Episode 4: The Storm

"Spectrometer readings say the casing is reinforced aluminium, but the little antenna on the back is chrome-plated iron," said Harley Cord, holding up the screen for David. "There is also some gold on the inside, probably used to deliver an electric current."

"It was used to control a wild Breloom," explained David. "Take a look at the inner workings, will you?"

Harley set the collar down on the tabletop. "What's this all about? Last night?"

"I don't understand the situation very well either. Have you seen Professor Coolidge?"

The boy from Chemistry shook his head. "Not a trace. How's Professor Hart?"

"He's holding up fine. I'm going to see him in a minute."

"Well, give him my regards. Kylie, too." Harley picked up a screwdriver and sat down, ready to disassemble the control collar.

David was about to open the door and leave, but something tugged at the back of his mind. "Harley, where do you think the signal controlling the Breloom was coming from?"

The boy looked up. "Well, they wouldn't put the transmitter close to you, so it's probably far away, or at the centre of campus to cover as much area as possible."

"That would use a lot of energy. As far as I know, the electricity bills aren't going up, so…"

"They're using a pokemon to power the transmitter. Probably an Electivire, or-"

"-a Rotom?" finished David. His head was flooded with new ideas. "Get that thing analysed, Harley. I'll be back in a few hours!"

Outside, the sky was dark and brooding. Miserable, grey clouds floated by, grimacing at David as he quickly made his way across the lawn of the dormitories, and into the hospital. Just as he entered the lobby, the first drops of rain hit the grass behind him.

Dr. Xavier was waiting for him next to the vending machine. "These things are stupid traps," he said, pounding lightly on the glass front of the machine. "I've been trying to get that chocolate bar for ten minutes now."

David chuckled. "Is Professor Hart awake?"

"He's up and ready for you." Dr. Xavier motioned to the elevator door. They got inside, and David jabbed the sixth floor button.

Minutes later, the doors swept open again, into a clean corridor with flowered wallpaper. The doctor swung a door labeled 605 open, and led David to the bed which Professor Hart was lying on. The professor was hooked up to some monitors which displayed his condition.

Professor Hart was half sat-up and half lying down, but his eyes were open. His eyes seemed brighter when he caught sight of David. He coughed a little. "David...what happened after I went into surgery?"

David swallowed. He looked at Dr. Xavier, who reluctantly left the room. "They have a Rotom."

"That can't be good," Hart said in a hoarse voice. "But is Project Starfish okay?"

"We've made a bit of progress. Kylie got a little bit closer to the actual formula, but it broke down a bit too fast."

"Shame." Hart coughed again, violently. David went to the counter and got him a glass of water. The professor gulped it down, and set the glass onto his bedside table. "My lungs got infected. Good thing we taught Dr. Newman well."

David smiled. "What happened to you, Professor?"

"I was punched in the ribs by a Breloom, apparently. Did you ever find it?"

"I did, and I took care of it. Where's Professor Coolidge?"

"Sebastian...I haven't heard from him either. Was going to ask you the same thing. David, I need to tell you what happened that night. Lean in closer."

Confused, David bent down closer to Hart. "I think the room is bugged, David," said the professor. "Someone stole George Blunchuss' corpse. You have to find it."

Then, Hart laid back on his pillow, and closed his eyes. In moments, he was snoring softly.

It took David ten minutes to get to the morgue, running his hands over the rows of name tags of the corpses stored there. The bag that contained Blunchuss' corpse earlier was the last bag.

Slowly, David pulled the zipper down. He was instantly met with the smell of preservative chemicals. He staggered back, the charred, blown-open mass of flesh that was Blunchuss' head staring straight at him. That wasn't possible - the body had been stolen, last he checked. As the zip went down the rest of the way, David got his first, clear look at the body.

George Blunchuss was missing an arm, and half his left leg, as well as a large chunk of his torso. The Voltorb's explosion had done massive damage, burning the body beyond recognition. Not that they needed to test it. With David and Professor Coolidge as witnesses, there was no doubt it was Blunchuss.

However, something was off. David leaned in closer, and pressed his gloved hands to the chest of the corpse. He pulled the torn flesh apart, and saw a small, circular opening in the heart.

