Chapter I: Contact
September 4, 2061 6:42 a.m.
"HA HA!"
The human in front of the remaining prisoners was monstrous, his bones and muscle expanded to unbelievable proportions. Before the mutant was a small pile of brutalized and broken bodies, three humans and four Pokémon. They stared, shivering in fear of the ten-foot tall behemoth before them, his clothes burnt and ripped from his mutation. The pupils of his eyes had begun to glow an eerie orange, and the nails on both his feet and hands at sharpened into short, bony talons.
His shadow loomed over them both, much like the broken old man who was watching from the glass window far above. Through oval glasses he watched as the giant roared triumphantly, grabbing one of the unfortunate men and swinging him violently around himself. A horrifying scream issued from the man with each revolution around the muscled mutant's head before he was viciously slammed into the ground.
The old man was sitting in a wheelchair with a blood packet hanging from a hook to the left of the chair. Half of his face was covered in bandages, while his lower body was covered in bandages holding tubes in place, some tubes transferring fluid into him.
"AH HA HA HA! I snap you!" The mutant yelled into the paled face of the last man. From above, the old man smiled as he heard the unfortunate man scream in agony as the giant grabbed him by his arms and legs, literally tearing him into two…
I've done it…
The Strength Evolving-Enhanced Drug is nearly ready. I'm sure this 'SEED' will plant and grow a whole new meaning of terror in the hearts of Kanto soldiers. The more recent tests have proved excellent…almost no problems in humans. Muscle mass is no longer distorted beyond the growth of the bone and flesh structure, nor are the subjects completely losing their sanity now, though some intelligence seems to be lost, varying with each subject.
Sad to say that I haven't perfected the drug with Pokémon subjects…no matter how stable the structure of their body grows, they lose their minds. I understand that this would occur with the less…up-to-task guinea pigs whose overgrowth of bone ruptures through their tissues or if their muscle literally crushes their bones…but still, the pitiful things can never take the psychological effect.
Hmph. I suppose I'll have to adapt the serum for these…uncooperative Pokémon.
On the subject of other matters, it's too bad for Marxus and Zero…I would believe that Shadow could've defeated Zero, but to have defeated Marxus…
I suppose that the dark enhancements Xepher gave him were very effective after all, curse him. I should've made the creature even stronger. This is an embarrassment to me to have had Xepher's creation defeat my own…When I find that pitiful excuse for a scientist, I am going to choke the very life out of him, and his last word shall be…
'Namba'.
…
A dim ray of sunlight lit up his eyelids. Opening his eyes, Shadow caught the bright disk beginning its rise over the horizon.
…Time to wake up.
Immediately, Shadow got up on all fours, arching his back in a stretch before looking out to the ground below. With a look up to the sun peeking over the horizon, he dove out of the tree hollow.
A thump sounded under his feet upon landing, with a brushing sound issuing from the grass as well. Looking behind, he noticed a matted down spot in the grass by the tree; it seemed that Bolt was already up.
(Where is he…)
(Up here.)
Among the higher tree limbs, Bolt was sitting on one that was poking slightly out of the treetop. The branch shifted as he leapt off. In a second, he had landed on the ground with a small grunt, followed by him shaking out his head. (It's time, Shadow. Wake up Light so we can get moving.)
(Okay. I'll be back.) Shadow replied, swiftly jumping onto the rugged tree bark and climbing up, digging into it with his small claws to reach Light's hollow in the trunk. He avoided Light's tail hanging out of the hole, and poked his head into the hollow to see Light curled up peacefully, her furry white chest rising up and sown steadily.
Shadow raised his left paw while steadying himself with his tail on the side of the tree. Static lines zapped between two of his yellow digits. Gently, he poked her left cheek with the two digits.
A miniscule zap issued from her cheeks as his static collided with the built-up electricity stored in her cheeks, waking her from the slight, tickling sensation.
