Chapter 50: Invites and Warnings
All caught up now, hoping to have 51 and 52 done soon!
After several days of training with legends and discussing plans for spying on the Rockets, it was kind of nice just taking a day off to watch the finalists practicing for the unofficial league. The stands were mostly empty—it was just practice matches, after all. Firestorm and Aros watched with the most rapt attention, occasionally arguing over whether or not a certain move was a good idea. Golduck and Weavile were sitting with us, the latter jumping out of her seat every few seconds anytime a cool move landed. Darren was only half-paying attention, busy reading something on his phone.
“You still never explained why you volunteered to sit out of the finals,” I said offhandedly.
Darren shrugged. “I just figured we got to have our fun, me and the team. Rather than having a big tiebreaker for the 8th slot, might as well leave it to the people who’ve been dreaming about being a champion their whole life, you know?”
I rubbed the back of my head. “I guess that makes sense.” Honestly, I could kind of relate to it in a way. I was just so used to being around people like Rudy or Ajia.
“Everyone was cool with it,” Darren said. “Skarmory was the only one really set on the finals, and he left, so…”
He’d left in spite of the fact that he’d had a chance to be in the finals. That put things in perspective.
“To be honest, I just got a little sick of training every day,” Darren went on sheepishly. “All that hypercompetitive stuff is more Rudy’s deal. I was looking forward to something a little more chill.”
I raised an eyebrow. “And yet you’re hanging around with those of us who’ve got the least chill job possible.”
Darren shrugged. “Never said I was smart.” He stretched widely, putting his feet up on the seats in front of us. “Anyway, I technically qualified for the finals. So when I volunteered to sit out, one of the organizers invited me to a minor league she runs in Johto—I might think about entering that one. Fewer people watching, seems like a better fit for us.”
“Huh, I wonder if it’s one of the minor leagues that Starr did when we were in Johto.” Decent winnings without too much publicity. Still, we’d had a few close calls—times we’d had to skip town to avoid trouble. Darren probably would be fine though. He wasn’t a notorious enemy of the Rockets like we were.
It looked like Rudy and his opponent were clearing out of the battlefield so we opted to leave the stands and go meet up with him. The moment we made it into the lobby, Weavile’s ears pricked up and she dashed forward to meet Ebony. Rudy had just finished signing something at the front counter. His eyes lit up when he saw us, and he bolted over, looking absolutely ecstatic.
“You guys, I gotta tell you the news! You’re never gonna believe it, it worked! It worked!” he yelled, bouncing up and down with so much energy it was almost contagious.
I waved my hand in front of me. “Okay, slow down, what worked?”
Rudy slowed to a stop, but his grin hadn’t lessened. “Some people were petitioning the Elite Four to show up at the unofficial finals and they’re totally gonna.”
I stared at him. “Holy crap.” This whole unofficial League thing had grown way bigger than I’d ever imagined. At this point why was it even unofficial? It might as well have been the real deal.
“Did the League ever say why they didn’t just hold the finals themselves?” I asked.
Rudy shrugged indifferently. “No clue. I just know the Indigo tournament site is still a mess.”
“Yeah, but they could have held it somewhere else, like you guys did,” I pointed out, shuffling a foot on the floor. “And there’s still no word from them on, like, the whole Legendary attack situation.” Just a whole bunch of media speculation. The idea that Moltres may have been acting on behalf of humans kept getting treated like a dumb conspiracy theory even though it was obviously the simplest explanation here. Were people seriously that blind?
“Y’know, there’s still a ton of people theorizing about that on social media,” Darren said casually.
Rudy turned toward him. “Huh?”
“Yeah. Most people think that the Legendaries are trying to punish humans for some crime against nature or something. No one can really agree on what it is, though.”
Rudy balked. “Wait, really? You can’t be serious.”
“You might consider reading things for once,” Darren said dryly, taking a swig of his drink, then nearly spitting it out when Rudy punched him in the shoulder.
“Oh, screw you, I’ve been busy.”
Yet again, I found myself wishing we could just tell the League everything. What did we have to gain from it being a secret? Sure, the Legendaries didn’t trust humans, but all this secrecy only benefitted Team Rocket and made the legends look like the bad guys.
Rudy shook his head. “Anyway, you guys distracted me before I could even get to the main point.”
Darren looked impressed. “Learning that the Elite Four are gonna show up to the finals wasn’t the main point?”
“No,” Rudy said, giving Darren a look. But then just as quickly, his face split into a wide grin. “I got invited to League headquarters later today!”
My jaw fell open. “Whoa, seriously? Are all the organizers getting invited?”
“Probably! I need to ask them. Might be a sign that the League's finally recognizing all our effort, y’know?”
Darren leaned back against the wall. “Well, yeah. They had to let you guys do all the hard work. Might just mean the League is gonna try to take credit for everything you guys did.”
Rudy jerked his head toward him incredulously. “What? Why do you think that?”
“I didn’t say I think it’ll happen, just that it could,” he said cryptically.
“Yeah, well, I don’t think that’s gonna happen,” Rudy replied with a huff. “That’d be a total dick move.” His expression had grown a bit conflicted, though. “At least… I sure hope they’re not gonna try to take over. It was a pain to set all this up and they weren’t helping us then, so it’s not like we’re just gonna hand it over from there.”
I shrugged. “I mean, the League was probably dealing with a lot at Indigo. Important… government stuff, or whatever.” I couldn’t pretend like I had any idea what they’d have to deal with in the aftermath of a disaster like that.
Rudy seemed at least a little satisfied. “Yeah…” he said, nodding distantly. He glanced around the lobby and added, “C’mon, let’s head outside or something.”
We all left the stadium, Weavile riding on Ebony’s back, lightly pummeling the back of her neck in what was probably some sort of congratulations. Our teams burned some energy goofing off at the training park, and then we all went out to eat before finally wandering back to the stadium around half an hour before the time Rudy was supposed to leave for his meeting. We chatted about the finalists, made bets on their chances, and argued about different tactics. Finally, a voice behind us said, “Rudy Fierro?” and we turned to see a woman in an official-looking suit approaching us from the sidewalk.
“Hell yeah, that’s me,” Rudy replied, raising a hand.
The woman nodded. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with the League on such short notice. A teleporter will be arriving shortly,” she said, gesturing for him to follow her to the designated jump spot.
“Sweet,” Rudy said. He turned to me and Darren. “I’ll see you guys later, then.”
“Be sure to remember us when you’re a League big shot,” Darren said, earning a shoulder punch.
“Seeya,” I said, giving a small wave and turning to leave, but then—
“Just one moment,” the League rep said. “Are you Jade Arens?”
“Yeah,” I replied, a bit bemused. How’d she know my name?
“Oh, that’s perfect. Are you available?” she asked. “We’d like for you to accompany him.”
I tilted my head. “Me? I’m not really involved in this whole unofficial League thing.”
“Oh, it has nothing to do with that,” she said, waving a hand dismissively.
“…What does it have to do with, then?” I asked cautiously.
“That will be made clear when you arrive.”
I wasn’t sure why, but I had the distinct feeling that I’d done something wrong.
An official teleporter arrived to take us to the outskirts of the tournament site, at the Indigo Pokécenter, where a car was waiting for us. During the drive, almost everything looked ordinary, but then sometimes we’d pass by a city block that was completely demolished out of nowhere, and it was hard not to think of what had happened here a few weeks ago.
At least that mission had gone well for us. Even if it was just a trap that had caused us to fail miserably in Hoenn, we’d still gotten out alive, and managed to free Moltres in the process. And Rudy had been able to partner with Moltres. It was worth it. I kept telling myself that, at least.
“You’re sure you don’t know why we’re being summoned?” I asked, leaning over so I could see the driver.
“The Elite Four didn’t specify. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
I settled back into my seat, unsure of how to feel. My brain had already started generating bad explanations. Maybe they didn’t approve of the unofficial League after all. (But then why would I be here with Rudy?) Maybe they found out that we snuck into the tournament site while it was a restricted zone. Maybe—
“Man, I can’t get over how nice this car is,” Rudy said, stretching out so he was taking up two seats. “They must think we’re really important.”
Well, at least Rudy was enjoying himself. As the ride progressed, he asked questions nonstop: “How come there wasn’t any news from the League? How come they didn’t end up continuing the tournament themselves? What do they think of what we’ve been doing? They’re glad, right?” The rep answered a few of the obvious ones, but otherwise we didn’t get much. So he resorted to talking my ear off instead.
