Me: Boy this one took a while!
Verto: I hate you. This chapter sucks.
Me: Oh, whatever. It's fine. You just hate it because you look like an idiot.
Verto: That's how you made me look.
Me: Nobody will notice. Just take the reviews.
Verto: Fine. Brightclaw is back. And yeah. Total cringe. Raven refused to change it, though, despite my protests~.
Me: Shaddap.
Verto: Nope. Anyway, Knightsking, ooh! A new reviewer… let's see… yeah. Raven takes forever to write. Totally agree. Derpriest, thanks for the wild expression of your emotions. Happy to see you back, Shieldliger001. I'm sure Raven appreciates the praise. Disastrous Dwarf, I think it's a good thing this chapter did not cheer you up. Count your blessings.
Me: Thanks, Verto. Feel free to review and PM me if you have any questions about my writing! Enjoy!
Michael awoke with a start. His eyes…. His eyes felt like someone had driven a knife through them. He felt cold stone below him. He tried to move his arm to push himself off the ground, but he found they were being held together. Memories of the previous day flooded back to him. He shivered. He didn't dare open his eyes now that the bleeding had stopped. He just hoped there was no permanent damage. He felt Rachael's breathing next to him. Her feathers made for a decent source of comfort. He groaned. He was sore! His wounds from the needles seemed to have mostly stopped bleeding. You'd think they couldn't do as much damage as they did, but safety definitely was not his father's goal. He felt tears well up, causing his eyes to burn. He squeezed his eyelids further shut, and pushed the thought out of his head for the time being.
His paws were numb after spending so much time tied behind his back, and he was still stiff from the electric shock. It must have been worse for Rachael and her flying type, though. His neck felt like someone was driving a saw through it, thanks to that stupid chord. He was also pretty hungry and thirsty, despite the oran berries and water…
Rachael was still asleep beside him, so Michael put his injuries aside for later, leaned against her wing, and thought.
This was his fault. If only he hadn't been too cowardly to tell his father when this mess started, they would be here, subject to his experiments. Experiments that existed solely because he was angry. Michael put his head on his knees. The journal… His father's actions made far too much sense.
He didn't read all of it, but the things he did read… It explained everything, sadly. Footsteps. Michael shot up. Rachael let out a surprised chirp as yellow filled Michael's mind. He could still see the emotion colors…. For once, he didn't mind the colors. They pulsed brighter depending on whether or not he was facing the person feeling the emotion, so it was useful as a source of navigation since his eyes were still killing him.
The door opened. Rachael attempted to stand, only for blue of distress and pain to consume her as she collapsed on the leg his father had smashed. It was probably broken, but with his paws behind his back, he couldn't set it, much less even feel it. Rachael remained surprisingly stoic about his father walking in. There was no fear. No more sorrow. Just… determination. She was determined to survive.
The hinges on the door squeaked with effort; Rachael was abruptly pulled from Michael as she let out a squawk of surprise.
Michael let out a guttural, animalistic cry of protest, lurching after her, but to no avail. The door slammed shut. Still no fear… Michael was alone in the cage. He shuffled weakly to the window, propping his back up against the wall to the side. He squeezed his damaged eyes shut further. He knew what was about to happen… he only wished he hadn't gotten Rachael into this situation… It was all his fault. Tears, and probably blood, stung his eyes further. He felt it run down his face, the fur stiff. He must've looked like a mess…
He heard the shuffling of that chord being wrapped around Rachael's neck again. He winced, the pain in his neck feeling even worse now. Michael waited tensely. He'd lost all feeling in his arms, so he nervously shuffled his legs instead.
He heard a muffled chirp. He must be using the needles again. Michael waited for hours. Time seemed to be at a standstill. He could do nothing but wait. He was in a daze, not quite asleep, but not quite awake when things took a turn for the worse. His fur stood on end. The electricity! Surprisingly, Rachael wasn't screeching. She remained silent. Emotionless. The static that filled the room seemed to increase tenfold. A crackling sound filled the entire room. Rachael started flailing, as proven by the metal banging against something.
