He held the cell phone, the flip top pressed hard against the side of his head. Despite the fact that the rest of the world around him was nearly silent, he decided it was better to slam the phone into his ear. It was a bad habit, and would probably cost him his hearing one day. His boss, who was back in Japan, was on the line asking for a report. Away from the creation and creator, the scout felt free to express his once hidden feelings about the project.
"Well?" His boss jeered. Always time pressed. Never a spare moment- people with ridiculous amounts of spare time (naturally or not so much) were always waiting for new releases. It was the boss' job to appease them. Or rather, it was his job to make sure the underlings of the company did their job to appease.
"I have only seen the outside, and a small bit of the blueprints in my hand. I was just explained the jist of the project, and I have only one word to say."
"What? Destroy? Unworthy?"
"No sir. 'Wow'. 'Wow' is the word. Forwards, backwards, but not necessarily upside down. This is amazing. If the inside is what it seems from the outside, Sir...it's awe striking."
"Wait- did you say inside?" The boss mused, caught by the word. The only 'inside' he ever herd with this kind of topic was in regards to the Convention. What had this random American built that had an inside?
"Yes sir. As opposed to the outside." The scout laughed nervously. He was itching to get off the phone and see the inside of this place for himself. "There is a large dome, and sir, I mean huge. This center dome is far bigger than the Factory. Five domes are right up against it on all sides- except for the entrance. A flashy entrance, I might add. And, I'm not sure about this, but this place is supposed to be more than a virtual reality. If I understood the guide correctly, everything in there is completely real, game compatible, you can even live in it- for money, of course."
"What are you talking about?!" The boss boomed. "You know what, just figure out what kind of scam this is, talk to that creator, I'm sure he's crazy though, and then call me back with the facts. Understood?"
"B-bu...Yes sir." And he closed the phone and slammed it into his pocket. His boss was right. This had to be some kind of scam. Where was his head? Returning to the guide, a small girl with long, twin black braids down her back, and told her he was ready to move on.
The doors, in fact, were grand. They stood in an arch, designed with the starter Pokémon of each of the four main game sets, Pikachu at the top in an excited pose. Each of these Pokémon were gold plated and, in the sun's reflection, glistened brightly. One could see nothing beyond the doors, for though they were a thick, clear (temporarily fingerprintless) glass figures, they were internally lined with thick, black curtains- for the suspenseful effect for the newcomers. The scout quickly realized that this alone would excite any child to no end. The creator must have been childlike himself to do so well on this effect.
He barely breathed until his guide opened the door a little into the dark room ahead. Regaining his emotionless form, he strode inside. There was nothing but darkness, especially after the door was closed behind him. His childhood fear of the dark began to start up in him again. After a needlessly long moment, or maybe it had just seemed that way, a woman, dressed in a lab coat, came out to greet him. He then realized that his guide had disappeared into the blackness. A spotlight shone on the new woman, and he recognized her dress immediately- she was the professor of this new world. He wondered what tree she would be named after.
"My name is Professor Maple." Her voice was sweet, but yet, slightly empty. She was not human, but rather an automated machine to handle the work. She was young, beautiful, her makeup was not under, nor overdone, and her pose was perfect. No human the scout had ever seen was able to accomplish all of these things at once. "You must be new here. Thus, I welcome you to the world of PokéEarth. Here, Pokémon are more than pixels and numbers, just as real as you are. Come, pick your new friend!"
Out of the darkness, a chrome draw emerged to the scout's left. In the draw, were pokeballs in rows of three, each to their own indented place. Above each row was written the world they originally came from. Every game ever made was represented here with their starters. As he put his hand over the pokeball, each one came up with a hologram on the shell of the pokeball of what was inside. As he picked one up, a full set of information, Pokédex style, would appear before him. In the end, he picked up the Eevee, and accepted it as his own. The draw retracted.
Looking at the pokeball, he noticed something slightly different. In the center, where the catch/release button was, there was a small button inside, about the same color. He stared at it a moment, and then Professor Maple caught his attention.
"Ah, you noticed right away!" She smiled. "That button is for the follow mode. At any time, you can have one Pokémon follow you. Once that button is activated, your Pokémon will be released at your heels, and the option will be disabled for the rest of your party."
Had the creator thought of everything? He decided to activate this setting, and almost instantly, the young Eevee appeared beside him with a cute smile. The scout was shocked to see the Eevee. As he was told, it was so...real! He put down his hand, and found himself petting a small and fuzzy head. He beamed. He had played so many games, and none of them could ever match to this.
