Mewtwo sighed as yet another attempt to get to sleep failed. It wasn't the two in the bathroom that were the cause, he'd tuned his sensory abilities to specifically ignore them for the night, out of respect for their privacy. No, it's more that he simply couldn't get to sleep, in a place he didn't trust. He'd never admit it to anyone, not even his new Trainer, that he could actually sleep, somewhat, in his old cell.
Even if the blasted cot he almost never got to stand up from was extremely uncomfortable, especially since it was either let his tail and legs hang off, or let his legs hang off and squeeze his tail between him and the wall behind his back. The chains didn't help, either.
"What's the matter? Can't sleep?" One of his new teammates, Solais. He wouldn't say it, not wanting to be rude, but her presence, as his type was weak to hers, made him uncomfortable
"No, I'm finding it rather difficult. It's not our Trainer that's the cause." He answered. The bed shifted as the Absol hopped up on it, and she laid down across from him. He hid his discomfort very well.
"You could try…meditation, maybe. Think that might help?" Solais suggested. Mewtwo decided that he'd try her suggestion. He sat up and crossed his legs, and shifted his lengthy tail so that it was comfortable. He brought his hands together in his lap, then bowed his head and closed his eyes.
He took to the slow breathing that Zeryph taught him to help him calm down. The sounds of the room and the city beyond the walls of the Pokemon Center, slowly began to fade. He spent several seconds in silence, with his eyes closed, until he began to feel a cool, pleasant breeze. Mewtwo opened his eyes, but not to the bedroom his team was staying in.
Instead, it was a moonlit meadow beneath a beautiful night sky, a gentle breeze blowing through the night air, and the grass soft to the touch. Mewtwo took a long, deep breath. His gaze traveled to the sky above, the full moon and the field of stars beyond was quite the sight.
Mewtwo sat down in the soft grass, then carefully, to not squish his tail, he laid down on his back. He folded his arms behind his head, and let out a quiet sigh. This was the most relaxed he's ever been. It would be his visit to this peaceful landscape, or rather, mindscape, that would result in him falling asleep, and finally, staying asleep.
Outside
Solais watched as Mewtwo gradually relaxed, and listened as his breathing slowed and softened. It didn't take too long to become clear, that he'd fallen asleep in the midst of his meditation. The Absol carefully laid her teammate on his side, then carefully grabbed the blanket in her mouth and covered him up, makings sure that even his tail would be comfortably positioned. She then found herself a place to curl up for the night, on part of the bed that wouldn't bother her or Mewtwo, if either of them shifted.
And as Solais dozed off to sleep, she couldn't help but wonder, what had finally made Mewtwo fall asleep.
Morning, Zeryph.
Kaorah beat me to waking up, this time. The sound of a yawn drew our attention to Solais, who had just begun to stretch. Mewtwo hadn't woke up, yet, but at least he was getting proper sleep. I hope he didn't have trouble, last night.
Solais moving around seemed to wake him up, though. He seemed…disappointed, odd. Must've been having a pleasant dream, or, he used meditation to help himself fall asleep. Which, while it means he likely did have trouble getting to sleep, at first, it also means he's figured out a way to help himself with it. Which also leads me to wonder, what his mindscape looks like.
"Good morning, everyone." I was the first to speak. Various replies came to my ears. Kaorah released me from her embrace so I could sit up, but I didn't let the blanket fall past my waist, seeing as I was still indecent, considering last night, I'd gone to bed without putting anything on.
I made a motion with my hand to bring my bag over, which Solais did. I pulled a set of clothes from within. A black t-shirt, some jeans, and a pair of boots.
"Thanks, Solais. Could you guys turn away for a moment?" She and Mewtwo did as I asked. Once they'd averted their eyes, I got myself into a decent state. That is to say, wearing all but my shirt, and the pair of boots I took out. My other shoes would go into my bag. Boots are better for hiking, at least I think so.
"I'm good, now. You can both turn back around." Although I could just get up and get my clothes without caring, but I don't take some members of my team would take too kindly to that. I went through the rest of my morning routine, including letting Pidgey out of his ball.
