Author's Note: I was going to wait until tomorrow to post this chapter and the next one, but since I wanted to swing by the site to send a quick PM I thought I'd go ahead and put them up now. The truth is I've been working on the story since last Saturday.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.
Chapter 3: Phase 2
Despite getting to sleep so late due to the strange events from the night before, Dawn had woken up fairly early that morning. It didn't help that all the bird Pokemon indigenous to that tropical island seemed to like to sing to each at around the crack of dawn. One of the loudest of these birds was a Chatot that Dawn saw perched outside one of her windows when she woke up that was spouting some of the more colorful four-letter words of the human language. Dawn had an already awake Piplup use is Bubble Beam attack to scare the offending bird off. With sleep no longer an option, Dawn had decided to go ahead and start the day, strange as she was sure it was going to be.
As soon as Dawn finished getting dressed, she started putting all six of her pokeballs onto her belt. The last ball she picked up was the one with the sparkling pink top, the one that contained the only Pokemon that could stand against Zwei if things got bad, Palkia. Dawn had obtained Palkia under a very bizarre set of circumstances. While investigating some old ruins on the Johto Region after learning her sister, Dusk had disappeared from there a month before, Dawn had encountered the mythical creator god Pokemon known as Arceus. For reasons that Dawn did not understand, Arceus had decided to gift Dawn with a newborn Palkia, the dragon from Sinnoh Region myth that was said to rule over space.
Dawn had learned years later that Arceus had also given her two sisters two of the other dragons of Sinnoh myth. Her sister Diane had been given a newborn Dialga, the dragon who was said to rule over time. Meanwhile, Dawn's sister Dusk had been given Giratina, the ghostly dragon who ruled the realm known as the Distortion World. Dawn still had no idea why Arceus had decided to give her and her sisters these dragons, but the one thing that Dawn did know at that moment was that Palkia was the only Pokemon she had that could match Zwei's level of power. Of course even with Palkia, Dawn wasn't sure if she could defeat Zwei in battle. During that day in Lavender Town when Dawn had her little reunion with her sisters, she had seen the original Mewtwo take down Diane's Dialga in battle. Granted, she and Palkia had already done some damage to Dialga and the original Mewtwo was more experience in battle than Zwei, but Dawn still feared that Palkia just might not be able to defeat Zwei should the worst happen.
The thought had also occurred to Dawn that she could just use Palkia to fly away from the island, but she found that she didn't want to leave. She was afraid that things with Amber and Zwei were going to get bad, and she wanted to be around in case they tried to harm Dr. Fuji or anyone else. As insane as Dawn thought the wheelchair bound scientist was; she just could leave him alone in case his newest creations lashed out at him. And Dawn knew that such a thing was a very real possibility. The original Mewtwo had lashed out at Dr. Fuji and destroyed his lab, even killing members of his staff in the process.
Dawn put Palkia's pokeball on her belt and headed for the dining room with Piplup. The blunette hoped that breakfast had at least been prepared. When Dawn arrived at the room with Piplup, she was a bit started to see Amber sitting at the table. The green-haired girl was wearing a white bodysuit that hugged tightly to her frame, along with a pair of black boots and a black belt with a square brass buckle.
Amber noticed Dawn's arrival almost immediately. "Oh! Hello there. You're the girl I saw in father's lab last night. I think father said that your name was Ms. Berlitz?"
"Uh, yeah. But you can just call me Dawn." The blunette replied as she sat at the table. "Where's Zwei? Is she in her ball?"
"She's outside." Amber answered. "Everything about this world is no new to her, and she couldn't help but go outside to take a look around. So father said that you're a Pokemon Coordinator?"
"That's right. I was actually on my way to a contest in the Kalos Region before I ended up here." Dawn explained. "So… how do you like this place so far?"
"Well, I like the house where my father and I lived before, but this place isn't so bad." Amber answered.
Amber's comment raised a red flag in Dawn's mind. Up until the previous night, Amber hadn't been outside the tube of liquid that Dr. Fuji had grown her in. How could she remember living in a house with her father?
