Chapter Text
They all reappeared before Selene, awaiting them in front of her white palace, and Gancena couldn’t be happier.
“Selene!” she exclaimed, running forward.
“Gancena!” Selene returned, streams of light reaching out for her. She caught Gancena in an embrace as real as any other. “I knew you could do it.”
Ash clung to Gancena’s shoulder, unsure what to make of Selene’s form. But another tendril of light came out of Selene and petted Ash’s head gently. “Hello, Ash.”
“Piika!?” Ash cried.
Selene chuckled and pulled away from Gancena. “You did well. I’m pleased to see you’ve made so many friends already.”
“So you saw?” Gancena asked.
“I can see you and whoever’s with you, yes,” Selene clarified. “I can’t intervene except to resurrect you, however, and even that is still difficult. But now you’ve found a Runestone! This is already great progress!”
“So what happens now?” Gancena asked.
“First… I would like to say hello to a dear friend,” Selene said, floating past Gancena and most of the Pokémon. “Mewtwo. Thank you so much for doing this.”
Mewtwo actually smiled. “I made a promise.”
“Even though you didn’t have to,” Selene said, light tendrils reaching out to him. “I’m so happy to finally see you here.”
Mewtwo slightly stiffened at the embrace, but ultimately relaxed. “I can only imagine. Amber… why does your chosen one call you ‘Selene’?”
“Why does Mewtwo call you ‘Amber’?” Gancena asked. “Is there something else I need to know?”
Selene briefly chimed. “You’ll remember when I first brought you here that I mentioned you being the first person from the origin world I ever interacted with. Yes?”
Gancena recalled and nodded. “Yes!”
“However, that doesn’t mean you were the first person I interacted with, period. Before the Thoughtless became a threat and I had a better eye on all the worlds, I saw Mewtwo by himself and I reached out to him.”
“It wasn’t welcome at first,” Mewtwo said.
“That is true. There aren’t exactly others like me,” Selene continued, “so I was honest about what I was from the start, and Mewtwo decided to trust me and believe me on his own.”
“She took a different form, as well…” Mewtwo added. “I eventually saw her as a very young girl, but as the Thoughtless became a bigger threat, she ended up taking this form more and more.”
“So is this the form you kind of default to, then, Selene?” Gancena asked.
“It’s one of them. Both you and Mewtwo see me based on your perceptions. You see me as a strange, potent, but benevolent entity, so this form was perfect for encapsulating that. Mewtwo chose a young girl because he’d never seen a young human do anything like what his creators did.”
Mewtwo glanced away.
“So… if the Thoughtless weren’t an issue, you could change into anything?”
“More or less. I’d ultimately pick a form you were comfortable with.”
“I see. But where did ‘Amber’ come from?” Gancena asked.
“The same place ‘Selene’ did for you,” Mewtwo answered. “It simply felt right.”
“So why didn’t you introduce yourself as ‘Amber’ when I asked what your name was?”
Selene chimed. “I wanted each of your names for me to reflect our relationships. Mewtwo, you can keep calling me ‘Amber’ all you like. You know that ‘Selene’ is simply the name my chosen hero picked.”
“As you said,” Mewtwo responded, looking back. “But now we have business to conduct. The Thoughtless will rest for no one.”
“Yeah, that’s right,” Gancena agreed. “So what do we do now?”
“First, we must place the Rune back in its spot at the Rune Tower,” Selene answered. “That will restore a bit of my power. Then, I would like you all to take some time to rest. What Mewtwo said is true, but this world is safe as long as I’m here, and especially with a Rune put back in place. You just finished a long journey. You deserve a break. Then, Gancena, once you’re recovered but before you go on to the next world, I have something else to teach you.”
Selene began to float towards the palace. Gancena and her group followed, with Mewtwo taking the rear. “What is it?” Gancena asked.
Selene chuckled. “You’ll see.”
Selene led them to the center of the palace and up the spiral staircase. Gancena shivered as she remembered that a mere few days before, she’d been walking up here with nothing but the clothes on her back and the socks on her feet. Now she had five companions following her.
