Welcome back, at least for me. I've been taking some time off to think for the next upcoming chapter, and let me tell you, it's been like hell. I hope this chapter will be worth it.
Chapter 14: Unforeseen
In the middle of an open wide grassy field, five individuals were sitting by a campfire that no longer scorched under the morning light. Amy was kneeling by a large rock, making balls out of rice, seaweed and stuffing. She was preparing morning snacks for her and her comrades to eat on their way. While Amy provided the foods, Eric looked towards the direction of their next destination, while flipping his coin. Seeing how the direction sounded lively, it showed that they weren't that far from reaching Kasantra.
"I see the city up ahead. We're almost there." Eric looked at the city on the distant horizon, feeling somewhat gloom; which Amy noticed.
Amy approached Eric with a rice ball. "What's wrong?" She asked him, and gave him a rice ball.
"It's just," Eric began. "I've always wanted to come here as a kid, but I didn't think I would come here while being wanted by the authorities." Eric grabbed a bite out of the rice ball Amy gave him.
That surprised Amy, she least expected Eric of all people to still remember his childhood dreams. "Really? Was this place special to you or something?"
"You could say that." Eric told her. "Kasantra is known to consist a famous amusement park. It was a popular place back in the day, which is why it was called the 'Paradise Haven'." Eric gazed on his coin. "My mom made promise that she would take me there once. But before she could take me there, she-"
Eric stopped in mid-sentence, unable to continue to describe the tragedy which he have faced.
"I'm sorry." Amy said.
"Don't be." Eric said. "It's all history now. No need to mention events that already occurred." Eric put his coin back in his jacket pocket. "Time pressurizes us, let's get moving."
"Right." Amy replied, and the two of them gathered the rest of their comrades and continued down the path ahead.
Kasantra was the biggest city they've ever been in, in fact the place was supposed to be the second largest city in Santera. It contained a main district which connected to the roads all over the region and consisted of many business enterprises. The most famous attraction was the Paradise Haven, which was the world famous amusement park, where tourists mostly go for vacation. Even though the place was popular enough to attract too many people, the park was a lot larger for it to be overcrowded. The trainers have entered the Broadway Avenue, which was the center of the southern town of Kasantra. The area consisted of movie theaters and a train station. Despite the city's credibility, it was one place where the Pandoras have yet to claim as theirs yet. The girls looked around them in amazement of how big the city was.
"This place," Amy started while gazing the view. "is incredible! I never thought I would ever end up in such titular city like this. It's so grand!"
They all focused on the large railway connected on railings constructed on air, like a public roller coaster. The technologies here were very futuristic, it was as if they entered a zone ahead of 25th century time zone.
"I have read about this place." Rebecca said. "I always wanted to come here at least once. Now that's one ambition fulfilled."
"Don't get ahead of yourself." Said Eric. "We aren't going to stick around here for very long, you forget that the Pandoras are within our trails. We must get to the train station and get on board for Boreal as soon as we can."
"Oh c'mon Eric." Ingrid started to protest. "You always have to bring up something to ruin our fun. Can't you forget about the Pandoras for a while and let us go sightseeing around here in peace? Who knows when we'd get such chance like this to come here again?"
"It would hardly be worth coming to visit when the Pandoras would be coming to ruin it all." Said Eric. "No, it would be better to come back once the Pandoras are dealt with for good than to stick around until they arrive and begin claiming this city as one of their new territory."
"I don't like to agree, but he's right." Rebecca said and led the others to face her. "The faster we leave, the wider the gaps between us and the Pandoras is. It could present us much more opportunities to train ourselves before facing them."
"Exactly." Eric said. "So let's get to the station, pronto."
He took the lead and had the others follow him, despite their dismay. As they made their move, they've passed by business people and tourists and such.
They have entered the Kasantra train station, but the place looked more like an airport. There were ceilings created by glass tiles, silicon walls, well-waxed floor, and there were shops within every walls. There were also multiple floors from 1st level to B4th level. The group are gazing around the station, amazed by the majestic qualities within the interior.
"This is the train station?" Asked Amy. "It's big enough to be a one giant mall!"
"You'd be surprised." Said Rebecca. "This whole place is connected by the main building in the central part of the city. Not just the station either, the central citadel is also connected to nearby malls, pokemon battle stadium, the sub-level amusement park, and many other buildings designed for marketing. There's even supposed to be underground tunnel roads which is connected for vehicles to drive through. This entire city is basically a one giant infrastructure that contains everything. Who ever designed this place was a brilliant genius who must also be extremely wealthy. Two of the wealthiest rich family were also the ones who endorsed their fundings for the sake of building this place, the Malstroms and the Earlhearts. I so wish we can explore this place."
"Too bad we won't." Eric alarmed her, reminding Rebecca to prioritize what is at stakes at hand.
"Yeah I know." Rebecca acquiesced. "Let's see if we can reserve ourselves some tickets and learn of the train schedules."
Rebecca and Eric went towards the terminal while the other three remained at the local lobby to wait. Eric went ahead and reached the employees desk and started speaking to the receptionist.
"Excuse me." Eric said. "Can you tell us when the train that takes us to Boreal will be running?"
The man eyed Eric and said, "I'm terribly sorry, but I'm afraid none of the train is available for travel service at the moment."
"Huh?" Said Rebecca. "Why?"
"The railways are in the middle of maintenance due to a constructions that's going on, which have been going on for a month. The train can't be up and running until at least 2 to 3 days."
"What's the construction for?" Asked Eric.
"I've heard that they are working on creating a station that they said they were building. I don't know any more than that. I'm afraid that if you wish to board the train for Boreal, I'm afraid you must spend your time elsewhere until the maintenance is officially finished."
"If the station is under a maintenance, then how come you are still on the stationary booth behind the desk for passengers?" Eric asked.
"Although immediate accessing towards train boarding isn't possible at the moment, we could however arrange reservations for upcoming on-boarders. Let me tell you that there has been a lot of them during this full month of this backup idle service. Still, would you like to make reservations?"
"If possible then yes." Eric said.
The booth man started typing on his computer to check to see any open seats that hasn't been reserved yet. "I am so sorry, but I'm afraid that we are intensely booked with reservations. I'm afraid you'll have to make arrangements on another day."
Rebecca approached the booth man. "Surely you can find a way to-"
"I am sorry, but I am just the stationary. I don't have the authority to make any changes to what has already have been submitted. If it's that urgent, then I suggest you meet with Mr. Snider, who's actually the one in charge of the Kasantra Express and all other technological productions in this city. If you finally understand, then have a pleasant day."
Unable to protest any further, Eric and Rebecca returns to the group to inform them of the unforeseen circumstances. They were now uncertain of what to do about it, so they decided to talk it through.
"So we are stuck here for at least 2 to 3 days." Ingrid said after listening to Rebecca. "I suppose we could wait in this city until then."
"But this situation will cripple us harshly." Said Eric. "Every moment we dawdle here will increase the chance of the Pandoras arriving here for us at any moment."
"Why would that be a problem?" Amy said. "This city is really big, far as I know. They probably won't be able to send search squads through the entire city anyway. We can sneak past them easily."
"Don't be so sure." Said Eric. "You have no idea how much the Pandora's forces have rapidly increased over the few years. I'm sure with their current numbers, they would be able to take control of an entire country. If one thing the Pandoras are good at, it is conserving their resources and condone them for more elaborate use, with clever tactics."
"Even so," Rebecca intervened. "how are we to get on board a train if there isn't any at all for now?"
"As the man said," Eric began. "the only way to clear things up for our cause is to make bargain with Mr. Snider, who's believed to be in control of the entire maintenance business."
"Mr. Snider?" Amy asked.
