Hey there, fellow readers! What you are about to read are not strictly my ideas; they belong to brave kid although I shall, of course, be adding my own from time to time and developing the story as I see fit. Consider me a ghost-writer in this instance. So let us see how it develops, eh? Enjoy.

Chapter 1: Plasma Investigation

Team Plasma. The P2 Laboratory. What monstrous things had perhaps taken place here? For they had assured the public that they were Pokémon Liberators but in reality… far more unscrupulous matters had taken place. The very walls seemed to hold dark secrets. In any case, the Pokémon that they were meant to have 'freed' did not seem to make their way back to the forests or the mountains or the seas. Pokémon that were perfectly happy with their lives forcibly separated from their Trainers and families… it didn't bear thinking about for a group of Pokémon who travelled great distances with their Trainers and had seen extraordinary things.

That is why when Pikachu, cautiously approaching the dilapidated laboratory, looked up towards the barbed wire fencing and the rusting padlock, hanging on its hinges from the main entrance, and felt his fur suddenly bristle and stand up on end. A bolt of lightning illuminated the scenery before them and again, reinforced the elements of danger and past atrocities. Even Oshawott, who with the teeming rain and occasional rumble of thunder, should have been in his natural element by being soaked to the skin, trembled on the spot.

Team Plasma wasn't a new entity to him; having previously lived his life at Professor Juniper's Lab had allowed him to pick up on things that the other Pokémon were unaware of, such things that he did not wish to impart to his friends. Nevertheless, Oshawott shook himself of the excess water and allowed himself to approach the entrance first even though he could hear his Trainer warning him to be careful. But of course, he was always careful, he knew that surely.

Oshawott took his scalchop and prepared to slash at the aged lock. To break the item in one would not only look impressive and therefore boost his confidence but it would also impress a certain someone else. Whenever his thoughts strayed to her however, he seemed to lose all focus and descend into an almost dream-like state. His body trembled and his heart fluttered.

"~Oshawott…~" he murmured to himself.

"Oshawott?" said Ash.

Oshawott snapped himself out of his reverie, hearing his Trainer's voice and saw that everyone was waiting for him to do the thing that he had volunteered for. He blushed and urged himself to concentrate. There was no time like the present after all. Oshawott's scalchop glowed with energy and he geared himself to leap up in the air and pull off a powerful attack.

"Hey boonie kid! Just what do you think you're doing here?"

Oshawott, completely alarmed, cried out loud and instead of striking the padlock, he ended up slamming himself against the titanium doors instead. His razor-sharp shell flew skywards and landed at the intruder's feet. Oshawott suddenly felt his arm throb painfully. Angry, he turned to see who it was. Pikachu had to stop him from attacking both the Trainer and the Pokémon that stood beside him.

"Trip!" Ash yelled. "Where did you come from? And what are you doing here?" His companions, Iris and Cilan also voiced similar questions, mainly on the lines of (from Iris anyway), "Why did you have to go and scare us like that?!"

Oshawott still had to be restrained by Pikachu when Trip stood there and laughed, as if this was all a game. (Pikachu had that sinking feeling that he was going to have restrain Oshawott more than usual in the future.) His Pokémon, Servine, gave Oshawott a self-assured smirk. Clearly, Servine still felt that he had got the better deal and that he was chosen over Oshawott because Oshawott was really rather inferior. And Oshawott wasn't chosen by a Trainer at the lab; it was only because he had ran away to catch up with Ash that he was chosen at all.

"~Osha...~" he muttered under his breath.

"I've come to do an errand for Professor Juniper," he explained. "She contacted me with the Xtransreceiver, a device that you still haven't got hold of since Kanto is way behind the times." Ash, just like his Pokémon, tried to keep his rising anger in check. "Professor Juniper has entrusted me to check out this abandoned Plasma Laboratory in case it holds any dangers to the wild Pokémon around here or if there are still members of Team Plasma working inside it. So what have you come for?"

"Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny have also expressed similar concerns that you mention, Trip," said Cilan calmly. "As experienced trainers, they felt that we would be able to take care of matters ourselves since the regular police are busy tracking down Plasma members and of course, Nurse Joy has to deal with sick Pokémon. In any case, it's better to inspect this place as a group."

"Cilan's right," said Iris. "Whatever is in there, it could be dangerous! And I don't want Axew exposed to anything like that or any other Pokémon." The Dragon Pokémon voiced his agreement and then he hid from the rain that was still pelting down.

"Please," Trip sighed. "Team Plasma abandoned this place a month ago according to the sources in town. What reason could there be for any members to stay behind? And the experiments that they were talking about? That was just baloney made up to scare kids. Their main objective is to free Pokémon after all since they are still active. And if there were any Plasma members inside here that needed dealing with, I could take them on easily. Alone."

"Well, for someone who doesn't know half of what's going on, you sure seem to be confident!" Ash snapped. "Come on, Trip. There's no harm in boosting our numbers and I'm pretty sure that you're as concerned about protecting our Pokémon as we are, even though our Pokémon are pretty strong!"

"Really?" said Trip disinterestedly. "Are your Pokémon really that strong? I see that you still haven't evolved your Oshawott." He indicated the Water-Type with the same disinterest as before infuriating Oshawott. "Why do most of your Pokémon, like your Oshawott, never seem to get past the first evolutionary stage? That's just lazy. I'm glad I chose Servine."

"If Oshawott doesn't want to evolve then that's perfectly fine by me," Ash said. "It's down to our Pokémon whether they want to evolve or not." Cilan and Iris remained silent; they too had Pokémon that had not evolved and were in no rush to do so. "And in case you hadn't noticed," Ash continued. "Oshawott was just going to let us into the building before you interrupted us."

Oshawott folded his arms and glared at Servine. "~Osha~Osha~Oshawott.~" He did not get much of a response in return.

Would you have got us in? I bet not! You wouldn't have volunteered, would you? No, you would have left some poor sap to do the job instead!

Trip gave another customary sigh. "Ash," he said. "Have you ever heard of the concept of using a key?"

"Where did you get that from?" asked Ash suddenly.

"Who do you think?" said Trip with another sigh.

Before Trip could take another step forwards, Oshawott rushed before him, seeing that his beloved scalchop was either going to be stood on or kicked aside with little ceremony. An Oshawott only allowed those that it truly trusted or cared for to touch its scalchop and obviously, Trip did not fit either bill. Oshawott shot the Trainer who had grievously insulted him on a number of occasions a piercing glare before picking up his scalchop. However, instead of reattaching it to himself, Oshawott was determined to show Trip that he was not some weak Pokémon and resumed his previously interrupted task. They all heard a loud crack and a clang.

What do you think of that, then? Oshawott thought as if he could somehow project his thoughts to his rival. "~Oshawott?~"

Show-off, thought Servine. "~Ser…vine~"

"Well, well, well," said Trip as Oshawott cleaved the padlock into two perfect halves. "I suppose that is slightly impressive. Maybe you should do that more often; try to look impressive that is. Then I wouldn't be mistaken about you. But… I could have just used this key to get us in."

"Do you have to be like that all of the time?!" Iris yelled. "It is getting really annoying! You're not exactly the most impressive person yourself. You are such a little kid!" This was one of those times in which Ash appreciated her fury. "That thing looks rusty anyway so I bet that you couldn't have gotten the doors open if you tried. Just as well we're here isn't it?"

"Thanks, Oshawott," said Ash. "I thought that was great. Just look at how much stronger you're getting now."

Oshawott gave a small bow and went to reattach his scalchop. He wanted to give Servine a self-satisfied smirk but he was confused when he saw the Servine grin at him rather smugly. It was then that he suddenly noticed with great alarm that his beloved shell had sustained major damage and that there was now a large crack running through the middle of it.