She yawned as a nearly-invisible streak of light blue electricity ran up her back from her tail. Upon it crossing through her ears, she rose up and stretched, sleepily blinking her eyes.
An earnest smile slowly formed on his face. (Good morning, Light.)
Hearing him, she gazed up at his face, exhaling calmly.
Again, those eyes of hers mesmerized him; he knew what…or rather, who was in there with her own mind, but still, he just could not resist the awing feeling of her brilliantly illuminated eyes.
Was it just the power within her, or was it because the other Light was watching him too?
On the other part of it, they showed to him her compassion for him: two great stars watching him, warming him in their embrace. Like the eyes of his guardian angel keeping away the deepest of his fears, allowing him to keep on going. Like the very power of his own bravery, fueled by her.
Her love for him.
(…Shadow, is something wrong?)
For a moment, Shadow was silent; in the next, he gasped from surprise, snapping out of the little trance he was in. Regaining his senses, he focused on her.
(…It's just time for us to get going, that's all. If we start early hopefully we can get past the Shock Squadron in the forest up ahead.)
Her reply was soft. (Okay.)
He looked back over his shoulder, nodding towards Bolt. In turn, Bolt nodded back as Shadow pushed off the tree with his hind legs, back flipping onto the ground next to Bolt.
A ray of sunlight pierced over the edge of a treetop behind them, signaling the continuing rise of the sun over the horizon. As Light jumped down from the tree, Shadow felt uneasy;
After all, it was the Shock Squadron they had to get through.
The most bloodthirsty group out there.
…
A sound like a muffled bang and a puffing sound issued from the bush, and in the same moment, a grunt had gone down with a scarlet river between his eyes.
"I see you, you son a bitch!" The other grunt yelled before unleashing laser shots from his AK-159 at the sniper's hiding position. Diving out of the way, the sniper pulled the trigger on his sniper rifle while in the dive.
Just as he did this, a screeching red laser hit the rifle out of his hands, flinging it far behind him while followed by more lasers that grazed over his back. At the same time, the bullet he had fired had torn a hole through the Shock Squadron soldier's weapon. With a grunt, he dropped the gun as it discharged random sparks and electricity began to run all over it.
A small but powerful explosion rocked the forest floor nearby. The sniper's Umbreon was apparently having trouble with this particular grunt's Magmar.
The sniper rushed the grunt before he could fully take out his pistol. Kicking the pistol from his hand, the sniper spun on his heel for a roundhouse kick.
To his disappointment, the grunt quickly ducked and threw his arm back. With the motion of his arm a hidden combat knife in his sleeve unsheathed, and the grunt gripped it backwards in his fist while jabbing.
"Sneaky!" The sniper spoke while jumping back and quickly ripping his own knife from its sheath on his side. The grunt flipped the blade forward in his hand as he swung, dashing across the snipers own blade when he countered.
Both made a successful grab for the other's knife. With another rock of the forest beyond, they struggled inch-for-inch over the knives.
"Hrrrgh!" Both seemed to growl, both of their grips unwavering. Suddenly, the Rocket grunt let go of the sniper's knife and slid to kick out his legs from under him.
"Augh!" The sniper grunted as he felt the grunt's blade cut a scar into his hand, whipping out of his grip with a small ribbon of blood behind it. Seeing the silver of the blade flash in the grunt's leather glove, the sniper rolled back onto his head to dodge a downward stab aimed at his chest, then powerfully kicked out both legs into the grunt's jaw.
The metal cleats on the heavy boots tore large gashes up his face, making him gasp in shock and pain while his body was tossed a few inches off the ground. Taking the split-second opportunity, the sniper seized the grunt's arm, pulling him down as his blade whistled in the air.
With a heavy, squelching sound, the sniper's combat knife lodged into the grunt's exposed neck.