"Now, let's go over you." Maple smiled. "What will your login name be?"
He thought for a moment. Something quick. Since he was the first to be here, he could put just about anything. He waved his hand around, and picked three random numbers and one letter. "123A."
"Alright." He watched her eyes- and they glazed a moment, a light of movement behind them. They were registering him into the system, piece by piece. "And your password?"
Let's keep this simple. Opening his mouth again, he allowed a few other completely random numbers and letter to escape him. "456B."
"And your Trainer Name? This is what everyone will refer to you as. This can be changed anytime." And she, after registering his password response, awaited the next step to be completed.
"Scree." This was his nickname from work. How he got it had always been a mystery to him. However, he never forgot it. Sometimes, which made his friends laugh, he responded faster to 'Scree' than to anything else.
After this last part was registered, a mirror came from the wall, along with a line of characters. Each one stared blankly outward. He recognized each and every one of them. The first bunch was of the various protagonists. There were a bunch of anime characters up there also. Then there was a section of bad guys. There were a few others which had taken place as background characters for the both games and the show. Then, there was one where it had a general frame, and a large 'YOU' in the middle of it. Now, Maple spoke again.
"These are all appearances you can choose from. You can also mix and match details. As you move on in your quest, more things can be either bought, or unlocked. If you want to appear as you are, then just select the 'YOU' option."
After a moment, he found himself as a perfect reincarnation of Ash. He was so shocked, that he even scrolled through the girls- each and every one perfect as possible. He did mix and match, and found himself as a Team Magma Bug Catcher. He laughed, and then returned to normal. Deciding that was best, he set it.
"It can be changed at any login." The Professor informed. "And now, you're almost ready to start your adventure!"
Two draws from either side of her scrolled outward as the wall of characters vanished. In one draw, was a large selection of round circles in various colors that would fit on anyone's ear. In the other draw, were watches. They were perfectly coordinated, and he was able to pick them quickly. He applied both of them to the left side of his body. The colors coordinated with his sneakers, which brought a nice touch. Professor Maple reached over and touched a small button on the bottom of the watch, pushing it all the way in. The two tools activated almost immediately.
A screen appeared over his left eye. He soon noticed the layout- it was a PDA! It included the map, contest conditions/ribbons, a Match Call, and there was the Pokédex! After a mental wish to see the map, it came up on the screen. It read his mind...incredible! Leaving the map to see the Pokédex, he quickly noticed a great difference between this place and the games. Every single Pokémon was already filled out! He thought up Pokémon after Pokémon, including the ones that hadn't been released in English were also present- in English! After a long moment of testing, he had the screen return to the side of his head. He realized that he was still in the entrance room, and hadn't even seen the real inside yet. Looking at his watch, which told him the time, area he was in (which read 'Entrance'), a list of the Pokémon he had with him, and on the side was a tab for 'Battle Mode' which wouldn't open.
"Are you ready, Scree?" Maple smiled. Was she always smiling? "If you have any questions, tap the side of your PDA twice, and Master will appear on your screen to answer them."
'Master'? He wondered if he was a machine in the system, too. Then again, master could refer to the man who built this place. So, in test drive, he tapped the side of the PDA. The little screen reconstructed itself before him. A second or two later, a person appeared. After a second of thought, he recognized the one who answered. It was that small girl with the two long, twin black braids! Now taking her into more consideration, he noted that she was dressed in a suit, minus the tie, and her over coat was long, and almost looked like a cape- only with long sleeves. She wore a pair of black, polished shoes, and stood with her feet shoulder-width apart with her hands behind her back.
"Questions?" Was all she asked. The same voice, small but authoritative, came forth to him. She let out a smile, but one much smaller than Maple was defaulted to. He could have been wrong, but he now could have sworn that something was up with her right eye. "Or are you just checking to see if this actually works?"
"Both, actually." He watched her let out a small breath of a laugh. She shook her head a little, then returned her gaze to him. "I am sent by my boss to see this place, and if we are to allow the creator to keep it, being the Pokémon are copyrighted to Nintendo. I need to speak with the creator personally."
"Ah, not a problem. Maple?"
"Yes?" She asked. The smiling was starting to get a little annoying now.
"Take him toward the tunnel. It's better off that this line of work is carried out face to face."
