บท 100: A Legendary Prank
"Sableye, return." Morty stated as he called his Pokemon back to its Pokeball after Lance declared my victory.
"Meow!" The 'Meowth' mewled as it hurried back to me, before jumping up onto my shoulder to demand more head scratches.
"I never thought we'd lose to a Meowth... But a loss is a loss." Morty continued as he approached me while pulling something out. "Here you are Ace, the Fog Badge."
For a second I just looked at the offered badge, which looked like a dark blue ghost with a pair of eyes, before saying,
"Thank you Morty, but I can't accept this."
"""!?!?"""
Surprised looks met my refusal from everyone around me, Lance, Agatha, the girls, Morty, and most of all, my Pokemon.
"Of course you can Ace. You earned it." Morty insisted.
"No, I don't think I can since I cheated." I said back to him, surprising everyone yet again.
"If you're referring to your powers, those are legal in battles so long as you don't physically interfere." Agatha said to me.
"It's not about that, I've been using my aura in my battles for years." I assured her.
"Then I fail to see how you cheated. Unless you're referring to that ridiculous Meowth. In which case there's no problem since it's just stronger and more unique than usual. I'd say your Charizard would be more questionable, since it was blessed by a Legendary." Lance stated, while giving Charizard a pointed look.
"What about an actual Legendary?" I asked with a wry smile.
"""!?!?"""
Again, everyone looked to me with shock and confusion as they tried to puzzle what I was talking about.
"Do you wanna tell, or should I?" I asked the 'Meowth' on my shoulders.
"Meow?"
"Just imagine the faces they'll make." I told it, to which a mischievous smile appeared on the 'Meowth's' face.
With the confusion in everyone's auras being so thick that I could practically cut it with a knife, the 'Meowth' on my shoulder leapt up into the air suddenly before its form began to shimmer.
And when the light died down there was no longer a Meowth, but a similarly feline figure covered in fine pink fur, and with a long tail that had a bulb on the end.
"Mew mew!" Mew declared excitedly, before draping itself on top of my head like I was a bed for it.
"""..."""
Meanwhile everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, was desperately trying to process what they were seeing. Even as Mew giggled from atop my head like we had played a successful prank.
Agatha had gone even paler than she already was, something I didn't think was possible. Morty was rubbing his eyes to make sure he was actually seeing what he was seeing, only to start rubbing them again in disbelief. Lance on the other hand looked a little unsteady on his feet, as he found himself face-to-face with the Legendary of all Legendaries.
Dawn was staring at Mew with undisguised awe, her eyes gleaming in wonder. May was shaking her head repeatedly as if to try and clear it Ike an etch-a-sketch, only to do so again when she looked back at Mew. Misty meanwhile was repeatedly pinching herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming, to the point that I was starting to worry her arm was going to bruise later.
Joy however was the worst of the lot, as she literally swooned and would've fallen had I not caught her.
"You ok Joy?" I asked while fanning her face lightly.
"Ace...? Yes, I'm fine..." Joy said as she began to stir.
"I had the wildest dream though, I could've sworn I saw THE Mew..."
I smiled wryly at her without saying anything, even as Joy blinked when she registered what was still laying on top of my head.
"Mew?"
"..."
"Not a dream Joy." I told her with a smile.
"I see..." Joy uttered quietly.
"Mew mew!" Mew happily declared to her.
"It really is Mew..." Lance muttered in disbelief.
"Of course it is. You didn't think it's a fake, did you?" I told him with a smirk.
"Mew mew, mew mew mew!" The Legendary Pokemon declared indignantly, apparently offended at the idea of being considered a fake.
"I figured we'd meet it one day, but this is a little soon..." Lucario said as he approached us as well.
"Yeah.... Why ARE you here Mew?" I asked it curiously.
"Mew? Mew mew. Mew mew mew mew!"
"Uh-huh... I see." I said as it told me what was up.
"What'd it say?" Joy asked curiously.
"Basically it felt the energy surge when Mewtwo Mega Evolved, and came to investigate out of curiosity." I translated for them.
"Mew!"
"Oh? Should we arrange a meeting for them then?" May asked me.
"Except we have no way to contact Mewtwo. We'll have to wait until he shows up." I told her wryly.
As I said that Mew went to go say hi to my Pokemon, while Agatha turned towards me with a scowl.
"Any other Legendary Pokemon you're hiding up your sleeve?" She remarked irritably.
"Not that I'm aware of..." I replied while checking the sleeves of my shirt curiously.
"The fact that you're actually checking is really telling..." Lance said dryly.
"But now you see why I can't accept the Fog Badge from Morty." I said with a shrug.
"I say otherwise Ace." Morty said with a look of awe in his eyes.
