[CW] Jester: Reborn [Feedback]

[Valyrian_Reforged]

Chapter One: Making My Escape

 

This. Cannot. Be happening, Jester thought dazedly, as she awakened from her slumber. The young woman was suspended within a tank, a light yet murky green water that felt viscous and immovable supporting-her within the broad and tall expanse of steel, fibreglass and rose-gold chrome that encased her fully. She scrunched her eyes shut, drew in a jagged, ragged deep breath, then slammed her hands forward so that they slapped against the smooth, cool glass.

 

Opening her eyes in time to aim her gaze at her hands, Jester gasped as she saw that her hands were drastically-changed from their regular appearance. Her hands, once human, now contained three rounded pads in place of her fingertips.

 

These pads were attached to slender fingers, to a short palm, and then to long, slender forearms which were segmented at the elbow-joints. These elbow-joints connected to two muscular biceps, which in turn, were connected to a set of collarbones and a chest-plate-like set of pectorals. Jester didn't have to see her own reflection to realise that the pectorals connected to a short and slender neck, a broad and feline face and a nape that swept back to connect a tube to the middle of her muscular yet catlike shoulder-blades.

 

As she idly swished the tail that she had never had in her once-human life through the sludge-like water around her, Jester realised that she was now trapped within the body of a Legendary Pokémon, Mewtwo.

 

Sweeping her gaze down the rest of her body, Jester saw that in place of a regular Mewtwo's pristine white fur, her own fur was the dusty shade of charcoal, which was contrasted sharply with a lustrous and vibrant neon-bright, sky-blue tail. Although she couldn't see her eyes, Jester bet that they would be the same vibrant, lustrous, neon sky-blue as her tail was.

 

Through the glass, Jester saw something that both enraged and enthralled her. It was a wrought-iron chair, upon-which sat a backpack and a Master Ball. Black, nondescript military combat pants, a black hoodie, a black basketball-jersey with the number 09 printed upon-it and a sky-blue belt with a pewter-grey Poké Ball belt-buckle were slung upon the back of the chair.

 

This only served to further-infuriate and anguish Jester to the point of no return.

 

They think that they can capture me, now that they have somehow transformed-me into a Pokemon? I. Think. NOT!, Jester thought, outraged, and she positioned her palms within the Kamehameha formation. Once she had calmed her mind enough to gather every bit of her latent Psychic power and energy into a fine-tuned and laser-focused beam, Jester struck. Psystrike!, Jester thought, as she fired the volleyball-sized ball of magenta-purple energy at the glass.

 

As expected, the glass shattered as though it had been made of tissue-paper and Jester used her psychic powers to levitate herself swiftly forward, tendrils of her psychic abilities lashing away the residual broken glass-shards away from her person. She then cannonballed toward the group of scientists that barreled through a main doorway toward her. "Imbeciles! You seek to cage and restrain ME - you will NOT!," Jester snarled, projecting her words telepathically into the minds of those that would command her.

 

Many human eyes widened and many gasps were emitted as Jester knocked every one of the scientists down as though they were ten-pins and soared forward through the path that she had just cleared for herself. "WAIT! You don't know who you really are - nor what you're truly capable of! Let me explain it all to you. Be my Pokémon!," a voice of absolute authority called from behind Jester.

 

She risked a backward, over-her-shoulder glance at the voice's owner. A young man stood beside the wrought-iron chair, clad within an identical copy of the clothing that had-been draped so artistically yet steadily upon its head-rest. The man stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his left hand clasping his right wrist as he gazed imploringly at Jester.

 

His fog-grey, molten-gold-ringed gaze was reserved solely for Jester. Every scientist froze upon the spot, in the midst of their intent movements toward Jester. The immobile yet attentive and elastic way that he stood reminded Jester of a military man, of a king cobra poised to strike. Military Man kept his spaced-apart feet as still as if they had-been glued to the laboratory floor as he continued to appeal to Jester. "Please stand down, X59-275-923-1! Your transition must be difficult, but believe you me, it had been necessary to save your life. Return to me, X59," Military Man commanded confidently. 

 

"My. NAME. Is. JESTER Chandler!," Jester growled, surrounding herself with a protective, magenta, psychic barrier.

 

As she spoke, Jester telekinetically lifted herself well out of reach of her pursuers. Halting in midair, she turned slowly to face Military Man as she 'spoke' to everyone present. Positioned vertically above those that would enslave her, Jester glared at Military Man, her furry brows narrowed over her unusual eyes of blue sky. Ever so slowly, Jester floated toward the dual exit/entrance laboratory door, determined to escape this room and its occupants at all costs. 

 

"I am no-one's property - no-one's tragic and tormented victim. I don't know how I got here, when I got here, where I happen to be, who brought me here, nor why I am here, but right now, that's not important. What is important is finding out what was done to me. I won't stop until I figure out a way to reverse this process. I'm no-one's science experiment. Do not try to stop me," Jester sniped. Flinging her arms and her legs out in an X-formation, Jester sent forth a surge of psychic energy that coalesced into the shape of a flash that was akin to a flash-bang grenade's disorientating flash.

 

Everyone screamed as the bright light seared their sensitive eyes, and Jester used this moment to spin in mid-air and make her escape. Flying through the laboratory doorway, Jester floated through the main corridor, taking turns down random corridors to further-disguise her movements toward her intended destination. Soaring through a corridor and entering a courtyard that looked as though it would never end, Jester swept one look around its space, took in its labyrinthine, off-shoot-like passageways, then looked up and saw a skylight that was as tall as she was and as broad as broad as she was.

 

Taking a calculated risk, Jester aimed a blast of psychic energy at the skylight and as it shattered, Jester flew through the newly-opened egress point and darted off into the falling dusk. The sound of helicopters roaring into life galvanised Jester into further action. She took down each of the ten helicopter's rotor-blades with well-timed, well-aimed surgical Psystrikes before she zoomed off toward the glittering lights of a city that was just off the coastline.

 

Jester didn't know where she was going, nor what she would do when she got there, but she knew how to survive, as well as how to thrive. It would be far less easy to do so as a Pokémon - let-alone one as rare and sought-after as a differently-hued Mewtwo - but she would rely only upon herself and stay out of the nefarious clutches of any and all Trainers, organisations and so on. Wind whipped through her fur and caused her feline eyes to water at their peripheries, but still Jester flew on until she could hear no further pursuit.

 

She landed only when she found the highest building that was set within the most densely-populated part of the city, touching-down upon its roof upon three-toed, inhuman and furred feet that were completely-foreign to her.

 

Making her way to a nearby Dumpster, Jester lucked-out as, under cover of evening darkness, she scrounged the materials that she would need to eke out a temporary living upon this building's rooftop. Firstly, Jester snagged a two-person tent from a nearby encampment of the homeless, which contained a backpack within which she hoped were medical supplies and the like, as well as several paperback novels, a nondescript manuscript, a torch, a booklight and several battery-packs.

 

A secondary backpack was in the mix as Jester telekinetically-transported the material-containing tent back to the rooftop alongside of her. Secondly, Jester gathered two packs' worth of food and water supplies and brought these back to the rooftop in the exact same way.

 

Jester then scrounged-up a sleeping-bag from someone-else's unoccupied tent and brought this bag up to the rooftop abode, before she called it a metaphorical day and set up her new living-quarters to her liking. She then sat in sit-up position upon her sleeping-bag, which she had positioned at the mouth of her tent in order to ensure that a quick getaway could be gotten.

 

Jester scrubbed her face with her left paw, emitting a soft and beleaguered sigh as she did-so. From now on, there could be no-one that she could put her trust in, save for her very-own self.