"So Dawn, what's your father like?" Amber suddenly asked.
"Um, I don't really remember, to be honest." Dawn answered. "He died when I was very young. I do have a mom and two sisters though. My mom was a Pokemon Coordinator too."
"And are your sisters also coordinators?" Amber asked.
"No. My sister Diane is a Pokemon researcher." Dawn answered. "And Dusk, well… let's just say that she's a different kind of trainer."
"Are you and your sisters close?" Amber asked.
"Actually we've always had a little trouble getting along." Dawn admitted. "In fact the last time we met we got into a pretty big fight. We managed to patch a lot of things up though."
"I kind of wish I had sisters of my own." Amber replied. "I guess the only person who even comes close to that is Zwei."
"Amber?" a voice suddenly spoke. Dawn and Amber looked to see Dr. Fuji in the doorway. "If you're finished eating, please fetch Zwei and come to my lab. We have a lot of work to do today."
"Yes father." Amber responded before getting up and leaving the room.
As soon as Amber was gone, Dawn got up to talk to her creator. "Dr. Fuji. Amber told me something that was kind of odd. She said that she remembers living with you in another house, but how is that possible? I mean… before last night she was… in your lab."
"Yes, well… I suppose I should explain that in order to avoid certain… complications." Dr. Fuji began. "Part of Amber's 'education' included details about my daughter's life. Specifically old family videos of her that I've always kept."
"But… Amber seems to think that she really is your daughter, I mean the original Amber." Dawn told him.
"And for the time being, that is an illusion that I would like to maintain." Dr. Fuji requested. "I ask you, Ms. Berlitz, to keep the knowledge of what Amber truly is to yourself. It will be much easier on all of us if Amber believes she is the original for the time being. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to prepare the second phase of my experiment."
With that, Dr. Fuji rolled away to his lab. Dawn was left completely unsure about what to do. It didn't seem right to lie to Amber about who or rather what she really was. Then again, it also seemed cruel to simply shatter what Amber believed to be the truth. Plus there was the question of what Dr. Fuji might do to her if she went against his wishes.
Amber was sitting in a metal chair in Dr. Fuji's lab as he put a metal choker around her neck. It was made of a dark-grey metal and had a blue stone like a marble with a black mark in the middle fitted into the front. Zwei was standing across the room from Amber on a platform as Dr. Fuji fastened the choker onto her neck.
"What is this, father?" Amber asked as she touched her new piece of jewelry.
"That, daughter, is a special ring I had designed just for you." Dr. Fuji answered. "It contains a keystone, an object that is vital to my current research. And now, Zwei, it is time to fit you with your special jewelry."
"I am to be adorned as well?" Zwei asked with a quirked brow.
"Yes. Now if you will just hold still for a few moments." Dr. Fuji requested as he rolled is chair over to a set of controls in the lab. "This will not take long."
Dr. Fuji flipped a few switches and a pair of dark-grey mechanical arms came down from the ceiling. The metal pincers of the arms held a silver object that looked like a championship belt. The arms fastened the belt around Zwei's midsection. Fitted into the rectangular front piece of the belt was a large round pinkish stone.
"What is this?" Zwei asked.
"That band contains a special Mega Stone that was synthetically made." Dr. Fuji explained. "The person currently funding my research wants to know if this stone will cause you to Mega Evolve."
"I'm familiar with this Mega Evolution concept, but I didn't know it was possible to make artificial Mega Stones." Amber spoke. "Do you really think that stone will allow Zwei to Mega Evolve, father?"
"That's what we're going to find out." Dr. Fuji answered. "We're going to test this stone in battle."
"Amber and I are going to have a Pokemon battle?" Zwei asked. "Who will we be fighting?"
"My assistant, Muldoon." Dr. Fuji replied. "Among other things, he's a fairly skilled Pokemon trainer. He should be able to provide both of you with a decent challenge."
