Mewtwo's Lair

[Ambyssin]

"I see." Nova tilted his head, like he was a photographer trying to consider the perfect angle. And that angle was to shoot straight. Again. "Y'know what would help you increase that power of friendship? If your smiling came across as friendly and not like you're plotting to murder us and make it look like an accident. But, well, I'm only a few weeks removed from discovering the power of friendship and breaking a mask I've been stuck with for eons. I may be off the mark."

Figuring he'd asked enough questions for the moment and would let others say their pieces, he stepped back and stuck out his tongue playfully.

 

[Chibi Pika]

"The power of... friendship," Jade repeated, vaguely getting the feeling that maybe she was hallucinating this entire conversation. She glanced at Nova, who responded to say what they all had to be thinking, if in a slightly tongue-in-cheek way.

"What exactly were you hoping to... do with the power of friendship?" Was he talking about some literal actual power here, or something metaphorical?

 

[Namohysip]

That got a reaction from Giovanni, though it was brief. His smirk instead became a half-glare and he sighed, turning his gaze away from Mew, who had silently giggled into his tiny hands.

"I'm sure my winning personality will make up for minor flaws in a new skill," he said. "As for the power of friendship... I have learned many things about the many worlds Pokemon inhabit. And one pervasive thread between so many of them... is the untapped potential of bonds. There is a resonance between Pokemon. That power..." Giovanni brought his fist forward and clenched it. "The power of friendship will rule the world."

 

[Phoenixsong]

And there it was. Took him friggin' long enough. This had officially gotten too obnoxious to just sit quietly through any longer.

"Of course it will," Leaf snorted, and it took all the willpower Leaf had not to roll her eyes. "Why does that matter? You think you're gonna rule Forlas, or, or some other world? Doesn't sound like these 'Overseers' would think that's a great idea—" if he was telling the truth about them at all, though at least Nova seemed to think it sounded close enough "—so why?

"You're not stupid." Or so she'd been told. Jury was still out on that. "Oughta be clear enough to you by now that most of us've had our own Giovannis to deal with, and it wasn't exactly a great time. So it also oughta be clear that all this talk about 'ruling the world' isn't gonna inspire much confidence."

 

[Cresselia92]

After Mewtwo Giovanni’s oh-so-grandiose speech about the glorious power of friendship, the now agape and wide-eyed Silver could only stare blankly at the psychic cat, baffled and speechless. He brought a paw to his ear and started scratching it, unconsciously checking out if his hearing and mind were working properly. Unfortunately, that seemed to be the case.

Just like, huh, w-what in the worlds was that conversation?

Silver shook his head, utterly flabbergasted. “Riiight! That… definitely wasn’t the most disquieting way to refer to the value of friendship, nope! Not at all!” he muttered with voice dripping with sarcasm, almost as if he were talking to someone who had lost all his marbles, if not something more.

“Okay, huh, I might not know much ‘bout it myself — y’see, what with me being a loner for so many years and all of that — but even I know that spouting the kinda junk you’d hear outta some majokko anime while behaving like you’re on a power trip isn’t gonna earn you charisma or trust points anytime soon.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “Just saying.”

 

[Ambyssin]

"The hell's a majokko? Some kind of comedian?" Nova looked at the ceiling, wondering if Betel's translator was on the fritz.

 

[Tetra]

Koa bit back the anger at Giovanni's words. Rule the world? Did that mean Forlas? So he was no different than any other Giovanni it sounded like. Obsessed with ruling and control.

"How original," he muttered. "Who do you expect to want to make friends with you if your only desire is ruling the world and using other people?" His gaze shifted to Mew, and he once again wondered why the other legendary was here. Did this Mew not realize, or was it just hoping they could change him? Were they even properly friends?

 

[Namohysip]

Giovanni shrugged again. "It is unimportant for now. As far as you're concerned... our goals are aligned. And we are working against whatever strange forces are invading this world, aside from you all, and myself. And it seems Forlas has become... a true hotspot of activity, hasn't it?

