The Pokedex chirps playfully as I scroll through the various entries. Thunder sits on my shoulder, watching the screen while I relay whatever I find to him. I open up Mewtwo's dex entry and take my time scanning over the data for anything useful. The information is surprisingly thorough. It contains a wide range of data from basics like height and weight to very specific things like its dietary needs . One section catches my attention, "Behavior." Unsurprisingly, there isn't much here. There's literally only a single scan so its mostly empty. I ask it to show me the specific readings the scan took, to which it quickly obliges. While most of it is specifics well outside my level of expertise, I do catch a few interesting tidbits.
The dex notes an abnormality within Mewtwo's brain. An inorganic object seems to be imbedded directly in the base of their brain stem. What it's made of and why it's there isn't made clear It could be anything from some kind of shrapnel to a microchip of some form. I consider the possibility of it being a GPS tracking chip of some sort, but considering no Rocket members have come knocking tells me that's probably not the case.
"What do we do then? Try and remove it?" Thunder asks.
"Us? No way. We'd need a surgeon. And even then, it's in a pretty sensitive spot. Get it wrong and we could paralyze them, kill them, or we become part of one of those horror stories about psychic types with brain trauma."
"What happens if we leave it there?"
"Heck if I know. We should get their opinion on the matter before we make any commitments."
I get up and head out of the room, glancing briefly out the window. Outside Jackson and Josh appear to be trying to train the other pokemon for competitive battles, testing their skills on a makeshift dummy staked into a tree stump. Growlithe also seems to have joined the fun. Once we finish with Mewtwo We could probably give them a few pointers.
When we reach the basement Mewtwo is staring out of the small window towards where the others are training. They don't even turn to acknowledge us.
"This is normal among your people?"
"So it would seem. Everyone is a willing participant, though. Not that humans could force pokemon to do anything with the power they wield."
"Indeed. You wished to speak with me?"
"Yeah. I was looking over the pokedex scan and something came up. There's something lodged in your brain stem."
Mewtwo immediately turns our way. Their face remains emotionless and focused. "And you wish to remove it."
"Well, with your conse-"
"You will do no such thing." They take a step forward with a threatening gait, glaring at us with glowing pink eyes. Thunder immediately rears into a defensive stance and I take several steps back.
"Woah! Woah! Easy! We're not going to do it without your permission. You can read minds, yes? Look at mine. Am I lying?" For a moment I feel a presence in my head. And in an instant it's gone, like someone checking in a room for something, then leaving.
"You are not." Mewtwo relaxes, prompting us to do so as well. "I am surprised by how much you appear to care about my desires. Do your 'moral obligations' prompt you to do this as well?"
"In a sense. It's just common courtesy. Your opinions matter just as much as anyone's."
"It's not just because I could kill you both with merely a thought. I sensed that. This is something I cannot understand."
"Mewtwo, people do things for reasons beyond simply staying alive. It might be worth exploring them.
"...Perhaps..." they turns to face the window again, no longer acknowledging us. Perhaps they should look into social interactions first.
"Right... Good talk." With nothing else to say I simply turn and walk away.
"They're certainly is a bundle of joy." Thunder comments sarcastically.
"It's not even simply an abrasive personality. It almost feels like there's barely any personality. Really makes me wonder where they come from. What made them like that."
"We'll figure it out. We've solved mysteries before. Well... kinda." There's that complication again. I can never escape it. But it does remind me...
"Thunder, remember when I mentioned that idea of how to mend our little disconnect?
"You mean the battles? I see where you're going with this. I'm down for it. Think the others would be willing to lend us a hand?"
"Probably. Plus we could give them some advice. We both have experience to share after all."
"Then let's get out there before they decide to call it a day."
"Agreed." I head out the backdoor and into the yard, Jackson quickly notices me and waves me over.
"Hey Alex! Glad to see you and Thunder decided to join us."
"Yeah. Figured we could give a few pointers."
"Oh! Oh!" Josh interjects. "We could do a battle! You vs. me!"
"Me, Thunder and Growlithe against you and two of your friends? I think we can arrange that."
"Only two?"
"For the sake of fairness. If you had all three of them on your side I'd be outnumbered. Fair warning though. Thunder and I have been in fights before."
"No holding back. I can take it. Alright. Shadow, Tsunami, you're up!"
"You ready, Thunder?"
"So how will this work? I fight, you do strategy?" He asks.
"More or less. Hey Growlithe. We're doing a friendly match. Wanna join my side?"
"A battle? I've never been in one of these before..." Growlithe replies with slight trepidation.
"No better time to get acquainted if you want to try."
"Alright. I suppose it wouldn't hurt." He gallops over to my side. I kneel down to let Thunder off my shoulder before standing up again. Time to take stock of my opponents.
While they're likely less experienced than Thunder or I, I've learned that underestimating an opponent is a quick way to end a fight on the losing side. Thunder would be best to start off seeing as he gives me type advantage over at least one of them.
"Thunder, you're up first. And be aware I'll be using simple commands. Can't give you entire battle plans. That would be unfair to them."
"So what do I do beyond those? Simple commands won't win a fight."
"Use your judgement. You've been in combat. You know how it works."
Josh sends out Shadow, likely to avoid putting Tsunami at a type disadvantage. While I'm confident about my chances, I approach this fight like I would any other, with the understanding that my opponent has the ability to win. I don't want to risk underestimating them. That's a mistake I've made a few times back on Pokemar.
