Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait everyone! This chapter was a pain for a lot of reasons, but I'm finally back on track with LC. Looking forward to 52~
Chapter 51: Overwhelmed
"So there was another one today," Darren announced, setting his phone down in the middle of the coffee table. I leaned forward to see a photo of Mewtwo. Blurry, unfocused, but definitely him.
"Where was he spotted?" I asked.
"Same as yesterday—Indigo," Darren replied, flopping into the chair across from me with a bag of chips. "Makes me wonder if the sighting yesterday wasn't just a fluke."
I tilted my head. "You think he's letting himself be seen?"
Darren shrugged. "He went all that time without any sightings and now there's two in two days. But, y'know… could just be coincidence," he said in that way that implied it was anything but.
My eyes slid back to the image of Mewtwo in the middle of the table. "What time was the photo taken yesterday?"
Darren tapped something on the phone. "Well, no way to know when it was taken, but it was posted around this time."
Two appearances in two days, right around the same time. Maybe the pattern would keep up.
"I'll let Mew know," Ajia piped up from the kitchen. "She'll definitely want to keep an eye on him, if he does show up again."
I tilted my head. "Hasn't she already been busy with watching the Rocket bases all the time?" Part of me wanted to add a 'both of you' to the end of that.
"Well, there hasn't been a whooole lot of activity on that front recently," Ajia replied with a shrug. "I figure it can't hurt to keep tabs on Mewtwo as well, y'know?"
Well, maybe if the two of them had infinite time and energy, it couldn't hurt. But there was no denying that Mew was the stealthiest legend, so she always ended up volunteering for everything. Maybe it was stupid to worry that a legend could get burnout like a regular person, but…
Chibi leaped onto the table, padding over to the cell phone and staring intently at the picture of Mewtwo. "*If Mewtwo is going to keep showing himself, I want to speak with him.*"
"He's been teleporting away just as fast—I don't think he'd stop to hold a conversation with anyone," Darren said.
Chibi glowered slightly. "*I didn't get to talk with him when he was here. I'm not going to miss another chance.*" He glanced up at me. "*He gave you a method of contacting him, didn't he?*"
"Ajia already tried it—no response," I said.
"*He might respond if a fellow experiment talks to him.*"
"Maybe?" I said, shrugging. "It's worth a shot, anyway." Still, I didn't like the idea of rushing to find him. The Rockets would no doubt be very interested in his appearances as well. They could try to set a trap for him—and us. But we couldn't just ignore his appearances either.
I grabbed the old flip phone that Ajia had obtained for texting the number Mewtwo gave us. After some deliberation with Chibi, we composed a text reading "Experiment 009 wants to speak with you. Would you be willing to meet with him? There wouldn't need to be any humans there. Let us know."
I sent the message and Chibi nodded, which was probably all the satisfaction he was willing to show. Time would tell if anything came out of it.
Another day, another Mewtwo sighting, same as the last two. We couldn't ignore it—we had to find out more. Mew and Ajia volunteered to check out the part of town that he kept appearing in. And Chibi was adamant about seeing Mewtwo, which meant that I found myself going with them. Not that I wasn't also curious about Mewtwo.
"So you think he'll appear around here?" I asked, glancing back and forth down the street.
"It's roughly around where he appeared the past few days," Ajia said simply, reading something on her phone.
"What about the Rockets?" They had to be just as interested in these sightings, right?
"*I scouted the area and found no sight of them,*" Mew said, flicking a few of her tails. She'd taken Ninetales's form today. Maybe she got bored of copying Espeon all the time.
Chibi looked antsy. There'd been no reply to the text I'd sent.
Indigo was no longer an emergency zone. Still, most of the tournament site was closed to the public for repairs. I half-expected someone to materialize from nowhere and tell us to get lost. Or worse.
My foot idly tapped the edge of the sidewalk. I crossed my arms, then uncrossed them, fighting the urge to look inconspicuous. I kept having to remind myself that there was no need.
"So anyone looking this way would just see an empty street corner, right?" I asked.
"*Yep,*" Zoroark replied. The bushy-maned fox was reclining against a bus stop, arms crossed behind his head.
"Pretty impressive."
