Pokémon: Master of the Rain Team

Chapter 596 - 596 – Awake

Lakeside cabin.After leaving the old man, Reiji didn't even stay for lunch. He packed food from the kitchen, collected every Pokémon he had left in the Gym's care, and went straight back to the cabin.

Two months had passed, and he was finally home.

Once he reached the lake, he released Kingler, Gyarados, and Poliwhirl.

"You three, check the lake. Drive out any wild Pokémon you find, then block the underground river again."

He had been away for two months. Who knew if the underground river had opened back up again? Better to seal it properly.

"Poli!" Poliwhirl jumped straight into the lake.

"Kook!" Kingler clacked its big claws and slowly crawled into the water.

"Gyaaa!" Gyarados was much rougher. It flipped once and plunged in, disappearing beneath the surface with the other two.

Now all Reiji had to do was wait.

With those three, as long as nothing at Elite Four tier showed up, there shouldn't be anything in the lake that could threaten them. Wild Pokémon on a lived-in island usually didn't get that strong. Advanced tier was already the limit. If a powerful wild Pokémon started causing trouble near town, the Gym or Pokémon Center would drive it away.

The water stirred.

Not long after, Gyarados's head rose from the lake. Its back was facing the shore, so Reiji couldn't see how its body was twisting, or the strain on its face.

Then Poliwhirl and Kingler surfaced too.

Only they kept rising.

They floated higher and higher until they were hanging above the water, and Reiji realized something was wrong.

"Poliwhirl?"

Poliwhirl's face was twisted in pain. It struggled in the air, unable to break free.

Reiji stepped back at once.

There was no way he could miss what was happening. All three had already been caught by psychic power. He immediately released Pelipper, ready to flee to Mikan Gym for help.

Any Pokémon that could control Poliwhirl, Kingler, and Gyarados this easily had to be an Elite Four-tier Psychic type.

Reiji had only one thought.

Run.

But the moment Pelipper appeared, pale blue light wrapped around it too and dragged it toward the center of the lake.

That killed Reiji's escape plan.

Pelipper had been right beside him, and it had been captured instantly. If the Pokémon wanted to grab Reiji too, it would be easy. He couldn't run.

He had only ever felt this kind of pressure from one Pokémon before: Cissy's grandfather's Slowking.

But this wasn't Slowking.

If Mikan Gym wanted to take him down, they could have done it in the hidden room earlier. There was no reason to wait until he returned to the cabin.

That left Team Rocket, or the Kanto family behind Cissy's cousin. Those were the only people he had offended recently.

But the Kanto family shouldn't have traced it back to him. Only Cissy, the old man, and a few others knew the truth, and they wouldn't talk. Naoki hadn't sent any warning either.

So it was probably Team Rocket.

Sabrina?

The name made Reiji tense.

He looked toward the lake and called out, "Come out. If you want something, say it. Stop hiding."

If this was Team Rocket, and the Pokémon had this level of psychic power, the first person Reiji thought of was Sabrina.

Then the lake split open.

The Pokémon that appeared destroyed his guess completely.

"How is it you...? Mewtwo? Why are you here?"

"I came for you, human. The Trainer who took Amber away."

Mewtwo rose slowly out of the water, its eyes glowing blue as it stared straight at Reiji.

Ever since it began inviting powerful Trainers to New Island to prove itself, it had noticed the champion of the Indigo Plateau Conference. The moment it saw Reiji, the memories from back then had returned.

But it had not gone looking for him right away. It had planned to invite him to New Island instead.

Then the Dragonite carrying the invitation never found him.

After that, Mewtwo fought Mew on New Island and was chased by Team Rocket. With Mew's help, it escaped with the cloned Pokémon.

When Mewtwo and the clones had nowhere to go, it remembered Reiji, the Trainer who had taken Amber away. After Reiji won the tournament, Mewtwo had controlled Nurse Joy and checked his identity records.

It came to the Orange Archipelago to find him. After reaching Mikan Island, it quietly hypnotized one of the kitchen ladies at night and learned where he had been living. Then it came to the cabin and waited.

After several days, Reiji finally returned.

Mewtwo had planned to visit him at night. Instead, Reiji sent Poliwhirl and the others into the water. Once they found Mewtwo, hiding was pointless, so it chose to show itself.