"What's the plan for today?" Solais asked. I went through packing up and making the bed Kaorah and I used. Mewtwo handled his own, after watching to see how I did it.
"We're going to leave early, much like with Viridian. Nothing against traveling with the others, but I don't feel like we really need to. Not at first, anyway." I answered, as I was doing one last check to make sure I had everything. Cerulean's the place I'll start properly traveling with the group. I'll be able to help Brock with affording the stuff for food, including the whole inventory system.
I settled the strap for my bag onto my right shoulder, and adjusted it so that it was comfortably settled. Pidgey settled onto his usual spot, on my left shoulder. I walked over to the door and unlocked it. After making sure I wasn't about to forget the room key, I opened the door and stepped into the hallway.
Once the others were into the hall, I shut the door, and locked it. Then, we started for the foyer. I set the room key on the desk, when we got there. Since it was quite early, Nurse Joy wasn't there, yet. She was likely still asleep. Unlike her sister, she hadn't fallen asleep at her desk.
My team and I, went into the dining area. We got our breakfast, involving helping Mewtwo fix his own plate, then we found a table to sit down. Everyone dug in, quietly. I frowned slightly as a faint ripple appeared within my PER radius. My team picked up on the shift in my expression.
"Everything alright?" Kaorah was the first to speak.
"Just a small ripple on the edge of my Perception radius. Nothing to worry about." Mewtwo's eyes met my own, briefly. And he shared that he'd sensed it, too, with just a glance.
[One thing, not physical, or present. I think, we're being watched.] I heard his voice within my mind.
[It's probably nothing, for now anyway. If it's something that's actively watching us, it will appear, again. If not, we won't sense it anymore.] I said back. His answer was a nod, then he shifted his focus back to his breakfast.
"You two weird me out whenever you get quiet and stare." Solais commented on our use of telepathy. I'll really have to see if there's some way to get around the Dark Type, so she can hear it, too.
"I'll see about finding a way around that. But, it's going to take a while." Just like how making a Dragon Type who can effectively fight Fairy Types without also being a Poison or a Steel.
We finished our breakfast, and after cleaning up, departed for Cerulean City. I asked Nurse Joy, who we'd seen on our way out, to inform Ash and Misty that we'd left ahead of them. A quick stop to stock up at the Poke-mart, then we hit the road as the sun was just starting to rise.
It was cool out, right now, but it was going to warm up later in the day. Though, not to the same degree as the summer months. It's early September, the twelfth. I don't believe I said, before. I hadn't been stating what the date was, but I'll try to make a habit of it from here out. It was the eighth, when the journey started.
"It's so nice, out here." I heard Mewtwo say, as we were approaching the gate, separating the city from. "So much time underground, never being able to go out. But now…now that I've been on the surface, I don't want to go back." I nodded. He didn't have to look to know that I did.
"I know you don't. If I can somehow convince…them…to let me keep you, then you won't ever have to." He smiled. We passed through the gate building, and onto the route beyond, beginning a several hour trip. When we were well clear of the gate, Kaorah spoke up.
"Hey, could you cast the spell on me? I want to switch forms, for a little bit." I smiled, and readied the Anthrofy spell in my right hand. When the drain stopped, I cast the spell. Kaorah's body shifted into the shape I had described in a previous chapter. I saw her move her hands and fingers, getting herself adjusted to having them instead of her usual claws.
She then proceeded to stretch, getting used to how her altered body felt. After giving her time to get adjusted, we continued on our way. I prepared myself to cast the spell again, if anyone entered Mewtwo's sensory range. Since his was much, much larger than my own. He was basically the team's sensor, now.
"Makes me want to try it out, seeing how it works on her." Solais spoke up, referring to the spell. "But, it's a thing between the two of you, so I'm fine, for now." I smiled at her.
"I'd be glad to let you try it, at any time. Better to save it for a room though, because you'd have plenty of places to catch yourself. Walking on two legs, is completely different to all four." I said. She was the only quadruped of the group. Being anthrofied, would mean learning how to walk all over again.
