Experiment: 63c2

Codename: Valentine

Recombination: Audino/Chansey

Type: Normal

Status: Missing

Date of Report: March 6th, 20XX

Notes: 63c2 is the most stable recombinant, both physically and emotionally. Designed to be a combat healer, she is equally adept at inflicting the enemy as she is at restoring allies. She will continue to exist long after the other recombinants have all expired.

=·=·=·=·=

Atticus was fast asleep when a metallic roar ripped through the morning tranquility. One of the girls let out a muffled squeal. His eyes flew open as he leaped to his feet. Something in the back of his mind pinged, something too easy about the action, but the thought was fleeting in the face of the massive creature glaring at him with ruby eyes.

The owner of those eyes was a long, snakelike beast with a hide of iron. Its body was partitioned into several boulders, each of which had large, rocky spines jutting out. The massive head seemed to only exist for its strong, wide jaw, lined with massive square teeth.

"A Steelix! I have one of these!"

"Yes, Brock. I know," Ash said.

"But Steelix aren't found in the wild," Brock said as Arden took a tail to the chest. "It must've been abandoned by an ace trainer. That's why it's so angry."

Atticus contemplated the Steelix's anger from a practical, rather than philosophical, standpoint as its tail glanced off him, causing him to stumble. When he moved to confront it, Steelix breathed a stream of indigo dust in his face. He felt his reflexes slow and then stop, a wave of numbness rolling over his body. He snorted a sigh as someone else, probably one of the pranksters, snorted a laugh. Only Glint and Tiamat could laugh in the heat of battle.

"I don't care if it was orphaned by Arceus itself," Mirage muttered, stepping forward with her arms bared. "That's no reason to be a jerk." She glared at Atticus.

"I'm sorry, Mirage! I want to make things up to you, but I don't know what to do…" he tried to say, but since he couldn't move his mouth, it came out sounding like, "I ah e, Ira! I ah ooh, oat o ow ooh uh um uh!" No sell.

Mirage sprang for the Steelix, scoring several good gouges before it turned its attention to her. Atticus was helpless to watch as a rock spike raked horizontally across her face. She cried out and fell to the ground with a long, red scar. It might have ruined her appeal for another man. Atticus was not that man. He was equal parts horrified and turned on, like puberty all over again.

As the Steelix lunged for her, Mirage met his eyes, and as she did so, he realized something. He did care what society thought of him… but maybe he could change what they thought. His eyes began flickering with pink light, the glow intensifying as Atticus's face was consumed with resolve. The boy felt it again, the howling quasar buried deep within his soul, screaming for release. Whether through supernatural power, strength of affection, or sheer force of will, every neuron in his body simultaneously reversed the interference dealt to them. Atticus lurched forward. "No!" Atticus leaped between the beast and her, holding an arm out. "This is a safe place!"

His heart thumped. Once. Twice.

A wall of liquid light erupted from his fingertips, enveloping the Steelix as it charged. Steelix slowed down, coming to a halt as its forehead met his palm. The two monsters exchanged glares. The Ground-type blinked first.

"Sit! Stay! Haha!" Glint yelled.

Atticus drew his hand away and stared at it in disbelief, in wonder. A new move. Just when he'd started to think he was a one-trick pony.

=·=·=·=·=

The day passed quickly, but the travel was slow. The humans were much less robust than the recombinants and had to rest more often. Battles between ace trainers raged in the distance. There was something unsettling about how intense they were, about how seriously they took the contests. It was reminiscent of the way the professors acted. Atticus found it, and his own previous actions, increasingly disturbing with every moment he had for reflection.

Some of the other Deltas were more fascinated than disturbed. Several of them liked to escape the romantic drama of Atticus, Mirage, Arden, and Nina, watching their extant kin duke it out. Galatea and Drasil lurked in the bushes just behind a hill, peeking over the top to watch a battle between a man with silver hair and a woman with wild, rainbow locks. The upper half of Drasil's body stuck out blatantly, much too tall for the shrubberies he feebly tried to hide in. He felt rather self-conscious about it, but the humans were hyper-focused on their battle.

"Dragonite, use Facade! Get 'em, girl!" the man yelled with a fierce expression, gesturing extravagantly to the bulky, tangerine-scaled creature in front of him. Noxious indigo tar bubbled up from beneath the Pokémon's plates as she stamped her foot and growled, an orange aura flaring to life around her. Dragonite unfurled her teal-membraned wings and charged the opponent, a large purple scorpion with an accordion-like body.

"You can evade this, Drapion, no sweat!" the woman said, smiling.

