Tamer Gothic
Part 28
The Shadow Islands, Fortress.
As I sat at a bar along with Thomas and watched the news reports come in. Not many people in the Kanto region owned a television, as with a limited industrial base it was easier to make radios and there was a lot of necessary equipment that the limited factories about had to focus on creating. But in these parts there were a few screens to watch, and the some of the television programs were well worth checking out.
While drinking my beer I spent some time wondering if at some point all the publicity about me would ever come and bite me in the ass. So far no one had wanted an autograph or for me to appear on their talk show, but I was getting more well known so it was matter of time.
I thought this because I'd just been mentioned by a reporter, who was amusingly called Lois Lane, in her story about the Shadow Islands Tournament. She had to have to someone here keeping her informed of what was going on because she somehow knew I was in the finals. Because I was the one credited with defeating the Dark Queen of the Orange Islands I had been mentioned a lot in Lane's report.
Also I was her favourite to win, which made sense as no one from the Crimson League was going to be disloyal enough to support Porker. Also while Thomas had just as much of a chance of winning as I did he wasn't well liked, and as for Jayden he wasn't very well known.
This tournament might only be a regional one, but it was a strange event so it would be a while before people forgot about it. I didn't want to be hounded by the press so I'd have to hide somewhere. Thankfully Pallet Town was dull so I could stay there until the heat died down.
"Porker's being a hero, again" Raven commented as the big screen showed us what was going on outside the fortress.
The counterpart to Harry Potter was battling one of the eliminators, they were people whose job it was to end this part of the contest by challenging the remaining Tamers to battles that would cost them all their star chips if they lost or get them into the fortress if they won. Porker was battling for one of his friends, and winning by the looks of things, which meant that more of his team would be the finals at this rate.
"It doesn't really matter" I said to Raven and Thomas "We have to beat some Gym Leader to get a golden star chip before we the semi-finals start so all Porker's doing is making sure that he'll have a lot of people cheering him on when the real pokegirl battles start".
While it might seem unfair to present those of us who had worked hard to earn our ten star chips with yet another challenge to overcome, it made sense as at the rate things were going there would be too many people competing to have the semi-finals done before the week was done. Facing the Traveller himself wouldn't take long so it didn't matter if things ran a little late.
Also getting a golden star chip was worth it because getting one allowed a Tamer to claim a free pokegirl, which was why we'd only been allow to bring five with us.
"And on the subject of battles" remarked Tom "We should get an early night and make sure our 'girls are ready, but not until after dinner".
That was a good idea, some food sounded good and then I'd have an early night. I doubted anything important would happen before tomorrow.
(Line Break)
Location Classified.
Professor Margaret Walsh's face remained totally impassive as the elevator carried her down to her partly government funded secret underground lab. As the lift descended she looked at the small mirror on the wall, which was one way and hid a camera, and she checked herself out.
Her reflection showed a woman passed her best years in terms of her body, but her mind was as sharp as ever. In times past she had looked at her self and seen a woman forced to work under lesser minds for too many years.
However today she saw a woman who was in charge of her own project. A person who command respect and had authority over others, she'd once been a lab assistant to the great Professor Oak, now she had surpassed him.
The elevator came to a stop and Professor Walsh turned her head so that she was facing forward when twin doors opened. As they did she once more relished the chance to gaze upon the military base and high tech lab that made up The Initiative. But her view was blocked by the three men who waited for her just outside the elevator, they were Tamer Graham Miller, Tamer Forest Gates and Assistant Professor Angleman.
"Good morning gentleman" Walsh said as she stepped out of the elevator and started to walk to where the planned meeting would take place.
"Good morning Professor Walsh" the two Tamers chorused.
Both young men were wearing Project Initiative military fatigues under their customised body armour and they both carried heavy elemental pistols that had cost a lot to procurer. But their first line of defence was their pokegirls. Gates and Miller were veteran Tamers who had dedicated themselves to serving the League.
Now they both worked for Walsh in her capacity as both lead scientist and director of The Initiative. The professor was more than just a researcher, she also commanded the military personal here as this was technically a civilian run scientific organization.
"Good morning Margaret" Assistant Professor Angleman greeted far more casually than was proper.
Walsh disliked anyone, regardless of their rank, using her first name, but she refused to let Angleman get to her. The man had a lesser mind than hers so she mostly pitied him.
"Have they arrived yet?" the director demanded to know.
"Yes ma'am, half an hour ago, they're in meeting room 1 with Tamer Finn. He's keeping and eye on them" Forest Gates answered without delay.
While she would never admit it out loud Walsh was worried about the coming meeting with the sponsors of her project.
Since The Initiative was only partly funded by the League Defence Force the group had needed help from private concerns as well, such as the Jahana Corporation, a business that pretty much ran the Crimson League.
The Crimson League was made up of what had been called Mexico and most of Central America. Only it all been moved out into the Atlantic Ocean during the Revenge War and the newly formed continent had been named Maycia. Due to all the chaos and migration during the war the League had a very diverse population.
