The rest of the day went by quickly. Orange and Violet accompanied Red and Maggie to the movie theater to make it a double date, where they all had a good laugh at the stupidly bad special effects of Nidoking Kong They went back to the Pokémon Center afterwards for dinner, as the movie theater poptwos didn't exactly constitute a filling meal. Afterwards, Red walked Maggie back to the Gym, where they bid each other good-bye. Red promised to see her again, which made Maggie smile.
The next morning, Red was in an extraordinarily good mood. "Wow, Red," remarked Orange as they met in the Pokémon Center's cafeteria for breakfast. "You're in a good mood today."
"And why shouldn't I be?" grinned Red. "I only had myself the time of my life yesterday, and today I just might learn how I got to Tanko in the first place!"
"Alright, then," Violet stated as a Chansey arrived to bring them their meals (they had all ordered whole wheat zero toast with six jelly, and Red and Orange were splitting a side order of fried nines). "After breakfast, we'll head on over to the lab."
"As I'm sure you both can guess, I have no objections," Red stated.
"Then we're all in agreement," nodded Orange as he dug in and started on his half of the fried nines.
Bincanar Labs looked more like a normal building than most other structures in Tanko that Red knew of. The outside walls looked to be made mostly of steel, though the windows appeared to be rows of empty test tubes stuck to each other. The doors, however, were a pair of jumbo-sized Game Boy Pockets. Brimming with anticipation, Red pushed the double doors open, and strolled inside.
The lobby was fairly small, with black and white floor tiles creating a checkered pattern. With Orange and Violet following, Red strolled over to a wooden desk at which was seated a young receptionist.
"Welcome to Bincanar Labs," she greeted the trio. "What is your business here?"
"My name is Red Vershunn," Red replied. "And I am from the Kanto region."
A stunned silence followed this statement as the receptionist blinked in surprise. "You're serious?" she asked, though her voice lacked any semblance of skepticism- it sounded more hopeful than anything, and she smiled as Red nodded. "Well, in that case, Red, you'll want to head on down to Room 3," she said, pointing down a hallway to Red's right. "Last door on the left. The scientists in there will want to speak with you."
Red nodded, thanked the receptionist, and led the way. The hallway really was quite short, and there were only three doors. Not even Orange could have gotten lost trying to find Room 3 in this place. As they approached the door labeled "Room 3", Red gently pushed it open.
Inside the room, there stood a pair of men in lab coats, reading over papers which were spread out all over a metal table. As Red, Orange, and Violet entered, they both looked up.
"Ah, and who might you be?" asked one of the scientists.
"I'm Orange McPixel," replied Orange. "This is my girlfriend, Violet Scramble, and this here is Red Vershunn. From Pallet Town. In Kanto."
At these last two sentences, the scientists gasped and exchanged excited glances. "Kanto?!" they exclaimed simultaneously. "Come in, come in!" said one of the scientists, ushering the three trainers inside.
"You see, myself and my colleague here, we have been hard at work, very hard at work, to forge a link between Tanko and Kanto," explained the other scientist as he hurried over to a machine. "And I am thinking now that we may have just what we need- the DNA of a Kanto native!"
"Wait, what?" Red asked nervously.
"Oh, no, no, no, it is not something with which you should be concerned," the first scientist reassured him. "All we will be needing is something minor. A strand of hair would be sufficient."
"But first," the other scientist put in, "would you mind terribly if you were to relate to us the story of how you came to be in Tanko in the first place? What you remember of what happened, I mean?"
At this, Red launched into the story- how Professor Oak had taken him and Blue to the Safari Zone, how Red had been put to sleep by a Venonat's Sleep Powder, how he suddenly heard voices in his head when he was trying to find Professor Oak and Blue, and how he had passed out from the relentless noise and woke up in Talpel Town. The scientists were very quiet following Red's story. "…You guys believe me, right?" asked Red.
They nodded simultaneously. "Not only do we believe you, Red," said one of the scientists, "but your story in fact fits in with our theory, based on an old, nearly forgotten legend."
"Legend?" repeated Red, Orange, and Violet simultaneously.
The other scientist nodded again. "See, it is said that long, long ago, travel between the Tanko and Kanto regions was very much possible. There were designated portals scattered throughout the two regions. You walk through one, you end up in the other region. But the people of Kanto, they were scared of the Pokémon native to Tanko. They feared them, simply due to their differences. So the people of Kanto tried to stage an attack on Tanko, to destroy what they saw as abominations. This incurred the wrath of the slumbering legendary Pokémon, p T." At this, Red took out his Pokédex. On the screen appeared a pale white cube-shaped creature with three large vertical black bars going down its front. Sparse black markings could be seen between the bars.
"p T, the Behemoth Pokémon," droned the device. "Its immense power is spoken of in legend. Said to slumber deep underground, where its occasional tossing and turning causes earthquakes."
"That's the one," the first scientist nodded. "According to the legend, p T was able to drive off the attackers, drive them back to Kanto. Then, p T destroyed all traces of the portals in Kanto, though left the Tanko portals intact, as they had been constructed with greater care, and could not be destroyed. Now it is said that if anybody steps into one of these inactive portals, they are merely stopped where they stand."
