Chapter 38

Lane couldn't read a single thing from Mewtwo—not a single stray thought, not a flicker of emotion. There was little more on his face, though there was a hint of something in his scent. Amusement? But even the feeble wind moved so quickly that it stole any scents away from her, out of reach.

"You were brave to come here, kitten," he began. "Since my creation, I have spent years cultivating a reputation of respect. I do not abide distraction or pointless interference. There are some who say I kill as callously as the higher powers."

Lane squirmed, and realized she was free to move. Mewtwo had caught her to stop her from falling, but that was all. Once she started moving, she was free to hover closer to him. Her tail slowly uncurled, and her ears relaxed. "My friend is afraid of you—Dominic, the Celebi. He thinks you really are that dangerous. But I know you won't hurt me."

"Is that so?" He loomed closer, eyes glowing fiercely blue. "I can see you are too young to remember what I have done. This planet considers you among the lesser powers, but not me. I was created to be the world's most powerful Pokémon—deliberately engineered to be stronger and faster than you. The humans succeeded in this, though they failed to martial their creation."

Her mind filled with a terrible vision. A storm vast enough to sweep away the life from a continent rose from the ocean, directed by malign will. He contained it carefully, feeding it power from the planet's rotation until it could crush mountains to powder.

But he hadn't just done that. She saw the achievements at the edge of human ingenuity, the genetic engineering that had created him. Mewtwo understood it, perfected it, and turned it to create more Pokémon in his image.

He had reached out, touching thousands and thousands of minds, altering their memories. Hypno hadn't been able to hurt her, but this Pokémon made Korina look like a kitten herself.

"You see why they fear me," he said, and the vision faded. She was still in the air over Saffron. Even if her friends had seen her, the flight up this high would take them ages. They wouldn't be able to help. "It is right to fear power greater than ourselves."

"No." She floated up to him, paws folding in front of her. "It's right to respect them. But a power that isn't used irresponsibly or maliciously doesn't need to be feared."

He considered her a moment, eyes narrowing. But if he was trying to frighten her with more of his power, it didn't work. After a few moments he looked away, rolling his eyes. "You are her daughter, all right. Just as insufferable."

She didn't need psychic powers to know that he didn't really mean it. He could've used all those powers on her, or even sent her away. He didn't, just settled for hovering there, disapproving. "If you weren't hunting Rockets, why are you here?"

"Not me…" she began, speaking slowly and nervously. "Korina. She's in trouble. I'm not sure exactly what kind of relationship you two had, but I know she really cared about you. I was kinda hoping you'd like her enough to want to help her too?"

Mewtwo's expression became unreadable again. He floated past Lane, forcing her to follow. She trailed behind, curling up against the cold. Fighting low temperatures was one thing Korina hadn't bothered teaching her. There had to be a technique for it.

"She cared about me." It was almost like he'd forgotten she was there.

"And yet, she found a way to produce a child. Her species is saved, and she didn't even bother to visit and introduce us." There was a little frustration there, strong enough to seep out from under the mask.

Lane squeaked, hurrying to catch up with him. "Not the way you think! I was human before! She didn't, uh…" Her ears flattened again. "I'm really new at this. This is why she didn't want us to meet yet. She said she wanted to show me off when I was ready. You can probably tell that hasn't happened yet. I'm still really bad at all this."

He froze, spinning on her again. Whatever pain he'd been feeling vanished behind his mask, either gone or properly concealed. "Human? That…

would explain such a convincing disguise. I've only met one creature like us willing to use an illusion like that, and it wasn't her."

He gestured, and she zoomed through the air, unable to even slow herself down. She stopped right in front of his face, in optimal glowering distance.

"It was your emotions that fooled me, kitten. Your love for her suggested a natural bond between you—that was my mistake. I of all creatures should understand that it is not the circumstances of our birth that give our lives meaning. What kind of trouble is she in, exactly? Not one that tempered her pride enough to ask for my help personally, I observe."

The longer she remained with Mewtwo, the weaker her fear became. He was every bit as powerful as Dominic thought, but that didn't make him a monster. "The other, uh…" She hesitated. "I guess you call them 'great powers?' The legendaries kidnapped her. There was an explosion at Starfall, and they took her. I wasn't there when it happened…"

Mewtwo's face turned to ice. He flexed both paws, and the air collapsed around them in a teleport.

They reappeared somewhere warm, with a low ceiling and a padded floor. Red lights near the ground illuminated the space, which had windows from floor to ceiling on every wall. They were in a skyscraper, and from the distances stretching out around them, it was clear they had an entire floor to themselves.

"I will gather information," he said flatly. "You will not leave my home until I return."

"Wait!" She leapt forward, grabbing his arm with both paws. "My friends, the celebi and shaymin—they're helping save her too. I don't want to go without them."

Mewtwo lifted the arm, and her with it, until she hovered by his face.

"What makes you think I need your help? I fear no Pokémon, no power on this planet or any other."

"You don't need me," Lane answered. "But I need to help her. If something happened…" She sniffed, wiping away tears. "If she dies because of me, and I didn't even try to help… I couldn't live with myself."

