The remains of the Pokemon Mansion were gloomy and unwelcoming, even in the middle of the day. A building that presumably had once featured cream-colored walls, perfectly-white ivory towers, and been topped with deep purple tiles to form the roof had been eroded over time; each color fading to a yellowed imitation of its more vibrant shade. The walls were cracked and mossy. The ivory towers were strangled by thick vines and cobwebs. The windows were boarded shut. The roof was missing tiles and lopsided. The entire building looked like it was ready to collapse at any moment.
The inside wasn't any better. There were dark splotches on the ceiling where the moisture from rain leaked through — something was leaking on the second floor already, although the thunderstorm that had been reported was still a ways away. The wallpaper was peeling and in some places missing entirely. Mold was growing in the corners. There were hints of graffiti in certain spots, although it seemed that even the person who had been doing the graffitiing couldn't be bothered to finish what they started. The "T" in the words "MARON BAT" petered off into a weak scribble.
Ash stepped carefully around smelly patches of carpet and creaky floorboards. She didn't trust any part of this building to hold her weight, even as skinny as she was. She tried to breathe as little as possible — but the smell of mold and something vaguely burnt reached up to her eyeballs.
The Pokemon Mansion was the building she had found at the address scribbled in the margins of Dr. Fuji's journal — still tucked away in Ash's bag, between her TM's and her Pokedex. It was the same address that was printed in faded black letters on the envelopes containing papers that detailed the results of strange things like 'apheresis', 'CRISPR', and 'in vitro fertilisation'. Papers that were punctuated with the phrase "SHRED AFTER READING" at the bottom.
It had taken a lot for Ash to keep her mouth shut when she had visited Ryan's house. Normally, whenever anything science-related stumped her, she would ask Professor Oak. But after what she had read in the journal — the way every passage was dutifully accompanied by an envelope paper-clipped to the page, containing papers that weren't meant to be read by anyone but the sole recipient — Ash knew she couldn't ask the Professor about it. Whatever had happened at the Pokemon Mansion, Ash would have to find it out herself.
The Mansion was a strange mix of residence and laboratory. The mangled metal of what once had been a chandelier sat in the center of a ballroom. Ash could see dozens of circular holders where the candles would be. She could see the hole in the ceiling where the chandelier had once hung, but then been violently ripped out. There were giant bookshelves that lined the walls, but the books they had held were splayed out on the ground as if an earthquake had hit and caused an avalanche of papers. There were dusty centrifuges and metal racks for holding test tubes and vials. There was shattered glass around the racks as though someone had shattered every single one. There were old computers with fat-backed screens like the old TV that Josh had in his room. Every computer screen was smashed and had frayed wires sticking out of them.
Ash approached one of the computers that seemed to have had the least damage. The screen was still smashed, and the tower had a gaping hole where the CD drive probably had been, but Ash figured it was worth a shot. Ash held out the Poke Ball containing Tarrant, and a shimmering pink-and-blue beam shot from the Poke Ball to the computer.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then, incredibly, the computer beeped to life. Ash heard the fan inside the computer start to whir, and the computer let out a low groan as the moving parts inside it began to move for what must have been the first time in years. The computer next to it began to beep and click as well. Of course, the screens were still useless and thus Ash wouldn't be able to see any of what Tarrant was seeing, but that wouldn't be an issue.
Ash looked over her shoulder, unsure of what to expect.
"Is this the part where the Terminator shows up?" she murmured to herself. Then, she turned back to the computers. "Tarrant, if there's anything useful in there, save it. Otherwise, just see if you can get the lights on, or something."
The computers gave a series of beeps that Ash recognized as Tarrant's version of an "OK". Above her, a lightbulb clicked on — and then immediately shattered, raining down glass shards that Ash immediately side-stepped to avoid.
That would be making it too easy, she mused to herself.
"Forget the lights," Ash said. Then, she glanced at the big bookshelves and the massive pile of books on the floor. There was a lot of space between the books and the shelves. Almost as though someone had swept the books away from the wall in one motion. "Hey, Tarrant, you don't happen to see any hidden doors here, do you?"
The answer came in the form of a mechanical screeching and a puff of dust as the walls behind the bookshelves began to move. Somewhere in the distance, Ash heard a mechanical scraping similar to a garage door moving. Two sections of the wall opened up like the gates of a castle. They moved at a Slowpoke's pace and creaked horribly the whole time, but eventually they ground to a halt — stopping right at the edge of the pile of books.
"Thanks, Tarrant," Ash said.
She took a step toward the hidden door but then hesitated. She reached into her bag and threw out another Poke Ball. Ash's Blastoise emerged, took one look at the hidden door — and the dark, gloomy staircase that it revealed — and turned to give Ash a dubious glance.