"*I know I am.*"
Ajia rolled her eyes. "What he's not saying is that it's a lot easier for an illusion to show a lack of something rather than to just invent something from scratch." I suppose that made sense. Like erasing something was easier than painting it. It still didn't feel like we were hidden, standing out in the open like this. But eventually it'd have to sink in.
A few blocks away, some construction crews were going about their business, both humans and Pokémon. A lot of Machoke and Graveler. Some Primeape and Marowak. It sure didn't look like there were any Rockets around. But then, how could we know for sure? I found my eyes automatically drifting to the rooftops, wondering if I'd catch a glimpse of an Altaria or Flygon. Any time a shadow flickered, I half-expected it to be Gengar, sneaking up on us. My brain generated the image of Kabutops darting from nowhere and—
I shook my head, suddenly aware of how much tension was in my shoulders. Okay, I obviously hadn't gotten over what happened the last time we snuck into the tournament site. I clenched my hands a few times to ground myself, then glanced around for something to fill the silence. My eyes fell on Zoroark.
"How'd you two meet anyway?" I asked.
"Ah, you know—same way I met Espeon and Umbreon," Ajia replied casually. She'd always kind of danced around how that went down, so it didn't really answer the question.
Zoroark put a paw to his chest. "*We were stolen, of course.*"
"You don't have to say it like that," Ajia said, elbowing him.
"*But it sounds worse,*" he replied, grinning broadly like that was the point.
Ajia gave an exaggerated sigh. "Anyway, he's right; I stole all three of them from Team Rocket. Back when I was still doing infiltration."
Back when she was doing infiltration… There was still a lot I didn't know about that time.
"Any fun stories from back then?" I asked.
Ajia grinned. "Oh sure, loads. There was this one time we got a tip that a truckful of stolen Pokémon was gonna be arriving in the Goldenrod underground. So we had to—"
Ajia went on telling her story about how Espeon and Pichu had snuck into a warehouse on their own, and she and Umbreon had to find a way in after them. It sounded a lot like the Rebellion's first mission. All clueless energy and the sense of dangerous excitement. Looking back, it felt so… childish. Like we'd known it was dangerous but hadn't really felt it yet.
Chibi's ears twitched suddenly. I glanced down the street to see some kind of commotion by the construction site and couldn't help tensing up. It could be nothing. Or it could be something.
"Let's move," Ajia said.
We made our way down the block quickly but quietly until we were right across the street from everyone. The whole crew was staring upward, some of them muttering to each other in hushed tones. I followed their gazes upward, and there he was. Standing in broad daylight at the edge of a rooftop. Mewtwo. In the stark sunlight, his skin was practically white, and his tail a brilliant violet. A far cry from all the times I'd seen him at night.
"He's… just standing there," I muttered. He had to have come here for a reason.
And then, right before our eyes, he hovered down to the construction site and started… calmly clearing away rubble.
"He's… helping?" I said incredulously.
It was so mundane. There had to be some ulterior motive, right?
[He obviously wishes to ensure that everyone knows of his return,] Mew said thoughtfully. [Though, for what reason, I can't say.]
"*Are you going to talk to him?*" Chibi asked Mew.
She considered it. [No, I will observe for now.]
He deflated slightly. As if he was hoping she would go, and bring him with her.
A few flying Pokémon fluttered up to get a closer look at Mewtwo, but still kept their distance. I glanced around anxiously, as if Rockets were just going to materialize out of thin air now that he was here.
"For the Rockets to attack him, they'd have to do it in broad daylight with witnesses," Ajia said. "I don't think they'd be willing to do that yet."
Right, yeah. That made sense. But even if Mewtwo didn't expect to be attacked, what was the point of this? Unless…
"Maybe he wants the Rockets to show themselves?" I asked.
I'd said it without much thought, but now that I was thinking about it, it actually made sense. If he got targeted right under the League's nose, he'd make it so they couldn't ignore the Rockets. Maybe that would actually clear the legends. The League seemed to think they were dangerous, but if we could prove that Team Rocket was the real problem, and get the League to do something about it, then…
[Mewtwo and the Rockets, both setting a trap for the other,] Mew mused, flicking her tails.
Which one would win? And how could we help if he wouldn't tell us his plan?
