=Prologue=
=Kanto: Genetics Lab's Headquarters=
A tall general riding in a forest green military jeep pulls into the temporary parking of a massive skyscraper. As he steps out of his vehicle he looks up to admire the overwhelming structure before him, while a passing cloud skews his view of the top. It's been awhile since he's been in this city, or any city for that matter. He stretches the aches out of his legs from the long drive and walks up to the entrance where two armed security guards wave him in. They recognize him; as well they should, though he has learned to despise that recognition over last few years. He continues through the daunting architecture of the foyer to a desk clerk sitting behind a bulletproof security glass.
"Good morning General. Who are you here to see?"
"That's classified." He says with a stark face.
The clerk gives a dissatisfied smirk. "I.D. sir."
The general lays down his badge and passes it through the hole in the security glass.
"Go ahead sir" A buzz sounds as another armed guard opens the door to a hallway leading to the heart of the building. The general traverses the maze of doorways past the first elevator bank to set of solitary elevator doors. Inside is a limited row of buttons ranging from ground floor through basement seven, below is a locked security panel. The general already holding the key opens the panel to a second set of floors ranging from basement eight all the way down to 23. He presses the B12 button. As he descends he ponders how deep the 23rd basement must be and what it is they are doing so far below society.
DING. He reaches his stop; the walls have no paint down here, just exposed cement blocks stacked to the ceiling with fluorescent bulbs dangling from wire. The general walks a few corners, reaches his door and knocks twice with a long gap before the second. A squirrely lab assistant answers the door and the general eyes him suspiciously.
"Who are you?" He demands abruptly before the assistant has time to greet him.
"I'm the Dr. Qi's assistant. May I help you?" He manages with little confidence.
"Where is the doctor?" He says in a manner that is less a question and more a command.
"Err…" The assistant chokes up, "Right this way."
They walk in through the lab to a back office. The doctor is a withered old man working feverishly at his desk that pays no mind to the two men as they walk in. The general sits down without being acknowledged in the chair opposite his desk and interrupts "Who is this?" Gesturing to the new assistant.
"Do not worry about him, he is a trustworthy man. The real question is why are you disturbing me? I have work to do general, remember? Or has being in the field too long rotted your brain?"
The general sits quietly staring down the assistant in contempt.
The Doctor sighs, "Leave us." With that the assistant huddles out of the room.
"I came to you in person because I can't risk the wrong people overhearing our conversation."
"Very well, what is it then?"
The General sits upright and bends his knee resting his ankle on top of his opposite leg, "Doctor, how long ago did you set a branch of my unit in charge of capturing that ridiculous creature you go on and on about?"
"About three years now General but I assure you the means in which I provided you with to acquire the Mew will prove to be successful in time."
"For the first few months I considered this project to be a complete waste of tax money and more importantly my men's time. It wasn't until we encountered it for the first time and I saw that thing disappear right before my eyes that I started to believe you might be on to something."
The general adjusts his collar and clears his throat. "That is why I am pleased to inform you that as of 0400 hours this morning we have captured the Mew."
The doctor claps his hands in excitement. "This is magnificent news, so the cage I built actually detained it?"
"I wouldn't be here if it hadn't. Although, we are unable to actually see it; our readings show that it is indeed in there."
The Doctor ponders this for a moment before asking his next question, "And where is it now?"
"En route. Due to the size of the cage it will take a few days to get here, but rest assure. It is on its way to your cozy little lab underneath the city." The general undoes his top button and gets more comfortable in his chair. "Tell me doctor, what is it you intend to do once it's finally in front of you?"
A delicate smile slithers across his face, "To simply track its genes, that is all. I believe that deep within the Mew's blood lies the answer to our past General, if our research holds true that creature's lineage may trace as far back in our genetic pool as any animal alive to date."
"What if what the folklore is true and Mew is a god keeping the world in balance?" The general asks projecting as if he doubts it more than he actually does.
"If we believed everything the ancients did we would still be scouring the ocean floor looking for the secret to immortality. Besides if Mew really is a god than what does that make us for having captured it?"
The general averts the doctor's gaze with a grimace twisted onto his face.