"Not only did your Pokemon manage to defeat mine, but you also managed to command and battle with a Legendary Pokemon. I'd say that more than qualifies you to receive the Fog Badge.
"Not only that, but how many people can claim they battled against Mew itself? This is an experience I'll remember for the rest of my life." As he spoke Morty looked at Mew as it played with my Pokemon in awe.
"Well if you're going to be so insistent, then I'll accept." I told him, before taking the offered Badge with a massive grin. Now I just needed to get a separate case to hold my Johto Badges, even though I hadn't planned on challenging them to begin with.
"I'd say you've earned it as well." Lance told me seriously. "Not just anyone could say they could command Mew in battle.
My glee over acquiring the Badge quickly evaporated as I told him,
"Don't give me too much credit for that one. Mew just wanted to 'play' like everyone else was, and I'm pretty sure it only obeyed me because those were the 'rules'. It's the type of Pokemon that typically just does whatever it wants."
As I said that I looked pointedly at the Legendary Pokemon, who was now bouncing happily on a bubble of psychic power while my other Pokemon were investigating the other bubbles it had conjured, before they too started playing with them.
"Indeed. Simply based on the way it acts, you wouldn't believe it was the Legendary ancestor of all Pokemon..." Lance uttered. But as he watched Mew play I could feel through his aura that the Champion began to brood over something that only he was aware of.
"Speaking of, is it safe for it to so casually reveal itself like this?" Agatha asked while looking around warily. I could even see her shadow stretching as the ghost Pokemon inside examined the area for any unwanted guests.
"I trust my girlfriends, and your auras tell me none of you would try to do anything to Mew. Plus it is aware enough to conceal its presence when it needs to, like how it turned itself into a Meowth when you all came to my room." I told her, to which Agatha nodded slowly in agreement, even as she had a scowl on her face.
"True enough. It's not for no reason that most people believe that Mew is extinct, outside of its own cult that is."
I nodded in agreement this time as I watched Mew play, before looking pointedly in the direction of someone who WAS spying on us, but I recognized her aura so there was no need for concern. Instead, I smiled and waved in her direction in greeting, making the owner of said aura flustered since I so easily discovered her hiding place.
Ninja weren't supposed to be found so easily after all.
As for her goal in spying on me, I figured from her actions during the battle, as well as Proton's own comments on her presence, that she was sent to protect me from the assassins coming after the bounty Team Rocket put on my head.
Since that was more than likely the case, then there was no reason to worry abut her learning about Mew since she was bound to see it, and any other Legendaries I came across in the near future, eventually.
At that moment though I DID feel a couple auras approaching us from the Pokemon Center, which Mew apparently also felt as it approached me again to perch on my shoulder as a Spearow this time.
Immediately after the Legendary had disguised itself, old man Fuji appeared with little Cubone, who was now wearing their trademark skull helmet.
"Greetings young Ranger. We came by to check up on you, but they said you were all out here." He said in greetings, while also nodding respectfully to Lance.
"Cubone! Cue cue bone!" Cubone declared as he excitedly ran up to me in greeting.
"Hello Cubone. I'm glad to see you're doing well." I told him, pointedly avoiding mentioning how he was now wearing his mother's skull.
"Yes. Young Cubone here has been eagerly awaiting your awakening. We've been paying visits to the Pokemon Center daily to see if there had been any change." Mr. Fuji told me with a warm smile.
But a moment later his expression darkened as he told me in a marginally more serious voice, "It is fortuitous that you have awoken now. Today we plan to have Marowak's funeral in the Pokemon Tower, and we would be honored if you'd attend."
I blinked at the sudden invitation while the girls looked at me questioningly, before answering,
"Is it appropriate? I mean, I never even got a chance to meet her."
Mr. Fuji nodded in affirmation as he said, "I'd say it is. Her dying wishes were to protect her son, and the people of Lavender town from the true alpha Gengar. Both things you did when she was no longer able to."
I was silent as I contemplated what Mr. Fuji said, and was debating on wether or not I'd go when I felt something tugging on my pant leg.
"Cue Cubone?" Cubone asked me with watery eyes.
"Ok, I'll go." I said eventually, making him smile under his helmet happily.
"I just need to go and get dressed, and I'll be there." I told them.
"Thank you young Ranger. The services begin in a little over an hour, and they'll be on the top floor of the Pokemon Tower." Mr. Fuji said while also calling Cubone back to his side.
"Alright, I'll be there." I told him.
After getting my confirmation, Mr. Fuji and Cubone both departed due to the former still having some preparations to make for the funeral.