A cold pair of hands grabbed david from behind and spun him around. He gave a cry, only to see Ellen, a small bandage on her forehead where she had hit her head last night at the radio station.

"What are you doing here? Professor Harper will murder you if he sees this."

"Well, Professor Hart told me to check the body, so here I am?"

Ellen frowned. "What's your secret?"

David staggered back a little. "I've nothing to hide."

"Your reaction just told me otherwise. Now, what's going on between you, Hart and Coolidge? Some kind of secret project?"

"If it was a secret project…" David was treading carefully. He had been threatened with hurting Ellen on more than one occasion, and he wasn't about to let that happen. "...I wouldn't be allowed to tell you, correct?"

"Not even if I ask nicely?"

"God, you're stubborn. I'll tell you when the professors allow it. For now, I'm not allowed to or I'll be kicked out, and I'll never get a job."

Ellen smiled a devilish smile. David could tell his heart now had a hole in it, not unlike the one Blunchuss had. "Fine," she said, finally relenting. "But it better be soon!" She walked out of the morgue.

David let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, and looked back at Blunchuss' corpse. It was as ugly as ever, with all its burnt parts and torn-open organs, but something…

It hit him.

David picked up a pair of tweezers and a small penlight from inside his coat, and went to examine the hole in Blunchuss' heart. He put the tweezers in and widened the hole, shining the light inside it.

Embedded in the wall of the heart was a tiny shard of rock.

Professor Hart was still asleep, so David had to wait outside. As each minute passed, the chair he was sitting on grew more and more uncomfortable. Or maybe, thought David, I need to see a psychologist. He laughed the idea off. No, it wasn't that bad, wasn't it? He didn't need to see Professor Frobisher.

"Talking to oneself is a sign of insanity, you know?" asked someone David couldn't see. He turned around, and nearly jumped out of his seat. A boy with dark brown hair was sitting next to him, wearing a lab coat. "You should go and get yourself checked."

"I know that," he replied, "I'm a medical student, too. Why have I never seen you around? Who are you?"

"No, the question is, who are you, waiting outside this room? You've been sitting here for almost an hour."

He held out a hand. "I'm David Estok, second year. Professor Hart of Archeology's been injured. I'm waiting for him to wake up. You?"

The boy looked strangely at the hand, and brought his own up - covered in a surgical glove - and shook it slowly. "I'm Tommy. Tommy Winslow. I study neuroscience under Dr. Faraday."

David nodded, impressed. Dr. Faraday's group had never been an easy one to get into, let alone stay in for a year. He had heard rumors that there were extremely brutal exams, and for a good reason: a misdiagnosis had a sky-high chance of resulting in the patient's death, and Dr. Faraday was a very serious man.

"So what's wrong with Professor Hart? The nurses won't tell me who was in there, and neither will Professor Harper."

"We was attacked by a wild pokemon," David half-lied. "It cracked some of his ribs, and punctured his lung. I heard there was some infection, but he's okay now."

"Glad to hear that-" There was a sharp ringing sound, and Tommy pulled his phone out. "Ah, crap, I got a lecture in five. See you around."

David got up too, but to use the bathroom. He navigated down the corridor and took a right at the end, and was about to push the men's room door open when it was pulled away from him. He stumbled straight into Adam, who was grinning. "Hello, boss."

"Adam," drawled David, a bead of sweat trickling down from his forehead. "How are your studies?"

"Medicine is hard," he admitted, casting a look towards the floor. "But I don't think I'm going to die. I've got a lecture on causes of injuries with Professor Eldridge in half an hour, so if you don't mind…"

"Of course." David stepped aside and allowed him to go his way. "Hey, by the way, I've got someone who wants to meet you. You got a lecture this afternoon?"

"Nah, I'm free from noon till three. Who's it?"

"That's part of the surprise."

Adam shrugged. "Just don't keep me waiting, boss. I've got places to go to, things to do, people to hit on."

David laughed. "I see. Two thirty, we meet in the lobby."

"Make it quick, Harley."