Finally, we reached the League headquarters itself, an impressive stone building towering over the northern edge of the plateau like a fortress. Rhydon statues flanked the entrance and heavy banners hung from the windows. It was all very traditional—even though the inside was probably just as modern as the stadiums, the outside hadn’t changed much since it was built. And it was huge—big enough to hold an arena for private battles.
No one had led us inside yet. I was about to ask if we were supposed to just go in when another car pulled up from a different direction, parking in front of us. And out from it emerged—
“Ajia? Starr? What are you two doing here?”
“Gooood freaking question,” Starr muttered, shutting the car door and shooting a visible glare at the driver. “Just showed up out of friggin’ nowhere and made us come here. Real great sign.”
Why us? We didn’t have anything to do with the unofficial League at all. Ajia didn’t say anything, but she looked deep in thought. I half-expected her to have already figured out why we’d been brought here. Maybe she had and just wasn’t saying it yet.
The front doors opened, and a staff member ushered us inside, leading us to a meeting room on the first floor. We didn’t have to wait long. After a few minutes, the door opened, and a voice said, “Good afternoon—I hope you’re all doing well.”
“What do you want?” Starr asked shortly.
The woman sighed. “At least let me introduce myself.”
Rudy’s jaw dropped. I swiveled around in my chair, and—oh. Dark red hair in a loose ponytail, thin glasses, a crisp dress suit…
“My name is Lorelei, of the Elite Four.”
As if she even needed to say that—we all recognized her. If I’d known that we’d been called to meet with a member of the Elite Four, I would’ve… well, I wasn’t sure what I would have done, but something to feel more prepared than I was currently feeling.
Lorelei took a seat at the head of the table, setting a tablet down in front of her. “I hope you’ve all been well ever since the tournament was cut short?” she asked.
“Been busy with the unofficial League. Which you’ve heard about?” Rudy said, letting his tone rise toward the end.
Lorelei nodded. “We’re all very impressed with the way the community has come together like this. I’m hoping it will pave the way for future collaborations with community-run events.”
Rudy’s face brightened a little. “Yeah. That’d be awesome.” But then his eyes wandered around the room, and he fidgeted a bit. “…How come I’m the only one on the organizer team who’s here? I figured there’d be others.”
“And why did you want to talk to the rest of us?” Ajia asked, giving Lorelei a perplexed look. “We’re not involved.”
Lorelei nodded. “I’m sorry for the confusion. We didn’t bring you here to talk about the tournament—it’s actually about that disaster. We were wondering if you might be able to help us learn more about it.”
“The… disaster,” I repeated. The attack on Indigo?
“Legendary incidents have been on the rise in recent decades,” Lorelei went on. “And we’re worried there could be more yet to come.” Her tone was careful. Measured. Like there was a lot of thought behind each word, without trying to seem like it.
I tilted my head. “Um… why exactly do you think we’d have any info that you don’t? I mean… you’re part of the League, and we’re just… us.”
Her reply was unflinching: “Steven Stone informed us that your group was acquainted with multiple Legendaries.”
And there it was. The reason we were all here. The thing they wanted out of us.
“Yeah, I don’t know where the hell he got the idea from, but that’s obviously bullshit,” Starr replied indifferently.
“The Ranger Union was tipped off by an anonymous source, and then you all arrived, along with the Legendaries,” Lorelei explained. Her tone was patient, like she already knew she was right and was just waiting for us to admit it.
“Yeah, they just showed up at the same time as us, that’s real compelling evidence,” Starr said sarcastically.
Ajia took a deep breath. “You’re right that we tipped the rangers off. And then we went there ourselves, even though we shouldn’t have. I know that was probably a bad move, but… I’m not sure what that has to do with the Legendaries.”
Lorelei glanced back and forth at all of us and sighed. Then she flipped open the tablet that had been sitting on the table. She scrolled through some files for a moment, then propped the tablet up with its case and rotated it to face us.
It was aerial footage, taken from a flying Pokémon, most likely. The frame jerked around the sky as whoever was filming fought to steady the camera. And then my stomach dropped through the floor. The camera had settled on what was unmistakably Rudy riding Moltres. It lingered there for a few seconds while Rudy called out inaudible orders to his nearby Pokémon. Then the footage swung over to Ajia riding on a Charizard and calling out to Rayquaza. Rayquaza responded to her—brushing her off, yeah, but the fact that she was in a position to even talk with it at all… And then, as if my stomach couldn’t sink any lower, there was me riding Lugia. Struggling to hold on as the dragon-bird swerved around attacks from the Rockets. Clear as day. Why had it never occurred to me that people would have seen us? I guess it wasn’t a priority since we had way bigger concerns at the time, but…
They must not have pieced together that Darren was involved yet, otherwise they probably would have brought him here with us. Probably because he’d been on the ground for most of the Sootopolis fight, until the very end. At least one of us didn’t have to deal with this.
“I can understand why you wouldn’t want anyone to know about this,” Lorelei said evenly. “Nevertheless, we’re aware. I’d like it if we could discuss things openly now.”
“Discuss… what, exactly,” I replied, still feeling like I was sinking into a bog.
She gave me a look like it was obvious, but then adjusted her glasses and went on, “Discuss the current state of affairs. All the disasters happening recently. Sootopolis. Indigo. Viridian.” My throat clenched up at the mention of Viridian, and I did my best to ignore it.
“You had advance warning for Sootopolis. Was it the same as the others?”
“Well, if by advance warning, you mean ‘a couple of hours,’ then I guess,” I mumbled.
“That’s a couple of hours earlier than the rest of us, and that can make the difference when people’s lives are on the line,” Lorelei said firmly.
The only reason we’d had any advance warning at all was because of people like Stalker or Lexx trying to use us. It was bad enough the League knew about our connection with the legends—the last thing we needed was them finding out about our connection with high-ranking Rockets.
“I don’t think there’s much way we can help out. We just got tipped off early, that’s all,” I said quietly, avoiding her eye. It wasn’t even a lie but somehow felt just as awkward as one.
Lorelei regarded me carefully. “Did the legends warn you about the disasters?”
“No. They didn’t know either.”
She gave me a curious look. “Then who did?”
Ugh, I probably shouldn’t have said that we’d been tipped off. Now there was no way to backpedal and say that we’d like, stolen the intel from Team Rocket or something.
I glanced helplessly at the others. Starr was still watching the footage, looking unimpressed. Rudy looked bewildered. I had no idea what to say, so I didn’t say anything, and I felt like an idiot.
Ajia clasped her hands together. I couldn’t help noticing the tiniest flicker in her eyes as she silently conversed with Mew. “It’s complicated. There are people who know more than us.”
Lorelei raised an eyebrow. “Perhaps they ought to be here with us, then.”
“I don’t think that’s possible.”
Lorelei was silent for some time. Finally, she put her elbows on the table, tenting her fingers. “Then, if you’re unable to help us, we have to ask you to stop associating with the legends,” she said simply.
It took several seconds for me to process what she’d just said. Then my jaw hung open. “What? Why?”
“We don’t trust the Legendaries. Not after all the attacks that have been happening recently.”
Okay, that was too much. I couldn’t not say it. “Those attacks are all Team Rocket’s fault!”
“Are they? All of them?”
I was about to open my mouth… and then I paused. The attack on Viridian. I’d been avoiding thinking about it. Someday, I’d have to talk to Lugia about it. But what was there for me to say? Point out the way innocent lives had been lost from their attempt to strike back at Team Rocket? Would it care? Was it okay for me to be helping if it didn’t?
“Regardless of whose fault it was, Legendary Pokémon are dangerous,” she went on. “Do not underestimate their power.”
Starr wasn’t backing down. “Full offense, but if we’ve been hanging around them, I think we understand their power better than you.”
“And what if your little war game causes major loss of property and life?” Lorelei asked, peering at all of us over her glasses. “This isn’t the sort of thing the Elite Four can just ignore.”
“Then why don’t you guys stop Team Rocket?” Rudy blurted out suddenly.
Starr laughed. “They can’t do that.”
Lorelei stood up, pacing one end of the room, arms folded behind her back. “Team Rocket is too deeply intertwined in the politics of this region, and has been for too long. We have to consider the big picture.”
“Wait—you’re just letting them get away with all this?” Rudy asked incredulously.
She turned to face him. “And how would you have us stop them without causing even more problems?”
Rudy looked dumbfounded. “I—well, you… you could do something!” he exclaimed, tripping over his words.
The videos were still playing on repeat. The movement made it hard not to look at them, but I hated to think how many people had seen them.
Almost as if she’d sensed what I was thinking, Lorelei said, “This footage hasn’t been released to the public. To be honest, we would really prefer not to do that. And I’d imagine you wouldn’t want that either.”
