Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.
Chimera for Sale
Amber Drei was standing overlooking the ocean. With a movement of her left arm, the green-haired clone levitated a large bolder from the shore several feet below. Once the boulder had reached her eye level, Amber clenched her left fist and caused the boulder to shatter apart into little pieces. As the new pebbles rained down on the shore below, Amber moved her left shoulder a bit to see how it was. There wasn't a trace of stiffness left in it.
"It looks like you're back at a hundred percent," a female voice spoke in Amber's head.
Amber looked to her right, and floating beside her was her faithful Mewtwo, Zwei. The humanoid feline had apparently been watching Amber without her realizing it.
"The bruise on my shoulder is still there, but it will fade in time," Amber responded.
"Then it seems our business here in the Alola Region is done," Zwei assumed. "Not only have you healed, but we've also managed to uncover the secrets of the Z-Moves."
"Indeed," Amber replied as she looked at her right wrist. Around her wrist was an ornate silvery-white bracelet. "Of course I've still yet to test this power in an actual battle."
"It's a pity I can't use these Z-Moves myself," Zwei remarked as she glanced down at the metal belt with the pinkish-purple stone on the front that was around her midsection. "Or at least I can't while using the power of my Mega Stone."
"You do not need the assistance of a Z-Move," Amber told her. "But this power will allow Tron, Sentry and Galatea to match the strength of your normal form."
"Anyway, does this mean we're finally going to resume our search for Mewtwo Ein?" Zwei asked.
"There's no real reason to remain in this region anymore," Amber answered. "Now that I'm fully recovered from our battle with Bianca, the time has come for us to get back out on the road. In the morning we'll head back to the Kanto Region and look for Mewtwo Ein again in Saffron City."
"Whatever you think best," Zwei replied with a nod.
Amber called Zwei back to her pokeball and walked away from the cliff. After a few short minutes of walking, the green-haired clone arrived in the nearby town where she had been staying for the past few days. Amber decided to get a bite to eat before returning to her hotel and stopped at a small café she had discovered a few days before. Shortly after making her order at the counter, Amber sat down at a table near another table where two men in black suits were talking.
"So, you really gonna go to that Type: Null auction that's supposed to be happening in Po Town in a couple of days?" one of the suited men asked the other.
"Why the hell not? It'd be a hell of an investment," the other suited gentleman replied. "Think about it. A genetically engineered Pokemon made using the DNA of multiple Pokemon types. If such a Pokemon could be studied and mass-produced I could make a crap load of money. I mean I know a bunch of military groups that would love to have a small army of this Pokemon in their arsenal."
"Yeah, but how to we know this auction is legit?" the first suited man pointed out. "I mean this thing is being held by Team Skull. Those guys are nothing but a bunch of street punks. Team Rocket, they certainly aren't."
"Will you relax? I had a guy look into this whole thing," the second suited man assured him. "This auction is totally on the up and up. I have no idea how Team Skull was able to steal a Type: Null from the Aether Foundation, but they did it."
"Well okay, but wasn't Type: Null a total failure?" the first suited man asked. "I mean the stories I've heard said that they went berserk when the Aether Foundation tested them out. That's why the few they did make had to be frozen."
"No problem. If need be, I can just have my lab guys dissect the thing and run a full analysis to see where those Aether Foundation scientists went wrong," the second suited man replied. "No big deal. Now where the hell is that damn waitress with my coffee?"
Amber had heard enough of the conversation and rose from her chair. She went over to where the two were sitting as they continued their conversation.
"What is this you were saying about an artificially made Pokemon?" Amber asked the duo.
"Hey lady! Do you mind? My friend and I are having a private conversation," the second suited man told her. "Now buzz off."
Amber flicked her right wrist, and suddenly the second suited man seemed to have trouble breathing as though he was choking. His friend started to get up to help, but Amber glared at him and flung the man and his chair into the wall behind him, knocking him out cold.
"You will tell me everything I want to know," Amber told the man she was strangling with her thoughts.
"Go… to hell," the man responded.
"I see. It appears we have to do this the hard way," Amber realized.