The Starfish member opened a plastic bag full of metal pieces and poured them onto the tabletop. "I've figured out how it works, but I'm sure you don't want to know that. Something else I found, however, was this." He reached over and picked up a little circuit board with a small dial on it. "It's been tuned to a certain frequency."

"Did you find the origin?" David picked up a cube-like piece. "I'm itching to know who's behind all this."

"Actually," Harley said, smiling. "We did go onto the roof with the triangulator. Or roofs, should I say. Had Kylie on the Archeology building and Ernie climbing Jared's radio tower. Guess what we found?"

"Well, you tell me."

The boy's eyes lit up, and he pointed to a campus map on the wall. Three sensors pointed in three different directions, and they cross here." With the last word, Harley jabbed a map pin into a spot on the south side of the campus, near the entrance. "I was right; it's nowhere near you or the Breloom last night."

David looked at the legend of the map. "Management and Administration faculty. Intresting. What time is it?"

"10.02."

"Thank you, Harley." David walked across the hub, past a few other students who were experimenting with the Regenerator drug. He stopped at a lab table where large pieces of wood lay scattered on the surface. Liala Ritt stood beside the pieces, holding one under a spectrometer. "Hi."

David skimmed his fingers over the pieces of the wheel-cross Jared had been tied to the night before. "Found anything interesting?"

"It's pine," reported Liala, picking up the shard she was examining. "The same kind of wood used to make Christian crosses and Arceus wheel-crosses. My father was a devout Arceus worshipper," she added.

"So it's an authentic wheel-cross?"

"I wouldn't say that." Liala picked up another, much smaller piece that had previously been stuck to the side of the wheel-cross, creating spikes. "This piece, and the other five like it, are made from balsa wood. Arceus wheel-crosses are made from only one type of wood."

David took the piece from her and examined the lightweight piece of timber. "Are you suggesting that someone is trying to frame the Church of Arceus?"

"Likely. Hey, on a different note, Professor Coolidge being gone is...um...demoralising the team." She leaned in to whisper. "I don't think they like taking orders from a second-year student."

"In my defense, nobody took control, so I decided to. What about you? Do you like taking orders from me?"

Liala put her hands on her hips. "Professor Coolidge trusted you enough to bring you in, so why not? And I don't see any problem with listening to someone who knows what he's doing." She gave him a warm smile. "Besides, you're doing a great job right now. We're very close to getting the actual drug. It might take a few more months, but who can say? It's a very complex thing we're doing."

"Any way I can try to earn the respect of the good people?" He already had ideas, but he didn't know everyone as well as Harley, Kylie or Liala. "That does not involve throwing a frat party for the members of Project Starfish?"

"You have to show them that you're in control," said Liala. She grabbed his hand.

David drew it back on impulse. What was that? Was Liala trying to...no, she was just trying to give him support. She's just a friend, David told himself. "I'm sorry, but I think I have a lunch appointment." He turned to leave.

"With Ellen?" she called after him.

David just smiled and opened the hub door.

"You gonna order?" asked Ellen, glaring at David across the table.

"I can't decide," he protested, hiding his face behind the menu. "Don't know if I should go for throat or heart sweetbread."

"Ew, you like sweetbreads?"

"They taste good!" He put his finger on one item. "I'll have roasted heart sweetbread with risotto," he told the waiter, and handed the menu back.

Ellen crossed her arms and pouted. "Why would you hide anything from me? I've known you longest of all your friends. That is, if you have any."

"I count Eli, Adam, Craig, Harley, Liala and Kylie as my friends."

"Notice how half the boys are gay?" she teased.

David shook his head. "What are you even trying to suggest? That I'm gay? If I were, would I be here?"

"I wouldn't mind it if you were bisexual." Ellen spotted something behind David. "And that guy is definitely not gay."

David raised a questioning eyebrow, and turned around. Sitting a few tables from them was someone he could only describe as "jock". The guy must have been some kind of bodybuilder, because the chair looked tiny compared to him. "Don't jump to conclusions yet."

"What's your secret?"

"I can't tell you, or it won't be a secret, wouldn't it?"

