Location: Pinwheel Forest, Unova
Deep within the enormous forest in southeast Unova, Virizion resided. A slender, graceful quadruped Pokémon with primarily green and white fur, large curled horns on either side of its head. As Virizion came across a tree with some fruit hanging out of reach, it manifested a sharp, long sword made of energy, using it to slice off a branch, causing several fruit to fall on the ground. As Virizion stopped to eat, it was suddenly interrupted by a loud voice:
"Nice move!"
Virizion turned around, sword at the ready to strike. No humans ever ventured this far into the forest, but Virizion lowered its guard a bit when it noticed the arrival.
At first, it saw only the legendary Pokémon Suicune, a fellow quadruped but blue, with a long, flowing purple mane. However, the source of the voice was the Pokémon Virizion couldn't recognize, riding on Suicune's back. It was very small, little more than a foot in height and primarily cream-colored, with large, blue eyes, long and pointy orange ears and two fluffy, winglike tails. The Pokémon winked at Virizion.
"Howdy!" it said, moving its mouth to talk like a human would, not via telepathy. "Sorry to interrupt your snacktime, but duty calls. You've had like, what, thirty, thirty-five years to relax already, haven't you? Now, I know, don't get me wrong, I know you're protecting the local Pokémon here and that's all well and good. But if we don't do something, there won't be a forest here soon."
Virizion tilted its head. Sure, it understood what the arrival was saying, but it was hard to keep up with its rapid speech.
"Oh, right, the name's Victini," the Pokémon said and snapped its human-like fingers, creating a small flame in the air. "The V stands for 'victory', as in the physical manifestation of. You already know my fluffy buddy here," Victini said and gave Suicune's ear a little tug, prompting Suicune to try and bite Victini. "As soon as I came into being again, this little fella sought me out, and now, it's time to seek out the rest of you warriors."
Virizion just stared. Victini rolled its eyes and sighed dramatically.
"Um, the Swords of Justice?!" it said. "When there's danger ahead threatening the Pokémon world, it's your job to team up and fight it, right? You know what, forget it, Cobalion will know what I mean. Where's your boss, Viri?"
Virizion lowered its head apprehensively, as if ready to attack.
"Whoa, whoa, fine, where's your boss, please?!" Victini said quickly. "Listen you mangeball, I got two words for you: Ultra Beasts. Plural. They will begin manifesting here in Unova soon, and I'm sure you know what comes after them, hm? I'll give you a hint. A huge portal, world consumed by darkness and all of us bowing before the beast of the Distortion World, the big G itself!"
Finally, Virizion seemed to realize what was at stake. It glanced at Suicune and gave a small nod at it, before turning around and starting to walk, as if to guide the others. Victini gave a sigh of relief and patted Suicune's head crest.
"Off we go then!" it said cheerfully, while Suicune gave a small snort in disgust.
Chapter One: Aether Foundation
Location: Unknown
Kris woke up with a sudden realization, facing her own mirror image in the ceiling. Events flashed in her mind, a jumbled mess that was hard to figure out. It took her a long time to realize she was in a sterile, bright white room with no windows, on a surprisingly comfortable hospital gurney, wearing nondescript blue pajama-like clothing.
The 17-year old girl frowned at her mirror image, trying to take in the situation, staring at her own frizzy, dark hair, brown eyes and pale face. Then, with great difficulty, the world moving as if in a blur in her eyes, she turned to her left side. Someone else was also waking up, pushing herself up with great difficulty: a short girl just like Kris herself, with similar facial features and stature, only her hair was brown and on clean pigtails instead of messy like Kris', even after a long sleep.
"Moo-oo-rning", yawned Lyra as if the two were having a sleepover or something. "Say… where the heck are we?"
"Well, let's see," Kris said and exhaled, thinking causing her great difficulty. "About a week ago, we signed a contract to join this organization dedicated to fighting evil things like rogue legendary Pokémon or villainous gangs… and signing up also meant agreeing to some kind of surgery or other-"
"Ooh, I know!" Lyra said in an annoyingly excited tone, seemingly already recovered. "The contract was to insert enhancements into us that will make us be able to fight and command our Pokémon better. Something called the 'EX Chip'."