"I have been trying to gather more information about it through my bulletin board, the reports, and scouting. Perhaps with time, we can... compare notes. That's beneficial, is it not?"

Mew nodded to himself, appearing to only half-pay attention to the conversation at hand. He seemed, for one reason or another, unconcerned with the way Giovanni was making his claims.

 

[Ambyssin]

"Sure." Nova was willing to be the cooperative "devil's advocate," as it were. "Hell, we can start right now. I've got a piece of intel I'm willing to report... in exchange for you telling us what you've got that helioptile kid, Lucis, up to. I'm pretty sure he's been appearing and disappearing around the board." He glanced at Mew. "Which would be our buddy's handiwork taking him here. Or somewhere else."

 

[Cresselia92]

Silver whispered a quick and dry ‘majokko is some magical girl nonsense’ explanation to Nova, before trading another narrowed staredown with Mewtwo Giovanni. The fact he was avoiding answering some questions was seriously grating on his nerves: What was he truly hiding? Why? Was he really on the path of redemption, or did he have them all wrapped around his thumb, not much unlike home?

Faint grumbling resonated in his throat, his temper beginning to flare up at the last possibility, but it didn’t seem like they had many other options. Sure, they could withhold information… but that meant that Mewtwo Giovanni could do the same to them, and that wouldn’t be a favorable outcome. Once again, intel for intel; simple, straightforward business.

At least Mew didn’t seem too bothered, for whatever reason, and he seemed trustworthy enough. Though, that lead to another mystery that hopefully could have an actual answer.

“…Hmph. Alright, fine! I guess we could trade notes to see what we’re dealing with and how we could solve the various problems and stuff. But speaking of the ‘buddy’, there’s something I wanna know…” He pointed with his claw at the tiny psychic cat. “Mew used to be a human, too, right? If so, who was he? His real name.”

 

[Namohysip]

"A deal..." Giovanni nodded along. "I trust you know what it would mean to betray me. But I will humor you, considering the service to the board you have already given... And it is not an important piece of information anyway. Not something you can't simply deduce..." He shrugged. "Lucis... under confidence and secrecy, was given the materials for creating Poke Balls. I then tasked him with inventing them here under its own rules. You have already seen his handiwork in action. Mew scouted him during his travels..."

He eyed Silver. There was a curious glint in his eyes, though it went away moments later.

"What the name of my partner is, you ask?" he repeated. "Interesting... Then you already suspect a thing or two about him, do you? Very well." He nodded. "He... is Red, of a world separate from mine. I came from a world where a trainer like him never existed, but we... crossed paths in worlds beyond, some time ago. Unfortunately..." He shrugged again.

"I don't know the full extent of why or how, but upon entering here, and upon gaining our bodies for this world... Red's body was improperly formed. He has the mind of a feral, despite once being human. It's still... 'Red,' I recognize that much, but his capacity for understanding is... limited. Quite lucky the same fate did not befall any of you." He smirked. "Still, Red is resilient. He does not seem too distressed. He can communicate with Pokemon just as easily as before... and he wasn't much of a talker to begin with."

 

[Ambyssin]

Well that was thoroughly unimpressive. Just the balls, then? Maybe there was more. Nova wouldn't push his luck.

"For my side of things..." Nova's crest fanned out. "There's some sort of master of disguise running around Frontier Town. Whoever they are, they impersonated a local tyranitar well enough to get a bunch of info out of one our teammates... and then the other day I caught 'em impersonating me, but they got away when I gave chase."

He shifted his weight around. "I'm a pretty big guy, but this stranger didn't leave tracks behind that would match mine. Just a bunch of skittery marks that could've come from a featherweight creature that's barely a kilogram. So, not a zoroark or ditto. And if it's a mimikyu, then it defies all the logic I have about the species."

I don't know the full extent of why or how, but upon entering here, and upon gaining our bodies for this world... Red's body was improperly formed.