Ellen stood up, and took large steps towards the jock's table. He set herself down opposite him. For the first time, David realised with dread, he saw that the jock was wearing an East Hoenn University blazer.

Adjusting his chair, he could just hear their conversation.

"Hey there," said Ellen.

"The seat's taken," he replied.

"How long have you been waiting here? From the looks of it, she's probably never going to arrive. I'm Ellen." David observed as her hands moved to cover his. Ah, damn, that's a smooth move.

"Yeah, I've been waiting an hour now…"

"I can buy you lunch if you want." At that, David scrunched up the napkin in front of him, his nails digging into the material.

"Nah, I've got my own money. There's-"

A tall girl was standing behind Ellen, a gruesome frown on her face. David turned away quickly, sighing.

The tall girl must have screamed, because a bunch of waiters ran past David, and then the ringing in his ears stopped. He looked back at Ellen, who was smiling sheepishly at him. He stood up, and walked over to the jock's table. "Let's go."

The guy looked at him, confused. Ellen tapped his arm. "That's David. He's my...boyfriend."

David smiled. "Nice to meet you...erm…"

"Marcus. I'm doing Sports Science at the university. You?"

"Medicine."

Marcus cast a wary glance at Ellen. "This is awkward," he said meekly.

She got up, and slowly pushed the chair back in place. "I'm-I'm sorry about your date, Marcus.

"She's a bitch anyway." Marcus kicked up his feet onto the table, attracting the looks of the other customers. "David, got someone else I can hook up with?"

He grabbed Ellen and pulled her back to my table. "What the heck were you thinking? Trying to make me jealous?"

"That worked." Ellen reached into her purse and rummaged around. "So what you gonna do about it?"

"I-" David stopped to think of what he could say. "I'm trying to solve Professor Hart's attack." He swallowed, having nearly said murder. Professor Hart wasn't dead yet, goddamnit.

"Alone? Why not have me help?"

"Because I think whoever tried to get him out of the picture would target you!" He brought his hands up and grabbed Ellen by the shoulders. "Look, the things I've found so far strongly suggest that these people will use violence to get what they want. I don't need you to to get hurt."

"Professor Hart isn't even your teacher, David. Why are you so interested?"

Shit. He needed to think of something quickly. Anything that would clear his name…"Because he knows where Professor Coolidge is. I haven't seen him around in days. Plus, Professor Hart broke me out of jail once."

Ellen put up her hands. "Look, I don't believe all of that, but one day - which could be as soon as tomorrow - I'm going to beat the truth out of you. Get it?"

David nodded, exhaling loudly. "Should we finish lunch?"

She narrowed her eyes and pinched his cheek playfully. "Let me try sweetbreads. I've never actually had it."

David dropped two large, brown paper bags on the table in the hub. "I brought onion rings and fries!" She opened them, allowing the fresh smell of the deep-fried foods to waft out into the lab. A few of the students looked up, and smiled at the sight of the bags.

The first to come running was Harley. "You checked out the transmitter?"

"No, I've had a lecture and two appointments. I'll do it this afternoon, after I'm free."

Harley removed a large onion ring from inside one of the bags and bit into it. "I tourt you were more eager than dish," he said, mouthful of onion and flour.

"I felt that I was...going too fast. Things were becoming rushed, so I slowed them down. I've also got something else for you." David removed from inside his pocket a small test tube containing a small piece of rock. "I got this from George's corpse in the morgue. I want to know where it's from, and why it was there."

Harley nodded, clearly not fond of taking orders, but determined to help Coolidge's project bin any way possible. "I'll be here chill sish dish evening."

David snickered. "Maybe you should talk after you swallow."

"Arl keep that in mind, bosh."

"Don't cheat, Adam," said David, as he led his fellow medical student through the corridors of the hospital, and into the students' self-proclaimed break room. He hand a hand over Adam's eyes, and with his other hand led him around the coffee table, and into an armchair. He took the hand away, and Adam raised his eyebrow in question.

"Hello, Adam," said Craig, sitting opposite him. "David thought I should meet you. Pretty sure he said the same thing about me."

Adam gave David a searing look. "So you kidnapped two people and put them in the same room to talk to each other and possibly conspire against you?"

