Just for the record, I do not count this as their first meeting, considering neither of them have any wish to stay together. And just so you know, Laura's feelings in this are neutral about boy-Ganon, not loving, nor hating. She's just intrigued. Both of them have too fond memories of each other to even consider anyone else.

Of course, I wasn't intending to have them 'meet' at all, but people may just be reading this to see Ganon and Laura get together. At least this should sate that hunger for those impatient fools that want me to get straight to the point, whilst keeping it in line with how I want the story to turn out. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, yet some people want to take the Christmas cracker approach to love. One massively dissappointing bang and the novelty soon wears off.

Lateral Ganon.

# # # Chapter specific notes # # #

Italics are still thoughts, but not specifically one person. It's pretty obvious whose they are though.

Chapter 7: Fleeting Glances.

Laura was just coming around on the bed in the Kid Grid's ward. Everywhere she looked was white and blurry, before she realised that she was looking at the world through frosted glass.

"Laura? Wake up Laura." Came a voice from outside, accompanied by a shape of a small blue paw pressing itself against the side of the tank, scratching at the surface. Laura tried to sit up, banging her head on the dome.

"Gnnnnn. What's going on?" She asked dozily. She heard a pneumatic hiss as the pod retracted. Maria was sat on the edge of the bed she was laying on.

"You got hit by the generator wheel. You got concussed."

"What was that thing?" She asked gesturing at the dome.

"That was a medical pod. The Kids Grid uses a technology similar to that used in Pokemon centres. It is designed for humans, although evidently, it works to a lesser extent on you." Laura blinked at Maria, the universal sign for 'Zuh'. Maria rolled her eyes, "Oh, it doesn't matter."

Laura swept her legs over the edge of the bed to get off. As she swung down of the comparatively high ledge, she noticed something.

"Hey. How come you're out? I never opened your Pokeball."

"Oh. That's easy. This guy let me out when we got here." She said, hauling up a silver Latios amulet.

"Oh no. No no no no no."

"Oh yes. Yes yes yes yes yes!" Maria replied. One of the male Pokemon on the ward whooped.

"You go girl!" It shouted. Maria looked back at Laura.

"Can you give me a second?" Laura nodded as the Mudfish walked away. She heard a squeak and a series of loud thumps and cracks before Maria walked back in, "Men. Can't live with them, end of sentence. At least he's already in a hospital so he'll unfortunately pull through."

Laura smirked, before looking back down at the Amulet.

"So. You let my partner out. I consider that a bit rude not asking for my permission."

"Err, Laura? You're talking to an amulet."

"Well you just said that he-"

"I was making that up to tease you. I can come out whenever I want. It was lucky I did, because the doc wanted to put you in a CAT scanner to check for any serious brain damage. He'd have found you out. We'd better leave quickly. I'll go sign you out."

"What did you do to the doc?"

"I just hit him." Laura frowned, looking at the mudfish sceptically, "And I bit him… and almost drowned him."

"Do you regularly attack people?" Maria blushed.

"It's what attracted Martin to me. That reminds me. Where is the big old lump? He should be here."

"Maximum Security." Laura said resentfully. Maria rolled her eyes.

"Did he openly insult Geraint again?" Laura nodded, "Well that was a bit careless. I've always told him his smart mouth will get him into trouble. Anyway. Don't we have somewhere to be? You've been out for about five hours. Geraint will be worried."

"Does he love me?" Laura asked. Maria scoffed, looking around the room.

"I highly doubt it. He's already got a…" Her gaze was drawn to a white sheet draped over one of the beds. Laura looked around as the door banged open as Geraint dashed through, his face white like polished marble.

"Where is she?!" He yelled at the man. As a doctor, he was the only member of staff that wasn't younger than eighteen, but he still quailed under Geraint's open ferocity.

"She… she's under there." He said shakily, pointing over at the bed with a white sheet. Geraint looked over at it, his lower lip trembling very slightly as he approached it.

"Maria, what's happened? Why does Geraint look upset?" Laura asked in a whisper. She watched as Geraint pulled up a chair next to the white sheet, sitting down besides the bed. Maria bowed her head solemnly.

"It's a fatality. A girl died from her injuries despite the best medical care that could be provided. His Machamp lied to him. He tried to protect him from this."

