BOOK 1- KANTO

Prologue- Experiment 1211-B

March 18, 1991
Cinnabar Research Mansion
6:36 PM

"Day 46, Test 502. Today we will be attempting to once again breathe life into the first man-made Pokemon." The scientist carefully placed his video camera down atop the mountain of sketches and reports that now dominated the polished metal desk shoved up against the wall of the lab. "Check to be sure it's focused," he commanded, motioning to another white lab-coated man standing beside the desk.

The man leaned over, glancing at the camera's screen. "We have a perfect view of the creature, ready to begin tests."

The first scientist smiled, pushing his wire glasses up his nose. "Perfect. Make sure to take notes Michael. We need a full lab report of each and every test."

The other scientist, Michael, pulled a small notebook and pencil from his coat. "Ready to go, Daniels."

Daniels gave Michael a thumbs up before turning back to the camera. "Our senior scientist, Nathanael Eldritch, will be giving the experiment a 30 milliliter dose of blended Revival Herb. We will record the effects it has on the creature."

With that, Daniels stepped across the white tiled floor of the lab to a long metal table in the center of the room. Three scientists and a variety of medical equipment were huddled around the table, each researcher scribbling constant notes down on their clipboards.

Daniels pushed his way between two to gaze down at the creature. Not much of it could be seen considering its entire body was covered in a thick white plastic mold; only two purple eyes, glassy and lifeless, could be seen behind a pair of eye lenses. He hastily checked the metal cuffs holding the creature's wrists and ankles down to the table; better safe than sorry.

"As you can see," Daniels said, once more addressing the camera, "the experiment is currently lifeless. However we hope that by injecting it with a Revival Herb, it will show signs of life."

Daniels motioned to Eldritch, who stood opposite him with a syringe filled with a pasty green liquid. Eldritch nodded, slowly bringing the syringe down towards the creature. Daniels watched in excitement as the needle penetrated the mold around the monster's shoulder, and Eldritch forced the liquid into its bloodstream.

The four men hovered over the creature for several minutes in dead silence, each examining both the creature and the numerous screens around the experiment. But nothing happened; the experiment lay on the table still.

Daniels sighed and turned back towards the camera. "As you can see, Experiment 1211-B is showing no signs of life. We are forced to conclude that Test 502 was a complete failure. We will start again tomorrow with a fresh serum."

With that, Daniels motioned to Michael to stop the camera. The man gave a low sigh before reaching over and flicking the power switch on the video recorder. "Well that was a complete waste of time," Michael rolled his eyes, sitting down in a wooden chair. "It would've been nice if at least one of the dozens of tests we did today was a success!"

"It's fine," Daniels replied, wiping his glasses on his lab coat and tossing his clipboard onto the precarious stack of paper onto the desk. "We'll just pick up where we left off tomorrow. Blaine!"

A balding scientist with glimmering red glasses looked up from the Pokemon. "Yes Daniels?"

"I'm tasking you and Fuji with creating a new mixture for testing tomorrow morning at 6am sharp. I expect a sample in my office by 11 tonight. Clear?"

Blaine nodded before motioning to another, elderly scientist. "We'll get right to work."

With that the duo marched stiffly out of the room, tossing their lab coats onto a polished wood coat hanger beside the door.

"Michael, get started on a written report for Giovanni. He's coming for a special visit tonight, and I want a report on every test we've had ready to be presented to him. Understand?"

"You're crystal clear," Michael grumbled, grabbing the video camera and standing up. "I'll get started..."

But he was cut off by Eldritch, who was standing over the dead Pokemon hopping with excitement. "Daniels, get over here and look at this reading now!"

Daniels hastily pulled himself out of the chair, grabbing his clipboard off the table as he went. "What's wrong with the... Oh my Arceus... Michael, get the camera on this immediately!'

Michael clicked on the camera, dashing over to the table. "What is it?" he yelled, panning the camera over the entire corpse. "What am I looking at?"

"This," Daniels said, handing a chart to Michael.

Michael glanced down, reading the paper with a look of growing shock. "It's impossible," he said. "How can that thing have a pulse?"

"I'm not sure," Eldritch said, grabbing the chart and looking at it again. "But this is what the pulse monitor just printed. As of thirty seconds ago, Experiment 1211-B had a pulse of 47 beats per minute. That's low... but it means it's alive."

Daniels slowly brought his hand down, pulling back a portion of the mold that covered the Pokemon's wrist. "I'm going to check for myself," he whispered. "Make sure this whole thing is filmed on tape!"

With that, Daniels brought his hand down again and touched the creature's smooth, wet skin. The look of skepticism on his face was replaced with one of shock as the man's finger was slowly raised up and down by the experiment's pulse. "We succeeded," he murmured in surprise. "I can't believe it... we succeeded in creating life! I created the first ever artificial..."