Starr stood bolt upright. “Wait, wait wait, excuse me? Are you friggin’ blackmailing us?” Starr demanded.
Lorelei’s gaze was unflinching. “That’s not my intention.”
“Yeah, well it sure sounds like you are,” Starr snapped. “Also, what the hell am I doing here anyway? Don’t suppose you’ve got any footage of me riding Legendaries?” she said mockingly. “Like I’d be caught dead doing that.”
“You’re closely associated with these two, that’s reason enough,” Lorelei said dismissively. “There’s also the question of… your history.”
Starr bristled. “The hell is that supposed to mean?”
“We really don’t have any particular need to pursue legal action against your criminal record. But if you’re helping them with these Legendary conflicts, then you’re a part of this whether you like it or not.”
Starr’s fists were clenched so tight I half-worried she might jump over the table and deck Lorelei in the face. I closed my eyes and willed her not to, whatever good that would do.
Lorelei relaxed slightly. “I know this all sounds harsh. Please try to understand. We can’t keep having disasters like this happen. Not if there’s some way that we can prevent them.”
Sharing everything we knew with the League sure didn’t seem like a good way to prevent anything anymore.
Lorelei gave us an imploring look. “We’re really just asking for your cooperation.”
“Or what? Gonna arrest us?” Starr asked with a snide grin. “Pretty sure there aren’t any laws for this kind of thing.”
Starr, please. If I could just will her to stop responding to everything with sarcasm…
Lorelei considered her carefully for some time. “We didn’t bring you here with the intent to keep you here. This is merely a warning. It’s in your best interest to stay away from the guardians.”
“Look… we really can’t do that,” I said, awkwardly avoiding her eye.
Lorelei’s gaze softened. “Are they forcing you to serve them? Are you trapped in any way?”
“Of course not!” I exclaimed, probably too quickly.
“What Jade means is…” Ajia said, giving me a significant look, “that we’re not at liberty to discuss that.”
Lorelei surveyed her closely. “If you’re in any way trapped, I want to assure you that anything you say here will not leave this room.”
I had half a mind just to say something to Lugia right then and there to prove her wrong, if only in my head.
“Not that we don’t appreciate the generous offer, but it’s really none of your business,” Starr said loudly, standing up from her chair and moving toward the door. “So are we free to go, or what?”
Lorelei paused, considering us carefully. Finally she stood up and opened the door. “Of course. I just ask that you please think carefully about what I said.”
It was going to be hard not to.
The car ride back was silent. I couldn’t even really bring myself to read anything on my phone to distract myself, unlike Starr. We were dropped off at the edge of the tournament site. The driver gave us some canned parting words and then the car drove off. Ajia didn’t feel safe calling for Mew, and I could hardly blame her. Rudy ended up calling Darren. A minute later, Darren and Alakazam appeared, the former looking baffled and the latter looking displeased.
“Hey, so… what exactly happened?” Darren asked after we’d teleported back to the Pokécenter in Pewter.
Rudy threw his arms up. “I literally told you on the phone that the Elite Four gave us some BS about Legendaries being bad.”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t actually explain anything,” Darren replied in that practiced tone like he’d told Rudy that same thing a thousand times.
Ajia proceeded to explain the meeting to him in a slightly more informative way. Rudy interjected every so often, making sure to convey how dumb everything was.
“You guys are too honest,” Darren pointed out. “Why not just agree to whatever the League says and then keep fighting the Rockets anyway?”
I wasn’t sure. Somehow the idea of lying to the League felt… intimidating. And to think—all those times I’d wondered if it was a good idea to get the League in on this fight. So much for that idea.
Starr hadn’t said much ever since we left. She mostly just kept her arms folded, occasionally muttering things under her breath
“Hey, so… thanks for not saying anything,” I said quietly.
Starr raised an eyebrow. “Why the hell would I?”
I tapped my fingers together. “I mean, you didn’t swear a pact with the Legendaries.”
She let out a long, drawn-out sigh. “Yeah, I still say that the chosen thing is bullshit, but it’s bullshit that’s important to you two, so I’m not gonna screw it up for you, obviously,” she said impatiently, like she couldn’t believe we were even talking about this.
I nodded vaguely. “Still… thanks.”
It was nightfall already. The days were getting shorter. Soon, it’d be fall. I wasn’t really sure why summer’s end felt like the days of doing whatever we wanted were over. It wasn’t like I was going back to school or anything. Maybe it reminded me of being on the Rebellion.
Ugh, I still hadn’t told Lugia anything. Half of me wanted to just not. But the other half wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.
<Right, so… the League knows about us,> I said.
<What? What are you talking about?> Lugia replied, utterly baffled. Probably because I’d just sprung this on it out of nowhere.
<They know that we’re working together with you guys,> I said. <The Hoenn Champion told them.>
Lugia took a few seconds to process that. Then it cursed. <I knew it. It’s impossible to keep news from spreading when dealing with humans. This is why we were committed to secrecy. We should not have compromised on that.>
<We didn’t have a choice,> I said defensively. <We had to help with the evacuation.>
<Never mind that. Have you escaped yet?> Lugia asked.
<We weren’t trapped,> I replied tiredly. <They just wanted to talk.>
<What were their demands?>
Geez, I hadn’t even said what happened yet and Lugia was already assuming the worst.
<They just wanted information. How we always know to show up when there’s a Legendary incident, things like that.>
I felt Lugia tense up. <What did you tell them?>
<We just told them that we couldn’t tell them anything,> I said, a little exasperated.
Lugia noticeably relaxed at my words. Part of me was a bit annoyed—what, did it think we were just gonna spill patron/chosen secrets to the first person who asked? But, no… it had already eased up. There was no point in making a fuss over nothing.
My mind couldn’t help drifting back to Viridian. Half of me wanted to finally ask Lugia about it. The other half wanted to do literally anything else. And Lugia was feeling anxious as well. Guess we’d leave it for later, then.
“So, we’re obviously not going to listen to them,” Ajia said, taking a break from her pacing. “But I don’t want to get on the League’s bad side either.”
“Sounds like you already are,” Starr pointed out flatly. She shook her head. “Told you guys that being chosen was nothing but trouble.”
“I don’t think you ever worded it exactly like that, no,” Ajia said, with an attempt at a playful grin. It was forced, though.
Starr just rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well, enjoy the League breathing down your neck if you try anything in public from now on. That’ll be fun.”
I rubbed the back of my head. “I mean… I’m okay with staying out of public.”
Starr looked unconvinced. “You’re not going to have a choice if the Rockets pull more public shit, and let’s face it—we know they’re gonna.”
“I guess we could always just avoid going anywhere the League could see us,” I said. We’d already been having to stay on the move to avoid the Rockets anyway.
“I can’t just stay out of public. I’m in the tournament,” Rudy pointed out indignantly. “If they don’t want me to help Moltres, they can suck it.”
In just one day, his starry-eyed admiration of the Elite Four had been totally shattered. It was honestly kind of wild.
Rudy turned away, shaking his head. “I’m sick of talking about all this, and I need to let my team out anyway. Gonna go for a run with them. I’ll see you all later,” he said before walking off in a huff.
Letting out some steam sounded nice. Unfortunately, I already suspected that I’d be thinking about all this for the rest of the night.
We ended up heading back to the cabin for the night. That way, it would be easy to discuss things with the legends when the time came. Secretly, I hoped that wouldn’t be until tomorrow. I really didn’t want to talk about this stuff anymore until then.
Alakazam teleported us there and then promptly bid everyone a very grumpy good night. As we approached the cabin, the first thing I noticed was that the front door was open. That was… odd. Maybe someone had forgotten to close it last time we were here? I’d just reached the front steps when movement inside caught my eye.
“Is someone in there?” I asked hesitantly. I could already feel the hair on my arms standing on end.
A figure stood up from one of the armchairs. A tall figure. A tall, nonhuman figure. It stepped forward as lightly as if it was walking on air. And then the light from the window framed its outline for a moment.
My breath froze. I knew that silhouette. Pointed ears. Long, thick tail. No way…
<Hello.>
The group reaction was instant: “Mewtwo?!”
It was him. I hadn’t seen him in nearly a year. What was he doing here? Why now? Was he… waiting for us?
<I wish to speak with the guardians that have associated with this human group,> he announced. No introduction. He knew we all knew who he was. He knew we all were affiliated with the Legendaries. <You have a means of contacting them, don’t you?>
“I… do,” Ajia replied slowly, regarding him curiously.
