บท 65: A Wanted Man?

Even as Joy announced her presence, the woman herself walked in behind her and looked around at all my Pokemon with a scrutinizing gaze.

Lorelei was a serious looking woman with a single strand of her red hair framing her face on either side, while the rest was tied back in a short ponytail. Her clothes consisted of high-heeled boots that almost came up to her knees, a blue pencil skirt that only came down to her mid thighs, and a darker blue jacket that was open to reveal a black shirt.

Her aura however was filled with calm blues and collected grays, showing she was exactly like the way she portrayed herself whenever there was a segment about her on tv, a calm and collected individual with a chilly exterior. Nothing that indicated she would be a part of Team Rocket.

"Are you Ace Ketchum?" She asked disinterestedly, actually appearing a little annoyed at having to come out to meet me.

"Yes, I am." I answered while extending my hand in greeting, though she just ignored it.

"For some reason, professor Oak insisted on me meeting you. Something about the destruction that took place at Mt. Moon yesterday?" She instead stated.

"Yes." I replied while retracting my hand, and explained a little. "I was there, and saw exactly what happened up close. And after telling the professor he decided I needed to inform the League."

"Hmmm..." Lorelei hummed in contemplation of what I said, before she asked, "and why exactly did he insist on me specifically meeting with you?"

"Because, I can see the aura of a person to determine what's in their nature. We needed to be sure you didn't possess any of the maliciousness that I've seen in just about all Team Rocket members so far."

It was at this point that Lorelei actually looked directly at me, a flicker of interest passing through her eyes as she asked, "Oh? Did I pass your little test then?"

I nodded my head while telling her seriously, "as far as I can see, yes. The problem is that aura isn't absolute. At most I determine the nature of a person, how cruel or sadistic they were and stuff. It's not like I could read their mind or something."

Lorelei nodded slowly in understanding as she looked me up and down. "How curious..."

Though I wanted to ask her what was curious,

"Ace!"

A new voice drew my attention to Wendy and Kate as they arrived from the sky, drifting down on their Staraptor until they landed right beside Lorelei, Joy and I. They both had smiles on their faces as they greeted us, but they quickly disappeared when they took a good look at me.

"What happened to your neck!?" Wendy demanded worriedly.

By this point the bruising on my neck had faded just so slightly, thanks to the cream Joy applied to it earlier. But it was still VERY visible to those around me.

"I got strangled by a God that was trying to kill me." I stated readily, making the two of them, and even Lorelei look at me in alarm.

Even more so as Joy added in a deadpan, "He's not joking."

"Are you saying a Legendary did that!?!" Kate exclaimed worriedly at Joy's confirmation.

"Yes, that's also why I called you over here. I'm just waiting to hear that the conference call is ready." I told them, making both Kate and Wendy's auras flare anxiously, while interest filled Lorelei's.

And, as if on cue...

"Ace, everyone's ready!" Dawn stated as she hurried over to us.

"Alright, I'll be right there." I said before turning towards Lucario.

"I'm gonna leave you here to keep an eye on them, ok partner?" I said while gesturing to all of my Pokemon. Except Lucario didn't seem to be paying attention.

"Partner?" I asked as he focused on something in the sky, but when I looked up I didn't see anything.

"Yes?" Lucario asked, apparently registering that he'd heard me.

"I want you to keep an eye on everyone while we have our meeting." I stated while looking at him weirdly.

"Got it. I'll make sure they don't slack off." Lucario stated firmly, though I'm sure I noticed his mouth flash a bit of a malicious grin as he said that.

I sent a small prayer to Mew for these poor souls as all of us humans, since Kate and Wendy's Pachirisu and Staraptor were staying out here with everyone else, headed to the conference room that the Joys set up for us.

"By the way." Wendy said suddenly to get my attention.

"Earlier we received a call from the chairwoman about what happened yesterday. When we said we were on our way here to talk to you about it, she said she wanted to participate as well to talk to you personally."

"Ok..." I said thoughtfully. "If she's able we can have her participate in the conference with the Elite Four."

As I said that I looked toward Lorelei questionably, who stated coolly, "I don't see why they shouldn't agree with having the chairwoman of the Rangers present. Especially if there's a Legendary involved as you say."

