CODE 00

They say that some things are simply meant to be. Simply meant to exist. There is a balance in nature, a balance that shouldn't be tinkered around with. Every Pokemon has a limiter, a limit to their power, a ratio if you may. Even the most powerful of us have access to only a limited part of our powers. Sure, we all access it differently and have different limits. Even a weak Magikarp operating at 100% energy cannot come close to a legendary Pokemon operating at even 30%. It's unfathomable.

But for most of us, the power of legendries is far closer to our reach than we realize. Or realized. How safe is it, really though? Is it ethical? Is it logical? Is it fathomable? That's for you to decide.

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CHAPTER ONE: SNOW BLUE

She always thought it was an ironic name for an ice type like her to have name like Kylie. Kylie was such a friendly, happy, outgoing name. It would fit her Leafeon sister Aria better. But they had chosen their own destinies on their own, and Kylie wasn't one to object to it. Most Glaceons wouldn't make a huge deal about much, though new research had suggested that evolution would massively affect your personality.

The automatic sliding glass door moved out of the way as she stepped through into main hall of the government facility. Her marine blue boots clicked softly against the marble floor. Her lighter blue dress trailed gently behind her, interrupted only by her tail.

The gaze of some researchers embarrassed her, and she looked at the ground, doing her best to avert the attention of the other Pokemon.

Then she finally stepped out into the streets outside. The fresh spring air was nice, but she did wish it was somewhat cooler. She held the large envelope to her chest, then looked around.

"Come on, Aria…"

As if on cue, her energetic sister drove up in her bright green convertible. "Sheesh, I went around the block about three times." She peered up from behind her sunglasses.

Kylie shook her head slightly. How could two Pokemon from the same womb be so different? Aria was feisty and tomboyish, wearing a leather jacket and a pair of tattered jeans. "I just had to get the files. You sure don't take our work seriously."

Aria clicked her tongue. "Hey now, I take my job very seriously. It's my day off." She elbowed Kylie as the Glaceon got into the car. "You should take more days off. We get paid the same, even though you work an extra day each week."

Kylie looked out the side, and felt a tug as the wind blew her ears and bangs in the wind. She looked down. "Uh, my dress is caught in the door a little…"

"Too bad sister. You wait until we get home."

Kylie sighed. "Come on, this is one of my favorites."

Aria snorted. "All the guys look at you anyways. It doesn't really matter if you have a tear in that dress."

A twenty minute drive eventually led them to Kylie's apartment. She quickly opened the door, freeing her dress.

Aria chuckled. "Jeez, that dress is everything to you, huh?"

It wasn't really, but Kylie did like it. It had been one of a kind. "Not really. It's probably my favorite for casual though."

They took the elevator up, Kylie holding the important documents carefully. Nobody got in to their ascent to the fourth floor, and Kylie and Aria walked into the hall. Aria whistled a tune, though Kylie couldn't place where it was from.

Once they went into Kylie's apartment, Aria threw herself onto the couch, while Kylie began boiling water in a kettle. She clicked on the stove; tea was one of the few warm things she enjoyed. Aria peered out the window, looking over the city. The clock read 4:17. Aria tossed her glasses onto a glass table and rubbed her eyes. "All right, pull out those top secret papers and everything. Seriously, who would have thought that they'd just let us carry top secret information out the door?"

The envelope was next to Kylie. She looked at the kettle that wasn't hot yet, then opened the envelope. She sat down next to the sprawled out Leafeon.

"Look at this. They're profiles… except."

"Let me see. I… huh." The Leafeon had snatched them from Kylie's hands. "They're blank. The first one has all empty information except for name, in which it says, 'Codename 01.' Huh. Same for 02…" She flipped the page again. "And 03." She turned the page again. "But 04… there's a complete profile. An Espeon."

Kylie skimmed through the profile. "Jasmine Jade… age… 18. Eye color… height… bust… birthplace…" She frowned. "Why would something like bust really matter for a report?"

