Poke-genetics: thinking
A great pillar of light erupted ahead of her.
Surprised, she stopped for a second. This had to be where the pikachu was. She only hoped she would arrive in time to stop it from seriously injuring innocents.
Why? Why were those pokemon stepping in front of him all the time? Why wasn't he allowed to attack his enemies? They had wronged him, they had to pay!
Panting, he was trying to get enough energy to face the sandslash that was looking at him darkly.
«Step aside! » Ash yelled.
«You won't harm my mistress. » the ground type replied.
His damn «mistress» was looking at him with curiosity. Moving her curly blond hair aside, she was eying him cautiously. It was as if she did not understood why he was trying to attack her.
She was human! She was like that other woman!
She had tried to hurt him; she had sent her pokemon against him.
Samantha crunched her lollipop under her teeth. What was it with that pikachu? It was the most aggressive pokemon she had ever seen or even heard of. Every time she tried to have her sandslash restrain it, it would attack with such ferocity that her pokemon had to step back. Had it not been for his immunity to electric attacks, he would have been agoner.
«Sandslash, try Rollout! »
Her pokemon instantly curled up and started rolling toward the pikachu, not noticing that it had lowered its body in preparation.
As soon as the sandslash had approached, Ash dashed to his right and ran past him, straight toward the human girl. He jumped in the air, ready to unleash a powerful lightning bolt.
Samantha was frozen in shock. Her pokemon was way too far to help her now!
Her sandslash shouted and the pikachu's cheeks were covered with sparks.
Samantha saw a flash of light and closed her eyes.
The pain did not come.
Shocked, she slowly opened her eyes to see that the pokemon was holding his paws against his eyes, looking in pain.
«What? » the teen muttered.
«Quick, go away while he is blinded, I will take care of it from now! » a feminine voice echoed from her left.
Obedient, she called her sandslash back and ran away. She could only hope that whoever that was, she knew what she was doing.
Shooting a glance at the girl, Nurse Joy grabbed another one of the flash grenades she had brought. Her glasses shielded her eyes against the assaulting light and the pokemon had been surprised, but she had a feeling this one was not going to let her just approach her that easily.
The pikachu was on the ground, his paws furiously rubbed against his tearful eyes.
The nurse stayed in her position. She would not be fooled. The pokemon had a keen sense of smell and great ears. If she tried to sneak out behind it now, it would tackle her… if she was lucky of course.
Cautious, Nurse Joy reached for the weapon that was waiting in her briefcase.
Not cautious enough apparently, the pokemon jolted in her direction, recovering from its initial shock and growled at her. Frozen, the nurse observed the electric type, this time making sure not to trigger an attack.
A noble effort, but it was in vain.
The pikachu growled louder and lowered its body in preparation.
Instantly, Nurse Joy turned around and grabbed her hunting firearm, knowing the aggressive pokemon would immediately react. In but a few seconds, she rotated once more to face it, her weapon ready.
She felt a wave of pain erupt in her stomach and her lungs were suddenly emptied of their content. It had been too fast for her. She dropped her gun and fell backward.
Nurse Joy might have contemplated resting on her back for a couple more seconds in other circumstances. Now, she was just frantically trying to get her act together before the inevitable Thundershock aimed at her was released. Her breathing accelerated when she heard a dreadful «Pikaaaaa… » .
With a powerful push, she managed to roll over and dodge the incoming lightning bolt by a hair. As she was about to stand up, the nurse saw a glowing thunder-shaped tail moving toward her face at an alarming speed.
She jumped backward and felt the air caused by the attack brushed her hair.
The pokemon glared ferociously at the human that kept evading his attack. It was his right to avenge his suffering, so why was she not letting him hurt her? It was growing angrier as time passed on. Charging his cheeks at full power, he prepared to unleash a Thunder attack that would…
A gloved hand shoved him on the ground.
«Huh? » he thought, confused by the hit to the head he had just received.
Then, his anger returned and he struggled to break free.
But the hand was firmly maintaining his body to the ground.
«First, always cover the parts of the body that produce electricity with non-conductive material like rubber. Second, maintain the head of bipedal or quadruped pokemon to the ground, so it won't be able to stand up. » a soft voice enumerated calmly.
He tried to yell, but the glove was covering his cheeks and mouth.
«Third, before the pokemon has the chance to break free… » she continued.
He kicked the ground with his rear legs, hoping to escape or at least get the rubber off his cheeks. Ash didn't notice the movement of the nurse's other hand. It went into the front pocket of her apron. With expert mastery, she removed the safety cap and grabbed the syringe of pale green liquid.
«… inject sleep inducing medicine. »
The world faded to black.
He could hear a rumbling noise.
«Where am I? » was the first coherent thought to pass through his mind.
He could not make out his surrounding from the blur that was obstructing his eyesight.
A bump to his head made him jump forward.
«Ouch! » he couldn't help but exclaimed.
