AN:
I do not own the rights to Pokémon and this is purely for non-monetary gain. All other characters that are not originally part of pokemon and are part of this fanfiction belong to me. This story uses a mix of the anime, and manga of pokemon and pokemon adventures both in terms of characters and story. It takes place several years after Ash's adventure in Sinoah and currently disregards Gen 5 pokemon. This first chapter is an entire re-write and i am now hoping to output quality over quantity.
It was dark, very dark. The void of the universe could only match as a comparison. There was a draft, a very cold one that tingled the body. There was sound but it seemed like ambiance, a hum if you will it. But there were other sounds too, voices. Not just one or two, but three and more. The words they spoke meant little to him as they came out muffled and jumbled. There was a low glow of light that came before him. It began to grow brighter and brighter, and soon it brought forth warmth and coloured images. There was blue all around, not the sky but water, underwater to be exact. The reeds and seaweed around drifted in the ocean current. Above him there were ripples on the water, like someone had cast a stone into a pond.
Who am I? What am I?
The vision drew closer and closer to the surface, bubbles flowed from underneath toward the surface, like a creature's breath. Closer and closer, until it burst through the surface toward the white clouds above. Below there was a green sea of trees, a vast forest filled with life. In the distance was a snow capped mountain, standing mighty and tall over the forest below.
I am ready... To be, to exist.
The vision had faded from sight and the light had condensed to a single point. Again the voices rose from the depths, this time they were clearer than before. The words were coherent and clear.
" The subject has awakened. Check his brainwaves and heart condition".
" The levels are above normal on brainwaves. His heart rate is increasing".
The dim glow soon became a punishing light, that even behind closed eyes would hurt anyone's vision. Soon the bright light was lessened, as if directed away. It was then that he opened his eyes. He attempted to shield his eyes from the light but found himself restrained to the table. He glanced from side to side, sighting the source of the voices. Men in long white coats began whispering to each other, some pointing at him.
Observing the lab from the mounted camera on the wall several figures from the table they sat at, witnessed the subject's awakening.
" I'm surprised he survived the operation". Stated the man at the head of the table. " From your analysis of his condition professor Hojo there seemed to be a 70% fatality rate. It would have been very disappointing to lose him".
" Which is why-", Hojo explained " I performed the operation myself. There are so only few of his kind. He is among the 6 of the 36 subjects to survive the program itself. It would be a shame to lose our valuable asset".
There was a long silence in the room when other figure from those among the table asked, " Does he remember anything?"
" Unfortunately the brain trauma was beyond what most humans could survive. I'm afraid he will have no recollection of anything prior to the operation we just performed". The professor in the long, white coat explained.
" That is most disappointing". The same figure responded.
In the lab the scientists were busy working their machines, taking down log notes, or talking with one another. With no recollection of his memory the boy strapped to the table grew both anxious and curious with his surroundings.
" Who am I?" He asked to no particular scientist in the room. His question attracted the question of two scientists, whom looked at each other, before one of them answered, " You are unit 6, also known as Cainen".
" Cainen", he muttered to himself." That is my name. Who are you then? Do you have a name?" He enquired.
The scientist was preparing a syringe, filling it with an unknown chemical. He then answered, " You can call me Jimmy Baxter, I'm an assistant to Professor Hojo. We are scientists that work for Team Rocket".
Cainen raised an eyebrow. " Team Rocket? What's a Team Rocket?" He expressed honest confusion. The two words that had brought fear and anger to the hearts of many meant so little to him. Jimmy smiled, swabbing Cainen's arm with a disinfectant. " An organization that works for the good of humanity and pokemon. We always have the best interests in mind for them". Yet another word Cainen could not truly understand. " Whats a pokemon?" Jimmy had chuckled at the question, to which Cainen felt offended. Here was this man practically laughing at a question to which Cainen honestly had no answer to.
" Pokemon are creatures that exist in our world, and unlike us they come in all shaped, colors and sizes. We humans use pokemon for our own purposes, ranging from pets to a more war-like use".
Cainen winced as he was injected with the unknown chemical. " There now that wasn't that bad was it?"
