The Mad Scientist
Michael got his white moped out of the lab's garage putting on his own riding goggles, then tossing a pair to Liz. The brunette caught the eyewear and took her seat on the second seat of the scooter. Michael was sitting on the front, and Liz was wrapping her arms around his waist as he started the engine. Michael was starting to blush as he felt Liz's body on his as they drove off into the woods, trying his best to focus on the road and not the feeling of her breasts against his back.
Damn it, why did she have to turn out so hot? Michael lamented silently. And I just know she sees me too much like a brother.
On the other side, Liz was blushing too, feeling Michael's toned body. It wasn't like a bodybuilder by any stretch of the imagination, but his athletic past with his basic workout routine had given him an attractive build as well. Damn it, why did he have to turn out so perfect? And he probably has me in the friendzone.
"Hey, did you see the news report from the ONBS today?" Liz asked.
"No, why?" Michael said.
"It seems the S.S. Libra went missing…and according to the captain, it might have even been abducted," Liz said. "I know that you went with your dad to get your Eevee four years ago…right before…"
"I know," he said, sounding a little saddened at the news. The ship served as one of his last memories with his father, and he considered his Eevee to be one of his last connections to his father.
"Will you be okay?" she asked softly.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," he said, going back to driving.
"So, Michael, what happens if Jovi isn't at Kaminko's lab?" Liz asked a few minutes later in a louder tone so he could hear her over the engine's humming.
"Then she's probably just back at home, and Mom will find her there soon enough," Michael said.
Liz nodded. "That makes sense. I just hope she's okay," she said.
"I hope that weird lab assistant isn't mistaking her for a burglar, or something like that…" Michael said as they wound along the dark, shaded forest road, going toward the dark storm clouds over the small Tudor-style building with two electric towers on the roof that looked like they had come from Tesla's lab. The two felt the charge in the air as they approached, feeling like the fifteen-minute drive went faster than usual. They got to the brick wall surrounding the compound littered with what looked like scrap metal from past experiments. In the center, there was a dried-up fountain with a Groudon statue made of metal. Michael drove up to the gate of the yard, letting Liz get off before turning off the engine and dismounting as well.
"I always hate coming here…" Michael said so Liz could hear him as they approached the main door. "I just hope we don't have any incidents like last time."
"Yeah, I know I'm not trying any awful inventions of his," she said as they walked up to the stoop.
"HALT!" said a man with a squeaky, high-pitched voice that cracked a little as he spoke. Michael and Liz just looked at each other knowingly, silently groaning. "Burglars, I said HALT!"
Both Michael and Liz turned to face the man who stood at less than five feet tall, with thick, rippling glasses that couldn't possibly help with vision problems. He had on a white lab coat with a bowtie on his collar. Both of them had looks showing that they were already annoyed by the man. "We aren't burglars, we're–"
"Chobin doesn't know you two, therefore, you must be burglars!" the man shouted, clearly trying his best to sound intimidating. "And Chobin is Dr. Kaminko's number one assistant, so Chobin's deductions are ALWAYS correct!"
"Chobin," Michael said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're Dr. Kaminko's only assistant."
"Precisely! And that means that Chobin MUST be Dr. Kaminko's number one assistant," Chobin said with pride, his fat lips smiling as best he could. "Now, Chobin will defeat you both, and he will send you away!" Chobin then pulled out a Pokéball. "Send out your Pokémon now!"
Michael looks at Liz. "You can take this one. You know I'm not a big fan of battling," she said. "Plus, your Eevee likes to battle more than mine too."
"Alright," Michael said with a smile as he took out his own Pokéball. He smiled as he sent out the Pokémon. "Eevee, come on out!" The Pokémon that came out was a fluffy, adorable feline creature with ears like a rabbit.
Chobin smirked. "A weak Pokémon that Chobin will beat with the strongest Pokémon in existence!" the little man sent out a seed pod Pokémon that looked like a sunflower seed starting to sprout. It kept itself upright as it looked at Eevee. Michael then put on his eyepiece for the battle, and saw the levels of the Pokémon out on the field.
"So, your Sunkern is level five, compared to my level ten Eevee," Michael said. "Look, Chobin, I don't want to hurt your Pokémon. We're here to-."
