Chapter 4
The trio watched the screen of the PC as a small blue bar indicating loading times filled itself up, the message box closing and the box information screen re- opening upon completion. The display showed a picture of a pokémon, its statistical information to the right, along with a small text message at the bottom: 'Here is the test pokémon. All results seem to suggest that everything went successfully, and we will be inducing another evolution later today. Relay this onto the boss, and the other specimens will be forwarded later as well.'
"Induced?" Setijin pondered as the pod to the left of the PC reactivated itself, and proceeded to materialize the pokéball with the test subject in. The ball was different from standard issue pokéballs; it was all white, with a red button in its center, along with a red trim circling the rim. Winona grabbed the ball, and released the pokémon a few foot in front of them.
From the blinding white flash of the release mechanism, stood a Medicham, its thin, spindly arms resting on its large, round, crimson legs, as if crouched on the floor. Its eyes opened cautiously, squinting from the light of day, as it limply picked itself up, to stand as tall as it could in front of the group.
"...Cham"
Winona pondered the message. "By induced evolution, they must have meant they forced it to evolve earlier than it should have. This Medicham seems too young and unfocused to have evolved naturally. They are naturally very precise pokémon; the concentrate wholeheartedly on everything they do...this one seems to distracted," she explained. Setijin and the man accepted this theory, as the mans Linoone scurried up to the Medicham, and began to examine its scent. The Medicham dropped his head slightly to watch the Linoone, causing both to stand deathly still.
"Not the brightest pair..." the man said, admiring their innocence.
"So what are we going to do with him then?" Setijin queried.
"I guess he'll have to come with us. If he is a test subject, then the chances are that he didn't belong to a trainer beforehand. It doesn't have an ID number after all." Winona suggested.
"I'll look after him for a while!" offered Setijin eagerly. Winona considered, and then smiled.
"I guess that'll be fine," she replied, handing him Medicham's pokéball. Setijin approached the Medicham triumphantly.
"Do you want to be my partner?" he asked, kneeling down to reach Medicham's eye level, holding out his hand as a sign of friendship. The Medicham looked back at him, its eyes probing Setijin's intensely, before chirping his name happily and starting to hop on the spot, like an excited youngster. Setijin chuckled as he patted his new pokémon gently on the head.
Winona and Setijin waited outside the large double doors of the Institute, bidding the man and his Linoone farewell as they made their way back to Fortree. Medicham stood at Setijin's side, watching as he waved, then mimicking his new owners actions. 'Cham, Medicham', he giggled, while Setijin and Winona turned to him. He slowly stopped, faced the pair, and continued to wave at them, calling out his name.
"Calm down Medicham," Setijin laughed. Winona stepped forward and knelt down in front of Medicham.
"You're quite a chirpy little fella, ain't ya?" she said to the pokémon. It gazed back at her, its eyes glazed over in a confused and unfocused fashion, before repeating its name and waving at her. A scientist approached them, Setijin interrupting him before he initiated conversation.
"Here are your pokémon sir," he remarked as he handed the scientist two pokéballs.
"Why thank you, but...how?"
"It's a long story..." Winona sighed. "Long to the point of 'telling you now would be a tad inconvenient'". "I'm not even going to pretend I understand, but either way, thank you so much for your help! I'm lost for ideas on how to reward you..." he replied.
"Pokémon battle!" exclaimed Setijin. The Scientist accepted the challenge, and guided Setijin, Winona and Medicham around to the rear of the building, to a large open patch of grass, where the battle with the mystery man had taken place earlier. Setijin and the Scientist stood about 10 foot apart, with Winona at the side of the battlefield, preparing to act as a makeshift referee. The scientist released his rested Magnemite, which hovered steadily above the lush green grass below. Setijin's Medicham hopped forward, and both waited for Winona's signal. She raised her arm, paused, and then dropped it, indicating the start of the battle.
The scientists Magnemite acted first, releasing a metallic screech from its violently spinning magnets. Medicham flinched slightly, before regaining its posture, and stood its ground.