The Leafeon shrugged. "I don't know, maybe for identification? Who knows?"

Kylie nodded slightly, then read through. "It says Code 04. What does that mean?"

Aria looked up thoughtfully. "I need to pee. I'll be back."

Her sister was always crude and often inconsiderate, but Kylie still loved her, especially since they were both orphans. They had been all the other had for twelve years now. She watched the Leafeon go down the hall, then looked back at the papers. "01… 02… 03… 04… and 05. There's five of these so called codes. But 4 of them are seemingly deleted. And…" She saw a note written in sharpie.

Kylie… I'm… sorry. She froze when she saw the handwriting, followed by the name after. Grant. Aria hadn't returned yet, so Kylie took the time to stare at it. "Grant… how… you… you shouldn't be…"

She took a deep breath. Did she know another Grant? There must be some logical explanation. But she couldn't think of one. There was only one Grant, and she had been to his funeral. Kylie calmed herself. "I'll go talk to Professor Blaze tomorrow. It's probably him."

"Who's probably who?" Aria peered over her shoulder. "You look distressed Kylie, like you've seen a ghost."

Kylie shook her head. "Don't worry. It's not something that matters."

Aria's voice became gentle. "I know you. Something is very wrong."

Kylie tucked the files into the envelope. "I think I picked up the wrong ones. I'll return it tomorrow."

"Kylie…" The Leafeon stared at her sister worriedly as the Glaceon walked to her shower.

"I'm just tired."

Aria got the message, and Kylie heard the door close as her sister left.

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"Sheesh, you're looking out of it, Kylie." Her best friend Jen sat across from her at Kylie's favorite restaurant. "I know you only have like four facial expressions, but you look like you've been hit hard by drugs or something."

"I'm fine."

Jen leaned back worriedly. The Sylveon looked like some sort of Pokemon magical girl. She had ribbons and a pretty pink and white dress. Her pink hair and long white ribbons were accented by her large Buneary-like ears. "You don't get out much, aside from your sister. Are you sure you're not seeing a guy or something?"

"No."

She sighed. "I know that eons like us are encouraged to find others due to our sheer rarity and preserving the whole 'genetic integrity' thing, but really. A pretty girl like you should have a guy."

"You know how busy I am with work." Kylie stirred her tea, and poured some honey. "How has it been going with that Flareon?"

The Sylveon smiled slightly. "Good. He's a great guy. Really impressive overall, and handsome, and strong, and just nice."

"That's great news!" Kylie did her best to smile, trying to ignore the disturbing note she had received. She kept thinking about how it must have been a mistake, but the handwriting had been so similar. "I'm really happy for you, Jen."

She blushed. "Thanks Kylie. How's your work been going?"

"Oh, fine." Kylie leaned over after checking to make sure nobody was watching. "I got a strange envelope today…" Before she knew it, she had told her best friend all about what had happened.

Jen sipped her drink. "It's not surprising really. You're obviously hallucinating. You were romantically involved with him, no?"

"See… that's the thing. We never were. Grant and I… well, Aria too… we went to the same orphanage. He was always protecting us from the bullies at school and at home, and… I loved him. In a brotherly way." She held her head. "I know, a trained worker like me shouldn't be worried, it's probably something else, but…" Quietly, she murmured, "What if he is still alive?"

Jen was silent for a moment, then said, "I'm telling you this as someone who has access to almost all Tier 5… classified information…" She shook her head. "It cannot be Grant. I'm… I'm sorry."

Kylie sighed. "So it's just a prank? A cruel joke?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Thanks." Hearing that made Kylie feel a lot better. "It's better this way."

Jen smiled. "I know life hasn't been kind to you… but you've been doing great and… the higher ups are really pleased with the information you bring back."

"Thanks… I always forget you're one of the head representatives publically for the city… you converse directly with the directors."

