All the champions of the Pokémon regions gathered around at the entry way to Victory Road, the Victory Road in the Kanto region, where Gary was the Champion of. Cynthia being the Champion of Sinnoh, Lance being the Champion of Johto, and both Steven and Wallace being the Champions of Hoenn. Lance turned around in a way that made his cape twist around with him slowly, looking at Wallace, who was currently flirting with one of his Pokémon, namely Milotic.
"Wallace, stop embarrassing yourself. You're ruining your supposed 'Champion' figure." He covered himself with his cape at the shoulders, leaving the rest of him covered like a blanket.
Wallace jumped, as he was in the middle of stroking down Milotic's back.
"L-Lance! I can do what I want! I am my own Champion of my own region, thank you very much."
Lance disregarded the young man's complaints, and proceeded over to Cynthia, who was in a light argument with Gary.
"Come onnnnnnn!"
He groaned,
"Let's just say for the record that I am the superior over all of you!"
"Gary, this is nonsense. Get in the right shape of mind, and get ready to depart. I hope we will be ready shortly." Cynthia added, giving a soft sigh at Lance.
Lance forced a grin, saying, "Children… You know how they are."
Steven walked over, straightening out his suit and tie, looking as if he had just arrived from a formal meeting.
"Pardon me for my late arrival, I was busy elsewhere."
"It's quite alright, Steven. I was just discussing with Gary how you were to arrive soon."
Steven gave a reassuring nod, and walked over to Wallace, who was now styling his long aqua blue hair, looking into his Milotic's eyes as a mirror.
"Wallace, we are to leave shortly."
He jumped again, giving out an irritated growl.
"Oh my goodness me! Stop scaring me you guys! It isn't funny!"
Lance glanced over at Wallace and chuckled, going to aid Cynthia in her argument with Gary.
"You are more of a pokemon researcher than any of us. Maybe you weren't designed for battle, but for battle strategies."
Gary folded his arms angrily and stormed into Victory Road.
"Fine then! I'm going in by myself! So long, LOSERS!" He shouted, giving them the finger and disappearing into the dark cave.
"We must follow him! Wallace, return Milotic to its pokeball, we have business to take care of." Steven commanded, standing in front of the rest of them, as if he were to march them into the cave after Gary.
Wallace stumbled over to the scene, Steven already bursting out in a hard jog.
"Hurry! These caves are massively dangerous! Miscellaneous rays of radiation are exposed everywhere! Especially here in Victory Road!"
Lance jumped over every rock and every hole, it was almost as if he memorized the place. Wallace tried to copy him, trying to look spectacular in all his glory, but failed miserably. He screamed countless times in fear of falling, which made everyone turn around to check if he was alright. They sighed every time, knowing that it was nothing but a false alarm. A pokemon cry, almost like a Blastoise, echoed through the walls of the cave.
"Did you hear that?" Wallaced hissed in a whisper, his eyes widened cautiously.
"It must have been Gary's Blastoise! We have to follow it everyone." Cynthia replied, continuing on their way to find Gary.
It didn't take long to locate him, as they halted, well, Steven did, and the rest of them decided to follow along.
"Gary, be careful! The radiation could hit us any minute!"
"Calm down, Old man. It's nothing but a wall of rocks! Blastoise! Hydro Cannon!" Gary replied, as Blastoise shot straight through the rock wall, a strange red aura spilling into the air.
"Uh. Ohhhhh…." Steven mumbled, attempting to escape, but before either of them could, the rays blasted past them, sending them flying back harshly, and at the same time, altering their DNA.
The whole point of the radiation was to avoid it. It can alter the human cells, making them super humans, capable of more doings than an average human being. Most of the time, this radiation is used in pokemon centers to heal them, and restore lost power, but in a human's case, intensify it, and making something more. The red radiation slowly sank back into the large hole, as a Graveler blocked the hole with its body. Lance attempted to sit up, only feeling a sharp burning pain in his back, forcing him to lie back down. He hissed painfully as he did so, as Cynthia stood up. She looked down at everyone, noting how… Affected they were. Lance lying on the ground, quaking in pain, Wallace lying there unconscious, Steven lying on the ground in a way that made him look like he couldn't move and was not breathing, and Gary, who for the most part, was noticeably harmed.
"Gary!" Cynthia gasped as she knelt down next to him, brushing away the rubble.
Gary's face began to almost rot and shrivel, as his eyes grew dark and lifeless. He let out a ghostly moan, as his remains slowly blew away with the wind. She shed a tear or two, not much, since she had only known the boy briefly.
"I-Is everyone alright?" Steven managed to say, still not moving.
His face was cloaked over by Lance's cape, leaving nothing visible but his lower half.
"I'm alright, Steven. It's me, Cynthia. I'm not too sure about Wallace and Lance." Cynthia responded, pulling away the cape from Steven's face.
She let out a gasp of horror. His face was made completely out of steel. His hair, his eyes, his nose, everything. She tried to help him up, but couldn't because of his incredible weight.
"What is the matter, Cynthia?" Steven asked, standing up on his own with ease.
He stared at Cynthia's aghast expression, and felt around his face.
"Oh dear…" He murmured, noting the strange feel of his face, as if it were metal, which indeed it was.
"The radiation… It hit us, didn't it…?" Steven wondered, looking down shamefully.
"I believe so… But it's alright, Steven! It's all going to be just fine. We've all been hit with radiation, and that's not going to change any time soon."
Steven gave a nod at her.
"You're right. But… You look unaffected."
