Yay, second chapter!
…I can't think of anything to say. Just roll the disclaimer and let's get started already.
Disclaimer: We don't own Pokémon. We do own Zenith, Shard, and some of the OC's that will appear later.
Chapter 2: The First Set
Six months had passed since Zenith had awakened and made the decision to continue the goal of Project Zenith: to create clones that were the strongest of their species. The Uxie clone had gotten most of the lab back in working condition; he had restored power to the building thanks to the electric Pokémon out in the forest, and many of his cloning tanks were full. He had organized the tanks into sets, each of which consisted of three working containers. The first of these sets was very close to completion.
The Uxie clone himself had taken a whole year to develop fully, but that was due to the fact that he was a legendary and that humans were the ones creating him. Zenith's intelligence had grown to greatly exceed that of the scientists, however, and frequently, when he was sure all of his experiments were safe and stable, he would leave the lab to explore Sinnoh and gather new knowledge on it. He had found out the location of the lab from this; they were in the forest area above the Floaroma Valley Windworks, though still miles away from human civilization. He also learned more about Sinnoh's technology, and sometimes took some of it back with him. He made adjustments to the cloning procedures and utilized his new equipment to make modifications to the machines. The end result was a cloning process that, for most of the clones, took half as long as it had for Zenith.
Today, Zenith chose to remain at the laboratory instead of leaving. According to his calculations, one of his clone sets was finally going to be finished today, and this excited him to no end. He would now be able to begin the next step of his experiment; to observe and analyze the clones' mental development. After a few minutes of flying, he entered the room that contained his subjects.
This room contained three cloning tanks, all against the far wall. The one to the left had a Croconaw floating in the liquidized oxygen. The clone was female, and her head crest was a deep blue color and flopped over to the right side of her head. The middle tank contained a female Pachirisu with light blue cheeks. The last container had a male Luxio with a blue-tipped mane inside. All three were asleep at the moment.
"Cloning set 03. Subjects 006, 008, and 011. Development process near-complete. Estimated time to awakening is within ten minutes." Zenith said to himself as he checked the three clone Pokémons' vital signs. The screens showed that they were all perfectly healthy, with no flaws.
Within eight minutes, the machines began to make the same strange sounds that they had made when his progression had been completed. Like before, the green liquid began to drain out of the three Pokémons' tanks, leaving them resting peacefully at the bottom. Zenith's forehead gem glowed once more as he deactivated the tanks, freeing the three clones.
Now that they were out, the three began to awaken. The Croconaw and Luxio looked around in confusion at their surroundings, but the Pachirisu had a much more different reaction. As soon as she caught sight of Zenith floating before them, she gave a squeal of happiness and leapt at him. She was stopped in midair a moment before contact, her body surrounded in a blue aura. She was gently set down on the ground, and the Uxie smiled at her.
"My apologies. I'm not used to physical contact, though I did expect your actions, given the personality I created for you." Zenith said.
The Luxio clone shook to fling off the remaining liquid from his fur, then spoke. "What do you mean? Who are you?"
The Uxie's smile grew wider at this. "I am Zenith, Subject 001 of Project Zenith. I created you three, and numerous others who are still in differing stages of growth."
The Croconaw cocked her head to the side. "Created us…?"
"Indeed. Project Zenith was a human attempt to create high-powered clones of real Pokémon. I was the first, and though the project was shut down, I brought it back and created all of you." Zenith explained.
"Oh, so you're like our daddy!" The Pachirisu clone exclaimed, smiling brightly.
"In a sense, though I suppose you can call me that, 008." Zenith responded.
"Wait, 008?" The Croconaw asked.
"Her experiment number. I find it easier to keep track of all my creations if I can identify them by a number. You, for example, are 006, and he is 011." Zenith said, pointing one of his tails at the Luxio.
"Where are all the other numbers before us?" The Croconaw clone asked.
"Still in development." Zenith said. "The idea to organize you all into sets based on rooms did not occur to me until I had created a large amount of you. Before, I simply gave you all your own room, then started grouping you together when the number of empty areas decreased."
"Can we have real names? Being a number feels… weird." The Croconaw finished uncertainly.
"Of course you may. A name is essential in creating an identity, which is exactly what I want from you. Feel free to choose one." The Uxie clone answered.
