The Pokecility
A side continuation of the alternate-reality retelling of the Pokemon world. Based on The Pokepurge, by James Griffith.
By Chris Cook
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THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN PROCLAIMED TOP SECRET. ANY INDIVIDUAL CAUGHT ACCESSING THESE FILES WITHOUT CLEARANCE FACES A MINIMUM OF TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF INCARCERATION AND A FINE EXCEEDING FIFTY THOUSAND POKEDOLLARS.
The following data has been retrieved from the laboratory of Professor Cypress.
16-11-2002
03:07, KST
Test Chamber H-8
Work Station #14
PROF. CYPRESS
A squat, bald man adorned in the traditional white lab coat and business attire of a PokeProfessor appears on-screen, fidgeting with the computer's mounted micro-camera. His pudgy hands appear slightly sweaty, and his thick-lensed and black-framed glasses reflect the dim lights of the dark room so well that his eyes are obscured. His broad, toothy grin is indication enough of his mood, however.
"Ho ho ho ho ho, I've got it all worked out now! Just wait til you all see! I'll make you see, that's what I'll do!
You think we can back off now? After we dropped our Virus Pokemon on them?!
Peace talks my ass! A distraction is what those are! 'Hey, let's get together and talk, lower our guards, get along like old times and then WHAM! Retaliation, right where the sun don't shine, just when you thought it was just about over.
But I'm not falling for it, even if the rest of you are. You'll thank me one day, oh, trust me on that! Your shining and glorious future today made possible by the wondrous Professor Cypress!"
Cypress pauses, seemingly out of breath for the moment. He runs a hand over his head, looks over his keyboard for a few seconds, then turns back towards the lens, grin returned.
"Well, why tell when you can show, right? Come on, let's give you ye grand olde tour of the facility, and of the creations that will soon save your hides, like it or not!"
He reaches once more for the micro-camera, removing it from the computer's monitor and apparently clipping it to the frame of his spectacles. He waddles out of the computer room and pushes through a set of double-doors, wandering deeper into the eerily silent facility and down it's sickly, yellowish-green lit corridors.
"The Virus Pokemon we created were a great first step, but they were too difficult to replicate and caused some serious system crashes across the region whenever we tried. The sad truth is, we used them up last month in our preemptive assault. So it's been up to me to create the next wave of viable weapons, something more simple to produce, yet still effective. And I think it's safe to say I've had my fair share of successes, with a little help from my colleagues."
The Professor stops before an observation window gazing into a stark, featureless cell. Even more dim then the other portions of the building, this room is occupied by nothing but a single organism...if it can still be called that.
"First things first, I made some adjustments to a fairly abundant weapon we already had in our possession! What better way to clear the path for our advancing forces than to use the one critter whose name practically screams for the job?
Admittedly, making the change for this fellow was a long and arduous task, but worth it in the end, and with a proper assembly line constructed, we could start pumping out these guys by the truckload!"
Cypress hits a switch, illuminating the darker room with harsh, fluorescent lighting.
"I give you BST-2.0: The Tortillery!"
Standing in the center of the room, the very pale Blastoise barely budges, as if determined to remain as motionless as possible. Metal straps and wires protrude from its shell, digging into the exposed flesh of its limbs. A metal visor covers its eyes, and its ears twitch very subtly every few moments. A large, metallic hull covers its back, and the creature's natural water cannons still protrude from above its shoulders, but they are dwarfed by the array of long-range cannons pointing skywards at the moment, eight in number.
"The beast has been more or less refitted into a machine, too dumb to know when to eat, but programmed to follow simple orders, which is all it needs to do. As a result, it's also much tougher than ever before. I'm willing to bet that one of these babies could even take a direct hit from another one.
A pricey critter to say the least, but set a few of em up in the right place and you could shell a small town into non-existence in the space of a lunch break! As an added bonus, I've kept the water cannons operational. You know, as free refreshment for the troops, and as 'civilian-friendly' proximity deterrents."
The lights go back out, and Cypress moves along to the next enclosure.
"Now, I know what you're thinking. 'We've effectively neutralized the enemy's defenses from afar, now we need to move in.' And you're right! But why sacrifice valuable trainers and soldiers when the mass-production option is sitting right there on the table?
These suckers are more than qualified to take out any threats that get in their way, ensuring the road is once again clear for the fighters to move on! And apparently, if you 'forget' to feed em long enough, they'll get angry enough to kill just about anything!"