"I'll take my leave as well." Lance said suddenly, before looking to me and the 'Spearow' on my shoulder seriously. "I've got some things to do here in Lavender before I leave in the morning. But you've given me much to think about regarding the near future, Ace Ketchum. Any plans on where you're going next?"
"Yeah. We'll probably spend a few days here before heading south, and then taking route 11 to Vermillion city. We'll wait there until the SS. Anne arrives in Kanto." I told him.
"I see..... You intend to take Surge down." Lance stated.
"Of course!" I stated with a smirk.
"If you know about him being part of Team Rocket, then why haven't you dealt with him yet?" Misty demanded angrily of the Champion.
"For the same reason we weren't able to deal with Giovanni. There's no evidence to convict Surge with. Plus he's regarded as the hero of Vermillion city since he's been protecting it from rampaging sea Pokemon. Gyarados in particular are known for frequenting those waters, which his electric Pokemon are powerful deterrents against.
"Just the other day, mayor Trovitopolis of Vermillion city awarded Surge with the key to the city after he repelled the latest wave of Gyarados that attacked. Not only is the public rallying in support of Surge for his efforts, there are even those pushing for him to be elevated to the Elite Four after Agatha retires."
"Pft! As if! I'll be cold and buried before THAT brat takes my place." She sneered in contempt at the mere idea.
"Well, hero or not I'll be going and kicking his ass when I get there." I stated confidently. And coincidently, I was also in the best place to train for fighting against Surge with Thunder Ridge right next door to Lavender town.
"I'll see about sending someone from the League to back you up when you do." Lance said seriously as he left.
"Cool. Backup." I said with a smirk.
As Lance left both Morty and Agatha turned to follow him, with the former saying as he left, "we'll also be at the funeral later Ace. See you there."
"See ya Morty." I said while waving him off.
"Let's go get ready." May said as she looped her arm through mine, and dragged me back to the room.
"Ok ok! Just a second." I told her while tossing Exeggutor's Pokeball back out.
"Lucario, think you can keep an eye on all of them?" I asked my partner.
"Oh, I'll keep an eye on them alright." Lucario answered with a sinister smirk, even as Chansey healed up Exeggutor and Mightyena.
At that point I let May drag me to my room, which was separate from theirs so I could sleep in peace during my mini-coma. Of course we first went into the shower, where I was oh-so tempted to play around with her. Especially since the last romp I had was when we dragged Juliet into our bed back at the Pokemon Center on the other side of Rock Tunnel.
But I resisted the urge, while silently promising myself to run all three of the girls ragged tonight when we went to bed. After all, I had PLENTY of energy after sleeping for two days and being healed by Mew.
Speaking of getting healed by Mew...
"Ace, what happened to your scars?" May asked as she scrubbed my back.
"What do you mean?" I asked her curiously.
"They're all gone." She said with awe, to which I couldn't resist turning around to see for myself, before also checking my chest, leg and arm.
As she said, all of them were clear of the marks that I had acquired from Houndour, Houndoom, and Vespiquen.
"Wow...." I uttered with a mixture of emotions. After all, they were all a record of the battles I'd fought, and had been a part of my body for so long.
While I'd thought some of them would fade with time, like the scar on my cheek had slightly, it was something else for them to suddenly vanish from my skin.
"I guess now I gotta worry if you guys will confuse me for Ash by mistake." I joked to May.
"Idiot.... As if I'd ever mistake YOU." She said while pressing herself up against me and kissing me lovingly.
Damn it.
I REALLY wanted to fool around...
But with a strength of will that would've impressed even Azelf, I managed not to as we finished our shower and got ready for the funeral.
I didn't exactly dress for a funeral though, as I instead wore my Ranger jacket with a pair of cargo pants. It seemed the most fitting though, honoring Marowak as a Ranger after the bravery and self sacrifice she showed during the battle.
And of course, as we left the Pokemon Center a 'Spearow' landed on my shoulder to come along, squeaking to demand more head scratches as we went.
Along the way to the Pokemon Tower I saw signs of the destruction caused by the battle against Gengar. But thankfully it was being cleared away rapidly by a team of Pokemon being led by a team of trainers brought by the League.
"Alright,this area is cleared!" One trainer declared as a team of Machamp finished clearing one spot.
"Alright! Capsules, GO!"
"???"
I watched incredulously as they all pulled out a type of Pokeball unlike any I had ever seen before, which was looked like stickers of different buildings on them, before the team all threw them onto the empty area after pressing the bottom on them.
*POOF!*
An explosion of smoke later, and there was a small building where there had only been empty space a moment ago.
"Amazing!"
"Right! Capsules are so cool!"
"I heard they're still in development, but they'll be released to the public soon. However they're stupidly expensive."