Drapion's slanted eyes gleamed as it compressed like a spring and launched into the air, somersaulting over Dragonite's energy-sheathed charge. As it reached the apex of its arc, it twisted around and jabbed Dragonite in the back with a poisonous tail. The force of the strike sent Dragonite into the earth. Stone shattered beneath the blow, but Dragonite merely growled and climbed to her feet, flapping her wings irritably.

Gal raised an eyebrow. "That guy's kind of hot."

"Yeah… I guess I can see how gorgeous chocolatey eyes, broad shoulders, and stylish hair would be attract—" Drasil cut off, blinking. "I mean, not that I… uh… ahem."

"What? No. I'm talking about Drapion." Galatea gave him a cat smile, her cow tail swishing behind her as she played with her long, curvy horns. The mane of grass around her neck ruffled in the breeze. "He's a real cutie."

"Oh. Hadn't noticed."

Dragonite backed off as Drapion snapped his pincers at her intimidatingly. She shook herself and looked to her trainer with trusting eyes. He gave her a nod, and somehow, Dragonite managed to expel the poison from her body. Purple liquid dripped to the grass, which withered away as the Pokémon's scales stopped bubbling.

"Whatcha gonna do, Beck? Really think you can beat me?"

"Just watch us, Shissō. Dragonite! Take to the sky, and shake the planet's foundations with an Earthquake!"

The cracking of a spine snapping back into alignment rang out as Dragonite stretched, unfurling her wings. She smirked and slammed them down, a furious flapping that sent her hurtling into the air, buffeting the recombinants with wind even from the hill they hid behind. She did aileron and barrel rolls midair, showing off, before righting herself. Drapion growled. She gave him a big thumbs-up. Then, she stopped flapping.

Dragonite dropped, wings held taut, whistling through the atmosphere. Just before she hit the ground, she raised her arms and smashed into it with enough force to level a city block. A seismic wave of feldspar and granite debris raced at Drapion, simultaneously crashing into him and engulfing him in earth. The trainers stumbled, while Drapion himself had to clench his teeth and take the blow.

The tremors settled. Drapion struggled to rise, muscles shivering, and then, he collapsed.

Shissō gave a reluctant, unhappy laugh. "Well, Beck. You've always been a better trainer than me."

Gal's fighting spirits fell, too. In all the battles she'd seen, the biggest, most powerful combatants came out on top. It seemed there wasn't any hope for her, short and weak as she was, to ever be on the frontlines. Surrounded by heroes and gods, she felt… irrelevant.

Beck frowned. "Come on, Niji… we still have a few Pokémon left." He smiled encouragingly. "It's not over 'til you say so."

Niji took a deep breath and nodded. She reached up and plucked a miniature Pokéball from the bandolier draped across her chest. When she tapped the button, it expanded to full size like a balloon being filled with air. Grit set into her features once again.

"Come on, then!" she said. "Weavile! Let's give it our all!"

Out of the red light, a humanoid Pokémon with black skin and a crown of burgundy feathers appeared. Two additional small, thin feathers adorned each side of her jagged head, the centerpiece of which was a pristine yellow gemstone embedded above her eyes. Weavile beckoned to her opponent with a three-clawed hand and a smirk. Gal knew the Weavile was a girl, somehow, despite her flat chest and muscular body. But what really caught her attention was the Pokémon's size.

Weavile was shorten than Gal.

Beck nodded. "That's the spirit. Dragonite, you know what to do. Extreme Speed!"

Dragonite's eyes flashed. A pure, translucent white aura manifested around her, causing her to blur. No – it wasn't the mist blurring her. Dragonite was vibrating, so rapidly that she left an afterimage behind. As Gal and Drasil watched, or tried to watch, Dragonite charged forward with unbelievable velocity, almost faster than the eye could follow, and slamming into Weavile, sending her tumbling, yet Weavile stuck the landing, simply shrugging it off as if nothing had happened.

Gal perked up. Drasil seemed to shrink, eyes wide and shoulders hunched.

"Weavile! Counter with Icicle Crash!"

Weavile hopped into the air and breathed out a sparkling wind. The crystals glistened, clumps of ice coalescing in the wind and forming into sharp icicles, pointing death at Dragonite. She cried out as dozens of frigid blades pelted into her, finding the gaps between scales. A layer of ice deposited onto her skin, rendering Dragonite immobile.

Finally, Niji smiled. "Alright! Now, finish her off with Ice Shard!"

Giving a cocky grin, Weavile raised her hands above her head, generating a glowing sapphire orb. She took a running leap, twisting about in the air in an impressive display of agility, and chucked it with massive force at Dragonite.

