The sun shone brightly, glittering on the waters beside the southern coast of Kanto, the ocean over looked by grass topped cliffs that went on for miles. Water crashed and thundered against the sheer rock of the cliff face below and ocean-going flying types cried out from above. Salt wafted through the air, carried by the sea breezes, and though it was mid-winter there was no snow to be stirred. The day was chilly and damp, but even then, it was nowhere near as cold as the northern parts of Kanto.
Ash and his team were taking a break from training, sitting by the edge of the cliff and watching the ocean. Most of the team was dirtied and bruised, except for a sheepish looking Butterfree, who sat a few feet away from everyone else.
So…. Primeape broke the silence. Is what happened normal?
No! Butterfree shook his head. I have no idea where that came from!
Wherever it came from, can you stuff it back in there until we're in an actual battle? Pikachu asked, gingerly poking his face.
Yeah, that was definitely overboard for a training session, Squirtle said, rubbing some dirt off of his shell.
But if you could do that in an actual battle…. Bulbasaur mused, rubbing the underside of his chin with a vine.
An actual battle with none of us around you, Pidgeot leaned in to add.
Was it a new trick you were working on? Charmander asked.
I didn't recognize whatever it was, Ash said, looking over at the bug type. Butterfree, are you okay? Is something bothering you?
I….. I don't know, Butterfree admitted, shuffling his feet.
Do you want to talk about it? Ash offered.
I don't know if I can, Butterfree said. I just felt…. Angry. I've been getting angry for no reason for a couple days.
No reason? Ash inquired.
I mean, it's not like I just get angry out of the blue. It's always something that makes me get angry, but they're things that shouldn't bother me, Butterfree explained. I don't get what's going on.
Let's look in the pokédex in case you're sick, Ash said, getting out the device. He selected the entry on butterfrees and looked at the section about common diseases and their symptoms. There were a few diseases that caused increased irritability, but they all involved physical signs that Ash couldn't find after checking Butterfree over.
I don't think you're sick, Ash said, looking through some of the more obscure diseases. Maybe you're just grumpy? He suggested with a shrug.
But I'm never grumpy! Butterfree protested, frantically flapping his wings.
Maybe Bulbasaur is finally rubbing off on you, Pikachu suggested with a shrug.
I'm rubbing off on him? He's known you longer!
But you're grumpier.
That's a good question, Squirtle said. Who's grumpier, Bulbasaur or Pikachu?
Pikachu's a violent menace, Pidgeot added very quickly.
What did I get myself into? Primeape asked, turning to Charmander.
They're actually pretty nice, Charmander reassured the fighting-type. And so is Ash!
Thanks, the trainer replied, still engrossed in the pokédex. Maybe you were poisoned? But no, then you'd be more purple… Confusion would make you dizzy… Huh. I've got no idea what's going on.
Same as usual then? Pikachu piped in.
Shush, you.
It's okay, Butterfree said. I should get better in a few days. I'll just stay in my pokéball.
No, it's not, Ash replied. I don't want you to get sick because I'm missing something and it's not fair for you to have to stay in the pokéball all the time.
Or any of the time, Pikachu muttered.
Too bad Brock and Misty don't train bug-types, Ash sighed, putting away the pokédex. I could really use some help.
Well, Brock does know a lot of stuff about non-rock types, Pidgeot pointed out. Like how he's always trying out grooming techniques on us.
He is always reading books about all sorts of pokémon, Ash said. I guess he might know something.
As much as any human knows something, Squirtle said.
"Hmmm…." Brock rubbed the underside of his chin, unknowingly mimicking Bulbasaur's earlier actions. "Increased irritability…. Have you noticed any other changes in Butterfree? Has he gotten any bigger? Have his antenna gotten a bit fuzzier?"
"Maybe," Ash shrugged.
"This could be interesting," Brock said. "Can I borrow your pokédex for a moment, Aaron?"
"Okay," Ash said, confused. He handed the device over and then shrugged again. "I already looked at all the diseases that it could possibly be."
"Oh, if I'm right, then Butterfree isn't sick," Brock informed the other boy as he scrolled through the pokédex. "Here we go…. Hey, Aaron, want to go on a detour?"
"I guess," Ash replied, still lost. "Why?"
"Because we can see something cool," Brock said, grabbing his bags. "It's not too far from here, only about half a day's walk."
"Okay," Ash said. "Hey Misty!" He called out to the water-type specialist who was watching the ocean. "Brock suggested a place! We're going on a trip!"
"Another one?" Misty shouted back. "Wasn't the ranch enough for you?"