=Pallet Town: Kanto Region=
A ten-year-old boy sits alone in his four-corned room staring intently into an illustrated encyclopedia of arthropods and mollusks. He's already read it a few times before, but has yet to grow tired of looking at all of the beautiful pencil work that went in to creating it. Beside him nestled into his charpoy style rope bed is a yellow field mouse that took weeks of convincing before his mom would allow inside. He closes the book and tucks it back into the shelf with his other three, and walks over to his half open paneled window. From outside he collects the pickle jar he positioned on the sill to gather runoff rainwater and carries it to his corn palm potted in an old cracked vase.
From the front entrance comes the unmistakable sound of someone knocking at the door followed momentarily by his mom's voice calling out to him. "Ash, you have a visitor."
He sets the jar down on his desk and walks out to the den to find Gary in the entryway. He keeps his lips sealed and crosses his arms in amusement, what is this guy doing here? He on no account likes Gary; who's a few years older and has always come across as an arrogant schmuck. They've never even said two words to each other, what could he possibly be doing here?
Gary steps forward and breaks the silence, "If I could ask for your permission ma'am" speaking eloquently to his mother, "my grandfather sent me over to ask if Ash could come over to our house for the afternoon?"
This has got to be a trick, Ash thinks, he's just trying to lure me outside for some type of hoax.
"Well of course dear that's fine." His mother says in a sweet tone in spite of all of the obnoxious looks Ash's been throwing her way out of Gary's sight. "I know it's a hot day out there, are you thirsty? I could get you something to drink."
"Thank you but that's alright. We should get on our way, my grandfather's always in a hurry."
Ash is boiling inside but manages to suppress his feelings of betrayal and instead voices his curiosity. "I don't get it. Why would he even want to talk to me?"
His mom kneels down to him and clasps an affirming hand on his shoulder. "Your dad and his grandfather -the professor- were good friends when we first came to this town. So I'm sure anything he has to say to you will be very important."
"Ok, but I still don't know what this has to do with me"
"Honey just be thankful that someone out there is concerned enough about you to invite you over."
Gary chimes in, "To be honest, I don't know what this has to do with either. He doesn't tell me much, but the sooner we get over there, the sooner we find out"
Ash looks into his mom's eyes with a reluctant scowl that pins any preemptive blame on her. She replies with a wink and kisses him on the cheek, "You two take care."
As they walk out the door Ash jogs over to his bedroom window and reaches in patting his hands on the desk, "Come here boy, come here" He calls out enthusiastically. His mouse scurries out onto the sill and Ash bundles him up into his arms.
"Disgusting. Why are you carrying a RAT?" Gary cries out in revulsion.
Ash responds in an overtly pronounced manner. "He's not a rat, he's a mouse and his name's Pikachu"
"What are you doing walking around with that thing? Doesn't it have a cage or at least a freaking leash?"
"He's smart. He doesn't need a leash." He sets the mouse down and it follows him pace by pace at his side. "See!"
Gary starts laughing uproariously. "What good is it having a smart rat?" He barely gets out between cackles, "You know that thing will scare all the girls away right?"
"He's not just an ordinary pet, OK. He's special"
"Falling in love with a rat doesn't make him special. It makes YOU special." Gary says laughing even harder now.
"Shut up! He can conduct electricity through his body He's already blown out three light bulbs in my room. I don't see you with anything like that. "
"That's a lie. My granddad told me all the electric types died off years ago at the turn of the century. Something to do with businessmen overexploiting their abilities to power cities."
Ash scoffs, "Then pick him up and see for yourself."
Gary hastily stoops down to grab Pikachu and instantly receives a low wattage shock that vibrates through his joints. He lets out a yelp and drops the mouse.
"Ha, I told you"
"That doesn't prove anything, it was just a static charge from him running around all day on the carpet at your house."
Ash sticks his tongue out and picks his mouse back up giving him light taps of approval on his little head.
A few minutes later they reach Professor Oak's place, which is a side cabin sitting on cement blocks in Gary's family property. Ash sets down Pikachu and commands him to stay as they approach Oak's cabin door.
The door swings open in anticipation of their arrival and elderly man with a blizzard white head of hair welcomes them in. "Ah, Ashley my dear boy how have you been? Look at how you've grown so fast in just a few years."
Gary giggling to the side, "Your name is Ashley?"
Ash lifts his head and speaks directly to Oak "I've been fine, thank you, and actually nobody calls me that anymore sir."
"Oh of course, of course. How thoughtless of me. What is it you would like me to call you?"