Rebecca looked at her slowly. "Ah, that's right. You aren't familiar with daily medias back at your home. The booth man was referring to Neil Snider, a famous entrepreneur who happens to have worldwide brilliance and is known to be the one who has created all sorts of well known gadgetry. People say that his middle name, 'Irwin', comes from his predecessor, Irwin Snider, his father and was a formal head of DGi. He's a business benefactor, and the top notch intellect. I heard he's been working on software that could help improve global advancement on modern age of technologies. I've been dying to meet the man at least once. My dad admired him too."
"Do you think he could help us?" Asked Heather.
"Maybe, maybe not." Replied Rebecca. "But I think it's worth visiting him. Problem is, we don't know where he works."
"Finding him could be a challenge as well." Said Eric. "There are about over 40 buildings that manufactures what Snider builds these days. He probably own most of them, so we are going to have to search them one by one, which could take forever."
"Hold on." Rebecca took out her laptop. "Perhaps I can narrow down our search perimeter by hacking into the Kasantra network and try to connect to Mr. Snider's work schedule. If we look into that, we might be able to determine his current location corresponding the specific time."
"Wouldn't he have installed firewalls for something so elaborate?" Eric said. "A genius of his nationality could have thought of installing security if anyone tried to forcibly access onto his private servers."
"Not if I can bypass each of them carefully." Rebecca started typing. The monitor on her laptop displayed some sort of encryption codes they were shifting vertically in neon green within the black screen. As she pop out a hacking window, she began typing all sorts of debugging programmers. "Huh, this security grid isn't even well secured. I think I can access everybody's work schedules with this."
"Can you locate Mr. Snider?" asked Ingrid.
"Give me a moment." Rebecca began typing again. "Let's see, I managed to sneak into his email for one. Too bad that it's heavily encrypted by the ARA, meaning that they can't be infiltrated even by professional hacking."
"What about his personal schedules?" Asked Amy.
"Hang on, I'm getting to that." Rebecca started typing more. "I think I found it. Huh, his schedule is no different then any other men's daily routines. He's got morning rendezvous with his peers from 7 to 8 o' clock. From there, he interviews with programmers from Rustboro internationals, and then he's got appointment with optometrist until 12:30. And then he goes to work at the DGi industries all afternoon, then he hits the gym for some night workouts. Whatever he does afterwards isn't listed here, I guess even he has to take a break with privacy. I'm not really surprised with all that."
"I'm surprised by how detailed his plans are." Eric commented. "According to our Xtranscievers, it is now 7:46. If his schedule is accurate, then he should be meeting with his peers by now."
"Problem is, it doesn't say where." Rebecca gazed at her monitor again.
"Snider is supposed to be well-known figure," Ingrid said. "perhaps people all over the city have seen him. Maybe we should ask them if they did."
"That will take too long." Said Eric. "This city is too large to search and there are over three million inhabitants for us to question. What else is he supposed to do today?"
Rebecca started to reread the schedules. "He's got interviews with programmers from Hoenn Region and later he has to go see an Optometrist right afterwards."
"Hm, we can't determine where the interviewing will take place." Eric started thinking. "We might however track him on his way to see the eye doctor. Despite how big Kasantra is, I'm sure that there's only one Optometry hospital around here. Rebecca, can you locate one?"
"Already on it." Rebecca started searching on the global map on her laptop. "As it happens, you are right Eric. There are multiple hospitals in Kasantra, but only one for eyes. It's quarter miles from here to there. I'm sure we can make it."
"Then let's move." Eric said. "There should be an exit towards the eastern terminal once we get to the upper lofting."
The group has made it out of the underground train station. They were surrounded by many buildings all with different heights and shapes. The roads were also massive, along with the number of other pedestrians walking by. There were also carrier stores on their way and even festivities, which none of them paid no mind to. They even went through a park where people walked through and kids were playing within.
They have located the area close to the hospital they were looking for, but it turns out that they arrived a lot earlier than they expected. Amy decided that they should kill time by having a descent meal at the nearby restaurant. The restaurant also offered to feed their pokemons so they let each of them out to feed them. While the were having a good time, the five of them started conversing while looking outside the window next to them.
"Wow, this city is a lot bigger than I imagined." Said Amy. "I've never been to a place like this in my life, nor did I ever thought I'd ever come explore it."
"This city is the source of excitements going on throughout the region." Eric said. "The TV station that broadcasts the SRPN is also in this city. This is also the place where the train is mainly operated as well. Even Pandoras had a hard time infiltrating this place, which is why their law isn't touched here. We are lucky to have found this city without any influences from the Pandoras in the right time."
Ingrid took several sips from her butter cream soup and said, "There's something that's been bugging me after we left the station. Why do you think that the train suddenly had to go under maintenance under Snider's council? You guys said that they were constructing another station somewhere very far, but if that's true then wouldn't they have made headlines about it in the news?"
"Maybe they were planning to announce it after they finished with the project." Rebecca said. "Usually they don't publicize on what they are making until they finished making them and them reveal them when they have completed it and then renounce their release dates. It happens all the time."
"Still, for the maintenance to last over a month. I still think that it's odd." Ingrid started sipping on her soup on her spoon.
"Well no matter." Rebecca picked up a piece of fruit from her salad. "We might be able to learn about it all when we meet with Mr. Snider. I have to admit, I'm actually looking forward to meet him in person. I want to share some of the software I've been working on with him. Even if he can't help out with rescheduling the train maintenance schedule, I'm sure he can still assist us by offering some of his mobile programs that can be installed on our gears."
"Ah that's right." Eric said after he finished chewing on his pasta. "He's supposed to be working at DGi industries. I heard only the greatest geniuses are qualified to apply working there. Perhaps he has designed some useful techs."
"DGi?" Asked Amy, being unfamiliar with the term.
"Digital Gadgets installation." Rebecca abbreviated "It's a micro software installed on small mobile devices like our pokedexes. These programs were designed to make pokemon journey a lot simply. There's one that monitors pokemon stats and evaluation values, a dowsing gear for finding hidden items, mobile party cache to allow us to access our pokemon PC units to change our pokemon party without needs to manually access the larger PCs, and there even gears for texting other trainers who has access to the same software. Only the extremely experienced programmers could have designed such advanced virtual technologies."
"DGi is also responsible for running the Internets and for creating useful tools like the Exp Share and all sorts." Eric noted. "Their products are shipped at every region across the globe."
"Wow," Amy was puzzled. "so did they also create the pokeballs?"
"No." Answered Eric. "Some other brilliant mind created those in Johto region. Their technologies for us to catch pokemons are also another story."
Amy looked outside while eating her ramen. "Say, do you think that we might get the chance to look into the DGi headquarters to see how their productions goes?"
"It is considered rude to gaze into their works without authorized invitations." Surmised Eric. "But perhaps if we meet with Mr. Snider and he grants us those privileges, I'm sure our chances could be arranged."
"Let's hope so." Rebecca said.
After a long time has passed, they managed to finish dining exactly at 12:15 pm. At this time, they approached the hospital and watched the vicinity from the nearest park.
"This is the building where we are suppose to find this guy?" Amy asked while looking at the tower from ground to roof.
"As you can see, this is a hospital meant for humans." Eric said as he watched people going in and out of the building. "Unlike Pokemon centers, which is the respective hospital for pokemons, this place is divided into whichever body parts each hospital checks us on; that's why it's larger then an average Pokemon center. Although I'm sure there is a pokemon center within the building too."
"It's almost 12:30." Ingrid said. "Should we go in now?"
"I think so." Replied Eric. "Usually when people are on tight schedule, they arrive to their hospital appointment earlier than scheduled. It's possible that Snider is also inside, either waiting in the lobby or getting the check-ups early."
"Then let's get in there and meet this guy." Amy said.
The five trainers then entered the hospital.
Eric and Rebecca asked the nurse at the counter about the optometrist's location. After learning that the optometry was held on 8th floor, they reached there via the elevator. When they got there, they notice that there were only few patients that made an appointment with the eye doctor.
