Another thing I forgot to mention is that this takes place about forty to fifty years before the time of Ash Ketchum, making this the first incarnation of the machine.

# # # Chapter Specific Notes # # #

Italics are Kenai's Psychic speech.

"Normal speech is pretty obvious."

Chapter Five: Wake-up Call

Ganon rolled over in his sleep, still deep in his dreams. It was another one of her.

"What's your name?" She asked from the other side of the wall.

"Why do you want to know?" He asked back, still slightly apprehensive about revealing something could identify him. Technically he was breaking rules just by even being here. If the tutors knew that he had contact with the other side of the wall, they'd lock him up for goodness knows how long.

"What's your problem?" She asked sullenly. Ganon winced as her voice sounded troubled and on the verge of crying. It scared him that he'd made her feel like that, and he got up backing away from the wall slightly.

"No, no, please don't cry." He cried out desperately to no avail. He could hear muffled sobs coming from the other side, and it practically broke his heart to hear her like that.

"Well… what is it then?" She managed to squeak out between sobs, "Don't you like me? Don't you trust me?"

"No! No! It's nothing like that! It's just that's the sort of information that they could use to lock me away!"

"So it's true. You don't trust me…" She sobbed louder. Ganon leant against the wall and could feel himself start to cry too.

"No… That's not true. I'd trust you with my life. It's just that if they locked me away, I'd never be able to hear you again." He sobbed out. He could hear her laugh half-heartedly through the wall.

"Sure, like that's true." She said through yet more strangled sobs.

"Please! Stop crying! I do trust you! My name is Ganon!" He called over. He heard her gasp abruptly, and he could even hear her rolling over to face the wall. It seemed that she had been leaning back against the wall too.

"Ganon? That's your name?"

"Yes. What's yours?" He asked back innocently. He grinned as he heard her shuffling about awkwardly, "I think I can see where this is going! And you thought I wasn't being trusting." He laughed back at her.

"Hey, that's not fair." She called back slightly angry. Ganon laughed again

"I understand. Why do you think I was holding back? The rules there are probably the same as over here too." He told her, picking a Bluk berry off the tree in front of him. He twisted a segment off of it, and threw it in the air to try and catch it in his mouth. He missed and it landed on his face, the soft berry splattering to turn his face black. He squeaked and looked over at a small pool about three metres away. He looked at his reflection, and squeaked again.

"What happened?" He heard the girl ask from the other side. Ganon shivered apprehensively as he looked at the reflection, almost afraid to admit something so careless.

"I've turned my face black!" He groaned. He heard her gigling again.

"You tried to catch a Bluk in your mouth didn't you?" She said, still giggling. Suddenly the whole thing seemed a little less ridiculous. Ganon smiled inwardly. She always seemed to say exactly what was needed to cheer him up.

"Yeah..." He finally admitted.

"It washes right off. And you can call me Laura." She cooed back softly.

"Laura... such a beautiful name..."

"What did you say?"

- - - - - -

"A BROTHER!!!" Another voice suddenly yelled out from in front of him. Ganon opened his eyes just in time to see a human child landing on him. He screamed as the weight hit his chest, the impact causing the bed to collapse. The shockwave carried through the building, down into the lower levels of the establishment.

Kenai looked up from the desk in his office briefly, before shaking his head.

"Clair is awake then…"

He got up and walked over to the elevator. Ganon was probably going to be absolutely terrified. He'd been on the recieving ends of her hugs before, and he had to physically rip her off him with psychic. Breathing was an act he was rather fond of.

- - - - - -

Ganon flailed about, trying to get the human child off him, but couldn't as it had its arms wrapped around his neck.

"YAAAAAAAY!!!" The child yelled right in his ear. Ganon screamed again and flailed even more, trying to dislodge the midget. He struggled as the child continued to nuzzle him. Luckily at that moment, Eddie ran into the room and pulled the little girl off him.

"Clair. If you throttle your brother to death, then obviously you won't be able to play with him. Is that what you want?" He asked teasingly. The little girl just laughed, before turning back around so Ganon could see her. She was about the same age as his human form, so about twelve, and also like him she had silver hair. However he wasn't able to notice anything else as she jumped on him and started hugging him again. He could feel her choking her, before Eddie was forced to pull her off him again.

"You really don't like him if you're this intent on throttling him."

"That wasn't throttling, I was giving him a hug!" She chimed back, before trying to jump on him again. Ganon leapt out of the bed and ran out of the room screaming. He looked around briefly and spotted the stairs, making a beeline for them.

"Ganon!!!" He heard her yell from behind him again, and leapt down the stairs. He followed them all the way down to the bottom, running straight for the doorway. He saw Lomar and Mildred perching in the atrium.