I felt reassured at her comment, while Wendy hurriedly relayed what we said to the chairwoman through her earpiece.

The old lady must've been waiting for us, because when we walked into the conference room a moment later I saw her unfamiliar figure on one of the monitors, along with the professor, Bruno, Agatha, and Lance.

Bruno was just as wild looking as I remembered him, shirtless to show off his muscles and his wild black hair tied back in a ponytail. Agatha looked creepy despite her relatively 'normal' appearance and attire, a purple gothic dress with short cut blonde hair. What made her creepy looking though was her sinister smirk, combined with the shadows that moved of their own volition on the walls behind her.

The chairwoman on the other hand appeared relatively....plain.

She was an elderly looking woman with the typical appearance of a grandma, her gray hair tied back into bushy twin tails like Kate's, and adorned in dull red robes.

Lance on the other hand appeared as if he'd been pulled right out of a medieval fantasy movie, a dark blue tunic with what appeared to be a red dragon skin jacket covering his upper body. Meanwhile a large and majestic cape flowed from his shoulders, assisting with his stern expression and jagged spiked hair in giving him the imposing appearance he always showed whenever he appeared on tv.

"I take it you are Ace Ketchum." Lance said almost immediately after I arrived, and every eye turned towards me.

"That is correct." I stated calmly while taking a seat in front of all the monitors, where Dawn and May stood on either side of me.

"Professor Oak says you have important information to report to us. ALL of us." Lance stated as a matter of factly.

Even I almost missed the subtle twitch on his face as he referred to professor Oak, or the irritation in his tone when he mentioned me reporting to the entire League. Either that spoke volumes on Lance's self control, considering how much I'd heard he disliked the professor, or just how much he disliked him that it caused him to slip like that.

"Yes I do, regarding the battle that took place at the eastern exit of Mt. Moon yesterday." I said while jerking my head in a nod of affirmation.

"And?" Lance asked.

"And, the destruction was caused by a Legendary they have amongst their ranks." I answered, triggering a variety of responses from the entire group. Even Lance had turned ashen pale at the news.

"And you're SURE of this?" Agatha demanded in an eerie voice.

"Absolutely. The Legendary is unknown to the world as a whole, but what other entity could toss around professor Oak's Dragonite without any discernible effort?"

This triggered the most drastic reaction yet, as EVERYONE knew how strong Dragonite was.

"Tell us everything." The Champion ordered, and I complied.

I started with a brief description of our battle against the Paras and Parasect beneath Mt. Moon, mainly explaining that my Pokemon had been exhausted by the time we reached the exit of the mountain. Professor Oak was definitely interested, but this was not the time.

After that I went through how Team Rocket, led by the Executive Petrel, was waiting for us at the exit after I'd apprehended the team he'd been placed in charge of before. I glossed over the ensuing battle between the girl's Pokemon and Team Rocket's, as well as my own fight against their members. Bruno seemed especially interested in THAT.

But then came the moment they were all waiting for, the moment when Mewtwo arrived.

As I led up to his arrival, Dawn readied her Pokenav with the video she took of what happened next. And when we were ready, she played the footage so that it was showing on everyone's own monitors before them.

I had to admit, watching the battle from this angle was certainly different...

I had been suspended in the air the entire time by Mewtwo, so I hadn't actually been able to see everything that happened. But everyone saw how helpless Dragonite had been against Mewtwo, let alone my own Pokemon as they tried to rescue me.

"I can't hear what you're saying, but why are you talking to yourself?" Agatha asked me eventually, as you could definitely tell I was talking to Mewtwo as the video went on.

"Actually this Legendary is able to communicate via Telepathy, but it's not being picked up by the Pokenav." I explained, shocking everyone since not even Legendaries were said to have such an ability.

I wonder how they'd react if I revealed that Lucario was able to do it as well? Though Lorelei, Wendy and Kate already heard it earlier.

The video continued until we reached the point where Mewtwo began to strangle Lucario, before doing the same to each of my Pokemon.

There was notable discomfort on almost everyone faces as they watched the scene, while I clenched my hand in frustration as I watched my entire team squirm in pain. The scene was so horrific, that no one even commented on Charmeleon and Parasect.