"HaaHk! Uggh!" The grunt gargled beneath the blood surging from his jugular. In moments, his face paled into that of the corpse he was about to become. The sniper's breathing calmed as he ripped the knife from the neck of the grunt, allowing the dead man to fall into the pool of red at the sniper's feet.
Even with his opponent dead, the sniper still had the urge to kick the body. It really wouldn't fulfill anything, really; It was just an impulse, based on what he had heard these people had done.
"That's what you get for all those folks at Pallet Town. I knew some of those people." He spat at the corpse as if it was still alive to hear the spite in his voice.
Of course, he knew this Rocket wasn't from the same group that made the attack. That division of Shock Squadron wore gas masks with an orange-yellow glow to the eye holes. That was the 1st Division of the Shock Squadron, anyway.
In fact, he had never even heard of them speaking. When he had once gone on a sniping mission, they were there, only making gestures to each other from behind those ominous, deathly gas masks.
They seemed to be more or less creatures then men…
Still glaring at the body, he walked away toward the bush he was hiding behind earlier to find his sniper rifle. As soon as he got there, he scowled, muttering various obscenities under his breath; the actual rifle was fine, but the picatinny rail had gotten ripped up on the left side, and the scope on the top was destroyed. What remained of it was a burned-up and bent tube of metal with the glass completely shattered. He put his palm to his face.
Embarrassingly, he had forgotten to bring a second scope with him, which should have been instinct for a sniper like himself.
His hand dragged down from his face as he shook his head in frustration, beginning to strip the broken scope and rail off the rifle. Once this was done, he brought the bare weapon to his eye, looking through the iron sight. "Looks like I'll have to do this the old-fashioned way…"
(…Augh…finished here?)
"!" The sniper spun around as soon as he heard the sound of his Umbreon's somewhat pained voice behind him. She came walking from a few shrubs, a limp apparent in her left front leg. Looking closer, the sniper could see that it had second degree burns at the least.
"Come here. Let me see." He whispered to her, kneeling down and setting down his gun as she limped to a stop directly in front of him.
Indeed, just from the looks he could see that her leg did in fact suffer second degree burns. Blisters were forming on her skin where the fur was burned away, and small streams of blood were leaking from the burn.
"Okay, this'll sting a little." He spoke as he slipped his hand into his pack, taking out a can with a red cross superimposed over a flame on it. Slowly and painfully, she lifted her leg towards him as he aimed the nozzle at the scorched flesh.
(…Ahhh…Ahhh…)
The Umbreon moaned a little as the cool mist covered the burn, causing a rippling feeling of stinging and cold over her leg.
…
(It looks like we're closer than we thought…) Bolt said as he looked over dead rocket grunt with a hole through his head, his blood sprayed onto a tree behind him. Shadow and Light both looked at the small insignia on the grunt's uniform lapel.
(Shock Squadron, 10th Division…they're better than the usual Rocket grunts, but the best are the ones in the 1st and 2nd Divisions…) Shadow stated, taking a glance at the frozen look of shock on the corpse's face. (1st and 2nd Divisions are the one wearing those strange masks, right?) Bolt asked, noticing a large pistol near the grunt's holster on the side of his leg.
(Yeah…isn't that a Kanto Army pistol?)
(Yes, and from the scent on it whoever left it was just here maybe ten hours ago.)
Light crossed her front paws on her chest. (Shouldn't we find whoever left it so we can try to get back to Ash?)
Bolt nodded, raising the pistol to his nose and taking a few sniffs of it. Dropping the weapon into the grass, he sniffed into the air, Shadow and Light watching as he turned towards north.
(The scent's faint but I can smell it. We better hurry.)
(Right. Let's go, Shadow.) Light spoke, running after Bolt as he dashed forward.
(Hmph. Another adventure.) Shadow spoke to himself before running after them…
…
Three hours later…
(We're close, considering those corpses we passed a few minutes ago. From the way he's moving about, I'm pretty sure he's sniper.) Bolt commented while still running ahead, leaping over a low shrub.