"No!" Ash replied. "Come on!"
"You need to quit listening to Brock! You'll be wandering around Kanto for years at this rate!" Misty yelled as she grabbed her own things.
Brock led them back the way they had come and then took a detour down a bulge in the coastline that they had previously bypassed. They continued their trip over grassy cliffs next to a sparkling ocean until the winter sun was low in the sky. It was as the sky was changing colors that Ash saw a strange cloud.
"What's that?" He asked, shielding his eyes from the setting sun with one hand and pointing with the other.
"It's a sign that we've arrived," Brock said with a smile.
"And where is 'here' exactly?" Misty asked.
"Hey, Aaron, look up the information on butterfrees again," Brock instructed. "And read the part about their lifecycles and mating habits."
Ash complied. According to the pokédex, while Butterfree's evolutionary line could breed at any stage, they developed more specialized reproductive behaviors after they were fully evolved. A large portion of the species would sometimes form mating flocks and then migrate south to lay their eggs so that they would hatch during late spring in tropical climates. When the conditions were right for a butterfree to join a flock, it would experience a slight increase in size, fuzziness of the antenna, and a dramatic increase in aggression.
Ash looked back at the strange cloud, peering closely. It turned out that it wasn't a cloud at all, but rather a giant collection of flying things. The pokéraised boy put two and two together.
"Butterfree's getting ready to mate?" Ash turned to Brock. "That's what's happening?"
"Yep." Brock nodded.
"Oh….." Ash sighed. "Excuse me, I need to go have a talk with my pokémon."
Mating! Butterfree trilled. Is that what's going on?
According to the pokédex, Brock, and that giant cloud of butterfrees, Pikachu said.
But- I'm- I can't be ready to mate! I'm too young! Buttefree protested.
You're a fully evolved pokémon, Pikachu pointed out. If you're not ready to mate now, when will you be ready?
But butterfrees who mate are really old, like my parents! Butterfree said, fluttering back from Pikachu. They were…. well, I don't know how old they were, but they were really old!
Yeah, parents are really old, Ash said, thinking back to the pokémon who raised him.
Butterfree, Ash's stupidity is rubbing off on you, Pikachu groaned, face resting in the palm of his forepaw. Everyone's parents seemed really old because you were really young when you were with them.
Oh….. Butterfree nodded in comprehension while Ash shook his head.
No, mine were really old, Ash said, thinking back on the three who raised him. They were always talking about the past, something always ached, and they complained about getting old all the time.
Maybe yours were old or maybe putting up with you prematurely aged them, Pikachu shrugged. The point is, Butterfree, you don't have to be really old in order to mate. Once you're done growing, not done evolving, done growing, then you're ready to mate.
Oh….. so I could have mated when I was Caterpie? Butterfree tilted their head to the side.
Yes, Pikachu said, leaning his head back and rolling his eyes.
Anyway, we've just got to decide what we're going to do now, Ash said to Butterfree. Do you want to wait this out or do you….. Ash went quiet as the full implications of mating flock sank in. If Butterfree wanted to do something about it, then he'd have to leave Ash's team. The first pokémon that Ash had caught would leave him.
Ash couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. He didn't want Butterfree to leave.
Butterfree, are you looking for a long-term relationship or do you just want to mate and leave? Pikachu asked.
Wait, he can do that? Ash turned to look at Pikachu.
I don't know if he can specifically, but I know a lot of bug-types tend to lay a bunch of eggs and then leave, Pikachu said with a shrug. Not all of them-
My parents stuck around, Butterfree pointed out.
-But some of them, Pikachu finished. Why don't you look it up, Ash?
Ash opened the pokédex back up and then looked up the section about butterfree reproductions and lifecycles again. There was an entry about variations in how they raised their young, ranging from collective rearing, as a flock or other large group, being the most common method, to smaller groups or pairs raising eggs together as the next most common, to short-term single parents and to simply laying large clutches and leaving them on their own as the least frequent, but still common methods.
Oh wow, there are a bunch of ways you could do it, Ash said, still looking at the pokédex. He then gave the two a summary of what he had read. I guess it's up to you and your mate, he said when he was finished.
Huh…. Butterfee cocked his head again. I'm not sure what I want actually. I'd like to feel normal again, but I'm not sure about having an egg. Or letting someone else have an egg I helped create….. But it would be nice to go back to normal. Ash, does it say how long I'm like this?
Uhh…. Ash looked back at the pokédex. It says that you can remain in heat for a month if you don't-
I'd have to be like this for a month! Butterfree almost screamed in horror. Is this going to happen every year!