Then the dam that was Rachael's controlled emotions broke. In one, terrible second. Purple and blue were all Michael could see. The melancholic whirlpool was filled with Rachael's screeching. It filled the room. It filled Michael's mind. It was all he could hear. He started to tremble.
"Riolu! Riolu! Riolu!" He chanted, desperately hoping it would stop.
"Shut up!" his dad shouted. A loud bang against the table. Another renewed shriek of pain.
It was too much. Too much. Too much.
…
Finally, the screeching stopped. The colors didn't, though. Several minutes later, Rachael was thrust back into the cage with a loud thud.
"M-Michael…" Rachael muttered tiredly. "Don't w-worry… they'll… they'll find us…" Michael held onto those words as his life depended on it.
It was the only chance he had. He nodded in Rachael's direction, even though she might not be able to see it, before being pulled to the table by the neck.
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Danny and Hannah finally found Ditto in the field where they had trained. Rachael and Michael still hadn't come back yet. Hannah's injuries had time to recover slightly more, so moving didn't cause her as much pain, while Danny had found that he could run perfectly fine. It was basic motor skills like walking that gave him trouble. He had to keep reminding himself of that; to keep moving at a steady jog at the very least.
"Ditto." Hannah started, her voice was cold. Their shiny friend was in the form of a Poochyena they had just seen transform from a Ponyta.
"Hmm? 'Wazzup kid? He slurred, apparently somewhat tired still. Hannah glared at him, her odd pink antennae lifting from her hair.
"It's been two days. Michael and Rachael are still not back yet. We think they're in trouble."
"Alrighty then! Where are they? We can get the little children and take away dessert for running- "
"No!" Hannah shouted, grabbing the Poochyena, and throwing him headfirst into the nearby lake. He let out a startled yelp as he hit the water with a loud crash.
Danny chuckled, his shoulders bouncing uncontrollably from the effort to not laugh out loud.
A grouchy-looking Popplio emerged from the water, the little blue seal pokémon splaying out onto the grass. "What was that for?!"
Hannah crossed her arms. Sorry if I'm not letting you indulge in your half drunk, lazy habits while Michael and Rachael are missing!"
Ditto's eyes widened. "Woah, seriously? They're not back yet?"
"We literally just told you that twenty seconds ago." Danny deadpanned.
"Oh. Okay. Anyway, where would they be? I can warp us there." He offered, rolling over onto his back.
"They'd be at Michael's father's house. We think he's the one behind all this." Hannah shifted her weight from leg to leg impatiently.
"Huh… that's rough. Think clearly of where it is, and I'll read it from your mind as an Alakazam. You guys ready to go now?"
Hannah groaned. "Yes, yes! Now come on! Hurry up! I don't want to be finding my best friends dead because you kept moving slower than a Shuckle!"
Ditto was stunned. A shadow passed over his face. "Do you think that is a genuine risk?" He asked, behavior completely different. Hannah nodded slowly.
"I see. My apologies for my earlier behavior. Let us go." There was a white glow, and suddenly an Alakazam towered over Danny. He flinched with surprise and somehow wound up on the floor after a variety of muscle spasms. Arceus, he hoped this didn't carry over if he returned to being human.
"Talk about a heel-to-face turn…" Danny remarked snidely. Ditto glared at him.
"Here we go." Danny's vision went white.
"Ouch!" Danny barked as he tumbled to a hardwood ground. Hannah was lying next to him, wincing at her injuries.
"Wow, Ditto. That was... oof… fast." Hannah pushed herself off the ground, then lifted Danny to his feet, much to his embarrassment.
"Yes. Now come, let us find the twosome." Danny looked around. They were right in the middle of Michael's living room. He recognized the couch where the whole fiasco had started.
Hannah shot up, seeming to remember something. She dug through their large backpack. She shot a quizzical look at Danny. "Why did you pack a headband?" She pulled out a blue headband and slid it over her head, pinning down her antennae, causing them to blend into her pink highlights.
"I'll never tell," Danny told her her with a mysterious smile.
"Are you using some sort of illusion?"
"Please. Why would I drain my energy needlessly like that?"
Ditto floated to the ground and suddenly transformed into a Lilipup, sprawling out on the floor. "Alright, then. It looks like I'm not totally rested from the trigger-happy teleporting at the mountain."