«Sorry about that, Genno. The road is not in perfect shape. » a feminine voice came from his right.
«Huh? »
His vision cleared itself, taking away the last of his drowsiness. From that, he could deduce a few conclusions.
First, he was in a car. Second, Milosia was leaning over him, as radiant as always. Third, Officer Jenny of Viridian City – or so he presumed, as he could never tell them apart – was the one driving.
«Are you feeling better? » she asked, her eyes still focused on the road.
«We found you in a trashed lab and you were crying. We were afraid you might have been injured, but you looked fine. » another voice echoed to his ears.
Of course, it would make sense for Misty to be here if Milosia was here too.
«I… I'm not sure… » his voice was shaking, as if fragile and about to break.
He did not notice, but Jenny and Misty both realized that the milotic's glow had intensified once more.
«Calm down. You are safe here. » the water type said with her soothing voice.
For a moment, the ditto stayed motionless, his gaze fixated on her. There was a mad hope in these eyes as if he was begging his mind to accept it.
But the hope was not strong enough.
«Why were you in that lab? Were you trying to hide from the battles? » the officer questioned.
Why was he in that lab? He could not remember…
His father! There was something about his father down there! What was it?
«I don't kn… »
He stopped mid-sentence, his eyes suddenly widening and Milosia's radiance gained in intensity again.
Images flashed before his eyes. He could see his father gloating in front of him, his own hand shakingly holding a gun, a corridor leading to the lab full of shadows.
«Calm down. » Milosia repeated.
Her plea fell in deaf ears. He was surrounded by shadows. They were crawling through the shadows, getting closer and closer…
«We told you not to go near that… it's dangerous…» they murmured.
That what? What did he got close to?
«That… that… egg. »
THAT EGG!
Jenny bit her lips. Genno was obviously shaking, a hand covering his right eye. The other one betrayed an intense fear.
«What is it? » she asked, absolutely certain she would not like the answer.
«We… we are all going to die… » he whispered, like a prophecy.
The officer could not blame Misty for shivering.
«What are you talking about? What did you see in that lab? » she insisted.
«Jonathan Avery wanted to prove to himself his mastery of poke-genetics. He wanted to show that he was the best. He decided that the absolute proof of that would be to… create something… with the Mew's DNA. » Genno explained, curling up on himself.
«WHAT? »
«There was an egg… it wanted to kill me… to kill us all… » he whispered darkly.
The car was suddenly shaken when Milosia jolted backward. The water type eyes' were wide with surprise. She could not heal his mind further than this.
He was entirely sane. This… was the truth.
«It was made with Mew's DNA, you say? »
She took the small nod as a «yes». Frowning, she turned slightly toward the gym leader at her side.
«Misty, can you please take my cellphone and call the seventh number in my list? »
«Surveillance team? » the red-head asked.
«Yes… and please put it on free speak. »
Without another word, Misty executed the commands. After but one ringtone, a voice answered.
«Officer Jenny? » it called.
«Yes. It's me. I suppose you have something to tell me, something important. » she began.
At the silence that followed, they guessed that whoever was on the phone was speechless.
«Ho-how did you know? »
«We've just visited Jonathan Avery's lab. » Jenny simply replied.
Another silence.
«The signature we've initially traced is… moving. »
At that, Genno's head jolted to the front of the car.
«What are you talking about? » he asked, a desperate tone to his voice.
«Who was that? » the voice asked warily.
«Don't worry, it's nothing. Just tell me the direction it's heading. »
«Actually… » it hesitated. «… it's not moving like that. It's teleporting between a few locations. »
Genno's eyes went wide and he fell back, his face expressing horror.
Noticing it, Jenny put the conversation to an end and focused her attention on the unstable teen.
«Are you going to be okay? We can stop if you wish to. » she proposed.
«No… no, we mustn't stop… we don't… have time for this. » Genno struggled to say.
«What do you mean? » both girls turned to him.
«I don't know when… but that egg will hatch! » the teen shouted, prey to a mental breakdown.
Had it not been for that panicked expression, they would have laugh. It was such an obvious statement, such an obvious thing…
Why did it have to sound so dreadful?
«What will happen then? » Misty wondered, unable to even imagine what would become of Kanto if such a thing would be allowed to be born.
«DO I NEED TO SAY IT AGAIN? » he snapped. «IF WE DON'T DO SOMETHING FAST, WE'RE DOOMED! »
The red-head jolted backward from the outburst. Trying to calm the beating of her excited heart, she put a hand on her chest and nodded to her milotic.
The peaceful effect of the water type's abilities soothed them once more.
But to no avail for Genno.
Even under the light that Milosia shone on him, his mind was dangerously close to breaking. She suspected he may never really be healed, not the point of being «safe».
An awkward silence installed itself in the vehicle, jumping abruptly between them.
It intensified just as much as Genno's trembling.