 

How well could she recollect those that she had placed her previous trust within. How well, too, could she recall just how deeply, how irrevocably and indecently, that those very-same people had betrayed her faith within them. There was no way that she would ever, nor could ever, allow-herself to believe in the goodness of others.

 

She remembered her parents - remembered the one whom had named-her against the wishes of her mother, who, from that moment on, never referred-to her by her given name. Her mother would only call-her by her middle name - Elise - and nothing-else. Jester stayed awake until the sun began to rise, and then she yawned and curled-up upon her sleeping-bag, catlike and semi-content.

 

Jester was awakened by the sound of bustling traffic, by the diffused light of early morning that lightly-batted against her feline, closed eyelids. Slowly opening her eyes as she uncoiled from her curled sleeping-position, Jester stretched to limber herself up, Jester began to put clear, calm and calculated thought into her next steps. The military man would not stop looking for her, Jester knew for a fact.

 

With her rarity and her ability to 'speak,' Jester was too much of a hot commodity to remain at-large and out of his clutches and control. She had seen the pristine interiour of the laboratory of whatever military compound that she had-been housed-within, and this, too, meant that she could not remain in possession of those memories of her place of captivity.

 

There would be nothing that the military man would not do, no resources that he would not exhaust and no contact that he would not call in favours from if his doing-so would lead to Jester's recapture. Jester could not believe that the military would have the audacity to capture her then-human, twenty-year-old self, perform whatever horrific experiments upon-her that they had performed to transform her into a Legendary Pokémon and then have the further moxie to try to sway her awakened self to their side and to their twisted cause.

 

Jester felt like she had been reanimated into a Five Nights animatronic, just like Freddy and his cohorts had-been. This was a feeling that she didn't like, couldn't escape and feared above all other feelings.

 

So immersed within her inner thoughts was Jester that, had it not been for her enhanced feline hearing, she would not have heard the rooftop access-door unlock and swing-upon with almost no sound at all. Moving fluidly and gracefully, Jester froze in place even as she erected a psychic barrier around herself and her swiped belongings. Positioned beside the squat, square rooftop stairwell entrance, Jester was confident that as long as the figure that had emerged from the rooftop doorway kept their gaze downcast, the figure would remain as unaware of her prescence on the way back across the rooftop as the figure had-been on their way forward, across the rooftop.

 

The figure wore an oversized, maroon hoodie over a long-sleeved, cobalt-blue top, charcoal-grey acid-wash jeans that were boot-cut, cobalt-blue socks and jet-black Nike running-shoes with cobalt-blue shoelaces and a cobalt-blue tick. What Jester liked most about the figure was the Back to the Future, many-coloured, Marty McFly cap that was worn beneath the cowl of their hoodie.

 

The figure was of above-average height, and of a willowy frame and a slender yet muscular build. A black-leather belt with an Ultra Ball belt-buckle completed the figure's look. Six Pokemon Balls were magnetically-affixed along the width of the belt and Jester wondered which Pokémon were individually-housed within each of the six red and white vessels. Because the figure had their back toward Jester as they reached the guard-railing that wrapped around the walls of the rooftop retaining-wall, Jester could not be sure of the figure's gender, nor of their physical features and appearance.

 

She hoped, against hope, that this figure would not be a female and, additionally, would be teenage to young-adult in age, because if not, a young kid would be most-likely to see her and spread the tale of the rooftop Mewtwo so far and wide that she could be found, bagged and tagged even-faster than the speed of thought. The figure folded their forearms across the width of the rooftop's balconey-like retaining-wall railing and stared out into the middle distance, long-lost in thought.

 

Jester did not move and she barely-breathed as she silently and stealthily studied the lone figure, hoping that the figure would not be met upon this rooftop by a colleague, or by a group of their colleagues. One Trainer here was bad enough - a group of them would be inescapable. When the figure finally spoke, Jester wasn't sure what the figure's intentions were toward-her, nor why they felt compelled to speak to her.

 

"You really don't have to hide from me. I won't harm you and I won't rat you out. I just want for you to feel safe enough to at-least acknowledge that you're listening to me. Do you understand me?," The Figure said, in a breezy tone of nonchalance that swept over their left shoulder and carried their words all the way over to the still-concealed Jester in her Mewtwo form.

 

Five minutes passed and Jester gave no response. "You're right to be cautious. Judging by your preternatural stillness and your residence here, I'd guess that you're a Pokemon. I doubt that even Poké Snax would be enough to draw you out into the open. That's only to be expected of the super-smart and resilient Pokémon that you have to be," The Figure said.

 

Your candy-coated compliments won't undo-me, hoodlum hustler. You've got to do much better than that, Jester thought smugly, as The Figure slowly lifted their hands from the railing and held them in the placating gesture of surrender. "I really want to turn around and face you now, just so that you can see that what you see is what you just might get of me. I'm not going to do that, though, because a) it just might be the last thing that I would ever do and b) I'm sure that you're most-comfortable with my back toward you. I'll introduce myself. I'm Connor Kincaid Elder. I'm a Pokémon Trainer. These six Balls at my belt are not just for show - I'm the realest deal. You are?," The Figure said lightly, with more than a hint of natural swagger.

 

Jester didn't know what it was about this figure, who, judging by their masculine voice and by their tone, was undoubtedly a teenage boy, but she liked him. She liked his confidence, his natural charisma and compassion, and she definitely liked his sense of personal style. The fact that he had respectfully-chosen to keep his back to her in order to respect her anonymity also helped to win him endless brownie-points and so Jester decided to answer-him and hope that he would remain where he was.

 

Though it pained her to have to do-so, she answered him via Pokemon growl. "Mewtwo!," Jester snarled, and Connor jumped, but remained where he was, straightening up to his full height even as he swept his hood from his cap-covered scalp in astonishment.

 

"No actual way! A Mewtwo, on a rooftop - on the rooftop where my dad happens to work? No-one is going to believe this. I can barely believe this. How did you get here? Does anyone else know that you're here? Are you a wild? When did you get here? Where did you come from? What in the actual funk?," Connor demanded, swaying from foot to foot and clenching his fists as he restrained-himself from turning to face Jester. Almost-startled into answering every single one of Connor's relentless questions, Jester kept her silence up and merely studied Connor with increased focus and intensity.

 

Her silent deliberation only served to make Connor talk to fill the silence. "So...er, Mewtwo? Sorry about the twenty questions. I don't often happen upon a Pokémon as rare as you. So, uh, you wouldn't happen to be a relation of the Cerulean Cave Mewtwo? You could growl once for yes, or growl twice for no," Connor said awedly. Jester spoke. "Mewtwo, Mewtwo!," Jester growled, rolling her eyes as she did-so. He couldn't know that she was a human that was trapped within the body of a Pokémon, but seriously, she had to wonder just what had made Connor think that this could even be a possibility for her. "Oh," Connor said, in a disquieted and disappointed tone of voice, which made Jester growl ominously in response, her teeth set immediately on-edge.

 

"I mean, er, oh, that's so. It's no big deal, it's what it is. Hey, do you want to meet my Pokémon, Mewtwo? I'll command them not to battle you. Company, yeah? No telling how long you've been up here, on your own. Consider it my apology for disturbing your peace - you Kanto Pokémon, you," Connor said casually, in an apologetic tone of voice. Jester considered this for a moment. If anything, knowing what Pokémon this teenage boy was packing would work wonders for her peace of mind.