But Daniels slowly trailed off as an eerie purple light began to emanate from the creature's wrist. "Are you getting this?" he asked Michael, who promptly nodded his head. "This is amazing... And look, the light is definitely getting brighter... and brighter..."

Suddenly, Michael gave a loud scream. Daniels looked up in horror and watched as he was thrown across the room. The man slammed against the metal table with a sickening crunch, throwing papers and pencils in all directions while the camera sailed sideways, shattering against the tile floor.

"Get help!" Daniels yelled to Eldritch, who dashed away from the table to the phone hanging on the wall near the door. "And Michael, are you-"

But Daniels voice was drained out as the fire alarms in the lab began to go off, blaring their shrill calls around the room. "What the hell is going on?!" Daniels screamed above the noise, watching in terror as the lights began to flicker and pictures toppled off the walls. "Call in help!"

"I'm trying!" Eldritch replied, tears rolling down his face. "But the line's dead, I can't get through!"

Daniels cursed under his breath before dashing to the door... only to discover that it was locked. "We're going to die in here..." he whispered. "Something's keeping us in here to kill us... We're going to die-"

But Daniels voice was cut off as a massive medical apparatus was hurled across the room and slammed against him. Daniels gave a loud gasp of air as a thick cord wrapped around his neck before collapsing to the ground.

"Daniels!" Eldritch yelled, dropping the phone onto the ground and rushing to help the man. He desperately tried to yank the cord off from around the scientist's neck but it was no use. Every time Eldritch thought he'd loosened it, the cord would snap back into place around Daniels's neck.

Daniels gave a low, almost inaudible sob as the cord continued to tighten around his neck, turning his face from red to blue to finally a dark purple before his eyes rolled up into his head and he fell prostrate on the ground. Eldritch slowly stood up from the dead scientist... only to suddenly be brought down as the metal table the experiment had been lying on was smashed into his side.

The man turned his blurry eyes towards the place the table had once been to see something horrible; the monster now stood on two shaky legs, its' eyes sweeping the room. The mold had completely fallen off of its body and now lay in a pile on the tiled floor revealing the limber, slick purple body of Experiment 1211-B. Eldritch could almost feel its two velvet eyes glaring into his soul.

Slowly, feeling his consciousness fading away, Eldritch pushed the table away from him and grabbed his radio from his belt, hastily pressing down on the red power button. "Experiment 1211-B, codenamed Mewtwo, has... has escaped the lab. It is... it is showing a very hostile nature and has killed scientists Daniels Oak and Michael Harrison. Requesting immediate... immediate backup in-"

But Eldritch's message was cut off as the radio suddenly crumpled into a small metal sphere in his hand. The scientist dropped the ruined radio in shock and looked up at Mewtwo, seeing the psychic energy that had engulfed its' arm (and destroyed the radio) dissipate into thin air.

"What have we done?" Eldritch whispered. "What monster have we created? Why-"

But Eldritch would never speak again, for at that moment Mewtwo formed a Shadow Ball between its hands and shot it towards the scientist. Eldritch was incinerated by the pure psychic energy while the entire wall behind him was blown to bits.

Mewtwo slowly stepped over the bits of metal and plaster that now littered the lab and looked down the long wooden hall that extended away from the white-tiled room. Almost a dozen men and women dressed in pitch-black shirts, pants, and boots were sprinting across the polished wood floor, each pulling several Pokeballs out of their belts. Mewtwo sneered and formed another Shadow Ball in its hands. This would be easy.

March 19, 1991
Cinnabar Island
8:12 AM

The morning sky above Cinnabar Island was marred with smoke and ash. The flocks of Pidgey which normally flew overhead were nowhere to be seen and the barking of the Dewgong which would camp at the island's beaches was absent. For a terrible tragedy had occurred.

The Cinnabar Research Mansion, once a massive three story science lab looming over every other building on the island, was ravaged. The once beautiful wooden halls were now severely burnt, debris and bodies lying across the floors. The grand entrance chamber with its huge stained glass windows was no more; the windows shattered into a million pieces and the ceiling reduced to a pile of rubble on the floor.

Most of the island's civilians were huddled inside their homes, terrified of the monster that had done this. Never before had they heard of such brutality directed at humans from a Pokemon. According to the Cinnabar Fire Department, around 250 people had been killed the night before. The few that had survived were now in the hospital, recovering and telling their horrifying accounts of the events in the lab to anyone who would listen.

But now, the following morning, the authorities had left to attend to the wounded. The few brave citizens who had come out last night to help get people out of the lab were back home, asleep. Only a single suited figure stood in front of the lab now, watching the plumes of smokes puff up into the sky.