He hits the light switch once more, and doesn't so much as flinch as the creature within slams against the thick glass instantaneously. Mottled gray, green and brown, the bipedal creature is slightly taller than the average man and coated in a thick, armor-like exoskeleton. It's wild black eyes stick to Cypress, unblinking as it stalks around its small dwelling at an unsettlingly quick pace. It's legs are oddly jointed, giving it an awkward and unnatural walk, and it's four asymmetrical arms constantly twitch. Each one ends in a long, scythe-like blade, and no two of them appear even close to identical. From it's back, two long, flat, broad spines protrude at offset angles.
"It turns out that Kabutops may indeed have been an ancestor of Scyther, which might explain why this worked at all. On the downside, they get sick pretty easily, and they can't really move as well through water or air as I'd like, but hey, they're still death machines, right? You should see 'em when they hunt together. I swear, they just want to kill, rather than doing it for the food.
Can't keep 'em together, though. They cooperate so long as there's ample prey to slaughter, but then they turn right on each other. On the bright side though, just means that at the end of the day, you only gotta wrangle up one of 'em!
With the Kabutops DNA in-storage and ready to go, all you need are some unfertilized Scyther eggs and a proper incubator and voila! A whole new batch of Scytherai!"
The creature prepares to pounce again as Cypress turns the lights back out and spins in place, facing the window on the other side of the hall, across from the Scytherai cage.
"As elite and all-around amazing as those guys are though, I can see why most wouldn't want to deal with them unless it was necessary, so I've got a back-up prepared, as any good scientist should."
He turns on the lights again to showcase the next batch. Covering the floor of the next room is an abundance of basketball-sized orbs. Each one is covered with sharp, scale-like spines protruding in all directions.
"Not as exciting or combative really, but perhaps even more effective in their own regards. First of all, they're small, so they're unnoticeable. Second, they're great for infiltration, being able to burrow straight into enemy territory."
One of the balls unfurls, revealing flat violet eyes on a mouse-like head, tipped with a glistening black nose. Coated in dark fur the color of wet soil with faint bands of gray, the animal plods on its long-clawed paws towards a nearby water dish and gently laps at the liquid within.
"Normally, a Sandslash may seem like a decent enough option if trained right, but where would we be today if we just worked with what we had instead of moving forward and creating new things? The influences may not show, but these fellows have been cross-bred with relatives of the Nidoran family, so even the slightest scratch against any of those spines means Good Night Pikachu...or whatever your victim of choice is.
Oh, and between you and me, all that rodent DNA wasn't really doing the trick, so I may have slipped a little Growlithe in there. You know, make 'em easier to train, plus, they sneeze fire now! How can that be anything but helpful?"
The creature lethargically curls back up into a ball on the spot as Cypress shuts off the light and continues his trek.
"Light weights, you think? Correct, my friends. Those are but the tip of the proverbial iceberg in my domain, the public creations that will win the war, as far as the headlines are convinced."
He reaches another tank and hits the switch. The very thick, dark, and viscous liquid on the other side diffuses the light, producing a dull purple haze of illumination.
"Truth be told, this thing isn't really a success yet. It messes up the water around it something fierce, but usually croaks within a few hours of birth. Usable as is, but I know it'll be much more efficient once we can produce something that can actually migrate about on its own, and possibly procreate.
But, failures aside, can you really doubt what I'm currently code-naming The Poison? I mean, how can you go wrong when you try to throw em all together in one vessel? Muk, Koffing, Tentacruel, even a little boost of Arbok and Venomoth poisons? Drop this in someone's drinking supply and watch as the farms for miles around turn into literal killing fields!"
The light goes back off and Cypress continues on his way. In the distance, shallow thuds can be heard.
"Oh, the wonders of Pokemon, I tell you. There are so many possibilities just sitting around, waiting for us to uncover. I've barely even scratched the surface, and already the world wants to pull the plug on me. But they'll learn soon enough, won't they? You can't stop progress, after all. It's bound to happen, one way or another."
The Professor passes into the brightest room seen yet, it's illumination constantly flickering. The light comes from the numerous Electric types restrained in cages and kennels throughout the chamber, all of them hooked up to jury-rigged generators and other equipment along the room's walls.
"We've already learned that Magnetons can be good for disrupting electrical systems within a seven-block radius if you crank up their voltage a healthy bit first, but they've got some other abilities which we're only beginning to understand.