But then we got to the point where I agreed to take their place, resulting in the girls screaming my name as my Pokemon were slowly lowered to the ground.

I watched as I clung to my throat desperately as I could no longer breathe, my legs kicking uselessly. This continued as my face grew red, then purple, before my movements began to slow, and then stop entirely as I lost consciousness with a smile on my face.

Then Mewtwo dropped me unceremoniously to the ground, before the unconscious body of Petrel was recovered, and the duo disappeared as he teleported away.

For a moment no one said anything as they tried to digest the content of the video. Wendy was stricken silent, while Kate and Joy both looked as if they were going to be sick after seeing me being strangled.

The members of the Elite Four however.....all looked at me with respect?

Even Lorelei appeared to be looking at me in a new light from behind me after watching the video. But none of them commented on that as they all focused on the important things.

"Tell us EVERYTHING." Lance commanded. And so I again told them everything I knew about Mewtwo, claiming I got the information from him himself.

How he was a 'superior' clone of Mew, him destroying the lab he was created in, and him being picked up by Giovanni. Meanwhile the professor added his own theories based off of what I'd told him earlier.

By the time we had finished Lance was massaging the bridge of his nose in frustration of the current situation.

"So, they've basically already won..." He said, not in a voice of despair or resignation, but one of frustration.

"I wouldn't say that." I stated plainly.

"And why is that?" Lance asked irritably.

"Because if they had, they'd have already taken over both Kanto and Johto by now. The fact they haven't means there's something stopping them."

"The other Legendaries..." Lorelei uttered in contemplation.

"That may be so....yes." Lance said in agreement. It made sense though.

Mewtwo was certainly powerful, but every other Legendary in the region had existed for centuries, if not millennia. Even if Mewtwo was a clone of THAT Mew, he was still a newborn compared to the rest of them.

It could very well be possible that Team Rocket was bidding their time to avoid incurring the wrath of the Legendaries, like Lugia and his three avian lords, or Ho-Oh and the three dog lords.

I doubt even Mewtwo could fight back if he had to deal with either entire group at once.

"There's also Samuel's theory about Mewtwo not being evil." Agatha suddenly added.

"True. If it wizens up, it may just leave Team Rocket altogether." Bruno added.

"Indeed, but we can't count on that happening." Lance uttered as he tried to think on counters for the Legendary.

"While we're all here though, there is something I'd like to add on a bit of a different note." Erma suddenly said, drawing every eye to her.

But then something was being printed out beneath the monitors, which I readily grabbed before my eyes widened in shock at what I was seeing.

~~~

WANTED!

Ace Ketchum

~~~

"There's a price on my head!?!" I exclaimed in shock as I looked the bounty poster over.

Accompanying it was a picture that appeared to have been taken from Mewtwo's helmet, based on the angle. It showed me restrained by his psychic power, my eyes and entire body glowing with my muscles bulging as I fought against his hold with my aura.

When I got to the price being offered, I thought my eyes would actually pop out of my head in surprise.

~~~

Dead: 75.000.000.000

Alive: 150.000.000.000

Alive with Pokemon: 300.000.000.000

(A.N. Price is in Poke dollars, which is based off Yen.)

~~~

"Haha!" I laughed out loud at the ridiculous amount on my head, with it also saying on the poster that Team Rocket was the ones issuing the bounty.

"This isn't a laughing matter Ace!" May exclaimed worriedly.

"Doesn't this mean we'll have assassins after us now?!" Dawn cried out in worry.

"I'll take it!" I declared, pleased with the high price they decided to give me.

""Are you insane!?!"" The two girls cried out at the same time.

"Actually... This may be for the better." Lorelei uttered quietly, making us look at her curiously.

"What do you mean?" Joy asked her."

"Well..." Bruno began, seemingly on the same page as Lorelei. "If they're putting a price on Ace's head, then it means they aren't going to be going after him directly."

"No! That just means they're going to get assassins and stuff after us instead!" May shrieked at him.

"Exactly! Stupid girl!" Agatha sneered at her, making May grit her teeth at the old lady.

"Oh! I get it now!" I exclaimed as I realized what they were getting at.