"SILENCE! Battle Chobin now!" Chobin said. "Chobin wants Sunkern to use Absorb!"
"Eevee, dodge and use Sand Attack," Michael said. Eevee nodded to his trainer as the Sunkern sent out a single tendril of green energy directly at Eevee. Eevee leapt to the side, rolling out of the way as the energy hit the stone walkway where he had just been standing. Eevee then spun around and used his tail to throw a cloud of dust and sand at the Sunkern. The sand hit Sunkern directly in the face, getting into the eyes of the small Pokémon, making it blink fast to clear its vision. "Now, use Bite!" Eevee leapt forward, doing an acrobatic flip before biting down on the little seedpod. He shook his head hard like a Growlithe would to play with a toy. Eevee tossed the Sunkern to the ground, and Michael saw that the health gauge of the little grass-type had hit zero. "And that's the battle."
Chobin's expression was one of shock as he fell to his knees, losing his glasses. "Chobin lost? No, Chobin can never lose!"
"You just did," Liz said as Michael's Eevee ran to his trainer, climbing onto his shoulders and nuzzling the red-haired trainer cutely. Michael just giggled and started petting and scratching behind the little Pokémon's ears.
"You were perfect out there, buddy," he said with a smile, getting cooing mew from his friend.
"And that's adorable," Liz said, pulling out her phone and taking a picture. "And it's going on Festival Plaza."
Michael chuckled. "Go ahead. Who knows, maybe it'll go viral."
Liz laughed as she finished the post. "Yeah, like something from Orre could actually go viral. Face it, Wes is the most famous anyone or anything from Orre is gonna be."
Their conversation was cut short as Chobin started talking again. "Hmmm…Chobin has a new deduction," he said. "He has realized that the visitors are too young, and therefore cannot be burglars."
Michael just decided to let Chobin's problematic deductions go untouched. "Yeah, we're not burglars. We're from the Pokémon HQ Lab, and we're only here because we think my sister might be here."
As he finished speaking, the door to the lab opened, and Michael gave an internal sigh of relief as Jovi came into view, her hair was a strange shade of platinum blonde that almost made it look blue. She was wearing her favorite outfit, consisting of a simple white dress with blue leggings and boots. He blue eyes were more like Samuel Orison, their father. This was contrasted with Michael's green eyes, which he got from their mother. "Big brother, Liz, hi!" the little girl said.
"Jovi, there you are!" Michael said as he hugged his baby sister. "Why did you come here without telling us?"
"Jovi was curious," she said, making Michael go wide-eyed, then glare at Chobin. "She wanted to see this funny place!"
Great, now she's picked up this weirdo's habit of talking in the third-person, he thought.
"Jovi," Liz said kindly as she knelt beside them. "You had everybody at the lab worried."
"But Jovi had Mimi with her," the little girl said innocently, referring to her Minun. "She was safe the whole time." She then looked at Michael and Liz with some confusion. "Jovi's not sure what her brother and Lizzie are doing here. Did you guys get lost?"
Michael sighed and let her out of the hug, with Liz smiling too. "Yes Jovi, we got lost. Could you please help us get back home?"
"Jovi would be happy to," she said with an adorable smile. "She just needs to get Mimi first. He's with Dr. Kaminko." As she said that, she quickly ran inside.
Chobin then started talking. "Chobin has now deduced that the little girl is your little sister. He has decided to let both of them go inside to see the wonderful inventions of Dr. Kaminko!" The lab assistant then walked inside the building, not noticing Liz going a little pale.
"Why didn't I bring my pepper spray?" Liz said quietly as she led the way inside, wanting to get out of this creepy building as soon as possible. Michael followed, keeping Eevee on his shoulder as they went inside.
They immediately saw a projector screen in the foyer, but it was hooked up to a VCR. "Oh, Chobin is happy to show you his collection of invention profile videos!"
Liz tried to sound polite in her refusal. "N-no, th-that's really not–"
"And here they are!" Chobin said as the first video tape started playing. Michael and Liz both jumped, with her almost yelping as the screen lit up with a giant image of Chobin's face almost pressed up against the lens of the camera.
