Chapter 2: An Enigma

"Evelyne…"

She thought she had opened her eyes, but she couldn't see anything. Her whole body felt like it wasn't present, nothing but her conscience.

"How is your trust Evelyne? Would you trust me?" She began to recognize the voice. It was Jasmine's, trapped in her conscience with her. "No need to speak, I can see your thoughts."

It wasn't like Eve could speak anyway, nothing here could make any sound except for Jasmine's presence. Eve didn't know how to respond, all she knew is that something was staring at her as her thoughts ran by. She heard a giggle.

"Oh, you're confused, aren't you," Jasmine giggled with a transparent echo. "When you awaken, will you trust your surroundings Evelyne?" Eve suddenly began to feel something, slowly. It was something she couldn't identify, almost as if something was holding on to her with a tight grip. "Stay calm, just this once, won't you?"

Her senses began to return, and she was able to move once more. Her ears were ringing and she could hear muffled voices as it settled. Something was keeping her from opening her eyes, some pain.

She grunted and opened her eyes, a sharp pain shot across her entire body, she gasped. Humans in white masks were standing over her, running beside where she lay. She was inside a building of some sort, lights and ceiling tiles flew by too quick to see fully. Humans, that is the only thing on her mind that scared her. The terrible pain from her body caused her to try and jump forward, something held her back and she slammed back down onto the bed.

A human put a hand on her chest and tried holding her down as she tried to shake free, her anger building. They yelled something at another, she couldn't quite hear what they had said. "These people are trying to help you," Jasmine's voice rang softly in her mind. Eve ignored her and continued to struggle, she managed to raise her unrestrained arms and smack whoever was holding her. He didn't let go, and he shouted something else as they burst through another door.

The world stopped moving and they remain still in the middle of a room with many strange contraptions within. Eve swung her fist again and missed, and another, and another, until she was in a flinging frenzy in a desperate attempt to escape the pain.

Someone grabbed her arm and held it still, in a flash she felt something jab into her skin. Her struggling began to cease as a cold sensation began to flow from her left arm. The pain began to go numb, along with the rest of her body, and her head fell back down to the bed. The humans released their grip and she had stopped moving, her eyes were slowly closing as she lost consciousness.

Alan was working on something on his computer on his desk in his office, with the Aether Foundation emblem embedded on his wall. He couldn't help but glance at it in pride every so often, but today was different. He heard a knock on his door. "It's unlocked, come in!" he yelled.

Valerian opened the door and stepped through holding a small suitcase. He had a smile on his face, oddly enough. "Mind if I take a seat?" he asked.

Alan shrugged. "You're the boss, you don't have to ask me," he replied. They both chuckled and Valerian pulled up a chair from the side and sat on the opposite side of his desk.

He glanced at Alan's computer. "What are you working on there?" he asked with interest. "Writing an incident report I hope."

Alan shook his head. "No. I'm writing a proposal for what is to happen later," he stated while typing onto the computer.

Valerian raised an eyebrow. "You can't be serious. You better not be thinking about keeping that thing."

"We're the Aether, that's our job. Shouldn't you-"

"WE… are a laboratory for doing experiments on new Pokemon and recording activities in this region, not rehab!" Alan fell silent. "That's what I thought, now you'd better get on that incident report, things like that don't just happen once and it's over with. Got it?"

"Yes sir."

Evelyne slowly opened her eyes, her body was numb from the pain, she groaned at it. A bright light shone in her face and she held up her hand to block it, her vision slowly recuperated and she was able to see clearly once more. She tried to get up, but ended up falling right back down on her back with an oof. With her little strength, she flipped herself over onto her stomach so she can look around the room. The room was completely empty with the exception of the small bed she was laying on.

She closed her eyes and yawned, and opening them she saw something move in the corner of her eye. She turned but nothing was there, but she did feel someone watching her. "Greetings Evelyne," a feminine voice said.