“Excuse me, what the hell?” Starr blurted, glancing back and forth between me and Ajia. I gave her a helpless look that hopefully conveyed that I didn’t have a clue either.
<I’ll wait,> Mewtwo said, sitting back down in the armchair.
Still looking rather perplexed, Ajia nodded. She conversed silently with Mew for a minute before Mew appeared at her side, her eyes wide with intrigue.
<Mewtwo?> she asked, drifting gently through the doorway.
Mewtwo looked up at her, gazing long and hard, his expression hard to place. Something between intrigue and uncertainty.
<I wish to speak with the others as well,> he said finally.
Mew blinked, looking a bit taken aback. But then she nodded, and vanished.
I couldn’t get over how weird it was to have Mewtwo just sitting in the living room. I couldn’t help staring at him. Did he remember me? Did he… have any particular opinion about me?
“Good to see that you’re… doing okay?” I said, feeling like an idiot.
He looked up, vivid purple irises practically staring through me. He nodded.
“Have you… been busy with things?” What would he have been spending his time on, anyway?
<Traveling. Seeing. Experiencing.> His expression shifted slightly. <Living.>
“Oh,” I said blankly, unsure of what else to say. “That’s… good.”
At least it sounded peaceful. He’d been imprisoned from the moment of his birth until the day we freed him, so… getting to live his own life was a good thing. And it also meant that he wasn’t getting involved in any more incidents like Viridian.
There was a familiar teleport flash behind us. Mew had appeared outside with Lugia, Ho-oh and Moltres, all looking various degrees of perturbed.
<Where is he?> Lugia asked.
Right on cue, Mewtwo drifted lightly through the open doorway, regarding the new arrivals with a contemplative look. Lugia stared at him, and I could feel the recognition in its mind. I couldn’t get a read on how it felt about seeing him, though.
“I trust you have been well?” Ho-oh asked. There was a slight edge to its voice, like it was holding its tongue.
“Staying far away from the humans?” Moltres asked with a smirk.
<Why exactly have you been nonexistent for the past year?> Lugia asked tersely.
<I didn’t wish to interact with any guardians,> Mewtwo replied. <I needed to see the world for myself.>
“And what if you were targeted?” Ho-oh asked.
<They would not have found me,> Mewtwo said simply. <I traveled to a distant land across the sea.>
<Why bother to return, then?> Lugia asked.
Mewtwo fixed the seabird with a pointed look. <Don’t misunderstand. I felt confident that they would not find me this past year. I do not expect that to be the case forever.>
Lugia glowered. Irritation already saturated its thoughts.
<The events happening in this region will most certainly have consequences. If all of you fall here, do you think that will be the end of it? Do you think that the humans of other lands won’t learn what happened here? Won’t seek to obtain that power for themselves?>
I swallowed hard. The idea that things happening here had the ability to affect the rest of the world… it wasn’t something I’d ever had to consider until now. I didn’t like thinking about it.
Mewtwo gestured with both palms up. <I have returned to stop the humans, because if I do not, then no one will.>
<Excuse me?> Lugia asked indignantly. <No one? What do you think we’ve been doing?>
Mewtwo tilted his head. <Then why do they continue to do as they wish?>
<They’re not—>
<I heard news of the incident at the place the humans call Sootopolis,> Mewtwo went on, making Lugia freeze. <They were unable to reclaim me, so they set their sights on another in my place. And just look at the destruction that caused.>
“You’re right,” Ajia said carefully. “The Rockets went after Rayquaza specifically because they wanted a weapon that could match your power.”
<And now they have one.>
<Where were you during that time, then?> Lugia snapped.
Mewtwo fixed Lugia with a hard stare. <Learning to understand my power. Learning about the state of the world. I could not risk my freedom until I was ready.>
“I thought you were confident that you cannot be captured,” Ho-oh pointed out.
Mewtwo was silent for a bit. <I took measures. I don’t expect those measures to be foolproof. I could not afford to risk my freedom until I learned the true scope of the threat.>
So he hadn’t spent all his time across the sea. He must’ve returned occasionally to see what was happening back here. Then again, how much of this stuff had made the news in other countries? The destruction of Sootopolis was a pretty huge deal…
<I was created to overthrow all of you. To be the weapon for humanity to surpass the only beings they have to fear. If they overthrow all of you, do you think they will allow me to quietly live my life as they please? No. I will be their prize, their trophy.>
Man, it was chilling to hear him talk so matter-of-factly about the scenario where we all lose.
<And what of the innocents?> he went on. <Do you think their lives will be unchanged? Do you think this is something we can allow to happen? And do you think I will be the last? What if they create another weapon to surpass me? The threat must be stopped, and it must be stopped decisively.>
Ho-oh gave him a knowing look. “If I recall correctly, this is much like what you said last year, before attacking Viridian. Did that attack accomplish anything?”
Mewtwo eyed the phoenix closely. <It forced the enemy into hiding for nearly a year.>
“Mm,” Ho-oh replied noncommittally.
“What are you planning?” Moltres asked with a suspicious look.
<I believe the enemy will be making their move soon. I intend to stop them.>
Ajia stared at him. “Are they targeting a new Legendary already?”
<No. Targeting your leadership.>
I gaped. “What?”
<It’s simple. If the enemy gains control of the human leadership, what reason will they have to operate in secret? They will be able to freely target us.>
The League already thought they couldn’t beat Team Rocket. They didn’t even want to try; they were too worried about collateral damage. Another attack could be the end. And we wouldn’t hear about it from Stalker or Lexx this time now that they’d betrayed the Kanto Force. Or maybe they’d be part of the attack. Maybe the two halves of Team Rocket would be fighting to see who could take over the League first. Lexx seemed to think the Kanto force would win that one.
<They would be free to target you as they please,> Mewtwo said, fixing the Legendaries with a hard stare. <Would you live the rest of your life in solitude, isolated from the world? A prisoner by another name?>
Lugia bristled. I could feel it struggling to come up with a response. It finally settled on, <What exactly do you want from us?> In its voice, it was annoyed. But in its mind, I could feel something else. It was conflicted. Unsure.
<I want to unify our strength. It is all we have,> Mewtwo said simply, tail flicking.
<That’s what I’ve been trying to do,> Mew said, drifting forward. <I believe that rallying everyone around the chosen will give us a much better chance of standing up to the enemy.>
<The chosen?> Mewtwo asked, tilting his head ever so slightly.
<We aren’t just working together with these humans,> Mew said, gesturing to Ajia, and to me. <We have bound ourselves to each other.>
He surveyed her closely. <How does that work?>
<Our souls are bound. We feel each other’s presence.>
<For what purpose?>
<To combine the strengths of both human and legend.>
For just a moment, there was a flicker of surprise across Mewtwo’s features. It vanished just as quickly, and he pondered her words for some time. <I would prefer not to inform more humans of my plan.>
Ajia blinked. “More?”
<I have trusted one. That is all.> I didn’t have any idea what to make of that.
Mew glanced back at Ajia, and then at Mewtwo. <I will not keep secrets from my chosen. That is all,> she said firmly, with a tone of finality.
Ho-oh gave a firm nod, like it had been waiting for that. “I haven’t got one, but I still disapprove of your recklessness in Viridian.”
Moltres tilted its head. “Hm? Wasn’t there for that one. Well, not all there, anyway. In any case, my human has proved useful, so I believe I’ll be sticking with our methods.”
Lugia tensed. It was the only one who hadn’t replied, and everyone’s eyes were on it, waiting. Lugia had been the one to help Mewtwo attack Viridian. But… it couldn’t possibly be thinking of joining him again, could it?
Lugia hesitated for a long time. Finally, it replied, <My loyalties will remain with Mew.>
Mewtwo nodded softly. <Very well.> It was hard to tell what he was thinking, but his tone gave a sense of disappointment. He turned to face away from the other legends, and Mew hovered closer to him.
<You could join us…?> she asked hesitantly.
The clone bristled. He considered her for some time.
<I will not be your shadow. I will follow my own path.>
Mew nodded, her face somber.
Mewtwo turned to face us, the humans of the group. <I may need to contact you again,> he said. <Or you may wish to contact me.> He opened a pocket inside his cloak. A small scrap of paper floated out, over to Ajia. She took it, and I leaned in to get a closer look. It was… a Pokégear number?
“You have a Pokégear?” I asked blankly.
<It’s not mine,> he replied, as if that answered anything.
I didn’t know what to make of that. He didn’t want to work with humans, but he was willing to use a phone of all things? I didn’t understand him at all.
<I expect I’ll see you again,> Mewtwo said. And then he vanished.