The audio then picked up. "Let Chobin show you the genius of Dr. Kaminko, the most brilliant doctor in all of Orre. His inventions are the best, because nobody else would think to make them. For example, the Unhealthy Sandals!" Liz shuddered at the memories of the intense fever and vomiting she'd experienced after trying on those sandals. "With nubs and material that presses none of your pressure points, these sandals are guaranteed to lead to chronic illness the longer they are worn. Chobin thinks these are superlative!"
With that, the short clip ended. "Chobin can tell that you have been enthralled by the brilliance of Dr. Kaminko. Chobin also has multiple other tapes for you to review if you would like," Chobin said.
Michael looked at his watch. "Oh, sorry, we'd really love to. But we're late for dinner, and my Mom is making her best dish. So, we'll just go get my sister, and we'll be heading home."
"Oh…Chobin wishes you the best, and he hopes you come back some day," Chobin said. Michael heard Jovi's voice coming from behind the door to the left, so he went to it, seeing an odd sight indeed. There were three figures, one was Jovi, and the other two were older men. Michael recognized the one closer to the door as Makan, the owner of the Parts Shop in Gateon Port. He was wearing a sun hat, an orange Alolan shirt, and green cargo shorts.
The other man was none other than Dr. Kaminko. He was a slightly hunched man with glasses as thick as Chobin's, and a long white lab coat. He had a small white goatee, and his equally white hair formed a tower that sort of flared out into spikes at the top. It seemed like Dr. Kaminko was going over blueprints for some complicated machinery. Behind them, Jovi was playing with her Minun, seemingly having forgotten that they were supposed to be on their way home. Michael smiled politely to Dr. Kaminko, who was looking up at him. "Sorry, Doctor, I'm just here to take my sister home," he said politely. "I hope she hasn't gotten into too much trouble here."
"She was no trouble," Dr. Kaminko said, his accent coming through. "In fact, she was a day brightener for us."
Michael smiled again as he went past Dr. Kaminko's desk, crouching beside his sister. "Jovi, are you and Mimi ready to go home?"
"Oh, that's right, Jovi needs to show Michael and Liz how to get home," Jovi said.
Michael smiled. "You guessed it, Jovi," he said, not wanting to ruin her innocent imagination.
"Okay," she said, pulling out Mimi's Pokéball, recalling the little blue and white mouse Pokémon so they could leave the weird laboratory. "Jovi wants to thank Dr. Kaminko for letting her visit."
The doctor turned with a kind smile. "You are welcome here any time. But bring your family with you. We don't want to scare them."
"Jovi understands," she said with a cute smile. She took Michael's hand and they walked to the door together.
"Ready to go, Jovi?" Liz asked kindly. Jovi nodded and they all made their way outside to Michael's scooter.
"Alright, Lucielle, we got three people to get home," Michael said to the scooter.
Jovi started giggling. "Big brother, Jovi isn't sure why you're naming your bike."
Michael deadpanned a little as Liz gave him a smug, I told you so look. "No reason…" Michael said as he opened the seat storage units, and pulled out two pairs of goggles, handing one to Liz, while he helps Jovi put hers on and tighten it appropriately for her. "Jovi, you're sitting in the middle seat, okay?" Jovi nodded as she took her seat. Michael took the driver's seat, and Liz took the back. Michael was about to kick on the engine when his P-DA lit up and buzzed. He pulled it out and saw a message from his uncle.
Michael, I see you've traveled far in your search for Jovi. When you come home, I have something I want to speak with to you about in private. – Uncle Richard
Michael smiled and started up the scooter. "Alright, let's go home and get some dinner."
In the vast deserts of southeast Orre, there was a strange building that most residents assumed to be abandoned. It was all white, and it looked like a basic military bunker in a way. However, looks could be deceiving. Deeper under the sand, there was a woman who seemed to be about twenty-five, with long pink pigtails that reached her ankles. She was standing with her back to three men, all of whom were wearing nearly identical, white, high-tech armor that would make fans of Star Wars think of Stormtroopers.
"So, like, you all know your super, special, awesome job?" the woman asked as she looked at one of the three men, whose armor stood out with yellow highlights on some of the edges.
"Yes, ma'am, Lovrina," the man said firmly, truly fearing the wrath of his boss.
"And, like, one more super awesome part. Naps, you will have the Shadow Pokémon for this mission. It's, like, totally the first one to be made since the XD001 project was finished," the pink-haired woman said as she gave him a Pokéball.