"Actually," he said, "I haven't thought of that last part, but the first part is untrue. I'm doing this so you stop hitting on me."

"Hitting on-" Craig paused in mid sentence, a smile forming in the corner of his mouth. He stuck a hand out at Adam. "Nice to meet you, Adam."

"Get to know each other," said David, shutting the break room door behind him and taking out his phone. A text message came up.

Got a lead. Call me quick, it read. The message was from Harley, approximately ten minutes ago. Why hadn't he felt the phone vibrate? Oh, yes, Adam's hardcore metal album blaring at full volume.

He tapped Harley's number and waited. The other student picked up after three rings. "Does 'quick' mean twelve minutes to you?"

"What's up? What have you got?"

"The rock," said Harley, "is partly organic. So I ran a DNA test."

"A pokemon DNA te-"

"I know you're going to say it's pretty inaccurate, but I can confirm that this rock came from a member of the Geodude family. More specifically, a Graveler. And you know who has a Graveler?"

"Just tell me."

"Anna Ritt."

He paused for a second. "Get Liala on the phone."

There was a short pause. "Hello?" sung the voice of Liala Ritt. "...is this about Anna?"

"Liala, when the police gave you Anna's stuff, did you find anything that might tell you what she was planning?"

"David, all I got from the police were her notes on philosophy and last year's alumni book."

He rubbed his forehead. "Look in the book, see if there's anything."

"I have, David. There's nothing! Calm yourself down. All she did was cross out all the students she was glad to see leave last year."

David's grip on the mobile loosened, and the phone fell to the floor, its cracked screen facing up. Liala said something, but it was too far away to hear. David let himself sink down until he was sitting against the wall, then picked it up. "I'm sorry - you-you're right, I need to calm down. What about her notes? Anything interesting?"

"There were a lot of notes on Darkrai and how it's related to the full moon or something, but that's all there is. I'm sorry, but if you think my step-sister is planning anything, it's not anytime soon."

David blew out his cheeks and pocketed the phone. Liala was right - all the work was making him paranoid. He stood up and brushed himself off, and re-entered the break room.

Adam was laughing his head off at a joke Craig told. He moment he saw David, he choked on his own saliva and went down coughing.

Craig seemed unconcerned about his newfound friend, instead furrowing his brow. "You okay, David? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"It's just, the work's getting to me. I may have been reading Gary Oak's papers a little too hard. Man, I need a break."

Adam pulled himself up, and wiped the trail of saliva on his chin off with a tissue. "Maybe you should get something from the vending machine."

David allowed himself to fall into an armchair. "I'm out of change. Plus, I don't think a drink will do me any good. I'm diabetic, remember?"

"We didn't say which vending machine," said Craig, smiling sinisterly. His hand moved under the coffee table, and something clicked. The whole west wall of the room swung one-hundred-eighty degrees, and on the other side was a typical vending machine. Except this vending machine didn't sell any drinks other than a brown liquid in an unmarked plastic bottle.

"How come no-one ever told me about this?"

"Nobody trusts you, man. We're only doing this because, well, you helped us a little. What you see here is 90% pure Leafeon tea."

David's eyes widened. "That's...unregulated." 70% was barely legal.

"We do what we must," said Adam.

Craig threw a bottle at David. "It will wake you up more than anything else you have ever had."

David twisted the cap open, and took a big sip.

The world grew brighter, and then faded. Adam and Craig disappeared from his peripheral vision, and he felt his eyes closing. The smell of wet grass after a rainstorm filled his nostrils, reminding him of...George Blunchuss?

Images flashed through his mind of running across the park in the fog after the storm, following the student criminal's trail, to stop him from leaving the university campus. The images went on and on, until he came to Blunchuss blowing himself up.

David opened his eyes to see the two students grinning over him. "How was that? Serene, wasn't it?"

"Serene?" the words felt alien to him, and his throat was drier than usual. "All I had was clearer thoughts…"

"That only happens to people who think too much."

Like a reset of a generator after a blackout, an idea flooded his mind.

"Shit!" He ran out of the room.

"You think too much!" Craig called after him.

