Rooming with a MewtwoIt was a pleasant day, the weather wasn't to hot or too cold. Jericho let out a slow beath out his nose, a content smile on his face. "You were right, Latoka. The fresh air and walk was just what I needed." The Mewtwo smiled. "Told you, Jeo." The human woman smiled, walking close to her treasured Charizard. "And, people hardly walk down this route." Undenounced to them, a young child was running from their pursuer. The dark-haired child was out of breath, his heart was pounding against his ribs, and his legs were screaming at him to stop. But he couldn't stop. His little Eevee, with a horned mask, running close to his boots, the poor thing was crying. "You and your Eevee can't run forever!" The antagonistic man laughed. Jericho stopped sensing the distressed child. "Lakota, I thought you said nobody goes down this way." "I said this route was hardly used." Lakota corrected. The Mewtwo's eyes dilated, sensing the danger of the situation. And he darted off in the direction of trouble. "Jericho! Wait!" Lakota and Argon followed him. The kid ran until he tripped over an unseen hole in the ground. "AH!" He screamed as he fell face first on the ground. The masked Eevee stopped and turned to their felled trainer. As the ran up to help, the poor Pokémon was caught in a loop catcher. and held down with another chaser's boot. "Mouse!" The kid tries to get up, but the first asailent pushed him back down, pressing his shoe hard on his back. and instead of keeping him down. the man pressed his boot harder on the poor kid's back. "St-stop..." The child coughed. "Cliff, we don't want to kill the child. The boss wants him and this Eevee alive! Remember?" The smaller man growled. "You're doing the same thing, Arlo!" Cliff argued. "I'm only restraining our prey. You're suffocating the Zorua!" Arlo corrected. "I'm only going to keep the pressure until he gives up the illusion." Cliff argued again. The grey child's ribs were pressing to hard against his lungs and heart, he can't catch a proper breath. He's going to kill me... The child thought as the men continued to bicker. I'm not going to give in, but... Fear began to get a hold of his heart, and he started tearing up. I don't want to die, either... "HEY!" A woman's voice can be heard. "What do you think you're doing to this poor kid and their partner?!" "Mind your business, lady this doesn't concern..." Cliff trailed off when he saw Jericho. "Is that...?" "Mewtwo..." Arlo finished. "The one wo escaped the boss if i remember right..." "This is great!" Cliff cheered. "We got two stronger than usual young mons, now we've nabbed ourselves a Mewtwo!" "I wouldn't celebrate too soon..." Jericho warned. "You won't remember what happened anyway..." His eyes glowed a bright blue, as Arlo and Cliff just stared in confusion, and suddenly, they were no longer apprehending a kid and their Pokémon. Arlo just held his head, trying to remember what he was doing. "Um, Arlo..." Cliff began "What are we doing in the middle of the forest again?" Arlo tried to think of something to say, but shook his head and pushed past the bulkier man. "Whatever the reason, it doesn't matter. Sierra's waiting for us!" "I know she's going to give us an earful for being late again." Cliff mumbled sadly. Meanwhile, back with the grey kid and his Eevee... Lakota, argon, and Jericho stuck around to make sure the two were okay. "Are you breathing better...?" The lady asked worriedly. After a few slow steady breaths, the grey child nodded. "Much better! That partner of yours really is something." Lakota laughed in agreement. "He truly is..." Her smile faded. "What's wrong." The dark-haired kid asked. "He's going to erase your memories of our encounter too..." Lakota said. "Oh, please no..." A third voice piped in. "I'd rather swallow shards of glass than have my memory erased again!" When Mouse shifted their body a little, the voice was revealed to be a green hilt. Mouse's ears lowered upon hearing the memory wipe. "If it means keeping what ever secret safe, than I'm afraid we have no say, Elizabeth." The grey hooded kid said, standing up. But in doing so, he screamed in pain and fell back down. Mouse ran up to him with worry. "What's wrong?!" Lakota asked with worry. "My ankle hurts..." The kid responded. Jericho hovered to the kid and scanned his ankle. It was red and swollen, and Jericho could see a contortion in his ankle. "He twisted his ankle." Jericho said. "We can't leave him alone like this." But as he looked closer, this child didn't seem human. However, he decided to keep quiet. Thinking quickly... "Argon, let the kid hop on." Argon nodded, and lowered his neck so the kid and his Eevee hopped on. "You and Eevee an stay with us for a while." Jericho balked at this. "WHAT?!" "You said it yourself, Jericho, we can't leave them like this." Lakota said. "Also, since you'll be staying with us for a while, we may as well introduce ourselves. I'm Lakota. The grouch over there is Jericho. And this big baby..." She smiled as she scratched the Charizrd's chin, making him purr. Well, not really purring, but it was a low enough growling sound that could be considered purring. "Is Argon." "I'm Grey. And this tiny fluffball, is Mouse." Grey said. "And I'm their guardian, Elizabeth." The hilt