The man, evidently named Naps, lowered his helmet's HUD, scanning the ball and seeing it was a level 11 Teddiursa. It may not have been that strong, but Naps knew he didn't need much else. The lab they were raiding was known to be full of bleeding-hearts who didn't enjoy battling. That was even more true since Cipher had killed the man who used to be the strongest trainer there, and orchestrated the death of the woman who held the second spot on that list.
"Now, you should, like, so totally get moving!" Lovrina said. "I still, like, have some adjustments to make on XD001, and Dr. Krane would so totally make it all easier!" With that, the trio of men ran out of the small room, going to their hover van out front.
As Michael drove up to the starkly white lab the trio on his scooter called home, with Jovi giving directions as they got to the familiar turns, he gave a sigh of relief, glad to see a normal lab that didn't pump out lawsuits waiting to happen. Out front this time, though, was none other than Michael's mother, wearing her usual pink pantsuit, although her hair was no longer in its usual bun. It was now free, going down to her hips. The way her hair fell almost made her look like a brunette version of Lusamine, the woman who led the Aether Foundation of Alola until a couple years ago. The big differences were that Lily's eyes held a kindness that few other could match, and she had a more tanned complexion than the blonde. It was no secret that a lot of the male researchers found her attractive, but kept their distance out of respect. Lily also still wore her wedding ring, even though it had been almost five years since his death.
Next to her was Liz's father, Dr. Christian Hanz, a second-generation migrant from Eastern Kalos. The man was dressed with business casual style, with khaki pants and a stylish dark grey sweater with a lighter grey stripe across the chest, which was over a blue and white checkered shirt. He was also wearing stylish shoes to match the outfit. His brown hair was cut tightly and it looked professionally styled.
Once Michael pulled his scooter into the garage, he took Jovi to their mom, with Liz going toward her father and hugging him tightly.
Lily just smiled and hugged Jovi, looking very relieved that the seven-year-old was safe. "Jovi, why did you run off like that?" Lily asked, trying to not sound angry with the little girl.
"Jovi was just curious. Besides, if Jovi hadn't been there, big brother and his girlfriend would have been lost. She got them back home," the little girl said as she hugged her mother and almost buried her face in the soft pink fabric.
Lily looked up at the blushing Michael, while Dr. Hanz was giving Liz a teasing look. "Well, Jovi, why don't you go finish your game with Adon, then get washed up for dinner," she said in her motherly tone.
Jovi's eyes lit up. "Ohmygosh, Jovi totally forgot!" she said as she sprinted into the house.
"What a ball of energy…" Lily said with a giggle before turning back to Michael and Liz. "Thank you both for going to get her."
"It was no problem. But you guys owe us for going to Kaminko's place," Liz said, trying to sound like she was joking.
"You didn't try any of his inventions, did you?" Dr. Hanz asked. "I remember when Mary heard you'd gotten sick from that man's product…she was a second away from having her Houndoom burn that place to the ground."
"Yeah, no joke," Liz said with a slight giggle, before her expression fell a little. "I still miss Mom…"
Dr. Hanz smiled softly. "I miss her too. And I miss Samuel as well," he said, referring to his wife, and Lily's husband. Both of them had been killed within a week of each other. Samuel had died in what police had considered to be a mugging gone wrong, while Mary had been killed in a car accident. The entire lab had been devastated by the losses, and the wounds had healed slowly. Despite the pain, however, they all kept working to finish the life work of Samuel and Mary.
Lily, decided to change topics as she looked at Michael. "By the way, your uncle said he wanted to see you in private before dinner."
"I was about to go meet with him," he said as he headed to the residential side of the lab, and quickly went up the elevator so he could go through Datan's room to Dr. Krane's office. When he got to the office, however, his uncle wasn't there. Instead, there was a note on the desk. Michael picked it up and skimmed it.
Michael, I figured you'd come here first. I'm downstairs with Joshua Aiden. Michael chuckled slightly. He must be really predictable to his family if his uncle was leaving notes like this one. Without saying anything, Michael went down the laboratory elevator to the location where the main project was being finished. As he stepped off the elevator, he looked through the glass walls to his left and saw the nearly completed Purify Chamber. The way it worked was a bit difficult to explain, and Michael didn't yet know all the details of the machine would function. He wasn't too worried about the technical side of it, though. He was more concerned with whether it worked, should the need ever arise.