"Oh, no!" Ash cried as soon as he noticed the cause of his Pokémon's sudden distress. "That's not going to help at all! I didn't know they could get damaged. Hey, Oshawott, don't worry," he said seeing how upset Oshawott looked. "I'm sure that it will heal in next to no time… won't it Cilan?"

"Hmm," Cilan pondered. "Well, Ash, Oshawott's scalchop is made of keratin so it should grow back on its own although I would recommend not using Razor Shell for a while since that would increase the chances of it shattering entirely and it would take far longer to re-grow an entire shell than to heal a crack. In fact, it would be better to avoid using it at all for some time."

"Shame," said Trip as he led the way inside along with his Servine. "I'd have thought that Oshawott's weapon would have been a lot tougher by now what with all of your training but I guess not. What goes for the Pokémon goes for the Trainer too. I suppose we better get this over with anyway haven't we, Servine?"

"Don't Oshawott," said Ash, lightly touching his Pokémon. "He's not worth it. This is going to be fun, isn't it, Pikachu?" he said to himself and his Pokémon. Pikachu gave a solemn nod while Oshawott strode on ahead, resolutely showing that he wasn't going to go back into his Poké Ball just yet. He tried not to let his distress show not only over the unexpected damage but that he was horribly afraid of Team Plasma and anything associated with them. But that was a story for another time.

At least, when they all got inside, they were able to dry off a little, sheltered at last from the torrential weather. Apart from the water that dripped from their clothes, there was no other discernible sound in the building. Pikachu and Oshawott shook themselves dry only to get wet again when Servine decided to shake himself dry. Cilan's Pansage decided to give the pair a leaf each off its tuft to alleviate any tiredness and the possibilities of ill effects. Being a generous Pokémon, Pansage offered Servine one as well but was politely refused.

"OK," said Ash. "Does anybody have a map? I doubt there'll be signposts all over for the place for us."

"Look, there's a map on the wall," Cilan remarked. "If I can trace it onto my Town Map device, then we shouldn't have too many problems making our way around here. I'm afraid it's going to take quite some time though before we finish for the night."

Ash groaned. It would have been far easier if Trip had turned up earlier or later than he did. Oshawott wasn't amused either since it looked like Servine was going to stay out for the entirety of this escapade as well.

"Let's get this over with then…" Ash muttered.

"Get on a move on, everybody, Professor Juniper wants this done today not tomorrow or next week!"

"Hey, who asked you to come along anyway?" Ash snapped.

"Er, Professor Juniper did," said Trip with a sigh. "I already told you that. Does Kanto have people who actually have brains? Talk about the boonies…"

"Will you two stop arguing?" Iris groaned. Her Dragon partner Axew jumped onto her shoulder as a show of defence. "This job isn't going to get done any faster by yelling at each other. None of us want to be here so let's just get whatever it is that needs doing done."

"She's right," said Cilan, in his usual role as a peacekeeper. "Whatever Team Plasma got up to here, I think our Pokémon can still sense it and it's making them very uneasy." It was true. Axew had been hiding in Iris's hair most of the time and Pikachu kept a painful grip on Ash's shoulder as if that was the only safe haven around. Oshawott was out of his Poké Ball still as was his wont to do and in any case, he wanted to keep a close eye on that cocky Servine that Trip had. Even in this dismal place, Servine displayed astounding confidence. Oshawott shook his head; could they be so blind to the possible dangers ahead of them?

"So, I wouldn't just rush into this," Cilan continued. His Pansage, who was also quite the peacekeeper, nodded in agreement. "We know that Team Plasma is a dangerous force to be reckoned with as we have come across them before. Just keep that in mind."

"Huh, well my Servine is perfectly fine," said Trip nonchalantly. "And isn't that what I've been saying in the first place? Since your Pokémon are so scared, we need to go through this base quickly don't we?"

He stroked the top of Servine's head and for some reason that Oshawott couldn't explain to himself, that only made him extremely angry. Maybe it was due to the fact that Servine had been chosen over him and that he had had to accept ages ago that Pikachu was Ash's number one partner. In any case, that Servine constantly irritated him with the sly looks and the snide remarks. And its Trainer wasn't much better.