Laura looked back over at Geraint, who had leaned forwards to clutch at the girls hand that was protruding from under the side of the sheet. He leant down onto the edge of the bed, crying softly.

"Isn't there anything we can do for him?" Laura asked, looking back to Maria. The mudfish shook her head.

"He's never had a fatality whilst he's been leading this place. There have been a few near misses, but never an actual fatality. I always thought he'd be able to cope with it, but I wasn't counting on it being her."

"Who's she?" She asked, looking back over at him. The question was quickly answered as he bent down to kiss the girl's hand softly, "Oh."

"That was his girlfriend, Imogen. They were best friends since they were about six. He finally confessed his love to her two years ago and it turned out to be mutual." Maria said quietly. Geraint sobbed loudly, collapsing onto the side of the bed, "Childhood sweethearts I suppose you could call them."

"Childhood… sweethearts…" Laura repeated absently. The term appealed to her for some reason.

"Laura." Geraint called over to her. She looked down at Maria awkwardly, before walking over to him.

"What is it?"

"I need an assistant to help me with a mission I was due to undertake this week."

"Well why don't you take someone with more experience?"

"Laura… To get there in time, I need to leave tonight. Everyone else was otherwise engaged, and as you haven't yet got any projects to work on, you're the only one who's free."

"No. I'm not going on my own with you." Laura said defiantly, turning away and about to walk back to Maria. Geraint touched her on the elbow for her to stop.

"You'll have Maria with you. If you can do this right, I'll knock six months off the research time."

"No deal."

"A year?" Geraint asked carefully. Laura opened her eyes and looked back down at the boy.

"What's the job?" She asked warily. Geraint smiled and pulled up another chair for her.

"Have you ever heard of Cemusem Village?"

"Private Ganon. As you've come at a very…inopportune time, you can't go straight down to the labs like a normal recruit, because of the demo at the end of the week. That and you've been integrated into the surface family, making it harder for you to get anything done downstairs until you are given trainer status." Lazlo informed Ganon as he led the boy down the corridor to the main floor.

"Trainer status?"

"When you take a Pokemon as a partner and you go off exploring the region, typically to attempt to attain masterdom over Pokemon." Lazlo snorted back a laugh, although the joke was lost on Ganon.

"What's so funny?" He asked. Lazlo sighed.

"Trainers assume that masterdom will cause all Pokemon to obey you without question. Some people really are that gullible. Anyway. With trainer status, the family won't expect you to be around very often… too much to do, too much to see, and all that jazz."

"Jazz?"

"Oh for goodness sake, it's a figure of speech. Basically, you'll be free to work downstairs and after the two years, travel further afield without difficulty. However, as you are not a human, we have to forge all the paperwork that allows you to qualify for the license."

"License?" Ganon asked, stifling a yawn. Lazlo growled loudly, and drove his fists into a plaster wall in desperation, startling Ganon out of his drowsy state.

"I give up with this kid! He doesn't know anything about anything! Melissa!" He yelled down the staircase.

"What? It's 8PM in case you haven't noticed." She called back up the staircase, "Do you expect him to be able to keep up with everything?"

"But he…"

"Just let him greet the guests tomorrow. That's an easy enough job. Just let the dumbass sleep." Melissa answered. Ganon folded his arms sulkily.

"And for a second there I thought she liked me." Lazlo chuckled before pushing Ganon into his room.

"Go to sleep."

"But I'm not-"

"That's an order Private!" Lazlo yelled into the room before slamming the door shut, shaking the dust off the doorframe. Ganon heard the Lucario cursing outside about how he'd wrecked the wall, before it wandered downstairs. A few minutes later, another pair of feet could be heard, followed by a rhythmic scraping of a plastering trowel against the wall, lulling him to sleep.

"What's so important about this 'Razor' anyway?" Laura asked. Geraint had moved them both to a more secure room for the briefing.

"Razor is working on a highly secretive project regarding the cloning of Pokemon and their further enhancement into perfect fighting specimens. With some modification, it would be capable of working on humans too. Every six months, they have a demonstration of the technology. This demonstration is targeted at the various investment and affiliate companies that have connections with Razor, such as the International Bank of Forina and the Environmental agency of Orre. Those are just two of about fifteen organisations that back this venture, although their patience is waning."

"Why is their patience waning?"

