determined his course to be bearing slightly west of south. He added the map to his HUD and, without another moment lost, pushed hard from the roof and rocketed into the sky.

The cold wind whipped his exposed skin as Ether rapidly shrank from Mewtwo's rear view. He kept an eye on his stamina meter, making absolutely sure that he wasn't draining it dry this time. Thankfully, the suit's Stamina Management told him precisely how it was being distributed and the rate at which it was being used. He decided to redistribute a bit of stamina to warm him against the cold, which the suit performed at once. Immediately, the intense chill was replaced with a pleasantly warm breeze, allowing for a much more comfortable travel.

He glided without a sound over the rolling hills of northern Kanto. Puffy clouds like dark gray cotton balls rolled over his head, blocking the moon and darkening his surroundings. Mewtwo activated his night vision, bathing the world in a dull green light and permitting him to see. Just a few minutes later, snow began to fall from the clouds, swirling around him and splattering his armor. The further he traveled, the more snow he saw on the ground, whitening everything in sight and brightening the clouds.

The scent of the air changed from wood and pine to salt as he rapidly drew closer to Cerulean. The skyscrapers of the city loomed out of the darkness. A good number of windows were still lit up, as was a large portion of the streets. Pinpricks of red and white on the roads moved in neat little lines, though why these motorists were still awake was beyond Mewtwo.

He descended, disengaging his night vision as the objects on the ground quickly grew in size. His feet hit the concrete sidewalk right outside the front entrance. The fresh snow crunched under his step and melted wherever he trod. He took his ID in hand, leaned forward to the electronic lock, passed it over the scanner, and was granted access to the University. Even though the street was unlit and completely deserted, Mewtwo still looked around him carefully before opening the large glass doors to the lobby.

Though there was no moonlight, the dank, green glow of the clouds from the snow still lit the lobby. No light was present other than that aforementioned. Mewtwo walked slowly through the lobby, looking left and right as if expecting something to jump from the shadows. The intense stillness and silence made his heart race. He knew that there was nobody in the building, but it didn't stop him from perspiring slightly under the armor out of nerves. He moved past the reception desk to the staircase through the greenish gloom and opened the heavy wooden fire door. The staircase was sparsely lit by service lights; the dim yellow spheres cast by these low-wattage bulbs provided hardly anything more than did the natural light of the lobby. Mewtwo exited the stairwell and stepped out into the labs, lit by the same service lights.

His soft, padded footsteps echoed off the walls. These halls were even quieter than the lobby, making Mewtwo horribly aware of his body like in the church so many ages ago. His heart thumped against his ribs. He felt the blood pound through his ears and the tips of his fingers and toes. His breaths sounded like they could propel a sailboat to sea. The things he heard, like the gurgling pipes in the ceiling above him, sounded amplified by at least a factor of five.

The more he walked, the more he wondered whether he should have come at all. Travelling this many miles on a whim seemed to be quite rash of him in retrospect. What if Alder found out he left? Then what? He couldn't shatter his trust like that; it would be so irresponsible…

Just one look at whatever's in that cabinet, Mewtwo thought as the large steel doors to the lab approached, and then it's straight home.

He removed the helmet from his head and held it under his arm while he lifted the lanyard from around his neck. He swiped his ID in the lock, heard the lock click, and pulled open the door.

Because Mewtwo didn't feel like blinding himself with bright lights, he turned on the room's auxiliary lights instead. These small lights lit the walls and machinery with a warm yellow glow like the service lights he saw earlier. Mewtwo eyed the cabinet with slightly narrowed eyes. Its door was still slightly ajar, like someone had just put away its contents but forgot to latch the door properly. What was inside it that merited such curiosity from him?

Slowly and deliberately, he walked towards the cabinet, meandering through the sea of tables. He let his helmet rest on the nearest table before coming square to the cabinet. Through the sliver between latched and unlatched door, the strange metallic material glinted yellow to reflect the light that shone through. From a much closer stance, Mewtwo observed that there were no shelves and whatever was inside was not one piece; that is, there were breaks and distortions in the reflection, conveying the idea that the contents were separate but still formed one unit together.

Mewtwo glanced around again, even when he knew the room to be completely empty but for himself. He felt the nervousness return in full measure, and for a minute or two he simply stood there, debating the simple action of opening the door. Eventually, he shook himself mentally.

"Stop being stupid," he muttered to himself, "there's nothing to be scared of."

He lifted his hand, hesitated for just a fraction of a second, then took hold of the cabinet door's handle and gently pulled.

For an exceptionally confusing moment, Mewtwo thought he was looking into a full-length mirror. His armor was reflected so perfectly from inside the cabinet that he could hardly fathom it was real. However, he took a second to inspect the contents more closely and realized that there was another set of armor in the cabinet. The difference was that this set was made of a dark and shiny metallic material, its luster worn out from age. What Mewtwo took to be a visor earlier that day was exactly that; though the helmet was styled differently and looked much plainer, the black visor cut the headgear smoothly across the middle like the one he wore today. All the components were hanging on hooks placed strategically inside the cabinet, creating the illusion that Mewtwo was filling in without physically wearing the armor.

He looked down at his chest, noticing how much the two sets of armor looked alike. He recalled the conversation between Bryce and Tobuscus many hours before. They mentioned how similarly "the old and the new" looked; surely they were referencing the two suits of armor less than three feet from each other?

If this old suit used to be his, how did they come to acquire it? More importantly, how did the team's funder, the one that sent it on to them, get their hands on this artifact? The more he thought about it, the more worried he became. Mewtwo himself hadn't been heard of since his confrontation with Giovanni on that warm summer's afternoon fifteen years ago. And even before that, nobody knew who he was. Whoever had possession of this suit must have been… no, it couldn't be…

Gingerly, Mewtwo reached forward with both hands and lifted the helmet from its hook. He turned it over in his hands, feeling the cold of the steel persist despite his warm touch. As a matter of fact, it felt like his hands were slowly losing their warmth the longer he held on. The chill was steadily working along his arms, spreading past his wrist and traveling up his forearm. He didn't like the feeling at all.

Curious as to whether or not it still fit, Mewtwo put on the helmet. It covered his eyes and blocked out the lights like his new helmet did.

But this time, Mewtwo saw nothing more.

An all-consuming cold rocketed down his spine in the split of a second. Mewtwo didn't know which way was up or down as the cold stabbed him like a thousand knives inside and outside of his body.

Mewtwo collapsed like a marionette whose strings had been cut. He was unconscious before he even hit the floor. The crash of his armor on tile went unheard. Mewtwo's body lay on the ground, unaware that its owner was, not for the first time, falling into the blackness.