Break
We continued to walk for a few hours, eventually coming to the base of Mt. Moon. Mewtwo had alerted us to sensing a few humans in his radius, so I'd reverted Kaorah to her normal form. We passed the folks in question, not too long after. A pair of fellow travelers who were on their way to Pewter. Unlike the games, we didn't have to stop to battle. The pair did still have some Pokemon with them, though.
The trip through the mountain's caves ended up being uneventful, but probably because I wasn't traveling with my cousin. Trouble seems to always find him. It's a wonder that being near him didn't really set off Solais's danger sense. The lights were already here, but it's probably a good thing we didn't run into Jessie and James. Seeing members of Team Rocket, might set Mewtwo off. That, would not be pretty.
"Hey Mewtwo, question. Do you happen to know Teleport?" I asked. We all stopped.
"Yes, I do. Unfortunately, if I don't know where we're going, then I can't take us there." Oh, that's too bad. Although, I guess it does work like the…wait.
"Couldn't you, use my memories of a place to visualize it, then take us there?" We all stopped for a moment.
"I never…thought about that. We can try it now, if you would like to." When I nodded, I felt him probe my memories, searching for everything on Cerulean City that was there. I motioned for everyone to get as close as possible. I had to put Solais back in her ball, otherwise she wouldn't be pulled with us.
We weren't prepared for when the world around us suddenly distorted. Next thing we knew, we were right in front of Cerulean's Pokemon Center. I'm going to say this now, I don't intend to use teleport to speed run a region, now that I know Mewtwo can use my memories of a place to visualize it, without having been there.
I let Solais back out, then we entered the Pokemon Center, and I went through the process of getting us checked in. After that was done, we went to find somewhere to eat. And, after lunch, we started to look around for a bit.
"Huh…" Mewtwo's expression abruptly shifted to one of surprise. He then frowned and closed his eyes. This was about an hour into our exploration.
"What is it, bud?" I asked him.
"I…sense something. I don't know what, but…it keeps appearing, in…just the right spot that all of us could be visible to…whatever it is." Hmm…I don't know what that could be. If it's simply watching us, then it may, or may not, be a problem in the near future. The most likely possibility is that it's something that can see us, but we can't see it.
There's a chance that it could be a certain 'mon from the Distortion World, but that's very unlikely…I think. If we've gotten his attention, he's almost certainly going to watch our journey. If it's not my use of my inventory, then it's definitely the use of the Dungeon system. And if we've gotten his attention, then we likely have his brothers' attention, too.
And if we've got theirs…they could report to Arceus that something strange has been going on. I don't know what He will think, or do, about it. Might be a possibility of Him paying my mindscape a visit while I'm asleep, or something. Not that I'd mind, of course. It would just be rather sudden, if He did.
????
He watched as the human and his team conversed, about their unusual new member sensing something. The fact he was able to sense one of the shadow's portals, was impressive to the lone Pokemon. The unusual one, whose name or species he did not know, wasn't able to figure out exactly where he was setting up his portals, fortunately.
The shadow closed his small portal, hidden within the faint reflection of a window with a perfect view of the group, and opened it in a different window. Deciding to test the unusual one. The Pokemon twitched slightly, and the shadow saw his expression change, ever so slightly.
So, he seemed to sense that it moved, but could not figure out to where. The shadow knew his portals could not be seen, unless he was preparing to pass between worlds. Even the apparent Psychic Type could not find their exact position. Which meant, the shadow had plenty of time to simply observe.
"Hmm… how very interesting. To think there is someone that can sense my portals." The shadow spoke to himself. None would hear it, not even those on the other side of his portals. He had made sure that sound could not pass through, either way. "I do wonder, if my dear brothers have taken notice, yet."
????
A large Pokemon settled onto the roof of a building, beneath a dark purple sky. This copy of Cerulean City matched it, exactly, only all of the colors were wrong. Inverted. The Pokemon, a large dragon type, with white armor-like plates covered most of his body, which had purple accents on it. The white armor had a very light purple tint to it. Under his arms and on his waist, the armor turned from white to gray. As it appeared to slip beneath the white armor, it could be thought of as a body glove, worn beneath armor to prevent it from becoming uncomfortable.