 

She also couldn't deny that this would be her first chance in however long she had been in captivity to be in the prescence of Pokémon. Even those scientists had baulked at the concept of challenging her with their own Pokémon. The fact that Connor seemed undaunted by her even despite his awareness of what Pokémon she happened to be boded well for the young Trainer. 

 

"Mewtwo," Jester assented, and Connor grinned.

 

Connor nodded once, then in a flurry of movements that looked, to Jester, as though he was juggling, he tossed all six of his Poké Balls into the air over his shoulders, one at a time, releasing all of his Pokemon upon the rooftop upon which he stood. A magnificent-looking shiny Milotic materialised first, coalescing from a blaze of crimson light to hit the rooftop floor. It was followed by a shiny Tyranitar with battle-hardened eyes, then a glossy-furred shiny Ampharos.

 

Next to emerge was a shiny Sceptile with two scars running in a multi-diagonal, X-shaped slash over its left eye, both of which trailed down to the right-hand corner and the left-hand corners of its lips. A shiny Charizard with long-healed, snow-white scars that looked like forked lightning studied Jester intently. Its scars criss-crossed the length and the breadth of its leathery wings flapped its wings and it belched a cloud of smoke, the second-last to emerge.

 

His team was rounded-out by a capable-looking shiny Garchomp, which was his last Pokémon - although it was certainly not the least of them all. Jester fought to keep her jaw from dropping and her resolve from crumpling as she stared down each of the Pokémon in turn. "Milo, Tyra, Amp, Tile, Char and Chomp, do not battle Mewtwo unless I command you to do so. This is a meet and greet. Please remain where you are and say hi," Connor commanded. His Pokémon obeyed him without-question, granting a series of hisses, snarls, growls and shrieks of introductory response. Jester held absolutely-still as she roamed her gaze over each Pokémon in her turn, noting how well-preserved each Pokémon were under Connor's direction and attentions. "Mewtwo," Jester greeted in return.

 

Now that she had revealed her ability to understand and to communicate with human speech, Jester wondered if Connor would now seek to use it to his own advantage and try to sell her to the highest possible bidder upon the Pokémon Black Market. She hoped that he would not. "OK," Connor said warily, "now that you've met my Pokémon and been assured of my on-the-level-ness, can I please turn to face you now? I have to hit up the next Gym before it closes this afternoon. It'll be difficult for me to back all the way up to the rooftop doorway." Jester considered Connor's request. She knew that the moment that Connor clapped eyes upon her, he would see that she was no ordinary Mewtwo.

 

He would see that she possessed fur that not even Mewtwo's regular shiny variant possessed, and he would see that she possessed eerie blue eyes that were in place of shiny Mewtwo's pale-green eyes. But it was true that Connor would need to face her eventually and so with a roll of her eyes and a slight wave of her right paw, Jester growled her assent for Connor to turn toward her.

 

"Thanks," Connor said, as he turned to face Jester directly. His eyes flared wide in absolute shock as he took note of her charcoal-grey fur, of her glowing, sky-blue eyes, of her sky-blue tail.

 

Jester's eyes narrowed, almost to slits, as she took note of Connor's sand-blonde hair, which fell over one of his fog-grey eyes - eyes that Jester had seen once before...identical to Military Man's own eyes. So flabbergasted was Jester that she spoke, forgetting-herself in the instant of being-confronted by eyes such as Military Man's own eyes. "You - I'm not some THING that you seek to OWN!," Jester yelled, and then she zoomed into the air, spun around and then abandoned her rooftop home as she sought to put an immense ammount of distance between herself and Connor. She heard Connor swear in anguish and in stunned surprise as he recalled all but one of his Pokémon - his Charizard - then mounted it and commanded it to follow her.

 

"STOP! You can talk? Were you just playing dumb before now? What else can you do? What more do you know?," Connor shouted, as he raced against time and against Jester as he sought to catch up to her. Jester gave no response as she sped-up, seeking to both outfly and outpace Connor to the point where he would give-up upon his pursuit of her and return to his Gym Challenge.

 

As Jester flew, she realised that she recognised this place - this ravaged region. It was the Reborn Region. She had flown over a portion of the polluted Azurine Lake to get to her rooftop sanctuary, and it still pained her to have been forced to leave behind the things that she had scrounged for her own survival. Jester was determined to regain all that she had lost.

 

Unperturbed by Jester's silence, Connor urged his Charizard on to greater agility, grace and speed and as Jester swooped around a building, Connor swept into position behind her right heel. "Mewtwo, stop! Hey, chill out. I understand how you feel. My dad's of that opinion about me - so is my brother, to a lesser extent. Why don't you join me? You could be my reserve Pokémon, and you would really turn the tide for me come League Challenge time. You'd also not have to worry about roughing-it. Think it over," Connor said cajolingly, "please."

 

There was nothing for Jester to think over. Being someone's Pokémon - being anyone's Pokémon - ammounted to captivity. A humane kind of captivity, but captivity nonetheless. Her cage would consist of a brightly-coloured, tennis-ball-sized sphere that could be expanded to the size of half of a writer's journal. It was said that the interiour of a Poké Ball contained the most luxurious accommodations that were tailored-to each individual Pokémon's likes, climate and natural habitat. Jester was in no hurry to discover the truthfulness or the falsity of this personally. "No, thanks! I'd rather be my own boss," Jester called.

 

"OK, final gambit - how about you join me, Poké Ball free - upon my journey? I could use your company," Connor proposed guilelessly. "Your father and brother - who are they? Describe them. Answer me and we'll see," Jester drawled, as she continued to fly away from Connor. At a loss to understand why the Mewtwo that he was chasing would want to know such trivial details, Connor rolled his eyes, sighed and then complied.

 

"Dad's six foot five tall, with grey-flecked hair like mine, blue-grey eyes and a disarming smile. He's a Pokémon Professor who routinely visits this region to help provide Starter Pokémon to this region, as well as to our home region. My bro's in the military - a high-ranking, six foot three tall military man whose work I'm not cleared to know about. He's also the Champion of our region's Pokémon League, although great pains are made to keep his identity under-wraps up until the moment someone advances through the League ranks enough to challenge him. Their names are Professor Afton Elder and Colonel Artor Elder. I'm Connor Elder," Connor said evenly. 

 

"Your brother held me in captivity. Who's to say that you won't try to capture me?," Jester asked harshly.

 

Connor gave a quick, unamused sigh. "I apologise upon Art's behalf. If I'd wanted to capture you - and believe me, I willingly want you upon my team - I could have tried that back at your rooftop. I didn't. I know better than to make you want to travel with me and my team. Please believe me when I tell you that you'd be much-better off with me than you would be without me. You can't trust the world and the poachers and opportunists in it, but you can trust me," Connor said pleadingly, stating his case to Jester. 

 

"Haven't you ever heard that you can't trust anyone who asks you to trust them? I can't deny that you hadn't immediately flung a Poké Ball at me, your Pokémon don't present as having-been mistreated and you hadn't sicced your relatives upon me upon first sight of me. I'll accompany you - but only until I've found a place and a space to support myself. I won't get into any Ball and I won't battle for you unless there is no other alternative," Jester said decisively. "You'd best not double-cross me, nor disappoint me. My trust does not come easily," Jester added grimly, and Connor gave a cheerful cheer.

 

His Charizard roared with delight and Jester gave a slight smirk as she followed Connor back to the rooftop that she had sought to make her temporary home. "You won't want to lose all of these things. Wait a moment. I'll pack as much of these things as I can into my version of a Bag - my backpack," Connor said, as his Charizard landed safely upon the rooftop in front of Jester's tent. Connor gracefully dismounted his Charizard.

