Mew!
A Pokémon that could appear at this moment in Mt. Silver of the Kanto region, that was also capable of becoming invisible or using some special method to avoid being seen, and at the same time could provoke such a level of caution in Moltres... there could only be one: Mew.
Team Rocket had spent years searching for Mew; they had even scoured its place of origin without managing to find it. That proved that when Mew wanted to hide, truly no one could detect it.
What Cain could not understand was why Mew had appeared there.
Had it come to save him? Or was it simply passing by?
Cain believed the latter was more likely; after all, he had no connection to Mew.
"¡¡¡KRASHIAR!!!" Moltres let out another cry, expressing its fury.
That such a weak insect had put it in such a humiliating situation due to a moment of carelessness was something difficult to accept for a true legendary Pokémon like Moltres.
And just at the crucial moment when it needed to vent its anger, a Pokémon appeared that demanded it stop.
Did Moltres not have any dignity?
Fine... it would give up.
When it saw that small Pokémon swaying its tail, with a harmless appearance, Moltres understood perfectly how dangerous it was and decided to retreat immediately.
With a trace of grievance, but above all with a gaze filled with anger directed at Cain, Moltres extinguished the flames surrounding it, flapped its wings a couple of times, and flew deep into Mt. Silver.
Cain watched Moltres leave and let out a long sigh of relief. At last, that damned bird was gone.
Even so, Cain had the feeling that the matter between him and Moltres was not over; sooner or later, they would meet again.
But at that moment, what mattered to him most was that Pokémon that had never shown itself, yet had managed to drive Moltres away. It was very likely Mew, although he had not seen it and could not confirm it.
"¡Darkaaii!" Darkrai let out a soft sound, pointing toward the air, indicating that that Pokémon was heading toward them.
Cain narrowed his eyes, but even so, he could not make out anything.
Then, suddenly, he felt a warm current envelop him completely. His entire body relaxed, and the sharp pain that intermittently appeared in his mind due to the excessive use of psychic ability disappeared. Even his psychic power, completely exhausted, began to recover at great speed, as if he had returned to a mother's embrace.
"¡Meeww!" A gentle voice sounded beside his ear, like a whisper, as if it were communicating something.
Upon hearing that sound, Cain finally confirmed the identity of that Pokémon: without a doubt, it was Mew.
Although in this world he had never seen Mew in person, Cain had had close contact with Mew through one of its hairs, and had heard its voice.
"Mew..." Cain spoke its name.
Just as he expected, upon hearing its name, Mew stopped hiding and began circling in the air, apparently very happy.
It had the appearance of a small pink, cat-like Pokémon, with a tail whose length was twice its height, ending in an oval tip, and triangular eyes.
That adorable pink Pokémon was precisely the one Team Rocket had long yearned for: Mew.
It was said that Mew possessed genetic fragments of all Pokémon, so some believed it was the ancestor of them all, although that was already impossible to verify.
Precisely because it possessed the genes of all Pokémon, Mew could transform into practically any Pokémon it desired and use almost any of their moves.
That was why finding a Mew that wanted to hide was almost impossible; even an organization like Team Rocket, after so many years of searching, had only managed to obtain a single hair of it.
"¡Metww!" Mew circled around Cain as if it had found a fun toy, emitting soft murmurs.
Little by little, Cain began to understand the meaning of those sounds.
It seemed to be saying... "little tail"?
"Little tail— little tail— little tail—"
As Mew repeated those exclamations joyfully, Cain could feel its inner happiness.
But Cain was completely stunned.
Little tail?
Was it referring to him?
Cain remembered having once been a single hair on Mew's tail, but that had happened in what he believed was a vision or a dream, perceived through Mew's hair and Mew's blood obtained in the Ruins of Mew.
Had that not been just an illusion?
How could Mew know?
While Cain was thinking, Mew's long, thin tail gently touched his cheek.
Cain could feel the warmth of its tail and its incredible softness.
His psychic power was recovering at a dizzying speed.
After having used it excessively like that, normally he would not have been able to use psychic ability again for at least a week, but with Mew's help, Cain's psychic power instantly recovered to its peak, and even showed signs of continuing to increase.
That was Mew's ability: even someone reduced to ashes could be restored, and Cain's situation was nothing more than psychic exhaustion.
With his psychic power slightly strengthened, Cain tried to use telepathy to communicate with Mew, to exchange a few words, but Mew rejected his attempt.
Seeing that Cain had already fully recovered, it prepared to leave.
The color of its body began to fade, and it was about to disappear completely into the air.
Suddenly, as if it had remembered something, Mew gently swayed its tail, and a small spatial crack appeared in front of Cain.
Immediately afterward, from that crack emerged five or six special black symbols, all with different shapes and a single eye.
Upon seeing Cain, their eyes shone in unison and they rushed toward him, transforming into special characters that engraved themselves on his wrist.
Those black symbols were the Unown, whom he had not seen for a long time.
All at once, six more Unown had been added, nearly doubling the number. Cain originally had eight; with these six, he now had fourteen.
In the entire Pokémon world, there were only twenty-eight Unown, and Cain already possessed half of them.
Seeing that all the Unown had attached themselves to Cain's wrist, Mew became even happier, swayed its tail, and disappeared into the air, leaving Cain and his Pokémon alone in the valley.
When Cain came back to his senses, Mew was already gone.
After treating the injuries of the most seriously wounded Pokémon, he returned them to their Poké Balls, leaving only Slowking and Florges.
The Shiny Ninetales, which had recovered a bit of energy after Moltres's departure, fled in haste, fearing that Cain would come looking for trouble.
Suddenly, the entire valley fell into complete silence.
At last, Cain was able to calm down and begin calmly searching for the materials he had come to find.
(End of chapter)