It was night time in LaRousse City, quiet and peaceful. By this time, most of the visiting trainers were in hotel rooms and an occasional police robot glided by. The Lund Pokemon Research Lab was always busy though. Scientists buzzed around, researching things from pokemon evolution to new technological inventions. The lab always had a faint aroma of coffee from one to many sleep deprived scientists and the lights never went off. The men speculated they were being overworked and underpaid, but they didn't care. This was science…or something. Truth be told, they haven't had anything particularly interesting to work on lately.
Slam.
Kim slammed a paper down on his table, getting up to go make himself a cup of coffee. His research partner was obviously doing something other than working. The guy was a genius but often got too distracted to get anything productive done. Kim swore Blake had the attention span of a hyperactive Plusle.
He was holding a tablet and watching some kind of video. Kim scowled, disapproving of Blake's laziness. "Keep staring at that thing and you'll go blind." Blake spent far too much time looking at that thing, he needed to cut it out before his brain turned to scrambled egg.
The other man poked his glasses. "I'm already blind." He also had a knack for smart-ass replies. This didn't earn him very much respect within the lab, even drawing disdain from Professor Lund himself. They didn't dare fire him though, the man was the best at what he did-whenever it was he felt like doing it at least.
"I meant completely, idiot." Kim rolled his eyes, brushing off Blake's stupid little comment. He felt like punching him sometimes, his comments were borderline irritating and since he was practically stuck with him 'till retirement or until he got fired, he had to deal with his shit. Which unfortunately came in droves.
"This is interesting." Blake admitted with wide eyes and lifted brows. He lifted his eyes for a second, looking back at the scowling Kim. "You're going to get wrinkles if you stay angry all the time." He pointed to his own face, still young and smooth. "The key to healthy skin is not to give a crap. It works for me."
"I can see that."
Blake tapped the tablet and paused the video, adjusting himself in his chair. He scratched his nose and stared blankly at Kim. "Besides, there's absolutely nothing to do here." Then he went back to his video, still straight faced.
Kim's scowl lifted, replaced by an expression of faint disinterest. "Can't argue with you there." Blake was right. There was nothing to do. The night shift was always a grind to get through. People were tired and looking at samples through a microscope in the wee hours of the night was never a fulfilling experience. Many of the guys in the lab just used the opportunity to get some sleep or dick around, like Blake. "What are you watching there anyway?"
"Last year's regional conference match," Blake replied, light reflecting off his glasses.
"Which one?" There were many good fights last year, Kim remembered losing about one thousand P-yen on a bet that had gone sour. It was one of the more exciting league conference matches and was pretty much a no-holds-barred fighting type beatdown. It got his blood racing just thinking about it. His wallet definitely missed that cash though.
Blake grinned. "The Dance of Dragons." It was the semi-final round between two trainers, one from Johto and the other from Unova. The battle kept everyone on their seats, at the stadium and at home, people couldn't get enough of it. It was one hell of a match. The views on that match were the highest they'd ever been in the league season last year, it was the most anticipated fight of the league.
"Oh. The Hydreigon vs Dragonite battle?" Kim saw that one too.
"That's the one."
"You remember that dragonbreath clash?"
"Mhmm. Damn near took down the stadium. 'Member the dragon pulse and dark pulse clash later on?"
"Oh, yeah. That was insane. It took like two minutes before the dust cleared. They kept fighting too, until the Dragonite ice beamed the Hydreigon's wings and sky dropped it for the win."
"Sure did…wonder what it's like though," Blake mentioned, looking at the victor congratulating his worn-out Dragonite while waving at the crowd. He closed the internet tab and switched the tablet off. He peered out the window, it was pretty dark outside. Probably around midnight by the looks of it. A Munchlax was trying to get a burger out of a vending machine. It made him chuckle.
"What is?"
"Raising a dragon. I heard they're one of the hardest types to raise, considering you need to respect them and all. Not only that but they eat a lot. Especially when they get bigger." Blake knew that dragons like Salamance ate entire bags of formula. Some of the wild ones actually attacked trainers and Miltank farms. Luckily, most of them lived near Meteor Falls and Forina. Far from LaRousse. Which was good, considering Rayquaza went on a pride revenge quest a few years ago and caused millions in property damage to the city's infrastructure.
"I have some friends near Mt Chimney that work with dragons. They say that a great deal of patience is needed, and some fireproof clothing. The infants tend to blow things up quite a bit." Kim laughed nervously, having witnessed a baby Bagon set fire to an entire house once. It also headbutted his car and left a permanent dent in the side. The insurance company had a field day with that one.
"I would assume so. I heard they're just a little higher on the difficulty scale compared to oh…darks and psychics." Those were difficult types to train. The former because of the attitude and general nastiness that came with them, and the latter because a trainer needed to invest a lot of time into them to earn their trust and admiration.
"Well, they told me that once you earn a dragon's respect, they'll fight with you to the end. Not like darks. They'll double-cross you the first chance they probably get. No wonder most people don't like 'em. Most psychics are tame enough though, they just require emotional investment and positive reinforcement," Kim said while sipping some fresh coffee. The caffeine ran through his system, he felt less dead than usual-but still pretty dead. Being a scientist for professor Lund was mentally taxing at the best of times.