She glanced back at Biran as he made his way up the stairs. “Doing all right?”
Biran nodded and continued stepping carefully.
“With permission, Selene, there is something I’d like to address after the Rune is back in place, but before Captain Gancena and her companions rest.”
“That’s perfectly fine. All of you, please never be afraid to speak your mind to me,” Selene said.
When everyone entered her room, Selene opened the door to the central chamber, and she and Mewtwo easily floated up. Haunter followed promptly.
“You can jump up, Biran,” Selene encouraged. Biran paused and let Floss get a good grip on his neck before crouching and leaping up into the chamber.
“Nice job!” Gancena called, and Biran trilled proudly, smiling.
Selene reached down to Gancena and pulled her up, just like before. Ash still held on to her shoulder.
When Gancena was firmly on the ground, the Rune Tower reappeared. All the Pokémon but Mewtwo made an awed sound.
“Where does this one go?” Gancena asked, approaching.
“It’ll go to its place once you remove it,” Selene said.
“Okay.” Gancena held the Runestone and carefully pulled it off her chest. It offered no resistance. She let it go, and it went spiraling all around the Rune Tower before settling in one of its numerous holes. It glowed once more before settling down, and a thin spiral of light began to rise from the top of the Tower.
Selene, too, glowed a bit more brightly for a moment, and she sighed in relief. “That already feels better. Thank you, Gancena.”
“So each of these is for a Runestone we need to collect?” Haunter asked, floating towards the top of the Rune Tower.
“Yes. The Runes I’ve determined we needed are all here. Many of them were chosen because of their game’s particular staying power with its players. A few were finalized only when Gancena accepted the quest.”
“Let me see… so that one aside, there’s one, two, three…” Haunter counted, spiraling around the Tower until he returned to the bottom. “Nineteen!” he exclaimed. “Nineteen other Runes we need!”
“Only?” Gancena asked. “It looked like there were more…”
“Gancena, did you ever count how many spaces there were?” Haunter asked.
“No. I didn’t care. I was already more than ready to accept the quest even before Selene told me what it was. I’m actually pretty happy that there’s a lot of worlds we literally need to explore.”
Haunter paused before smiling lopsidedly. “I see.”
“Gancena,” Mewtwo addressed.
Gancena turned. “Yes?”
“With your permission, I would like to strengthen a specific part of your brain.”
Gancena blinked. “To be honest, even a general strengthening probably wouldn’t be unwelcome, but what did you want to do?”
“I want to ensure that you will be able to understand all of your Pokémon companions perfectly.”
Gancena’s heart jumped at the thought. But…
“Wait, wait,” Haunter said, floating up to Mewtwo, “are you sure? It would take the experience of practicing and learning away from her.”
“It might,” Mewtwo said, “but we might not have time for Gancena to learn the long way. Not anymore. Communication is going to be extremely important in the missions to come. We can’t afford having important information delayed or lost because someone needs to pause to translate.”
“Hmm,” Haunter sighed. “I suppose that is a good point. But would Gancena be the only one to understand them?”
Mewtwo’s eyes slightly widened. “This is true… for the same effect to be widespread, I’d have to do this with everyone we met…”
“Maybe there’s another way?” Gancena asked. “Mew was able to loan the Legendary Birds some telepathy. Maybe it could be the same with us?”
Mewtwo nodded immediately. “This is better. And,” he added, turning to Haunter, “I think it can also balance out your concerns about Gancena taking time to learn the Pokémon languages.”
Haunter nodded. “That it could.”
“Yeah, yeah!” Gancena added. “And you were talking about vocalization, too, right, Haunter?” Gancena looked at Ash, Floss, and Biran. “If any of you wanted to learn, we could both teach each other about our languages! You teach me and I’ll teach you!”
Ash and Floss’ eyes lit up. “Pika!”
Biran simply neighed.
“What’s wrong, Biran? Not interested in vocalizing?”
Biran shook his head.
“No, it’s not that or no, you’re not interested?”
Biran made a noise, but paused, clearly trying to think of how to convey his answer.
