Chapter 44 - Simple Madness

"Ziggy!"

Everything hurt.

"Ziggy!"

No, wait…everything felt numb?

"Ziggy, please wake up…"

Such a weird mix of pain and numbness. A feeling of being unable to wake up, unable to move.

"Ziggy!"

Suddenly jolted to his senses, Ziggy's eyes shot open wide and he gasped in shock. His breath came in quick gasps for a moment as he tried to make sense of where he was and what was happening. Panic gripped him so hard that his vision was blurred, but he clenched his eyes shut and caught his breath. When he opened them again, he saw where he was.

He was still in the same place. He was in the secret underground lab that he'd discovered, the place where he had been kidnapped to. He was, however, on the opposite side of the room now. There were still Pokémon milling about working on various things here and there, though they seemed slightly more serious or stressed out now. Even though Ziggy knew he was in plain view of them all, not a single one looked in his direction.

A spike of pain shot through the back of his head for a split second. He groaned in distress and tried to lift up his paw to hold against the sore spot. However, he found that he couldn't. When Ziggy glanced down, he saw that his two forepaws were bound together by thick, tough rope. His hind paws also shared the same fate. Ziggy frowned and deflated slightly on the spot. "Not again…" he mumbled. He then also noticed that there was more rope leading from his bound paws. He followed where it led, and he saw that he was effectively tied up to a pole or beam of some sort attached to the wall.

In doing so, he also caught sight of who was sitting beside him on his left, and he remembered that someone had been calling his name to wake him up.

"…S-Sparks?"

The Raichu was sitting next to him, looking down with a worried but slightly relieved look. Ziggy could see that his forepaws and hindpaws were bound as well, but his long tail was also tied into the bundle around his hindpaws. He also had some sort of thick, bulky collar around his neck.

"You okay, buddy?" Sparks asked him, "You wouldn't wake up for a bit, there…"

"U-uh…I'm fine, I think…" he mumbled. The ramifications of this hit him a moment later, and a sickening aura of fear came over him. "I…I got caught, didn't I?" he mumbled, "A-and…they caught you too?"

Sparks grimaced. "Yeah…" he bemoaned.

Ziggy then gasped. "Wait… But that means…" When he turned around and looked to his right, he saw Rico sitting there tied up like the rest of them. The Riolu wore a particularly venomous glare and was lightly struggling against his bonds. "Oh no…" Ziggy whispered.

He gasped again when a fourth figure, who was seated on Rico's opposite side, suddenly leaned forward. "T…Terry?" Ziggy blurted out, "You too?"

"H-hey, Ziggy…" Terry murmured, a hint of fear in his voice. All four of the quadruped's paws were tied in a single bundle, forcing him into an uncomfortable-looking sitting position. Even without getting a full look at him, Ziggy could tell that Terry would end up awkwardly sprawled on the floor if he lost his balance at any point.

Dread seeped in. All four of them had been captured and tied up.

"Ugh…" Rico spat, "Can't believe this…" He struggled against his bonds more rigorously for a few seconds, but they held tight.

"S…Sparks?" Ziggy murmured, turning to look back at the Raichu.

Sparks looked down at him, looking both worried and saddened. He sighed and said, "Hilo probably knew what was up pretty quickly…"

"Why? What happened…?"

"We were wrapping up, but then we got the message to stall for time. I couldn't think of anything good, but Rico put on his young scamp's voice and asked where the lab got its name. Hilo said it had a very interesting story behind it…and then seconds later a heavy metal shutter came down around all of the windows and the door. The lights went out, there was a struggle where I have no idea what happened, and then we found ourselves like this."

Ziggy gulped. "Wh…What's that around your n-neck?"

"Electricity inhibitor," he replied, "Keeps me from using Thunder Wave."

"I heard the shutters go down," Terry spoke up, causing Ziggy to turn back to him, "Like a big metal shield coming down around the whole lab. Then something knocked me out. Still got a bump on the back of my head. I have no idea how I got in here…probably a Ghost- or Psychic-Type dragged me in…"

"Tch…" Rico grumbled, "I shouldn't have agreed to leave you alone…"

"It's okay, Rico," Terry replied calmly, "It's my fault. I got distracted by the shutter and wasn't paying attention."

"What happened to you, Ziggy?" Sparks asked.

"I…I don't know… It just felt like…tons of little needles in the back of my head and then I blacked out…"

"Sounds like a Ghost-Type attack," Sparks remarked, "Hilo definitely has ghosts working for him…"

Ziggy frowned. "I got all the way down here…nobody saw me…" he muttered softly, "and then it happened right at the end, right as I was about to get out, right as I saw…" There was pause when the memory hit him, causing him to look up and gaze at the far side of the room. "…When I saw the Nihilego."

Everyone else turned and looked as well. Just as it had been before, the Nihilego was resting in its glass enclosure, floating lazily and in full display. Ziggy couldn't help but shiver again upon seeing it.

"You were right…" Sparks commented, "You were definitely right. I'm looking right at it and it's still hard to believe. The Nihilego is just…right there."

Rico growled quietly. "That thing nearly ruined my life…"

"What's it doing here?" Terry asked to nobody in particular.

Ziggy gulped. "I-I-It can't get us from in there…r-right?"

"Looks like really thick glass…" Sparks commented warily, "and it hasn't done anything except hover since we've been here so…I don't think so."

For a short while, Ziggy found himself unable to look away from the mysterious creature. Even as his thoughts moved elsewhere, he was afraid to let the Nihilego out of his sight for even a second. A dizzying feeling of fear swirled in his head, knowing the situation he had ended up in. He'd been caught and he'd been tied up. Although, he knew this was much worse than getting caught trying to steal food from someone's house.

He was also hit with an overwhelming feeling of guilt, knowing that he wasn't the only one who was tied up down here. Some of his closest friends had gotten captured because of his own failure. Now they were all in danger, all because he had stupidly decided to take a huge risk and venture into the basement on his own. There was a heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach and he felt like he was going to throw up.

Finally, Ziggy managed to tear his terrified gaze away from the Nihilego and instead looked at the Pokémon who were moving about the lab and working on stuff. "What…What're they gonna do to us…?" he asked nervously.

"We don't know…" Sparks replied.

"They won't answer us!" Rico said, shouting the last two words.

"Rico!" Sparks scolded, and then looked down at Ziggy again. "We keep trying to talk to them, but they hardly even look at us. They just keep doing what they're doing and pretending we're not even here. They probably all work for Hilo and are waiting for whatever his orders are."

Ziggy gulped again, and turned to look at Sparks. He noticed something as he did and gasped. "Sparks, your badge!"

"They took them. None of us have our badges anymore."

Indeed, Ziggy looked down at his own fuzzy chest and saw that his badge was missing. There was a pang in his heart that was probably much worse than it deserved to be, but Ziggy couldn't help it. He had worked so hard for that badge. To have it be taken away from him in any way hurt him on deep level.

"So, we can't contact the others…" Sparks added.

"What about Jules and Tora?" Ziggy asked.

"Shhh…" Sparks replied quickly, and then whispered, "We don't know. All we know is they're not in here with us."

Ziggy, quivering slightly, turned away and looked at the Pokémon in the lab again. They were all moving with purpose in whatever task they were doing. A lot of them were writing stuff down or sorting through papers. Despite the nefarious appearance of this whole thing, these Pokémon still did look and act like scientists. These were the evil Pokémon that had kidnapped them all and were holding them hostage?

He glanced over at the encased beast again. These were the Pokémon secretly doing…something with the terrifying Nihilego?

