In which the writers tried, and failed miserably.
Reversal Mountain was a dark place, and an eerie blue glow gave them just enough light to see. Rosa didn't like that much, but when Nate and Bianca told her that it was the only way to the next town, she had reluctantly settled for grumbling under her breath.
"It's not that bad," Bianca promised, assuming the lead as if she'd been here before. "People go through Reversal Mountain all the time. Professor Juniper left ahead of us, remember?"
"And why are you still here?" Nate asked her, blocking Rosa's path of escape. Not that she would have tried too hard, of course, but he'd learned early on in the journey that he should always be prepared. "Shouldn't you be with her?"
"No, I stayed behind to research the legendary Pokémon that's been said to rest in this mountain." Bianca smiled, then suddenly caught sight of something. "Oh! It should be right up ahead, come on!"
Of course, Bianca's version of 'right up ahead' ended up with all three of them hopelessly lost, and her nervous laughter seemed to attract the attention of a few other explorers. And not all of them were the type to back away slowly and leave these poor kids alone.
"Hey!" a hiker called, emerging from around a corner. "What are you kids doing here?"
Rosa silently pointed at Bianca.
"Well, you've come all this way," the hiker said with a smile, "so why don't we have a battle? Better yet, how about a double battle? Two of you against one of me. I've got two Pokémon myself, so things will be even."
Rosa glanced at her traveling buddy, who seemed to be more than ready for the challenge. He just stared the hiker down, smiled, and released Dwebble before turning back to his female companions. "So," he said, smiling happily as if Dwebble weren't a goner, "which one of you wants to be my battle partner?"
"I volunteer...Rosa," Bianca stated, pushing the brunette forward. "I can heal your Pokémon afterward. Go on, there's nothing to be afraid of."
Rosa glared at them both, but took a deep breath and reached for a ball. "Greg, you're up."
After being released from his time out, Colress had decided to hide out in his research area in case Ghetsis returned, still outraged about the whole incident with the bell. Colress still wasn't sorry, not even a bit, but the last thing he wanted was for his precious research to be confiscated when he was so close to a breakthrough. So, hiding would have to do.
The little room could barely be called a laboratory, since Ghetsis had pretty much thrown it together for him at the last minute. He would have loved to have stayed in the lab where those other scientists had worked on the mysterious Genesect, but Ghetsis had declared the entire project an urban legend and insisted he drop it. But Colress didn't care at the moment, and instead let his thoughts run wild.
Faces flashed through the scientist's mind, faces of people he barely knew at all - Nate, Rosa, that strange boy with the Qwilfish hair. People who had bright futures ahead of them, happily playing with Pokémon and just enjoying themselves. He wondered if any of them had figured out the true way to bring out a Pokémon's full potential, or if it really was the power of friendship that brought out the strength Nate and Rosa needed to continue their mission.
That was why he wanted Nate and Rosa, he reminded himself. They were the ones he had selected to test that method, and from what he'd encountered, it seemed to have worked well enough. He still declared friendship a possibility, especially with scientific confirmation about some Pokémon evolving only through friendship, but was it really the best option? He'd found a few leads back in Kalos, but trying to investigate why only certain Pokémon gave him those leads had left him bitter and confused and with a permanent ban from the Tower of Mastery. He'd been bribing his current team with candy, or at least the ones that actually ate food instead of electricity or other energy, and he'd had success, aside from his encounters with those kids. Could bribery be the answer, or did his test subjects think of him as a friend?
Was it really worth using machines to try to enhance a Pokémon's strength?
He brushed that thought away. Science still had the answers. Until he had tried every possible option, he would not dismiss a single possibility. He couldn't let his conscience win just yet.
"Are you ready for the test run, Klink?"
His Pokémon screeched a confirmation and floated into the machine the Shadow Triad had declared the 'power pod,' preparing for a new increase in energy. A simple process, Colress thought to himself, and prepared to press the button. And then he saw a flash of movement in the shadows. He dropped his hand, knowing exactly what had come to pay him a visit.
"What does Ghetsis want now?" he asked, and the ninja appeared, looking upset.
"How did you know I was here?"
"I've gotten quite used to you this past year, Pal."
"And how did you know I was Pal?"
"That one was a lucky guess."
"Oh. I should've said I was Guy, then." The statement aside, however, Pal seemed to be willing to cooperate, since Colress had guessed his correct false identity. "Master Ghetsis wants to know why his staff won't work to keep Pokeballs from working."
"Tell him," Colress said, his voice a mixture of amusement and irritation, "that it doesn't work yet because I haven't programmed it yet. Now, will you let me torture my Klink in peace?"
Pal nodded and disappeared, off to pass along the message. Colress returned to his machine.
And yet, even as he stood ready to test the potential of the power pod, the nagging little voice told him to stop and think about what he was doing. Was it really necessary to test things for himself, instead of accepting what countless other scientists had assumed and finding a different aspect of the world to study? Did he really want to do this?
Yes, he did.
A short while later, after Klink had recovered, it was happily twirling its bodies together as Colress made a mental note to lower the frequency for a while. There was no use in having his test subjects pass out before the data could be recorded.
Greg nearly collapsed under the effort of the battle, but he was determined to win it. Dwebble had already won his own fight, and would have been eager to help if Greg hadn't asked to be left alone. It was just him against the Boldore.
"Arm Thrust!" Rosa ordered, and he somehow found the strength to follow the command. Boldore fell, the hiker accepted his loss, and then -
Rosa cringed in disappointment as her starter evolved once again. She wasn't afraid of his becoming an Emboar, just disappointed in herself and her abilities as a trainer. Most people had a Samurott, Emboar or Serperior by the time they had six badges. In her defense, a Fire/Fighting type was weak against several types the local leaders used. That should be good enough for anyone who dared question why it took so long.
Greg looked behind him, as if he was unsure she would love him anymore now that he was big and heavy and kind of scary-looking. But she saw a raging protector instead of just a fire-spewing monster, and she tried giving him a reassuring smile. He grunted in some form of agreement, returning to his small spherical carrier with no hesitation.
Bianca didn't seem to mind much, and started off happily, all but skipping through the long tunnels of the mountain...which, it turned out, was actually a dormant volcano. Nate suddenly felt the urge to strangle her. She was so cheerful...it was actually pretty annoying.
By the time they reached the inner chamber, where Bianca insisted the legendary Pokémon rested, not one of them was a happy camper, not even Bianca. She grew even more irritated at the fact that it wasn't even there, but she didn't show it.
"Well, that was a complete waste of our time and effort," she sighed, but waved them on anyway. "You can go, I'm just going to hang out here for a while and see if it comes back."
"Are you sure you don't want us to stay?"
"Leave it, Nate," Rosa instructed, gently tugging her friend away. "If Bianca wants to stay and do her stupid research, that's her business. We should let her."
"And what if she kills the legendary for making her wait?"
Rosa shook her head. "Bianca doesn't strike me as the kind of person who would kill by accident, much less on purpose. Now, let's get out of the cave before we hear weird cannibal voices again."