Prologue

He was being chased. He didn't know by who, but there were numerous possible reasons why, far too many for his frantic mind to list as he ran for his life. Behind him, he could hear the heavy footfalls of his pursuers, and he urged his scrawny legs to move faster. Row upon row of plain white cubicle walls flew past him on either side as he weaved through the dark, empty office like a rat in a maze. Behind him, the footsteps grew ever louder, and he could swear that he heard the heavy breaths of a bloodthirsty beast.

As he left the main office space and entered along hallway, he began to fumble inside his lab coat, eventually removing the red and white sphere that was latched onto his belt. He pressed a button, and the device sprang open with a flash of white light that coalesced into a short, wiry caricature of a human with blue hair, pink skin and a white body.

"Mime!" the creature exclaimed happily as it jogged alongside its master.

"Shut up!" shouted the man hysterically. "Use barrier to make sure that whatever is chasing me doesn't get past this hallway!"

"Mime!" said the creature with a nod as it stopped running and turned around, placing its hand out in front it. As it began to wave its hands, a shining, clear barrier materialized in the air, like a thick wall of gleaming glass. No sooner had the barrier been put up, however, than a dark shadow leapt into the hallway and began to barrel through it. But even as he saw his pursuer chasing after him, the man felt more secure now than he had before; it would take the monster quite some time to break through his Mr. Mime's defenses, and by that time he would be long gone and—

"Use brick break!" Someone shouted, and the man felt his heard sink as the as the sound of shattering glass filled the hallway, followed shortly afterwards by a pained yell. He didn't even bother to look backwards to see what had happened to his pokémon, keeping his eyes fixed firmly forward as he flung open the door at the end of the hallway and ran into the building's lobby.

He got two yards into the room before something tackled him from behind, screeching inhumanly as its inertia drove them across the room before pinning him to the outer wall. He tried to squirm out from under its hold, but it pressed him hard against the stone, slowly squeezing the breath out of him.

"Gentle," said the voice the man had heard in the hallway. "Don't make it hard for him to talk. I want answers out of him." The pressure eased, but his heart only beat faster.

"What do you want with me?" asked the man, panting from the exertion of both the run and primal terror.

"Answers, Dr. Parker" said the voice.

"About what?"

"Everything you know about the Poke'gene project."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" professed Parker as drops of sweat began to trickle down his forehead.

"Don't lie to me, Doctor," warned the voice, and the claw against Parker's back began to press down harder. "Tell me everything you know about the project."

"I can't!" screamed Dr. Parker. "And just who the hell are you, anyways?"

"I'm the one asking the questions!" shouted the voice. "Now tell me: what is the Poke'gene project?" Before Parker could reply, they both heard the sound of dozens of heavy boots coming from the stairwell.

"Security!" someone far away yelled, and Parker couldn't help but start to laugh.

"Better late than never," chuckled the Doctor hysterically. "Looks like you won't be making out of here alive, mister." The voice went silent, and the for a few heartbeats that seemed like an eternity, the only sound in the room was the pounding of the guards' feet as they rushed up the stairwell.

"I'll tell you what," Parker taunted again. "Put me down, return your pokémon, and I'll try to put in a good word for you with the boss."

Another few heartbeats.

"I've got a better idea," said the voice softly. "Tell me your boss's name, and I'll let you live."

"Ha! Like I'd tell you that!" shouted Parker defiantly.

"Too bad," said the voice remorselessly. "I don't have time for this anymore. Chomp: window." Parker was released and fell to the ground as whatever was holding him walked over to the nearest glass wall that looked out upon the city and shattered it.

"What do you think you'll be able to do?" asked Parker as he picked himself up and turned to face his attacker. "Security will be here any second, and when they do, you'll be…" When he saw the face that belonged to the voice, his heart froze and the warmth drained from his face. "By Arceus…not you," was all he was able to say before a hard strike connected with his temple, sending him crumbling to the floor in a heap.

"Grab him," ordered the man. "We're taking him with us."

"Chomp," said his pokémon obediently as it gathered the man's collar in its jaws and lifted him up off the floor as though he were a ragdoll. His trainer quickly climbed onto the pokémon's back, and the guards burst through the door to the lobby just as the pair leapt through the broken window and into the night, the captured doctor dangling in the air.

As they flew away from the scene, the man took a radio out of his coat and pressed the transmission button. "Use explosion," he ordered into the device, and the Electrodes he had places within the building detonated. He looked back as the structure's support beams were blown apart, and the tower began to collapse in a cloud of debris and flames behind them.