"Wh…What about Ghost-type guildmembers? Or Psychic-types who can use Teleport…?" Ziggy asked.

"They would've gotten in here already if they could have," Sparks replied, "There's likely a psychic shield or something like that around the building. Exactly the reason why we couldn't let a Ghost-type do the infiltration in the first place."

Silence reigned for a moment. Finally, Ziggy looked up at Sparks again. "S-so…What do we do…?" he asked in a meek little voice.

Sparks cast a regretful gaze off to the side. "I…don't know."

"You d-don't…?"

"I won't lie, Ziggy…this is bad. This is really bad. This is exactly what I was afraid of by letting you sneak in here, but I never expected all four of us would end up down here with you… With the shutters closing around the building, I have to guess the place is in some sort of lockdown. Even if our guildmates on the outside know that we're in trouble, they probably can't even get in." He closed his eyes and shook his head sadly. "I never should've let you go through with this, Ziggy."

"I'm sorry…" Ziggy moaned softly, "I screwed everything up. This is all my fault…"

"No, Ziggy," Sparks replied sagely, "It's all our faults. We were too ambitious. Too risky. We've been starving for answers about the Nihilego for months. So when your memory came back and we finally got some, we got too excited."

Ziggy whimpered quietly and cast another worried gaze at his surroundings. He had learned plenty of ways to escape from tricky situations in his life. There was a reason, after all, that he wasn't still tied up to a post and painted orange. However, he was struggling to see a way to get himself and all of his friends out of here and to safety. Rico and Terry both fought with physical attacks, so they would be unable to do much of anything while tied up, and Sparks couldn't use Thunder Wave with the collar that had been put on him. Ziggy knew he could probably still use Water Sport or Water Gun, but what good would that do aside from making all the scientists angry?

He couldn't keep himself from shivering. Sparks was right; this was bad.


It felt like a whole hour had passed.

Nothing much changed during that time. Sparks continued to sit there, tied up alongside his three guildmates, while the scientists did work and refused to acknowledge them. The wait for something to happen was agonizing.

Sparks glanced over at the creature in the glass enclosure. At the very least, the Nihilego hadn't done anything besides float in place the whole time.

He then looked down at Ziggy, who was seated next to him, and felt a pang in his heart. The Buizel looked terrified and miserable, harkening back to the way he so often looked when Sparks had first met him. The Raichu was still berating himself for allowing Ziggy to take on this dangerous mission. It hurt him so much to see Ziggy tied up and in danger like this. Glancing at the other two tied up Pokémon only made his heart ache even more, seeing the two young mates who had just started their newly-joined life together.

'We have to get out of here…' Sparks thought, 'Even if we can't deal with the Nihilego, we have to just get out of here and get to safety. Or…at least…' He gave the other three a forlorn glance. 'At least…I have to get them out…'

"Hey!" Rico suddenly shouted.

Sparks perked up and looked over at the Riolu, who wore a venomous glare. He followed Rico's gaze, and saw that someone new had just come down the stairs and entered the secret underground lab.

"You…!" Rico growled.

The lab coat-wearing Inteleon only cast the quartet a brief glance before immediately making his way over to the Nihilego's enclosure. Dr. Hilo, the Pokémon who was apparently behind all of this, had finally arrived. Sparks felt his blood start to boil.

"Quit ignoring us!" Rico shouted, "You'd better let all of us go if you know what's good for you! You can't keep us tied up down here like this! One way or another it's gonna come back and bite ya, so you might as well give it all up now."

Hilo still didn't respond and just continued to write down some more notes while studying the screens around the Nihilego enclosure. Rico continued to verbally antagonize him until eventually Sparks told him to quiet down. Minutes passed by and Hilo remained over by the enclosure, occasionally talking to other Pokémon nearby.

Then at long last, Hilo put down the clipboard and finally turned around to look at them directly. He approached the group, a somewhat disdainful look on his face, and said, "You know, it is quite rude to interrupt someone while they are working…"

While Sparks was struck silent by his odd statement, Rico immediately launched into a string of harsh profanity-laden shouts. Sparks shut him up again, and then looked up at the Inteleon. He put on a serious expression, hiding any fear or weakness as best he could. "Hilo," he spoke in an almost professional tone, "I don't know what's going on here exactly, but please be smart about this. Kidnapping us, holding us against our will, this is only going to end badly for you. It won't take long for our friends at the guild to know we're in trouble."

"Oh," Hilo replied dismissively, "I'm already well aware that they know you're here. There's quite a buzz outside of the protective shield, I tell you. Thankfully it's quite soundproof, so none of that rabble will get in…"

Sparks' ears drooped. Hilo had just confirmed that the whole building was under some sort of lockdown and it was likely nobody could get in. "Why?" Sparks asked, "Why are you doing this?"

"My friend, you should have thought about that before staging an invasion of my private business." He then sighed softly. "I knew this day would come eventually, but a pity it couldn't have waited just a little longer…"

"What 'private business' has a secret evil underground lair?" Terry spoke up.

Hilo eyed him critically and said, "'Evil'? Now that's rather rude, don't you think?"

"Cut the crap!" Rico shouted, "You've got a dangerous alien creature which has been tormenting the city locked up in a room only accessible through a secret entrance. If you don't wanna get into way more trouble than you're already in, you'd better tell us what the hell is going on here."

"Dangerous alien creature?" Hilo replied innocently though with a hint of a playful smile. "Oh, of course, you are referring to the beautiful UB-01 Symbiont."

"Simba-what?" Terry asked.

"Or 'Nihilego', I suppose. Not the name I would have come up with, but I suppose it's a fine enough name…" The Inteleon then glanced over at the creature in question and grinned. "Truly a beautiful sight…"

Sparks looked up at Hilo in confusion. He found it strange to hear the scientist speak of the Nihilego in such a reverent tone. It raised so many questions in his mind, as well as plenty of red flags. "So…" he spoke, slowly and carefully choosing his words, "it's you. You're the one behind all of this…"

Hilo turned back to him, wearing a look of genuine confusion. "What do you mean? Behind what?"

"You're the one behind the Nihilego."

Hilo looked befuddled for a moment, and then shook his head. "That is a rather…vague statement, you must admit. Given your 'evil' comment from earlier, I suppose you think of me as a supervillain who sits behind the reigns as this creature's master, siccing it on the unsuspecting public in an attempt to take over the city and then the entire world. I am the 'mastermind' behind this sinister, diabolical plot. That's what your comic books and fantasy novels have taught you to think, hm?"

"Uhh…" Sparks drawled, caught off guard.

"To use more proper terminology," Hilo continued, "I discovered the Nihilego, yes. I found it, I managed to capture and contain it, and I have been studying it."

Sparks narrowed his gaze. "By keeping it secretly locked up down here?"

"But of course. Obviously, it's the only way I can ensure that I get all of my work done without complications."

"You must be doing something sinister if there's a need to keep it concealed like this," Sparks shot back.

Hilo sighed in exasperation. "I should have known someone like you wouldn't understand. How much can be expected from someone who fraternizes so closely with freaks…?"

Sparks gasped and his ears perked up, and then they went right back down as he growled. "I knew you were a chromophobe. I suspected it ever since I first met you."

"'Chromophobe'…Sure," Hilo said with a shrug, "I prefer to think of myself as a scientist…"

"You can go straight to hell!" Sparks shouted, "Some 'scientist' you are. You kidnapped my friend right off the street and then suppressed his memories!"

