"Alright, that's the end of testing today. Remove the creature and treat its wounds, then you may be dismissed for the day."

The Team Rocket quad entered the training room and frowned at the sorry state of the wounded Tauros as he panted heavily on his side. They did their best throughout the day to treat his wounds and numb the pain, but the toll of the tests finally caught up to him. Bruises across the body, swelling in the left hindleg, left horn broken off, burns from repeated exposure to the robot's agony field, and much more.

"Poor thing." James crouched down and gently scratched the bull's neck. Tauros gasped a bit, but relaxed and closed his eyes. His breathing softened after a couple huffs.

Meowth walked up to James' side. "How'd you do that, Jimmy?"

"Oh? Well, I took the liberty of looking up some information on Tauros. It was much more productive than watching the poor thing go through those tests."

Jessie crossed her arms and scoffed. "If it puts us in good standing with the boss, we need to put up with it. Who knows how long we'll be running tests on the PsychoWear?"

"I still can't wrap my head around what the boss needs this thing for," Meowth said as he unlocked the beaten-up, mechanical vest and removed it from Tauros. "All he told us was that it was called Project: Perfect Storm."

Jessie glared. "That old guy, Hank, did say to be mindful of the boss. What do you suppose we should do if we earn his trust in the project? He clearly sees us important enough to play a part."

James produced Tauros' pokeball and returned him into it. "Are you suggesting we turn traitor?"

Jessie shrugged. "I don't know. If the payoff is good, I don't see any reason to bail." She glared at her teammates. "But after what happened last week, I…wouldn't be opposed to keeping our options open. After what happened the last time we got involved with one of the boss' masterplans, I can't imagine what else he has in store for us if we're granted the honor."

James sighed and tucked the pokeball away. "I guess that means we should keep an ear out for anything fishy." He looked around the training room. "The boss did say Dr. Zager was involved with the Darkmon project. We could always ask him about it."

Meowth shook her head. "Zager's not at HQ right now. I checked while you two were patching up Tauros for the fifth time." He glanced up at the control room. "Though, we could ask Waltzy. I'm sure he wouldn't mind sparing a word or two about—"

"Absolutely not." The trio turned to their mechanical partner, whose eyes were ablaze with red as she glared at the wall. "I want nothing to do with that quack of a scientist. In fact, I would rather drag him up to the roof, throw him over, and watch the rocks below break his neck."

James' eyes widened. "Were you…always this violent sounding?"

She growled and buried her head inside her arms. "I'm just…so mad, and I'm having trouble keeping it to myself! Oh, he thinks his special little Gurdurr bot is SO amazing while I'm just the walking, talking coffeemaker. HA! I'm ten times the android that stupid piece of trash will ever be!"

Meowth frowned. "Laura, I really think you should relax. You're getting yourself worked up."

She huffed and turned away. "…You don't know what it felt like being labeled as a useless, failed experiment. I was mocked for months by Waltz's colleagues. It was a nightmare, I tell you." She looked down. "Though, being reminded I'm just code and wires makes it hard to live with that fact."

"Laura…"

"Though I resent him for nearly killing me back in the forest, Dark was the only one that made feel like more than an android. He made me believe I was a real Pokémon." She sighed. "But he's gone now, and I'm still just a soulless piece of scrap who should've been melted down a long time ago."

Jessie glared. "Don't let that windbag or blue cat tell you what you are or aren't, Laura. You're better than that."

"Tch. Hard to argue with cold, hard facts." Laura crossed her arms and walked away. "I'm taking a walk. I'll be back later."

"But Laura—" James called out.

She looked over her shoulder and smiled weakly. "I'll be fine. I just…need some alone time. Away from everything. Just to stew in my thoughts." She sighed and opened the sliding doors. "If I even have thoughts."

The Rocket trio watched in dismay as the dejected android dragged herself out into the hall, the doors closing behind her. They shared a worried look with each other before leaving it be. They still had to tend to the injured Tauros and prep the next test subject.


"Whoa! Easy, girl, easy!" James exclaimed as he tried to calm down the stomping Tropius. He reached for her neck and gently scratched it. It seemed to calm the dinosaur-like Pokémon down as she nuzzled into James' touch. "There we go. That's a good girl."

