Chapter 8: A Dark Secret Revealed
The three of them made a frantic dash for the other hybrids Kevin saw. To anyone that was watching, it looked almost as if he were dragging both of them unwillingly, so they would think he was the criminal. It wasn't long until a red light suddenly began flashing brightly with a loud bell going off, not only making the area noisy, but also illuminating even the walls.
"Man, your company certainly has a way of stirring up everyone," Kevin remarked, concentrating on the doors.
"Well, it is a danger when a creature breaks free," Naria explained. "Usually when it happens, the creature hasn't had enough of his memory erased, so he attempts to exact vengeance upon the company. We have to destroy it in order to stop it because they become so powerful."
"I see…"
Kevin finally reached the number he was counting to. "This is the door!" he exclaimed, dashing into it. Thrusting himself into the door as powerfully as he could, he managed to knock it out of its frame and into the room.
"What the…!" Zeph shouted, which Kevin recognized.
Kevin took no time. Using the fire Essence, he filled the room with an overwhelming heat, protecting Naria, Jelza, and himself from it. The heat took literally the breath out of them and made them faint.
Kevin decided it was time. Raikou! Entei! Suicune! I need to talk to you now! He shouted to the Essences within.
We were beginning to wonder whether you would contact us again, Suicune said to Kevin. What is the emergency?
I recovered my tutor-in-training and gained the aid of a dishonored scientist, Kevin explained. We're recovering some of the hybrids from the building we're in. However, we've been spotted and need to hurry. Can you give us an exact number of Pokémon they took?
Lugia said that there were six Pokémon taken from our world, Entei stated. There may be more, but if you must leave as soon as possible, retrieve those you can.
Kevin quickly asked Naria how many hybrids had been created from his world. "Seven, including Jelza," she answered.
A lucky number, Kevin sighed, looking at the chambers. "All right, Naria, you know how to unlock these, therefore I want you to open them. Jelza, you remove up the view shields from the chambers and keep the other hybrids together. I'm going to talk as much sense as I can to them."
The plan was in motion. Kevin quickly pointed out how to withdraw the shields off the chambers, then went back to the first hybrid, the Kabutops one, who was now waking up from his sleep state.
"Hey there," Kevin said. "You all right?"
The Kabutops creature just looked at him. "Who are you?" he asked.
"Name's Kevin," Kevin said, "and I'm busting you out of here."
"Busting out?" the hybid wondered. He then looked around. "Well, that would explain the noise… someone spotted you?"
"No time for that," Kevin stated. "The humans here, except for the woman with me, want to make you servants for them. I can offer you freedom. What do you say?"
"From the lights and noises going off around here, I believe you," the hybrid answered. "Very well then, Kevin, I'll go with you."
"You won't regret it," Kevin said. "By the way, you never told me your name yet."
"That's because he doesn't have one," Naria shouted from the next chamber. "They are created without one, and then it's up to the person that wins them to their side to name them. They are very willing to receive one, but after that, their attitude changes to what they're made to act like."
"Really?" Kevin said, looking at Naria. He looked back to the hybrid and thought for a moment. "All right then… your name will be Blade. Is that good?"
"Blade?" the hybrid thought. "Hmm… I was thinking you would say Death, but Blade will do. Very well then, I will be known as such."
The next hybrid Kevin went to appeared to be a perfect human. "What was combined with this man?" he asked Naria as she was working on the next chamber.
"I believe he was combined with what you call a 'Ditto,'" Naria answered. "I saw the creature, and it appeared to be a pink blob."
"That's Ditto, all right," Kevin said. He turned back to the awaking hybrid. "You conscious yet?"
"I am indeed," the man replied. "You are the leader, I presume?"
"Only in this escape," Kevin explained. "Listen, we don't have much time. The scientists who created you want to control you and the others here."
"Then lead the way," the man declared. "Do you have a name for me?"
"Mirmek is the best I can think of. Will that do?"
"Mirmek it is, then," the man nodded. He went to join Blade to attempt a conversation.
"Kevin!" Jelza suddenly shouted before Naria opened the third chamber. "Come here!"
"Let me get this next one first," Kevin said back, looking at the Ursaring hybrid.
"No, come look at this NOW!!"
Kevin realized that Jelza was completely serious. He dashed over to her. "What is it you want me to see?" he asked, wondering why she had the shield closed.
Opening the chamber as Kevin had shown her, she pointed in it. "Look at… what these… these… monsters have done!!"