 

Jester inclined her chin and then Connor rolled-up and packed-up Jester's sleeping-bag, secured it firmly around his Charizard's midsection to hang beside its saddle, then dismantled and packed-away Jester's tent and secured it against Charizard's right-hand side. He then rearranged his backpack and made space for half of the books that Jester had managed to squirrel away-from its original owner, making-sure to only include Jester's specified books.

 

Connor then packed-away the food and water supplies within the Items section of his Backpack and then he did a head-check of the space to make sure that he hadn't missed anything. Upon determining that he had packed-away everything that he could fit within his Backpack, Connor gave a swift, decisive nod of self-satisfaction and then he lifted his brows as he met Jester's speculative gaze.

 

"See? I'm as good as my word - better, even. Let's go. I'm staying at my cousin's - miles away from Art's barracks. Dad visits upon-occasion, but he always calls before he drops-in. We'll be right as rain," Connor announced, as Jester hid the remainder of the items so that it appeared that nothing and no-one had ever lived-here.

 

Jester swept a farewell look around her space before she nodded to Connor and he mounted his Charizard. They both flew away and made their way to Connor's current residence away from his home. This place turned out to be an excellent, top-floor suite of an Obsidia Ward appartment building. Jester managed to tail Connor so effectively and quickly that she managed to not be seen walking into the building upon her hind-paws. Charizard walked at her heels in an effort to further conceal-her from view and Jester growled her thanks to the orange lizard Pokémon, who huffed out a short growl in easy response to her gratitude.

 

Connor's cousin turned out to be one of Reborn's Gym Leaders. As such, this cousin was often not home until just before light's out. This made it extremely-unlikely that this Leader would happen-upon Jester. She and Connor kept in regular contact, Jester was informed.

 

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A/N: An original story by me, myself and I. Please let me know what you think of it and what you'd like to see happen next within this story. :)

 

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Three current works upon this site necessitates a lot of time spent writing and editing, switch-ups of dialogue and so on. I will Endeavour to upload new creative content here with regularity. I'll try to not let too much time pass during uploads. I play each game as I write my take upon their story and scenes. This can be a blessing and a curse at times as I multitask between gameplay and writing.

 

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Edited September 13, 2021 by Valyrian_Reforged

[Valyrian_Reforged]

Chapter Two: Making My Way Downtown

 

"OK, get up. If you don't, I'll break ranks and investigate your next Gym myself," Jester snarled. Hovering at the foot of the fold-out couch upon which Connor was sprawled out in sleep, she debated whether or not a Shadow Ball to the nearby nightstand would be a wise move. Deciding that she would rather not risk having to replace said nightstand once she had regained her human form, Jester tilted her head to one side. Resting her left paw against the left side of her jaw, she allowed thoughts of her former life to stream through her mind.

 

She had been a world-famous musician of the Kalosian kind, second in repute to Fantina herself. People had gathered from far and wide to watch her perform live. She allowed no other to pen songs from her mind, heart and soul. At times, this was to her detriment, leading to her garnering of stalkers who would demand that she give them the chance to prove themselves to be her ultimate fanatics. She remembered one particular performance in which her set had resulted within an impromptu radio interview at the nearby, onsite bar.

 

Having had no trouble with the interview itself, Jester had remained circumspect, keeping her cards close to her metaphorical vest as the interviewer, Jay, had tried her best to get Jester to slip up and divulge something personal. She had not been successful at this attempt of hers. A loud groan and a flicker of movement jolted Jester out of her thoughts.

 

Lowering her left paw back to her side as she drifted back a metre or so, Jester watched Connor yawn loudly, give an overly dramatic stretch and then sit up, drawing his knees up to his chin as he did so.

 

"Oh, hey, Mewtwo. I feel like you have a true name that's not Mewtwo, but until you feel free to divulge it to me, I'll just call you by your form's species name. I thought I heard you say 'investigate.' Let's go!," Connor said groggily. He sounded as though he had been awake all along and Jester hoped that had not been the case. She hated it when people watched her while she was deep in contemplation. In her unguarded moments, Jester preferred it if those around her did not watch her, overtly or otherwise.

 

Jester found herself responding against her better judgement. "It's personal. What's in a name? I'll tell you sometime, Connor - truly, I will - but not just yet," Jester replied. Connor's brows knitted and he stretched his legs out, then spun to his left-hand side and sat upon the bed's left side. "Need to know basis, yeah? Loud and clear, Major Mewtwo," Connor grumbled mutinously. Jester sighed. "It's just not important right now, in the grand scheme of things. C'mon, time's ticking by. I'll meet you at the door," Jester said.

 

Turning her back, Jester floated off across the room and settled upon the floor beside the suite's door.

 

Once Connor had showered, dressed and met her at the door, Jester spoke, her expression sombre. "More than my appearance had been stripped from me. My identity - all that I had been and all that I was before that moment - had been stripped so clinically and brutally from me. Although I'm not as I was, I will become more than I ever could have become. I owe that to myself and to those mother-duckers," Jester said darkly. The human side of her registered Connor's appearance, which had been altered due to his change of clothing.

 

Connor's black leather and fur-collared bomber jacket hung open over a sky-blue t-shirt. These were complemented by Connor's slate grey combat pants, brown leather belt with its Poke Ball buckle and his black leather motorcycle gloves. His team's Poke Balls were clipped to a bandolier that encircled his waist, settled just above his belt at his waist. His hands were encased within brown leather motorcycle gloves. Old fashioned aviator goggles were slung by their strap to rest at his throat. Jester looked away steadily, feeling her mouth lose the vast majority of its moisture as she did so.

 

"I should have figured that you'd be a motorcyclist. Saddle up and I'll fly reconnaissance," Jester said, turning toward the door as she spoke. She could only hope that he hadn't noticed her slight stare.

Moments later, Jester activated her Reflect ability, refracted it until she was completely invisible and then met Connor outside of the Abandoned Power Plant. A tap upon his right shoulder made Connor jump and turn to face Jester, but she moved to his left-hand side and then spoke. "Twitchy little Lombre, aren't you? You snooze, you lose...and we can't have that. Rollout!," Jester said, liking the effect that her currently-disembodied voice had upon Connor. "Cut it out, Miscreant Mewtwo! Let's just continue my Gym Challenge," Connor said coolly. He used the Dull Key to enter The Abandoned Power Plant and Jester followed at his heels, chuckling internally.

 

They were met with an entrance atrium and a series of locked silver doors identical to Julia's gym doors.

 

Activating the Gym Panel that was closest to the first silver door, Connor listened to Ame's advice. "Oh, hey, judging by your dial-in code, you're at Shade's Gym! Gym five, Connor - not too shabby. So, you'll notice that Shade's Gym is suuuuper dark, yes? You can utilise that blackout against him," Ame said. "How can I do that?," Connor asked respectfully.

 

"The lights flicker during his machinery's malfunctions. Launch a supercharged and surgical strike when this occurs. You may just short out the circuitry, but it's well worth the old college try," Ame contributed. "That's a brilliant idea! Thanks, Ame, you're a lifesaver," Connor said, enthused. In the Great Hall, Ame rolled her eyes. "I did save your life, remember? From the Reborn train. Good luck out there. Bye for now!," Ame chirped. The line dropped out. The panel blacked out.

 

Connor turned to Jester and shrugged, his winsome grin falling as he did so. "She's cheering me on from the sidelines, I'm sure of it. OK, gym puzzles," Connor said, unperturbed. Dashing off to the end of the entrance atrium's left hand corridor, Connor happened upon a room which contained a series of additional corridors and monitors.