For instance, we tried lining up as many as we could in a straight line and had Tortillery fire a single shell through the gaps in their bodies. The magnetic field maintaining all those shapes accelerated that sucker so much...well, we may not need to worry about keeping Ground-types around to dig tunnels for us much longer. You can trust me on that one."
Cypress slowly approaches a solid, dull crimson orb slightly larger than a car and hovering in the air amidst a cloud of orbiting Magnemites, their eyes blacked out.
"And no one will mess with us once the Megalectrode's finished. We could run Kanto off this guy for a few years if he was stable enough for us to hook him up to the grid. Set this fellow off in enemy lands and they'll wish we actually had more Virus Pokemon. Say goodbye to your city of choice, my friends.
Only catch is, we haven't figured out a way to safely transport him. We've got these Magnemites keeping him safe for now, but we won't dare move him an inch til we're sure we can."
Cypress passes through another set of double doors, descending into a much darker area of the building and leaving the crackling light and energy of the room behind him as the doors swing shut.
"As I've said, I've created much, but I'm sure you're plenty convinced by now that I know what I'm doing. Nevertheless, I've got one more thing I want to share with you before I go. My pride and glory, and perhaps one of the most significant discoveries I've ever made."
He passes through another set of doors, then approaches another doorway, this one sealed tight. The Professor slides an ID card through a scanner beside the door, then applies his palm to a flat, translucent surface beside it for a moment. A small light between the devices flickers green and Cypress steps through the doors as they hiss open, entering into a pitch black chamber. In the distance, the muffled sounds of repeated impacts continues to reach the camera.
"For generations, mankind has been astounded by the power of the Stones. The Fire Stone, Thunder Stone, Water Stone, et cetera... Mystically colored gems with seemingly magical powers attuned to the very elements of the world around us. Of course, now we know that they're simply radioactive materials producing different energy signatures, but they're still a wonder to us even today.
And they are perhaps most likely so due to their ability to affect certain Pokemon drastically. A multitude of species can only exist thanks to absorbing radiation from these naturally occurring resources, mutating from lower forms of being into new creatures as a result.
But I have synthesized a new material of this sort. By analyzing the numerous Stone types known to us and working out the radioactive frequencies and chemical compositions of each, I was able to produce a new Stone that was much more potent and quite radioactive. We've made sure to store the substance far from humans as it appears to have some pretty drastic and lethal side-effects if kept close by for too long.
We couldn't very well stop there though, could we? So, I, forging ahead on my own, have conducted a very small number of experiments with what I am calling the X-Stone for now."
With the click of a button press, a pair of heavy shutters peel away in the dark, allowing a ghostly green glow to drift into view, it's source hidden beneath the edge of the window's frame.
"And what better test subject to work with than that species oh-so-sensitive to Stone radiation?"
Slinking into view from below, the small canine silently strides up a small ramp to the higher level of its enclosure, pale green glow following around it like a personal fog bank. Its glowing yellow eyes are glued to Cypress the entire time as it reaches the ramp's peak and has a seat on the other side of the glass, staring straight back at the Professor. Its ears are large, pointed, and ragged, and its snout long, narrowing at the tip. Its limbs are very thin and exceptionally long, as is its still, rat-like tail. The creature appears to be uniformly green in coloration, despite the fact that approximately half of its fur coat appears to have fallen off, the hair no different in shade from its exposed flesh.
"We have no idea what this creature's capabilities are, but every time I come down here to observe it, it just stares back at me like this. I don't necessarily believe it to have human-level intelligence, but I do believe it has the power to neutralize virtually any threat it perceives, and I believe it knows that. In fact, I think the only reason it hasn't successfully escaped yet is simply because it doesn't know to. This chamber is all it's ever been exposed to. As far as it's concerned, there is no outside world.
But, uncertain as I am of this creature's abilities, I can promise you whatever they are, they'll be a game changer in any conflict where they are brought to bear. And so, with that being said, I am proud to introduce you to my most prized creation: Raydeon!"
The creature just continues to stare back at the Professor for a few silent moments. Only the distant pounding in the distance suggests that the image hasn't frozen in place. Finally, the click of a button can again be heard, the large shutters sliding back into place as Cypress finally leaves the room. Heading back out into the lit portion of the lab, he begins following the subdued sounds to their source, muttering incoherently as he picks up the pace. Fumbling with his keys, he unlocks and steps through a rather inconspicuous door and shuts it behind him, the thumping much louder in this room. Turning to face the windowed enclosure in this room, Cypress begins to address the being on the other side.