With that, Amber began to burrow into the man's mind for the information she wanted, causing his nose to bleed.
It was about noon as Alain Grant sat sipping tea at a table outside a café in Malie City. Alain and his companion, Mairin Trudeau had been sent to Alola on a recent tip that Amber Drei was somewhere in the region. The café was where Alain was supposed to meet with a contact that was to give him more information. Alain had been waiting at the café for almost half an hour, and his contact had still yet to show. Just as Alain thought about getting up to stretch his legs, he saw Mairin running towards his table. The redhead had a very excited expression on her face.
"I take it your battles against those trainers you met went well?" Alain assumed.
"You bet!" Mairin confirmed. "But that's not all. Choppy evolved! Check it out!"
Mairin threw out a pokeball, and bursting out of it was a blue bipedal dragon that stood at just over four feet. It had black and gold eyes, and on the sides of its head were two horns with blue stripes around the middle that almost resembled jet engines. The dragon's chest was red, as was its jaw and the front of its neck, while the underside of the beast was light blue. On its back was a large shark's fin with a notch in it, and it had a smaller fin near the end of its thick tail. The dragon had a pair of narrow arms, each with a large fin on the forearm and a small white claw on the end. Growing from its upper legs were two short white spikes. It also had a set of three white claws on each foot.
"It evolved into Gabite," Alain observed. "I'm impressed. Dragon Pokemon can be very difficult to train. You've come very far in a short time."
"Thanks," Mairin replied. "I've put a lot of hard work into Choppy's training."
"So this is the little sidekick I heard you picked up, Alain," a voice interrupted.
Alain and Mairin looked, and standing near by was a woman with long pink here. She had on a pair of orange-red sunglasses, along with a sleeveless black shirt with a turtleneck that showed her midriff, a pair of long red pants decorated with white diamonds, and a pair of black high-heeled shoes.
"Malva!" a surprised Alain identified. "Lysandre never said you were my contact."
"I know. I asked that he keep that a secret," Malva told him. "I wanted to see the look on your face when you found out."
"Hey. You're that news lady I've seen on T.V. back in Kalos a few times," Mairin realized.
"Malva is much more than a reporter, Mairin," Alain told her. "She's also a member of the Kalos Elite Four."
"And a top member of Team Flare," the pinkette proudly added as she sat down at Alain's table. "Of course I usually keep that bit of info under my hat. Now then, shall we get down to business?"
"Is Ambre Drei truly here in Alola?" Alain asked as Mairin called back Choppy and took a seat at the table.
"It would appear so, from the little info I've been able to gather," Malva confirmed. "For some reason she's been laying low since the Lake Perfection incident, but just yesterday she was apparently spotted here on Ula'ula Island."
"You're absolutely certain?" Alain asked.
"A woman matching Amber's description popped up at a café in a nearby down," Malva reported. "She was involved in some kind of strange incident that ended with a man winding up in a coma. It's good fortune that I was here on the island yesterday doing a news story on the region's new Pokemon League when it happened, since it let me follow up on this tip right away."
"Why was this man attacked?" Alain asked.
"The guy who's now in a coma had a friend with him when the incident happened, so I was able to ask him," Malva revealed. "It turns out this poor devil was planning to attend a black market auction for an artificially made Pokemon known as Type: Null. From what little I was able to find out, our renegade clone seemed to get pretty ticked off about the auction, especially when our coma patient let it slip that he might have this Pokemon dissected for research."
"Amber's reaction doesn't surprise me," Mairin interjected. "After her battle with Alain, she told me that wants to change the world because of how some people treat artificial Pokemon. In fact I can't blame her for getting so ticked off at that guy for wanting to dissect a Pokemon like that."
"Well it seems pretty clear that Amber plans to infiltrate the auction," Malva informed them. "The man she knocked out also had his invitation to the auction stolen."
"So what can you tell us about the auction?" Alain asked the pink-haired reporter.