"Fight time! Yeah!" Shadow yells gleefully as she takes an aggressive posture.
"Count us down, dad!"
"Alright." Jackson steps back a ways, saying out of the chaos. "Three, two, one, go!"
"Shadow! Swift!" Josh calls out almost immediately. Shadow is quick to respond, summoning several small stars of light and hurling them at Thunder. They home in like missiles, striking him in spite of his attempts to dodge. Using this as a distraction Shadow starts to close the distance.
"Spark!" I call out. Thunder obliges with a quick electric tackle followed by several swipes from his tail.
"Tackle him!" Josh yells. The Eevee lunges and slams into Thunder sending him tumbling back a ways before he gets a chance to get back up.
"Hit her with spark again!" Thunder charges in once more, scoring another it. This time The effect I was hoping for sets in, paralysis. Shadow stands stiffly out in the open. Vulnerable. Thunder takes charge, knowing exactly what to do. He follows up with a flurry of quick strikes, chipping away at our opponent's strength. Until finally...
"Alright! I tap out. You got me." Shadow call out as the paralysis fades. Her body slumps to the ground in exhaustion. "Good fight, Thunder."
"You too, Shadow." Thunder replies. Josh head over and picks up the downed Eevee, moving her to the side.
"He can't have much strength left. Go get em, Tsunami!" Josh yells.
Alright, Tsunami is a Mudkip, water type, but has access to ground type moves as well, and those would be devastating to Thunder. He must know this as well. So he'll play defensively and wait for-
Thunder brazenly charges forward at the Mudkip, seeming confident in his type advantage. It's that disconnect again. Thunder is acting differently from what I'm used to. And now he's out of position.
"Thunder! Wait! You're not-" I try and warn him. Too little too late.
"Mud slap, Tsunami!" Josh cries. Tsunami fires a blast of water at the ground in front of Thunder, kicking up a wave of mud that splatters all over my friend. With his opponent blinded and disoriented Tsunami scoops up some mud with his tail and performs a roundhouse slap on Thunder, who falls over to the ground in exhaustion.
"That..." He mutters. "Didn't go to plan... I'm out. Sorry Alex..." I quickly jump in to scoop him out of the way.
"It's okay. It's just a practice fight, anyways." Not only that, it's exactly the thing we're trying to remedy. To expect an instant change after one fight is foolish. But with time I hope that this issue becomes less and less pronounced. "Growlithe, you're up."
"I got a type disadvantage here. This isn't going to go well." He says, hesitant.
"Which just means we need to think creatively. This is going to be a bit of a gambit. And it's gonna hurt. But please trust me here."
"Well, you got a plan at least. Let's give it a shot." Growlithe takes his place in the fight, steeling himself for what is to come.
"Right. Let's start simple. Bite!" Growlthe lunges in, teeth bared. He bites into Tsunami's back, prompting him to thrash to get him off.
"Water gun, Tsunami!" Josh calls out. The Mudkip blasts Growlithe with a short, high pressure blast of water forcing him off his back. The hit visibly hurt Growlithe, the water based strike sapping his fire type energy.
"Hang in there, Growlithe. Hit them with flame wheel!" I call out. He leaps into the air and performs a somersault and spewing fire at the same time, creating a flaming ring around his body as he crashes down on Tsunami. The hit connects, but without any significant effect. Tsunami simply counters with another water gun. Growlithe stumbles back, clearly exhausted.
"Alex, it's now or never on that plan... I can't take another hit." Growlithe pants.
"Exactly what we need. Growlithe, use reversal!" This move works best when in dire straits. With luck the hit will be enough to take Tsunami out of the fight. Growlithe takes a breath and builds up the strike, his body glowing in an orange aura. And then he strikes, charging at his target like a meteor and impacting with an explosive force. Once the dust clears the victor is readily apparent. Growlithe is standing over Tsunami's unconscious form.
"Wow... that... that was a lot of fun. I can see why everyone's so crazy about these fights." He says.
"Certainly get's the blood flowing. I can say that from experience." I turn my attention to Josh. "Good fight there. You nearly had us."
"How did that happen?" Josh asks in disappointment. "I had type advantage. I should've won."
"There's much, much more to battles than having type advantage. I'm hoping to teach you those things. Make you a better trainer. With your father's permission, of course."
"Sure. Why not?" Jackson replies as he digs out three diamond shaped yellow containers and tosses me one. He leans over and puts one of them in front of Tsunami's face and twists both ends, opening it and releasing a fine powder onto the Mudkip's face. Almost immediately he starts to rouse from his slumber and glances around, slightly confused.
"Wow... that hit like a freaking truck..." He mutters, getting back to his feet. Jackson quickly does the same for Shadow. I take the one he gave me and use it just like they did, bringing Thunder back to relative health.
"Woah... that felt weird... Like pins and needles all over my body." Thunder says.
"Not like a reviver seed then?" I ask.
"Not really. It does the same thing, sure, but it feels very different."
"Well if it works, it works. I'm gonna show Josh a few of the things I know. How about you show the other pokemon a thing or two?"
"I can do that. Maybe I could show them how to look for openings and such."
"And I show Josh how to create those openings. Let's get started."