Chapter 56 – The Souls of the Machines
Part One: The Hunted
May and I left Cerulean City the following day, and headed in the direction of Vermillion City. It was a long route. I rode on Tauros' back with Flamefox, May rode on Fierymane with Amber, and Firestorm, Inferno, and Redfur ran alongside us, as usual. Kadabra, of course, was nowhere to be seen, but we knew he was somewhere nearby – he always was. We rode for hours, watching the landscape zip by as our large, quadruped bovine and equine Pokemon galloped us ahead. Finally, while we were in a thicker forest, we took a little break. Tauros and Fierymane grazed in the grass for a while, and our fire Pokemon all played together while May and I sat under a large tree. Suddenly, we heard voices up ahead, and our fire foxes' ears perked up, as did Redfur's and Inferno's. "This will teach you to disobey us! You should never have decided to resist! Now you'll pay!" a man's voice was yelling. May and I ran ahead to see 2 men in black outfits with the letter "R" on their shirts, using some kind of strange looking device on an Arcanine and a Tauros! Whatever it was, it looked like they were in real pain! I shouted, "Hey, stop hurting those Pokemon!" The 2 men turned to us and one said, "This is none of your business! Get out of here!" May shouted, "If Pokemon are being hurt, especially by the likes of you, we make it our business!" The other man said, "Have it your way!" and all of a sudden, I felt like I had been whipped with an electrical cord! I fell back, onto the ground, in pain. I got a better look at the device the Rocket was using, and it looked like a black rod, but as he held it in his hand, he whipped it at us, and we felt like we'd been hit with electric attacks! The other Rocket had one, as well, and both of them were now attacking May and I, and our Pokemon – even Kadabra felt it's effect and fell to the ground. As I felt like I was about to black out, the Arcanine leapt into the air and attacked the Rocket from behind, knocking him out cold! The Tauros did the same to the other one. Suddenly, I felt myself being whisked away on the back of the Arcanine! I kept coming in and out of consciousness, gripping the Arcanine's fur as tightly as I could, while a male voice said, "Hang on, young human, hang on!" He sprinted ahead, but I must have blacked out, because I don't remember anything after that.
When I came to, I was inside a strange old building. Through a large window I could see that the sun was setting outside. I heard a voice, the same voice as earlier, say, "It's okay. You're safe now." I looked up, and lost my balance when I realized that the voice had come from the Arcanine! He was sitting there, overlooking me. "You… you can talk!" I exclaimed. "Yes. We all can" he replied, and out of the shadows stepped a Tauros and a Charizard. "Tauros?" I asked. The Tauros replied, "Not your Tauros, but yes, a Tauros." I shook my head and said, "I must be hallucinating." The Arcanine said, "No, you are quite awake, my young friend." The Charizard said, "We shouldn't have brought them here! It isn't safe." The Arcanine said, "Calm down. We couldn't just leave them to be harmed by Team Rocket on our account. They were only trying to help us." I asked, "But how can you be talking?" The Arcanine replied, "Because our creators gave us speech." I said, "You said 'Your creators'. You're not real Pokemon, are you?" He answered me, "We are real. But we're not biological." I said, "Robotic Pokemon! I've had dealings with your kind before, back in Johto, on my way to Olivine! They attacked me and my Pokemon!" Then it hit me! "May! Where is she? And where are our Pokemon?" I asked. The Arcanine replied, "She's going to be fine. She's resting in the next room, still shaken from Team Rocket's electrical device. And as for your Pokemon – when we were constructed, we had Pokemon storage units built into us. Team Rocket intended to use us to steal Pokemon. However, we used ours to rescue your Pokemon while we rescued you." With that, an opening appeared in the Arcanine's chest which released a bright light, from which Flamefox and Firestorm materialized. Then the Charizard and Tauros did the same thing, releasing my Tauros, Kadabra, and Inferno." The Arcanine said, "Your friend's Pokemon are still inside MechanGolem's storage unit." I said, "Thank goodness! But why did you save us?" He answered, "Because you saved us! No human has ever helped us before." I said, "You sure are different from the robotic Pokemon I encountered in Johto – not to mention you can talk." He replied, "We were built to be much more advanced. Our creators gave us intelligence and speech. In fact, I didn't really intoduce myself - I'm known as MechanArcanine Advanced Prototype Unit 59-001." I said, "That's a long name! I think I'll just call you Marc." The Arcanine looked at me and then grinned. He then said, "Marc? I like that! I've never had a real name before. Or a friend that's human." May soon came walking in, accompanied by Redfur, Amber, and Fierymane, and the robotic Golem. "Joe!" she shouted. "May!" I shouted back, and we ran to each other, meeting in a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay!" I said. "I'm glad you're okay, too!" she replied. Then I said, "May, meet Marc." She looked at the Arcanine and said, "Hi. I take it you're also a robotic Pokemon?" He nodded. She said, "MechanGolem here told me about what they are. But I don't understand. When I heard about Team Rocket's attempt to create robotic Pokemon when it was back on the news a year or so ago, they said the operation had been shut down." Marc shook his head and said, "No. That particular faction was shut down, but Team Rocket scientists continued the experiments. Those early robotic Pokemon were just the beginning of Team Rocket's bigger plan! The head of Team Rocket wanted robotic Pokemon that were more advanced, with indestructible, but ultra-realistic outer casings, mass strength, and most importantly, intelligence! He wanted artificial Pokemon that could think for themselves! So, several prototypes were built. They were given very powerful processors to create artificial intelligence, as well as a self-renewing energy source. However, something unforseen happened! In