“Ponyta and Rapidash languages are different,” Haunter remarked. “They don’t speak that much differently from ordinary horses, but this makes them more difficult to interpret than most other Pokémon. Is that what you’re worried about, my boy?”
Biran nodded.
“Oh. We can still try, right?” Gancena asked. “It might just take me longer. Being able to use telepathy could be really helpful. You could explain things to me with that if I get something wrong.”
Biran smiled and nodded.
“Then allow me to begin,” Mewtwo said. “The sooner all members of this group can communicate, the better.” He placed his hands on Ash’s head and closed his eyes.
Ash didn’t move at first, but then she giggled and her ears twitched rapidly, presumably as Mewtwo transferred bits of his psychic powers. He opened his eyes and let his hands fall to his sides.
“Try it now,” Mewtwo said. “Imagine a thought you want us to hear in words.”
“I’m a Pikachu!” an adorable, high-pitched voice rang out. Ash physically gasped. “It worked! It worked!” She turned on Gancena’s shoulder and pressed her face into Gancena’s cheek. “I can talk to you! I can talk to you, Gancena!”
Gancena grabbed Ash and squeezed her to her chest. “Ashie! Congratulations! I’m so happy to hear you!”
“I love you!”
“I love you, too!”
Floss giggled and applauded until Mewtwo did the same with her. Floss shut her eyes when Mewtwo did. She didn’t react as much as Ash did, but she still shivered and giggled.
“That felt funny,” an only slightly lower-pitched voice said. “But it looks like it worked for me, too!” Floss waved. “Hi!”
“Hi, Floss!” Gancena said, grinning. “This is so great!”
“Hi, Shiimeji!” Floss greeted with a sing-song tone, waving at him.
“Good to hear you, my girl!” Haunter said, lightly grabbing Floss’ hands. They swung their hands back and forth for a moment as Mewtwo placed his hands on Biran’s head.
Floss broke the contact and turned so she and Haunter could watch Biran’s reaction. One of his ears twitched a bit, and when Mewtwo pulled away, he briefly shook, causing Floss to have to grab on to his back to keep steady.
“Sorry!” a young, masculine-sounding voice said. “I just felt like I needed to do that.”
Floss stood and waved it off. “It’s all right. I understand. Looks like it worked with you, too!”
“It did! Thank you, Mewtwo.”
“Ah, yes!” Floss said. “Thank you!”
“Thank you!” Ash chirped from her place in Gancena’s arms.
“Now that Mewtwo’s concern has been addressed and the solution has been successfully put into place, it’s time for Captains and their crews to rest,” Selene said. “Please make yourselves comfortable anywhere you like.”
---
Gancena instinctively decided to find a nice, quiet room to take a nap in, even though there weren’t really any other rooms in the palace other than the entrance hall, Selene’s room, and the central chamber.
Selene offered to let her sleep in her room, since she’d be right there keeping watch over everything.
Since Selene didn’t need sleep, she had no bed. But Gancena still had her sleeping bag, which she unrolled fondly as if it were yet another night in Kanto.
“Let me know when you’re ready to learn about your new power, Gancena,” Selene said as Gancena began to wriggle in.
“New power!?” Gancena exclaimed, sitting right back up. Selene chimed pleasantly in response.
Gancena’s stomach and limbs tingled in anticipation as she lay back down. Ash came to her usual spot, curling up against Gancena’s chest. She glanced all around the room, staring out the windows into vast whiteness.
Floss fluffed her Clefairy Poké Doll before lying down with it. Biran opted to lie on his side, sighing deeply. Upon hearing that, Floss nudged herself closer to him to lie in the crook of his front legs. Haunter simply slumped to the floor and shut his eyes.
“Mewtwo?” Gancena asked. “What will you do?”
“I’ll stay up and keep watch with Amber,” he said.
“Thank you, Mewtwo. I appreciate your concern,” Selene responded.
“So…” Ash thought aloud, her voice sailing through the room. “What is this place?”
“It’s a place between your world and mine,” Gancena said. “Between my world and all the worlds we’re going to visit, really. And it’s all Selene’s.”
“Does it have a name, like Kanto does?” Ash wondered. “What do you call it, Selene?”