Jahana Corporation basically ruled over all of the Crimson League, and it's reach went well beyond it's boarders. However, few people actually understood just how powerful the corporation was. Not that the general public could be allow to known, and they didn't completely run things as people like Mr House, arguably the single most powerful person in the entire Kanto Region, had his fingers in a lot of pies as well. Also there were many mayors, gym leaders and other persons of power who helped to keep the League running smoothly.
The company's current CEO was one Reimi Jahana, daughter of the infamous Miranda Jahana, who had now retired, she was the closest thing the Crimson League had to a President or Queen.
This would surprise many, as on the surface of things the League might seem to be a patriarchal society, to put it nicely, but the truth was that the Pure Blood woman actually had most of the power. Pure Bloods controlled the money and therefore nearly everything else.
However the problem with corporate funding was that when they invested millions upon millions of SLC into something they not only expected to get their money back they also wanted to see a profit made.
"Who did they send?" Walsh asked with noticeable concern,
The leaders of the Jahana Corporation were all true Pure Blood women who could trace their human ancestor back to before the Revenge War. Walsh had no pokegirls in her family going back for four generations, which made her a Pure Blood too but those that ran the corporation would look down on the likes of her just as she looked down on people like Angleman.
"Its Brenda and Deborah Jahana" Assistant Professor Angleman informed her, his voice a little more than nervous.
As much as she despised the representatives that the Jahana Corporation had sent to observe her latest experiments, Walsh was determinated not to let that show. Her entire life had building up to The Initiative, she would not let her dream die.
Walsh's dream went back nearly half a century back to when she had been in school. Upon leaving college she had entered the world of science and had assisted Professor Oak in his lab while also working on her own projects.
Things had gone well at first the preliminary papers she'd been able to publish had been well received by her peers. There had been interest from some of the League's most well known professors and some very prestigious Universities had been interested in her hiring her to teach a class to show others how to combine both magic and technology to create amazing things.
Then just as she was ready to move on to greener pastures, which would have led to her getting tenner at the very well known university in a few short years, some of her more daring experiments had escaped from her lab during a robbery by Team Rocket.
A few Officer Jenny's had investigated the break in despite Walsh not wanting their help. Sadly the law enforcement pokegirls had been unwilling to no for an answer and upon seeing what Walsh considered to be her ground breaking work they'd slapped the cuffs on her.
Then the old fool's who had dared to think themselves as her academic superiors had denounced her rather than come to her aid. They had been unable to cast aside their foolish morality and see that Walsh's army of cyborg pokegirls would have made the Crimson League the most powerful nation on the planet.
For some reason her attempt to defend herself had led to her being ruled as mentally incompetent, which made no sense to her as she perfectly sane. Lacking morals didn't make a person crazy. But despite her brilliant performance in the courtroom she had been locked up in the Arkham Asylum for the criminally insane.
However she'd not been there for long. Certain parts of the League's leadership had seen the brilliance of her work, yet even after they had faked her death they hadn't allowed her to go back to her cyborg project. Instead they'd put her to work on even grander projects. Which in turn had all led up to her being given control of this place.
When she was ready Walsh stepped into the meeting room with a polite smile on her face, and then she looked around.
First to catch her attention was Tamer Finn, a young man she was actually rather found of even if he wasn't that bright. Beside him stood his Alpha a Slicer called Sam, who he was overly attached to for some reason. Walsh guessed it had something to do with losing that dumb Fearleader he'd been found of not so long ago.
Riley Finn cast a quick glance at his superior and despite the fact that he didn't actually say anything his eyes told Walsh much. The professor now knew that unless she had good news that the corporation was going to cut of her funding. Thankfully she did have something positive to share.
"So Professor Walsh ready to show us some more trinkets?" asked Brenda, the older to the two Purebloods
The word 'trinkets' didn't really sum how much of an achievement it actually was to drag an item across realities. Quite recently Walsh had gotten her hands on a sword made of Nth metal, an alloy which didn't exist in this universe, and the blade had the amazing ability to repel magic. Sam the Slicer had been able to kill a powerful Dark Lady thanks to that weapon.
Granted the odds bit of technology Walsh had taken from other versions of Earth hadn't come close to covering the cost of funding this project, but it was only a matter of time before her work did pay off. By combining magic and technology she would surpass the work done by Subeke.
"Or have you finally managed to bring a living person across dimensions?" Deborah, the young of the two sisters inquired "Washu Hakubi has already been able to open a portal, so it's only a matter of time before he brings someone into our world, and when that happens we will no longer need The Initiative".
Accessing other worlds in order to gain their technology was the overall goal of this project, and all of The Initiative was focused on it as the point of the organization was to make the Crimson League the most powerful nation in the world.
However all the corporation cared about was bringing Pureblood humans into this world so that the woman of the Jahana Corporation could make babies with men who had no pokegirl genes. Such males were becoming increasing rare as most men wanted their sons to have strong blood gifts so they could become Tamers. Finding new technology for the League was a secondary goal for the Jahana Corporation but it still needed to be done as that was what would bring in the SLC.