"Because to put it bluntly, they've screwed it up every time. Self-sustaining specimens are beyond their grasp. My predecessor pulled our support from their programme two years ago due to a horrific accident the machine caused."

"How horrific was this accident." Laura asked. Later she would regret asking it.

"Very. The system works by taking a sample from the Pokemon that is to be cloned. Until their third attempt, during which this occurred, the genetic sampler had been open to the hall, rather like a cupboard without a door. There were a series of about twenty telescopic arms which were designed to secure, sedate and take a genetic sample from the Pokemon, before setting it down outside the machine again. During the third trial though, something shorted out in the mechanism, frying the control circuit. The arms lunged out uncontrolled for my predecessor's partner, grabbing it and dragging it into the machine. The Jolteon panicked and sent more electricity into the machine, causing an escalating series of spasms in the arms, eventually ripping the Jolteon into shreds." Geraint finished coldly.

"That's horrible!" Geraint nodded.

"I won't pretend that it wasn't extremely disturbing for those of us who were watching. However it was an educational experience. We now know that Jolteons have a lot more blood than their small frame suggests."

"Too much information!" Laura screamed, holding her hands over her ears.

"Sorry, but that's true. Go up to your room and collect anything you think you'll need. I'll meet you back on the main floor in ten minutes. I just need to send the new maps out and I'll join you."

"And the main floor is that bit which used to be underneath that balcony you brought me in on?"

"Yes, the floor has just risen. You'll get used to it. Ten minutes."

"Huh?"

Ganon propped himself up on the bed, the plasterer had finished. He could have sworn he heard something move outside. It was the sound of heavy grating, and some low grunting. He got up and walked over to the window, peeking out through the curtains. He looked down to see two Swellows guiding about four Brelooms towards the back of the PokeCentre with a large bowl made from intertwined branches. Ganon opened the window to get a better look.

"Come on! You were supposed to have got this done this morning!" Lomar called over to the lagging Mushroom Pokemon. One of them dropped the corner he was holding to pick his nose. The others followed suit, although not displaying as vulgar habits.

"Well if you'd be nicer 'bout it, then maybe we'd wanna help you a bit more." The nose picker said. Lomar ruffled his feathers indignantly.

"Do you have a death wish? An order is an order. Follow it."

"How 'bout no?"

"How about I roast you?"

"How 'bout- YEEARGH!" The Breloom screamed as Lomar belched a stream of white hot flames directly at it. It jumped about six feet into the air, before running around in little circles trying to extinguish his burning rump. The other Brelooms looked at Lomar in fear before hoisting the nest back onto their shoulders and continuing towards the centre. Ganon raised an eyebrow.

"Well that's one way to get a job done I guess." He mumbled under his breath before going back to sleep.

"Got everything you need Laura?" Geraint asked as he watched Laura hoist a comparatively small backpack onto her shoulders. She shrugged to balance out the straps. It may have been designed for much smaller arms, but after letting Maria mess about with the straps, Martins backpack fitted much more comfortably.

"Yep. When do we leave?"

"Now." Geraint said, turning back towards the way that he had led Laura into the building. As he approached the vault door, he nodded to a boy in a security uniform besides it, who nodded back and unlocked the door. Laura followed closely behind him, watching as the door shut behind her as she passed it into the transport corridor.

"Another thing you'll need to think of. You'll need to transform into a Typhlosion too."

"Why?" She asked suspiciously. Geraint shrugged his shoulders.

"Pokemon get free transport on trains. It'll be good practice for you to shapeshift into different forms, and as I know the Typhlosion form pretty intimately-" Geraint winced.

"That sounds wrong." Laura said. Geraint nodded.

"Yeah. I only realised that after I said it. As I know the Typhlosion form well, I'll know if you've got any of it wrong. Also they're fast enough to catch the train." He finished casually. Laura stopped dead in her tracks.

"We're late?"

"We were late when I was briefing you. The train station is at the land side of town. This is the port side. So-" He stepped back as Laura flashed blue once and was replaced by a Typhlosion with light red, almost pink, fur instead of the navy blue. Geraint gave her a quick look over.