At this remark, Hilo actually looked surprised. He regarded both Sparks and Ziggy for a moment. "Is that why you're here now? How did you…?" He trailed off for a moment, and then a sour look appeared on his face. "Oh yes, of course. The Abra who's been going around town lately. I suppose he got his memories back. That is unfortunate…"

Sparks' blood boiled. It was now fully confirmed that Hilo had orchestrated Ziggy's abduction. "What did you do to him?" Sparks demanded hotly, "Why did you take his blood?"

"Calm down," Hilo replied impatiently, "Relax, all right? I assure you, I haven't done any harm to the freak. It was merely-"

"Stop calling him that!"

"Sparks…" Terry's voice spoke up worriedly. When Sparks looked at him, the Eevee was giving him a look that was seemingly pleading him to simmer down and keep a cool head. As he looked, though, Sparks also caught a glance at Ziggy. The poor Buizel was huddled up against the wall, looking up at Hilo in fear and repulsion.

"I don't believe a single word you're sayin'!" Rico yelled at the Inteleon, "'Studying' it? You mean studying how it terrorizes the city and steals Pokémon's memories?"

Hilo looked at him blankly for a moment. "Yes," he then replied, "Essentially."

"What?!" Rico blurted in disbelief.

At this, Hilo turned his head and looked over at the Nihilego. A fond look, almost an infatuated one, appeared on his face. "Just look at her. She's an indescribable beauty. Words cannot do her poetic justice. I am the luckiest Pokémon on the planet to be able to study such a beautiful, fascinating creature so closely."

Sparks' eyes were wide. He was now officially creeped out.

"How could anybody," Hilo continued, "anybody in the world, deny that understanding a creature like this is of the utmost importance, above all else. The answer should be that they couldn't, of course, but sadly I know better…"

Sparks arched an eyebrow. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Life truly hasn't been the same since I discovered her…" Hilo continued, as if he hadn't heard him.

This reminded Sparks of something that had bugged him earlier. "What do you mean, 'discovered it'? The first time the Nihilego appeared was in front of us, the Rescue Society members, in Edwards Memorial Park…"

"Ah, tut tut…" Hilo said, breaking from his reverie and looking back at the group, "You don't know the full story. Perhaps you'd like to hear it? Lucky you, you'll be the first from the outside world to know."

Sparks looked up at Hilo, his muzzle skewed. Even despite the unusual circumstances, he couldn't help but feel like Hilo was acting strangely. He seemed unusually narcissistic.

"Picture this," Hilo said to them, "A young Drizzile who has only just evolved into an Inteleon, on the cusp of becoming a world class scientist. All he needs is that one big breakthrough to truly make his name known worldwide, or at least to leave his mark on the world in some way. As I'm sure you must know, the purpose of a scientist when boiled down to its most basic premise is to study the unknown…to understand that which is not understood. I had always thought, there is always something out there not fully understood yet, all I had to do was choose one.

"I will not bore you with the technical rabble. The simple story is that I discovered something while doing some fledgling research into Ghost-type energy. The intention was to see into the 'world', in layman's terms, that Ghost-types can exist in and travel to when they become invisible or intangible. Instead, I discovered something…amazing…"

Sparks had to admit; even though he despised the vile creature that was talking to them, he was a little bit intrigued by the story.

"With the help of a trusted Ghost-type colleague," Hilo continued, "I had accidentally managed to see beyond what is meant to be seen. We managed to tear open a window in the very fabric of space and time itself…and I gazed into another world…A world that almost defied description. Nonsensical to a Pokémon's eye, with its endless clouded purple skies, floating hunks of land that looked to be made out of pure crystal, striking black streaks of what could only be pure energy whizzing by, and somehow appearing to be in a combined state of underwater and the open vacuum of space. I could only see it for a brief few seconds, but they were the most treasured few seconds of my life, and I knew just what my calling in life would be; what kind of scientist I would be…"

There was a soft gasp, causing Sparks' ear to twitch, and he glanced over at Terry. "That's…where the Nihilego came from…?" he asked.

"Very astute!" Hilo said, seeming to give the Eevee genuine praise, "In those few brief seconds, I did manage to catch a glimpse of them. Like beautiful puffs of snow floating on the wind, fantastic creatures unlike any ever seen in this world dotting the purple skies and populating the crystalline lands."

"Th…Them?" Terry asked in a worried tone, "Creatures?"

"…There's more than one?" Sparks asked.

"Hundreds in fact," Hilo confirmed.

"Oh no…" Terry whimpered.

"In any case, I immediately got to work researching how I might be able to forge a connection between these two worlds. I found only the most trusted colleagues and swore them to secrecy. Thankfully, I have a keen eye for these kinds of things, and they all knew the gravity of this situation and the importance of keeping their muzzles shut. It took about a year and a half, but we managed to construct a very rudimentary but functional system to create…a portal."

Sparks felt his blood run cold, and out the corner of his vision he saw his companions look equally stunned. "You're…the one controlling those portals? The ones that dump Nihilego onto the unsuspecting public?" Sparks murmured.

"Truly fickle technology, let me tell you…" Hilo said distastefully, "You wouldn't imagine that the act of inventing and constructing the device would be easier than setting the coordinates… It may shock you to know that this isn't a recent development. It was myself and a group of close, hard-working Pokémon using a bit of ingenuity and some psychic and ghost energy to create a 'bridge' between these two worlds…and that was about seven or eight years ago."

"Huh…?" Terry said in confusion.

"Setbacks are inevitable in the world of science," Hilo continued, "It was such a proud day when we deemed the device finished and functional, and it was time to reach that beautiful world once again. We powered the device on, input the data, and then…nothing. Nothing happened whatsoever. The device was powered and running, and it appeared to be doing something, but we could see no results."

Now Sparks' blood started to run even colder, feeling like ice in his veins. The realization was dawning on him what Hilo was getting at. "N-no…" he muttered in disbelief, "No, you can't…be serious…"

"Imagine my surprise," Hilo said while ignoring Sparks completely, "when I learned that the device did in fact open a portal, and UB-01 Symbiont did in fact come through. The only issue was that the portal opened a couple hundred miles away instead of right here in this room, where we had intended. Such a small error in calculations resulted in such a huge deviance…and then we struggled for seven long years trying to correct the error and get the portal to manifest again."

"Oh dear Arceus…" Sparks muttered. He started to feel sick to his stomach. "You…Y-you…"

"Sparks?" Terry spoke up, "What's he talking about?"

The Raichu slowly looked over at Terry, a haunted look on his face. "Seven years ago," he recounted, "and about a couple hundred miles away from the city. He's saying that the portal he created back then appeared…on Dewdrop Island."

Terry gasped, while Rico just gave him a surprised look which quickly turned into a glare leveled at the Inteleon. Sparks glanced down at Ziggy, who hadn't said a word this whole time, and saw the Buizel's wide-eyed look. He could only imagine the staggering feelings of shock and horror Ziggy was experiencing from this revelation.

"You…" Sparks muttered darkly as he turned back to Hilo, "You caused the Family Day Tragedy…" He swallowed, choking down the bile that was threatening to come up. "You burned down Dewdrop Island. You killed all those Pokémon…"

Hilo sighed dismissively and rolled his eyes. "That obviously was not my intention. You think I planned to open up a portal to end up with the destruction of a small island town? It was an unfortunate miscalculation. These things happen, and we learn from these mistakes. As you have plainly seen, we finally perfected the technology enough that I was able to directly summon it to Edwards Memorial Park."