Footsteps. Mr. Clark was home. Danny heard them too. His eyes widened. Thinking quickly, Hannah scooped both of the canine pokémon up in her arms and put on a smile, pulling her sleeves down to conceal some of her arm injuries.
"Hannah? Is that you?" Danny looked up to see Mr. Clark staring at them dumbfounded.
"Hello, Mr. Clark. It is a pleasure to see you! Your door was open, so I wanted to make sure everything was okay! Pardon my intrusion!"
"It was? The wind must have blown it open. It is quite all right, though, Hannah. What brings you here?" He seemed relatively normal.
"My parents finally bought me some pet pokémon! I haven't been able to get a hold of Michael, so I brought them here to try and show him. Do you know where he is?"
"He is currently out of town. He had to go somewhere out of the country to meet with some relatives about some personal things. I couldn't go with him due to work" His voice was unwavering. It was actually surprising how well he could lie.
"Oh. I see. Thanks anyway. I'm sorry for barging in."
"Don't worry about it. I'm afraid I must depart for work now, though. I have important research to do in my lab."
"Your lab is at the research facility on pokémon items, right?" He smiled.
"Yes, that is correct. I'm working on making a cheap and efficient potion to revolutionize out-of-center healing. It should really help when these two little guys get injured. He patted Danny on the head. Deciding to stay in character, he let out a happy-ish yip. Unfortunately, the muscle spasms began again, causing him to thrash mildly in Hannah's arms. Mr. Clark frowned.
"Is something the matter with your new friend?"
"He's a rescue. He has some sort of condition that causes him muscle spasms sometimes." The lying-fest continues. Mr. Clark looked puzzled.
"Muscle spasms? When do these occur?"
"Well, the vet decided it was an issue with his fine-motor skills. We don't exactly have a treatment, but he seems to do all right at things such as running or using his attacks."
"And why does he have those blonde furs?"
"Some sort of genetic defect or issue with his DNA."
Mr. Clark's eyes lit up. "Fascinating." He checked his wristwatch. "Oh dear. This chat has been pleasant, but I really must be leaving now."
"Yes, sir! I'll be leaving too! Come on boys!" She walked out the front door and set them both on the floor. "Tell Michael I said hi when you have the chance!"
"I most certainly will. Have a good day." Mr. Clark shut the door in front of him, set the alarm, and exited the house as well, locking it behind him. He then got into his convertible and drove away, Hannah turning to walk down the street in the opposite direction.
Danny moved at a steady trot, repeatedly circling Hannah's legs. Ditto grumpily trailed behind her. "Could you have been anymore patronizing?"
Hannah turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "Would you like me to?"
"Anyway," Danny interrupted. "What's the game plan?"
Hannah lowered her voice, taking on a neutral expression. "We wait until he gets far away enough, and go in."
"Why are we even searching his dump of a home?" Ditto remarked, still miffed from the "dog treatment."
"For clues," Hannah replied quietly. Danny made a small cheer.
"All right! Let's Phoenix Wright the heck out of this place!" Hannah gave him an incredulous look.
"Let's… what?"
"Y'know, snooping around behind peoples backs then using the evidence to uncover the truth!"
"I'm not the only one clueless here, right?" Ditto confirmed grouchily. Hannah nodded in affirmation.
"Come on, let's cut through the forest and take that way to Michael's house."
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A Metagross. Since when did his dad even have a Metagross? He silently stood as a sentry unit Michael could hardly sense while Michael and Rachael sat side-by-side in the cage they had grown to despise. All his emotions were odd and dull. They seemed fake. Maybe they were. His father had left them alone for a few hours to go back to the house Michael missed dearly.
Rachael filled the silence. "Metagross…" Her voice was hoarse and raspy from dehydration and abuse to her throat. "Why do you listen to him? He isn't being… uh… particularly humane at the moment."
Michael hoped she didn't hurt her metaphorical wrist backhanding that one out.
The response was smooth and monotone. "He is my owner. I must obey him. He has been my master longer than you have been alive, little Rachael."
"But… doesn't he mistreat you too?" Metagross' response was immediate.