"Dr. Fuji… did you run any experiments like this with the original Mewtwo?" Zwei asked.
At this, Dr. Fuji paused. "Actually no. The first Mewtwo was a little more… independent. He left before any of my planned experiments could begin, and there was nothing I could do to stop him. Now, are the two of your ready to begin?"
"I am ready if Amber is." Zwei answered.
Amber looked at Zwei and nodded. "We're ready, father."
Dawn had decided to go out for a walk with Piplup to take a look around the island. There was nothing but tropical forest for miles around. The forest was filled with some fairly exotic Pokemon though. Dawn would've tried capturing a few of them if she had any spare pokeballs on her. As it was, she only had her old pokedex and the six Pokemon she had brought with her. Eventually Dawn and Piplup had found their way to the back the house. The area behind Dr. Fuji's mansion was a small clearing with white lines painted on the dirt. Dawn realized that the clearing had been set up as a field for Pokemon battles.
Next to the battlefield was a small wooden shed, and only seconds after Dawn and Piplup arrived the door the shed suddenly opened up. Walking out was a man who stood at about seven feet tall and appeared to be in his early forties. He was well muscled and had a thick brown beard. His outfit consisted of a short-sleeved olive green shirt with matching cargo shorts, along with black boots and a brown wide-brimmed hat that covered the top of his head. Hanging from the man's belt was a machete and four pokeballs, and around his right wrist was a thick black metal band with a round blue stone resembling a marble fitted into it.
Upon emerging from the little hut, the man noticed Dawn in an instant. "Well, well, well. Looks like sleepin' beauty finally woke up from 'er nap."
"Uh, hi. You must be Dr. Fuji's assistant, Muldoon." Dawn deduced. "Thank you for rescuing me before."
"Ah. T'weren't nothin' missy." Muldoon replied with a wave of his hand. "It's not like me to ignore a lady in distress. So, I take it yew been out exploring the island."
"Yeah. It's quite lovely." Dawn admitted.
"If ye want to so some Pokemon catchin' later, I can show yew some of the best huntin' spots on the island." Muldoon offered. "I also got some spare pokeballs yew can 'ave."
"Thanks. I may take you up on that later." Dawn replied. "It's not like there's much else for me to do here."
"Yeah… Pokemon hunting's the only good thing about this island." Muldoon told her. "It's certainly better than hangin' around my weird employer."
"So… you know about Dr. Fuji's work?" Dawn asked.
Muldoon looked her in the eye. "You've seen 'em, haven't ya missy? That girl and the Pokemon the ol' doc had growin' in those tubes? I 'ear they're up an' about now."
"Yeah. I've met them." Dawn admitted. "Amber at least seems nice. Have you met them yet?"
"No. But I'm about to." Muldoon answered. "The doc wants me to put 'em through their paces in a battle. Quite frankly, I don't know what ol' Dr. Fuji is up to, and I'd rather not ask too many questions 'bout it. All I care is that he's payin' me good money to look after his house, cook 'is meals, and test 'is little lab rats in battle."
"Ah! Ms. Berlitz. I've see you've met Muldoon." A familiar voice spoke. Dawn and Muldoon saw Dr. Fuji approaching with Amber and Zwei. "Well Muldoon? Are you ready?"
"As I'll ever be, doc." Muldoon answered as he took his place on the battlefield. "Let's get this started."
Amber took her place at the other end of the battlefield. "Let's go, Zwei."
Zwei nodded and flew out onto the battlefield. Dawn and Piplup went over to stand next to Dr. Fuji. From their new position, Dawn saw that Dr. Fuji had set up a video camera to record the battle.
Muldoon threw out a pokeball. "Go Rhyperior!"
Bursting out of Muldoon's thrown ball was an enormous creature that resembled a cross between a rhino and a dinosaur. It stood at about seven feet tall and was mostly dirt-brown in color. Red stone plates covered its chest and the back of its head like armor. On its nose was a silver drill-like horn, and there was a small silver horn on its forehead. Its tail resembled a club, and it had large forearms with long flat spikes on its elbows. The creature's hands had three thick white fingers with flat tips, and in each palm was a large hole.