The Professor bowed deeply, then the PDA retreated. The Scout found himself being ushered away from the domes. To the side, and behind the curtain, was an average, metal staff door. It opened, revealing a long hallway of floor lights. To his surprise, the Eevee leaped for joy, and ran on ahead down the corridor. Naturally, the moved to run after his new companion. Then he felt a restraining hand on his right arm. It was Maple.
"Don't worry. Every Pokémon here knows the way to Master. She brought them all, and hatched many of these from eggs here. They all love Master, so naturally, one who isn't used to you will run to her. When we get there she will return your Eevee to you."
Thus started a long walk down a very boring corridor. It seemed to go on forever, and the many turns of the path were getting under his skin. Everything was so secure- each turn required a password of some kind. No wonder, he realized, that she was a machine- a human couldn't possibly remember all these numbers. One last password, and a door opened up on the side. As they entered, there was his Eevee, and there was the girl- only now she sat in a black swivel chair.
"You must be the scout sent by Nintendo. Here," A similar chair to hers appeared before him from the floor. "Have a seat."
The sent the Eevee off her lap, and as the Scout sat down, the Eevee leaped into his own lap, and curled up to sleep. He let his hand rest on it's fur. It was a creature he had seen so often, yet this still blew him away. He lifted his eyes back to the girl.
"Did you really- build this? You're no more than ten years old!"
The girl laughed. "I'm eight. And, yes, I did. What a task, no less. You won't believe how long it takes to catch all of these, regenerate them, and don't get me started on eggs! I looked really retarded for weeks on end, just running around the lab with eggs all over me. I had no peace back then. But, it seems it has all worked out, wouldn't you say so, Eevee?"
"Eeeee!" The Pokémon rolled over in the scout's lap, happily content. The two laughed. The scout now noticed that Maple had left them. The Creator sighed, and slouched a bit. He could see that she was exhausted.
"Do these Pokémon, can they leave the designated area? I mean, out of the place entirely?" He asked, still looking at his Eevee.
"No, they can't. Well, physically they can, but the environment is alien to them. They wouldn't be able to use their abilities, and soon, like a star, implode completely. I can go through the entire thing, but it would take far to long to explain. Makes a wonderful bedtime story though. Puts everyone right to sleep."
He asked other questions, for instance, what battle stages were like. The young creator explained, and occasionally demonstrated, all sorts of details. She explained that battles would be illusioned so that you would looked like you were whisked away to another room ("..when in reality, your were just seeing things."). Another thing, was that all the gym leaders were machines also- minus all the giddy smiling. One thing, she said that she really liked, was that you didn't have to tell your Pokémon what you wanted them to do. These Pokémon, since they were real and actually fought for themselves, could recognize patters in battle style- and learn to think the way the trainers do, and then put their own spin on it. The interview went on, and every word she let loose only drew the scout closer into the world she had forged. She must have been trained to be able to do that so well.
"There's one thing I still don't know." It was almost time for him to leave, for it was late and the plane would be early the next day. "I never caught your name."
"Ah!" She let out the last of her chuckles, and stood from her seat. She quickly bowed to the scout and his Eevee. "My name is Aidian, just that and no more."
She took her seat, then called an odd name out to the mess of rooms behind her. Shortly after, a Slowking appeared. He bowed to his master, and then proceeded to talk to the Eevee. The two Pokémon nodded, and were soon on their way out of the room. Aidian waved her hand for the scout to follow them. "No need in getting lost now, is there?"
He nodded, and greeted her goodbye. With a wish to return, the door closed behind him. He was shocked to find that a door across from the one he exited appeared. The Slowking opened it, greeted him goodbye, good luck and then opened the door. There, was the room he had started in. The scout scratched his head and the Eevee led him through. As prompted, he put his PDA and watch in a new draw, and the Eevee returned to his pokéball. They all went side by side, awaiting his return. With a smile on his face and a very good report for the Boss at home, he left for his hotel.
She stood before a small podium, her object in incubation level with her eyes. She did not smile at it, as most would have. Her face only grew dark as the sound of high-class footsteps coming from behind her. She did not bother to turn around, she knew it was her father. It wasn't very long before she shuddered beneath his strong hand on her shoulder. Aidian knew where his eyes were- the podium's prize.
"And what is this?" He knew what it was. Every single chance he had, however, he asked. Each time, she answered him, fear in her tone.
"A Pokémon egg." She answered, no longer looking at it.
"And what's so special about this egg?" He hissed, a smirk tugging at his lips far above her head.
"The Pokémon will be able to leave the protective perimeter unharmed."
"And that makes it what?"
"The first Halo-Pokémon."