Light and Shadow expertly jumped over the same bush. (He's got someone with him, right?)
(Correct. Smells like an Umbreon.)
Hm. An Umbreon.
One of the Pokémon he had actually yet to see was an Umbreon. Sure, he had seen them in pictures that had been taken by some Rocket operatives back when he was still with them, but he had never encountered one personally.
There's always something new…
The sound of footsteps up ahead made Shadow stop in his tracks along with Light and Bolt. They were slow, and many in number; maybe about three to four people.
Looking forward still, Bolt ran towards a tree and climbed up, motioning to Shadow and Light.
Silently, Light followed Bolt, using her tough nails to latch onto the bark of the tree and climb up behind Bolt. However, Shadow simply slid into the one of the bushes, looking out the other side to try to find the makers of the noise. Small arcs of static were already running over his bright red cheeks.
Sure enough, Rocket grunts with the same lapel insignias as the corpses from earlier were approaching with their weapons pointed forward. Two of them had Pokémon at their side, a Beedrill flying by one and a Wartortle with its shell painted black by the other. They were all ducked low in the bushes, as if they were looking for something…
A sound like a nearly-silent puff of air entered Shadow's ears. In the same second, he saw one of the grunts go down while the Beedrill next to him fell to the ground writhing in agony, the shot having gone through the grunt's head and into the Beedrill's abdomen.
A bullet instead of a laser…
"What the fu-!" One of the grunts yelled in alarm, getting picked off by another missile of flying lead before he managed to complete his sentence.
Only Kanto Snipers use bullets!
(Over there.) Bolt whispered to Light as he saw the end of a rifle poking out of a bush from afar. The man's face was visible, aiming not through a scope, but through the bare sights.
Taking notice of him, she saw his rifle swerve again to put another bullet through a grunt's head while he was turning. Meanwhile, the Wartortle had begun to creep towards him, all while the two remaining grunts began to fire several laser bolts in his direction.
I should probably cut off that Wartortle…
The bush split over Shadow as he quickly ran out from into another bush out of the view of the Shock Squadron grunts. Immediately he picked up the scent of the Wartortle, running in as fast as he could while disregarding the lasers that begun to zoom overhead.
(What…look, Shadow's going to try to take out the Wartortle!) Light spoke, her tail twitching nervously behind her.
Bolt sighed, looking from Shadow to the two grunts firing into the sniper's area. (If he's going to get the Wartortle, we might as well get the drop on these grunts…you take the closer one.)
At this time, the sniper had begun crawling away from the bush he had been behind, his Umbreon following suit next to him. Red beams continued to fly in, hitting trees and bushes around them.
A laser smacked into the grass between him and his Umbreon, causing both of them to flinch back. Part of his shoulder fabric and her fur had actually been burned off. "Shit…Umbreon, if your leg is okay now, try to go and sneak up behind them. If you take one out, I'll take out the other."
(Okay. I'll be ba-!)
Both of them reeled back in surprise as a wave of static hit them from beneath the bushes. The sniper immediately took his twitching finger off the trigger of his rifle, electricity making his body tremor. Between the chatter of his teeth he could see both of the grunts that were firing at him scream in agony as they were electrocuted by arcs of lightning from a tree behind them.
The sniper smiled at his Umbreon as he curved his finger around the trigger of his gun once more, aiming at the grunt on the left. "How lucky for us, it looks like some electric types hate Team Rocket."
The dampness on the Wartortle's neck dried up as soon as Shadow stopped his electricity. He stood behind it, feeling its body go limp before taking his paws off of its neck and letting it drop. A few more yards in front of him he could see a man in a ghillie suit with a Kanto Army patch rise and shoot two rounds into the grunts that were immobilized by Light and Bolt's electrical attacks.
Found you.
Blood surrounded the bullet hole in the bark of the tree Light and Bolt were in, with the two dead grunts below them with looks of shock and pain etched into their faces.
