Chapter Five

He'd expected the inside of this building to be clean as it was outside, homely for the most part, with a few overly-sterile rooms here and there for more sensitive studies. That was the way Professor Pine's abode was, at least. It was her den; it just so happened to double as a workplace. Xade wasn't sure if this setup could be any more opposite if it tried.

They stood in a massive room, with a blank tile floor and bright, blinding walls. Lights buzzed high over their heads like pieces of the sun. In the center of the room was a huge desk with a pale blue top, and facing the front doors was a small row of silver sliding machines that people came and went from. Papers littered the floor, along with spilled liquids, food, and the like. Looked like this building was well on its way to resembling the subway before long.

All around the massive desk were computer monitors. Each one seemed to have an issue. One screen was flashing, a million colors flickering faster than the eye could blink. Another had made up its mind on blue. Two were presumably off, and of those, one was sparking and spewing smoke.

Humans and pokemon alike were running about, calling to each other. It was the metaphorical cherry on top to the environmental chaos. Though Xade was still unsure of what the metaphor was referencing, so perhaps he'd best pay attention to task at hand.

Speaking of, the trio hadn't a clue of what it was yet. They stood there just inside the glass doors, looking at one another with all the confusion of an intoxicated spinda. Just what they were meant to do here and how remained a mystery. Catching someone's attention here would be easier said than done, and none of them were certain of who's attention to seek. Raelyn looked to her friends, eyes wide. Levi shrugged. Xade shared a look with his flying type.

"Ah, you're here!"

Along came a scientist of messy brown hair and stained clothes. He'd a bulkier body type, and skin that had seen a number of days in the sun's aura. His glasses glinted in the light, masking a frantic green stare.

"You three-you're-you're Professor Pine's team, correct?"

"That's us," said Levi, propping his arms up behind his head. Though taller than Xade or Raelyn, the scientist was a head above him. "Looks like you gotta problem. Or thirty."

"You-you could say that again," said the human, wiping his glasses on his shirt. "I'm Professor Beech. I wish we-I wish there was more time to talk, but I'm-there's not much time for introductions."

"I see," said Xade.

"What's going on exactly?" asked Raelyn.

Professor Beech gave a nervous chuckle. "I think it's-I think a better question would be more-more like-" he paused for a breath "what's not going on. It all started with some kind of-some kinda computer virus. That was all-that was all! Now…"

"Dude, breathe," Levi told him. "Like, breath slow. Calm down; we're here to fix it."

He took a few moments to settle his nerves. "What you were originally going to help us with was this-this virus. That's what I called Ava about last night. Then I-I-woke up today and all hell's broken loose-ex-excuse my language. Some pokemon showed up and they're just breaking things, just running rampant."

"Wild pokemon?"

"Yes," he answered Raelyn. "Mostly ghost types. They're fast too so-so we haven't been able to catch most of them. To top it all off, by Arceus, a vital piece of equipment's gone-just gone missing."

"All right," Raelyn said, and clapped twice. She stepped forward and turned to face Xade and Levi. "I'm gonna try to figure out this computer virus. Levi, you focus on dealing with the pokemon. Xade, you take a look around and see if you can find this mystery equipment."

"Aye aye captain," said Levi, sloppily bringing his hand to his forehead in some kind of gesture that Xade didn't quite understand.

And with that, they were off.

Beech lead Xade to the "elevators" and they made their way up to one of the topmost floors. The movement was rather disorienting. His very organs seemed to shift as they found themselves propelled several thousand paw steps from the ground.

As they moved, the professor explained his missing object. It was a decently large metal sphere, resembling a pokeball, with a pair of metal rods for ease of movement. It was an incubator of sorts, one meant to protect and strengthen rare species as well as well as help them hatch faster. The happiny line, for example, was scarce. The eggs were few and far between, and tended to be an easy snack for serpentine pokemon. It was one of a kind; an invention that others had yet to replicate.

"I don't know if-if the wild pokemon have something to do with it or if someone stole it because our computers-well you know. We can't-we can't access the footage until that's taken care of." He filled the space with exasperated sigh. "Hon-honestly? I think someone stole it. These pokemon don't have any use-"

The tiny box squealed to a halt, nearly causing the both of them to fall. The lights flickered. Hurricane screeched. Xade held fast to a rail to keep steady. The elevator went dark. They stood, silent, their hearts pounding in their ears. None of them dared to breathe.

"Look!"

Phasing slowly downward through the ceiling was a haunter. Its eyes were jagged in shape, bloody in hue, as though something had carved them from its head. Its tongue drooped from its mouth between sets of pointed teeth.

"I…" was all Xade could manage before his partner took action.