Kevin looked in the furthest chamber from the door, one he hadn't looked into yet. The creature was stunning and horrifying to see. His feet where white and thicker than a normal human, his arms and hands were flattened and looked more like white wings, he had a white tail that closely resembled a Legend Kevin remembered, and from where he was standing, it almost looked like he was looking at a smaller version of the very legend that struck fear into him during his first meeting.
Naria dashed over to look at the creature, then at Kevin's stunned expression. "What's the matter?" she asked. "You act normal with the other hybrids, yet this one nearly seems to pale your own Scyther skin."
"That's because this one is a recognized symbol of our world," Kevin answered, not looking away from the creature.
Duo-Cevan finally decided to say something. How in the caverns of Whirlpool islands did they manage to get him?
I… don't know… Kevin stammered. Something then clicked in his mind, which reminded him of his orders. Unless…
He began talking to the Three again. Raikou! Entei! Suicune! he shouted. I have just discovered a hybrid of Lugia! Did you know anything of this?
No… Suicune said. They actually altered him…
You did, didn't you? Kevin accused. Why didn't you tell me? How did they manage it??
Lugia told us directly to not tell you that they managed to enter his cavern through a portal until you had discovered the Lesser or the hybrid, Raikou explained. Had you learned of it before, your temper might have transformed you before you even got close to your target.
Indeed, Entei agreed. It would have also looked disgraceful to Lugia.
It would've looked disgraceful either way, but I guess you're right about the temper, Kevin sighed, putting his frustration away. Either way, they've created the hybrid.
Is the actual Lesser alive still?
Kevin turned the question toward Naria. "Naria, do any of the Pokémon used for this process survive?"
Naria shook her head. "Except for Jelza's Scyther, which I still hold on me, all the creatures used for the process are dead," she said sadly. "They either perish during the creation of the Cerebum, or after when what's left of the creature is destroyed by our weapons."
Kevin felt like he was impaled with his own weapon, Diamond Blade. He relayed the information to the Three. No, he said, nearly choking in his own telepathy. It's dead… they're all dead. All that is left of the Pokémon are the hybrids.
The Three were silent for a while. Finally Suicune answered. Then it is clear… They must be destroyed. The wrath of the Legends will not spare them.
"Why are you so quiet?" Naria asked.
Kevin looked at everyone who was awake at the moment. "Though I will spare Naria as she is innocent of this crime of defiling such a creature, the trespassers must be destroyed… all of them. It is not my order, but the order of the Pokémon in our world."
"Can such a thing be done?" Naria asked.
"Yes," Kevin said, nodding. "However, we first must concentrate on liberating the rest of these hybrids."
After convincing an Ursaring, Raichu, and female Houndoom hybrid, as well as giving them names, Kevin approached the Lugia hybrid. No sooner did Naria get it open when the door burst open and several guards stormed in.
"No!" Kevin shouted. "They found us!"
The guards lined the wall the door was on, and Mr. Eralch walked through. He looked at all the hybrids, then at Naria. "Ahh, the little whelp," he remarked. "I never knew you would sink this low."
"Not as low as you, you monster!" Kevin shouted, confronting the man but not getting too close. The guards seemed trigger finger enough with all the other freed hybrids.
"Ahh… Naria's hybrid, I presume?" he wondered. "Would you be the girl that—"
"If you listened to my voice, you should've been able to guess that I'm not a girl," Kevin shouted. "I followed your kind to this world, only to discover what kind of evil you really are!"
"Evil?" Mr. Eralch said coolly. "Surely you don't mean that. You must understand that we are a people without creatures. The only way we can get pets of our own is by bringing them from other worlds!"
"Perhaps," Kevin said coldly, "but your methods are brutal. You don't even care for my student, who you nearly killed by cutting her power! Your lack of respect for humans and beasts alike disgust me."
"Hold your tongue, hybrid!" Mr. Eralch shot back. "You turned five of our six hybrids against us! You have no room to speak. You're fortunate enough that my own hybrid has not turned rogue on me, or I would have to destroy all of you!"
"And yet you think I'll let either of you control me?"
Both Kevin and Mr. Eralch turned to face the Lugia hybrid. Mr. Eralch spoke first. "Please, hybrid," he said, "that hurts. That's nothing you should say to someone who created you."
"I'll say what I wish, human," the hybrid spoke. He turned toward Kevin. "You… you have permission to speak. Who are you that you would attempt to gain control of me?"
"Not control, but friendship, ally," Kevin answered. "I am Kevin, hybrid of the Pokémon world. I came here to retrieve all hybrids from my world. You are one of them."
"Nonsense!" Mr. Eralch shouted. "He sees you as no ally—"
"Silence, human!" the hybrid spoke. "I gave you no such permission. Kevin will finish what he was saying."