"Yep everything is in the right place. One second." Geraint transformed into his own Typhlosion form, wriggling out of the clothes again. Just as he got the shirt off he noticed that Laura was running towards the end of the corridor on all fours, "Argh! Wait for me!" He called after her, waddling on his back legs trying to put the clothes into his backpack. He swung it over his shoulder before leaning forwards and breaking out in a gallop himself. He caught up with her, running alongside her. The doorway outside opened automatically as they approached, and they dashed into the open night air. Geraint dashed ahead of her slightly to lead her towards the station. As he approached, he slowed his pace slightly to give her a chance to catch up. He stopped in the atrium of the station looking up at the timetable on a screen.

"Oh come on… where's the twenty-thirty six?" He muttered. Laura leaned against a ticket booth trying to catch her breath.

"Platform three! Come on Laura!" He called over to her, grabbing her forepaw to pull her onto her paws. She hobbled after him quickly as he ran up over a bridge to the relevant platform. He stopped in front of the open door of a train that was sat at the platform, holding an arm out pointing into the train.

"After you." He said. Laura gave him a seething look before stepping up onto the train right in front of Geraint's nose. He sniffled slightly instinctively.

She smells nice…
What the hell am I thinking?!
Nothing. She just smells nice.
And what is that supposed to mean?!
Nothing. I thought Imogen smelled nice too.
Good God. And I've got to put up with this for a weekend?!
It's a nice smell. It's not as though she's a Koffing.
Look, I'm human, she's not. It won't work.
Tell that to a mirror Einstein.

Geraint shook his head to clear up his thoughts before boarding the train after her. She was standing near the door looking around for where to sit. Geraint tapped her on the shoulder, and pointed over towards a compartment to the left. He led Laura over to it, and ushered her inside. He curled up on one side of seats, and Laura mimicked him on the other side of the compartment.

"You may as well get some sleep. It's a two hour train to Alanus, and then another three until Cemusem on Monday morning. However we need to stop at Alanus for Saturday and Sunday since there aren't any trains to Cemusem over the weekend."

"There's no way I'm-" She was cut off as Geraint began snoring from the other seat. Laura scowled and settled down to try and sleep herself. She felt the train start moving underneath her as she slowly slipped into unconsciousness.

Three days later: Monday Afternoon, February 3rd

"Anyone else yet, Ganon?" Melissa asked the boy manning the counter that day. He was still sitting there doodling on a piece of paper, and didn't hear her. She blew cold air at his leg, instantly startling him out of his reverie.

"Please don't do that! It's cold!" Ganon whimpered, rubbing his leg to warm it back up, a little trick Lazlo had told him when Melissa had first used this tactic, "Can I go get a drink at least? I haven't had anything since breakfast."

"And you didn't even get that because you blew it up again. I suppose you'd better, but come back here straight afterwards. I'll cover for you for a few minutes."

"Ok. Thanks Mel." Ganon said. Melissa gave him an evil eye, and the air around her shimmered as a frigid haze.

"It's Melissa."

"Okay! Sorry Melissa." Ganon said before wandering into the backroom. Melissa sat on the desk, looking at the piece of paper Ganon had been doodling on. The image resembled a red dragon that Melissa knew. A Latias, although rather rudimentary. The bell above the door tinkled as a pair of Typhlosions walked in, one blue and one pink. Melissa noticed that they seemed to be arguing over something.

"And that was an accident?!" Laura was yelling at Geraint.

"Hey! I just sneezed! I wasn't trying to set it on fire! Now be quiet, we're here." Geraint walked up to the counter, and flipped up resting his forepaws on the desk, whilst Laura walked over to one side of the hall to watch a fish tank, "Hi there gorgeous." Geraint asked the ice type casually. Melissa growled angrily.

"Out. Both of you."

"Now that's just specieist."

"We don't have any rooms left. We're fully-"

"Melissa!" Ganon called back from the other room. Laura looked up suddenly from a Magikarp that was swimming in circles. Melissa growled again.

"What is it?"

"The Johto League has just cancelled their reservation." He said. Laura wandered back to stand next to Geraint, just as Ganon walked back in with a glass of orange juice. Laura stared at him, her mouth dropping open. She couldn't explain why, but she felt strangely drawn to him. She shook her head. It was nothing. Ganon took a sip from the glass.

"Ah hem." Melissa coughed from behind him, "Don't you have a job to do?"

"Huh?" Ganon said stupidly, "Oh yeah. Right right… Welcome to the Cemusem Pokemon Centre. How may I help you?" He finished, addressing the navy Typhlosion. Geraint leaned on the counter, and Melissa watched him carefully.