"It's being held in a town on this island called Po Town by Team Skull," Malva answered. "The entire town is essentially Team Skull's base of operations. I have to admit that I'm a little impressed that they're trying to pull off something this advanced. Team Skull is pretty much nothing more than a giant gang of street punks that only live to cause trouble. Anyway, the auction is being held tomorrow, and I was able to get my hands on an invitation."
"Why do we need an invitation?" Mairin asked.
"Because Po Town has a giant wall around it, and all the entrances to it are guarded by Team Skull members," Malva explained. "This invitation is the only way we can get in. We'll show up tomorrow with me posing as a potential buyer in the auction. Alain, you'll be playing the role of my bodyguard. And Mairin, since I assume you'll insist on tagging along, you can just pretend to be my niece or something. I think I can pull off a role as a young fun-loving aunt."
"How come you're coming along with us?" Alain asked. "Does Lysandre not think I can handle this on my own?"
"It's nothing like that at all. Lysandre has the upmost faith in your abilities. Of course I for one have my doubts," Malva admitted. "But the fact is that this job requires a little bit to stealth and cunning, qualities that you're a bit lacking in."
"Alright, we'll play it your way then," Alain agreed.
"It's not like you had an choice. I do outrank you, after all," Malva pointed out. "We'll meet back here tomorrow at noon and head straight for Po Town. Both of you had better show up on time."
It was just past 7:00 AM as Amber approached the massive wall around Po Town. As she came near the front gate, Amber saw a pair of Team Skull hooligans guarding the door. One of them was a young slender woman with long pink hair. The other one was a large and overweight young man with a shaved head. Both guards instantly moved to block the gate as soon as Amber came near.
"What the hell do you want lady?" the female Skull hooligan asked.
"I understand that the auction for a Pokemon known as Type: Null is being held in this town," Amber responded. "I've come here to participate."
"Yeah? Well you better have an invitation," the female Skull hooligan told her. "Otherwise there's no way you're getting in. Right Biff?"
The large Skull hooligan merely stood trembling in fear as he looked at Amber. It was as though he had seen the green-haired clone before.
"Hey Biff, you okay?" the female Skull hooligan asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
Suddenly the gate opened, and walking out was a young woman with pink hair and yellow eyes. Decorating the sides of her head were grey hair ornaments almost resembled cartoon skulls with long pink and yellow pigtails strung through the eye sockets. Her eyes were decorated with black mascara and had white circles painted around them. She had on a black tank-top with black crisscrossing stripes at the bottom that showed off her midriff, along with long black pants with a white waistband and a white diamond pattern running down the sides of the legs, and a pair of grey and white sneakers. Hanging from her neck was a necklace with the Team Skull emblem, and a large pink version of the emblem was either tattooed or painted on her stomach.
"What's going on out here?" the newly arrived pinkette asked.
"Ms. Plumeria! Uh, this lady here said she came for the auction," the female Skull hooligan explained.
"Does she have an invite?" the young woman known as Plumeria asked.
"Right here," Amber answered as she pulled the stolen invitation from her coat pocket and presented it.
Plumeria took the invitation and looked it over. "It certainly looks legit. You do know the auction isn't until this afternoon though, right?"
"I am aware of that, but I wanted to get here as early as possible," Amber told her. "I thought that I could explore your quaint little town while I waited."
"Look lady, this place isn't exactly a tourist attraction," Plumeria told her. "But whatever floats your boat, I guess. Just like the invitation said, the auction will be in the warehouse at the northeast corner of the wall at 3:00. If you're late, it's your own damn fault."
"I understand perfectly," Amber replied.
Plumeria reopened the gate door and Amber walked though. The metal door slammed shut again once the green-haired clone had gone though.
"Looks like this auction might end up attracting a few weirdos," Plumeria remarked with a sigh.
"Something about her sure seemed to scare the crap out of Biff," the female Skull hooligan informed her.
Plumeria noticed that the other guard was still trembling. "Yo Biff. What's the matter?"
"I… I've seen that lady before," Biff revealed. "A few nights ago, me, Spike and Zeke went to try and get some loot from the tourists around the Hano Resort. We cornered this one girl who had a couple of rare Pokemon with her when that lady with the green hair showed up. She had this talking Pokemon that totally thrashed Spike's Ariados. I mean she took it down in like a second."
