Chapter 6: The Truth of it All

Several months had passed since Drex's encounter with Lenore. He was once again on his own and was moving on as always. It was always best to stay on the move, in case he had people following him. Now that he thought about it, he was wondering what Thane was doing now. Had he found any others like him? He would've asked Lenore to accompany him, but she left before he could get the chance.

All of a sudden, a charge of lightning shot at his feet, causing him to jump back and growl, looking for his attacker. "It's a good thing you moved quick or else you'd be fried."

Drex looked around to see where the voice was coming from and up in one of the trees was a Manectric. "What, you just attack anyone who happens to step inside your boundaries?" Drex shot back.

The Manectric smiled and jumped down right in front of him. "Don't play dumb," he then said. "I'm aware of what you truly are, Drex."

Drex's eyes widened. "How do you know who I am?"

The Manectric shook his head in amusement. "You can come out now." All of a sudden, a portal appeared and out came a familiar-looking Ninetales.

"What?" Drex said. "What are you doing here?"

"She's been following you all this time," the Manectric said. "While also telling me about you as well."

Drex had a bad feeling of what could happen and he braced himself. "What, are you two trying to gang up on me or something?"

Lenore laughed. "Gang up on you? Why would we do that? If we truly wanted to take you out, I could've easily done that before. Sorry, this is Ven by the way. We both first met back at Skylone about a year ago. We had never met you at the time, but we saw what you did when the breakout happened. Needless to say, we both owe you a lot."

"Well, it wasn't just me," Drex replied. "I had a friend who helped as well."

"And where is he?" Ven asked.

Drex looked up into the sky. "Somewhere out there, looking for others like us."

"Heh, I wish him luck with that," Ven said. "While many of us got out, just as many didn't make it far. He'd be lucky to find even dozens by then."

"So now what?" Drex asked. "I suppose there's a reason as to why this was all set up."

"Well, now you got Ven and I with you," Lenore said. "After all, three's a company."

"I don't know Lenore," Ven said, looking him down. "How do we know he's worth having around."

"I could ask the same for you," Drex asked.

Ven chuckled. "You know, I take that back, I'm starting to like him already. But still, can you handle yourself in a fight if the time comes?"

"Are you challenging me?" Drex asked.

"Perhaps," Ven said. "Besides, I'm sure you need to let off some steam anyway, right?"

"Fine," Drex said, getting into a stance. "You're on." And soon the two started dukeing it out.

Lenore sighed. "Boys will be boys," she muttered.

(A/N: By the way, in case I forgot to mention, Lenore is played by Gillian Anderson and Ven is played by Vincent Corazza.)

Drex looked at him with an amused smile. "Didn't take you long to decide," he said.

"Perhaps my curiosity got the best of me," Pikachu replied. "Now explain, or else I'm leaving."

"You always were the impatient type," Drex said, chuckling. "I guess it's best to start off saying that your story begins with my story. I wasn't always like this, I was your typical trainer, but this was back in 1934, they didn't even have Pokeballs by then."

"Wait a minute," Pikachu said. "1934? There's no way you were alive at that time."

"Oh, I surely was," Drex said, somehow amused by Pikachu's response. "In fact I was around when the war began and such. Wasn't pretty at all."

"No," Pikachu said. "You have to be at least in your early thirties." Drex merely shook his head. "Forties?" Once again he shook his head. "You can't be fifty or older."

"Seventy-three," Drex said.

Pikachu looked at him in shock. "How in the world can you be that old?"

"One of the advantages I have is that I can live up to an additional fifty years," Drex said. "That, along with decreased aging, makes me look the way I am now." He looked up towards the stars. "In 1934 I… was in a serious accident. I was caught in a huge wreck that almost nearly killed me. Of course, my injuries were fatal and even though I went to the hospital, I didn't have long to live. Then of course, that was when Skylone came around. Major pharmaceutical company back in the day. Or at least, that's what people were told. As it turned out, Skylone was known for experimental projects involving humans and Pokemon. And me, I was just the latest project."

"What did they do?" Pikachu asked.

"Oh, they saved my life," Drex said. "But that was only luck. To them, I was expendable. They used all sorts of chemicals and samples of Pokemon DNA. It turns out Pokemon DNA works better and stronger than human DNA. Of course, it doesn't always work, transferring different DNA, but I survived and I recovered. My DNA was a poor Arcanine which had eventually been put down before I arrived there and what you've seen is all that remains of him."

"What the hell were they trying to achieve?" Pikachu asked.