Sparks could only stare at the Inteleon. He had no words to describe the pure hatred he felt for this Pokémon, hearing him speak so calmly and dismissively about all the Dewdrop Islanders who had perished. An entire village, save for two Pokémon, were taken from this world just in the name of this one Pokémon's experiment. Sparks was utterly sickened. He wanted so badly to shout and curse at Hilo, but he could only stare in silence.

A quiet whimper drew his attention, and he glanced over at Ziggy beside him. From the Buizel's wide-eyed, shocked expression, Sparks could tell what was going through his head. Ziggy now knew that he was looking at the Pokémon who was responsible for everything that had gone wrong in his life. Hilo had been behind the destruction of his hometown, his abandonment onto the streets, and the death of his parents.

"Incidentally," Hilo continued as if he were sharing a fun fact, "it seems that our portal technology had a few minor bugs in its initial run, which left a noticeable but harmless blemish on the UB-01 Symbiont which we brought through. The rough portal technology in its early stages seems to have slightly miscoloured its skin. Nihilego are pure white with just a hint of blue, a truly striking colour, but the specimen we brought through now has golden streaks on it. At the very least it makes it more noticeable…"

Sparks was just glaring at Hilo, not caring about his unimportant anecdotes and just focusing on the atrocity that the Inteleon had caused. When Ziggy gasped, though, it drew his attention. Sparks saw to his surprise that Ziggy was no longer looking at Hilo. He had turned his head and was now staring over at the Nihilego in the enclosure. Another little whimper slipped from Ziggy's mouth.

"Bud…?" Sparks whispered, and then followed Ziggy's gaze. He looked at the Nihilego, though it hadn't changed its behaviour at all. It was still strange to look at the same creature that had been terrorizing the city, that had stolen Rico's memories, just sitting there lazily.

Then, it hit Sparks all at once like a ton of bricks. He replayed in his head what Hilo had just told him, and looked over at the Nihilego. It looked the same as it had back on that fateful day in the park, which just confirmed it was the same creature. More than that, though, Sparks could visually see it was the same. He could still remember the very first time he saw the horrifying creature. Every single aspect of it was burned into his memory.

Including its yellow streaks.

Sparks, and clearly Ziggy as well, were looking over at the Nihilego floating in its enclosure. It bore the same yellow streaks. For the third time that day, Sparks' blood ran cold. Ever since Ziggy had gotten his memories back and they had learned about the Nihilego that had attacked his island, there had been nothing but questions about how one could have shown up so long ago. Everyone had been working under the assumption that it was a completely different Nihilego.

As Sparks turned back to look at Hilo, seeing the slightly arrogant look on his face, Sparks knew that assumption was wrong. He could feel Ziggy quivering beside him, but Sparks couldn't blame him one bit.

Ziggy was looking directly at the creature who had ended his parents' lives.

"So what are you doing with that thing?" Rico asked, his voice still incensed, "Now that you've got it, what're you planning?"

Hilo gave him a flat look. "We're studying it," he replied, "That's what we do. We're scientists."

"Like I'd believe that's all you're doing…"

"Such impertinence…" Hilo said with a shake of his head, "Everything we have done so far with UB-01 Symbiont has been in an effort to understand. Even though we successfully created a portal to this other world, we had no idea if it would be safe for Pokémon to go through it. We needed to pull the Nihilego to us so we could examine it. At first, though, it was a struggle to keep it here. For reasons that initially perplexed us, a second portal would always show up after some time and 'pull' the Nihilego back to where it belonged. That's simply the natural function of the barriers of space and time, and we only recently were able to subvert this."

"So that's why portal sightings stopped…" Sparks murmured to himself, recalling one of the things Dante had discovered in his investigation.

"Then," Hilo continued, "it was simply a matter of putting UB-01 Symbiont through a series of tests and experiments to ensure no harm had come to it after traveling through the portal. The basic medical examination was simple enough. It was the field testing that took time…" Still, Hilo was speaking to them as if he were a simple colleague sharing what he had learned during his work.

"Field testing…?" Sparks muttered, "So…the recent sightings…the recent attacks…You instigated those just to 'test' the Nihilego…?"

"We have to be thorough," was Hilo's only reply.

"You knocked out a bunch of Pokémon's memories!" Rico shouted angrily, "We're lucky nobody got killed by that thing!"

Hilo shook his head again. "Such short-sightedness… This is exactly why we've needed to do all of this in secret. Pokémon just don't understand…"

Rico started verbally lashing out again, but Sparks tuned him out. It seemed like Hilo did the same. "I can't believe this…" Sparks said, "Danika spoke so highly of you. She defended you right up until the end, and these are the horrible things you've been doing…"

"Oh yes, how is Miss Danika?" Hilo asked in an uncomfortably plain conversational tone.

Sparks ignored this and moved right into his next line of questioning. "Then what was that other thing? The red creature that wasn't a Nihilego? The one that trashed Wanderer's Plaza?"

At this Hilo actually frowned and seemed legitimately regretful. "Ah…" he said in a much less jovial tone, "I will fully admit…that was an error."

Sparks' ears perked up. "An error?"

"We had attempted to bring in another Nihilego," Hilo explained, "but something went wrong somewhere in the calculations and instead that thing came through. I know not from where, as it certainly did not come from the beautiful world where the Nihilego dwell. Absolutely unintended, and it put a damper on attempts to bring over a second specimen…"

"You…You're serious? That was actually a mistake?" Sparks asked in surprise.

Hilo set his jaw firmly for a moment and stared at nothing. He then closed his eyes and answered. "A potentially disastrous mistake for our work here. If it had just been another mostly-docile creature like a Nihilego it would have been one thing, but this other creature was violent and destructive. If something like that were to stick around and cause chaos in the city, that would seriously disrupt our work and potentially ruin everything we had achieved so far. I'm perfectly happy with the beautiful world of the Nihilego, and hope to never see that thing's world ever again."

Sparks' eyes were wide as some of the puzzle pieces finally fit together in his head. "So that's why you helped…"

"I do, in all honesty, regret what happened to poor Dante," Hilo said with a sour look, "He truly was a close friend of mine and we've known each other for years. I had such grand plans to share with him going forward…"

"Ugh…" Sparks grumbled, wearing a grim look, "Well there's your answer, Dani…"

"Yes, how is Miss Danika?" Hilo repeated, "I do hope she is doing well."

Sparks shot a venomous look up at the Inteleon and spat, "Oh, what do you care?"

"I care about her as an intellectual equal," Hilo replied simply, "Only so many can join me on the final stages of this venture, after all, and I would hope she is smart enough to come aboard for such things…"

"…What are you talking about?" Sparks asked warily.

"Worry not," he said dismissively, "You won't be involved."

Before Sparks could grill Hilo for further answers, one of the other scientists came over and asked to speak with him. Hilo walked off a short distance with the other scientist, a Toxtricity, and started quietly conversing with him. The guildmembers were left alone.

Sparks turned to look at his companions, and he saw that Ziggy was still staring silently at the Nihilego. His heart ached for what the poor Buizel was going through, but he ultimately knew there were more pressing matters at paw. "Thoughts, gang?" he asked in a subdued voice.

"That sack of garbage…" Rico grumbled, "It was all him… He's got a whole friggin' secret operation down here. What's he planning? To take over the world with an army of Nihilego?"

"I…I think he might've gone mad," Sparks remarked, "If only just partially. He's not acting rationally."

"Yeah, like…" Terry added, "Why's he just telling us all of this?"

Sparks thought about the question and briefly glanced over at the Inteleon, who was too far away to hear them. "In his delusions…I think he's just proud of what he's done."

"Proud?" Rico spat, though thankfully keeping his voice down, "He killed an entire village."