No, it says that it takes special conditions to trigger this, Ash went on. Involving weather, geography, and specific times of year. Ash grimaced. I guess this is my fault for making us come down here right now.
Yes, you- you- you idiot! Butterfree shouted and then flinched back. Oh no, I'm sorry Ash. I didn't mean to be a second Pikachu…
Hey!
I'm just- so tense and angry, Butterfree went on, fluttering back and forth.
It's okay, Ash reassured him. I put up with Pikachu all the time; I can put up with a second one for a bit.
Hey!
I just want this gone, Butterfree whined. I want to go back to normal!
Then go mate, Pikachu said.
But I don't know what I want to do about the egg! Butterfree wailed.
This is honestly the sort of decision that should be made with a level head, Ash observed.
Too bad the only time this comes up is when so many creatures can't keep a level head, Pikachu said while Butterfree flailed about.
Sabrina hovered over the concrete rooftop with her vast collection of documents and reports arrayed around her. The nighttime city shone around her, skyscrapers standing as glowing pillars. However, the one light she needed, the light by the rooftop access door, flickered and she glared at it until it started functioning again.
"I generally enjoy a rooftop rendezvous but I don't think you quite understand the point," Torch observed from where he was leaning against the side of the entryway.
"I didn't' feel like finding a space in the gym to do this," Sabrina told him, rolling her eyes.
"Oh, but it could have so fun!" Torch smirked. "You and me, in an enclosed space, our hands brushing as we reach for the same paper and then our eyes meet-"
"If I wanted to consume bad erotica today then I would have bought a dime store romance novel," Sabrina growled, massaging the sides of her temples with one hand. "Right now, I need to talk business."
"Business? That sounds like it might involve numbers. We should get Atushi up here-"
"No," Sabrina said sharply. "It's time for work, not play."
"Oh, it's always time to play," Torch grinned. "You never know when you'll end up in the underworld so you've got to grab all the fun you can."
"Right now I'm trying to keep people out of there, so if you would please focus, you salacious hedonist-"
"Can I put that on my business cards?"
"-And help me figure out what Team Rocket's up to," Sabrina finished, her right eye twitching.
"Fine, but you're no fun, you know that?" Torch sighed, moving over to get a better look at the papers.
"I'll find some way to live with that," Sabrina said. "Now, here's what I found."
She went on to fill Torch in on how the experiment in Cinnabar involved Masterball technology, though she simply referred to it as "classified technology being developed by the Sliph Corporation". She then went on to fill him in on the rest of the evidence, the list of deaths, what they knew about Team Rocket's movements involving Aoba, Team Rocket's movements in the Viridian Forest, and what happened in Pewter City.
"I mean, from what you've told me, it's pretty obvious that Team Rocket wants that technology," Torch said when she was finished.
"That's what it looks like, but a couple things don't add up," Sabrina replied. "What did they need the caterpies for? And why go after the scientist Aoba, who made no mention of the technology?"
"The Aoba thing is easy to answer; they didn't know what he knew so they decided to tie up a loose end," Torch said. "But the caterpies, yeah they don't fit, but they could be unrelated."
"That's true," Sabrina rubbed her forehead. "They could just be trying to get some cheap psychic muscle…. But whatever they're planning is big. The people they've killed, the resources they committed to trying to kill the scientist….. And they sent a trainer with a tyranitar out to gather the caterpies. They wouldn't commit that sort of pokémon if the task wasn't important in some way."
"And you don't think they could have two big schemes going on?" Torch inquired, sitting cross-legged next to the array of papers.
"I don't think they have the resources for two big schemes," Sabrina clarified.
"True," Torch said with a shrug. "Or….. Or maybe pulled a fast one on us. They might have found some way to grow beyond the League's estimates. First we should try and be sure that the tyranitar was with the caterpie catchers."
"Oh, that's what I've been spending hours doing," Sabrina groaned. "The police from Viridian kicked the Pewter police off the case halfway through their investigation, but didn't collect the evidence from them. I've had to correlate everything!"
"You'd think Giovanni would try and reign them in," Torch shook his head. "It's almost like he's encouraging them."
"He doesn't think that it's 'his place' to try and make them behave," Sabrina said with a small growl.
"That man," Torch let out a little laugh. "I pity his hypothetical spouses."
"He's usually reliable the rest of the time. It's just stupid little things like that where he's stubborn." Sabrina looked back at the papers. "Let's just focus on cleaning up this little mess of his for tonight."
