Orre's Return
By Hollis Pierman
WARNING: This story contains acts of severe violence, abuse/neglect, and frequent use of coarse language. Viewer discretion advised. DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokemon in any way; Nintendo and GAME FREAK own it.
Chapter 9: Crimes Against a Pokemon's Heart
At the Cipher Key Lair, restoration was finished within five hours, stretching on into the wee hours of the morning. Gonzap reported the work as done and reported to his office at the very top of the chrome-silver rhombus. The room was pretty big, with about six stone columns on either side of the room, supposedly supporting the room. The walls were a crimson red with a giant screen behind the desk chair. On the floor was a red shag carpet stretching some five meters, from the door all the way to a silver-colored desk. On this desk were important papers, one of which was the most important project Cipher had taken on yet: the prototype XD000, codenamed "Xtreme Darkness"; a shadow pokemon theorized to be totally unpurifiable by any means. Initial testing was unsuccessful, until researchers figured out that the door to a pokemon's heart can be closed further than normal, through intensive physical and mental training. They managed to capture one of the most powerful pokemon in the world; a species known as "Mewtwo", said to be a clone of the pokemon "Mew". It is said to reside within a cavern that opens only to the strongest of trainers in another region. At least, it was, until the cave was raided by Cipher's strongest peons. After capturing Mewtwo, the peons didn't want to risk destroying the lab in case this theory actually was true. So they were ordered to have it transferred to the one place where shadow pokemon research and production was safe and mostly contained; the Shadow Pokemon Lab, just north-northeast of the Realgam Tower. So the Mewtwo was transferred to the shadow pokemon lab for de-purification and, ultimately, becoming the prototype for the ultimate shadow pokemon.
Ein, the head researcher and project leader on the XD program was hard at work to study the effects of an unpurifiable pokemon as it happened and after it happened. Nothing was really different when the door of the heart of the pokemon was closed normally; but they kept pushing the mewtwo beyond the limits of shadow-dom. He kept pushing and pushing and pushing, until it happened. The mewtwo's power was suddenly reading off the charts as its skin colors changed to a purple body and a silver tail, while its scleras changed to a black and irises changed to a crimson red. The mewtwo then suddenly folded its entire body in and charged up a huge attack; when it launched, it wiped out the entire lab and almost every single peon and admin, leaving only a few people alive, but only barely. Ein was rather hurt, but would make it out alive. The bad news was reported to the head honcho of Cipher, and he ordered his wingmen to search for the missing prototype and re-capture it at all costs. Unbeknownst to Wes, this would soon be a race to not only capture the prototype, but to save the world from ultimate destruction.
The next morning, Wes was on his way back to Agate Village to purify some shadow pokemon he had in his party for a while, including the shadow lucario, and a new pokemon he had never seen before; a species called "Galvantula". It was a big, yellow, and scary-looking spider pokemon that could use electrically-charged webs, not only to subdue prey before eating it alive, but also to defend itself from threats. Wes could only imagine what it would do with a human. And partly one reason galvantula are scary is because they are quite powerful when used correctly. There have been stories where galvantula have defeated entire teams all by themselves, usually in quantities of only one. To Wes, this was the perfect opportunity to bring a fresh new member to the team. Wes arrived in Agate Village and proceeded down the usual path to get to the Relic Stone. Through the passage under and behind the tree, and out into the Relic Forest and the Relic Stone, a pillar of rock infused with the purification powers of Celebi. One only needed to bring a pokemon on the brink of opening their hearts to undo the final lock of the door, so to speak, and the pokemon would return to its normal self. Wes had done this so many times, and he was prepared to do it over and over again. But as he started to purify his galvantula, strange visions overtook his mind, visions of death and destruction... on the scale of the entire planet. At the center of it was a strange purple pokemon that didn't look normal. It looked more evil than any pokemon he had ever seen. It only looked towards him, eyes glowing a deep crimson-red, and he then quickly saw himself impaled on a pike, going through his chest and out of his left eye socket. That would be enough to scare the purity out of anyone.