Though he was heavy, the building's supports weren't straining under his weight. As he was within his false space, and though it appeared he was wearing armor, in truth, he was not.
Within his shoulder pieces, sat pearls. One, on each arm. These were his means of channeling his power, including flight. The dragon's eyes settled on the group below, visible to him, but he was not visible to them. The human was the one who had earned his attention. He studied the human's appearance, closely. He fully intended to report to Father, what he had discovered.
He had sensed the human, crossing vast distances in a mere instant…but it wasn't by teleport. No, what he had sensed, was the human seeming to…fold space, in order to cross from one city to another in mere seconds. But not only that.
He had also sensed the distortion that surrounded the young man. It confused him, at first, until he had personally seen it. The human was taking stuff from thin air, with no visible way to have stored it. Only to put things back. In what, he was not sure, though his guess was that it was some sort of personal pocket dimension. And, also, the human's ability to tear open portals into pocket dimensions of some kind. One of his two brothers likely, also, sensed such a thing.
The large dragon left the building's roof, and floated down to the road below, settling right next to the human and his team. They would never sense him, not while he was in this shadow of the real world. Father would be hearing about his discovery, when He called the Legendaries to a meeting, something done every month. Such meetings were, primarily, to allow the Creator to receive status updates from all across the world, where the Legendaries resided.
The large dragon type soon departed. He had his own duties to attend to, after all. Although, he managed much more, as, like his brothers, and Father, there was only one of him.
Zeryph
It was getting on into the evening hours when Ash, Misty, and now Brock, arrived. Misty split up from the group, probably heading home.We're going to be challenging the gym, tomorrow, for sure. Two challenges in the same day, or one of us will wait for the day after. I'm willing to wait, since my battle might get…destructive.
Actually, I'm going to try to not wreck the gym.
As we were heading to the Pokemon Center, A flash of light appeared from the woods, and a huge cloud of smoke was kicked up into the air.
"Ears!" I called in a hurry, then covered mine with my hands. My team followed suit as best they could, just moments before the shock wave hit us. We waited for the dust to settle, before we ran into the forest where the explosion had happened. We found the cause. Lying in a shallow crater, an unconscious Gardevoir, covered in soot.
There weren't any other Pokemon around, and no sign of a trainer. I wonder if she'd botched something. Must've been pretty powerful, whatever it was, if she did. I knelt, and slipped my arms beneath her. My left under her knees, and my right under her shoulders, then I lifted her into a bridal carry.
We began to head back to the Pokemon Center. We were three quarters of the way back, when she began to stir. Her eyes slowly blinked open, and then they met my own.
"Hey. Feeling alright?" I asked her.
"Sore. My right forearm really hurts." I nodded.
"You could've broken it, but I don't know for sure. We'll find out when we reach the Pokemon Center, we're almost there now. What was it you were doing?" I asked her.
"I was...trying to do something from a book I'd found...small, black, with a hand made to look like it was on fire, on the cover. It...failed. That's what the explosion was." I nodded along with what she was saying. Just like I thought, botched something. Sounds like she was trying to use mid to high level Fire Magic...but without prior training.
She's very lucky that it only knocked her out and singed her dress. The fact she might have a broken arm sucks, but it'll get better in time. I carried her into the Pokemon Center. A pair of Blissey brought out a stretcher for me to lay the Gardevoir on. I gently set her down, carefully, so that her injured arm wouldn't be agitated.
"What happened?" Nurse Joy asked. I filled her in on the occurrence in the woods, before she followed the Pokemon into the Medical wing of the Pokemon Center.
"Let me know how she is, in the morning." I called after her, then shifted my focus to my team. "Shall we turn in for the night, everyone?" I asked them. They all agreed, and so, we headed for the room we got for the night. Nothing happened between Kaorah and I tonight, other than snuggling until we fell asleep.