"Where do you think you're going laddy?! You've got to stay!" Lomar cried after him, before he heard another scream of the psychotic girl from upstairs, "Damn, it's Clair. On second thoughts, RUN! RUN LIKE THE WIND!" He screamed. Ganon nodded and dashed for the door, which thankfully opened as he approached it, but unfortunately he didn't know that he was too far from the sensor for it to have been him that it had registered.

CRASH!!!
Ganon tripped over someone walking in through the doorway, sending them crashing to the floor with everything she was carrying. Ganon groaned and cradled his head in his hands, having hit something hard that gave him a sudden headache. He heard someone angry yelling at him from underneath him.

"You stupid kid! Geroff me!" The squeaking voice yelled at him. He looked at the Glaceon trapped underneath him, and quickly moved aside to let her out. She shook her head to dislodge some dead leaves and twigs from her fur, before looking at the human child that had tripped up on her.

"Well?! Aren't you going to help me or what?! Where's your manners?!" She squeaked at him. He sweat dropped and started picking up various things from the floor around her. She scowled at him as he put them in a pile in front of her.

"Well thanks a bloody lot loser, but I don't have hands. You carry them for me." She ordered. Ganon looked at her through narrowed eyes. She had absolutely no right to order him to do anything. He was about to boot her when Kenai appeared out from behind the counter. He looked at the scene before him in horror, before he dashed out.

"Ah Melissa! How are you today?" He asked her to draw her attention away from Ganon. It worked, and Kenai quickly grabbed Ganon's swinging leg with his telekinesis, pinning it back to the ground.

Don't do anything like that ever again. Go back upstairs now.

Ganon just looked at the strange Pokemon addressing him as though he'd never seen it before, which indeed he hadn't. He just thought about the girl that was waiting for him upstairs. Kenai snorted.

What? Clair? Well yes she will be terrifying. Downstairs we call her the Rib-Breaker.

Ganon took another step back. This Pokemon could read minds?! Kenai rolled his eyes.

Yes, I can read minds. Upstairs. Now.

Yet another Pokemon that was trying to order him about. He crossed his arms defiantly.

Just go back upstairs, before I force you to.

Ganon just stood there, dumbfounded. Force? How could this Pokemon force him to do anything?

Ganon, you're an idiot. Kenai said before pointing upstairs with one finger. Ganon felt his legs tremble under him, and they started marching on their own accord. He tried to stop them, but he couldn't resist the influence.

"So! You're running away without even bothering to apologize! Scumbag!" Melissa yelled after him, freezing his left leg solid with Ice beam.

"Melissa, stop doing that!" He heard Kenai scream at her from behind him as he continued walking. He couldn't feel any pain in his legs, but since he didn't have control of them, he couldn't feel anything anyway. He was marched back into his bedroom, and was made to sit on his destroyed bed before Kenai released the energy controlling his legs.

The sudden pain seared through him and he screamed in agony. Being a dragon type, the pain was much more agonizing than it would have been otherwise. He heard muffled footsteps running towards his room, and he winced as he saw a silver haired girl open the door. He closed his eyes, bracing for the inevitable brother charge. He wasn't disappointed.

- - - - - -

The crash could be heard from downstairs, causing all the early morning patrons to look up in alarm. Lomar and Mildred looked up at the ceiling.

"You think she got him?" Mildred asked, concerned. Lomar looked back up at the ceiling.

"Well, nothing else up here would make a noise that loud."

"Shouldn't we help him?"

"Yeah, come on. He'll also need help because of Melissa blasting him."

"Hmm…" Mildred nodded in agreement, before taking flight and up the stairs. It took them only a matter of seconds to find the room, as they just had to follow the sound of terrified screaming. Lomar opened the door, and laughed as he found Clair on top of Ganon, hugging him like there was no tomorrow. He was screaming like there was no tomorrow too. He squawked loudly behind her, and pulled at her ponytail. She leapt up and screamed, pulling her ponytail out of Lomar's grasp. Mildred flew up next to him, and they both started screeching horribly at her. She screamed and ran out of the room, enabling Mildred to shut the door and lock her out. Ganon sat up from his destroyed bed, and looked up at the pair of them.

"Ganon, sit on that chair in the middle of the room and we'll sort out that leg of yours." Lomar said. Ganon nodded and moved for him, allowing Mildred to help him hobble where he couldn't use his leg. He sat down on the steel stool, and watched as Lomar settled about three feet away from the injury.

"They've got fire insurance now Lomar, you can go nuts." Mildred cawed mischievously. Lomar looked around at her.

"You just liked all the pretty fireworks that went off last time." He said, looking back at her scornfully. She hid her face under her wing.

"Guilty as charged."

Ganon clapped his hands to get their attention back, and pointed at his leg. Lomar wasted no more time in thawing it out, and settled down on a chest of drawers as Ganon transformed back into his normal form.

