Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, they belong to Gamefreak and Nintendo.

Explanation: I need to take a creative break from times to times. That is why I make short stories regarding the world of Essal. I meant to make this a standalone series, however, that would make new readers confused. They have not learned about the original universe so some references and setting would be odd. As a result, I have decided to put these short stories in between the chapters of Genesis. You can read them if you want to, or simply skip them every time a pre-intro is absence or the title pops up. I just want to give you all something to read while I working on the new chapters.

With that out of the way, please enjoy this piece of fanfiction.

(The song w=f(c) by Killerblood started to play)

Chesterization proudly presents.

A Pokémon fanfiction

Strange tales from Essal

(Song ends)

The smartest Pokémon on Essal

'What do you want?' said by an Alakazam in his forty. A straitjacket wrapped around him while a metal chair bolted to the floor embraced his fragile, bag of bones body. The walls around him wrapped in a sponge like substance, with the exception of a wide mirror to his right. Made the place appeared twice as big thanks to it. It reflected the image of the room, his and the other Pokémon. His head kept looking down. Eyes locked on an empty metal table. He didn't wish to look at the Pokémon at the other end-a Smeargle with casual clothing. The Pokémon appeared to be to be a college student of the sort. His shirt tucked halfway in his jean. Glasses and the look of confusion glued to the normal type's face. The Smealgle also had a note pad and a pencil in his hands.

The reporter (or would be reporter) put a tape recorder on the table. He fumbled with it. For the flat table was being difficult with the cheap portable recorder, making it hard to stand. When it was finally stable, the Smeargle pressed the "Record" button. He swallowed his breath, struggled to answer.

'I…I…I wish to have an interview with you, a short one. My editor, instructor, eh, no, we.' He took a deep breath and collected his sentences. 'I would like to have an inside look at the life of Doctor Ian Lering, eh, I mean you, before the big breakthrough and after the break down.'

The Alakazam laughed, almost tauntingly. 'What else do you parasites want? What can you gain from a has-been? A Pokémon who have lost his marbles? Creating cheap newspaper articles that gonna end up between a bum's butt in a few weeks." He chuckled. 'Ha, listen son, you will have better pays by just following a brainless celebrity that wore the same shoe for two weeks. Now get out. Didn't the staff tell you? I'm known to bite.'

The reporter leaned backward. A gulping sound could be heard down his throat as he realized his chair was, too, bolted on the floor. The Smeargle's face then grew stiff. Yet he tried to form an awkward smile regardless. 'Doctor, we believe, that, that you are not a mad Pokémon. You are the smartest Pokémon Essal had ever seen.'

'Was. Funny isn't it? Your intelligence level changes whenever other Pokémon think you're a nut job.'

'Well, well, we still think so, sir. I still think so.' The reporter said while holding on to that smile and gripped the notepad tight. 'I mean, the part that, you being, eh, smart and not a nutcase, sir.'

'Like that makes anything better. Can your belief get me out of this place?'

'No, sir, but this publish. This piece of story could change that. The general media has never given you a clear or accurate portraits of yourself after the breakdown. Your lack of post interviews didn't help either. The public need to know more about you. Something that they could relate to. And who know, they may get you out of here?'

'Hahhaha. That is stupid. Doctor don't let insane Pokémon out just because the public said so. Just be honest. You just want an exclusive interview. Something that no other newspapers have done before. Or you are just an intern who has nothing to do to get grade and credits outside of doing a story, no one bother to get. Is that what you want? Don't bullshit me.'

'Bluntly? Yes, sir.' The reporter kept his head down after that.

'Hahaha, You and your editor are kinda slow. I am not the rage anymore, yesterday news. There is no point in playing this game now. I'm mad, can't you tell? No one will listen to the story of a mad Pokémon.'

'I will. I'm listening right now.' The reported said, raised his voice in an attempt to sound determent.