That, however, was something Nova desperately wanted to press on. Both with this Overseer business and Nova's simmering thoughts regarding Forlas' inner workings. He had to prod further. It'd keep him up all night — or, up more than usual — if he didn't.

"How did you enter Forlas to begin with?" Nova wondered. "And get such powerful forms? Did you work with the Saints or something?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Another case of ‘the enemy of my enemy,’ then. Jade had run into that enough times by now. And, well, it wasn’t like she could pretend she hadn’t benefitted from the bulletin board.

That just left… Mew. Or rather ‘Red.’ The way Giovanni spoke of him, and the fact that his world didn’t have a ‘trainer like him.’ That probably meant that he was someone pretty important, even if she’d never heard of him.

“I take it that Red is a pretty big deal where he’s from, the way you talk about him…?” Jade ventured, glancing between Giovanni and the Mew.

 

[Phoenixsong]

This time Leaf made no effort to hide the eyeroll. Why had she even bothered, honestly. Even if he was going to be helpful for five seconds, maybe, by some miracle, he'd still never condescend to actually being pleasant or even just mildly-not-annoying to work with and I'm sorry, whomst.

Maybe... maybe it wasn't him. If there were three Weses and three Ciphers and seventy Giovannis then maybe there was just also. More than one Red. Maybe he wasn't even "another Red" and he was just some random guy who happened to have the same name. And fought a Giovanni. And had a really similar hat.

Shit.

She'd already introduced herself ages ago, back when they'd first investigated the board, and hadn't gotten any noticeable reaction, but. But she had to ask.

"Red, you... you don't remember a Leaf Linden, do you?"

 

[Cresselia92]

“…I had my suspicions,” admitted Silver with a nod, not seeming the least surprised when he stared back at Mewtwo Giovanni. He merely shrugged. “I mean, that red hat is pretty iconic; I’d recognize it anywhere. But, y’know, I wanted a confirmation because coincidences are a thing.” He gave a long, sympathetic look at the tiny cat, mildly worried. “I wonder why that happened, though. What went wrong during his soul transfer? Would that… fix itself if he were to be sent back, or…?”

When Jade inquired about Red, Silver shot her a surprised look. So, her world didn’t have a Red, either?

“Oh, Red and ‘pretty big deal’ would be the understatement of the century!” He crossed his arms again. “Where I come from, Red is… a modern times legend. A battle prodigy who, in less than a year, got enough power and skills to beat the Elite Four of the Indigo Plateau, making him the youngest Kanto League Champion to date.”

Silver pawed at his red tuft, his gaze drifting toward a distant corner of the lair. Mostly, he was forcing himself to not look at Mewtwo Giovanni.

“And, well… he was the first Trainer who gave a sounding defeat to Team Rocket, with long-lasting consequences. I’d know that because…” He hesitated, already feeling the turbulent thoughts pressing against his skull, but he persevered. “I was there, in the Viridian Gym, the day my world’s Red defeated my world’s Giovanni, leading to the first downfall of Team Rocket. I watched the entire event unraveling with my own eyes…”

Which is so unfair! It should’ve been me!

I should’ve been the one to destroy Team Rocket!​

Not a couple of… random, unrelated kids!​

“…Tch, whatever, that’s not really relevant. You never met a ‘Red’, okay,” he glanced again at Mewtwo Giovanni, a hungry curiosity radiating from his eyes, “but what about a… ‘Silver’?”

 

[Namohysip]

Red's ears twitched at Leaf, tilting his head. There was a glimmer of recognition in his eyes at the name... but he did not seem to recognize any specifics, nor the last name, perhaps. This must have been a different Red--or one that knew another, different Leaf. It was hard to tell when he was already feral...

"Silver..." Giovanni's eyes glinted again with interest. "The way you're acting... you must be another version of my son. How very... interesting. I wonder what accomplishments you are responsible for." He brought his hands behind his back and tilted his head as if Silver was a specimen behind a glass pane.