"Thank you. We'd like to book a room for the next three days." He said. Laura leaned forwards to look at a sheet of paper on the desk which looked as though it had been doodled on. She spotted a vague red shape before Melissa quickly put a paw over the image, dragging it back off the edge of the counter.

"And what is the nature of your visit?" Ganon asked, trying to subtly read a list of questions from a sheet under the desk.

"Business. We're here on an investment opportunity."

That fitted the code words Ganon had been told to accept so far, and had heard for the last three days from various customers.

"Have you stayed with us before?"

"Naturally."

Just one more question left, and the decider.

"Well, that's pretty much everything. By the way, have you seen this Pokemon anywhere? We have been trying to name him so we can get in touch with his family about his situation." Ganon said, gesturing to a Missing poster on a partition between the main desk and the now defunct Cable Club. It depicted an accurate picture of Martin as a Mudkip. The name was indeed missing from the poster. Geraint shook his head.

"Nope. Never seen him before in my life." He lied.

"Oh. Sorry you couldn't be of more help Geraint." Ganon said, pressing a recessed button under the counter. Everyone else who was part of the investors could identify him as Martin. Guilty as charged.

"Anytime." Geraint said, waving it off. It never occurred to him he hadn't told Ganon his name.

"Shall I show you to your room, or shall I leave it to Kenai?" Ganon said, walking around the counter. Geraint's eyes bulged at the mention of Kenai. He spun around and the Alakazam grabbed him between the shoulder amd the nape of his neck, rendering him powerless.

"Nice of you to drop in Geraint. At arms!" Kenai called over his shoulder. Four Lucarios broke out of the abandoned Cable club area, each wielding small hand-cannons connected to a tank on their back. They encircled Geraint, each pointing their weapon at him. Kenai retained his grip on Geraint's shoulder, looking over at Ganon, and tilting his head in the direction of the pink Typhlosion, who seemed to have frozen in panic at four cannons being pointed at them.

Get her out of the middle. Kenai told him telepathically. Nodding once, Ganon rushed in quickly and pulled Laura out of the line of fire, dragging her back to the counter. She looked up into Ganon's face. He looked back at her briefly before turning back to watch Kenai with Geraint.

"Geraint. The Kids Grid forfeited their involvement with this project since the Jolteon incident. What makes you think we'll accept you back now?" Kenai said, inspecting the Typhlosion's face carefully. Geraint remained tight lipped.

"What are they doing?" Laura asked Ganon. He remained just as silent.

"Fine, if you aren't going to co-operate. Fire at will." Kenai said, teleporting out of the line of fire. Geraint used the second of freedom granted to him to lash out with a fire spin, intending to melt the Lucarios, but as soon as the flame met what the guards were firing at him, the flare spluttered and died.

"Wha-" was all Geraint could say, before he was encased in fire retardant foam. The flames on the nape of his neck were extinguished, and the Lucarios readjusted their 'weapons' so they turned off. Kenai looked at the block of foam encasing Geraint, before turning to face a corner of the ceiling.

"And that is our latest development of our fire extinguishing solvent. As you can see, the organism is still capable of breathing through the porous network of the foam that envelops the target, and all the other life processes remain in perfect order. Ideal implementations of this technology would be…" Kenai continuing rambling on in this vein for about five more minutes before a green light winked in the corner. He turned back around to face the block of foam with a small smirk on his face. The Lucarios bowed and wandered back into the Cable club reception. A small Riolu jumped out with a vacuum cleaner, standing in front of Kenai awaiting an order.

"Okay Moxis, you can let him out."

"KK boss." The Riolu said before pouncing onto the foam block. He swept across the foam block in long arcs, revealing strips of navy fur. Within seconds, Geraint was free again, and was naturally absolutely seething. The angry flames flared on his back again, and he leapt for Kenai's throat. Kenai sighed and held the rogue Typhlosion in the air with Psychic, before wandering up to Ganon.

"Take your new friend up to the free room. I'll send Geraint up later."

"What do you mean new friend?"

"Haven't you noticed how tightly she's clinging onto you?" Kenai said, pointing at the pink Typhlosion. Ganon looked down at her. Her arms were indeed wrapped around his chest tightly, and she seemed to be terrified. Kenai clicked his fingers in front of Ganon's face.