The visions ended as quickly as they had started, and Wes took a few moments to collect himself and to reflect on what he just saw. Then he heard a shutter, and a rustle, and wings fluttering. And what flew down from out of the forest clearing was something he thought he'd never see again. Celebi. Celebi had returned to visit Wes in his time, but this time with a gesture of cooperation.
"Yes, I remember you, human," The Celebi had started to speak to him telepathically. "You are the one who helped the lives of many pokemon; you have endured hardship after hardship, and sacrificed so much for what some people think are nothing, playthings. And when you called upon me to heal the last shadow pokemon they made, I couldn't help but share in your pride and joy. So I believe I must extend a gesture of cooperation with you, human. Wes; that's what I believe the whole region calls you, yes? I believe that with your battling prowess and my powers of purification, we can end the criminal syndicate plotting world domination once and for all. Will you allow me to join you?"
To Wes, this seemed like nothing more than a dream. One of the rarest pokemon ever encountered wants to help him on his journey. It was the opportunity that Wes felt couldn't exist at any other point in time.
"Celebi, it will be an honor to have you in the party. Let's purify the world."
With that, Celebi joined the party and immediately started to purify the shadow pokemon in Wes' party that were ready. The lucario and galvantula returned to their normal selves, and re-learned some moves; the galvantula re-learned a move called Bug Buzz, which is supposed to be what happens when wings are flapped very rapidly, but somehow the galvantula's pedipalps move very quickly and achieve this. The lucario, on the other hand, re-learned High Jump Kick, which it can't normally learn. After the purification process, Celebi decided to be an active member of the party, hovering around Wes. With Celebi helping Wes, he felt like nothing would go wrong. With Wes helping Celebi, Celebi felt like any remaining shadow pokemon was in good hands. It's almost as if so many things happened all at once that they exploded into smithereens.
As Wes and Celebi continued to stand there, they were shocked when explosions were heard coming from every direction around them. They both went outside and saw a horrifying sight; gigantic explosions were seen scattered all over the region. Massive; at least a mile across, each, and producing massive shockwaves. Celebi looked up and noticed a shadowy figure, who seemed to be causing these explosions.
"Wes, you remember those visions?" Celebi asked. Wes nodded, and Celebi continued:
"Well, those were mine, and I didn't exactly realize how soon they'd actually come true! That figure is no ordinary shadow pokemon, Wes. It's much more evil than any other pokemon I've ever encountered. Quite honestly, without you around, I'd feel like going back to when you started your first journey and just seen Evice slain instead!"
Wes' feelings on that statement were definitely ambivalent to Celebi's, as Wes was as scared as he had ever been in his entire life. He had never seen anything so evil in his entire life. It was a purple pokemon with a silver tail, with black and crimson-red eyes. It stared at him, menacingly, before telling him: "When you're strong enough, come find me."
The creature then teleported away, to who-knows-where. Wes and Celebi looked at each other, one clearly confused to the other's intentions, but Wes clearly knew where to go. The shadow pokemon lab. Wes took Celebi into the hover car and soon drove off into the desert, just north-northeast of the highest tower in Orre. On his way, he could see scorched remains of the once-sprawling and beautiful city of Phenac, and Eclo Canyon. Looks like that creature finally finished Wes' work. Over the radio, headlines were going to the only news radio station in the world; Goldenrod Radio Tower in the Johto region. Photographers from the Johto News Organization were sent to Orre to do some sightseeing, until their cameramen caught the creature floating above Agate Village on camera, and captured the scene of the massive explosions. Nobody except Wes and Celebi knew what caused it, and why it happened. Wes had the biggest feeling that Cipher was behind it all. He dreaded returning to the shadow pokemon lab.