"Correct," boomed a voice through a loudspeaker.
Kris and Lyra looked at each other, then around the room, finally spotting a speaker near the ceiling level. Presumably, there were microphones as well.
"I apologize for the inconvenience," said the calm voice which Kris recognized as professor Juniper's. "Your operations went smoothly, the only side-effect being the dizziness caused by the anesthetic we used. We have locked you in the room for your own safety until the effects wear off. It should only be around fifteen to twenty minutes."
"And then what?" Kris asked apprehensively.
"The three of you will join your comrades and you will begin your tour of the EXO HQ, of course," said Juniper. "Dr. Kaminko will want to say a few words as well."
"And Lusamine?" Lyra asked. "Is she coming?"
There was a short silence from Juniper. Then: "President Lusamine is in Alola, at the Aether Foundation. You will most likely see her soon, but not today."
Kris became lost in thought. Unlike what she had expected, their current location was not in Alola, at the site of the Aether Foundation, the organization providing most of the funding for EXO. However, the island region couldn't be too far either, logistically speaking, so Kris deduced they were in Orre or Unova.
Lyra, however, was distracted by something else. "The three of us?" she asked, and was answered by a loud snort coming from Kris' right side. A young man with tan skin and dark blonde hair, wearing identical pajamas as Kris and Lyra, was also getting up, eyes only half open.
"Where's the leak?" he muttered incoherently. "Somebody turn off… God?"
"Morning, Wes!" Kris said sharply while Lyra shook her head.
"Oh… mornin'," replied the Orrean. "I had the weirdest dream. I signed a contract where I sold myself to some weird half-government, half-private organization that stitched all kinds of doodads on us."
Kris and Lyra just stared at Wes, the realization slowly sinking on his face as he looked around.
"Oh, man," he moaned. "Why don't any of my interestin' dreams come true?"
"Like what?" Lyra asked curiously, but Kris, who had no interest in hearing anything more, spoke up loudly:
"Ay, professor! Where are our Pokémon?"
"You will be reuniting with them shortly," Juniper said, Wes wincing at the loud sound. "I hope you can be patient for another ten minutes."
~o~O~o~
Location: Plasma Frigate, Prime Pier, Castelia City, Unova
A large, black ship was anchored by one of the piers of Castelia City's docks. It had arrived mysteriously a few days ago, as if out of nowhere, but the local harbor manager had assured the workers there that all of their permits were in order and that the ship would only stay there for a week at most. For the time being, however, the harbor manager had ordered people to stay out of Prime Pier, and few dared approach the imposing, haunting ship that seemed to be a fusion of a modern, engine-powered ship and a sailship from centuries ago.
Little did anyone know, there was a reason for the secrecy. While the crew that worked above deck looked inconspicuous, there was a lot of activity under the deck. Dozens of people in gray and white uniforms, resembling chainmail worn by medieval knights, hustled back and forth to keep their operation running. All their uniforms were adorned with a logo: an electric blue P and a reversed Z behind it on a black and white background, shaped like a shield.
This was Team Plasma. Once a threat to all of Unova, operating out of an underground castle on the mountains by Unova's Pokémon League, they suffered a major defeat a few years prior as their plan to hack into the Pokémon Storage System was foiled. However, they were far from gone, having relocated to a mobile headquarters aboard their frigate, with more members hiding in smaller hideouts around Unova.
In his cabin below deck, stood the face of Team Plasma: Natural Harmonia Gropius, or N. A tall and slender young man with long, tea green hair. On top of his clothes, N was wearing a long, pure white robe that covered all of him except his head. Today was, as many had told him, the most important day of his life. And yet, as he stared at his mirror image, preparing for his big event, he couldn't even muster a smile. N just stared blankly forward, listening to the approaching clanking sound. A man was approaching his cabin, the clank of a cane hitting the floor at every step. But then, N could sense his approach with or without sound.