"You're not the same Pokemon you were the last time we did this," Ash reassured. "You were barely taller than me back then, remember? Look at you now."
Ash had to look up to look her Pokemon in the eyes. Pat now stood over twice Ash's height and was even larger than her Nidoking. Pat looked himself over, then nodded firmly at Ash. He turned and headed into the hidden passage, with Ash following close behind.
Unlike the hidden stairs in the Game Corner, or the staircase in the Silph Co. Building, the hidden passage of the Pokemon Mansion was quite short. The stairs were less than 10 steps before widening into a massive, circular room with a low ceiling. The walls of the room were cracked glass, which created multiple distorted reflections of Ash and her Blastoise. Ash could see wires through some of the cracks in the walls — those walls had been giant screens, once.
At the far end of the room were what Ash could only describe as five giant test tubes, easily large enough to hold her, or even a full-grown person. The test tubes were all cracked, and massive glass shards were spread around them as if something had exploded from the inside. A mess of wires with electrodes hung from the top of each test tube, still grasping for whatever had been held inside.
Ash shuddered as she looked over each one. She felt as if she would be stuffed into one of those test tubes if she came any closer. She felt as if the wires inside were reaching out for her. Ash opened her mouth to speak — to tell Pat to turn around, that they had seen enough — when a strange, purple liquid began to leak from a hole in the ceiling.
The liquid oozed and stretched as it began to spread across the ceiling. The ceiling tiles sizzled quietly as the liquid moved. Ash stared at the liquid — and suddenly, the liquid was staring back at her. Ash's eyes widened in horror as she saw a pair of pinprick-sized holes form on the surface of the liquid, followed by a thin, curved mouth. The eyes locked onto Ash, and the liquid's mouth moved, but only a low, gurgling cry came out.
Ash jumped back, away from the liquid, and Pat stepped forward to protect her. The liquid burbled and dropped from the ceiling in a flash, ripping the ceiling tiles off in the process, which came crashing down to the floor.
"Pat, Ice Beam!" Ash said.
Pat leaned forward and aimed one of the large cannons protruding from his shoulders, then shot out a bright, white beam of energy that struck the liquid and pushed it back. The liquid recoiled and shrank back for a moment, and Ash took the opportunity to reach into her bag and open her Pokedex. Ash held the Pokedex forward and waited for the device to respond, but the Pokedex only gave an aggravated beep — it had lost the target before the scan could be completed. Ash looked up from the Pokedex and her jaw dropped.
The liquid was bubbling and rising, solidifying into a solid shape. Ash watched as the shape formed into a large, round body; stubby, muscular arms; and a pair of large, circular cannons protruding out of the shoulders. Ash's Pokedex beeped with a previously identified entry. A Blastoise was now standing in front of her, identical to her own.
"Pat, Skull Bash!" Ash said.
Pat lowered his head and prepared to charge — and so did the other Blastoise. For a moment, watching them felt like Pat was practicing in front of a mirror. The two Blastoises charged at each other and slammed their heads into each other, the force of their impact shaking the entire building and raining down more loose ceiling tiles all around them.
This is getting us nowhere, Ash thought to herself.
"Tarrant, Thunder Wave!" she called out.
A wave of electricity came down from the ceiling, through the wires inside the test tubes, and then danced across the floor. Pat and the Blastoise were both hit, and they froze up as their muscles began to spasm from the Paralysis. Ash wasted no time — she threw an Ultra Ball at the Blastoise, and she withdrew her own, sending out her Haunter in his place.
Ash and her Ghost-type stared at the Ultra Ball as it hit the ground; then jostled once, twice… and clicked. The Ultra Ball immediately lit up white and was teleported away, into the PC System. Ash's Pokedex beeped again — this time with a new entry. Ash flipped the Pokedex back open and began to read about her newest catch, a Ditto, a Pokemon she had never seen or heard of but which the Pokedex somehow had information on.
For the first time, Ash felt no joy or feeling of accomplishment as she looked at the Pokedex and read the information. But seeing the facts printed across the screen was a reminder to Ash of something she had been trying to avoid, or perhaps find an excuse for — a plain sign that Professor Oak must have known something about what was going on in the Pokemon Mansion. About the work that Dr. Fuji was doing here.
As if on cue, Ash's phone began to ring, and Ash heard the sound of thunder in the distance. The storm was finally here. Ash checked her phone — sure enough, the Professor's name was on the screen.
Ash stared at the screen as it rang… she didn't pick up. Once it stopped ringing, she put the phone away and walked to the test tubes — with their wires still twitching from Trarrant's electricity — she wanted answers, and then she was going to confront the Professor about them. In person.