"Use Bulldoze!" Muldoon ordered.
"Dodge and use Confusion!" Amber commanded.
Rhyperior roared and stomped the grounded with his right foot, sending a wave of spikes shooting up from the ground towards Zwei. The psychic feline flew up into the air before the front of the attack could strike her. Zwei's purple eyes began to glow blow, and at the same time, Rhyperior began to give off a feint blue aura. With a wave of Zwei's hand, the rhino creature was lifted off the air and hurled into a large tree next to the battlefield, breaking it in half. After a few moments, Rhyperior got back up and lumbered back onto the field, glaring up at Zwei as he did so.
"Ye'r not gonna beat us that easily, beastie!" Muldoon declared. "Rhyperior! Use Rock Wrecker!"
"Use Confusion once more!" Amber ordered.
Rhyperior brought his hands close together and small pebbles began to shoot out of the holes in his palms, mashing together to become a single floating boulder that glowed with a red aura. The rock Pokemon fired the stone projectile up into the air towards Zwei. Just before the boulder could strike though, Zwei's eyes glowed and the rock froze in midair. A split second later, the boulder shattered apart. Zwei raised her hand forward, and Rhyperior glowed with a blue aura and was slammed down to the ground hard. When the attack ended, Rhyperior was out cold.
Muldoon scowled as he called Rhyperior back to his ball. At the same time, Zwei floated back down to the ground.
Zwei's lips curved into a smirk. "That was too easy."
"Muldoon! I believe it's time to take things to the next level." Dr. Fuji decided.
"You got it, doc!" Muldoon replied as he took out another pokeball. "Go Aggron!"
Bursting from the thrown ball was a large dark-grey creature resembling a dinosaur or lizard. It stood on its hind legs and had a very well developed tail. Silvery armored plates almost resembling a mask covered its face. Growing through two holes on the plate covering its forehead were two long straight silver horns. Bands of silver armor also covered the Pokemon's legs. Four thick black leather straps covered Aggron's torso, joined together on the chest by a round greyish stone.
"Watch closely, Ms. Berlitz." Dr. Fuji told her. "You're about to see the power of Mega Evolution in action."
"Now ye'r in for it, ya test tube beastie!" Muldoon declared as he raised his right wrist. "Use Iron Head!"
The stone embedded in the ring on Muldoon's wrist began to shine with a bright light. At the same time, Aggron roared and the stone mounted on his chest began to glow as well. Suddenly the armored creature roared and glowed with a grey light. When the light faded, Aggron had taken on a new form. He had grown much larger and the bumps on his round shoulders had turned into blade-like spikes. Thick pieces of silver armor were covering his chest, waist and legs. There were also thick bands of silver armor with narrow spikes on them covering the creature's forearms. The mask-like armor covering Aggron's head had become thicker, and he had gained a set of serrated jaws and a single blade-like spike on the top of his snout. A multicolored light in the form of a DNA strand glowed briefly above Aggron's head before suddenly vanishing.
Aggron's sudden transformation caused Amber to gasp and Zwei to quirk her brow. The steel behemoth began to charge towards Zwei as the armor covering his head began to glow white, the ground shaking each time he took a step. Aggron rammed into Zwei at full force, knocking the psychic feline into a tree behind Amber. Zwei quickly recovered from the attack and flew back onto the field.
"Use Confusion again!" Amber commanded.
Zwei's eyes glowed again, and with a wave of her hand Aggron glowed with a blue aura and was thrown into the same spot that Rhyperior was thrown into earlier. It wasn't very long before Aggron got back up. The armored titan glared at Zwei as he lumbered slowly back onto the field, each step he made causing a small tremor in the ground.
"Is Confusion the only attack Zwei knows?" Dawn asked.