"Thank goodness you came in then. Any longer and she'd have suffocated me."

"Well, that's our job until Kenai gets the funds wired, to keep you alive." Mildred said absently.

"Well, thanks anyway. So what do I do now I'm here?" He asked them. Lomar preened himself.

"Kenai knows whats best for you, so any problems, he's guaranteed to be able to solve it. "

"Who's Kenai?"

"He's the Alakazam downstairs." Mildred said whilst rifling through a sock drawer for some reason. Ganon didn't bother to ask.

"What? That idiot? It's because of him I got stuck with a frozen leg!"

"Well, he does have an IQ of 7,680. So it's worth listening to him."

7,681. I finished another Sudoku in three seconds. Kenai said as he teleported into the room. Ganon squealed again and rolled backwards off the bed.

"You?!"

Yes. Me is all I can be… besides an unrivalled genius, the head of Razor, and the future of…Yes? What is it Lomar?

"He didn't actually know about Razor."

Oh crap. You sure he didn't know?

"Yes."

Really really sure?

"Oh yes." Lomar said, nodding his head solemnly. There was a very long pause whilst Kenai analysed every single possible outcome from having just made this revelation. After about a minute, he'd finished working it all out. His eyes bulged.

"SHIT!" He screamed at the ceiling. Everyone else sweat dropped.

"Erm, Kenai, what is Razor?" Ganon eventually asked after Kenai had calmed down.

What? Not something you need to know about.

"Oh come on!" He begged pleadingly.

No.

"Please, please, please, please, please?"

No, no, no, no, no. And no more questions. I shall tell you when I find it conveniant to. And no then... Lomar, you're salary has been wired over now, so you may leave.

"Already?" Lomar asked. Kenai looked at the bird incredulously.

If you're going to wake me up at two in the morning, I might as well use the time. He replied. Lomar shrugged.

"You got the report then?" Lomar asked, "How long until he's hired?"

He's too young for any qualifying jobs if you're wondering when you get the commision bonus.

"People aren't young for long." Mildred pointed out. Kenai instinctively reached for his greying hair.

Git. I'll call you again when another portal opens up. Until then, get outta here Kenai growled at him, before turning back to Ganon who had been left conveniantly out of the exchange. Anyway. Eddie sent me up to tell you that lunch is ready. So turn back into your human form, and come down.

"Well, when do I learn how to speak as a human?"

Well, try it now. We've been using immersion therapy for you, so you should pick up the ability almost accidentally. Kenai mused as he watched Ganon take the shape of his human form.

Interesting technique.

"Pardon?" Ganon said without thinking about it. His voice was slightly squeaky, but it was still recognisable as a word.

Never mind. Anyway, you've just proven that my method is working. You've already picked up enough to form recognisable words. Try the following sentence quickly 'She sells sea shells on the sea shore.'.

"She shells sea sells on… the shea shore." He said, the tongue twister working it's magic and tying his tongue up in endless knots.

It's close enough. Even humans have trouble with that.

"Hold on… shouldn't they be able to say it perfectly?"

They should, but they can't. If I had a trans-dimensional viewer of some sort, I'd show you some humans that just tried to say it to their computers.

"Why would they do that?" Ganon asked, scratching his head.

Because they're humans. Nothing they do makes sense to us. So are you coming down for dinner or not? At this rate, it'll have gone cold.

"Fine, fine." Ganon said, walking up to Kenai. The Pokemon led him back out the doorway and down the stairs to the ground floor. The mess left by the Glaceon was gone, and there was a strange smell coming from the next room.

"What is it?" He asked.

Cloyster Soup.

"What sort of berry is Cloyster?"

It's another Pokemon.

"You're joking." Ganon cried out appalled.

Don't worry about it. It's made using the shells cast off as a Cloyster grows. No Pokemon were harmed in its making.

"Oh, that's much better."

Anyway. You eat it using this thing called a spoon. It's a human invention. They don't seem to like using their fingers, despite the law of nature where you eat it with fingers unless it can be sucked through a straw.

"But soup can be eaten with a straw…"

But you don't get a straw you get a spoon.

"That sucks…"

No, straws suck. Spoons are used to pick up some soup, and put it in your mouth. Now it's time to try it for real. He announced, throwing the door to the dining room open. Ganon looked in to see Clair and Eddie already in their seats.

"Why do I get the feeling this is going to be an ordeal?"

Laura was still asleep. Her dream last night had been even more vivid for her than they had ever been before, and she was loathe to wake up. The pounding at the door was hardly helping matters.

"Oh, go away…" She mumbled at the door, not caring who it might be.

"Laura? Are you all right? Your voice sounds all squeaky." Said a girls voice from outside. Laura woke with a start. She was still in the Kids Grid, and no-one except Martin and Geraint knew she was a Pokemon.