“Nothing in particular,” Selene answered. “I simply always referred to it as my world, even if I shape it according to the perceptions of others in it. But if there’s something else you’d like to call it, that’s all right with me.”
“Gancena!” Ash said, suddenly turning over. “You pick. You picked Selene’s name, and my name, and Floss’ name. Pick the world’s name, too!”
“You sure?” Gancena asked.
Ash nodded. “Yeah!”
“Selene?” Gancena asked, looking up at her.
“Go ahead,” Selene said, shimmering.
Gancena thought it over a moment, running her hand up and down Ash’s entire side, and had an idea. “The Hub.”
“The Hub?”
“Yeah. I know it sounds pretty simple, but because of Selene, this is pretty much a hub to many different worlds, right? And it also happens to be the name of a television channel where my favorite show comes on,” Gancena explained.
Selene giggled. “A sound explanation. If you wish to call this place The Hub, then go right ahead.”
Gancena grinned. “Thanks, Selene.”
She sighed and pulled Ash an inch closer before shutting her eyes for good.
---
Mewtwo didn’t have the chance to notice it while in the central chamber, but watching the world—The Hub, he supposed—from here, he noticed the subtle change.
The Hub was no longer completely white. It had gained the palest, most subtle colors. A hint of blue above, a touch of green below. Standing behind the windows and comparing the walls inside to the sight outside made it a bit more obvious.
He glanced at the sleeping occupants—a group he was now only partly responsible for—and wondered if any of them would notice. He could imagine the Shiimeji possibly realizing something had changed, given his long life and multitude of experiences, but he doubted that Gancena’s young human eyes would pick up something so subtle. The other Pokémon only may or may not have had the sight for it, but they were also very young. It was possible this sort of detail would pass over their heads.
But Mewtwo decided not to worry about that. The Hub looking a bit more like the worlds it guarded told Mewtwo that his friend was indeed recovering.
---
Gancena had no idea how long she’d slept, and there was no way to tell just by looking around, but she felt better than she had in a long time when she woke up, slowly sitting up and stretching.
“Hello again, Captain Gancena,” Selene said.
“Hi. Should we do that one thing now?”
Ash yawned and stretched at the corner of the sleeping bag, and then Haunter’s ears twitched before he opened his eyes, and then Biran stretched his legs, which stirred Floss awake.
“How’re you guys feeling?” Gancena asked.
“Wonderful,” Floss sighed.
“Me, too!” Ash exclaimed. “I feel like I can do anything!”
“I’ve had restful sleep before, but this was certainly unique,” Haunter said. “Selene, you give off a very soothing energy.”
“I noticed that, too!” Gancena said, beginning to roll up her sleeping bag. “I was incredibly nervous when I first came here, but Selene helped keep me level-headed so I could make my choice.”
“Thank you, Haunter,” Selene answered as Biran stood up.
“I feel great, too!” he said. “So what’s this power Gancena’s gonna learn?”
“You’ll see soon,” Selene said. “Come outside with me, please.”
---
“Everyone, please stay behind Gancena while we do this,” Selene said. “Observe everything closely, Mewtwo. This is one of the areas where Gancena might need your guidance.”
Mewtwo nodded and floated a bit closer to Selene. Gancena stood facing away from the Pokémon, her backpack placed next to them. She stretched her hands and closed them into fists several times as she awaited instructions or an explanation.
“Gancena,” Selene began. “When you took the Runestone, you noticed that it stayed attached to you until you let it go in front of the Rune Tower. This is because the Runestones were forged directly from the love players have for the games they represent. Since you are a player, this includes feelings of love and joy that come from you. Though the Rune rests in the Tower, you can still temporarily summon it to use a new and unique ability.”
“Really?”
“Yes. The ability itself depends on the nature of the world the Rune comes from. I asked Mewtwo to arrange for the Rune to be blessed with an ability of his choosing. Now it’s a matter of using it.
“When you connected with the Runestone, it built a new type of energy within you, which I will refer to as Rune Power. Think of it as a form of special attack energy. When you use the Rune’s ability, you use Rune Power and must wait for it to recharge before using it again. Here, the recharge is virtually instant, but that won’t be the case when you’re in other worlds.”