He saw the receptionist's desk, where Pam was sitting, and Michael could hear her softly snoring. He wasn't surprised, since there were rarely any visitors, nor were there a lot of phone calls to the lab that weren't from telemarketers. So, when Pam had long nights with her boyfriend, Jim, she had a tendency start sleeping in the middle of the workday. There were even times that one of the employees would bring her a blanket and a pillow on the colder days.
The room to Michael's right, however, seemed to be his destination to meet with his uncle. The door automatically opened, and Michael saw both his brown-haired uncle, and the black-haired Aiden waiting beside an odd machine that Michael had never seen in the lab before. It looked like it was a cylindrical case more than anything, and it had small piston-like parts around it that seemed to move in a slow rhythm.
"Ah, there you are!" Dr. Krane said. "How was Kaminko's place?"
Michael sighed. "Jovi picked up talking in the third-person from his assistant…so about how you'd expect."
Dr. Krane laughed slightly. "Oh boy, that's gonna be something we need to teach out of her," he said. "But the fact that she made it so far so quickly tells me that she has your mother's intellect, and your father's adventurous nature." He then simply gestured for Michael to come closer. "You remember the Shadow Crisis ten years ago?"
"Of course. I honestly think Wes was a real hero then," Michael said with a smile.
"Then you know how Wes caught and purified those Shadow Pokémon, right?" Krane said with a hinting smile.
"Didn't he…" Michael's eyes went wide. "He defected from Team Snagem in the most glorious way, then stole a Snag Machine. He then saved and recruited Rui, who could sense a Shadow Pokémon's aura. Then Wes would Snag the Shadow Pokémon when they were found."
"That's correct," Dr. Krane said as he walked closer to the case. "You see, we may have the Purify Chamber ready, but since Shadow Pokémon are never found in nature, the Chamber would be useless if we didn't have a way to take those Shadow Pokémon from their trainers."
Michael smirked, already seeing where this was going. He also had a bit of an uneasy feeling. "Wait…are you saying you developed a Snag Machine?"
"We did…but we modified it greatly," Dr. Krane said. "Just in case you were curious about the changes we made, I put a binder with the information in your room so you can read it when there's time."
Michael nodded, trusting his uncle. "Alright. How will this work?"
Dr. Krane pressed a button on the machine, releasing what must have been a pressurized seal, since steam was released from the top, as the container opened to reveal what looked like a silver Pokéball that was bigger than his shoulder. Dr. Krane picked up the object, and pressed the button. Like a normal Pokeball, it opened, but it didn't have a capture matrix, nor did it have any of the devices that converted Pokémon into an energy state for containment.
Instead, one side had two slots, and the other had a glove with a Pokéball on the palm. Michael then noticed the hinge was actually what seemed like a wired cord. Inside, there was also a single small computer chip. "Do you have your battle monitor?" Dr. Krane asked.
"Yeah," Michael said, taking it out, handing it to his uncle. Dr. Krane then opened the slots for the operating chips. There was one extra spot available, so he put the computer chip inside. Aiden then had Michael hold out left his hand, putting on the glove. He then extended the device's other half up to the shoulder. Once there, a metal cuff of sorts came out and wrapped around his arm before connecting inside the other slot. Once the connection was made, Dr. Krane handed Michael his monitor, which he put on his left ear like a Bluetooth earpiece. As soon as it was turned on, the Snag Machine whirred to life as pulses of light moved down the cord to the hand. Michael looked at the machine, thinking its high-tech look was cool, but he also couldn't help but compare it to Wes's Snag Machine, which had looked more like an armored sleeve.
"I added a sensor that functions the way that Rui's abilities worked. It can sense the aura of a Shadow Pokémon, and that activates its ability to function," Dr. Krane said.
"Side note, though," Aiden said. "That Snag Machine was originally designed to fit your father. And, now it fits you perfectly. Seems like you're your father's son after all."
"Wow, really?" Michael asked.
"Yeah, back when we designed it, the Snag Machine was intended for Sam. He was our best battler, and he had the resolve to do what was necessary should the need ever arise," Dr. Krane said before he sighed. "But, now that you're our best battler…even though it pains me to put this burden on my nephew…you're the only one we can trust with this."