"Well.. My friends at school call me Red." Ash says with a little hesitation
"That's a lie. Nobody calls him that" Gary accuses.
"What would you know? We don't even talk in school!"
Gary snorts, "Why would we? I'm about to graduate and what are you, like eight?"
"I'm ten" Ash mumbles.
Oak cuts them off abruptly, "RED it is. I rather like it, after all Mr. Redding was your father." He says with a smile as he pats Ash on the head. "Which brings me to why I brought you two here today. I never had the pleasure of getting to know you Ashl.. excuse me; Red, but by the type of man your father was I know I can trust you." He then turns to Gary. "And you, I've known your whole life, you're dependable and I can rely on your judgment." Oak gathers him self by taking a deep breathe and looks the two boys over from head to toe. His gaze is deeply absorbed in concentration as if he were internally debating a significant decision.
Gary rolls his eyes, "So…"
"Boys," He says finally breaking the tension, "I'm an old man, and I've come to realize that I can no longer trust all of the colleagues I've managed to surround myself with over the years. I suppose I was just naïve and hoped they all had the same intentions as me when it came to our work."
Ash raises his hand, "Sorry to interrupt sir, but I don't even know what you do."
"I research and catalog the plant and animal species of the world in an attempt to better understand their ability to harness the elements around them in an effort to create a more symbiotic relationship between us and them."
Ash furls his brow and looks even more confused now than when the sentence started.
"Don't worry son that part doesn't matter, at least not to the people I work with. For them it's a cover, their real research is locked away behind closed doors… The things they're doing to those animals. Animals that I, myself brought in to that lab… I've seen the spreadsheets, the tests they've been doing.. Their results. It… It's horrid." The desperation skewed onto his face speaks louder than his words.
Oak walks to his desk and from within a drawer retrieves two kiwi sized red and white spheres. Looking to Ash he asks, "Have you ever used one of these?"
"No sir, I haven't but I've heard about them on the radio"
"It works like a beacon, you press this button here and whichever animal's genetic code has been registered inside will be transported directly to you." Oak lowers the device to Ash's eye line and shows him that it's glowing yellow. "This one is still unlocked, so you just switch it to this setting," Oak turns the dial over and takes Ash's thumb pressing it against the button. "Hold your thumb there and..." BEEP. "Now only your thumbprint can access this."
Gary watches on in jealous disbelief as Oak leaves the ball in Ash's hands.
"Inside is a one of a kind hybrid tortoise that was created by geneticists in partnership with my lab. It's young now, but in time will grow to be very powerful."
"I don't understand. Why are you giving me this?" Ash mutters softly.
"Yeah." Gary agrees, "What did he do to earn that?"
"These animals need attention, they deserve a better environment than the one that was laid out before them. I'm too busy, and-" He sighs, "too decrepit these days to keep up with them. Unlike you two."
"So does that mean you have one for me also?" Gary asks hopefully.
Oak looks at him hesitantly. "Yours Gary is an altogether different beast; where Red's tortoise is a passive creature, yours has been regarded by many cultures to be, quite frankly, a monster."
A depraved smile runs across Gary's face.
"Your older now Gary, which is why I'm relying on you with this. It's not some pet to go running to your friends and bragging about it, or anyone for that matter, this stays between you, Red and I. Do you understand me?"
Gary arches his back in his best attempt at a responsible scholar, "Yes, grandfather. I promise I'll take care of him. What is it?"
"Dracones Ignis, the flame dragon." He pauses to let that information settle, "Now, look at me Gary; if not taken care of properly this creature has the potential to become a savage beast. You can never have him indoors or near anything flammable and I want to make this abundantly clear; this animal is not a joke. It is a reptilian hexapod, which means it can fly away with prey thrice your size while running at full speed. Although, I'm not entirely sure this one can even fly yet." He pauses while he ponders that a moment, "Now since it has an actual burning metabolism, it needs to constantly eat-" Oak trails off into his thoughts, "On second thought, what am I thinking? I can't leave something of such magnitude to-"
Gary cuts him off, "Grandfather please! I can do this, I promise, I'll take care of him, I won't tell anybody, I'll always feed him." He stammers out without pausing between breaths.
"Ok, Ok. Just please, don't make me regret this" Oak hands him the yellow lit ball.
"This is incredible grandfather, thank you so much. I will not let you down I swear." Gary jumps up and down with it clenched firmly in his grasp.