"Medicham, let's see what you've got! Attack the Magnemite!" Setijin called. Medicham stood perfectly still, before calling out its name and waving politely at the scientist and his bemused pokémon. The Magnemite turned towards its trainer for reassurance, with which he received a disgruntled shrug. The Magnemite examined Medicham for a few seconds more, before unleashing a small wisp of air at Sonic speeds at Setijin's pokémon. The air whipped around itself, unleashing an almighty Sonic boom before it made contact with Medicham, the blast frightening the docile bird pokémon relaxing in the trees of the forest surrounding the area. Medicham was knocked backwards, and to the floor it fell. Setijin jogged forwards to its aid. It lay on the floor, and slowly opened its eyes, muttering its name, and waved at Setijin with a weak, bruised arm. Winona announced the Scientist as the winner.
"Well, it looks like Medicham might need a bit of training before the next pokémon battle, eh Setijin?" Winona commented. Setijin nodded as he helped his pokémon to its feet.
"I have an idea," interjected the scientist. "Wait here, I have just the thing!" He ran off around to the front of the building, and returned a few minutes later with a pokéball. He handed it to Setijin. "This is a Nincanda, the training pokémon. Let your Medicham play with this little guy for a while, and I'm sure some of his discipline will rub off onto him." Setijin smiled gratifyingly.
"Thanks so much!" he exclaimed, as the scientist reached for a beeper ringing in his pocket.
"Well, I have to go now...good luck with your pokémon training, and thanks for all your help! See you around," he called as he ran back into the building. Setijin returned Medicham to his pokéball, and placed both of them carefully in his pocket.
"Two in 10 minutes!" Setijin remarked ecstatically. At this rate, I'll have the ultimate pokémon squad in no time, just like the other people in those TV programs that are on all the time..." he hesitated, before sighing, "Cyndaquil..." Winona patted him on the back fondly.
"Don't worry. We'll find Cyndaquil again. It's almost certain we'll bump into that guy again, but for now lets just head back home," she said. "You know, all this time you've lived in Fortree, and I still don't really know you, but I feel that we both have the same drive and aspirations...that's why, first thing tomorrow, we're both heading back out to continue our search..." She flung her left arm over Setijin's slightly taller shoulder, and guided him back over the long wooden rope bridge, and back towards town...
The trio watched the screen of the PC as a small blue bar indicating loading times filled itself up, the message box closing and the box information screen re- opening upon completion. The display showed a picture of a pokémon, its statistical information to the right, along with a small text message at the bottom: 'Here is the test pokémon. All results seem to suggest that everything went successfully, and we will be inducing another evolution later today. Relay this onto the boss, and the other specimens will be forwarded later as well.'
"Induced?" Setijin pondered as the pod to the left of the PC reactivated itself, and proceeded to materialize the pokéball with the test subject in. The ball was different from standard issue pokéballs; it was all white, with a red button in its center, along with a red trim circling the rim. Winona grabbed the ball, and released the pokémon a few foot in front of them.
From the blinding white flash of the release mechanism, stood a Medicham, its thin, spindly arms resting on its large, round, crimson legs, as if crouched on the floor. Its eyes opened cautiously, squinting from the light of day, as it limply picked itself up, to stand as tall as it could in front of the group.
"...Cham"
Winona pondered the message. "By induced evolution, they must have meant they forced it to evolve earlier than it should have. This Medicham seems too young and unfocused to have evolved naturally. They are naturally very precise pokémon; the concentrate wholeheartedly on everything they do...this one seems to distracted," she explained. Setijin and the man accepted this theory, as the mans Linoone scurried up to the Medicham, and began to examine its scent. The Medicham dropped his head slightly to watch the Linoone, causing both to stand deathly still.
"Not the brightest pair..." the man said, admiring their innocence.
"So what are we going to do with him then?" Setijin queried.
"I guess he'll have to come with us. If he is a test subject, then the chances are that he didn't belong to a trainer beforehand. It doesn't have an ID number after all." Winona suggested.
"I'll look after him for a while!" offered Setijin eagerly. Winona considered, and then smiled.
"I guess that'll be fine," she replied, handing him Medicham's pokéball. Setijin approached the Medicham triumphantly.
"Do you want to be my partner?" he asked, kneeling down to reach Medicham's eye level, holding out his hand as a sign of friendship. The Medicham looked back at him, its eyes probing Setijin's intensely, before chirping his name happily and starting to hop on the spot, like an excited youngster. Setijin chuckled as he patted his new pokémon gently on the head.