"I…don't think he cares…" Sparks said with a shake of his head, "He cares about results. About the science of this. And…about his unnerving fascination with the Nihilego over there."

"What do we focus on?" Rico asked, "Getting out of here, or killing the Nihilego?"

Terry gasped from behind him, but Sparks quickly answered, "Getting out. We're outnumbered, and if we have to fight that thing then we're all dead. We need to get out of here." He bit his lip and grimaced, "I…won't lie, guys. It doesn't look good…for me at least."

A sobering look appeared on the couple's faces, while Ziggy suddenly gasped and finally snapped out of his staring spell. He whipped his head around and looked up at Sparks in confusion. "What…Whaddaya mean…?" he whispered.

Ears drooping, Sparks looked at the ground sadly. "I…don't think any of this is going to end without a…a f-fight…"

Ziggy gasped again, though this time with a look of horrified realization.

"Just…listen," Sparks continued, trying to keep the tremble from his voice, "if…it happens to me, just leave me. Get out on your own. Get to safety and get help."

"S-Sparks, we-" Terry started.

"No!" Ziggy shouted.

Sparks cringed and looked over at Hilo. The Inteleon gave them all an odd look for a few moments, but then went back to his conversation.

"We're not leaving you, Sparks," Rico said resolutely.

"You have to," Sparks replied firmly, "I…I won't be able to move. I'll basically be a giant boulder, and a giant boulder will just get in the way of you guys getting out safely."

"We're not leaving you," Rico reaffirmed, "We'll figure out how to get out of here without violence…"

Sparks looked down at Ziggy, and his heart broke when he saw the Buizel was openly crying. "S-Sparks…" he whimpered, "D-don't say s-stuff like that…"

"I'm sorry, bud…" he replied with a sigh, "Look, I'm not totally giving up. I'm just saying that if the worst happens, then go without me. I'd much rather you get to safety Ziggy, even if I have to get left behind, than have the worst happen to all of us…"

"Sparks, please…" Ziggy whimpered.

Before Sparks could say anything else, Hilo walked back over towards them. "That settles it, then," he was saying to the Toxtricity, "We were right after all. How interesting. Well, at least we've accounted for that now so it shouldn't happen again…" The Toxtricity nodded and walked off, upon which Hilo turned to the four captives and clapped his hands together. "Well! You may find this interesting."

"Doubt it," Rico spat bitterly.

Hilo ignored him and explained anyway. "We've suspected for a while that crossing through the portal on its initial run had altered UB-01 Symbiont unintentionally. We thought it was just yellow streaks appearing on its body, but as we've recently gotten better views of its brethren in its home dimension, it's clear now. It seems that the earlier, more rudimentary forms of the portal seems to have imbued the 'passenger' with electrical attributes that were not there before…"

Sparks perked up. "Electrical…?"

"We had thought that Nihilego were Electric-type, but it turns out that was our inadvertent doing. UB-01 Symbiont, in contrast to normal Nihilego, has electricity coursing through its body compliments of the prototype portal. Thankfully it doesn't seem to have harmed the creature. Regardless, we've already done further testing and the newest version of the portal technology does not have this problem."

Glancing over at the Nihilego again, Sparks recalled the deadly electric field the creature had exuded, and the lethality of its mere touch due to just how much electricity it was brimming with. Hilo was saying that wasn't normal? Would a Nihilego still have the power to remove a Pokémon's memory without the electricity?

"That's why Thunder Wave didn't work…" he murmured.

"Correct!" Hilo beamed, seeming pleasantly surprised at Sparks' response, "Though in a lesser amount, the other red-coloured creature was also imbued with electricity upon coming through the portal. This did not give it a powerful electric field like UB-01 Symbiont, but it did provide it resistance to Thunder Wave."

Sparks then shook his head, realizing that none of this mattered. "What are you planning to do?" he demanded, "You've got us tied up down here, so what're you gonna do with us? And what's the grand plan with the Nihilego?"

"Ah, there are many plans…" Hilo replied, losing a bit of his upbeat demeanour, "Various plans all coming to fruition, requiring so so much work to be done and in such a short time." He approached the Raichu and leaned down, now wearing a cross expression. "You simply couldn't leave well enough alone and have forced my hand by your coming here, so now we are entering the final phases immediately. I did expect this, true, but it is no less frustrating to have Pokémon like you sticking your muzzles in places where they don't belong. Things would have been so much easier and so much simpler if I'd had the approval of everyone around me, but I knew that would be nothing more than a fool's dream in the end. The world is such a frustrating place, after all, and I've known this for a long while. It makes me quite relieved, in actuality, that we are nearing the end."

Sparks reeled back slightly. Hilo's tone had grown louder and more heated with every sentence, to the point that he had almost yelled the last part. He didn't say anything for a moment, so the Inteleon let out a frustrated huff and turned around to do something on a nearby table. Though he was now a little more than unnerved, Sparks knew he couldn't let this go. "You might as well tell us. We're gonna find out eventually anyway," he said, "You're obviously not planning to kill us or you would have done it already, and you've taken such pride in explaining stuff to us so far. Just tell us. Are you planning to use the Nihilego as a weapon?"

"Good heavens, no!" Hilo exclaimed, though without turning away from whatever he was working on, "What do you take me for, an anarchist dictator?"

Sparks bit his tongue.

"The purpose of bringing the UB-01 Symbiont through was to ensure that a Pokémon could safely traverse the portal," Hilo explained, "and this is important, so we have done thorough testing. Such testing that simply can't be done while locked up in a confined tube in an underground basement."

"Yes, as you've already said," Rico replied bitterly, "Using Radiant City, where thousands of Pokémon live, as your own personal testing ground not caring for what happens afterwards."

"Right you are, right you are about that…" Hilo replied boredly, "I certainly do not care what happens afterwards…"

"What…?" Sparks looked up at the Inteleon in confusion.

"To an extent, anyway…" Hilo added.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Rico demanded.

Hilo then slammed his palm onto the desk, causing all four captive Pokémon to jump. He stood there silently for a moment, and then turned around and fixed an eerily calm gaze onto them. "Let me tell you a little something about the world of science in this day and age…" he said in an unnerving tone, "Everything, and I mean just about everything, can be sorted neatly into two categories. Things we already understand, of which require little to no further scientific study whatsoever…" Hilo briefly cast a look of contempt down at Ziggy before finishing. "…and things that are impossible to understand."

Ziggy visibly shrunk back from the Inteleon's glare.

"Don't you dare touch him," Sparks warned.

Instead, Hilo immediately focused in on Sparks. "Listen here, you…" he said in a low tone, "Science hates ACPs. You can ask any scientist, anyone in this room or the room above. Scientists like us strive to make sense of the world, to understand the world, to organize the world into perfect organizational structures that make perfect sense to anyone who cares to understand them."

Again, Hilo turned and glared at Ziggy. "And yet, science cannot explain freaks like him."

"Hey!" Sparks shouted, incensed.

"For decades, maybe even centuries," Hilo continued, "there have been endless studies to try and figure out exactly what causes alternative colouration, and how it fits into genetics and a Pokémon's DNA, but every single, solitary avenue of research hit a complete dead end. They just seem to pop up at complete random. Nothing in the world is completely random! But no, ACPs cannot be understood. There hasn't been any studies on ACPs in the last thirty years because most Pokémon think there's nothing left to study and we should all just accept them."

Sparks again felt incredibly unnerved by Hilo's loud ranting, but this time he held his ground and continued to stare back defiantly.