Mewtwo paused after setting down a large concrete tube, looking around in a manner that almost felt… expectant. His eyes turned in all directions, scanning the city blocks meticulously.
And then he turned in our direction, and I could have sworn that his eyes lingered on us. He couldn't see us, not with Zoroark here. But could he sense our presence another way? Could he sense Mew?
For a few seconds, no one moved. I hardly dared to breathe. Then Mewtwo's head suddenly jerked to the left, and he teleported out of sight.
"He left just like that?" I muttered under my breath.
Maybe he'd noticed something unusual. I glanced around at the buildings surrounding us, uneasy. Were there Rockets nearby? But even if there were, it wasn't like they had any way to trap him unless they suddenly unveiled a dozen ALRs.
…Did they have ALRs hidden around here?
No. No, that was silly. Where would they be keeping them? How would they transport them with no one noticing? And besides, they'd have no reason to turn them on now that Mewtwo was gone. We couldn't be trapped if they didn't know we were here.
"We're fine," Ajia said firmly, bumping my shoulder.
Right, yeah. No one could see us, and no one was looking for us. I had nothing to worry about. But did I really look that obviously tense?
Mew's eyes glowed, and the five of us reappeared back at the cabin in a flash. I let out a huge sigh of relief, even though I wasn't sure why. It wasn't like we'd been in any real danger, but… just being in Indigo just felt tense and stifling.
Ajia was already pacing in the dirt. Mew was back in her own form now and drifted in circles overhead, looking remarkably like her chosen.
"Different locations each day but always in Indigo. Always by people. Is he looking for something? Trying to get someone to approach him? Something else entirely?"
I wasn't sure if she wanted me to comment. Both Ajia and Mew looked lost in conversation with each other, probably talking at a million miles an hour through their link. They'd let me know if they figured anything out later.
But then, just as I turned to walk up the stairs leading inside, Ajia tapped a fist to her palm. "Maybe it was a test."
I blinked. "A test?"
"Yeah, think about it," Ajia said. "The way he keeps waiting around in each spot. It's almost like he's experimenting to see what the reaction will be. I bet he was there for longer, and only showed himself after a certain point in time. He wanted to see how soon they noticed him."
How soon they noticed him? Before showing himself? But…
A cold unease swept over me. "That makes it sound like he thinks they can detect him."
Ajia hummed. "It's possible."
I gaped at her. "Excuse me, what?"
Mew tilted herself in midair. [I've believed for some time that the Rockets may have some way of detecting certain Legendary energy signatures, at least within a close range.]
Ajia nodded. "It would make sense."
What? They were both talking about this like it was a pretty mundane thing and easy to guess when it had never remotely occurred to me
But then… why hadn't I ever questioned how the Rockets had managed to track down and corner legends like Raikou and Entei, with their incredible speed and huge territories? Having some way of tracking them would have been necessary, right?
"I doubt they'd be able to detect any legend," Ajia mused. "Probably only ones they've gotten a good read on before, you know?"
[Well, they certainly have my energy signature,] Mew said. [After all, they nearly captured me once before, when they obtained my DNA to create Mewtwo.]
I rubbed my arm awkwardly. "I've always wondered how that happened."
[It was years ago,] Mew said airily. [I was careless, and nearly became ensnared in a trap. I had no way of knowing what would come of it, of course. That's why I never spend too much time in one place,] she added with a wink.
Well, it was good that she could find some humor in it, I guess.
"*What about Zapdos?*" Chibi asked all of a sudden.
Mew rested against her tail, looking up. [The only time I know of Zapdos getting into a conflict with humans—besides last year—was many years ago.]
"*What happened?*"
[A lone human found their way to one of Zapdos's roosts, and Zapdos obliged their challenge. They did not think anything of it at the time, but they found themselves facing many Pokémon—far more than a single trainer would lead. Unsettled, they fled the scene. We assumed that would be the end of it.]
Chibi stared downward in silence.
Mew hovered closer, regarding him carefully. [You were born from Zapdos's essence, yes?]