"You know, it's really difficult to give a good, informative tour with you making all this racket, Bill. The people need to know what it is we're doing here, and they can't learn if they can't hear me over you."
"What we've done?! You mean what you've done, you lunatic! I thought the Virus Pokemon were bad enough, but these continued experiments are beyond atrocious! I doubt a more despicable act has ever been committed!"
"Oh, Billy boy, I thought you smarter than that. Progress will come to be whether we like it or not. I'm just making sure it's being made the right way for the right people!"
"How can you justify doing this, or even manage it?! I can't believe anyone would continue to support you even now."
"Support? Support?! You call their treatment of me and my work support?! Initiating peace talks, banning all experimentation, putting all their proposed precautionary actions on hold; I've got no one to thank for my success other than myself!"
"Wait, they've pulled the plug on you? Thank the PokeGods! Perhaps now you'll finally be brought to a stop! You'll rot in a prison for the rest of your days after your created atrocities!"
"Oh Bill, I used to think so much higher of you. Your enthusiasm, and brilliance, and extensive knowledge on Pokemon were so invaluable to my work. But, you had to squeal on me. Had to have the spotlight. Had to do things your way!
And now, your work will have to come to an end. Taken away in the prime of your life, after accomplishing so much, the Great Bill's reign cut short tragically. Maybe the good truly do die young."
"I would gladly forfeit my life to see your body of work destroyed for good. You're a monster the likes of which has never walked this world before and hopefully never shall again! I will admittedly miss exploring the world of Pokemon and making new discoveries, but at least now, there may be a world for others to take my place within instead."
"If nothing else, you've retained your spirit, but at the expense of your intelligence, my former friend. But, worry not. I still hold some respect for you, and I will grant you one last gift before you go. Surely, you will appreciate this."
Depressing a button with his thumb, Cypress watches as Bill, on the other side of the glass, turns to face the opening that has been revealed on the far end of the chamber.
"I know how big a fan you are of the Eevee family, so to construct you an appropriate farewell present, I brought you a new member that no one else has ever seen before. But, make sure you make the most of it, since I doubt she'll last long, and she is hungry after all."
Bill backs against the room's wall, as far from the doorway as he can get as a wolf-sized creature enters the room. A random patchwork of colors and fur types, the mismatched animal approaches Bill slowly, snarling. Sporting a malformed and lopsided second head and seven differently colored and shaped tails, the chimeran creature painfully slinks towards its prey, with a ravenous stare.
"I call it a Prismeon! Get it, Bill?! Quick, take notes before she makes a meal of ya! Hahahahaha!"
Suddenly, an explosion rocks the room, and even the Prismeon pauses to regard its surroundings. Cypress glances around swiftly and bolts from the room, leaving Bill and the animal to their fates. He hurries down the corridors towards the growing noise and rounds a corner to see soldiers and Pokemon alike moving throughout the halls at a brisk pace themselves. As some of them open fire in his direction, he quickly darts back the way he came, clipping the corner of the wall and knocking his glasses to the floor, where they lie upside-down, many booted feet rushing past. The sounds of shouting soldiers and distant gunfire, along with the occasional cry of a Pokemon or a muffled blast fill the air for a few more moments, until a soldier retrieves the glasses from the floor and removes the micro-camera, stopping the feed.
Professor Cypress' laboratory was seized and secured at approximately 04:00 KST by the remaining forces of Koga's Killers. Unfortunately, Cypress was able to unleash a large number of his experiments, including the subject classified as XS-R1 during his retaliatory offensive and subsequent escape, causing new problems for the Kanto Region's governing leaders. On a positive note, the respected and admired Bill was finally uncovered and rescued during the operation after going missing just over a week before. Regrettably, the chaotic scenario saw the young scientist caught in the crossfire. Suffering severe injuries, Bill has been confined to a wheelchair, perhaps for the rest of his days, and may never regain the vision in his right eye.
Professor Cypress remains at large, and it is unknown how many of his experiments he was able to take with him in his retreat. Those experiments that were successfully obtained have been humanely destroyed or moved to new, secure locations throughout the region as deemed appropriate or necessary.
DOCUMENT COMPLETE
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