Chapter 1: Normal day?
"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!" the Professor's alarm went off as it did every morning at 5 am. And like every morning he would wake up brush his teeth take a shower and trip down the stairs searching for his lab coat.
"Drat" he cursed to his self just like every morning, as he would make his way towards the automatic cappuccino processor he invented about seven years ago. It was a reliable model it still had quite a few kinks as some mornings the coffee would be scalding hot or too cold but never quite right and this morning happened to be one of the mornings it was scalding hot as he would soon find out. "YOOWCH" he exclaimed as he sipped the scalding hot coffee and burned his tongue in turn causing himself to stumble backwards and trip over Zoe's skateboard sending him sprawling to the floor and scalding hot coffee all over his lab coat. "DOUBLE YOWCH!" he screamed once again but caught himself as he was trying not to wake his niece Zoe.
"I have to fix that thing one of these days" he said just like had he said almost every day for the past six years. Awoken by the noise Cole the Growlithe pounced on his master once again sending the bumbling Mr. Mime staggering backwards as he was attacked by a flurry of licks.
"Alright, alright down boy. I swear sometimes I think you're part Likitung" he patted the puppy Pokémon on the head "let's get ready for your walk"
It was dark out as it wasn't quite 6 yet but the invigorating May air felt good against Milo's skin especially after his cappuccino ordeal. The fact that Cole was also enjoying the fresh air of the country side didn't hurt either. Milo had decided about 10 years earlier when he was just finishing his doctorates to build his lab outside the city in order to keep his experiments private and since then he had been the subject of speculation of for the whole town. He didn't seem to mind that all of Poke Town had thought he was some kind of mad scientist, because people actually left him alone so that he could do his work peacefully, also some of the stories Zoe had heard about him from her school were so ridiculous they were actually pretty funny. The only regret he had about living so far away from town was the effect it had on Zoe's social life, sure she went to the public school with all the other kids but she always had trouble fitting in and didn't make any friends. He knew the lab was no place for a little girl but he was all she had after her parents died in that plane crash seven years ago when Zoe was three.
Zoe awoke to the sound of her uncle coming home from walking Cole and bumping his head on a shelf. As usual she did not look forward to school today. The other kids teased her and often told terrible stories about her uncle and often ignored her and called her disruptive. Besides whenever she tried to tell people about the amazing adventures she goes on with her uncle the other kids would call her a liar and the adults would just say she had a vivid imagination or as the school counselor would put it "desperate for attention and seeking some parental guidance." She loathed school because she knew today would be no different, but the only thing that kept her going was going on expeditions with Uncle Milo. Milo had told her time and time again that she could only go on expeditions if she did well in school and to be honest that was the only reason why Zoe even showed up. That and Theo Underwood and Missy Szpiro her best friends. She got out bed got dressed, brushed her teeth, and poured a bowl of cereal.
That's when AIM came floating into the room. "BzzzzzMORNING ZOEbzzzzMASTER HAS A MESSAGEbzzzzCOMPUTING MESSAGEbzzz…." The single eye in the center of the Magnemite's body went blank and after a little static the image of her uncle appeared on the monitor. "Morning sunshine how was your sleep?"
"Good morning uncle I had a great sleep, hey uncle do you think I can stop by the museum after school today to check out that new Ho-Oh feather that was recently found on Rainbow Peak?"
"I don't know pumpkin, I don't think Mr. Mogolia wants anywhere near the museum for a while -you know since that one incident."
"Ah come on uncle it was just a rock"
"You know the rules young lady. And that rock was a valuable part of my research"
"Fine" Zoe snapped with a defeated pout. "Geez you break one little rock and the old geezer pops a capillary."
Mr. Mogolia was the curator of the museum and Zoe was convinced the grumpy Alakazam was older than some of the artifacts in the museum. He constantly ranted about the good old days and he hated children or just about anything that was young or associated with youth besides his grandson Artie. It didn't help that his grandson Artie the Abra was a little goodie two shoes know it all, that constantly droned on about ancient history and lost civilizations even in his sleep.
"Zoe don't be late school today, you know I keep getting calls from your teacher about your tardiness, just remember great opportunities are missed for those who show up late"
"Yes uncle I know, sheesh cut me a break I'm not missing anything but the morning announcements and everyone knows those are completely useless" as much as she loved her uncle she knew he would never understand why she hated school. She knew her uncle loved school as a child, but who wouldn't love school if they were a child prodigy constantly in the newspaper and adored by everyone. Unfortunately for Zoe she wasn't a child genius like her uncle but just an average girl that like many kids her age hated school.
As usual Zoe arrived to class ten minutes late and as usual Mrs. Gardevoir would make her sing the Poke Town anthem in front of the whole class. This would have been embarrassing but Zoe was actually a decent singer and had grown accustomed to singing to the class every day. After singing the anthem and taking her seat next to her friends Missy Szpiro an eccentric little Misdreavus girl and Theo Underwood a timid Teddiursa boy with enormous bifocal glasses and a mild stutter. Like Zoe, Missy and Theo were the school outcasts. People often thought Missy was strange because of her exotic accent and jewelry and the other kids often called her a witch, Theo on the other hand was widely known as a bookworm momma's boy and would often wear ridiculous sweaters that his mom knitted for him. It didn't help his case that he was also a habitual thumb sucker.