Blake didn't respond. He just turned the tablet back on and searched up other fights. Rhyperior vs Typhlosion, Steelix vs Scizor, Sceptile vs Serperior. All amazingly good fights. Their trainers were top notch and were some of the toughest in the world. Their pokemon were absolute monsters, making craters throughout the arena. He lost interest in the fights themselves and just watched the pokemon spew flames and throw razor sharp leaves around. It made him think.
"Hey Kim."
"Yeah?"
"Ever wonder why pokemon can shoot flames and cause earthquakes? And we can't?"
"That's always been on our minds, Blake. We want to know why things aren't a certain way. And if possible, make things better." He was trying to sound purposeful and mystical, it didn't work.
"You're starting to sound like a Rocket," Blake said with a disapproving frown.
"Oh, NO. Don't compare me with those monsters. What they did was inexcusable…if not downright horrible and atrocious. Never put me up on that broken pedestal. I'm glad they were taken care of, who knows what would of happened if they succeeded." Kim was burning holes into Blake's skull. He wasn't a mad scientist, he worked to make the world more understandable. He never wanted to be like them. Thinking about gene splicing made every hair on the back of his neck stand on end.
Blake shrugged. "Alright. I get it. You don't want to be compared to them. Me neither. But still, why are we so…" He searched for the word while fidgeting his hands in the air and making faces.
"Normal?"
"Yeah." Blake figured that was the best way to put it. He couldn't find another word to something that meant not special in any way, shape, or form.
Kim's brows furrowed. That remained one of the biggest mysteries in the world, it baffled scientists even today. Some people claimed that humans just appeared, but Kim didn't believe that. Any theory proposed was almost always shot full of skepticism and chock full of holes that a solid comprehensive theory was never fully accepted. A myth in Sinnoh apparently claimed that at one point, humans and pokemon were virtually indistinguishable. If it had any merit to it, that supported the fact that they had a simian ancestor who was originally a pokemon.
Blake seemed to read his mind. "You're thinking about the human evolution theory aren't you."
"It's kind of hard not to think about it when you start talking about topics like those."
Blake nodded and went searching through a document cabinet next to him. "I suppose. Hold on, getting something." He spent a couple of minutes wading through the mass of documents in the file cabinet, all scientific papers about the evolution of pokemon and (supposed) human evolution. "Here it is." He threw a paper on the table in front of Kim, published in the Unovan Scientific Journal by Professor Juniper.
"Her pokemon origin paper?" Kim had a quizzical look. "What's so important about it? That paper has been published for years."
"Well, it claims that millions of years ago, Treecko-the most common starter given to trainers in Hoenn-hasn't changed very much in genetic structure. It's DNA remains largely the same. The same can be said with all other pokemon. They haven't changed much at all in millions of years. Yet here we are, bipedal, normal and weak. And we change frequently."
"So what you're saying is…in order to evolve like we believe we evolve, we need to have...what?"
"Unstable DNA." It was the only thing that made sense to Blake. Cancers and illnesses were common in humans, a trait that humans shared with almost nothing else. People had highly unstable DNA, that's why appearances and height, weight, skin color, eye color and everything else was all chance. Pokemon had very strict sets of DNA, containing almost no extra junk information-something humans had an abundance of. It was perfectly structured and had nearly no flaws. There were never any mixes, only one pokemon or another. If a Zebstrika and a Rapidash had eggs, it was either Blitzle or Ponyta offspring, not a weird electric fire mix with aspects of both. Only one other particular pokemon fit the bill.
"Like Eevee."
"Precisely."
Kim gave Blake a skeptical look. "So in about say a couple million years, there's going to be fox people? You do know how stupid that sounds right?"
"If my guess is true…maybe. And yes, it sounds stupid, but so did pokeballs remember?"
"Argh. Point." Kim's skeptical look didn't dissipate though. "And you're only thinking about this now?" Someone was bound to have thought of this before. Kim was sure that Blake wasn't the first curious mind to put two and two together.
"I've thought about it before but one thing still doesn't make sense."
"Which is?"
"Well, Eevee evolve when exposed to some sort of electromagnetic stimulus from evolutionary stones or rocks. We…don't. Imagine the body horror if we did."
Kim did. "Yeah, I can see why that's a problem. Don't want none of that, heh. Growing fish fins is kinda freaky." He shivered. "And when Eevee evolve, their DNA corrects itself. No more flaws. The stones take care of that."
"But…what if…" Blake rested his chin on his palm, thinking rather hard about the topic. His brows were furrowed in concentration and he was staring at the floor. "What if a mutation happened to our ancestors that caused them to evolve differently, or at least retain their genetic information when producing offspring. That way say a…Jolteon had offspring with another Jolteon, then a Jolteon came out. Not an Eevee. But still had unstable DNA, only retaining the type code. Then further mutations would allow it to become something else."
"It sounds a bit implausible but it's a good if not ridiculous guess. But if that did in fact happen, why aren't we…elemental and stuff?"