 

Turning into a right hand corridor, Connor ventured up the pitch black corridor, aiding only by the occasional flickering of an LED overhead series of lights. Arriving at a bank of a mishmash of high-tech computers and state of the art Smart TVs, Connor jumped as a monitor flickered to life. The monitor showed a scenario in which the aquamarine-haired Amaria was shoved offscreen by a woman with neon red hair. The red contained a unique streak of titanium grey, leading Jester to correctly guess the woman's identity before Connor could get a chance to.

 

Whether Amaria had just plummeted off of a cliff or other outcrop, rocky or otherwise, was left up to the viewer's imagination.

 

"Well, that's not at all foreboding," Connor opined with sarcasm, turning away from the monitor with an unsuppressed and volatile shudder. He returned to the corridor's beginning and continued onward through the room, walking to the main corridor's end only to venture northward and up to a secondary setup that was identical to the first monitor-computer one. Connor pressed a button upon the keyboard of the central monitor and a secondary scenario played out upon the monitor. This time, it was a woman with maroon hair who turned in time to arrive face to face with a Garchomp. Said delightful Garchomp then swung its scythes and decapitated her.

 

The screen faded to black as Connor looked visibly ready to retch. How he managed not to do so, Jester would never know.

 

"Moving on," Connor said monosyllabically, doing an about-face upon one foot and marching back to this room's entrance. Jester said nothing as she floated after Connor, her thoughts consistently churning as she tried to make sense of what they had seen. The monitors seemed to serve as either an advance warning system or as a Pensieve-like memory bank of a person or persons unknown.

 

Another monitor nearby showed Corey Molinar stepping backward off of Beryl Bridge. He plunged to his premature death, an incessant expression of resigned acceptance upon his face maintained throughout his fall. "I hadn't managed to save that depressed Poison Leader. Hadn't even given me his Badge before he fell," Connor said. His tone was apologetic, his shoulders slumped in a guilt-ridden slouch as he stared at the blanked out visage of the monitor screen.

 

He seemed to blame himself for his inability to prevent Corey's death and although Jester empathised with Connor's feelings about that matter, she sought to alleviate his grief and guilt. "Real talk: I'd met Corey Molinar. Battled his reserve and earned his Badge. Corey was despondent AF and not inclined to an outlook other than bleak and done with it all. His choice hadn't been at all your fault," Jester said soothingly. Connor appeared unconvinced, but he gave a nod that indicated that he appreciated her cheer-up attempt nevertheless.

 

In an effort to both change the subject and also offer a potential battle solution, Jester cleared her throat, then spoke.

 

"If you can activate the machinery during your battle, then you can deactivate Shade's Field and hit the lights. You'd also receive a Steel and Electric boost for your trouble. His shadow strength would be significantly reduced, which can only be a boon to you," Jester pitched in helpfully. Pausing in the middle of his machine inspection, Connor turned to face his best guess of her direction and spoke. "How could you possibly know that? You're a Pokemon. You have no Gym battle experience. Unless...," Connor trailed off. Jester finished his train of thought. "Unless I'm also a fellow Trainer and Gym Challenger? Right you are, Connor. I hadn't always been a Pokemon," Jester explained.

 

Shaking his head slowly in more than negligible disbelief, an incredulous Connor sought to smooth over any surface tension that might devolve into lingering, thorny hostility. "That's awesome! Your being a Gym Challenger slash Trainer, I mean. Not the Pokemon metamorphosis, obviously. Care to elaborate along the way? I'll shut up for now," Connor replied, sensing the charged and developing animosity that Jester bore toward the subject of her current circumstances and their initial occurrence. "Please do zip your lips for the time being. We have to concentrate upon formulating and finding a solution to this Gym puzzle, after all," Jester responded, levitating off of the silver tiled floor as she 'spoke.'

 

As Jester conjured up a Shadow Ball to serve as a meagre source of light within this darkness, she saw Connor's face light up as he turned back to the machine in front of him. "What's that, metaphorical cat?," Jester enquired of Connor. "You just referred to you and I as partners in this game of dubious fame. I'll take it. Pokemon Lord knows I need all of the help that I can get," Connor said blatantly. Another monitor that they reached by circumnavigating this room revealed yet another monitor/computer hybrid databank. The person onscreen exploded, leaving a litter pile of such macabre effect that Connor did take the time to locate a corner and throw up within it.

 

The screen had long since deteriorated to black when Connor returned to where Jester stood. "OK," Connor said unsteadily, "Level 40 is the current level cap. Thanks to some Common Candies, my team are Levels 36-37. Let's get back to the main entrance." They made tracks back to the main entrance atrium. Upon their return there, they found the silver doors had been retracted, leaving the way to Shade unbarred. As Jester and Connor approached the main corridor's end, a voice spoke from within the pitch darkness.

 

"Very bold of you to set foot here. Not every Trainer rises up to be able to challenge me," the voice's gravel-toned owner said dully. Connor was undaunted. "Yeah? Thanks. It's quite pessimistic of you to not factor in this individual's dogged persistence," Connor called, calling forth his first Pokemon, his Level 38 Mightyena, Mighty. 

 

Suddenly, all of the Plant's lights snapped on one after the other, bathing the interiour within a ghostly, flickering sky-blue hue that was tinged, at its periphery, with an ethereal burnt-orange shimmer. A figure at the end of the room, standing in front of a wall to wall bank of large and wide-screened Smart TVs slowly turned to face the duo. His insubstantial edges flickered a deep and dark crimson, while within this dark halo of sorts stood a phantasm wearing a charcoal fedora, a black trenchcoat with upturned collars, black shoes and a charcoal long-sleeved shirt.

 

Black combat pants with navy pockets and navy socks finalised his outfit. This alone would have been enough to make one wary, but the addition of his ear to ear, sinister grin, combined with his red eyes which stared at everything and at nothing, gave Jester and Connor cause for great pause. Shade sent out his Level 35 'Corey,' a Gengar who had been nicknamed after Poison Leader Corey himself.

 

"Shadow Ball, Corey!," Shade called, in a voice unused to speech. "That's very much in bad taste, you know that, right? Mighty, Crunch!," Connor called. His Mightyena struck with a nimble speed, clamping its fangs and jaw down upon the corporeal part-Poison ghost's head.

 

'Corey' screeched with tremendous pain and shook kk off, lunging backward momentarily before he sprang forward, unbidden by Shade.

 

The moment that 'Corey' hit the floor, the Ghost/Poison Gengar flinched and then fainted. The dark Field immediately brightened and lost its Dark boost effect. Shade recalled 'Corey,' then sent in his Level 37 Rotom. "Discharge, Rotom," Shade croaked at the Electric/Ghost. His Rotom fired a shocking surge of electricity at Mightyena which hit like a truck. Shaking off the strong current that afflicted him momentarily, Mightyena barked at his opponent several times to voice his displeasure. "Excellent, Mighty, now use Snarl!," Connor commanded.

 

His Mightyena loosed a hair-raising and savage snarl at Shade's secondary Pokemon as soon as it was sent in. Rotom shrieked with pain, only to be brought down by a mighty Crunch from Mightyena.

 

Shade recalled his Corey and his Rotom, then shoved their Poke Balls into his trenchcoat pockets. He threw out his Level 34 Dhelmise, his third, onto the battlefield. "Crunch that dead weight, Mighty. You're slaying it!," Connor called. The vastly more swift Mightyena bit down upon the dark anchor and the Water/Ghost Dhelmise fainted. Shade tilted his head super slowly from left to right before he sent out his Level 38 Mimikyu. His fourth smirked as it awaited Shade's instructions, oblivious to its dreary surroundings.