David slipped his way through the still-opening door to the hub, and grabbed Liala. "Let me see the alumni book!"

She awkwardly reached to the table and grabbed it, handing it to him. She looked at him as if he were crazy. "There's nothing in there."

"Nobody keeps a yearbook around over the holidays!" he exclaimed, quickly flicking through the pages. "I think this was where she made her plans. I need a black light!"

Harley tossed one at him.

He went through the pages again, but this time he swept the penlight over every centimetre. "Ha!" David jabbed a finger on a small photograph.

It was a blonde girl in her twenties, her face crossed out with red marker. "I don't see anything..." began Liala.

"Look closer!"

Liala squinted, and a look of surprise formed on her face. "Oh my god."

"What is it?" Harley interjected, leaning over them and eyeing the photo.

Right above David's finger was, in the background behind the girl, George Blunchuss. He had his face turned sideways, but it was recognisable enough. Finally, right under the black light, on Blunchuss' face, was a cross made in invisible ink.

"Holy mother of-"

"No time for that. George was meant to die from the start. He wasn't even a big part of the plan. So question is, who is?"

Liala flicked a few more pages, running the blacklight over the pages until-

"We're in trouble."

David glanced at the group photo, where Liala had the light over. One face was crossed out, at the edge of the photo.

It was Professor Hart. "Trouble indeed."

"Just tell me what you're planning," Ernie cut in, wielding his database tablet. "I can get you resources." He paused at an odd look from David. "What? The fries were nice."

David laughed. "I'm going to need someone with a fighting or steel type Pokemon. Anna's got a Graveler and a Galvantula."

Ernie tapped something into his tablet, and showed David a screen full of faces of students. "Take your pick."

He scrolled down the list, until... "Him! I've met him before. What's his Pokemon?"

Ernie tapped on the face to expand the student's datasheet and David whistled. "That is awfully convenient," he said.

The Admistration building - run by the wealthy, aristocratic Professor Ravensdale - stood tall against the dark sky, the grey concrete almost blending in with the gathering storm clouds.

The Sports Science student, Marcus, ducked behind a tree, followed closely by David. "What's the plan?"

"There's a fire escape on the east side. They'll have it covered, but with your Riolu, we probably get through."

"You still haven't told me who we're up against."

"That's classified, Marc." The athlete shook his head, and got out of cover, keeping low while advancing for the left side of the building.

"I'm hoping the Graveler is guarding the stairs or we're screwed."

David nodded. The Galvantula would probably electrocute them from the top.

Marcus pulled down the ladder slowly, as to not make any noise, and began the ascend.

David grabbed the fifth or so rung, feeling the cold metal in his hands, and hoisted himself up.

The athlete was already climbing towards the third flight of stairs as David himself got off the ladder. "You're fast."

"What did you expect? I play football." As if to prove his point, Marcus ran up a few more flights with impressive speed.

"You can show off after we get rid of the enemy." He caught up to the athlete.

"Do we have to play the name game? Who's up there, and why can't you tell me anything?"

A rattling of metal spared David from providing the answer to that question. Instead, it brought a new threat. The pair pressed themselves against the brick wall, barely managing to hide themselves from the Graveler that was looking down.

After a while, it was gone, and David released his held breath. He put a hand on the railing, looking up. "That was way too close."

Marcus snickered and muttered something, but David didn't care. He continued up the stairs until he was on the level below the Graveler's, and gave Marcus a hand signal.

The Riolu was released silently, and crept up to stand beside David. Marcus trailed behind, and then pointed at the Graveler, whispering words incomprehensible to David.

Before he knew it, Riolu had kicked Anna's Pokemon off the roof of the building; there was a distant thud as it hit the ground.

"Bravo!" exclaimed a voice from the rooftop. David and Marcus approached slowly and saw a strange sight.

A large claw-like machine laid on the rooftop, facing upwards, and connected to the lightning rod behind it. In between the claws was a Rotom, flapping it's ghostly wings and occasionally discharging a burst of static into the device.

Beside the machine stood the masked student, and Anna Ritt, who looked crestfallen. David spotted a metal bracelet on her left arm.