"So what? Spike's Ariados is a total pushover," the female Skull hooligan remarked.
"Yeah? Well that's not the worst part," Biff told them. "We tried to run away, and somehow that lady flung us into the air with a wave of her hand. Like she used the power of her mind or something. We ended up getting knocked out, and when we woke up later we got chased off by some blonde guy with another freaky Pokemon that was like an electric cat or something."
"Okay, what the hell were you guys smoking when all this supposedly happened?" the female Skull hooligan asked.
"I'm telling ya, big sis! That lady we just let into town is trouble!" Biff told Plumeria. "I don't know what she's doing here, but it can't be good."
"Is that so?" Plumeria responded. "Then it looks like I'll have to keep a close eye on our new guest. Nobody messes with my teammates like that and gets away with it."
It was at least twenty minutes before the auction as the trio of Alain, Mairin and Malva approached the massive wall of Po Town. Malva had changed into a suit in order to appear more like a perspective buyer. Alain and Mairin meanwhile were wearing their normal outfits. A pair of male Skull hooligans was guarding the gate as the three approached.
"Hi there. We're here for the auction," Malva told the two guards as she presented her invitation.
"Hold the phone. There's three of you, but only one invitation," one of the guards pointed out. "What the hell are you trying to pull lady?"
"Well the young man here is my bodyguard," Malva explained. "Surely you don't expect a lady like me to enter your town without an armed escort."
"Fair enough, but what about the kid?" the same guard asked.
"Oh, her?" Malva responded, pointing to Mairin. "She's just my sister's kid. She got dumped on me at the last second because my sister couldn't get a sitter. But there was no way in hell that I'd miss out on this auction."
"Just let 'em all in," the second guard spoke. "What harm could the kid do? Plus it's not like the other guests didn't bring bodyguards of their own."
"Yeah, okay. Go on in," the first guard told them. "But keep that kid on a tight leash."
With that, the guards opened the gate, and Alain and the others went in. Beyond the gate was a fairly large but rundown-looking town with houses that looked like they had seen better days. Many of the dwellings had broken windows, chipped and fading paint, and a good deal of graffiti. Some of the houses looked totally abandoned, with shingles missing from the roofs and windows totally boarded up. The grass growing in the yards of all these properties was so overgrown that it looked like wild Pokemon might be lurking within it.
There were also rusted and abandoned cars parked at the side of the street at various places. Just like the houses, some of these ruined cars were also covered in graffiti. The massive level of the town's decay combined with the overcast sky and the massive wall surrounding everything made the place look utterly depressing. Yet though the buildings and cars made the town look abandoned, it was crawling with Team Skull members. Some of them were loitering around the front doors of the abandoned-looking houses, leaning against the rusted old cars, or just walking around. Alain and the others ended up passing by an alley where five Skull hooligans had gathered to play some sort of game involving dice.
"Is everyone in this town a member of Team Skull?" Mairin asked.
"Pretty much," Malva answered. "Po Town is essentially Team Skull's base of operations. You won't find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy in all of Alola."
"How did the town get this way?" Mairin asked.
"From what little I know, Po Town was originally a peaceful little community long ago," Malva began. "But then one day Team Skull showed up and began terrorizing the place. This town had very little law enforcement presence, and the people who lived here originally ended up fleeing in fear. Once the people left, Team Skull moved right in. Word is they even run the local Pokemon Center. The place will heal your Pokemon, but they charge a fee for usage."
"Team Skull really is a despicable group," Alain remarked.
"Indeed," Malva agreed. "But don't worry about it too much Alain. Once Lysandre achieves his goal of making a new world, groups like this one will be a thing of the past. We'll have pure and total peace. For right now though, let's just focus on the mission at hand, which is to find and capture Amber Drei."
Eventually the trio reached the old warehouse in town where the auction was to be held. The inside was packed with men and women in business suits, some of them looking as though they were armed. There was also a wooden stage set up in the warehouse. On it was a small table with a box covered by a red cloth. A pair of large male Skull hooligans was guarding the box, indicating that it contained the item that was to be auctioned off.
