It was a beautiful day for flying. I had just returned home to my hometown: Violet City. I was eager to explore the skies under such weather conditions.
After hours of gliding on the wind, I could tell Pidgeot was getting tired. "Take us down," I said, petting his beautiful plumage. He slowly spiraled down into a clearing and many small Pokémon scurried away as Pidgeot's gust blew back the tall grass.
"Great job, you deserve a rest," I smiled, returning Pidgeot to his Pokéball. I took a seat on a nearby boulder and had my lunch. I looked up and recognized my surroundings to be the Ruins of Alph.
I had only once been to the Ruins before. The Pokémon Academy took the whole school on a field trip when I was in the 3rd grade. I was bewildered by the artifacts inside the research center and the simple eeriness of it all. After finishing off my bento box, I decided to relive the memory and take a look around.
Heading toward the dig site, I saw the fossils of many wonderful and mysterious-looking Pokémon in fence-off areas with signs. I loved the feeling of nostalgia rushing through my mind. "Oh, I remember this!" rang in my head with every familiar sight. I made it to the laboratory where the fossils were examined. As a child, I was able to watch a scientist piece together the bone fragments of a Kobutops's right claw. On this day, however, there were no workers to be found. Upon discovering this, I realized I saw no men doing their usual digging outside. "Hello?" I called from the front desk.
Leaving the appropriate fee at the entrance, I stepped into the museum to view the displayed artifacts without a guide, able to hear my own sneakers squeaking on the floor in the silence of the building. I read aloud the nameplates of all the statues, bones, and pieces of pottery that were lit up under their glass cases. When I had finished admiring all the displays, I decided to check if I could see a scientist at work in one of the back rooms. I came to a set of double doors which read, "STAFF ONLY; BADGE REQUIRED." I looked around for a guide or employee. I peered through the Plexiglas windows on the doors, seeing only an empty white hallway with flickering florescent lights. I chose to enter anyway, deciding it would be a problem to deal with when I got caught.
I pushed open one heavy door and walked on, hearing only the electric spasms of the lights above. "Hello?" I called, glancing into a doorless room to my right. All the blinding lights were on, but there wasn't a soul inside: nothing but scalpels and fossils to be logged.
Looking into the next room proved to be more interesting, with a few Ominyte in a large tank, trying to stack atop one another to escape. Across the room was a wall-mounted fossil of several Omistars. Table lamps were on, leaving experiments pertaining to fossils open-ended and uncataloged.
The third room was directly at the end of the hall and was without a door, just as the others were. I heard the buzzing light of a microscope and thought about turning it off for a moment, but decided against it. "Hello?" I searched the large filing closets and the attached restroom, but no one was to be found. Turning back to the exit, I noticed almost 10 table lights were shining on a flat object on the desk nearest the door. I approached it to get a better look.
On the slab were strange markings that seemed to resemble letters. I could make out a few characters by matching them to the English alphabet. "N… A… I can't tell what this one is," I continued. "E… L? E, Z, Z? No, S, S…" Na… naeless…" I held the sides of the smooth artifact. "Nameless!"
The instant the word fell from my mouth, the wind picked up violently. "What's going on?" I searched frantically for an open window, clueless as to the source of the breeze. My skin tingled, almost aching. I could hear a high-pitched, single-word being chanted, but the word itself and its origin were unclear to me. My body became luminescent and light even poured from my very eyes, blinding me. I let out a scream, hugging myself in my confusion. And then: darkness.
When I woke up, I was on the floor of the same lab room. I rubbed my head and looked around. "Hello?" I called gently, suddenly exhausted. "Can someone help me?" I sat up and sighed deeply. Much to my surprise, I heard footsteps and suddenly saw a gentleman poke his head through the door. He wore a long lab coat. He came over and helped me to my feet.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"I think so," I replied. "Where have you been? I walked right into the lab without anyone stopping me."
His face suddenly became red. "What were you doing in that room? Couldn't you read the door?" he lashed out. "It's for your own safety!"
I was shocked by his violent change in mood. "I'm… I'm sorry," I said, showing hurt in my eyes. "What do you mean 'that room'?"
He sighed. "It's too late now. You're here with us and you'll have to help us find a way out."
"Out of what? I just came through the front door. Did the double doors lock from the outside?"
"Foolish girl," he frowned, looking up at me with eyes full of pain. "We're not in the lab anymore."