'You are not going to leave unless I bite a chunk out of you, aren't you?' The Smeargle face froze. 'Well, Lucky for you. I have already eaten. It was crappy enough so I don't want more bitter taste in my mouth. Plus this interview section is what keeping me far away from the electric shock therapy. So okay, I'll play your game. 10 or 20 minutes tops. That's all I could give you before my electric shock appointment. So, you want me to start at the time before I was famous? Is that it?'

The reporter eyes lit up in excitement. 'Yes, sir, not a full biography, just instances before your break of fame.'

'And after it, right? I can do that.'

The Alakazam then looked at the ceiling for a minute, then cleared his throat. 'Well, it all started 6 months, 7 months ago? Whatever, time is funny behind these walls. Let just say, before I was the shit, I was a beaten down, regular Joe. You know what I mean. Life is, well, boring as hell. I worked as an accountant for the Infinity corp. And here is my life in a nutshell: It is made of a bunch of cycles. I wake up, shower, go to work, go home, and go to sleep. Repeat I wake up, shower, go to work, go home and go to sleep. Of course, eat and use the can in between. One day, I have the opportunity to break the cycle, a day off. So I make the best out of it, by getting drunk at the local bar.' He turned his head to right, looking at himself in the mirror. He could felt the present of the doctor behind it, but he ignored that and continued. 'When I finished the fifth glass of beer or so, I was pretty close to the breaking point. Luckily I was still sober enough to remember things. I remember, the chair next to me moved. A Pokémon spoke to me. A Snivy, probably a midg-I mean a little Pokémon. That was what I thought. The security guard of the place is an asshole, no way he letting a kid inside. I remembered him wearing a fancy suit. If it had not been for the different color of the suit, I would have thought that he was a waiter or some crap. Anyhow, he said: "Don't you just hate it?" 'He greeted me via shit-eating grin. That smile you know it was a seductive kind of smile. Creepy as hell. So I said. "Look pal, I don't swing that way, so pissed off."'

'Eh you said what sir?' The Smeagle said.

'A guy flashed that kind of seductive smile to another guy and the fact that I was pretty drunk. String those together and you'll see. Not being homophobe, okay I lied.'

'Oh, I think I got the point.'

'What? You don't think that I'm hot enough? Not sexy enough for that?'

'Ehhhhhh, yes.'

'Good, clever boy. That was a trick question. We can continue this interview. You might want to edit that out.'

'Yes sir.'

'Anyway the bastard gave a weird ass laugh then continued. "Oh, I assure you I am definitely not going there. What I was just saying is that: Don't you just hate the boring cycles of life? Day in, day out. You wake up, shower, go to work, go home, and go to sleep. Repeat. You wake up, shower, go to work, go home and go to sleep. And when you do have time, you can only do this? Killing your brain cells? And then one day, poof, you are six feet under."

"Welcome to the middle class, caption obvious."

"Haha, You are a funny Pokémon, huh?"

"Yeah, I should have been a god damn comedian.:

The bastard then sighed and said. "Yes. Your father. He just couldn't see it. "Why don't you major in business instead?" He said."

"How did you."

"Just a guess. Parents would never let their children do what they want. When a child appears as a failure for doing something they love. They all give the "Business quote.""

'Sir' The reporter interrupted him. 'You remember every single line he said?'

'Well, of course, the smartest Pokémon on Essal, remember? Anyhow, I was getting tired of his bull crap so I told the bastard to cut to the chase and he said: "Oh, well, I just wanted to share a drink with a random stranger, who I will never meet again."

"I take the free drink but what the hell do you want? Cause I make it clear I don't swing that way."

"Well, just want to give you a suggestion. I saw you have just finished your fifth glass. Just a health concern. I just want you to stop."

"Why?"

"No particular reason."

"Give alcohol for free, to stop me from drinking? You got issues, kid."

"Well I might be, but what about you? What is your issues."

"What?"

'He kept that smug ass smile and look at his watch. "Hm, well I got another place to be, so I'll make this quick. See, you can go home after all this and resume to the cycles in the next day with a nasty hangover. Or you could go to the Gwendel drugstore down the street. They are having a discount for hangover pills or whatever they call them. Do something nice for yourself."