"Are any of them Mr. Snider?" Asked Ingrid, looking around the lobby and gazing at the waiting patients.
"I'm afraid not." Rebecca said. "If he was scheduled for check up on 12:30, then he should be meeting with the doctor right now."
"I don't think we should intrude his check-ups," Eric said. "so perhaps we should wait until it's finished."
"Agreed." Replied Rebecca.
Eric went and asked an employee to make sure that the current patient being checked up was indeed Snider. To his relief, the patient was indeed the man in question and had everyone else wait patiently for him. When it was almost time for the check up to finish, the employee who Eric asked earlier went inside the doctor's chamber; perhaps to inform the patient that there were guests who was expecting him.
After few minutes has passed, the same employee went towards the group to inform them that Mr. Snider will be coming to see them.
"It's time." Said Eric, and he and Rebecca stood up to meet him while the others remained seated.
As they stood, appeared a man who came out of the doctor's office. He stood very tall with pale skin, a pair of olive eyes, smooth blond hairs, and he wore a beige-colored trench coat. The man had distinguishing features but he looked really handsome nevertheless. He looked at the two teenagers that stood before him, eyeing them rather curiously.
"Good afternoon." He said with a deep voice with a hint of German accents. "As you have already have guessed, I am Neil Snider. I was told by the nurse that I had an unexpected visitor, I now see that I do indeed."
"Yes sir." Rebecca said and approached him to shake his hand. "We are terribly sorry to bother you despite how busy you are considering your schedules with your appointments and all."
"Indeed you are." Snider said. "And I wish to speak to you about that. I don't recall myself ever sharing my personal itinerary with anyone else, so how did you know about it and used such info to locate me, hmm?"
Rebecca swallowed hard, unable to believe that she have just spilled the beans that could get them in trouble.
"You seem distraught." He said. "Do not worry though, you aren't in trouble or anything, I just simply wish to hear your explanation freely without any deceptions."
Eric approached the man and said, "Forgive us Mr. Snider. We didn't mean any harm but we had to come meet with you under a great urgency, and we had no time to search for you in a more privileged manner. To be honest, we had to hack into your server to learn of your schedule. We'll pay the price for such deeds, but we only ask that you agree that you grant an audience with us long enough for you to aid us."
Snider looked at Eric as if he was inspecting him. He showed no sign of anger, rather he seemed more calm and understanding by Eric's honesty. Instead of lecturing them he said, "There won't be need for that. Normally I would press charges for such deeds, but since you're young and you meant no harm I won't council you about it, do be careful in the future though."
"Yes sir." Eric replied.
"Now then." Snider began. "If you have reviewed my personal schedules, then you know that I am a busy man, so I ask that you make this meeting as brief and short."
Eric and Rebecca nodded and looked at the others sitting behind them, signaling them to face the man. Snider didn't seem surprised by the number of youths he was seeing before him now. It was only when he caught sight of Amy it was then he began to behave differently. He eyed her closely and began to speak.
"Amy?" He said. "Is that you?"
The five of them were puzzled and dumbfounded when he called Amy. Amy herself felt confused by his sudden alarm as he addressed her by her name.
"Um," Amy started, baffled. "how do you know my name?"
"Ah, forgive me." Snider approached closer to her. "It's been so long since I've met you, back then you were very young. You may not remember me, but I was an acquaintance of your father. I've visited your family occasionally and I've greeted you as well. I was also there during your birthdays and at the funeral the day your father died."
Amy began to recall her youth when the man before her has ever appeared. She did remember meeting her dad's friends whether to travel and to visiting for holidays. But among them, there was one who seemed a lot closer to her father than anyone else. As she began to think back, she finally remembered who she was facing.
"No way," Amy started. "Uncle Snide? It can't be..."
"Yes, that's right. You called me uncle then. Ever since your dad died, I looked out after your mother and then I came to play with you whenever you needed a fatherly bond."
Amy went and hugged him, unable to believe that she has forgotten the very man who was like a father to her ever since her father was killed. She also couldn't believe that the same man happened to be one of the famous figure among the media. Snider was always there when Amy and her mom needed help, but he once started a business and ever since he began to show himself to them less and less. As she hugged him for very long, she began to attract attention of her comrades who looked at her with weird looks; but she didn't care about all that, she just wanted to rejoice the reunion.
Amy released herself from him and said, "Out of all places, to think we would meet here. How have you spend your time lately?"
"Oh nothing much." Replied the man. "I've only been helping around here and there, building on-screen software, making games, and help manufacturing gadgets for trainers all over the world. I am actually more surprised to see you here of all places." He looked at her, amazed. "My, have you grown after all these years. Amy, you've become so beautiful, like your mother. I only wish that I was there to watch you grow up. I'm sorry that I wasn't there after for so long."
"It's okay." Amy said. "I understand that you are busy. I had to learn to grow up myself so. I'm just glad to see you again."
"Same here." Snider smiled. "So, you started on your pokemon journey at long last. I heard that you would begin someday. I'm glad to see that you are doing well. How long since you departed?"
"It's been three days." Amy answered.
"My word! And I'm wondering how strong you've become after the hardships you've faced along those days. Perhaps you can demonstrate when you got the time." He looked at her comrades and observed them. "And I see that you decided to go with several fine-looking companions. With them to watch your back, you have nothing to worry about, you'll do great in your adventures."
"Thank you uncle Snide." Amy responded.
"My god." Rebecca suddenly said. "To think Amy was acquainted with the Neil Snider. This must be a chance to show how grateful we are to meet him like this."
"Ah yes." Snider faced her and said, "you mentioned that you needed an audience with me. Since you are all Amy's friend, perhaps I may be able to assist you by bending my schedules for her sake. Let us talk at my work place, the DGi industries."
Eric faced the man and said, "Thank you for your generosity."
"The pleasure's mine."
On their way to their destination, Amy began reciting her past involving Snider to her companions, including how he and her father became friends and how he treated her and her mom well in her deceased father's stead. Amy also told Snider about how her she's been doing so far on their adventure, recounting the hardships they had to face on their way and even the encounter with the Pandoras. After listening to their stories, Snider complimented Amy of how much Amy had accomplished since, which made her blush. When they reached a road, Snider showed them his vehicle, which was parked by the sidewalk. The car looked fancy with its blue-stripes and a ginger-coatings. It was a brand new model called siesta.
"That's your car?" Ingrid asked, admiring its designs and looks.
"Would you like a ride?" He asked. "My work station is quite far so I drive there every day."
"We will be glad to ride with you, thanks!" Amy said.
And one by one, they all managed to fit inside the car. Heather had to sit on Ingrid's laps due to the lack of seats, though she never complained about it. When all the seats were counted for, they buckled up and Snider ran the gas pedal. The Car proved to have a great horsepower as its engine ran smoothly and traveled with descent speed towards the approaching highway. While driving, Snider and the trainers decided to chat.
"By the way," Amy, who was sitting next to the driver started. "why did you had an appointment with an optometrist?"
"Well," Snider responded firmly. "lately I've been working overnight in front of my computer monitors, not to mention my eyes constantly exposed to the gamma flares from the software I'm building. It was slowly effecting my retinas, so I had to have the eye doctor check up on it to make sure my eyes won't receive any collateral damages. After all, I need my eyes to see and I need to see to work, so I must maintain its usefulness. I've received recommendations by taking daily vitamin A which is commonly found in carrots, so I been taking medications with carrot juices. So far, it's a working progress."
"Gamma flares?" Rebecca said suddenly. "You are using gamma flares to design a software? Aren't they risky?"
"Yes they are." Informed Snider. "But professional programmers can adept to the dangers and with the right tools, we could literally use them to create anything that's beyond any other virtual autopsy. It took me nearly 20 years to completely understand the nature of the potency of the gammas, but with the right training, I've been able to finally work on a project which none others have had the power to do."
