Ch 3
"I'm curious to know why you suddenly changed styles on us." Red asked during the flight to the Shadow Pokémon Lab. Rui winced and gazed out at the desert in search of the buildings. Silver sat behind her, also keeping her eyes open for any suspicious place, squinting in the sunlight and hot winds. Her registration had been welcomed warmly, along with May's. Orre hadn't had much experience with offering challenges up to the champions of other regions and were now practically falling all over themselves to provide information about the toughest colosseums. She grinned wryly; it was almost as if the desert region was whoring out its arenas in hopes of bringing in fame and fortune. The terra-forming plan was still in effect apparently.
"To keep Seth alive in my memory. And to show Orre that the threat of Cipher isn't over, not by a long shot. Ein got away and as long as he's free, we'll need a Snagger to stop his Shadow Pokémon-making machines." Rui replied and looked fierce. "Orre needs Seth, whether or not it's gonna admit it. I'm gonna show them that Seth is important, and by saving him dressed as him, maybe it will change how they think of the title 'Snagger'."
"But you're not a Snagger. You have no training, no experience, no knowledge of that machine on your arm." Red pointed out, "And that was your first ever Pokémon battle back there." He looked back at her and she could see that he had known all along she was completely naive about the battling aspect of Pokémon.
"Battle? Where? When? Damn, I miss out on all kinds of cool stuff." Silver griped, looking around. "And I don't see any damn lab building."
"It's further up ahead." Rui added quietly, watching the Latias whizz by and call out in joy. "I guess I wasn't really thinking things through when I did this, but can you blame me for trying?" she added, then looked up at him hopefully, "But you're a champion! You all are! You can teach me how to battle! And I've seen Seth use the Snag Machine lots of times! I bet I can figure out how to work it!" She brightened as the plan started forming. "I can ask Nett to bring up files about it! He can tell me how to use the Snag Machine and I know where to get more Poké Balls here in Orre!"
"You make it sound so easy." Silver murmured, "The only way to learn how to battle is to do it. The Snag Machine is a whole other can of worms that I don't wanna open up myself."
"Hey! Is that it over there?" Brendan suddenly yelled out, pointing at a squat white building surrounded by smaller buildings and an electrified fence down below. The Latias hung back to let the teens on her back talk with the ones on the Charizard. Rui nodded and the two Pokémon descended to check it out.
The Shadow Pokémon Lab had seen better days. Dimly lit with the emergency lights that had remained active since the kidnapping incident a month or so before, the main building retained its creepy atmosphere. Red handed his flashlight to Rui and let her lead the little team towards the laboratory where Seth had been created. The room was almost in the exact same condition it had been when she last saw it.
"What happened here?" May asked softly, picking up a piece of crumbling plaster off the floor and turning it in her hands. Rui plucked it from her hands and crushed the plaster, an angry look on her face.
"Seth's death happened here." she growled and glared around her, blue eyes glittering with a suppressed fury. "This is part of a fake Snag Machine I made to use as bait for Cipher, but Seth made himself the bait and trap instead. When I came here to rescue him, the other project Cipher created with Seth got loose and killed him. Celebi brought him back to life." She let the dust slip through her fingers onto the tile as the group watched her warily. "But I will never forget how he was murdered before me, that shadow beast slicing into him with a blade formed of its own arm. I'll never forgive Cipher for creating that monster and taking my desert prince away." she added coldly.
"We've searched the room. Nothing. Seth's not here." Silver remarked to break the awkward silence. "Where do we go now?" Rui scanned the room again, then looked over at Red.
"Can we try the old Snagem Hideout?" she asked, "It's where Seth was taken after Cipher finished giving him all the data they had. When he blew it up, it was the beginning of his rebellion. That might count as the true Beginning." Brendan sifted through papers and pulled up a sheet, showing it off.
"Hey! Check this out! These are notes about our battles with Groudon and Kyogre, May!" he declared, "Cipher went to the Cave of Origin to collect DNA from those battles we had and used 'em to make Seth. Origin is the same as beginning, right? So maybe Seth wound up there?"
"In Hoenn? You think?" May remarked incredulously and grabbed the sheet, "Well, now that I think about it, why not? It's the beginning of Seth's creation. That could be another spot to check."
"We'll go there after the Snagem Hideout, if it doesn't yield any leads." Red pointed out and made for the door, "But we should keep a lower profile once we get out into more populated areas."