N remained still as the door of his cabin was opened and Ghetsis Harmonia Gropius stepped in. N knew Ghetsis was his foster father, but the resemblance was still there, as Ghetsis had similarly long hair that was once the same color, but now going gray. Though he was rapidly approaching his sixties, Ghetsis was still an imposing figure. A missing eye of his was covered by a red visor and he wore very impressive, ornate and colorful robes on top of his white ones. Leaning on his walking stick adorned with the Team Plasma logo, Ghetsis was nonetheless tall and the robes added some bulk to him.
"Ready?" he asked N, who glanced at his stepfather from the mirror.
"Yes," N said quietly.
"I know this isn't what you had in mind," said Ghetsis in a low voice, "and I am sorry to have cut your travels short. But our enemies have made their move. The troops are getting restless, and I need you to calm them down."
"It's all right," N replied. "I've seen enough. I know what I have to do."
"Anthea and Concordia will escort you to the throne room," Ghetsis said. "I will do most of the talking, but you will need to address our underlings somehow. I hope you're prepared."
"I am," N said simply.
Ghetsis frowned at N, but decided to confront the boy later. As he turned to leave, N finally voiced what was bothering him:
"What are we going to do then?"
"After your coronation?" Ghetsis said. "I told you. We begin your training. Rood, Zinzolin and Gorm are all ready."
"But training for what?" N continued. "You speak of our enemies as if we don't have them in large numbers already. What is it that forced you to advance your plans so much?"
Ghetsis, holding his cane for support, leaned a bit closer to N, narrowing his remaining eye at him.
"I'm surprised," he said. "I thought you would be completely devoted to our goal."
"I am!" N protested. "But-"
"Then you would know that such questions are unnecessary," Ghetsis simply said. "Ever since our failure at the Pokémon League, I have been going over the details of this plan, just waiting for it to begin. The end result is going to be what both of us have always dreamed of. We knew there are people who are trying to stop us - what else do you need?"
N sighed. "Nothing," he said. "I'm ready."
"Good," Ghetsis said coldly and started walking away. "Don't be late."
~o~O~o~
Location: EXO headquarters, Unknown region
As Kris, Lyra and Wes were finally able to leave the room, they were greeted by a scary sight as soon as the door opened: a large blue Pokémon, almost two feet taller than Kris herself, with red spikes and a big mouth full of sharp teeth ran over to Kris and gave her a big lick on the face.
"Easy, Croc!" she told her Feraligatr, who immediately obeyed, sitting down like a Growlithe. It hadn't always been so easy, but the more experience Kris had gained, the easier it was for her to command it.
Lyra was also quickly greeted by Scorch, her Typhlosion, who sniffed at her excitedly and rubbed itself against her, while Wes was patting his Umbreon, who approached Wes in a much more calm and graceful manner than the other two. Smiling at the three, professor Juniper walked towards them, carrying three packages under her arm.
"I hope you rested enough," she said, tossing the three of them a package each. "You need to get changed and get ready for the tour."
"Where are the rest of our Pokémon?" Kris said, casually pushing Croc's mouth away from her as it tried to sniff at the package, expecting something edible.
"These are the ones you chose for your training period," Juniper said coolly as she wrote something on the pad she was also carrying. "Every trainee gets one. All of your other Pokémon are well taken care of and can roam freely at our habitat. You can go see them during your off hours, but only on the condition that you don't remove them from the habitat. Once the month is up and your basic training is finished, you can start choosing from your Pokémon to take on missions."
"Ugh!" voiced Lyra, not at Juniper's words, but the contents of the package she had opened: a blue jumpsuit that looked like it should belong to a mechanic, not a hand-picked candidate to join the ranks of a group of elite trainers. "Can I just keep these pajamas?"
"Another temporary thing for your training period," Juniper assured her. "You can wear whatever you want after you've gone through basic training. This is just to promote cohesion during the training."