Hilo then calmed down, but only slightly. "And that is just one of the many things I despise about this world. Evolution, by which I refer to the natural scientific evolution of Pokémon as a species and not the form change that we frustratingly also refer to as 'evolution', is supposed to make this species stronger, better, and more perfect as time goes on. That's just how evolution works. So why are there still so many inferior beings everywhere? ACPs, birth defects, cripples, stunted growth, mental debilitation, teenagers with their freakish piercings, you name it…"

"Is that what this is all about…?" Sparks asked as his ears drooped, "Seriously?"

Hilo simply got up and wordlessly walked over to one of the nearby workstations.

"But Danika wears glasses," Terry spoke up, "Isn't that the same kind of thing, according to your views?"

"She is saved by her impressive brain," Hilo commented dryly, "After all, it is a fair point you have. Vision problems are so rare and are almost as impossible to understand as why colour freaks exist."

Sparks knit his brows and glared at the Inteleon again. "Who says you need to understand Ziggy? What does it matter? He's got gold fur, so what? That doesn't change who he is." He paused briefly as a thought occurred to him, and he remembered that one of his previous questions had gone unanswered. "And what the hell did you do to Ziggy when you kidnapped him?"

Hilo didn't answer. Instead, he reached into a drawer on the side of the workstation and pulled something out. "Right then," he growled as he marched back over to them, "Press conference is over. Thanks to your interference, we're on an extremely tight deadline to get everything done." He turned and addressed one of the nearby scientists. "Trial Beta-Echo-9, take notes."

At first, Sparks just watched Hilo warily, wondering what the apparently mad scientist was going to do next. However, his eyes went wide and his ears splayed back when he saw what the Inteleon was holding, as Hilo was now holding it up on display for all of them to see. It was a frighteningly sizeable syringe with a sharp needlepoint that glinted in the light, and it was filled with a liquid that took on a sickly greenish-yellow colour.

"Now then," Hilo continued as he marched right up to Sparks, "Since you seem to be such a fan of running your mouth so much, I elect you to be the test subject."

Sparks tried to move himself away from the Inteleon, but he had nowhere to escape to and could only watch as Hilo unhooked the harness from the beam on the wall and soon after he was roughly hoisted up from the floor. "H-hey!" Sparks tried to protest. He was surprised to find that Hilo was able to pick him up and carry him easily, despite the Inteleon's slender frame. He tried to kick his paws out, but they were still bound together by the rope around them so he could do little more than wriggle about.

His three companions were all calling out in protest as well. "Put him down!" Rico was shouting, "Put him back! Whatever you're doing, don't even think about it!"

Everything was happening too fast for Sparks to even process it. All he knew was that he was at Hilo's mercy. Not only was he bound up, but he wouldn't be able to fight back without the use of his Thunder Wave. "What…What are you doing?" Sparks asked, trying to keep calm.

"Laws are rather restrictive to science," Hilo commented as he brought Sparks over to a table and unceremoniously dumped him on top of it, "How is anybody supposed to make any actual breakthroughs when clinical testing on live Pokémon species is outlawed?"

Sparks, now on his back on top of the table, looked over and laid eyes on the syringe Hilo was holding again. His blood ran cold. "N…N-no…" he murmured, "Y-you can't be serious…" His companions continued shouting as Hilo then methodically untied the bindings on his paws.

"Stop!" Terry shouted, "Please, stop! Leave him alone!"

"If you hurt him I'm gonna kick your ass!" Rico exclaimed.

"S-Sparks…!" the third voice shouted. It was quieter than the other two, but the Buizel's voice cut through to Sparks' ears more clearly than any other sound. The fear and despair in Ziggy's terrified cries of protest cut right into Sparks' heart.

Even though his paws were now free, there was a heavy dread in his heart since he knew there was nothing he could do. If he tried to fight back in any way, he would immediately shut down. He could only watch helplessly as Hilo opened some hidden compartments on top of this particular table and pulled from within it some thick-looking straps which were systematically placed around his shoulders and limbs. Sparks realized that this must've been the table Ziggy had been strapped to in his memory.

Terry and Rico continued yelling, the latter thrashing against his binds. Sparks craned his neck as best he could to look over at them. Ziggy had the most wide-eyed, horrified look on his face but he could do little more than sit there and shiver as the colour drained from his face.

"Just hold still until we're finished here," Hilo's calm voice cut through.

Sparks looked back up to see the Inteleon looking down at him. The syringe was held up, with one of Hilo's digits resting on the plunger. Sparks couldn't comprehend what was going on. He could barely accept the wild turn things had suddenly taken, and he was ultimately too perplexed to be afraid. What did this have to do with anything? "H-hey, come on now…" he said, "You can't seriously be doing this. This is ridiculous."

Hilo ignored him and leaned down, bringing the syringe closer to his head.

Now the fear started settling in. "A-a-at least tell me what you're doing!" he protested, "Please! I deserve to know that at least! What is that stuff?"

Still, the Inteleon didn't respond. He simply moved the syringe down and brought the pointed tip right up to the side of Sparks' neck, just above the electricity-inhibiting collar. Sparks stiffened as he felt the cold, sharp point against his skin.

"Please…" Sparks murmured, trying to move his neck away even though the straps prevented movement entirely. The shouts of his companions faded into scrambled background noise until the only thing Sparks could hear was his own frantically beating heart. "Please don't…"

"S-STOP!" a high-pitched voice rang out, "Dr. Hilo, please stop!"

The needle was moved away from his skin, if only slightly, but Sparks was more focused on who had shouted. With his limited vision, he looked over to the side and was just barely able to see that Ziggy had thrown himself as far forward as his binds would allow. Tears streamed from his eyes and there was a desperate look on his face.

"Hm?" was the only response Hilo gave, in a very disinterested tone.

Ziggy sniffled and then spoke again. "P-please…" he whimpered, "D-don't hurt him, please…"

"And why should I bother listening to you?" Hilo asked.

"Please…" Ziggy repeated, and then he hung his head as a few tears splattered to the ground. "Just…J-just…use it on me instead…"

A jolt ran right up Sparks' spine. "Ziggy, no!" he blurted out suddenly.

Hilo turned around to fully face the Buizel, bringing the syringe away from Sparks' neck entirely. "What was that?" he asked, with just a hint of intrigue.

Ziggy gulped before replying. "You said…'test subject', right? You want to test that…stuff? Please don't use Sparks. I-if you have to use it on one of us…p-please choose me."

This time Sparks did actually struggle against his bonds. "No! Don't say that Ziggy! Don't!" He then addressed Hilo. "Don't listen to him, please! Just use it on me! Do whatever you have to do, just don't hurt him!"

"Sparks, please!" Ziggy cried out, anguish in his voice, "I-I don't want you to get h-hurt… I… If it means you won't get hurt, then i-it's okay…"

"No!" Sparks shouted, and then stared at Ziggy in shock. While a small part of him was deeply touched that Ziggy would go to such lengths to keep him safe, that paled in comparison to his fear and panic. Rico and Terry were likewise stunned into silence. Nobody said anything else until Hilo placed the syringe down on an adjacent table and said three terrifying words.

"As you wish."

What followed was a panicked flurry of shouts and protests as Hilo undid the straps on the table. Sparks quickly found his paws and tail bound together again, and then Hilo unceremoniously carried him over and tied him back up to the pole on the wall.

"No!" Sparks shouted, "Don't touch him, please!" However, he could only watch in terror as Hilo untied Ziggy from the pole and hoisted him up. The Buizel looked rightfully nervous, though he also wore a resigned frown and didn't try to protest at all. "Ziggy!" Sparks cried.