said. Back at Lakota's home, Amber was teaching her little cousin to walk. To say there was progress was a major understatement. Anytime Amber would let go, Blu would fall on his butt and laugh hysterically. "I swear he stood up without help, Auntie!" Amber exclaimed. "I believe you, Amber." Sivith smiled. "But remember that he's just a baby." "He'll be able to walk and cause mischief with you soon." Gwen pat Amber's shoulder. "And besides, he thinks it's a fun game." The psychic pokemon turned to the front door opening. The group was surprised to see a limping child in a grey hood being supported by Lakota. "Lakota..." Sivith started. "Who is this?" "This is Grey. He has a twisted ankle." Lakota said as she led Grey to the couch. When Grey sat down, Mouse hopped up and laid their head against their trainer. Mouse brought their paw to the chin of their mask, and lowered it. "They said thank you." "Aww... you taught your Eevee sign language to communicate?" Lakota smiled. "That's so cute!" Grey put up a fake smile as he nodded. "Y-yeah. Mouse can hear just fine, I just find that sign language is a great way talk to them. Since they're so shy." "That Eevee is smaller than any other Eevee I've seen." Sivith said, looking closely at Mouse. "That's why their name is Mouse." Elizabeth said. "So... What brings you to our home?" Sivith asks, as Lakota left to get an ice pack. "We were being chased by a bunch of thugs. They were after me and poor Mouse." Elizabeth huffed. "They interrupted our training!" Grey groaned. "And they heard and saw things they shouldn't have." Amber slowly floated up to the new group. "What kind of things?" Grey had an anxious look on his face, and avoided eye contact. "We can't tell you..." "And why not...?" Sivith asked suspiciously. Grey held Mouse close to his chest. "We just met you! How do we know we can trust you?" He growled. The more Sivith looked at the scared children, the more she thought about what they could have went through. "We have our fair share of secrets. I don't know what you went through, but I can tell it wasn't pleasant." "Besides, it doesn't matter if we tell you or not." The kid said quietly. "We won't remember you anyway..." Hearing that made Jericho feel a little guilty. "Maybe... you guys can keep a secret." "Buddy, the secrets we have stowed away will want you to put us in therapy." Elizabeth rolled her eyes. Lakota returns with an ice pack, placing it on Grey's sore ankle. "I'm assuming you and the Eevee are hungry?" "Starving!" Grey sighed. Mouse's tail wagged like crazy at the promise of food. After the meal, Lakota helped Grey to the guest room. "The bathroom is just across the hall, to the left." She explained. "And if you need anything, don't be afraid to knock on my door." "Thank you, Miss Lakota." Grey bowed. "Oh, you're very much welcome." Lakota smiled. "Good night, you three." "Night." Grey half-heartedly waved, then closed the door. When they knew the woman was gone, Grey suddenly transformed into a Shiny Zorua. He was still limping on his hind paw. Mouse helped Grey up on the bed, but still whined, looking at their friend's back leg. "Don't worry, Green Boots. I'll be okay." Grey nudged his friend's masked face. "Now, let's get some sleep. Night Mouse and Ellie." Mouse nodded and laid down, next to their friend. "Good night..." "Good night." Elizabeth yawned. During the night, Jericho quietly entered the guest room, a voice nagging in the back of his mind to stop. But upon entry, he wasn't the least bit surprised to see a Zorua sleeping with the masked Eevee, even though he feels like he should. The little tricky fox shared the same aura as that little kid he and his human friend helped. The trainer was a Zorua all this time. Why? He has no clue. He promised not to erase the trio's memories. But he was curious what secrets these three did keep. Surely, a peek wouldn't hurt. But what Jericho saw shocked him... "...really killed the... hero? But..." "You mean this is the same hero that died a few days ago?" "It was all or nothing, kill or be killed." "...were a lie?! It was all you?!" "I always knew you were a useless hero..." "You are a... clone?!" Jericho backed up in shock... he quietly made his exit. Elizabeth woke for a moment... She looked at Mouse, their body quietly rising and falling as they slept. And Grey, the same thing. The hilt shut her eyes, falling back asleep. The next morning rolled around, and Lakota filled the kids up on a quick breakfast. Grey called out his Slither Wing, and jumped on. "You sure you'll be alright out there?" Lakota asks. "Yeah, I'm sure. Me and Mouse are stronger than we look!" Grey smirks as he holds up a fist. "It was nice to meet you, Mx. Grey." Amber smiled. "I hope we can meet again soon." Grey nods. "I hope so too. You take care of your family." Grey lowered himself to pat the giant bug's face. "Let's get going, Mayfly." Mayfly buzzed loudly and started moving. But when they were out of earshot... "Those kids did go through a lot..." Jericho told Lakota. Making the lady whip her head to the Mewtwo. "I just wanted to have a peek, but... one memory led to another... It wasn't horrible, but it still wasn't what I expected. But Grey was right. They are stronger than they seem. They'll be okay."gifgif