“How long would it be?”
“Under the circumstances, it depends, but right now I’m pretty sure it’ll be about one hour for each unit of Rune Power, and you currently only have one. It will always recharge gradually no matter what, but there are things you can do to increase the rate of recharge, and they’re all the same thing as keeping positive emotion. Even a sincere smile will grant a small surge of energy. But I particularly recommend meditation. Mewtwo can guide you in that, too.”
“I’d been kind of meaning to look into that for a while before I came here,” Gancena admitted. “I kept forgetting, was all…”
“There’s never a bad time to start learning,” Selene said.
“So how do I use the Rune?”
“Imagine it’s already with you, and then call it. Shout ‘Rune Power!’ to summon it, and then call the ability name to use it.”
Selene paused and then summoned one of her many offshoots. “Please practice on this offshoot of me.”
Gancena opened her mouth, but Selene immediately added, “It won’t hurt me. Go ahead.”
Gancena stood her ground, setting one foot slightly behind her. She raised her right hand.
“Rune Power!” she exclaimed. The Runestone reappeared spinning in the air in front of her hand before it settled on her chest, back into place. “Uh…” Gancena paused and glanced at Selene and Mewtwo. “What ability does this Rune have?”
“I arranged specifically for you to be able to wield a version of Tri Attack,” Mewtwo answered. “It’s why Mew went to such great lengths for you to meet the Legendary Birds.”
Gancena finally understood: The power from the birds had been meant for journeys beyond Kanto.
“Oh! Okay.” Gancena turned back to the target offshoot and, stretching her arm out toward it, shouted, “Tri Attack!”
From the Runestone emerged a three-column beam of ice, lightning, and fire, which followed the path of her hand and sailed toward the target. Each part of the attack exploded into its respective element before fading completely.
“Is it really that simple?” Gancena breathed.
“It is,” Selene answered. “Since Rune Power recharges instantly here, you can try it again, if you like.”
“Tri Attack!” Gancena shouted almost instantly, and she watched the beam fly again, feeling like a real mage or superhero.
“Tri Attack!” she said again. “Tri Attack!”
Gancena tried it again several times, with her other arm, with no arms in front of her, in cool and dynamic poses. It hit her target every time as long as she looked at it.
“This is too cool! A new way to do stuff!” Gancena finally exclaimed breathlessly. “Thank you so much!”
“Thank you, Gancena, for bringing the Rune back when it was needed the most. Every Rune you find from now on will grant you a new ability to use with it. If you’re not sure what it is, Mewtwo will be able to help you determine it.”
“Thank you! Now… when I’m done with the Rune…”
“When you’re in the worlds, it’ll return here on its own. But when you’re practicing here, send it off the same way you did when you brought it to the Tower.”
Gancena nudged the Runestone off her chest and it vanished in a blink of light.
“How do I know how much Rune Power I have at any given time?” Gancena asked. “I know I only have one point, but it’d be nice to see how long it’ll need to recharge at a glance.”
Selene pulsed. “Ah! Yes, I can provide that. Come here.”
Gancena dashed over to Selene. “Like your weapon before, imagine what kind of display you’d like to have.” she said.
Gancena did so. Selene extended a strand of light the front of Gancena’s belt. When she pulled it away, it took the rectangular shape of a Nintendo Entertainment System controller with an LCD-like meter on top—a single green, full bar.
Gancena grinned. She’d been aiming for a replica of Captain N’s Power Pad, and that’s just what she got. “Thank you again, Selene!” Gancena said.
“Of course, Captain,” Selene said. “And now that you and your group are revitalized and you’ve been taught about Rune Power, it’s time for you to decide where to go next.”
Gancena squealed. “This is great! Between this,” she turned to the Pokémon sitting behind her, “and you,” she turned to Mewtwo, “and you, we’re totally gonna break this game!”
“No,” Mewtwo said. “I am your guide. While I will be fighting Thoughtless alongside you, I can’t be the one to solve your problems.”
“Eh?”