Alain began to scan the small crowd of potential buyers for Amber, but the green-haired clone was nowhere to be seen. He began to wonder if Amber was actually going to show up. As Alain remained on the lookout for his target, Plumeria walked up onto the stage.
"I wanna start this by thanking all you suits for coming out here today," Plumeria began. "The money we're gonna make from this little auction will be a big boost for our organization."
"Hey girlie! I thought the leader of your little gang was gonna be the one to conduct this auction," spoke a redheaded man in a brown suit. "Where the hell is he?"
"The boss is currently busy with other important matters," Plumeria explained.
"Yeah. He's watching a lame slasher movie marathon on Channel 6," one of the hooligans guarding the box under the cloth remarked, causing his comrade to snicker.
Plumeria glared back at the two hooligan guards, causing them both to flinch.
"Anyway, I'm perfectly capable of conducting this auction," Plumeria continued. "So to start, I'll show you all the merchandise so you know this whole thing is legit."
The pinkette snapped her fingers, causing one of the two hooligan guards to remove the cloth covering the box. The box in question was clear plastic and showed a pokeball resting on a red satin pillow next to some sort of metal canister. The other guard lifted the box, allowing Plumeria to take the pokeball from its pillow.
"Come on out, Type: Null!" Plumeria called as she threw the pokeball.
Bursting out of the ball was a four-legged creature that stood at just over six feet tall. Covering its head was a brown mask-like helmet with a large jaw piece attached to the sides by round hinges with green X-shaped markings. A pair of small silver eyes could be seen within the large rectangular eyeholes of the mask, and on top the helmet between two small pointed ears was a large grey axe-like blade. Attached to the base of the mask with four blades projecting outward to form the shape of an X, and hanging beneath the helmet was a thick mane of dark-grey fur that covered the beast's chest and shoulders. Much of its body was covered in short black fur, and it had a tail resembling the tailfin of a fish that was colored blue and had three short grey spikes growing from the top. The lower halves of the creature's front legs were green and insect-like, with spikes growing from the back and three talon-like claws on each foot. Its hind legs meanwhile had purple reptilian scales covering the flanks, shins, and the top of its paws.
Many of the assembled bidders were visibly stunned upon seeing the strange Pokemon. Mairin meanwhile noticed a rather sad look in the chimera Pokemon's eyes.
"Here it is folks. The famous Type: Null," Plumeria announced. "There are said to be only three of this Pokemon in existence, one of which disappeared not too long ago. One of our more inventive team members managed to swipe this Type: Null from one of the Aether Foundations secret labs."
Just as Type: Null began to look over the audience, Plumeria called it back to its ball and set it back on the pillow.
"With this Type: Null, you'll also get the full set of memories designed to work with the failed RKS system built into its body," Plumeria continued. "This system was designed to allow Type: Null to change between every currently known Pokemon type. If any of you suits can figure out how to get that system to work, more power to ya. Now then, let's start the bidding off at five hundred. Which of you is willing to pay five large for this wonder of science?"
"This auction is now canceled!" a voice interrupted as the redheaded man from before started to raise his hand. Alain and the others looked to see Amber standing in the doorway of the warehouse. "I will not allow this Pokemon to be sold off like a lifeless tool!"
"Who the hell is this bitch?" one of the male bidders asked.
"Who cares?" the redheaded man responded. "Let's just get rid of her!"
Just as some of the bidders were about to pull out guns, Amber waved her left hand and knocked them into the far wall of the warehouse, knocking them out. Alain and his companions though had moved aside to avoid the attack.
"You will now hand over that Type: Null," Amber ordered. "Otherwise I will take it from you by force."
Plumeria jumped off the stage and walked towards her. "You're that weird chick from this morning. One of my boys said you roughed up him and a couple of his friends a few nights ago."
"I did encounter three members of your organization a few nights ago on Akala Island," Amber recalled. "They were harassing a rival of mine."