"Damn it, what did I just say? Be careful Gary don't unleash that thing in here." He regains his more endearing composure. "Now I want you both to make me a promise." He looks the two of them in the eyes before he continues, "I don't want either of you entering into those cruel fighting leagues. These animals are for your protection only. You hear me?"
Gary looks down disheartedly, "Yes, grandfather."
"First and foremost you two need to spend time with them, they may be a little timid given where they were sent from."
"Yeah about that, isn't your company going to be looking for these?" Gary questions.
"The laboratory doesn't know they are missing because it has no record of ever having received them. It's one of the perks of being a tenured administrator at the lab. Again, that does not mean you can be showing these animals around, no one can know about them, not even your parents. Especially you Gary, that father of yours has quite a mouth piece on him."
"You don't have to tell me"
"These are rare animals boys, people out there will be willing to lie, cheat, and steal them away from you. Take caution, and if you ever have any question don't hesitate to come ask me. But never at the lab, I can't have either of you associated with me over there."
"Yes, sir" Ash and Gary respond in unison.
"Now do me a favor Gary and take your friend home. You boys take care of yourselves all right."
Ash shakes Oak's hand and gives his thanks, Gary tries the same but Oak pulls him in for a hug.
They leave in tandem and once they are far enough from the property Gary turns to Ash, "I've got to see this dragon. Do you have to go home right now?"
"No, I'm good until sunset."
"I know a good spot in the woods not too far up the road we can take them to that's completely out of sight."
While walking up the way Ash is completely enamored by his new device and can't stop staring at it. "I've never held one of these before. I didn't really understand what your granddad said, I still don't know how they work."
"From what I can understand the animal itself is not actually inside of there, it's stored digitally in the Universal Quantum Computer in Kanto. Whenever you activate the signal they're sent like radio waves through a satellite and materialize in front of you."
"What's a satellite?"
"Are you serious?" Gary says with astonishment, "You've never heard of them? They're those things floating around in space. It was a big deal when they sent them up like twelve years ago."
"I wasn't even born back then. So can you catch a human with one of these?"
"From what I hear, technically yes, but there are patterns in our DNA linked to a safety protocol programmed to keep us from being trapped."
Ash turns his head to Gary with a smug smile, "You're smarter than I thought, how do you know all this?"
"Watch it Ashley. My grandpa's the professor, duh. He even told me when they were experimenting on the prototype for the first containment ball; so much energy was released that the explosion leveled an entire city."
"That's crazy."
"No, that's science." They reach an opening in the woods, "OK, this is far enough. We should be good out here." Gary confirms as he surveys their surroundings.
"Let me go first!" Ash steps up and throws his CB a few yards ahead of him in the dirt where it lands with an anticlimactic thud. Nothing happens, besides Gary snarky laughing that is.
"No you idiot like this." Gary holds onto his containment ball while pressing the yellow button down and pointing it ahead of him. Waves similar to the mirage on a burning horizon envelope before them as a burnt orange dragon materializes at their feet. Disorientated and irritated, it lumbers around for a moment until it focuses on Ash's red and white CB lying on the ground and snatches it up with its teeth.
"Hey, put that down" Gary screams with all of the courage he can muster, but the dragon ignores him and instead turns his focus to Ash's mouse. Dropping its head down low to Pikachu's level allows Ash to get a good view of the two demonic horns jutting out from its cranium. It slips the CB from its mouth, which falls to the forest floor with a wet thump, and the dragon begins lumbering towards Pikachu.
Gary runs between them and shouts at the top of his lungs, "STOP IT NOW!"
The dragon simply turns its head and snaps at Gary causing him to drop to his back and shuffle away in a frightful panic. Ash breaks from his dumbfounded gaze and throws his body on top of his mouse. It cranes its neck and stares directly into Ash's eyes while he crouches timorously only a few feet away. He struggles to keep his composure as the incensed beast lifts its chin and begins roaring at him. He can taste the exhaust fumes on his lips as saliva whips across his face and his eardrums pound. With a trembling hand and sweating palm he reaches out past the snarling teeth and begins petting the dragon's temple. The roaring ceases and its mouth closes as it calmingly lowers its head and presses forward into Ash for comfort. Suddenly the dragon begins to dematerialize in the cusp of his palm and it its wake he can see Gary standing behind it with his CB in hand and a solemn look on his face.