Bolt spoke. (Let's go to that sniper, maybe he can lead us to an army camp.)
(Okay.)
The sniper wiped sweat from his brow; already he had been doing this for at least a week, and he was pretty sure that he had at least thirty kills at this point in time. Hopefully these electric types were actually from the army…
He spotted the Raichu and Pikachu drop down from the tree, landing to the side of the corpses. Scratching his head, he looked down to his Umbreon. "Doesn't look like they're with us, Umbreon…"
(I know…) She said wearily, feeling her stomach growl a little. Neither of them had eaten in days, considering how much they had to be moving around.
The Pikachu and the Raichu began to run towards him; in turn he looked to his rifle. Did he dare try and shoot one of them for a meal?
No…they just helped me out; I can't do that and not feel like shit for doing it later.
Another Pikachu with a tuft of fur over its right eye approached from his front left. From what he could see, it was looking at him rather fiercely for one of its species. Astonishingly, he could see an unconscious Wartortle being dragged behind it towards him.
By now the other two 'Chus had stopped opposite the bush in front of him, faded marks of what looked like ink on their shoulders. In moments more, the other Pikachu had walked next to them, releasing the Wartortle's leg. The other Pikachu looked to him.
Bolt crossed his arms. (Why'd you bring the Wartortle, exactly?)
(It's still alive…I was just thinking he might get it interrogated somehow.)
Light looked to them both, then to the sniper looking down at them in curiosity. She stood on the tips of her hind toes and smiled. (Hello.)
"…Hello. Who are you exactly, just some wild 'Chus giving me and my friend here a hand?" The sniper replied, unknowing if he had actually responded correctly, considering he couldn't speak her language.
The Umbreon slid around the edge of the bush, sitting in front of them. Tilting her head, she caught Bolt's eye. (Don't I know you from somewhere?)
Thinking, Bolt hummed shortly. (If it helps, my name's Bolt.)
Curiously, Shadow saw the Umbreon look at Bolt with a look resembling shock. (Bolt…as in, Bolt…the Master's partner?)
(…That's me.) He replied nonchalantly, looking up to the sniper who was watching overhead.
Shadow could see the Umbreon's breathing rate increase slightly. From the widened eyes she had on Bolt, Shadow could tell that she seemed nervous.
(It's…It's good to meet you, Bolt. I never thought I'd actually see you with my own eyes…)
Shadow noticed her looking to himself and Light. (You're both are so lucky that you're able to travel with him…Are they learning from you?) She asked Bolt at the end of her sentence, looking straight at him with patient eyes.
Sweeping his view to them, Bolt could see Light just smile, while Shadow shrugged. (No, they're travelling with me is all. We're just wondering if there's somewhere around here where we could stay.)
(I'm not entirely sure…you could try asking my friend, but…) She spoke, looking up to the sniper with sad eyes.
"Is something wrong, Umbreon?" He whispered, crouching next to them with a pair of binoculars up to his eyes, carefully surveying the surrounding area.
Light looked to the pack that was somewhat visible beneath his camouflage. (He doesn't have a translator collar with him?)
(I'm afraid not. Unless one of you can speak human language, I'm not sure that we can help you.)
Of course, Shadow could.
He turned his view to Bolt, who was already returning with a combination of doubt and uneasiness. Shadow felt the same way, in fact; being the only talking Pikachu in the world as he knew it, it would be very detrimental to try speaking to the sniper. Considering he had been in Team Rocket, this made matters worse.
If this sniper knew about him in Team Rocket, he would probably try to shoot Shadow upon hearing him speak. On the other hand, there wasn't much else they could try…
He felt Light put her paw to his shoulder, assuring him. The Umbreon only gave them a slightly confused look. (Do you have a plan?)
At last, Bolt relented and nodded at Shadow. (…You could say that.)