Weakly, she opened her mouth to reply. "Hello… Jasmine," she responded with a hoarse voice. She grunted and pulled herself onto her feet, nearly falling over again.

"Now was that such a difficult task?" she asked. Eve looked around to find her, nothing showed. "You were afraid, weren't you."

It wasn't a secret now that Jasmine was speaking to her in her brain, the sound of her voice seemed fake and unreal, but it was so vivid unlike her other thoughts. "No… No I wasn't. I just…" And no more words came out, she just stared nowhere.

"Don't lie, I've heard enough lying from you." And her presence faded, Eve felt alone once more. She sighed and rubbed her arm, she felt something rugged on it. A bandage was wrapped around her arms, and another wrapped around her back. They stung slightly, but it was much more tolerable than the pain from earlier. Just now she noticed a discomfort on her jaws. She tried to move them, they moved back and forth fine but did not open like they should. She clenched her teeth and fists and tried to break through the restrainment to no avail, she let out a deep breath and caught it all back. Looking back around the empty room, that looks more like a prison, this must be her life now that she has been thrusted into by her mistakes only.

She heard a beeping sound, and the wall behind her suddenly began to sink away, revealing and opening. Three men were standing beyond the opening, two were staring, and the other was typing something on a computer ahead. Evelyne saw all this as an opportunity for her to make a break for it, but it was risky. She approached them with curiosity, and the two watched, one smiled, but the other didn't, he just stared with caution. Merely steps away from a leap of freedom, but something seemed off.

One of the men crouched down to her height and watched, and Eve lifted her hand and moved it closer to him. He grinned further and did the same. Before their hands touched, Eve felt a solid surface hit her hand before she could touch his hand. In bewilderment, she smacked the surface, and whatever it was, it was blocking her from leaving. She took a deep breath and kept herself cool, and took a step back. She could see them all chuckle at her curiosity, and they were saying something to each other, but the glass prevented her from hearing. The man at the computer wrote something in a notebook next to him and walked away, the others followed, and she was truly alone once more.

"I want everything you can possibly get from her," Alan said to a group of scientists. One of them raised an eyebrow.

"Everything? Elaborate on that would you?" he asked.

Alan shrugged. "Whatever you can do. Height, weight, blood type, x-rays, and eye color."

They all laughed except Alan. "Eye color? What is the point of doing-"

"Ah yes exactly! Be very exact on the color, don't just say red, or blue. You know what I mean?" His jaw dropped.

"What? You can't be-"

"Could you just do it? We're wasting time here," Alan ordered. That one guy huffed and walked away, the others followed, giving each other confused looks. Valerian patted Alan on the back.

"You're turning into a leader, I'll give you that. But this whole thing is really pointless, you do know that right?" he said. Alan turned to him and smirked.

"You know what? Since you're here, you can help me with something I'm working on," Alan said with confidence, and before Valerian could say another word, he had already began walking to his office. Valerian mumbled something and went after him grumpily. When he arrived at his office, Alan was already on his computer typing up a storm. Valerian sat down on the chair from earlier.

"Hmph, Fine. What do you want from me?" he asked, kind of amused. Alan gave him a confident glance.

"I need you, to break out that laptop of yours, and pull up the file of the substance that was in that capsule we collected," Alan insisted. Valerian lifted an eyebrow.

"Those are secret files, I'm not authorized to show them to anyone below me without permission from HQ." Alan gave him that I'm-about-to-blow-your-mind look, and he flipped around his laptop so he could see the screen. "What's this?"

"An email from the Assistant Branch Chief, she accepted the proposal." Valerian lifted an eyebrow and chuckled.

"Of course…" he said sarcastically. Alan lifted up his suitcase from behind the desk. "What? How did you get that?"

"You left it here, obviously."

"You're a real winner today huh."