“I’m meant to be more of a line to Amber in extreme circumstances and a guide to your abilities. I can advise you on your responsibilities, but I can’t ‘break the game,’ as you’ve said. It would rob you of the experience.”
“Says he who almost had Gancena skip learning Pokémon languages,” Haunter retorted in a stage whisper.
“Quiet,” Mewtwo responded.
“It’s the role he’s decided to play,” Selene said. “We discussed it thoroughly when he agreed to help me. But,” she added in a lighter voice, “that doesn’t mean things might change as you go on.”
Mewtwo merely turned his head. Gancena realized it was reminding her a bit of Blue.
“So what will Mewtwo be doing?”
“Guiding you. If you feel you have questions about the world you’re in, or if you feel stuck, you may speak to me whenever you please. We can even do so via telepathy if it wouldn’t be a good idea to physically speak.”
“We can?”
“Yes.” Simply direct your thoughts to me, he said in her head. I’ll notice when you’re trying to contact me.
Like this? Gancena thought at him.
Yes.
…How can I be sure you won’t pick up anything I don’t mean for you to?
I won’t. I won’t read your mind without permission, and I’ll only take in thoughts that you’re consciously directing.
“So… you’re like… a… hint… person?”
“Something of a general advisor, yes. If the need arises, I can contact Amber telepathically and receive her input—assuming she’s not fighting the Thoughtless at the time.”
Selene chimed.
“Oh. I think I get it,” Gancena said.
“You’ll understand what I can and cannot do for you as we go on.”
“Okay. So… is there a list of worlds I need to go to that I can look at?” Gancena asked.
Selene pulsed again. “The only one I really have that you can look at is the Rune Tower itself… since it has spaces for all the Runestones we need.”
“So do we need to go back there?”
“Not necessarily. I know the Runes in detail. I can simply tell you where else you need to go.”
“Okay. There were nineteen other worlds, right? Start listing them and I’ll have a better idea of where to go.”
“All right. When you were in the central chamber for the first time, you did notice a few of their symbols, yes?”
“I sure did! Mortal Kombat was the first one I recognized.”
“What do you think?”
“Hmm… I love that world so much, but…” Gancena glanced at the Pokémon, particularly at Ash. “I think they deserve a little easing in, too, and that world can be really intense… What else did I—oh! Super Mario Brothers, and Zelda, and Star Fox! Ooh, Star Fox would be kind of complicated, I think… I’d probably end up carrying everyone in their Balls most of the time…” Gancena rambled.
“Is anyone else having trouble following what she’s saying?” Floss asked her fellow Pokémon.
“Yes,” Haunter admitted. “But let’s not worry about it now. Since we’ll eventually be going to all those worlds, I’m sure we’ll eventually catch up.”
Gancena paused. “…What others are there?”
“Nintendo as a whole has had incredible staying power,” Selene remarked. “You’ll find that many of the worlds you’re destined to visit are either part of their franchises or had games on their consoles. Consider your beloved fighting crossover Super Smash Brothers. If it was represented in there, it’s likely you’ll be going there.”
Gancena shivered at the thought. So many childhood loves, particularly late childhood! F-Zero and Metroid and Sonic and Fire Emblem—oh, but which Fire Emblem, there were worlds within those worlds!
“What about ones that aren’t in Smash? At least not yet?” Gancena added, giggling.
“There’s Punch-Out!! and Castlevania, Final Fantasy—“
“Of course,” Gancena said.
“—Mega Man—“
Gancena felt a spark go through her immediately and she jumped and shouted, “That’s the one! That’s the one! Oh my god, I was like neck deep into Mega Man when you called me here, I was even looking at the X series—!” Gancena babbled. She paused to take a deep breath. She thought briefly about the Pokémon. Some of their moves could give them an edge, not unlike in their homeworld, but Robot Masters could potentially be dangerous there… but! That was what Poké Balls were for. And Gancena herself… she had Tri Attack now! Its elemental properties could give her an edge over certain enemies!
And, maybe, if the timing was right and she was lucky…
She let a brief, distinct whistle go through her head.
