AUTHOR'S NOTES

Hello, this is TechnoTanuki, finally back after almost two years. I'll try to make this brief – I'm sure some of you were here when the original version of New Earth went up and I'm sure you have a lot of questions to ask about what happened to it. Well, at that time, I was in college, and work was piling up at an alarming rate, so my fanfics became less of a priority. Which is a real shame – I've been told so many times how good New Earth was, and it always made me happy to receive constructive criticism with every update.

So why am I back? Well, I'm a fan of Pokemon ROM hacks, and I recently became aware of a hack called "Pokemon Snakewood" – which was meant to be a zombie-apocalypse Pokemon RPG. Long story short: the game is terrible, don't play it, in fact it was so bad that I decided to review it and post up my thoughts on tumblr (Part 1 can be found on my tumblr, thecrazydusclopslady), at the end of the review, I planned to talk about how even I could make a better Pokemon themed Zombie Apocalypse story – and then it hit me: I already HAD such a story, but never completed it, so I located the original story with a more critical eye. Yes, it's good, but it can't hold a candle to some of my newer stuff at all, and that's why I'm rewriting it: because it deserves better writing, and you, my faithful audience, deserve better treatment. I am so very sorry that I let you down – and this time I'm going to try and see this story through to the finish.

Just one more thing: I don't actually remember much of where I was going with the plot – but I remember most of the mythos concerning the actual zombies themselves. So there are probably going to be some big changes (and new surprises!) to the story. But other than that, I hope that my old fans enjoy the reboot of this fanfic, and if you're new to this story, then welcome! I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I've enjoyed rewriting it!

- TechnoTanuki.

I

Monday, 11th Aug, 4:56 PM

It all started in the most unlikely of places: a subway train, eastbound, making its merry way across Goldenrod City. Agatha Pridmore had been fortunate enough to get a seat that day. Normally she had to cling to the poles, swaying and swerving to keep herself from dropping her workbooks. But that day she was able to rest them in the safety of her lap. Her weary, silvery eyes watching other people hold on for dear life as the train suddenly halted, flinging the other closely-knit passengers forward ever so slightly. She looked at the text book on her knees; STARTING POINT – A Guide to Starter Pokemon and When to Give Them had been printed above a picture of an elderly man in a lab coat on the cover, a wide grin stretched across his creased face. Agatha couldn't wait to get rid of this particular textbook when she got her degree as a Pokemon Professor. The man's expression on the cover always looked too unnatural to her (and many of her classmates agreed with her on this issue).

A plump, balding man in a business suit next to Agatha stood up and waited as people closest to the doors filtered out onto the platform. It was then that she noticed that something was wrong, for passengers behind the man suddenly began to murmur amongst themselves. Some of them pointed at his belt. 'Hey, dude,' One of them suddenly said, his dreadlocks bouncing slightly. 'Is everythin' okay?'

The plump man, who was reaching for the doors with short, pudgy arms, turned to the man with dreadlocks. 'W-What do you mean?' He asked timidly.

The man with dreadlocks pointed a slender hand to his waist. 'I mean your Pokemon – look.'

The plump man looked down and plucked the red and white ball from his belt, examining the sphere with wide, alarmed eyes. Several, jagged cracks marred the ball's exterior and it radiated a deep, chilling shade of ruby as it shook violently in his palms. By now, Agatha was slowly rising to her feet, not even bothering to pull out some of the mousey-brown hair which had snuck into the collar of her lavender sweater, and was inching very slowly towards the door.

The ball suddenly made an ear-splittingly loud, whirring noise and exploded, showering the train in crimson light and shrapnel. Some people yelped and scrambled to get out of the way as metal shards flew across the train at high speed. Then the light took form of a large, bipedal weasel with two tails. It stood with its back to its owner, reeling as it tried to keep its balance, the gold floatation sac around its neck and back swaying slightly.

Nobody moved. In fact Agatha thought that everything looked like something from a surreal painting. All the startled facial expressions and reactions to the Floatzel with its back turned definitely looked like one. It lowered its neck and emitted a low, gurgling sound which made Agatha shudder.

The plump man stepped forward cautiously. 'F-Floatzel?' He squeaked. 'Is everything all right?'

The weasel pokemon lurched a bit, panting heavily. Quick as a whip, it flung its head around, orange fur bristling, and lunged at the plump man, giving him only a second to scream before it plunged its saw-like teeth into his throat.

'HOLY SHIT!' The man with dreadlocks leapt at the Floatzel, tugging at it in mad, fleeting attempts to free his cohort. 'GET IT OFF OF HIM, GET IT OFF OF HIM!' And within moments the passengers were swarming around them in a flurry of panic.

'Don't do that!' Someone cried.

'He can't breathe!' Another said.

'Someone call security now!'