"Er… just a minute!" She yelled out, forgetting that she was in her Pokemon form.

"Hold on. That's not a human voice. Is there a Pokemon in there? Hey guys! There's a Pokemon in here! Help me break the door down!" The thumping on the door intensified, and she squealed slightly as Martin jumped onto the bed.

"Don't say a word. Change into your human form and…"

"Hey, there's a Marshtomp in there. Come on!"

"Don't say anything. I'll just squeak a little, and you make this gesture," He held a finger in front of his lips, "And sit on the bed, holding me as though comforting me."

She transformed into her human form, quickly sitting on the bed. Surprisingly, the Mud Fish curled up against her side, appearing to sob, just as the door unlocked. A boy with green hair burst in, revealing a device suckered to the door frame. Laura put her finger to her lips as Martin had instructed. The boy stopped and put his hand over his chin, apparently observing the scene before him. He turned around and pulled the device of the door, and closed it.

"Well done Martin. You managed to keep a cool head."

"Damn it Geraint! How did you know?"

"I know that Laura wouldn't have been able to convince you into assuming such a helpless looking pose, and that you aren't that helpless to begin with."

"Yeah, but your other cronies won't know that."

"They're not cronies, they're friends, but you have a point. Besides, your personnel files have been removed from your groups database, so as far as we are aware, you've been fired."

"They did what?! THOSE SELFISH… CHEATING… BASTARDS!!!" He yelled, accentuating every word with a punch into the bed, causing Laura to bounce on the bed again. Geraint laughed as he saw the look of discomfort on her face.

"Martin, can you tone it down a bit?" He said. Martin just whimpered.

"But my salary!" Geraint looked very intrigued.

"Really? What was it?"

"Six figures… a whole six!" He whimpered feebly. Geraint took a sharp intake of breath.

"Oooh… That stings… Anyway. Laura? How about I take you down to your new department." Geraint said, holding out a hand courteously. Martin leapt in the way.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa. What department are you putting her in?"

"Field."

"So you're going to make her a field agent. That's your department."

"So."

"Oh stuff it. You won't listen to me anyway. But remember. If you lay even a finger on her, I am so going to eat you."

"What do you mean eat me?"

"It means I put you in my mouth and chew."

"Ah. But you don't have teeth." Geraint pointed out. Martin hissed and opened his mouth, baring four small fangs.

"Those aren't designed for chewing. They're just for latching onto fish." Martin closed his mouth.

"Whatever. Let's just go. I presume you have a cafeteria somewhere."

Geraint just sighed and led them out of the room. Laura watched carefully where she was being led, considering she'd need to remember the route. Martin wasn't so fussed about looking where they were, he was taking much more enjoyment in sticking his middle finger up at everyone he walked past. They all hurried past him with outraged looks on their faces.

"Marvolo, can you please control yourself?"

"My name's Mart-" Geraint bent down slightly and put a hand over his mouth, which Martin had to resist the urge to chomp down on.

"People know you by name. Therefore the new name will keep you well hidden. If they believe that you are a different Pokemon, they'll be even less likely to put two and two together."

Martin pulled the humans hand off his face.

"Yeah, and since when did you care?"

"Since you brought Laura here." He said smiling at her.

Martin rolled his eyes, and continued to follow. He led them back down the stairway into the main room, and took a left turn into another tunnel. It was much cleaner that the main room, and the walls were red tiles, with blue borders at the top and bottom. Laura sighed slightly as she looked at them. Martin picked up on it.

"You miss him don't you?" He asked her suddenly. She looked down at him, trying to feign ignorance, but flushed as he gestured to his chest. She looked back down to notice the silver Latios swinging idly on its chain around her neck. She looked back up at the end of the corridor and nodded sadly.

"I thought so."

"What are you two talking about back there?" Geraint asked, subconsciously running a hand through his hair again.

"Not you, that's for sure. You look a mess. You were up all night again weren't you?" Martin asked him. He smirked evilly as he saw Geraint falter.

"Well, I couldn't sleep."

"Restless then?" He asked in a sarcastic caring tone. Geraint blushed deeply.

"Hey, knock it off will you?"

"Hey, not my problem. You just made something out of it yourself. I'm not making any references at all to it being the mating season for fire-types and that you'll be prone to those... urges..."

Geraint muttered some obscenities under his breath.

