Cinnabar Island was beautiful, sunny, and smoldering hot. Ash would have loved the opportunity to sunbathe on a beach again, but she had promised the Professor she would visit his old colleague from Saffron University and deliver a critically important package as soon as she arrived.
Ash hiked her way up to the Cinnabar Gym, which sat at the base of the volcano in the center of the island. The interior of the Gym had an open roof to let the sunlight in, and was filled with both apprentices and lab assistants — Ash recognized the lab coats and clipboards, just like the research assistants the Professor had in his lab back in Pallet Town. Ash approached the nearest apprentice.
"Hi, I'm Ash Delaney," she said, "I'm here to see Blaine, he should be expecting me."
The apprentice nodded and walked away. A moment later, Blaine emerged, with Professor Oak by his side, and another man that Ash didn't recognize.
"P-professor, hi," Ash said, suddenly feeling ambushed. "I'm sorry I didn't answer your call."
"No harm done. I'm just glad to see you made it to the island safe," Professor Oak said to her. He turned to his colleagues. "Ashley Delaney, meet Cinnabar Gym Leader and Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology, Blaine."
Blaine held his hand forward and Ash shook it. Blaine's handshake was gentle, but firm, like Ash's father's. He looked at Ash from behind dark sunglasses that Ash couldn't see through, but he smiled warmly at her.
"Nice to meet you," Ash said.
"Likewise."
"And this is Bill Hastings," Oak continued, "inventor of the PC Storage System. Ph.D.'s in computer science, neural networks, and machine learning — among others."
"Oh, wow," Ash said, "I never thought I would get to meet you in person."
Ash shook Bill's hand, though his shake was much shorter and Bill withdrew his hand quickly.
"Well, I very rarely leave my home without a good reason," Bill said, "But I couldn't miss watching this particular experiment. Of course, Sam's told me all about you, and I must say, it's been intriguing watching such a young Trainer add so many captures to her account."
"She's responsible for 78 of the 130 entries into the Pokedex," Oak added.
"Ah, yes," Bill said, "I met your friend as well, Josh Dale — am I remembering that right? Good kid, he helped me out quite a bit."
"He said you turned yourself into a giant Kabuto," Ash said, suppressing a grin.
"… Yes, well, you take the crookeds with the straights, as they say," Bill said as his face went red. "I heard that in a play I saw about baseball once, though I'm not entirely sure what it means…"
"Me neither. But Josh would know," Ash said.
Professor Oak hid his smile by pretending to scratch his nose, but Blaine burst out laughing with no restraint. Ash laughed, and soon enough even Bill was laughing. After they settled down, the four of them began to walk to the back of the Gym. Bill and the Professor took a staircase to the second floor of the Gym. Blaine held the door on the first floor open for Ash, and the two of them headed down a narrow hallway that looked nothing like the Gym — it was all white walls and floors and looked more like a hospital or a Poke Center. As they walked, Blaine cleared his throat.
"All right, Ms. Delaney, tell me: which Pokemon is known as the Spitfire Pokemon?"
Ash smiled. Professor Oak had told her about Blaine's love of trivia questions years ago, and she was more than confident.
"Magmar, of course," she said.
"Of course. And which two Pokemon types are known to resist Fire-type, but are not super effective against it?"
"Hmm… Dragon-type and…" Ash said. She thought for a moment, and then she looked at Blaine with a grin. "Hey. That's a trick question — Fire-type resists itself."
"Right again," Blaine said, returning her smile with a devious one of his own, "I see Sam taught you well. Now comes a really tough one: which Pokemon's Kantonese name references green onions?"
"Farfetch'd," Ash said immediately, "their Kantonese name is Kamonegi."
Blaine let out another hearty belly laugh. "Very impressive, Ms. Delaney."
They had reached the end of the hallway, where a set of automatic doors was waiting for them. Blaine turned to Ash.
"Sam told me you were the sharpest girl he'd ever met," the Gym Leader said, "I've never known the man to be a bad judge of character, so I shouldn't be surprised by you — and yet I am. Well, if you're serious about becoming a researcher like Sam, I'm sure you'll have your degree from Saffron University hanging on a wall in no time."