~Chapter 50: Invites and Warnings~
After several days of training with legends and discussing plans for spying on the Rockets, it was kind of nice just taking a day off to watch the finalists practicing for the unofficial league. The stands were mostly empty—it was just practice matches, after all. Firestorm and Aros watched with the most rapt attention, occasionally arguing over whether or not a certain move was a good idea. Golduck and Weavile were sitting with us, the latter jumping out of her seat every few seconds anytime a cool move landed. Darren was only half-paying attention, busy reading something on his phone.
“You still never explained why you volunteered to sit out of the finals,” I said offhandedly.
Darren shrugged. “I just figured we got to have our fun, me and the team. Rather than having a big tiebreaker for the 8th slot, might as well leave it to the people who’ve been dreaming about being a champion their whole life, you know?”
I rubbed the back of my head. “I guess that makes sense.” Honestly, I could kind of relate to it in a way. I was just so used to being around people like Rudy or Ajia.
“Everyone was cool with it,” Darren said. “Skarmory was the only one really set on the finals, and he left, so…”
He’d left in spite of the fact that he’d had a chance to be in the finals. That put things in perspective.
“To be honest, I just got a little sick of training every day,” Darren went on sheepishly. “All that hypercompetitive stuff is more Rudy’s deal. I was looking forward to something a little more chill.”
I raised an eyebrow. “And yet you’re hanging around with those of us who’ve got the least chill job possible.”
Darren shrugged. “Never said I was smart.” He stretched widely, putting his feet up on the seats in front of us. “Anyway, I technically qualified for the finals. So when I volunteered to sit out, one of the organizers invited me to a minor league she runs in Johto—I might think about entering that one. Fewer people watching, seems like a better fit for us.”
“Huh, I wonder if it’s one of the minor leagues that Starr did when we were in Johto.” Decent winnings without too much publicity. Still, we’d had a few close calls—times we’d had to skip town to avoid trouble. Darren probably would be fine though. He wasn’t a notorious enemy of the Rockets like we were.
It looked like Rudy and his opponent were clearing out of the battlefield so we opted to leave the stands and go meet up with him. The moment we made it into the lobby, Weavile’s ears pricked up and she dashed forward to meet Ebony. Rudy had just finished signing something at the front counter. His eyes lit up when he saw us, and he bolted over, looking absolutely ecstatic.
“You guys, I gotta tell you the news! You’re never gonna believe it, it worked! It worked!” he yelled, bouncing up and down with so much energy it was almost contagious.
I waved my hand in front of me. “Okay, slow down, what worked?”
Rudy slowed to a stop, but his grin hadn’t lessened. “Some people were petitioning the Elite Four to show up at the unofficial finals and they’re totally gonna.”
I stared at him. “Holy crap.” This whole unofficial League thing had grown way bigger than I’d ever imagined. At this point why was it even unofficial? It might as well have been the real deal.
“Did the League ever say why they didn’t just hold the finals themselves?” I asked.
Rudy shrugged indifferently. “No clue. I just know the Indigo tournament site is still a mess.”
“Yeah, but they could have held it somewhere else, like you guys did,” I pointed out, shuffling a foot on the floor. “And there’s still no word from them on, like, the whole Legendary attack situation.” Just a whole bunch of media speculation. The idea that Moltres may have been acting on behalf of humans kept getting treated like a dumb conspiracy theory even though it was obviously the simplest explanation here. Were people seriously that blind?
“Y’know, there’s still a ton of people theorizing about that on social media,” Darren said casually.
Rudy turned toward him. “Huh?”
“Yeah. Most people think that the Legendaries are trying to punish humans for some crime against nature or something. No one can really agree on what it is, though.”
Rudy balked. “Wait, really? You can’t be serious.”
“You might consider reading things for once,” Darren said dryly, taking a swig of his drink, then nearly spitting it out when Rudy punched him in the shoulder.
“Oh, screw you, I’ve been busy.”
Yet again, I found myself wishing we could just tell the League everything. What did we have to gain from it being a secret? Sure, the Legendaries didn’t trust humans, but all this secrecy only benefitted Team Rocket and made the legends look like the bad guys.
Rudy shook his head. “Anyway, you guys distracted me before I could even get to the main point.”
Darren looked impressed. “Learning that the Elite Four are gonna show up to the finals wasn’t the main point?”
“No,” Rudy said, giving Darren a look. But then just as quickly, his face split into a wide grin. “I got invited to League headquarters later today!”
My jaw fell open. “Whoa, seriously? Are all the organizers getting invited?”
“Probably! I need to ask them. Might be a sign that the League's finally recognizing all our effort, y’know?”
Darren leaned back against the wall. “Well, yeah. They had to let you guys do all the hard work. Might just mean the League is gonna try to take credit for everything you guys did.”
Rudy jerked his head toward him incredulously. “What? Why do you think that?”
“I didn’t say I think it’ll happen, just that it could,” he said cryptically.
“Yeah, well, I don’t think that’s gonna happen,” Rudy replied with a huff. “That’d be a total dick move.” His expression had grown a bit conflicted, though. “At least… I sure hope they’re not gonna try to take over. It was a pain to set all this up and they weren’t helping us then, so it’s not like we’re just gonna hand it over from there.”
I shrugged. “I mean, the League was probably dealing with a lot at Indigo. Important… government stuff, or whatever.” I couldn’t pretend like I had any idea what they’d have to deal with in the aftermath of a disaster like that.
Rudy seemed at least a little satisfied. “Yeah…” he said, nodding distantly. He glanced around the lobby and added, “C’mon, let’s head outside or something.”
We all left the stadium, Weavile riding on Ebony’s back, lightly pummeling the back of her neck in what was probably some sort of congratulations. Our teams burned some energy goofing off at the training park, and then we all went out to eat before finally wandering back to the stadium around half an hour before the time Rudy was supposed to leave for his meeting. We chatted about the finalists, made bets on their chances, and argued about different tactics. Finally, a voice behind us said, “Rudy Fierro?” and we turned to see a woman in an official-looking suit approaching us from the sidewalk.
“Hell yeah, that’s me,” Rudy replied, raising a hand.
The woman nodded. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with the League on such short notice. A teleporter will be arriving shortly,” she said, gesturing for him to follow her to the designated jump spot.
“Sweet,” Rudy said. He turned to me and Darren. “I’ll see you guys later, then.”
“Be sure to remember us when you’re a League big shot,” Darren said, earning a shoulder punch.
“Seeya,” I said, giving a small wave and turning to leave, but then—
“Just one moment,” the League rep said. “Are you Jade Arens?”
“Yeah,” I replied, a bit bemused. How’d she know my name?
“Oh, that’s perfect. Are you available?” she asked. “We’d like for you to accompany him.”
I tilted my head. “Me? I’m not really involved in this whole unofficial League thing.”
“Oh, it has nothing to do with that,” she said, waving a hand dismissively.
“…What does it have to do with, then?” I asked cautiously.
“That will be made clear when you arrive.”
I wasn’t sure why, but I had the distinct feeling that I’d done something wrong.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An official teleporter arrived to take us to the outskirts of the tournament site, at the Indigo Pokécenter, where a car was waiting for us. During the drive, almost everything looked ordinary, but then sometimes we’d pass by a city block that was completely demolished out of nowhere, and it was hard not to think of what had happened here a few weeks ago.
At least that mission had gone well for us. Even if it was just a trap that had caused us to fail miserably in Hoenn, we’d still gotten out alive, and managed to free Moltres in the process. And Rudy had been able to partner with Moltres. It was worth it. I kept telling myself that, at least.
“You’re sure you don’t know why we’re being summoned?” I asked, leaning over so I could see the driver.
“The Elite Four didn’t specify. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
I settled back into my seat, unsure of how to feel. My brain had already started generating bad explanations. Maybe they didn’t approve of the unofficial League after all. (But then why would I be here with Rudy?) Maybe they found out that we snuck into the tournament site while it was a restricted zone. Maybe—
“Man, I can’t get over how nice this car is,” Rudy said, stretching out so he was taking up two seats. “They must think we’re really important.”
Well, at least Rudy was enjoying himself. As the ride progressed, he asked questions nonstop: “How come there wasn’t any news from the League? How come they didn’t end up continuing the tournament themselves? What do they think of what we’ve been doing? They’re glad, right?” The rep answered a few of the obvious ones, but otherwise we didn’t get much. So he resorted to talking my ear off instead.