They soon arrived at the breakfast counter. Today's options were wither cereal, or Piloswine rashers and eggs. Laura chose the cereal, whilst Geraint eagerly snapped up a double portion of rashers. Martin just wandered along behind them, stealing the eggs from Geraint's plate as he sat down. Geraint gave him an evil eye, then sighed as he realised that Martin wouldn't have got served on his own anyway. He poked a machine in the middle of the table, causing it to whir and cough out an espresso. He downed it in one gulp, immune to the burning water due to his fire type resistance, before wolfing down the rashers in the same amount of time. Laura just looked up at him, having just finished her first spoonful of cereal. She gawped at him for a few seconds, before he burped loudly. He patted himself on the chest, and looked around at some of the kids around him who were whooping and applauding quietly. Laura would have continued to gawp at him if Martin didn't tap her on the arm. She looked across at him.

"Are you going to be eating that?" Was all he asked, pointing at the bowl of cereal minus one spoonful. She looked back down at it, and continued eating. Geraint got up and walked over to a sink at the side and washed his hands. At least he had something that resembled some degree of manners. Geraint walked back over just as she finished the bowl. She picked it up and looked around for somewhere to put it. Geraint laughed at her.

"Just put it back down. We're the second most advanced organisation on the planet, so why would we resort to manual labour. We build a droid in here that does all that for us."

"Yeah, but your lot is only the second most advanced because our lot helped you." Martin added. Geraint rocked his head, half agreeing.

"Well... We'd have got there eventually. Anyway, time to show you to your new post." He said, getting up. He beckoned Laura to follow after him, with Martin in tow behind her. She looked back to see a large droid descending from the ceiling, clamping down on each of the surfaces of the tables. A blue light started blinking slowly next to the seal. Geraint led them back into the main hall, this time continuing to the opposite side towards an elevator. He called the cubicle up, tapping his foot as he waited. The doors opened with a customary ding, and he stepped in. Laura followed suit with Martin, who spontaneously began to headbutt the wall.

"What are you doing?" Geraint asked him. Whilst he could honestly say that he knew Martin best out of anyone here, even he had never seen him do this sort of thing before. Martin just continued to ignore him, grunting each time his head hit.

"Marvolo… MARVOLO!!!" He yelled at the Marshtomp. Martin stopped abruptly, and turned to look at Geraint.

"But…" Geraint coughed twice, tapping the wall with his knuckles about ten centimetres below a lens embedded in the wall, "Oh. I was just trying to remember where we're going. I know for a fact that the field agents department isn't this way."

"Oh that's simple, Marvolo. We are going up to the Pokemon Storage. Remember yesterday when I said we needed to get Laura set up with a battle partner? We're going up to do that now. The options are Treecko, Torchic, and Mudkip. All of them are female, and twelve years old like you."

"How do you arrange things like that?"

"There's about fifty of each up there. So far, Torchics have been the most popular because of the sheer power of fire types."

"That's not true. I'd easily kick their butts."

"Yes, but that's because you're a water type. But now let us say you went up against a Treecko. You would be pretty much stuffed."

"I'm stronger than anything in that vault."

"Until its trained."

"So then Laura should choose Torchic." Martin concluded.

"But the Torchic would be too scared of you to be able to be able to settle down. What about a Mudkip?"

"Whoa. No chance. I'm not sleeping with a girl in my room."

"You already do."

"Yeah, but Laura's not my species. I'm not you, so I'm comfortable with that arrangment." Geraint cringed again.

"Well anyway, it's Laura's choice… oh, we're here." Geraint said as the lift dinged again. He opened the door, and led them through into a room that looked more like a luxurious salon, despite the conveyer belt running along the other side. The walls were polished wood, and all the seats were leather. Martin jumped up and landed on one of them, running his hand along the material.

"Hey, Geraint. How come we don't get anything like this in our rooms?"

"Well, it's simply because the inhabitants here are much more important. These Pokemon are the starters for trainers before the official age of ten. This room is where the adventures of hundreds of trainers have actually started." Martin pointed an accusing finger at him.

"That's illegal."

"So? You can hardly call all of your group's ventures legal." Martin curled the finger back into his palm, muttering angrily.

"The law can't touch us. "

"So, Laura." Geraint continued quickly, "This is where you will choose your starter. So which will it be?" He gestured over to the conveyer belt, where unnoticed by the rooms occupants, three Pokeballs had been rolled in. He pointed at each one in turn.

"Treecko, Mudkip, and Torchic. Make your choice." He said, folding his arms. She looked back over at Martin, who had just discovered that the chair could recline, and was now fiddling with every aspect of it. She sighed and looked back at the belt, before choosing one based on the picture mark on the belt below. She picked it up and looked at it, hoping for some instruction on what it did. She looked over at Geraint, who made a strange gesture with one hand like throwing. She blinked and looked at him again. He was still making the throwing gesture. She decided that that was a bit cruel, and shook her head. He rolled his eyes.