" What are you doing to me?" Cainen asked, as the scientist stepped over a portable computer situated on a stand. Baxter began typing at a feverish pace. " We're going to run a few tests. Perhaps we'll have closer this time than our last. You are one of our greatest experiments yet! Ah the limitless potential of evolution..."
Why am I here? He thought to himself. Am I merely the end result of human hubris?
" What is my purpose here?" Cainen demanded.
" You are to just do as we tell you to do. Your purpose has always been to obey Team Rocket". He answered.
Is that truly all there is? Why do I feel... deceived? Cainen remembered the vivid vision, the ethereal forest, the great snow capped mountain, and the free blue sky. It was a direct contrast to his current environment. He disappointment and anger course through him.
His thoughts however were interrupted by a violent shock-wave that had rattled the very room he was in. The base alarm sounded and several flashing red lights began flashing in the room.
In the observation room the entire table stood up in alert. " What's going on?" The figure at the head of the table demanded as he spoke into his intercom.
" Master Giovanni the base has been breached! We're under attack! There are multiple hostiles, they are-" There was another rumble with the distinct sound of a roar, agonizing cries, and collapsing rubble. The intercom then cut out to white noise.
" Of all the damn times!" Giovanni switched the intercom channel. " Security at full alert. I want this level of the base secured immediately!" He shouted into the device.
From those among the table one stood at attention. He was dressed in black spandex and kevlar, armed with ninjatos, grenades, shuriken, pokeballs, and a sub-machine gun. " Master Giovanni it probable that the intruders may know the purpose of this facility. They might be attempting to try to reach Cainen. I would like to take a team down to the testing labs".
Giovanni nodded. " Very well, see to it that Cainen is kept out of their reach. They must not get to him, lest our latest work have been for nothing".
Another shock-wave ripped throughout the complex , this time it originated closer to the testing lab. The scientists were already nervous. " We should leave now". One whispered.
" The military dogs will protect us, there is no need. Let them handle it". Another whispered back.
Cainen was simply helpless to move. He tugged at the restraints , trying to free himself, but the leather devices would not yield to his might. He began tugging harder at them, earning the attention of the panicking scientists.
" What do you think you're doing!" Spat Baxter. " Prepare a sedative and keep him under control!"
Several scientists ran to hold down Cainen who now began yelling out in protest and tugging hard on the restraints. An explosion from down the hall freaked out the scientists in the room, they gazed at the only exit to the room,where the sounds of destruction and death could be heard. Whatever monster was ripping through the base it was coming for them. The sound of its footsteps grew louder and louder as Cainen again tugged at his restraints, the veins in his arms bulge, and his yells reach a high end roar. They felt fear creep into their spines and began to back away from Cainen as he ripped himself out the leather restraints holding him down. He would have assaulted the scientists if he had not wondered why they were so afraid. That was when he turned to the door. Cainen's anger soon turned to fear as the monster that had been terrorizing the base now stood in front of the door to the lab.
The door was ejected from its hinges and launched right toward Cainen. He ducked just in time as the door, only inches from his face, sailed right over him, colliding into the scientist behind him. The scientist died on impact and was left bleeding on the floor. His attention was drawn once again to the door, where his eyes met with the dark harbinger. Covered in black scales the great dragon stretched its wings and whipped his fiery tail behind him. A stream of flame erupted from the monster's mouth toward the scientists in the back. They were incinerated instantly and the resulting explosion from the chemical laboratory tanks vaporized their charred corpses. Suddenly the ceiling cracked and began losing its composition, and a fearful Cainen watched as a solid piece of concrete fell towards him. There was no time to move, it was simply too big to avoid. Frozen in fear he shut his eyes and screamed, knowing the inevitable.
I can't believe its over already! I've yet the chance to truly discover my purpose!
Cainen waited but the crushing blow never came. He looked back in fear of still waiting for the block to fall, but it had stopped in midair, stopped by the great creature. Cainen simply stared wide-eyed as the great black dragon cast the rubble aside it had caught with his arms and wings. The expression on the dragon's face was of concern, and not of reckless hate. He couldn't explain it but somehow Cainen knew that it was here to help him. Cainen stood up, and for a moment, they just looked at each other, as if they tried to sense what was in the others soul. Cainen felt something awfully familiar in the creature's eyes, something that told him he could trust his saviour. Or whatever he was.