"Pay attention. Obviously Geraint just picked up some random Typhlosion to try and make them look like a couple to avoid suspicion. Naturally she'll be traumatised."

"Which one's the normal colour?"

"The navy fur, although he isn't a Typhlosion. He's a human."

"What?!"

"Just get her out of here. She doesn't need to see this."

Ganon nodded, before trying to get Laura's attention again. He nudged her gently in the side several times, until she quickly opened her eyes. She looked up at Ganon's face, then at her own arms around him. She withdrew them quickly, then looked away blushing. Ganon smiled softly at her, before standing up.

"I'll take you to your room now. If you could follow me please." Ganon said courteously. He turned around on his heels and strode over to the stairway. Laura followed after him as he led her up three flights of stairs, and down a short corridor to a room. Ganon opened the door and ushered her gently inside.

"If there's anything you need, just find me." Ganon said as he began to shut the door behind him.

"Wait!" She cried out after him. Ganon stopped the door just short of closed.

"What is it?" He asked. Laura looked down at the quilt, feeling slightly embarrassed by her sudden outburst.

"Could you… wait with me… for just a little while?"

"Excuse me?"

"Could you… maybe… stay?" She said, looking at Ganon hopefully. She needed to talk to someone, and Geraint had taken her bag to look like a gentleman.

"Erm…" Ganon fidgeted awkwardly with his fingers, "I…"

"IDIOT BOY!" Melissa yelled from outside the doorway. Ganon looked around quickly, shooting an apologetic look at Laura, before dashing off to answer.

Geraint flailed around in mid-air as Kenai paced around him.

"Let me down now you little-"

"Calling me names is hardly going to make me want to let you down. Return to your normal form and calm down. The hormones are getting ahead of you."

"I'll give you hormones you-"

"Oh for goodness sake I'll have to do it myself." Kenai said as he mentally probed through Geraint's consciousness. He looked around briefly through his medulla oblongata, and found the control over his transformation. He flicked the psychological switch and watched as Geraint's fur shrank back to reveal the naked human again. Kenai grimaced and took off his lab coat, putting it on Geraint.

"I'm nude now. I hope you're happy." Kenai said annoyed.

"I've got my clothes in my backpack. Shall I put them on?"

"What sort of stupid question is that? A human asking whether or not to put clothes on? You've been in the Pokemon form for far too long. You've got complacent with nakedness." Kenai muttered as the human extracted his jeans and T-shirt from his bag and put them on under the cover of Kenai's lab coat. He handed the article of clothing back to the Alakazam once he'd finished, who grimaced as he took it back.

"This is going to need a wash…" He said, walking behind the counter and pulling another lab coat off a rack. He pushed the old one down a laundry chute, and put on the new coat.

"Anyway Geraint. Sorry about testing out the foam on you, but our investors required a demonstration of the product working before they'd actually invest. From what Lazlo has told me, your performance was exemplary."

"But he hasn't-"

"It's called telepathy you moron."

Geraint shrugged.

"How effective is that foam?" He asked, pointing at some of the residue on the floor.

"For the purposes you have in mind, enough, although it should really be used for putting out fires rather than trapping people that annoy you." Kenai added, giving Geraint an evil eye.

"I can't lie to a psychic can I?" Geraint said. Kenai shook his head.

"Can we take this conversation to my office? It's more secure."

"Of course. Lead the way."

"Ganon, what do you think you were doing with her?" Melissa hissed in his ear. Ganon was sat down in his own room with a toolkit and a box of various components. He was due to have a lesson about what he'd be working with in the Underground Labs.

"She invited me in. She seemed lonely, so I decided it would be nice to comfort her."

"Well that's no excuse. You need to maintain discipline at all times. Don't forget that I won't hesitate to enforce that discipline."

"And whenever you're ready." A small voice said from the door. Ganon looked around to see what looked similar to a miniature version of Lazlo stood in the doorway.

"Finally. Tell me when you've finished Moxis."

"Will do Mel." Moxis said. Ganon looked affronted.

"You can call her Mel?" He asked him. Melissa scowled at Ganon darkly.

"It's Melissa to you." She said before walking out of the room. Moxis sat down on a chair and opened the toolbox.

"It'll pass. Now chop chop. I'm here to teach you what these are, and how to solder them correctly. Now this is a transistor…"

"So who's your guinea pig this time for the cloning machine?" Geraint asked. Kenai gestured for Geraint to follow him again, leading him towards a lower section of the labs.