Alan shrugged. "I guess so!" Valerian took the suitcase and opened it, revealing it was actually a portable computer the entire time. The Aether Foundation emblem flashed onto the screen for a couple seconds, and then his wallpaper appeared on the screen of him and his family. Before Alan could see it, Valerian pulled up the anonymous files, and then clicked on one labelled: 'Pinkeye'. A box appeared asking for a password, and Valerian typed it so fast that Alan couldn't even see the keys he had tapped. A 'Password Accepted' sign appeared above the box, and the file opened up to a page of words. He squinted at it and skimmed through the text. "Are you gonna let me read it?" Alan asked, Valerian shushed him.

He read it aloud. "A pink liquid chemical found recently of unknown origin and recipe. In a liquid state it is unnaturally hot and-" They heard a knock on the door. He closed the computer. "Who's there?"

"We can't get through to the Mawile, it won't sit still!" someone yelled from the other side of the door. Valerian got up and opened the door.

"What do you mean it won't sit still?"

Alan placed his hand on Valerian's shoulder. "It's okay, I want to go see her myself anyway," he said, pushing Valerian aside gently. He made a confused look, Alan glanced back at him. "Come on, I still need you."

"Alan, you are the most confusing human being I have ever met." He went inside to grab his suitcase and followed Alan to a room labelled: 'Shelter'. A group of employees were fighting over who's going to go in and get the Mawile. They all turned to look at the two with nervous faces.

"All right you guys, we'll take over from here," Alan said. They nodded without protest and all walked out of the room. Alan locked the door as they left and went up to the glass to see how she was doing. Evelyne was sitting in the corner, her eyes darting around the room for anyone. She caught sight of Alan and stared at him endlessly, he smiled and waved. "Can you get that all set up, I'm gonna go reason with her."

Valerian chuckled. "Alan, you can't 'reason' with a Pokemon. And how the hell do you know it's a girl?" He ignored him and pressed a button next to the doorway, and it slid open, and he walked through as it closed behind him. And he was all alone with Eve.

She stared at him cautiously, and tried to back away further, but the wall obstructed any further movement.

"Come on. Can't we be friends? I'm not going to hurt you," he said in a comforting voice. Eve didn't move. "I swear on my life, I won't let anything harm you. Ever." Eve tilted her head, not really expecting something like that from a first impression. But the fact that he was human deterred her from giving him any trust, she heard too much negative about human nature to give them any trust. Before this even happened she trusted no one but herself and her own instincts.

Valerian glanced at them through the window and watched. Alan crouched and held out his arms.

"I know you're afraid, so you can just come to me when you feel ready." She wasn't buying it, and stayed in the corner, hoping her stare would make him go away, but he seemed unaffected. About thirty seconds passed and no one moved, Valerian was really getting a kick out of this. But a special someone was getting impatient.

"Eve, there is nowhere to run, and you won't win this one," Jasmine's voice rang as the discomfort of being stalked by an unwelcome deity began to.

"Rrgh. Get out of my head," Eve grumbled quietly.

Alan lifted an eyebrow and opened his mouth to speak, but didn't say anything. "There is nothing left for you to do, give in," Jasmine insisted, and the presence faded away. Eve took a deep breath and stood up. She folded her hands normally and took a cautious step forward. Alan smiled and glanced at Valerian, who seemed to be focused on what was on his computer. Eve began to walk slowly towards him with her head down, like a prisoner in shame.

Once she was just in front of him, he placed his arms at his side and smiled. "Attagirl," he said, he lifted his hand up and pet her softly on the head. Eve lifted up her head and looked at him and examined his face. Her heart was pounding nervously, looking up at a being more than two times her height. He placed his hand on her shoulder, not to rough to not hurt her. "Mind if I pick you up?"

The question struck her like a bullet, such a simple thing, but she was already uncomfortable at the thought of being picked up. She looked at his hands, and thought something odd: What would Jasmine say? Would she mind was the question, she shook her head. He smiled and picked her up under the arms and held her close to his chest, and began to walk towards the door. Alan could feel her trembling and holding onto him with a tight grip, staring at the floor. He picked up the pace, conscious that he is scaring her. When he got to the door, Valerian had already opened it before he could do it himself.