"Pokeballs are containment fields that lead into non-dimensional space. They can't feel the Pokeball hitting the ground, and it doesn't hurt them in the least." He told her before, obviously having met this attitude before. She looked back at the Pokeball in her hands, imagining what it was like inside. She reasoned to herself she could ask it when it came out. She held the ball in one hand, and span around on one leg, hurling the Pokeball high into the air. She looked up at it, and lost her balance.

"Nice flourish, shame about the landing…" Martin said from his couch. He watched the ball arch through the air, and land on the floor beside the conveyer belt. Laura got up just in time to see the flash of light, and a Pokemon shape forming on the floor. Martin leant forwards in the chair, staring at the Pokemon she had released.

"What did you choose?!" He said in shock as he looked at her. The Pokemon opened it's eyes and looked at Martin.

"Martin?" She squeaked. Laura just looked at the odd couple. Martin though, wasn't having such a good time.

"Oh shit… LEMME OUTTA HERE!!!" He yelled as he leapt out of the chair and made a mad scramble for the doorway. The Pokemon growled and pelted after him.

"MARTIN?!" She screamed angrily at him, before leaping up and tackling him in the back of the head. He fell over, and he could feel her hitting the back of his head repeatedly.

"You dumped me! You dumped me! You dumped me!" She screamed at him, hitting him again and again and again. He squeaked as the Pokemon continued to pound him. Geraint walked over to Laura who was still paralysed by this.

"Err… you need to control your Pokemon." He said, tapping her on the shoulder. She looked back at the Pokeball in her hand, and looked up at him.

"Uh… you hold the ball out at arms length, pointing at her, and think the word return. These also use a psychic field to perform their jobs."

She did as she was told, and was amazed to see a beam of red light flash from the button on the front of the Pokeball, and striking the little Pokemon, dissolving it's body into the red light, before being sucked back into the ball. She looked at it in wonder, and couldn't help but feel sorry for the Pokemon. Martin noticed the look, and frowned.

"Hey! Spare a little sympathy for me here! Of all the Mudkips in the world, why did you have to pick Maria?"

Ganon was on his hands and knees scrubbing at the floor, muttering angrily as he tried to shift the soup stains that coated half the room.

"Ganon. Do you even have control over your motor functions as a human? At least you know now that throwing a soup bowl makes a mess." Kenai said, watching him from the chair he was sat in.

"Hey. I didn't throw the soup. It just exploded on it's own."

"Soup bowls don't just explode. What did you think you were doing?" Ganon opened his mouth to speak, but Kenai held up his hand. "Don't actually bother answering that."

Ganon groaned and knuckled back down to wash the rest of the soup off the floors. It was hard and boring labour, but at least it gave Ganon time to think about what had happened. He'd just thought about how the cream paste looked like his bogeys, and it suddenly exploded.

"Bogeys? That's the first time I've heard that description for my soup." Kenai said, glaring at him.

Ganon would have laughed, but a Glaceon walked into the room looking very troubled. Ganon recognised the Pokemon as Melissa, and instantly sat back so his legs couldn't be frozen again.

"Er... Sir? We've lost a Moonlight and a Sonicboom TM."

"What do you mean lost? Actually don't answer that. Well you brought them in earlier."

"Yeah. They were in the collection I brought in when that kid," She gave Ganon a scorning glance, "Tripped over me. I think he stole them."

"Hey! I didn't steal anything!"

"What the hell? He understands me?"

"Yes yes... Melissa. If you actually bothered to look rather than make wild accusations, you'd notice he doesn't have pockets."

"Uhhhhhhh... What about..." She stammered. Kenai wasn't having any of it.

"Shut up. I'll have a word with him. Go back downstairs and doublecheck." Kenai said calmly, although judging by the flame he now had coiled around his fist, he wouldn't be calm for long if she didn't obey. Melissa could feel her neck begin to sweat just by looking at it.

"Fine, but you'd better come down soon to sort this mess out. We can't claim expenses without them." She said. Kenai then did something that Ganon hadn't expected him to. He laughed.

"Always the expenses! Every time this happens you only worry about the expenses!"

"Hey! I'd watch it if I were you, your project is expensive enough. And not just monetary wise. It's because of you we're now at war with the Kids Grid."

"DOWNSTAIRS! NOW!" He screeched at her, throwing the fireball at her. She jumped about three feet in the air to dodge, before turning tail and fleeing. Kenai began taking deep breaths, closing his eyes to try and calm himself down.

"Ganon. When you tripped over Mel, did you experience any headaches in particular afterwards?" He asked suddenly, barely moving from his meditative position.

Ganon looked back up from washing the floor to look at Kenai. He dipped the cloth back into the bucket of water.

"I don't know what you- Argh!" The bucket suddenly exploded, showering both of them with soapy water. Kenai heard it, and turned around just in time to get a faceful of it. He groaned

"Gnnnnnnnn... Well, this coat has had worse on it..." Kenai said, not seeming too bothered by the water, "You did have a headache didn't you."