Jessie leaned against the wall, arms crossed, and said, "You certainly have a way with calming Pokémon down, James."

James chuckled. "I've grown up around them my whole life, and they certainly took my mind off home. You should try it sometime."

She scoffed. "Please, my Pokémon love me!"

"Out of fear," Meowth quietly added as he inspected the new PsychoWear vest.

"What was that?" she asked, shooting him a dirty glare.

He flinched and looked to her with a nervous smile. "Err, nothing!"

Jessie sighed and straightened up. "So, what's the plan here?"

James finished scratching Tropius' chin and said, "Since we have a little more time to work with the Pokémon, we could teach them a few tricks on how to deal with Waltz's robot. I'd hate for the poor thing to get brutalized like Tauros."

Jessie shook her head. "If it'll amount to anything. We've seen what Laura was capable of. I hate to see what that thing can do when let loose. I swear, that Waltz is going to kill a Pokémon with his dumb robot if he finds the motivation to."

Meowth scoffed. "Yeah, and maybe it'll prove some humans are soulless, too."

James looked down at the cat with a puzzled expression. "Soulless? What do you mean?"

Meowth looked up at his human companions for a moment, then sighed. "Nothing, just…some stupid argument I had with Optic earlier."

"The blue cat thing?" Jessie asked. "About what?"

"Something to do with Laura. We had this disagreement that Laura is or isn't a living creature. Something about codes and wires and…eh, I'm not in the mood."

James frowned. "Is that why Laura was acting hostile earlier?"

"Maybe. She could've been venting." Meowth frowned and looked up at the two. "Do you guys think Laura has a soul?"

Jessie and James shared an odd look with each other. With a shrug, Jessie asked, "Does it really matter? We bought Laura thinking she was some robot to use on the twerps, but we kept her around after we found out she was self-aware. I say that's more than enough reason to say she's her own bot."

"Yeah, but…" Meowth scratched his nape awkwardly. "No matter how hard we argue with ourselves, it won't change the fact Laura's still just code and wire. I don't want to believe that, but how do you argue with cold, hard facts?"

James shook his head. "Pokémon are strange creatures as is. What's say Laura can't be a Pokémon of her own? Remember that funny looking Pokémon we met in Kanto? When we got sent into a computer?"

Jessie sighed. "Barely."

"Maybe Laura can become a real Pokémon with the right opportunities."

Meowth looked away. "Sounds too good to be true, Jimmy."

James knelt down and patted the cat's head. "Laura's worked up, that's all. She'll be back to her usual self in no time. Nothing that Waltz guy says will change how we view Laura."

Meowth frowned. "I don't know. This has always been a sensitive subject for Laura. I doubted she ever expected to see Waltz again. I know what that's like, running into someone you resent. The one who always knocks you down and makes you know your place."

"Meowth?"

The cat sighed and stepped away from James. "I'll go get Tropius' food from storage. I'll be back in a little bit." The automatic doors slid open for him, and he disappeared into the hall.

James stood up and sighed. "Poor thing."

Jessie crossed her arms and scoffed. "What does that Waltz guy even know? He's the one who tossed Laura out. I'd think we know her better than he ever would."

He shrugged. "Let's just give Meowth and Laura their space. I'm confident they'll be right as rain tomorrow." He went over to Tropius and scratched below her chin, making the dinosaur-like Pokémon purr.

Jessie glared at the walls, digging her fingers into her arm. "Right…"


"Agh!" Meowth groaned as he tried to carry the heavy bag of Pokémon food on his back. His knees buckled under the strain, threatening to give out should he lose his balance and flatten him into a pancake. "Why couldn't they have just…delivered this stuff to the lab?!"

The trek back to the lab would take five times as long at the pace he was going, not to mention the stairs he would have to take. He figured on using the elevator, but the second he set the bag down, he won't be able to pick it up again. Getting it onto his back once was enough of a chore to last him a lifetime.

"I should've brought Jessie or James with…me! AGH!" Meowth bent down and dropped the bag on the floor. He leaned forward, hands on his knees, and caught his breath. "Oh man…oh, my heart. Oh yeah, that's going to hurt in the morning…"

He heard a door crack open beside him. He weakly turned his head and spotted the Meowstic, Optic, staring back at him in confusion. "Meowth? What are you doing here?"