"There will be no repeat of the failure" Walsh assured her sponsors.
She had learned her lesson. Never again would just the Traveller, the man was currently hosting a tournament on the Shadow Islands.
When she'd met him the man who called himself the Traveller had told her that he was hiding out from something called The Balancer of Scales who he'd foolishly made another bet with despite something rather bad happening the last time he'd done that.
Walsh had taken to mean the Traveller owed some thug a lot of money due to gambling debts, and that there was an oddly named Loan Shark after him.
The Traveller's knowledge had advanced the project by months, and all he'd asked for in return was for The Initiative to bring an unimportant person to this dimension. The Traveller had never explained why and soon as Walsh had done as he'd wished the man, assuming he was actually a man, had taken the human male and vanished.
Walsh had then taken the time to investigate the seemingly unimportant young man and to her surprise the boy from another universe had ended up living in the same house she stayed in while she'd been an Assistant Professor working under Oak. She sometimes wondered if this Gothic had ever found the lab in the basement.
"Are you sure he's such a loss?" Brenda Jahana then asked of Margret Walsh.
Another interesting things about the lad was that Oak had given him a blood test and had discovered that the boy had a few Blood Gifts. Which should be impossible given that he came from a world with no pokegirls, but since it was possible it meant the Traveller had some given the young man pokegirl genes.
The Jahana Corporation cared about that because if someone could be given pokegirl genes then there could be a way to take those genes away. If they could find out how that was done then they would be able to create all the Purebloods they ever wanted.
"I just don't think we can risk taking him" Walsh said.
Normally it would be pretty simple to kidnap a novice Tamer so he could be experimented on. The problem was that when they'd tried the team she'd sent had appeared in her office, and had somehow been physical and mentally regressed into small children.
That could have only been the work of Sexibi, the Mistress of Time, no one had known she could reverse someone's ageing and no one wanted to find out if she could it again. The one time the Legendary had gone violent a lot of people had died so annoying her was simply not an option.
Since then Walsh had kept an eye on the young man. He'd become a successful Tamer and had become involved in many events.
"What about his girlfriend?" Brenda then asked "Are you sure that she's the pokegirl that was hidden in that lab under the Lost City of Atlanta?".
This time it was Finn who answered the question.
"Yes Ma'm" he said "My squad got there shortly after the place blew and we found the remains of a group of Trauma Team. Shortly after than our agent watching Tamer Gothic reported that he had new partner. A Miss Amy Pond, her records pass inspection but there's something off about them. Its as if she was somehow inserted into the world".
That wasn't enough to convince the two Jahana women so Walsh decided to add some information.
"Of course we tried to confirm this" Walsh told them "but we lost contact with that squad when Gothic, along with some other Hunters, took out an entire Team Rocket Base. At the same time their headquarters was attacked by an unknown being who singly handedly was able to defeat their elite Tamers and pokegirls. I think we can say with reasonable confidence that this Amy Pond, or Illyria as she also known, is the pokegirl hidden in the destroyed lab, and that she may be a Legendary".
Which meant that she was to left alone. No one was stupid enough to mess with any of the Legendaries.
Brenda Jahana slammed her small fist into the meeting room's large table, and Walsh knew it was time to give them the good news.
"The clone is now ready" she said.
Deborah and Brenda Jahana looked shocked, which pleased Walsh a lot.
"Before the Traveller left he did some work on Gothic, the boy was out cold the whole time so he can't know that I took DNA samples while he was here. It seems that our former associate modified the boy's DNA twice. The first time he'd removed a few small defaults, nothing serious but enough to make a noticeable difference in terms of health and I created a clone from the DNA that is a one hundred percent Pureblood human".
Actually she'd cloned the lad twice, using his altered DNA the second time but that replica was still growing.
"He's a blank state as far as this world is concerned" Walsh added "He remembers everything the original knew up until he was brought here. You could turn the clone into anyome you wanted or just use him to breed some Pureblood kids".
The true worth of a Pureblood male was incalculable as there was so few of them left.
"If you give us the clone then consider your budget secure for the next year, Professor Walsh" said the older of the two Jahana women "We'll want more men of course, and perhaps some women too, but now we have no reason to rush. Let Washu Hakubi have his fun we will profit from the work the both of you are doing".
That would leave Walsh free to develop recovered technology from other worlds. Which was good because the last time she'd tried to bring a person to this world, and hadn't had the help of the Traveller the subject had exploded all over the lab. Walsh didn't think the lives of a few unimportant people mattered, but having to pick someone's finger bones out of her hair was an experience she didn't want to repeat.
"Very good" said Walsh "I'll have the clone delivered to your family residence shall I?".
A time was agreed upon and the two visitors left with smiles on their faces.
"You didn't mention the other clone" Finn pointed out.
Walsh didn't say anything. What was going in Room 314 was something she wanted to keep to herself.