"Hey, for my best friend and one of the top spies nationally, it's nothing."

Kylie sighed. "I know this is a government only dining facility, but could you please keep it down? It makes me uncomfortable."

Jen nodded. "Of course, of course."

The Glaceon yawned. "It's late. What did you want to talk about?"

"I've got no knowledge of that note on the envelope, but… that envelope sent to you contains some information that…"

Kylie brought it out. She looked towards one of the nearby conference rooms. "There."

The two girls moved into the more secure conference room.

"I was looking through the Tier 5 files… there were a bunch of holes in what I could go through, but one of them was particularly large." She crossed her arms. "Please let me see the files."

Kylie handed it over. "I've only got Tier 4 classification, so if they let me see it, there's nothing wrong with you. It's all mostly empty though. There is only one profile."

"Jasmine… I see… I wonder if they want you to track her."

"I don't know… this is really obscure. It's true I haven't had any assignments in the past month though."

Jen fanned through it one more time. "I'll do some research on that name, just out of curiosity. Thanks."

Kylie stood up. "There was something else, no? It's strange for you just to ask me for one thing."

"Oh yeah, I traced some other… uh… information?"

"On what? It's probably not too important."

"Well, you see…" Jen slid her phone to Kylie. On it were the pictures of two Pokemon. "Do they look familiar?"

Kylie couldn't speak. "That picture… how did you get it?"

"I was looking through some files. The names… well, I remembered you talking about your parents."

"This…" She shook her head. "What's going on? First… now… it… it makes… no…"

"So it is them…" Jen stood up now, and took the phone back. "I'll look into it more, Kylie. I just needed to confirm whether it's really worth looking into."

The Sylveon walked out the secure room, and Kylie didn't say anything. "This… what in the world… is going on?" She held her head, and sat down, then took deep breaths, as she had been trained to do when stressed. "Calm down Kylie… there's a logical explanation for all this. Just think…"

It was simple. The government had information on everyone, including her late parents. And the message… well, she'd ask about that. She was simply reading into it too much though. That was the logical explanation.

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"Is that really all you've got?"

Kylie avoided the stunning gunshots in the training facility. She sidestepped the final shot gracefully, spinning around.

A voice rang on the speaker. "Actually, yeah. This is the highest reasonable difficulty, Kylie. Turning it up any more would… well, this is your cap." Behind the glass, programming the guns was Professor Blaze. "You've been trained for all these years, and are one of our top agents. But there's only so much physical abilities can do." The computer made a beeping noise, and he added, "You're currently 11th ranked, not bad for someone not designed for hand to hand combat." The Typhlosion adjusted his glasses. "You've never passed level 25 difficulty. Do you think you're up for it?"

"What's the highest?"

"One of our agents cleared… let me see… level 33. That has a shot concentration of 180."

"What's level 24's concentration?"

He looked at the computer. "Roughly 115."

"Really…" She sighed. "That's unbelievable."

"Well… they weren't competing fairly." He stood up. "Anyways, we're starting level 25. Three… two… one…"

Time slowed down as Kylie saw the flash as the small beams of lightning came from the cannons, locking onto her position. "Let's go… duck under…"

She did as she said aloud, moving neatly underneath the blast. "Spin to the left… there you go… perfect."

When she had whipped around, she saw a pair heading for her feet, and another for her head. She grit her teeth, and leapt through the barrage, barely avoiding the shots.

She rolled along the ground, then looked up. "Dammit…" She felt her body go numb as she was hit in her right thigh.

Then she was back in time, her combat instincts fading.

"Ten seconds, Kylie." He pressed a switch, and Kylie regained feeling in her leg. She rubbed it a little.

"That's all… I've got a lot of work to do…" She stood up. "What do you mean by those above didn't complete fairly? Hackers?"

"Yeah, most likely."

Kylie bit her lip. "Why don't you delete the scores if they're not actually existing?"