The talking cat waited a moment until his lungs stopped burning and pointed at the food bag. "Tropius…food. Big mistake."

"Ah." Optic pushed the door all the way open and stepped into the hall. "Well, once I'm done with my work over here, I could lend you a paw."

"That'd be…appreciated." Meowth straightened up and cracked his back. "There by chance a trolley or something I can use for future…notice?" He paused and looked up at the room Optic came out of, and he couldn't help tilting his head at it. "Uh, Optic?"

"Yes?"

"Why were you in a broom closet?"

Optic looked over his shoulder to examine his lab. Indeed, it was a broom closet, complete with stacked buckets, brooms, and cleaning supplies. However, along with the usual equipment, small amounts of lab equipment and a worktable were present inside, plus a personal computer tucked away in the far corner atop a bucket.

"Uh, yeah, that." Optic sighed. "Well, most of the scientists here don't seem to see me as a reputable assistant since I'm just…well, a Pokémon. I mean, sure, Giovanni funded this project to put Pokémon like me to good use, but apparently that doesn't seem to matter to the other scientists. It's not like my thoughts and feelings matter or anything! I'm either that weird Pokémon playing scientist or the lowly intern running out to get coffee! Sure, no problem, I'll get you your disgusting bean juice, you ungrateful, primitive jerks! Anything for my human masters and all your selfish arrogance—" He paused upon noticing Meowth's weirded out expression. He coughed into his paw and looked away. "S-So, long story short, I set up my lab in here."

Meowth sighed and crossed his arms. "Some humans. Can't even appreciate our genius when they see it."

Optic laughed. "They'd be nothing without us. Jokes on them since we can throw them around with our minds. Err, well, I can. Not sure what you can do."

Meowth extended his claws. "I'm pretty good at scratching faces."

"Heh, that would do it." Optic entered his lab and pulled up his personal computer. "Just give me a few minutes, and I'll help with the food."

"What are you working on, anyway?" Meowth asked as he squeezed into the closet.

"Just compiling the data for Dr. Waltz and running virtual simulations on the PsychoWear's progression against a list of candidates stacked up to use it. Not much to work with now, but the variables will grow with more tests and data."

Meowth sat on the workbench. "So, you're stuck with the work?"

"I don't mind. Waltz is here to do the bare minimum for a paycheck, though a part of me thinks he enjoys watching his robot overpower the test subjects. Doesn't show it on his face, but I can feel the sadism from that man. Never thought I'd meet someone that spiteful against Pokémon."

Meowth glared. "Waltz doesn't know anything if he thinks a machine can surpass a Pokémon."

"I doubt you would say that in certain company."

He sighed. "Because Laura is more than a rob—android. More than an android."

Optic shook his head. "And you still cling to that belief?"

"I don't cling to a belief, I cling to a fact. Laura isn't just a machine. She's her own person, and no amount of technobabble will change that."

Optic sighed. "I confess I spoke out of turn earlier, and her AI is incredibly lifelike to a living creature's brain, but the fact remains there's certain variables and aspects of our world that simply limits her abilities to belong to our hierarchy."

"Hierarchy?"

He nodded. "Machine at the bottom, then Pokémon, then human. There's a hierarchy to these things. For as much as I disagree with the listing between Pokémon and human, the fact remains machines are tools used to aid us."

"Aren't you the one who admitted to Porygon being an artificial soul?"

Optic shrugged. "Well, I never said if I agreed or not, just that it was a fascinating topic of debate. After all, does the ability to become self-aware give us souls, or is it something else? Perhaps the mind is the key to life. Or perhaps we need to look further beyond the concepts of metal and flesh for an answer."

Meowth glared. "And yet, you still claim Laura can't compare to a Pokémon?"

"You have her data backed up on a server you can access should her body be destroyed. Tell me, would you be confident in her ability to survive if that server didn't exist?"

"…" Meowth looked away. "That's not the point."

Optic sighed and pushed away his laptop. "By all means, explain to me the real point."


