Edit (1/15/16): I'm doing a MASSIVE reworking project for this! I'm just rewording some chapters and merging others together, so expect fewer chapters and a bigger wordcount by the time that I'm done!

Prologue

"Sir, are you sure that you're okayed to go through on this new project? You know that you are -"

"Yes, I know, Catherine." A short, old man in a lab coat looked up over his spectacles at the woman, who was wearing identical attire. "And yes, I am. This project is going to be the height of my career."

"Is it going to be bigger than the Rotom project, Mr. Charon?" Catherine guessed, brushing back her dark red hair with one hand.

"Bigger than even what that foolish boy is planning to do," Charon replied boldly. He looked up and ginned hugely at the steel ceiling above him. "Even he does not know what I dare to truly attempt at this very moment." He glanced through an open door to the adjoining room, where his grandson was busy putting together the machine needed for the creation of the weapon their boss required. Charon walked over and closed the door gently, so as not to disturb the boy's work. That child was not involved in this, and didn't need to know of what was about to take place.

Charon looked at his young accomplice, chosen as his personal assistant. "Have you heard of the rumors and myths concerning the PokeMorphs?" he inquired.

"You mean the strange creatures of legend that were able to become human or Pokemon at will?" Catherine asked, remembering a children's book she had read in a library. "What about those myths? You know as well as I that they don't exist."

Charon chuckled as he moved over to a computer and started to press its keys. "Our ancestors saw them as creatures who could switch back and forth at will," the scientist remarked, "but they were actually much more than that. More than mythical creatures that disappeared into the forests and hills more than a thousand years ago."

Catherine looked confused. "What do you mean, sir? More than Pokemon and human? And how is it even possible that they could have existed?"

Charon looked at his assistant, a smirk on his face.

"The legends were what our ancestors saw the creatures as, as I said before," the old man stated. "I've found that, if we take the ancient carvings and translate them, we end up with multiple stories of creatures with powers beyond our understanding. In our time, we consider them Pokemon. However, if we look deeper into the remains of the tales in the ruins, you can see that there are events that show that these creatures are not being trained by humans, and are also doing these things by themselves. They reached heights that no normal Pokemon, so-called 'Legendary' or otherwise, should be capable of reaching. I think that these 'Mobians,' as they were called in the ancient texts, are a mix between human and Pokemon, what we have come to call as 'PokeMorphs'."

He nodded at his assistant, a look of satisfaction coming over his face. "That is our experiment; I am going to attempt to create one of these creatures using present-day science."

"Is that why you needed the girl?" Catherine asked. She motioned to the opaque glass cylinder that was located nearby; pipes connected to the top went off in separate directions into the ventilation and sewer systems. Inside, there was a dark shadow of a figure who seemed to be suspended midair. "Are you going to attempt this experiment to her?"

"That is correct," Charon confirmed. He pressed a red button on the keyboard, causing three small, cylindrical containers to rise up from storage containers in a nearby console. Inside each were brown, stone slivers. "I am going to attempt to create such a creature, using these."The assistant bent forward in order to get a closer look at the stone slivers.

"These? What are they?" Catherine asked, frowning. "Fossilized Pokemon hairs?"

"Fossilized Mobian hairs," her boss corrected. "I found them on Cyrus' clothing after he had returned from a trip to Mt. Coronet. Of course, he has no idea that I took them from his uniform before they went through the wash."

Charon chuckled to himself. "I've tested all three of the hairs, and they seem to come from three different creatures. They are neither Pokemon nor human, as they have a different structure of DNA. These hairs are most certainly, in my opinion, PokeMorph hairs."

His assistant became amazed. "Which one are you going to use on her?"

Charon gave her a bemused look, only for a mischievous twinkle to enter his eyes. The old man cackled. "Why, all three containers, of course! I want to see what would happen to a human if I combined three different DNA strands." He picked up the cylinders and walked over to the large glass cylinder, putting the three hairs in three slots at the base of the cylinder. A moment later, the hairs were expelled into the larger container and out of their sight.

"Now, the essence of the hairs will be absorbed into her skin, and hopefully accepted by her DNA," Charon told Catherine. "It will take some time, but we should see a change in her genetic makeup eventually." He turned and started to leave the room, but then noticed that Catherine wasn't following him. He turned and looked back at his assistant. "Is something bothering you?"