The last time Ash had seen a Saffron University degree was in Dr. Fuji's home.
"That… that means a lot to me," Ash said. "Thank you."
Blaine nodded to her and turned back to the automatic doors. He input a code into the keypad next to them, and the doors hissed open. The doors opened to reveal a giant chamber lined with massive computer towers, each one connected by dozens of cables that were neatly secured against the wall with metal fasteners. The cables strung the computer towers together and then crawled up the walls of the chamber and to the ceiling until they united into one giant, thick trunk of cables that fed into one machine in the center of the chamber.
The machine consisted of a giant circular platform and a tripod-like device that hung above it, with a small box attached to the center that looked like a giant camera. Ash had watched a few videos of 3D printers making things like plastic toys and car parts, but she had never seen one like this. The one she was looking at was so big it could easily fit her Blastoise and Nidoking inside it, with room to spare.
"Wow," she said.
"Wow indeed. I don't even want to know how much money Bill spent on this thing," Blaine said. Then he turned to look up at the giant observation windows that were high up on the second floor. There were dozens of silhouettes crowded up against the glass, with computer monitors just below them. "Are we all ready up there?"
"Diagnostics are all green and the simulations showed no deviation," Bill's voice responded, through a loudspeaker.
"We're ready when you are, Ashley," Oak's voice added.
"Well then," Blaine said as he turned back to Ash. "Ms. Delaney, if you would?"
Blaine gestured toward the machine. Ash unslung her bag and carefully took out a small package wrapped in cloth. She unfurled the cloth and revealed a rock — or rather, a petrified liquid. Ash held a piece of crystallized amber, about the size of a Poke Ball, but thousands of times more valuable than one. She had received it during her first stop outside of Pallet Town, the Pewter City Museum of Science, where dozens of fossils were on exhibition but none of which would have been of any use to Ash today. Ash had carried the piece of amber with her on her whole journey, waiting for August, when the Professor had told her that her colleagues would be ready for it.
The amber was see-through, and inside of it was the real value. A fossilized tooth was inside the amber — almost perfectly preserved, which meant that it held viable DNA.
Ash walked to the center of the machine's platform and gently set the amber down. She walked away from the machine and back to Blaine, who handed her a pair of dark, round goggles not unlike his own sunglasses.
"I prefer to observe up close and personal," Blaine said to her, "I assume you're game?"
"Of course," Ash said, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck start to stand on end.
Was she about to witness the first fossil Pokemon brought back to life — but that wouldn't be true, would it? Josh had been the first, when he met Bill, even though all of that had been a bizarre accident.
Well, Ash thought to herself, second place ain't bad.
"Are you ready down there?" Bill's voice said as the computer towers lining the walls began to whir to life. There were giant fans positioned behind them to keep the computers cool, and suddenly it felt as though Ash was in a moving car with the window down.
"Ready!" Ash called out.
The tripod arms of the 3D printer came to life, a thin laser shot down to the amber, and the amber began to melt away until only the fossilized tooth was left. After a second, the tooth dissolved as well. The arms began to bob to and fro, and the laser began to create a giant talon, a toe, and then an entire foot. The laser got brighter and brighter, and the computers behind Ash began to whine as the fans struggled to keep them cool.
Even with the dark goggles, Ash struggled to see through the blinding light of the machine, and she had to look away. But as soon as she did, she heard the ear-piercing screech of a Pokemon she had never heard before, and then the deafening crash of a building collapsing — a sound that Ash recognized after her experience in the Silph Co. Building. Without bothering to try and look around, Ash threw her Poke Ball up, and Pat emerged behind her.
A green orb of energy surrounded Ash and her Blastoise, and the ceiling crashed harmlessly against Pat's Protect, splitting into two massive slabs and falling on either side of them. Ash whipped her head around to where Blaine had been standing — but he was unharmed, a Ninetales was by his side and had used her own Protect to shield the Gym Leader.