Finally, we reached the League headquarters itself, an impressive stone building towering over the northern edge of the plateau like a fortress. Rhydon statues flanked the entrance and heavy banners hung from the windows. It was all very traditional—even though the inside was probably just as modern as the stadiums, the outside hadn’t changed much since it was built. And it was huge—big enough to hold an arena for private battles.
No one had led us inside yet. I was about to ask if we were supposed to just go in when another car pulled up from a different direction, parking in front of us. And out from it emerged—
“Ajia? Starr? What are you two doing here?”
“Gooood freaking question,” Starr muttered, shutting the car door and shooting a visible glare at the driver. “Just showed up out of friggin’ nowhere and made us come here. Real great sign.”
Why us? We didn’t have anything to do with the unofficial League at all. Ajia didn’t say anything, but she looked deep in thought. I half-expected her to have already figured out why we’d been brought here. Maybe she had and just wasn’t saying it yet.
The front doors opened, and a staff member ushered us inside, leading us to a meeting room on the first floor. We didn’t have to wait long. After a few minutes, the door opened, and a voice said, “Good afternoon—I hope you’re all doing well.”
“What do you want?” Starr asked shortly.
The woman sighed. “At least let me introduce myself.”
Rudy’s jaw dropped. I swiveled around in my chair, and—oh. Dark red hair in a loose ponytail, thin glasses, a crisp dress suit…
“My name is Lorelei, of the Elite Four.”
As if she even needed to say that—we all recognized her. If I’d known that we’d been called to meet with a member of the Elite Four, I would’ve… well, I wasn’t sure what I would have done, but something to feel more prepared than I was currently feeling.
Lorelei took a seat at the head of the table, setting a tablet down in front of her. “I hope you’ve all been well ever since the tournament was cut short?” she asked.
“Been busy with the unofficial League. Which you’ve heard about?” Rudy said, letting his tone rise toward the end.
Lorelei nodded. “We’re all very impressed with the way the community has come together like this. I’m hoping it will pave the way for future collaborations with community-run events.”
Rudy’s face brightened a little. “Yeah. That’d be awesome.” But then his eyes wandered around the room, and he fidgeted a bit. “…How come I’m the only one on the organizer team who’s here? I figured there’d be others.”
“And why did you want to talk to the rest of us?” Ajia asked, giving Lorelei a perplexed look. “We’re not involved.”
Lorelei nodded. “I’m sorry for the confusion. We didn’t bring you here to talk about the tournament—it’s actually about that disaster. We were wondering if you might be able to help us learn more about it.”
“The… disaster,” I repeated. The attack on Indigo?
“Legendary incidents have been on the rise in recent decades,” Lorelei went on. “And we’re worried there could be more yet to come.” Her tone was careful. Measured. Like there was a lot of thought behind each word, without trying to seem like it.
I tilted my head. “Um… why exactly do you think we’d have any info that you don’t? I mean… you’re part of the League, and we’re just… us.”
Her reply was unflinching: “Steven Stone informed us that your group was acquainted with multiple Legendaries.”
And there it was. The reason we were all here. The thing they wanted out of us.
“Yeah, I don’t know where the hell he got the idea from, but that’s obviously bullshit,” Starr replied indifferently.
“The Ranger Union was tipped off by an anonymous source, and then you all arrived, along with the Legendaries,” Lorelei explained. Her tone was patient, like she already knew she was right and was just waiting for us to admit it.
“Yeah, they just showed up at the same time as us, that’s real compelling evidence,” Starr said sarcastically.
Ajia took a deep breath. “You’re right that we tipped the rangers off. And then we went there ourselves, even though we shouldn’t have. I know that was probably a bad move, but… I’m not sure what that has to do with the Legendaries.”
Lorelei glanced back and forth at all of us and sighed. Then she flipped open the tablet that had been sitting on the table. She scrolled through some files for a moment, then propped the tablet up with its case and rotated it to face us.
It was aerial footage, taken from a flying Pokémon, most likely. The frame jerked around the sky as whoever was filming fought to steady the camera. And then my stomach dropped through the floor. The camera had settled on what was unmistakably Rudy riding Moltres. It lingered there for a few seconds while Rudy called out inaudible orders to his nearby Pokémon. Then the footage swung over to Ajia riding on a Charizard and calling out to Rayquaza. Rayquaza responded to her—brushing her off, yeah, but the fact that she was in a position to even talk with it at all… And then, as if my stomach couldn’t sink any lower, there was me riding Lugia. Struggling to hold on as the dragon-bird swerved around attacks from the Rockets. Clear as day. Why had it never occurred to me that people would have seen us? I guess it wasn’t a priority since we had way bigger concerns at the time, but…
They must not have pieced together that Darren was involved yet, otherwise they probably would have brought him here with us. Probably because he’d been on the ground for most of the Sootopolis fight, until the very end. At least one of us didn’t have to deal with this.
“I can understand why you wouldn’t want anyone to know about this,” Lorelei said evenly. “Nevertheless, we’re aware. I’d like it if we could discuss things openly now.”
“Discuss… what, exactly,” I replied, still feeling like I was sinking into a bog.
She gave me a look like it was obvious, but then adjusted her glasses and went on, “Discuss the current state of affairs. All the disasters happening recently. Sootopolis. Indigo. Viridian.” My throat clenched up at the mention of Viridian, and I did my best to ignore it.
“You had advance warning for Sootopolis. Was it the same as the others?”
“Well, if by advance warning, you mean ‘a couple of hours,’ then I guess,” I mumbled.
“That’s a couple of hours earlier than the rest of us, and that can make the difference when people’s lives are on the line,” Lorelei said firmly.
The only reason we’d had any advance warning at all was because of people like Stalker or Lexx trying to use us. It was bad enough the League knew about our connection with the legends—the last thing we needed was them finding out about our connection with high-ranking Rockets.
“I don’t think there’s much way we can help out. We just got tipped off early, that’s all,” I said quietly, avoiding her eye. It wasn’t even a lie but somehow felt just as awkward as one.
Lorelei regarded me carefully. “Did the legends warn you about the disasters?”
“No. They didn’t know either.”
She gave me a curious look. “Then who did?”
Ugh, I probably shouldn’t have said that we’d been tipped off. Now there was no way to backpedal and say that we’d like, stolen the intel from Team Rocket or something.
I glanced helplessly at the others. Starr was still watching the footage, looking unimpressed. Rudy looked bewildered. I had no idea what to say, so I didn’t say anything, and I felt like an idiot.
Ajia clasped her hands together. I couldn’t help noticing the tiniest flicker in her eyes as she silently conversed with Mew. “It’s complicated. There are people who know more than us.”
Lorelei raised an eyebrow. “Perhaps they ought to be here with us, then.”
“I don’t think that’s possible.”
Lorelei was silent for some time. Finally, she put her elbows on the table, tenting her fingers. “Then, if you’re unable to help us, we have to ask you to stop associating with the legends,” she said simply.
It took several seconds for me to process what she’d just said. Then my jaw hung open. “What? Why?”
“We don’t trust the Legendaries. Not after all the attacks that have been happening recently.”
Okay, that was too much. I couldn’t not say it. “Those attacks are all Team Rocket’s fault!”
“Are they? All of them?”
I was about to open my mouth… and then I paused. The attack on Viridian. I’d been avoiding thinking about it. Someday, I’d have to talk to Lugia about it. But what was there for me to say? Point out the way innocent lives had been lost from their attempt to strike back at Team Rocket? Would it care? Was it okay for me to be helping if it didn’t?
“Regardless of whose fault it was, Legendary Pokémon are dangerous,” she went on. “Do not underestimate their power.”
Starr wasn’t backing down. “Full offense, but if we’ve been hanging around them, I think we understand their power better than you.”
“And what if your little war game causes major loss of property and life?” Lorelei asked, peering at all of us over her glasses. “This isn’t the sort of thing the Elite Four can just ignore.”
“Then why don’t you guys stop Team Rocket?” Rudy blurted out suddenly.
Starr laughed. “They can’t do that.”
Lorelei stood up, pacing one end of the room, arms folded behind her back. “Team Rocket is too deeply intertwined in the politics of this region, and has been for too long. We have to consider the big picture.”
“Wait—you’re just letting them get away with all this?” Rudy asked incredulously.
She turned to face him. “And how would you have us stop them without causing even more problems?”
Rudy looked dumbfounded. “I—well, you… you could do something!” he exclaimed, tripping over his words.
The videos were still playing on repeat. The movement made it hard not to look at them, but I hated to think how many people had seen them.
Almost as if she’d sensed what I was thinking, Lorelei said, “This footage hasn’t been released to the public. To be honest, we would really prefer not to do that. And I’d imagine you wouldn’t want that either.”