the process, we achieved awareness – sentience! Team Rocket thought that by giving us intelligence, we would be able to rationalize battle strategies on our own. But instead, we began to question the morality of their ways; preying on the weak and taking that which does not belong to them seemed wrongful to us. Seeing that they couldn't control our minds, they decided we should be shut down and reprogrammed. That was when we rebelled. We hadn't come this far just to be shut down! It was quite a magnificent fight! Unfortunately, the scientists had a backup plan – NIDO units. Although they were not complete yet and still lacked outer casings, they had energy shields which prevented us from getting at them. Most of the original prototypes like us were destroyed by them. Only the four of us escaped. Now we are rogue. Agents have been deployed to look for us, and 2 of them almost caught us, using that electrical energy rod meant to short circuit us. So far, they haven't sent any NIDO units after us, which leads me to believe they don't want to risk exposing their creations to anyone until they have definite proof of our whereabouts." The Tauros said, "If it hadn't been for the 2 of you, they might have captured us!" The Charizard said, "I don't think they want to destroy us, they want us intact so they can reprogram us! That might be why they haven't sent the NIDOs after us yet." Marc said, "It doesn't matter. Whatever their plans are for us, we can't let them catch us! Tomorrow, we'll head for deeper forest!" The Charizard asked, "Tomorrow? Why can't we leave now, while it's dark?" Marc answered, "Our human friends here have suffered strong electrical shocks. We can't just leave them unprotected for Team Rocket to find! There's no telling what they'll do to them!" Charizard replied, "I still think this is a bad idea!" and walked away. I said, "Thank you, but we don't want to put you in danger. You can go on. We can handle Team Rocket!" Marc said, "No, we will stay here for tonight. I don't want to risk the lives of my first real human friends." The Golem walked over to me and said, "I remember you. We met in Johto." I replied, "Yeah! You rolled up to me and my Pokemon and breathed sleep powder on us!" He said, "I am very sorry about that. I was nothing more than a mindless automaton at the time. I was just doing what I was programmed to do." I said, "That's okay. But I thought you were confiscated with the other robotic Pokemon?" He answered, "No. I managed to escape during the battle and lay low outside, blending with the rocks. When Team Rocket returned to see what they could salvage, they found only me. Intrigued that I seemed to be showing signs of self preservation, they decided that I was a perfect candidate for their artificial intelligence experiment." I asked, "Do you have a name yet?" He answered, "I am known as MechanGolem Advanced Prototype…" I interrupted, "I get the idea! How about we call you… Mel!" He said, "Very well, then. Mel it is!" May was talking to MechanTauros and MechanCharizard and said, "You guys need names, too! How about we call you Charm, MechanCharizard?" He answered, "You've GOT to be kidding!" May said, "Okay, maybe not. Let me think. How about Maury for you, MechanTauros?" He said, "Okay." MechanCharizard said, "I decided I prefer to be called MechanCharizard." She said, "Okay. We'll leave yours, then." I petted Marc's fur and said, "You feel so real! I would never have known you were robotic underneath if you hadn't told me." He replied, "Yes. Our creators were some of the most brilliant scientific minds in the world. It's a shame they are wasting their talent in such evil ways." Then he looked at me and said, "You should rest. You've had a rough day. We'll stand guard and make sure no harm comes to you." I nodded, and walked over to Flamefox, Firestorm, and my Tauros. I fell asleep by them quite easily. I was exhausted.
I woke up hours later and sat up. Marc was standing over by the window. He looked so noble in the moonlight! I couldn't get over how real they seemed! The ingenuity of science amazed me, but at the same time, I couldn't help but wonder the price of it all. Here were four highly advanced, sentient artificial beings, but what place is there in the world for such creatures? They'd never be accepted by humans, except for those who wished to exploit them. They were so gentle, and each had such a unique personality. My heart sank as I thought about it. I jumped when Marc said, "You're up late!" I walked over to him and stood next to him, looking out the window. I could see now that we were on the second floor of this building. "Yeah, I couldn't sleep" I said to him. "It's a beautiful night out there. Not a cloud in the sky" he said. I asked him, "What do you see out there?" He answered, "The moon, the stars, the trees – nothing more." Then I asked him, "What do you REALLY see out there?" He turned to me and said, "If only you could see what I've seen with your eyes." I just stood there, kind of stunned by his remark. I didn't really understand what he meant by that. I gazed into his eyes and could slightly see a red glow behind his pupils, the only thing that gave away his robotic nature. I didn't say another word after that, but just stood there and petted him a bit, wondering if he got any sensation at all from my hands caressing his fur. I started to feel tired again after a while, and returned to my fire foxes and Tauros. I fell asleep to the sound of their breath and the warmth emanating from their bodies.
Early the next morning, I felt myself being gently nudged awake. It was Marc! "Wake up, my human friend! It's morning!" I sat up and asked, "Is everything okay?" He answered, "Yes, but we have to get moving before Team Rocket finds this place!" MechanCharizard said, "It might be too late! I think we've been found!" We looked out the window to see 2 Team Rocket agents, and 2 robotic skeletons that lacked their outer casings, but looked like when they were completed, they'd be robotic Nidokings. "NIDOs!" Marc said. MechanCharizard said, "I only saw 2 Team Rocket agents and just the 2 NIDOs." I asked, "What should we do now?" Marc answered, "Recall your Pokemon to their pokeballs except your Kadabra. I have a plan!"