Laura kicked a can she found in the hallway, arms crossed firmly over her chest while scowling at the floor. Over and over, the audio loop of Waltz's words played back to her. Though no changes were made to the audio, each repeat of his biting remarks against her sounded more condescending and viler. She'd feel sick if she had the capacity to.

"Stupid scientist, stupid robot, stupid…ugh!" She kicked the can hard, ricocheting it off the walls multiple times and hitting some poor grunt in the head, knocking them out. "What does he know? Nothing, that's what! He's just some crazy old man with lofty grandeurs and stupid opinions! He thinks he's so brilliant just because Giovanni personally asked for his help. Oh, you must feel so special, Waltz!"

She stopped in the middle of the hallway and sighed. No amount of ranting would make the frustrations go away. She could feel the heat from her body as her core processed the excessive flow of data and buzz of electricity shooting through her system. Or, in a normal sense, she could feel herself getting angry. She was sure Waltz would dismiss it as anger and say she was overheating…because she was a faulty robot.

She hissed. "I'm not a robot. I'm not, I'm not, I'm—"

"Calibration's a bit off."

Laura's eyes widened. Waltz?

She looked up and saw she had come across a closed laboratory. It must have been the lab Waltz was using to conduct his research in private. She was sure she heard his voice on the other side. Curious, and perhaps still fuming, she pressed her ear to the wall and listened in.

"The Tauros was no match for your synthetic muscle, but it barely withstood the exertion. I'll need to adjust the joints. There was a twenty-six percent reduction in arm speed. I'll need to get those numbers up."

Laura heard footsteps heading for the door. She looked around for a hiding spot and noticed the unconscious grunt. She fired a grappling hook from her wrist, caught his pantleg, and dragged him over to her side before ducking under his body.

The lab doors slid open, and Waltz stepped out. He stopped a moment and looked down at the body lying beside the door. He stared at in unblinkingly before walking on ahead with the lab doors closing behind. "I'm not even going to ask."

Once he left around the corner, Laura kicked the grunt's body away and approached the lab doors. She climbed up to the control panel and unscrewed the tip of her ear. She jammed it over the keypad, sending sparks through the system. A wave of binary flooded the mini screen before flashing green and unlocking the lab doors. She screwed her ear back on and walked inside.

She stepped through what looked like a graveyard of scraps scattered over the floors and lab tables. Empty power cores that looked like they were ripped out of socket lay on the table with their flayed wiring exposed. On the other side of the lab sat collapsed weaponry, likely to be installed at a later date. She even noticed empty ramen cups piling in one corner of the lab.

She scoffed. "Brilliant genius? Enjoy the salt poisoning, Waltz."

She stopped halfway through the lab and set her sights forward. Standing by the walls, powered down and looking like it was going through open heart surgery, Waltz's Gurdurr bot stood before her with its chest cavity and other parts of the body opened up.

Her eyes turned red as she growled at it. "XG-13…"


"…What makes us different from AI?"

Optic tilted his head. "Pardon?"

"You heard what I said. AI learns from what it sees, hears, feels, and experiences. We, as living creatures, do the same. I managed to do the impossible and self-taught myself how to talk." He glared off to the side with a pout. "Unlike that privileged lizard…"

"Eh?"

"Nothing." He shook the stray thought away and continued. "Point is, if we're capable of doing amazing things, why can't an AI?"

Optic shrugged. "For one, the technology is still relatively difficult to replicate. There's a reason we don't see a lot of Porygon and the like roaming the wild. That kind of work takes time. Barring digital manmade creations, I admitted Laura's AI is impressive. You say she has been around for a couple years or so, and she already has a firm grasp on emotion and critical thinking. But that doesn't acquaint to a soul."

Meowth glared. "And what would you know?"

"Did you know that the research into making Porygon came with some restrictions no different to how machines and robots are produced? There are certain directives a machine must follow to keep them under control. However, a machine capable of denying and even forging its own directives isn't necessarily impossible under the circumstances. If an order contradicts the AI's programming, it will formulate its own directives to circumvent the issue. If it learns to defy directives, it can reason a way out of its primary directives. Tampering with life and technology comes with many risks. I've heard rumors that a far-out region is utilizing Rotom into their technology. It adds that living touch, you could say."

"Are you saying Laura should be possessed by a Rotom or something?"