"What was the project?" Asked Eric, sounding impressed.
"Virtual Realm." Snider said with joyful expression. "It is a project for creating a separate dimension for pokemons to be living in."
Amy wondered the purpose and asked, "Why would we want to live with the pokemons separately?"
"Man struggled to create resources for the sake of pokemons' influences, but doing so could cause great damage to mankind. Earth may have unlimited fuels now, but eventually the world would suffer from overpopulation by both humans and pokemons. There are people who considers the existence of the pokemons a threat because of this, but extinguishing the pokemons could also cause harm on our own kind. Therefore, scientists all over the world tried to find the way for two species to coexist without harming one another."
"But humans and pokemons already coexists." Rebecca stated. "It's been like that without any harms done by far."
"Has it?" Snider said. "You may not be aware of this, but nations worldwide had to fund global technologies just to help the pokemons reconcile with people all over the world. The foods they eat, the damages they cause; all centers around one of the greatest problems that could do more damage than good. People tried to tolerate their existence, and things might be alright with them around; but the question is: how long?"
The car they were riding have now exited the highway and is now traveling along the coastal passage. At 20 mph, the car is now traveling at the tunnel, which lies under a pacific scaffolding.
"The government has paid over 500 billion pokecashes in order to fund factories to build pokeballs and all other useful techs to help trainers train their pokemons, and the amounts they pay for the markets to sell them costs twice as much. They also must fund for battlefields so that they could allow trainers to battle along with them. But how many times has pokemon battles greatly effect the environments? How many more money would the government waste just to fix and restore whatever they destroyed from their powers? Many conservatives argue that it is waste of effort, time, money, and spaces. The world could be a better place if the government focused mainly on the causes that could benefit the people more than benefit both the people and the pokemons; and they may be right."
Amy listened to the argument, and could not imagine how some people could actually think that the world would be better off without pokemons. She always adored pokemons when she was little, so was never accustomed to the idea of severing the ties among humans and pokemons. "Those people can't seriously believe that the world could become a better place by severing the pokemons from our lives. Sure they may have caused several destructions in the following years, but they were also there to help us whenever we needed them. Pokemons helped build buildings, harvesting farms, and even produce foods we eat."
"Believe me Amy, there were those who argued upon those debates." Snider said, while concentrating on driving. "Unfortunately, there are always counterarguments that could support the contrary and contradict the supporters' thesis. Politics, are never to be relied upon when it comes to dealing societies."
"So this Virtual Realm," Eric began. "does it allow pokemons to strive without having to cause any unnecessary damages in the surface of the real world?"
"You figured it out that much, huh?" Snider said, staring at Eric through the rear-view mirror. "Yes, we've been working on this artificial realm so that we can nurture pokemons without needing to waste actual resources within our reality. Why waste money on manufacturing products for pokemons when we could be using them for the greater goods? If pokemons are treated much as the humans, then eventually the pokemons could become the dominant race. This project could actually save more lives than we could by letting the pokemons breed until there's not enough resources left to support both kinds of species. But what if the pokemons were to live in a seperate realm without causing such possible damages? Thus the virtual reality was designed."
"How does it work?" Rebecca asked with apparent curiosity.
"Rather than explaining, I think it's easier to just simply show it to you. We are almost there." Snider made a turn on the right with his car and at that turn, they were able to get a great view of the grand building that stood before them.
The building looked like it was over 90 stories tall, built with augmented platinum mixed with triangular glass windows, and the building itself was shaped like a pixelated pillar that got tilted on the side but it was being stood still thanks to a smaller pillar that prevented it from falling entirely. At the top of the building stood a gigantic sphere with a copper-brass ring that orbited around it. And just beneath the ring hung three letter made from plasma circuits, which spelled DGi. Snider drove past a security booth and drove the car towards the entry way that was big enough to fit a car. The steel door oped upward and Snider drove the car right in. As the entire car made it in, there was an abrupt silence.
"Um, what now?" Asked Amy.
"Just hang on." Snider took out a device that was hanging on his wrist like a watch and pressed several buttons on it. Once he finished typing, their surrounding suddenly vibrated. The group hanged on to their seats as they felt the unpleasant shake around them. Then the shaking calmed down into a much more soothing vibration, as if they were going up.
"Wha...what was that?" Amy asked, looking confused.
"Ha ha, not to worry." Snider caught Amy's attention, looking calmer than ever. "We are simply going up on an elevator, designed for cars. Do not worry, we are perfectly safe, the shaft is sturdy enough to hold the weight of this vehicle, so we aren't going to fall or anything. Soon, we'll reach the point where there will be a visible view of the outdoor after we go few more feet above. Enjoy the view."
After going upward few more feet, he group had to stare in awe as they were able to look outside. They were all amazed by how great the view was from their current perspective. The entire city was large, very large. Kasantra was probably the biggest city built in existence. The sight was so great that they never took their eyes away from the view. It was until Snider called them that they stopped looking.
"We are almost here by the way." Said Snider. "Welcome to the DGi central."
After the long time has passed in the elevator, the shaft door finally opened to the 67th floor. The car entered the vicinity with ease, and managed to pass through bunch of contraptions that were creating sparks all over behind the bulletproof glass. It appeared that they were functioning for something greater. Amy and the others looked outside with amazement, they have never seen anything like them.
"Surprised?" Snider said. "Well these are just the tip of the iceberg, there is something much more bigger right above it. We are only passing through a passage that connects to the upper parking lot designed for employees only."
The car was now driving at the upper slopes for cars to travel from floor to floors. Soon they reached a private parking space. Snider activated an automatic parking gear so that the car could park facing forward on its own. After the car finished parking, they all got off it.
"Wow, a car that can parks on its own." Rebecca inspected the car in amazement. "I didn't think technologies have evolved so much."
"Oh that's only the half of the surprise." Snider said with a smile. "This car runs on electricity, rather than the usual fossil fuels. I can even switch to solar power whenever I wish to."
Rebecca beamed at the advancement and the modifications car companies thought of these days.
"Anyway, on with the tour." Snider pointed his arm towards their destination, the DGi headquarters.
As they entered the facility, the surroundings felt dark and futuristic; thankfully the lights within the computers here made things easy to see. As they ventured into the room, they soon drew their attentions to the large machine that stood beneath them. Under the glass floor there was a computer running, it sparked bunch of electricities as it functioned and it was running without resting. It was functioning all over the room and then it was being connected with smaller computers right above it. The computers here were also big, the monitors were wide and flat and they were all running some kind of programs that looked hard to decipher.
"Wow." The trainers looked around, unable to grasp their futuristic surroundings.
"Amazing isn't it?" Snider said, he then gestured to the giant computer below. "Kids, allow me to introduce you to VET. A Virtual Emulation Terminal. This is what we use to create the virtual realm. It took us 20 years to gather the money needed to create this monster. I am rather proud to be able to work with it for so long."
No computer on earth could look just as spectacular as the one functioning beneath them. The machine emitted fragments of neon light in multiple colors. As they looked closer, they realize that the machine is actually a giant citadel connected all the way down through the structure beneath. There were multiple machine arms equipped with metallic crane finger, placing some glowing cylinders inside another machine that appears to be a power storage. The glowing cylinder appeared to be some type of a power source, like an unusual battery. It appears that they made the machine keep running, operating to do who knows what.
After surfacing around the computer more, they reach to the point where it produce gamma rays on another unusual machine. A giant monitor that laid flat and facing upward. The lasers landed on the screen and formed multiple data which began spreading towards the computers above. There were programmers who were engineering with hands from there. There appeared to be about thousands of workers who seem to be working on the same Virtual Realm project. Whatever they were doing, they were effecting the giant terminal that stood at the upper deck, where another great machine stood. A central computer surrounded by more monitors displaying visuals of what appears to be a meadow. All monitor showed this meadow, but each in different perspective.