"I don't know. That's what bothers me." Blake placed a hand on his forehead. "Losing our typing would be fatal. Even if we had the drive and motivation to use tools, we needed the typing to even stand a chance, otherwise…we'd get ripped to shreds."
Kim was about to say something when Blake cut him off, continuing his scientific tangent.
"And if we were pokemon, why are we so damn weak? Our cells don't even regenerate at the same rate. Imagine if we could use rapid recovery technology like pokemon? Shit, a cut would heal in minutes and brain damage would be a thing of the past. And our bones aren't nearly as hard." He paused to catch his breath. "And then there's the fact that most pokemon exhibit human-like intelligence, so there goes the sacrifice typing for brains theory. The only thing pokemon lack is the drive to advance further, they don't see a need. We do, that's why most of them haven't risen and crushed us yet."
Kim was dubious. "It sounds counter-intuitive to do so. I mean, it goes against what evolution would theoretically be like. Typing isn't a liability. Or hardness of bones. Why would we get weaker just so we could build things?" Kim didn't have an answer for Blake, but he did bring up important points.
"Kim, what are the oldest human remains we've found? Up to date," Blake asked, completely serious now. Oh, the man was in serious get shit done mode. If only he worked this hard every day.
"About four hundred thousand years. Give or take a few." He didn't understand why that was important though. It seemed totally unrelated. Maybe he was just shooting the tauros at this point. Who knew? Blake's mind was a bag full of skitty.
"We've read about hundreds of excavations at Sinnoh, all rocks and pokemon fossils. But absolutely no human remains, even though there should be." The rocks in Sinnoh were some of the oldest in the known world, some going back billions of years. There was a reason it was called the 'cradle of life'. Yet no other human remains had been found prior to 400000 years ago. That was odd. Very odd.
"Yeah. It's really strange." Kim shrugged and finished his coffee, which was cold at this point. Blake was still in a hardcore think tank mode, it was hard to dislodge him once he was this dug in. But…all of Blake's points were moot if they didn't have any concrete proof of his Eevee-esque evolution theory. "Unless you have proof of your theory, it ain't going anywhere though."
"I know, but I need to look at an Eevee's DNA. Might give me more insight. I feel good about this one."
Kim raised a brow. Eevee's themselves were rare, finding one in the wild was next to impossible and Lund didn't like spending unnecessary funds on buying a pokemon from some uptight pokemon breeder for a wacky theory one of his scientists came up with. "They're too expensive. Unless you want to capture one yourself. But you're no trainer."
"Maybe we can ask someone for one?"
"Not many trainers bring unevolved Eevee kits here, Blake. They come here to battle. Your best bet would be the daycare near Mauville. But even then, the eon line is rare. Breeders usually got them, but they're…a damn fortune to say the least. They're a bit more common in Johto, but not all that much."
"Shit. I thought I was on to something too."
"You might just stumble across something never before seen. Then we'd really be in for a surprise. But I doubt it. Your theory is ridiculous."
"Kim. You are an ass. Can you ever see the positive side in things?"
"I thought positive once. It was disappointing."
"Whatever, you're still an asshole."
"Pretty much, I won't deny it." Kim put his mug back up to his mouth and drank more of the caffeinated drink. "That doesn't change the fact that your hypothesis is far from sensible. But that's none of my business, it's your scientific credibility on the line. Fuck this up and you will never be taken seriously again."
Blake stared out the window, eyes tracing the illuminated Battle Tower in the distance. Eevee huh. Maybe I can… He got an idea. "I'm going to hire a trainer to catch an Eevee and bring it to me."
Kim stared blankly at Blake. "Because apparently you can shit gold right." The trainer would probably be just as likely to keep it or sell it to some collector for big bucks. Eevees were way to rare to just give away and the stones to evolve them? Even more so.
Blake caught Kim's look. "Argh…most trainers are brainless and will do anything for money. I could probably get one to catch an Eevee for a low price. You've seen how these trainers are. They'd follow a creepy man into a white van if he promised them something."
Kim thought about that for a second. "Sadly, that's very true. Makes you think why we let them prance around on their own." Most trainers were stupid. Considering most of them left home at ten, they weren't skilled in real world craftiness, and were conned frequently. Kim wiped some coffee off his coat. "I don't know, whatever suits you Blake. I'll just let you know now that I don't believe a word of your crazy idea. It's too unlikely. And you better pick a trainer you can afford crossing, some of them are dangerous. Sinnoh showed us that very well."
"I know. But as long as it's not impossible, I don't care." It was a start. And if he was right, that meant an award. That would shut up all those who scorned him, and even get him some respect from Lund and become a world renowned scientist. Risks were worth it. His genius would come into the light and he would be the greatest in the world. Then maybe he'd move out of this stupid lab and set up his own. Wouldn't that be something. "On second thought, I don't have any money."
Kim smacked himself on the forehead. "Even though you're a genius, you're still an idiot." He shook his head and lifted the cup to drink again. Blake tipped it over with his hand, causing Kim to spill all over himself. He turned and left out the door, smiling smugly.
"Son of a bitch!"
Going to be uploading shorter chapters from now on. Makes revising and proofreading easier. Well, maybe.