"Did you figure out what you're going to do with Butterfree?" Brock asked when Ash returned to camp. Brock had a fire going and was busy cooking their dinner. Misty was off training her pokémon in the ocean.
"He decided that he would try to find a mate that wanted to be a single parent," Ash replied, taking a seat by the fire. He stared at the flames for several silent moments. "I feel weird about that. I don't know why."
"Have you ever heard the phrase, 'different strokes for different folks'," Brock asked.
"I think so."
"I'm pretty sure that's what's going on here," Brock explained. "He's making a choice that doesn't line up with-"
"No, it's fine," Ash interrupted. "I mean, I think it's weird, but that's not what bothering me. It's just that… well…. He's just doing this because he doesn't want to be in heat."
"Hmmm….. then are you bothered that Butterfree's planning to take part in making a new pokémon just so that he won't be bothered anymore?" Brock asked as he stirred something in a pot.
"I guess," Ash shrugged. "It…"
"Makes the 'miracle of life' seem really mundane?" Brock raised an eyebrow and grinned. "You think this is bad, wait until you learn about the mating habits of salandits or-"
"No thanks," Ash cut him off. "I'll just try and keep the rest of my sense of wonder alive."
Brock laughed at that. "As someone aspiring to be a pokémon breeder I'm afraid I've got a different perspective on the subject."
"I've never thought about that and I don't want to start," Ash groaned, burying his face in his hands.
"But it's fun!" Brock said with a shit-eating-grin. "You've got to figure out how to persuade the two pokémon to get together-"
"I'm not hearing this," Ash clamped his hands over his ears.
"Make sure that they're looking their best-"
"La La La La, I can't hear you!"
"You've got to check them out for health problems first of course, in case their diet isn't quite right for them to get-"
"What part of I'm not hearing this can't you understand!"
Brock just started laughing while Ash fumed.
"Okay, I'll stop teasing you," Brock said when they had both calmed down, moving the pot off of the fire. "But Butterfree might need some help when he goes courting."
"What! Why?" Ash said, indignant. "He's a very nice butterfree! He's really strong!"
"Can he communicate that to the flock though?" Brock asked. "From what I gathered from the pokédex entry, these butterfree are primarily a migratory culture from the tropics. They'll be looking for different signals than the ones the more sedentary butterfrees in the north use."
"Like what?" Ash asked, still indignant.
"Well, for one, they'll be more colorful," Brock explained. "Up in the north being colorful is a way to warn off predators, but they don't want to stick out too much. In the tropics it's a form of sexual selection-"
"What?"
"A way to be better at getting mates," Brock said, looking like he was rolling his eyes. "Look, you're going to want to give him an ornament of some sort. Do you have a scarf that's a primary color?"
"No," Ash shook his head.
"I've got a red one he can borrow," Brock told the boy. "How's his precision flying?"
"Not as good as Pidgeot's, but still good," Ash said.
"There's a mating dance he'll have to perform," Brock informed Ash. "You might want to help him practice that before he goes looking."
"Oh fine," Ash sighed. "Ugh, why does mating have to be so complicated."
"It could be worse," Brock said, moving a new pan to the fire to prepare the next part of the meal. "He could have to deal with human mating."
The next morning Sabrina teleported back to the Yin-Li Memorial Pokémon Center. She made sure to appear on the dirt path outside so that she wouldn't startle anyone; a wasted effort as her abrupt appearance made a visiting trainer jump several feet into the air and grab a pokéball.
After apologizing for startling the person, Sabrina entered the center and contacted the officer currently in charge of protecting the witnesses, requesting some time to interview Aoba. The officer acquiesced to her request, showed the gym leader to an out of the way room, and left to go fetch the former scientist.
Sabrina looked around the small room and sighed. When was the last time she had fought a challenger or had been involved in the gym's communal training? It seems like all she had done lately, outside of her personal training, was having meetings and reading reports. This hadn't been what she had thought being a gym leader would be like.
The door opened again and the former scientist was shown into the room. Sabrina studied him. The man's face was technically the same as the photos she had seen of him, but he looked so much different. There was a new energy to the man and it changed his face. His eyes seemed clearer, his expression seemed more focused, and Sabrina could actually imagine a smile on that face, unlike what she had seen in the photos. He was dressed in tan overalls and had the smudges and bits of dirt to show that he had been working outside.
"Aoba, I presume?" She asked, getting up to shake his hand.
"That's me, yes," he answered, shaking her hand.
"I've got some questions for you, if you don't mind," Sabrina said as they sat down.
"I've been dealing with a lot of questions these last few months," Aoba said dryly. "I should be able to stomach a few more. What do you want to know? More questions about- about what happened with Ted? What happened in the forest?"