"Is that-" Eric gestured at the machine before them. The rest of them took a look at it themselves and were just as stunned as he was.
Snider walked towards the great machine, feeling proud. "Yep, you guessed it. This is our greatest achievement by far. Behold, this is Virtual realm which we've been working on. It looks poise, doesn't it?"
They all got closer to the machine, but kept themselves within safe distance so that they would avoid damaging it by any sorts of contact. Rebecca started inspecting the machine as she rotated herself around the device.
"Wow," She said. "how did you make this thing work?"
"Quite simple really." Snider pointed at the generator below the machine "See those cranes beneath us? They are picking off the cylindrods harvested by the magnetic grinder attached to this building. The cylindrods are particle energy storage units that contains enough electricity to power up an entire building. We use those to fuel the computer beneath us. As you can see, the VET is producing the Gamma rays needed to create the virtual Realm. It reads the information off from our satellite which we used to gather much needed information about our ecosystems and then have the computer replicate it in the micro-processor space. This is actually the same technology used to test battling emulations, the DGi built the prototypes and then shared them throughout all other major cities. But those are only the part A of this project, more many years we've been trying to accomplish part B."
"Then what is part B?" asked Ingrid.
"Part B is, rather than making the virtual realm a mere hologram, we are trying to configure them like materials in the real world. Yes, what we are trying to accomplish is the creation of a second reality. A virtual realm that's meant for pokemons and only for pokemons."
The group were astounded. They all thought how this could change their world. Pokemons could live in this realm like they've always did in the real world, only that the resources that they drain wouldn't need to be made by hand, but rather by computers. This would definitely keep the world from being endangered by the pokemons and perhaps keep the world from overpopulation. While the girls were feeling leased about the whole idea, Eric on the other hand, felt stymied about it.
"The project of creation." Eric began. "What you are actually trying to achieve here is to imitate an act of God. Do you really think you can actually create a flawless dimension?"
"Ahh Eric," Snider said. "I sense a doubt in you that makes you uneasy about what we are doing here. And you have utmost absolute right to feel that way. But do not worry, we've been taking great precautions while working on this project. The project itself may seem complex due to the large amount of data needed to engineer this dimension. But I assure you that it isn't that complicated, and I'll explain why." Snider began pacing around the room. "I'm sure that none of you have heard this, but do any of you kids know of the term 'Synthetic Matter'?"
No one seemed to be familiar with it, but contrary to what Amy had expected, Eric was the one who answered. "They are matters that resides within pokemons."
Snider seemed just as puzzled as the others were. Synthetic Matter was a knowledge only a handful of scientists could ever know about. Not only that but the idea wasn't supposed to be established to anyone younger than college students. If anyone younger hold the knowledge of them, they would have to be considered a mad genius. Snider remained silent for a while and replied, "Why yes, you are correct. How did you know? Far as I'm concerned, only college boys are ever taught about them, not even more than 70% of the workers here even know about such thing."
"You may be surprised." Eric said. "Let's just say that I've had an astonishing tutor."
Snider paused and then continued. "Well then, in any case you are correct. Synthetic matters are basically what ordinary matters are to us, humans in general. What makes them different is how they are functioned within our world. Scientists have studied these matters ever since someone discovered them many years ago."
"Who discovered it?" Amy asked.
"You kids heard of the Earlhearts? One of the two noble families who endorsed this city to fund the city's railing system?"
They all nodded.
"Well, they also had a brilliant mind within the family." Snider pointed out. "One of the younger member of the Earlheart family names, a little boy who was 7 at the time, have precariously discovered what functioned the pokemons. The little genius used old-fashioned microscopes added with extra micro magnifying glass to actually find what appeared to be a atom nucleus inside a random pokemon, only that the atom had different properties compared to the atoms within ordinary materials. Thus, the Synthetic Matters were discovered, we later decided to call them Synformula. Ever since the discovery was made, biologist all around the world wanted to study these matters. As it turns out, these are what made pokemons exist differently in our world. Synformulas, they are the reason why pokemons could be disintegrated into microscopic atoms stored inside a pokeball. This is also why pokemons can be stored in PC and why their view of our world are different than ours. Even their senses are more unique. Some say that the powers that the pokemons produce, such as when they use powerful attack moves like Flamethrower and Thunderbolt, are also created by the synformulas. It was thanks to this that we were able to make pokemon journey a lot easier. It also allowed us to inspire us to utilize the Virtual Realm project. Yes, we managed to harness some of the synformulas from the materials made by the pokemons such as loose feathers and hairs, in order to create them realm. We have added them into the machine and ever since then, the VET began replicating them into the machine you see before you. See the monitors that display such wonderful looking meadow? That may look real, but it's actually artificially made by VET. As for making them real like the materials in our original world, we are actually still working on it. But it's a working progress, so far we managed to put few pokemons inside the realm without any harm."
Rebecca watched how the computer functioned, while at the same time it displayed the virtual realm before them. "So let me get this straight, you are trying to recreate the synformulas and manipulate them so that you can use them to create this virtual realm; and then you guys managed to gather this much matters to make a simple field; and then eventually allow the pokemons to dwell within this dimension created by the same materials that actually created the pokemons in the first place?"
"Precisely!" Snider said. "I see that you are catching up really well with all this. I'm sure you'd make an excellent addition to our facility. We could teach you a thing or two while you help us work. With extra hands, we might be able to complete this project sooner than we would be able to in our current pace."
Rebecca was honored by being invited to work with one of the brilliant minds gathered in one building. Although she was more than willing to, Rebecca knew she was still inexperienced, and also that she had a task at hand to fight against the Pandoras. "Thank you for the offer but...as honorable it would be to work with you, I lack the experience enough to be working in a big project such as this. Also, I want to continue traveling with my comrades here so-"
"I understand." Snider said. "I won't force you into joining. Perhaps once you have proper training then you should come and take our offer. Just remember that we will welcome anybody with great minds such as you. If I may ask, are you by chance related to another famous researcher?"
"Why yes!" Replied Rebecca. "I'm professor Mapelar's daughter. I've been working with him ever since I learned to read."
"Oh my, is that true?" Snider said. "Remarkable, to think I would meet someone related to such a well known figure. I should tell you that Professor Mapelar was one of the brilliant peoples who I've invited to help create the Virtual Realm, but he was among the few who refused, saying that he had other things to be doing. You really are his daughter, to be refusing one of the greatest opportunity you could ever had." Snider then faced Eric. "How about you young man? You might also be qualified to work here? Want to give it a shot?"
"Thank you for offering, but no." Eric instantly replied. "I wish to focus on the adventure of ours. I may think about it afterwards."
"Well then, I won't force you then." Snider turned to face the machinery that was functioning the VET. The others looked at them as well, impressed by how it continuously serves its purpose without resting.
Rebecca stared at the machine and was wondering, "Say, how do this thing able to keep going without a break? Far as I know, most devices requires a brief cooling period before running themselves, so how-"
"How do they function endlessly?" Snider smiled. "Simple really, this entire facility is actually connected with the power nodule that is linked with the electricity power supply which is actually the Kasantra's power plant 40 miles from here. As long as the citadel is ceaselessly connected to the nodules, it will keep going. However, the power needed to activate VET requires even greater supply of powers, so I've developed the cylandrods. Each cylandrods can power-up the computers in this building long enough to run full-time scales, which means that it can run more than a day. VET however, requires a lot more powers to run, even more than what the cylandrods could offer, therefore I've placed even larger power units at the core of the citadel. It is capable of running for an entire year, that is the standard requirement for running this building, in other words the whole building can function as long as VET does."
"Standard requirement?" Asked Eric.
"Of course." Snider said, facing Eric. "Think about it, a train's admirable capability depends on how much cargo carts it can carry. But no matter how long it gets, the train won't be useful without a working locomotive. In this case, VET's operation will always benefit our business, as long as it can function 24/7."