"Heh heh. You two put on quite a show for a while," he chuckled, Alan smirked and walked over to an empty table where he was sitting at, and placed Eve on her feet on the table. She stumbled slightly, but kept her balance. She stood idly, waiting for them to do something. Valerian watched Alan as he rummaged through some drawers in the room. "So what's your next plan, 'doctor'?"

Alan chuckled. "Just some quick and easy examinations, some note-taking, and that's really it for now," he replied as he pulled out a measuring tape from the drawer. "Hand me that notepad please."

Valerian grabbed the notepad from his desk and placed it next to Eve and then sat down. He leaned close to Evelyne, she turned around and jumped slightly in surprise that he'd gotten so close so soon. "Ever been to Pokemon Center? It's like that, but a little different," he said to her, not expecting a response. Alan walked over and picked up the notepad, and placed the measuring tape and scale on the table, Eve looked at them with confusion. He rolled up his sleeves, and revealed a bandage wrapped around his right arm, she stared at it for a moment.

"Here." He pushed the scale towards her, she jumped in astonishment. "Stand on this will you?" And he turned to Valerian. "While we're at it, pull up the Mawile National PokeDex entry."

He lifted an eyebrow. "The PokeDex entry? What for?" he asked confused.

"To make a comparison, obviously," Alan replied with a smirk of confidence. Valerian shrugged and began to look around for it on his computer. He must have everything there. Alan looked back at Eve, who was walking around the scale, checking for anything suspicious. He chuckled. "It's okay, it won't bite you."

"I know," she replied quietly.

"What did you say?" Alan asked, he leaned closer and put his hand next to his ear. "I didn't hear you."

"I said I know!" Eve shouted in frustration. Valerian laughed, and Alan simply smiled, but Eve didn't find any of this amusing.

Alan leaned towards Valerian. "Arceus, her voice beautiful," he whispered to him.

He sucked his teeth. "Keep dreaming Alan," Valerian replied sarcastically. Not even trying anymore, Eve placed one foot on the scale, and a number appeared on the scale. Valerian glanced at her. "Both feet, kid." She glanced back at him and hopped on top of it. The number began to grow larger until it stopped and started blinking. Alan quickly grabbed a pen from his belt and wrote down the number on his notepad.

"Alright, so about that entry," Alan suggested, Valerian waved him over.

"It's right here, and you're asking for the common weight right?" Valerian asked. Alan walked next to him and bent over to read it.

"25.4 pounds… Hmm…"

"What did you get from him?"

"37.1. And it's a she." Valerian looked back at the screen, and a line caught his eye.

"It says here females naturally are smaller than males." Alan placed his hand on his chin.

"But that can't be right." Valerian turned his chair and looked at Eve, she tilted her head at all of that.

"Nope, it's definitely not, because she's skinny," Valerian pointed out, Alan lifted an eyebrow and turned to look at Eve. Now that he thinks about it, she looks like she's been underfed for a quite a while now. And she has, a berries-only diet, especially for most Pokemon like her can make them undernourished.

"Yeesh, I can't believe I didn't notice," he replied guiltily.

"Probably distracted by her face, that's usually the case." Alan shrugged, and went back over to the table, Eve still stood there idly. He picked up the measuring tape.

"Alright, I'm going to need you to stand still. Roger that?" Alan asked for reassurance. She didn't exactly know what that meant, but nodded anyway and put her arms at her side didn't move. He placed the measuring tape next to her pulled the tape up, she kept an eye on it as it rose. He looked at the number and nodded, he let the tape retract on its own, the cracking sound made Eve yelp. She jumped back and spun around so her jaws were ahead of her, despite them being unopenable. Alan stumbled back in surprise. "Whoa whoa whoa! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!"