"No," Sabrina shook her head. "I'm actually here to talk to you about the experiments on Cinnabar Island."
"What about them?" Aoba titled his head to the side.
"We need to go over some general information. You've stated that the experiments involved genetic engineering to produce a new sort of pokémon?" Sabrina said. "Specifically, a new psychic-type pokémon."
"Yes," Aoba nodded. "I was involved in the creation of the amniotic fluid, figuring out the biomatter requirements for the creature to grow, and several other odds and ends."
"Do you know what the purpose of the new psychic-type was?"
"There wasn't an intended purpose," Aoba told her. "It was…." His brow furrowed. "It was…. I think the idea was to examine a new source of DNA, but I can't remember what was special about that DNA."
Alarm bells began ringing in Sabrina's head.
"Let's move onto another subject then," she said. "You said you left the project early?"
"I wasn't needed after they began to produce the pokémon," Aoba told her. "And they weren't paying attention to my ethics complaints."
"Were they violating any ethical guidelines?"
"Not directly. I was worried about the ramifications of certain policies. I felt that they would be insufficient or counterproductive."
"What policies?"
Aoba's brow furrowed again.
"I-" He raised a hand and then dropped it. "I don't remember the specific policies. I know that they were important- I just don't remember what they were."
"Mr. Aoba, may I get your consent to use telepathic methods to aid in this interview?" Sabrina asked, keeping her voice calm.
"You want to read my mind?" Aoba's face scrunched up in confusion.
"Correct."
Aoba's face showed evidence of an internal struggle but he didn't say anything at first. Finally, after the internal wrestling match had gone on for a minute he spoke again.
"If you think it would help, then yes," he told the gym leader.
"Thank you," Sabrina said and then she let her eyes glow as she reached into his mind.
From the get go she could tell that the former scientist was being honest about being unable to remember the answers to her questions. She probed at where the memories should be, but only found missing connections.
"Do you know what happened to the lab after you left?" She continued her interrogation while monitoring his mind.
"It burned down," Aoba answered.
"Do you know why?"
"N- No…." Aoba looked puzzled by his own response. Tracing his thoughts, memories, and the internal connections of his mind, Sabrina could tell that he was being technically honest. She could sense where something like suspicions once lay, flows of memory and thought slowly filling the void.
Someone had tampered with his memory.
And they had done so with such a fine, deft touch, that the man wouldn't even realize that his forgetfulness was unnatural. His mental connections, the ones that people used to navigate their own memory, the ones that telepaths used to navigate the memories of others, had been cut so cleanly that it was hard to tell that they had ever really pointed at another memory. The way they were now, they would naturally fade, and in time Aoba would forget that he had forgotten anything.
Sabrina searched deeper, going past thoughts and memories and into the core of the man's mind. She scanned through it, looking for anything that didn't belong.
It was like flying through a mountain range constructed of light, like diving into the darkest depths of the ocean and playing with large bioluminescent creatures, like spinning through a burning nebula. At the same time, it was nothing like that; those were only impressions that Sabrina developed after the fact when her brain attempted to make sense of the data. It was impossible to describe the experience to a non-psychic as it involved none of usual human senses.
Sabrina whirled through mental energies until she caught the barest hint of something that didn't belong, a wisp of power that didn't match up with the rest of Aoba's mind. She almost dismissed it. But in the end the intruder had been too perfect; the former scientist's mind was missing the normal amount of clutter that should come from his own brain and background psychic fields.
She examined the wisp, trying to recognize the power, trying to figure out what psychic techniques had been used. But it resisted her analysis. She was fairly certain that it couldn't be from a human, but she couldn't match the power to any pokémon she had ever encountered and she had made sure to study every pokémon with psychic potential known to Kanto, from butterfrees to hatennas.
Was it from a pokémon from the other side of the world? Or was it something new?
Sabrina withdrew from Aoba's mind, her own brain buzzing with thoughts and speculations. Lost in her own head she didn't realize that Aoba was still talking.
"Miss? Miss?" Aoba asked and Sabrina shook her head.
"Sorry," she apologized. "What were you saying?"
"I asked if you found what you needed," Aoba repeated.
"Yes, for now," Sabrina said. "I'll probably need to talk to you again later. Thank you for your cooperation."
And then she teleported away with a pop of displaced air, leaving Aoba alone in the room.
AN: I'd like to thank Amationary for beta reading.
Doing something a little different with this bit. Let's hope it pans out.
Anyway, don't forget to review!