Michael looked at the Snag Machine, now realizing just how much of a responsibility he would be taking on by wearing the Snag Machine. "Then I accept it, should the need ever arise."
Dr. Krane turned to face Michael and Aiden, a look of regretful understanding on his face. "Aiden, please show Michael how to put Pokéballs into the machine."
Aiden nodded, taking out a case of five empty Pokéballs. At the top of the shoulder extension was the button that had been used to separate the two halves. "Like a normal Pokéball, this one turns things into energy, but we made it a little different too. This device can contain and sort multiple different Pokéballs. Then, when snagging a Pokémon, it will remotely mute the signal of the capture matrix inside that Pokémon's Pokéball. As for how to put the Pokéball into the machine, it's simple." Aiden tapped the Pokéballs on the button individually and they all turned into energy like a Pokémon being recalled.
"That's really simple," Michael noted.
"And when you want to snag a Pokémon, just use the menu on your eyepiece," Michael turned on the eyepiece, seeing that there was a "Snag" option now. But, like in a video game where a menu tab was unavailable to the player, the text was darker than the other options.
"Alright, Michael, we're going to get a battle simulation started for you," Dr. Krane said as he led the way out of the room. Michael nodded.
"I'll be there in a bit," he said. "This is a lot to take in all at once."
"Very well," Dr. Krane said. "The program will take a while to download anyway." His voice's tone told Michael that he had a very deep regret for putting his nephew, the only son of his younger sister, directly into harm's way.
It wasn't more than thirty seconds after Dr. Krane left the room when they all heard glass crash loudly. "WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?!" There was no response other than the sound of hard-soled boots hitting the ground, followed by the sound of Dr. Krane shouting obscenities, but his voice was getting further away. Michael's eyes went wide and he ran to see what was happening. What he saw got him scared. Pam was standing with her hands over her mouth. There was also glass all over the floor from the now broken front doors. She saw Michael. "M-Michael, you have to help. These strange men came inside and they…they took Dr. Krane."
Michael was already sprinting forward, leaping over the glass. No, no, no! We can't lose Uncle Richard…I can't lose him like I lost Dad. He then saw that there were two employees knocked out, luckily not including Liz, or Dr. Hanz. Past them, there were three men in matching white armor with red plumes on the shoulders. There was one, who had yellow on his armor, and there was one man who stood just less than seven feet tall. The giant among men was holding a struggling Dr. Krane.
"What the hell are you doing? Where are you taking me?" Richard said angrily.
"Nowhere in particular. You've just been relocated to a new lab, Doctor," the man with the yellow-lined armor.
Michael had heard enough. He ran forward, so he was visible to the others. "Get your hands off him!"
"Oh, this day is getting better. We get to see some prick playing the hero, then beat him down before we go," the man with yellow on his armor said.
"Naps, we don't have time for this kid," the giant said.
"Heh, did you forget that this place has no good battlers? This'll be fast, no matter what machinery you have to make your arm look cool," the man said as he took out a Pokéball. Michael did the same, pulling out Eevee's Pokéball.
"No good battlers?" Michael said angrily. "Let's put that to the test." The two both throw their Pokéballs out at the same time. Eevee did a cute flip before landing gracefully on his feet. The Pokémon they faced, a Teddiursa that would normally be cute, just landed and glared menacingly at everyone in the area. Michael got a slight chill just as his eyepiece gave a quick beeping noise, extending the screen and revealing the most menacingly black aura that Michael had ever seen. It also showed that this Teddiursa was a level 11 female.
"Michael! It's a Shadow! Remember what we told y-AAAH!" Dr. Krane called out, only for the giant to put both his arms into a wing-formation.
"Start the truck now!" the giant said to the peon of the trio.
"On it sir," he said as he ran to an orange and red truck with one hover-jet on each side.
Michael, however, was now focusing on his eyepiece, programming a snag with one of the Pokéballs inside the Snag Machine. "Eevee, just start dodging," Michael said as he got to the last step of programming the snag: picking the target. Without any other options, he picked Teddiursa.