 

Confident that Connor's Moxie-boosted Mighty could and would sweep this Gym battle and Gym, Jester nevertheless waited with bated breath. Shade still had three Pokemon, counting this one, at his disposal. Some tanking of Shadow Claw attacks later and Mighty Crunch-ed it to faint status. Recalling his Mimikyu, Shade sent out his Level 37 Doublade. Aware that this fifth Pokemon could pack a surprise punch, Connor shifted from foot to foot, but remarkably held his nerve and his own against Shade and his somewhat demonic team.

 

It was Steel/Ghost typing, which gave it a decent bulk and a not to scoff at type coverage. One Crunch later and the Doublade was done for. "...," Shade fumed. He recalled Doublade. Shade sent in his final Pokemon, a Level 36 Banette. This was his sixth and his battle fate would either soar with it or be sealed by its opponent. "Crunch!," Connor called and once Mighty had inflicted an obscene ammount of damage to the Banette, Connor switched out for his Level 37 Luxray, which dominated the battle with a superfast Bite attack. Banette passed out, awarding the battle win to Connor. Shade began to shake. Slowly at first, but then more rapidly.

 

His movements were spasmodic, irrefutable and incontrollable, but he managed to freeze them enough to recall his Banette. When he next spoke, it was with a considerable ammount of effort.

 

"Abyss favours the forsaken," Shade said cryptically. "Omen Badge." He drew a Badge out of his left trench pocket and handed it to Connor, who crossed the field to take it from Shade's left hand. "Can Flash...Level 45...Gift," Shade concluded, handing over TM65 Shadow Claw. Jester suspected that Shade would then dissipate and completely vanish via teleport, but Shade did not. "Power...activate. Observe," Shade said. The power was activated and upon the screen behind Shade, a new scenario played out. Cain, Heather, Shelly and three people whom Connor didn't recognise were standing in front of a door within The Underground Railnet.

 

The door opened and the pink-purple haired young woman in front of a monitor opened her mouth to speak. She did not. "Connor did it! He opened the door," a voice that Jester recognised as belonging to a girl from the Orphanage, Anna, said merrily. Her brother, Noel, stood next to her. A man whom Jester recognised as being the red-eyepatch wearing man from the Mosswater Factory strode through the door and spoke.

 

"Greetings, all. This is unexpectedly convenient," Eye Patch said laconically. "And you are?," Computer Girl asked. "That's above your pay-grade, little lady. Seize them," Eye Patch said venomously. Meteor Admins Aster and Eclipse poured out of the door behind him and seized everyone, sequentially, but Cain.

 

Cain tried to flee, but he didn't get far before he summoned forth his Nidoking. "Earthquake!," Cain commanded. The ground between himself and Eclipse fractured more than incrementally and soon a wide chasm engulfed the floor between their feet. "Return, let's beat feet," Cain said with grim satisfaction, recalling his Nidoking before he turned and sauntered away.

 

"Uh, Sir?," Eclipse grumbled, turning back toward Eye Patch. "He's not part of our deal. This is exactly what the Doctor ordered," Eye Patch said grimly. "Exactly what we need," Eclipse agreed. The screen faded to black.

 

Connor muttered even as he watched the scene play out. "Forsaken. Those corrupted by the loss of everything of deep significance to them. They languish within such despondence and endless anguish that they suffer needlessly," Connor posited. Jester nodded. "Abandoned or deserted, they turn renegade, susceptible to external guidance and influence. Driven to commit acts of atrocity that go against their better nature, most feel compelled to right a great injustice. Their misfortune had been the card that Fate had dealt to them," Jester added.

 

Brows furrowed, Connor nodded. "Due to Corey's dark influence, Heather herself turned rogue. It explains alot about Corey's past motivations," Connor added. "Dying souls offer the key to your gain," Shade said. "Throwing shade as per usual, I see," Jester snarled. Shade offered her a shark's toothy grin. "Damn it!," Connor snapped, stepping forward as though to intercept Shade's teleportation. "Let not them suffer to the poison in vain," Shade concluded.

 

The entity disappeared before Connor could collar him.

 

Landing in front of the console that Shade had activated for them, Connor curled his fingers into fists and slammed them down onto the floor before the feet of the console. This resulted within superficial abrasion damage to his hands, but in light of the revelations that had been granted unto Connor and Jester, this was viewed as insignificant.

 

"Come on, let's leave this thankless place," Jester said. Pushing himself out of his crouch and quickly upright, Connor turned and wordlessly led the way out of the plant, followed by Jester, who walked close to his heels down the hallway. Emerging out into the natural light from the artificial interiour light brought them no relief, merely resignation and a renewed determination. Nothing bad would happen upon their watch so long as they could possibly prevent it from happening. Jester thought back to the identities of each of the Railnet people.

 

Now, outside of the constraint strain that the machines had placed upon them with their weak, somewhat signal scrambling brain pulse, Jester and Connor were able to recollect that Computer Girl was the red-jacketed orphan, Charlotte. The others were people whom they had both met before, specifically Noel, Anna, Cain, Shelly and Heather.

 

*

 

A/N: If Shade's team has been changed in Episode 18, I will edit this Gym Battle to best reflect this.

Edited September 13, 2021 by Valyrian_Reforged

[Valyrian_Reforged]

Chapter Three: The Cousin

 

"No. Freaking. Way. I can't believe you aced that Shade battle!," Jester exclaimed. She flopped back onto the futon, then sprang to her feet. Her expression of utmost alarm made Connor laugh as he closed and locked the appartment door behind himself. "I'm glad that my bed meets with your approval, Mewtwo. That dark Field hadn't been a walk in the park," Connor replied mildly.

 

Feeling the lingering effects of sheer mortification, Jester lifted her nose into the air. "Your Luxray sure came in clutch in that battle, but your Mighty was the sheer MVP," Jester replied. Connor nodded, but it was obvious that his mind was elsewhere, unfocused upon naught but his own troubled thoughts.

 

"Earth to Elder! Do you read me?," Jester enquired, with a roll of her eyes. Returning to his present with a concerted effort, Connor blinked and shook his head slowly. His head-clearance attempt was moderately successful as he replayed her words back within his mind. "I read you loud and clear now, but I'm worried about the others. Heather and the others...I hope that they're OK," Connor said, troubled. Jester frowned, her blue eyes darkening as she, too, thought about the kidnapped Railnet victims. "I'm sure that they'll be fine, so long as the Meteors' demands are met," Jester said flatly. Connor scowled. "No demands have been announced as of yet. If we leave now, there's still a chance that we can rescue our friends. What are we waiting for?," Connor demanded, turning back toward the appartment door.

 

He had just placed his hand upon it when the door handle turned, seemingly of its own accord. Connor had time enough to jump backward as the door was flung wide-open. A figure rushed into the appartment, nudged the door closed behind them with their preferred foot and gasped upon seeing Connor. The latter casually reached past the figure and latched the appartment door shut before the figure could speak. "Mewtwo, meet my cousin, Kieron Baines. KB, meet Mewtwo. Freak-out in three...two...," Connor said amiably.

 

"Naw, man. A Mewtwo, in my appartment? You've got to be - shiitake mushrooms on a hotplate, how did you get here?," Kieron enquired of Jester, finally noticing her upon a scan of his appartment. "Oh, you know, the usual way. You might know of it, Baines. It's called your front door," Jester said balefully.