"Late for class once again, noh?" Missy jeered in her eerie accent that sometimes made Zoe shudder even though they were best friends. Zoe hated to admit it but she sometimes felt uncomfortable around Missy because she was a ghost type and Zoe was psychic. But her uncle had taught Zoe acceptance of all types and to give every living creature the benefit of the doubt.
"Y-yyo know the teachers are placing a w-ww-wager on whether or not you'll break the school's all time tardy record by the end of the year." Theo commented with his eyes still glued to his book.
"Yeah whatever, see if I care in one more month I'll be free of this place for a loooong time." Zoe sneered and opened her English book.
"Aim, fetch me the mankey wrench and scan to see if the propulsion thrusters are in order, and check the fuel"
"BzzzAFFIRMATIVE MASTERzzzz PROPULSION THRUSTERS ARE IN ORDERzzzzFUEL IS AT MAXIMUM CAPICITYzzzz"
Professor Milo was busy working on his newest invention that would revolutionize the world of undersea travel. This year he was going to finally going to take his trip through the treacherous Far Off sea to find the mythological Dratini colony record their behavioral habits for future research. To be able to survive such a perilous journey would take one of the toughest underwater vehicles ever imagined but he was up to the challenge. Of course he didn't actually know whether or not the colony actually existed as Dratini were sadly becoming an endangered species because of the price of their scales.
He so busy working on his project that he had totally forgot and check on the new Ho-Oh feather like Mr. Mogolia had requested about 2 hours ago. "Gyaaah! I have to get going" with his sudden outburst he got up extremely fast hit his head on the metal pipe under the submarine and dropped the mankey wrench on his chest knocking the wind out of himself .After being dazed for about 30 seconds quickly wiped the sludge off himself slipped on some oil and sent papers and tools scattering throughout the lab. He knew wasn't going to be thrilled about his tardiness.
"Hmmm to think I scolded Zoe for never being on time this morning, maybe I should start taking my own advice" he chuckled to himself as he started his car.
School droned on as it usually did but Zoe couldn't get that magnificent Ho-Oh feather out of her mind. She just had to see it. But her uncle had told her she couldn't go to the museum and if that grumpy old coot was there as well and he'd have a fit. So she would just have to make sure no one saw her. Fortunately for Zoe she knew the museum like the back of her hand and getting in and getting out without being seen would be a walk in the park, only if she could survive through math class.
Zoe rode her bike into town past the Poke Mart and bank to the Poke Town Museum where her uncle conducted some of his research. Upon arrival she hid her purple bike in the brush behind the Palkia statue and snuck in the side entrance used to sneak in the most secretive of artifacts. After picking the lock and disabling the security code she made her way through the ventilation shaft, sealing the opening behind her. It was at this time she overheard two Pokémon bickering. Crawling through the shaft and towards the noise she saw Mr. Mogolia yelling at her uncle and Milo scratching his head with a distressed look on his face.
"Nothing unusual about that" she thought to herself but suddenly the appearance of a third figure interrupted her thoughts. An incredibly tall Pokémon with lavender skin and an expensive looking black suit walked into the museum and the bickering between the two Pokémon immediately came to a halt.
As the ancient Alakazam was busy tearing Milo a new one for being late the third time that month a strange visitor had walked into the museum looking around at some the artifacts with a mysterious intrigue that told Milo that this man was more than just a customer. Just then the man approached Milo and Mr. Mogolia with a smirk that was so crooked Milo could tell this man wasn't accustomed to smiling. He was over two feet taller than Milo or Mr. Mogolia with lavender skin, a massive tail and three fingered hands and wore a very expensive looking suit, his most disturbing feature probably even moreso than the tube protruding from the back of his neck was his violet eyes that were cold emotionless and calculating. Even as he was smiling at them Milo could feel the man's cold eyes analyzing him. Milo figured he would just find out what this man wanted before the situation got any more awkward.
"Hello sir can we be of assistance?"
At first Milo thought the man didn't hear him but then after a second the man finally responded
"No, just browsing around."
Milo shuddered, man's voice was deep and smooth but at the same time very powerful, just those few words sent a chill down Milo's spine. It was an uneasy feeling. The man was a paying customer and his money was being used for Milo's research so he swallowed that uneasy feeling and said "Alright let me know if you need anything."
"Don't be troubled , I already saw everything I needed to see" and with that he walked out of the museum not saying another word.
"I sense grave misgivings about that man Professor" the old Alakazam said wistfully "we'd best be on our toes"
As much as he wanted to believe that Mr. Mogolia was wrong, Milo had the same feeling about the mysterious stranger. But all he could do was sit back and wait as only time would tell.