Chapter 17
A Strange Occurrence
A/N: I apologize beforehand if the first part of this chapter is a little (or majorly) dry.
The bank of computers against the wall suddenly clicked to life. Ella and Aura tore from their hug as lights began to flash. The main monitor of one flashed and suddenly displayed Professor Oak's very old face.
"What's going on?"
"I haven't the slightest clue," Ella answered. This had never happened to her.
"Hello," Oak said through the screen. His voice seemed frail, but his spirit remained strong, almost sounding as if he were delivering a lecture. "If this is playing, then I am not able to welcome you myself. No doubt you have lots of questions, such as why such a transformation has happened to you. But if you are patient, all of them will be answered."
Ella glanced at Aura, who was looking back at her. She seemed just as confused.
"Let me begin by saying that you are not alone. Many people and Pokemon have experienced strange changes much like yours. You will meet them later.
"To answer your first question, which is most likely why you have changed, I will need to explain some history to you. Long ago, there were a people known as the Mäyto. These people's blood contained a high amount of HTR, which gave them the ability to alter their bodies at will. These people were suddenly and swiftly killed. But their abilities survived in a few ancestors in a dormant state.
"Around fifteen years ago, if my calculations are correct, the first of the Halflings began to show. These people contained both DNA of humans and a specific Pokemon species, with one side generally being slightly more dominant than the other. After careful examination, I found that most of those Halflings I encountered contained trace amounts of HTR within their blood."
Ella did some quick math in her head. If she and Oak were right, that put these strange hybrids showing up around the same time her mother had destroyed that weird crystal.
"I can only speculate as to what the HTR has done to your and the other Halfling's blood. My best hypothesis is that it destabilized your DNA because of a lack of the opposite. Your body would immediately absorb some form of DNA into your own body, thus altering your genetic make-up and creating the form you are currently in."
"But how do I fix it?!" Aura screamed at the computer.
The recording seemed to answer her. "Sadly, I have found no means of reversing the process. And I am not likely to do so before my body retires.
"If your situation has been similar to the other Halflings I have previously encountered, your acceptance into the greater society has been rough at best."
"He sure knows what he's talking about," Ella said as a side comment. Aura seemed not to hear her. She was enraptured in Oak's droning speech.
"So, in order to help those that cannot help themselves, I have created a special living environment for them. Directly below this complex is a powerful holographic projection system. This creates a special environment for the Halflings to live in. By all appearances and senses, it is a dense forest. My own food replicators provide all nourishment that they need.
"And now, I will offer you an invitation to join them. You will no longer have to be hunted or hated by humans. You will be among your own kind. If you wish to accept, the entrance is waiting."
The paneling in the center of the floor suddenly folded upward. The girls leapt to the side to avoid getting crushed. Below the floor was a stone set of stairs leading down into a fire-lit tunnel.
"You will be welcome," the recording finished. "I wish you the best of luck." Then the screen went black.
Ella's gaze lingered between the now dormant computer screen and the strange stairs. "Well, that was weird." When she looked at Aura, the girl's eyes were looking down into the darkness of the stairs. Her eyes had a strange, almost hungry look. Ella gently touched her shoulder. "What's up?"
Aura jumped lightly, almost completely forgotten that Ella was with her. "He said there were others like me. Maybe…"
"Maybe you'll want to stay?"
Aura seemed to sink that in. "I don't know. But I at least have to see."
Ella could understand that. She herself had at one point wanted someone else like her. But she'd known for a while that that wouldn't happen. At least Aura could have that chance. And to be perfectly honest, she was curious herself. "That's ok. We can go take a look around."
Together, the two slowly descended the stone steps. Flames every fifteen feet provided light. At the bottom of the thirty or so steps, it became a straight tunnel. The walls were rough and jagged, but the floor was perfectly smooth.
It continued for only a hundred yards or so before opening into a slightly larger space. Along the back wall, a gaping entrance spilled white light into the tunnel. This room contained carvings and pictures along the walls. But these didn't catch their eyes.
Standing just before the entrance on either side stood two hybrids holding long spears.
They stopped for a moment, suddenly cautious that they may try to attack. Ella took the moment to examine them. The one on the left was mostly a Raichu with a flat human face, with long curving tail and long ears. Brown fur covered his body except for his face, which was much lighter. The ends of his paws had long digits that seemed to be disproportionate to their slightly smaller arms.
The other was surprisingly human. It looked like a man that would be in his thirties, with well-toned muscles. If it weren't for the orange protrusions on his cheeks, tall blue frill on his head, or deep blue skin, he would look like any other man. Ella noted the Pokemon features and identified him as a Mudkip hybrid. Both wore strange clothing that looked like stitched leaves.
If these two were guarding the entrance, what other kinds of people and Pokemon were waiting inside?