She didn't turn around, she could sense his fear and the feeling felt natural. She unconsciously took a step towards him. He didn't move, he just watched to see what she was going to do. Eve caught sight of his injured arm, and it was like something hit her, and her jaws began to lower on her own. She blinked a couple times and came back into reality, she turned back around, both of them stared at her, she thought she was in trouble. Her ears lowered from the guilt and she lowered her head.

Alan walked over and patted her on the shoulder, and glanced at Valerian. "I got 2'5. What does it say on there?" he asked him.

"Two… feet," he replied, disturbed by the strange differences. "Something is definitely off with her." Alan shrugged and walked over to a chair beside Eve and sat down. He felt like he was forgetting something very important he needed to do. "So do you still want to hear what I found?"

Alan glanced at him. "What?"

"The whole 'secret' file."

"Oh! Yes! What did you find?" Valerian nodded and reopened the tab with the file opened.

"Some weird intel, I've never read any of this before, so it's odd."

"I'm listening."

"Well, This is what it says." He looked back at his screen and read off of what he sees. "A pink liquid created by unknown means first discovered by Evo. Co.."

Alan chuckled, Eve tilted her head. "Evo. Co.? What kind of name is that?" he asked.

"Evolution Corporation. Some company of extremists who think Pokemon can become stronger than natural means," he replied with disgust. "It really shouldn't exist, but that's our world nowadays."

Alan glanced at Eve for a moment, she stared back in curiosity. Her odd skin tone was strangely noticeable at this glance. "Does it say anything about effects on Pokemon?"

"Whoa," Valerian amazed.

"What? Tell me what it says!" Alan demanded.

"The chemical itself has no effect, but when inserted into its blood-stream, a Pokemon's growing speeds up to unstable levels."

Alan looked back at Eve. "But that doesn't make sense. It couldn't have gone into her blood-stream, unless someone did it to her."

Valerian tapped his shoulder. "There's more. A liquid, that becomes a gas when it comes in contact with… a solid? And it becomes a liquid again when coming in contact with another fluid- What?"

"That still doesn't explain how-" Valerian flipped around.

"The capsule had pods inside, filled with this stuff. The only way to get it out supposedly, is to turn the knob, and it sprays at you like steam."

"It must've sprayed her…"

"And burned its way into her body…"

"So…" Alan turned toward Eve with his mouth open in amazement. "This stuff is… flowing with her blood." Eve tilted her head as they stared, completely baffled.

The day flew by so suddenly, the lack of windows made it hard to notice. But her sleepiness let her know all too well of the time. Evelyne was lying face up on the small bed in the room she stayed in, it was oddly silent all day after they put her back into her room. The lights began to dim as the day progressed until it was a soft yellow, like the sunset in her room. She stared at the light above her head, lost in thought. The situation was too confusing for her to handle, there were very few things she understood from those two. The only thing she knew, was that she is growing, much more than she thinks.

She heard the door open behind her and she flipped over on her stomach to see who is in. Alan was standing at the door, with a small bag in his hands. "Hey you," he simply said, and walked towards her. She stood up and took a step away from him. He smirked. "Cautious as always?"

He crouched down and pulled a red heart-shaped bean out of his bag and held it out to her. It didn't look like food to her, but she could smell its sweet scent from where she stood. Her stomach growled.

"Here. It's a little bit of a welcome gift from headquarters in Alola." Eve took a step towards him, and then another, and reached over. She quickly plucked it out of his hands and took a quick bite. It was very crunchy and it exploded with flavor in her mouth, her eyes widened and she took another bite. Never before had she tasted something so incredible, having been living on berries her whole life. She continued eating until there was none left, she sighed with disappointment that it was gone so soon.

Alan smiled and pulled out another, however this one was yellow. Not paying much attention to the color, she grabbed it from his hands and took a bite. She felt her heart start to race at every bite as the flavor enveloped her taste buds. It had a kind of sour taste, with a noticeable lemon flavor, and she knew she had found her favorite of all of them. And with all of that, she actually cracked a smile for a moment. Alan gasped. "Oh oh! I saw that! You can't tell me I didn't! Haha!"