The screen then put up a written prompt. Hold arm out straight, and with an open palm. Michael followed, keeping his fingers ready for the Pokéball he was expecting. With a glow from the symbol on the glove, one manifested. Michael took hold of it, feeling an odd energy buzzing around the ball. Throw. Auto-Targeting Engaged. Michael pulled his arm back, then gave a strong side arm toss. He'd thrown it just in time, as Teddiursa's black aura was now visible without the eyepiece, making it clear she was about to attack.
As the ball flew at the target, everyone in the area stopped what they were doing, seeing the ball open and send out a hand made of energy. Teddiursa couldn't react in time as the hand closed around her, changed her into energy, and pulled her into the Pokéball. The ball closed and fell to the ground, shaking quickly before snapping shut and sending sparks up.
Michael saw Dr. Krane smiling at him looking a bit triumphant, but the invaders were stunned. Naps was the first to speak. "What…what was that? It couldn't have been…a SNAG?" Michael didn't answer other than to walk forward and pick up the newly filled Pokéball, clipping it to his belt. Their thoughts were interrupted by the roar of the truck nearby, and the sound of the back-hatch opening. "Damn it, we need to get back to HQ. That kid has a Snag Machine. This could interfere with the Grand Design."
"No shit!" the giant said as he quickly hit Dr. Krane, knocking the man out. Michael recalled Eevee, knowing what was coming now. Naps and the giant ran to the truck, and unceremoniously threw their captive into the back, closing it, and getting into the cab. Michael was sprinting toward the truck, but it was already off the ground. It just sped off, leaving a cloud of dust.
"Uncle Richard!" Michael said, his mind going numb. He fell to his knees, looking almost dazed. "No…" He fell to his hands, then to his elbows, feeling emotional pain welling up. He did all he could do, and gave an animalistic shout of anger.
Just as Michael was crying in emotional pain, Alicia was crying out from the physical torment she was enduring right now. She was currently strapped down to an operating table. Standing behind a wall of glass, observing her was a heavily muscled, apelike man with headphones and goggles, along with the lead scientist for the project. The other scientists were in the room, operating the torture equipment. "It's incredible how long she's resisted the transformation," the head scientist said. "She was one of the first we brought in, yet she's still holding out."
The muscular man half grunted in response. "I don't care how resistant she is. The Grand Master is already livid enough with the failing of XD001. We will not report anything to him other than success with our production. Got it?" he said powerfully.
"Yes, Gorigan, sir. I was just noting that she's a strong one. According to the ship's manifest, she's the daughter of the Gardevoir from Hoenn, Gwen. I just wonder if we should get her to evolve first, then make her a Shadow," the researcher said.
"A pretty thought," Gorigan said. "But the Grand Master isn't patient. Nor are his immediate subordinates."
The researcher nodded. "Then we will proceed as normal," he said as he switched on the microphone. "Double the output. If it kills her, so be it. The outcome depends on whether the Ralts stops resisting." He switched off the microphone. "That should do it."
Alicia's eyes went wide. Mom, please, help me. That was the last thing she said telepathically before black electricity began to course through the metal cuffs on the table, making her writhe and shriek in agony. At the last second before her senses went dull, she felt herself beginning an evolution process. The pain, however, stopped it completely, and she was instead shrouded in a terrible blackness. When Alicia came out of the pain, her restraints had been shattered, her vision was tinted red, and she felt no emotions at all. She looked around, then down at her hands where she saw a dark aura radiating off her. Then she realized she could remember nothing about herself. She even felt like there was a wall blocking off all of her thoughts that made her an individual. She then felt the need to destroy everything around her. She put her hands together, and a ball of her aura solidified. With no emotion whatsoever, she threw it at one of the heart monitors, causing it to explode. Before she could go further, though, she was pulled into a Pokéball, restraining her before she attacked one of the researchers.
Behind the glass, Gorigan was giving a smirk of success. "Great job. You broke the resistant. That, however, is only half of the Pokémon we are supposed to turn. Get back to work, or the Grand Master will feed you to XD001."
The researcher nodded. "Of course, sir."
Hey all, glad I got this chapter out so quickly compared to the later chapters of Brendan's Journey.
Hope you enjoyed this one. Please leave a review to let me know what you think. Constructive Criticism is greatly appreciated.
Until next time ~ jmoul18