The Typhlosion smirked. "That's a secret."

Kylie changed back into her dress, which was identical to yesterday's, except that the light blue and dark blue was inversed. She didn't mind changing in front of the professor, since he was quite a bit older than her. He had helped her throughout her training, and acted as a fatherly figure towards her. "Oh yeah… you wouldn't happen to know anything about this, would you?" She pulled the envelope out, containing the information. He took it from her, and put it under a magnetic tool he had been adjusting over the past few days.

"It was mostly blank except for a few things. Mostly on an Espeon named Jasmine…"

He froze, then said, "I… I do know a little bit." He muttered something under his breath. "I wish they wouldn't get all of you young kids involved, but…"

"Is this the Code Zero program?"

"Code Zero is the newest line in genetically modified Pokemon. It's a project that very few get in on, but only the most talented are modified. Of course, there are limitations. Only those from Eevee's evolutionary line are applicable, due to your unstable genetic structure. But it's not that simple. It's all about potential unlocking."

"Potential… unlocking?"

"Most Pokemon only use 30% or so of their max potential. By fooling around so to speak, we enable them to operate up to 87%."

"So Jasmine…?"

He exhaled. "Jasmine was the fourth in line, and the first female we tested on. Jasmine was an all around agent that was sent to do anything in general. She was able to charm and disarm any man she came into contact with. She was an obvious first choice, especially since the males… well, she became the first successful experiment of the Code 0 project. She now boasts the speed greater than most Jolteons, and is likely smarter than the majority of Alakazams out there. 01, 02, and 03 all were males, being the tops of their class. They tended to go haywire, and we ultimately lost control of them."

"So why did you give me her information?"

He shrugged. "I'm not the one who issued it."

"Then who issued it?"

"The higher ups? It could be that-"

The lights began flashing red. Kylie looked around as alarms started beeping. "Wait, what's going on?"

The Typhlosion went back to his computer. "I… there's a power outage."

"But doesn't the government have backup generators to avoid this problem with all the computers and stuff?"

"Yes… but… even the backups are going down at an unnatural rate." He typed in a few things. He sounded as if he'd just seen a dead Pokemon. "I just saved your data and everything… take that envelope."

"You don't look so good…" She reached a hand out, but he stopped her.

"Kylie… those files. They're… they're magnetically imprinted."

"Really? So the other files are all…"

A voice came on throughout the entire facility. "Warning! Break in on the North wing! Species currently unidentified! Emergency power shutdown commencing in order to preserve file security!"

Then all the computers went out, even Professor Blaze's. "Let's get out of here…"

"Professor, this is the West wing. We'll head a little North, but hopefully, that won't-"

The entire facility began to rumble for a short period of time, before stopping. "That was the sound of part of the building collapsing…"

"Let's get out!"

The Professor followed Kylie's lead. "Only one minute, and already such destruction… who could it…"

A flash echoed through the dimly lit hallways. It subsided nearly instantly. "What was that?"

Blaze shook his head. "Let's just focus on getting out of here. It seems like some sort of high level terrorist attack."

"Kylie!"

She turned around to see Aria running through the halls, panting. "Aria! Are you all right?"

"I'm fine… just let me catch my breath… whew…"

"Good day, Miss Aria." Blaze nodded at her. "You look like you just came from where the explosion was. Can you explain it?"

"I… he…"

"What do you mean? Who's he?" Blaze spoke seriously. "You saw the terrorist?"

"Yes…" She took a deep breath. "A Jolteon. He wore a gray jacket. The guards were trying to fight him off, but they weren't doing too well. He was ridiculous fast. The quickest I've ever seen."

"Shit…" Blaze cussed. "I expected this would happen sooner or later. One of the cursed trio would return."

"What do you mean?"

"I know who it is. It's one of the Code Zero program, Zero Two. A Jolteon, given a mutation that gives him speed greater than any other Pokemon around. Also a professional hacker, which is probably what helped him drain the energy so quick. Not any electric type could do that."

