Chapter Twenty-Five: Fit to Burst



Terra's POV



"You know," Pywicket says over fish dinner with the group. "I was hoping Tiny here would pull an eleventh-hour epiphany out of his arse and actually beat me, not get some mismatched mutt out of left field to break up the fight."



Gladion seems to have accepted the Unown's translation spell as not worth oohing and ahhing over. "And I was hoping Ilima could go one day without me and Silvally having to save his butt. Guess we were both disappointed."



"How'd you two even meet?" I ask.



"I was kept back a grade in class, so my mother hired him as my tutor. It was awkward at first, because being seen in public with a guy with pink hair leads itself to certain... assumptions." Gladion examines the fish that the Unown served him. "Hey, is this fish going to vanish once I leave you guys, or will it stay where it is?"



We believe the fish will be permanent.



"When did you find out he was a Mew?" I ask.



"Sometime after Guzma punched him in the gut for taking videos of him doing things he shouldn't have been doing and Ilima shouldn't have been recording."



"Wait, what?" I ask.



Ilima tries to hide his face. Gladion keeps going. "You know what you did, 'Lima. But there's no reason to talk about it. The point is, Guzma was going to murder him, when 'Lima's voice went all funny and he politely told Guzma to eff off, and Guzma actually did so. That was our first clue 'Lima had psychic powers."



I turn to Ilima, who's gone back to being human again and is fully clothed. "Why didn't you just use them on that Persian?"



Ilima shrugged. "I don't like taking control of someone else's mind like that. I only use them when absolutely necessary -- like when a great big Machoke of a man tries to strangle me and I need to convince him not to do that."



"Or to get information out of that Rocket guy." I pause. "Is that why you didn't use Psychic attacks on -- Piewick, was it?"



"Pywacket. And yes. It's quite rude to infringe on someone else's mind, isn't it?"



I nod. "I take it you've met Pywacket before?"



"It was a while back. I wasn't doing a phenomenal job as a Mew, so I decided to try being a Meowth for a while." Ilima frowns. "I didn't approve of the whole stealing thing, so I broke off from that."



Pywacket snorts. "Well, the world isn't gonna give you what you want on a silver platter. You gotta take what you can!"



The Unown buzz in disapproval. And I expect we did nothing?



There's an awkward silence.



"Speaking of stealing," Gladion says, "I've got good news and I've got bad news."



"What news?" Gary asks between bites of fish.



"The good news is, Team Rocket no longer has interests in kidnapping you," he says to Ilima.



Ilima stiffens. "Is the bad news that they think I'm a freak?"



"No, the bad news is that apparently, rescuing the people of Pallet Town at this point would destroy them. Sabrina didn't give me any details, so I don't know if she's honest or not. But if what she did say is accurate, they're undergoing some sort of massive experiment."



"Project Burst..." Ilima thinks out loud. "Right, you never heard about that. We're not sure what it is, only that it's some great experiment involving humans and Pokemon, and the people of Pallet Town are a part of it."



"And also, yes, they do think you're a freak."



Ilima shoots Gladion the look that cats will give you when you are clearly being an idiot. Even when he's human, this look carries the same connotations.



"...sorry," Gladion says, staring down at his plate. "I didn't mean it to come out like that."



"Project Burst..." I say, trying to remember why this name seems so important. "Humans and Pokemon... could it be named for the Burst Hearts, like the one Gladion has?"



"Could be," Ilima says.



"But what does it mean?" I ask. "Are they trying to replicate the effects of Burst Hearts? Why not just use Burst Hearts themselves?"



"This may come as a shock to you," Gladion says, "but Burst Hearts aren't nearly as common as you'd think."



"It takes time for a Synergy Stone to absorb enough aura to function as a Burst Heart," Ilima says. "And while alchemists in ancient Unova once knew how to create artificial Burst Hearts that functioned similarly to Poke Balls, containing an actual Pokemon, the how and why has been lost to science."



"Which could be exactly what Team Rocket is trying to do," Gladion says. "But not just anyone can use a Burst Heart. It takes special training and peak physical performance. If they're using random villagers to test Burst Hearts, it could end pretty badly."



"Not just random villagers," Gary says. "They're from Pallet Town. People from Pallet Town have a natural connection to Pokemon. All of the past twenty Champions of the Kanto/Johto region have been from Pallet Town."



"You think that's why they chose Pallet Town to kidnap?" Gladion asks. "If Project Burst involves, you know..."



"...actual Burst Hearts?" Ilima says. "Could be. But maybe since it's such a quiet and isolated town, they figured they could get away with it easier."



"The question is, why aren't more people talking about this?" Gary asks. "My gramps is the most famous professor in the world. He runs a daily radio show. You'd think more people would care that he suddenly disappeared along with his entire hometown."



"Something is definitely not right here," Ilima agrees. "And if they're working with Sabrina, they could well be brainwashing the entire region, maybe even the police, to not take notice."



Gladion flinches. "Speaking of brainwashing... I know who that red-haired guy is who tried to kill us with Giratina."



"Who?" several of us ask at once.



"Lance Blackthorn. Of the Elite Four."



I spit out my fish, which quickly gets snapped up by Benga. "Lance... Elite Four Lance? Since when can he control dimensional dragons? Since when is he evil?"



"Since now, apparently -- if Sabrina's word can even be trusted. I think she let me go because I was Lance's enemy, and apparently he's a much bigger threat than we are to her."



"Yeah, the strongest member of the Elite Four is more dangerous than a bunch of kids," Gary says sarcastically. "Who knew?"