"You couldn't have chosen a different shade of 'nightmarish homogenous dystopia'?" asked Wes, similarly disappointed by the jumpsuit.
"I didn't know you knew such words," commented Kris, who was excitedly opening her package, not really caring about the aesthetics of her uniform. "The bigger question is, when do we get to use our cool new powers?"
Juniper's mouth twitched. "The first official day of training is tomorrow," she said. "Today, our biggest concern is making sure you know the layout of the base and get settled. This is going to be your home for the next month. There's a lot of ground to cover. Now get dressed, the others are waiting."
Juniper left the room. Wes was already unbuttoning his pajamas and ready to pull on his jumpsuit, but when Kris and Lyra glared at him, he understood to go change on the other side of the big screen in the middle of the room.
Once the trio were wearing their jumpsuits, Juniper returned, instructing them to command their Pokémon to walk by their side. With that, Kris, Lyra and Wes followed the scientist out of the locker room and into a much larger space - a room with no furniture, but with windows that finally allowed Kris to see the outside the world, though all she saw was nondescript forest that didn't give her any indication where the base could be.
There were others in the room, all of whom turned their attention to Kris, Wes and Lyra, but a commanding female voice quickly made them turn to face the wall again:
"All right, people, I wanna see two rows of five in 30 seconds!" shouted the tall, brown-haired girl in a jumpsuit similar to Kris and the others, except hers was adorned with a special badge no one else had. "No time for gawking, the boss man is coming!"
The girl was Hilda, a Unovan Pokémon trainer a few years older than Kris and Lyra, who had been a part of EXO was a year already. She was the one who initially approached Kris about joining the organization, which she had done after long consideration. Kris, Wes and Lyra stood in the back row next to two boys their age who had been chatting excitedly before Hilda had started yelling orders. Hilda assumed her place in the front row and all ten trainees fell silent as a tall, old man stepped into the room.
With white hair, glasses, an immaculate suit under a clean lab coat and a commanding presence that immediately captured everyone's attention, the head of EXO, Dr. Kaminko stepped into the room. Kris was burning with curiosity to hear what he had to say to them.
"Welcome!" boomed Kaminko as he looked at the ten trainees. "With the last three of us in the fold, we can finally begin our training, and with that, the first chapter of the EXO Initiative. The ten of you have been personally chosen by me to join our ranks. I'm not going to lie to you - though the Pokémon Association knows of our existence, all the details of what we do stay within these walls. I thank you for your trust in me, and in return, I trust you to keep everything you hear inside this base."
"All of you know our mission. During the last year, our peaceful lives have been disturbed by incidents, all of them linked to powerful legendary Pokémon as well as human individuals with selfish aims. The Pokémon known as Hoopa brought great destruction to Kanto and the Sevii Islands. Team Galactic's awakening of Regigigas caused great calamity in Sinnoh. Unova narrowly survived an attack by terrorists a few years ago. The organization Cipher created a dangerously powerful shadow Pokémon in Orre. The threats never seem to stop."
"But the EXO Initiative aims to put an end to this all. With the combination of you, our elite trainers with the ability to handle all obstacles, both physically and emotionally, and us, the research team developing cutting-edge weapons and equipment to aid in the fight against evil, we will prevail. Humanity, and the peace we have worked so hard to maintain, will triumph!"
"But in order to do that, you must fill your heads with as much information as possible. This is the aim of your training period. But not only that, you must know each other, and trust each other as you enter battle. As such, I will call out each of your names in alphabetical order. You will then reply and I will tell your future comrades something about you. Starting with… Aldith, from the Unova region!"
"Sir!" replied the fierce-looking red-headed young woman from the front row, standing closest to Dr. Kaminko.
"At ease, Ms. Aldith, I'm not expecting you to follow protocol or hierarchy just yet," said Kaminko, eyeing Aldith a bit as he consulted his notes. "You have been chosen for your outstanding work against criminals in Unova, including biker gangs and Team Plasma, whose hideouts you have allowed authorities to find. The Unova Pokémon League personally recommended you. Welcome aboard."