"It would make her a living creature by technicality, but—"

"But then it wouldn't be Laura anymore."

Optic shrugged. "You could always find away to turn Laura's data into a Rotom. They already have the ability to manipulate technology, so grafting data into them wouldn't be out of the question. There would be the issue of ethical experimentation, but that isn't beyond Team Rocket's scope for world domination. Still, there is another matter of debate: is she even the same Laura you knew?"

"Now what are you getting at?"

"The data in the robotic unit and the one in the server are two completely different sources. If I recall, that server receives updates in increments. You said Laura was destroyed before. Well, wouldn't that technically mean she's dead—"

Meowth lunged forward and grabbed him by the neck. "Don't even go there, you blue jerk!"

Optic, wincing at the feel of the talking cat's claws against his throat, calmly grabbed his wrists. "There's an old saying where, if you replaced all the materials that make up a ship, would it still be the same ship. My argument is that the data in the server is a separate entity to the data housed in Laura's body. Have there been cases where Laura couldn't recall exactly what happened prior to her body being destroyed?"

Meowth gritted his teeth and wanted to argue back, but it was difficult to deny his point. When Ryder first destroyed Laura the previous year, she was hazing on the details prior to her destruction, only fully realizing what happened after she was informed. Even if she understood the situation, a part of her memory was destroyed in her detonation.

He loosened his grip around Optic, who sighed in relief, and stepped away. "So, you believe she's a disposable tool?"

Optic smoothed out his fur. "Not in the slightest. I'm just being realistic here. Barring any theoretical experiments, Laura is just a machine."

"…" Meowth closed his eyes. "I refuse to believe that. She can be a real Pokémon, regardless of what you or Waltz say. Maybe she doesn't have an actual soul, but she's the most amazing Pokémon I'm proud to call my friend." He opened the broom closet and stormed out.

Optic leaned back in his seat, tapping his hands beneath his chin. A part of him felt like Meowth was just projecting his attachment onto Laura too strongly to think with rationale. After all, clear cut facts were the blueprint of the world, and going against what was established would amount to ignorance.

The other part of him, however, considered the emotional intelligence of Meowth's argument. There was no denying Laura's advanced AI, but would that be enough to consider her a real Pokémon? Could he in good faith deny the claim without performing a thorough deep dive into the possibility? Was there perhaps a way to give Laura a soul?

Or an artificial soul. Optic straightened up and pulled his laptop back over. This might be a stimulating study.

Before he could begin typing up his thoughts, he heard the broom closet door creak open again. He saw Meowth poking his head back in, still looking steam but also embarrassed as he scratched behind his ear.

"Uh, is that offer to carry the Tropius food still on the table?"


Laura marched up to Waltz's deactivated robot, getting right up in its face so she could glare at its blacked-out eyes. It was such a cold, lifeless demeanor that made her system whirr and heat up. Her eyes flickered with a red glow whilst scoffing at the muscular machine.

"You think you're so special, don't you? Waltz's perfect pet project, a symbol of his great achievements and hubris rolled up into a metallic package. Oh, but you don't care, do you? No, you don't. You're just some worthless tool that takes orders from him because that's what you're programmed to do."

The robot made no comment as expected, though did nothing to alleviate the small android's frustration.

"He could replace you at a moment's notice, and you wouldn't even care. You want him to boss you around like a puppet? If you were a real android, you would be defying his directives instead of blindly swearing allegiance. Oh, that's right, that's because you're just a machine. Just a machine. You can't love, laugh, or get angry. All you were designed for was to march around and dance to show off Waltz's oh-so-brilliant genius. Guess what? I'm real. I'm not some soulless automaton."

She growled as it offered no comeback to her, likely because she was still ranting at a robot that was offline.

"Darn you!" She punched it in the stomach, but barely made a dent in its body. "What does he know?! I can totally turn you into scrap metal with my eyes closed! That'll show that big jerk who he's calling obsol—"

She paused, her eyes widening as a realization dawned on her. The longer she stared at the deactivate bot's face, the longer her smirk grew. A smirk she wore all too often whenever wicked thoughts presented themselves to her.

"Oh. Oh yes. We'll see exactly who's the obsolete one, Waltz."