#
Flying across Saffron Bay during the day was more fun than it had been at night when Josh had gone to Fuchsia City. The crystal blue water of the bay was beautiful, and Josh caught glimpses of Water-type Pokemon every now and then; some Krabbys crawling on the beach of Route 19, a group of Shellders nestled along a coral reef, a school of Goldeens, a giant Tentacruel lazily bobbing along with the waves, even a Starmie gliding across the water like a hockey puck. Josh was so preoccupied with the Pokemon, looking for one that hadn't been added to the Pokedex yet — or even better: a strong Water-type he could add to his team — that he completely lost track of the horizon in front of him.
It wasn't until Hermes let out a nervous screech that Josh's attention returned to the sky, and the massive, gray clouds that were approaching. The clouds were hanging above the water, extended high into the atmosphere — probably higher than Hermes could even fly. Josh could see massive sheets of rain falling from under the lip of the clouds, and the clouds themselves were alive with lightning that occasionally penetrated the thick darkness of the sky.
The entire sky ahead of them was filled with the largest storm that Josh had ever seen. He instructed Hermes to dive low while he scanned the water below him for anything that could provide shelter. There was nothing but black, tumultuous ocean below him, and all of the Wild Pokemon Josh had previously seen had had the good sense to leave before the storm had gotten this close. Of course, most of them could probably dive deeper into the ocean to avoid this kind of thing, Josh figured, but that wasn't an option for him.
The rain fell on Josh in one thick, sheet; immediately soaking him and making it nearly impossible to see. The rain kept coming, with big, fat raindrops peppering Josh's face and eyes, but he kept his grip firmly on Hermes's back and squinted to see through the storm. Every thunderclap put the fear of being zapped out of the sky in Josh's head, but he kept flying.
There's no stopping here. There's no one else around. You got yourself into this mess, now get yourself out.
Finally, Josh caught a glimpse of dry land — an island with two large hills. There were no buildings or people, but it would have to do. Hermes flapped his wings frantically to increase his speed, then tucked them in and landed abruptly on the ground.
Josh hopped off of Hermes and withdrew him immediately. He ran toward the hill and held his backpack over his head to try and keep his head dry. Josh spotted an opening in the side of the hill, a cave entrance with a metal sign posted at the top, although Josh couldn't even read the words on it from the rain. Regardless, he sprinted through the entrance and skeeted to a stop as the change from muddy grass to dry stone floor almost made him fall over.
Josh leaned against the wall as he let the rainwater spill over his face and down his body, hopefully washing out some of the sweat from his run. As Josh's heart finally stopped pounding, he looked around to try and figure out where he was. A cold chill ran up his feet and to his head, and suddenly Josh was shivering.
Josh reached into his bag and pulled out a Poke Ball — taking care not to let the wet Poke Ball slip out of his moist hands — and released his Arcanine.
Helios emerged and looked around, then looked at Josh with a confused look.
"Just stay next to me," Josh said, "I'm freezing, I need to warm up."
Helios barked happily and trotted over, sitting next to his Trainer and nuzzling his head into Josh's chest. Helios fur was perfectly warm, like a blanket next to a fireplace, and Josh held his Pokemon close to keep the cold away.
Leaning against the wall of the cave, with his Fire-type keeping him warm, Josh was reminded of a day in Pallet Town when school had been canceled due to snow. The joy of no school and the opportunity to sled down his own backyard had lasted a few hours until the snow also caused a power failure, and Josh's house was left without power. It had been impossible to keep warm, even with two sweaters and his blankets, and the Delaney family had offered their house to them.
Ash's house wasn't as big as Ryan's house, but it had a generator. Josh's parents had stuck all their perishable food in Ash's fridge, and Josh had clambered up to Ash's room so he could sit next to her space heater. That was the first time Josh had ever been in Ash's room, just a few weeks after he and Ryan had sat with her during lunch and first gotten to know her. Ash was cool, but it still felt awkward for Josh to be in a girl's room.
But as Josh sat down on the beanbag next to Ash's bed, he immediately felt at ease. Ash's room was just like his — there was a giant poster of Misty, the newly-appointed Cerulean City Gym Leader; Elite Four Member Agatha, a picture from years ago when she still used to compete at the Indigo Plateau; and a poster for a band Josh didn't recognize but could absolutely see the appeal in it for Ash. The singer had a shock of orange hair that flew around her face, her leg was raised as though she was mid-jump or maybe mid-kick (it was hard to tell), and the singer's eyes were shut as she screamed into the microphone. A week after that night in Ash's room, if someone had asked Josh to describe Ash to them, he would have wanted that poster available so he could point to it.
That night was the first time Josh had ever talked to Ash alone, and the first time he had ever talked to her about anything that wasn't school or Pokemon-related. He couldn't even remember what they had been talking about, but Josh did remember when Ash had interrupted him mid-sentence.