And right the hell out of nowhere a waiter tapped me on the shoulder and told me my drink was ready. I looked back at the bar and saw a god damn glass of Bliss. A fucking glass of Bliss. That damn thing would cost a quarter of my salary, in a whole year. The waiter told me it had already been paid, and enjoy it. I turned back to the Snivy and he was gone.'

'So what happened after that?'

'Well, I drank the whole glass. Don't want to waste it.' Ian looked at the ceiling again, remembering a taste down his throat. 'And damn, that glass of Bliss. It was like heaven and hell in one glass. Fucking amazing I tell you. After that, I took care of my business and got out of the bar. Doubted at first but I took his suggestions. Because Bliss would give me the worst hangover- or so I heard. I didn't take taking any chances, because I had work the next day. I was walking to the drugstore and then I notice a shiny penny on the road. I tried to pick it up and, well, I guess, you know what happened after that.'

'Eh, you mean, the accident?'

'Bingo. A god damn truck to the face. I was in coma after that. The bastard of a driver said I was too drunk to hear the noise of his honking, but I don't know. Things were kinda fuzzy after that. When I wake up weird craps started to happen.'

'Weird?'

'Don't know for sure. Doctor said I got a piece of my skull messed up my brain. I didn't bother getting a medical degree so I don't know. Anyhow, the end-result is my head always hurt like a bitch. On top of that, I have like 20 or so broken bones. So they have to glue my ass to the hospital bed for a while.' He took a deep breath. 'But, when I lied on the hospital bed, my mind just, refused to rest. It was constantly, thinking. After a while, for the first time since ever, I wanted to read a book."

"That, ah, that seem, normal and why it is so strange to you?"

"You are talking to a mental remember? Take it any way you want. Anyway, in four day, around my hospital bed are 56 books of different genres and topics. I counted and remembered them. And the thing is, I understood them all. Not only that, I also remember stuffs I learn from all the way back to preschool. At night, I could not sleep. And my head was still hurt thinking. The only way to calm me down was reading, reading and absorbing knowledge. After 5 days, I wanted to write, big shock, about quantum physics; also a letter to an asshole of an author that wasted half an hour of my life. Those numbers and theories were inconstant. The moment when I walk out of the hospital, I know what to do to get the money for my medical bills, without waiting for a trial for the bastard that rammed me. And on top of all that, I know how to do it.

I went home, nearly sold all my crap. I mean it. Shit, I looked at my apartment and I nearly passed out. Like, ugh, don't want to talk about it. After that quit my job and started to put all the information I had read into good use. Most Pokémon would do something like change the world or some crap, but me, pff, I use it to cash in. Got myself some stock market actions, business, all that craps. There is a pattern here and there, but I won't show you, you need to suffer the life of low income first. After I got rich super quick, I quit. I have earned enough money for a comfortable life. From then I got bored, really bored. Therefore, I invented something in my free time. Helped around for a bit and boost my fame. That's always a plus. Earn a doctor degree in nuclear engineering because I feel like it. That is actually not true; some guy told me I should try it. I created and perfected cold fusion afterward. And from there the nickname:" The smartest Pokémon on Essal" was taped on me.

The rest, well, I bet all the other papers have covered that. I think they have already made a TV show about me earning my first million credits few months back. Never like watching it, it strokes my ego the wrong way.'

'Yes, you were on top of the world. Everything was bright and right for you. But what happened? Why are you here? Why did you kill that Pokémon?'

The Alakazam stopped. His tone lowered. His head twitched a bit, as if trying to scratch and itch on the back of his head. 'For starter, one day, when I was indulging myself in riches beyond my wildest dreams, the bastard from before returned.'

'The driver?'

'No you dim witted little asshole, the Snivy.'

'Oh yes, sorry sir, please continue.'

'Well, there he was he cleaning the window for my building. For some reason I have never seen a window cleaner appear on my window once, and the first Pokémon I saw was that damn Snivy."

'So what did you do?'

