the plot continues...

Chapter 2: Grave robbing

Darkness, complete darkness. Voices, whispering. Never before had Shrike felt anything similar to the emotion he was feeling now: he was scared. Dimly, Shrike wondered whether it had something to do with what Oneome had said would happen, had yet another piece of his former once-born personality leaked through into his stalker brain, causing him to feel afraid? Even if it had, what did he have to be scared of? The darkness perhaps? Or maybe, just maybe, it was how helpless he was: being unable to move and blind while the once-born performed experiments on him? Maybe. As there was nothing else to do, Shrike waited, his stalker mind deciphering the largely deformed version of Anglish that was being spoken by the voices in the darkness.

"As you see Ash, it is vitally important that nobody knows about this." Prof Oak told him as he led him down the stone steps at the back of the lab "If the word gets out that the old legend are true then there would be a massive outcry."

"Don't worry Professor Oak, you can trust us, isn't that right Pikachu?"

"PiPikachu chu chu PikaPichu!" (are you joking? Wait till Buneary hears about this!)

"Thanks Ash, to many people know about it already."

"Pikachu pikapichupika." (and soon even more will.)

Oak suddenly stopped at a seemingly random piece of wall and started prodding it "What was the combination again? Ah yes, I wrote it down on this scrap of paper. Lets see… hm… it I see so it's: 1 2 3 4 5."

As soon as he finished prodding the wall, the wall suddenly moved to the side and two arguing voices could be heard:

"But it is a stalker Prof Rowan!"

"It has no finger glaives!"

"That does not-"

Shrike felt a slight sense of pride as he finished decoding the language spoken by the unseen once-born: now he could understand anything anyone in this time said.

"Pikachu pika pi!"

Or perhaps not. Feeling slightly annoyed at this new development he reserved a small part of his brain for the decoding of this new language.

"Quiet!" a new voice roared "This could be our chance to prove that (error. Word unknown) have not always been around. And two of the (error. Unknown word repeated) researchers are squabbling!"

"When do we get to see the stalker?" Ash asked, interrupting Prof Oak in one of his rants.

"No excuse! Oh, sorry about that Ash, it's under that sheet over there. Now if you excuse me while I have a quiet discussion with these experts."

"Thanks Prof." Ash told him as he pulled the sheet off the large object in the back of the room. "Oh Arceus." He whispered as he saw what was under the sheet.

"Pikapikapi!" (oh no! it is the enemy! Take my thundershock you fiend!)

Prof Oak, seeing what Pikachu was about to do cried "Pikachu! No!" as the yellow electric rat fired small lightning bolts of electricity at the motionless stalker.

The stalker's eyes started to glow a vibrant green…

Every gear in Shrike's corpse tensed as the lightning hit his body. A lesser stalker would have been felled by the sheer power of that lightning. But not Shrike, as last of the Lazarus brigade he had been built to last, and so that stalker brain of his set to work, manipulating a majority of the electric currents to reconnect the pathways of his stalkerish nerves and repair his visual and movement capacity. He could see again.

The four humans and Pikachu gaped in horror as the stalker slowly stood up, thousands of years worth of dust cascading of it's shoulders and head.

"Why did I have to die?" Prof Elm whimpered as resurrected man slowly walked towards them.

Shrike internally winced as the once-born gibbered in fear, did he really terrify them that much? Who were they anyway?

"Please! Have mercy!" Prof Elm whimpered as the old stalker started to raise it's arms and pointed them at him.

Cogs started to turn in Shrike's head and attempted to make a sound after centuries of disrepair. As he attempted to speak"I WILL NOT… CANNOT…KILL... YOU." He managed to say.

Ash winced as the old stalker spoke, his voice sounded like a saw cutting through glass.

"See! I told you he wasn't a stalker!" crowed Prof Rowan "Stalkers kill people in an instant! And he can't kill us! He also would unsheathe his finger glaives and kill us if he were a stalker!"

"I…HAVE…FINGER, GLAIVES." Shrike told him.

"Who are you then?"

"I AM…SHRIKE…LAZARUS BRIGADE…A STALKER…"

"If you are a stalker could you please answer some questions?"

"YES."

"Thank you. Why don't you wait outside, Ash? This could take a while and I'm sure that your mum is back from getting the food supplies."

"OK professor, come on then Pikachu."

"Pikachu pika chu pi pikapi!" (but I want to stay!)

"Don't you want any ketchup?"

"Pica chu pipika!" (what are we waiting for then!)

outside

"It's amazing isn't it Pikachu?" Ash commented as he and Pikachu walked out of the large doors of the lab "We could find out so much about our past by talking to that stalker."

"Pikachupi chupika." (when do I get my ketchup?)

back at the lab

"WHAT…ARE POKEMON?…" Shrike asked Prof Oak

For a moment the old once-born's face was filled with what seemed like joy to Shrike

"You… don't know what pokemon are" he gasped "That proves that my theory was correct! Pokemon have not always been on this world! Wait till I tell the world about this! " whatever the once-born was about to say was cut off by a voice from seemingly nowhere…

"Prepare for robbing trouble!"

"Time to steal and make it double!"

"To protect the world from cave excavation!"

"To put all stalkers in their destination!"

"Jesse!"

"James!"

"Team rocket thieves day and night!"

"Hand over the stalker now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth! Dat's right!"

"Team Rocket!" was all Prof Oak managed to say before the entire room went black…

to be continued...

how do you like the team rocket motto