END OF CHAPTER
Chapter 10: Return to the Shadow Pokemon Lab and Pokemon HQ Lab
Wes rolled up to the lab that seemed oh so familiar to him. But where the shadow pokemon lab stood, there was nothing but fire and destruction. Almost the entire facility was destroyed, except for the one important device that Wes came for; Ein's computer. If Wes could dig into Ein's computer files, he might be able to read documents or files pertaining to whatever the creature he saw at Agate Village was. He had a bad feeling that this creature also destroyed the lab and Phenac City. Wes descended some stairs towards the northeastern side of the lab that lead straight to the shadow pokemon production room, and Ein's research computer required a password to log back in. Shit, thought Wes, I knew they would employ some stupid passwords. Then Wes thought for a few moments. He typed in a few ideas, which were: CIPHER, VENUS, EVICE, and DAKIM, but none worked. But Wes thought of what it might be... If Venus had a shadow suicune, and Dakim had a shadow entei... Wes tried one more password: RAIKOU. The password worked, and Wes was logged into the computer. Luckily for Wes, all files on this computer were saved, and he grabbed the most interesting ones he saw, which included special plans for something. Wes had them copied to his PC account, but the sound of a gun cocking stopped him.
"Hold it right there, Wes." A voice that sounded like Ein behind him with a gun pointed to him. Not good.
"Step away from the computer with your hands behind your head. Celebi as well. Don't try anything funny, now." Wes obeyed, but with his mind asked Celebi to play along for a little while, as Ein might aim to shoot Celebi. Celebi soon got on the ground, a scared but serious expression on his face as he put his arms behind his back and under his wings. Both observed Ein; he had obviously aged since their last encounter at Realgam Tower. Ein looked quite a bit older than last time, and he was a little bit shorter. His hair and attire remained absolutely the same, although his clothing now seemed somewhat baggier on his now smaller frame. Ein was injured, his arm clutching the shoulder of the shaking hand holding a gun, barely able to stand up straight. Ein snapped at Wes, gun-toting arm still shaking.
"What the fuck are you doing here, you little brat? I thought we were all done playing this little game."
"Apparently not, Ein. I know Cipher's behind this, and I'm doing a little investigation. Seeing what files you got that I could possibly take a peek at. Something that may involve Cipher, but mainly you. Now what happened here? At Phenac? At Eclo Canyon? Huh?"
"A project we planned to destroy you with, gone totally awry. And you won't get to go anywhere else, nor even to save the world. This desert will be your grave."
Before Ein could even take a shot, Celebi lifted Ein off the ground with ease, dropping his gun, and flung him against the wall, pinning him there. Wes got off the ground and advanced towards the haplessly helpless Ein, picking his still-loaded gun off the partially-charred floor.
"Thanks, now we know exactly what we came here for."
Although Wes really didn't want to kill anyone, he didn't want to have to see any more shadow pokemon be researched on or even created, especially by this monster of a human being. Wes had a small mential conversation with Celebi on the morals of killing Ein.
"Hey Celebi, you think it would be alright to have him killed? Or is it immoral? I really don't want to see things like the scale they're on happen in the future."
Celebi's input was only a little helpful to Wes.
"Personally, my feelings for pokemon like what we saw at Agate Village happening again are ambivalent, but even I question the morals of killing a human. Even for as bad as he is. Although I strangely have memories of almost destroying a forest attributed to me in another land..."
Celebi probably had never had this kind of power put in front of him; the power to end someone so evil as to develop such a powerful pokemon. Celebi, with much regret inside, proceeded to put Ein out of his misery, quickly snapping his neck, and releasing Ein from the psychic grip. The body of Ein now lay on the floor, cold and lifeless as the countless creatures whose dark hearts he created. Celebi couldn't help but feel awful for killing a human, even for as bad as Ein was.
"Celebi, it's okay. Even if they won't stop producing shadow pokemon, nothing will ever be as bad as whatever this is. Trust me." Wes tried to be re-assuring to Celebi that what he'd done was for the right reasons, even if morals were put into question. With that, Wes and Celebi returned to the car, and Wes proceeded to the Pokemon HQ Lab. On the way, Wes and Celebi listened to the radio, a newscaster live somwehere, something he hadn't heard of before.
"Luka, I am live on the scene near Fortree City in Hoenn, where mass pandemonium has struck not only the city of tree-dwellers, but the entire region! Families across the region are raiding Pokemon Marts, boarding up their homes, and hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst. This creature shows no intentions of stopping its attack, and it's only a matter of time before-" The newscaster was cut off as an explosion could be seen out in the distance and over the horizon. Wes stopped the hover car to witness a rather large explosion, and the epicenter was not far off from where the newscaster was stationed. He could see the trees, which were still rather far, before the explosion hit, but now all that stands is a large purple explosion spreading throughout the entire region. Hoenn was absolutely demolished.
