Pokémar Episode V, A Clone's Destiny

Loose Ends

When entering Mauville City I was expecting a busy metropolis. Urban sprawl as far as the eye could see. It's the biggest population center in Hoenn after all. What I didn't expect is what actually awaited me, a city built like a mall. Buildings like stores, homes, and even police and fire stations were built into the megastructure's many floors, all connected by a series of elevators, stairs and ramps. As a result the city takes up much less space than it otherwise would. There's even a massive open air courtyard in the city center. The architects and engineers who designed this place must be proud indeed. They should be. Creating something like this that actually works is a feat worth celebrating.

Based on his contact information that Dr. Fuji put online I had send an email asking if they'd be interested in talking. I got back the go-ahead to come to their place along with the address to their apartment. It took a little while to find the building. Getting the lay of the land is a lot harder when dealing with a multi-level city. In the end we found our destination and went straight to room number 45.

Mewtwo had said that they still needed some time to recoup from the big revelation yesterday so it's only Thunder and I. He looks to me with a hopeful glance. 

"Here's hoping we get somewhere with this." He says.

"Here's hoping." I reply. I knock on the door. A few seconds later a woman in her early thirties opens it.

"You the guy from the email?" She asks, quickly glancing over us.

"I am. The name's Alex Russet."

"Hurry inside." She ushers us in quickly and leads us to the living room. Sitting on the sofa is a Mightyena who looks at us with a scowl. "You better not try anything else Betty here will gladly rip out your throat." 

"I'm watching you, human..." Betty growls. The threat catches me by surprise. The last thing I expected was being told that the pokemon would kill me if the need arose. That's assuming that it wasn't hyperbole, but that's not something I'm willing to try and discern. 

"Okay..." I take a moment to regain my composure. "Is Mr. Fuji here?"

"First prove that I can trust you." She sits down next to Betty. I take a seat across from them on a small chair, trying not to make eye contact with the Mightynea. "Too much has been going on lately for me to give you the benefit of the doubt." Wait a second. She invited me here, and now she wants me to prove I'm trustworthy? Why did she invite us over in the first place if she's not sure she can trust us? We can't afford to lose this lead however, so I keep that to myself.

"If I wanted to hurt you, I'd be doing something far quicker than what's happening here. For one, I'd bring a weapon. And I would've probably used it the moment you closed the door. Seeing how that hasn't happened yet It's not likely to happen at all."

"You could just be holding off to trick me."

"To what end? What would I gain? It's so many extra steps to do what I would've supposedly come to do." I let out a sigh. My patience is starting to wear thin. "Look, I'm only here to see Dr. Yosuke Fuji and ask some questions. That's it."

"You don't know?" She asks. Hearing that is rarely a good sign...

"Know what?"

"He's been missing for weeks. Not long after he got involved with Devon. I keep asking them where he is and they say nothing. Something is very wrong." That explains her paranoia. Shame that it's not even misplaced.

"That's actually what I was hoping to talk to him about. You are right. There is something going on here. Team Rocket and Devon Corp are collaborating on some massive project. And if Rocket's involved, it can't be anything good."