"As I was saying, I came to retrieve the hybrids from our world," Kevin repeated. "In addition, I came to retrieve a student of mine." Kevin motioned his hand toward Jelza. "Unfortunately, she suffered the same fate as I."
"And I, as I can see," the Lugia hybrid said, looking at himself. "Though I cannot recall who I am or this 'human' part is with me, I know for myself that I was not this way."
"Ahh, but it was for your benefit," Mr. Eralch persuaded. "The form is suited for you. You now excel in your skills!"
"Suited for him??" Kevin shot at Mr. Eralch. "Not only do you take him from his own world, but you put him in something that reflects nothing of what he is?!?"
"SILENCE!!!"
Mr. Eralch and Kevin turned toward the hybrid. He glared at them both. "I have decided," he declared, "that whoever should grant me a name that I like more than the other, I shall join their side… not as a slave, but as a warrior."
Well, at least his attitude is still the same, Kevin thought. He's still stubborn.
"Agreed," Mr. Eralch said to the hybrid. "How about the name 'Zachiras?'"
"And what do you decide, Kevin?" the hybrid asked.
Kevin thought for a moment. "The name I have thought up is 'Laguna,'" he said finally.
"Hmm…" the hybrid seemed to think for a few minutes before deciding. All the others were all silent, and for that time it seemed that the arguing between the two sides would cease forever.
However, the hybrid pulled out of his thoughts. "It is decided," he finally said. "I have chosen my name. It will be Laguna."
"Was my name not sufficient?" Mr. Eralch wondered out loud.
"No," Laguna replied. "Your name was creative and indeed original. However, You seemed to know what to give me as soon as you agreed. It was only then proper for me to decide that you had intended something for me. Kevin, on the other hand, chose a name that lacked of a unique nature. He chose a name that triggered something that I cannot recall."
Yes!!! Kevin shouted in himself, hiding his emotions by remaining where he was in his stance.
"So… I see how it is…" Mr. Eralch began. "It seems that you have something about you that resists the Cerebum." He turned away from Kevin and the rest of the hybrids as Kevin began sensing something dangerous. "It seems I have no choice now."
No… Kevin said. He's going to have his guards destroy us all!
So it seems, Duo-Cevan replied. Unless we can distract them, none of us will get out alive.
Kevin faced Mr. Eralch. "If you think you're going to destroy us all," he said fiercely, "You're not going to succeed."
"Unless you resist," Mr. Eralch growled, "that will be my decision. You and the rest of the hybrids are going into those chambers!" He then turned back to Kevin, motioning his hand for some guards to come. "You two, shock these. The rest of you ready your devices and knock them cold if they try to escape."
"Not unless I can help it!" Jelza said. She stepped up beside Kevin. "I still have a bone to pick with you boys for getting Kevin in this mess!"
Kevin looked at Jelza. "What are you doing?" he asked.
Jelza looked up at Kevin with her Scyther eyes, showing what he could only see as sorrow. "I'm sorry, Kevin," She said, nearly choking on the words. "I can't go back. I don't know what I would do while I was in this form, and with us knowing each other too well…"
"I don't know what you're getting at, Jelza," Kevin asked.
"Don't you get it?!?" She burst out. "I've always looked at you not because you were a hybrid and knew Pokémon, but because of the man that you are! You've been alive far longer than I have, and… It just wouldn't be right! You think I'm just your student, but it's actually your feelings toward me!"
Kevin stepped back, shocked at the words. Me? In love? Yeah right!! He thought. My love for others died with my family's disappearance!
"I'm sorry, Kevin…" she said again, turning toward Mr. Eralch. "But I can't love you more than for what you are. I cannot go home!" Motioning for something from Naria, the scientist ran over and handed her a Pokédex. Suddenly she became fierce, revealing an anger that Kevin never thought she could show.
"Mr. Eralch…" She began, even while the guards were approaching, "Laguna is made of a Pokémon that is sacred of our world. Do you want to know three others that are of our world?"
What the…!! Kevin said, stepping back again even after recovering from the previous shock.
"Behold!" She shouted, holding up the Pokédex with a picture of all three legends in one snapshot. "Entei, Raikou, and—"
"Jelza! NO!!" Kevin shouted, realizing what she was doing. But it was too late. She couldn't even say Suicune's name before she buckled over and fell on her knees, supporting her upper half by her arms.
Naria looked at Jelza, then at Kevin. "What's wrong with her?" she asked. "Do you know what's going on?"
"Yes," Kevin said. "She revealed the Three. The curse of madness is taking its toll."