"~Servine~Servine~" it said to him. "~Servine~Vine!~"

Oshawott didn't look around but he could hear the snickering. He was finding it difficult not to react. It was such a shame that he was at a type-disadvantage; maybe if he learned a Bug-Type move or something like that and then he could give him some payback. Of course, Servine was one up in the evolutionary stakes and constantly found amusement in Oshawott's lack of desire to evolve, as if it was some sort of mental illness. That was what he was doing now. Oshawott knew that he wasn't the only one who did not want to evolve. After all, Pikachu kept his distance from Thunderstones so that he wouldn't evolve and Snivy… well, if she wanted to evolve, she would have done so by now being stronger than he was. Oshawott breathed deeply; thinking about Snivy always calmed him down.

Until said thoughts were interrupted again by his rival that is. Oshawott slowly removed his cracked scalchop and practically dared for his rival to taunt him again.

"Man, this place is creepy," Ash remarked. He held Pikachu against his chest to reassure both himself and his Pokémon. "They're just as bad as Team Rocket, if not worse. At least Team Rocket's main plan has always been pretty clear: world domination. But these guys… just what do they hope to get by experimenting on Pokémon?"

"Who knows, Ash?" said Cilan. "At least we haven't seen much that's untoward. I would say that we have covered about three-quarters of this building by the way. I think it should only take us another hour or so to fully check this place out and then we can get out of here."

"Thank goodness," Iris sighed. "Hey, Axew, I think we're going to be fine. Just a little bit longer now and then we can go back to the Pokémon Centre." Ash, meanwhile, inwardly groaned again. Another hour or so with Trip? Just why was it that in every region he visited, he had to have a rival who basically thought that he was better than everybody else?

This place really was dilapidated and creepy. Everywhere they looked, there were holes in the creaking floorboards and bare, cobwebbed wires hanging from the ceiling. The few light bulbs that were working tended to flicker and in some cases, water dripped from them and those drops were scalding hot as Oshawott had unfortunately found out earlier. As clichéd as it was to say it, it was quiet… too quiet. It wasn't as if they were expecting any noise but nevertheless, the near silence was rather unnerving.

"Wait a minute," said Ash. "Can you hear something? Kinda like a humming sound."

"The only thing I can hear is the sound of your voice," Trip muttered.

"No wait, I can hear it too, Ash," said Iris. "It sounds like it's coming from a big machine. It must be coming from behind those doors. I don't think we've explored that area yet."

"Well, we better take a look," said Cilan uncertainly. "Perhaps it's nothing really, nothing at all."

These doors were much stiffer than the previous ones that they had encountered, not to mention much larger as well. And rather than a lock, the only way to gain access into the room was to use a pass-card of some kind, which they did not have of course. Trip ordered his Servine to use Leaf Blade on them and managed to deliver a little damage. Since Snivy also knew Leaf Blade, Ash called her out to help Servine. Soon enough, Iris and Cilan were helping out too with their own Pokémon, Excadrill and Pansage and Ash also called out Scraggy, knowing his Pokémon's love for head-butting things. Emolga came out just to see what all the fuss was.

Recently, Pikachu had noted with interest how Oshawott seemed to blush whenever he was in close proximity to Snivy. Oshawott was trying to and failing to hide it now but fortunately, everybody else was concentrating on getting the doors open. As well as this increased interest in Snivy, Oshawott had also been successfully ignoring Emolga's nonsensical demands for the past fortnight, even resisting her constant use of Attract which she employed as a means of overpowering Pokémon like Oshawott. If this was the case then, had Oshawott finally given up on chasing after the first cute Pokémon that he saw and was looking for a serious relationship?

And then Snivy herself. She was far better at hiding what she was feeling than most of the Pokémon that Pikachu had travelled with but it seemed strange that she suddenly wanted to have her training sessions with Oshawott more often at any rate. It was all very interesting.

