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Mewtwo's Lair

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Her eyes widened a little as they fell upon the soup can, now suddenly curious if it was the same one Nova and Mhynt had tossed out. Slowly, she reached out for it, wondering if Owen would stop her. Could it be the same one...?

"Is this what you were like before you were Shadowed?" she asked, curious. "Did you hate being nice?"

From what Grace understood, she wasn't sure if she'd actually get a genuine answer. Pokémon influenced by Shadows or Radiance acted... different. She'd felt it herself. Would she even find the original Owen underneath?
 
Owen abruptly brought his hand back, holding the can harder. "Don't touch that," he said without explanation. "...Does it matter what I liked before? I like how I am now even more. I don't have to care. I don't have to worry."
 
Grace's paw froze, knowing that if she reached any further for the can, she might actually set Owen off. Did he just like soup, or, hopefully, did the message resonate with him on some level?

"What did you worry about before?" she prodded, staring at her outstretched paw. "Was it that bad?"

Hopefully it wasn't.
 
Red looked between them carefully. He eased off, sensing that the pressure had lessened somewhat. Maybe it was going to work out...

"Everything," he said. "I was responsible for all kinds of pain in my world. And I was so pressured to fix it. And then I realized... why bother? What was the point when it would all be the same to me?"

He looked at the concrete ceiling.

"Do you have any idea how relieving it is... to let all of that go?"

He was more coherent than before. Grace was getting somewhere, but... it was still from a dark place. Simply a different kind of darkness.
 
It might have been a different kind of darkness he was showing, but Grace wasn't familiar with this exact level of pain. She glanced at Red, but he probably didn't know what to say either, right?

"It... probably feels good to get rid of all those pressures," Grace agreed carefully. "Sometimes back home I wondered why it had to be us that brought change to the world. Or why I had to change typing because of it and help everyone else dealing with the same thing. It... was my friends that encouraged me to keep going. Were you alone where you came from...?"
 
Owen tensed at that, looking away. "I don't want to talk about this," he said flatly, holding the can a little tighter. When he creaked, he abruptly stopped and inspected it. Satisfied it wasn't damaged, he remembered Grace was there and turned away.

Red tilted his head, pensive.
 
Grace pulled back her paw, sucking in a breath. "Sorry," she said quickly. "I don't want to overstep, Owen. I only want to understand, now."

She tapped her paw against her chin. "O-Oh! I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Grace. Um, maybe we could... play a game, instead?"
 
"...A game," Owen repeated. Red perked up. "What kind of game?"

She had his interest. That meant something. Perhaps even beneath the Shadows, the Charizard was competitive...
 
"What aboout... a card game?" she suggested, suddenly now trying to think of something they could do. With Owen's abilities... she had to think of something that wouldn't be too easy for him.

"Orrr maybe a lying game? We talk about ourselves, but one of them is a lie, and the other has to discover the lie."
 
"I know you enough to see a lie," Owen said dully. "Cards... They have to be flat. Otherwise I'll know what you're holding."

Red perked up before flying out of the room. Things fell over and clattered to the ground. Then... Red returned with a deck of cards.

Owen frowned. "It's a little subtle... but fine. I can't tell things as easily here anyway. But I can still win... what game is it?"
 
He knew her enough. Just from this conversation? It made her involuntarily shudder slightly. She wondered just how much he saw.

"Hmm... if they have to be laying down, then what about memory? We can let Red lay them out so neither of us can tell where the cards are, and we take turns trying to find pairs. The one with the most pairs at the end wins...?"

It was simple enough. Now she had to see if it was good enough for Owen. Grace couldn't fight at the level he was seeking, and she didn't really want to fight him solo, either.

He already knew how to kill her.
 
Owen stared, then looked at Red. "Aren't these all different cards?"

Red nodded, looking troubled, until he got an idea and showed a few cards to him. While they weren't exactly the same, each number had another of the same color, even if the shape was different.

"Fine," Owen agreed.

Red set the cards down in a grid, meticulous, as he eyed Grace with uncertainty. Did she think she was getting anywhere with him?
 
Grace wasn't sure if she was getting anywhere, but as long as Owen was co-operating and not... looking to kill someone, Grace called that progress.

Would he remember any of this if they purified him?

For now, Grace could swallow her fear. She watched Red place down the cards, uncertain if Owen could see them before they left Red's hold.

"Would you like to go first?" Grace asked.
 
Owen growled, though it seemed like this time it was because he was thinking. At least he wasn't too large anymore...

He flipped over two cards, seeing a three and four, though they were of different colors. He flipped them back over again.

"This will take too long," he muttered.
 
"Do you hate not knowing?" Grace hummed, flying over to the top row to flip over a seven, and then an eight.

She huffed, finding the same issue as Owen, and flipped them both back over, gesturing for Owen to have his next turn. "Exploring the unknown is one of my favourite things."
 
Owen stared at Grace, then flipped over another two cards. No matches at all. He huffed through his nostrils, making a tiny plume of black haze, and flipped them over again.

"Hate not knowing," he repeated. "What's that supposed to mean?"
 
Grace tapped a paw against her chin while she continued to hum, as if looking for a pair was like trying to figure out a puzzle. "Liiiike, when you're so used to knowing stuff, that... suddenly not having enough information or being unable to seek more bothers you. That kind of not knowing."

Grace flipped two cards, finally finding a colour pair. She cheered and punched the air. "Yess! First one!" she boasted with a grin.
 
Owen snarled and nearly smashed his fist against the cards, but a psychic barrier deflected his fist. He glared at Red and pulled his fist away. Calmly, he flipped two more cards, finding no match again. Six unique numbers and nothing to show for it.

"I just had to follow him," Owen growled, "And I didn't have to know anything. Following commands is... easier. My nature. Why fight it?"
 
"Your nature...?"

She remembered that Silver had told her that hughmons often kept Pokémon as pets or partners. But if Alexander was a Pokémon... did their world have any hughmons? Was Owen naturally like this, or was this something amplified by Shadows...?

"Is it really that easy?" Grace asked. "Did you at least get to choose when you had soup?"

She flipped her cards, and while she didn't get a pair, each colour matched something they'd already flipped over. Her eyes widened as she flipped them back over, and tried to recall where their pairs were.
 
"Why should I bother with choosing things?" Owen countered with a frown, seizing upon the opportunity that Grace had given him. He stole one of the matches and dragged the cards to his side. "What does that get me but... trouble?"
 
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