I consider this. "Then... Lance was the one who got me thrown from that Dragonite." I should have known -- I'd read the manga. This world seems to be some amalgamation of different Pokemon canons, and somehow always in the most sucky way imaginable. "But how did I even survive that?"



You DID have our protection over you at the time, the Unown say. Even if it was strained by your falling through a plate glass greenhouse and into a compost bin.



"You, haha, saw that?"



We read your memories.



Great, I think. As stupid as I think it was for Ilima not to have used any actual psychic moves against Pywacket, I'm beginning to see why he dislikes them. "No wonder Ilima only uses psychic moves as a last resort."



"Yeah," Gladion says, "usually he's too nice. Doesn't show his claws much. He's practically neutered."



"Hey!" Ilima shouts.



"Okay, poor choice of words. I mean, you have all these neato psychic powers, but you rarely use them. I mean, did you even try to use Psychic against that Persian?"



Ilima stares down at the floor. "Not really..."



"Well, no wonder you got beaten down. Your foes aren't gonna hold back, and neither can you. Especially since we need to face Team Rocket and Lance both."



"I'm sorry! It's just that in the middle of the battle, I just feel so much going on around me when I try to use my powers, and I just freeze up and I can barely do anything!"



"Then dial back your powers," Gladion says. "If that's what you have to do to keep your focus, do it! Not everything needs examining with a fine-toothed comb, especially in the heat of battle. Keep your eye on your opponent, sure, but don't freeze yourself up over it."



Something's bothering me, something that's been bothering me for a while. "Guys, I... I don't think I'm going to be able to help you against Team Rocket."



Silence.



When no one else speaks up, I continue. "I've only been a trainer for a couple of days. I don't know if I can handle a real battle, one where there's more to lose than pocket change. I... I just don't want to get Benga and Yoshi really hurt, maybe captured or worse. You all seem like experienced trainers, but I'm... not."



Gladion has a look on his face that I can't really make out. Same with Gary and the others. But Gladion's is different, as if he's not sure whether this is a good thing or not.



Benga looks up at me. "But you're the best human ever! Surely you can handle whatever happens, right? You've always pulled through before!"



I still feel kind of weird that I can understand him. I hope this Unown translation aura lasts a while. "That's because before, the worst I ever had to deal with was school bullies and racists. Now I have to deal with psychics, dragonborn, and glitch cultists!"



"Speaking of which," Wes says, pulling the glove off his right hand, "Anyone know how t' fix this?"



Kappa and the other Unown float up to the burning scar. We cannot remove this hex, they say, but we can weaken it. Your connection to the Squirtle shell will remain, but it will not drain your energy quite as quickly. It should leave you with enough time to get to Johto and find someone with time magic to reverse your curse.



Wes turns to me. "See? Yer not th' only one that's got elsewhere to be. Maybe we can set off together..."



"NO," Gladion says firmly. "I know how you are around ladies. We're not going through that again."



I glance at Ilima. "Um, isn't Ilima a Mew? Can't he, well, transform into a Celebi and lift the curse?"



Ilima sighs. "We've been over this before, Terra. Just because I can doesn't mean I know how to. If I tried to do it and it failed, I could just spread the curse even farther and make things worse for all of us."



"Well, we're closer to Saffron now than to Johto," Gary says. "And I'm certainly not giving up on saving my family. If it was your folks, you wouldn't just leave them to be experimented on, would you?"



Gary's eyes fall on each of us -- Shu, Wes, Ilima, Gladion, and me. "Family means no one gets left behind. We have our way in -- we all saw catboy teleport in that battle. I for one am not leaving my family captured by scientific psychopaths. We've got to do something, before it really is too late."



"But what CAN we do?" Shu asks.



Gary turns around and faces the Unown. "You letter guys said you were able to disguise Ilima as a real human, with a human aura. Can you transform us all into Rocket grunts? You know, make us feel like Rocket grunts to fool even Sabrina?"



That we can do, the Unown say hesitantly, but you will need some of our number to accompany you to keep the illusion running. Separation from the Unown horde will weaken the disguise just enough so that a skilled psychic can see through it.



"Does Unown magic still work when you're in Poke Balls?" Gladion asks.



It does. However, we perceive that you trainers have a limited number of Poke Balls you may carry, so we suggest another method of linking us to you.



A trio of Unown float up to Ilima. Before he can speak, the three Unown arrange themselves on the argyle pattern on his shirt, forming the word BOY in Unown.



Wes laughs a little. "Well, that oughta clear up any confusion."



I gasp in amazement. The Unown are no longer recognizable as Unown. They've passed from the third dimension, merging completely with the fabric.



Benga blinks. "So THAT'S how they made it onto the tiles you brought back from the conference!"



Indeed. A group of smaller Unown hover around Benga, attaching to his collar. We needed to find a hero from outside Pokearth to prevent the planet's destruction. We apologize if this was inconvenient for you, but we do believe you can do it.



"Which of us? Me, or Benga?"



You are the one who asked us to take us with you. You have been dreaming of this journey all your life. We presumed you would be ready for it.



"I don't know..." I tap my foot anxiously. "I mean, look at the rest of these guys! They've lived their whole lives with Pokemon! What is it that I have that they don't?"



You are from another world, the Unown say simply. Only one who is from another world can save our world.



"What the heck is that supposed to mean? I told you, I'm TWELVE! Why not find one of those older Pokemon fans that grew up on the series?"



We set up the challenge to receive our relic not to the person who battled the best, but the person who knew our world the most. Knowledge is power, Terra. In the right hands, it can be a deadly weapon.



"I don't want to be a deadly weapon! I want to go home!"



And that was when the giant mecha stomped into the alley.