"So you got your memories back?" Reiji relaxed a little when he realized it was Mewtwo.

Mewtwo was unstable, but after Ash talked it down, it should have settled somewhat. At the very least, it had accepted that humans and Pokémon could have real bonds.

It could listen. It could think for itself now. It no longer seemed trapped by whether it was real or a copy, or by meaningless questions like which side was stronger.

"Yes. I remember." Mewtwo kept the four Pokémon floating over the lake. They were Reiji's Pokémon, and it trusted that he would not lie to it. "Tell me where Amber is."

"Amber is on Cinnabar Island, at Blaine's Cinnabar Gym. She's with her mother. If you want to see her, go find her yourself."

Reiji didn't hide it. Mewtwo held the advantage here, and there was no point lying.

Besides, what if Mewtwo found Amber? That had always been part of his plan. He had wanted to use Amber to make Mewtwo help him, even if indirectly.

"Is Amber okay?"

Hearing Amber's name again made Mewtwo lose control for a moment. Its psychic power pressed down harder, and Poliwhirl and the others struggled in pain.

"Calm down. Amber is fine." Reiji raised both hands at once. "Can you put Poliwhirl and the others down first?"

Please don't lose control.

If Mewtwo went berserk, Reiji had no way to handle it. He couldn't fight, and he couldn't run. Against walking disasters like this, he was still far too weak.

Darkrai, which could counter Mewtwo, wasn't here. Gengar was asleep. Poliwhirl and the others had been controlled the moment they appeared. Even if Reiji released his whole team, it wouldn't change anything.

Mewtwo really did live up to its reputation as a Pokémon that could stand beside the strongest legends.

And this was probably still its growth period.

"Heh heh heh..."

As Reiji tried to calm Mewtwo down, the pressure from its power stirred something in his bag.

A black shadow seeped out of one Poké Ball, flowed down to his feet, and rose from his own shadow.

The moment it appeared, it was already Mega Evolved.

"Hm? Gengar... but not quite Gengar." Mewtwo calmed down as it looked at the Pokémon.

If Reiji was this certain, then Amber was probably safe. There was no need to panic.

But its psychic pressure had somehow woken the sleeping Gengar. This Gengar's state was strange too. It was not like the Gengar Mewtwo had seen before. It was much stronger, and Mewtwo could faintly feel danger from it.

"Mega Gengar?"

Reiji stared at Gengar, stunned. His mouth hung open for a long moment.

He had thought Gengar would sleep much longer. He had never expected it to wake up now.

Was this because of Mewtwo?

"Gar, gar." Mega Gengar turned back and nodded at him. Seeing that Reiji was unharmed, it finally relaxed.

If it had not felt Mewtwo's power and sensed danger around Reiji, it would not have woken up in such a hurry. It could have slept for at least another month.

"This..."

Reiji felt the pressure coming from Gengar and froze.

There was no mistake.

That was Elite Four-tier presence.

He had seen Elite Four-tier Pokémon before. He had watched them battle, and he had even fought one or two himself. He knew what that pressure felt like.

Mega Gengar was now Elite Four tier.

Even Mewtwo's expression had changed. It no longer looked as relaxed as it had when it controlled Poliwhirl and the others like toys.

"Mewtwo, I've told you what you wanted to know," Reiji said. "Put Poliwhirl and the others down. If you want to find Amber, go to Cinnabar Island."

He didn't think Gengar was enough to beat Mewtwo, but he had a little more confidence now.

"Fine."

Mewtwo released them.

After Mega Gengar appeared, Mewtwo no longer wanted to push too hard. The Gengar carried something that felt dangerous, though Mewtwo did not know what it was.

If Reiji could hear Mewtwo's thoughts, he would have guessed it right away: the Plate fragment.

That was Arceus's power. Of course it could threaten Mewtwo.

"Poliwhirl, Kingler, Gyarados, Pelipper, are you all okay?"

Mewtwo brought the four Pokémon to the grass by the shore and set them down. Reiji didn't go forward right away. He called to them first.

"Poli!" Poliwhirl moved its arms and legs. It didn't seem hurt. It quickly returned to Reiji with the other three, all of them staring at Mewtwo with full caution.

They could only stare. They couldn't hurt it.

The pressure from Mewtwo was unlike anything they had ever felt. It was even stronger than the Elite Four-tier Rhydon they had fought before.