"Umm... It appears as though we're getting new reports from an unidentified source that the Hoenn region has been absolutely destroyed. And the leaders of the world are calling for a state of-"
The newscaster was cutoff as the Johto Emergency Broadcast System started. Wes got back in the car, turned off the radio, and rushed the car as quickly as he could to the Pokemon HQ Lab.
Several hours later, almost in the dead of night, they finally arrived back to the Pokemon HQ Lab, but it looked to be completely shut down. It looked totally deserted from the outside, but there were cameras to observe any outsiders with criminal intentions. As one of the cameras pointed towards Wes, he wanted to attract attention to be sure if someone was watching through some monitors. He did funny little dances and jumped up and down to show someone he was there. Soon the door at the front of the facility was manually opened by Krane, speaking in a yelling-whisper tone.
"Wes! What are you doing here so late? Get in here!"
Wes ran and Celebi flew as fast as they both could into the lab, and Krane immediately shut the doors behind them.
"Wes, what are you-" Krane was absolutely caught by surprise, never noticing Celebi entering the facility. He stood dumbfounded, but slowly started advancing towards Celebi, cautiously.
"By the gods! It's Celebi! Wes, however did you get to recruit Celebi?!"
"Krane, we can obviously talk about that later, but what I do need to talk to you about are important documents stored on my PC account, and you need to see them now."
"Aahh- o-okay. I'll get the machine started."
Krane initiated the start-up sequence for the machine, and booted the computer. Wes logged into his PC account, and guided him to the files. Krane was able to display them in the holographic projector in the center of the room, and what Krane and Wes saw amazed them both; detailed plans for the prototype of the ultimate shadow pokemon: Xtreme Darkness 000, abbreviated as XD000.
"I don't believe it... They really succeeded in making the world's strongest pokemon. They captured already one of the most dangerous pokemon in the world, Mewtwo, but now they made it so it's an unpurifiable shadow pokemon! What have they done?!" Krane shouted, waking some people in the facility.
"Krane, what's going on?" asked a woman as she rubbed her eyelids. She was wearing a pink night-gown with long, messy brown hair and verdant green eyes.
"Oh... Sorry, Lily, it's just about the incident from hours ago, and the fact we have information on what it actually is that caused the destruction of Hoenn."
"What? We do?! Show me!" Lily said, excitedly scared.
"Well, it's right here on the hologram projector. I know I said I'd dismantle it, but I'm glad I didn't for various reasons." Lily pushed Wes out of the way to get a better look at it. And when she saw the mewtwo, she just about screamed herself, but managed to stop herself.
"I know it's a horrible sight to see. Believe me, it's bad. Try not to be too scared, though. We have Wes here! He saved Orre once, he could do it again!"
Lily really wasn't listening. The mere sight of the mewtwo sent shivers down her spine, as she cupped her hands around her mouth, backing away slowly. She simply looked towards Krane and said,
"I'm going back to sleep. Have fun with our little friend figuring out how to stop this thing."
She went back to her room to resume her sleep.
"She's right. We still don't know how to even stop this creature. And who knows where it could be right at this very moment. Anyway, I still have to conduct research on shadow Mega Evolution, and I'm planning on conducting it tomorrow. Lily's son still isn't very proficient in battling, so I guess you're one of my only hopes in helping conduct my research. Will you help me out?"
"Of course, Krane. I'd be glad to help out, if we can figure out how to trigger a Mega Evolution and how we can control it while in battle."
"Yep. I asked if Sycamore, Korinna and Gurkinn could come out here to help with my research. With Gurkinn's extensive knowledge on Mega Evolutions, we may be able to uncover more of this mysterious outcome of Mega Evolutions."
Meanwhile, at the edge of an island off the west coast of Orre, the mewtwo lay in wait, eagerly awaiting an encounter with a worthy trainer. It spent time training in the mouth of a volcano, understanding the process of Shadow Mega Evolution itself, and gaining a new form on its own. Its true power will be awakened. Soon.
END OF CHAPTER