"Hilo, please! Stop this madness!" Terry shouted.

"Use it on me!" Rico exclaimed, "I can handle it!"

Hilo simply ignored them as he roughly dropped Ziggy onto the table, causing the latter to wince in pain as the wind was knocked out of him. Hilo undid the bonds on his paws and repeated the same process as earlier. Before long, Ziggy was strapped down to the table, and he had quietly and patiently allowed the entire process to happen without shouting or struggling.

Dread gripped Sparks' heart like a sharp, icy claw. "Ziggy…! You don't have to do this!"

Ziggy just looked over at him sadly, fear dancing in his eyes. Watching him submit to the insane scientist so easily had been awful to watch, knowing that Ziggy was allowing all of this to happen just so it wouldn't happen to Sparks. Once Ziggy was fully strapped down to the table, Hilo picked up the syringe again and approached. Ziggy nervously looked up at him, his nose twitching and his lips quivering in fear.

"Right then…" Hilo said as he leaned in close, bringing the syringe's needle up towards Ziggy's neck, "Shall we begin?"

Tears ran down Sparks' cheek. After a moment, he shouted, "Tell us what this is!"

Hilo briefly glanced at him. "Well, it's quite simple," he replied calmly, "As you know I have vast, grand plans relating to UB-01 Symbiont and our portal technology, plans which have been laid out and perfected for years at this point by myself and my very dedicated team. However, though I wish it were not true, not all of my colleagues will be able to be a part of these plans. Someone must operate the machinery, for example. Some Pokémon will be…left behind. And so, as gratitude for their sacrifice and in the desperate hope that this may one day lead to the answers I am convinced that science will never find, I leave them with this. One last project, a sample and a starting point of my own work, that they may continue to work on after my plans are enacted."

"You're sick!" Rico shouted in disgust.

Hilo ignored him and moved the syringe forward, pressing the pointed tip right up against Ziggy's skin on the sensitive spot right above his neck ring. Ziggy visibly flinched and let out a squeak.

"Stop!" Sparks shouted, "Don't do it! Please, I'll do anything!"

"Honestly, I'm surprised," Hilo commented, "I would figure you'd all be happy with this."

For a moment, Sparks' brain broke. "Wh…What?!"

Hilo turned to him again, not yet piercing Ziggy's skin but holding the syringe in place. He wore a dark yet satisfied grin as he spoke. "Let me tell you a little secret… I haven't been entirely honest. This product, the substance inside of this syringe, was intended from the start to be administered to the freak here."

"Huh?" Sparks blurted out, eyes wide and ears perked up. Ziggy looked equally shocked.

"I know enough about you Pokémon that I knew the freak would want to take your place to keep you safe. You're all sentimental like that, but it worked to my advantage. This way I could perform this experiment with no struggle."

In a split second, the needle of the syringe pierced Ziggy's skin. "No!" Sparks shouted, and Ziggy let out a panicked cry. They both could only watch in horror as Hilo depressed the plunger. The liquid steadily disappeared from inside of the syringe, flowing down through the needle and into the terrified Buizel's body. He cried out loudly in panic as the injection was performed.

His cries continued though, even after Hilo withdrew the now-empty syringe. Ziggy continued to scream, eventually clenching his eyes shut as tears streamed down his cheeks.

"Z-Ziggy!" Sparks called out to him.

"Aaaah!" Ziggy no longer sounded afraid. Instead, his screaming sounded like he was in pain. Intense pain. "Aughhh!"

Sparks thrashed against his bonds. "Ziggy, what's wrong?" he shouted in worry, "What's happening?"

"It…!" Ziggy shouted in a strained voice, "It…It hurts! Aah! It burns! My insides are burning!" The Buizel squirmed under the straps from the table, unable to move very much. "H…Help!" he screamed, "Help! It hurts so much!"

"Ziggy!"

Sparks shot a glare over at Hilo, who was calmly observing the event with a thoughtful look. After a few seconds, he reached down and quickly undid all of the straps that were holding Ziggy down. As soon as he did, Ziggy immediately curled up into a ball while continuing to scream. Then he started thrashing about. His teeth were grit, a painful expression perpetually on his face. Eventually his writhing caused him to roll right off the edge of the table, and he tumbled to the floor in a painful heap.

Throughout all of this, Sparks found he couldn't say a single word. All he could do was stare in horror as one of his closest friends suffered so much terrible pain. Tears streaked down his own cheeks. He wanted so badly to look away but found that he couldn't tear his eyes off of the terrifying sight. What had Hilo done to his little buddy? Was this some kind of poison or lethal injection? Was Ziggy dying right before his eyes? The air was filled with a constant cacophonous sound as Ziggy screamed his head off nonstop, Rico started shouting obscenities at Hilo, and Terry called out to Ziggy in a panicked voice.

Then, however, something strange began to happen. Ziggy had rolled himself onto his stomach, still clenching his paws and thrashing about. At first Sparks had thought he was seeing things, but as he watched the Buizel he started to see a dark patch appear on one spot of Ziggy's back. His heart seized with panic, thinking that the dark patch was his fur getting discoloured by blood that was pouring out for some reason. A couple more dark spots started to appear, and icy terror overwhelmed the Raichu as he started to believe that he was watching his best friend beginning to bleed to death.

But as more dark spots started to appear, and in other places on his body besides his back, Sparks realized that no actual blood was appearing. If Ziggy had really been bleeding, then some of it would have surely started dripping to the floor. The closer he looked, the more Sparks realized that the colour didn't match up with the idea of his golden fur getting stained with blood. Instead, the discoloured spots appeared to be a shade of brown.

Then, a spot of discolouration appeared on the ring around his neck. This spot was yellow. A second later, it dawned on Sparks what he was actually seeing, even though it seemed impossible to believe. The coloured spots on his fur weren't brown.

They were orange.

Sparks could only stare in abject disbelief as more splotches of orange continued to appear on Ziggy's fur. Ziggy screamed and writhed through the whole experience, while Hilo watched from nearby with an excited grin. Sparks wanted to shout out support to his friend, or scream in anger at the scientist, but all he could do was stare at the impossibility that was happening before his eyes. More and more of Ziggy's fur started turning orange.

The fur colour of a normal Buizel.

Before long, the splotches of colour had covered about half of Ziggy's entire body. They were spread out in a random patchwork of blob-like shapes all in different sizes. The pattern they formed alongside his golden fur was similar to the pattern of camouflage clothing. Every part of him, from his fur to the ring on his neck and even the creamy fur on his belly and muzzle, had splotches of changed colour. There was even a barely-visible colour difference in some spots on the blue fins on his forepaws.

About thirty seconds passed, but no more splotches of colour appeared. The coverage of Ziggy's body remained at fifty percent. The smile vanished from Hilo's face and he leaned in closer with a scrutinizing eye. "Oh dear…" he said in disappointment, "The effect seems to have petered out before completion…"

Even though no more colour changes were taking place on Ziggy's body, he was still screaming his head off in pain nonstop. He was starting to sob now as well, and there was a tone of desperation in his voice.

Sparks shook his head and focused back on what was important. Ziggy's insides were still on fire, evidently, and he was in an immense amount of pain. Sparks looked at him for a moment, seeing him squirm and writhe on the ground, as a crushing feeling of helplessness overcame him. Every scream from the tortured Buizel's muzzle hurt Sparks deeply.

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. "Damn it, Hilo!" he shouted, so loudly that his throat hurt, "Help him! He's suffering! For the love of Arceus, please!"