He looked up. "*That's right. I knew they'd obtained one of Zapdos's feathers from somewhere and used it to make me. I never knew how they'd gotten it.*"
A feather, preserved somewhere for years, later used by Team Rocket in their experiments. Finally giving rise to the first half-legend. It seemed weird that they'd been able to just walk right up to Zapdos and challenge it. Did that used to be a normal thing?
"Hey, so… regarding Mewtwo," I began, "if the Rockets could track his energy, wouldn't they have found him by now?"
Ajia put a hand to her chin. "Not if he kept his distance. He told us he spent most of the past year across the sea."
Part of me suddenly wanted to suggest that all the legends just flee the country. As if that would solve anything long-term. I knew better than anyone that living on the run indefinitely was no way to live. And there was no guarantee that they'd be safe outside Tohjo forever.
Mew gave me a curious look. [Are you wondering why we do not simply seclude ourselves indefinitely?]
"I wasn't actually going to suggest it…" I muttered sheepishly.
[It's fair to wonder,] Mew replied lightly. [Most legends feel deeply uncomfortable if they spend too long away from their domain.]
"What about you?" I asked.
Mew hummed. [I exist to be a guardian to all life. So long as I live to that end, I am serving my purpose.]
Chibi's gaze was fixed on Mew. "*Purpose…*" he muttered distantly.
It still didn't feel like we were any closer to knowing what to do about the Mewtwo situation. Part of me missed the old days, when all we had to do was stop the Rockets from catching more legends. Not… whatever things had turned into.
Ajia waved to us from the door. "Come on, let's go tell the others."
Later that night, I found myself wandering outside, too distracted to sleep. I couldn't stop thinking about Mewtwo. Too many questions, with not enough answers. Too many times my brain wanted to drift back to what happened last year.
I found myself reading up on the Viridian incident, much as I never wanted to think about it again. I found news articles from around the time it happened. 23 dead, 64 injured. Several city blocks flattened. Most of the damage had probably come from the initial blast that hit the Viridian gym. The Rockets had deployed their own legends for defense pretty quickly. After that, it would have been stray fire causing collateral damage.
It wasn't Lugia's fault, I tried to tell myself. It was Mewtwo. But then, that just meant that we shouldn't have freed him. And I couldn't believe that. I wouldn't. You couldn't just say that someone deserved to be a slave because they might hurt someone. No.
But maybe I was wrong. And that thought scared me.
Lugia had taken to sleeping at the bottom of a lake near the cabin. When I'd asked why, it had said that it was tired of Mew constantly needing to barge into its sanctum, and that it might as well stay here if we were going to be summoning it constantly. I couldn't really argue with that.
There was no moon out as I trudged through the woods toward the lake, using the light of my phone to guide me. I probably should have asked Chibi or Firestorm to come along, but whatever. I gave Lugia a mental nudge as I approached the shore, then sat down on a large rock amidst the gravel. About a minute later, Lugia's head emerged from the water, glancing around until it laid eyes on me.
[Do you need something?] Lugia asked.
I shrugged. "Just wanted to talk about some things."
Lugia raised a brow but did not object. The dragon-bird made its way toward the shore, more and more of its body surfacing as the water grew shallow. Finally, it ruffled its feathers and settled into a seated position at the edge of the water.
[So. What is on your mind?]
I bit my lip, unsure where to begin. There were so many things bouncing around my head that it was hard to narrow them down. Eventually, I settled on: "How are you feeling about this whole Mewtwo situation?"
Lugia hummed. "I want to know more about what Mewtwo is planning. The lack of information is frustrating."
I crossed my arms over my knees. "How did you meet Mewtwo anyway?"
Lugia turned its head toward the pitch-dark sky. [He just showed up one day. He seemed… confused, almost. Like he did not know where to go or what to do.]
"He'd only just been freed," I said, shuffling a foot against the gravel. "It was his first time having free will, so I'm not surprised."
Lugia nodded distantly. [Mew gave him a most kind greeting. He was polite to them. There was some tension, though—I could feel it. He was not very practiced at concealing emotion.]
Lugia paused, heavily considering its words. I couldn't tell what it was feeling.
[He told me that he wished to strike a blow against the humans, while they were vulnerable. He asked for my help. As you know, I agreed.] Lugia turned away. [There was not much more to it than that.]