"So he's one of the real strong ones?" Kylie blinked. "What could he be after?"

Blaze turned around. "We need to get you out of here, Kylie. You too Aria. It's extremely dangerous. You don't know what you're dealing with." He narrowed his eyes. "I suspect the magnetic information on that envelope is very important."

They hurriedly made their way through the halls. There were no other Pokemon around; most probably were locked within their rooms. "So you essentially trained the three top agents and they went rogue. And now one of them is coming back to try do a terroristic attack?"

"There's more to it than that," said Blaze. "But it was a massive oversight to keep the research continuing. Zero Four is the only one we managed to gain control of. Whether or not it's gender related or her slightly weaker dose is up for debate… I suspect she may be called out."

"Jasmine? Her? Well, I've never seen these mutant Eons fight, but this sounds very dangerous."

"I have no idea what you two are talking about," butted in Aria. "But the exit is right over there. Phew, it looks like we made it."

Then the glass door flashed before exploding. Kylie forming a wall of ice instantly was all that saved them from being impaled. When the smoke subsided, she saw him there; the Jolteon.

Spiky yellow hair, long pants, and a gray hoodie. He looked like any twenty-something year old Pokemon, but his green eyes glinted dangerously. "Hmph, Grant did say that he'd help us, but you look like you're planning to escape."

Before Kylie could process what she'd heard, the Professor stepped forward. "Aaron, move out of the way. I'm trying to get these young ladies outside. I don't know why you're here, but you're making a terrible choice."

"Tsk. Professor, don't make me the bad guy here." His hand glowed with lightning, thousands of volts crackling in the air. "Come on, girl. Hand over the files. It'd be a shame to ruin that pretty face of yours."

Kylie held it tightly. "You're crazy. Going against the government… all the innocent Pokemon you've put in danger bec-"

Then she was lifted into the air, powerful hands strangling her neck. "Listen up, bitch." He had seemingly teleported to her, and now was choking her. She couldn't breathe at all. "You don't need to remind me that." He ripped the envelope from her hands. He dropped her to the ground, the young Glaceon gasping for breath.

"Kylie!" Aria was by her side instantly.

Blaze turned to face the Jolteon. "Aaron, your plan won't succeed."

He calmly looked back. "You're not going to stop me. I…" Realization dawned across his face. "Oh, I see. Yes… that does make sense…" He smiled at the two girls. "I get the feeling I'll be seeing you two again… sooner than either of us would like, hehe."

"You're not going to be able to change anything. This plan of yours… it has holes. Revealing the secrets of the government."

The Jolteon turned around. "Who said it was my plan?"

"What?"

Kylie was still very dizzy, and the entire world was a little hazy. Then the Jolteon jumped to the right, getting partially hit by a large chair. It flew past him, grazing his leg. "Hmph."

Out of the darkness stepped the Pokemon they had seen in the pictures. She was beautiful Espeon, long pink hair, wearing very casual clothes; an orange cropped top denim jacket and a short skirt. Her eyes glowed pink, and her hair floated a little unnaturally. "Aaron…" Her voice was surprisingly menacing. "What could you be doing here?"

"Hmph, Jasmine. Fancy meeting another freak here." He was clearly injured by her attack. "That chair hurt. You've gotten stronger with your powers."

"Strong enough to stop you right here."

"Perhaps. But telekinetic strength can only do so much compared to raw physical strength. Or speed for that matter."

He hurled a bolt of lightning at her, and she blocked it with a Light Screen. The smoke caused by the impact however blinded them all. When it finally subsided, the Espeon was standing there looking around. "Dammit! He got away…"

"Jasmine, are you all right?"

"I'm perfect professor… that Glaceon though, she doesn't look so good."

Then Kylie finally succumbed to the beckoning darkness.

The rewrite of CODE 00 has begun.