Chapter One: Secret Revealed
The light from the hallway pierced the pitch blackness of the lab as the large door opened. A Team Rocket scientist, on duty for about 12 hours, sat down in an uncomfortable metal chair by his desk. "Stupid midnight tests," he mumbled angrily, "I'd like to see Giovanni work the graveyard shift."
He switched on a lamp and began to search for his clipboard.
The sudden change of light startled me and I woke up. I lay across from him in a single cage within 4 rows of cages, all stacked like bookshelves, each containing a variety of different pokémon. My cage, labeled 14-A, sat on the end of the second row. I rolled over and looked out to see the exhausted scientist coming towards my cage.
"14-A. Pikachu. Needs Level 25 electricity booster," he read off his clipboard. The scientist looked in my cage, but obviously couldn't adjust his weary eyes. He reached into his lab coat pocket and pulled out a small flashlight. When he turned it on, I yawned and tried to roll myself into a ball, to go back to sleep and forget the nightmare I lived in. The scientist slowly entered a code on the keypad and opened the cage door.
Dawning a pair of rubber gloves, he reached in and grabbed me. I didn't want to go, and although I struggled, I was still too tired to do anything about it.
"Sorry little guy, this is for your own good," he stopped mid-sentence thinking, "Or Giovanni's most likely." He held me tightly and walked to a small glass chamber on the opposite wall and placed me inside. I turned to leap out, but he closed the door. He then pulled out his clipboard and began scribbling some notes. I sat and looked around at the lab. It had been weeks since the last "treatment" he had given me, and the only thing good about my situation was that I was out of the cramped cage.
As far back as I could remember, I lived in this small lab, and was probably born here in this building. My whole life has been a series of experiments and endless testing. I figured it was the same for the other pokémon whom I shared this room with. I looked over at their cages, hoping for some support, but the ones who were awake only cowered in fear and the rest slept.
He walked to a control panel and pushed in a sequence of buttons and one final one. My paws could feel a strong machine under the chamber vibrate and shake as if coming to life. The bottom grew warm and suddenly lit up with electricity. I was scared out of my mind and blasted by the sudden shock. It felt like my body would burst from the shock overload. Even though I'm an electric pokemon, my body was rejecting the extreme amounts of electricity. It shocked me onto my hind feet and I cried out "uh-uh-aahh!" in pain. The scientist turned toward me. I felt weak and toppled over. My sides ached. My head ached. My cheeks ached. Everything ached.
I then realized I had almost let out my secret. The scientist set the machine to a lower setting and examined me through the glass. I had called out not with a "pika" or "chu", but with a human sound. The scientist was staring for awhile and listened. Probably trying to decide if his mind was fooling with him. Not satisfied because the noise of the machine was too loud, he unplugged it.
I forced myself to keep quiet, but the pain swelled up in me. He kept waiting and staring at me. I could hold it in no longer and let out a small cry again, "uh-ahhh."
The scientist rushed to the desk and gulped down a cup of coffee that had cooled through the long night. "This night shift is making me go insane," he told himself. He still stared at me. I continued to moan softly as I could and the scientist madly fished through his desk. He pulled out a tape recorder and sat it by the chamber, turning it on. When I made no more sound he plugged in the machine.
Again it was filled with massive amounts of electric energy. I cried more, still in pain from the previous shocks. He smiled, shut it off again and walked towards me. "Hello little fellow. Can you talk?"
I turned away and hoped he would give up. The smile faded.
"Look at me!" he yelled, rapping on the glass. I knew if I did, he'd know I understood every word he said. He walked to the other side and repeated it. I again turned.
"We'll do this the hard way then," his eyebrows turned down.
"Say something or I'll crank this machine up to Level 45. You won't survive in there." I closed my eyes and held still, afraid to look. I then looked to see him turn it up and reach for the button to turn it on.
My heart almost lept out of me from fright, "NO!" my voice cried not realizing what I had done.
He dashed to the tape recorder and shut it off. He squealed with delight, "YES!! I knew it. You will be my promotion out of this stupid lab!!" he pointed at me. The scientist strolled almost happily over to a telephone on his desk, picked up the reciever and pushed a button.
"Veronica?" he asked.
She answered.
"Yes, this is Prof. Scrub. I want to make an appointment with Giovanni," there was a pause, "Yes--No, it's important. Look, I have an extremely rare pokemon for him--" he talked on as I sat in terror.
Now he knew I could speak human language. I had successfully kept it a secret until now. I hid it because I had seen what happened to pokémon who had special abilities. They were taken from the lab and never heard from again. No one knew what lie outside the lab, the only window to the outside world was high up and all I could see was the top of a tree.
The scientist stuffed the recorder in his pocket and opened the chamber. He grabbed me roughly and I again struggled, but this time he held me very tightly, and shoved me back into my cramped cage. He quickly locked it, gathered his things and turned off the desk lamp. The scientist took one last glance at me and then slammed the door behind him, leaving me again in total darkness.