He continued, hearing what sounded like sharp claws being dragged along gravel. The both of them looked down to see what was the matter, noticing that it was coming from nothing other than Lance's claw-like fingernails. He struggled to sit up, the pain growing worse and worse.
"H-Help me…" He managed to say, as Cynthia and Steven came to his aid.
"We're here, Lance."
As they heaved to sit him up, he stopped them by pushing his arms out.
"Guys my… My throat is burning. Like burning like heat burning."
"Like fire?" Steven continued him in questioning.
Lance nodded, gulping down harshly to try and stop the burning sensation. Nothing he did worked, and it soon increased, going down deep into his throat to the point where he began to gag. Cynthia gasped, moving back a bit.
"Lance?" She spoke up, trying to make sure if he was alright.
Steven placed a cold metal hand on Lance's neck, bringing it back immediately, watching as his fingers began to melt.
"It's fire. He's going to breathe fire." Steven said alarmingly, his hands cooled, and returned to their normal positions.
Cynthia was silent. All of this was a lot to process, and they still were not sure about what had happened to Wallace, who was lying on the ground with water pouring out of him.
"Lance, you can't keep fire in like that, it's dangerous and really risky!"
Lance's eyes were forced shut by this point, as his face began to boil up.
"This certainly is not good." Steven concluded, and ducked under a rock just in time before Lance let loose a blast of fire from his mouth, scorching everything near
. As the smoke soon faded, Cynthia and Steven seized hiding, Cynthia still hiding Wallace behind the rock she was hiding behind.
"Goodness, Lance… That could have killed us!" Cynthia complained, as Steven chuckled to try and reassure Lance.
"Let's just say what you did certainly was not normal."
Lance was panting, wiping away massive amounts of sweat from his forehead.
"I understand that."
Cynthia gave him a smile, and walked back behind the rock, buttoning down his shirt, inspecting what she assumed were fish gills. He had fins on his elbows and behind his knees, along with on his ears, too. His gills were located on his neck and waist line, remaining completely still.
"Oh my goodness…" She whispered under her breath as she inspected him further.
"Steven, is there any source of water in Victory Road?" Cynthia asked in a raised tone.
"N-Not that I know of…" Steven replied unsurely, standing up and walking towards her cautiously.
"Goodness me! What happened to Wallace?!" Steven asked, as Cynthia gently picked him up bridal style.
"I don't know. All I know is that we need water."
Steven sprinted back over to Lance, helping him stand up, even though the pain in his back was still severe, and walked him back to Cynthia.
"Follow me." Steven said, as he sent out an anonymous Dugtrio, commanding it to use dig and take them to the nearest body of water.
Dig sent them to the Seafloor Caverns, a cavern surrounded with water. When they arrived, no one was present, and Cynthia daringly dropped Wallace into the water. He sank for a good minute and a half, but soon quickly swam back to the top, ready to greet them.
"He-Hey everyone!"
He said cheerfully, winking at Cynthia.
"How are all you guys doin'?"
No one seemed to respond to his optimistic attitude, and he sank his head down further into the water.
"I see how it's going to be. Giving me the silent treatment now, Aren't ya? Well two can play at that game! Hmph!"
Lance rolled his eyes, as he said,
"I'm heading into the caverns, I will be out in a bit."
Steven gave him a positive nod, saying,
"Go ahead. I swear there are no threats in the Seafloor cavers."
Lance chuckled, and walked in, walking as deep as he could into the caverns before he stumbled down. His back was in immense pain, to the point where he could have sworn something was growing out of it, and indeed there was. Red dragon wings with black centers slowly grew out of his spine, breaking through the skin and stretching themselves out widely, Lance now able to stand up. He did so, and was relieved that his cape was moved to the side during the whole wing sprouting session. He tried to pull his wings in, hiding them under his cape. It took a lot of energy and work, but he beared through it. He walked back outside, noticing that Cynthia, Steven, and Wallace were still silent.
"I have returned." Lance spoke up, kneeling down next to Steven.
"Hi Lance!" Wallace waved, and Lance waved shyly in return, not wanting Wallace to note his claws.
"Looks like that whole radiation thing got you guys didn't it? Well, it got me too." Wallace continued, trying to brighten up the mood.
"I'm pretty sure it hit everyone, Wallace." Lance replied darkly, coughing out a little ball of flame.
Wallace grinned, not wanting to exaggerate, although he really wanted to, and kept his mouth shut.
"We have to head back to the headquarters." Cynthia spoke up.
"What no! What will they say about this? They'll call us weird! And MONSTERS!"
"It's not like anyone calls you weird already." Lance retorted, staring down at his black sharp claws hidden by his cape.
"Hey watch it there fella. But really! We need to become one. One of our own alliance!"
Steven had an unamused look on his face.
"It's not going to be so easy, you know." He remarked.
"It has to be secret! Duh! If people knew about the whole Possessed Champions gig… Who knows what might happen!" Wallace continued.
"Possessed champions huh…" Lance murmured to himself, pondering over the idea of it.
"In a few days' time, I think it is smart that we take our leave. We can camp here for a while, can't we?" Steven spoke up, thinking of a game plan.
"Sounds good to me!" Wallace cheered, smiling.
"I guess it's not a terrible idea." Lance replied.
"Whatever you want to do, I'm fine with it." Cynthia replied as well, as Steven stood up
. "Very well then. We will camp here at the Seafoam Caverns!"
Wallace let out a cheer and jumped around in the water, as Lance just rolled his eyes playfully.
"I bet you're happy."
"Sure am, Lance!"