Just a thought. I know he used to have to cut ppl's heads open, but with his abilities coming and going, and eveyone's abilities evolving...

... does the best-looking bad guy in television history now have the power to look at a map and know where everyone is?

Since he was stroking her head? Huh? What does that have to do with anything. He cuts people's heads open and does something to their brains to have their power. He doesn't stroke their heads.

Also, he didn't have his powers then. So even if he cut her head open, Sylar wouldn't have her power. It'd be like what happened with Candice.

I would think not. He said himself that he had to see how things worked to understand them, that's why he has to slice their heads open to see and do whatever else he does to the brain. Sylar's power works differently than Peter's. and I doubt the writers would make it that easy for him to find his next acquisitions.

I said in my post I know he used to have to cut ppl's heads open.

But they are evolving, aren't they? Parkman used to be a mind reader, now he can make people do things. Jessica used to be able to steal Nikki's life, now Nikki can control her. Peter couldn't control his powers, now he can. They aren't set in aspic, any of them.

In Season 1 Sylar had to do the brain-eating thing, that doesn't mean he has to do it in Season 2.

You did say that. Sorry for misreading.

It is possible about him evolving just like the others, but again, he didn't have any of his powers at the time. Not even an ability to just stroke a person's head and "see how it works". So, I still think he does not have her power.

I thought Nikki actually was a schitz with the real disease, and her power was just super strength but because she's a mental she only did it when she was acting as "jessica".

she can't have been a simple schitz, as if she were then she wouldnt have had jessica's knowledge of past events , e.g. that jessica 'took every last punch for niki' or how niki's dad was a drunk who strangled and beat jessica. that could only be known if the real jessica had come back to life inside niki