Dragonite keeled over as the projectile ball of rimic energy ploughed into her face, shattering the coating of ice on her skin and sending her to the dirt, knocking her out cold. Gal jumped to her hooves, doing a little dance. Drasil stumbled backward, his pupil contracting to a point. He clutched and unclutched his three-clawed hands, turned, and ran.

Drasil was a Rock/Ghost type. He took double damage from no less than six different types, two of which were extremely common and nearly all of which the professors specialized in. His size was the only thing he had going for him. He crashed through the tree branches, which snapped as they were forced aside by his dead, rocky carapace. If even a tiny Pokémon could take down a titan like Drasil… what hope could he possibly have of surviving? He was only a kid. As Drasil reached the campground, he tripped and slid to the ground.

He could feel their stares on him, uncomfortable and speechless. Looking at him. Drilling into him. He was weak. Unneeded and unwanted. A single drop of sap escaped through a crack in the wall he'd built, and with the pressure, the dam yielded.

Then, he sensed a cool, smooth pressure on his shoulder.

"You appear to be in great distress. I did not think such a stoic knight could shed tears. Are you alright?"

Drasil sniffled, looking up. He was momentarily blinded by the light scattered from Hecate's anodized red aluminium-alloy carapace. She was patting him with a crab claw, her compound eyes filled with concern.

"It's nothing," Drasil said, wiping his face. The sap clung to his hands and spread everywhere. Couldn't even clean himself off. "I'm… great."

Hecate wrapped her arms as far around his waist as they'd go, squeezing him. "Yes. You are. Never let anyone convince you otherwise."

"Don't give me fluff! I'm a weakling!"

Her antennae twitched. "You are not weak. You have extraordinary resistance to Poison and immunities to Normal and Fighting moves. At a maximum of exactly four hundred and ninety-three, your Attack statistic is godlike. Additionally, almost no one is resistant to the Rock-type. You are a veritable powerhouse."

Hecate began scraping the slime off his petrified trunk. A sweet, gentle scent rolled over Drasil, soothing his nerves. The way her mandibles clacked together was alien… but somehow, it was also… friendly. Steel hiding silk. Drasil looked up at her.

"But I'm so slow. And my defense…"

Hecate's eyes sparkled. "Did you not know? The best defense is a good offense. We will assist you in finding a way to increase your Speed." She did a little waggle dance before offering a claw to help him up.

Drasil's eye got wet. His mouth split in a jagged-toothed grin as he took her arm, letting her help him climb to his feet. "Thanks. You're an awesome big sis."

Hecate put a claw behind her head, antennae rubbing at her eyes bashfully. She glanced over to where Atticus was talking with Ferrus and Tiamat. "You are most welcome, sirrah. Come. Let us join the others. I believe it is time to eat."

He nodded, following her. The grass crunched under his feet as they approached the others, Hecate buzzing quietly above the ground.

Drasil stopped as a little white butterfly alighted on his trunk, cocking his head. He let out a soft coo, raising a claw to the cute bug, fully expecting it to fly away. To his delight, it instead crawled onto his finger, its feelers tickling him. The butterfly's wings were the same color and even the same pattern as the boring halls of the facility, but somehow, it seemed to have far more splendor. Perhaps it was the contrast of the greens and yellows of the hills and the warm browns of the trees, lending their beauty without losing any of their own. Smiling, he carried it to the table.

Brock was passing out plates of green fish with black-and-red or black-and-blue stripes, big jaws, and white fins, marinated in olive oil and white wine vinegar. The plates were piled high with diced tomatoes, and each fish had red pepper flakes, thyme, and a wedge of lemon on top. The words popped into Drasil's head, seemingly out of nowhere. He must've heard Brock mention it subconsciously.

Ash chuckled. "Where do you find all this stuff? Are you some kind of shady food dealer?"

"That's my little secret," Brock winked, snapping his fingers and pointing to the sky. "Bon appétit!"

Ash rolled his eyes. "You haven't even been to Kalos."

=·=·=·=·=

Experiment: 4v20

Codename: None

Recombination: Diancie/Aggron

Type: Rock

Status: Failed

Date of Report: March 6th, 20XX

Notes: Part of the discontinued Vertigo project. Attempts to create a Fairy/Steel defensive powerhouse failed spectacularly. 4v20 suffers from Klinefelter syndrome, possessing two X and a Y chromosome, and bears only vague resemblance to its parent species. The administration has deemed it harmless; thus, it is to be released in the Lyusiyan tundra.