"What will happen to her?" the woman asked, sounding concerned. She moved her gaze from the cylinder to the scientist. "Will she even survive?"

Charon shrugged. "As if I even know. She might awaken from her coma, she might not. It has been said that a few of the creatures had fast-acting healing abilities that seemed to allow them to cheat death in the most sticky of situations. Perhaps, we will get lucky, and this ability will add itself to her genetic makeup and cause her to wake up faster."

Catherine sent one last look at the cylinder, then reluctantly followed Charon out of his lab.

Spacial Break

"Hey! Wait up, Barry! You know we can't go out without a Pokemon on hand."

A yellow-haired boy standing in front of a large patch of tall grass turned to look back at the approaching teen girl. "I know that. But if we run really fast in order to get to Sandgem, we'll be able to avoid any Pokemon that could try to attack us."

The girl frowned, her blue eyes looking over at the other with concern. "That's not going to work," she warned. "I've tried it."

Barry snorted. "Well, that's when you tried it. I'm probably faster than you are." He turned and backed up, ready to take off at a run into the grass.

"STOP!"

Barry froze midstep, then turned to look behind him. The girl turned as well in order to see who had called.

"Professor Rowan?" the girl asked. "What are you doing coming from Lake Verity?"

"We were observing something at the lake," another boy explained, standing next to the white-haired man. He looked over at Barry. "What were you thinking, trying to take off like that?"

"I wanted to get a Pokemon from Professor Rowan," Barry replied with a shrug. "I thought that -"

"The Pokemon in the area, weak though they are, would make you wish you'd thought of a better idea," the girl scolded.

Professor Rowan gave a nod. "Maria is right, although I doubt that she has gotten into a situation like that."

"I nearly did, but I was lucky that another professor caught me in time," Maria replied, rubbing the back of her head. Noticing that her red and white baseball cap was somewhat out of place, she adjusted it by grabbing the bill and pulling down. The design on the front - a blue buzzsaw-like shape - was the only bit of blue that Maria was wearing. "He ended up giving the Pokemon he caught to another Trainer later."

"I'm guessing it wasn't you," Barry muttered.

"No," Maria replied, shaking his head. "That went to a certain Pallet Town boy." She looked over at Professor Rowan. "I've been meaning to talk to you about it, too, but the Pokemon kept me away, and whenever I tried to call, you were out."

"I have been traveling for some time," Professor Rowan replied, looking at Maria thoughtfully. "I can understand that you would want to get some excitement in your life at this time, but I must ask the both of you one question."

"Anything," Maria answered readily.

"Do you truly love Pokemon?"

"Yes."

Barry nodded in agreement. "I do too!"

"You make me wonder," Rowan said, looking at Barry. "There are some things that Trainers do, and running about recklessly into tall grass is not one of them."

"That's because I wanted a Pokemon!" Barry argued. "I love Pokemon - I really do!"

"Hmmmm..." Rowan looked at the boy standing next to him, who was holding a briefcase in his hand. "What do you think, Lucas?"

"Well, Maria I trust," the boy remarked, adjusting the white scarf around his neck thoughtfully. "But I'm not so sure about Barry. He's pretty reckless sometimes."

"Perhaps giving him a Pokemon will teach him a lesson in patience," Maria suggested with a shrug. "That sort of thing has happened before."

Professor Rowan gained a thoughtful expression. "Perhaps." He looked over at Lucas. "You may as well let them choose."

Lucas frowned, then nodded and set the suitcase off the ground and opened the clasps. Inside, among a collection of papers, were three red and white spheres.

"Three PokeBalls, one choice," Lucas stated, nodding to the other two. "Maria, you know what you're doing - why don't you pick first?"

Maria nodded. "Right." She got down on her knees and started to inspect the spheres. After a moment, she reached out and grabbed one of the spheres. "I choose this one."

Barry snatched one of the other PokeBalls. "And I'll take this one." He looked over at Maria and grinned. "How about we have our first battle?"

Maria smirked in response. "I don't see why not." She shifted her grip on the PokeBall. "Lucas, think you can referee?"

Lucas gave a nod. "Of course."

"All right, then!" Barry grinned. "Let's go!"

Two flashes lit up the Route as two Pokemon cries went up to the sky...