It was almost unbearable…
«Hum… who was that on the phone? » Misty asked as what she thought was her most poor attempt at a subtle conversation.
For a second, Jenny glanced at her, as if judging whether or not to talk. Images flashed before her eyes. She remembered a night where she had been a bit too drunk and a bit too sad.
Her hesitation disappeared.
«Please don't talk to the others about that, but that was Viridian City's research team's leader. »
«Why is that a secret? » Misty frowned.
«Because of what comes next. » the police officer replied in a neutral voice. «That person is currently using of one Kanto's most dangerous weapon. »
At the reveal, she gulped. Kanto's… most dangerous weapon?
«After the last plot from Team Rocket, once more involving controlling a legendary pokemon, the mayors of the different cities came to a secret agreement. »
«What agreement? »
«That this couldn't continue. Criminals sought a legendary pokemon, always finding it way before us, and a bunch of passing trainers had to save the day, which I believed you were part of at some point, right? »
Thoughtful, the water type specialist nodded.
«So, they gathered their best scientists and created something they had never attempted before, in fear of its danger: a detection system. »
This seemed to take Genno out of his stupor.
«A… detection system… » he whispered, eyes wide.
«Yes, a system made to detect and trace everything emitting the particular aura of a legendary pokemon. » Jenny said as she completed her explanation.
Now, Misty really felt like she had entered another dimension. The implications of what had been said…
«That's plain mad! » she exclaimed, having the distinct feeling of reality twisting around her. «If that system were to be used by anyone with criminal intentions, we'd be… »
«I did say that it was the most dangerous weapon we had, didn't I? » Jenny cut her off. «And there is but two persons with the knowledge of the passwords needed to started the machine and the other ones required in each step: myself and my second in command. »
This reduced her to silence.
«Among my cousins, I was chosen and the others received falsified information which they are told is true. Both Jerry and I were tested on our loyalty and our mental resistance at many, many, MANY occasions. »
«Even then… » Misty pondered.
This much power in the hands of so few. Wasn't that an extremely dangerous game the leaders of Kanto had chosen?
A soft remark from Genno made her shiver.
«Jerry… was captured… » the ditto said, a weird light hidden behind his gaze.
«Yes. » Jenny confirmed. «And he did not give any information to… her… » she pronounced that last word with an obvious hatred.
«Then, what she was tracing… » Misty started.
«…Was the egg that Genno described. It seems that Jonathan Avery really was a master of poke-genetics. He really created something akin to a legendary. »
The police officer sighted. As if they hadn't had enough already with Team Blast alone. Was this conflict ever going to end?
She shook her head, no; this was not the time to complain. It was time to make a plan and fast if they were to believe Genno.
«Okay, we don't have time to lose. We need to devise a plan to stop whatever is in tat egg from seeing the light of the day or, at the very least, stop it from going on a murderous rampage.»
The others nodded, though Genno's face was very pale.
«First, we need to summarize the situation. »
The lack of answer was all she needed to continue.
«Since you are convinced that it will kill us all if it hatches, we can safely assumed that it hasn't.»
At that, Misty frowned.
«The scientist from earlier said that the signal was teleporting between places… »
«Yes, but to use teleport, you need to have visited those places at least once before. However, the locations we were given are from all over Kanto. I doubt it could have travelled so fast if it was just a newborn. My guess is that someone else has taken the egg: Janes. »
At the mention of that name, Genno very distinctively flinched.
«Sorry, Genno. It had to be told. She was the only member we do not have the whereabouts of and, given how close she was to your father, she knew exactly what that egg is. »
Once more, Misty objected to her theory.
«But that wouldn't make sense. You didn't have the slightest idea about that egg until Genno told you and you looked at the records in the lab. »
«Indeed, no records on the creation of a creature with Mew's DNA were filed at all. We only saw some data on the properties of Mew's eggshell and something about elemental type alterations.» Jenny confirmed.
«So, if Genno hadn't known about the egg, we would have been in the dark, right? In that case, why did she let him know? If her plan was to steal it, wouldn't it be better to make sure no one knows about it? »
The fearful whisper behind her made her shiver.
«No… that's exactly what would make the most sense to her. »
«Genno is right. You've heard stories of her and you fought her, Misty, but you don't know in your guts how much of a monster she is. The answer to your question is sitting just behind you.»
The gym leader looked at Genno as if she was seeing him for the first time.
He looked… so afraid. Even if her milotic was doing her best to help him, she could easily notice the shivers that were running through his spine, the small tears forming in the corners of his eyes… and his hardened expression.
«She wanted us to cower in fear, to hide under our blankets, knowing that we were faced with complete annihilation. »
That rendered Misty speechless.
And her silence would have go on if not for the ring tone that echoed in the car.
Without thinking, she grabbed it and replied.
«Hello. »
After a few seconds, she started frowning. After a few minutes, she looked unable to calm down.
«What is it? » Jenny asked, concerned.
«I need to go to Viridian City now! »