I furrowed my brow. So that was all it took for a dozen blocks of Viridian to get leveled. Had they ever considered how much collateral damage they'd be causing? Even if the answer was that they had thought about it and decided it was worth it. Anything was better than not caring at all.
But I couldn't do it. I couldn't ask. Why couldn't I just ask this one simple thing?
[These appearances of his. He's setting a trap for them, isn't he?] Lugia asked.
I rubbed my arms. "Possibly. I'm worried about them setting a trap for him too."
Lugia seemed to be having trouble putting its thoughts into words. [I still believe that Mewtwo is correct in wanting to strike the Rockets before they make their next move.]
A chill came over me. "I mean, wouldn't that be basically the same thing as Viridian?"
[Perhaps...] Lugia said. Its tail swished idly in the water, sending ripples throughout the lake. [Mew was displeased. With our actions that night.]
"I'd imagine so," I said carefully. I really didn't know how to say how I felt about it.
[I dislike the idea of waiting. And your human leadership is content to carry on as though nothing is happening. There is no one else we can depend on.]
"...That's true."
[Our counterattack that night was hasty,] Lugia went on, [but with the right planning, the only humans who would come to harm would be those so-called Rockets.]
"I guess," I mumbled. I wasn't sure how to feel about that. It was slightly better than the alternative, but…
Lugia gave me a puzzled look. [The Rockets cause great harm to Pokémon, and to their fellow humans. They enter that life knowing this, do they not?]
That was definitely unexpected. It was times like this that I wished I had a better read on Lugia's emotions. I couldn't tell what it was trying to get at.
Lugia's annoyance prickled at me. [Why are you scrutinizing my words?]
Crap. It had felt my skepticism. Our link was two-way, but the psychic-type always seemed to have a better read on me.
I took a deep breath. "They're not all irredeemable," I pointed out. "I mean, look at Starr."
[And would you put forth the time and effort to connect with each one of them?]
"I… of course not."
[Then… is it so wrong to mitigate their potential harm by removing them from the equation?]
I jolted. "What? You don't seriously think we should just murder them left and right?"
Lugia glanced away, a bit flustered. [That's a rather extreme way to put it. It's just worth considering the fact that striking back saves lives overall.]
Oh my god, were we seriously having this debate? Why couldn't Ajia have been here for this?
"That's not how we humans do things," I said in a low voice, my grip tightening on my knees.
[How do they do things, then?]
My mouth went dry. "Look, I don't want to talk about this."
Lugia's smug air faded into wisps of awkwardness. [My apologies. I am simply… on edge. I do not like waiting for the enemy to make a move.]
I sighed. "I don't like that either." But I didn't think it was a choice between 'wait for the Rockets to do whatever' or 'cause a whole bunch of collateral damage.'
"I kind of just… wish we'd gotten to talk things out with Mewtwo longer," I said. "Without everyone else there. Things felt… I don't know, kind of hostile the other day." Even I'd wanted to shut down the things he'd been saying. But what if we could hear him out, and actually persuade him to join us?
Lugia swished its tail. [There were things I wished to discuss with him alone, yes.] It paused for a bit, thinking. [He gave you a means of contact, correct?]
"We tried it. No response."
[Hm.]
I still wasn't even sure what the deal was with the number he gave us. Mewtwo had straight-up said the phone didn't belong to him, which made even less sense.
"I could try it again," I offered. "Maybe he'd respond if I told him you wanted to talk."
Lugia was silent. [I would like that,] it said finally.
So I said good night and went back to the cabin and grabbed the burner phone. Mewtwo hadn't replied from when I'd relayed Chibi's message. I wasn't sure what good this would do. Still, I wanted to be able to do something to ease Lugia's concerns. And maybe I was hoping that it would help make things feel less tense between us.
So I sent a simple 'Lugia wants to talk with you' message before shoving the phone in my pocket and crashing on the couch.
The following night, still no word from Mewtwo, but Mew on the other hand did have news. Starr and I were hanging out in the living room when Ajia and Mew suddenly appeared in the middle of the room with a teleport flash.
Starr practically fell off the couch. "Would it kill you two to use the door like a normal person?"