"I suppose the head of the company became interested in seeing if making a Pokemon-human "hybrid" was possible and would indeed make humans stronger," Drex said, a drop of bitterness in his tone. "Two years I spent in that hell hole. My only salvation was meeting Thane, about a year or so after being imprisoned. He had been there longer than me, and he figured out the perfect plan to escape. All we had to do was wait. And when the time came, we made all of them regret what they had done. Much to my amusement, I later found out the breakout was leaked out and once the truth came out, Skylone was shut down permanently. Of course, we were still not safe. If everyone knew the truth, we'd be feared and hunted down, because we're not normal, at least not anymore."

"Then why are you trying to eliminate humans then?" Pikachu asked.

"Thane is the mastermind behind that," Drex replied. "I'm sure something happened to him that was personal. I wouldn't know, but knowing what humans can do, I can't blame his reasoning."

"But you know all humans aren't bad," Pikachu said.

"No," Drex said. "If it were me, I'd just hunt out the greedy and the corrupt, but that would change nothing. Anyone can change, even your friends. You may not believe me, but I promise you will experience it sometime in your life."

"So… what does this have to do with me?" Pikachu asked.

"Sorry, that will have to wait until next time," Drex said, smiling.

"Wait what?" Pikachu said. "You said-"

"Don't worry," Drex interrupted. "I'm still being good on my word. You'll find out more of the truth later on, I promise."

Pikachu sighed. "Damn you Drex…"

Drex just laughed. "If I were you, I'd keep your eyes opened. I know what Caix did and perhaps that was Thane's decision in the matter, so you never know what could happen next." And with that, he was gone, disappearing into nothing.

Pikachu shook his head in frustration. Whether or not Drex had planned it, this whole thing was going to drive Pikachu nuts. The worst part is is that he can't even remember that far back in his childhood. Sighing in defeat, Pikachu made his way back towards Ash's house.

As he was making his way back, his perked up, and he suddenly knew he was being watched, but by someone else this time. "I know you're there," Pikachu said. "Why don't you come on out and show yourself."

It was quiet for a moment, but then a voice said, "Not bad, not bad." A portal suddenly appeared and a figure in a black robe came out. But unlike the others he had met, this figure was a bit shorter, almost his height. "I thought I hid myself quite well, but being who you are, I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

"Are you one of them too?" Pikachu asked. "You're a little shorter than most of them."

The figure laughed. "Technically speaking, I am not. In fact, I am only allied with one in particular."

"…So who are you anyway?" Pikachu asked. "And what do you want with me?"

"I have no name," the figure said. "However, I am known as No3. And the reason I am here is to… see how capable you are in battle."

"I think I'm more than capable," Pikachu said, getting into a stance.

(A/N: For this part, the song here I'm using is "The Mysterious Figure" from Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. Oh, and for No3's voice, I decided to use Haley Joel Osmont.)

*No3 laughed. "Do you really think so? Perhaps you should know that I was created in order to destroy Pokemon like yourself." Pikachu knew he was about to strike and moved before he did, but No3 merely disappeared, catching Pikachu off guard. "Too slow," he said, appearing behind him and using Charge Beam, hitting him straight in the back and causing Pikachu to slam face-first into the ground. Now there was no doubt that he was a Pokemon.

"How pitiful," No3 said, mocking him. "I thought you'd be more of a challenge than this…"

Pikachu retaliated by using Thunderbolt but No3 merely dodged each attack Pikachu threw at him. "Who is this guy?" Pikachu thought. But then he had an idea. Continuing his barrage of Thunderbolt attacks, Pikachu kept moving until No3 started tiring out and slowed down.

Using this to his advantage, Pikachu then used Iron Tail against him, catching him off guard and sending him back.

No3 got back to his feet and looked at his opponent. "Impressive Pikachu," he then said. "I guess you won't roll over so easily after all. This was fun, but I think before I go I'll leave you with a little reminder of just what you're dealing with." With his small arm, he conjured up what looked like Shadow Ball and sent it right at Pikachu.

Pikachu would've dodged but he was surprised by the move and was not quick enough, getting hit directly and knocked back onto the ground, groaning in pain. "Until then Pikachu," No3 said, creating another portal. "Farewell for now." And with that he disappeared.

Pikachu struggled to get up, the pain from the last attack throbbing in his body. He thought it was bad enough that he had six or more people like Sirius to deal with, and now he had another Pokemon to deal with, one that was at his level, maybe even higher. The situation was getting dire and Pikachu was running out of time to figure out the answers. Whether or not these hybrids could be trusted, there was only one thing they could do to find out.

(A/N: I apologize for the long wait everyone. I took a couple days off and I had decided, at the moment, to focus more on this story, knowing it was my main story, while the others are side projects. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter and I apologize again for the delay. Oh, and No3's name is supposed to have a superscripted "o" just so you know. )

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