 

Kieron jumped, his right hand flying to rest upon the first Poke Ball that hung, bandolier style, from the first and hip loop of his jeans' belt-loops. "Mothertrucker, man, it can speak! How can it speak? Connor, what the Hell?," Kieron said, speaking at just under a yell in volume. His tone was incredulous, his expression unamused as Jester assumed her battle stance before him. Noting the sudden animosity between the two, Connor stepped smoothly in front of Kieron in an attempt to calm him down.

 

"Hey, c'mon, man, be cool. Mewtwo's a friend. And even though Mewtwos are usually genderless, I'm certain this Mewtwo is not an it," Connor said seriously. His tone gave Kieron a reality-check and the elder man slid his hand off of his ace's Poke Ball, his expression morphing from hostile to accepting.

 

Upon seeing Kieron's shift into neutrality, Jester eased out of her Kamehameha stance. She lowered her raised paws. The Shadow Ball that she had swiftly formulated slowly diminished until it vanished completely, doused by her will alone. "That's hella impressive, Mew...that's not your real name, right? Because that would be too simple. Life's anything but," Kieron said perceptively. Jester blinked, twice rapidly, which made Kieron grin impishly in response.

 

"I knew I was right! So, come on, then, get with the enlightenment, already," Kieron said gamely.

 

"Thanks. And if I choose to maintain my aura of mystery?," Jester asked, unenthused. Kieron crossed over to his kitchen's counter-top, placed his two shopping-bags upon the counter-top, then laid his hands, palm down, upon the counter-top. Leaning in toward Jester as he spoke, Kieron let his brows lower like twin cowls over his piercing, cobalt blue eyes. "Then for Connor's sake, you can stay, but you'll be relegated to the opposite of my hit list," Kieron replied coldly. Jester's slow smirk gradually deepened before she spoke up in her defence.

 

"Oh, so, your shi -," she said with relish, but Connor overruled her by speaking over her. "His 'usual suspect' list, yes. Believe me, that's not a place that you want to end up. I was on it once and it took me years to be scratched off its ledger. Say, KB -," Connor said grimly. It was his turn to be conversationally overridden by Jester, however.

 

"Whatever, Trevor. You want to know the first flush of my story? You'll get what I choose to give thus far, so listen close," Jester said smugly. Both Connor and Kieron gave Jester their undivided attention, which she noted with ease.

 

Taking a somewhat deep breath, Jester began to tell her tale. "You get what you give in this life. I certainly did. I gave of my talent and I received the attention that my talent drew to me. An invitation - of the 'one that you can't refuse' variety - was extended to me. I dressed to the nines that night, certain that it would change my life. Little did I know that it did, just not as I'd expected it to," Jester said imperiously. She took a steadying breath and, rallying, Jester continued.

 

"The Gym was dimly lit, the atmosphere grim. But then, I'd expected that. I'd even prepared for that. No sooner had I stepped into Beryl Arena, everything went to Hell in many hand-baskets. Noxious gas poured issued forth from countless vents. All seemed lost, but then...," Jester trailed off, her blue eyes darkening with the full recollection of her feelings that night.

 

Connor remained riveted upon the floor upon which he stood, utterly captivated by Jester's confession. "But then?," he prompted, in a cautious yet intrigued and courteous tone of voice. Jester swallowed the sudden lump in her throat and continued with renewed purpose.

 

"But then I collapsed to my knees, the paralytic nerve agent keeping me restrained within an invisible cage. I saw a hooded figure shove his hood back contemptuously as two other men rushed toward me. It was -," Jester continued, only to give an emphatic head shake that spoke of her vehement denial of this person's identity.

 

"It was? You can't just withhold the goods like that, it's not at all reasonable," Kieron called. he knew full well that what he had said could be interpreted as a double-entendre, but he didn't care. He felt rudimentarily invested within Jester's tale.

 

Jester sighed. "Oh, I can, Baines, and I will. Just before I passed out, a man wearing a red scarf scooped me into his arms in a bridal carry. A man with three voices spoke. One voice said, '"Silence suits the bird of song and serenity."' Another, in an entirely different tone of voice, said "Oh, let her sleep this slumber of painless sleep," only to be followed up by, "Perchance to awaken in a body of our own devising, should she survive The Insurmountable Mists," Jester said darkly.

 

Kieron's eyes widened, then automatically narrowed, zeroing in upon Jester from where he stood. Hands braced against the counter-top, he spoke. "The Insurmountable Mists? Sounds damn daunting to me. And then what happened? if you don't mind my asking," Kieron opined by way of implacable demand, although his tone was markedly softened as he spoke.

 

Kieron straightened up slowly and folded his arms, his feet planted equidistantly apart as he studied Jester closely.

 

"I awoke, some time unknown to me later, exactly as the last of that person had portended. My mind, my soul and my will remained my own. My body, however, was that of a Legendary Mewtwo," Jester responded sourly. Connor opened his mouth to speak, but Jester continued before he could do so. "I was trapped within a cylindrical medical tank, encased within some kind of murky green laboratory fluid. The chamber that I was in looked to be empty, but I didn't buy it. In that moment, I knew that all that I had to do to escape was forge my own fate," Jester said dourly.

 

Connor grimaced. "I imagine that took some forethought. Some sneaky sort of strategy," he prompted guilelessly. Jester shook her head slowly, drumming the pads of her left feline paw against her left cheek as she spoke. "It was beyond child's play. No strategy needed. That was when stuff got real," Jester elaborated. "Real, how? Explain, or so help me, I will -," Kieron commanded coarsely.

 

"You'll what? Call your League buddies and tell them that there's a talking Mewtwo in your place that you continually interrupt while she is speaking? Do it.," Jester said goadingly. Kieron metaphorically chewed upon Jester's challenge. She could practically see the gears grind within his mind as he did so.

 

"She? So you ARE a girl! Is that why you'd stared at me, previously? Did you like what you'd seen - me in my change of clothes?," Connor said slyly. Jester gave no comment. Kieron grinned a wolfish grin. "You both bicker like an old married couple. You know that, right?," Kieron pitched in. "No, we don't!," Jester and Connor said, hotly and simultaneously.

 

"Shut up, Connor," Jester said frostily. "Why don't you shut up, Mewtwo?," Connor called back. "Alternatively," Kieron said in a level tone, "you could both seal your lips, separately or otherwise. I could watch."

 

Connor and Jester were stunned into silence. They both averted their gaze from one another at once, as if they had just been scalded.

 

Kieron shook his head, studying Jester with a hardened cop's undeterred stare as he did so. "Do it. That's what I usually hear from my wife alone. Instead, I will offer you, Mewtwo, amnesty here for however long you may need it. The same goes for you, Cousin. But please do go on," Kieron returned casually. "Hold every single phone, bro! Since when have you been married? Why didn't I get an invite?," Connor asked belligerently, his expression deeply wounded. "We eloped. Certain individuals did not want us to be together, but we got the better of them. That's not all. We -," Kieron elucidated, but Jester's loud throat-clearance cut him off in midsentence.

 

Connor waved for Jester to continue. She did. "Put a pin in that emotional killjoy of a side-track. I have. Anyway, skids got real when I saw the Master Ball. One Psystrike from me blasted the tank wide-open. Some wannabe maverick confronted me as I commenced my escape. He looked like a military man and he sought to sway me to his side. I stated my case and I escaped. Then Connor met me," Jester said gravely. Connor nodded as Kieron swiveled toward him, clearly checking to see if Connor would corroborate Jester's version of events.

 

"I'll take it from here, Mewtwo. I was thinking about my next Gym Challenge, debating the best team formation for it, when I felt a strange atmospheric shift. It was akin to the feeling of being watched by an unseen observer, but it was amplified to the nth degree. I called out to the Pokemon that I suspected of being that observer, but it was some time before Mewtwo answered in turn," Connor began.