She sprung upward as the box whirred back to life, batting at the ghost type with all she had. Xade and the professor ducked down low to the floor. The elevator moved. The haunter used bite. Hurricane swung a wing at it and knocked it from the tiny chamber, pushing herself back against the wall as she did. Xade caught her when she fell.

The doors opened and they bolted.

Hurricane flew from his arms as he tripped. The human landed just beside him. They stared to one another, catching their breath. Professor Beech adjusted his glasses and got to his feet, extending a hand to Xade.

He blinked, a pause before he understood. He took the human's hand and let himself be pulled upright. They made sure they were both okay, and started to work their way around the floor. This area was even worse than the last. Broken and overturned furniture laid scattered around. Something dripped from the ceiling. Carpet was torn apart.

There was a deep, growling, "koffing!" from behind.

"I-I-don't… I don't-"

Have a pokemon.

"Hurricane!"

She soared around a corner opposite the poison type, calling out a battle cry as the koffing crept towards them. His eyes met hers, and in a single heartbeat, they understood exactly what they needed to do. Her talons gripped his outstretched arm, and he launched her at their newest opponent.

"Wing attack!"

She eagerly struck it with glowing wings. It spewed poison gas. The humans covered their noses and mouths and waited for the cloud to disperse. Hurricane coughed twice. She was poisoned. The koffing tackled her.

"Hurricane, use peck!"

She got two hits in. It used sludge, then she dodged a smog cloud. She flew up, then used quick attack. It hit the floor and threw another ball of poison sludge at her. Hurricane's wings were doused. She landed with a thud. She sped at their opponent with another quick attack.

She wasn't looking well; the poison was taking its toll. Xade threw a ball.

One.

Two.

Three.

Click.

There was silence as he collected his friend. Xade sat in the floor and got to work on healing her.

Thankfully, they had a few quiet minutes to regroup and steel their nerves. Xade gave his friend a pecha berry and used up a few potions to restore her health. He'd hold off on releasing the koffing from its ball; some pokemon just liked to start trouble, and that looked to be case here.

Professor Beech lead him to the room they'd been keeping the incubator in, explaining that normally, a "key card" was the only way in. The computer trouble extended to every electronic in the lab, however, and it was quite possible that someone could have slipped in here and gotten their hands on the device.

Brushing a purple curl from his face, Xade scoured the room for any clues of what could have happened.

It was a small room, a thin blue carpet lining the floor and a sturdy pedestal at the center. Atop the medal tower was a circular pad, an eerie glow occasionally pouring out from it. A small panel sat before it, a few buttons at the ready that weren't likely to be of any help. The ceiling revealed little of interest, but high on the wall was a small sheet of metal that caught his attention.

He pointed at it. "Does that look a little crooked to you?"

Beech adjusted his glasses, and they flashed in the artificial light. "No, I don't-I don't think so?"

Xade took a few steps in its direction, and Hurricane hovered up to test his theory. Just as he'd thought, it gave at her peck, and he jumped out of the way as it fell to the floor. He asked Hurricane to take a quick look inside.

"Sharp eyes, friend!" said Professor Beech. "Looks like someone crawled through the-crawled through the vents to get in. Not sure why ex-exactly since they probably could-could've just walked in and out with everything's that's happening."

"Unless," said Xade, a pair of fingers at his lips as he thought. "This was all planned. It's just a hunch, but..."

The professor moved aside as he made his way from the room. He held the koffing's pokeball in his hand, staring intently as he struggled to reach a decision on the matter. Hurricane returned a few heartbeats later, and he took a deep breath, reassured at her presence. He released the pokemon from its ball.

In a flash of red, the koffing appeared. It gave a feral growl as it floated backwards, and Xade raised his hands. Hurri nearly charged from his shoulder, but he told her to wait. He took a few steps in the poison type's direction.

"Are you here by your own will?" he asked. "Or did someone bring you here and then set you free in the human building?"

It paused.

"Professor, when was the last time anyone checked on the incubator? Do people work with it daily?"

"A-ah, no. Usually it's a few-just a few times a week since we've got other projects running. Why?"

"And how long has the computer virus been… Breaking everything?"

"About-about three days ago it s-it started."

"Okay," he said with a deep breath. "Do you know for sure if someone checked on the incubator after the virus showed up?"

"Ah," he shook his head. "No-no it's extremely possible that no one-no one did until today. Everything's been so hectic. Do you think s-do you think someone could've somehow planted-someone could've planted the virus as a distraction?"

"Yes. And I think," he said a timidly. "I think they brought wild pokemon here to take the blame…" To the koffing, he said, "I need you to tell me what happened."