"We can gather additional information from Nett in The Under." Rui added, "Word is there's something funny about Realgam Tower and the best place to look for information about Cipher's buildings is to go straight to the source." She grinned and winked slyly, "Seth's old memory backup. Nett has it stored in his house!"
Evice looked through the files sent to him by Rezrik's group and smiled happily. Nascour had taken time to convert some of the data to image form and the former Cipher head cheerfully took each photo of his 'son' and framed them, placing them with care on the mantle in the study room. While he straightened them out and lined them up, Nascour went on reading the recent memories.
"'Rui had mentioned that she would have to let me go back to the beginning in order to have me return. I can use that to my advantage and trick Ein into believing I have rejoined them. Yet, if he downloads my memories, and he finds this thought of mine, everything will just go to hell. But if he can password protect junk in my head, why can't I do the same?'" he finished up and raised an eyebrow. "Master, he claims he will return to the beginning. Any thoughts as to where that may be?" he added.
"No, none at all. But it would be best to work from the ending, no?" Evice remarked, "He hasn't been found in the Indigo Plateau, so what would be the next logical location to search?"
"Wouldn't it be easier to follow his friends and see if they lead us to him?" Nascour asked, sifting through the many sheets of information. The Cipher head stepped back and looked up at the many pictures of Seth, images taken only when he looked into mirrors.
"We could do that, yes. But it would be like a game if we did it this way. What is the beginning for Seth?" he replied simply. Nascour frowned and tilted his head back, thinking over it.
"I would think the beginning would be where he was created; in the Shadow Pokémon Laboratory." he answered. Evice shook his head.
"Further back, my good man. Think further back. The beginning is where it all began." he corrected with a mysterious smile. The other man blinked, then nodded and stood from the chess table.
"All right. Further back. The Cave of Origin where the DNA for Seth was collected. I'll have the men start exploration of it immediately." he commented and left the room. Evice shook his head and continued gazing up at an image of the Snagger, who was looking into a mirror with an experimental smile, blushing slightly at the attempt to look less intimidating.
"Further back, Nascour." he whispered, "To where it all began."
The young man pulled at the greenery and let it fall through his fingers, marveling at the cool feeling of it and the slenderness of his own hands. He had already pulled off most of what he was wearing, each piece surprising him by folding or bending in unusual ways. Something made him stop at his shirt and underclothes, but it was forgotten at the feeling of the cool winds spinning around him.
"That's grass, in case you were wondering." the Caterpie muttered around a mouthful of leaves, "What kind of Pokémon are you, to be wearing clothes like that?"
"Clothes?" the man echoed and picked up the black jeans, "That's what these are?" He shook them down, then tossed it aside, standing up to stretch. His stomach growled and he looked surprised. "What is that?" he poked at his belly and made a face when it growled again. "It doesn't feel nice."
"Gah, you can't even tell when you're hungry? Are you a newborn? What are you?" the Caterpie grumbled and ambled down the tree to him. "Lemme check." It sniffed at him and looked up at him suspiciously with one eye. "You smell like a mix of Rayquaza, Kyorge and Groudon. You some kind of new legendary Pokémon?"
"Really? Then what's my name?" the man asked eagerly, stomach grumbling forgotten.
"Eh, I don't know. I'll make up a name for ya. Raykyoudon. There. That's your name." the Caterpie decided, "And there's some berry bushes over there if you're hungry. Save some for me, will ya, pal?" Raykyoudon promptly crawled up to the bushes and scarfed down several handfuls. "Man, you eat way too much! I told you to leave some for me! Oh well." The Caterpie gazed up at the sky and frowned. "It's getting darker. You have a place to sleep, Raykyoudon?"
"Sleep?" the man replied in mild confusion around a mouthful of berries, "I have to go somewhere to sleep?" The Caterpie sighed and shook its head.
"Kids. I'm supposing that means no. Well, put your clothes back on and follow me. I know of a place you can stay." it began and started marching along at its own lazy pace. Raykyoudon rubbed his face clean and dressed quickly.
"Okay, Caterpie, but I have to come back here tomorrow." he added as he tagged after it. It looked back at him in confusion.
"Why?"
"Because this is The Beginning and I have to be here." Raykyoudon replied and thought about what he had learned.
Grass was cool and ticklish. His clothes can come off and on. When his stomach growls, he is hungry and must eat. Berries are yummy and messy. His new name was Raykyoudon and he was Caterpie's pal.
"For a Beginning, this place is nice." Raykyoudon remarked brightly, golden eyes glittering happily. "If there's a Beginning, is there an Ending too? Where can I find that, and are the berries just as yummy there, too?"