"Freeze arches!" exclaimed Red, Orange, and Violet simultaneously.
"We think so, very much, yes," the other scientist replied. "But it is also said that p T forgot to sever one link between Tanko and Kanto. There were these open fields, one in Tanko, one in Kanto. If you went to sleep in one, you would wake up in the other. Unfortunately, our research has never once turned up any sort of indicator as to where these fields would be in modern times. But now, based on what we know of Kanto, plus Tankoan geography, this narrows things down considerably- now we have reason to believe that the field which would enable access to Kanto is the Fight Zone in Chufisa City!"
Red, Orange, and Violet exchanged glances. "It's closed at night, so I guess nobody would really have been in a position to find out for themselves," Orange stated.
"This is very good for our research!" the first scientist exclaimed excitedly. "Professor Redwood was right, the Red lad was very helpful indeed-"
"Wait a minute, what?" said Violet suddenly. "Professor Redwood said what?"
"Oh, yes," nodded a scientist, who was currently dialing a number on a nearby videophone. "Not very much long ago, he got into contact with us- he helps us with research whenever he can, you see- and informed us that a young boy from the Kanto region was headed for Bincanar Island, and that he would be of help in our research. Now, would you say you have adjusted well to Tankoan everyday life?"
"I'd have to say that," nodded Red. "I love it here, to be honest. I was weirded out at first by the way everything looked, and by some of the Pokémon, but I gotta say, I've enjoyed myself immensely."
At that moment, a voice could be heard from the videophone- it was Professor Redwood. Red, Orange, and Violet walked over until they were right behind the scientist conversing with him.
"Ah, Red! Violet! Orange!" exclaimed Professor Redwood, just as pudgy and balding as Red remembered him. "I see you've all made it to Bincanar Island. Now, first off, I owe you an apology, Red."
"What for?" asked Red.
"Truth is, I could've arranged for transport for you to Bincanar Island, no problem," admitted the professor. "This could all have been taken care of last week. But I wanted you to explore the region, instead. See, these fellas here, part of their research involves finding out whether it's possible for a Kanto native to adjust to life in the Tanko region. I would've told you, only they claim it would've interfered with their research if you knew."
"Professor," grinned Red, "you got nothing to apologize for. I've had the time of my life here! I have a team of amazing Pokémon, I made two very good friends, and I'm going out with Orange's cousin Maggie. I- OW!" he exclaimed suddenly as a scientist plucked a strand of hair from his head.
"Sorry," the scientist nodded as he opened up a panel on the side of the machine he was working with earlier, which resembled another videophone. "Just give me few minutes here," he added as he leaned over and began tinkering with the machine's innards, along with the hair he had taken from Red. "Aha," he said suddenly. "I think we have something!" Excitedly, the scientist punched in a phone number, and Red's jaw dropped as he saw who picked up on the other end- a somewhat elderly man with grey hair. He wore a lab coat like Professor Redwood's, but was much thinner than he was.
"Hello?" Professor Oak said as he saw the jubilant scientist on the other end. "Who is this- Red?!" he exclaimed as he suddenly noticed the trainer in the background.
"Professor!" grinned Red as he ran over to the machine. "How've you been?"
"Never mind me, boy, what about you?" asked Professor Oak. "Nobody's seen you in over a week!"
"It's a long story, Professor," Red stated. "But I'm perfectly fine."
"But where are you?" asked Oak.
"Excuse me," called the voice of Professor Redwood. Taking the cue, the scientists turned the two videophones to face each other. "Professor Oak, I presume? Allow me to introduce myself- Professor Omar Redwood. I'll be happy to shed some light on the situation. Now, from one professor to another, do you believe in the notion of parallel universes?"
As Professors Redwood and Oak talked to each other, Violet and Orange turned to Red. "Wow, so Red, if these guys got things right, then you could return to Kanto just by going into the Fight Zone and taking a nap!" exclaimed Orange.
"Yeah," sighed Red. "It's pretty cool to know there's almost definitely a way back if I want there to be. "Still… I like it here," he smiled. "I can't see myself going back to Kanto for a while."
Before long, the scientists put Red back on with Professor Oak, who seemed reassured that Red was safe. He still didn't fully understand about the Tanko region, but was fascinated enough by the idea that he requested that the scientists stay in touch with him. Once the call was terminated, Red found that he was hungry. At Violet's suggestion, the trio made their way back to the Pokémon Center for some lunch.
"Well, how do you feel, Red?" asked Violet as they enjoyed their even number salads. "You got the answers you were looking for. Probably feels pretty good, right?"
"It does, yeah," nodded Red. "I wasn't banking on it involving some old legend, but it's still nice to finally have some answers. So, where to now?"
"Maggie said the nearest Gym is the one in Ivadirin City," replied Violet. "We should go and see if it's opened back up yet. If not, we'll ask around, see if there's another Gym we missed somehow, We need eight badges to get into the Pokémon League, after all."
"How will we get there?" asked Red.
"We could fly there," suggested Orange. "Fearow and Dodrio know Fly, and I'm sure Skelefly can learn the move too." Violet shuddered at this suggestion.