 

"Well, you try to speak to someone you'd yet to formally meet and see how well they take to you," Jester opined. Kieron's eyes gleamed with glee as he made to make an innuendo, but Connor's look of censure made his elder cousin mercifully remain silent.

 

"As I was saying, when I'd finally gained some semblance of hesitant pre-trust, I lowered my hoodie's hood. Mewtwo flipped out and flew the coop, so to speak. I had to chase her down with my Char to even try to get her to hear me out. It turned out that her captor, the military man, had been - and still is - my brother. It took a bit of convincing, but some time later, I helped Mewtwo gather her roughing-it stuff and hightail it here alongside of me," Connor said.

 

Kieron looked somewhat convinced, emboldened by Connor's and Jester's matching version of events. "Uh-huh. Then what happened? Surely there is more," Kieron said encouragingly, unfolding his arms as he spoke.

 

Jester scrubbed her right paw over her face in the manner of having done so quite often in her previous life. Lowering this paw, she sighed. "Then Mewtwo accompanied me to Shade's Gym. We switched on some monitors, saw some horrific portents of terrible and traumatic events of past or future and then...I battled Shade and won," Connor concluded. Jester lightly pressed her paws together. Pointing her paws at Connor, she held this concession-ceding pose for a moment. Drawing her paws apart, Jester slowly lowered them, returning them to her sides in an expressive fashion.

 

"Reign victorious, Connor did. Shade riddled us this and that and then he left. Then we returned here and I met you, Baines," Jester said.

 

Kieron pursed his lips, his ebony brows furrowed in mingled consternation and concentration as he gave a weary sigh, then spoke. "Call me Kieron, or Kier. Connor calls me KB. Only opposing council can call me Baines," Kieron said bossily.

 

"What does your wife call you, Kieron?," Jester enquired nosily. Upon hearing even the mention of his wife, Kieron's face lit up. His usually taciturn features were incredibly transformed as a result. "She calls me Kier...among other things," Kieron replied, "and our kids call me Kiery, interspersed with Dad."

 

You could hear many metaphorical things drop at once. Many mics around the world. Countless crickets chirping. An untold ammount of eyes turning to look their way. Jester's and Connor's jaws hitting the metaphorical floor in unchoreographed synchronicity.

 

"...What?," Kieron asked, honestly baffled as to why his pronouncement had caused no end of befuddlement to be inflicted upon his audience. The world resumed its most natural state of being. "I just can't picture that. You, as a father and husband. It boggles my mind," Jester opined some time later.

 

Again, Kieron opened his mouth to say something scandalous and innuendo-laden, but Connor spoke before he could do so.

 

"And that's enough of that. Moving right along. Can you two be counted upon to work together? We all need to be on the same page, not at cross-purposes with one another. It stands to reason that Mewtwo's successful consciousness transfer would serve to ramp up the likelihood of that same experiment upon perhaps multiple individuals," Connor said bleakly. Jester's spirits momentarily flagged, only to perk right back up to normal high spirits through her sheer force of powerhouse will. "We can. There could be more than one of me in labs in multiple places," Jester decoded.

 

Kieron heaved his heaviest sigh yet, then he spoke. "Yeah. Maybe," he said shrewdly, "they'll all surprise you when they ambush you."

 

Jester pressed her lips into a thin line before she spoke. "Maybe they'll make my day and you'll be with us when they do just that. How do you like me now, Kieron?," Jester fired back. Kieron looked Jester up and down, then tilted his head to the side as he met and held her gaze. "You've been raised a fair few notches within my personal estimation. Don't tell anyone that I've said that. I kind of dig this mutual rapport," Kieron confided charismatically. Connor folded his arms, looking Kieron squarely within his eyes.

 

"Go dig somewhere else, K. For all anyone knows, Mewtwo might be taken, and you're married," he said contentiously. "Rapport doesn't sever that easily. So you DO care for Mewtwo!," Kieron crowed.

 

"It's not like that," Jester and Connor said. "Speaking in unison again? By the time that Mewtwo regains her human form, you two will have some facing-up to do and some literal face-time to catch up on. I'll be the guy nearby with the popcorn and the 'I told you so.'," Kieron crooned. Jester hissed at Kieron, then scowled. "That may never happen. He may have a certain type," Jester said flatly. Connor said nothing. Kieron shrugged his left shoulder, infuriatingly at ease. "It's not what you'd said. It's what you hadn't said," Kieron said smugly.

 

Jester rolled her eyes. "What fresh riddle is that?," Jester snarled. "The one that you must unravel. Don't worry, I'll wait. It'll be well worth my while to bear witness to that. I'mma grab a shower. You make yourselves even more at home than you already seem to have done. Back soon," Kieron said breezily.

 

With that said, Kieron went and got his shower on, leaving an awkward silence stretched between Connor and Jester. "Soooo," Connor ventured, after twelve minutes had passed. The sound of the shower shutting off heralded the beginnings of Kieron's return to the open-plan suite and Jester dreaded his return. In the wake of Kieron's love prediction, nothing seemed to make the sense that it previously had.

 

"So leave it," Jester advised. With that said, she floated across the room and landed upon a window seat within a breakfast nook nearby the kitchen's island bench. She curled up like a cat upon the seat and considered closing her eyes, but remained both guarded and on guard. Connor slid the fingers of his hands through his hair, making it stand in porcupine spikes before he smoothed his hair down by force of habit. "Consider it left...for now," Connor mumbled, as he crossed over to the foldout sofa and busied himself with the search through his backpack of his pyjamas.

 

Connor had just found his fitted black singlet and his maroon boxer shorts when Kieron swaggered in wearing an unbuttoned navy shirt and black boxer shorts. "Jinx!," Kieron said, firing finger-guns at Connor as he crossed to lean back against his island bench.

 

"Where?," Connor joked, making Kieron chortle with rumbling laughter that suited him. "Seriously, though, that only works if we're wearing the same outfit, not just one part of the same outfit," Connor said astutely. "Ye of much nerdiness, Cousin. Never change all that makes you utterly yourself," Kieron advised. "OK, KB, I won't change that part of myself," Connor replied. Meanwhile, Jester closed her eyes, having heard every word. Sleep claimed her.

 

The two cousins bade each other goodnight and slept individually within their separate beds.

Edited September 16, 2021 by Valyrian_Reforged

[Valyrian_Reforged]

Oh, my Lords Arceus, Helix and the like,

 

Hello, all, and apologies for my abscence. Life has been a Whirlwind for me as of late, which has necessitated my taking time out to myself and for myself. I assure you all that I am doing well and refocusing alot less upon fangames that I need to play (I am focusing solely upon the ones that I am writing about here, instead), as this will result within less stress about meeting self-imposed deadlines and more chill time to write and post my story content in a timely yet relaxed manner and method. In my defence, I have been afk up until today.

 

*

 

EDIT: I will now write and post Chapter Four asap, starting from tomorrow, my time. (Fri 24/09/21). I will edit it here upon its completion. OK, so I have decided to focus my attentions upon each of these fanfiction works, but one at a time. I will complete Alisa, then Alto and only then will I complete Jester, then Myriad. I had been focusing upon posting one chapter for each and splitting my attention between them before now, but I have to do what's right for me. If this will require a story repost for Alto, Myriad and/or Jester, then I request permission to repost them (I don't know how and/or if posts that don't get updated regularly would then get archived or not.)

Edited September 29, 2021 by Valyrian_Reforged
chapter update stress