How can I hope to compete? Oshawott thought sadly, oblivious to Pikachu's observations of them both. I'm nowhere near good enough for her. I'd be an embarrassment. She deserves better than me.

The doors shattered under the combined force of Snivy and Servine's Leaf Blades as they delivered the final blow. They had been in perfect sync and despite the fact that Servine was the one who had evolved, they appeared to be evenly matched in power. Oshawott looked at them both. Servine grinned and draped a vine over Snivy's shoulder as if he was tired. She quickly shrugged the vine off before anyone noticed and turned away from the Grass-Type Pokémon. Servine shot Oshawott a smirk, seeing that the Pokémon was hotly blushing. Inside, Oshawott was seething and knew that Servine was just asking for a scalchop where it would hurt.

Oh, get over yourself, he thought glumly once they entered the next room. You're jealous and you haven't even had the guts to ask her out! If only I could talk to her about it. But that won't happen. Stop dreaming!

"Whoa, what is it?" Ash breathed. Oshawott looked up and was startled by what he saw.

One could describe it as a Rube Goldberg Machine, such was its highly complicated-looking and peculiar nature. It appeared to be all steel pipes, large gears and strange devices that nevertheless created a forbidding contraption that easily towered above the entire group. There was a cavernous hatch at the front of the device large enough even for a Snorlax to slide down. Oshawott gulped and hid behind Snivy before he realised what he was doing. He coughed in embarrassment and diverted his attention elsewhere. He saw Servine glaring at him. He glared back.

"It must have been some experiment for Team Plasma to have to build this machine," Cilan mused. "It's actually quite a masterpiece, one that undoubtedly delights machine connoisseurs such as me."

"Is there anything that you're not a connoisseur of, Cilan?" Iris asked wearily. She didn't want to sit through another epic connoisseur speech about whatever it was that Cilan was interested in. "Anyway, we can't just go admiring this. If it's Team Plasma, then it can't be anything good! It needs to be stopped!"

"It's not doing anything apart from sitting there," Trip said coolly. "And what makes you say that, anyway? Team Plasma is supposed to free Pokémon rather than steal them or anything like that."

"Trip, would you like your Pokémon taken off you without any say in the matter?" said Ash. "It doesn't matter if you're a good Trainer or not, they'll still try to take them off you. And that's stealing." When Ash didn't receive a reply, he sighed and continued. "Look, Team Plasma wants to separate people and Pokémon and we don't know why. We haven't found anything in this place to even give us a clue but I'm not letting people and Pokémon be taken away from each other. I couldn't give up being friends with Pokémon."

"~Chaaaaa~" Pikachu added, making his opinion loud and clear, even if they couldn't tell what he was saying exactly.

"Well, it's not as if I could either," said Trip after a while. "Who doesn't want to be with Pokémon? But what makes you so sure about this whole business with Team Plasma?"

"Professor Juniper has filled us in on some details on previous occasions when we've met up with her," said Iris in a somewhat smug manner. "She's heard quite a bit about them being a Pokémon Professor. And of course, we got some information from Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy as well."

"Yeah? Well, how come I've not heard anything from Professor Juniper then?"

"Didn't she tell you that it could be dangerous?" asked Ash curiously.

As their Trainers had begun to argue with Trip, Pikachu and Axew leapt onto the ground next to Oshawott and Snivy with Servine a little way off. The machine was still humming but it didn't appear to be dangerous whatever it was. However, Pikachu knew from experience that appearances could be deceptive; it looked like some weird contraption that Team Rocket would build in the old days. He only wished that Axew knew that as the little Dragon Pokémon suddenly went wandering away from the group.