Starr stood bolt upright. “Wait, wait wait, excuse me? Are you friggin’ blackmailing us?” Starr demanded.
Lorelei’s gaze was unflinching. “That’s not my intention.”
“Yeah, well it sure sounds like you are,” Starr snapped. “Also, what the hell am I doing here anyway? Don’t suppose you’ve got any footage of me riding Legendaries?” she said mockingly. “Like I’d be caught dead doing that.”
“You’re closely associated with these two, that’s reason enough,” Lorelei said dismissively. “There’s also the question of… your history.”
Starr bristled. “The hell is that supposed to mean?”
“We really don’t have any particular need to pursue legal action against your criminal record. But if you’re helping them with these Legendary conflicts, then you’re a part of this whether you like it or not.”
Starr’s fists were clenched so tight I half-worried she might jump over the table and deck Lorelei in the face. I closed my eyes and willed her not to, whatever good that would do.
Lorelei relaxed slightly. “I know this all sounds harsh. Please try to understand. We can’t keep having disasters like this happen. Not if there’s some way that we can prevent them.”
Sharing everything we knew with the League sure didn’t seem like a good way to prevent anything anymore.
Lorelei gave us an imploring look. “We’re really just asking for your cooperation.”
“Or what? Gonna arrest us?” Starr asked with a snide grin. “Pretty sure there aren’t any laws for this kind of thing.”
Starr, please. If I could just will her to stop responding to everything with sarcasm…
Lorelei considered her carefully for some time. “We didn’t bring you here with the intent to keep you here. This is merely a warning. It’s in your best interest to stay away from the guardians.”
“Look… we really can’t do that,” I said, awkwardly avoiding her eye.
Lorelei’s gaze softened. “Are they forcing you to serve them? Are you trapped in any way?”
“Of course not!” I exclaimed, probably too quickly.
“What Jade means is…” Ajia said, giving me a significant look, “that we’re not at liberty to discuss that.”
Lorelei surveyed her closely. “If you’re in any way trapped, I want to assure you that anything you say here will not leave this room.”
I had half a mind just to say something to Lugia right then and there to prove her wrong, if only in my head.
“Not that we don’t appreciate the generous offer, but it’s really none of your business,” Starr said loudly, standing up from her chair and moving toward the door. “So are we free to go, or what?”
Lorelei paused, considering us carefully. Finally she stood up and opened the door. “Of course. I just ask that you please think carefully about what I said.”
It was going to be hard not to.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The car ride back was silent. I couldn’t even really bring myself to read anything on my phone to distract myself, unlike Starr. We were dropped off at the edge of the tournament site. The driver gave us some canned parting words and then the car drove off. Ajia didn’t feel safe calling for Mew, and I could hardly blame her. Rudy ended up calling Darren. A minute later, Darren and Alakazam appeared, the former looking baffled and the latter looking displeased.
“Hey, so… what exactly happened?” Darren asked after we’d teleported back to the Pokécenter in Pewter.
Rudy threw his arms up. “I literally told you on the phone that the Elite Four gave us some BS about Legendaries being bad.”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t actually explain anything,” Darren replied in that practiced tone like he’d told Rudy that same thing a thousand times.
Ajia proceeded to explain the meeting to him in a slightly more informative way. Rudy interjected every so often, making sure to convey how dumb everything was.
“You guys are too honest,” Darren pointed out. “Why not just agree to whatever the League says and then keep fighting the Rockets anyway?”
I wasn’t sure. Somehow the idea of lying to the League felt… intimidating. And to think—all those times I’d wondered if it was a good idea to get the League in on this fight. So much for that idea.
Starr hadn’t said much ever since we left. She mostly just kept her arms folded, occasionally muttering things under her breath
“Hey, so… thanks for not saying anything,” I said quietly.
Starr raised an eyebrow. “Why the hell would I?”
I tapped my fingers together. “I mean, you didn’t swear a pact with the Legendaries.”
She let out a long, drawn-out sigh. “Yeah, I still say that the chosen thing is bullshit, but it’s bullshit that’s important to you two, so I’m not gonna screw it up for you, obviously,” she said impatiently, like she couldn’t believe we were even talking about this.
I nodded vaguely. “Still… thanks.”
It was nightfall already. The days were getting shorter. Soon, it’d be fall. I wasn’t really sure why summer’s end felt like the days of doing whatever we wanted were over. It wasn’t like I was going back to school or anything. Maybe it reminded me of being on the Rebellion.
Ugh, I still hadn’t told Lugia anything. Half of me wanted to just not. But the other half wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.
<Right, so… the League knows about us,> I said.
<What? What are you talking about?> Lugia replied, utterly baffled. Probably because I’d just sprung this on it out of nowhere.
<They know that we’re working together with you guys,> I said. <The Hoenn Champion told them.>
Lugia took a few seconds to process that. Then it cursed. <I knew it. It’s impossible to keep news from spreading when dealing with humans. This is why we were committed to secrecy. We should not have compromised on that.>
<We didn’t have a choice,> I said defensively. <We had to help with the evacuation.>
<Never mind that. Have you escaped yet?> Lugia asked.
<We weren’t trapped,> I replied tiredly. <They just wanted to talk.>
<What were their demands?>
Geez, I hadn’t even said what happened yet and Lugia was already assuming the worst.
<They just wanted information. How we always know to show up when there’s a Legendary incident, things like that.>
I felt Lugia tense up. <What did you tell them?>
<We just told them that we couldn’t tell them anything,> I said, a little exasperated.
Lugia noticeably relaxed at my words. Part of me was a bit annoyed—what, did it think we were just gonna spill patron/chosen secrets to the first person who asked? But, no… it had already eased up. There was no point in making a fuss over nothing.
My mind couldn’t help drifting back to Viridian. Half of me wanted to finally ask Lugia about it. The other half wanted to do literally anything else. And Lugia was feeling anxious as well. Guess we’d leave it for later, then.
“So, we’re obviously not going to listen to them,” Ajia said, taking a break from her pacing. “But I don’t want to get on the League’s bad side either.”
“Sounds like you already are,” Starr pointed out flatly. She shook her head. “Told you guys that being chosen was nothing but trouble.”
“I don’t think you ever worded it exactly like that, no,” Ajia said, with an attempt at a playful grin. It was forced, though.
Starr just rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well, enjoy the League breathing down your neck if you try anything in public from now on. That’ll be fun.”
I rubbed the back of my head. “I mean… I’m okay with staying out of public.”
Starr looked unconvinced. “You’re not going to have a choice if the Rockets pull more public shit, and let’s face it—we know they’re gonna.”
“I guess we could always just avoid going anywhere the League could see us,” I said. We’d already been having to stay on the move to avoid the Rockets anyway.
“I can’t just stay out of public. I’m in the tournament,” Rudy pointed out indignantly. “If they don’t want me to help Moltres, they can suck it.”
In just one day, his starry-eyed admiration of the Elite Four had been totally shattered. It was honestly kind of wild.
Rudy turned away, shaking his head. “I’m sick of talking about all this, and I need to let my team out anyway. Gonna go for a run with them. I’ll see you all later,” he said before walking off in a huff.
Letting out some steam sounded nice. Unfortunately, I already suspected that I’d be thinking about all this for the rest of the night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We ended up heading back to the cabin for the night. That way, it would be easy to discuss things with the legends when the time came. Secretly, I hoped that wouldn’t be until tomorrow. I really didn’t want to talk about this stuff anymore until then.
Alakazam teleported us there and then promptly bid everyone a very grumpy good night. As we approached the cabin, the first thing I noticed was that the front door was open. That was… odd. Maybe someone had forgotten to close it last time we were here? I’d just reached the front steps when movement inside caught my eye.
“Is someone in there?” I asked hesitantly. I could already feel the hair on my arms standing on end.
A figure stood up from one of the armchairs. A tall figure. A tall, nonhuman figure. It stepped forward as lightly as if it was walking on air. And then the light from the window framed its outline for a moment.
My breath froze. I knew that silhouette. Pointed ears. Long, thick tail. No way…
<Hello.>
The group reaction was instant: “Mewtwo?!”
It was him. I hadn’t seen him in nearly a year. What was he doing here? Why now? Was he… waiting for us?
<I wish to speak with the guardians that have associated with this human group,> he announced. No introduction. He knew we all knew who he was. He knew we all were affiliated with the Legendaries. <You have a means of contacting them, don’t you?>
“I… do,” Ajia replied slowly, regarding him curiously.