"Charizard?" he asked, grabbing the word from somewhere in his memory. He realized however that the word, or name, didn't mean anything to him. But to the creature it was enough to elicit what Cainen thought was a smile.
"Is your name Charizard?"
Charizard grunted in confirmation.
The black scaled dragon motioned Cainen to follow it, guiding him with his wing. The two exited into the hallway where the thick smell of charred flesh, burnt electronics, and toxic synthetic materials assailed their nostrils. Cainen whom was unfamiliar with these scents in memory, coughed and pinched his nose. Charizard looked around warningly as if, expecting for an ambush to come. Suddenly the creature's eyes widened, sensing the immediate danger. Charizard tugged Cainen toward a corner, narrowly avoiding detection as a group of armed rocket grunts arrived. They were lead by man resembling a ninja, with a hell hound-like dog at his side.
" Quickly, search the area! They couldn't have gotten far. Release your pokemon and track them down!"
" Yes sir!" The rockets responded and released their pokemon. Cainen simply gazed in fear of the creatures that had been release from their contraptions. He was frozen in fear at the menacing sight of them.
What are these creatures!
Charizard tugged again on Cainen's arm, instructing him to move immediately, and so he did. The began their run down the smoke-filled corridor.
" There they are! After them!" Cainen heard someone shout behind him and Charizard. As they fled down the corridor Cain winced as he could feel his feet being impaled by the shards of broken metal, glass, and concrete material. To worsen the pain there was smouldering rubble beneath his feet. He was relieved when the rubble path ended. He looked over to Charizard to see if it shared any similar pain on that path. The pokemon and the two rounded a corner of the complex. They came face to face with armed security personnel, Rocket grunts armed with sub-machine guns. The two men in black uniform raised their guns at the offending black dragon and Cainen prepared for the worst, cowering in fear behind Charizard. The great black dragon however had whipped his tail at them straight into their rib cages, and quickly smashed them to the ground without a single shot fired. The armed guards' cries of agony were soon silenced by the hot flames spewed by Charizard. Cainen bear witness to their struggled movements, soon ceasing to move at all. He stared in horror at his companion, his mind racing, filled with fear and confusion at the events of destruction and death that were occuring.
Why are you killing everyone? Am I going to be next to die in this chaos?
But before he could ponder more on the thought Charizard had once again began moving, to which he tugged hard on Cainen's arm and the human reluctantly followed with all haste. As he ran he could hear his pursuers behind him, yelling orders into their radios. He didn't care why they were yelling but he knew well enough that he had to get away from, whatever this place was. They ascended a stone staircase and continued down the hall but the two were soon blocked by several Rocket grunts, this time with pokemon to call to battle. Cainen did not know what to make of them, only that he could label them as a loose term, which hardly made sense to him, dogs, and snakes, and bats. Charizard however had recognized his pokemon adversaries to be composed of Zubats, Houndours, and Ekans.
" Attack!"
The pokemon flew, ran, and slithered toward Charizard, whereas their masters raised their rifles and prepared to fire. It was the Houndours that struck first, leaping for Charizard's neck. The attack however failed miserably as Charizard stuck them away with his wings, sending them flying back into the other attacking pokemon. One Ekans slithered past the mess of pokemon and leapt this time toward Cainen, who was once again frozen in fear of the pokemon. Charizard had put his foot down, literally, and crushed the snake. Gunfire erupted from down the corridor from the guards, attempting to take down the great black dragon. Cainen could only hide behind his protector, and shut his eyes, hoping for everything to cease.
Please make it stop! I want to get out of this nightmare!
Charizard took several hits from the hailstorm of bullets but seemed relatively unaffected. There was pain yes, but Charizard was determined to protect his companion to the bitter end and give its own life if necessary.
The black dragon released a stream of fire from his mouth. The hallway provided no cover from the searing torrent of flames. It acted almost like an oven for the guards and their pokemon. There was simply no escape.
The armed ninja continued his chase after Cainen and the intruder. His Houndoom, at his side, and a team of Rocket grunts behind him. There were orders and updates being shouted over radio, much of it had Cainen as the center of attention.
" Rogers I want your team to head him off at the intersection. Don't let him reach the exit."