"~Pikachu!~" he hissed as he dragged Axew back from the controls console of the machine. Axew didn't seem to take much notice of him. This thing was far more fascinating, especially the glowing red button in the middle of the high console. It would be difficult to reach it though since he was only a small Pokémon and in any case, he was now being watched by Pikachu. Axew sighed. He never got any fun…

The trouble was that Pikachu couldn't keep an eye on everyone at once. He could hear Oshawott and Servine having a whispered and yet quite heated argument behind him again and Snivy didn't seem too sure about whom to support. Whether that was due to clashing teammate loyalty and species loyalty or something else entirely, he didn't know and quite frankly, he didn't care. This constant arguing needed to stop at some point. They really could be as bad as their Trainers…

"~Oshawott!~Oshawott!~"

"~Servine!~Servine!~Servine!~"

"~OSHAWOTT!~"

Pikachu wondered what a peaceful life would be like as he listened to the argument, something to do with strength, evolution and petty insults, as Axew tried to wriggle free from his grasp. He was ready to give the pair of them a piece of his own mind when without warning, Servine suddenly used Leaf Blade on Oshawott, a highly critical move. Oshawott did not have time to react and was subsequently slammed straight into the console, ricocheting off the red button before slamming into the floor with all the wind knocked out of him.

Pikachu could have slapped himself. The one button Oshawott had to press and it was the painfully obviously large one that was bound to set something off.

"Hey! Why did your Servine just attack my Oshawott?!" Ash yelled angrily. Oshawott pulled himself upright and prepared to launch a powerful Tackle at his opponent. Pikachu had rarely seen his teammate so enraged. It was really quite unnerving.

"Your Oshawott must have obviously provoked my Servine," said Trip calmly. "I guess your Oshawott isn't quite mature yet. After all, he couldn't even open his eyes underwater a while ago until I spotted it."

If Oshawott could speak, then the first thing he would say was that Servine was the one doing the provoking and that he would have been happy to have been left alone. The next thing he would have said was for Trip to shut up and that he was glad he hadn't been chosen by him after all.

Before their very eyes, the machine then came to life.

"What's happening?" Ash cried out in alarm as they all heard strange rumbling sounds come from within the Plasma Device. A row of computer screens suddenly lit up and displayed a whole load of information that only the scientists working for Team Plasma could understand. However, even if the Trainers could understand it, they wouldn't have been able to read the information as the screens were cracked and the text looked garbled. Axew stopped squirming and starting holding onto Pikachu tightly instead.

The Trainers and their Pokémon froze as holographic laser beams, coming from the machine, scanned their bodies, seemingly examining them to the very core. Oshawott quivered as the laser passed over his scalchop and noted its cracked exterior. Cilan being Cilan was the first to notice that images of their Pokémon were being pasted onto the screens, fuzzy as they were. Pikachu, Axew, Oshawott, Snivy, Servine, Pansage, Tepig, Excadrill, Emolga…

Wait. The contents of their Poké Balls were also being examined, in a similar manner to how they would be examined at a Pokémon Centre. The entire process seemed painfully slow. Everybody held their breath, unsure of whether they should attack it, leave it alone or just run. Then suddenly, a row of metallic appendages shot out and grabbed the nearest Pokémon to them.

"~PIKAPI!~"

"PIKACHU!" Ash yelled as his precious partner was snatched up without warning. Pikachu tried to use Thunderbolt but it did not have any effect at all. Neither did any of the other attacks that the other Pokémon tried to use. Oshawott growled with fury and without thinking, he slashed at the arm with his scalchop. Not only did it fail to do anything useful but his scalchop then split into two pieces. Oshawott was completely horrified.

"I'm not letting it take my Pokémon!" Ash snarled.

Ash dashed forwards but was immediately assailed by the metallic arms trying to snatch his remaining Poké Balls. The screaming and yelling from behind him made Ash realise that they were also in the same predicament. One by one, despite their struggles, each and every Poké Ball was taken off them and held almost mockingly out of reach.

"Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt on the machine!" Pikachu tried to use his move again but his attack just seemed to be absorbed by the metal.

"Axew! Use Dragon Rage!" Iris screamed. Axew attempted it but he found that he was too scared go do anything. Iris tried to grab the Dragon-Type but there was no way to get close enough to any of them.