“Yes. I want to go there next! I want to meet Mega!” Gancena declared. “Ooh, but are there any other preparations I should make!?”
“Since you know about Mega Man, you might want to explain its premise to your companions,” Selene said. “When you’re ready, I can send you in.”
Gancena suppressed another squeal, and she turned to the Pokémon. “Okay, guys, listen. So Mega Man is a game about robots.”
Haunter laughed. “Quite a change from creatures like us!”
“What’s a robot?” Ash immediately wondered.
“Oh! A robot…” Gancena paused, trying to think of the best definition she could. “A robot is a kind of machine that can do things on its own without people needing to tell it to. I mean, people can tell it what to do, but it’s not always needed.”
Ash tilted her head, trying to imagine it. The best she could come up with was something like at the Power Plant that would make noise without a Pokémon needing to put electricity into it. “Okay,” she said. “So what about these… robots?”
“Well, in this world, robots are so advanced that they can think a lot like humans, and some, called Robot Masters, do things that are too dangerous for humans to do!” Gancena said. Then her tone of voice lowered a bit and her smile disappeared. “But the villain in this world wants to reprogram the Robot Masters to help him take over the world. And we can’t have that.”
Biran gasped. “The Thoughtless are probably going to show up with this villain, then,” he concluded. “Just like they did with Giovanni.”
Gancena paused and the enthusiasm fell from her face. Biran was more than likely right. And she knew that this one was prone to sheer insanity, if the circumstances were right. Even at best, he’d still be a jealous man with a dangerous plan.
The Thoughtless had a lot to feed off of.
“Gancena?” Floss asked. “Are you okay?”
Gancena snapped back into attention. “I will be. I think Biran’s right, but…” She took a breath. “We’ll deal with it when we get there. Anyway… right! So Mega Man was made to counter the Robot Masters and their wrongful master. But with things like the Thoughtless around, it could make things more difficult for our hero. So we need to be there!”
“Right!” Ash said, holding up tiny fists. “So where do we go?”
Gancena opened her mouth to answer, but then she turned to Selene. “Yeah… where are we going to be?”
“If you’d like, you can tell me around where you think is best and I’ll make it work,” Selene answered.
“Well…” Gancena said, looking up, “My first instinct is to get to Light Labs. That’s where Mega Man and his sister and their creator live and work. But then…” she paused, looking farther up. “But then how to explain the situation… hmm…”
“That’s fine,” Selene said. “I can put you as close to Light Labs as possible without alarming anyone. You can take time to discuss how you want to introduce yourselves there.”
“You think just going up and saying ‘hi’ will be enough?” Gancena asked, looking back at her.
“I hope so. It’s entirely possible that the issue might resolve itself, but not in a pleasant way… consider how you ultimately told Red about the Thoughtless.”
“Oh, right…” Gancena looked down, putting a hand to her chin. “I’ll take it, though. Maybe something will come to me, then.” She turned back to the Pokémon. “So are you guys ready?”
Ash leaped for Gancena’s shoulder and nuzzled her cheek. “Yes!”
Biran and Floss stood. “I am,” Biran said.
“Me, too!” said Floss.
“At your ready, then… Captain,” Haunter said, grinning.
Gancena grinned, too. Then she turned back to Selene and Mewtwo. “Mewtwo? Ready?”
Mewtwo briefly shut his eyes. “As much as one can be.” He opened his eyes and glanced at Selene. “You’ll be all right by yourself, Amber?”
“I will. If I do end up needing help, I’ll let you know. And, Gancena,” Selene addressed. “If you ever feel like you need to talk to someone about anything that’s bothering you, also go to Mewtwo. Whenever you’re not sure what to do, speaking to him will essentially be the same as speaking to me. I’m only sorry it couldn’t happen earlier.”
“No, it’s fine. I didn’t quite need a guide to Kanto,” Gancena said. “But I definitely need a guide for other stuff.” Then she hoisted up her backpack, watching Ash paw around the shoulder strap to let her place it on her shoulder. “So. We can go at your ready.”
“Good luck, Captain Gancena,” Selene said.
She glowed, and white light surrounded the group briefly before shifting back into the rainbow portal.