Chapter 5

Ash woke with a start. He looked around, everyone else was up and Morris said, "At least I didn't have to yell to wake you this time."

The room looked exactly like a hotel room. Two beds, a couch, a small T.V. on top of a dresser and a small bathroom. He then noticed that one whole wall was made out of a see through composite and he could see through into the hall.

Morris said, "If this is team tech again, I'll say this much, they have good taste in facilities. Don't try picking anything up though, it's all bolted into the carpet."

May was on the couch freaking out. "I don't want to be a cat again--I don't want to be a cat again!"

Max said, "Calm down. You've been saying the same thing over and over again for the last hour. Give it a rest."

May calmed down a bit and said, "I don't know if I can."

Before Ash could respond to this, Pikachu jumped into his lap and Ash said, "Are you o.k. little buddy?"

Pikachu simply nodded and Ash said, "How come they didn't take all our stuff and Pokemon like last time?"

Morris replied, "Either the guy who runs this place is very confident of this security or maybe he might just let us go!" He said sarcastically.

A voice then said, "A little bit of both actually."

Everyone then looked out through the see through wall. There was Dr. Bailey, just as they remembered him from last time. Dark blue pants and t-shirt, leather gloves, blood red hair, combat boots, and black sun glasses.

Ash instantly yelled, "Pikachu--Zap Cannon!"

Pikachu let loose a huge burst of electricity, but the see through wall simply absorbed it.

Bailey sighed and said, "Is that really necessary? I did say I would let you go eventually."

May marched up to the wall and yelled, "You sick freak--you tried to turn me into an overgrown cat."

Bailey looked at her and said, "I'm surprised they were able to change you back without memory lose. Too bad you had to lose my gift to you, but it wont' matter in the end."

May looked at him and said, "You call turning me into a mindless animal a gift?"

Bailey chuckled and said, "For your information I had no intention in turning you over to team tech, I could possibly care less about them. I just strung them along to get money and supplies for my research. The stupid idiots really thought I was working for them. What I had in mind was much greater."

Now Ash was curious--"What the heck do you mean?"

Bailey pulled up a chair outside the glass wall from who knows where and sat down. "This is pretty long so I'll just start at the beginning, I've plenty of time: I was born thirty five years ago, March 3, 2017, if I recall correctly--way over in the good old USA. My family was pretty well off. My father was a lawyer and my mom was a lazy one who didn't lift a finger. We had a live-in maid. Anyhow, believe it or not I'm actually a genius, certified. Mom and Dad didn't have an idea where the hell it came from. By the time I was 15 I was in college. I always had a compassion for helping people, so I went into medicine. I remember all the praise I got. People always told me I could change the world. That all came crashing down. It was only three years into my advance studies when my country caused North Korea to snap--they declared all out war and using their only nukes blasted Tokyo, Seoul, Kyoto, and Pusan off the face of the earth. Being moronic and over patriotic as I was then, I immediately enlisted. It was hell--first we had to push the enemy off of some small island in the middle of the ocean between Japan and Korea, I forget its name, it used to be a resort. All I know is we took enough casualties to make Hiroshima look like a picnic. Next came the mainland itself. Quite basically, my country, Taiwan and Japan were going it alone. China could have helped end the war right then and there but they didn't want to risk the causalities and any possible political unrest. If you've read your history, you know that the war lasted only two short years. But during that time it was hell for me.

Every time the enemy retreated, they would burn everything--people included. Their philosophy was barbaric. If they weren't under the command of their great leader, they didn't deserve to live. When the war ended I had a half dozen purple hearts under my belt. When I got back home I received a horrible shock.

My Mom and Dad had died. My Dad had been working on this class action against a medical company. They were accused of mislabeling their meds and misinforming the public. Sometime while I was off fighting both my Mom and Dad were caught in a horrible car accident. Our families lawyer told me that it was probably a hit--but not to pursue it due to the power the company had in the government. I became disillusioned with humanity that day so I took to wandering--eventually three years later, I came across an old book in a library in Goldenrod City. Tell me have any of you heard of "Rebirth-The Prophesy of Fire".

Ash looked at Bailey and said, "What's that?"

Bailey sighed and said, "They don't teach you kids anything now a days." "According to the book the world used to be a peaceful place. Everyone cared for everyone else, no matter what race, class, or nationality. But then darkness descended on the land. The world slowly became corrupt. It reached a point where the legendary bird of peace, rainbow, and fire forsaken the world. It said it would not return until people and Pokemon were one in the same. Only then would world peace and prosperity return as in days long ago. This little vial contains all that." Bailey held up a vial that contained a spiral shaped crystal and within the crystal was a strange liquid. "The result of a decade of endless research, my retro-virus--Stardust--nice name don't you think? It's like the stuff I used on you little girl. That though was a much more primitive, it had to be mixed with the Pokemon's DNA and injected directly. This is much more advanced. Thanks to today's modern medical technology, I was able to redevelop it as a gas. Tonight at midnight, I plan on launching several missiles into the upper atmosphere. About 75 miles up to be precise. Once the warheads detonate the unique spore that dwell in the upper atmosphere will cause the gas to expand and divide. Eventually becoming a temporary part of the planet's air supply itself. Once the gas is inhaled by a Pokemon, it becomes highly contagious to humans. Think black death from the middle ages and you should get a pretty good idea. If a person gets bitten, scratched, licked, hell if he even comes within three feet of one, he'll become infected. Eventually turning into a hybrid of whatever Pokemon infected him. There are a few bugs in the virus though, it doesn't work on insect or steel types, and not on dittos, so we won't see any of those hybrids running around, but that's o.k. by me. Dittos are practically immortal and no one wants to live forever. As for bug and steel types, they just creep me out."

Morris then rushed the wall and began pounding on it. "You crazy F-upped lunatic if I wasn't locked up I'd snap your stupid neck."

Brock said, "Do you realize what you are doing?" "There will be chaos and looting. I thought you hated death, you'll just be causing more of it."

Bailey said, "If there is one positive thing that came out of my life, it is this: Survival of the Fittest. When it's all said and done only the strong will survive and live in peace."

Ash was about to say something when he doubled over in pain. So did May and Max.

Brock yelled, "What the hell did you do to them?"

Bailey said, "I wanted to test the final version of my retro-virus, so while they were asleep, I infected them. Too bad I couldn't infect all of you, I only had enough left for three doses. But if you wait you will receive the ultimate gift too. As for what they'll become--lets just say there is a surprise in every vial and say on more." He then opened a latch on the wall and threw in a bottle of Advil Liquid Gels. "You'd better get them to take this. Bones, cells, arteries, even DNA itself shifting and changing can be very painful. I know from experience."

He then took off his gloves and glasses revealing his cat like eyes and clawed hands. "I'd better get going, so much to do so little time." He then walked off.

Ash looked out the glass wall in pain saying, "Stop--come" then he passed out on the floor.

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Rave Drifter.