"Orange…" she murmured.
"It'll be fine," he reassured her. "You trust Skelefly, don't you?"
"Yeah," murmured Violet.
"Yeah, so Skelefly's not about to drop you," stated Orange. "Besides, even if there was anything to worry about, Red and I would be right there with you to help.
Violet gave a great sigh, and remembered that things worked out when she had to ride Fearow with Orange back in Fansfor City. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as she was thinking it'd be. "Very well," she stated. "I'll give it a shot."
"All right," smiled Orange. "Have I ever steered you wrong before, Vi?"
Violet opened her mouth, but closed it after a second. "Too easy," she chuckled.
After lunch, the trio headed off. First, Red insisted on going back to Bincanar Gym to say good-bye to Maggie. Again, he reiterated the promise that he would see her again. Maggie replied, stating that she would be attending this year's Pokémon League competition, and that she was hoping to see him there.
After that, they went down to the beach. Red sent out Dodrio, Orange sent out Fearow, and Violet sent out Skelefly. Violet then dug out her HM02, and once Skelefly had learned Fly, all three trainers climbed on their respective Pokémon's backs.
"Fly!" they all called out simultaneously. Instantly, Fearow and Skelefly flapped their wings, and two of Dodrio's heads faced down, their beaks expelling rocket exhaust. All three avian Pokémon rose into the air, carrying their trainers on their backs, and on Violet's command, headed north.
Flying was much faster than Surfing, Red quickly realized. It didn't take them much more than ten minutes to cross the vast stretch of sea between Bincanar Island and Talpel Town. They passed over Route -1, where Red could see a swarm of .4 zipping around in every direction above the trees. Then, they looked as Ivadirin City came into view- and did a double take.
"What the hell?!" exclaimed Orange as the trio of Pokémon started their descent. For scattered all over the city, there were numerous Team Error and Team Debug grunts duking it out with each other in Pokémon battles.
"Yeah, this can't be good," Red frowned as they climbed off their Pokémon. Nearby, there were four very familiar faces engaged in battle.
"Poliwrath, Mega Punch!" exclaimed Will.
"Ninetales, Take Down!" bellowed Lou.
"pPkMnp, Sludge!" commanded Jeff.
"7g, Double-Edge!" ordered Larry.
"Oh, come on!" groaned Orange loudly as the grunts' Pokémon all fought each other. "Why is it you clowns show up wherever we go?!"
"Not that it's any of your business, twerps," growled Jeff, "but Team Error's plans are finally about to come to fruition! Every member of Team Error was summoned here today to witness the unveiling of the boss's grand master plan! Only thing is, these Team Debug goofballs happened to choose here and now to do something similar!"
"Who are you calling goofballs?!" roared Will. "We, Team Debug, were called here to Ivadirin City! Our boss is gonna unveil our master plan today!"
"OK, stop it!" exclaimed Red suddenly. "We're not gonna get anywhere like this! Fighting you goofballs has never done anything to slow you down! We're taking this directly to the top. Where are your bosses?"
"Hah!" snorted Lou. "As if we would tell you that the esteemed boss of Team Debug holds an important job in Ivadirin Gym- OW!" he exclaimed as Will slapped him in the head.
"Idiot!" exclaimed Will. "What are you going and revealing our boss's whereabouts for?!"
"What? I didn't do that- oh, wait, yeah, I kinda did do that, didn't I?" murmured Lou. Will facepalmed. "Well, who says our info's right, anyway?" he added suddenly. "We ain't never even seen the boss, we just get our orders by way of phone calls!"
"Yeah, well, your boss ain't that smart," sneered Larry. "Working in the same place as our boss. And he keeps a low profile, too, so odds are your boss won't recognize him until he strikes! OW!" he exclaimed as Jeff smacked him in the head.
"You're no better than those bumbling goofballs!" Jeff snapped. "Now these twerps know how to get to the boss! Well, we ain't gonna let them get away-"
"Yeah, they're gone already," Larry interrupted. Jeff turned around to notice that Red, Violet, and Orange had all made a run for it, and proceeded to swear loudly.
"Finally, we're gonna make some progress here!" Orange exclaimed triumphantly as they ran past the feuding bad guys, past the Arbok who had a pPkMnp trapped in its coils, past the Pinsir trying to withstand a .4's TM28, past all the pairs of battling Pokémon. "Red, you're right- just battling the grunts isn't doing any good. If we want to make real progress in taking down these slimeballs, we gotta go to the top!"
"I wonder why both of their bosses work for this town's Gym Leader, though," Violet wondered out loud. "Maybe one of them is the Gym Leader."
"That'd be weird," chuckled Red as the Ivadirin Gym came into view. They slowed down to a walk as they approached the mass of roofing tiles which constituted a pair of double doors. Still attached to the doors with duct tape was the note explaining that the Gym Leader was away on business. Ignoring this completely, Orange pushed the doors open with great force, revealing the well-lit interior of the Gym. A simple dirt battlefield made up the vast majority of the floor. And to their astonishment, only one other person was in the room, and that person was standing on the other end of the battlefield, smirking at the trio.
"YOU!" exclaimed Red in shock.