After Snider's brief presentation, a young figure came from the upper deck above them. A woman who wore a lab coat with blue blouse on her top and a black skirt with stockings below. She had peach skin with long blonde hairs and wore a pair of glasses. The woman approached them while carrying a notepad, her smile radiated her natural beauty.
"Ah, right on time." Snider faced the woman. "Kids, I like you to meet Ms. Zoe Kr'Sid, a brilliant physicist who is also working on the Virtual Realm project. She's a valuable asset within this operation."
"Pleased to meet you all." Said Zoe, her voice was euphonious and had a hint of British accent. "When I first saw you kids, I thought it was some kind of a field trip from school. But it turns out that there are some children who would want to come experience our works on their own will, instead of mandatory notices from the school. I am glad to meet kids such as all of you."
Each of them gave their own greetings in return.
"Now I suppose that you are all curious about this project and is willing to see the processes we've made with your own eyes." Zoe said.
"You've made a certain device of teleportation to enter this dimension?" Rebecca asked.
"Why yes!" Zoe said. "We've been working on the prototype for the pokemons to transfer into the Virtual Realm, the device is no different from what you kids use for using PC pokemon storage. You simply place a pokeball with a pokemon inside on the capsult and then wait for it to disintegrate into multibillion fragment of nano cellular isotopes, and then reintegrate inside the dimension. With the monitors on the machine, we can actually see what your pokemon is doing in it, and then communicate with it through the separate computer. With them, we can easily manipulate the contents within the artificial world, we can control weathers, we can summon foods for them to eat, we can pretty much do anything from here. Impressive isn't it?"
"Very." Amy replied. "But are you sure that it's safe?"
"Absolutely." Zoe assured. "We have put it into test by putting several pokemons inside. Although there are still more bugs to fix and we are still working on some other technical fluctuation within the program, but the dimension should be accessible. If you want, we can test it once more with one of your pokemons as well. That is, if Mr. Snider allows us to."
"Why of course." Snider said. "Normally I wouldn't let unauthorized personals inside our machine, but since you are all Amy's friends, I would allow it this time. Now Amy, would you want to give it a try?"
"Well, I'm not so sure." Amy pried. "This looks magnificent for sure but...I think I would let someone else go before putting my pokemons inside. I'm kind of scared to try it."
"Can I try go first then?" Everyone looked at the person who volunteered, surprised to hear that it was Heather. She took out one of her pokeballs and walked forward. "One of my pokemons is willing to try. He told me from inside his pokeball."
Snider looked at her with puzzled looks. "Your pokemon told you? What do you mean?"
Eric faced him and said, "It's a long story, we might tell you about it when we have time later."
"Well alright. Anyway, if you wish to try," Snider sidled out of Heather's way towards the Main machine. "by all means, feel free to use the machine over there. Place your pokeball inside the glass capsule and we'll do the rest. Follow me, I'll show you how it's done."
Before Heather could follow him, Ingrid placed her hand on her shoulder and kept her in place. "Heather, are you sure about this?"
"I don't." Replied Heather. "But my Larvitar is confident enough to try it out. I am reluctant but, I don't want to upset it by holding it back. Besides, these programmers seems trustworthy, I think they could help out with whatever goes wrong."
Ingrid seemed hesitant, but decided to trust her. "Alright then, give it a try. I'll put my faith in you."
"Thank you." Heather said.
The trainers made their way to the terminal where Snider and Zoe was already standing at. Heather approached the glass capsule by the machine and carefully placed her pokeball inside. Afterwards, Zoe typed on a nearest keyboard and made the pokeball inside the glass dome glow into a bright light and then dematerialized into the tube-like device on top of it. The computer then began scanning the components inside the disintegrated pokeball and displayed a silhouette picture of a Larvitar. It also displayed its stats, size, type, and all other personal info regarding the pokemon. After the analysis was complete, the bigger monitor above the terminal was brought to life and began displaying what was going on within the dimension inside. Heather, who was concerned about what was going on, watched the screen to see if her pokemon managed to enter without harm. After a while, something began to appear at the top of the screen. Accurately put, it was actually appearing on airborne at the virtual realm. Something was about to rematerialize into the dimension, a shape was beginning to form and then create a recognizable organism out of thin air. It was Heather's Larvitar, and after it got materialized completely, it soon landed on the ground beneath it and it landed on its rear end. The pokemon slowly got up on its feet, unable to grasp what has happened.
"Oh look!" Zoe said, pointing on the screen. "There's your pokemon! It managed to get in!"
"Ah!" Heather was looking pleased that her pokemon was alright after the unusual trip it just had. She pressed herself to the monitor, hoping to make contact with it. "Can I communicate with it?"
"Sure." Snider said, walking towards the computer that Zoe used to transfer the Larvitar inside the dimension. He then grabbed what it looks like a headphone. "You can talk to it through this mic, and it will hear you. You can also listen to its response through it, therefore you can freely communicate with it just as you could in the real world. Give it a try."
Snider offered the device and Heather took it and placed it around her ears. She then faced the screen to see her pokemon, which was still looking around the unfamiliar surroundings.
"Larvitar, can you hear me?" Heather spoke through the receiver on the headphone.
"Lar?" The pokemon seemed to have heard her voice, judging by its reaction to her call. "Larva larva?"
"Don't worry," Heather said to it. "you are merely inside a world designed by the programmers here. How is it?"
"Larve..." The Larvitar touched the soft grassy ground beneath its feet. It felt confused by how the nature in this place resembled the natural substance of the real world.
"Looks legit, right?" Heather said.
"Wow, Heather's Larvitar is actually doing well inside." Rebecca said.
Eric faced Zoe and said, "You mentioned that there were still bugs that needed to be fixed. Are they internal or external, and is it harmless?"
"The bugs are internal but don't worry." Zoe assured. "They are aren't harmful to the pokemons that enters the virtual realm. They are minor hindrances really. The bugs only involve with certain programs that sometimes ignore the given command typed on the computers. Although, just to be safe, I think we should avoid using any commands that can cause a glitch to the system, that might actually be dangerous."
"How long do you think that you could get the system to function without any flaws?" Eric asked.
It was Snider that answered. "It takes a full year for programmers to create a flawless servers, and an year longer for them to fully comprehend the programs they inserted. In order to remove any certain bugs that could damage the mainframe, they must look into the system manually. Even for professionals, that takes many months. As of now, we haven't perfected the dimension, but we've done good enough for it to be released for demo. What little miss is doing now is actually emulating that demo."
The trainers have watched the screen with the Larvitar. The pokemon tried digging the ground, picking up random rocks, and even running around the place. Everything looked and felt like the actual world.
"Here, watch this." Snider typed another command on the computer, and caused a reaction to the dimension. The part of the ground where the Larvitar dug began regenerating back to its original shapes; it was as if the pokemon never dug there to begin with.
"Wow." Amy was amazed by how simple it was for them to manipulate the dimension.
"With technology like this, we can raise the pokemons and even breed them a lot easier than before." Snider said. "This could change the world, yes, people do not have to fear the pokemons taking our resources or even cause any actual damages in the real world. Any day now."
"What about battles?" Amy turned to him. "Can actual battles be done in this realm too?"
"Of course!" Snider said. "With this, we won't even have to waste a lot of money to create a large stadium to contain the battling. There won't be any concerns for damages done on it either, that way we won't have to pay the repairman every time we need the battlefield to get fixed from the aftermath of the pokemon battle. With this regenerating mechanic programmed to this realm, it would make battling more convenient, not to mention that it will save a lot of money. Want to see how that can be done?"
They nodded.
"Okay then, I will be inserting a random pokemon inside the system and spawn it into it." He looked at Heather. "Your pokemon will be expecting a guest within the territory. The question would be whether it will be friendly or hostile."
After a while, the Larvitar began to notice something coming in the similar way of how it also got spawned into the realm. When it got summoned and landed on the ground, the Larvitar saw that what got summoned was three times its size and it was facing it with ill intention.