"Do you have a crush on Eimi?" she had asked.
"W-what? No! No way, why would you say that?" Josh said quickly, as she shifted away from Ash's space heater, suddenly feeling much hotter.
"Okay," Ash said with a simple nod, "I was just wondering."
That memory had stuck in Josh's head for a long time. Josh also remembered seeing Ash sitting down in class the next day — right next to Eimi Tanaka, the cutest girl in school — and feeling paranoid for the whole day that Ash was suddenly going to lean over and whisper in Eimi's ear: "You know Josh has a huge crush on you, right? I asked him about it, and he said he thinks you're the cutest girl in school."
But Ash never did that, she never would have done that. It was a crazy nightmare scenario that had just rattled around Josh's head for the entire day and maybe a few days after that. Ash was cool. She was easy to talk to. She was a better friend than Ryan ever was. But she also seemed like she could see right through Josh, like no matter what he said Ash knew what he was really thinking. That part wasn't so great, sometimes. Eimi Tanaka moved away not long after, which thankfully ended Josh's paranoia.
Helios's heavy paws on Josh's chest and his tongue licking his face brought him out of his memories. Josh's chill was gone, and he could finally focus on where he was.
The storm was still raging outside, and the rain swept into the cave entrance with every violent gust of wind. So Josh turned the other way, and walked deeper into the cave, with Helios by his side, illuminating the way with small breaths of fire out of his mouth.
The deeper they went, the colder it got, until Josh was shivering even with Helios right next to him. Icicles lined the roof of the tunnel and crawled down the walls. Josh's shoes made a soft crunch with every step he took, and he saw a thin layer of snow on the ground. After a few steps into the snow, Josh nearly slipped, and he stopped to untie his shoes and take them off. Walking barefoot made his feet sting from the cold, but he could at least keep his footing better.
Eventually, the cave widened into a massive chamber with a giant, perfectly still lake inside. Josh walked to the edge of the water and dipped his toe in — then he withdrew it immediately.
"Holy crap, that's cold!" he hissed as he hopped away from the water on the foot he could still feel.
Josh knelt down and rubbed his foot with both hands to try and get some sensation back. Then he caught sight of some ripples along the water and looked up to see a Lapras floating in the lake.
For a moment, Josh couldn't think of anything but stare at the Water-type. Laprases were incredibly rare, they had been poached to near extinction, and Josh never would have imagined actually seeing one while he was on his journey. The last time he had seen a Lapras was on TV, when one had been caught in the wild and brought to the Safari Zone to help it recuperate. The amount of people trying to catch a glimpse of the Water-type had caused so much overcrowding that the whole Safari Zone had been closed until the Lapras was released back into the ocean.
The Lapras that Josh now saw in the underground lake was even larger and healthier than the one he had seen on the TV. The Lapras looked at Josh for a moment, then he ducked his head and dove back under the water. Josh watched as the Lapras's shadow slowly moved under the water toward him. The Lapras emerged again at the edge of the water, silently and gracefully. He tilted his head curiously as he looked at Josh, and then down to his foot.
The Lapras leaned his head down to Josh's foot and opened his mouth. He let out a breath of air that hit Josh's foot like the steam from a boiling teapot, hot enough to get rid of the freezing cold, but not hot enough to burn.
"Oh," Josh sighed in relief. "That's better, thanks."
Behind Josh, Helios let out a small whine of disapproval. So Josh turned around and called his Arcanine to him. Helios perked up immediately and trotted to Josh's side, snuggling up to him and panting happily. The Lapras watched Josh and his Arcanine for a moment, then slowly scooched forward with his massive flippers until he was at Josh's other side.
Since Laprases were part Ice-type, Josh would have assumed that their bodies would be cold, but the Lapras's body was actually decently warm — just a bit slippery since it was covered in blubber. Josh gently ran his hand over the Lapras's flipper and looked at him in his big, blue eyes.
"My name's Josh," he said, "and this is Helios."
Helios barked in greeting, and the Lapras nodded his head at both of them. Josh looked around the cave. "This cave is nice," he said, "but it's kind of small for you, isn't it? I heard that Laprases like the open ocean. But I also heard how they get hunted a lot."
The Lapras listened to Josh in silence. The Water-type looked at Josh with lidded eyes that he couldn't read. Was the Lapras agreeing with him, or not? Did he even know what Josh was talking about? But Josh had already begun, so he figured he might as well finish his thought. He pulled out an empty Poke Ball and held it in his hand where the Lapras could see it.
"I'm a Pokemon Trainer. I'm heading to Cinnabar after this storm is over," Josh said. "I've never crossed the ocean with a Pokemon before. Do you want to come with me?"