Shadow cleared his throat to get the sniper's attention. As soon as he saw at least one eye turn down to him, he followed through:
"Is there anywhere around here where we could stay? Maybe where you two came from?"
Though she was just below his focus of view, Shadow could see the Umbreon blink several times, eyes wide as she drew her head back in surprise. Meanwhile, the sniper was more vocal, lowering his binoculars and staring at Shadow.
"You…you can talk?"
"Yeah. I didn't really want to, but I think I have no choice in the matter."
The sniper was taken aback even more by just how serious this Pikachu was. The Raichu on its left seemed friendly enough, and the other Pikachu also seemed pretty tranquil as well. However, this Pikachu just broke the rules about what a Pikachu's supposed to be like. He had always held in his mind that they were usually cheery little Pokémon, most of the time giving you some sort of cute smile…
This one was completely different. Not only could it TALK, but when it did it sounded more like the tone of one of his commanders when he was getting a briefing; definitely not like the happy, enthusiastic voices of what he thought all Pikachu sounded like when calm like him.
…Just what I expected…Shadow thought while waiting for the response from the man in front of them, who was silently chewing his lip under the forest-green balaclava covering his mouth.
…He probably thinks that I'm a freak…My own fault though for talking.
"…It looks like I still have a lot to learn about the world…do you…happen to have a specific name? Mine's…well, really I can't say." The sniper began anew, looking over his shoulder as if trying to spot someone.
"I understand. You can't give your real name in a war, right? So what do they call you then?"
Another multitude of questions hit the sniper, among them how this Pikachu was talking, to even if he was somehow drugged and was hallucinating. Uneasily, he also remembered the stories he had heard about a talking Pikachu in Team Rocket, and they were NOT very moralizing stories from what they detailed. Either way, he answered.
"My codename's Sentinel…now, can I know your name?"
Nervously, Shadow shifted his hind paw in the grass. Obviously he couldn't tell him his real name, being that this sniper probably heard his name somewhere. At the same time, he was trying to rack his head with names.
At random, he remembered what Bolt had said to him in his parent's burrow:
His brother's name.
"My name's…Pulse." Shadow said as matter-of-factly as he could. From the corner of his eye he could see Bolt almost give him a sharp look with a puff of his chest, but it ended up just being a shake of his head.
Sentinel smiled, somewhat relieved. At least this Pikachu's name isn't SHADOW…
"Pulse, huh? I could've sworn you might've been another Pikachu I heard about…" Sentinel said as he quickly checked the bolt of his rifle, nodding to himself when he saw a bullet in the chamber upon pulling back the action. "Do your friends have names?"
"Of course. This Raichu here is my…dear friend Light." Shadow said while motioning back to her with his paw, Light responding with a nod to Sentinel. He shifted his other paw to Bolt. :And his name's Bolt."
"Okay then. You're Light, and you're Bolt, and you're Pulse." Sentinel said while pointing to each of them respectively, correctly identifying them.
"On another note, we want to know where we can go to get to a Kanto Base. We've got to get to one quick."
Sentinel shrugged, pointing over his shoulder. "The closest outpost is northeast of here, and we'd have to get through some more Shock Squadron soldiers. Anyhow, we were going to report back there soon. Would you like to come with me and Umbreon here?"
Bolt patted Shadow on the shoulder. Turning his head, Shadow saw Bolt give a nod of approval.
"That would be great. We're with you, Sentinel."
"Sentinel looked down to the silent Umbreon at his feet, giving her a light nudge with his boot. As she looked up at him, he pointed ahead. "Umbreon, take point."
(Okay.) She responded, getting up and passing by the three 'Chus, looking over all of them with a still sense of curiosity before turning around and beginning a relaxed walk forward, ear out to the sides while Sentinel followed, his rifle up again while Shadow, Light, and Bolt followed behind…
Sorry it's late, people. I've really got to get back into the mood with these. Either way, I'm sure I'll get back into the groove and make these chapters even better. Tell me what you thought of this one!