Creation began on 05-31-20

Creation ended on 06-04-20

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Furious Fans

There were moments of ordinary gossip going work, and there were moments of rage involved in gossip. This…was not one of those days at NERV. With the power outage, there were people upset with the lack of electricity and access to the Internet, and most couldn't access their social media accounts to speak with their friends or family about anything. Not that Gendo really cared about any of their nonsense.

"Ikari," went Fuyutsuki as he entered the former's office, "do you have any idea what you did to jeopardize the project at Giovanni's?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Gendo responded, making no effort to hide his involvement in what was done to end the sojourn prematurely.

"A sojourn to another world subconsciously that lasts mainly three days ended up being cut short because you caused a blackout and everyone directly involved in the sojourn ended up spending three months in another world that might as well be a dream come true because it was a vacation of sorts to be there. Even if there's no proof of your involvement, we know it was you that caused it, Ikari. You have no idea how foolish your actions were."

-x-

Accessing the MAGI, Ritsuko and Maya were able to ascertain the proof they needed to prove that Gendo Ikari was responsible for the power outage.

"So, it was Commander Ikari," went Maya as she and Ritsuko reviewed the segments of code used to cause the blackout. "I don't understand what grudge would justify his disbelief in the research of interdimensional travel."

"I don't believe Ikari's attempt to shut down the Giovanni Corporation's project has anything to do with them," Ritsuko explained. "He wasn't trying to attack Giovanni. He was trying to attack his son."

"Shinji? But…it was because of Giovanni that we were able to find out that Shinji is still alive. We wouldn't have been able to even see him without their project's research results. Even Shinji is grateful that he's able to see us. He doesn't even have any resentment towards you over the incident that led him to getting displaced."

This was true, Shinji had no hatred over what Ritsuko had done when he was informed. While he still had some shock over the revelation that only the Eva was salvaged, it seemed to pale in comparison to the freedom he had as a Pokémon Trainer. He was lucky to be alive and had been able to reach his eighteenth birthday, let alone his fifteenth after he ended up displaced. The only thing he actually resented and took great pains to refrain from expressing all the time…was just the choices his parents made, solidifying his decision to avoid the Eva when he caught the two Pokémon necessary for him to return.

"Trying to cut us off from Shinji won't force him to find a Palkia and Dialga in the Pokémon world faster," Ritsuko stated. "During the time we were with Shinji, we didn't even see either Pokémon he needed. And some of the Pokémon we did see associated to the Unova Region…were looking for Shinji. I still can't believe we saw a Keldeo."

"Which led to Shinji facing the other members of the Swords of Justice," Maya added. If Commander ever found out about that day and how Shinji fared, he'd probably try to make us stop trying to go over there. Still, I think Shinji would've met those Pokémon, even if we weren't with him.

Now that they knew how Gendo had caused the outage, all Ritsuko had to do was implement a reverse code and it would end the blackout and restore the city's power grid. After which, they had to decide how to deal with him if he persisted.

-x-

"…You actually spent three months there while you were unconscious for an entire day?" Kaji asked Misato, curious as to what happened during her last visit to the warehouse where Palkia was kept.

"Gives new meaning to the phrase 'time flies'," she told him as they were in the barely-lit cafeteria. "Unova's got better-looking places than we do here. Of course, most of their world isn't underwater. And Shinji's caught more Pokémon. Early Pidove gets the Venipede or Sewaddle, but the second Rattata gets the Lunatone. Explains his tendency to get up early when he's not at a Pokémon Center."

"You're not an early bird most of the time yourself."

"Don't remind me. I can hardly believe he's able to be punctual and active, not to mention he keeps a lot of supplies in his bag."

"What does he keep in his bag?"

"He practically carries an entire department store in his bag. The only thing he didn't carry on him was his bike."

"Shinji has a bike?"

"Yeah, but he doesn't use it. I actually saw the bike at his house in Pallet Town and asked him about it. It turns out he obtained it through a voucher while he and Kensuke were in Johto. It was shortly after defeating the Goldenrod City Gym Leader that he and Kensuke participated in a Bug-Catching Contest in National Park held on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Shinji won first place, but while the standard prize is a Sun Stone, the people in charge of the contest that day didn't have one, so Shinji got the option of receiving five other Evolution Stones or a Bike Voucher. Instead of the stones, Shinji accepted the voucher, even though he didn't know how to ride a bike. He requested the bike shop to mail it over to Prof. Oak's lab in Pallet."

"That's odd. I looked at some of the videos that showed descriptions of Pokémon evolving after being exposed to one of these stones, and they seem incredibly powerful if they were used as prizes if trainers won contests or matches. Why would he accept a voucher to obtain a bike he can't ride over getting five stones that could evolve his Pokémon that can't evolve further without being exposed to them?"

"Because using stones to evolve makes Shinji uncomfortable. It's mainly because of his Eevee, the only Pokémon of his that has many forms she can evolve into. He prefers her and all his other Pokémon that require stones to evolve further as they are because in his mind, stones are a crutch or one-way street you can't turn back from. Personally, I think using stones to evolve just scares him because if he makes a choice to evolve one of them using a stone, he can't return them to their previous state. No do-overs, no deposit, no return. The only items he is comfortable with using to evolve his Pokémon are items not considered to be stones, but I've never seen him use those, either. When I asked him what his favorite stone was, he answered Everstones, as they keep Pokémon from evolving. He has eight of them and has his Eevee wear one around her neck. I guess he doesn't want to take any chances with the possibility of accidental evolution."