'I took a golden statue of myself and throw it at the god damn window. Sadly it didn't break and hit the bastard. 60000 creds bulletproof bullshit windows.'

'Eh, what, sir?'

'What do you expect my reaction to be? Drink tea, say hello? The site of the little crap scared the hell out of me.'

'So, you, throw, a golden statue of yourself, at the window?' The reporter gave him the look that said: "Seriously".

'Hey, riches beyond my wildest dream, dumbass. Anyhow, the little asshole appeared to be started a bit but then stick a note on the window. For the love of everything holy on this damn planet, his hand writing was terrible. He wrote. "All the riches will soon be lost when you dies, and the little progress you made will soon became." He took the note down and wrote another. Let me just tell you the whole thing in order. "Will become a trivia piece in some book no regular Joe would want to read. All those time, effort and knowledge down the drain, what a waste. Do you want, you, to truly be the smartest and most respected Pokémon on Essal?"

I was slowly reaching for the emergency button to call the security. Need to stall him so I read everything he wrote and nodded. He continued writing. "Well in that case, I have another suggestion for you. In a few days, there will be an envelope containing an unsolved equation mailed to you. Solve it and gave it to the Pokémon that come to your door to claim it, probably a few months later. Trust me, that little equation will mark your name in the history of Essal forever. You can do that or get back to indulging yourself in pointless pleasure."

And like a coward, he retreated upward before I got the chance to push the button.'

'So, that what happened afterward? The things he said.' The reporter seemed interested and moved his head closer.

'Yes. The letter came and I solved the equation. The thing was a worthy challenge. It took me quite a while, as in three months to solve it. But when I did, I saw the potentials it can bring. It will change the face of both nuclear psychic and quantum physic, as we know it. It will solve the mysteries about the universe. You know where I'm getting at. And it will definitely solve the energy problems on Essal. So, I was about to pull a jackass move and say. "If this fame is for me then why in the hell am I not deliver it myself?" Get my fair share. But just when I was at the door, somebody knocked. Through the camera, turned out it was guy in military outfit. And that was when it hit me.'

'What is it?'

'Kid, when did science associate itself with the military and didn't produce something that goes boom?'

'I don't know.'

'Never, you little uneducated little shit.' He yelled.

'Well, but, aren't military funding and war, the thing drive those types of research forward? I mean, I don't know.' The Smeagle scratched his head. 'Like gun powder, yes, like gun powder, it was use for war at first but it has numerous applications and held important to the modern world. What are the differences about this?'

'Well, this little equation, let just say, Essal was not ready for this. With this equation and a different angle, you could unlock the power that Essal has never seen. It will make the strongest bombs we have look like a firecracker at birthday parties. I'm not entrusting that to the military or anyone. I might be a selfish asshole, but don't want my name to be associate with a million death toll. History will definitely remember me as the guy who had started the new nuclear age, but it will also curse me as the asshole that pitched in the effort of destroying Essal.'

'I understand. That must be a hard decision. So what happened afterward?'

'I shut myself in, refused to open the door for him. And what do you know, the Snivy came back outside of the window, still wearing the same window cleaner outfit. He stuck the note. "You chose this. Now go with it, or else." on the wall. I couldn't do anything else before he reeled himself upward.'

'And?'

'I did the most logical thing ever. Slept my ass off and hoped that all this was a bad dream. And I woke up the next morning.' The Alakazam put his tone on a higher ground. 'And hehehe, what do you know? Lying beside me, was the death body of the military guy. Several cuts and stab wounds in his stomach and chest. I swear to god I could see a piece of his entrails sticking out when I removed the blanket. His blood drenched my sheet and the smell of rot filled my room. Saw his lifeless eye, I threw up on the body and jumped the fuck out of bed. Inside my palm was a bloody kitchen knife. Blood covered and dried on the tip. I dropped it and looked at my room. My room was a total mess. But I was smart.' He glared at the reporter. "I was SMART! I shredded and flushed the equation beforehand so, they couldn't find anything. They probably framed me as a 'Screw you' to me, I guess.