"Yeah? Well get this, bitch! I'm like the big sister to every junior member of this gang," Plumeria told her. "Sure a lot of them are kind of dumb, but that's sort of an endearing quality to me. And someone messes with them, they mess with me."
"I see. So you wish to avenge the defeat of your comrades," Amber realized. "Very well then. I have a proposition for you. The two of us will face each other in a one-on-one battle. If you win, you will have your revenge. But if I win, I will be taking Type: Null and the memory devices you spoke of."
"Fine with me. But you're gonna get thrashed!" Plumeria declared as she tossed out a pokeball. "Go Salazzle!"
Bursting out of Plumeria's thrown ball was a fairly large dark-grey lizard that stood on two legs at a height of almost four feet. The creature had purple eyes with slit pupils, and the front of her torso was purple with pink flame-like markings decorating her chest and stomach. The underside of the lizard's long tail was bright pink, and two coattail-like growths projected outward from the top of the tail's base.
Upon seeing Plumeria's fiery lizard, Malva pulled out a small tape recorder. "Note to self: Capture a female Salandit before leaving Alola."
Amber meanwhile tossed out a pokeball of her own. "Go Tron!"
Emerging from Amber's pokeball with a sparkling flash was a blue hummingbird-like creature with crazed yellow eyes.
"Roast that freaky thing Salazzle!" Plumeria commanded. "Use Flamethrower!"
"Attack with Thunderbolt," Amber calmly ordered.
Tron fired bolts of yellow electricity from its body that zapped Plumeria's fire lizard. Salazzle recovered from the attack and breathed out a stream of red flames from her jaws. The blast struck Tron in the chest, but the digital Pokemon endured it.
"Get ready, bitch. I'm gonna show you a world of pain," Plumeria declared.
Amber then suddenly pointed her arms forward and crossed her wrists before pointing her index fingers at the sides of her head. The green-haired psychic then outstretched her left arm towards Tron while keeping her right finger pointing at her head.
"Shattered Psyche!" Amber called out.
A ball of pink light suddenly flew from the ornate bracelet on Amber's wrist into Tron's back. A golden energy then flowed from Amber into Tron, causing the digital Pokemon's body to produce a golden flame-like aura. Tron's eyes began to glow a brilliant purple before Salazzle's body became enveloped in a ball of purple light. Salazzle was then hurled upward and then bounced between several octagonal plates of purple energy that appeared in the air, vanishing instantly as soon as the lizard struck one of them. Plumeria's Pokemon was bounced back and forth between the plates several times like a pinball before being hurled into the back wall of the warehouse with enough force to create a massive hole.
As Tron's eyes stopped glowing, Salazzle emerged from the rubble of the shattered wall, only to collapse forward soon after. The fiery lizard was out like a light. Alain, Mairin and Malva meanwhile were left totally stunned.
Plumeria was also completely shocked. "No… no way! A Z-Move? Where the hell did you learn a trick like that?"
"I believe that was an effective test of the Z-Move power," Amber remarked as she called back Tron. "Now then. As per the terms of our wager, Type: Null is now mine."
With that, Amber waved her right hand and flung Plumeria into the left-side wall of the warehouse. The pinkette struck the wall with enough force to leave a slight dent in it and was out cold as she collapsed to the ground. The two hooligans guarding Type: Null reached for the pokeballs hanging at their belts, only for Amber to push them away into the shattered rear wall with a movement of her right hand. Then with a gentle movement of her wrist, Amber levitated Type: Null's pokeball and the silver canister towards her.
"I believe my business here is finished," Amber decided as she pocketed the pokeball.
"Amber Drei!" Alain called, getting her attention. "You're not getting away from me again!"
"You're… Alain, correct?" Amber recalled with a slight tilt of her head. "I didn't notice you were here. This is quite the little surprise."
"This time I'm taking you in!" Alain declared as he threw out a pokeball. "Go Charizard!"
Alain's red fire dragon burst out of its ball and roared as he raised his head and breathed a stream of red flames straight into the air.
"Go Zwei!" Amber called with the throw of her own pokeball.
The humanoid feline burst out of her ball and smirked upon noticing Alain. "So the boy with the Charizard has returned to try and capture us again. This should be amusing."