"Human, I will go find Amber. You'd better not have lied to me."

Mewtwo slowly sank back into the lake instead of leaving right away. It still needed to heal and was not ready to go looking for Amber yet.

"Mewtwo, you can't stay here. If you escaped to this island, does Giovanni know?"

Reiji did not want this bomb sitting in his lake. If Giovanni came here because of Mewtwo, then Reiji would be treated like Team Rocket even if he wasn't.

"Giovanni? You know about Giovanni too?" Mewtwo surfaced again. "You really do know something."

"Come with me."

Reiji glanced at the sun overhead. Standing outside like this wasn't good. Team Rocket might spot them from a satellite. Better to talk inside.

If he could talk Mewtwo into leaving, he would. If not, then he would think of something else. Either way, he couldn't let it stay here.

He was nowhere near ready to face Team Rocket head-on.

"Hm."

Mewtwo nodded and followed him into the cabin.

Gengar had already dropped out of Mega Evolution, but it was still watching Mewtwo. Mewtwo didn't care.

"Don't wander around outside too much from now on," Reiji said after sitting on the sofa. He took a cold drink from the fridge, took a sip, and set down the lunch he had brought back. "Team Rocket has satellites in the sky. If one scans you, they'll find you."

He planned to eat first.

He had prepared lunch for his Pokémon too, though he couldn't release everyone in the living room. There wasn't enough space, so Poliwhirl and the others would eat first.

Gengar had woken up, and there were plenty of things Reiji needed to check. But Mewtwo was the bigger problem right now. He had to put Gengar's situation aside for the moment, even though he badly wanted to look at its proficiency panel.

"What is a satellite?" Mewtwo asked.

Reiji found a science magazine with an article about satellites and placed it in front of Mewtwo.

After reading it, Mewtwo finally understood how it had been found. So there were objects outside the planet that could detect the energy waves it released.

"Keep your power hidden if you can," Reiji said.

Mewtwo seemed to understand.

Reiji was about to eat when he noticed Mewtwo looking at him.

"Do you want some too?"

"Human food?" Mewtwo frowned, clearly uninterested.

"This."

Reiji took out a box of high-quality Psychic-type Pokéblocks. Mewtwo was a Psychic-type Pokémon, so it might like them.

"What are these? I can feel psychic energy inside them."

Mewtwo lifted a Pokéblock with psychic power and held it near its mouth to smell it.

"They're made with ingredients that contain Psychic-type energy. Food made for Psychic-type Pokémon."

As Reiji explained, he took out several more boxes and gave them to Mewtwo.

They had all come from raids anyway. He didn't have many Psychic-type Pokémon, so he couldn't finish them. He also tossed several boxes to Gengar.

Gengar had woken up at exactly the right time. That alone was worth a reward. Without it, Mewtwo would not have been this easy to talk to.

"Not bad. I'll take these."

After tasting one, Mewtwo decided the texture and flavor suited it. It gathered the boxes from the table with psychic power.

"I also have Potion spray. You've got a lot of injuries. Use this and they'll heal faster."

Reiji pushed a bottle of Potion toward Mewtwo.

Mewtwo was surprisingly easy to talk to now. Ash's words really had done their job.

"Fine."

Mewtwo nodded quietly.

It still wasn't used to this. A human was treating it well, and there was no malice behind it.

"Mewtwo, have you found yourself now?" Reiji asked, seeing how awkward it looked. "You don't seem as lost as before."

"Yes. We are all alive. We will live well."

Mewtwo looked out the window.

It had figured things out. Whether something was real or a clon no longer mattered. It and the others were alive, and they only wanted a quiet place to keep living.

"Telepathy... and a female voice?"

Reiji only noticed it now. Mewtwo's voice in his head was female.

The Mewtwo in Mewtwo Strikes Back had a male voice. The Mewtwo in the later Mewtwo movie had a female voice.

Given Mewtwo's Mega Evolution split into X and Y, maybe it was more accurate to think of it as both. Whether it used a male voice or a female voice didn't change how powerful it was.

Female-voiced Mewtwo was just a little cute when it Mega Evolved into Mega Mewtwo Y.

[End of chapter]

[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]

[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]

[[email protected]/BellAshelia]

[Thanks for your support!]