"Ahh, sorry," Ajia replied sheepishly. She just as quickly regained her enthusiasm and said, "Looks like it's happening tonight!"
I didn't know what that was referring to, so I wasn't sure how excited I should be.
Starr gave Ajia an unimpressed look, "Yeah, uh, you forgot to say what."
"The shipment," Ajia replied with a mischievous grin. "I knew there was a reason why the Rockets kept sending trucks out to their warehouses in Celadon. I think they're gearing up to ship a bunch of supplies to a new base."
Right, she had mentioned that Mew had been keeping close watch on all the Rocket bases for the past week. I just hadn't expected anything to actually come out of it.
"So I was thinking," Ajia went on, hands moving animatedly as she talked, "Mew and I are gonna follow them to see where their destination is and scope out the route from the air."
[With any luck, we will discover their new base, as well as find the ideal location to intercept them in the future,] Mew added, hovering lightly back and forth.
Ajia nodded. "Yup, then the next time they make a move, we can make our move. Steal some supplies, weaken them before they can strike back, that sort of thing."
"Do you… need any help with it?" I asked tentatively.
"We're just doing recon tonight, so we don't need a whole group or anything," Ajia replied casually. "Probably better if we're not too noticeable."
It made sense. Mew was stealthiest, after all. That's why she and Ajia kept working themselves so hard. They were just the best candidates for it.
"Yeah, I wasn't paying attention, but you said you guys were gonna be watching them from the air?" Starr piped up from the couch.
"Yep," Ajia replied.
"I'm out. The only thing worse than flying is night flying."
Ajia chuckled. "That's fine, we're not planning to get into any fights."
Starr gave her a deadpan stare. "Now that you've said that, I'm expecting it."
I followed Ajia and Mew outside, where the latter transformed into Aerodactyl. I waved the two off and watched them disappear into the night sky, and once they were gone, I was left alone with a restless energy that I didn't know what to do with.
At least the time for waiting would soon be over. Maybe we'd even have the chance to wreck a base before it was fully operational, before any Rockets were staffed there. We could hurt their efforts without actually hurting any people. Maybe that would be a good compromise for Lugia.
I stood outside in the cool evening air for longer than I planned to. And just as I was about to head back inside, a phone buzzed in my pocket. But I wasn't carrying my phone, so how…?
It was the burner phone. I'd forgotten that I'd left it in my jacket pocket when I texted Mewtwo last night. I checked the inbox, and:
I will speak with Lugia tonight.
I froze. My eyes scanned the message repeatedly, hardly daring to believe it. But it was right there, clear as day.
[I got a reply from Mewtwo,] I told Lugia.
The reply was immediate: [What?]
[He wants to meet with you now,] I said, still rereading the message to be sure of it.
[Then I will do so,] Lugia said, and it was hard to believe how fast it had perked up. [Inform him that I accept.]
[Right.] I hit the reply button and was just about halfway through responding when my fingers slowed on the keypad.
Lugia sensed my hesitation. [What is it?]
[Mew and Ajia just left on a scouting mission, but… I should tell them, shouldn't I?]
Lugia didn't reply. I was just about to go back inside and grab my Pokégear so I could text Ajia, but then—
[I would prefer not to inform Mew,] Lugia said finally.
My foot froze on the stairs. [You're sure? What if…] What if something went wrong?
[If Mew knows of it, they will surely want to come along,] Lugia replied, feeling awkward. [I cannot even blame them. But I wish to speak to Mewtwo alone.]
I didn't know how to respond. My brain kept drifting back to what happened the last time Lugia and Mewtwo spoke privately. Part of me wished that I hadn't said anything at all.
But I really wanted to trust Lugia. It felt like we'd been making at least a little progress lately. If I could just stop thinking about Viridian…
Lugia exhaled slowly. [I'm aware that this is an unnecessary risk.]
I took a deep breath, fingers tightening on the wooden stair railing. [Well, you let me go talk to Stalker alone, so… it's only fair.]
Lugia paused for a bit, mulling something over. [You will accompany me, won't you?]
I blinked. [I thought you wanted to go at it alone.]
[You are my chosen.]
[I guess…?] I mumbled. It still didn't make total sense, but some part of me was glad.