Embarrassed, she finished off the PokeBean and wiped the crumbs off her hands.

"Want some more?" Alan asked, already taking out another different colored bean, this one was purple. Eve stared at and tilted her head, when he held it out to her she simply stared at. "Hmm… I see what's happening here."

He took back the bean and placed it back in the bag. He sifted through the bag and pulled out yet another yellow bean, and Eve's mouth watered a little. Alan chuckled and held it out to Eve. She reached for it but missed, she grunted and swung her arm at the bean, hoping for him to bring it closer so she could grab it. He chuckled and handed it to her, she plucked it out of his hands and sank her small teeth into it. Her relief to have the flavor in her mouth was unbearable.

While she chewed, she felt something arrive in the room. She stopped eating and slowed her chewing and looked around the room. No one was there. "Enjoying yourself?" Jasmine's voice echoed in her brain.

"I…" Jasmine cut her off.

"You are. I saw that smile on your face while you bit into that, you damned hypocrite," Jasmine said to her in a calm tone that shifted into a frustrated one.

"Wh-What? Y-You told me to do this," Eve replied, trying to stay calm. Alan looked confused, he didn't understand what she was saying, but her tone was the thing baffling him so.

"You hurt that poor child for what you are now doing!"

Eve winced and tried to ignore her and finish eating, she was starting to feel like she couldn't eat anymore, even though she wants more flavor.

Alan reached over and rubbed her head softly, she didn't react. "Getting full?" he asked. She nodded as she took another slow bite. "Alright, as much as I hate to do this, I have to go home now."

"Huh? Why so soo-" Eve asked worriedly, she caught herself as she spoke. She knew what was happening, and she didn't like it at all.

"Sorry. Just get some rest, I promise I'll hang out with you tomorrow alright?" Alan walked over to the door, opened it, and walked through. Eve stared at him, and he glanced back with guilt. "Please don't look at me like that. Here, I'll leave the rest here for you when you need it alright?" He reached down and set the bag down by the doorway, he waved and closed it, leaving the window blocks open so the light from outside came in.

Eve's ears lowered, she was alone, and she knew what was next.

"Indeed you are alone, and you are trapped with me as I am with you," Jasmine said, but this time her voice sounded oddly real. Behind her. Eve flipped around, and Jasmine was standing behind her. Her body was still covered in scars and wounds, but she seemed unphased by it all. Eve's eyes widened.

"Wh-What?" She took a step back. "B-But you're dead! I killed you!" Before Alan could close the outside door, she heard her yelling and stopped to listen. He turned to look at her, and he saw her standing there with her back turned, staring and speaking to nothing.

Jasmine stepped closer to her with a creepy grin. "Hee hee hee! I will never truly be dead! Not as long as you breathe, I live!" she shouted with a surprising amount of pride. Eve blinked and Jasmine was standing directly in front of her, she gasped. "And until you die, I will assure you, that you will never forget your regrets!"

Eve swung her fist at Jasmine, and it flew right through her face and she dispersed into mist, which was sucked into the vents above. But her voice was still very much present. Eve knew she was still there and looked around the room frantically for her. "Leave me alone. Please, I'm sorry, I really am, but there's nothing I can do for you," Eve said to nowhere.

She heard Jasmine chuckle through the vents and in her mind at the same time. "You're such a disgusting creature, you should be ashamed of your existence."

Eve bent over and grabbed her head. "Get out of my head!" she shouted.

Alan, with haste, pushed the door open. Eve gasped and turned around and saw Alan close the door behind him and disappear. She turned back around to look for Jasmine, but she was no longer there. The itching feeling in her brain signified that she was watching, and Eve was fully aware. She lowered her head and glanced at the bag of PokeBeans with guilt. She walked over to the bed and collapsed onto it and sighed, not knowing what will come next after an eventful day. She stared at her bandaged arms with curiosity and rubbed them. She took a deep breath and tried to get some sleep.