"Don!" Cried the pokemon.
Amy pointed at the screen, looking at the pokemon. "Is that thing also real?"
"Looks real right?" Snider said. "It's not though. Like creating the surroundings that resembles our world with the use of synformulas, we are also able to use them to create artificially created pokemons that replicates the real ones. We can also program their nature if we wanted to."
"If this realm was meant to put real pokemons in, that what's the point of being able to artificially create one as well?" Ingrid asked.
"For practice mostly." Zoe said. "Sometimes before an actual battle, we can have the pokemons warm up by fighting unreal opponents. We also use them to test their behaviors. To see how pokemons react to certain pokemons with opposite natures, and also to fill in pokemons that we can't procure. Since they aren't real however, we can also manipulate their behaviors and customize their stats and moves. We can also eliminate them if necessary."
"Let's see how your pokemon fares against the Donphan we just summoned." Snider had everyone look at the monitor, consisting the Larvitar up against the Donphan. "Okay Heather, you can use the headphone to command your pokemon for battle as if you are doing it in real life. Don't worry about the harm done, we can always fix it through the computer if we need to."
Heather nodded and faced the screen with her pokemon on it. She placed the mic closer to her mouth before deciding on its action.
The Donphan made the first move, and it started off by rolling itself and charge towards its target. It then tumbled itself for Rollout.
"Dig out of its way Larvitar!" Cried Heather.
"Larva!" The Larvitar burrowed beneath the ground and managed to hide from the rolling pokemon's attack.
After evading the Rollout attack, the Larvitar got itself out of the ground. But the Donphan wasn't finished with its attack, and it started going around to roll towards its target again.
"Not good," Rebecca said. "Rollout is a consecutive attacking move, it's gonna keep rolling until the pokemon tires itself. Her Larvitar's going to have to keep dodging it if it's going to want to avoid getting hit at all."
"Try stopping it with your own strategy Heather." Ingrid advised.
"Alright," Heather faced her pokemon to command it. "Use Bulldoze!"
"Larv!" The little pokemon started pounding the ground with its own weight, and created a shockwave within the ground. The wave traveled towards the rolling Donphan and managed to knock it off, preventing it from rolling anymore.
"Don!" The pokemon felt enraged, and began covering its tusk with sudden frost. With its icicle tooth, the pokemon began charging itself to Larvitar with hyper speed and then landed a hit on it. The Larvitar got knocked back in great distance, feeling a cold pain hitting its gut.
"Ouch." Amy said. "What was that?"
"Ice Shard." Eric answered. "A direct attack that allows the user to hit with great speed; a first turn priority move as people call it. A kind of move that can be useful for slow pokemons, it makes them nimble on certain case."
"Ice attacks can be harmful to Larvitar since it's partially a ground-type pokemon." Rebecca informed. "Watch out Heather."
"Okay." Replied Heather. "Larvitar, use Rock Slide!"
"Larva!" The Larvitar spun itself in midair, summoning bunch of rocks out of itself and sending them above. Then they later began falling towards the Donphan, causing descent damages on it. The pokemon however, managed to take the attack really well, as it the attack didn't cause much harm on it."
"You might also want to avoid using any rock attacks." Rebecca said. "Donphan is a pure ground type pokemon, so it is resistant to rock-type moves."
The Donphan began to initiate its retaliation. It coiled itself into a ball and then covered itself with iron coatings. It stood still for a while, but it then started charging itself, acting steadfast with a hard hitting attack. The move landed on the Larvitar, causing massive damage on it.
"Lar..." The Larvitar could barely stand.
"What was that?" Amy asked.
"That was Gyro Ball." Rebecca replied. "A move that can be devestating if used by a slow pokemon against a fast pokemon."
"But Larvitar isn't fast either," said Amy. "is it?"
"You're right." Eric said. "But Since Gyro Ball is a Steel-type attack, and a rock-type like Larvitar is weak to Steel-type moves, so it can still deal great damage on it."
"Hang in there Larvitar!" Heather cried at it through her mic. Her plead allowed her pokemon to get back on its feet. "Now use Bulldoze on it again!"
"Larva!" The Larvitar pounded the ground again and send another shockwave traveling through the ground. The wave charged right towards the Donphan and the move managed to land on it. The heavyweight pokemon got knocked on its back, forcing it to struggle helplessly.
"Ah right!" Amy cried. "Heather is doing great so far. She'll win in no time!"
"Don't be so sure." Said Eric.
"Huh?" Amy looked at him in confusion.
"Donphan may be slow, but it's very bulky. Also, the fact that it's slow can be more of a bad news than good. Especially this one since it knows Gyro Ball. The move Bulldoze also makes it even slower."
"And why is that bad?" Asked Amy. She wondered since in most battles, pokemons with higher speed had great advantages when fighting.
"Slower the pokemon, the stronger the move Gyro Ball becomes."
The Donphan started curling up again and started spinning itself to initiate its Rollout attack once more. It then charged itself towards the Larvitar in fast motion.
"Larvatar! Dig underground!" Heather cried.
"Lar!" The Larvitar quickly burrowed itself as fast as it could before the rolling pokemon could squish it with its large, curled up body.
After it evaded, the Donphan continued its rampage. Larvitar tried to stay underground but the shaking caused by the Donphan's rolling made the ground vibrate so much that it became unpleasant to stay there any longer. After the Donphan finished its rampage, it then leaped upward and then pounded hard into the ground, causing it to shake very much. Larvitar was then forced out of its hiding spot and received great damage from the massive attack.
"Whoa." Amy spoke quietly. "Don't tell me that move was-"
"Yes." Replied Eric. "Earthquake."
The Larvitar finally landed back to the ground, struggling to keep itself up on its feet due to all the pains it received.
"Wow." Rebecca said. "I'm amazed that her Larvitar managed to take so much damage and yet remain standing. Not many young pokemons could survive for so long."
"Larvitar..." Heather was mourning for her pokemon, who was in a lot of pain. She was wondering if making the virtual realm realistic was actually more bad than good, seeing how much artificial programming could inflict pain on the real pokemons. Heather did not give up however. She still had faith in her pokemon, despite the hardship it was facing now. "Don't worry Larvitar, I still believe that you can win. Now use Sandstorm!"
"Larva!" Larvitar started spinning itself to create dust of sands coming out of the spinning vortex caused by Larvitar's continuous spins. After a while, the sandstorm broke loose, covering the entire battlefield.
"Uh, Heather?" Ingrid said. "I don't think causing a Sandstorm would make any difference. Donphan's a ground-type so it wouldn't cause additional damage on it."
Heather looked at Ingrid at her eyes and spoke with confidence. "Yes it will."
Ingrid was about to ask when things were about to happen within the dimension.
The Donphan began to make its move by using Rollout once more. It rolled around the field like mad, hoping that it could hit its target under its rampage. To its surprise however, among all the times it rolled, it hasn't even landed a hit on the Larvitar, not even once. Somehow, Larvitar was able to avoid all its attacks. The Donphan got back on its feet to figure out what went wrong. It then tried to look through the sandstorm, unable to see clearly. Though it did see a blur image of the Larvitar, it soon vanished.
"What just happened?" Amy asked. "The Larvitar, it's like it's able to move around freely under the sandstorm."
"I think I know." Eric came up towards the screen to see clearly. "Heather's Larvitar must have the Sand Veil ability. With it, its evasion rate increases during the sandstorm. Strange thing is, it's not normal for it to have that ability. Her Larvitar is indeed unique."
Hearing this, they all saw that Heather now had the upper hand with her pokemon. She grasped the advantage and then made her next move.
"Larvitar! Shake the ground with Bulldoze!" Heather cried out.
"Larva!" Upong hearing her through the mic, Larvitar began pounding the ground. Within Donphan's perspective, the ground shook spasmodically, and it suddenly lost its balance. The Donphan was then brought down on its knees.