"Use Dragon Claw!" Alain commanded as the stone in his Mega Ring lit up.
Charizard roared as the stone in his metal collar started to glow, and his body flashed with a brilliant blue light in the shape of an X as he grew in size. When the light faded, Charizard's body had turned black and blue as multicolored light in the form of a DNA helix glowed briefly above his head. The black dragon flew towards Zwei as the claws on his right hand glowed and extended. As soon as he got in range, Charizard slashed Zwei across the chest.
"Now use Flamethrower!" Alain ordered.
As Zwei fell back, Charizard breathed a powerful stream of blue flames from his jaws. Zwei crossed her arms to cover herself, but the force of the blast knocked her through the wall and onto the street outside. Charizard flew out of the warehouse with Alain following close behind. Amber meanwhile calmly walked out of the large hole in the wall that Charizard had made with her hands crossed behind her back. Zwei had gotten back to her feet just as Amber had come out.
"I think we've given them enough of a handicap, don't you?" Amber asked Zwei.
"Indeed," Zwei agreed.
Just then, the stone fitted into the front of Amber's metal choker flashed, as did the stone in the front of Zwei's belt. Zwei levitated into the air as he body gave off a blinding purple flash in the shape of a Y. The light soon faded to reveal the psychic feline in her shorter mega form as a multicolored DNA helix glowed momentarily above her head.
"Use Dragon Claw again!" Alain ordered.
Charizard extended his claws again as he flew towards his opponent at top speed. Just as the dragon came in striking range though, Zwei flew out of the way, causing Charizard to only cut into one of the afterimages left in the feline's wake. Zwei then got behind Charizard and flung a ball of cracking black energy into the dragon's back. Charizard cried out upon being struck, only to turn around and roar at his opponent.
"Attack with Flamethrower!" Alain commanded.
Just as Charizard opened his jaws to launch another attack, Zwei's eyes glowed red and the dragon's body started giving off a feint red aura. With her right arm outstretched, Zwei twitched her wrist and flung Charizard into the ground with enough force to leave a small crater. The psychic feline then pulled Charizard back into the air and slammed in into the ground three more times like she was bouncing a ball before hurling him into a nearby rusted pickup truck covered in graffiti. As Charizard attempted to get up, Amber levitated into the air to move behind Zwei. Zwei then spread her arms apart and created a ball of purple light in front of her that was four times her size.
"Oh no!" Mairin exclaimed upon seeing what Zwei was doing. "Ms. Malva! Take cover!"
"Psystrike!" Zwei and Amber called out.
With a movement of her arms, Zwei hurled the massive ball of light down towards Chaizard as Mairin, Malva and Alain all dove to the ground. The attack struck both Charizard and the truck, causing a massive explosion that radiated outward. When the light faded and the smoke cleared, Charizard was lying in the middle of a massive crater in his original form, with the glowing red remains of the destroyed pickup scattered around him. As soon as Alain got back to his feet, he rushed to the crater to check on his fallen partner.
Back up in the air, Zwei returned to her original form. "That was somewhat disappointing. They did much better against us the last time."
"I think they were trying too hard," Amber assumed as Alain kneeled down next to Charizard. "It was fun seeing you again, Alain. Just like before, you were an amusing diversion."
With that, Amber and Zwei vanished with a flash of blue light. As soon as they were gone, Alain punched the ground in frustration.
"Well, I can see why you've been having so much trouble with this assignment," Malva remarked as she and Mairin emerged from the warehouse. "The Mega Evolution of that Mewtwo is extremely powerful."
"Then there was that weird attack Amber's Porygon-Z used against that lady from Team Skull," Mairin added. "What kind of move was that anyway?"
"That was an attack known as a Z-Move," Malva answered. "From what I've heard, it's a technique that converts a basic Pokemon attack into one of incredible destructive force. The power is said to rival that of Mega Evolution. Now that Amber has this power at her disposal as well, she's even more dangerous."
"I don't care how powerful she becomes," Alain spoke as he got back to his feet. "One way or another, I'm going to defeat her!"