Winona and Setijin waited outside the large double doors of the Institute, bidding the man and his Linoone farewell as they made their way back to Fortree. Medicham stood at Setijin's side, watching as he waved, then mimicking his new owners actions. 'Cham, Medicham', he giggled, while Setijin and Winona turned to him. He slowly stopped, faced the pair, and continued to wave at them, calling out his name.
"Calm down Medicham," Setijin laughed. Winona stepped forward and knelt down in front of Medicham.
"You're quite a chirpy little fella, ain't ya?" she said to the pokémon. It gazed back at her, its eyes glazed over in a confused and unfocused fashion, before repeating its name and waving at her. A scientist approached them, Setijin interrupting him before he initiated conversation.
"Here are your pokémon sir," he remarked as he handed the scientist two pokéballs.
"Why thank you, but...how?"
"It's a long story..." Winona sighed. "Long to the point of 'telling you now would be a tad inconvenient'". "I'm not even going to pretend I understand, but either way, thank you so much for your help! I'm lost for ideas on how to reward you..." he replied.
"Pokémon battle!" exclaimed Setijin. The Scientist accepted the challenge, and guided Setijin, Winona and Medicham around to the rear of the building, to a large open patch of grass, where the battle with the mystery man had taken place earlier. Setijin and the Scientist stood about 10 foot apart, with Winona at the side of the battlefield, preparing to act as a makeshift referee. The scientist released his rested Magnemite, which hovered steadily above the lush green grass below. Setijin's Medicham hopped forward, and both waited for Winona's signal. She raised her arm, paused, and then dropped it, indicating the start of the battle.
The scientists Magnemite acted first, releasing a metallic screech from its violently spinning magnets. Medicham flinched slightly, before regaining its posture, and stood its ground.
"Medicham, let's see what you've got! Attack the Magnemite!" Setijin called. Medicham stood perfectly still, before calling out its name and waving politely at the scientist and his bemused pokémon. The Magnemite turned towards its trainer for reassurance, with which he received a disgruntled shrug. The Magnemite examined Medicham for a few seconds more, before unleashing a small wisp of air at Sonic speeds at Setijin's pokémon. The air whipped around itself, unleashing an almighty Sonic boom before it made contact with Medicham, the blast frightening the docile bird pokémon relaxing in the trees of the forest surrounding the area. Medicham was knocked backwards, and to the floor it fell. Setijin jogged forwards to its aid. It lay on the floor, and slowly opened its eyes, muttering its name, and waved at Setijin with a weak, bruised arm. Winona announced the Scientist as the winner.
"Well, it looks like Medicham might need a bit of training before the next pokémon battle, eh Setijin?" Winona commented. Setijin nodded as he helped his pokémon to its feet.
"I have an idea," interjected the scientist. "Wait here, I have just the thing!" He ran off around to the front of the building, and returned a few minutes later with a pokéball. He handed it to Setijin. "This is a Nincanda, the training pokémon. Let your Medicham play with this little guy for a while, and I'm sure some of his discipline will rub off onto him." Setijin smiled gratifyingly.
"Thanks so much!" he exclaimed, as the scientist reached for a beeper ringing in his pocket.
"Well, I have to go now...good luck with your pokémon training, and thanks for all your help! See you around," he called as he ran back into the building. Setijin returned Medicham to his pokéball, and placed both of them carefully in his pocket.
"Two in 10 minutes!" Setijin remarked ecstatically. At this rate, I'll have the ultimate pokémon squad in no time, just like the other people in those TV programs that are on all the time..." he hesitated, before sighing, "Cyndaquil..." Winona patted him on the back fondly.
"Don't worry. We'll find Cyndaquil again. It's almost certain we'll bump into that guy again, but for now lets just head back home," she said. "You know, all this time you've lived in Fortree, and I still don't really know you, but I feel that we both have the same drive and aspirations...that's why, first thing tomorrow, we're both heading back out to continue our search..." She flung her left arm over Setijin's slightly taller shoulder, and guided him back over the long wooden rope bridge, and back towards town...