Hilo glanced at him, and then down at the Buizel. A troubled little grimace appeared on his face and he said, "Yes, you have a point. It is rather difficult to concentrate with all of this…" The Inteleon then looked up and across the room. "Ilari!" he called out, "Come deal with this, if you please."

At first nobody seemed to react to Hilo's call. Then, however, a Pokémon suddenly materialized into existence halfway across the room, already in the process of walking towards them. Sparks' ears perked up when he saw that it was a Gengar, who was wearing a white lab coat like the others. Sparks recalled that a Gengar was the one who had kidnapped Ziggy off the street in the first place, and he wondered if this was the very same Pokémon.

The Gengar approached Ziggy, and Sparks suddenly got a spike of panic. "Don't hurt him!" he shouted desperately, having no idea what Hilo had meant by 'deal with this'. However, his fears were put to rest when the Gengar simply held up his hands and used Hypnosis on Ziggy. As the colourful psychic waves dissipated, Ziggy's cries of anguish slowly faded away. He got quieter and calmer until eventually he stopped shouting altogether. Then he collapsed onto the ground, quiet and still though his eyes were clenched shut tightly and he wore a grimace on his face.

Sparks let out a breath of relief. At the very least, Ziggy wasn't suffering that horrible pain any longer. He took a moment to calm himself, while Ilari the Gengar calmly walked away and eventually vanished into thin air again.

"…What the hell was that?" Rico blurted out.

"Hmmm…" Hilo mused to himself as he picked up Ziggy's slumbering form and brought him back over to where the others were shackled, "I am pleasantly surprised. I honestly did not have very high hopes that it would actually work. Certainly unclear why the effect only worked partially, though it seems certain that no more will come of it. Sadly that's not going to be very useful to anybody, not to mention the levels of pain it causes would render it unusable for the general populace…Still, though, it is a promising beginning that may certainly lead to results…"

Soon Ziggy was tied up to the pole again, slumped against the wall right next to Sparks. The Raichu looked down at him briefly. Though Ziggy was resting and being still, the look on his face made it seem like he was having a nightmare. For a moment, he simply marveled at the Buizel's fur. Up close, Sparks could see that there was no trick to this; parts of Ziggy's fur had changed colour, right down to the individual strands. The golden-furred Buizel he had known for so many months was now a patchwork of mismatched colours.

"Hey!" he shouted, suddenly wheeling around to face Hilo, "What did you do to my friend?"

Hilo sighed in irritation. "Relax, it's not meant to harm him. There won't be any lasting damage…according to our hypothesis, anyway."

"Answer the question!"

"What?" Hilo remarked, "Was it not clear what this serum is meant to do? It may not have been successful, but its intent should be clear even to plebeians such as yourselves." He then shook his head in exasperation. "Your 'friend' is a freak, and I designed a serum to fix him."

Sparks looked back at Ziggy again, just to reconfirm the impossible sight. With the collection of orange spots on his body and yellow spots on his ring, half of Ziggy's body was now that of a normal Buizel's in terms of colouration. "It…" Sparks muttered as he turned back to Hilo, "It was supposed to make him…not shiny?"

"To remove Alternative Colouration, yes. To fix the anomaly," Hilo replied, "And indeed, this is the most progress anyone has made in this endeavour thus far. Even just turning half of his fur to normal is a step forward."

"Is it…" Sparks continued, his voice slow and hesitant, "…permanent?"

Hilo arched an eyebrow. "Well, of course it's permanent. What use would there be for a serum that only temporarily removes Alternative Colouration?"

Sparks looked at Ziggy yet again, shock etched onto his face, and then he exploded with anger. "You…! You monster! How could you just do something like that to him? How could you force something like that onto a Pokémon without their consent? You… You've just…." Sparks knew the words he wanted to say, the words to describe what Hilo had done to Ziggy and his appearance, but he simply couldn't say them.

"I did what was necessary," Hilo replied indignantly, "It is impossible to test something like this without a live subject to test it on. That's the simple fact. It's why there's been zero progress in understanding ACPs for so many years. Testing on live Pokémon is prohibited, and even moreso ACPs are just so rare and they so often keep to themselves and hide away. It was hard enough to finish development of this serum in the first place without 'borrowing' some ACP blood."

Sparks gasped loudly. "That's why you kidnapped Ziggy and stole his blood?"

Hilo sighed and shrugged. "Such shortsightedness… There was simply no way to develop or test this serum without finding an ACP and using it on him. No ACP would volunteer for such an experiment, so I did what I had to. You really shouldn't get so worked up over a worthless freak in the first place, especially since the serum didn't work properly yet."

"He's just a kid!"

Someone shouted something from across the room, briefly catching Hilo's attention. "I don't have any further time for this banter," he said to the group, "I have work to do for the final preparations. The ACP should be fine, so stop panicking, but do please be helpful and alert one of the staff if it starts experiencing side effects or if it dies." The Inteleon then promptly walked off without awaiting a response.

"Cold, heartless monster!" Rico shouted at him, though he was ignored.

Sparks could feel his own blood boiling, but he shook it off and glanced down at Ziggy. The slumbering Buizel still wore a pained expression on his face and his breathing wasn't very calm. Sadness and worry overcame Sparks as he looked down at the now multicoloured Buizel. "Ziggy…" he murmured.

"Is he okay?" Terry called over.

Hearing his mate's concerned voice brought Rico's attention away from yelling after Hilo and he looked down at the Buizel as well. "Dear Arceus…" he murmured.

Sparks could only stare, still in a state of disbelief. Half of Ziggy's fur was a different colour now, and it had happened in the blink of an eye. Hilo had said the change was permanent. It was such an impossible thing to believe, but the proof was right in front of him.

"Sparks, we…" Terry spoke up in a worried voice, "W-we have to get out of here…!"

"Buddy…" Sparks murmured, still looking down at the Buizel. He was simply blown away by the Inteleon's cruelty. This was much worse than painting Ziggy orange and starving him, and he had been in so much pain and agony during the process. Sparks felt sick to his stomach knowing that there was some kind of foreign chemical swimming around in Ziggy's blood thanks to the injection Hilo had given him. He could only beg and plead with the almighty powers that it wouldn't harm him any further.

"He…He'll be fine when he wakes up," Rico said to him, "…hopefully."

Sparks' ears drooped. There was that familiar, expected feeling of failure in the pit of his stomach. He spent so much time and effort trying to keep Ziggy safe and happy, and now the poor kid was…

"C'mon, Sparks," Rico barked, "Snap out of it. We gotta figure out a plan here."

"What kind of plan, though?" Terry whispered through gritted teeth, "We're way outnumbered here and backup can't get to us."

The two continued to speak in hushed tones to each other, but eventually Sparks subconsciously tuned them out. He couldn't take his eyes off of Ziggy, and he couldn't ignore the painful ache in his heart. His eyes got a bit misty and he sighed with despair. How much? How much more was going to happen to this Pokémon? Why couldn't the universe just leave him alone? Every time he thought things were finally getting better and Ziggy could truly be a happy Pokémon, something else happened.

And this was far greater than anything else that had happened to poor Ziggy.

Eventually, Sparks slowly glanced upwards and looked in the direction of the Nihilego. It was still safely in its enclosure, but now there were more Pokémon crowded around it and seemingly doing some kind of work or study. As much as he hated what was happening to Ziggy, he knew it wasn't the only concern. Hilo was planning something, and it had something to do with the Nihilego. The Inteleon had already very clearly shown that he no longer had any value in the lives of other Pokémon, so Sparks could only feel dread as he imagined what Hilo could possibly have in store.