"You took out the Graveler really well, eh?"

David released Furret, who growled at the masked student.

"Electroweb," said the masked boy, and Anna's Galvantula clambered onto the roof from its hiding place on the side. It reared up and a glowing mass of electricity came at them.

Riolu rolled aside just as the crackling web knocked Furret, David and Marcus down on the rooftop. The web hardened and turned white.

"You using other people's pokemon now, huh?" David called, hoping to distract him from Riolu.

"They know what I'll do if they don't let me." The masked boy said, turning to a console on the device.

Anna Ritt bit her bottom lip and looked at them with tears in her eyes.

David mouthed, help me.

Her hand went straight for the metal bracelet, and she shyly shook her head.

Marcus was crouched over, giving hand gestures to his Riolu, who with every step, got closer to the device from behind an air-conditioning unit.

The Galvantula patrolled around them, stopping only to fiddle its mandibles, the equivalent of smelling on mammalian pokemon.

"Now!" shouted Marcus, and Riolu shot out from behind cover in a flying kick.

A perfectly aimed thread of electrified web knocked Riolu off the building.

"No!" Marcus grabbed the webbing over him and David and tried to pull it apart, to no avail. The Galvantula moved closer, chittering as it checked the material for damage.

That was when David made his move. He stroked Furret down the back once, and his Pokemon became wreathed in flames. Furret burned through the organic net quickly, and charged the large spider.

Galvantula was thrown against another air-con unit, and it laid unmoving.

Electricity forced both Furret and David back to the ground. "Good one, David. I didn't think you'd do that. But then again, who ever thinks of everything?" He turned back, and Rotom continued electrocuting them.

In the midst of his flashing vision, David got a glimpse of the little LCD display. The hospital was displayed from a camera attached to the side of the device. If he was right, and he most likely was, that the claw machine was a large transformer, a discharge by Rotom would induce a magnetic field in every piece of metal in the place, which in turn would overload both the main and auxiliary generators.

How many would die? Professor Hart was not the only patient dependant on life support.

An idea flickered through his mind when it wasn't screaming in pain at the arbitrary blasts from Rotom. There was no medium for the electricity to get from here to the hospital. The air wasn't ionised enough...at least not yet. The masked student was waiting for a storm. Everything would merely look like one fatal lightning strike if he succeeded.

The smell of burning stopped, and David wiped tears of pain from his eyes, to see the masked boy lying on the ground and clutching his head. Anna Ritt held a small metal rod in her hand, about to strike for a second time.

Rotom blasted her backwards to the edge of the building with a ball of dark substance.

The masked boy got up, walked over to her and put a foot on her. "You shouldn't have done that." Calmly, he pushed her off the edge. "You're in luck, David, you know that? I'm not going to kill you anymore. But you're going to kill the good Professor for me-"

Metal shrieked. One of the claws on the device bent at an awkward angle, and lightning bolts from the Rotom flew everywhere.

One struck the masked student, knocking him out. Another hit the Galvantula, which hadn't stirred.

It was after the first piece of the machine severed the webbing between David and Marcus did he come to his senses.

Riolu - who had damaged the machine - ran after them, half-carried by Furret.

Marcus, with all his strength, grabbed David and the pokemon, and leapt down the fire escape.

Even more screeching ensued as the contraption tore itself apart, a few shards raining onto them.

When the sounds stopped, David took a peek at the scene.

Other than the grotesquely mangled device, there was not a single soul on the roof.

Following a lengthy interrogation by Officer Hendricks, David was allowed to return to his dorm room.

As he opened the door he was overcome by the smell of dirt and rain. Had he left the window open? He couldn't recall.

A thought hit him: someone had been in his room.

Slowly, David inched the door open, threatening to release Furret at whoever was waiting inside.

He was met with a gruesome sight. The couch was torn open, the window smashed; but the cause of the smell came from the floor.

The Breloom corpse on the floor.

Movement made David's arm jerk back, ready to throw the pokeball.

A man was sat up on David's bed, bound to it by heavy ropes. He was bleeding from a gash in his forehead.

"Finally! I was wondering when you'd come back!" Professor Coolidge laughed.