I wanted to be involved. Ajia and Mew were working themselves so hard. If I could help with something that would get Mewtwo over to our side… I had to go for it.
So I texted back to Mewtwo, or whoever was on the other end of the phone. They replied with a set of GPS coordinates. Plugging them into the map revealed that it wasn't that far. Just south of Indigo. Something about that nagged at me. Why were all of his sightings in Indigo?
Well, he knew we were staying in a cabin not far from there. Maybe he just picked something convenient for us. But then why not even closer?
Maybe I was overthinking this.
Most of my team was asleep, but I grabbed Firestorm for backup, just in case. And then Chibi obviously demanded to come with us.
"Remember, Mewtwo just thinks that Lugia is coming to talk with him," I said. "We're not even supposed to be there, so we'll have to keep out of sight."
Chibi let out a small huff. "*I know. I just want to see him.*"
Part of me suspected that he intended to approach Mewtwo anyway, but I had no way of stopping him.
I met Lugia at the lake and we set off, heading into the airspace above Indigo Plateau. And even though the cloud cover was thoroughly hiding us, I still couldn't help thinking back to that video footage of me riding on Lugia over Sootopolis. If the League ever spotted me again…
Well… we'd be careful.
The wind whipped through my hair as we veered south, putting the city lights behind us. I checked the GPS coordinates again, saw that we were getting nearer, and Lugia began descending.
Why couldn't Mewtwo have picked a more remote meetup spot? Sure, we were out on Route 23, the rocky highlands of Victory Road. Not exactly within city limits. But still…
Something about this didn't feel right. He'd been testing to see if the Rockets could detect his presence at close range. Testing to see if the Rockets were willing to make a move. Making his movements predictable. Making himself a target. What did it mean?
If he'd been making himself bait, was he hoping to provoke a reaction from the Rockets? Hoping Lugia would join him? Hoping…
The phone buzzed, and I jolted from my thoughts. I fished it out of my pocket, lit the screen, and saw a new text:
The meeting has been compromised. Leave now.
"Compromised?" I muttered. "What…?"
Paws clenched my shoulder. "*Something's above us,*" Chibi warned.
I glanced upward and happened to catch a glimpse of the stars obscured for just a moment…
"Look out!"
Lugia pitched to the left just as a bright blue beam pierced the darkness. The brief flash of light revealed a figure with long, narrow wings looming over us.
[What? Why are they here?!] Lugia cried.
What the hell was Articuno doing hanging around Indigo? The Rockets weren't already planning another attack, were they? Or were they tracking Mewtwo, like Mew had thought?
We should have told Mew. Now we couldn't teleport. But we hadn't been expecting a fight!
"Gotta tell someone," I muttered to myself, scrambling for my Pokégear, snatching it from my pocket, and—it was the burner phone? Whatever, it would do.
I threw open the phone, punched in Ajia's number, and furiously began typing, "need help near indigo." But my fingers fumbled on the buttons, and half the letters were wrong, and I wasn't even sure if I'd hit 'send' before an impact struck Lugia in the back, sending my face smacking into the legend's neck.
Frigid cold washed over me, turning every inch of exposed skin numb in an instant. I clutched at Lugia's feathers for dear life, struggling to regain my balance, felt Chibi's paws scrambling for purchase on my shoulder—good, he was still there.
I went to pocket the phone and it was gone.
The phone was gone! I'd lost my grip when that attack hit. I didn't have my Pokégear, and that phone was my only means of contact, and I'd lost it. Stupid!
[That was too close. You're in danger on my back,] Lugia said.
I wanted to scream about the phone, but Lugia had worse things to worry about, and it was right—I'd be a less obvious target riding one of my Pokémon.
[Go, now!] Lugia yelled.
I grabbed Firestorm's Pokéball and let him out. He realized what was up within seconds and tilted his wings so that I could jump onto his back.
"*I thought you were just going to see Mewtwo,*" he said once I'd secured myself.
"We ran into company," I said grimly as he peeled away from Lugia. Just seconds later, a brilliant Ice Beam tore the air, crashing against a psychic barrier that Lugia raised around itself.
I tapped Firestorm's side as he tore away from the fighting. "Not too far."