"The odds of him eradicating me with the completion of his concoction is ninety-two point eight percent. His virus is made to target the very genetics of a pokémon, and breaking it down until nothing can remain, due to the durability of the general pokémon and their fair immune system. For now, it only targets instinctual programming, causing pokémon to rage out of their control at instances, much like the Pangoro that attacked you and the Absol at the first deployment of the serum."
"Wait… how do you know about us?"
"I can read minds."
"Oh. Well, you certainly seem knowledgeable enough to assist your master. Why have you not?"
"He has not asked me to. Likewise, I lack a means of communication with him."
"Why do you listen to him so absolutely? Why are you willing to let him do such a thing? Even if he is your master, he would be dooming the world."
"I am one of the few pokémon who does not qualify as a sentient being. I exist to serve. I mimic emotions, but do not actually feel them. Therefore, emotions do not interfere with the tasks I am given, and as of now, my task is to keep you contained in the cage."
Rachael sighed, then coughed. "Of course it is…"
Michael let out a groan and inched closer to Rachael. Any other day, they'd be beyond embarrassed at such close contact. But once you're thrown into a cold cage after undergoing painful experiments, you really don't care at that point.
"Michael" Rachael started. He nudged her wing with his arm to show he was listening. He had spent the past hour working the feeling back into his paws, and he was starting to be able to move them effectively again, despite the painful bindings.
"How are your eyes? I saw what he was doing. I'm so sorry you had to go through that twice." Michael's eyes stung more at the mere mention. He had mostly not paid attention while the needles were being jabbed into him, but now that he thought about it… his father had forced his eyes open, and despite that… He still hadn't been able to see anything.
Fear filled Michael's being. He started shaking. Rachael noticed this. "Oh… Michael… oh no… it's not… it's not what I think, right?" Michael leaned his head against her and nodded. She felt the movement. Purple fear. Blue sorrow. Yellow shock. Red anger.
The colors Michael had hated…
Were now his only sense resembling sight.
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Danny gasped at what he smelled. They had searched most of the main rooms in Michael's house after Danny located the key Michael had used to get into his house when he left his at home when they wanted to play some games there, and Hannah turned off the alarm with the combination she saw Michael input once in a similar situation.
They had found a few of Rachael's feathers, a surefire sign they had been here. They were now searching Mr. Clark's room. Immediately upon entering the room, a scorched smell assaulted his senses. It wasn't like when someone was set on fire, though. It was… different.
"What do you think caused it?" Hannah asked after Danny explained his findings.
"I don't know… but… hang on… Hannah! Show me one of your electrical burns." Hannah was confused, to say the least.
"Whyyyyy?" Danny could not blame her skepticism, though it was amusing.
"Just do it!" While giving him that "You are a very confusing entity" look Danny had grown to live for, she unrolled one of her sleeves, revealing an area of raw, red skin. Danny put his nose to it. It smelled burnt. It smelled like… the room did. His eyes widened.
He searched the room, tracing the source of the smell. He stumbled upon a tin wastebasket, almost empty, save for several gray feathers.
They were charred on the tips, and they smelled similar to Hannah's wound. His eyes widened again. He tripped over his foot, knocking over the wastebasket, dumping the small pile of feathers onto the ground.
"These smell vaguely like your electrical burns, meaning Rachael was shocked with something… maybe a stun gun? We didn't see much proof of any other pokémon being here. Other than her and maybe Michael."
"But… that would mean that man has them somewhere. But where?" Ditto asked, sitting in the doorway, recuperating from the straining teleportation.
"Wait… no… oh, my Arceus… no…" Hannah muttered, mortified at a thought that crossed her mind. Danny whipped his head around to her, half intentionally as his back leg twitched back and forth nervously.
"What?" He asked her quietly, dreading the answer.
"He said he has important research to do in his lab… what if that…" She turned her head away, covering her face with her hand momentarily and taking a deep breath, before turning back to them. "What if that necessary research involved two test subjects?"
The words, and everything they implied set in. Danny gaped.