"Yay, a name! I want a name!" The Pachirisu cried, running around in circles. The other three clones looked at her oddly in silence for several seconds.
The Luxio finally broke the silence. "So, we're clones?"
"Yes, you are artificial Pokémon, created from the DNA of natural-born Pokémon. However, you have also been genetically enhanced to be the most powerful of your species. You are at the zenith of your power, so to speak, hence the name, Project Zenith. Though, I am quite certain that you have the potential to become even stronger." The Uxie explained further.
"So that means we're not real Pokémon." The Luxio finished.
"No, you are real, just not natural. None of us are." Zenith said solemnly. A smile returned to his face just as quickly as he said, "I look forward to studying you, but I have to attend to the other cloning sets. Choose a name, if you want, and you are free to explore the laboratory. Do not tamper with anything, though. Good bye!"
With that, the Uxie teleported out of the room, leaving the three clones alone. The Croconaw and Luxio sat down in opposite corners of the room, while the Pachirisu continued to run around, chasing her tail. They stayed like this for a good ten minutes until the Luxio broke the silence once more.
"I like Sable." He said. The comment was so out-of-the-blue that the Pachirisu stopped running, and she and the Croconaw looked at the other clone in confusion. He saw this and immediately looked down at the ground, avoiding eye contact.
"What?" The Croconaw asked.
"I like Sable as a name." The Pokémon repeated. "Aren't you going to pick a name?"
"I'm still thinking of one." The Croconaw said.
"I want a name!" The Pachirisu cried out and began running around the room and jumping on all the equipment. In her excitement, she knocked over a glass beaker and it fell to the floor with a crash that made both of the other clones wince.
The hyperactive Pokémon jumped down and looked at the shattered remains of the beaker. "That's a lot of glass shards… ooh, that'll be my name! Shard!"
The newly-named Shard continued running around while Sable and the unnamed Croconaw watched in awkward silence.
"…I think I'll go with… Vienna, I guess. I don't know why, it just sounds nice." The Croconaw finally decided.
"That's a nice name!" Shard squealed, rushing up to Vienna so quickly that Sable blinked and missed it. "Do you want to go exploring with me? Do you, do you, do you?"
"Um… sure?" Vienna answered uncertainly, earning an ecstatic shriek from the Pachirisu clone.
Said clone then turned to Sable. "You'll come too, right?"
Sable looked surprised at the request, then turned away awkwardly. "I think I'll stay here a little longer…"
"Aw, come on, please? Please, please, please, please, pleeeease?" Shard begged.
"Uhh… okay, I'll- WAH!" Sable cried out as the Pachirisu clone rushed over and tackled him in a hug, knocking him over.
"Thank you! You're the best friends ever!" Shard squealed. She jumped off the poor Luxio and ran out the door and into the hallway.
As Sable picked himself back up, Vienna gave him a shy smile. "So… are you okay?"
"Yeah, I think so." Sable replied, walking out of the room. Vienna followed him.
When they exited into the hallway, Shard ran up to them, holding something. "Look what I found!"
The object was a small raindrop-shaped pendent attached to a necklace string. "Isn't it pretty?" She asked.
"Yes, it's very pretty." Vienna smiled, looking at the pendent with interest.
Shard noticed this and held it out to the Croconaw clone. "Here! You can have it! I can tell you like it, so, here you go!"
"Really?" Vienna asked. Shard nodded eagerly, so Vienna gave her a grateful smile and took it, placing it around her neck. The water droplet gave off a soft glow upon contact.
"Come on, let's go explore! This place is huge!" Shard chirped and ran down the hallway. Vienna and Sable exchanged odd looks, shrugged, and ran after her.
Around the corner at the opposite end of the hallway, Zenith smiled at what he had just witnessed. "How interesting. 008's overly-friendly behavior clashes with 006 and 011's shy natures, but they get along nonetheless. I believe I will learn a lot from this experiment."
He turned away and prepared to teleport. "Now, let's check on 010's progress." With that last sentence and a flash of light, the Uxie was gone.
~Author's Note~
So, were Vienna and Sable in-character? Please tell us if not.
Of course, we'll be bringing more of our own clones into this besides Zenith and Shard. Maybe even some hunters, too. We'll put in two clone bios next chapter.
Review and tell us what you think! Bye!