"Don!" The Donphan, which realized it was now at disadvantage, decided to attack at random again. It started by using Gyro Ball, hoping to hit its target this time.
It's body started entering the field of sanstorm. Just as it reached the center, Heather cried, "Now Dig attack!"
Right when the Donphan's body hovered on air, Larvitar leaped out of the ground from right underneath it, hitting the pokemon with its hard head. Somehow, Larvitar was able to hit the Donpahn hard enough to knock it off of its hardened form and break its iron coating and shattering the metallic cover into many pieces. Donphan regained its stance but was in critical condition. Larvitar was also tired, but its fighting spirit never cleared away.
"Now finish it off with Rock Slide!" Heather commanded.
"Larr!" Larvitar summoned more rock fragments from its spinning body and had them land on the Donphan. The move should have dealt great damages to it, but since it was already in bad shape, the attack contained enough power to silence it for good.
After the falling rocks receded as did the Sandstorm clearing away, the Donphan was now unable to battle. Within its defeat, the pokemon dematerialized and then vanished into thin air. Larvitar stood victorious under the artificial sun.
"You did it Larvitar!" Heather cried at it with joy, unable to believe that she herself allowed it to pull it through.
"Lar..." Just then, the pokemon began to glow intensively. They all recognized this process as process of evolution. Larvitar began to change its shape into its new form. Heather was anxious to see her pokemon in its improved form, she wanted it back.
"Can I have my pokemon back?" Heather asked.
"Of course." Zoe responded. "Initiating recovery engine."
Zoe typed a returning program and disintegrated the pokemon back during its evolutionary process. Once it vanished off the dimension and its pokeball returned to the glass capsule, Heather approached the device and retrieved her pokeball. She then summoned her pokemon out of it right away. Once it got out, it was no longer a Larvitar, the pokemon taht used to be green was now grey-colored, and it looked more like a cocoon than what it used to look like.
"Pupae!" Cried the pokemon.
"Oh my." Zoe said. "This is the first time that a pokemon evolved within the virtual realm. Congratulation on being the first." She faced Heather. "I'm impressed that you've managed to pull off that battle well. You have now proven that the virtual realm is operable and suited for battling. You should be proud."
"Thank...thank you..." Heather said, while holding onto her Pupitar.
"Excellent work!" Snider said. "With the data we've received from the battle earlier, we have evidence which we can use to present to the government for their approval for endorsement. We will soon be making virtual realm a reality for the years to come, and I have you children to thank for. I am now glad that I've brought you all here."
"Thanks Uncle Snide!" Amy smiled.
"Well, as my gratitude." Snider said. "How about I help you out in anyway I can now? Just name them and I might be able to help you out."
The group looked at each other, and then remembered why they wanted to meet him in the first place.
"Actually," Rebecca decided to speak for others. "there is something we think you might be able to help us out with. It's the reason we tried to locate you today. Can you help us?"
"Well," Snider said. "how about we talk business then. I can take you kids somewhere where we can chat within a better atmosphere. How's that sound?"
"Thank you for your generosity." Eric said.
"Yours too." Snider then faced Zoe. "Ms. Kr'Sid. Can you take it from here? I wish to show these kids around the city for a while."
"Of course." Said Zoe. "Take your time sir."
"Follow me to my car. We could talk on our way."
The trainers obliged and then they all headed out of the laboratory.
Inside Snider's car, the group explained their situations involving the Pandoras and their need to access the train out of town. Eric had everyone caution not to mention their destination since Pandora spied might be hearing them. After listening to their story, Snider though hard for a while, and then he came up with a conclusion. They ended up finishing their discussion at the Kasantra district park.
"You kids are on a mission to fight against the Pandoras," Snider said. "you have already challenged them, and they are currently pursuing you. So you wish to try get get on board the train out of this city as soon as possible. You kids are quite bold, attempting to accomplish a revolution against one of the powerful organization ever lived. I would praise you, but that won't do me any good. Imagine, a famous businessman helping out several young fugitives. That won't do good for my image."
"We are sorry about having to involve you." Amy said apologetically. "But could you help us?"
"Well, I do owe you kids for helping out back at DGi." Snider paused. "You wish to get on board the train, right? And the train is under maintenance so none of them could depart until day after tomorrow. I wonder...where do you kids need to go anyway?"
"Um..." Rebecca hesitated. "we were actually trying to conceal that information, in case the Pandoras might find out."
"You'll have to risk it." Said Snider. "Otherwise I won't be able to recommend which train for you to ride on."
The group looked at each other. After a while, Amy stepped towards Snider to speak. "We are trying to reach Boreal. Do you know which train could take us there?"
"Ahh, Boreal." Said Snider. "I admired that place once. Too bad that it snows there all the time. Perhaps I can help you, yes. The train you want to get on would be the Gamma Express. I will talk to the train managers to see if I can have the train running, hopefully they could arrange one for tomorrow. I doubt they could set one today. In that case you'll need a place to stay for the night." Snider took something out of his trench coat pocket underneath. He then gave Amy what it looks like a business card. "Here."
"What is it?" Amy asked.
"That's the access card for the Kasantra hotel." Snider said. "Present the employers that card there and they will get you a room for you all to sleep in. You should also enjoy the attractions going on in Kasantra. There's all sorts of things you could do here, like going to the Paradise Haven, visiting the museum, and even play at the arcade. I'm sure you'll enjoy your times here before leaving."
"Thank you so much uncle Snide!" Amy went and hugged him.
"Ha ha! You're welcome." Snider responded kindly. "Now how about I give you my contact info, so that I can keep in touch with you. Don't worry, my phone is secured, so the Pandoras won't be able to hack into it."
"That would be great, thanks." Rebecca received Snider's contact dial tone. "And uh...sorry about hacking into your schedule earlier."
"Please, I'm over that already. Besides, if you hadn't done it, we might never have met. Anyway, good luck with your journey, I hope we meet before you depart. I'll call you once the train gets ready."
"We will await for it. Thank you." Eric inclined his head in gratitude.
After their farewells, Snider reached to his car and drove away. They waved good bye to him until he was out of their sight.
"So, what now?" Asked Ingrid. "Should we go find that hotel?"
"Well..." Amy started. "I was hoping we'd enjoy our times around town first. Look!"
Amy pointed at the direction where the whole group started to look at now. When they saw where she was pointing at, all their eyes besides Eric gleamed with joy.
It was the gate to the famous amusement park, 'Paradise Haven.'
"Is that..." Ingrid couldn't find the words to continue.
"C'mon! Let's have some fun! What do you guys think?" Amy asked.
"Hmm, why not?" Rebecca said. "We needed to refresh ourselves from the stress of our recent adventures anyway. This could be the opportunity we need."
"Alright, I'm in." Said Ingrid. "What about you Heather? Want to go?"
Heather nodded. "Sure."
Amy approached Eric. "So Eric. This is what you wanted right? Let's go."
"Hmph, you are so kind in a rude way." Eric said. "Very well, let us entertain ourselves."
"Okay! Let's go!" Amy cheered.
"Ah yes." Ingrid suddenly said. "While we are having fun, I wish to do something."
Before Amy could ask what she meant, Ingrid suddenly approached Eric, making him look at her strangely.
"Ingrid?" Eric said, looking at her. "What is it?"
"Eric, can I ask you for a favor?" She said with a gentle tone.
"With what?" Eric asked.
Ingrid hesitated for a bit and finally got to the point.
"Will you go out with me?"
That was quite long.
Ingrid had suddenly asked something unexpected. How will this story go on? I am eager to find out myself. Anyway I wanted to post this sooner but circumstances wouldn't let me.
Trivia:
There won't be any today. Do not expect me to post trivia on every chapters.
I hope I see you all next time. I'm also interested in what will happen next.