"My son isn't here. He's... busy cleaning up some other messes. He got in the way of my previous endeavors, but now that I'm following the path of friendship and kindness, suddenly he's less interested in stopping me." He shrugged. "How strange people can be."

 

[Tetra]

So Lucis was the one who'd made their pokeballs. And Red... He knew that name, vaguely, from his own world. So this was yet another worlds Red? And somehow he'd lost some of himself coming here... The problem was, did that mean they could trust Red's judgement about Mewtwo?

Giovanni's next words made his skin crawl, the way he spoke about Silver. Anger burned in his chest. Did they have to work with him?z

"Has your scouting turned up anything useful then, about other threats here?" The Covenant? Vanguard? The mystery dungeons maybe?

 

[Namohysip]

"Hmm... you'll need to give me some time to compile those notes," Giovanni said with a hint of genuine thought in his tone this time. "There's still much I need to verify, and I'm not keen on giving imperfect or incorrect information. Not to allies, at least."

He turned around, arms behind his back.

"Speaking of which... I cannot provide the best information on how I entered here. There was an... 'opening' opportunity, and we took it. I took that for granted. It seems Forlas is not normally a typical world that can be... entered trivially, so perhaps it was a coincidence we got in so easily. Perhaps by means of a Voice... It was almost dreamlike when I negotiated with them on my entry.

"It would help if you could describe... the nature of your summoner," Giovanni said. "But from what I know about yours... I'm already quite sure they are not the same."

 

[Ambyssin]

"Dreamlike? I dunno, that's kinda similar to ours." Nova glanced at the others, though. Unsure whether to fully explain Betel. "But you did negotiate with someone, it sounds like." That supported his theory, to some extent.

"I feel like I heard musings of a 'Voice' before in dreams here, whatever the hell that means." He decided playing a little dumb was a decent course of action. "However, it was a 'Voice of Darkness,' which I feel like would not be... keen on making the circumstances you're describing."

 

[Cresselia92]

"Silver..." Giovanni's eyes glinted again with interest. "The way you're acting... you must be another version of my son. How very... interesting. I wonder what accomplishments you are responsible for." He brought his hands behind his back and tilted his head as if Silver was a specimen behind a glass pane.

And so, his curiosity was instantly sated, but Silver didn’t know how to feel about the news. Even if he fully expected that answer, it was just so… so strange to be facing a Giovanni who had a Silver as his son but who wasn’t his father. Probably that was how it felt like to meet someone’s identical twin. And, in a weird and twisted sense, maybe both Giovanni could be considered dimensional twins…?

“Well, my name is Silver, so, huh, yeah…” he muttered half-whisperingly, still assimilating the new information, but the way Mewtwo Giovanni studied him as if he were some rare shiny Pokémon didn’t make the process any easier.

"My son isn't here. He's... busy cleaning up some other messes. He got in the way of my previous endeavors, but now that I'm following the path of friendship and kindness, suddenly he's less interested in stopping me." He shrugged. "How strange people can be."

That was… astonishingly relatable. It was the kinda thing he would do as well, mostly the cleaning-up-some-messes part. Because gods, he knew he had a lot to fix in his own life, too!

“Hmph. Or maybe your son isn’t here because he didn’t want to keep babysitting you 24/7,” he quipped, flashing a cheeky smirk. “After all, the dream of becoming the best Trainer in the world isn’t gonna chase itself!”

There were still so many questions that demanded some answers and Silver wished to press about his own dimensional twin so badly, but maybe that was a conversation better left for another day.

“Anyway! If you wanna talk about patrons or however we wanna call our summoners…” Silver traded glances with the others, then with the psychic duo. “Hmm, I guess our summoner might be a Voice of sorts, or someone with similar powers. We’ve heard of at least one folk who has been summoned and given a Forlasan body by this world’s Voice of Life, so that would track.” He tapped his chin thoughtfully. “I suppose you had to strike a similar deal with… whoever brought you two here. Are they a Voice, too?”