Dawn, May and Misty all declared one after the other.
"..."
I on the other hand felt my eye twitch subtly as I listened to them talk about capsules, as I recalled a certain conversation I had with a certain scientist after I saved his life under Mt. Moon.
Deep breaths Ace...
Deep breaths.
On the plus side, at least they were being developed quickly enough that they could be used to provide temporary lodging to the people of Lavender town until their homes and businesses could be rebuilt.
I even saw someone throw a Capsule out to produce a large piece of equipment to move the rubble so they could make more room.
And helping the clean up was both Wendy and Kate, who I waved to when they noticed us, though both avoided my eyes with reddened cheeks.
"???"
"They came to check on you while we were wiping your body clean. They got an eyeful of EVERYTHING." May said with a snicker. And while anyone else probably would've been embarrassed, I just winked at the two Rangers suggestively, making them turn even redder.
The two blushing Rangers were soon put out of my mind though as we reached the entrance of the Pokemon Tower, which now had two new additions to it that the townspeople were currently building on either side of the doors. A large statue of a Charizard and Mega Mewtwo.
"Even if they didn't see all of the battle after they fled, the people still saw Charizard and Mewtwo fighting against Gengar. Now many of them consider the two of them to be the guardian Pokemon of Lavender town." Dawn explained to me helpfully, which I wasn't quite sure what to make of this information as well.
Apparently I'd missed quite a bit while I was asleep.
The inside of the tower meanwhile was quite full of both people and Pokemon as they went to check on the graves of those they'd buried in the past. And also filling the tower was a large number of ghost type Pokemon that were flitting about as they waited for the sun to go down.
Several of them however were interested in me, probably due to my role in fighting against Gengar when he was controlling them. I even sensed one slip into my shadow to hitch along for the ride, while also keeping any others from joining it. Interesting.
Still ahead of us though was the fairly long climb to the top floor, where I could sense numerous people gathering for what I presumed was Marowak's funeral. It was only then that I realized the fog of negative emotions that lay over the town was nowhere near as thick as it was before, making me wonder just how much of it was due to Gengar alone.
Once we reached the top floor, we were greeted by the sight of numerous people and Pokemon that had also made the climb to pay their respects to Marowak, with Mr. Fuji and Cubone at their head.
And they were all looking towards a statue of a Marowak sitting exactly where the shrine containing the mask Gengar was sealed in used to sit. And while the majority of the walls and roof was destroyed when Gengar was unsealed, the fragment of wall that survived behind the statue depicted the battle between Gengar, Mega Mewtwo, and a white Charizard.
I found Charizard's inclusion a little funny considering all he'd done was chase away the ghost Pokemon Gengar was controlling. But still, that had created the opening that allowed me to Mega Evolve Mewtwo.
Though I'd planned to stay in the back, so as not to attract attention, that plan was thwarted when Cubone noticed me and immediately came back to drag me to the front by my pant leg.
I'd noticed old man Fuji looking at us as he did so, but both his expression and his aura was unreadable.
When everyone had arrived the funeral finally started as Mr. Fuji began speaking about Marowak, and how he first met her when she was just a tiny Cubone that was only a few weeks old.
Though he glossed over the early years of them being together, he did speak about the two of them coming to Lavender town and joining the community. He spoke of them accepting the duty to watch over and guard the shrine that contained the true alpha Gengar, and of them creating the Pokemon House to create a home for abandoned and orphaned Pokemon.
And then he spoke of her final days. Of how she mated, bore and hatched an egg, and began to deteriorate from that moment on. Finally he spoke of how she died, trying to defend both her son and the people of Lavender from Team Rocket, and the threat at the top of the tower.
When he finished recounting his story, Mr. Fuji ended his bit by placing the other half of Marowak's broken club atop the pedestal the statue rested on, along with a sword that looked ceremonial in nature.
Once he had finished, a few people stepped up and shared their own stories of Marowak as well, mostly those who helped out at the Pokemon House, before telling her farewell as well.
The last one to step forward was Cubone. And though I could see the tears streaming down his face under his helmet, he still held his half of the bone club up and swore he'd become a great warrior like she had been.
Of course, I was the only one who understood what he was saying.
And with that, the funeral was over.
By this point the girls were all sniffling over the stories that had been told of Marowak, even as the people began to disperse as they began the long walk down the floors of the Pokemon Tower.
"May I speak to you for a moment, young Ranger?" Old man Fuji suddenly asked me.
"Of course sir." I told him, promising the girls I'd be right back as Cubone and I both followed the old man a short ways away.
Even without aura I could tell he was still emotional, but his gaze and voice were firm as he turned to look me in the eye, and stated, "I'd like to entrust Cubone to you."
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