"We've made a conclusion from our last experiment, and further analysis of the schematics. The clones weren't surviving because they were too weak."

"That's pretty obvious isn't it." Geraint said smugly. Kenai turned around and glared at him.

"It's not that simple moron. A lot of compromises have to be made in science. There is no such thing as a perfect-"

"Kenai, don't lecture me on science. I did enough of that before I became a field agent."

"Impatient fool. I'll do what I like. There is no such thing as a perfect solution. For this project, it's a very fine line."

"So who is this new donor?!" Geraint yelled, anxious to get to the point.

"Follow me."

"I'm already following you!"

"Then follow faster. Lazlo's keeping the guests occupied with a shoe that fits any size of foot."

"What?"

"Non-dimensional space on the inside. Hurry up." Kenai said, breaking into the equivalent of a run. He rose a few inches off the floor and glided over the surface like a figure skater, without the camp posing. Geraint ran after him towards the guards compound.

"No Ganon! That's a-" Moxis flinched away as a bright flash of electricity flowed through the component in Ganon's hands, frying them. Moxis pulled the plug out of the socket and looked at a now slightly more burnt Ganon.

"A thermo-dynamo coil..." Moxis said, clasping his forehead in his paw. Ganon coughed out a cloud of soot.

"Okay…" He coughed again, "I'll keep an eye out for those."

"At this rate it'll take your eye out."

Geraint peered through a sheet of reinforced glass into a room filled with various angular white blocks, and a Gallade wandering through the room wearing a helmet

"He's in there?"

"He's our best guard, and genetically a good specimen. If only his personality were a little more normal…" Kenai said, watching the Gallade strafe around a corner, weapon cocked.

"Normal?" Geraint asked, looking at the display. According to the screen, Kotor was being simulated as being in a bustling city, civilians and armed mercenaries appearing out of the alleys to the sides. His score so far said that he'd shot every mercenary, and let every civilian live. Perfect marks. Another round of sim-gunfire rang through the hall.

"That's incredible. He locked onto and shot all the targets at the same time. Even I can't do that."

"And since when have you been a good marksman?" Kenai said. Geraint growled.

The Gallade looked at the scene in front of him now, a busy market place crowded with civilians. He smiled as the simulated noise of machine gun fire punctuated the air.

"Kotor! Do it seriously!" A technician yelled into the training room.

"Shit…" He said, throwing off the VR helmet, "What the hell's the point of shooting at stuff that doesn't scream or bleed?!" He yelled, waving the training gun in the air above his head in anger, "This is stupid! Let me shoot people! Real people!"

The technician growled in frustration.

"I see…" Geraint said slowly. Kenai nodded.

"In tag matches, he wins hands down against the other guards."

"Except Lazlo." Geraint pointed out. Kenai nodded.

"Yes… Except Lazlo…" He said slowly.

"Focus… focus…" Moxis kept saying as Ganon tried manipulating a soldering iron. Ganon moved the tip of the tool closer to a circuit board he was supposed to be putting together, and pushed it straight through. Moxis sighed as he heard it snap, and he threw the remains onto an increasing pile of broken pieces.

"So survival skills you pick up instantly. Skills you'd actually need, you don't stand a chance."

"It's not my fault! I'm just really jittery all of a sudden. It's as though-" Ganon turned around to spot a Typhlosion in the doorway looking at him, "Thought so."

Laura jolted in surprise, running back down the corridor. Ganon grunted before continuing working, his hand now much steadier. Moxis watched for a while, keeping the live wires away from Ganon as he seemed to insist on electrocuting himself on a regular basis.

"Wrong… Again. Red goes to Positive, black to Neutral." He said, picking something out of his claws. Ganon groaned and put the soldering iron down.

"I'm too bored to do this. What's the point?"

"It's integral to your role as a scientist. Even when you're a field agent, it can come in handy."

"I can't see how poking wires around with a hot stick is going to be useful." Ganon said, walking back over to sit on his bed. Moxis glowered at him.

"You know the Mudkip on the poster downstairs?"

"What, Martin? What's so special about him and soldering irons?"

"Long story."

Martin looked up from his holding cell in the Kids Grid Jail.

"Was someone just talking about me?" He asked the guards. They shook their heads at him.