“Excuse me, what the hell?” Starr blurted, glancing back and forth between me and Ajia. I gave her a helpless look that hopefully conveyed that I didn’t have a clue either.
<I’ll wait,> Mewtwo said, sitting back down in the armchair.
Still looking rather perplexed, Ajia nodded. She conversed silently with Mew for a minute before Mew appeared at her side, her eyes wide with intrigue.
<Mewtwo?> she asked, drifting gently through the doorway.
Mewtwo looked up at her, gazing long and hard, his expression hard to place. Something between intrigue and uncertainty.
<I wish to speak with the others as well,> he said finally.
Mew blinked, looking a bit taken aback. But then she nodded, and vanished.
I couldn’t get over how weird it was to have Mewtwo just sitting in the living room. I couldn’t help staring at him. Did he remember me? Did he… have any particular opinion about me?
“Good to see that you’re… doing okay?” I said, feeling like an idiot.
He looked up, vivid purple irises practically staring through me. He nodded.
“Have you… been busy with things?” What would he have been spending his time on, anyway?
<Traveling. Seeing. Experiencing.> His expression shifted slightly. <Living.>
“Oh,” I said blankly, unsure of what else to say. “That’s… good.”
At least it sounded peaceful. He’d been imprisoned from the moment of his birth until the day we freed him, so… getting to live his own life was a good thing. And it also meant that he wasn’t getting involved in any more incidents like Viridian.
There was a familiar teleport flash behind us. Mew had appeared outside with Lugia, Ho-oh and Moltres, all looking various degrees of perturbed.
<Where is he?> Lugia asked.
Right on cue, Mewtwo drifted lightly through the open doorway, regarding the new arrivals with a contemplative look. Lugia stared at him, and I could feel the recognition in its mind. I couldn’t get a read on how it felt about seeing him, though.
“I trust you have been well?” Ho-oh asked. There was a slight edge to its voice, like it was holding its tongue.
“Staying far away from the humans?” Moltres asked with a smirk.
<Why exactly have you been nonexistent for the past year?> Lugia asked tersely.
<I didn’t wish to interact with any guardians,> Mewtwo replied. <I needed to see the world for myself.>
“And what if you were targeted?” Ho-oh asked.
<They would not have found me,> Mewtwo said simply. <I traveled to a distant land across the sea.>
<Why bother to return, then?> Lugia asked.
Mewtwo fixed the seabird with a pointed look. <Don’t misunderstand. I felt confident that they would not find me this past year. I do not expect that to be the case forever.>
Lugia glowered. Irritation already saturated its thoughts.
<The events happening in this region will most certainly have consequences. If all of you fall here, do you think that will be the end of it? Do you think that the humans of other lands won’t learn what happened here? Won’t seek to obtain that power for themselves?>
I swallowed hard. The idea that things happening here had the ability to affect the rest of the world… it wasn’t something I’d ever had to consider until now. I didn’t like thinking about it.
Mewtwo gestured with both palms up. <I have returned to stop the humans, because if I do not, then no one will.>
<Excuse me?> Lugia asked indignantly. <No one? What do you think we’ve been doing?>
Mewtwo tilted his head. <Then why do they continue to do as they wish?>
<They’re not—>
<I heard news of the incident at the place the humans call Sootopolis,> Mewtwo went on, making Lugia freeze. <They were unable to reclaim me, so they set their sights on another in my place. And just look at the destruction that caused.>
“You’re right,” Ajia said carefully. “The Rockets went after Rayquaza specifically because they wanted a weapon that could match your power.”
<And now they have one.>
<Where were you during that time, then?> Lugia snapped.
Mewtwo fixed Lugia with a hard stare. <Learning to understand my power. Learning about the state of the world. I could not risk my freedom until I was ready.>
“I thought you were confident that you cannot be captured,” Ho-oh pointed out.
Mewtwo was silent for a bit. <I took measures. I don’t expect those measures to be foolproof. I could not afford to risk my freedom until I learned the true scope of the threat.>
So he hadn’t spent all his time across the sea. He must’ve returned occasionally to see what was happening back here. Then again, how much of this stuff had made the news in other countries? The destruction of Sootopolis was a pretty huge deal…
<I was created to overthrow all of you. To be the weapon for humanity to surpass the only beings they have to fear. If they overthrow all of you, do you think they will allow me to quietly live my life as they please? No. I will be their prize, their trophy.>
Man, it was chilling to hear him talk so matter-of-factly about the scenario where we all lose.
<And what of the innocents?> he went on. <Do you think their lives will be unchanged? Do you think this is something we can allow to happen? And do you think I will be the last? What if they create another weapon to surpass me? The threat must be stopped, and it must be stopped decisively.>
Ho-oh gave him a knowing look. “If I recall correctly, this is much like what you said last year, before attacking Viridian. Did that attack accomplish anything?”
Mewtwo eyed the phoenix closely. <It forced the enemy into hiding for nearly a year.>
“Mm,” Ho-oh replied noncommittally.
“What are you planning?” Moltres asked with a suspicious look.
<I believe the enemy will be making their move soon. I intend to stop them.>
Ajia stared at him. “Are they targeting a new Legendary already?”
<No. Targeting your leadership.>
I gaped. “What?”
<It’s simple. If the enemy gains control of the human leadership, what reason will they have to operate in secret? They will be able to freely target us.>
The League already thought they couldn’t beat Team Rocket. They didn’t even want to try; they were too worried about collateral damage. Another attack could be the end. And we wouldn’t hear about it from Stalker or Lexx this time now that they’d betrayed the Kanto Force. Or maybe they’d be part of the attack. Maybe the two halves of Team Rocket would be fighting to see who could take over the League first. Lexx seemed to think the Kanto force would win that one.
<They would be free to target you as they please,> Mewtwo said, fixing the Legendaries with a hard stare. <Would you live the rest of your life in solitude, isolated from the world? A prisoner by another name?>
Lugia bristled. I could feel it struggling to come up with a response. It finally settled on, <What exactly do you want from us?> In its voice, it was annoyed. But in its mind, I could feel something else. It was conflicted. Unsure.
<I want to unify our strength. It is all we have,> Mewtwo said simply, tail flicking.
<That’s what I’ve been trying to do,> Mew said, drifting forward. <I believe that rallying everyone around the chosen will give us a much better chance of standing up to the enemy.>
<The chosen?> Mewtwo asked, tilting his head ever so slightly.
<We aren’t just working together with these humans,> Mew said, gesturing to Ajia, and to me. <We have bound ourselves to each other.>
He surveyed her closely. <How does that work?>
<Our souls are bound. We feel each other’s presence.>
<For what purpose?>
<To combine the strengths of both human and legend.>
For just a moment, there was a flicker of surprise across Mewtwo’s features. It vanished just as quickly, and he pondered her words for some time. <I would prefer not to inform more humans of my plan.>
Ajia blinked. “More?”
<I have trusted one. That is all.> I didn’t have any idea what to make of that.
Mew glanced back at Ajia, and then at Mewtwo. <I will not keep secrets from my chosen. That is all,> she said firmly, with a tone of finality.
Ho-oh gave a firm nod, like it had been waiting for that. “I haven’t got one, but I still disapprove of your recklessness in Viridian.”
Moltres tilted its head. “Hm? Wasn’t there for that one. Well, not all there, anyway. In any case, my human has proved useful, so I believe I’ll be sticking with our methods.”
Lugia tensed. It was the only one who hadn’t replied, and everyone’s eyes were on it, waiting. Lugia had been the one to help Mewtwo attack Viridian. But… it couldn’t possibly be thinking of joining him again, could it?
Lugia hesitated for a long time. Finally, it replied, <My loyalties will remain with Mew.>
Mewtwo nodded softly. <Very well.> It was hard to tell what he was thinking, but his tone gave a sense of disappointment. He turned to face away from the other legends, and Mew hovered closer to him.
<You could join us…?> she asked hesitantly.
The clone bristled. He considered her for some time.
<I will not be your shadow. I will follow my own path.>
Mew nodded, her face somber.
Mewtwo turned to face us, the humans of the group. <I may need to contact you again,> he said. <Or you may wish to contact me.> He opened a pocket inside his cloak. A small scrap of paper floated out, over to Ajia. She took it, and I leaned in to get a closer look. It was… a Pokégear number?
“You have a Pokégear?” I asked blankly.
<It’s not mine,> he replied, as if that answered anything.
I didn’t know what to make of that. He didn’t want to work with humans, but he was willing to use a phone of all things? I didn’t understand him at all.
<I expect I’ll see you again,> Mewtwo said. And then he vanished.
~End Chapter 50~
