Ch. 75. Tracks

(Unedited)

It had been a couple of days now since Ares had left the pokemon center. With some help from professor Oak's Alakazam, he was teleported near the forest leading towards Mount Silver. At their arrival, the nearby pokemon scurried away, frightened by the powerful presence emanating from Alakazam and Lucario. Looking around, all they could see in the vicinity was a dense forest, Mount Silver reaching far into the sky in the distance. Alakazam survey the surroundings, nodding in satisfaction with his work being done without a hitch. At the sight, Mew muttered nearly inaudible that she could have done it instead, though she also stated that she had to save her strenght in case they encountered Mewtwo. 

If you had to ask him, Ares would say Mew didn't want to bother with it when Alakazam could do it. She had always been like that and she surely wasn't going to change that easily.

Having dropped them off, Alakazam patted Ares on the shoulder in a departing gesture, grinning slightly before he teleported back without a sound.

To be honest, all of professor Oak's pokemon seemed to carry a bit of the man's quirks, as they all liked to behave in odd ways sometimes. It did give them a little respite from the challenge awaiting them ahead, something he needed right now. It was Mewtwo they were facing.

With the little shortcut Alakazam had given them, Ares turned his gaze towards the forest, Mount Silver lying threateningly in the distance. 

Calling out Charizard, Ares and Lucario hopped on his back.

While they could travel through the forest, that would just tire them out. There were many pokemon inhabiting the forest, some more hostile than others. Fighting his way through was not on his agenda.

At least, not today.

With more than just a little of distance to cover, it would be best if they could decrease future exhaustion right now by bypassing the forest entirely.

Flying high above the ocean of trees on Charizard's back, Ares and Lucario searched their surroundings. While Mewtwo would surely avoid leaving tracks, they could always try to sense his whereabouts.

Unfortunately, the forest itself was already large, don't even mention the mountain itself. While they did sense a lot of pokemon, strong and relatively weak, the massive surge of power from Mewtwo remained elusive to their attempts.

They did however, find traces of Mewtwo having passed by the area, sort of like a psychic imprint commonly left by psychic pokemon. It was an energy undetectible through human technology, as only a strong aura user, psychic master or/and pokemon could sense this fleeting energy.

Knowing he was on the right track, even if the energy had almost completely dissipated, Ares could pinpoint in which direction they had to go.

Giving his instructions to Charizard, the speed they were traveling in increased, as Mount Silver became ever closer.

Their passing did not go unnoticed by the pokemon below either, as some of the weaker pokemon shrunk down or fled. The stronger ones roared in anger, as they were trespassing their territory. 

These stronger pokemon were agressive, as not a lot of trainers came to this side of Mount Silver, making it almost like a pokemon sanctuary, untouched by human hands. This also meant that the wild pokemon were bolder, more aggresive and a lot more assertive in protecting their homes.

Out of nowhere, a hyper beam came from below, piercing through trees as it raged towards them. With only a slight tap on the shoulder to give across his intention, Charizard dove to the side, narrowly dodging the attack.

He didn't stop, as more attacks were coming their way, as a group of pokemon made themselves known.

A small group of Ursaring were mercilessly tearing apart the forest, as their target, Charizard, continued to effortlessly avoid their attacks. Behind them, three to four Teddiursa were huddling at the Ursarings feet.

"Fly higher."

Having noticed the group, Ares recognized the pokemon specie immediately. Aiming to avoid conflict, Charizard gained in altitude far from the reach of the attacks as the hyper beams petered out before they could get anywhere near them.

Down below, the Ursaring were roaring in frustration, stomping around in fury before they disappeared deeper into the forest.

No other pokemon were jumping out to attack them, as the forest once more regained their calm. 

It seems they had traveled too low before, disturbing more than a few pokemon living below. Now that they had increased their flying altitude, such things shouldn't be happening anymore.

"Now that everything is over, let's go to the mountain."

Continueing their flight, they soon arrived at the base of the mountain. 

Giving Charizard a short pat on the head in gratitude for his hard work, Ares returned him to his pokeball and only kept Lucario at his side. With him and Mew on his side, he only had to search for an entrance into the mountain.

Searching around, he found multiple entraces, some more prominently used than others. There were those small in size, obviously made by pokemon, while there were also bigger ones, formed more naturally. That didn't mean that it hadn't been adjusted, as there were signs of pokemon having widened the tunnels.

With the options now laid bare before them, Mew finally took to the stage, as she looked around and entered one of the larger tunnels, motioning for Ares and Lucario to follow.

Focussing his aura in his eyes instinctively, the dark tunnel was soon lit up. With Mew's pink glowing form in front of him to light the way, it was hard to get lost, even if the distance were to increase.

As they went deeper and deeper into the mountain, Mew would stop every now and then, glancing back and forth as if she was looking for something, continuing on shortly after. It was a strange sight, seeing Mew uncertain, a fact that made him feel the same as well.

He had no idea what they would find. Maybe Mewtwo wasn't even here, as only his energy had left its mark. Maybe they were only tracking his shadow, having long lost the person in question. Mount Silver was a breeding ground for strong pokemon, as even legendary pokemon had been spotted here.

Who knows if they would encounter one, aside from Mewtwo?

Shaking his head, he knew it wasn't that easy to come across legendary pokemon. While he had already met three, being on friendly terms with both Mew and Celebi and having battled Mewtwo, the chances he would encounter another one would be slim. More than slim to be honest.

With that thought in mind, he ventured deeper and deeper into Mount Silver, the glowing silhouette of Mew being his sole guidance as he progressed further. 

Ocassionally stray pokemon popped up, scared away by their very presence.

Mew, undisturbed by their activity, increased her pace, speeding of further into the cave. She was almost too fast for Ares to follow, appearing and disappearing from his sight.

Mew was definitely onto something.

At some point, Mew had vanished, too fast for him to follow. It didn't seem like she had noticed either, as she didn't reappear, even after some time had passed.

As he looked around, all Ares could see were multiple forks to the path he had been following, a prime example of why he had lost track of Mew.

With his partner at his side, both of them once again sharpened their senses, as they followed not only the ambient psychic trace from Mewtwo, which had gotten stronger since they got here, but also that of Mew.

Having pinpointed the direction in which they should go, Lucario led the way, no doubt taking the lead to protect Ares for any danger going forward.

With Lucario on front and Ares in the back, they once more continued, the tunnel leading them deeper and deeper below. The cold, humid air of the tunnel began to increase in temperature, which was odd, considering all the pokemon they had come across were rock and steel types.

If the temperature increased even more, there was a chance he could encounter fire type pokemon, something Lucario wasn't the best match for. Nontheless they continued, their senses tingling as their instincts forwarned them of the danger at the end of the tunnel.

At the very end, they could see the familiar silhouette of Mew, hovering in the air, seemingly waiting for them for a while now.

Mew cast a glance over her shoulder towards the two of them, one of worry and delight.

An odd combination, considering who Mew was.

After all, what could make her worry about them?