"How the-"

"Ganon, I thought I just explained how he did it. But you're hopeless. I'm ending the lesson whilst there's still something left intact."

Moxis picked up what was left of the soldering kit, namely the iron itself and a reel of wire, before walking straight out of the room, almost crashing into a Typhlosion walking the other way. Laura deftly sidestepped past the Riolu, but he caught her on the arm.

"Guests are not permitted in the residential area. Come back downstairs please."

"But-"

"No buts." Moxis said, leading her away from Ganon's room.

"But that boy said to find him if I needed anything."

"We all say that. It means find one of us, not specifically him. What's the problem?"

"Well, I'm bored and I was hoping he could have shown me around town."

"Well he's not available for such a trip. What is your interest in him anyway?" Moxis asked warily.

"Nothing." She said innocently. And it was true, she was just thankful for him getting her out of the way earlier. Moxis hummed sceptically.

"Here's some advice. Get a Pokemon boyfriend. Humans are off limits."

"It's not like that!" She protested, "It's just… I supposed he'd be the least eye-catching. I mean, I do get a lot of strange looks, you know, being a pink Typhlosion." She laughed slightly as though it was absurd that Typhlosions could be pink. Moxis didn't buy it.

"Hmmm… Who did you come in with? Geraint wasn't it."

"Yes."

"Alright. Just wait for a while, and I'll see what I can do."

"This is stupid. I'm done with this shit." Kotor muttered as he strode into the room Geraint had just been watching him from, cradling his head where the helmet had been rubbing.

"You're… incredible." Geraint said in amazement, "Where did you learn to shoot like that?"

"Don't ask stupid questions." He answered, suddenly wishing that he had a real gun on him to gun down the annoying child. Kenai stepped forwards, sensing his intentions.

"Kotor. Are you ready to produce a DNA sample yet?" He asked calmly. The Gallade leapt backwards.

"There's no way you're jabbing another needle in my arm!" He yelled defensively, clutching his left forearm, "I'm not your lab-rat."

"But you are in my employ, therefore you will perform all the duties required of you. Unless of course you want your contract terminated, and all the privileges that come with it." Kenai said, locking his gaze with the Gallade. Kotor bristled.

"You… so it comes to blackmail."

"It only came to what you made it. Had you been willingly co-operative, it wouldn't have come to this."

Kotor scratched his chin, thinking carefully about his non-existent options.

"Fine. But knock me out first."

"Punch to the face or hypnosis? Which-" Kenai began.

"Hypnosis." Kotor interrupted angrily.

"Very well. Look into my eyes." Kenai said. The Gallade obeyed, but noticed there was nothing unusual about Kenai's eyes.

"What sort of stunt are you trying to-" The Gallade was knocked to the floor as Kenai's fist slammed into his jaw. Geraint winced.

"Was that really necessary?"

"Well what would you have done? Let him walk all over you?" Kenai answered, the barest hint of a smile playing over his face, "I was going to ask him which one he thought was the wusses option. He was going to get punched anyway." A quiet beeping sound started chiming somewhere in the room.

"What's that sound?" Geraint asked looking for the source. Kenai didn't seem to have noticed.

"What sound?"

"That beeping." Geraint looked around, before noticing a light on Kenai's pocket, "It's your radio."

"Damn. I thought I turned this off." He plucked the radio out of his pocket, putting it to his ear, "What is it?"

"Kenai, you know the pink Typhlosion that came in with Geraint?" Moxis said on the radio. Geraint looked up with apprehension.

"Not personally, but I know of her existence. What of it?"

"She's bored, and she wants to go around the town. Specifically with him." Moxis said. Geraint beamed.

"I'm avail-"

"You're not the only male in this building Geraint. Get a hold of your ego before it breaks something." Kenai growled, before holding the radio back up, "Well what's wrong with that?"

"Well, nothing, but-"

"Then let her go with him." Kenai said angrily, "Keep the line clear for important transmissions."

He snapped the radio closed, and turned back to Geraint, "Now. Where were we?"

"Blood sample."

"That was a rheatorical question." Kenai said, rolling his eyes.

Sorry there wasn't a flashback from the nursery, but there wasn't a point when anyone was asleep to give that window of opportunity. I had to make do with Ganon doodling instead. This is the first instance where I skip a few days. At some point in the near future, I'll skip a few months.