"Get what?" Dawn asked confusedly.

"Well, if they're getting assassins to go after me, then that means they're not sending Mewtwo instead." I explained to them, while the others nodded in agreement.

""Oh..."" The two girls uttered, before breathing out a sigh of relief.

"Well that's good..."

"I know..." They said one after the other, making me smile wryly.

But it wasn't like I didn't understand why. Mewtwo coming after us again so soon meant we were boned, but if it was just a couple of assassins, then Lucario and I should be able to deal with them.

As I was thinking that, I suddenly felt a slight shift in someone's aura, and looked at Kate with a scrutinizing gaze.

"W-what is it Ace?" Kate asked nervously as I looked at her intently.

"No. Nothing." I said when I detected no real change within her, before turning my attention back to the conversation at hand.

***

Hovering above the Pokemon Center, encased in a sphere of psychic energy that hid them from the senses of all those around them, a certain figure opened his eyes as he disconnected his consciousness from that of the human woman, Kate.

Her mind had been too open to psychic invasion thanks to her naivety, making her easy to invade to obtain information while watching and listening on the conversation below. Though he also obtained what he considered to be useless information from her, such as what could only be considered to be a growing crush on Ace Ketchum, along with her increasing respect and admiration for the man.

"How curious..." Mewtwo uttered to himself as he mused on everything IMPORTANT he had just learned from them though.

Ace Ketchum, as he expected, was still alive and well. But not only that.

Instead of having his spirit broken from nearly being killed by Mewtwo, which he had expected, Ace Ketchum appeared more motivated than ever before. Not that Mewtwo would be able to tell, as he was still unable to read his mind.

Even now, Ace was making plans to defy Team Rocket despite knowing HE was currently aligned with them.

And it wasn't just Ace making plans with the Elite of this region.

ALL of his Pokemon that Mewtwo nearly killed were trying their hardest to grow even stronger, no matter how futile it was. Instead, their spirits burned brightly as they strived to repay the trainer who readily offered to sacrifice himself for them.

"I don't understand..." Mewtwo uttered as he watched over the strange and incomprehensible behavior.

Whenever Giovanni had Mewtwo battle against trainers who came to challenge him, they always became overcome with despair at the difference in strength. This was the first time someone had witnessed his might, and still had the will to stand against him afterwards.

That was just one of the increasing mysteries surrounding Ace Ketchum that fascinated Mewtwo.

Even now he could still recall the feelings and sensations he himself had never experienced since his creation, things that made him curious about experiencing them himself if he was able.

But amongst the unfamiliar sensations there was one he didn't feel from Ace Ketchum.

Mewtwo didn't know why, but he felt.....frustrated.....maybe, after learning that Giovanni put a price on Ace Ketchum's head. It meant he was going behind Mewtwo's back after he stated he decided to let Ace live, despite the fact that they were supposed to be 'partners'.

But after watching Ace Ketchum interact with his own Pokemon, particularly his Lucario, Mewtwo was beginning to wonder if Giovanni even understood what the word 'partner' meant.

It would be something for him to question the Rocket leader about when he returned to the Viridian hideout after his next mission.

Speaking of, there was still some time until the mission began, so Mewtwo decided to spend the rest of it investigating the person Ace Ketchum claimed to learn of his existence from. The same person who seemingly had intimate knowledge of his background and creation, based off of what Ace stated during his discussion with the Elite Four.

Joe Mama.

He had not found any mention of someone named 'Joe Mama' in the Team Rocket database when he investigated it earlier, but Mewtwo believed that this person may give him the answers he sought.

Who was he?

WHAT was he?

For what purpose did he exist?

As a clone he had felt.....alien. Like he didn't belong in this world since he wasn't born naturally.

So after hearing there was someone who knew so much about him, Mewtwo intended to learn everything they knew, and then some.

Passing one last glance over Ace Ketchum and his Pokemon, Mewtwo then vanished as he teleported away. But as he left, a certain someone looked to his exact position in the air where he had been.

Lucario clenched his paws into fists as he narrowed his eyes.

"I will never lose again..." He swore to himself silently, before turning his attention back to the Pokemon he was supposed to be training.