Ash whipped her head around again. The machine was destroyed, the computers were damaged, and the ceiling was gone. The sun was now shining down on them, but it was a welcome change from the blinding light of the machine. Ash removed her goggles and Blaine walked to her.
"Good reflexes," he said.
"You too," she said.
"This old man still has some moves," he said. Then, he looked back up to the window. "Bill! Sam! Are you all okay up there?"
The loudspeaker let out a garbled and static-filled screech before settling back to a human voice.
"— Two, four, six, eight…" Bill's voice said. "We're… we're okay, right? Everybody here accounted for? Anyone missing limbs? Okay. Yeah, yeah. We're okay, Blaine. What about you?"
"Is Ashley okay?" Oak's voice said.
"Oh, please, she's fine. We both are," Blaine answered. "Bill, I'll tell you the bad news: your machine is wrecked. Did we get any usable data?"
"We barely registered any mass on the scale. It was too bright on our end — all our cameras were blown out, didn't get a thing. Did you see anything?"
"Not much," Blaine said.
"I think I saw a foot," Ash added.
Then, a shadow passed over the two of them. At first, Ash thought she had blinked. But then the shadow passed over her again… and then again. She looked up, and she saw the large, arrowhead-shaped tip of a gray tail disappear into a bank of clouds.
"Oh my God," Ash murmured. "Blaine? I think… I think that —"
"What is it?" Blaine said, looking at Ash. Then, he followed her eyes and looked up. "… Oh."
"Blaine? What's going on out there?" Oak's voice said.
"Sam," Blaine said as he removed his sunglasses, still staring up at the sky. "We've got a live one."
#
Ash followed close behind Blaine as he power-walked through the intact remains of the Gym. He issued a quick set of instructions to everyone who was present: the researchers were to stay inside, Bill and Professor Oak would stay with Blaine, and the apprentices were to protect the Gym and move down to the city to keep an eye out. Blaine would deal with the Aerodactyl himself, he said, until he turned around to see Ash right behind him holding a Poke Ball.
"I can help," she said.
"Ashley, this could be dangerous," Professor Oak said. "It'll be better if I go with Blaine and you stayed inside."
"This is no ordinary Wild Pokemon, Ms. Delaney," Blaine warned, "this thing hasn't been alive for over 60 million years, there's no telling how it will behave, or how aggressive it will be."
"He flew straight up and out of the building, didn't he?" Ash said. "He's probably just scared. And when was the last time you battled any Wild Pokemon, Professor?"
The three scientists looked at Ash with raised eyebrows.
"Yeah, if her Blastoise could just stay right by me, that'd be great," Bill said.
Ash tossed Pat's Poke Ball to the Professor and walked past him while he caught it. Blaine walked with her, and they began to hike up the mountain. Once they were out of earshot, Blaine spoke.
"Do you have any Pokemon capable of flying?" he asked.
"Not exactly," Ash said. "But get him closer and I might."
Blaine furrowed his brows as he looked at her, but said nothing. Then, he turned to his Ninetales. Ash readied a Great Ball in her hand.
"Make some noise," Blaine instructed.
Blaine's Ninetales strode forward, then threw her head up and let out a powerful howl. A few Wild Pokemon in the distance began to scatter. But a moment later, the terrifying screech Ash had heard before answered, and the clouds parted to reveal the Aerodactyl.
He was massive. Bigger than Ryan's Charizard, Josh's Pidgeot, or any Flying-type Pokemon Ash had ever seen. The Aerodactyl's eyes locked onto Ash, and she stared back at it.
With eyes of flame, Ash thought to herself. Jaws that bite, and claws that catch…
The Aerodactyl's jaws opened to reveal a set of serrated teeth, and he tucked in his wings to initiate a dive.
Beware, little girl, someone's head may roll for this…
He descended on them with terrifying speed, but Ash called out her Haunter, and Blaine stood his ground next to his Ninetales.
"Flamethrower!" Blaine commanded.
"Cheshire, Thunderbolt!"