"O-okay… let's think about this logically. We don't have too much proof it was Mr. Clark, right?" his voice wavered. "Let's at least make sure we're certain first, before we make such… horrible predictions… Sure, Rachael came in here, probably Michael too, and Mr. Clark might have used a stun gun for self-defense, then let them out. Hannah looked pensive.
"I doubt it," she finally admitted.
"Why?"
"His jacket," Hannah answered simply.
"What do you mean?" Danny snapped.
"Michael has been wearing his jacket like a cape, remember? For some reason, Mr. Clark must not have known Michael transformed. If that were true, what would you do if you found a wild pokémon in your house with your missing son's jacket?"
"I would- uh… point Hannah… Well, why didn't he alert the authorities?"
"I can't say for sure. Either Michael left some lie-filled note, he doesn't trust the authorities or he feared having his workplace searched for one reason or another."
"So we're seriously saying Michael's father is experimenting on them?" Arceus, Danny could only pray that wasn't the case. The very notion was beyond horrific.
Hannah nodded gravely.
"Then someone will have Hell to pay." Ditto remarked in an ominous voice. We're going, now. The next instant, an Alakazam stood before them. Then Danny's vision went white once more. Then he landed on the carpet. He stood up and looked around. Danny recognized it as the building where Mr. Clark worked. Ditto must have fished it out of Hannah's brain again.
The walls were beige, with multiple TVs with shameless advertising of the company on them. There was a waiting area where some people who apparently didn't work at the building lying in a waiting area with blank expressions on their face. Danny could hear the distant ring of phones as well. Strangely enough, nobody seemed to be interested in the trio that just teleported in instead of using the door like normal people. Danny turned to see a Zoroark, eyes glowing blood red, where Ditto had once been an Alakazam.
He seemed relatively calm. Or tired. "I can hold a fairly full-sense illusion for a few hours… Zoroark illusions are different than Zorua ones, so no sweat."
Hannah nodded, then looked curious. "Full sense?"
"Smell and sound, for pokémon with heightened senses. Obviously, I can't do taste or touch. I'll be tired if we're going to be here for a while, though."
"I guess we'll just need to keep our eyes peeled for when Mr. Clark leaves his lab, then sneak in and search for Michael and Rachael. Maybe find something incriminating too. Surefire proof would be useful in making me not feel like an idiot."
"So we wait?" Danny asked, sitting down by a wall where nobody seemed to walk.
"We wait." Hannah sat down. It was going to be a long day.
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Michael groaned as he waited on the table. He was shaky and weak from all the concoctions injected into his eyes. His father had mentioned something about antibodies built up to defend against the virus, but he was apparently making it stronger and stronger. Michael's arms were growing numb again, and his head was killing him. He could barely lift a muscle even if he weren't tied to a table by the throat and subjected to multiple shocks for moving. His wounds were already not getting any better, and Michael suspected it was the same for Rachael. He saw what happened to her foot before his eyes were… At least he still had the emotion colors. Danny would laugh himself to sleep from the irony if he knew how much Michael had hated them before…
His father was thinking aloud again. "Subject showing signs of negative response to serum, though nothing lethal as of yet. Other symptoms may include unique genetic mutation such as a change in fur color. The rescued Zorua Hannah had also had several blond furs despite that being nearly unheard of in the past. The Lilipup, however, showed no such signs, so perhaps the serum is not spreading as intentioned- "
Michael registered what his father had said. Hannah! Green flooded his… for lack of a better word, vision, and senses, from Rachael in the cage. She had heard it too. He saw Hannah and Danny! Ditto was probably the Lilipup he mentioned! That means they had come to look for them! They knew they were missing!
Hope blossomed in Michael's heart as a smile crept onto his lips. His father noticed this, given the sudden surge in rage. With a grunt, he triggered the electricity, sending jolts through Michael once more. It hurt just as bad the previous times, but when it was over, the cold feeling that used to remain…
Was replaced by a bittersweet glee Michael relished in.
They would be saved, but what of his father? He couldn't continue this. The prophecy Xatu had told them echoed in his mind. His father was the one… The realization hit him like a train. His father was the one Ninetales, and every other pokémon needed him to stop.
He would have to curse his own father. Yet, when the time came, could he? The answer to that… Michael could not give an honest answer.