But the Floatzel didn't budge, and only seemed to dig its teeth deeper into the plump man's throat every time someone else grabbed onto it. Streams of blood shot through the spaces between the flesh and teeth, spattering against the weasel's pointed muzzle. Some drops even managed to get into its blank, fish-like eyes, painting them a disgustingly pale shade of pink

Heart hammering, Agatha slid past the mayhem and broke into a run. She almost caught her denim jeans on the corner of the seats as she avoided people who were rushing on board to see what was going on. Somewhere, amongst the crowd, the plump man let out a gargled cry and it only fuelled Agatha's fear even more. This particular station wasn't her stop – but she didn't care, she just wanted to be as far away from that horrific scream as possible, and nobody was going to stop her from doing so.

. . .

Normally, Agatha would've been disgusted by the state of her apartment. But when she finally slammed the door behind her and slid down to the cream carpet, the heaps of clothes and papers scattered around the couch were a welcome sight. What the hell had she just witnessed back there?! An image of the Floatzel's milky-white eyes danced around her mind tauntingly as she dragged herself over to the lumpy couch, digging amongst the dirty clothes. She eventually uncovered the TV remote, grasping it tightly in her long fingers, and hoped madly that the news was on.

She was just in time. '… Reports of violent pokemon attacks have baffled scientists over the past few days with growing concern for the welfare of Goldenrod's civilians,' The elderly newsreader said. 'And though there are no clear answers to the cause of this abnormal behaviour, it has been suggested that the aggression displayed by these pokemon emulates the symptoms that occur when a pokemon is infected with a rare strain of PokeRus,' Agatha leaned in keenly, absorbing every word that the newsreader spoke. 'Experts have recommended that people stay in their homes, only venture out if there's an emergency and report any attacks you see to the authorities,' He said. 'There shall be more on this story on the ten o'clock news this evening…'

Agatha glanced down to find that her hands were grasping tightly to the two Pokeballs fastened to her belt. She bit her lip – what if her Pokemon were going to end up like that Floatzel?!

She plucked one off and pointed it at the floor, speaking in a harsh, Scottish accent. 'Come out, Gregor,' And a beam of white light shot from the ball, striking the floor and manifesting in the form of a large, red arachnid. The Ariados chirruped as he looked up at his owner, his fangs gleaming. 'Oh, Gregor!' Agatha sighed in relief. She scooped Gregor up into her arms, letting his yellow and black legs sprawl out on her lap, and peered into his purple eyes. 'I don't know what to do if you became like one of those things!'

Two whole hours crawled by, and Agatha's mind was still as cluttered as when she got home. She eventually got up and let Gregor scuttle around the room for a bit. Then she decided to grab a slice of leftover pizza from the fridge when the streets below lit up in shades of blue. What was going on down there? Agatha strained her vision as she ate. Police cars had been lined up on the road, and she could just make out the tiny, ant-like specks which were obviously people surveying some sort of large marquee. She felt Gregor climb up her leg and perch on her shoulders, squeaking curiously.

Agatha shook her head. 'I don't know what's going on either,' She said. 'But I don't like it – that's for sure…'

A sharp, sudden tapping sound grabbed Agatha's attention. She turned and nervously approached the door, half expecting to find an officer or a doctor waiting to take Gregor away, but found something quite different. Standing in front of Agatha, peering up at her with wide, chocolate-brown eyes, was a girl who appeared to be no older than twelve or thirteen. 'Um… hello,' She began, tugging at the long strands of golden hair which graced most of her shoulders like a pair of straw-coloured curtains. 'Are you the owner of this flat?'

Agatha nodded, stooping down to the girl's level. 'Yes,' She said. 'How can I help you?'

'Well…' The girl dug into the pockets of her butter-yellow dress and pulled out a couple of Pokeballs. 'There's a notice downstairs about the Police checking our Pokemon today,' She explained. 'A-And my mom wanted me to ask you to take hers down for her,' She sighed. 'Mom broke her leg the other week, so she can't do it herself.'

A sinking feeling of dread tightened in Agatha's stomach. Now she knew why the Police were down there and almost kicked herself. She was always in a mad hurry to get the next essay for her biology classes done and thus never thought to read the board. Now she felt like a real idiot for not checking it on a regular basis. She kept her calm façade however. 'Don't worry,' She said gently. 'I'll take them for her, then.'

The girl slowly reached out, offering the Pokeballs to Agatha. 'Please be gentle with them,' She said. 'Mommy's had them since before I was born.'

Agatha delicately took the two spheres, cradling them in her hands. 'Don't worry – they're safe with me, I promise,' She said, standing back up at her full height. 'What's your name, dear?'

'Abby,' The girl squeaked.

Agatha turned to Gregor, who was sitting in the doorway and beckoned to him. 'Gregor, come,' She said, turning back to Abby. 'We'll be back in a moment, Abby,' She promised. 'Just stay here, all right?'

Abby nodded, but said nothing.

Agatha looked down at the stairs – she could take the elevator. But then again everyone and their mother were probably going to be queued up waiting for it to take them down to the ground floor. She took slow and steady steps, with Gregor close behind, and occasionally glanced at Abby until she was too far down to see her any more.