" Yes sir commander!" The response crackled through.
Cainen, have you truly forgotten everything, or is there something more to this that you've kept from me?
" Sir current security updates track them headed toward the wall breach on level 1, they won't be coming by here".
" What!" Hunter yelled back over the radio. " Intercept them now Rogers! They must not escape!" He commanded. " I want the rest of you to continue pursuit".
" Yes sir!" They responded. Hunter veered sharply around the corner, separating himself from the others, only his Houndoom accompanying him.
Cainen and Charizard finally came across a hole blown open in the concrete wall, leading to the outside, where an air of havoc presided. Plumes of smoke rose from the various fires influenced by the explosions, most likely due to Charizard's rampage. Armed guards clad in their Team Rocket uniform were preoccupied with helping the maintenance staff with dousing the fires and establishing a security perimeter. Cainen glanced over at the black Charizard at his side. How did you manage to do all this? His companion remained silent, even when returning the glance to his partner, The black dragon motioned with his head for Cainen to mount him. Cainen understood the speechless message and, hesitantly, mounted the back of Charizard, digging his heels into the back legs of his mount. Charizard extended his wings and beat them ferociously, taking his not so naked anymore passenger up into the air. The night sky was chilling and Cainen was thankful that he had found someone's uniform pants intact, with a sharpened combat knife, along the way. Their ascension had not gone unnoticed, however, and soon Cainen and Charizard came under fire from the guns below. Some of the grunts released their flight capable pokemon to pursue them. Charizard gracefully dodged the fire from below as their were outside the optimal range of the guns. To Cainen, who simply ducked his head into the protective scales of his companion, he simply hoped they would not be hit. He gathered the courage to peer back and found that the pokemon released to catch them were too slow to continue pursuit. Cainen felt relief course through him. He also felt a very sharp pain in his shoulder a moment later. He cried out and turned to view his left shoulder and saw the exit wound of a sniper round.
.Through the end of sniper scope, Cainen's shooter was readjusting his aim to take into account that the black dragon had taken notice of the sharpshooter's presence and had begun using less predictable maneuverings. He adjusted his scope to account for Charizard's sudden change in direction, wind factor, and distance to the target. His breaths became slow, to allow a greater gathering of concentration. He aligned his sights once again, this time to plant the killing shot on his target. He kept his adversary in his cross-hairs, his breathing nonexistent, and carefully squeezed the trigger. The shot rang out and he witnessed the dragon pokemon suddenly spiral out of control with its rider, through the scope sight. He swore he saw blood, from both pokemon and human. Both disappeared into the thick forest surrounding the military complex.
Hunter let the rifle rest from its strap on his shoulder. He adjusted the frequency of his communication headset, zeroing in to the correct frequency.
" Master Giovanni, the intruder Charizard has been shot down over the Viridian forest. I believe it was the same black Charizard that Cainen possessed".
" Interesting that it would attack the base and attempt to flee with him. Perhaps it was under orders from Cainen himself?"
" I doubt Cainen would betray the organization, I know my kin well enough to vouch for his loyalty, my master. We have served you faithfully for years and continue to do so. Whatever it may be I wish to lead a retrieval team to recover them and follow up with a personal investigation into this matter".
" Very well Hunter, assemble a team and get him back. Make an attempt to retrieve the Charizard as well but should it prove too troublesome just kill it. Cainen is too vital to our future plans. He and the rest of the Shadow Hand will play the key roles in our endeavours yet to come."
" I shall report back once the mission is complete master Giovanni". He finished, closing the communication link. He turned to face his Houndoom, whom sat idle and patient, awaiting his master's call. Hunter smiled at the irony, since he too served at the beck and call of o. To an onlooker they would never have noticed since Hunter wore a mask piece that covered his mouth. " Seems like we both serve a master". He spoke to his pokemon. The hell hound gave a simple nod in recognition of his master addressing him.
" We're going hunting for Cainen". He stated to which the dog responded by tilting his head in confusion but nodded nonetheless, understanding what was asked of him. The two departed from the roof, under the light of the moon.
And there you have it folks the first chapter. I appreciate constructive criticism so please review and let me know what you think or what I can change. This chapter has also recently been edited as i had to fix some dialogue that would cause some confusion later on.