"The only one that's even remotely effective." Dr. Fuji answered. "Zwei is technically a newborn, after all. It will take her time to learn more powerful moves."
"And you're having Amber and Zwei battle such a strong opponent so soon?" a surprised Dawn asked. "I don't know anything about this whole Mega Evolution thing, but I can tell that Mr. Muldoon's Aggron is a really well-trained Pokemon!"
"Indeed." Dr. Fuji agreed. "But if the synthetic Mega Stone equipped to Zwei works, it should turn the tide of this battle in an instant."
"Use Heavy Slam!" Muldoon ordered.
Aggron roared and charged full speed at Zwei as he began to glow with a white aura. Before Zwei could get out of the way, the armored behemoth tackled her hard to the ground with enough force to make a small crater.
"Now follow it up with Iron Tail!" Muldoon commanded.
Aggron got off of Zwei, and before the psychic feline could fully get up her opponent struck her with a glowing white tail, flinging her back into another tree behind Amber.
After a few moments, Zwei got back up. "I… will not… lose to you!"
"Zwei! Use… use Focus Blast!" Amber commanded.
Zwei brought her hands together and a ball of blue light formed between them. When the ball got large enough, the feline fired it at Aggron and hit him in his armored chest. The impact from the blast had caused Aggron to be pushed back at least half a foot.
"Not bad, girlie!" Muldoon praised. "That attack actually did a li'l damage! Unfortunately for you, my Aggron has an ability called Filter when he's Mega Evolved like this. Filter lowers the damage from super effective moves like Focus Blast. It'll take a li'l more than what you've got to beat us."
"Zwei! Use Focus Blast again!" Amber ordered.
Zwei fired another ball of blue light at Aggron, this time hitting him in the stomach. Once again the armored Pokemon was pushed back another half a foot.
"Focus Blast one more time!" Amber commanded.
Zwei charged up another ball of light that was twice as large as the first two. The psychic feline launched it at Aggron, striking him in the chest again. This time, Aggron had almost been knocked onto his side.
"Finish it with Confusion!" Amber commanded.
Zwei's eyes glowed blue again, and with a movement from her hand Aggron was lifted off the ground and several feet into the air. With a wave of her arm, Aggron was slammed back hard into the ground, creating a crater that was at least five feet deep. Aggron suddenly reverted back into his original form and was out cold. At the same time, Zwei fell to one knee but was still conscious.
"You did well, Zwei." Amber told her. "Rest for now."
With that, Amber called Zwei back to her pokeball. Muldoon grumbled to himself as he called back Aggron as well.
"Well… the results of this first battle were certainly disappointing." Dr. Fuji remarked as he stroked his beard. "I had hoped that the close bond that Amber and Zwei developed during their conception would have caused their Keystone and Mega Stone to react. But I suppose that it will take time to truly see whether or not the artificial stone is truly effective."
"Hey doc! If ye'r done with me for now, I got some other work that needs doin'!" Muldoon informed him.
"Yes, yes. Carry on, Muldoon." Dr. Fuji replied with a wave of his hand. Muldoon walked off and focused his attention on Amber. "Now then, Amber. If you'll come with me, I need your help in the lab with another experiment."
"Do you need Zwei's help as well?" Amber asked.
"No. This is something that only you can help me with." Dr. Fuji answered. "Ms. Berlitz, if you'll excuse us."
Dawn and Piplup watched as Dr. Fuji left with Amber. After a few moments, Dawn finally decided to head back into the house.
"I have a bad feeling about all of this, Piplup." Dawn told her penguin companion. "I don't know what Dr. Fuji has planned for Amber, but I don't think it'll end well."
Author's Note: I hope nobody thought it was weird to see Zwei almost seem to lose the battle in this chapter. She may be a Mewtwo, but that was her first time in battle. Plus bare in mind that when the original Mewtwo destroyed Dr. Fuji's lab in the anime, he was only attacking a bunch of defenseless scientists. The next chapter is already up, so go ahead and take a look.
Also if you want, please review and let me know what you think.