"Yes, but what difference does that make?"

"When a Pokemon learns a TM, it configures their brain to allow them to use a particular ability that typically they can't learn naturally. Usually the process is painless, but in cases where it isn't as suitable, it tends to induce headaches."

"So that's what you think happened to me?"

"No, I know it's happened to you. Your Aura has changed marginally from what I read when the Swellows brought you in."

"Aura?"

"There's a Lucario downstairs that is doing classes on Aura reading."

"Sounds like freakish Mumbo-Jumbo to me." Ganon said, rolling his shoulders to alleviate the stiffness from cleaning the floor.

"Well, you can use your new Sonicboom ability to blast the stains off the floor."

"Won't that damage the floor?"

"No. All Pokecentre floors are made resistant to Pokemon attacks, and this one is a further enhanced version of it."

"Why."

"Just shut up and practice your Sonicbooms." Kenai said, sitting back on his chair. Ganon looked back down at the most stubborn stain on the floor, and concentrated. He felt absolutely nothing.

"You're concentrating on doing the move. Don't, for two reasons. One, it should become natural. And two, if you concentrate too much and a stray thought enters your mind, you'll miss. You don't really want to miss here."

"Why?"

"Stop it with the questions. Just practice."

Ganon scowled at Kenai. He was deliberating avoiding something. He smiled as a Sonicboom hit him squarely in the chest, knocking him backwards off his chair. Kenai wheezed and staggered back upright. He scowled back, before he shrugged his head half-heartedly.

"Oh well, at least you've figured out that special powers are triggered by Will rather than thought."

"But back in the nursery I was taught to use thought to activate my powers."

"Well, no offence, but your tutors were absolute retards then. You probably would have found that your powers weren't as potent as that of many others in your group."

Ganon thought back to those particular lessons. Everyone else had indeed seemed to have much greater powers.

"Ganon, hello?" Kenai clicked his fingers in front of his face, "Those others that you were thinking of were using their full potential. However, as their skills are based on thought, they can't improve any further, and judging by your other memories, your other tutors were just as negligent. However using Will, your powers can increase. As of yet, no limit cap has been discovered, and Will matures with age. Let me demonstrate. For this instance, I will point out that I am, unfortunately, nearing my 50th birthday."

Kenai held up his palms in front of him, and closed his eyes. He took yet another deep breath, before opening his eyes. They were shining a light red, and he waved his palms up and down slightly. The light in the room darkened considerably, and the curtains swung shut to plunge the room into almost complete darkness. However, Kenai could still be seen as clearly as a few moments ago. He closed his hands into fists, opening the right one to reveal a ball of flame. It wrapped around his hand and up his arm, and he swung upwards with it to attack an imaginable enemy. The flame continued along it's path, making an orbital around him. He opened his other hand, which had a blue crystaline structure, with which he did the same. He held both of his palms facing each other, and sparks flared between them. In his right, yellow sparks of electricity, and in his right the purple sparks of... something. If Ganon had been able to identify it, he'd have recognised it Psychic. He held them out to either side of him, spinng in a roundhouse punch, leaving yet another two trails. The four trails burnt for about half a second, before they contracted and coalesced to form a single shining sphere. Kenai was nowhere to be seen as the ball exploded in a shower of Blue sparks. The light in the room returned, and Kenai was nowhere to be seen.

Someone then tapped him on the shoulder. He looked around to see the Alakazam grinning at him.

"And that was just my morning workout."

Ganon fainted.

"Laura. This is a belt designed for keeping Pokeballs on." Geraint said, offering her a belt from a rack on the wall.

"What?! Are you kidding? She can't keep her! Marshtomps are supposed to be blue, not beaten black and blue!" Martin yelled at him from behind a sofa. he wanted to put as much distance between himself and the Pokeball containing his ex-girlfriend.

"Well actually Martin, this is the best set up anyway. If she got a Treecko, you'd be cocky about it and it would have a vendetta, and she'd be at a disadvantage to most of the trainers here. If she got a Torchic, it'd be scared of you and she wouldn't be able to train it. With the Mudkip..."

"Maria."

"Maria then, she'd be at an advantage to a majority of trainers here."

"But I'm still scared of her."

"Yeah, but at least she won't get lazy. Laura could reward her by letting her beat you up after a good session of training." He said, the barest hint of a smile visable on his face. Laura saw it and couldn't help smiling at the possibility. It may have been cruel to Martin, but it made sense to get a Pokemon that was always going to work. She accepted the belt.

"Well, that settles it. She is now your Pokemon."