The Aerodactyl screeched and veered off at the last second, narrowly dodging the attacks and flying just past Ash's head. The wind whipped her hair in her face, and she smacked it away with her free hand. Blaine's Ninetales ran past her, and Ash turned to keep her eyes on the Aerodactyl as the Rock-type flew up into the sky again.
"Now, Cheshire, Shadow Ball!" she called out.
The Ninetales's flames would never reach the Aerodactyl that high in the air, but Ash's Haunter had learned incredible accuracy after his many battles with Ash. Cheshire brought his hands together and sent out a shadowy, smoking purple ball of energy that zipped through the air and intercepted the Aerodactyl during his ascent, striking him in the center of his back. The Aerodactyl screeched and then turned around to initiate another dive.
"Well, we've certainly got his attention," Blaine said. "What exactly is the next step of your plan?"
"This," Ash said. Then, she held out an Ultra Ball. "Vorpal, Transform! Hit him with everything you've got!"
Ash's Ultra Ball clicked open, and a purple sludge emerged, but its body shifted into the shape of a large jaw with serrated teeth, a pair of massive gray wings, a pair of clawed feet, and a tail with an arrowhead-shaped tip. The second Aerodactyl flapped his wings to fly forward, and the force of the wingbeats was enough to make Ash stumble a few steps back, but she kept her eyes on her transformed Ditto and watched as it flew straight for the Wild Aerodactyl.
"My God," Blaine gasped.
The two Pokemon flew right into each other, smashing their skulls together with a deafening CRACK that made Ash's ears ring. The two Flying-types went limp, fell to the ground, and gently slid into a bank of bushes at the foot of the mountain. At this distance, Ash normally wouldn't bother — she was never very accurate with her throws. But the adrenaline of what she had just seen made her bolder. She pulled out another Ultra Ball, took a step back, and then threw it forward with a running start. The Ultra Ball arced in the air and landed perfectly on the Aerodactyl's head.
The massive Fossil Pokemon disappeared into the Ultra Ball, and the Ultra Ball landed on the ground with a click.
Blaine stared at Ash while her new capture disappeared in a white flash, off to Bill's PC Storage System. Ash's Pokedex beeped with a new entry, her 79th.
"I supposed you'll be naming him as well?" the Gym Leader finally asked, failing to think of anything else to say.
"Oh, yeah," Ash said. "His name will be Jabberwocky." Then, she turned on her heel and faced the Gym Leader. "Shall we go now? There's something I want to talk to the Professor about."
#
Josh had almost mistaken the Cinnabar Gym for an abandoned building. Half of the building seemed to have collapsed, and there was a crowd of Trainers, apprentices, and construction workers scrambling around it, taping off the area and shooing away the little kids and Pokemon who were trying to get a closer look.
But Josh walked past the destroyed part of the building and through the front doors. The Gym Leader was there, in a lab coat and with a blazing red tie, along with his signature dark sunglasses and mustache. Blaine was the oldest Gym Leader in the Kanto Region, and had held his post for over 30 years. Every year, when the Indigo Plateau Conference was held, reporters would ask Blaine if he ever planned to retire. He would always laugh in response, and give them brutally difficult trivia questions. When the reporters inevitably got them wrong, Blaine would say: "I'll retire when someone comes along with the knowledge and skill to replace me. Until then, I'll see you next year!"
But today, in person, Blaine was smiling and talking to a man Josh recognized — Bill Hastings, the Pokemaniac.
"I'm sorry, but I don't believe they'll be able to recover anything useful from the wreckage," Blaine said.
"Oh, not to worry," Bill said as he held up his smartphone. "After the little video I got, I won't have any trouble finding investors to raise money for the next one. And the first modification I'm making: reinforced steel walls."
"Hi," Josh said, "I'm Josh Dale. I'm a Pokemon Trainer with six Badges. What happened here?"
"Oh, hello again," Bill said. "A little mishap during my latest experiment. Nothing to worry about."