"Oshawott! Use Water Gun on the machine!" Ash cried out desperately. Oshawott didn't seem to hear him though, being traumatised by the loss of his scalchop. He held each piece as if they were his lifelines. The others didn't know just how important a scalchop was to any Oshawott.

"OSHAWOTT! YOU NEED TO USE WATER GUN NOW!" Ash yelled.

Oshawott shot a spray of cold water at the machine's vital controls and blasted it out as long as he could. Something fizzed and crackled, some of the controls whirred erratically and yet that wasn't enough to stop their impending fate. Oshawott was the first to be directed to the awaiting hatch, to whatever awaited within as the sensors apparently picked on the fact that Oshawott was the one attacking the delicate system. He struggled violently and viciously, using Water Gun again and again but unfortunately for Oshawott, he was easily overpowered and with one swift movement, he was fiercely thrown down into the hatch and he disappeared from sight into the dark depths of the machine.

The sounds of the Trainers were quickly left behind and he couldn't hear the other Pokémon following him as his body slammed into the sides of the chute on the way down. He immediately felt the heat and humidity rise and sincerely hoped that if he was going to die, he would at least see Snivy first as his last memory.

To Oshawott's surprise, he didn't so much land as splash into a mysterious, glowing liquid which he accidentally swallowed. Oshawott choked and gasped as his throat burned. Being a Water-Type, he could technically breathe underwater but in this instance, it was not a good thing. This had to be highly poisonous stuff; his stomach was churning and the chemicals smelled highly toxic to his sensitive nose.

Oshawott thrashed about, fighting a horrendous pain that made him feel that his throat was on fire. He wondered if he would be able to speak again after this; the chemicals were practically attacking his vocal chords. He tried swimming to the side only to find there was nothing to cling onto and all the while, the Water Pokémon needed water to drink.

He eventually heard the others fall down the chute with the Poké Balls tumbling down first and out of instinct, Oshawott dived underwater to avoid everybody falling on top of him. Thankfully, the Poké Balls floated as they rose up to the surface of the liquid. Oshawott held his breath as on the surface, there was a terrible commotion what with all the panicking and splashing and shoving and yelling. It didn't help that whatever they were in had now started to shake ferociously, causing the occupants to be tossed from side to side.

Oshawott could hear his heartbeat getting painfully louder. His nerves were screaming at him, telling him to breathe. It was against his nature to force himself to stop breathing underwater even if this liquid was likely very lethal. There was poison above and poison below. The tumult above him was strangely distorted, his heartbeat was getting louder than ever. He needed oxygen and there wasn't a lot of that underwater either.

He couldn't help it. He breathed.

Fully expecting his insides to suffer a terrible burning sensation all over, Oshawott swam upwards and broke the surface. The noise from the machine suddenly hit him; it was much louder than before. Everybody was having difficulties in trying to keep their heads above water, especially Axew and Scraggy, the youngest members of their family. Oshawott quickly swam over and grabbed the pair of them. They held onto him tightly though the extra weight forced Oshawott to kick harder to stay afloat. He soon saw that everybody was trying to make their way over to him.

Oshawott tried to speak even though his throat was still burning and the noise kept getting even louder. "Guys, whatever you do," he said to all of them. "Don't swallow any of this stuff. I don't know what it is but it could seriously hurt you. So for Arceus' sake, don't swallow it!" He was suddenly aware that everybody was staring at him. "OK! OK! So I swallowed it! It wasn't intentional! That's why I'm telling you not to swallow it!"

"You're… talking human talk…" said Pikachu slowly. Oshawott froze with sudden realisation.

"Yeah," he said equally slowly. "You… are… as well."

Everybody went deadly silent as they tried to take in what had just happened to them. They tentatively tried out their own voices. Human talk. Not Pokémon talk. Human talk.

"Human talk…" said Oshawott dazed as everybody else began screaming. "This stuff makes us talk human talk. But Team Plasma's experiments, I mean… why can we talk? Why can we talk?"