The light from the hallway pierced the pitch blackness of the lab as the large door opened. A Team Rocket scientist, on duty for about 12 hours, sat down in an uncomfortable metal chair by his desk. "Stupid midnight tests," he mumbled angrily, "I'd like to see Giovanni work the graveyard shift."
He switched on a lamp and began to search for his clipboard.
The sudden change of light startled me and I woke up. I lay across from him in a single cage within 4 rows of cages, all stacked like bookshelves, each containing a variety of different pokémon. My cage, labeled 14-A, sat on the end of the second row. I rolled over and looked out to see the exhausted scientist coming towards my cage.
"14-A. Pikachu. Needs Level 25 electricity booster," he read off his clipboard. The scientist looked in my cage, but obviously couldn't adjust his weary eyes. He reached into his lab coat pocket and pulled out a small flashlight. When he turned it on, I yawned and tried to roll myself into a ball, to go back to sleep and forget the nightmare I lived in. The scientist slowly entered a code on the keypad and opened the cage door.
Dawning a pair of rubber gloves, he reached in and grabbed me. I didn't want to go, and although I struggled, I was still too tired to do anything about it.
"Sorry little guy, this is for your own good," he stopped mid-sentence thinking, "Or Giovanni's most likely." He held me tightly and walked to a small glass chamber on the opposite wall and placed me inside. I turned to leap out, but he closed the door. He then pulled out his clipboard and began scribbling some notes. I sat and looked around at the lab. It had been weeks since the last "treatment" he had given me, and the only thing good about my situation was that I was out of the cramped cage.
As far back as I could remember, I lived in this small lab, and was probably born here in this building. My whole life has been a series of experiments and endless testing. I figured it was the same for the other pokémon whom I shared this room with. I looked over at their cages, hoping for some support, but the ones who were awake only cowered in fear and the rest slept.
He walked to a control panel and pushed in a sequence of buttons and one final one. My paws could feel a strong machine under the chamber vibrate and shake as if coming to life. The bottom grew warm and suddenly lit up with electricity. I was scared out of my mind and blasted by the sudden shock. It felt like my body would burst from the shock overload. Even though I'm an electric pokemon, my body was rejecting the extreme amounts of electricity. It shocked me onto my hind feet and I cried out "uh-uh-aahh!" in pain. The scientist turned toward me. I felt weak and toppled over. My sides ached. My head ached. My cheeks ached. Everything ached.
I then realized I had almost let out my secret. The scientist set the machine to a lower setting and examined me through the glass. I had called out not with a "pika" or "chu", but with a human sound. The scientist was staring for awhile and listened. Probably trying to decide if his mind was fooling with him. Not satisfied because the noise of the machine was too loud, he unplugged it.
I forced myself to keep quiet, but the pain swelled up in me. He kept waiting and staring at me. I could hold it in no longer and let out a small cry again, "uh-ahhh."
The scientist rushed to the desk and gulped down a cup of coffee that had cooled through the long night. "This night shift is making me go insane," he told himself. He still stared at me. I continued to moan softly as I could and the scientist madly fished through his desk. He pulled out a tape recorder and sat it by the chamber, turning it on. When I made no more sound he plugged in the machine.
Again it was filled with massive amounts of electric energy. I cried more, still in pain from the previous shocks. He smiled, shut it off again and walked towards me. "Hello little fellow. Can you talk?"
I turned away and hoped he would give up. The smile faded.
"Look at me!" he yelled, rapping on the glass. I knew if I did, he'd know I understood every word he said. He walked to the other side and repeated it. I again turned.
"We'll do this the hard way then," his eyebrows turned down.
"Say something or I'll crank this machine up to Level 45. You won't survive in there." I closed my eyes and held still, afraid to look. I then looked to see him turn it up and reach for the button to turn it on.
My heart almost lept out of me from fright, "NO!" my voice cried not realizing what I had done.
He dashed to the tape recorder and shut it off. He squealed with delight, "YES!! I knew it. You will be my promotion out of this stupid lab!!" he pointed at me. The scientist strolled almost happily over to a telephone on his desk, picked up the reciever and pushed a button.
"Veronica?" he asked.
She answered.
"Yes, this is Prof. Scrub. I want to make an appointment with Giovanni," there was a pause, "Yes--No, it's important. Look, I have an extremely rare pokemon for him--" he talked on as I sat in terror.
Now he knew I could speak human language. I had successfully kept it a secret until now. I hid it because I had seen what happened to pokémon who had special abilities. They were taken from the lab and never heard from again. No one knew what lie outside the lab, the only window to the outside world was high up and all I could see was the top of a tree.
The scientist stuffed the recorder in his pocket and opened the chamber. He grabbed me roughly and I again struggled, but this time he held me very tightly, and shoved me back into my cramped cage. He quickly locked it, gathered his things and turned off the desk lamp. The scientist took one last glance at me and then slammed the door behind him, leaving me again in total darkness.