I'm sorry about this in advance. This chapter contains a whole lot of romance near the end, so if you'd rather not read, that's fine. These chapters seem to be shrinking. . . See Notes Below.


Chapter Four


Maybe I should turn around and go back, I thought to myself. It was quite hasty of me to so hurriedly rush off without thought for provision.

It wasn't the first time that doubt crossed my mind. I knew full well if I went back there would be twenty or thirty or so various hit men and bodyguards and security people out there waiting for me to deny my own conscience.

The thought also crossed my mind. . . well, not so much crossed as I did sit and ponder it for a while. . . was that there thoughts were programmed directly into my brain. . . That Marcel had thought this beforehand and took precautions on his creations that ever they should escape from his hand, that they might act unnaturally and do illogical things that might have a negative effect on their escape. Specifically, recapture.

Now I had run for many days as of yet. I couldn't help but secretly thank Marcel for spelling his own downfall by training me as much as possible in the lab. It left me quite fit, and I could run for hours at a time without tiring. Maybe this was normal for my half-species. . . I didn't know. I should have done more research into pokémon.

I cursed Marcel for acting so quickly and cleanly. That was probably why he seemed to have so easily wiped out any hope I might have.

But it wasn't if I had been running in vain. . . I actually kept in a forty-mile area around Max's house. The house was low in a valley, and not too far from the place were mountains. . . lots of mountains and hills. I had set up sentry perimeter points so I could keep a close eye on his operations around the house without being detected so easily.

Even that kind of dedication didn't stop odd thoughts from crossing my mind.

Setting a complex web of spying that way might sound easy, sans the running everywhere before the hour is up, but this, after all, is a valley. Wild pokémon frequent it just as much as Marcel's goons do. Just as vicious towards a hybrid like me as they are made out to be towards humans in the textbooks, I fought a lot of battles.

So now it shouldn't come as a surprise to you to say that I evolved.

It was about two days ago, as a matter of fact. It was during a fight with a wild Onix. Those huge things are more than pesky around the mountainous areas, and yet so easy to fight. But as I was closing up the battle, meaning that I was tormenting the beast enough for it to force its hasty retreat, there was an odd tingling sensation in the back of my head. The Onix had fled the scene by then, but I just stood there for a second, rubbing the back of my head at the base of my skull. . . the soft part just above the neck.

It was a euphoric feeling that I hadn't experienced before, and I continued massaging that area, until something seemed to click.

Such a shame that humans never can feel the power of evolution.

Its as if I gained the strength from a hundred more battles right then and there, and as if I never ran the previous twenty miles before hand, as if I had just eaten my fill but could still act even more quickly and efficiently than I could previously, as if. . .

Not as if. There were also a thousand new feelings that I hadn't ever felt. A greater sense of hope, of accomplishment, and skill, of. . .

Something. Of something. I couldn't put my finger in it, but it was something very new for me indeed.

My body changed, of course. My fur became rugged and brown, my incisors lengthened to half an inch, my ears grew in size, I gained an extra set of whiskers, and my tail became more rat-like. Not to mention that all my muscles grew in size and my entire frame grew in its girth and height.

Best thing I ever felt, and the feeling kept going on for days. It was like a new toy or gadget; you linger on using it until you got used to it. This was the moment of a lifetime, and I wanted it to last as long as possible.

But duty was duty, I had to find out what Marcel was planning to do to me regardless.


A week later. It seemed obvious that Marcel (I was still pretty sure it was him organizing the front even though I never saw him once) was organizing his forces to do a massive sweep of the area. My new ears could hear a hundred yards further than my old ones could, and that helped me a lot in that aspect. But I did need a plan.

I initially decided to move out of the area for a while. That didn't seem a good plan, because obviously Marc was at the same time developing a way to keep an eye on the entire forty-mile circle around Max's house. So I could move completely out of the circle. But I couldn't. I knew that somewhere was the secret entrance to Marcel's lab.

I had to work a lot faster. I had to piece together what I knew of the location of his hideout. I only wish I paid attention that near month ago. If only. . . But had I been as smart and attentive then as I was now, Things would happen much differently, so I can't exactly blame myself at all.

I was running a routine between the huge oak on the northwest hill I dubbed 'Sanctuary' and the west mountaintop plateau, when I heard a strange cry. The cry seemed to be that of a Dragonair. Considering Dragonairs are both rare and live much farther south of here, this was something I needed to investigate.

Besides, I had a very precise feeling about who that cry was coming from.

And when I reached the clearing, I still couldn't believe it.

Twenty-two.

A possible coincidence, but yet I felt a fear as though I didn't know what to do right then, or if anything I might do was the right thing. Anxiety.

Twenty-two was just as she had been in the photographs. The Dragonair part of her figure was very generous, as she was about seven feet tall even without the tail. Her skin was a sky blue on the back, blending well with the pure white on her front. Her hair was long and brown, and then unusually clean. Like me, she didn't have a stitch of clothing on.

She didn't see me, though I saw her very clearly. And she was crying.

I wondered for a moment whether I should leave and not come back. But she did need me. . .

What should I say? What should I do? Maybe I shouldn't do anything. Maybe I should stay away and just keep tabs on her.

While calculating the effects of what my actions might be, Twenty-two just turned to look at me.

And I should say, we held that stare for the longest time.

"Who. . . who are you?" She said to me.

But she said it in the Dragonair tongue. I had known of my inherent pokémon language for a great while, but never considered speaking it because my focus was on English. Books can't be printed in the pokémon language. So I answered her as she could only understand:

"I'm number seventeen." said I in the Raticate language. I held up the back of my hand to show her the '17' tattoo.

She held up her hand to show a very clear '22'. "What is this?"

"Twenty-two. You're number twenty-two."

"I have heard of you before. . . you escaped the dark place."

"The laboratory. Yes, that was me." I crept closer so as the awkwardness might die down some.

"Will you help me?"

"I will try as hard as I can." She was now the most important thing in the world, it seemed. A foolish thought. . . I was deviating from my path. But when I looked at her. . . all I could see was the fearful little Rattata hybrid that I was not so long ago.

I needed to keep her safe.

But I couldn't seem to break her gaze, and she couldn't seem to break mine. There was something stirring inside me of some sort. Neither of us spoke a word, yet we were still slowly drawing closer to each other. She put out her hand, I put out mine to touch it. We stood up from the forest floor together, and our pace toward each other was quicker. Our bodies came into contact.

I never wanted to leave her arms. Her body was warm against mine, and she placed her head against my shoulder. And we stood there for maybe longer than we stared at each other earlier. We grew tired, and decided to retreat to a comfortable position of the forest floor. I almost fell on top of her.

Once down, I still couldn't break my gaze with her when we regained eye contact. I brought my face as close to hers as possible, And in a gut instinct, placed my lips on hers. It was the most comfortable position I had ever been in, the most comfortable position I would ever be in. Or so I thought.


I'll leave the events of the night up to your imagination from this following information


I read from biology textbooks the act of reproduction between animals. I never tried to look at the pictures, as the seemed the most repulsive thing possible back then, but I was curious enough to read through anyway. I recalled back to how it described why animals committed this act, and could see how much it was right. Even back then, I when I could only make out a few words every sentence, I had no doubt as this 'drive' had to be something pleasant.

I understated myself.



So. . . Next chapter is going to be a lot cooler than this. I'm not going to give away anything. Wait and see! Remember, when this story finishes, I begin Final Fantasy: The Last Hero. If you care about my welfare at all, send me your character! Until next time, Ciao!