Mewtwo reached down, prying her from his arm. "Your argument is persuasive, kitten. Still, you will wait. If you had the means to obtain the information we need, you would not have come here." He settled her gently down into an oversized recliner—or oversized for her, anyway. There was another flash, and a pair of small shapes appeared in the air in front of her.

Dominic caught himself, turning on Mewtwo and freezing in place. Elisa didn't and she landed on her face, swearing into the floor.

"Your friends," Mewtwo said. Before either of them could reply, he vanished.

Elisa righted herself abruptly, shaking herself out and taking off again.

She zoomed around the little space, passing behind a few gigantic bookshelves, before stopping in the air in front of Lane. "Where are we? What happened?"

"She got him to listen to her, obviously," Dominic said. He settled lightly down onto the armrest, antennae moving rapidly on his head. As though he were scanning the room for something. Lane couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Hell, there wasn't anything else alive on this floor, human or otherwise.

"Do you have any idea how dangerous this is?" he went on. "You can't play with fire like this when you barely know how to fly. If you get burned, we all do."

She might've argued a bit louder, but Mewtwo obviously had worked hard for his reputation. Whatever exception he made, it was apparently reserved for his own kind.

She stuck her tongue out, floating past Elisa and inspecting their surroundings. Even if his scent wasn't covering everything, she could've guessed someone like Mewtwo lived here.

His books were ancient things, with yellowed pages and leather covers.

Each one was probably heavy enough to crush her in an instant, if she knocked them over.

Off in one corner was a nest of blankets and pillows, pressed up into the seam between two windows. More importantly, the air was comfortably warm, which she'd learned from the hotel was about eighty degrees. He had the same tropical temperature preferences she did.

On the one hand, it was very much the kind of place a human might live.

There was a fridge, a computer, and plenty of automatic lights. But the configuration of it all was so alien. Shelves along much of the space held objects she couldn't identify, some mechanical, others clearly worthless bits of scrap metal or twisted plastic.

He even had some clothes, or at least an open-walled wardrobe filled with coats and oversized jackets. She skimmed along it for a few seconds, until she found a little scrap of green cloth resting atop a shelf. A bandanna? Before she even realized what she was doing, Lane snatched it, tying it around her own neck. She had to loop it a few times to get it tight, but still. It felt good to be wearing something.

Surrounded by his scent, Lane could begin to understand why Korina liked him so much. There was power here, and a mind that was neither human nor animal. Just like her, living in Starfall.

Before they blew it up, anyway.

"Should we be worried?" Dominic finally asked. "About being locked in here, I mean. What is he doing to us?"

"Nothing," she answered, annoyed. "Could you be a little nicer when he gets back, please? Mewtwo's not a monster, he's… a superhero. Protecting a city full of people that don't even understand him. He's grown well beyond his creators, but instead of hurting anyone, he's trying to be helpful."

Dominic rolled his eyes. "You sound like her again."

Elisa landed halfway across the room, in the kitchen. More red lights came on as she moved, illuminating the apartment well enough, but not harming her night vision.

Lane followed her, watching nervously as Elisa selected an unidentifiable berry from a large tray, and took it in her mouth.

"This one smells the best," she said, settling onto her haunches on the counter. She bit into it, grinning gleefully back at Lane. "You should eat too.

When was the dinner cart, anyway?"

"Now we're eating his food?" Dominic followed, wings buzzing nervously. "I really don't think this is a good idea. If Lane got his help, she's already done a miracle. Instead of pushing our luck, we should wait quietly until he gets back."

"Boring," Elisa said, taking another juicy bite. The smell of it was enough to finally distract Lane, and she landed beside her. She waited patiently until Elisa looked away, then darted in to snatch some for herself. The berry was already bigger than her head, it wasn't like she needed much to be full.

Elisa shoved her away with a paw, but only after she had a few bites.

It wasn't as good as the meat she'd eaten from street vendors in Galea the day before. But it was sweet, even if she couldn't quite identify the flavor.

"You wonder why I don't spend more time with you," Dominic muttered.

"You two are going to give me a heart attack."

"Your information is accurate, kitten. Korina was taken a few days ago.

Dialga, primal ruler of time, has spread his act to everyone who will listen." He approached from the dim apartment, somehow not switching on the lights as he walked. He reached the counter, then turned to stare at her.

Dominic dropped onto the counter, antennae tucking away behind him as Mewtwo approached. He inspected the scene, then lifted another berry in his strange fingers, settling it down in front of Dominic. "You should renew your strength as well, intercessor. We have a long way to go."

"My name's Lane," she said, lifting up to grin at him. "The shaymin is Elisa, and celebi is Dominic."

"More human names," Mewtwo muttered. "Do you mean to suggest what I believe that implies?"

"No," Dominic said.

"Yes," Lane said, shoving him back. "He's afraid to admit it, but yeah. We were all human before, that's when we met."

Whatever Dominic was afraid of wasn't what happened. Instead, Mewtwo started laughing, so energetically that even Elisa turned to stare.

"After all your kind have taken, all they have done… I can think of no recompense more suitable than to take their place. Your mother is a genius."