"Thank you, sir!" Aldith shouted, staring at the wall, standing in a strict position, ignoring Kaminko's suggestion to be at ease.
"Gladion, from Alola!" Kaminko shouted next.
"Present," came a quiet response from the other end of the front row, from a stone-faced boy around Kris' age with unruly, light blonde hair that partially covered his eyes.
"I am aware of your situation, and don't worry, you can share your story yourself when you feel ready," Kaminko told him, and Gladion just nodded. "All right, next up… Hau, also from Alola!"
"You got it, doc!" said one of the chattering boys from next to Kris, a dark-skinned Alolan with long hair tied on a bun. "Name's Hau, pleased to meetcha!" he greeted the others with a warm smile.
His attitude was the complete opposite of Aldith's and Gladion's, Kaminko watching him with interest as Hau cheerfully waved at everyone. Kris waved back awkwardly.
"Professor Kukui has praised your bravery against Team Skull," Kaminko said. "Good to have you here."
"Sure, I mean, what was I gonna do besides join?" laughed Hau. "I didn't make it through the island challenge, so there wasn't much on Alola for me. I miss the malasadas, though. Do any of you-"
"All right, there's time for that later," said Kaminko quickly. "Hilbert, from Unova!"
A brown-haired boy standing next to Hilda raised his hand, and Kaminko nodded at him. Kris remembered Hilbert, though she hadn't had much interaction with him. As he turned to smile at everyone, Kris had an off feeling in her stomach that she couldn't quite understand.
"Hilbert here has been with us for a long time already," Kaminko explained. "He has been entrusted with some of our more demanding jobs, so don't be surprised if you don't see him around as often. In the same vein… Hilda, also from Unova!"
"Yes, sir!" bellowed Hilda, even more loudly than Aldith. "Hilda White reporting for duty, sir!"
Kaminko nodded and almost smiled. "Hilda is the field team lead and most experienced Operative here. She will be leading your training, so don't hesitate to come to her if you have any questions."
The look on Hau's face made Kris think that he would most likely never even dare to talk to the imposing Hilda.
"As for her background," Kaminko said, "Hilda and Hilbert were both instrumental in the battle against Team Plasma prior. They were also both members of Unova Champion Alder's elite task force of Pokémon trainers, so she has prior experience from leadership as well. All right, next up, we have… Kris, from Johto!"
Dr. Kaminko adjusted his glasses and looked directly at Kris. Others started glancing in her direction too, making her nervous.
"Yeah, here," she said quickly, wanting Kaminko to go over her story as soon as possible.
"Indeed," Kaminko commented solemnly as he kept staring at Kris. "Kris here defied the rogue Gym Leader Pryce, aka the Masked Man, multiple times. She also battled against Team Galactic and helped take down Cipher. On top of that, considering her successes in various tournaments, I'm sure some of you have even seen her in action by now."
To Kris' relief, Kaminko finally continued on to the next name.
"Lyra, also from Johto!"
"Yep, ready for anything!" Lyra said perkily.
"Mmyes," Kaminko just said. "Like Kris here, Lyra has also been involved in many battles against powerful criminal organizations. Team Aqua in Hoenn, Team Dim Sun in Almia, Pryce's organization in Kanto… and she, too, is an experienced tournament battler. She even came in first place in the Whirl Cup during the first few weeks of her career."
Kris frowned while Lyra smiled proudly at the praise. Sure, all those things were true, but Kaminko had failed to mention that Kris had been a part of those heroics as well, while Lyra had been absent in many of the things Kris had done. Kris wasn't sure why she was so irritated when she had hoped for her name to be quickly dealt with seconds before.
"All right, next up, also from Johto… Silver!"
Kris' train of thought was interrupted as she stared at the boy next to Gladion, standing slightly taller than him. He had long, bright red hair, piercing gray eyes and a neutral look to him that was hard to estimate. Kris had no idea he would also be joining EXO, and wondered how Kaminko had managed to convince him to come on board.