The Charizard glanced back at me in confusion. "*Shouldn't we get out of here?*"
"I don't want to leave Lugia alone," I said quickly.
My mind was racing. Lugia needed backup, but we didn't have a shot in hell at defeating a Legendary. The best we could do was distract, draw their fire and try not to get hit.
"*I can try to paralyze,*" Chibi said, gripping my shirt tightly.
Worth a shot. We didn't have a lot of options. I didn't have my full team with me, this was just supposed to be a meeting, none of this was supposed to happen.
My mind was screaming, but my voice said, "Take us back around."
Lugia was going to be mad. But I couldn't just do nothing and let it get captured.
Firestorm swerved in a tight arc and flew back toward Lugia as fast as his wings could take us. We quickly closed in on the aerial battle, giving Articuno a wide berth as we waited for an opening. The ice bird was circling Lugia at high speed, stirring up a vortex of frigid winds. Lugia retaliated with tearing blasts of air that cut through the icy haze, but its body was already covered with frost.
Firestorm beat his wings powerfully to gain altitude, taking us high above them and hopefully out of their range. I kept my eyes laser-focused below us, watching the two, waiting for the right moment, when Articuno had to correct its flight for just a second…
"Fire Blast!" I hissed.
A massive column of flame, shooting straight down. Articuno swerved aside, but part of the five-pointed stream clipped the bird's wing. A moment's falter, just enough to ensure the next blow wouldn't miss.
I didn't need to give the order. Firestorm braked hard to kill our momentum and Chibi leapt ahead of us, already sparking. A wicked bolt of lightning, his entire power supply, right at Articuno, striking it in the chest. The ice bird seized up and fell back. Lugia took that opportunity to surge forward, its body covered in vicious blue dragonfire.
Firestorm dove and I caught Chibi as he fell, the static making my hair stand on end. I threw a glance back upward, but I almost didn't need to because the next thing I saw was Articuno spiraling past us limply.
I could already feel Lugia's disapproval at us coming back for it, but there was a bit of gratitude mixed in.
That good feeling couldn't last.
A high-pitched whine, quiet at first, steadily growing louder…
Wait. I knew that noise.
I jerked my head upward to see a stream of red and blue meteors raining down. And in their midst, the faint outline of a serpentine form.
"Oh god," I muttered, recalling Chibi. "Okay, now we need to get out of here."
Firestorm plummeted; I clutched his neck tightly, feeling my stomach somersault and forcing myself to retreat into the mindset from our freefall practice. This was what we'd trained for. We pulled out of the dive at the last second and shot forward just above the ground, aiming for the city lights in the distance. Needed to get to a public space. We were in danger out here in the wilds. Had to get somewhere safe.
If we'd just told Mew…
A sudden, blinding brightness at the edge of my vision. I screwed my eyes shut and gripped Firestorm as he swerved out the of the way, but then—
"Aaaaagh!" I screamed.
Searing, burning pain tore across my back. I clutched Firestorm even tighter, gritting my teeth so hard I thought they'd crack, tears blinding my vision. I kept expecting the sensation to fade, but it didn't. It kept going, I couldn't feel anything else, everything burned.
[What was that?!] Lugia demanded. [You're in pain.]
What was it? That brightness, the burning… fire. Entei? Oh god, we'd been hit by Entei.
[E-Entei got us.] My thoughts felt blurry, and I wasn't entirely sure I'd managed to send the words. I wanted to try again, but the thoughts hurt, everything hurt, I just wanted to be anywhere else and feel anything else.
Lugia was saying more things, but my brain couldn't parse them. Couldn't think about anything other than my arms around Firestorm's neck and that unending heat.
[What's going on? Your presence is fading.]
I couldn't figure out how to respond. Couldn't piece together the words. The pain was too much. It was all that existed. I was sinking into a black hole, and no matter what I tried, I couldn't claw out of it.
A smothering tidal wave of fear hit me like a truck, drowning out my own emotions with its sheer volume.
[No. No, stop. I can lose Rayquaza. I can get to where you are. Tell your Charizard to find me!]
Needed to… say something, but… thinking was… too hard. I tried reaching out mentally, but… Couldn't find…
[Don't you dare die on me, damn it!]