Josh remembered the last time Bill's experiment had gone wrong — which he had called 'a little snag'. He wasn't sure he even wanted to know what Bill would call a 'mishap'.
"All right, Mr. Dale," Blaine said, "how many certified Pokemon Gyms are there in the Indigo League?"
"16."
"Of which the Kanto Region is home to how many?"
"Eight."
"And what year was the Indigo League established?"
"Uh, that I don't know."
"April 28th, 1953. Also the day I turned five," Blaine said. "Now, which Pokemon Type does Fire-type resist, but is not super effective against?"
"Um…" Josh said. Then he caught sight of a familiar shade of hair — Ash's blonde hair. She was sitting in the spectators' area with Professor Oak. That's when Josh remembered. "Wait — Fairy-type!"
"Correct," Blaine said with a smile. "Well, Mr. Dale, normally for a Trainer with six Badges, I would have you face one of my apprentices first. But I'm afraid we've had a day you would not believe, and I don't think my Gym can take much more punishment. So would you mind if we postpone your challenge until the day after tomorrow? Say, 10:00 AM, five-on-five, challenger opens, free substitutions for us both?"
"Against you?" Josh asked.
"Certainly."
"Sure."
"Good man," Blaine said, then he shook Josh's hand before walking away with Bill.
Josh waved at Ash, but she shook her head at him. She had a weird look on her face. Something told Josh not to interrupt them, so he waited.
#
"I visited the Pokemon Mansion when I got here," Ash said.
"Ashley, that building is scheduled to be demolished. No one is allowed in there," the Professor said.
The Professor hadn't seen Ash since the family dinner at the Oak residence, but that already felt like a long time ago. She had been different, that day. The Professor couldn't put his finger on it, and he was still struggling to understand what it was that had changed in the girl even now, as he sat next to her in the Cinnabar Gym.
"I know it's not allowed," Ash said. "But I had to go in there and see for myself. Because of this."
Ash reached into her bag and pulled out a leather-bound book, the same one from Dr. Fuji's house, and handed it to the Professor. He took it and opened it to a random page. He recognized the handwriting.
"This is —"
"It's Dr. Fuji's journal. From 1980 to 2006."
"Ashley, why would you —"
"He worked for them," Ash said. "He worked for Team Rocket. He illegally experimented on Pokemon. It's all in there."
The Professor looked between the journal and Ash's harsh, accusing eyes. He couldn't believe what he was holding in his hands, or how Ash had gotten a hold of it. He couldn't believe what she was saying to him, or the way she was speaking.
"Did you know?" she asked.
"Did I know what?"
"Did you know what he was doing? Who he was doing it for?"
The Professor pursed his lips for a moment and took a deep breath. Then, he spoke. "No, I didn't. Not until years later."
"How many years later?"
"Three years after it happened. What is this? Are you accusing me of something?"
"I don't know yet," Ash said curtly. She glanced around. Blaine was talking to Bill a ways away, on the battlefield. Josh was there too. He waved to her, but Ash couldn't even manage to fake a smile. She shook her head at him, willing him not to come any closer. Only once she was sure Josh wasn't going to come any closer did she speak again. "Why did you tell me to visit Dr. Fuji?"
"I wanted you to see the good that he's been doing in Lavender Town," Professor Oak said. "He's not the same man he was back then."
"Would you have told me about what he used to do, if I hadn't found this?"
The Professor couldn't answer her. He sighed, closed the journal, and handed it back to her.
"I don't know that I would have," he said. "That's not the kind of thing I would have wanted you to know about."
Ash gripped the journal tightly in her hands. She knew the Professor was telling the truth, but it didn't make her feel any better. Didn't undo any of the things Ash had seen since she had been to Mt. Moon, the Pokemon Tower, or the Silph Co. Building. Didn't undo the way the feelings came boiling back up inside her whenever she looked at her Marowak. She had the answers she wanted, but she felt worse than ever. She blinked back tears.
"Professor," she said quietly, "why would he do something like that?"
Professor Oak put a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"… Grief for a loved one can make people do terrible things," he said.