"Many encounters in the battle against Team Rocket," Kaminko read from his notes, "and recently, Silver has risked a great deal in retrieving valuable research data regarding legendary Pokémon, which is why we took interest in him."
Kris tried to catch Silver's eye, but got no response, Silver just observed Kaminko silently.
"Next up is Trace, from Kanto."
"Yes, that's me!" said the brown-haired boy standing next to Hau quickly. "I mean, yes, sir, Dr. Kaminko! How may I help you Dr. Kaminko?"
Kaminko frowned at the boy before going back to his notes. "Well, you've had a lot of success in the tournament circuit in Kanto," he said, "and you have assisted professor Oak personally in a lot of his research. You can certainly handle most kinds of Pokémon, so I'm sure you will be a good addition."
"I will not let you down, Dr. Kaminko!" Trace shouted obnoxiously.
Kaminko ignored him, reading the last name on his list. "Lastly, we have Wesley, from Orre," he said.
"Um, just Wes, thanks," Wes was quick to say as he waved at everyone nervously. "Hi!"
"He has just recently joined but he has a great deal of experience, from fighting criminals in Orre to assisting Alder's task force," Kaminko said in a tired tone. "Welcome aboard. All right, now that introductions are dealt with, it is time to begin the tour. I am needed in a meeting, but I trust that you will give Hilda the same amount of respect as she will take over from here. Once again, to all of you, welcome, and congratulations for joining our highly selective ranks."
Trace applauded alone while the others watched as Dr. Kaminko left, followed hastily by professor Juniper. Kris felt more excited than ever to begin her new life as she watched Hilda leave the line and address everyone else.
"Follow me, kiddies!" she practically shouted. "From this moment on, you are EXO Operatives, and I trust that you will make sure that will continue to mean something in the future. Follow me!"
~o~O~o~
Back at the Plasma Frigate, N was walking down a red carpet in the shiny and fancily decorated throne room. Dozens of Team Plasma Grunts at his either side were bowing to him as he walked slowly towards the throne, next to which Ghetsis was standing. N was flanked at either side by a young woman around the same age as him, the pink-haired Anthea and the blonde-haired Concordia.
Observing N from the crowd were the Sages, six old men and friends of Ghetsis whom he had deferred his leadership of Team Plasma to during his travels. They all wore priest-like robes instead of normal Team Plasma uniforms. Next to the Sages were the Shadow Triad, three identical-looking high-ranking Team Plasma members with black uniforms, obscured faces and long, white hair. N did not particularly enjoy their presence and walked slightly faster as he passed them. Finally, next to the Shadow Triad and closest to Ghetsis was Dr. Colress, a tall, young, blonde-haired scientist who had just recently joined Team Plasma. He didn't stare at N with reverence or admiration, but rather, he seemed to be taking notes with the computer embedded on his watch.
Finally, as he reached the throne, he knelt down in front of Ghetsis, who held up a golden crown decorated with many colorful jewels, addressing the whole room with a deep, booming voice:
"Most loyal subjects of our Lord N!" Ghetsis spoke. "You, Team Plasma, as His chosen followers, are to bear witness to His coronation. From this moment on, He will be known as King N, ruler of Team Plasma, and once our plan succeeds, the whole of Unova!"
Ghetsis took a pause, looking slowly over the room, the members of Team Plasma looking enthralled as they stared at him and N.
"You all know our objective!" Ghetsis spoke again. "The liberation of Pokémon from the hands of brutish humans. The end of the Pokémon League's rule on Pokémon and humans alike. And the rise of a new, better society ruled by our benevolent King N, one where everyone shall belong, regardless of stature, wealth or appearance!"
Slowly, with a dramatic gesture, Ghetsis lowered the crown on N's head as he continued to speak.
"King N!" he proclaimed. "Lead us away from evil and corruption, and into a future will ever suffer in the hands of a human being again!"
As the crown touched N's head, the crowd applauded, but N could only vaguely hear them. He suddenly remembered being no more than five years old, playing in the forest on the mountains near his old castle, frolicking together with his Darmanitan and Swoobat. N wondered what had become of them.