"Accidental evolution?"

"It's real, and it's happened many times before during random incidents, people's Pokémon evolving because of random factors, such as the use of a stone. One time while we were with Shinji in Driftveil City, a woman carrying a basket full of stones bumped into me and caused them to fall onto the ground. A traveling trainer's Poliwhirl ended up evolving into a Poliwrath and nearly caused a scene."

"I take it was unhappy with evolving?"

"That's an understatement…and it doesn't come close to describing its behavior. Toji said it best when we saw it. It was pissed off. The issue was resolved by Shinji before it could escalate by battling the Poliwrath with his Audino…and to appease its wounded soul, he gave its trainer a Mystic Water."

"Something tells me that doesn't help with evolution."

"No, but the Poliwrath it was given to calmed down and thanked Shinji. Sad to say, I miss being with Shinji now. I just hope he's doing alright."

"Come on, he's Shinji. He's a Pokémon Trainer and the guy with a streak of luck and skill that enables him to pull through even the most challenging of times."

While Misato could accept that as the truth, there was also another truth she had to accept: Gendo Ikari would do anything to either manipulate or hurt his son if he couldn't have his way with what Shinji did while displaced in another world, including, as of now, trying to keep his friends, admirers and fans away from him.

"What Pokémon would you go for?" She asked Kaji. "If you were there, I mean?"

"Me? Well, after watching some of his video exploits, I'd probably go with…a Combusken."

-x-

"…Hmm," went Palkia as Antonio and the research crew continued to work on another aspect of their project until the main power was restored to the city.

"What's the matter, Palkia?" Antonio asked as he noticed it seeming bothered by something.

"Your attempts to advance your project into interdimensional travel was wounded by the arrogance of this Gendo Ikari," it spoke up. "He who has demonstrated outright hatred for even the most minor of decisions made that he will not agree with will undoubtedly persist in trying to interfere with your good work to ensure the survival of your world and all life that exists on it."

"If he does try to interfere again, we'll have measures to deal with him."

"He believes himself to be above this reproach you humans established long ago, that he cannot be held accountable for whatever he does. How will you deal with him?"

"He's just a man throwing a tantrum simply because nobody's listening to him. All he has to do is anger someone he shouldn't and he will get whatever's coming to him. Are you angry with him, Palkia?"

"Of course, I am angry with him. He has interfered with research that is promising and desires no measure of hope for the people. I want him to cease his arrogant behavior and allow benevolent progress to continue yielding results that will ensure a better future, but I do not desire the death of any human."

Antonio nodded his head in agreement with Palkia; he had reason to hate Gendo, too, but he didn't want the man dead. He just wanted him to stop interfering with the project.

-x-

"…Where's Rei and Kensuke?" Ritsuko asked the children, seeing only Asuka, Toji and Hikari present for synchronization testing.

"Kensuke left on a survival practice in the wilderness," explained Toji to her, removing his coat due to the increase in heat in the base, "but Rei…called in sick."

"She called in sick?" Maya questioned; it was unusual, due to Rei always looking sickly due to her pale skin and unhealthy appearance.

"If you found out you were only out for a day after three months elsewhere in another dimension, wouldn't you call in sick?" Hikari asked them. "Especially when the person responsible for such a phenomenon did so due to a vendetta or resentment?"

Ritsuko knew Gendo would throw another fit…but right now, she didn't really care much for that. Even if he continued to stress how important it was for them to be prepared for the next Angel, she didn't care much about that, either. Her extended time in the Pokémon world had been, while totally unexpected, enlightening and left her actually desiring a change in her life.

"All of you should've called in sick," she told them. "Don't you feel under the weather a little, Ms. Horaki?"

"Hmm? No, I…uh… Actually, yeah," she responded, getting what Ritsuko was asking of her. "Toji and I kinda ate some bad tacos last night and I got a case of the runs."

"I can stomach takeout, but when I eat anything Misato makes, I just feel the need to spit up my entire gut," Asuka complained, following Hikari and Toji as they left.

"Shutdown?" Maya asked Ritsuko.

"Shutdown," she responded.

"Vacate?"

"Vacate."

Everyone in the command center got up and vacated.

Beep! Ritsuko's cell phone got a text message and she answered it.

"What the…" She gasped, and then showed Maya. "Check this out."

"Is that what I think it is?" Maya questioned.

"It certainly looks like it."

"But…we never asked Shinji if he had one."

"We should ask Mr. Giovanni about this."

-x-

Flick! The primary lights in the building came back to light, illuminating Palkia and the rest of the large room.

"It seems like the power has returned," Palkia expressed.

"Yeah," said Antonio, looking at his cell phone. "Palkia, it would seem that the small door we were able to open for one minute yielded positive results. It was only temporary, but we reached into your world and pulled out Pokémon."

"Do you know which ones?"

"I would either have to ask Shinji or Kensuke or look at a Pokédex that has the information necessary to tell me what I need to know about them. This is promising."

-x-

Gendo couldn't believe the power was back on. And worse, something was now becoming a new trend to the social media world. People were talking about how…something was showing up on their tablets, smart phones and televisions. One of them was even on his computer. If this was someone's idea of a joke, he wasn't laughing.

What is this thing? He thought, unsure if it was an Angel or something loosely affiliated with what the Giovanni Corporation was doing.

To be continued…

A/N: The next chapter's progress will have the final outcome decided by the current poll. But what do you think everyone's seeing that was the result of what the Giovanni Corporation managed to achieve to a small degree?