Amber and Zwei touched down outside an abandoned warehouse on the edge of Malie City. The duo quickly made sure that nobody was around before entering the structure.
"Come on out! Tron! Sentry! Galatea!" Amber called out as she tossed three of her pokeballs.
Tron burst out of his ball, as did the blue ancient nine-foot tall robot that was Sentry. An even larger pokeball emerged from the third ball that Amber had tossed, but it quickly unfolded into the golden rabbit-eared robot that was her Magearna, Galatea.
"I'm sorry Galatea. Did I wake you?" Amber asked.
'It's fine, Ms. Amber,' Galatea's child-like voice responded in her head. 'I was due to wake up anyway. So why did you call us all out?'
"Zwei and I wanted you all to meet a new friend of ours," Amber explained.
'Yay! A new friend!' Galatea cheered. 'Is it an artificially made Pokemon like the rest of us?'
"That's right," Zwei confirmed. "It's a being that was made the same way that Amber and I were; a product of genetic engineering."
"The Pokemon was being auctioned off like a tool," Amber added. "Zwei and I decided to rescue it."
'Statement: I was instrumental in that rescue,' the mechanical voice of Tron spoke in everyone's heads.
"That's right, Tron. We could not have done it without you," Amber told the digital Pokemon with a small smile. "You also helped to fully test the power of these Z-Moves we've been studying."
'Indeed. With the power of that move, my performance-performance-performance-performance.' Sentry gently pounded his large fist into the top of Tron's head. 'Response: Thank you, Sentry. As I was saying, with the power of that move, my performance in battle was increased by 120 percent.'
'So when are we going to meet this new Pokemon?' Galatea asked.
"Right now," Amber answered as she pulled out Type: Null's pokeball. "Come on out!"
Type: Null burst out of the thrown ball and looked at Amber and the others. The chimera seemed to be a bit wary of them.
'You don't need to be afraid,' Amber's voice spoke inside Type: Null's head. 'You can hear my thoughts, can't you?'
'Yes… I can,' a gruff voice responded in Amber's head. 'Are you the one who bought me? Those people from that group, Team Skull… they said I was going to be sold.'
"I am the one who liberated you," Amber explained. "You are among friends here. Each of use is an artificial life form made by humans. And just like you, we were mistreated by them."
'I don't know why you bothered to rescue me,' Type: Null responded. 'I am a failure. I was made to be a weapon, as were the two others like me, but we were overwhelmed by the power our makers gave to us. Because of that, our makers put this helmet on me to bind my power… as they did with the other two of my kind. Then we were put into a deep sleep… abandoned and forgotten.'
'That's so sad,' Galatea spoke, sounding as if on the verge of tears. 'That's just like what happened to me.'
'Originally, my kind and I were called Type: Full,' the chimera continued. 'But after we were deemed failures, our makers renamed us Type: Null. Just as I was about to be put to sleep, one of my makers mentioned that the word, Null meant nothing. I… am worthless.'
"Mugen," Amber spoke, getting the chimera's attention. "That is what I shall call you. It is a word that means, infinity. The humans who made you underestimated your worth. Perhaps the power they gave you and your brethren was too much for you. I believe that with the proper training, your true power will be unlocked."
"Does this mean our search for Mewtwo Ein is going to be delayed for a while longer?" Zwei asked.
Amber nodded. "For right now, at least. Before we continue our journey, I'd like to spend some time trying to unlock Mugen's potential. After that, we shall go after the ones responsible for Mugen's creation and mistreatment, the Aether Foundation. It seems they have a lot to answer for."
FIN
Author's Note: The main purpose of this story was to add another Pokemon to Amber's team. The moment I learned that Type: Null and its evolved form of Silvally were artificial Pokemon, I knew that I wanted to have Amber use one. The real difficulty though was figuring out how Amber was going to obtain a Type: Null. Having the Aether Foundation playing such a major role in its creation kind of complicated things for me a bit. In our next episode, which is going to be kind of a part two to this one, we're going to dive into the Aether Foundation a little further.
Please review and let me know what you think.