"Noooooooooo! I'm doomed!" Martin wailed. They both ignored him. Laura was looking at the Pokeball and wanted to open it again. She threw it back in the air, and it landed releasing her. Maria looked around briefly, before noticing Martin again. She leapt up and tried to bat at him again, not noticing that Laura had caught her in mid-leap. She waved a paw at Martin angrily, trying to get at him again. Strangely enough though, she was being quiet.

"Maria. Please calm down." Geraint said to her, drawing her attention away from Martin. He took the brief reprieve to hide behind a sofa.

"What do you want human?" She asked angrily, still unaware she was being held in the air.

"Well for a start, I'm telling you you've got a trainer now."

"Well where is she? I want to see her." She said. Laura and Geraint sweatdropped.

"Er, she's holding you."

"Don't be daft. I'd notice a human holding me." She said.

"Well look up anyway."

She rolled her eyes and looked up, not expecting to see anyway, and she squealed when she saw Lauras face about a foot away from hers. She leapt out of her arms and jumped onto the sofa behind which Martin was hiding. He squeaked again, but thankfully she didn't notice, still preoccupied with looking at Laura.

"You found me a trainer?"

"Yes. It's her first full day today, so you'll be spending the day in her apartment getting used to her."

"Why can't I get used to her in the stadium? I want to beat Martin up for dumping me."

"Because she has... special needs. You see, she's mute at the minute. We're working on a program to allow her to speak, but until then you'll have to wait with her."

"Aww."

"By the way. That wasn't Martin you were attacking, it was Marvolo."

"No, it was Martin."

"Then you don't know that we've had to withdraw our support from Razor." He said, almost hating having to say the words. She gaped at him.

"You did not!" She answered back slowly. He nodded.

"Yes we did. Because of that, he..." He pointed at Martin behind the sofa, "Is constantly under threat of attack."

Maria looked back at Martin, who was still cowering behind the sofa.

"Why do you care? You should want to kill him too."

"Yes, I should, but he brought Laura here, and for that I'm personally very grateful."

"What? I thought you and that other girl were an item."

"What?! Why does everyone think I'm falling for Laura?!"

"Because you're a Typhlosion Hybrid, and it's mating season for them. To put it simply, you're desperate."

"Hey! I'm not! I'm only a kid here remember."

"You're Typhlosion form is mature though, it has been for years."

"Shut up! Laura! Take your Pokemon back to your room at once!" He ordered before storming out. Maria heard the door slam, and turned back to Laura.

"Hormones... Well? Aren't we going somewhere?" She said, padding up around her and jumping onto her shoulder. Laura walked around the sofa, and picked Martin up by the arm, dragging her along behind her, his face a silent plea for redemption.

- - - - - -

After about half an hour of passages and dead ends, she got back to her room. Martin went back to the desk to poke at the device again. Laura nudged the little Pokemon off her shoulder and onto her bed. Maria began to jump about on Lauras bed, and Martin shot her a seething glance. She took one look at him, and began to bounce even more. He began to shake with rage.

"Laura! Turn back and sort her out okay?!" He yelled at her. She jumped at the sudden interuption to her brushing her hair, before looking around to see Martin on the verge of turning around and booting Maria out of the room. She transformed, earning a shocked gasp from Maria.

"A Latias? My trainer is a Latias?!"

"Wait. How do you know what I am?" She asked the small Pokemon. It stopped and ran a paw in circles over the material of the bed. Martin growled again.

"That noise is almost as annoying as you jumping all the time! Can't you see I'm trying to alter this? Just tell her what she wants to know!" He howled at her. She jumped, never knowing that Martin could be this angry.

"Well, I used to be owned by a trainer that was on a Pokedex Journey."

"Pokedex Journey?"

"They go around and catch one of every type of Pokemon to catalogue their data. Martin has a complete version."

"Really? Martin, do you have a complete Pokedex?" She asked looking back over at him.

"PISS OFF! I'M BUSY!"

"That's a yes, Laura. He was fed up of trying to rely on his memory to identify Pokemon he hadn't met before, so he worked through Razor to compile the first complete Pokedex to record any data he might need . He's actually rather gifted when it comes to electronics." Martin swore violently at the device again, "Usually anyway."

"Yeah. Yesterday he made a bug sweeper and found a Caterpie hiding in the wardrobe with a tape recorder on it's head."

"You think that's impressive?"

Martin sighed as he heard the girls gossiping behind him. It wouldn't help to stop them, they'd just carry on again later. He heard a scream behind him, and spun around to see Laura lying on the floor unconcious, a flicker of a spark fading out from the amulet around her neck.

Another thing I couldn't put in the story well. The device that was suckered onto Lauras door was what made the girls voice and the sounds of knocking. Geraint used it to test how she'd react under pressure, as is standard policy for secretive firms I've decided. Field agents require Pokemon, so that's why they didn't go straight down to a lab if that's what anyone was expecting.