~o~O~o~
In his office at the top floor of EXO's headquarters, Kaminko was sitting by his large desk by a large, panoramic window with a view into the surrounding forest that seemed to stretch on for miles in every direction, with nothing visible above the treetops but some distant, foggy mountains. Kaminko had his back to the view, however, as he looked over the notes on each and every operative one last time in complete silence, professor Juniper observing him as she stood next to his desk.
Finally, after a long silence, Juniper decided to break the tension:
"Ready, sir?"
Kaminko sighed. "Yes," he said simply. "Take care of the paperwork for me, please?"
"Of course," Juniper said. "She said they're ready now, just waiting for you."
"Right."
Grabbing some of the documents from the enormous pile at his desk, Kaminko then marched to an elevator located in his office. Pressing his hand on the sensor by the elevator, Kaminko stood and waited for the doors to open. After Kaminko stepped into the elevator, he put a hand on another sensor inside, which caused the doors to close behind him and for the elevator to move upwards.
In a few seconds, Kaminko had arrived to the otherwise inaccessible floor of the base, where his private laboratory was. Today, however, Kaminko stepped past the computers and laboratory equipment and marched straight past a door at the end of the room. That room was almost completely dark and full of monitors, with the only light source being the big red numbers on the screens, ranging from 01 to 11. A twelfth monitor was at the other end of the room, dark and lacking a number.
However, when Kaminko cleared his throat to announce his presence, the monitor turned on, showing three people. The graceful, model-like woman with blonde hair sitting by her desk was president Lusamine. At either side of her desk were her aides, the purple-haired, bespectacled Wicke and the balding, slightly hunched scientist Faba.
"Ah, Kaminko," remarked Lusamine with a smile. "Ready to hand over your report?"
"Yes," Kaminko replied curtly, looking around the monitors in the room, "but I was under the impression I would be handing it to the whole Committee personally."
"You didn't expect the entire Committee to travel to you just for this occasion, doctor?" said a distorted, mocking voice coming from a speaker in the monitor numbered '09'.
"All will come in due time, Dr. Kaminko," spoke monitor 01, "You will see us all soon, but we need to assess you first. The only reason we are even speaking to you today is because of Lusamine's recommendation."
"Is that so?" Kaminko said, locking eyes with Lusamine, though the effect didn't transmit over camera. "When is the due time, then?"
"The training period must be completed first," said Lusamine, "and then I would like to see your EXO Operatives in action. Need I remind you of the costs of recruiting these people, or the manufacturing of the EX Chips?"
"Or the millions we sunk into the prototype chip, only for it to be destroyed after one use!" snarled the voice from monitor 05.
"Money is of no object to me," interrupted Lusamine gracefully. "Coming closer to our goal is what matters."
"You should be pleased," Kaminko said coldly. "Thanks to that prototype chip, our test subject was able to take down the Masked Man and accomplish a 120% synchronization with her Feraligatr. Imagine the results with these new, permanent chips, and all the data we can gather! It is worth ten times whatever costs go into this project."
"For now, we have no reason to doubt you," said 01. "Now, you have the psych reports, I assume?"
Kaminko took the topmost folder from the pile he had carried into the room and began reading it out loud in great detail.
Author's Notes: Welcome to Dawn of the Ultra Beasts. This is the fourth part in my series of stories in the "Worlds Collide" series, preceded by "When Worlds Collide", "A Loser's Log" and "Under the Same Sky". But you don't need to read those to get caught up in this one, as they all tell an individual story with their own themes.
The world in the stories is based on that of the games, but the story is otherwise original. For clarification, all characters are from the games themselves, some from side games like Pokémon Colosseum and XD: Gale of Darkness. Kris, for example, is the female PC of Pokémon Crystal while Lyra is the one from HeartGold and SoulSilver and so on. I hope I can deliver a story that is rich in mystery, characterization and themes, with lots of actions and bad jokes sprinkled in. Enjoy, and expect regular updates to this one!