I was caught, there was a trial. I was about to be tossed into jail and well I did the other most logical thing possible. Jumping up and down like an idiot, punched my lawyer in face while laughing like a lunatic and yelling some random crap. Like: "Titties sprinkles and butt salad". All while continued making weird faces. The footage for that probably were the highlight of a lot of talk shows, you couldn't possibly miss it. Chances are the E.I.N had already made an auto tune video of that. You know, shit that Pokémon wasted their brainpower on. And the judge thought I should be qualify to be a nut job and sent me here.'

'Was it, what you hoping it to be?'

'Well, I must say here isn't too bad. I have a nurse here that gonna beat the crap out of me if he want to. Luckily he hit like a bitch, so it's more of a massage, to the face. The electric shock therapy and medications are bad all right. Making me shaking like a friggin leaf every night, but not as bad as jail would be I give it that. I have some alone time here. Privacy, sometimes. In the end, not so bad. And that is the whole thing, satisfy?'

'So you have destroyed all blueprints and any document regarding the equation?'

'You didn't paid attention didn't you? Yes, nothing was left.'

The reporter pushed the Stop button. Then said in a different voice, slowly this time. 'Thank you for your cooperation. Now, would you like looking to the right or stay like this?'

The question stuck Ian as odd but his reflexes made him looked to his right. He saw the refection of himself on the chair, trapped and frail. Sitting in his opposite side was the Smeargle reporter. He looked back and saw a grin on the Smeargle. He saw that smile from somewhere. 'Would you want to look again with more concentration or just do nothing?' Ian chose the first option and squint his eyes this time, the reporter and his voice recorder were not there anymore. In his place was a Snivy wearing a black tuxedo. He had a wide grin on his face. Ian turned back to the reporter, who was now a Snivy in the refection. 'Expectations and Perspective. That's a pretty nice touch isn't it?' The Snivy's voice turned sinister.

The Alakazam panted hard, his eyes opened wide. 'What the hell? What are you doing here? Get the hell out of my face.'

"Relax, you don't have to be panic. I'm not here to give you any ideas. I was hoping that I could get the location of the equation from you, but it looks like I have to start over. Oh well, lesson learned. Oh, don't worry, I have found someone who willing to solve the equation for me. Someone who has the brain capacity, a little less than you, but still, something that works. From now on, I will not bother you anymore.'

'What does that mean? What do want form me?'

'You have gotten slow, silly. It is exactly what I said, I will not bothering you anymore. I can't say the same for the doctors here. Farewell. I got to go and setup the firework.' The Snivy stepped out of the chair without making a sound.

'Get back here you coward!"'

'Yell all you want, I say enjoy your life while you can. This place might be a gigantic crater in the next few decades. You could plan an escape in the meantime. After that, you can pass on your genes. Maybe your children would have the confidence to develop their intelligences naturally. Hell if I know, I'm not a fortune teller.'

'Get back here, you son of a bitch!'

'No need to get salty. Hahahaha. Now, would you excuse me, I have a meeting with Genesis.'

While the Alakazam was screaming at the top of his lungs, the doctor and nurse standing at the other side of the mirror were watching him flailing on his chair. His voice echoed.

'How long has he been acting like this?' The doctor asked the nurse.

'It had begun since the meeting with that reporter. Since then he only speaks to himself everywhere he goes. All the conversations always end up with this reaction. None of us here knows what to do with him. Do you have any thought for his treatments?'

'I think I'll try something. Sedate him.'

'Yes, doctor.'

Author's notes:

Thank you so much for reading. If you enjoyed what you have just read and wished to see more, please follow or leave a review. They would give me motivation to write more for everyone. All feedbacks will be appreciated. If you find anything lacking or flawed in my story (grammar, word use, etc.), please tell me in the reviews as well. I shall do my best to updates these chapters sooner and make them more polished. This is my first ever story so please forgive any possible mistake in the future and help me fix them.

Thanks again and have a pleasant day.